Deutsche Telekom, SGL Carbon, Siemens May Move: German Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in German markets today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after
the company names and prices are from the Xetra close unless
otherwise stated.

DAX futures expiring in September rose 31.50, or 0.4
percent, to 8090.50 at 8:19 a.m. in Frankfurt. The DAX fell 1.6
percent to 7964.71 on the Xetra electronic-trading system.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Oil steady as U.S. crude stocks cushion Nigeria risk

(Reuters) - London benchmark Brent crude , currently seen as the best indicator of world oil prices, rose 6 cents to $70.28 a barrel by 0348 GMT, after slipping 20 cents on Thursday. U.S. light crude eased 7 cents to $68.58 a barrel.




Union leaders in Nigeria vowed to extend their strike to protest against a rise in fuel prices to a third day on Friday, after talks with the government ended in a stalemate.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

NYSE Euronext bids for Borsa Italiana: report

(Reuters) - The NYSE Euronext offer is at a preliminary stage and could be restructured, according to the report. NYSE Euronext is the parent of the New York Stock Exchange. It could not immediately be reached for comment.




The LSE said on Wednesday it has begun discussions with the Milan bourse and a source told Reuters the talks were at an advanced stage.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Bank of England Talks to Banks to Eradicate `Scruffy' Notes, Cashier Says

(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England is in talks with
U.K. lenders, including HSBC Holdings Plc, to replace ``scruffy''
five-pound ($10) notes in circulation with a billion pounds of
new bills, its chief cashier said.

``We're in close contact with the issuing banks,'' said
Andrew Bailey, whose signature appears on every bill printed by
the central bank, in an interview. ``We will look at the way in
which banks are remunerated for sorting and issuing notes,
whether we've got the distribution of those incentives right
between the denominations of notes. On the face of it I think we
haven't.''


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Jones Apparel near $825 mln Barneys sale-NYT

(Reuters) - Jones Apparel did not immediately return a call seeking
comment. A spokeswoman for Istithmar in Dubai could not
immediately be reached.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

ASIA CREDIT-Softbank spreads to narrow as mobile unit blossoms

(Reuters) - After Softbank's 1.8 trillion yen purchase of
Vodafone's Japanese mobile phone arm last year, solid
profit growth at the unit and gains on bigger rivals NTT DoCoMo
Inc. and KDDI Corp. have spurred a spread
rally.




"Softbank's good performance, such as becoming the biggest
net gainer of users among Japanese cellphone operators in May, is
supporting bullish sentiment for the firm's CDS," said Mana
Nakazora, head of credit research at JPMorgan Securities.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Lone Star to pick S.Korea unit buyers soon-source

(Reuters) - Small-sized builder Kukdong, which Lone Star bought for $203
million in 2003, is estimated to fetch about 300-400 billion won
by local newspapers which also valued
STARLease at up to 200 billion won.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 2-Lone Star sells KEB stake for $1.28 bln-source

(Reuters) - SEOUL, June 22 - U.S. private equity firm Lone
Star sold a 13.6 percent stake in Korea Exchange Bank in
a block trade to raise $1.28 billion, a source said on Friday,
turning a profit from its troubled investment in the South
Korean lender.




Lone Star [LS.UL] cut back its holding in KEB
to 53 percent after an agreement to sell the lender to Kookmin
Bank for $7.3 billion was aborted last year amid a
legal dispute with regulators over its $1.2 billion purchase of
a majority stake in KEB in 2003.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Japan Shares Fall, Led by Property Developers, Insurers; Advantest Jumps

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks declined, paced by
property developers including Mitsubishi Estate Co. and insurers
such as Millea Holdings Inc. on concern rising bond yields will
curb companies' earnings.

Measures tracking real estate and insurance companies
declined 2.2 percent and 2 percent respectively, the worst
performing industry groups in the Topix index.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Australian Oil Stocks Decline, Led by Woodside Petroleum; Rinker Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Australian oil stocks fell, led by
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. after crude slid for a fourth day. Rinker
Group Ltd. gained after Mexico-based Cemex SAB extended its $14.2
billion offer by almost a month to garner a larger stake.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 14.20, or 0.2 percent, to
6372.80 as of 10:20 a.m. in Sydney. About five stocks slid for
every four that gained. The benchmark is set for a 1.2 percent
gain this week.


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Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average, Topix Fall; Mizuho, Toyota Lead Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average
fell 65.31, or 0.4 percent, to 18,174.99 at 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo.
The broader Topix index dropped 6.63, or 0.4 percent, to
1782.75.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp. led the
declines.


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UAW calls its local heads to meeting Friday-report

(Reuters) - Delphi spokesman Lindsey Williams said on Thursday night
that negotiations were continuing. A spokesman for the UAW
could not be reached immediately for comment on the report.




Top union officials and the local unit leaders met on
Tuesday as well. Two local leaders who spoke on condition they
not be named told Reuters that they had been informed at that
meeting that a deal with Delphi was very close and could be
announced any day.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Telus-BCE merger talks worry unions

(Reuters) - Early on Thursday, Vancouver, British Columbia-based Telus
confirmed that it was in preliminary talks to acquire BCE,
Canada's biggest telecom. Such a combination would dominate the
Canadian communications industry if it were permitted by
federal regulators.




Danny Taurozzi, vice president of the Canadian
Telecommunications Employees' Association, which represents
more than 9,000 workers in various departments at
Montreal-based BCE, said the union is concerned about job
security.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-US Senators said to reach auto efficiency deal

(Reuters) - The deal left automakers and their allies in Congress
dissatisfied and hopeful for alternatives later in the
legislative process, said senators and aides familiar with the
discussions that are part of a larger energy bill.




Details were to be announced at a news conference. But the
sources said the compromise would preserve much of the current
Senate proposal in the energy legislation, requiring all
vehicles across a manufacturer's fleet to average 35 miles per
gallon by 2020, a 10 mpg increase over the current level.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Eurex May Offer Banks Incentives to Trade Its Credit-Derivatives Futures

(Bloomberg) -- Eurex AG, Europe's biggest futures
exchange, is preparing incentives for banks to support its listed
credit-derivatives contracts, a senior executive said.

``We are moving toward a more creative partnership scheme,''
Michael Peters, a Eurex board member, said in an interview in
London. ``We want to optimize the incentive structure so it's
sufficiently attractive'' for banks to provide prices, he said.
Eurex has already selected a bank for the plan.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Brazil's Bovespa Gains, Led by Petrobras: Telmex Declines on Mexico Bolsa

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's main stock index gained for
the first time in three days, led by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, on
speculation that profit will rise at the state-controlled oil
company after crude prices increased.

The Bovespa Index of the most-traded stocks on the Sao Paulo
exchange rose 627.64, or 1.2 percent, to 54,656.88. Petrobras added
51 centavos, or 1 percent, to 51.30 reais. Mexico's Bolsa index
gained 280.08, or 0.9 percent, to 31,830.84.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Southern Calif. grocery workers to vote on strike

(Reuters) - LOS ANGELES, June 21 - Grocery workers in
Southern California will vote on Sunday on whether to strike
after contract talks between the union and three major grocery
chains broke down on Thursday, a union spokesman said.




Workers representing the union at the bargaining table
recommended that members vote to authorize a strike at Safeway
Inc.'s Vons and Pavilions units and Kroger Co.'s
Ralphs chain, spokesman Mike Shimpock said on a conference
call.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Long maturities fall on flood of corporate issuance

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 21 - Long-dated Treasuries fell
for a second straight day on Thursday on sales associated with
corporate debt issuance, but shorter maturities held steady,
supported by demand from investors seeking safe-haven assets
amid growing troubles in the subprime mortgage market.




Investors have gravitated to low-risk, short-dated
Treasuries to shield themselves from problems in the subprime
sector, which resurfaced in recent days involving two hedge
funds managed by Bear Stearns .


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Congress opposes status quo farm bill: senator

(Reuters) - "It's an ideal time to do some reform, to rearrange our priorities and to look ahead," said chairman Tom Harkin, who wants to expand land stewardship programs, spend more on public nutrition, boost biofuels and aid specialty crop growers.




A House Agriculture subcommittee voted on Tuesday to extend for five years the grain, cotton and soybean subsidies created in 2002. Congress is writing a successor to the 2002 law.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Canada's Dollar Tumbles Most in Eight Months on Disappointing Retail Sales

(Bloomberg) -- The Canadian dollar declined the
most in almost eight months as April retail sales grew at a
slower pace than economists expected.

Investors pared bets that the Bank of Canada will raise the
key lending rate more than twice this year after retail activity
excluding automobile sales didn't grow. Government reports this
week showed wholesale sales in April unexpectedly declined the
most in almost four years and a measure of inflation in May rose
less than analysts forecast.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Lone Star sells KEB stake for $1.28 bln-source

(Reuters) - Lone Star sold 87.7 million shares in South Korea's No. 5
bank at 13,600 won per share, a 6.8 percent discount to its
closing price on Thursday, said the source, who declined to be
named.




The offer was increased from the initially planned 73.1
million shares, the source said, with demand far exceeding
availability.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Treasuries Little Changed on Speculation Bear Hedge Fund Losses May Widen

(Bloomberg) --Treasuries were little changed on
concern losses at Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds may widen.

The difference in yields between two-year notes, which
typically gain more in times of turmoil, and those of 10-year
notes was near the widest in more than a year. The perceived
risk of owning corporate bonds rose worldwide.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

GE, Pearson drop DJ takeover pursuit

(Reuters) - GE controls NBC Universal, which operates top U.S. business cable news channel CNBC.




"Following these discussions, GE and Pearson have decided not to pursue this combination," GE said in a statement. "Pearson and NBC Universal continue to discuss cooperative agreements between CNBC and the Financial Times Group."


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Bear Stearns CDO liquidation sparks contagion fears

(Reuters) - So far the risks seem contained, but the fallout may be
felt everywhere from leveraged buyouts, investment bank
earnings and sales of collateralized debt obligations. Those
securities have pushed sales of corporate and housing-related
debt to record highs in the past year.




Merrill Lynch & Co. on Wednesday sold only $100
million of $850 million of highly rated collateral assets it
auctioned after seizing them back from the Bear Stearns funds,
said a person familiar with the auction. Three other banks --
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , JPMorgan Chase & Co.
and Bank of America Corp. -- have closed out their
positions with the funds. For details, click on
[ID:nN20245025].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dollar General says shareholders approve KKR deal

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 21 - Dollar General Corp. said on Thursday that its shareholders had approved the discount retailer's sale to private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. [KKR.UL]



Chairman and Chief Executive David Perdue expects to resign upon completion of the deal, the company said, and KKR expects to name current President and Chief Operating Officer David Bere as interim CEO while it looks for a replacement.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Chile's PesoDrops for a Second Day Versus Dollar as Copper Prices Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Chile's peso weakened for a second
day after copper, the country's biggest export, fell.

``Today, the driver for the peso is the price of copper,''
said Benjamin Sierra, an economist at Bandesarrollo
Administradora de Fondos, which manages pension funds assets in
Santiago.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Credit derivative indexes wider on liquidity fears

(Reuters) - The credit markets have been jittery on liquidity concerns
after two hedge funds owned by Bear Stearns Cos. made
bad bets on securities linked to subprime mortgages and turned
in significant losses through April. Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.
seized some $850 million of collateral from the funds
late last week and sold off some of the assets on Wednesday.




The credit derivative indexes had widened in April as
housing concerns weighed on the spreads of home builders.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 2-Goldman Sachs real estate fund to buy Equity Inns

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 21 - Equity Inns Inc. ,
which owns mid-market hotels, has agreed to be acquired by
Goldman Sachs' real estate fund, Whitehall, in a deal
worth $2.2 billion, including assumed debt, the company said on
Thursday.




The price of $23 a share represents a premium of 19 percent
over Equity Inns' closing price on Wednesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

European Government Bonds Decline as Report Shows Signs of Life in Economy

(Bloomberg) -- European 10-year government bonds
fell, reversing earlier gains, as a report today showed the
economy grew at an unexpectedly rapid pace in June.

Yields on longer-date debt rebounded to near a five-year
high after Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's combined index of
services and manufacturing showed the highest reading since
February, contrary to the decline predicted in a Bloomberg News
survey. A separate report tomorrow will probably show German
business optimism is buoyant, stoking expectations the European
Central Bank will keep raising interest rates.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 2-Starbucks high end of '07 view 'very challenging'

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 21 - Starbucks Corp.'s
chief financial officer on Thursday said meeting the high end
of the coffee shop chain's 2007 earnings forecast will be "very
challenging" due to rising dairy costs and slowing growth in
its U.S. business, sending shares to a 20-month low.




CFO Michael Casey also said the company would maintain the
number of U.S. store openings at about 1,700 annually for the
next few years to relieve pressure on older outlets, and so the
company can funnel more resources into international markets
including China and Brazil.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

TREASURIES-Short-dated debt rises on rate, credit fears

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 21 - Shorter-dated U.S. Treasury
debt prices rose modestly on Thursday as investors sought
safe-haven assets amid concerns about hedge fund problems
stemming from U.S. subprime mortgages.




Jittery investors who want to pare their exposure to
long-term rates or adjust their hedges on mortgage holdings
fueled demand for shorter-maturity Treasuries, analysts said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Goldman Sachs real estate fund to buy Equity Inns

(Reuters) - Equity Inns owns more than 130 hotels under brands such as Courtyard, Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton Inn.




The hotel industry is in the midst of a multiyear boom as robust demand has allowed hoteliers to steadily raise rates. The upbeat market environment, supported by limited construction of new hotels, has made lodging assets hot commodities.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

REFILE-Left-leaning Canada party worried about BCE/Telus

(Reuters) - The New Democrats, who together with two other opposition
parties control Parliament, said they were worried about
consolidation in the industry and the fact there could be less
competition in the wireless sector.




No. 2 phone company Telus confirmed early on Thursday that
it was in talks to explore the acquisition of bigger rival
BCE.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Copper Falls From Two-Week High in New York After Global Inventories Jump

(Bloomberg) -- Copper fell from a two-week high in New
York after inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange
jumped the most in almost eight months.

Stockpiles rose 5,400 metric tons, or 4.7 percent, to 119,600
tons, the biggest gain since Oct. 25. Inventories climbed from the
lowest since October and were up for the first time in a month. The
price of copper had gained 20 percent this year, partly because of
the slump in supplies.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

South Africa's Cell C Phone Company May Default Within Year, Moody's Says

(Bloomberg) -- Cell C Ltd., South Africa's third-
biggest mobile phone company, may default on $805 million of
bonds within the next year as the company fails to generate
enough cash to pay interest, Moody's Investors Service said.

Moody's downgraded Cell C's credit rating on May 21
indicating the company was ``very close to a default,'' Craig
Jamieson, a credit analyst for Moody's in South Africa, said in
an interview in Johannesburg. The company may default ``within
the next year,'' he said. Cell C says it is confident it can
meet its repayment obligations.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Bond Risk Rises Worldwide on Concern Over Bear Stearns Hedge-Fund Losses

(Bloomberg) -- The perceived risk of owning
corporate bonds soared worldwide on concern over losses at hedge
funds run by Bear Stearns Cos.

Credit-default swaps based on 10 million euros ($13
million) of debt included in the iTraxx Crossover Series 7 Index
of 50 European companies jumped as much as 16,000 euros to
216,000 euros, the biggest one-day rise in three months,
according to Deutsche Bank AG. The CDX Crossover index in New
York surged as much as $10,000 to a nine-month high of $178,000.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

FMC to shut Baltimore agricultural chemicals plant

(Reuters) - The company said it will see benefits to its continuing
operations of between $5 million and $6 million in 2007 and
about $25 million to $30 million on an annualized basis in
2009.




The decision to close the plant was driven by FMC's efforts
to keep costs low by buying raw materials, intermediates and
finished products at lower-cost manufacturing locations.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

World needs rules for burying greenhouse gases: IEA

(Reuters) - The IEA said pilot projects for capturing gases -- emitted
mainly by burning fossil fuels in power plants, refineries, and
factories -- now accounted for just 0.05 percent of the
potential total by mid-century.




"There is a need...for a worldwide agreement on the legal
challenges," Claude Mandil, executive director of the IEA,
which advises 26 industrialized nations, told a news briefing
in Oslo during a conference on carbon capture and storage.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

U.K. Index Drops, Paced by Shares of Segro, Land Securities, DSG, Tesco

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks fell for a fourth day,
led by Segro Plc and Land Securities Group Plc among companies
that are most sensitive to higher interest rates. DSG
International Plc and Tesco Plc paced retailers lower.

Bradford & Bingley Plc led a decline by banks, while Vedanta
Resources Plc and Antofagasta Plc fell with the price of copper.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Competition to crimp Talanx profit growth in 2007

(Reuters) - Talanx has gotten out of some businesses, which will be
reflected in lower 2007 premiums, Haas said.




Talanx reinsurance unit Hannover Re sold its U.S.
specialty business, Praetorian, for example.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-S.Africa court to rule on police joining strike

(Reuters) - JOHANNESBURG, June 21 - South Africa's labour
court was expected to rule on Thursday on whether police,
prisons and traffic officers could join an already crippling
three-week public sector strike.




The court issued an interim interdict last Friday
prohibiting members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union
from taking part in the mass action, billed by unions
as the largest public strike in post-apartheid South Africa.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Collapse, Auction Send Shudder Through CDO Market

(Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co.'s threat to sell
$800 million of mortgage securities seized from Bear Stearns Cos.
hedge funds is sending shudders across Wall Street.

A sale would give banks, brokerages and investors the one
thing they want to avoid: a real price on the bonds in the fund
that could serve as a benchmark. The securities are known as
collateralized debt obligations, which exceed $1 trillion and
comprise the fastest-growing part of the bond market.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

CORRECTED - CORRECTED-H&R Block Q4 net income from cont ops rises 9 percent

(Reuters) - Revenue rose 8 percent to $2.4 billion.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

EDF Overtakes Total in Market Value; Stock Soars on Nuclear-Power Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA, Europe's
largest utility, overtook Total SA as the largest company traded
in euros after analysts raised their stock-price targets on
prospects for nuclear power.

EDF shares rose as much as 3.79 euros, or 5.1 percent, to a
record 77.89 euros in Paris. They traded at 77.62 euros at 11:09
a.m. local time. The shares have added 8.7 percent in the past
two days and 41 percent this year. The gains lifted EDF's market
valuation to 141 billion euros ($189 billion), exceeding Total,
Europe's third-largest oil company, for the first time.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Fallujah Patrol Finds Bombs on Ice, Showing Why Americans Press Withdrawal

(Bloomberg) -- The three U.S. Marines in Lance
Corporal Justin Moyer's Humvee shook their heads at the news on
their radio phone.

Iraqi police had just found some explosives hidden in
blocks of ice at an ice-making factory in Fallujah, long one of
Iraq's most rebellious towns. The explosives were raw material
for a roadside bomb, the Marines figured, to be provided to
insurgents disguised as a delivery of ice.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

S.Africa unit labour costs at 5.9 pct in Q4 - c.bank

(Reuters) - South Africa's unit labour costs increased by 5.9 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to a revised 5.2 percent in the previous quarter, the central bank said on Thursday.

Changes in nominal labour costs normally precede or coincide with changes in consumer price inflation, where the main CPIX gauge targeted by the Reserve Bank accelerated to an annualised 6.3 percent in April, breaching a 3-6 percent target.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Ameron 2nd-quarter earnings fall

(Reuters) - Earnings from continuing operations, which exclude a
business divested in 2006, were $1.63 per share.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

European 10-Year Bonds Drop for Second Day Before German Confidence Report

(Bloomberg) -- European bonds fell for a second day
before a report that's expected to show business optimism in the
region's largest economy is buoyant, underpinning the case for
the European Central Bank to keep lifting interest rates.

The drop in debt pushed 10-year yields to near a five-year
high as investors reassess the outlook for global borrowing
costs. An index tomorrow is likely to show German business
confidence held near the highest on record this month. Futures
show traders are adding to bets the ECB will raise rates twice
more this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.K. Stocks Decline, Paced by Shares of Liberty, Segro, InterContinental

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks dropped, paced by Liberty
International Plc, Segro Plc and InterContinental Hotels Group
Plc.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index retreated 35, or 0.5 percent,
to 6614.30 in London at 8:05 a.m. The FTSE All-Share Index fell
0.4 percent. Ireland's ISEQ Index dropped 0.8 percent to 9586.18.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News