Computer Sciences discovers accounting errors

(Reuters) - The company discovered the errors in its accounting for fiscal years 2000 through 2006. The charges it expects to take cover the period through March 31, 2006, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.



The amount does not include a cumulative charge of about $60 million through March 31, 2006 related to a stock option investigation that it said it previously disclosed and recorded.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Applebee's May same-store sales drop 2.1 percent

(Reuters) - The Overland Park, Kansas, company, which has been trying
to turn around its casual bar-and-grill chain, operates nearly
2,000 restaurants worldwide.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Dutch panel urges stricter shareholder disclosure

(Reuters) - Those owning stakes of 3 percent or more of a Dutch
company's shares should report their holdings to the Dutch
market regulator AFM, instead of the current reporting
requirement of 5 percent, the Monitoring Commission on the
Corporate Governance Code said in a statement.




The commission also recommended that the code be revised so
that stakeholders must hold at least 3 percent of a Dutch
company's shares in order to have the right to put items up for
a vote at shareholders' meetings. The current threshold is 1
percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

TREASURIES-Most prices flat as stocks gain

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, May 30 - U.S. government bond prices
were flat to slightly higher on Wednesday, having erased nearly
all their initial gains as stocks reversed early losses and
moved higher.




In early morning trade, a safe-haven bid for Treasuries
emerged after Chinese stocks tumbled 6 percent and traders got
a report pointing to soft U.S. private sector job growth.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bank of Communications, Sime Darby, Tata: Asia Ex-Japan Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in Asian markets, excluding Japan. This preview includes news
that broke after markets closed. Prices are from the local
market's last close. Stock symbols are in parentheses after
company names.

Markets in Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand are shut for a
public holiday.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

US taxable mkt funds report $3.5 bln outflow-report

(Reuters) - Average seven-day yields for taxable money funds were
unchanged at 4.72 percent, while tax-exempt yields fell 2 basis
points to 3.25 percent.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

CORRECTED: Dollar edges up vs euro ahead of Fed minutes

(Reuters) - NEW YORK - The dollar climbed to a seven-week high against the euro on Wednesday as investors prepared for the release of meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve that will likely show inflation remains a top concern.




The dollar is on track for its biggest monthly rise this month since at least February 2006, after declining steadily all year, thanks to slashed expectations for a cut in U.S. interest rates.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Treasuries Are Little Changed as Fed Forecasts Moderate Pace of Spending

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries were little changed
after minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting
revealed that policy makers forecast that consumer spending will
grow at a ``more moderate pace.''

The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell 2 basis points,
or 0.02 percentage point, to 4.86 percent at 2:080 p.m. in New
York, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price of
the 4 1/2 percent security due May 2017 gained 1/8, or $1.25 per
$1,000 face amount, to 97 1/8. Bond yields move inversely to
prices.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Enpath's acquisition by Greatbatch clears antitrust hurdle

(Reuters) - Greatbatch expects to close the transaction in late June.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Indexes up as M&A talk, buybacks mute China worry

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, May 30 - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday
as optimism about prospects for more takeovers, share
repurchases and continued economic growth offset worries about
a sell-off in China's stock market.




Stocks may get direction from the Federal Reserve's
minutes from its May 9 interest-rate policy meeting, expected
at 2 p.m. . Investors will be looking for clues on
whether the Fed will cut rates later this year or hold rates
steady.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Treasuries Are Little Changed After U.S. Stock Indexes Reverse Losses

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries were little changed as U.S.
stock indexes rose, reversing earlier declines.

The benchmark 10-year note pared earlier gains as investors
sought the relative safety of government debt. A slump in Asian
and European stocks was triggered when China tripled a tax on
securities transactions to help slow investment.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Emerging-Market Bonds Fall as China's Slide Cuts Demand for Risky Assets

(Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market bonds fell after
China's tripling of a tax on securities transactions cut into
demand for high-risk, high-yielding assets.

Stocks in Asia, Europe and the U.S. fell, further weakening
demand for emerging-market securities, after China raised the
tax in a bid to cool the rally in the country's equities market.
Central bank officials, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan and Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, have all
warned of a looming rout in Chinese stocks since the start of
May.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 1-Venezuela to issue Southern Bond for up to $1 bln

(Reuters) - Venezuela has issued a total of $2.5 billion in Southern
Bonds since last year. The debt is a mix of Argentine and
Venezuelan paper, part of President Hugo Chavez's efforts to
boost economic ties with other Latin American countries.




Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas told reporters, "With
Argentina, the process is in discussion," saying it will be
from $500 million to $1 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Alexander Forbes says buy-out offer increased

(Reuters) - South African financial services group Alexander Forbes said on Wednesday a private equity buyout offer for the firm had been increased to 17.26 rand per share.

The company will hold a shareholder meeting to discuss the bid by a group of private equity firms on June 18. The offer has been revised in terms of price, and to include a re-investment option, it said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Gold, Silver Futures Fall on Outlook U.S. Interest Rates Won't Drop Soon

(Bloomberg) -- Gold and silver prices fell in New
York on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve won't cut interest
rates anytime soon, strengthening the dollar and reducing the
appeal of precious metals as alternative investments.

Gold generally moves in the opposite direction of the
dollar, which has risen 1.6 percent against a basket of six major
currencies after falling on May 1 to the lowest level this year.
Gold reached an 11-month high on April 20, before shedding as
much as 6.7 percent by May 24. Before today, the metal had risen
4 percent this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Not in My Break, Dude: British Surfers Oppose Offshore Wave Energy Project

(Bloomberg) -- Champion surfer Ben Skinner casts his
eye along Perran Beach, southwest England, and, between bites of
a bacon and egg roll, contemplates the loss of his beloved waves.

Skinner, 22, is worried about the ``Wave Hub,'' a 28 million
pound ($56 million) energy project that he says may spoil the
swells on the Cornwall coast where he's honed his skills.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

TREASURIES-Bond prices rise as Asian stocks tumble

(Reuters) - "This appears to be a bit of a flight-to-quality bid based
on the Chinese announcement and the stamp duty that has been
imposed. We see a bit of an overreaction in the European stock
and bond markets, which will probably spill over into the U.S.
markets," said Walter Gerasimowicz, chief executive of Meditron
Asset Management, a wealth-management firm in New York.




The rise in bond prices follows a three-week selloff in
which investors have plowed money into corporate bonds, stocks
and other riskier assets in search of higher returns. Fading
expectations of an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve
this year have also pressured Treasuries.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Palmer Quits as HSBC Capital Markets Head as Banking Push Fails to Deliver

(Bloomberg) -- Daniel Palmer, global head of capital
markets at HSBC Holdings Plc, resigned after three years with
Europe's biggest bank during which time its ranking in managing
stock sales slipped.

Under Palmer, HSBC fell to 19th globally last year in
underwriting equity and equity-linked sales from 14th in 2005,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The London-based bank was
the ninth-placed arranger of global bond sales last year, from
12th a year earlier. HSBC hired Palmer, 41, from Morgan Stanley.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Oil holds at $68 ahead of expected US stock builds

(Reuters) - Oil prices held at $68 a barrel on Wednesday in London ahead of U.S. inventory data expected to show rising crude and fuel stocks.

London Brent crude traded up 14 cents at $68.27 a barrel by 0300 GMT, after tumbling $1.58 on Tuesday on U.S. refinery restarts and easing concerns over Nigerian shipments.


Read more at Reuters Africa

FTSE down after China tax hike; Glaxo weighs

(Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index of Britain's leading shares dipped 0.7 percent on Wednesday following a more than 6 percent slump in Chinese shares after China tripled a share-trading tax in a bid to cool its red-hot market.

At 0737 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 47.0 points to 6,559.5, mirroring falls seen on Asian markets.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Cell C says Q1 loss almost doubles

(Reuters) - South Africa's third-ranked mobile firm, Cell C, said its first-quarter net loss almost doubled as a weaker rand inflated its debt servicing costs, even while it boosted revenues and increased subscribers.

Chief Financial Officer Muhieddine Ghalayini told Reuters on Wednesday the company's net loss widened to 369.5 million rand in the three months to end-March from a loss of 186.5 million rand in the year-ago period.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Russian Benchmark Stocks Fall for Third Day, Led by Gazprom Neft, Surgut

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks fell for a third day
after a drop in Chinese stocks and oil prices. OAO Gazprom Neft
and OAO Surgutneftegaz led the retreat.

The ruble-denominated Micex Index declined 1.3 percent to
1504.72 at 1:14 p.m. in Moscow, heading for its lowest close this
year. Four stocks advanced, 25 retreated and one was unchanged.
The dollar-denominated RTS Index dropped 1.2 percent to 1716.74.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UK's NICE endorses quit-smoking drug from Pfizer

(Reuters) - Champix, the first new prescription product for smoking
cessation, targets the specific receptor to which nicotine
binds, thereby reducing the severity of the smoker's urge to
smoke.




The medicine is sold as Chantix in the United States. It was
approved as safe and effective by European and U.S. regulators
last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Japanese Yen May Decline on Drop in Abe's Popularity, Sumitomo Bank Says

(Bloomberg) -- The yen may drop 2.8 percent against
the euro before July 22 parliamentary elections as Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe's popularity slumps, said Daisuke Uno, a strategist at
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

A scandal over Japanese government contracts may have caused
two suicides, including the death of Agriculture Minister
Toshikatsu Matsuoka, and is threatening public support for Abe.
The yen has plunged 9 percent against the euro since the prime
minister took office on Sept. 26.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

CBS buys online music network Last.fm for $280 mln

(Reuters) - CBS said in a statement the online service had more than 15 million active users in more than 200 countries. The Last.fm team will continue to run the online network under the terms of the deal.



) Keywords: CBS LASTFM/


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Platinum Rises for First Time in Five Sessions in London; Palladium Drops

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum rose for the first time in five
sessions in London as industrial buyers deemed that a drop to the
lowest in eight weeks yesterday was exaggerated. Palladium fell.

Platinum, used in jewelry and car exhaust systems, fell to
$1,253.75 an ounce yesterday, the lowest since April 10, partly
on fading prospects for investment demand to soak up increased
supplies of the metal. Prices have dropped 3.1 percent since
securities backed by platinum were introduced on April 24 on the
London Stock Exchange followed by the SWX Swiss Exchange. The
metal rose to a record $1,402.50 an ounce in November on
speculation the so-called ETFs would put a squeeze on supply.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

European Government Bonds Gain as Stock Losses Spur Demand for Safe Assets

(Bloomberg) -- European two-year notes advanced,
snapping a three-day losing streak, as investors turned to the
safest assets after a slide in China's stock market pushed Asian
and European equity markets lower.

Benchmark two-year note yields slipped from their highest in
five years after the Chinese government's lifting of a tax on
share trading sent the country's CSI 300 Index of shares to its
biggest loss in three months. Asian equity markets fell, and
national benchmarks all 17 western European markets followed.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.S. private sector adds 97,000 jobs in May-report

(Reuters) - The consensus estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Reuters
was for the ADP report to show 120,000 private sector jobs
created in May.




Macroeconomic Advisers said it revised down by 3,000 to
61,000 the number of jobs created in April.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Nokia says row with Qualcomm may hurt 3G uptake

(Reuters) - Nokia, which makes more than one in three of the cell phones sold globally, is mired in a legal dispute over patents with U.S. mobile phone chip maker Qualcomm Inc. after part of a major cross-licensing agreement expired last month.




The legal dispute centers on Nokia's use of Qualcomm patents for 3G, but it also has a bearing on Qualcomm's chips business, which according to Nokia uses many Nokia-patented technologies.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News