HEADLINE STOCKS - U.S. stocks to watch on Aug 6

(Reuters) - Co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer Warren Spector
resigned from Bear Stearns on Sunday, a casualty of the credit
risk crisis at the investment bank. [ID:nN05330619]




Bear Stearns closed at $108.35


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Aug 6

(Reuters) - * Bear Stearns Cos. co-president quit, becoming
Wall Street's highest-profile casualty in the subprime-lending
fiasco.




* ICI reached a tentative deal to be taken over by
Akzo Nobel and Henkel for $16 billion.
The chemical and paint maker had rejected Akzo's earlier
offers.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

(Reuters) - --World markets face a nervous start to the week following
the plunge in stocks in the United States on Friday as concerns
mounted about fallout from the US mortgage market turmoil. The
late sell-off in New York followed comments by the chief
financial officer of Bear Stearns , who said credit
markets were as bad as he had seen in 22 years.




--Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe,is expected to
reshuffle his cabinet and convene an extraordinary session of
parliament at the end of the month to try to keep his job after
his party's trouncing in upper house elections.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Wall St tumbles on credit worries after Bear talks

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks slid sharply on
Friday after Bear Stearns said credit markets were in their
worst shape in two decades, while jobs data aroused further
concerns about weakness in the economy.




Bear Stearns Cos. stock fell 6 percent after the
comments from its chief financial officer, which exacerbated
mortgage jitters and drove the three major indexes down more
than 2 percent in a broad market sell-off.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Mortgage fallout, economic data weigh on Wall St

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday, as
worries about mortgage losses deepened after a ratings agency
cut its outlook on investment bank Bear Stearns Cos.'
debt, and data suggested weakness in the economy.




Standard & Poor's said it changed its ratings outlook on
Bear Stearns, the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds,
to "negative" from "stable," indicating there is a better
chance of a downgrade over the next two years. For details,
see [ID:nN03300207].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Rising fears of mortgage losses drive indexes down

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks slid sharply on
Friday, with fears about mortgage losses intensifying after
Bear Stearns' chief financial officer said
fixed-income market turmoil was worse than the Internet
bubble, and as jobs data suggested weakness in the economy.




Bear Stearns' shares fell 6 percent as mortgage jitters
drove a sell-off among financial shares. Earlier, Standard &
Poor's changed its ratings outlook on the investment bank, the
biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds, to "negative" from
"stable."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

REFILE-UPDATE 2-Bear Stearns, brokers debt protection costs rise

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - The cost to insure the debt of
Bear Stearns Cos. jumped on Friday after Standard &
Poor's changed its outlook on the investment bank's debt to
negative, indicating it is more likely to be cut over the next
one to two years.




Recent developments, including problems at some of Bear
Stearns' managed hedge funds, have the potential to hurt the
company's performance for an "extended period," S&P said in a
statement. For details, see [ID:nN03300207]


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Bear Stearns says S&P outlook change unwarranted

(Reuters) - "S&P's specific concerns over issues relating to certain hedge funds managed by are unwarranted as these were isolated incidents and are by no means an indication of broader issues at Bear Stearns," the company said.




S&P earlier on Friday changed its outlook on Bear's debt to "negative" from "stable," which means it is more likely to cut Bear's ratings over the next year or two.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Bear Stearns Halts Redemptions on Third Hedge Fund After Mortgage Losses

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos., manager of two
hedge funds that collapsed last month, halted redemptions from a
third fund after investors demanded their money back.

The fund had about $900 million invested in asset-backed
securities, including mortgage bonds, spokesman Russell Sherman
said in a telephone interview. The fund probably had losses in
July and was overwhelmed by redemption requests, Sherman said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Corporate Bond Premiums Soar, Sales Canceled, As Investors Shun Risky Debt

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese corporate bond risk rose to
the highest in more than two years and debt sales faltered
globally as investors shunned all but the safest of debt.

Tyco Electronics Ltd. canceled a bond offering. DAE
Aviation Holdings Inc. scrapped plans for a loan. Credit-default
swaps on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. rose to
records on concerns investment banks will be stuck with high-
yield, high-risk debt that they are unable to sell. The rout
spread to indexes gauging the risk of owning everything from
bank loans to emerging market debt.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Bear Stearns seizes troubled hedge fund's assets

(Reuters) - In a statement on Thursday, Bear Stearns said it "assumed
possession of the assets" securing a $1.3 billion credit
facility provided to the High-Grade Structured Credit
Strategies Fund after the fund was unable to meet a margin
call.




The investment bank said it does not expect any "material
change" in financial exposure as a result of its action. It
said it will continue to pursue an "orderly liquidation" of
assets, and will be in a position to establish appropriate
hedges to protect against future price declines.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

European Bond Yields Post Biggest Weekly Drop in 3 1/2 Years as Risks Rise

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds rallied,
with 10-year yields posting their biggest weekly drop in 3 1/2
years, as the risk of owning corporate debt rose to a two-year
high and investors switched into the safest assets.

Bund yields slid to a seven-week low on concern defaults on
U.S. home loans to people with poor credit histories will spread
to the wider economy. Government debt around the world rose this
week after Bear Stearns Cos. told investors they weren't likely
to get their money back from two of its hedge funds that bet on
securities backed by subprime mortgages.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bear Stearns to be sued over subprime funds: CNBC

(Reuters) - According to CNBC, the lawsuit will allege Bear Stearns made material misrepresentations in offering documents, misrepresented risks of the hedge funds in those documents, and misrepresented its ability to control those risks.




Officials at Bear Stearns and Bernstein Litowitz did not immediately return requests for comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dollar Rebounds From Record Low Versus Euro as Consumer Prices Increase

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar rose from a record low
against the euro and the weakest in 26 years versus the pound as
a government report showed U.S. consumer prices rose last month
by more than analysts forecast, while housing starts increased.

Traders bought dollars as the report may feed speculation
the Federal Reserve will refrain from reducing its 5.25 percent
benchmark interest rate this year. The dollar slumped earlier as
losses on Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds dimmed the allure of
U.S. assets.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Fall; Bear Stearns, Intel, Pfizer Slide in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures declined
after Bear Stearns Cos. told investors there's little value left
in its two failed hedge funds and Intel Corp. and Yahoo! Inc.
said competition is reducing earnings.

Bear Stearns, the second-biggest underwriter of mortgage-
backed securities, retreated in Europe. Intel, the world's
largest computer-chip maker, and Yahoo, the most-visited U.S. Web
site, also fell. Pfizer Inc. shares slipped after the company
reported earnings that missed analysts' estimates.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

TEXT-Moody's release on Bear Stearns deal

(Reuters) - The underlying pools in the transaction are below the overcollateralization
target as of the 6/25/2007 reporting date. Complete rating actions are as
follows: Issuer: Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities I Trust Review for
possible downgrade: Series 2004-BO1; Class M-6, current rating Baa1, under
review for possible downgrade; Series 2004-BO1; Class M-7, current rating Baa2,
under review for possible downgrade; Series 2004-BO1; Class M-8, current rating
Baa3, under review for possible downgrade.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

CEVA plans $1.4 bln bonds for EGL purchase -lead

(Reuters) - Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns,
UBS, JP Morgan and ABN AMRO are managing the sale.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

No crisis lurks in sub-prime woes: Deutsche Bank

(Reuters) - "There will be more but I don't think we will see systemic risks in this area," Baenziger told a financial conference organized by Germany's central bank.




Baenziger said the problems that U.S. lender Bear Stearns has had with two of its hedge fund businesses active in the mortgage lending market were unlikely to crop up at other banks.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bear Stearns to add up fund losses by July 16-WSJ

(Reuters) - Investors are keen to see how far the assets have fallen,
since they believe other hedge funds are also holding
mortgage-related securities, the report added.




A Bear Stearns spokeswoman was not immediately available for
comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

S&P 500 Stalls on Concern Subprime Losses May Worsen; Dow Industrials Rise

(Bloomberg) -- The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
was little changed amid heightened concern that losses from
loans to the riskiest borrowers will mount, while the Dow
Jones Industrial Average gained, capping its biggest
quarterly advance since 2003.

Bear Stearns Cos., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman
Brothers Holdings Inc. led financial firms to the second-
steepest retreat among 10 industries in the S&P 500. Bear
Stearns this week said it would spend $1.6 billion to bail
out two hedge funds that made bad bets on bonds backed by
subprime mortgages.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News