Japan's Government Bonds Rise After Terror Concerns Spur Flight to Safety

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's government bonds gained after
terrorist plots in the U.K. spurred demand for the relative
safety of government debt in the U.S. and Europe.

Local bonds followed an advance in U.S. Treasuries, which
rose yesterday on speculation over potential terror threats and
weakness in the subprime mortgage market. Ten-year Treasury
yields, which yesterday dropped below 5 percent for the first
time in three weeks, had a 0.87 correlation with Japanese yields
in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

South Korea's Credit Rating May Be Raised by Moody's on Economic Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's debt ratings were put
on review for upgrade, Moody's Investors Service said, citing a
favorable economic outlook and progress in talks with North
Korea on dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

The review typically means that the country's debt rating
may be raised from A3, the seventh highest of 10 investment
grades, in three months. A higher debt rating signals a lower
risk of debt default and may help reduce borrowing costs.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China's Qinhuangdao Coal Prices Increase to Record on Summer Power Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Prices of coal at Qinhuangdao,
China's largest port for the fuel, rose to a record as
increased use of air conditioners in the summer season boosted
electricity demand.

The price for immediate delivery, excluding shipping
costs, climbed 2.98 yuan a metric ton to 563.38 yuan ($74),
for the week ended June 29, according to the McCloskey Group.
The price of coal at Qinhuangdao has risen almost threefold in
the past five years.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Ireland's ESRI Cuts Forecast for Economic Growth Outlook as Housing Cools

(Bloomberg) -- Ireland's Economic and Social Research
Institute cut its forecast for economic growth for the next two
years, saying the slowdown in Ireland's property market will
expose weaknesses in the economy.

Gross domestic product will probably ease to 3.7 percent in
2008 from an expected 4.9 percent this year, the Dublin-based
ESRI said today in its quarterly report. It previously forecast
expansion of 3.9 percent in 2008 and 5.4 percent this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

BCE Buys Phone Company; Telus May be Acquired : Canadian Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in Canadian markets.
This preview includes news that broke after markets closed.
Symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are
from the last close.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 190.90, or
1.4 percent, to 13906.57 on June 29.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Coles private equity pullout highlights debt worries

(Reuters) - Wesfarmers Ltd. , which agreed to buy Coles for
A$20.7 billion in cash and stock on Monday, was
the lone bidder after the owner of hardware stores saw its
private equity partners, Permira and Pacific Equity Partners
, withdraw over the weekend on concerns about the rising
cost of debt, according to a source familiar with the matter.




Rival private equity firm Texas Pacific also quit the Coles
auction last week on debt market worries.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Bear Stearns plans risk controls after losses -WSJ

(Reuters) - The team had previously reported to the asset management
division's chairman and chief executive, the report said.




The Journal said the investment bank also planned to add
new risk managers to the unit.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

REFILE-Blackstone eyes stake in China's BlueStar -AWSJ

(Reuters) - Blackstone, in which a Chinese state investment agency owns a
$3 billion stake, aims to buy between 20 and 40 percent of
BlueStar, the Journal reported, citing unnamed private equity
fund managers.




Market watchers believe Blackstone, which raised $4.1 billion
in a New York listing late last month, will have an easier path
to making acquisitions in China since the government agency
invested in the firm.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

China Shenhua Energy Plans to Raise $6.3 Billion in Shanghai Share Sale

(Bloomberg) -- China Shenhua Energy Co., the nation's
largest coal producer, is planning what may become China's
biggest share sale this year to raise as much as $6.3 billion for
expansion as demand for the fuel surges.

Shenhua plans to sell as many as 1.8 billion yuan-
denominated shares in Shanghai, it said in a statement to Hong
Kong's stock exchange late yesterday. The money will be used to
expand coal, power and transportation operations and for domestic
and overseas acquisitions, the Beijing-based company said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Northrop, Lockheed dispute US Coast Guard reversal

(Reuters) - Integrated Coast Guard Systems , as the partnership
is known, "does not consider the revocation of acceptance to be
supported as a matter of fact or law," said a June 27 letter
from the team to the Coast Guard that Reuters obtained on
Monday.




The cutters are part of a troubled $24 billion, 25-year
modernization program known as Deepwater.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-BCE takeover battle may not be over yet

(Reuters) - BCE on Saturday said its board recommended shareholders
accept a C$42.75 a share offer from a consortium which
includes the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Teachers Private
Capital, as well as Providence Equity Partners Inc. and Madison
Dearborn Partners, LLC.




The offer was worth an estimated C$51.7 billion, making it
the biggest buyout in Canadian corporate history.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Washington Federal to buy First Mutual Bancshares for $189.8 mln

(Reuters) - Washington Federal said it expects the deal to add to
earnings in 2008.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

New Zealand Dollar Advances to 22-Year High as Bond Yield Advantage Widens

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar rose to the
highest in 22 years against the U.S. currency and to a 19-year
high versus the yen, on speculation the yield premium on the
nation's bonds to U.S. debt will widen further.

The yield advantage between New Zealand government two-year
bonds and similar-maturity Treasuries held near its widest in
seven weeks after the U.S. currency fell to a 26-year low against
the pound and its weakest versus the euro. The dollar declined on
concern losses in the subprime mortgage market may spill over
into the broader economy, adding to prospects the Federal Reserve
will leave interest rates unchanged this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Centennial, Local.com, New York Times, Vornado: U.S. Equity Movers Final

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares had unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges today.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 4 p.m. New York time.

Real estate investment trusts advanced after UBS AG said the
stocks may jump 21 percent as a group in the next 12 months and
Merrill Lynch & Co. upgraded Vornado Realty Trust (VNO US).


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

US STOCKS-Indexes rally on M&A frenzy, factory growth

(Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc. and United Technologies Corp.
led the Dow industrials higher after a surprising
rise in the Institute for Supply Management's factory index to
its highest level in more than a year.




Takeover activity showed few signs of abating despite
concerns about tightening credit. Canada's largest telephone
company, BCE Inc. , agreed to a US$32.6 billion
buyout. For details, see [ID:nN02315411].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stocks Advance After Manufacturing Growth Accelerates; Costco Surges

(Bloomberg) -- Faster-than-expected growth in
manufacturing ignited the U.S. stock market on July's first
trading day, extending the best second-quarter advance for the
Standard & Poor's 500 Index since 2003.

Costco Wholesale Corp. climbed to a record after Goldman,
Sachs & Co. advised buying the shares, helping push the Nasdaq
Composite Index to a six-year high. Caterpillar Inc., United
Technologies Corp. and Honeywell International Inc. carried the
Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first gain in three days.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New York Gasoline Is Little Changed on Speculation Inventories May Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Gasoline futures were little changed
amid estimates a weekly Energy Department report will show a
rise in U.S. inventories as refinery production increased.

Supplies probably grew 500,000 barrels last week, according
the median of nine estimates in a Bloomberg News survey of
analysts. Refineries operated at 90.3 percent of nationwide
capacity, up 0.9 percentage point from the previous week, the
survey predicted. The Energy Department will release its report
on Thursday, July 5.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Can Argentine first lady be reformer as president?

(Reuters) - Fernandez, a prominent senator, has been a leading adviser
to President Nestor Kirchner and shares his center-left
ideology.




Some analysts say she would be unlikely to change economic
policy if elected in October.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Schwab sets $3.5 bln capital restructuring plan

(Reuters) - The company said it would return $1.2 billion to shareholders through a special cash dividend of $1.00 per share.




It also announced it will buy back up to 84 million shares through a $2.3 billion share repurchase program.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-DuPont completes some filings on corn trait

(Reuters) - Seeds with the Optimum GAT trait are more tolerant against
certain types of herbicides, which help control weeds, but also
pose a risk to the crop itself.




"We are excited about the strong progress we are making to
bring the Optimum GAT trait closer to market," said Erik
Fyrwald head of DuPont's Agriculture & Nutrition division, in a
statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Washington's New Ethics Rules On Lobbying Put Birthday Partiers on Guard

(Bloomberg) -- For 9-year-old Brendan Loveng, it was
just a birthday party. For his father, Jeff, a congressional
aide, it was the entree into Washington's thorny new ethics
rules.

Brendan was treated to free laser-tag games, pizza and
birthday cake at the party for a lobbyist's son. On the advice
of officials in Congress, his father evened the score by
throwing an identical birthday party for Brendan two weeks later
and inviting the lobbyist's son.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Global PMI shows June manufacturing growth highest since Sept

(Reuters) - This is well above the 50.0 mark that separates growth from
contraction.




The U.S. saw a sharp acceleration of growth in the month
buoyed by a strong recovery in new business. Euro zone growth
also boosted last month's performance, recording a pick-up in
growth for the first time in four months.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Rand firms to 6-week high vs dollar

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand gained over one percent against the dollar on Monday to touch six-week highs as worries about the U.S. housing sector reinforced views that U.S. interest rates would likely stay steady but rise elsewhere.

At 1520 GMT the rand was at 6.9750 to the dollar compared to Friday's New York close of 7.04, having earlier risen more than 1.1 percent to 6.9580, its highest level since May 17 when it reached 6.945/dollar.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.S. regulators stymie mortgage lenders again

(Reuters) - Rising foreclosures following five heady years of mortgage
lending prompted regulators to write guidelines they say will
curb risky lending practices and protect consumers. The move
followed last year's clampdown on issuance of "exotic"
mortgages, including interest-only loans.




The Federal Reserve and four other regulators on Friday did
not bend to industry concerns that the guidance on subprime
loans would stifle an industry already in the throes of
crisis.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

US STOCKS-Indexes rise on data, takeover news

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 2 - U.S. stocks rose on Monday,
boosted by takeover news and data that showed manufacturing
growth quickened in June even as price pressures eased.




In deal news, Canada's largest telephone company, BCE Inc
, agreed to a proposed US$32.8 billion buyout
from a group that includes the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan on
Saturday, in the biggest such transaction in Canadian corporate
history. For details, see [ID:nN02315411].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

S.Africa millers see tight maize stocks, back fcast

(Reuters) - South Africa's Chamber of Milling on Monday backed a rosier forecast for the season's maize harvest although it expects supplies to remain precarious.

Local maize prices have rallied to record peaks this year after drought hit the agricultural heartland and left the country facing a supply crunch.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-Penn Virginia acquires two coal reserves

(Reuters) - The coal properties management company said it also
acquired about 9 million tons of coal reserves in southern
Illinois for $9.9 million in cash from a private seller.




The company said it funded the acquisitions using its
credit facility.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Dollar Falls to Two-Month Low Versus Euro on Outlook for Interest Rates

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to the lowest level in
almost two months against the euro and dropped against the yen on
speculation the Federal Reserve will keep borrowing costs
unchanged while other central banks extend their increases.

Investors also sold the dollar against the Japanese currency
and Swiss franc after terrorists targeted central London and
Glasgow, Scotland, prompting them to pare holdings of riskier
assets such as equities and emerging-market assets funded by
loans in yen, a practice known as the carry trade.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Commerce Bank's Hill Proves Freewheeling Style Has Limits With Regulators

(Bloomberg) -- Commerce Bancorp Inc.'s Vernon Hill
strode through a new training center in Mount Laurel, New
Jersey, in January, past photos of women in red C-for-Commerce
costumes and TV screens showing hip-hop dancers in bank T-shirts
singing Commerce songs.

``The idea is to get you psyched up,'' said then-Chief
Executive Officer Hill, 61, passing a two-story waterfall. ``You
walk into this building, you're supposed to say `Wow!'''


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Dollar Pares Losses as Factory Growth Is More Than Forecast During June

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar pared its losses versus the
euro and yen after a report showed U.S. manufacturing growth
exceeded economists' forecasts last month.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index
increased to 56 during June. The gauge was forecast to touch 55
for a second month, according to the median of 77 forecasts in a
Bloomberg News survey. Readings greater than 50 signal expansion.
The gauge hasn't been below 50 since January.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

BCE, Dobson, Focus, InterOil, Theravance, Virgin Media: 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 9:35 a.m. New York time.

BCE Inc. (BCE US) rose $1.28, or 3.4 percent, to $39.07.
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which manages C$106 billion ($100
billion) for teachers in Canada's most populous province, agreed
June 30 to buy the country's biggest phone company for C$34.2
billion with investors including Providence Equity Partners Inc.
The value of the transaction with debt, preferred shares and
minority interests is C$51.7 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Consolidated to buy North Pittsburgh for about $375 mln

(Reuters) - July 2 - Rural telephone services provider Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc. said it agreed to acquire North Pittsburgh Systems Inc. for about $375 million in cash and stock.



The $25 a share offer represents an 18 percent premium over North Pittsburgh's closing share price on June 29.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Airgas to take full control of National Welders venture

(Reuters) - The industrial gas distributor said it will exchange about
2.47 million of its shares for all preferred shares of National
Welders Supply Co.




Since 1996, Airgas owned 100 percent of the joint venture's
common stock, with a 50 percent voting interest.



Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Security concerns weigh on shares, aid bonds

(Reuters) - Credit markets softened as worries lingered about the U.S.
high-risk mortgage sector. Concerns about rising borrowing costs
ahead of an expected interest rate hike in Britain this week also
weighed on investor risk appetite.




Britain has raised its security rating to its highest level
after failed car bombing attempts in London and an attack on a
Scottish airport over the weekend.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Apple, Costco Wholesale Shares Climb

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose on
speculation that Apple Inc.'s initial iPhone sales beat analyst
estimates and that factory orders held near a 13-month high.

Apple gained after shoppers bought as many as 500,000
iPhones over the weekend, according to a Piper Jaffray
estimate. Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse
club, climbed after Goldman, Sachs & Co. recommended buying the
stock.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-UAE funds deny interest in Jaguar, Land Rover

(Reuters) - Britain's Observer newspaper said on Sunday Mubadala
Development Co., owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, and Dubai
International Capital had asked bankers to prepare bids for one
or both of the Ford units. The report did not cite sources.




"We are not considering either," Mubadala's chief operating
officer, Waleed al-Mokarrab al-Muhairi, said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Nice to buy Actimize for $280 mln in cash, stock deal

(Reuters) - Nice also cut its 2007 earnings forecast to a range of
$1.31 to $1.42 per share, compared with its earlier forecast of
$1.36 to $1.46 a share.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

China funds still upbeat on stocks, sour on bonds

(Reuters) - Most of the funds polled late last week and on Monday said
the Shanghai Composite Index had entered a consolidation
phase, although it still had a chance to rebound above 4,000
points over the next three months.




They cited positive factors such as strong corporate earnings
growth, restructuring of listed companies' assets and a
strengthening Chinese currency.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Reddy Ice says to be acquired for $1.1 billion

(Reuters) - The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007.







Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

S.Africa government bonds firmer on stronger rand

(Reuters) - South African government bonds strengthened on Monday as the rand currency maintained a firm bias against the dollar.

Yields on the most-active 2010 bond fell 14 basis points from Friday's closing levels to 8.955 percent, while those on the benchmark issue due in 2015 went down by 14.5 basis points to 8.355 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Richemont sees growing risks in luxury goods - FT

(Reuters) - Risks seem to be growing for the long-buoyant luxury goods sector, though demand from emerging markets remains robust so far, Richemont Chairman Johann Rupert said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday.

Rupert, whose Swiss company owns 16 luxury brands including Cartier watches, Piaget jewellery and Montblanc pens, said he believed a conservative strategy was best to navigate a possible cooling of the red-hot market for high-end accessories.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Pound Holds Above $2 Before House-Price Data; Gilts Rise on Terror Attacks

(Bloomberg) -- Gilts gained, pushing 10-year yields
to near a three-week low, as investors bought the safest assets
after U.K. police arrested five people following an attack on
Glasgow's airport and two attempted car bombings in London.

The gain in gilts, snapping a two-day losing streak, came
after the U.K. Home Office raised its terrorist threat assessment
for the country to ``critical'' after the incidents. The pound
gained for a fifth day before the Bank of England's meeting on
July 5 when policy makers are expected to raise interest rates by
25 basis points to 5.75 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Kenya inflation rate rises to 11.1 pct y/y in June

(Reuters) - Kenya's annual inflation rose to 11.1 percent in June from 6.3 percent in May on the back of price increases in food, alcohol and tobacco, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

However, underlying inflation that excludes food prices fell to 5.2 percent from 5.7 in May.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Germany's DAX Index Slides; Allianz, Lufthansa, Deutsche Bank Slip

(Bloomberg) -- German stocks dropped, led by Allianz
SE, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Deutsche Bank AG.

The benchmark DAX Index lost 65.91, or 0.8 percent, to
7941.41 as of 9:06 a.m. in Frankfurt. The HDAX Index of the
country's 110 biggest companies also fell 0.8 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Stocks Decline; Allianz, Deutsche Bank, Thomas Cook Fall

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks declined for the first
time in three days. Allianz SE and Deutsche Bank AG led a drop by
insurers and banks.

Thomas Cook Group Plc, the travel operator created last
month by a merger, fell after Credit Suisse Group rated the
shares ``underperform'' in new coverage. Groupe Danone SA gained
after a report it might be in talks to sell its biscuit and
cereal products division to Kraft Foods Inc.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

BCE takeover battle may not be over yet -report

(Reuters) - One of the losing BCE suitors, U.S. buyout firm Cerberus
Capital Management LP, has not given up its pursuit of BCE, the
newspaper reported, citing a source close to Cerberus.




"It's not over until we say it's over," it quoted the source
as saying.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News