Citigroup muni chief to serve as next MSRB chairman

(Reuters) - Chin has headed Citigroup's public finance department since
1993. He will succeed John Lawlor, who runs the municipal
markets group at Merrill Lynch & Co. .




O'Brien has been a national syndicate manager at Morgan
Stanley's tax-exempt department since 1996. He will succeed
James Rogers, chief operating officer of J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L.
Lyons, Inc.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings 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

InterGen prices $1.875 bln high-yield bonds -source

(Reuters) - The size of the deal was reduced by $100 million, yields on
offer raised and pricing delayed from last week to Monday due to
the turmoil in the credit markets, where the benchmark Crossover
credit default swap index has risen 80 basis points in the last
week to 350 basis points.




Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank and Barclays
Capital are managing the bond sale for InterGen, which has nine
power plants with 5,235 megawatts of capacity in five countries.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Yen Approaches Record Low Versus Euro as Rising Stocks Spur Carry Trades

(Bloomberg) -- The yen dropped to near a record low
versus the euro and the weakest since 1992 against the pound as
concern eased that losses will mount in securities backed by
subprime mortgage loans.

Investors pushed the yen lower as U.S. stocks advanced on a
better-than-expected earnings report from Merrill Lynch & Co.,
cooling speculation that U.S. financial companies would be hurt
by losses in subprime debt. Rallying stocks encouraged buying of
risky assets funded by loans in Japan, a strategy known as the
carry trade. The yen also fell versus the dollar.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Treasuries Fall as Investors' Concern Over Subprime Mortgage Crisis Eases

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell for the first time
in three days as concern ebbed about losses in securities backed
by subprime mortgage loans.

Investors sold government debt after Merrill Lynch & Co.,
the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, said second-quarter
profit rose 31 percent even as revenue declined in the unit that
includes its mortgage business.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Futures fall as inflation data, earnings loom

(Reuters) - Among earnings reports due later on Tuesday are Merrill Lynch & Co. , SLM Corp. , U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo .




Year-to-date, financial stocks are the worst performers of the ten major S&P industry groups and the sole sector with losses for that period.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Chico's, Freeport-McMoRan, New Brunswick, Yum! Brands: 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 11:40 a.m. New York time.

Oil-service companies: Merrill Lynch & Co. downgraded some
oil-service companies on concern that oil prices will fall and
producer demand will wane. Noble Corp. (NE US), GlobalSantaFe
Corp. (GSF US) and Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO US) were
cut to ``neutral'' from ``buy.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

BHP seeks partner for Alcoa bid - paper

(Reuters) - Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last month
that BHP had appointed investment bank Merrill Lynch to
work on a possible bid for Canada's Alcan Inc , which is
the subject of a $28.7 billion hostile bid from Aloca.




The Times said Alcoa was BHP's preferred target, but it was
unwilling to pay a premium for assets that it does not want to
retain and so wanted to team up with a bid partner.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

RLPC-UPDATE 1-Bombardier Recreational Products delays bank loan

(Reuters) - The company on Friday postponed a $1.12 billion term loan
that it was raising to refinance debt and pay a $505 million
dividend payment to owners Bain Capital, Beaudier Group and the
Caisse de dep't et placement du Quebec, sources told Reuters
LPC.




The loan was being led by Merrill Lynch and was expected to
pay lenders 250 basis points over Libor.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Merrill Backs Away From Plan to Sell $850 Million Bear Assets, People Say

(Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. backed away from
a threat to dump about $850 million of securities it seized from
Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds, according to people with knowledge
of the firm's plans.

Merrill sold a small portion of the collateralized debt
obligations through an auction, said the people, who declined to
be identified because the details haven't been announced. The
firm plans to hold onto the remaining securities for now, one
person said, without being more specific.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Ex-Enron CFO to pay $300,000 to settle SEC charges

(Reuters) - The SEC said McMahon participated in a fraudulent
transaction involving the purported sale of an interest in
Nigerian power generating barges to Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc.
that allowed Enron to improperly report $12 million in
earnings in the fourth quarter of 1999.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Bear Stearns's Rescue of Hedge Funds Is Jeopardized by Merrill Bond Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos.'s attempt to rescue
its money-losing hedge funds may falter after creditor Merrill
Lynch & Co. decided to seize and sell $800 million of bonds held
as collateral for loans to the funds.

Merrill Lynch distributed a list of the securities to
investors late yesterday, according to people with knowledge of
the offering. New York-based Merrill Lynch postponed a smaller
auction two days ago while Bear Stearns worked on a plan to bail
out the hedge funds.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Canadian Stocks May Fall as Oil Prices Decline; Canadian Natural May Drop

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks may fall for a second
day, led by energy producers including Canadian Natural Resources
Ltd., after crude oil prices slipped from a nine-month high and
Merrill Lynch & Co. downgraded the natural-gas company's stock.

Losses in the market may be limited as raw-materials producers
gain on speculation there will be more takeovers in the industry,
after a report that Alcan Inc. opened its books to potential
bidders. Copper prices rebounded from a drop yesterday and may also
support resource stocks.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

US STOCKS-Wall Street droops as oil tops $69 a barrel

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 18 - U.S. stocks slipped on Monday
as oil climbed notched a 10-month high while nearing $70 a
barrel, taking a toll on energy-dependent sectors, while more
worrisome data from the housing sector weighed on home
builders.




Adding to the wary mood, The Wall Street Journal said
Merrill Lynch & Co. took control of $400 million of
loan assets underlying a troubled hedge fund at Bear Stearns
Cos. Inc. Merrill was a chief lender to the fund, which
was heavily invested in subprime loans.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

US STOCKS-Indexes flat as oil pinches, while M&A rolls on

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 18 - U.S. stock indexes were
treading water on Monday as oil prices above $69 a barrel took
a toll on energy-dependent sectors and offset some of the
gains from a fresh round of corporate takeovers.




Adding to the wary mood on Wall Street, the Wall Street
Journal reported that Merrill Lynch & Co. had taken
control of $400 million of loan assets underlying a troubled
hedge fund at Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. that was heavily
invested in subprime loans.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

U.S. Stock Futures Gain as Treasuries Erase Losses; Merrill Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures gained
after Treasury bonds erased losses following a decline that
earlier pushed yields on 10-year notes to the highest in more
than five years.

Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's biggest brokerage, and
Wachovia Corp., the fourth-biggest U.S. bank, advanced in
trading in Europe.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Stocks Rise, Led by Vodafone; Standard Life, Old Mutual Gain

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced on takeover
speculation in the telecommunications industry and as Merrill
Lynch & Co. advised investors to buy U.K. insurers.

Vodafone Group Plc climbed after the Wall Street Journal
said the mobile-phone company could be worth more split into
parts, fueling speculation it may be taken over. Standard Life
Plc and Old Mutual Plc climbed after Merrill Lynch raised its
recommendation on both shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

China's High-Yield, High-Risk Corporate Bonds Fall as Local Shares Slide

(Bloomberg) -- China's high-risk, high-yielding
corporate bonds fell as the country's stock markets recorded
their biggest slump in three months.

The yield on Citic Resources Holdings Ltd.'s $1 billion of
bonds due in 2014 widened to 213 basis points more than similar-
maturity U.S. Treasuries, from 202 basis points yesterday, the
biggest increase since the debt was sold earlier this month,
according to Merrill Lynch & Co. The spread on Parkson Retail
Group Ltd.'s $125 million of debt maturing 2012 widened by 4
basis points.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News