Lehman Says Use Options to Bet on New Zealand Dollar Decline Versus Yen

(Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is
recommending the use of options to bet that the New Zealand
dollar will be among the biggest losers versus the Japanese yen
as investor aversion to risky assets increases.

Widening credit spreads suggest demand for higher yielding
investments, such as those in New Zealand, may wane, analysts at
Lehman Brothers, the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm, said
in a strategy note on July 12.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Buy Calls to Bet Australia Dollar Extends Rally, Suncorp's Pontikis Says

(Bloomberg) -- Investors should buy call options to
bet the Australian dollar rallies beyond its current 18-year
high versus the U.S. dollar, according to Peter Pontikis at
Suncorp-Metway Ltd.

The central bank will lift its benchmark by year-end, after
leaving it unchanged at 6.25 percent since November, according
to Suncorp-Metway and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The
Australian currency has gained 9.3 percent this year as
investors bought the country's high-yielding debt with money
borrowed at lower rates in Japan and Switzerland.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

H&R Block falls as mortgage unit loses credit line

(Reuters) - In a late Tuesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, H&R Block said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. did not renew a "warehouse" facility with the subprime unit, Option One Mortgage Corp., after it expired June 28.




The facility provided at least $1 billion of borrowing capacity, according to regulatory filings. Its non-renewal left Option One with $8 billion of committed borrowing capacity and $2 billion of uncommitted capacity, H&R Block said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Bear Stearns shakes up asset management unit

(Reuters) - Jeffrey B. Lane, a veteran senior executive at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Neuberger Berman Inc., replaces Richard Marin as chairman and chief executive of Bear Stearns Asset Management.




Marin will remain as a senior adviser to Lane, the company said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business 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

Lehman Profit Increases 27 Percent, Led by Stock Trading, Higher M&A Fees

(Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the
first of Wall Street's biggest firms to report second-quarter
earnings, said profit rose 27 percent as a rally in stocks fueled
equity trading and investment-banking revenue increased.

Net income climbed to $1.27 billion, or $2.21 a share, in
the three months ended May 31, from $1 billion, or $1.69, a year
earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement.
Earnings exceeded the highest estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Treasuries Increase After May Job Growth Is Less Than Forecast in the U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries rose the most in
almost three weeks after a report showed private-sector job
growth was less than forecast this month.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Action Economics are among
firms that lowered expectations for job growth two days before
the Labor Department's employment report for May. Futures traders
raised bets the Federal Reserve may lower borrowing costs if
employment growth slows.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News