Trade rules waiver needed for small firms -Sarkozy

(Reuters) - "Well what the United States do, I ask that we do,"
Sarkozy said at the Paris air show on Saturday.




" the Small Business Act, in the framework of the
World Trade Organisation, the United States obtained an
exemption. There is no reason why Europe should not get one."


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UPDATE 1-Aeroflot to pull out of Alitalia bidding - I'fax

(Reuters) - "The decision in principle has already been taken. The chief
executive of Aeroflot will inform Italy's Finance Ministry about
the Russian carrier's withdrawal from the acquisition of the
state-held shares in Alitalia," the source said.




An Aeroflot spokeswoman, however, told Italy's ANSA news
agency that the Russian airline is going ahead with its offer
for Alitalia and that its director general presented a report on
the subject to the carrier's new board elected on Saturday.


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GM's Saab cuts targets on way to break even: report

(Reuters) - Earlier targets set by Forster's predecessor Peter
Augustsson, who left the company in March last year, aimed to
sell 250,000 units per year, the magazine said.




Saab sold 133,167 cars worldwide last year and was not
profitable, Jan-Ake Jonsson, Saab's managing director, told
Automotive News.


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Fed meeting, subprime jitters on tap

(Reuters) - Stocks closed out their worst week in more than three months on fears that trouble at two Bear Stearns hedge funds may signal bigger problems ahead for credit markets.




Whether investors worry through the weekend and remain in a selling mood on Monday remains to be seen after the main stock indexes all fell by more than 1 percent Friday.


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Turkey's Garanti Bank starts talks in Ukraine

(Reuters) - Garanti, Turkey's third biggest listed bank by market
capitalisation, had said before it was looking to grow in the
region and in April said its board had authorised head office to
assess opportunities for regional expansion.




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S&P 500 Posts Biggest Weekly Slide Since March Amid Mortgage-Bond Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks dropped and the
Standard and Poor's 500 Index posted its biggest weekly
slide since early March on concern that banks will be
saddled with losses on mortgage bonds.

Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led financial shares lower after
the near collapse of a Bear Stearns hedge fund spurred
speculation that investors will have to write down the
value of securities containing subprime mortgages.
Homebuilders in S&P indexes plunged for a fourth straight
week after a gauge of builder confidence fell to a 16-year
low and home starts declined.


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LSE to buy Borsa Italiana

(Reuters) - They would also be Europe's leading market for electronic trading of Exchange Traded Funds and securitized derivatives, and Europe's leading fixed income market thanks to Borsa's interest in the MTS platform.




Analysts see the deal, flagged last week by sources familiar with the proposal, as largely defensive by the LSE, which has faced repeated takeover attempts as the world's exchanges respond to competitive pressures and globalized trading opportunities.


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UPDATE 1-London Stock Exchange to buy Borsa Italiana

(Reuters) - The pair said they planned to become "the world's capital
market" and that together they accounted for 48 percent of the
FTSE Eurofirst 100 index of companies by market value.




They would also be Europe's leading market for electronic
trading of Exchange Traded Funds and securitized derivatives,
and Europe's leading fixed income market thanks to Borsa's
interest in the MTS platform.


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Nigerian unions dig in for a long strike

(Reuters) - Nigerian unions dug in for a long battle with the government on Friday after the collapse of talks on the third day of a general strike over fuel prices.

Unions threatened to extend the strike, which has already crippled most sectors of the economy, to essential services such as water and power.


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Oil rises above $71 on Nigeria strike fears

(Reuters) - Oil prices rose above $71 a barrel on Friday on fears a general strike in Nigeria could intensify and disrupt crude shipments from the world's eighth-largest exporter.

London Brent crude, currently seen as the best benchmark of world oil prices, settled up 96 cents at $71.18 a barrel, after trading as high as $71.50 during the day.


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US House Democrats challenge private equity pay

(Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill on Friday that would more than double taxes on the pay of managers of private equity funds, hedge funds and other investment partnerships.

Throwing down a challenge to some of the nation's savviest and richest financiers, the bill would set a higher tax rate for "carried interest." That is the 20-percent cut of profits beyond targeted returns typically kept by senior managers of private equity firms and other firms on major transactions.


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