European Stocks May Decline, Paced by Barclays, BNP Paribas, BAE Systems

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may decline as U.S.
equities retreated for a second day. Barclays Plc, Britain's
third-largest bank, and BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest, may
decline after their U.S.-traded securities dropped.

Iberdrola SA may be active after the Spanish power company
agreed to buy U.S.-based Energy East Corp. for $4.5 billion. Shares
of Roche Holding AG may move after the company offered to buy
Ventana Medical Systems Inc. of the U.S. for about $3 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Asian Stocks Fall for a Third Day on U.S. Spending Concern; Toyota Drops

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for a third day on
concern a slump in U.S. housing will curb spending in the
region's biggest export market.

Toyota Motor Corp., which made almost two-thirds of its
sales outside Japan last year, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.,
whose customers include Apple Inc., led declines after sales of
previously owned homes fell to the lowest in almost four years.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Estonia Risking Slump in Consumer Confidence and Slowdown, Moody's Says

(Bloomberg) -- Estonian economic growth could slow
more than expected as banks tighten lending and borrowers become
more cautious as they worry about the future, Moody's Investors
Service said.

A tighter labor supply prevented firms from expanding
production in the first quarter, contributing to a slowdown in
growth during the period to 9.8 percent, while the Baltic economy
could be further hit by a decline in business and consumer
confidence, Moody's said in a report today.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Toyota, Matsushita Elec raise cross-shareholdings

(Reuters) - According to a securities filing by Toyota on Monday, the
world's biggest automaker owned 20.7 million shares in the
Japanese electronics maker, or a 0.84 percent stake, as of the
end of last business year on March 31.




Toyota declined to say when it bought or how much it paid for
the shares, valued at 49.16 billion yen at the end
of March.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Malaysian Government Bonds to Account for 0.4% of Citigroup's Global Index

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian bonds will make up about
0.4 percent of Citigroup Inc.'s World Government Bond Index, a
benchmark tracked by some $1 trillion of global funds, the
world's biggest financial firm said.

Malaysia's ringgit-denominated government debt will be
included in the index for the first time as scheduled on July 1,
according to Susan Y. Lin, head of the bond index team in Hong
Kong. A total of $39.6 billion of Malaysia's securities qualify
for inclusion in the benchmark based on June 22 prices, she said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Anhui Conch May Raise $1.4 Billion in Shanghai Share Sale to Fund Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Anhui Conch Cement Co., China's
biggest maker of the construction material, plans to sell shares
valued at 11 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in Shanghai to upgrade
power equipment and boost output.

The company will offer 200 million new shares, equal to an
11.3 percent stake after the sale, Conch said in a Shanghai stock
exchange statement today, without giving a price or timing. The
stock closed at 55 yuan yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. 2-Year Yield Is Near Lowest Since May; Housing Slump Dents Confidence

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries were little changed,
with two-year yields near their lowest since May, before a
Commerce Department report that economists say will show new
home sales fell.

A separate private survey today may show consumer
confidence dropped, adding to expectations the Federal Reserve's
next move will be to cut interest rates. Demand for the relative
safety of U.S. government debt also rose on concern hedge fund
losses linked to mortgage defaults will spread.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Little Changed; News Corp. Gains, Fortescue Drops

(Bloomberg) -- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was
little changed. News Corp. gained on optimism it is closer to
concluding a $5 billion takeover offer for Dow Jones & Co.

Coles Group Ltd. rose on a report larger rival Woolworths
Ltd. is preparing to bid for its general merchandise assets.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. fell after it raised the cost estimate
of building an iron ore mine.


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Japan's Nikkei 225 Average, Topix Are Little Changed; Mitsubishi UFJ Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average
was little changed at 18,099.73 at 9:04 a.m. in Tokyo.
The broader Topix index was little changed at 1765.59.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and TDK Corp. gained,
while Advantest Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. declined.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

South Korea pension fund in talks to buy KEB-paper

(Reuters) - Lone Star owns 51 percent of the Korean lender after selling
a 13.6 percent stake for $1.28 billion in a block trade on
Friday.




"The National Pension Service is considering buying Korea
Exchange Bank as a strategic investor, not just as a financial
investor, and it seeking to form a consortium," an unnamed source
familiar with the KEB sale process was quoted as saying.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

IBM says reaches settlement with SEC

(Reuters) - Dollar General is a client of IBM's Retail Store Solutions
unit, which sells point-of-sale products, IBM said.





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Boston Scientific to acquire Remon Medical

(Reuters) - Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close over the summer.



Remon Medical is a development-stage company focused on creating communication technology for medical device applications.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Subprime guidance to address income documentation

(Reuters) - Regulators are working to put the final touches on industry guidance involving lending standards for borrowers with weak credit who took out certain mortgages, including so-called "2-28" adjustable rate mortgages. With this type of loan, the monthly interest rate payment resets after the first two years.




They have said they are pushing to issue a final directive by the end of June.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

National Penn to buy Christiana Bank for $56.5 mln

(Reuters) - The acquisition is expected to boost earnings per share in
the second full year of combined operations, National Penn said
in a statement.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. monitors market liquidity after fund bailout

(Reuters) - The High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund suffered
big losses after making bad bets in the repackaged subprime
mortgage loan market when homeowner defaults started rising.
Concerns have been raised about other funds that invested in
similar bonds linked to subprime mortgages, which are known as
a collateralized debt obligations .




"I couldn't say that it was the tip of the iceberg," Dugan
told reporters when asked if the Bear Stearns fund indicated
similar problems may be on the horizon.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US SEC seeks expert in revamp of oil reserve rules

(Reuters) - The disclosure rules are in "considerable need" of updating
and the SEC is working to address the problem, said John White,
head of the SEC's division of corporation finance.




"I know reserves disclosure is an area of significant
interest, especially concerns about our current requirements,"
White told the International Multidisciplinary Conference on
Reserves and Resources.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

SEC probing Bear hedge fund losses-BusinessWeek

(Reuters) - Both funds suffered big losses after making bad bets in repackaged subprime mortgage loans, a market that headed south when default rates started rising.



The Enhanced Leverage fund said in May that it was down 6.5 percent in April, but on June 7 said its April loss was actually 18.97 percent, BusinessWeek said. It did not provide a reason for the discrepancy.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 3-France sells 5 pct of France Tel for 2.65 bln euros

(Reuters) - PARIS, June 25 - France sold 5 percent of France
Telecom's capital on Monday, raising 2.65 billion
euros , which the finance ministry said would be
used to reduce the country's debt.




In a statement, the finance ministry confirmed that the
state had placed 130 million France Telecom shares in the
market at 20.40 euros each, and said that after the sale it
still owned 27.4 percent of the French telecom operator's
capital.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 3-Walgreen 3rd-quarter profit up but shares slip

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 25 - Walgreen Co. posted a
19.6 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday, boosted by new
stores and an inventory credit, but its shares slipped as the
large drugstore chain failed to deliver the stellar growth it
had produced in the previous three quarters.




The company also said it would consider "select"
acquisitions and is looking for other pharmacy-related health
care opportunities as it continues to open hundreds of stores.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Coffee Plunges Most Since October as Mild Weather Eases Brazil Frost Risk

(Bloomberg) -- Coffee plunged the most since
October in New York as mild temperatures and dry weather ease
concern that crops may be damaged in Brazil, the world's largest
producer.

Temperatures during the next five days will drop as low as
the upper-40s Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius), warm enough to
avoid frost, according to Meteorlogix LLC in Woburn,
Massachusetts. Brazil's harvest is from April to October.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

CBOT board urges support for CME merger

(Reuters) - ICE's competing offer to take over CBOT "is uncertain and
entails higher risk" than hooking up with CME, the largest U.S.
futures exchange, the letter said.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Zoellick unanimously approved as World Bank chief

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, June 25 - The World Bank on Monday
unanimously approved Robert Zoellick as its president after a
controversial two-year term by Paul Wolfowitz, who agreed to
resign over a promotion scandal involving his companion.




Zoellick, former deputy U.S. secretary of state and trade
representative, was the only nominee for the job and will
overlap for a week with Wolfowitz before he offically takes the
reins of the poverty-fighting institution on July 1.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Swift & Co. names Batista CEO, replaces Rovit

(Reuters) - J&F is the controlling shareholder in Brazilian beef
company JBS-Friboi . Batista is currently executive
director of operations at JBS, which is Latin America's largest
beef processor.




The purchase of Swift was announced in May with J&F paying
$225 million in cash and assuming about $1.2 billion of Swift's
debt.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

News Corp, Dow Jones near editorial pact: sources

(Reuters) - A pact to protect the journalistic integrity is seen as the biggest hurdle to Murdoch's unsolicited $5 billion offer to buy the publisher of the venerable Wall Street Journal newspaper and owner of the Dow Jones Newswires.




Advisers for the companies met through the weekend and may be close to an agreement on editorial independence and integrity, the source said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Charming Shoppes cuts profit forecast

(Reuters) - The owner of the Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug chains
forecast consolidated comparable-store sales in its retail
stores segment would be flat to down by a low-single-digit
percentage in the second quarter, and flat to up by a
low-single-digit percentage for the year.




Charming Shoppes said it expects full-year earnings of 80
cents to 82 cents a share, down from a previous forecast of 86
cents to 90 cents.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Wachovia gets antitrust OK for A.G. Edwards

(Reuters) - Last month, Wachovia said it would buy A.G. Edwards to
create the second-largest U.S. retail brokerage in an effort to
win more business from aging baby boomers.




A.G. Edwards is the largest independent U.S. brokerage,
with 6,618 brokers and $374 billion of client assets. Wachovia
Securities has 8,166 brokers and $773 billion of client
assets.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Nymex Natural Gas Declines on Mild Weather, Ample Inventories in the U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Natural gas in New York fell a sixth
consecutive session on forecasts for mild weather in key demand
areas and ample supplies in storage.

``We really don't have anything that's going to make a
bullish case for this market right now,'' said Edward Kennedy, a
broker with Commercial Brokerage Corp. in Miami. ``Now we're
testing the lower end.''


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Israel's Polar Inv to buy into Extended Stay

(Reuters) - Polar seeks a 4.76 percent share in the $210 million risk
level, and would earn annual dividends of 12 percent, and REIT
revenues of about 26.5 percent.




Extended Stay owns 683 properties and about 76,000 units in
44 states and Canada and operates five brands that include
Homestead Studio Suites, StudioPLUS Deluxe Studios, Extended
Stay Deluxe and Extended Stay America and Crossland.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Brazil's Real Falls on Heightened Risk Aversion, Chinese Rate Boost Worry

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency fell after U.S.
hedge fund losses last week heightened sensitivity to riskier,
emerging market assets. Speculation that China may raise
interest rates also prompted investors to reduce positions in
local markets.

``The scenario is quite cloudy now, with the troubles with
hedge funds in the U.S. and now the prospect of higher rates in
China and other places,'' said Silvio Campos Neto, an economist
at Banco Schahin in Sao Paulo.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 2-Doral Fin'l shares sink as rival bidder drops out

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 25 - Doral Financial Corp.
, a Puerto Rico lender trying to avoid bankruptcy, on
Monday said its second-largest shareholder withdrew a takeover
offer, perhaps clearing the way for a buyout led by Bear
Stearns Cos.' private equity arm.




FBOP Corp., a privately held banking company with a 4.6
percent stake in Doral, dropped its unsolicited $610 million
bid to take an 80 percent stake in the San Juan-based lender.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Treasuries Advance as Risk Aversion Pushes Government Debt Higher Globally

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose amid speculation
hedge fund losses linked to subprime mortgage loans will fuel
demand for the world's safest, most liquid investment.

Other government bond markets also gained after Bear
Stearns Cos. last week offered $3.2 billion in loans to bail out
a hedge fund it managed. An industry report today is forecast to
show home resales fell last month to the lowest since June 2003.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Calderon Proves No Fox in Solving Mexican Pension Crisis, Bid to Raise Tax

(Bloomberg) -- A week after taking office in
December, President Felipe Calderon called three cabinet
ministers and several advisers to Los Pinos, his official
residence, for an urgent meeting. Under his predecessor, Vicente
Fox, a plan to rein in out-of-control spending on pensions for
civil servants had languished for five years. Calderon was
coming off a neck-and-neck election in which his main rival,
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, had sought to overturn the result
by staging mass street protests.

Looking for a quick victory to build confidence, Calderon
told his aides he wanted to pass a pension bill within the next
four months, according to two officials who participated in the
meeting.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Walgreen quarterly profit rises

(Reuters) - Walgreen is on track to surpass its goal of having 7,000 stores in 2010, Chief Executive Jeffrey Rein said in a statement.




Profit was $561.2 million, or 56 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter, compared with $469.2 million, or 46 cents, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Canada's Dollar Approaches Three-Week Low as Price of Crude Oil Declines

(Bloomberg) -- The Canadian dollar approached a
three-week low after prices of crude oil declined.

``Oil is still on people's mind,'' said Stephen Malyon, a
currency strategist in Toronto at Scotia Capital Inc. ``The soft
commodity price is a good reason to explain the decline in the
Canadian dollar today.''


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Petrohawk Energy to sell Gulf Coast division

(Reuters) - Petrohawk also said it plans to form a Master Limited
Partnership with some of its Permian and Arkoma basin
properties. It expects to file a registration statement with
U.S. regulators, during the third quarter, for an initial
public offering of about $150 million to $225 million MLP
units.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Futures point higher on growth optimism

(Reuters) - Dobson Communications Corp. kicked off a fresh
round of merger-and-acquisition chatter as the rural wireless
provider mulls strategic options, including a possible sale,
the Wall Street Journal Online reported.




Dow Jones & Co. Inc. and News Corp. are
nearing a pact that would preserve the editorial independence
of the Wall Street Journal if News Corp. acquired the media
company, according to newspaper reports.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Hedge fund GLG eyes U.S. listing with reverse deal

(Reuters) - LONDON, June 25 - GLG Partners, one of Europe's
largest hedge fund firms, has lined up a U.S. stock market
listing to help it expand and hire top managers, using a reverse
acquisition with a shell company that values it at $3.4 billion.




The owners of London-based GLG, which has more than $20
billion of assets under management, will receive $1 billion cash
and 230 million shares of Freedom Holdings common stock,
worth about $2.4 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Bear Stearns's Wall Street Rivals Reject Hedge Fund Rescue in LTCM Redux

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos. is getting a taste
of its own medicine.

It was Bear Stearns, the biggest broker to hedge funds,
that nine years ago declined to join 14 other investment banks
in the bailout of Long-Term Capital Management LP. Then last
week, as New York-based Bear Stearns pleaded for help to rescue
two of its hedge funds teetering on the brink of collapse, many
of the same firms refused to come to its aid.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Hulamin touches 42 rand on S.Africa bourse debut

(Reuters) - South African semi-fabricated aluminium maker Hulamin made its debut on the Johannesburg bourse on Monday after being spun off from its parent, and briefly hit a high of 42 rand after opening at 32 rand per share.

The stock was at 34 rand at 0924 GMT, while the All-Share index was down 0.8 percent to 28,865.75 points.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Zimbabwe tables bill to localise company ownership

(Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe's government is seeking to transfer majority control of "public companies and any other business" to black Zimbabweans, a move critics say could deepen the country's economic crisis.

A bill the government made public on Monday will be presented to parliament proposing indigenous black Zimbabweans will get at least a 51 percent share of those companies.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.K.'s FTSE 100 Drops for Sixth Day; Anglo American, Cadbury Lead Decline

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks fell for the sixth day,
the longest consecutive decline since November. Anglo American
Plc and Antofagasta Plc paced the retreat after Cazenove lowered
its recommendation on the mining companies' shares.

Cadbury Schweppes Plc, the world's biggest confectionery
company, dropped to a five-week low.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.K. Natural Gas Rises After Forecasts Show Demand to Exceed Supply Today

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. natural gas for same day
delivery increased after forecasts showed demand today is likely
to exceed supply.

Gas for delivery today traded at 22.5 pence a therm, an
increase of 7.1 percent from the last price on June 22, according
to data on Bloomberg from ICAP Plc. The price is equivalent to
$4.5 a million British thermal units. A therm is 100,000 Btus.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Hulamin Has $694 Million Market Value on South African Stock Market Debut

(Bloomberg) -- Hulamin Ltd., Africa's largest
aluminum processor, began trading at 32 rand a share in
Johannesburg, giving the company a market value of 6.9 billion
rand ($963.9 million).

Hulamin was spun out of Tongaat-Hulett, Africa's second-
largest sugar producer, as part of Anglo American Plc's plan to
focus on mining. Anglo, the world's second-largest mining
company, owns 38 percent of Hulamin.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

European Stocks Decline; France Telecom, LSE, Akzo Nobel Shares Slide

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks dropped for a third
day, led by France Telecom SA as the French government sells as
much as 3.8 billion euros ($5.1 billion) of the nation's largest
phone company.

London Stock Exchange Group Plc, which agreed to buy Borsa
Italiana SpA on June 23 for 1.63 billion euros ($2.2 billion),
paced the decline after the bourse was put on review by Moody's
Investors Services for a possible downgrade of its debt rating.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

DaimlerChrysler, KarstadtQuelle, Deutsche Telekom: 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 on
June 22 unless otherwise stated.

DAX futures expiring in September dropped 46.50, or 0.6
percent, to 7978 at 8:13 a.m. in Frankfurt. The DAX slipped 0.2
percent to 7949.63 on the Xetra electronic-trading system.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News