PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Aug 6

(Reuters) - * Bear Stearns Cos. co-president quit, becoming
Wall Street's highest-profile casualty in the subprime-lending
fiasco.




* ICI reached a tentative deal to be taken over by
Akzo Nobel and Henkel for $16 billion.
The chemical and paint maker had rejected Akzo's earlier
offers.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. Senate report faults SEC on hedge fund probe

(Reuters) - The report from the Senate Finance and Senate Judiciary
committees, released late on Friday, ends a year-long inquiry
into the dismissal of former SEC staffer Gary Aguirre.




Aguirre says he was forced out of the agency after a probe
he was leading got too close to prominent Wall Street banker
John Mack. His claims prompted three Senate hearings and drew
heavy press coverage.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

GLOBAL MARKETS-US jobs data hit stocks, dollar, boost bonds

(Reuters) - LONDON, Aug 3 - Stocks and the dollar fell while
safe-haven government bonds rallied on Friday after
weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data fanned concerns about a U.S.
economy already struggling with credit liquidity fears.




U.S. stock futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street
while European stocks moved deeper in negative territory
after data showed U.S. employers boosted payrolls in July at the
slowest pace since February, adding 92,000 jobs.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Chipotle 2nd-qtr net tops Street, shares rise

(Reuters) - LOS ANGELES, July 31 - Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc
said on Tuesday quarterly earnings nearly doubled,
beating Wall Street estimates, on increased customer traffic
and higher menu prices.




Chipotle shares rose more than 7 percent in extended trade
after the restaurant chain also raised its same-store sales
forecast for the year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

US STOCKS-Indexes trim gains, mortgage insurers slip

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday
but were off their highs on jitters about fallout from the
subprime mortgage market and rising oil prices, which partly
offset strong earnings and positive economic indicators.




General Motors Corp. set the stage for gains after
the automaker swung to a profit in the second quarter and
handily topped Wall Street's expectations [ID:nN31206991].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Health Management net tumbles; forecast is weak

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, July 31 - Hospital chain Health Management Associates posted an 85 percent plunge in quarterly profit Tuesday, citing difficulties in collecting on hospital bills, and forecast 2007 profit significantly below Wall Street estimates.



HMA, whose shares fell 9 percent in pre-market trade, said second-quarter earnings fell to $11.9 million, or 5 cents a share, from $77.3 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dollar edges up as stocks rally

(Reuters) - Stock indexes opened strongly, recovering for a second day from one of Wall Street's worst weeks in five years, boosted by a rosy corporate earnings outlook. But equities subsequently pared their gains, led by losses in the financial sector.




As a result, the dollar came off its highs against the yen and recovered modestly versus the euro, which at one point slipped below $1.37.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

FTSE rallies more than 1 pct; GSK, miners shine

(Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday, boosted by a jump in GlaxoSmithKline and after an overnight rebound on Wall Street helped to arrest a two-week long decline.

GlaxoSmithKline rallied 3.6 percent after an advisory panel said diabetes drug Avandia should stay on the U.S. market even though data suggest it may increase the risk of heart attack for some patients.


Read more at Reuters Africa

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

US STOCKS-Credit worries drag on stocks, offset profit view

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 30 - U.S. stocks traded little
changed in erratic trading on Monday after Wall Street's worst
week in nearly five years as concerns about the deteriorating
credit market countered optimism about the earnings outlook.




Tightening lending standards threatened to slow or halt the
heavy pace of corporate buyouts, including several major deals
by private equity firms, which have fueled a rally in stocks.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US economic growth rebounds in second quarter

(Reuters) - U.S. economic growth rebounded during the second quarter to its strongest pace since the beginning of last year on a surge in business investment, more government spending and a better trade performance, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

Gross domestic product that measures total output within U.S. borders gained at a 3.4 percent annual rate -- the fastest since 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2006 -- after barely growing at a downwardly revised 0.6 percent pace in the first quarter. Second-quarter growth exceeded Wall Street economists' forecasts for a 3.2 percent rate of increase.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Kraft profit seen lower as new investors watch

(Reuters) - Activist investors Nelson Peltz and Carl Icahn both have purchased stakes in the No. 1 U.S. packaged food maker and the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc also has bought a small stake.




Kraft shares are down about 7.5 percent this year, compared with a 2.5 percent increase in the Standard & Poor's packaged foods index .


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

US STOCKS-Wall St falls as credit worries persist

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 27 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday as
investors remained jittery about the worsening climate for
financing corporate takeovers and about subprime mortgage
losses dragging on the economy.




The underlying tone remained cautious on Wall Street a day
after U.S. equities suffered the second worst decline this
year, wiping out more than $300 billion in the S&P 500's
value.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

McKesson posts profit on strong technology results

(Reuters) - Wall Street analysts on average forecast 71 cents per share,
according to Reuters Estimates.







Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Amgen net profit rises, key drug meets goal

(Reuters) - NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, July 26 - Amgen Inc. on
Thursday posted quarterly profit that topped Wall Street
expectations, even as sales of its biggest drug, Aranesp, fell
19 percent in the United States amid safety concerns.




The company also announced positive breast cancer data
about its most important experimental drug, denosumab, and
issued a full-year profit forecast above analysts' estimates.
Its shares rose 1.9 percent in after-hours trading.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Dow Chemical earnings up, but tax rate eyed

(Reuters) - But shares of the company fell 6 percent, as some analysts argued that a lower-than-expected tax rate helped raise earnings above Wall Street's expectations.




Dow, the No. 1 U.S. chemical maker by sales, posted a second-quarter profit of $1.04 billion, or $1.07 a share, up from $1.02 billion, or $1.05 a share, a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had forecast earnings of $1.05 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Anglo, BHP, Standard Bank pull S.Africa bourse down

(Reuters) - Anglo American led volatile South African shares lower on Wednesday as base metal prices slipped, and the market was further weakened by local interest rate hike concerns and a decline on Wall Street.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks fell 1.77 percent at 26,331.06 points. The broader All-share index dropped 1.64 percent to 29,105.27 points.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Wall Street Analysts Failed to Foresee 28% Rally in Shares of Amazon.com

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc.'s second-quarter
profit surprised Wall Street analysts, prompting at least six to
raise their rating on shares of the biggest online retailer.

Shares of Amazon, which climbed as much as 28 percent today,
have more than doubled over the past year. Just eight of the 25
analysts who cover Amazon recommend that investors buy the stock,
according to Bloomberg data.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

TREASURIES-Bonds retreat amid stock market rebound

(Reuters) - Benchmark bond yields had hit seven-week lows in offshore
trade but struggled since it became clear that Wall Street
would recoup losses suffered during Tuesday's steep fall.
Double click on [.N] for latest on stocks.




Although housing worries were the driver of Tuesday's stock
market selloff and bond rally, the Treasury market shrugged off
unexpectedly sharp fall in existing home sales during June.
Dealers said investors needed to see signs that the housing
bust was spreading to the broader economy.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds 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