UPDATE 1-TomTom to buy online map supplier Tele Atlas

(Reuters) - TomTom, which also announced quarterly results a week early
that showed net profit leaped 81 percent from a year earlier,
said it intends to make a cash offer of 21.25 euros per share
bid for Netherlands-based Tele Atlas.




TomTom will fund the acquisition with debt and cash, TomTom
Chief Financial Officer Marina Wyatt told reporters on a
conference call.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Rand firms more than 1 pct vs dollar

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed by more than one percent versus the dollar on Monday, as the greenback hovered near a record low against the euro -- the currency of South Africa's largest trading partner.

At 0600 GMT, the rand stood at 6.8250 to the greenback, its strongest level since August 20 last year. It reached 6.80/dollar earlier.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.S. Notes Rise as Investors' Risk Appetite Wanes, Asian Stocks Decline

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries rose, with the yield
on 10-year notes falling to the lowest in almost two months, on
speculation investors sold stocks and sought the relative safety
of government debt.

The yield on the 4 1/2 percent 10-year note maturing in May
2017 fell 2 basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 4.93
percent as of 1:20 p.m. in Singapore, according to bond broker
Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price rose 4/32, or $1.25 per $1,000
face amount, to 96 21/32. Bond yields move inversely to prices.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Wall Street CEOs See `No Clear Signs' of Crisis as Subprime Woes Intensify

(Bloomberg) -- On Wall Street, where the most
lucrative credit markets are barely limping thanks to the worst
housing slump in a decade, there isn't a chief executive officer
who will tell you there is a crisis.

A few weeks after Merrill Lynch & Co. CEO Stanley O'Neal
said he saw ``no clear signs'' that rising delinquencies on
subprime U.S. mortgages were hurting the rest of the debt
markets, borrowing costs for non-investment grade companies rose
to the highest in eight months. ServiceMaster Co., US
Foodservice and 19 other companies have canceled bond sales
because nobody wants to buy them.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

States to help subprime owners refinance: WSJ

(Reuters) - State officials hope this will be enough to keep some vulnerable low and moderate income neighborhoods from sliding into decline.




The Journal said some of the programs will be similar to existing government-lending programs, in which the state extends mortgages to homeowners and then sells those home loans, in some cases to companies such as mortgage and finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Dollar falls to record low vs euro

(Reuters) - The yen seesawed, sliding broadly in early Asian trading and hitting record lows against the euro in a move that traders attributed to speculative buying of sterling against the yen.




But the Japanese currency later rebounded to hit a six-week peak against the dollar of 120.80 yen on electronic trading platform EBS, the yen's highest level since early June.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Multiplex formally recommends Brookfield bid

(Reuters) - Shares in Multiplex last traded at A$4.97.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

JGB futures hit 6-week high, boosted by Treasuries

(Reuters) - Treasuries rallied on Friday after investors became
increasingly nervous that subprime mortgage losses would spread
to other markets and eventually shave economic growth.




Still, expectations remained that the Bank of Japan will
raise interest rates to a 12-year high of 0.75 percent from the
current 0.5 percent, and this was likely to limit further gains
in JGBs.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Covenant-lite loans not a main rating factor-Moody's

(Reuters) - "Covenants tend to rank a somewhat distant third to debt
cushion and security in terms of importance for recovery,"
Moody's analyst Michael Rowan said in a new report.




Recent trends toward increasingly larger senior debt
tranches, more sharing of collateral between creditor classes
and higher leverage may result in lower debt ratings in both
North American and European markets, the report said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Japan Stocks May Drop on U.S. Earnings, Election Concern; Komatsu May Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese shares may decline, paced by
companies that rely on the U.S. market, after Caterpillar Inc.
said its profit dropped on lower North American sales. Exporters
such as Honda Motor Co. and Komatsu Ltd. may fall.

Investors may also refrain from betting heavily on stocks
before the Upper House election, which will be held on July 29.
The Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday Japan's ruling coalition
may lose its majority in the election, citing its own poll.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

New York Times coverage tiptoes around owner - NYT editor

(Reuters) - Hoyt said today's New York Times is caught in unprecedented
changes in an industry where readers are flocking to the Internet
and advertising revenue is tumbling for print editions across the
country. The Bancroft family, owners of Wall Street Journal
publisher Dow Jones & Co. Inc. , likely will sell to
Murdoch, even though some members think he'll bring his tabloid
heart to the pages of the financial news icon.




Hoyt said the Times has covered the Bancroft-Murdoch saga
aggressively.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Misys sells two US health software units

(Reuters) - The group has also agreed to sell its California-based CPR
Business, a system for collecting and sharing data within
hospitals, to QuadraMed Corporation for $33 million in cash.




Earlier this year, Misys embarked on a five-year turnaround
plan to halt sliding earnings by making cost cuts and revamping
products.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Egyptian indexes decline as Orascom Telecom dips

(Reuters) - Egyptian stock indexes dipped on Sunday following declines in global markets and amid continued caution over an offer by big cap Orascom Telecom to buy Raya, brokers said.

Orascom Telecom lost 0.8 percent to end at 77.50 Egyptian pounds, while shares in fellow market heavyweight Orascom Construction Industries dipped 0.6 percent to 398.90 pounds.


Read more at Reuters Africa