SEC sues firm over alleged bogus takeover bids

(Reuters) - Theodore Roxford, through Hollingsworth, Rothwell & Roxford , publicized the offers on Internet message board postings, news releases and in at least one case a regulatory filing, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.




Besides Sony and Playboy, Roxford also made offers for Zapata Corp. , Edgetech Services Inc. and PeopleSupport Inc. , according to the complaint. The alleged scheme took place between January 2003 and April 2007, it said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Jobs, subprime mess to rule July 4th week

(Reuters) - At the same time, the potential for defaults in subprime loans to spill over to the general economy remains a concern. Nervousness over the availability of financing for buyouts prompted investors to sell banks' and brokers' shares on Friday, which helped cut short a morning rally.




In the holiday-shortened week, the most significant data, the June payrolls report, comes on Friday. U.S. financial markets will be closed on Wednesday, July 4, for the Independence Day holiday.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Benchmark subprime ABX indexes close at record lows

(Reuters) - The ABX 07-1 "BBB-" index, which is tied to subprime mortgage loans made in last year's second half, fell to 54.54, below the 56.16 record low close set earlier this week, according to Markit.com. The index has tumbled by 42 percent since January.




The ABX 06-2 "BBB-" series, which references loans made in last year's first half, also fell to a record low 60.84 at the close on Friday, after setting a low of 62.16 earlier in the week, according to Markit.com. The index has fallen 38 percent this year.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Wall Street drops on credit concerns

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 29 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday
as banks and brokers retreated on concerns about the impact of
tightening credit on takeovers and the subprime mortgage
industry.




Early gains evaporated as oil rose to $71 a barrel and
investors booked profits before the quarter's end and the July
4th holiday week. That offset data pointing to moderating
inflation and economic growth.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Inflation dip sparks late rally in downbeat qtr

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 29 - U.S. Treasury debt rallied on
Friday as underlying inflation retreated, but the bond market
still posted its worst quarter in over a year.




Investors were encouraged by a decline in a key measure of
inflation, which fell beneath the top of the Federal Reserve's
1 percent to 2 percent comfort range for the first time in
three years.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

CORRECTED: Path for generic biologics clears U.S. Senate panel

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON - A U.S. Senate panel voted on Wednesday to set a path for generic drugmakers to seek approval of cheaper, copycat versions of expensive biotechnology medicines.




Brand-name manufacturers would receive 12 years of exclusive marketing time before generic competition could start under a bill that cleared the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by a voice vote.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Argentina's Peso Falls to 10-Week Low Amid Risk Aversion, Subprime Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Argentina's peso fell to a more than
10-week low, as uncertainty over the impact of U.S. subprime
mortgages damps emerging markets.

``We'll continue to see some mild volatility with the peso
over the subprime mortgages,'' said Guillermo Estebanez, a
currency strategist at Banc of America Securities LLC in San
Francisco. ``The market has become more comfortable with the
subprime issue, but the problem is still there and it will
recur.''


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Orange Juice Rises Most in Eight Months After Drop Below Processor Prices

(Bloomberg) -- Orange-juice futures rose the most
in eight months as traders snapped up contracts that had dropped
below the prices juice producers are paying processors for
frozen concentrate.

Before this week, orange-juice futures had plunged
24 percent in six weeks, to less than the amount charged by
processors that buy oranges, squeeze them and freeze the juice.
A futures contract obligates the holder to buy or sell frozen
concentrate at a set price for delivery by a specific date.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

BlackRock's Rice Says Oil May Rise to $80 a Barrel Over the Next 12 Months

(Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc.'s Dan Rice, whose
natural-resources fund has beaten all but one rival in the past
five years, said petroleum prices may rise 14 percent to $80 a
barrel in the next 12 months because of tight supply and
proposed bans on food-based fuels.

China, the world's second-biggest producer of corn, said
this month it may ban the use of the crop and other edible
grains for ethanol production because of rising costs of food,
the Xinhua news agency reported on June 11. Only non-food crops
may be used for fuel under a proposed ethanol-production plan,
Xinhua said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Ford says ahead of turnaround plan targets

(Reuters) - Ford, which lost $12.6 billion last year, still faces economic "headwinds," including the slump in the U.S. housing market and higher gasoline prices, Fields said.




Overall U.S. vehicle sales, which were off about 1 percent from a year earlier through May, were tracking fairly closely to Ford's expectations, Fields said, adding that the automaker had shown "encouraging progress" in stabilizing its retail market share near 13 percent in recent months.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-U.S. ABS issuance falls in first half of 2007

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 29 - U.S. asset-backed securities
issuance fell to $580.1 billion in the first half of 2007
compared with the $605.1 billion sold in the same period last
year, Thomson Financial said on Friday.




The decline in overall ABS issuance was led by the home
equity loan sector, plagued by rising delinquencies and
defaults on subprime mortgage loans that support the
securities.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Office Depot shares off on sales warning

(Reuters) - The Delray Beach, Florida-based company attributed the first-quarter decline to lower sales of personal computers because of the launch of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system, which has gotten mixed reviews from consumers, as well as a drop in demand for office furniture.




A "weak" economy has also hurt its North American Business Solutions division, the company said.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Inter-Tel postpones shareholders' meeting on Mitel merger

(Reuters) - In April, Mitel Networks agreed to buy U.S.-based Inter-Tel
in a $723 million deal.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Mexico's Calderon sees oil exports falling further

(Reuters) - "Starting in 2006, the volume of our oil exports has been
falling at an alarming rate and from what we have observed up
until now, this year and the next will be no exception,"
Calderon told a banking event.




Mexico's oil exports slipped 1.3 percent in 2006 to an
average of 1.793 million barrels per day as state oil
monopoly Pemex grappled with lower output at its huge but aging
Cantarell oil field.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Founder launches buyout of CCS Income Trust

(Reuters) - CALGARY, Alberta, June 29 - CCS Income Trust's
founder and a private equity group launched a bid on
Friday to buy out the oil field and industrial waste handler
for C$3.5 billion , saying they see more value in
its prospects than the public market ascribes.




Calgary-based CCS said the group will offer unitholders
C$46 a trust unit in the going-private transaction, a 21.4
percent premium to Thursday's closing price on the Toronto
Stock Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-UBS banker McDermott to join buyout firm

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 29 - UBS investment
banking executive Jeffrey McDermott, who in March announced he
was quitting to pursue new opportunities, on Friday said he was
joining a start-up private equity fund that will invest in
distressed industrial companies.




McDermott, in an internal memo obtained by Reuters, said he
was joining Stony Lane Partners, a private equity firm being
formed by veteran corporate turnaround executive Michael
Heisley and other restructuring specialists.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Sanofi pulls obesity drug application in U.S.

(Reuters) - LONDON, June 29 - Sanofi-Aventis is
withdrawing its application to sell obesity drug rimonabant --
its biggest new drug hope -- in the United States, dealing a
further blow to its pipeline hopes.




Friday's move comes two weeks after a U.S. advisory panel
said the medicine should not be approved in the world's largest
drugs market because it may increase suicidal thinking and
depression.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Apple, AT&T shares climb ahead of iPhone release

(Reuters) - AT&T, for now the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, has said that of those making early inquiries about the device, around 40 percent were not already AT&T customers.




The company hopes to capture new subscribers who might switch carriers to buy the iPhone, which combines regular talk functions with music- and video-playing and Web browsing.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Bear Stearns shakes up asset management unit

(Reuters) - The meltdown of the hedge funds embarrassed Bear Stearns,
widely known for its savvy in handling mortgage risk. The funds
buckled on wrong-way bets tied to subprime loans, which are
made to people with weak credit.




Jeffrey B. Lane, a veteran senior executive at Lehman
Brothers Holdings Inc. and Neuberger Berman Inc.,
replaces Richard Marin as chairman and chief executive of Bear
Stearns Asset Management.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Commerce Bancorp replaces CEO, fixes governance

(Reuters) - Analysts said Hill's exit makes New Jersey's largest bank a target for a takeover, which Hill had long resisted. Commerce executives would not rule out that possibility but pledged to continue rapidly opening branches to fuel growth. Commerce shares rose as much as 11.4 percent in early trading.




Hill, 61, will retire on July 31 from the Cherry Hill-based company he founded 34 years ago. He stepped down immediately as chairman and chief executive of its banking unit.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Blackstone, Lion Seek to Increase Orangina Debt, Remove Lender Safeguards

(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP and Lion Capital
LLP are seeking 192 million euros ($259 million) of loans for
soft-drink maker Orangina that give up standard protection for
lenders, at a time when companies worldwide are abandoning
borrowing because of investor jitters.

Blackstone, manager of the world's biggest buyout fund, and
partner Lion Capital want to increase Paris-based Orangina's
debt to 1.7 billion euros, said two people involved in the
transaction. The LBO firms acquired Orangina in 2005 and plan to
pay themselves a 400 million-euro dividend, said the people, who
declined to be identified because the discussions are private.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Platinum Is Little Changed on South Africa Labor Talks; Palladium Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum was little changed in New
York, heading for a weekly decline, after Anglo Platinum Ltd.,
the world's largest producer of the metal, raised a wage offer
in an attempt to avert a strike in South Africa.

Anglo Platinum is offering pay raises of 8 percent to
10 percent, after a 7 percent increase was rejected, Solidarity
labor union said. At Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the world's
second-largest producer, workers in South Africa turned down an
increased pay offer this week. The country produces about
80 percent of the world's platinum.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Lilly May Face More Zyprexa Lawsuits After U.S. Raises Side Effect Concern

(Bloomberg) -- Eli Lilly & Co. may attract more
lawsuits alleging it failed to warn users that a psychiatric drug
was linked to diabetes after the pharmaceutical company received
a letter from U.S. regulators.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told Lilly in March it
would delay the approval of Symbyax for depression because the
agency wanted more information about the risk of diabetes in the
medicine's prescribing label. Symbyax combines Lilly's
antipsychotic pill Zyprexa and the antidepressant Prozac.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

U.K. Stocks Rebound; Shares of Northern Rock, Reed Elsevier, ITV Increase

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rebounded, paced by
Northern Rock Plc, Reed Elsevier Plc and ITV Plc.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 11.40, or 0.2 percent,
to 6582.7 as of 2:55 p.m. in London. The measure earlier slid as
much as 0.8 percent. The FTSE All-Share Index rose 4.85, or 0.1
percent, to 3393.01. Ireland's ISEQ Index fell 8.48 to 9296.27.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Commerce Bancorp open to mergers that make sense

(Reuters) - "We've often been presented with M&A opporutnities. Our
plan is to stay the course with what is working so well for us,
which is de novo expansion," said Dennis DiFlorio, chairman of
the company's Commerce Bank NA unit, on a conference call. He
nevertheless said Commerce would consider transactions that
make "good strategic sense for the company."




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

BT Chief Verwaayen Says `Absolutely Confident' Sales Will Beat Forecasts

(Bloomberg) -- BT Group Plc Chief Executive Officer
Ben Verwaayen said most analysts are too pessimistic about sales
growth at the U.K.'s largest phone company.

``We are absolutely confident that we will do better than
most people think,'' Verwaayen, 55, said in an interview at BT's
London headquarters. He declined to give a financial forecast.
Sales will rise 2.5 percent in fiscal 2008, based on the average
of 25 analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Oil Gains as U.S. Refineries Increase Output, Midwest Stockpiles Decrease

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose, approaching a nine-
month high for a second day in New York, on expectations that
consumption will increase as refineries bolster gasoline output.

Prices climbed above $70 for the first time since September
yesterday after an Energy Department report showed that U.S.
gasoline, diesel and heating oil inventories fell last week as
refineries increased operating rates. Crude-oil supplies at
Cushing, Oklahoma, where oil traded in New York is delivered,
plunged 5.7 percent, the June 27 report showed.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Yen Falls, Heading for Biggest Quarterly Loss Since 2001 Versus the Dollar

(Bloomberg) -- The yen headed for its biggest
quarterly loss against the dollar since 2001 as a drop in
consumer prices reinforced speculation the Bank of Japan will
keep interest rates on hold.

Japan's currency has declined 4.3 percent this quarter
versus the dollar as investors borrowed yen to buy higher-
yielding assets in carry trades. A report showed today Japanese
consumer prices fell 0.1 percent last month. The central bank has
kept its key rate at 0.5 percent, the lowest amongst major
economies, since February.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Treasuries Extend Advance After Consumption Report Shows Slowing Inflation

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries extended their gains as a
gauge watched by the Federal Reserve showed slowing inflation.

The yield on benchmark 10-year notes fell 3 basis points,
or 0.03 percentage point, to 5.08 percent at 8:35 a.m. in New
York, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price
of 4 1/2 percent securities maturing in May 2017 rose 6/32, or
$1.88 per $1,000 face amount, to 95 17/32.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Darling Inherits a Fraying U.K. Economy as Brown's Successor at Treasury

(Bloomberg) -- Alistair Darling, Britain's new
chancellor of the exchequer, faces what may be the toughest task
in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government: steering a fraying
economy with Brown looking over his shoulder.

Brown, who as chancellor oversaw the longest expansion in
two centuries, appointed the 53-year-old Darling as his
successor yesterday. Darling worked under Brown at the Treasury
in 1997, then ran the Departments of Trade and Industry and of
Work and Pensions for former Prime Minister Tony Blair.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

U.K. Stocks Retreat, Paced by Segro, Liberty; Shares of Drax Group Slide

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks declined, paced by Segro
Plc as HSBC Holdings Plc recommended investors reduce their
stakes in the property company. Liberty International Plc and
Hammerson Plc also fell. Standard Life Plc and Prudential Plc led
insurers lower.

Drax Group Plc declined after the utility said it sold
electricity at cheaper prices.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-S.Africa's ANC nears decision on leadership spat

(Reuters) - ANC Secretary General Kgalema Motlanthe told a news
conference delegates were debating a number of non-binding
proposals on how to resolve a leadership crisis that arose after
Mbeki sacked his popular deputy president Jacob Zuma, once the
frontrunner to succeed him.




Mbeki, who has become an object of scorn for the country's
powerful trade unions and Communist party, has not ruled out
running for a third term as ANC chief although the constitution
prevents him from continuing to lead South Africa after 2009.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Nickel Drops in London on Speculation Usage Is Weakening; Copper Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Nickel dropped in London, heading for
a fourth weekly decline, on speculation near-record prices will
curb demand for the metal used in stainless-steel production.
Copper gained after stockpiles shrank to a six-month low.

Nickel has lost 27 percent from a record $51,800 a metric
ton on May 9 after steelmakers including ThyssenKrupp AG said
they will reduce purchases to cut costs. Supply will outpace
demand next year, from a balance this year, Sanford C Bernstein &
Co. said today in a report.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

German Electricity Prices Gain; Vattenfall Reactors in Germany Are Halted

(Bloomberg) -- German power prices for near-term
delivery rose after two German nuclear power plants were halted
yesterday afternoon, reducing supplies in Europe's biggest power
market. No time frame as been given for their restart.

Vattenfall AB's Kruemmel nuclear plant near Hamburg in
northwest Germany was closed down after a fire broke out in a
power transformer. Its Brunsbuettel reactor, also in the
northwest, was shut because of short circuits in the power grid.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

European Stocks Fall, Led by Banks, Insurers; BP, Shell Advance on Oil

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell before reports
that may shed light on the strength of economic growth in the U.S.

Schroders Plc, London's biggest publicly traded money manager,
and Allianz SE, Europe's largest insurer, paced the retreat.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Peugeot says studying new China vehicle venture

(Reuters) - PSA Peugeot has signed a memorandum of understanding with
Hafei to explore the possibility of making commercial vehicles
with fewer than 10 seats, it said in a statement.




The two firms will set up a special team to work out details
of the partnership, it added.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

European Stocks Rise, Heading for Quarterly Gain; BP, Swatch Pace Advance

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks gained, heading for a
fourth consecutive quarterly advance.

BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc rose as oil traded near a
nine-month high. Swatch Group AG, the world's largest watch
maker, rallied after Deutsche Bank AG advised investors to buy
the shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Japanese Stocks Rise, Led by Toyota; Topix Gains the Most in Eight Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks climbed, sending the
Topix index to its best performance in almost eight weeks.
Exporters led the advance after the Federal Reserve said the
housing slowdown won't keep the U.S. economy from expanding and
the yen weakened.

Toyota Motor Corp. advanced to a three-month high, while
Sony Corp. gained for the first time in five days.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News