Shire says gets U.S. approval signal on ADHD drug

(Reuters) - "The information requested by the FDA was not unexpected,
and Shire is working with the FDA to provide a full and timely
response to the agency's request," Shire said in a statement.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UK's Gateway muscles into Kenyan pay-TV market

(Reuters) - London-based Gateway Communications, a satellite and telecoms group, will next month beam its new pay-TV service into Kenya and plans to woo customers with one month's free subscription.

But Gateway, which is hoping to rival Africa's largest media company, Naspers, with a pan-African service, said on Wednesday that customers in the world's poorest continent would still pay at least $226 for a satellite dish and decoder and $26 per month to get its new 15-channel GTV service -- for now.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Reliance Communications Cuts Loan Premium as Profit Increases, Bankers Say

(Bloomberg) -- Reliance Communications Ltd., India's
second-biggest mobile phone company, will pay less interest on a
$1 billion loan after its profit more than doubled to a record,
said three bankers involved in the financing.

The company, which added 1.4 million new subscribers last
month, is paying interest of 54 basis points more than the London
interbank offered rate, a borrowing benchmark, according to the
bankers, who declined to be identified before a company
announcement. The premium is about half of what the company pays
on a $500 million loan borrowed last year, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China Central Bank's Wu Xiaoling Urges `Patience' on Exchange-Rate Changes

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese central banker Wu Xiaoling
reaffirmed the government's policy of keeping the yuan stable, a
day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he'll seek
``more creative'' ways to press for increased flexibility.

The world must be ``patient'' over the pace of the nation's
reforms, People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Wu said today at
a Beijing forum marking the 10th anniversary of the Asian
financial crisis. China will move toward a demand-driven exchange
rate, the central banker said.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Scholes, Nobel Winner for Options Formula, Seeks Japan Investment License

(Bloomberg) -- Myron Scholes, who won a Nobel prize
for developing the model used to value options, is seeking a
license to advise Japanese pension funds after opening an office
in the country.

``We have an application in to Japanese regulators for a
discretionary fund management license to enable us to allocate
pension fund money in our fund or other alternative
investments,'' Scholes said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Asian Aframax Ship Rate Gains May Be Limited as Supply of Tankers Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Gains in the cost of shipping 80,000
metric tons of oil on Asian routes may be curbed in the next
several days as the supply of tankers increases, brokers
including Matsui & Co. said.

The rate of shipping crude or fuel oil on so-called Aframax
tankers to Singapore from Kuwait climbed for a second day,
gaining 1.7 percent to 148.27 yesterday, according to the
London-based Baltic Exchange. Shipment cost on the route fell
1.2 percent in the week ended June 15, the first decline in
three weeks.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Brazil Market Gets Indigestion on Spate of Homebuilder Share Offerings

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Gafisa SA, Brazil's second-
biggest homebuilder, gained 34 percent last year after an initial
public offering in February. This year, the stock stalled.

Gafisa has fallen 1.5 percent in 2007, as 11 more developers
started trading shares in Sao Paulo, diluting investor demand for
real estate stocks. ``There are a lot of companies that have to
prove themselves,'' Gafisa Chief Executive Wilson Amaral said in
an interview in New York, where he was trying to convince
investors that his company is still a buy.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Japanese Shares Gain; Elpida Memory, Chip-Related Stocks, Steelmakers Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks advanced, led by
semiconductor-related companies such as Elpida Memory Inc. on
speculation profit will grow after prices of dynamic random
access memory, or DRAM, surged.

Tokyo Electron Ltd., the world's second-biggest supplier of
chipmaking equipment, jumped the most in a month.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

WRAPUP 1-U.S. lawmakers scrutinize Blackstone tax bill, IPO

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, June 20 - A co-author of a U.S.
Senate bill that would raise taxes on private equity firms
going public said on Wednesday he was open to discussing
shortening a built-in transition period that cushions any
potential tax hit on Blackstone Group LP [BG.UL].




Sen. Max Baucus has received feedback about his legislation
suggesting a five-year transition period is too long and should
be shortened, his office said late on Wednesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Japan's Shares Fall, Led by Toyota, Exporters, on Higher U.S. Bond Yields

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks declined, led by
exporters including Toyota Motor Corp., after higher U.S. bond
yields renewed concern that spending in the world's largest
economy will slow.

Nissan Motor Co., which made around 43 percent of its total
sales in North America last year, dropped by the most in almost
two weeks. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index had the biggest slide
in two weeks yesterday on concern a slump in the housing market
will intensify.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-US Senate struggles for deal on auto fuel standards

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, June 20 - The U.S. Senate struggled
on Wednesday to reach a compromise proposal to increase vehicle
fuel efficiency, a major disagreement point holding up progress
on broad-based energy legislation.




"We're hoping we'll find some middle ground," said Sen.
Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat fighting alongside other
auto industry allies to soften the bill's vehicle efficiency
plan.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

China's Smokers, Pollution-Related Illnesses, Spur Medical Device Stocks

(Bloomberg) -- China's smoking habits and pollution
are triggering heart disease, cancer and respiratory ailments in
the country's 1.3 billion inhabitants.

The government is spending more on everything from syringes
to ultrasound machines to prepare for an impending health-care
crisis. That's driving up shares of Chinese medical-equipment
makers, putting them among the best performers in the industry.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sakakibara Says Bank of Japan Must Lift `Absurdly Low' Rates to Help Yen

(Bloomberg) -- Eisuke Sakakibara, Japan's former
top currency official, said the Bank of Japan must raise
interest rates soon because the yen's drop has led to a
``dangerous'' bubble in carry trades.

``The cheapness of the yen has reached absurd levels and
the only cause for that is low interest rates,'' Sakakibara said
in an interview today after a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco. ``The Bank of Japan needs to normalize
interest rates as quickly as possible.''


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Bank of America unwinds Bear hedge funds positions

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
entered similar agreements with the funds.




Bank of America declined to comment. Bear Stearns was not
immediately available for comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

New Pfizer AIDS drug approval delayed

(Reuters) - Pfizer received a so-called approvable letter from the Food and Drug Administration for the twice-a-day pill that is the first drug designed to keep the HIV virus that causes AIDS from entering healthy immune cells. Older AIDS medicines attack the virus itself.



The company said it was in discussions with the FDA to address the agency's outstanding questions and finalize the product labeling as soon as possible.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Market determines C$ value, says Canada's Flaherty

(Reuters) - "Our currency is a market currency, the market determines
the value of the Canadian dollar and that's not about to
change," Flaherty told CTV television after a meeting with
provincial finance ministers.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Merck says FDA to decide on wider Gardasil use

(Reuters) - Gardasil, which protects against several strains of Human Papillomavirus, is approved as a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer caused by the virus for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26. The company is seeking a similar expanded label with European regulators.



Merck said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had agreed to a standard review period for the expanded indication, which usually takes about 10 months. A priority review would have cut the decision time to six months.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-US' Paulson sees world support for China yuan move

(Reuters) - "Europe's trade deficit with China is growing twice as fast
as ours. The rest of the world's deficit with China is growing
faster than ours. This issue is a global issue," Paulson said.




Asked about Merrill Lynch's seizure of assets from
two hedge funds troubled by subprime loan-related losses,
Paulson declined to comment directly on the case, but said he
thought there would likely be more investor losses related to
subprime loans.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dow Jones board to run News Corp. talks - source

(Reuters) - News Corp. bought MySpace from Greenspan in 2005 for $580 million.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Astra, Huafeng, Jobstreet, PetroChina, Woori: Asia Ex-Japan Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
today 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.

Chinese energy companies: China Shenhua Energy Co. (1088
HK), the nation's largest coal producer, and PetroChina Co. (857
HK), the country's biggest oil company, won approval from the
Chinese government to sell yuan-denominated shares last week,
Caijing magazine reported on its Web site, without saying how it
got the information. China Shenhua shares fell 85 cents, or 3.1
percent, to HI$26.8. PetroChina jumped 58 cents, or 5.2 percent,
to HK$11.74.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

FCC official backs open-access for wireless auction

(Reuters) - Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, said he
supports the idea of imposing an "open-access" condition on
companies bidding to acquire part of the spectrum.




"We need to identify meaningful spectrum on which to
establish an open-access environment," Adelstein told Reuters,
expanding on remarks he made earlier at a telecommunications
industry conference. "This will open these key airwaves to
badly needed competition.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Deka Hires Pimco's Discher-Remmlinger to Manage Emerging Market Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale, which
runs Germany's second-biggest mutual-fund manager, hired Pacific
Investment Management Co.'s Michael Discher-Remmlinger to manage
its emerging market funds.

Discher-Remmlinger will start on Aug. 1 as a senior
portfolio manager in Deka's emerging markets bond team, a
spokeswoman for the Frankfurt-based bank said today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. senators seek SEC study on Blackstone bill

(Reuters) - The bill was introduced last week by leaders of the Senate
Finance Committee.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Brazil Stocks Fall, Led by Petrobras, on Strike Concern; Chile Stocks Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's main index fell for a second
day on investor concern that a possible strike at state-controlled
oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA will hurt output.

The Bovespa Index of the most-traded stocks on the Sao Paulo
exchange fell 289.68, or 0.5 percent, to 54,354.04 as of 1:00 p.m.
New York time. Petrobras, whose shares account for about one-sixth
of the index, fell 62 centavos, or 1.2 percent, to 51.02 reais.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Home Depot weighed credit rating versus buyback

(Reuters) - "We discovered that our business model could support more financial leverage," Carol Tome, Home Depot's chief financial officer, told investors and analysts on a conference call.




"While we believe it is important to maintain a strong investment-grade rating, holding onto our current rating would mean a lower capital distribution for our shareholders and we don't think we need to leave that money on the table," Tome said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Moody's, Fitch may cut Intelsat rating on stake sale

(Reuters) - The company now holds a "B2" corporate family rating from
Moody's, which is five steps below investment grade.




Fitch Ratings awards Intelsat a "B" issuer default rating,
which is also five steps into junk territory.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

SEC to ease accounting rules for foreign companies

(Reuters) - The change is part of the SEC's roadmap to eliminate by 2009 the requirement that foreign companies reconcile their financial statements to U.S. GAAP, and brings the United States closer to other major financial centers that have embraced international reporting standards.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Ericsson Issuing $1.6 Billion of Bonds, First Sale in More Than Two Years

(Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB, the world's largest
maker of mobile-network equipment, is issuing $1.6 billion of
bonds in its first sale of debt in more than two years.

The company is taking on new debt less than a week after
Standard & Poor's boosted Stockholm-based Ericsson's investment-
grade credit rating by two levels on rising demand for its
products. A slump in orders in 2002 prompted its rating being cut
to high-risk, high-yield, or junk, status.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Morgan Stanley ups Chart Industries; shares rise

(Reuters) - "I am not surprised to see a little jazz on an upgrade," said Natexis Bleichroeder analyst Jeff Spittel by phone.




The company has a good exposure to the markets of liquefied natural gas, clean coals and coal-to-liquids, Spittel said. "You also have a fundamentally cheap stock ... which has behaved really nicely since its offering."


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Pessimism on U.S. Stocks Declines to Lowest Since July 2004, Survey Says

(Bloomberg) -- Pessimism on U.S. stocks slipped to
the lowest since July 2004 last week, according to a survey by
Investors Intelligence, as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose
to within 7 points of a record.

The percentage of bearish writers declined to 18.9 percent
from 21.1 percent a week earlier, the New Rochelle, New York-
based newsletter reported. At the same time, the S&P 500
approached its June 4 all-time high of 1539.18.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

RWE gets nod from another US state for water sale

(Reuters) - He reiterated RWE plans to sell shares in American Water
this year, adding the company is not in a hurry to do so and
wants to sell at a maximum profit.




RWE is focusing on selling power and natural gas in Britain
amd central and eastern Europe, and is shedding its water units
outside continental Europe. It has already sold its UK water
unit, Thames Water.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Mexican stocks slip, peso flat as tax reform lands

(Reuters) - Mexico has one of the lowest tax rates in Latin America,
and a fiscal overhaul is vital to boost government revenue.




Enacting a major tax reform would be a major boost for
President Felipe Calderon, who won last year's presidential
elections by less than a percentage point.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes turn lower on rate worries

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was down 11.22
points, or 0.08 percent, at 13,624.20. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was down 2.32 points, or 0.15 percent, at
1,531.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.28
points, or 0.12 percent, at 2,623.48.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Swedish Krona Gains Most in Five Years as Riksbank Predicts Higher Rates

(Bloomberg) -- Sweden's krona strengthened the most
in five years against the euro after the central bank said it
will raise interest rates by more than previously predicted to
cool economic growth and inflation.

The yield on two-year government bonds rose to the highest
since 2002 after the Riksbank increased its benchmark today and
said it may push the rate up twice more to 4 percent this year.
The bank previously said it would lift borrowing costs to 3.5
percent. Governor Stefan Ingves said the economy ``is doing
well'' and price gains will probably accelerate.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Colgate, 3D Systems, Federated, LSI, Morgan Stanley: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 10:10 a.m. New York time.

3D Systems Corp. (TDSC US) dropped $2.56, or 10 percent, to
$22.43. The maker of systems to create three-dimensional models
said it sold 1.25 million shares in a private placement for
$17.50 each. Proceeds from the sale, which amounted to about 6
percent of the shares outstanding prior to the offering, will be
used in part to fund the launch of its previously announced V-
Flash 3-D Modeler, the company said.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-UBS starts Tyco "when issued" with buy

(Reuters) - The brokerage said the rating reflects its view of an
attractive mix of later-cycle industrial exposures, favorable
secular growth components, a significant cost reduction program
and an attractive valuation.




In a research note, the brokerage said it expects Tyco to
grow earnings per share by 40 percent in 2008 and 30 percent in
2009.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Markets may spoil wealth management party - survey

(Reuters) - A boost in equity markets, which form the main source of
income for wealth managers, was one key reason for the sector to
thrive, said Scorpio Partnership, which undertook the survey, as
well as new money put in by rich clients.




"There is a feeling that there is easy money to make at the
moment, but our research shows that long-term successes are only
built on sensible strategies," the London-based consultancy
group said in a statement on Wednesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Treasuries Drop on Concern Housing Weakness Won't Weigh Down U.S. Economy

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell for the first time
in four days on concern a slowdown in housing may not weigh on
the U.S. economy.

``The market just got overbought the past couple of days,''
said Gary Pollack, who helps oversee $12 billion as head of
fixed-income trading at Deutsche Bank AG's Private Wealth
Management unit in New York.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Banks, commodities boost FTSE amid global rally

(Reuters) - The UK's leading share index advanced on Wednesday, as commodities and banks helped European stocks keep up with a global rally and as the market shrugged off minutes from the Bank of England's June meeting.

Financial stocks extended their overnight gains on Wall Street, with Man Group, the world's largest listed hedge-fund company rising 1.9 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-Countryside supports C$199.8 mln Fort Chicago bid

(Reuters) - The bid represents a 6.1 percent premium over the
Countryside unit closing price June 19, and a 10.9 percent
premium to the trading price just before Countryside's Feb. 9
announcement that it would begin a strategic review.




Countryside has investments in two energy systems in
Canada, with a combined thermal and electric generation
capacity of about 122 megawatts, and two gas-fired cogeneration
plants in California, with a combined power generation capacity
of 94 megawatts.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Platinum Climbs in London After Impala Labor Talks; Palladium Also Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum climbed to a one-week high
in London after pay talks continued without an agreement at
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., reviving speculation miners will
strike in South Africa, the biggest producer of the metal.
Palladium also rose.

Negotiations that continued until 11 p.m. local time
yesterday failed to bring a breakthrough, Eddie Majadibodu,
chief negotiator for the National Union of Mineworkers, said
today. Anglo Platinum Ltd., the biggest platinum producer, is
halting output at its Rustenburg underground mine for safety
checks in two days' time following the deaths of five workers in
the past two weeks.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

CarMax quarterly earnings rise 15 percent

(Reuters) - Analysts were expecting CarMax to earn 30 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.



) Keywords: CARMAX RESULTS/


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Wal-Mart to open 1,000 MoneyCenters by end 2008

(Reuters) - The retailer made the announcement in a posting on its Web site.




Read more at Reuters.com Business News

India would welcome Airbus assembly plant

(Reuters) - Airbus agreed last year to set up an assembly line for the
A320 family in China from 2009 to meet strong demand. India's
aviation market is also witnessing rapid expansion.




"I would be very happy to see that," Indian Civil Aviation
Minister Praful Patel told reporters, asked whether Airbus
should consider opening an assembly line in India.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Total says still plans to sell Sanofi stake soon

(Reuters) - Its comment came after Sanofi and its U.S. partner Bristol-Myers Squibb on Tuesday won a U.S. trial upholding a patent on Sanofi's blockbuster bloodthinner Plavix.



"Our position on Sanofi has not changed since our annual general meeting last month," a spokeswoman at Total said, giving no further details on the timing of a sale.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. shares seen opening up, eyes on Morgan Stanley

(Reuters) - Eyes would also be on three Federal Reserve speakers amid
uncertainty about the next move in U.S. interest rates.




Dow Jones , S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures
were all up 0.2 percent at 0925 GMT. The indicative Dow Jones
index , which tracks the Dow stocks as they are traded in
Frankfurt, was 0.1 percent higher.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.K. Power Advances to Six-Month High on Narrow Margin of Spare Production

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. power for next-day delivery
matched a six-month high after generators used oil-fired and
hydroelectric plants to meet demand yesterday, indicating a
narrow margin of spare capacity.

Day-ahead baseload U.K. power rose as much as 3.5 percent
to 29.50 pounds ($58.77) a megawatt hour, according to prices on
Bloomberg from the energy broker GFI Group Inc. It traded at
29.25 pounds as of 9:02 a.m. in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Treasuries Gain for Fourth Day, Longest Rally Since February, on Housing

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose for a fourth day,
the longest rally since February, before a report on mortgage
applications that may add to evidence of a housing slowdown.

Yields on benchmark 10-year notes have fallen 11 basis
points this week as reports showed house construction declined
for the first time in four months and confidence among
homebuilders dropped to the lowest since 1991. Bonds have risen
on speculation a slowdown in the U.S. housing market will keep
the Federal Reserve from increasing interest rates.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

South Africa Increases State Workers' Pay Offer, Strikers Given Deadline

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's government offered to
pay its 1.1 million state employees an average wage increase of
7.5 percent and improve their housing benefits in a bid to end a
strike that began June 1.

The government has given unions until 6 p.m. local time to
accept the package or will revert to its previous offer of 7.25
percent, union negotiator Chris Klopper told the South African
Broadcasting Corp. today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. Loan Credit-Default Swaps May Overtake Loan Trades, Citigroup Says

(Bloomberg) -- Credit-default swaps linked to loans
will be more actively traded in the U.S. than the loans
themselves within a year, according to analysts at Citigroup Inc.,
the largest U.S. bank.

Trading of loan credit-default swaps now accounts for 50
percent of the volume of loan trades handled by Citigroup, New
York-based Jonathan Calder, head of the U.S. bank's loan sales
and trading, told a conference yesterday in Tokyo.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Philippine Bonds Fall After Yields Rise at Auction: World's Biggest Mover

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine bonds fell, the biggest
fluctuation of any government debt market today, after the
nation's borrowing costs rose at an auction of 10-year debt
yesterday. The peso gained.

Ten-year bonds dropped for a third day after Finance
Secretary Gary Teves yesterday said the nation's revenue
collection agencies missed their targets last month. Teves said
the government's revenue increased at half the pace of nominal
economic growth, raising concern the Bureau of Internal Revenue
and the Bureau of Customs will keep missing their targets.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Sainsbury, DSG, Xstrata, Tullow Oil May Move: U.K., Irish Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in U.K. and Irish markets today. Stock symbols are in parentheses
and prices are from the previous close.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index fell 53.30, or 0.8 percent, to
6650.20 in London. The FTSE All-Share Index fell 28.41, or 0.8
percent, to 3436.71. Ireland's ISEQ Index fell 47.15, or 0.5
percent, to 9596.26.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News