Bank of England Struggles to Retain Economists Lured by Big City Bonuses

(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England's governing board
said it's concerned about an exodus of economists, who were lured
by higher pay in London's financial services industry last year.

``There has been some concern that the implementation of
changes to the staff mix in the monetary analysis and financial
stability areas has been adversely affected by a higher rate of
resignation and vacancies in the past year,'' the U.K. central
bank's directors said in its annual report, published yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

NY seeks Wal-Mart records on alleged surveillance

(Reuters) - The comptroller, who is the investment advisor for New York City's pension funds, said he wants to inspect and copy all books and records referring to the proponent of any shareholder proposal submitted to Wal-Mart between 2002 and the present.




As noted in Thompson's letter, news of the alleged surveillance was first reported on April 4 by the Wall Street Journal. On April 20, Wal-Mart sent shareholders a letter saying it had conducted a "lengthy internal investigation" and denied the surveillance had occurred, Thompson recounted.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Futures edge up, housing data looms

(Reuters) - Lennar Corp. , the No. 2 U.S. home builder, reported a quarterly loss and forecast another loss for the third quarter. Lennar said it continues to see weak and "perhaps deteriorating market conditions" for the remainder of 2007.




Shares of Lennar traded in Frankfurt fell 2.5 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Lennar posts quarterly loss on lower revenue

(Reuters) - Analysts on average had forecast earnings of 1 cent a share, according to Reuters Estimates.




The U.S. housing market has been suffering from a steep downturn for more than a year, as high prices and climbing interest rates have repelled prospective buyers. Speculators, who bought homes to quickly sell, also have retreated from the market, unloading their investments.


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UPDATE 1-BlackRock to buy Quellos fund of funds business

(Reuters) - BlackRock said it will combine its hedge and private equity
fund of funds activities, following the acquisition.




The combined business is expected to have more than $25.4
billion in assets under management.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Lennar posts quarterly loss on lower revenue

(Reuters) - Lennar posted a net loss of $244.2 million, or $1.55 a
share for the fiscal second quarter that ended April 30,
compared with net earnings of $324.7 million, or $2 a share, a
year earlier.




Analysts on average had forecast earnings of 1 cent a
share, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Philippines' Rizal Bank Buys $60 Million of CDOs for Yield, Treasurer Says

(Bloomberg) -- Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., which
has given investors in Philippine banks the second-highest total
return in the past year, said it bought more than $60 million of
collateralized debt obligations to diversify its investments.

Rizal Bank accumulated since April ``single A-rated, managed
CDOs'' that return 50 basis points higher than the nation's
foreign-currency bonds, said Sergio Edeza, the Manila-based
bank's treasurer in a telephone interview today.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News