MBK Offers to Buy C&M for $3.2 Billion in Korea's Biggest LBO, Bankers Say

(Bloomberg) -- MBK Partners Ltd., the South Korean
private equity group founded by former Carlyle Group executives,
offered 3 trillion won ($3.2 billion) for cable-TV operator C&M,
said two bankers who were asked to provide financing.

The Seoul-based buyout company wants to borrow as much as 2
trillion won to pay for closely held C&M, South Korea's second-
biggest cable-TV operator, said the bankers, who declined to be
identified because the bid hasn't been disclosed. The purchase
would include New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s 30.5
percent stake, they said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Meridian, Yamana at odds over hostile bid

(Reuters) - TORONTO, July 31 - Meridian Gold Inc.
urged shareholders on Tuesday to reject Yamana Gold
Inc.'s C$3 billion hostile bid, but
Yamana said it has found support among shareholders and it
expects the deal to go through as is.




Yamana launched the hostile offer for Meridian earlier this
month. As part of the deal, Yamana will also acquire Northern
Orion Resources Inc. for about C$1 billion in a
friendly deal that is conditional on the Meridian takeover
succeeding.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

AngloGold Plans to Boost Output, Reduce Costs After Second-Quarter Profit

(Bloomberg) -- AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Africa's
largest gold producer, said it will increase production and
reduce costs after posting a 1.08 billion-rand ($152.3 million)
second-quarter profit.

Net income was 3.85 rand a share, compared with a loss of
150 million rand, or 53 cents, in the first quarter, the
Johannesburg-based company said today in a statement. Chief
Executive Officer Bobby Godsell, 54, also announced his
retirement after almost a decade in his post.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

U.S. Stocks Rebound on Upgrades; KB Home, Nordstrom, Terex Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rebounded, pacing a
global advance, after Wall Street brokerages told investors to
buy shares that fell during last week's $2.1 trillion global
sell-off.

KB Home led homebuilders higher after Citi Investment
Resarch raised the shares to ``buy.'' Nordstrom Inc. posted its
steepest gain since August on a Goldman, Sachs & Co. upgrade.
Terex Corp., the maker of trucks and cranes, surged the most in
three weeks and led the Standard & Poor's 500 Index higher
after Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised clients to buy the shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sara Lee recalls bread that may have metal pieces

(Reuters) - The bakery is still operating using bagged whole-wheat flour that does not require sifting, Goldman said,




The bread subject to recall is sold in Mississippi and Alabama, most of Arkansas, far southeastern Missouri, western Georgia, southwestern Tennessee, southeastern Louisiana and the panhandle of Florida, Sara Lee said..


Read more at Reuters.com 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

Gold Falls on Concern Housing Report Signals Slowing Economy; Silver Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Gold fell from a three-month high in
New York on concern U.S. economic growth will slow, reducing
demand for precious metals as a hedge against inflation. Silver
futures also declined.

Purchases of new homes fell 6.6 percent in June, more than
economists predicted, and orders for durable goods unexpectedly
fell for a second month, the Commerce Department said today. Some
investors buy gold to preserve purchasing power in times of
accelerating price increases.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

U.S. Stocks Decline on Financing Concern; Citigroup, JPMorgan Shares Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Most U.S. stocks fell for a second
day after concern grew that financing for takeovers is drying
up and a drop in metals prices hurt earnings prospects for
miners.

Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. led declines in
the Standard & Poor's 500 Index after people with knowledge of
the deals said lenders couldn't find investors to fund the
buyouts of Alliance Boots Plc and Chrysler. Freeport-McMoRan
Copper & Gold Inc. posted its steepest decline in five months
after copper prices plunged.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Gold Declines in London as Central Banks May Increase Sales; Silver Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Gold fell in London on speculation
European central banks will increase sales of the precious
metal. Silver also dropped.

The European Central Bank said yesterday three members of
the Eurosystem of national banks sold 288 million euros ($397
million) of gold last week, equal to about 18 metric tons and up
from 88 million euros the week before. European central banks
may sell 157.6 tons in the next nine weeks, or an average of
about 18 tons a week, according to World Gold Council figures.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

S.Africa tells AngloGold to shut mine shaft

(Reuters) - South Africa has instructed gold producer AngloGold Ashanti to shut the shaft at its Moab Khutsong mine after two miners were killed in a rock fall at the weekend, the government said on Tuesday.

The Department of Minerals and Energy said senior officials would visit the mine on Wednesday to check if the company was meeting safety standards. It did not say how long the shaft would remain shut.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Goldman Sachs Says Nickel May Decline to $25,000 a Ton as Stockpiles Swell

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the
world's largest securities firm by market value, said nickel may
fall to as low as $25,000 a metric ton as inventories continue
to rise ``in the coming weeks.''

Stockpiles of nickel tracked by the London Metal Exchange
soared 76 percent in the past two months to 12,642 tons, the
highest since June 22, 2006, according to exchange data. Nickel
for delivery in three months has lost 35 percent since trading
at a record $51,800 a ton on May 9. It was at $32,450 a ton as
of 9:17 a.m. London time today.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Five Wall Street Firms Target Goldman Sachs With Plan for Trading Platform

(Bloomberg) -- Five of Wall Street's biggest firms
are planning a trading system for unregistered securities,
seeking to compete with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in a market on
pace for record sales this year, according to people familiar
with the plan.

Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley are
developing a system to handle securities sold under so-called
144a market rules, which allow companies to avoid regulations by
selling bonds and stock to institutional investors, the people
said.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Gold, Silver Futures Decline After U.S. Dollar's Slump Against Euro Stalls

(Bloomberg) -- Gold fell from a two-month high in
New York as the dollar's decline against the euro stalled,
reducing the appeal of the precious metal as alternative
investments. Silver also dropped.

The dollar rebounded from a record $1.3845 against the euro
as a price chart some investors use to predict currency
movements suggested the decline was too rapid. Before today,
gold has gained 7.3 percent this year, and the dollar slumped
4.8 percent against the euro.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 1-Meridian urges patience on Yamana takeover bid

(Reuters) - Meridian said Goldman, Sachs & Co. and BMO Capital Markets
are acting as financial advisors, and that it will announce a
recommendation within the next 10 business days.




Yamana is offering 2.235 Yamana common shares and C$3.15 in
cash for each common share of Meridian, which is based in Reno,
Nevada.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Cytec second-quarter earnings climb

(Reuters) - In the latest quarter, excluding items the company posted
earnings of $56.6 million, or $1.15 a share.




Last month, Goldman Sachs added Cytec to its Americas
investment buy list, saying that the company is poised to
benefit from lower fixed costs and selective pricing
increases.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Goodman Global hires Goldman, mulls options-sources

(Reuters) - "As a matter of practice, we do not comment on any rumors,"
said Goodman spokeswoman Sue Ellen Nutt. Goldman Sachs declined
to comment. Apollo did not respond to a request seeking
comment.




Sources said that private equity firms are pursuing the
company, though the process that Goldman is running is in its
early stages.



Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

High River revives Burkina's commercial gold sector

(Reuters) - High River Gold Mines Ltd has poured its first gold in Burkina Faso, reviving commercial gold mining in the West African country after an eight-year halt, the Canadian-listed company said on Wednesday.

The mine is the first of three due to be commissioned this year, kick-starting the sector in the impoverished country between Ghana and Mali, Africa's second and third biggest gold producers after world No. 1 South Africa.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Lam Research, Modine, Novellus, Orbital, Skechers: 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 2:50 p.m. New York time.

American Express Co. (AXP US) rose $2.84, or 4.6 percent, to
$64.72. The No. 4 U.S. credit-card issuer was upgraded to ``buy''
from ``neutral'' at Goldman, Sachs & Co., which said its card-
network business was ``undervalued'' compared with its rivals.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Stocks Advance, Dow Average Tops 14,000; American Express Shares Gain

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow
Jones Industrial Average past 14,000 for the first time, after
wholesale inflation unexpectedly declined and Goldman, Sachs &
Co. advised buying shares of American Express Co.

American Express, the fourth-biggest U.S. credit-card
issuer, led the Dow average to a fourth-straight record. Rohm &
Haas Co., the largest maker of acrylics for paints and plastics,
pushed a gauge of raw-materials producers to the steepest gain
in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index on its plan for a $2 billion
share buyback.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Gold slips ahead of US Federal Reserve minutes

(Reuters) - Gold erased overnight gains to slip on Tuesday, with dealers avoiding big moves ahead of testimony by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later in the week.

The metal has struggled to breach key technical levels after hitting a five-week high last week, but might get support from firm oil prices and the dollar, which stayed near record lows against the euro.


Read more at Reuters Africa