Taiwan's Stocks Gain for First Time in Five Days; Cathay Financial Climbs

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's stocks rose for the first day
in five as investors judged recent declines excessive and a
newspaper reported the island's mutual funds may invest more.
Cathay Financial Holding Co. led gains.

``Investors have regained their composure after being knocked
around in the global stock market turmoil,'' said Vickie Hsieh,
who helps oversees $1.4 billion at President Investment Trust
Corp. ``Leading Taiwan companies offering good value will be the
most appealing.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Lead Heads for Largest Weekly Loss Since 1988 in London; Nickel Declines

(Bloomberg) -- Lead headed for its biggest weekly
drop since at least 1988 after traders judged that last week's
record high no longer reflected the outlook for supply. Nickel
also declined, while copper rose.

Lead surged more than 15 percent last week after an
explosion cut output at Doe Run Resources Corp.'s Herculaneum
smelter on July 13. The smelter will resume full production next
month and lost supply is likely to be small, said analysts
including Stephen Briggs at Societe Generale in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 1-Biotech crop sector sets standards, seeks to ease fears

(Reuters) - KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 25 - U.S. biotech crop
companies on Wednesday unveiled a plan for new industry
standards at a time when the sector faces unfavorable court
rulings and concerns that lax government oversight is allowing
contamination of crops used in food and animal feed.




Leaders of the Biotechnology Industry Organization
and executives with Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co. ,
two biotech crop giants, said they hoped the plan, which
includes third-party auditing, will help agricultural players
around the world feel confident that biotech crop development
is subject to stringent safety standards.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Federal Government to Take Control of Australia's Biggest River System

(Bloomberg) -- Australia's Prime Minister John
Howard plans to introduce laws to take federal control of the
Murray-Darling Basin, the nation's largest river system, after
failing to convince Victoria state to hand over its powers.

Leaders from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia
and the Australian Capital Territory had surrendered their
powers over the river to the government. Victorian leader Steve
Bracks yesterday refused to do so.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Tin Rises to 18-Year High on Production-Shortfall Concern; Zin Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Tin led gains in London, rising to
the highest since at least 1989, on speculation that supply
disruptions in Indonesia and Bolivia and increasing demand will
create a shortage of the metal. Lead climbed to a record.

Smelters in Indonesia, the world's second-largest tin
producer, after China, have been restarting production following
a government crackdown on illegal mining earlier this year. The
Bolivian government seized a smelter owned by Swiss commodity
trader Glencore International AG in February.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Lead Falls From Record in London as Gains Judged Overdone; Tin Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Lead fell in London after investors
judged that gains that took the metal to a record for a sixth
consecutive session were overdone. Nickel rose and tin climbed
the most in more than two months.

The gains in lead had been ``way too over-extended'' and
the metal was poised to fall, Robin Bhar, an analyst with UBS AG
in London, said today in a report. ``Despite these supply
concerns there is no actual shortage of metal in the physical
markets.''


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Lead Rises to Record for 6th Straight Day on Supply Concern; Nickel Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record in London for
a sixth consecutive session on speculation that production will
fail to meet demand after a U.S. smelter was damaged by an
explosion. Nickel also climbed.

Doe Run Resources Corp., the world's second-largest lead
refiner, said yesterday that a blast at its Herculaneum smelter
in Missouri cut the plant's output by half. Lead's advance this
year has outpaced other industrial metals traded on the London
Metal Exchange as supplies from Australia were disrupted by a
pollution investigation.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Lead Rises to Record for Fifth Session in London After Doe Run Explosion

(Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record for a fifth
consecutive session on the London Metal Exchange after Doe Run
Resources Corp., the world's second-largest refiner of the
metal, said a U.S. smelter was damaged by an explosion.

The blast happened on July 13 at 11:40 p.m. local time, the
St. Louis-based company said in a July 14 statement posted on
its Web site. The incident was contained in the area where
finished metal is produced, it said. The rest of the Herculaneum
plant in Missouri is operating, Doe Run said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

US Senate drops $32 bln in clean energy incentives

(Reuters) - But a Democratic rewrite of U.S. policy cleared a key
procedural vote which could lead to a vote by the end of the
week on a bill that would raise automobile fuel-efficiency
standards for the first time in 30 years and require a
four-fold boost in ethanol use by 2022.




Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called for the vote after
Republicans blocked an attempt to limit debate on incentives to
produce cleaner, home-grown energy sources like generating
power from windmills and solar cells.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Copper Rises in London as Strike Threat Looms; Lead Advances to Record

(Bloomberg) -- Copper rose in London as stockpiles
fell and on speculation that strikes will disrupt production at
operations in Peru and Chile that account for at least 5 percent
of global supply. Lead jumped to a record and nickel climbed.

Workers at Codelco, the biggest copper company, Chile's
Collahuasi mine and Southern Copper Corp.'s Peruvian operations
have threatened to strike over pay demands. Inventories tracked
by the London Metal Exchange fell for the 23rd consecutive day,
the exchange said today in a daily report.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

US Congress, White House Iraq meeting sputters

(Reuters) - After more than an hour of talks with top White House
aides, Democrats told reporters they nonetheless would try
passing a bill next week to fund the U.S. troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan.




"To say I was disappointed in the meeting is an
understatement," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a
Nevada Democrat.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News