RPT-TREASURIES-Prices fall,job growth shrinks chance of rate cut

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 1 - U.S. government debt prices
slid on Friday after strong data on labor and manufacturing all
but quashed the market's remaining hopes for a Federal Reserve
interest-rate cut this year.




The retreat sent benchmark yields, which move inversely to
prices, to their highest levels in more than nine months.


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Former Qwest CFO to pay fine to settle fraud case

(Reuters) - The SEC alleged that from at least April 1, 1999 through March 31, 2002, Szeliga and others at the telecommunications company engaged in "massive financial fraud" that hid the true source of the company's revenue and earnings growth.




In order to meet Qwest's aggressive revenue and earnings growth target, the company repeatedly relied on immediate revenue recognition from one-time sales of assets known as "IRUs" and certain equipment while falsely claiming that revenue was coming in, the SEC said.


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Swiss watchdog tightens rules in wake of raid

(Reuters) - The rules also cover cash-settlement options, which had
been excluded from disclosure rules and have been used by
raiders to take large stakes out of public view.




The new rules effectively force investors to disclose
company stakes no matter how they are held.


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Jamaica in air route deal with Virgin Atlantic

(Reuters) - Financial terms were not disclosed, however.




"We are faced with two choices as far as Air Jamaica is
concerned," Davies said.


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Google acquires Feedburner

(Reuters) - Feedburner of Chicago is a pioneer in the market for delivering the latest updated information to other Web sites using technology known as Really Simple Syndication . Customers include The Wall Street Journal, BBC and Amazon.com.




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Thermo Fisher to take divestiture charge

(Reuters) - As a result, Thermo said it would record a charge of $25 million to $30 million primarily in the current quarter as loss on disposal of discontinued operations.



Following an investigation, the United Kingdom Competition Commission determined that Thermo should divest either GV Instruments Ltd as a whole or sell off that company's lines of gas isotope ratio mass spectrometers and thermal ionization mass spectrometers.


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Wal-Mart says to slow supercenter growth

(Reuters) - Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe made the eagerly awaited comments at Wal-Mart's annual shareholders meeting. Analysts and investors have pushed for the retailer to rein in U.S. expansion as it tries to improve sales growth at home.




"We will moderate that growth just a little bit," he said of the retailer's plans to open new U.S. supercenters.


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Canadian Stocks Rise on U.S. Economic Growth; Petro-Canada, Goldcorp Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks advanced on signs of a
strengthening U.S. economy after a government report showed U.S.
employers boosted hiring last month. Climbing oil and metal prices
also lifted shares of commodity producers.

``If the worst is behind the U.S. economic growth, then it's a
nice recipe for elevated commodity prices in the coming quarters,''
said Clement Gignac, a chief economist and strategist for National
Bank Financial in Montreal.


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Quebec averts election as legislature okays budget

(Reuters) - That allowed the pro-Canadian unity Liberals, who have 48
members in the assembly, enough votes to carry the day.




The Action democratique du Quebec , which has 41
members in the national assembly, rejected the budget.


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UPDATE 1-Forzani Group says not in takeover talks

(Reuters) - Forzani said it has received such inquiries more frequently
recently, but none has resulted in a firm offer. It said there
is no assurance that such talks, if entered, will result in a
transaction.




The Calgary-based company made the statement after a
newspaper report said U.S. private equity firms Cerberus
Capital Management and Apollo Management were interested in the
retailer.


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S.African stocks up on Anglo corporate action

(Reuters) - South African stocks ended the week firmer on Friday with resource stocks leading the bourse into positive territory boosted by news of the listing of Anglo American's paper unit and stronger metals prices.

"It was a strong trading day today with reasonably widespread positives in the market, but resource stocks were still dominating," a Johannesburg-based trader said.


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"American Idol" owner agrees to CEO-led buyout

(Reuters) - Shareholders would receive $13.75 in cash and one share of FX Luxury Realty LLC for each share of CKX, the company said. FX Luxury is an affiliate of CEO Robert Sillerman that has real estate interests in Las Vegas as well as licenses to use Elvis Presley's and Muhammad Ali's names in the development of real estate and attractions.




The cash portion of the offer represents a 29 percent premium to CKX's closing share price of $10.63 on Thursday. On Friday, shares soared to a high of $15.34 before settling at $14.31 in late morning trade on Nasdaq.


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REFILE-WRAPUP 2-Silicon Valley companies settle options cases

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, May 31 - Mercury Interactive and
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. agreed to pay a combined
$35 million to settle charges they fraudulently backdated stock
options that helped enrich former executives, U.S. regulators
said on Thursday.




The settlements represent the first time companies have
agreed to pay civil penalties related to the Securities and
Exchange Commission's probe of more than 100 companies
suspected of manipulating option grant dates.


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Porsche North America car sales up 1.7 pct in May

(Reuters) - Sales of its Boxster model line that includes the two Cayman
derivatives fell 14.5 percent to 1,082 cars.




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Audi brand U.S. car sales rise 23 pct in May

(Reuters) - In the first five months through May, sales rose 17 percent to 37,922 units.



) Keywords: AUDI SALES/


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CME says May volume up 12 percent on year

(Reuters) - Volume on the CME Globex electronic trading platform
increased 11 percent from May 2006 to average 4.4 million
contracts a day.




CME said open interest reached a record high 54.3 million
contracts on May 1.


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Itau, Heringer, Petrobras, Telemar, Vale do Rio Doce: Brazil Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil's main stock index gained for the
second time in three days, led by state-controlled oil company
Petroleo Brasileiro SA.

The Bovespa Index of the most-traded stocks on the Sao Paulo
exchange rose 585.94, or 1.1 percent, to a record 52,854.40 as of
9:42 a.m. New York time.


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Carlyle buying PQ Corp chem business

(Reuters) - CCMP Capital had continued to manage the PQ Corp. investment on behalf of J.P. Morgan Partners.




Reuters reported in April that PQ Corp. was put up for sale, citing two sources familiar with the situation. One source said at the time it could fetch more than $1 billion and could go to a private equity buyer.


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Platinum Futures Jump on Demand for Car Pollution Devices; Palladium Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum jumped in New York and headed
for a weekly gain on expectations demand for the metal used in
auto pollution devices will increase after President George W.
Bush spoke of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Palladium rose.

Bush proposed yesterday convening talks with the world's
biggest economies to set targets to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.
Before today, platinum has gained 12 percent this year as
industrial and investment demand increased.


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Sarkozy Moves `Full Speed' to Raise French Profile Before G-8, EU Summits

(Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy
didn't hit the ground running. He hit it sprinting.

``I was going full speed'' before the first round of the
presidential election, ``and between the two rounds, I
accelerated,'' Sarkozy told journalists May 21. ``My strategy
remains the same: full speed, full speed, full speed.''


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Legg Mason's chief administrative officer to quit

(Reuters) - Legg Mason said its chairman, Raymond Mason, will oversee the administrative units that previously reported to Scheve, increasing the 70-year-old executive's workload.




In April, Mason's hand-picked successor decided he did not want the top job, forcing Mason to abandon his plans to retire soon and to stay on at the firm for at least two more years.


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U.S. Treasuries Little Changed on Increase in Employment Growth During May

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries were little changed
after a government report showed the economy created more jobs in
May than economists forecast.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell 1 basis point,
or 0.01 percentage point, to 4.88 percent at 8:37 a.m. in New
York, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price of
the 4 1/2 percent security due May 2017 increased 3/32, or 94
cents per $1,000 face amount, to 97 1/32. Bond prices move
inversely to yields.


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Psychiatric Solutions raises 2007 earnings view

(Reuters) - Psychiatric Solutions had earlier forecast 2007 earnings to
range from $1.42 to $1.46 a share.





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Japanese Government Bonds Drop for Second Week on Improving U.S. Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's government bonds completed a
second weekly decline, pushing yields to the highest in seven
months, on speculation the economy in the country's biggest
export market is recovering from a slowdown.

Benchmark 10-year bonds declined as reports this week
showed consumer confidence and business activity in the U.S.
increased, adding to expectations the economy will rebound from
the slowest quarterly growth in more than four years. Japanese
bonds due in 10 years or more last month handed investors the
biggest loss in a year, according to a Merrill Lynch & Co. index.


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JGBs slump as BOJ worries bite, Treasuries slide

(Reuters) - The benchmark 10-year yield hit a seven-month high while
futures prices fell to a fresh nine-month low as the market's
sell-off extended on the rise in the Nikkei share average to a
three-month peak.




The two-year yield hit a decade high of 0.995 percent and
jumped 7 basis points on the week -- the biggest one-week
increase since May last year when market players were
anticipating the end of zero interest rates.


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Russia to decide TNK-BP's Kovykta fate on Friday

(Reuters) - "We believe the delay in a final decision is plausible, but
ultimately the licence is likely to be recalled," said Steven
Dashevsky from Aton brokerage.




The Vedomosti daily newspaper quoted on Friday a source
close to TNK-BP as saying that the licensing agency, Rosnedra,
might postpone its decision on Kovykta until the end of the
Russian Economic Forum in St Petersburg on June 10.


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European Stocks Advance; BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto Gain on Copper

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks climbed for a second
day, paced by basic resources companies after copper and gold
rose in Asia.

BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, and Rio
Tinto Plc, the third-biggest, gained.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Costs could delay Total's key Angolan projects

(Reuters) - Surging costs in the oil services industry could delay Total's decision to launch a new multi-billion dollar ultra-deep offshore oil field project in Angola, executives at the French energy giant said on Thursday.

"We have seen on Pazflor, like on many other projects, costs that are considerably higher than what we anticipated," Yves-Louis Darricarrere, head of the group's exploration and production activities, told Reuters.


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