European Bonds Advance as Global Stocks Drop on Subprime, Risk Aversion

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds rose for a
second day, pushing two-year yields to near the lowest in three
months, as stocks slid on concern U.S. subprime mortgage losses
will slow economic growth and drive-up global financing costs.

Bunds gained as credit-default swaps trading showed the risk
of owning European corporate debt rose and as investors pulled
out of equities. Bear Stearns Cos. ousted Co-President Warren
Spector after credit-market losses and eroding investor
confidence, stoking appetite for the safety of government debt.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

New Zealand Dollar May Fall as Housing Woes Spur Exit From Risky Bets

(Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar may decline
today as concerns return about the U.S. subprime mortgage market,
deterring traders from riskier investments such as the carry
trade.

The trade, where investors borrow cheaply in yen to invest
in higher-yielding assets elsewhere, has seen the currency gain
25 percent against the yen in the past year, with investors
lured to the nation's record 8.25 percent benchmark rate. U.S.
stocks dropped Aug. 4 after Samuel Molinaro, chief financial
officer at Bear Stearns Cos. called the current crisis in fixed-
income the worst ever.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

U.S. Stocks Tumble a Third Week on Lending Crisis; Bear Stearns Declines

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, pushing the Standard
& Poor's 500 Index to its steepest three-week skid since 2003, on
deepening concern that mortgage losses will hurt bank earnings
and reduce the pace of takeovers.

Bear Stearns Cos., the manager of two hedge funds that
collapsed last month because of rising defaults in home loans,
tumbled the most since September 2001. Shares of the largest U.S.
mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp., had the biggest
loss in almost three years.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks 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

CEVA revises $1.4 bln high-yield note sale -lead

(Reuters) - All of the notes are available in euros and dollars. Price
guidance is due later on Thursday, with pricing expected early
next week, the bank said.




Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns,
UBS, JP Morgan and ABN AMRO are managing the sale.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

European Bonds Rally, Pushing Benchmark Yield to the Lowest in Seven Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- European bonds rallied, pushing 10-
year yields to the lowest in almost seven weeks, as the risk of
owning corporate debt rose to a two-year high and investors
switched into safer government assets.

Benchmark yields were headed for the biggest weekly drop in
3 1/2 years on concern defaults on U.S. home loans to people
with poor credit histories will spread. Government debt around
the world rose this week after Bear Stearns Cos. told investors
they weren't likely to get money back from two of its hedge
funds that bet on securities backed by subprime mortgages.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European Bonds Rally, Pushing Benchmark Yield to the Lowest in Six Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- European bonds rallied, pushing 10-
year yields to the lowest in more than six weeks, as the risk of
owning corporate debt rose to a two-year high and investors
switched into safer government assets.

Benchmark yields were also headed for the biggest weekly
drop in more than a year on concern defaults on home loans to
people with poor credit histories will spread. Government debt
around the world rose this week after Bear Stearns Cos. told
investors they weren't likely to get money back from two of its
hedge funds that bet on securities backed by subprime mortgages.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

U.S. Stocks Retreat on Earnings, Mortgage Concerns; Intel, Financials Fall

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell after Intel
Corp.'s earnings report spurred concern profit estimates for
computer companies are too high and Bear Stearns Cos. said the
subprime mortgage crisis wiped out investors in two of its
hedge funds.

Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, declined the most
since January and led the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower
for the first time in six days. Financial shares posted the
steepest drop in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index after Bear
Stearns said investors in the funds may not get any money back.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Treasuries Are Little Changed After Bear Stearns Tells of Subprime Losses

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries were little changed
after Bear Stearns Cos. told investors in two funds they will
get little if any money back because of losses on securities
used to bet on subprime mortgages.

U.S. government debt pared gains before Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testifies before Congress today on the
state of the economy and interest-rate policy and the Labor
Department delivers its report on consumer inflation.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

European Stocks May Drop; Technology, Energy, Financial Shares May Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may fall, paced by
technology shares after Intel Corp. and Yahoo! Inc. of the U.S.
said competition is hurting profit. U.S.-traded securities of Arm
Holdings Plc slipped.

Financial stocks might drop after Bear Stearns Cos. told
investors there's ``little value left'' in its two failed hedge
funds. Energy shares including BP Plc and Total SA will probably
follow declines by their U.S. counterparts yesterday after crude
oil dropped from an 11-month high.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

CORRECTION: Dollar slides vs euro, pound on subprime worries

(Reuters) - TOKYO - The dollar slid to a record low against the euro on worries about U.S. subprime mortgages and hit a 26-year trough versus sterling on Wednesday after British data bolstered expectations for higher interest rates in Britain.




The euro rose as high as $1.3823 on electronic trading platform EBS and sterling hit a 26-year peak as the dollar was pressured by news about the ongoing woes of two Bear Stearns hedge funds that bet heavily on subprime loans.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

CORRECTED: Dollar slides vs euro, pound on subprime worries

(Reuters) - TOKYO - The dollar slid to a record low against the euro on worries about U.S. subprime mortgages and hit a 26-year trough versus sterling on Wednesday after British data bolstered expectations for higher interest rates in Britain.




The euro rose as high as $1.3823 on electronic trading platform EBS and sterling hit a 26-year peak as the dollar was pressured by news about the ongoing woes of two Bear Stearns hedge funds that bet heavily on subprime loans.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Australia Dollar Rises as Investors Spooked by Hedge Fund Losses in U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar rose to the
highest in 18 years on speculation losses at a hedge fund run by
Bear Stearns Cos. will bolster demand for financial assets
outside of the U.S.

The Australian dollar advanced to 87.61 U.S. cents, the
highest since February 1989, before trading at 87.55 U.S. cents
at 10:43 a.m. in Sydney from 87.37 cents late in Asia yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Moody's may cut Bear Stearns, IndyMac ABS

(Reuters) - The collateral backing the securities under review consists
of primarily first lien, fixed and adjustable-rate and Alt-A
mortgage loans, Moody's said in a statement.




Moody's is reviewing 13 pieces of 8 deals sold from the
Bear Stearns Alt-A Trust Series and Bear Stearns Asset Backed
Securities I Trust Series, all of which are backed by loans
issued in 2006.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TCW Group, GSC Partners Manage the Most CDOs Facing Lower Credit Ratings

(Bloomberg) -- TCW Group Inc. and GSC Partners
created the most collateralized debt obligations that are now at
risk of having their credit ratings slashed because they are
backed by some of the worst-performing subprime mortgage bonds.

TCW of Los Angeles and GSC, a New York-based investment
firm, manage 12 CDOs that will likely have a portion of their
ratings cut, a report by Bear Stearns Cos. found. ACA Capital
Holdings Inc., Harding Advisory and Tricadia CDO Management each
have four.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Banks and brokers shares fall on subprime woes

(Reuters) - Declines were led by banks perceived to have high exposure to mortgages and other fixed income businesses, including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. , which fell 5 percent, and Bear Stearns Cos. , which fell as much as 4.1 percent.




Lenders specializing in mortgages dropped as well. Countrywide Financial Corp. shares fell 3.7 percent, while the shares of subprime specialist NovaStar Financial Inc. fell 8.7 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Bear Stearns Meets Possums in Georgia as Foreclosures Rise on Housing Bust

(Bloomberg) -- Only the possums are enjoying the
backyard of 2035 Lilac Lane in Decatur, Georgia, where Wall
Street titan Bear Stearns Cos. is just another homeowner by
default.

``It's a mess,'' said Kiwanna Ford, 31, who grew up next
door to the vacant brick ranch-style house four miles south of
the DeKalb County Courthouse. Bear Stearns seized the property
three months ago after Ford's neighbor stopped making payments on
his mortgage. ``If we wanted to sell our house right now with
that next door, it would hurt,'' she said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds 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

TREASURIES-Bond prices rise on lingering subprime woes

(Reuters) - These fears have been heightened after Bear Stearns
was forced to bail out a hedge fund which suffered large losses
due to its dealings in subprime mortgages.




"The subprime issue has become a much more focused problem.
It has certainly caused some unease in terms of the overall
equity market and the overall leverage picture. We have seen
some money flow into Treasuries," said Doug Bender, managing
director with McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Bond rally takes breather, but subprime underpins

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 26 - U.S. Treasury debt prices
fell on Tuesday as reinvigorated bond bulls appeared satiated
by two weeks of buying, but analysts said lingering problems in
the housing sector should continue to bolster the market.




Dealers said the collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds
due to their dealings in sketchier subprime mortgages was
preventing any wholesale exit from government bonds.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News