European Stocks May Rise; ABB, Pernod Ricard May Gain on Earnings, Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may advance for the
first time in three days after ABB Ltd., the world's largest builder
of electricity networks, and Apple Inc. of the U.S. reported
earnings and sales that were higher than analysts estimated.

Pernod Ricard SA will probably gain after the world's
second-largest liquor company said annual profit will top
analysts' expectations. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's biggest
oil company by market value, and European Aeronautic Defence &
Space Co., parent of planemaker Airbus SAS, also reported better-
than-expected profit.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Rolls-Royce H1 underlying pretax rises 17 pct

(Reuters) - The maker of engines for aircraft and ships as well as
turbines for the energy industry said sales on an underlying
basis rose 10 percent.




Revenues from services rose by 9 percent and made up 53
percent of the total.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Oil climbs above $76 on mixed US inventory; outage

(Reuters) - Oil extended gains above $76 on Thursday, as traders shrugged off rising U.S. gasoline inventories and focused on a drop in crude stocks at the delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange futures contract.

The price recovery after three days of falls was also attributed to an outage at the largest oil refinery in Britain and the possibility of strong fund buying.


Read more at Reuters Africa

van der Moolen raises $9.2 mln selling NYSE shares

(Reuters) - "The acquisition price is based on the earnings of
R&H for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. For 2006 the price
amounts $2 million," Van der Moolen said.




"The acquisition price for 2007 and 2008 respectively will
be the net profit for the year multiplied by factor 4.5 for 2007
and factor 4 for 2008," it said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Buffett's Berkshire buys small stake in Kraft: report

(Reuters) - Buffett has a history of betting on companies that have strong brands and are comeback stories. His investment could mean a vote of confidence that management is on the right track with its plan to restructure the company, according to the report.




Neither Kraft nor Berkshire Hathaway immediately returned calls seeking comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Amerigroup, Apple, Conceptus, LHC Group, Omniture: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed yesterday. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company
names.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM US) dropped $4.84, or 10
percent, to $42.34 in trading yesterday after the official close
of U.S. exchanges. The largest provider of software and services
to speed up delivery of Internet content said it added 74
customers in the second quarter and gross margin, or the share
of sales left after production costs, was 74 percent. Analyst
Aaron Kessler of Piper Jaffray & Co. had projected 96 new
customers and a gross margin of 76 percent, excluding stock
compensation costs.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Taiwan's Bonds Fall on Speculation Inflation May Quicken; Currency Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's bonds fell, sending the
benchmark 10-year yield to the highest since November 2004,
after a local newspaper reported the central bank predicts
inflation to accelerate. The currency weakened.

The monetary authority forecasts inflation may quicken to
more than 2 percent in the second half of the year, compared
with 0.61 percent in the first six months, the Taipei-based
Commercial Times said today. The increase will be due to rising
commodity prices, the newspaper said, citing Crystal Shih, chief
economist at the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
in Taipei.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Baidu Shares Surge on Profit Increase, Forecast for Third-Quarter Revenue

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Baidu.com Inc., operator
of China's most-used Internet search site, rose 19 percent after
the company said second-quarter profit surged and forecast
third-quarter sales that exceeded analysts' estimates.

The company's American depositary shares climbed $34.82 in
U.S. after-hours trading yesterday to $218.05. That will be the
largest one-day increase in more than a year if the gain is
maintained in Nasdaq Stock Market trading today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Ford seen posting eighth straight quarterly loss

(Reuters) - Ford, which lost $12.6 billion last year and another $282 million during the first quarter, is in the midst of executing a cost-cutting plan that will reduce jobs by nearly 40,000 through buyouts and plant closings.




About 27,000 of the automaker's union workers who accepted buyouts have already the left the company.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 3-TXU recommends merger approval, CEO may leave

(Reuters) - TXU in proxy materials filed with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission defended the $69.25-per-share offer from a
private equity group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &
Co.[KKR.UL] and Texas Pacific Group [TPG.UL].




The filing came one day after money manager Franklin
Resources Inc. , the Texas power company's largest
shareholder, said it would vote against the proposed buyout
because the offer price was too low.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-RPC quarterly profit falls as competition hurts pricing

(Reuters) - The results came in well below what analysts had expected,
sending the company's shares down nearly 15 percent to $13.00
in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.




Second-quarter earnings fell to $23.8 million, or 24 cents
a share, compared with $27.6 million, or 28 cents a share, a
year ago. Revenue rose 17 percent to $171.0 million.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Continental AG joins industry elite with VDO buy

(Reuters) - FRANKFURT, July 25 - German car parts maker
Continental AG agreed to acquire Siemens's auto
electronics unit VDO for 11.4 billion euros on
Wednesday, beating U.S. rival TRW to the deal.




Pulling off its biggest takeover and virtually doubling in
size, Continental will become one of the top five global
automotive suppliers, within reach of domestic rival and
industry leader Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL].


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Nymex Gas Rises as Traders Close Out Positions Before Storm Season Peaks

(Bloomberg) -- Natural gas in New York advanced as
traders made purchases to close out positions before the August
futures contract expires and the peak of the Atlantic hurricane
season arrives.

The August contract expiration on July 27 is providing price
support to natural gas today as traders begin rolling trades over
to September and seek to protect profits they've made
anticipating the market may fall, said Michael Rose, trading
director at Angus Jackson Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Emerging debt spreads hit near 8-month wide

(Reuters) - Overall emerging markets spreads widened 4 basis points to
195 basis points, back to levels of the beginning of December.
Overall returns were 0.12 percent lower, while the benchmark
Brazil's global 2040 bond slid 0.125 point to be
bid 130.688




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Chrysler loan delayed but deal said on track

(Reuters) - Market sources also told Reuters Loan Pricing Corp. that underwriters remained committed to providing the needed financing for the deal, which marks the first time that a buyout firm has taken over a major U.S. automaker.




The delay in the sale of the loan and wider pricing for other Chrysler-related loans underscored a new skittishness in the debt markets. It also threatened to complicate pending asset sales that are part of the restructuring of the struggling U.S. auto industry.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

California DFI ends agreement with First Data unit

(Reuters) - The agreement required that Western Union take steps to
strengthen its compliance with California law and federal
anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act requirements, as
well as strengthen the supervision of its agents.





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-Diebold to delay second-quarter results

(Reuters) - Diebold said it is looking for guidance from regulators
about whether it properly booked revenue for "bill and hold"
transactions, in which a company records a sale and gives
ownership of the product to the customer, but actual delivery
takes place in a later period.




Questions about the company's use of "bill and hold" arose
during a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation
into the company's revenue recognition policies, Diebold said.
That probe was first announced last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

CFTC sues Amaranth for natgas price manipulation

(Reuters) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also said Amaranth tried to cover up activities by lying to the New York Mercantile Exchange . The agency is seeking monetary penalties, but not jail time, for the wrongdoing.




Amaranth racked up $6.4 billion in losses from bad natural gas contracts before it folded last year, after moving most of its contract positions from the regulated NYMEX to Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange where the CFTC has policing powers but no authority to regulate.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

S.Africa maize forecast down, but traders sceptical

(Reuters) - South Africa lowered its forecast of the 2006/07 maize harvest marginally to 6.9 million tonnes on Wednesday, but many traders were convinced that the harvest would be far smaller and squeeze supplies.

The figure was close to expectations but met with scepticism from dealers who say independent figures show farmers have to date delivered much less maize to silos -- a fact that has spurred local prices over the past couple of weeks.


Read more at Reuters Africa

ConocoPhillips Profit Falls Less Than Expected as Refining Earnings Soar

(Bloomberg) -- ConocoPhillips, the third-largest
U.S. oil company, posted a smaller drop in profit than analysts
estimated as refining earnings damped the impact of a write-off
from asset seizures in Venezuela.

Second-quarter profit slid 94 percent to $301 million, or
18 cents a share, from a record $5.19 billion, or $3.09, a year
earlier, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said today in a statement.
Costs for the Venezuela exit cut net income by $4.51 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

European Bonds Advance as U.S. Housing Slump Drives Investor Risk Aversion

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds advanced,
pushing 10-year yields to the lowest in almost two months, on
concern a housing slump in the U.S. is worsening.

Benchmark bonds rose for a second day after shares of U.S.
homebuilders sank to their lowest since 2003. A credit market
rout caused by defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages gives
``serious reasons to worry,'' without posing a systemic threat,
Moody's Investors Service said in a report.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE-1-Chile's CAP denies merger talks

(Reuters) - "There are no negotiations with anyone. There are no talks
with anyone ... We don't know who is behind this strange idea,"
CAP President Roberto De Andraca told Reuters. He said the
company had not been approached by anyone regarding a
takeover.




CAP shares were up 2.3 percent in morning trade after
rising as much as 5 percent earlier in the session.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

RPT-Genzyme 2nd-qtr profit rises; raises 2007 outlook

(Reuters) - Excluding one-time items, the company posted a profit of 88
cents a share.




Analysts had expected earnings of 81 cents a share.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Kennametal posts stronger-than-expected profit

(Reuters) - The company expects "moderation" in the North American
market will persist in the near term, while demand remains
favorable in Europe and robust in developing economies like
China and India.




Net income fell 62 percent to $62.1 million, or $1.57 a
share, in the fiscal fourth quarter from $164.2 million, or
$4.11 a share, a year earlier. However, results were 7 cents
better than analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had expected.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Alexion Pharma Q2 loss narrows

(Reuters) - Shares of the biotech company jumped almost 15 percent to
$56.98 in morning trade on the Nasdaq. Earlier, they reached a
new year high of $57.45.




Second-quarter revenue, which came solely from Soliris,
soared to $9.8 million from $300,000 reported a year ago.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

US STOCKS-Indexes fall on deal financing worry

(Reuters) - "It's the financials rolling over pretty hard after we had
the move up after the opening," said Bobby Harrington, head of
U.S. cash equities trading at UBS in Stamford, Connecticut.




The drop followed news that DaimlerChrysler had
postponed a $12 billion auto loan deal. For details, see
[ID:nN25373257]


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Volvo shares drop as U.S. truck market stalls

(Reuters) - Volvo said pretax profit fell to 5.97 billion crowns from 6.46 billion a year ago. That compared with a mean forecast of 6.62 billion in a Reuters poll of 14 analysts.




"I think the market was underestimating the integration costs and the production difficulties they have had, as well as the weak demand in the U.S. market," Danske Equities analyst Henrik Breum said.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Ryder sales up but profit down, cites '06 benefit

(Reuters) - Ryder also lowered its full-year earnings forecast.




The Miami-based company reported second-quarter net income
of $65.1 million, or $1.07 a share, compared with $70.3 million
or $1.13 a share a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes up on Boeing, Amazon.com; housing eyed

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 25 - U.S. stocks rose on
Wednesday, bouncing back from the prior session's tumble, as
solid profits and outlooks from Boeing Co and Amazon.com
Inc. quashed concerns about the housing slump.




Financial company shares, which declined sharply on
Tuesday, also underpinned the market's rebound, with Citigroup
rising 1.1 percent to $49.87.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Siemens new CEO starts with disposal, poor Q3

(Reuters) - The price was less than the 12 or even 13 billion euros that some media had reported Continental and rival suitor TRW were prepared to pay.




Siemens also announced it would acquire U.S. clinical diagnostics company Dade Behring for about $7 billion to bolster its medical equipment division.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 2-TXU recommends merger approval; CEO may leave

(Reuters) - TXU in proxy materials filed with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission defended the $69.25-per-share offer from a
group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co [KKR.UL] and Texas
Pacific Group [TPG.UL].




The company said the price was a "meaningful" premium to
its stock price and that it would probably not have done better
without the deal, the largest leveraged buyout in history.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Glaxo CEO: new data underscores Avandia safety

(Reuters) - "This is important new information," he said, after
reporting second-quarter results. "Clearly, we stand firmly
behind the safe profile of Avandia. We look forward to this
meeting on Monday and to the ultimate resolution of this
controversy."




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Hudson City profit dips; sets share buyback

(Reuters) - Net income for the Paramus-based parent of Hudson City
Savings Bank fell to $72.7 million from $73.2 million a year
earlier. Profit per share rose to 14 cents from 13 cents
because the company had fewer shares outstanding.




Analysts on average forecast profit of 14 cents per share,
according to Reuters Estimates. Hudson City said it will buy
back up to 51.4 million shares, or 10 percent of its stock, and
boosted its quarterly common stock dividend 6 percent to 8.5
cents per share.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

T. Rowe Price posts higher quarterly profit

(Reuters) - Wall Street analysts had expected earnings of 58 cents a share.




T. Rowe Price, which has been managing money in Baltimore since 1937, said revenue rose 18 percent to $551 million as assets under management, used to calculate fees in the money-management industry, climbed to a record $379.8 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

CORRECTION:General Dynamics profit falls on year-ago gain

(Reuters) - The U.S. No. 4 defense contractor, which makes Abrams tanks and Gulfstream aircraft, reported quarterly profit of $513 million, or $1.26 per share, compared with $636 million, or $1.56 per share, in the year-ago quarter.







Read more at Reuters.com Market News

S.Africa maize deliveries soar to 4.858 mln T

(Reuters) - Maize deliveries soared by 601,000 tonnes to 4.858 million tonnes last week, data showed on Wednesday, somewhat allaying worries that this season's harvest may be far smaller than feared.

It was the biggest weekly jump in deliveries since June 15, according to Reuters calculations and included 3.074 million tonnes of white maize and 1.784 million tonnes of yellow maize, the South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance on Earnings; Amazon, Boeing Shares Gain

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose after
profits that topped analysts' estimates at Boeing Co. and
Amazon.com helped assuage concerns that sent equities to their
worst drop in four months.

Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer, rallied on
earnings that nearly tripled due to curbed technology spending.
Boeing, the second-largest commercial-jet maker, gained after
it said it delivered on more airliners.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Genstar to buy PRA International for $790 mln

(Reuters) - The company is in the middle of a turnaround and said its
second-quarter earnings slumped about 90 percent due to hefty
restructuring charges.




Under the terms of the offer, PRA shareholders will get
$30.50 in cash for each share of PRA common stock, representing
a premium of about 13 percent to PRA's closing share price on
July 24, the company said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Xcel Energy quarterly profit falls, beats street

(Reuters) - Xcel said net income was $76 million, or 18 cents per
share, compared with $98 million, or 24 cents per share, a year
earlier.




Excluding special items, the company earned $124 million,
or 29 cents per share, compared with $98 million, or 24 cents
per share, in the year ago period, boosted by higher rates in
Colorado and improved short term wholesale and trading
margins.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-WellPoint second-quarter profit rises 11 percent

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 25 - WellPoint Inc. posted an 11 percent rise in second-quarter profit on Wednesday as the largest U.S. health insurer by enrollment increased its membership from a year earlier and better controlled administrative costs.



WellPoint also also spent less on medical costs as a percentage of premiums than it did in the first quarter, which could soothe investors after rival UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s earnings report alarmed them in that regard.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Fidelity National 2nd-qtr profit falls

(Reuters) - The Jacksonville, Florida-based company reported second-quarter net income of $84.8 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with $132.6 million, or 76 cents a share, a year earlier.






Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Dover earnings more than double, top forecasts

(Reuters) - Earnings from continuing operations were 85 cents a share,
topping the average Wall Street forecast of 82 cents, according
to Reuters Estimates.




Sales rose 12 percent to $1.86 billion, compared with
forecasts of $1.91 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Praxair quarterly earnings rise 18 percent

(Reuters) - Praxair posted a second-quarter profit of $291 million, or
89 cents a share, up from $247 million, or 75 cents a share, a
year earlier.





Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Pfizer's quit-smoking drug gets final UK NICE okay

(Reuters) - The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
said on Wednesday it believed the drug, also known as
varenicline, was a good way to help people who wanted to quit
smoking.




Champix, which is sold as Chantix in the United States,
targets the specific receptor to which nicotine binds, thereby
reducing the severity of the smoker's urge to smoke. It was
approved as safe and effective by European and U.S. regulators
last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Subprime woes unlikely to roil Japan banks -UBS

(Reuters) - So far, Japan's top nine lenders, including Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.
, have sunk more than 1 trillion yen into such
investments, UBS credit analyst Nana Otsuki said in a report last
week.




But while the bulk of that may be in securitised products
such as collateralised debt obligations -- which use risky home
loans as their underlying collateral -- Japanese banks have
largely opted for products with high ratings, Otsuki said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-US housing woes send stocks down, yen higher

(Reuters) - Investors worry housing troubles will dampen corporate
activity further, retrench consumer spending and hit the world's
largest economy -- which in turn could affect Asia and Europe
which are enjoying robust growth.




Recent deterioration in credit markets from the fallout in
high-risk U.S. subprime mortgages means firms are facing higher
financing costs. This could dry up the stream of M&A deals which
have fuelled world stocks to lifetime peaks only last week.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Resolution to Buy Friends Provident in Stock Swap Valued at $8.7 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Resolution Plc, the U.K.'s largest
administrator of closed life-insurance funds, plans to buy Friends
Provident Plc in a stock-swap valued at about 4.2 billion pounds
($8.7 billion).

Resolution shareholders will own 50.9 percent of the combined
company, to be renamed Friends Financial Group Plc, London-based
Resolution said in a statement today. Friends Provident
shareholders will own 49.1 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

S.Africa stocks tumble as banks, miners weaken

(Reuters) - South Africa's blue-chip Top-40 index fell over 1.2 percent on Wednesday, dragged lower by weak mining and bank stocks after fresh weakness on Wall Street.

The Top-40 index was 1.1 percent weaker at 26,512 points by 0707 GMT after falling to an intraday low of 26,472 points earlier.


Read more at Reuters Africa

U.S. Treasuries Fall, Pushing 10-Year Yield up From Lowest in Seven Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries fell, pushing the
yield of the 10-year benchmark note up by the most in almost two
weeks.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose 2 basis points,
or 0.02 percentage point, to 4.92 percent as of 7:20 a.m. in
London, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price
of the 4 1/2 percent note due May 2017 declined 4/32, or $1.25
per $1,000 face value, to 96 24/32. Bond yields move inversely
to prices.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Nomura Q1 profit quadruples, may exit US subprime

(Reuters) - TOKYO, July 25 - Nomura Holdings Inc. , Japan's largest brokerage, posted a surprise quadrupling of quarterly net profit, helped by strong sales of investment trusts and a few big equity financing and M&A deals.



Rivals Daiwa Securities Group and Nikko Cordial Corp. are also expected to book higher profits compared with a year earlier, helped by a booming market for investment trusts, which are similar to mutual funds.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News