Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Bear Stearns Will Liquidate Mortgage Holdings From Hedge Fund, People Say

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos., the second-biggest
U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds, is liquidating holdings from
one of its hedge funds after making money-losing bets on subprime
home loans, three people familiar with the situation said.

Bear Stearns is seeking bids today from prospective buyers
for about $3.8 billion of mortgage bonds, said the people, who
declined to be identified because the plan isn't public. The 10-
month-old Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies
Enhanced Leverage Fund, which is down about 20 percent this year,
had about $600 million of investors' money and borrowed to
increase its buying power, one of the people said.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Dollar scales fresh 4-1/2-year peak vs yen

(Reuters) - The dollar hit a 4-1/2-year high against the yen on Thursday, extending gains after strong U.S. retail sales data the previous session reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates this year.

A surge in benchmark U.S. yields to five-year highs this week on an upbeat outlook for the economy, has stoked demand for dollar-denominated securities.


Read more at Reuters Africa

DEALTALK-China's CITIC Securities has lofty IPO hopes

(Reuters) - HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, June 14 - Should China's
CITIC Securities command a valuation four times that of Goldman
Sachs?




The Beijing-based brokerage, China's largest, is looking to
raise more than $3 billion in a Hong Kong listing, according to
recent mainland media reports, emboldened by a
more-than-doubling of its Shanghai-listed shares so far this
year.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 2-Hyperion says plans first US refinery since 1976

(Reuters) - HOUSTON, June 13 - Little-known, privately held
Hyperion Resources Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to build an
$8 billion oil refinery, the first in the United States since
1976, at one of several sites under consideration in the U.S.
Midwest.




Dallas-based Hyperion plans a 400,000 barrels per day
refinery as part of "the most environmentally sound energy
center in the United States" that will include a power plant
fueled by petroleum coke, a refining byproduct.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

JPMorgan Chase Appoints ANZ and Westpac to Sell Five-Year Kangaroo Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third-
largest U.S. bank, plans to sell five-year kangaroo bonds,
according to an e-mail sent to investors.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., JPMorgan and
Westpac Banking Corp. are managing the debt sale, according to
the e-mail.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Dollar hovers near 4-1/2-year high vs yen

(Reuters) - Data on Wednesday showed that U.S. retail sales rose 1.4 percent in May, the highest since 2006, with consumers shrugging off higher gasoline prices and boosting their spending on cars.




"Investors are thinking the economy is doing well as the stock market has calmed down and they see few signs of inflation," says Koji Fukaya, senior currency strategist at Deutsche Bank in Tokyo. "Unless this trend collapses, the dollar will stay firm."


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Jones Apparel nearing sale of Barneys: reports

(Reuters) - The talks with private-equity firm Istithmar, one of the big investment firms in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, have reached the final stages, the Post and Journal said, citing sources. A potential deal was first reported by apparel trade publication Women's Wear Daily in April.




The $950 million deal, according to the Post, would be more than double what Jones Apparel paid for Barneys three years ago. The Journal priced the deal between $800 million and $850 million, citing a person familiar with the matter.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Japan's Government Bonds May Rise as Yields Near One-Year High Lure Buyers

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's government bonds may rise,
halting a 10-day slide, on speculation yields near the highest in
almost a year will lure investors.

Benchmark 10-year bonds, which yesterday completed the
longest slide in three years, are poised to rebound, according to
a chart traders use to predict price changes. Ten-year yields have
been at or above 2 percent for only four days since the Bank of
Japan ended a five-year deflation-fighting policy in March 2006.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

New Zealand Retail Sales Fall for First Time in Five Months on Higher Rate

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand retail sales declined for
the first time in five months in April, suggesting record-high
interest rates and rising unemployment are curbing consumer spending.
The nation's currency fell.

Retail sales declined 1.2 percent from March when they gained 1
percent, seasonally adjusted, Statistics New Zealand said in
Wellington today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of
11 economists was for no change.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

WRAPUP 1-Fed sees expanding economy, no price pressure rise

(Reuters) - Separately, a Fed official called the rise in U.S. Treasury
debt yields part of a global phenomenon of higher interest
rates and said the Fed would stay focused on fighting
inflation.




"Our job in terms of dealing with expectations or
underlying forces that give rise to inflation impulses will
continue regardless of what happens in the marketplace," Dallas
Fed President Richard Fisher said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Thailand Court Ruling Creates Stock `Buying Opportunity' Ahead of Election

(Bloomberg) -- Thailand's stocks, Southeast Asia's
worst performers this year, staged their biggest two-day rally
this year after a court ruling on May 30 paved the way for a
national election. More gains are likely, history shows.

``All of these worries about politics are a great buying
opportunity,'' said Doug Barnett, a 51-year-old fund manager
who's been investing in Thailand since 1990. His Thai Focused
Equity Fund Ltd., a $300 million hedge fund, includes Banpu Pcl,
the nation's largest coal miner, and Bank of Ayudhya Pcl, the
sixth-largest bank by assets.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

CSC profit up but shares fall on revenue miss

(Reuters) - Net income in the company's fiscal-fourth quarter ended March 30 increased to $249.7 million, or $1.42 per share, from $158.8 million, or 84 cents per share, a year earlier.




Revenue advanced to $4.05 billion from $3.89 billion, but missed Wall Street's average estimate of $4.1 billion, as compiled by Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Teck Cominco sees major oil sands presence

(Reuters) - TORONTO, June 13 - Teck Cominco Ltd.
plans to build an oil sands presence that could produce 140,000
barrels of oil equivalent a day within the decade, Teck Chief
Executive Don Lindsay said on Wednesday.




Speaking at a conference in Toronto, Lindsay said recent
land lease acquisitions should eventually bear fruit for the
company, which is a top zinc and copper producer with an eye on
diversifying to other revenue streams.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Keppel Land, PhilWeb, Samsung Engineering: Asia Ex-Japan Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in Asian markets, excluding Japan. This preview includes news
that broke after markets closed. Prices are from the local
market's last close. Stock symbols are in parentheses after
company names.

PT Astra International (ASII IJ): Indonesian vehicle sales
jumped 66 percent in May, the biggest gain in more than two
years, after interest rate cuts made car loans more affordable,
Astra said, citing data from the Association of Indonesian
Automotive Industries. The increase was the biggest since a 73
percent jump in December 2004. Astra's shares fell 350 rupiah, or
2.1 percent, to 16,150.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Suddenly 30-year fixed mortgages look good: report

(Reuters) - Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages provide certainty and
security, features that had been of little concern to many home
buyers and owners who tapped initially less expensive
adjustable-rate mortgages during the housing boom of recent
years to buy houses and refinance mortgages.




Now with the housing market in an extended slowdown, in
part because so many adjustable-rate mortgages are in default
as "teaser" interest rates have lapsed and monthly payments
have soared, home buyers and owners are taking a second look at
long-term, fixed-rate debt and are liking what they see,
according to Wharton School Professor Susan Wachter's U.S.
Mortgage Payment Index.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Cattle Futures Decline in Chicago as Demand Slows For U.S. Beef; Hogs Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Cattle futures declined for the first
time in four sessions in Chicago as demand for U.S. beef slowed.
Hogs also fell.

Wholesale prices for beef loin, the source of most steaks,
are heading for their fourth-straight weekly decline. Prices have
fallen 1.9 percent this week as consumers opt for cheaper cuts.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

US STOCKS-S&P, Nasdaq at session highs after Fed's Beige Book

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 13 - The Standard & Poor's 500
index and the Nasdaq rose to session highs on Wednesday, after
the Federal Reserve said U.S. economic activity expanded from
mid-April through May and that overall wage pressures had not
increased. For more see [ID:nN13224665]




The Dow Jones industrial average was up 106.62
points, or 0.80 percent, at 13,401.63. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was up 14.64 points, or 0.98 percent, at
1,507.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 22.09
points, or 0.87 percent, at 2,571.86.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-UBS raises Bank of New York, Mellon

(Reuters) - The stocks are at levels where the risk-reward is too
compelling to ignore, UBS said in a research note.




The brokerage raised Bank of New York's price target to $48
from $45 and that for Mellon Financial to $50 from $47.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Babcock & Brown cancels wind farm off Texas

(Reuters) - Babcock & Brown had not progressed very far with the project
and considered it only an option, said company spokeswoman
Kathleen Alderfer.




"It was not a fully formed project," said Alderfer. "We did
due diligence and we decided it was too expensive to produce
energy that way in that market. The East Coast may have more
success with that because their prices are
higher."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canadian Stocks Rise, Led by Teck Cominco, Material Shares, as Bonds Rally

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose as prices of
government debt rallied, pushing down bond yields from a near
three-year high and tempering concerns that borrowing costs will
rise.

Shares of raw-materials and energy producers including Teck
Cominco Ltd. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained as copper
and crude oil prices rose. Financial companies also advanced.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Conditions not ripe for C$ intervention - Dodge

(Reuters) - Dodge declined to comment on some economists' forecasts
that the Canadian dollar would rise until reaching parity with
the U.S. currency.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Sony sees solid growth on TV, cameras sales

(Reuters) - "We grew substantially greater last year, and we plan to grow substantially greater this year," Glasgow said at a press briefing on Wednesday.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

European Government Bonds Decline on Concern Growth Will Push Rates Higher

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds fell,
pushing 10-year yields to the highest since August 2002, after
European Central Bank official Erkki Liikanen said the outlook
for growth in the euro region will be ``positive'' for years.

Bund yields have climbed 21 basis points this month as
increasing business investment and hiring in the $10.4 trillion
economy prompts traders to raise bets the ECB will increase
rates twice more in 2007. The bonds pared losses after U.S.
Treasuries rebounded today on speculation higher yields will
increase the cost of borrowing for business and households.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

WellPoint says to meet prior earnings outlook

(Reuters) - In April, the company had said that it expects net income of $1.35 a share for the second quarter and $5.54 a share for 2007. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $1.35 a share for the quarter and $5.55 a share for the full year, both excluding items, according to Reuters Estimates.






Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-U.S. April business inventories rise 0.4 pct

(Reuters) - Business sales at retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers
rose 0.7 percent in April to $1.1 trillion.




Treasury prices held steady at higher levels with the
10-year note up 11/32 at 5.24 percent following release of the
figures.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Neenah to close Ohio fine paper mill; sees $4 mln costs

(Reuters) - Operations at the mill, which has a capacity of about
39,000 tons per year, will be phased out over the next 12
months, Neenah said in a statement.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Oil, Gasoline Gain on Smaller-Than-Expected Rise in U.S. Fuel Inventories

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil and gasoline rose after a
government report showed that U.S. supplies of the motor fuel
were little changed last week.

Gasoline supplies rose 3,000 barrels to 201.5 million in the
week ended June 8, the Energy Department reported. A gain of 1.5
million barrels was expected, according to the median of 16
responses in a Bloomberg News survey. Refineries operated at 89.2
percent of capacity, the lowest since the week ended May 4.
Refinery operations were expected to increase, the survey showed.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-Fed's Geithner calls for flexible FX rates in Asia

(Reuters) - Timothy F. Geithner, New York Federal Reserve Bank
President, did not single out any particular country in Asia,
but in a prepared speech, to be delivered at a dinner for the
Economic Society of Singapore, his comments appeared to be
partly aimed at China, whose fixed exchange rate has been the
source of considerable tension with the United States.




Geithner warned that fixed or partially fixed exchange rate
regimes pose a constraint on monetary policy and that while
inflation in emerging Asian economies remains relatively low,
the pace of credit growth and the behaviour of asset prices
provide some evidence of "a growing tension among competing
objectives."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 2-NY Fed's Dudley says markets well behaved

(Reuters) - "Generally, this year has been marked by low volatility and
ample liquidity in most segments of the fixed-income, equities
and foreign exchange markets," said William Dudley, executive
vice president at the New York Fed, who oversees financial
markets.




U.S. bond yields have risen sharply in recent weeks to
five-year highs on concerns about inflation and monetary policy
and Dudley noted in his remarks that bond market selling had
intensified on Tuesday. Bond yields and prices move inversely.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

European Stocks Rebound; Antofagasta, Rio Tinto Group, Ericsson Advance

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose as bond yields
retreated from five-year highs and Antofagasta Plc said 2007 will
be a ``good'' year, underpinning gains by mining companies.

UniCredit SpA, Italy's biggest lender, and phone company BT
Group Plc, paced an advance by companies that are the most
sensitive to lower interest rates. Antofagasta, a copper mining
company, climbed to a record. Ericsson AB rebounded from a one-
month low after Citigroup Inc. recommended shares of the world's
largest maker of wireless phone networks.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Ceridian shareholder against sale at "low price"

(Reuters) - Ceridian last month agreed to be bought by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners and insurance company Fidelity National Financial Inc. for $5.3 billion in cash or $36 per share.







Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Retail sales jump 1.4 pct in May

(Reuters) - Excluding automobiles that account for 20 percent of total retail business, sales rose 1.3 percent following a 0.1 percent April rise that was originally reported as flat. Analysts had expected a 0.7 percent increase excluding motor vehicles and parts sales.




Sales at gasoline stations rose 3.8 percent in their strongest monthly increase since April 2006, but excluding gasoline, retail sales still rose a healthy 1.2 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Investors rethink rates but stick with stocks

(Reuters) - LONDON, June 13 - Investors have dramatically raised their expectations for global interest rates over the past month but made no move to shift away from their heavy exposure to stocks, a poll showed on Wednesday.



Merrill Lynch said its June survey of 201 fund managers also found that perceptions that equities were overvalued had risen to the highest level since early 2004.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Russian Shares, Now Cheaper, Get Bear Stearns Upgrade on Profit Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- Investors should buy Russian stocks
because they are cheap given the prospects for economic and
profit growth, Bear Stearns & Co. said, changing its investment
stance on the country.

Marianna Kozintseva and Thierry Wizman, New York-based
strategists at the biggest broker for U.S. hedge funds, raised
their recommendation for Russian equities to ``market weight''
from ``underweight,'' meaning investors should now hold the
country's stocks in proportion to the shares' weightings in
international indexes.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Canada's Dollar Falls to Lowest in Almost Two Weeks Before Shipment Report

(Bloomberg) -- The Canadian dollar fell to the
lowest in almost two weeks before a government report which may
show manufacturing shipments slowed in April.

The currency also dropped amid a broad rally in the U.S.
dollar as investors pared bets that the Federal Reserve will cut
borrowing costs this year. Yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury
note rose to the highest since April 2002.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

German builders worried by China policy in Africa

(Reuters) - German building firms are concerned about China's efforts to secure raw materials in Africa to sustain its booming economy, the managing director of the HDB construction industry association said in an interview.

"Not just the construction industry, the whole of German industry is concerned about China's policy in Africa," Michael Knipper said. "This applies both to the future availability of raw materials, and also to Africa's development chances."


Read more at Reuters Africa

BioFuel to sell 5.25 mln shares at $10.50/shr in IPO

(Reuters) - The development-stage ethanol producer expects to list its
stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol "BIOF."





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Gold hits three-month low as dollar climbs

(Reuters) - Gold fell to a three-month low on Wednesday when the dollar extended its ascent against major currencies as markets dropped expectations of lower U.S. interest rates later in the year.

Spot gold fell as low as $642.90 an ounce, its weakest since mid-March, and was last quoted just above that at $644.55/645.05 at 1013 GMT, compared with $648.30/649.80 last quoted in New York.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Wall St set for weak start as rate cloud lingers

(Reuters) - A report on May retail sales later in the day along with the release of the Federal Reserve's monthly report on the economy will give the market some more insight into how the U.S. consumer fared last month.




September Dow Jones futures fell 0.2 percent, while S&P futures fell 0.2 percent, as did Nasdaq 100 futures


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.K. Day-Ahead Power Rises as Oil Plants Run Due to Lower Spare Capacity

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. power for day-ahead delivery
increased as generators used oil-fired and hydroelectric plants
for a second day, amid lower-than-expected availability of spare
generation capacity.

Day-ahead baseload power for delivery in the U.K. rose as
much as 5.4 percent to 29.50 pounds ($58.20) a megawatt-hour,
according to prices on Bloomberg from the energy broker Spectron
Group Plc. It traded at 28.50 pounds at 9:56 a.m. in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Treasuries Steady After Slump; Kokusai's Horii Sees U.S. Economic Slowdow

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries steadied after yields on
10-year notes reached a five-year high and investors said they
see no signs of accelerating inflation in the U.S.

``We don't have any concern about inflation risk,'' said
Masataka Horii, a manager for the $46 billion Kokusai Global
Sovereign Open fund in Tokyo, the world's second-biggest bond
fund. ``The U.S. economy will slow in the future so we should
stay in this market. The housing sector has already slowed down
and rising yields will hurt it again.''


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European shares dip on rising bond yields

(Reuters) - The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.5 percent at 1,566.9, surrending Tuesday's 0.5 percent gain. The index is down about 1 percent in the past week.




U.S. Treasuries recovered from an early slide that drove benchmark yields to a five-year high in Asia trade on Wednesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Delhaize America prices debt buy-back tender

(Reuters) - BRUSSELS, June 13 - Belgian supermarket group Delhaize said on Wednesday its subsidiary Delhaize America Inc had priced its tender offer to purchase up to $1.1 billion of outstanding debt.



It said as of June 12, some $1.81 billion had been validly tendered for its offer.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Swiss Central Bank May Raise Its Benchmark Interest Rate to Six-Year High

(Bloomberg) -- The Swiss central bank may raise its
benchmark interest rate to a six-year high to prevent an
expanding economy and a weaker franc from stoking inflation, a
survey of economists shows.

The Swiss National Bank will raise the three-month Libor
target rate by a quarter-point to 2.5 percent tomorrow, the
highest since September 2001, according to all 25 economists in a
Bloomberg News survey. The bank will announce its decision at
9:30 a.m. in Bern. Economists expect the rate to reach 2.75
percent in September and 3 percent in December, the survey shows.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Zambia to avoid non-concessionary loans - finmin

(Reuters) - Zambia has been promised $670 million by government and international donors in 2007 but will avoid loans that do not offer concessionary interest rates to keep its debt burden manageable, its finance minister has said.

The southern African country has only $500 million in outstanding debt after the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and western creditors wrote off a large part of it last year.


Read more at Reuters Africa