European Energy Stocks, Shell May Advance; UBS,Roche Shares May Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European oil stocks may rise as
Deutsche Bank AG raised its price estimates for companies
including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and Total SA.

UBS AG fell in pre-market trading after the world's biggest
money manager ousted Chief Executive Officer Peter Wuffli. Roche
Holding AG will probably drop after the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration said babies are at increased risk of death if they
are given the drugmaker's Rocephin along with products containing
calcium.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

China Shares Are Set for a `Prolonged' Slump, HSBC Strategist Sun Says

(Bloomberg) -- China's stocks, the Asia-Pacific
region's worst performers of the past month, are in for a
``prolonged consolidation period'' as the government reins in
lending and earnings growth cools, according to Steven Sun, an
equity strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc.

His comments were made in a research note dated yesterday,
when HSBC's asset management unit held a press briefing to
introduce a fund that will invest in Chinese companies' shares
listed on the mainland as well as Hong Kong. Richard Wong, who
oversees $7 billion as head of Chinese equities at the unit,
plans to raise as much as $460 million for the fund and predicts
economic expansion will fuel a rebound in the nation's shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Nigerian Gunmen Kidnap 3-Year-Old British Girl, Port Harcourt Police Say

(Bloomberg) -- Nigerian gunmen kidnapped the 3-year-
old daughter of a British expatriate on her way to school, a
police spokesman said.

The girl was taken from her car by armed gunmen in the
southern oil city of Port Harcourt, Nigerian police spokesman
Haz Iwendi said. More than 200 expatriates have been kidnapped
since the start of last year by militants and other criminal
groups in Nigeria's main oil-producing region.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

APEC Ministers Call for Saving Doha Round, Exploring Regional Free Trade

(Bloomberg) -- As the Doha round of global trade talks
flounder, Asia-Pacific commerce ministers said they will do their
best to make them succeed -- while at the same time exploring plans
for their own free-trade area.

The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group, which
accounts for half the world's trade, urged its 21 members to exert
``political will'' to push the troubled Doha negotiations in Geneva.
The group also said ``the time is right'' to pursue regional
economic integration and a possible free-trade zone in the Asia-
Pacific.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Thailand's Baht Holds Near Decade High on Inflows; Singapore Dollar Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Thailand's baht held near the
strongest in a decade as overseas investors increased purchases
of the nation's stocks.

The baht headed for the best week since January after rising
through 34 to the dollar for the first time since the Asian
financial crisis of 1997. A break of 36 prompted the government
on Dec. 18 to impose restrictions on capital inflows, a move that
sparked a 3.2 percent decline in the currency that week. Bank of
Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase yesterday said the bank was
``working'' to curb the advance.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Philippines Considering Swapping New Debt for Existing Peso, Dollar Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine government is
considering the sale of new 10-year peso and U.S. dollar bonds
in exchange for existing debt, Finance Undersecretary Roberto
Tan said in an interview.

``We're looking at a debt swap to extend the maturity of
our borrowings, create more efficient benchmarks and lower our
costs,'' Tan said by telephone today in Manila.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Ruth's Chris Steak House sees Q2 revenue below Wall Street view

(Reuters) - Analysts on average expect revenue of $78.1 million,
according to Reuters Estimates.




The company said sales from continuing operations,
excluding franchise and other income, rose 28.4 percent to
$73.6 million in the second quarter, helped by 13 additional
restaurants.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Tokyo's Mom and Pop Investors Sell More Yen Than Chicago Futures Traders

(Bloomberg) -- Yen sales by Japanese mom-and-pop
investors this week exceeded professional traders' bets against
the currency on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Japanese margin traders' net yen short positions, wagers it
will decline against the dollar, reached $1.1 billion on July 4,
according to data from the Tokyo International Financial Futures
Exchange. The Bank of Japan assessed the TIFFE has a share of 5.8
percent of overall foreign-exchange margin transactions as of
December 2006, making total net short yen positions for all
Japanese retail speculators about $19.15 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Thomson completes sale of education group

(Reuters) - The asset sale is viewed as a key cash infusion for the
Canadian publisher's planned $17.6 billion purchase of
London-based financial news and data company Reuters Group Plc
.




Last month, Thomson Learning was forced to retool terms on
$5.3 billion in loans and bonds to back its buyout by OMERS and
Apax.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPATE 1-Validus sets IPO at 15.7 mln shares, $24-$26 each

(Reuters) - The Bermuda-based provider of reinsurance plans to sell
13.4 million shares, while stockholders plan to sell an
additional 2.2 million shares, according to an amended filing
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.




Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are lead underwriters, the
filing said. Validus intends to list its stock on the New York
Stock Exchange under the symbol "VR" .


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Thomson completes sale of education group

(Reuters) -



) Keywords: THOMSON SALE/


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Microsoft expands in Canada amid U.S. visa crunch

(Reuters) - It may signal the start of a new hiring trend, with other U.S. high-tech firms following in Microsoft's footsteps to Canada, where lawyers say it is easier for foreign nationals to obtain work credentials.




U.S. businesses want Congress to lift quotas on the number of visas the government issues to skilled professionals such as the software engineers that Microsoft employs. But as recently as last week lawmakers rejected legislation that would have addressed their concerns. Canada doesn't impose quotas on the number of visas it issues each year.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

XM Satellite shares up on bid talk

(Reuters) - "I think the stock is up because of the chatter, but I think it is just chatter, and that it would be unusual for XM to entertain a competing bid because of its break-up fee," said April Horace, an analyst with Janco Partners.




Neither the source of the speculation nor the name of any possible bidder could be immediately ascertained.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Fannie ex-CEO Raines claims owed over $3.8 million

(Reuters) - Raines' attorney argued on Thursday that Fannie's
regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight,
is wrongly standing in the way of the payout.




Raines, who resigned as CEO in December 2004 as an
accounting scandal was breaking, claims he is entitled to more
than 58,000 Fannie Mae shares that are currently worth about
$3.88 million.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Strong data pummels bonds ahead of jobs report

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 5 - U.S. government bonds tumbled
on Thursday after strong data on jobs and services dimmed
remaining hopes of a Federal Reserve rate cut anytime soon,
while markets braced for Friday's monthly employment report.




The Institute for Supply Management's gauge of the service
sector hit its highest in over a year, while a report on
employment in the private sector showed surprising strength.
Both releases sent bonds lurching lower. For details, see
[ID:nN05325462].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Cotton Rises for Fourth Session on China's Imports, Drop in U.S. Plantings

(Bloomberg) -- Cotton rose a fourth-straight session
in New York, extending a rally to a three-year high, on
speculation China will boost imports as U.S. farmers plant less
of the fiber.

The U.S. will ship 32 percent more cotton in the year
starting Aug. 1 as China supplies its growing textiles industry,
the International Cotton Advisory Committee said July 2. U.S.
farmers planted 28 percent less land with cotton this year than
last, the Department of Agriculture said June 29.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Cablevision, GM, Hilton, Huntsman, Samsonite, Tefron: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes on U.S. exchanges.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 2:40 p.m. in New York.

ACR Group Inc. (BRR US) jumped $2.02, or 44 percent, to
$6.62. Watsco Inc. (WSO US), the largest U.S. distributor of
heating and cooling systems, agreed to buy rival ACR for $81.7
million to expand in states including Texas, Florida and
California. Watsco rose $2.17, or 3.9 percent, to $57.69.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Dura Automotive to sell Atwood unit for $160 mln

(Reuters) - The deal, which needs U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval and is
subject to auction should competing bids emerge, would be a key
step in Dura's restructuring, the company said in a statement.
Dura hopes to exit bankruptcy in the fourth quarter.




Dura said Atwood Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of private
equity firm Insight Equity, expects to complete the deal by the
end of August.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Blackstone's president faces major test

(Reuters) - Although much of the attention on Blackstone has centered on CEO and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, it is Hamilton "Tony" James who runs the firm, his hand on everything from private equity deals to real estate transactions to advisory work.




As Blackstone's No. 2, the pressure is on James to lead the firm through its new chapter as a public company and steer the massive money machine through the rough waters facing private equity firms.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-RBS-led consortium gets ABN offer extension

(Reuters) - British bank Barclays, which was also granted an extension
by Dutch market regulator AFM to file its formal offer until
July 23, is seeking to buy ABN for 62.8 billion euros .




RBS and its partners -- Spain's Santander and
Belgian-Dutch Fortis -- have offered to buy Dutch rival
ABN for 71.2 billion euros.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Gazprom-Shell Venture Tests Russia's First Liquefied-Gas Processing Plant

(Bloomberg) -- An OAO Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell
Plc joint venture said they started testing a liquefied natural
gas plant at Sakhalin, eastern Russia, a further step toward the
country's first LNG export sales, scheduled for 2008.

The LNG facility at the Sakhalin-2 project will be
commissioned, or tested, using gas from Shell's LNG tanker
Granosa, which docked at the plant's jetty in Prigorodnoye
earlier today, the Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. venture said
in a statement.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

U.S. SEC's country watch list draws fire

(Reuters) - Both business and humanitarian groups say the list,
available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Web
site, is ill-conceived. The tool provides links to companies
whose annual reports contain "some reference" to business
related to Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Iran and Cuba.




"Not only has the SEC named and shamed the wrong companies,
it's missed many with significant operations in countries like
Sudan," Adam Sterling, director of the Sudan Divestment Task
Force, and Todd Malan, president and CEO of the Organization
for International Investment, wrote in an opinion piece in
Thursday's Wall Street Journal.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Sawiris Might Sell Wind's Italian Telephone-Tower Unit for $2 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris
may sell the Italian telephone towers held by his Wind
Telecomunicazioni SpA wireless business to help cut debt, said
three people with knowledge of his plans.

Sawiris's Weather Investments Srl contacted investment banks
and may name an adviser on the potential sale soon, said the
people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are
confidential. The towers are valued at 1 billion to 1.5 billion
euros ($2 billion) at a minimum, one of the people said.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Dubai stake reflects EADS' positive outlook-Germany

(Reuters) - "EADS will remain a European company with a special
German-French responsibility," he added.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Canada's Dollar Approaches 30-Year High as Building Permits Reach Record

(Bloomberg) -- Canada's dollar approached a 30-year
high after a report showed building permits climbed 21 percent
in May to a record.

A strengthening economy fuels speculation that the Bank of
Canada may raise interest rates more than once. Policy makers
next meet on July 10. The currency traded at 94.57 U.S. cents at
9:09 a.m. in Toronto. One U.S. dollar buys C$1.0573. The
Canadian dollar reached a 30-year high of 95.51 cents on June
29.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Top executives seek to bolster UN business pact

(Reuters) - Top executives from some of the world's biggest companies sought on Thursday to bolster a U.N. corporate responsibility pact, saying their firms would benefit from stricter rules on corruption and the environment.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon backed calls from the heads of Coca-Cola, Anglo American and Petrobras for more checks and balances to ensure members of the seven-year-old Global Compact uphold its standards.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Pound Falls Against Dollar as U.S. Services Growth Unexpectedly Quickens

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. pound fell against the
dollar after a U.S. report showed growth in service industries
unexpectedly quickened to the fastest pace in 14 months.

The pound has climbed nearly 3 percent versus the dollar
this year on anticipation U.K. economic growth that's outpacing
the U.S. will prompt the Bank of England to keep raising
interest rates. Expansion in U.S. service businesses, which make
up almost 90 percent of the economy, adds to evidence growth
picked up last quarter.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Citizens Communications to buy Global Valley

(Reuters) - Citizens said it reached an agreement with Country Road Communications LLC to buy 100 percent of Evans Telephone Holdings Inc., the parent company of Global Valley Networks and GVN Services. The deal is expected to close in six to nine months.



"Global Valley has properties in fast-growth rural areas that meet all of our acquisition criteria," Citizens Chief Executive Maggie Wilderotter said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Canada May building permits soar to record high

(Reuters) - OTTAWA, July 5 - Canada's construction sector
appeared headed for a busy summer as the value of building
permits issued in May soared to a record high, largely due to
plans for office buildings in Western Canada.




Building permits jumped 21.4 percent in value in May from
April to C$6.8 billion , Statistics Canada said
on Thursday. That was more than triple the 5.6 percent gain
forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

UPDATE 1-Concho registers IPO at $14-$16/shr price band

(Reuters) - In an amended filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, the company said it plans to sell about 13.3
million shares, while some stockholders will sell the remaining
about 7.9 million shares.




Midland, Texas-based Concho said it has been authorized to
apply for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol "CXO."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Christopher & Banks June same-store sales rise 3 pct

(Reuters) - The Minneapolis-based retailer said total sales for the four-weeks ended June 30 rose to $45.9 million compared with $43.3 million last year.






Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Proposed Nigerian ministers named, no portfolios

(Reuters) - The names were read out in the Senate, which under the
Nigerian constitution, must screen and approve the nominees
before they take up their posts. Senate President David Mark
said the screening would start next Tuesday.




It is unlikely that the portfolios intended for the nominees
will be detailed until the end of the screening process.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Anglo sees no change in capital return policy

(Reuters) - Mining group Anglo American Plc does not expect to trim its generous policy on returning excess capital to shareholders now that it has a more aggressive growth stance, its chairman said on Thursday.

The company last year announced $7.5 billion in capital returns through share buybacks and special dividends and boosted that by an additional $3 billion in February.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Stocks Drop Before Rate Decisions; Iberdrola, Banks Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell for the first
time in three days, led by utilities and banks, on concern
central banks will signal further interest-rate increases.

Iberdrola SA, Spain's second-biggest power company, and
Societe Generale SA, France's No. 2 bank by market value, paced
the decline. Deutsche Telekom AG dropped after a report Europe's
largest phone company is struggling to find a partner for its T-
Systems computing-services division.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Russian Consumer-Price Growth Acceleraqted 1 Percent in June on Food Costs

(Bloomberg) -- Russian consumer prices rose 1 percent
in June from the month before, the Federal Statistics Service
said, confirming yesterday's comments by central bank Chairman
Sergey Ignatiev.

Monthly consumer-price growth accelerated from 0.6 percent in
May on food prices, the Moscow-based statistics office said in an
e-mailed statement today. The median forecast of 17 economists
surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 0.6 percent rate.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Harbinger trimmed Doutor stake amid proxy fight

(Reuters) - The decrease in Harbinger's stake overlapped with Doutor's
annual shareholders' meeting on June 28 when Harbinger failed to
convince other investors that Japan's largest coffee chain would
be better off on its own by accelerating store openings and
targeting customers like those of Starbucks Coffee Japan
.




At the meeting, 82 percent of shareholders voted in favour of
the merger.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Deutsche Bank owns 7.51 pct of Atos Origin - AMF

(Reuters) - By 0829 GMT Atos shares were up 0.15 percent at 47 euros.



) Keywords: ATOS DEUTSCHEBANK/


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.K. Stocks Including Vodafone Decline; Shares of Lloyds TSB Group Gain

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks including Vodafone Group
Plc fell after a survey of economists indicated the Bank of
England may today raise its benchmark interest rate for the fifth
time in a year.

Lloyds TSB Group Plc advanced after Citigroup Inc. suggested
investors increase their holdings in the U.K.'s largest provider
of personal loans.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.K. Pound Holds Near 26-Year High on Bets BOE Will Increase Rates Today

(Bloomberg) -- The pound held near a 26-year high
against the dollar on speculation the Bank of England will lift
interest rates today and signal that further increases are needed
to curb inflation.

The U.K. currency climbed to $2.0207 yesterday, the highest
since June 1981, and has held above $2 for the past five days.
BOE policy makers will raise their interest rate a quarter-point
to a six-year high of 5.75 percent today, its fifth increase in
the past 12 months, according to 53 of the 60 economists surveyed
by Bloomberg News.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Dubai International Fund Acquires 3.1 Percent Stake in Airbus Parent EADS

(Bloomberg) -- Dubai International Capital, a
private-equity fund owned by the emirate's ruling sheikh, bought
3.12 percent of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., parent
of Airbus SAS.

The company, which purchased the stake through its $2
billion Global Strategic Equities Fund, didn't disclose the
terms of the transaction in a statement today. The company said
it will not seek an EADS board seat or take an active role in
management.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Rand clings to gains, may firm to 6.93/dollar

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand clung near a six-week peak versus the dollar on Thursday and traders said the currency could gain more ground if global rate decisions keep the greenback under pressure.

At 0644 GMT, the rand stood at 6.9775/dollar, not far off its last close of 6.97 on Wednesday.


Read more at Reuters Africa