Spread on Japan Bonds May Indicate Stocks Will Drop Further, JPMorgan Says

(Bloomberg) -- A widening spread between the interest
Japanese corporate and government bonds pay may indicate that the
stock market may have more room to fall, according to JPMorgan
Chase & Co.

Corporate borrowing costs are measured against the so-called
risk-free yields of government debt. The larger the difference is
between yields, or spread, the higher the perceived risk is of
the borrower defaulting.


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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.


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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.


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JPMorgan Says `Worst Is Not Over' for Subprime Bonds, With Losses to 2008

(Bloomberg) -- Subprime mortgage defaults will
increase this year and holders of securities linked to those
home loans may experiences losses well into 2008, JPMorgan Chase
& Co. analysts said.

``The worst is not over in the subprime mortgage market,''
analysts led by Chris Flanagan, the head of structured finance
strategy, said in a report today. ``We expect continued
deterioration in subprime loan performance through the balance
of this year, and it is likely to be well into 2008 before the
problems in securitized portfolios begin to abate.''


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

JPMorgan Hires Credit Suisse's Miyaji for Japan Leveraged Finance Business

(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. hired Naoki
Miyaji from Credit Suisse Group to boost its leveraged finance
business in Japan, as buyout firms seek to fund more acquisitions
in the world's second-biggest economy.

Miyaji, based in Tokyo, will join the third-largest U.S.
bank next month as an executive director for leveraged finance
execution, Mika Watanabe, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman for JPMorgan,
said in response to queries from Bloomberg News. JPMorgan hired
Takasuke Sekine from Calyon, the investment banking unit of
Credit Agricole SA, as a vice president, in July, Watanabe said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Intel May Post Sales at High-End of Forecast, Analysts Say; Shares Climb

(Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp. shares climbed for a fifth
day after analysts at UBS AG and JPMorgan said the world's
biggest chipmaker may report second-quarter sales at the high-end
of the company's own forecast.

Intel may post revenue of $8.6 billion in the period ended
June, above the midpoint of the company's April forecast of $8.2
billion to $8.8 billion, according to UBS. Analysts led by Uche
Orji raised their 12-month share-price forecast by $3 to $30,
saying the stock will also get a boost as Intel expands its gross
margin, the percentage of sales left after production costs.


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EMI, Virgin Media, Italease, Altadis: Credit-Default Swap Market Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning European corporate
bonds fell, according to traders of credit-default swaps.

Contracts based on 10 million euros ($13 million) of debt
included in the iTraxx Crossover Series 7 Index fell 2,000 euros
to 242,500 euros at 9:30 a.m. in London, according to JPMorgan
Chase & Co.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bear Stearns Plans $3.2 Billion Rescue for Hedge Fund to Prevent Fire Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos. plans to take on
$3.2 billion of loans to stop creditors from seizing assets of
one of its money-losing hedge funds in the biggest fund bailout
since 1998, people with knowledge of the proposal said.

The firm told lenders to the High-Grade Structured Credit
Strategies Fund yesterday that it would assume their loans, said
the people, who declined to be named because the plan is
confidential. The New York-based firm stepped in after Merrill
Lynch & Co. took securities that backed $850 million in credit
lines to two Bear Stearns funds and put them up for sale.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. also
indicated they may take over collateral for loans they provided.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.K. Pound Trades Near to Four-Month High Against Euro on Rate Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- The pound traded near the highest in
almost four months against the euro on speculation investors will
keep raising bets on higher interest rates in Europe's second-
largest economy.

The currency has gained 0.8 percent versus the euro this
week as minutes of the Bank of England's June policy meeting
yesterday showed Governor Mervyn King and three other policy
makers backed higher borrowing costs. That prompted HSBC Plc and
JPMorgan Chase Co. to bring forward their forecasts of the next
interest-rate increase.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

JPMorgan unwinds Bear hedge fund positions

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase declined to comment. Bear Stearns was not immediately available to comment.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Most U.S. Stocks Drop After Bond Yields Gain; Citigroup, JPMorgan Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Most U.S. stocks fell after 10-year
Treasury bond yields rose for the first time in four days,
reviving concern higher borrowing costs will curb growth.

Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.
led declines in companies that benefit from low interest rates.
All 32 energy companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index
retreated after the price of oil slid from a nine-month high.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

JPMorgan adds HSBC banking head to sponsors group

(Reuters) - At HSBC Holdings Plc, Foussianes was head of its Americas
Global Banking group, overseeing investment banking, corporate
banking, leveraged finance and private equity. He was
previously a managing director in the M&A group at Goldman
Sachs, focusing on industrials and natural resources, according
to the memo. HSBC hired him in April 2005.




JPMorgan's sponsors group also hired James Gray from UBS,
where he was a managing director and founding member of the UBS
Financial Sponsor Group, according to the memo.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Johns Hopkins to pay to settle student-loan probe

(Reuters) - The settlement is the latest in a nationwide probe of
conflicts of interest in the $85 billion student loan industry.
Twenty-six schools and seven lenders, including Sallie Mae
, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America ,
have reached agreements with New York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo.




The latest agreement resulted from Cuomo's findings that
Ellen Frishberg, the director of student financial services at
Johns Hopkins, was improperly promoting a lender, Student Loan
Xpress, after the company paid her more than $65,000 in
consulting fees and other payments, the AG's office said.
Student Loan Xpress is now a unit of CIT Group Inc. .


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

JPMorgan to build bank tower at WTC site: source

(Reuters) - New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer alerted reporters in an advisory that he was holding a news conference on Thursday about a "major economic development announcement."




JPMorgan declined to comment on the agreement to build the tower, initially reported by the Wall Street Journal on its Web site. Officials from Spitzer's offices and the Port Authority could not immediately be reached for comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Greece Summons JPMorgan, North Asset to Inquiry in Pension Fund Bond Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Greek lawmakers are preparing to
question executives from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and hedge fund
North Asset Management after opposition legislators said they
overcharged pension funds that bought 280 million euros ($374
million) of government bonds.

Jakob Stott, JPMorgan's chief operating officer for Europe,
Middle East and Africa, and Louis Plowden-Wardlaw, the general
director of London-based North Asset Management, will appear
before the Parliament's standing committee on economic affairs
later today. Greek regulators are investigating how pension funds
bought the bonds at 100 percent of face value, when New York-
based underwriter JPMorgan sold the debt to North Asset at 92.95
percent hours before.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

JPMorgan to sell 5-year senior bond in A$ debut

(Reuters) - Indicative pricing is 20 basis points over swap.




The issuer is also considering a 10-year subordinated bond
but did not give pricing indications, the portfolio manager
said. The sub debt offer would be issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank
and would be rated AA- by S&P and Aa1 by Moody's.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

JPMorgan Chase to update Aussie debt investors

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase Co. has recently established its first
Kangaroo bond programme, but has yet to issue from it.




Its senior credit is AA- by Standard & Poor's and Aa2 by
Moody's.



Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Yahoo, Ceridian, Dell Climb in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures increased on
speculation the economy is rebounding after bottoming out in the
first quarter.

Shares of Yahoo! Inc., owner of the second-most-popular
Internet search engine, climbed in Europe after a stock upgrade
by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Ceridian Corp. gained as the provider of
human resource and payroll services agreed to be acquired for
$5.3 billion. Shares of Wachovia Corp., the fourth-biggest U.S.
bank, may move after the company agreed to buy A.G. Edwards Inc.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Chico's, Motorola, Novell, Optium, Payless ShoeSource: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed yesterday. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company
names.

Ceridian Corp. (CEN US) rose $1.41, or 4.1 percent, to
$35.60 in trading after the official close of U.S. exchanges.
The provider of human resource and payroll services agreed to be
acquired by Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Fidelity National
Financial Inc. for $5.3 billion, or $36 a share. ``Some
investors were expecting a larger premium,'' Tien-tsin Huang, an
analyst with JPMorgan Securities Inc., wrote in a note.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News