Hogs Futures Rise on Speculation China to Buy More U.S. Pork; Cattle Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Hog futures in Chicago rose to the
highest in more than three months on speculation China, faced
with tightening supplies of pork, boosted purchases of the meat
from the U.S. Cattle fell for the third-straight day.

China, the sixth-largest importer of U.S. pork, likely will
buy 5 million to 10 million pounds this week from producers such
as Smithfield Foods Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc., said Rich Nelson,
a livestock analyst at Allendale Inc. in McHenry, Illinois. Hog
prices in Chicago are up 28 percent from a year ago on strong
export demand for pork.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Wheat Futures Rise as Drought in Canada May Increase Demand For U.S. Grain

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose the most in more than a
week in Chicago as drought in Canada and other exporting
countries boosts demand for U.S. supplies.

U.S. wheat exporters last month had their two best-selling
weeks since 1996, Department of Agriculture data show. Canada
will produce 16 percent less wheat this year, partly because of
drought in western growing regions, the Canadian Wheat Board
said yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

UPDATE 1-Tenaris 2nd-qtr net profit rose amid sales boom

(Reuters) - Net profit rose to $534.5 million from $495.8 million in
the second quarter of 2006, the company said in a statement.
This beat the median forecast in a Reuters poll for a quarterly
profit of $500.5 million.




Earnings per American Depositary Share were $0.84, compared
with $0.80 in the year-earlier period.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Argentine stocks slump amid U.S. mortgage fallout

(Reuters) - Banco Frances was one of the biggest losers of the
session, shedding 4.6 percent to end at 10.30 pesos per share.




"We're part of a stocks fall with its epicenter in the
United States such as we haven't seen in a long time," said
Francisco Prack, chief economist with SBS group, who forecast
more volatility on the horizon.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Subprime lender First NLC lays off 645 employees

(Reuters) - "We have had to reduce staff to compete more effectively," Henschel said in an interview. "Market conditions and the subprime landscape have changed dramatically. We were saddened to let valued employees go, but the landscape has changed."




The layoffs were announced less than a week after FBR said it would sell an 80 percent stake in First NLC to private equity firm Sun Capital Partners Inc. First NLC is being recapitalized, with Sun Capital investing $60 million and FBR investing $15 million.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 2-Brazil's Petrobras to buy Suzano petrochem firm

(Reuters) - The deal would give Brazil's state oil company all shares
held, directly and indirectly, by the controlling shareholders
of Suzano Petroquimica, Suzano said in a statement on Friday.




Petrobras Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli was
scheduled to hold a news conference on the acquisition later on
Friday, Petrobras said. A Petrobras spokesman said final
details were still being negotiated.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

US STOCKS-Indexes flat after jobs data; ISM to come

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U S. stocks were little changed
on Friday after a report showing weaker-than-expected job
growth last month rattled investors already nervous about
losses in the mortgage industry.




Investors were bracing for data on the vast U.S. services
sector at 10 a.m. .


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Mortgage fallout, economic data dent shares

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. stocks fell on Friday
after a ratings agency gave investment bank Bear Stearns Cos.
a negative outlook, heightening worries about mortgage
market losses, and data suggested weakness in the economy.




Standard & Poor's said it changed its ratings outlook on
Bear Stearns, the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds,
to negative from stable, indicating there is a better chance of
a downgrade over the next two years. For details, see
[ID:nN03300207].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Bonds rise on weak data, subprime worries

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U.S. Treasury debt prices rose
on Friday with benchmark yields hovering near their lowest
levels since mid-May, as surprisingly soft jobs and services
data and subprime fears spurred safety bids for Treasuries.




Signs of weakness in the economic data prompted investors
to increase bets that the Federal Reserve may start cutting
interest rates before the end of the year.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

RPT-France's Thomson sees no change to borrowing

(Reuters) - "Thomson's balance sheet has improved over the last two
years, and we have not changed our expectations for cash flow
generation going forward. Our net debt has been stable
year-on-year and our gross debt is falling. We anticipate no
change to our borrowing conditions," the company said in a
statement.




Earlier on Friday, Standard & Poor's affirmed Thomson SA's
credit rating at BBB-/A-3 but cut its outlook on the group to
"negative" from "stable." The rating agency cited "operating
pressures" within Thomson's core business.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

NYSE says instituted downside trading curbs

(Reuters) - The trading curbs require that all program selling of S&P
500 stocks must be on an up-tick.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Takefuji, Toyota, Capcom, Cosmo Oil, Chugai, Usen: Japan Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may move in
Japanese markets on Aug. 6. Prices are as of the close of trading.
Statements were released after the close. Stock symbols are in
parentheses.

Capcom Co. (9697 JT): The publisher of the ``Resident Evil''
video game series said first-quarter net income rose 40 percent
to 1.13 billion yen ($9.5 million) on sales of software. The
company boosted its first-half profit forecast 80 percent to 1.35
billion yen. The stock lost 100 yen, or 4.2 percent, to 2,290.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Delta Air sees strong demand after record July

(Reuters) - Delta said it had a load factor -- the percentage of seats filled with paying passengers -- of 86.8 percent in July as traffic rose 4.9 percent and capacity increased 3.2 percent.



"Strong customer demand resulted in the highest monthly load factor we've ever recorded, and we continue to see solid demand moving forward," Chief Operating Officer Jim Whitehurst said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Mexican Peso, Bonds Drop After U.S. Jobs Growth Slows, Missing Forecast

(Bloomberg) -- Mexican peso-denominated bonds and
the currency fell on renewed concerns that weakness in the U.S.
housing industry will spread to the broader economy and curb
demand for Mexico's exports.

Yields on the Mexican government's 30-year bonds, its
longest peso-denominated maturity, touched a three-month high
after a U.S. government report showed employers added fewer jobs
than economists expected last month. The U.S. buys 80 percent of
Mexican exports.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Petrobras in talks to buy Suzano petrochem firm

(Reuters) - Suzano said in a statement further details would become
available when negotiations are concluded. A source familiar
with the deal said Petrobras was close to buying Suzano.




"Negotiations are in progress with Petrobras aimed at
acquiring all the shares held directly and indirectly by the
controllers of Suzano Holding in Suzano Petroquimica," Suzano
said in its statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

GE's $2 Billion Bond Sale May End Game of `Chicken,' Rout in New Issues

(Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. sold $2 billion
of bonds, a sign that top-rated borrowers can still find demand
in a market that shut out at least 36 companies.

General Electric Capital Corp., the finance arm of the
world's second-biggest company by market value, sold 30-year
bonds yesterday for the first time in about five years. Stamford,
Connecticut-based GECC was able to find buyers when companies
from investment-grade Tyco Electronics Ltd. to high-yield, high-
risk Myers Industries Inc. were forced to cancel sales.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Ford aims to sell Land Rover, Jaguar by Sept.30-NYT

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - Ford Motor Co is hoping to have a tentative deal to sell its Land Rover and Jaguar operations by Sept. 30, and a pact to dispose of Volvo by year end, The New York Times reported on its Web site on Friday.



The auto maker's advisers have begun putting together information that bidders want for Land Rover and Jaguar, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Chrysler sale to Cerberus completed

(Reuters) - As a result, DaimlerChrysler and Cerberus decided to help with the financing, a move they confirmed on Friday.




"DaimlerChrysler and Cerberus have agreed to support the financing of the majority takeover of Chrysler by Cerberus in light of highly volatile U.S. loan markets," the German carmaker said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Garmin to buy its Italian distributor

(Reuters) - Aug 3 - Navigational devices maker Garmin Ltd. said it plans to buy its Italian distributor, Synergy S.p.A., to strengthen its European sales and marketing presence.



Financial terms of the proposed deal were not disclosed.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Wisconsin Energy unit files for $800 mln debt shelf

(Reuters) - Under a shelf registration filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, a company may sell securities in one
or more separate offerings with the size, price and terms to be
determined at the time of sale.





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 2-MannKind says struggling to find partner; shares fall

(Reuters) - "All things considered, we do not expect to reach a
partnership agreement in the near term," Chief Executive Alfred
Mann said on a conference call with analysts, referring to the
product, Technosphere insulin .




The company's shares were trading almost 15 percent down at
$9.04 in afternoon trade on the Nasdaq. They hit a year low of
$8.56 earlier in the day.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

LBO exposure may hit Bear Stearns, Lehman

(Reuters) - Large commercial banks such as Citigroup Inc. are on the hook for loads of leveraged buyout debt they hoped to sell to investors, but with a $230 billion market capitalization, Citi is seen as having the balance sheet to absorb any losses without much of a headache.




Large commercial banks like Citi and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also benefit from more diversified businesses including revenue from consumer banking and broad international operations.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Gold miner Newmont has 2nd-quarter loss after charges

(Reuters) - Gold miner Newmont Mining Corp. posted a quarterly net loss on Thursday as a result of huge charges on the value of its discontinued merchant banking operation and the elimination of its gold hedge positions.

Still, the operating results of the world's No. 2 gold producer beat estimates, even as it sold less gold than a year earlier, but at higher average prices.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Highveld says H1 headline EPS at 648.2 cts

(Reuters) - South Africa's Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation's first half headline earnings per share increased to 648.2 cents from 404.9 cents a year ago, the firm said on Friday.

Highveld said headline earnings rose to 643 million rand, from 401 million rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Morocco H1 c/a surplus up 72 pct, trade gap widens

(Reuters) - Morocco's trade deficit grew in the first half of 2007 as a construction boom increased demand for foreign building materials and equipment, the North African country's Exchange Office said on Friday.

However, the current account surplus, boosted by increases in remittances from Moroccans abroad and tourism receipts, rose by 72 percent year-on-year.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Pfizer seeks to quash Nigerian drug test report

(Reuters) - Pfizer has asked a Nigerian court to disregard an experts' report into drug tests it conducted on Nigerian children in 1996 and which are now the subject of four court cases, the company said on Friday.

The Nigerian federal government and the northern state of Kano are suing Pfizer for a total of about $8.5 billion in damages and also pressing criminal charges over what they say was unethical testing of Trovan, an antibiotic drug.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Gauge of U.S. economy lower in latest week - ECRI

(Reuters) - WLI's annualized growth rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.4
percent in the prior week.




"Despite the fears roiling the markets, WLI growth remains
at the low end of a tight band it has inhabited for 12 weeks,
underscoring the cyclical resilience of the U.S. expansion,"
said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at ECRI.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Nickel Heads for Second Weekly Drop in London on Stockpiles; Lead Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Nickel headed for a second
consecutive weekly decline, dropping to a nine-month low, as
stockpiles of the metal rose, expanding supply. Lead, zinc and
copper also dropped.

Inventories of nickel tracked by the London Metal Exchange
grew 330 metric tons to 15,138 tons, the exchange said today in
a daily report. Stockpiles have risen fivefold since Feb. 6,
when they were at a 15-year low.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

BA profit rise beats forecasts

(Reuters) - Earnings before interest and taxes of 263 million pounds for the three months to end-June beat all forecasts ranging from 206 million to 237 million pounds in a Reuters Estimates poll of four analysts.




Europe's third-largest airline cited lower severance charges and pensions costs as well as a more favorable tax rate to explain the year-on-year gain.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

BA profit rise beats forecasts, warns on revenues

(Reuters) - LONDON, Aug 3 - British Airways posted a 28 percent rise in quarterly operating profit on Friday to beat analysts' forecasts, but warned a weak dollar and soaring fuel prices would slow full-year revenue growth and raise costs.



Earnings before interest and taxes for the three months to end-June rose to 263 million pounds , BA said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Brookfield Asset profit, revenue rise

(Reuters) - Brookfield, which earlier this week said it would spin off
a 60 percent stake in its infrastructure operations, posted a
net profit $153 million, or 24 cents a share, in the quarter
ended June 30, up from a profit of $135 million, or 20 Canadian
cents a share, in the same quarter last year.




Cash flow from operations, a closely watched measure, rose
to $440 million, or 72 cents a share, from $267 million, or 43
cents a share last year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Hannover Re Q2 robust, sees little subprime impact

(Reuters) - By Sabine Ehrhardt



HANNOVER, Aug 3 - German reinsurer Hannover Re posted robust second quarter profits on Friday and its chief financial officer said she sees little bottom-line impact from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Fidelity Inflation Bond Fund Trails Vanguard After Subprime Mortgage Rout

(Bloomberg) -- Fidelity Investments' Inflation-
Protected Bond Fund is lagging behind its biggest competitor,
Vanguard Group, after losses in subprime mortgages, this year's
worst-performing debt market.

The $1.3 billion mutual fund, run by William Irving in
Merrimack, New Hampshire, rose 3.3 percent this year, trailing
the 4 percent gain of the Vanguard Inflation-Protected
Securities Fund, which holds no mortgage bonds. The Fidelity
fund advanced at an annual rate of 5.6 percent during the past
five years, compared with the 6 percent return of the $10.2
billion Vanguard fund, data compiled by Bloomberg show.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Asian Currencies Complete Weekly Decline, Follow Drop in Regional Stocks

(Bloomberg) -- Asian currencies completed a weekly
decline, led by a 0.9 percent drop in the Indonesian rupiah, as
overseas investors reduced holdings in the region's stocks.

Global funds were net sellers of shares in South Korea,
Taiwan and Thailand this week as benchmark stock indexes dropped.
Indonesia's central bank said Aug. 1 it's not worried by the
rupiah's decline and the International Monetary Fund said the
next day the volatility in financial markets poses a risk to
economic growth.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

National Grid Gives Scottish Power Electricity for Free to Balance Supply

(Bloomberg) -- National Grid Plc, the operator of the
U.K.'s power-transmission network, gave electricity to Scottish
Power Plc so the generator would produce less at its Longannet
coal-fired plant and help balance supply with demand on the grid.

The agreement was profitable for Scottish Power, a unit of
Spain's Iberdrola SA, because it didn't need to produce power
that it had already sold in the forward market, according to data
on a Web site run by the network operator.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Asian Banks Face Limited Fallout From U.S. Subprime Crisis, Moody's Says

(Bloomberg) -- The impact of the U.S. subprime
mortgage crisis on Asian banks has been ``limited'' and
``manageable,'' according to global ratings companies Moody's
Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.

``In Asia, Moody's expects the fallout from the U.S.
subprime mortgage market problems to be limited among the
region's internationally active investment and universal banks,''
Moody's said in a statement, citing a preliminary survey.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 1-EU executive sees no pan-EU fallout from IKB

(Reuters) - Officials working for Internal Market Commissioner Charlie
McCreevy, the bloc's top financial regulator, and for Economic
and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia are studying
the situation at IKB, a Commission spokesman said.




"We see no particular reason at this moment in time to be
worried. We see no pan-European implications. The matter has
been dealt with by the competent authorities," he said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Futures flat before jobs data, P&G buyback

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Aug 3 - U S. stock index futures were
little changed on Friday as investors sought reassurance about
the economy in the latest employment report while more signs of
distress came from the mortgage industry.




In earnings news, Dow component Procter & Gamble Co.
said profit topped Wall Street expectations and announced it
was accelerating its stock buyback plans, but the consumer
products maker said fiscal 2008 profit could miss analysts'
forecasts. For details, see [ID:nN03348752].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. jobs data hits stocks, dollar, ups bonds

(Reuters) - U.S. employers boosted payrolls in July at the slowest pace since February, adding 92,000 jobs as the national unemployment rate rose to a level last seen in January, the Labor Department reported.




The FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.4 percent after the report and the euro rose to $1.3714 .


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

South Korean Stocks Advance; Steelmakers Gain on UBS Call, Samsung Climbs

(Bloomberg) -- South Korean stocks climbed for the
first time in three days. Steelmakers gained after Moody's
Investors Service said it put Posco's debt rating on review for
a possible upgrade.

Posco shares yesterday closed 10 percent lower than the
July 24 record of 567,000 won.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

FTI Consulting, Jones Soda, Micron, SanDisk, Toyota: 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. Share prices are as of 8:15 a.m. in New York.

BigBand Networks Inc. (BBND US): The online video equipment
maker said that, excluding some items, it expects to earn as much
as 7 cents a share in the third quarter. The average estimate
from five analysts in a Bloomberg survey was 9 cents. The shares
rose $1.49, or 12 percent, to $13.98 yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News