Canadian Stocks Fall, Led by Biovail, as Drug Rejected; Energy Stocks Slip

(Bloomberg) -- Canada's main stock index fell from a
record, led by Biovail Corp., after regulators rejected the
drugmaker's application for approval of an antidepressant and U.S.
companies reported profits below analysts' estimates.

Google Inc., the Internet search engine owner, posted profit
excluding some items of $3.56 a share, a penny short of analyst
estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Caterpillar Inc., the world's
largest maker of earthmoving machines, said earnings dropped
because of falling demand for truck engines.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

First Data says buyout is on track

(Reuters) - The buyout is on track to close in the third quarter, Chairman and Chief Executive Ric Duques said on a conference call.




First Data agreed in April to sell itself to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for $34 a share, but difficult conditions in the debt markets have made investors increasingly skeptical about whether the deal will close on time at that price.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Canadian Stocks Decline, Led by Biovail; Royal, Bank of Nova Scotia Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks fell, led by Biovail
Corp. after regulators rejected the drugmaker's application for
approval of an antidepressant.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped for the first time in four
days, falling 31.50, or 0.2 percent, to 14,594.26 in Toronto at
10:02 a.m. in Toronto.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Mexican Peso Declines After China Raises Interest Rates to Cool Expansion

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's peso fell after China raised
interest rates, sparking speculation that demand for commodities
including oil, Mexico's biggest export, will fall.

Revenue from oil exports is Mexico's biggest source of
dollar inflows and funds almost 40 percent of government
spending. Oil for September delivery fell 0.1 percent to $76.01 a
barrel at 10:51 a.m. in New York.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Dollar declines on US subprime concerns

(Reuters) - The dollar slumped to a 12-year low on Friday on concerns the crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage sector will have an impact on consumer spending and the wider economy.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell to a 12-year low due to the ongoing fear surrounding the subprime market and pushed bond yields and stocks lower, traders and analysts said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

KKR's Banks Postpone Alliance Boots LBO Loans Until Next Week, Banker Says

(Bloomberg) -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s
banks postponed a deadline to finance the buyout of Alliance
Boots Plc after failing to raise enough demand for the 9 billion
pounds ($18.5 billion) of loans, said a banker involved.

KKR and lenders led by Deutsche Bank AG started offering
the debt to investors three weeks ago and had asked them to
commit no later than today. The underwriting banks are now
giving potential investors until next week to join the loan with
the extra time designed to boost participation, said the banker
on the deal, who declined to be identified because the
discussions are private.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

TREASURIES-Rocky credit markets spark bond-buying spree

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 20 - U.S. Treasury debt prices
jumped on Friday as ongoing credit worries and weaker stocks
allowed bond bulls to test six-week lows in benchmark yields.




A mix of hard data and anecdotal evidence have underpinned
a week-long rally. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's
testimony, which referred extensively to the problem in the
subprime mortgages sector, only added fuel.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Alliance Boots changing terms on LBO loans: bank

(Reuters) - It is hoped that further details on the loan package will be released on Monday, the spokeswoman said.




Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UniCredit HVB are global coordinators for the debt backing the buyout, Europe's largest ever private equity deal and the first of a FTSE 100 company.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

College Loan Corp. settles with New York state

(Reuters) - Among other favors, CLC sponsored advisory boards that
provided meals, entertainment and travel for school personnel.
CLC also provided staff to work for financial aid offices and
free printed materials at no charge, Cuomo said.




But Cuomo said CLC had engaged in another, even more
troubling practice: hosting financial counseling sessions on
behalf of colleges. Schools are required to offer these
sessions as a neutral forum for students, but San Diego-based
CLC used them to market their own loans to students, Cuomo
said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Chrysler says closing of Cerberus deal very close

(Reuters) - LaSorda also said Chrysler, now the No. 4 automaker in the U.S. market, needs to close a gap in hourly labor costs with Japanese rivals making vehicles in the U.S. market.




Chrysler says its U.S. hourly labor costs, including health care, are some $30 per hour higher than equivalent costs for Japanese automakers led by Toyota Motor Corp. .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Journal Register quarterly net and revenue decline

(Reuters) - The company, which in June said Chief Executive Robert
Jelenic would take a leave of absence to undergo treatment for
cancer, posted net income of $5.5 million, or 14 cents a share,
down from $9.8 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier.




Excluding an adverse tax adjustment resulting from a change
in New York state law, the company said profit was 17 cents a
share.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Schlumberger says happy with PDVSA relationship

(Reuters) - Venezuela is requiring that contractors dedicate 10 percent
of the total value of their contracts to social development
projects.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Orbitz shares fall 2 percent in NYSE debut

(Reuters) - Orbitz shares were down 45 cents at $14.55 in morning New York Stock Exchange trade, in a broadly lower market, after dipping as low as $14.25.




Blackstone's shares fell 4.3 percent to $26.16 after dropping to $26.05, their lowest point since the company's $4 billion initial public offering in June.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Lilly drug cuts some breast cancer risk-FDA staff

(Reuters) - Evista is already approved to treat osteoporosis in women
past menopause. The company is seeking approval to promote the
drug for the reduction in risk of invasive breast cancer in
postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and postmenopausal women
at high risk for breast cancer.




Studies provide less support for the proposed new use to
reduce the chances of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal
women at high risk, FDA reviewers said.



Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

European shares extend losses as Wall St drops

(Reuters) - European shares extended losses on Friday as U.S. markets started trading lower, weighed down by disappointing results from Caterpillar Inc. and Google.

By 1407 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.8 percent at 1,605.9 points.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S. African Rand Gains in Week on Expectations Interest-Rate Gap to Widen

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's rand advanced for a
fourth week, its best performance in almost a year versus the
dollar, on expectations the interest-rate gap with the U.S. will
widen.

The rand touched its highest in 11 months yesterday, buoyed
by expectations the Reserve Bank will keep raising borrowing
costs and on speculation the U.K.'s Standard Chartered Plc is in
talks to buy South Africa's Nedbank Group Ltd. The dollar held
near a record low against the euro on views slowing economic
growth will prevent the Federal Reserve from raising U.S. rates.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Mild China rate hike seen keeping market jittery

(Reuters) - China's stock market, which rebounded on Friday after a deep correction over the past six weeks, may also be hit next week by an announcement made later that a tax on interest income would be cut.




However, signs of strong first-half corporate earnings were expected to outweigh worries about macroeconomic measures.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. Stocks Retreat After Google Earnings Miss Estimates; Microsoft Drops

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks retreated after Google
Inc. posted profit below analysts' estimates and Microsoft
Corp. said Xbox sales fell short of its own forecast.

Google, the most-popular Internet search engine, and
Microsoft, the biggest software maker, led the Standard &
Poor's 500 Index down from a record. Caterpillar Inc. declined
after the largest maker of earthmoving machines said profit
dropped due to the housing slump. Its shares pushed the Dow
Jones Industrial Average lower a day after it closed above
14,000 for the first time.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

US STOCKS-Futures fall as key earnings disappoint

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 20 - U.S. stock index futures fell
on Friday, with the Dow poised to be knocked back below its
14,000 milestone, after bellwether stocks Caterpillar Inc.
and Google Inc posted disappointing earnings.




Caterpillar, the maker of heavy construction equipment,
said quarterly earnings fell more than expected due to a sharp
drop in sales of diesel truck engines and weakness in North
American construction. For details, see [ID:nL20191126].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-WesBanco to buy Oak Hill Fincl for $201 mln

(Reuters) - Oak Hill shareholders will be entitled to receive either
1.256 shares of WesBanco common stock, or $38 a share in cash,
about 60 percent more than Oak Hill's Thursday close of $23.30.




WesBanco expects the combination to be break-even to 2008
earnings per share and to add more than 2 percent to 2009
earnings per share.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

`Overlooked Asset,' Rupee Effect, Harry Potter and the Aftermath: Timshel

(Bloomberg) -- If Rupert Murdoch changed his mind
and bought Dow Jones & Co. in a stock swap, the purchase would
hardly dent News Corp.'s treasury.

The $5 billion that Murdoch has offered for the publisher
of the Wall Street Journal is equivalent to 204 million of his
company's Class A shares, which include voting rights, or 220
million non-voting Class B shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Number in U.S. who see stocks rise hits 5-yr high: survey

(Reuters) - Consumers in July thought that there was a 64 percent chance that a diversified stock fund would increase in value, up from 54 percent a year ago and a low of 41 percent in early 2003, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.




Consumers were more likely to expect gains in stock prices than at any time since 2002, with the early July reading setting a five-year peak. The meltdown from the 1990s craze in Internet stocks hit bottom in October 2002.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Journal Register quarterly net falls

(Reuters) - Included in these second quarter results is an adverse net
New York state tax adjustment of about 3 cents a share. The
company said its second quarter profit was 17 cents a share
before that adjustment.




Analysts had expected a profit of 20 cents a share,
according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UAW's Gettelfinger Stuck Between Reuther's Legacy, `Crashing' Car Industr

(Bloomberg) -- Ron Gettelfinger, chief of the United
Auto Workers, will sit at the bargaining table with the Big
Three automakers while holding one of the weakest hands in the
72-year-old union's history. He'll also have the shadow of union
icon Walter Reuther looming over him.

Gettelfinger starts negotiating today with companies that
lost a combined $15 billion last year -- a far cry from the era
when Reuther won health insurance and pensions for the rank-and-
file during two decades running the UAW until his death in 1970.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler now are
looking to roll back those so-called legacy costs, which include
retiree health-care liabilities of $114 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

UPDATE 2-Whirlpool profit up; U.S. improvement expected

(Reuters) - ATLANTA, July 20 - Whirlpool Corp. , the world's biggest appliance maker, reported a 77 percent jump in second-quarter profit on Friday, topping estimates, as improved international results outstripped U.S. weakness.



The company backed its prior full-year profit forecast and said it expected performance in North America, its largest market, to improve in the second half as U.S. demand rises.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Caterpillar, Eli Lilly, Google, Limelight, U.S. Steel: 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 8:10 a.m. in New York.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD US) rose 58 cents, or 3.7
percent, to $16.36 in trading before U.S. exchanges opened. The
second-largest maker of personal-computer processors said sales
in the second quarter increased 13 percent to $1.38 billion after
cutting prices to compete with Intel Corp. Analysts had estimated
the company to have sales of $1.25 billion, according to a
Bloomberg survey.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Yen Erases Declines Versus Euro, Dollar as Stock Futures Signal Lower Open

(Bloomberg) -- The yen erased a decline versus the
euro and dollar as futures on U.S. stock indexes fell, a sign
investors are pulling back from risky bets.

Investors who are less inclined to take risks may exit so-
called carry trades, where they borrow at Japan's low interest
rates to buy higher-yielding securities elsewhere. The Japanese
currency also dropped earlier after China raised rates to cool
economic growth, prompting speculation demand for Japanese
exports in its third-largest market will slow.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Schlumberger profit tops Street view

(Reuters) - Still, Schlumberger cautioned that the short-term outlook for its North American business was uncertain due to record imports of liquefied natural gas and continued weakness in Canada.




Net profit for the Houston-based company, which provides technology and services to help energy companies drill for oil and gas, rose to $1.26 billion, or $1.02 cents per diluted share, from $857 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Cardtronics, Union Pacific Sell Bonds as U.S. Debt Sales Slump 81 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Cardtronics Inc., the largest
operator of automated-teller machines in the U.S., and railroad
Union Pacific Corp. led borrowers selling $2.8 billion of notes
this week, the second-slowest this year, as issuance fell 81
percent from a year ago.

Sales compare with a weekly average of $24.7 billion,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Houston-based Cardtronics
raised $100 million after cutting the offering from $125 million,
becoming the first U.S. borrower this month to issue high-yield
debt. Union Pacific, the largest U.S. railroad, sold $479 million
of pass-through certificates after reporting profit that beat
analysts' expectations.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

US STOCKS-Futures extend losses on Caterpillar results

(Reuters) - S&P 500 futures were down 1.9 points, below fair
value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking
into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration
on the contract.




Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 22
points on the Caterpillar news. Nasdaq 100 futures were
down 36 points.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 2-Citigroup 2nd-qtr profit rises 18 pct

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 20 - Citigroup Inc. , the largest U.S. bank, said on Friday that second-quarter profit rose 18 percent, helped by record revenue growth, especially outside the United States, and tight cost controls.



Net income increased to $6.23 billion, or $1.24 per share, from $5.27 billion, or $1.05, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Brazil Vivo Q2 net loss narrows to 112.8 mln reais

(Reuters) - Vivo is a joint venture owned by Portugal Telecom
and Spain's Telefonica .






Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Caterpillar net drops, calls results disappointing

(Reuters) - The results, which the company called disappointing, sent
Caterpillar shares down 5.3 percent in premarket electronic
trading and weighed on the whole market.




Caterpillar said its second-quarter net profit fell 21
percent to $823 million, or $1.24 a share, from $1.05 billion,
or $1.52 a share, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Nova, Nucor, Schlumberger, Thornburg, U.S. Steel: 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 7:30 a.m. in New York.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD US) rose 74 cents, or 4.7
percent, to $16.52 in trading yesterday after the official close
of U.S. exchanges. The second-largest maker of personal-computer
processors said sales in the second quarter increased 13 percent
to $1.38 billion after cutting prices to compete with Intel Corp.
Analysts had estimated the company to have sales of $1.25
billion, according to a Bloomberg survey.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

BP Continues Investigation of Damage to U.K.'s CATS Natural-Gas Pipeline

(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc, Europe's second-largest oil
and natural-gas company, continues to look for potential faults
on the CATS gas pipeline to the U.K. after it was shut July 1.

The company is ``still investigating the pipe itself,''
spokesman Graham MacEwan said today in a telephone interview from
Aberdeen, Scotland. He couldn't say when flows would resume.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 1-Imax quarterly loss narrows

(Reuters) - Toronto-based Imax said it had revised its accounting
policy on revenue recognition of theater systems installations,
following the restatement of its results from 2002 through
2005.




The company restated results to shift some revenue that was
recorded between 2002 and 2005 to later periods, resulting in
about $10.4 million in income being pushed forward to 2006 and
2007.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Japan July industrial output seen hurt by quake

(Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. said it would halt production
next Monday at all of its plants, while Honda Motor Co. Ltd.
plans to stop output at three factories because of
supply problems at Riken Corp. which makes piston rings
and seal rings for transmission parts. [ID:nT210243]




The 6.8 magnitude quake on Monday killed 10 people and
damaged homes and factories in northwestern Japan, and
economists said it would drag down industrial production,
although the impact on the overall economy may be limited.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Being German may be key to Continental getting VDO

(Reuters) - A deal would transform the German car parts group, eclipsing
its 1998 Teves purchase that helped turn the world's No. 4
tyremaker into a leading high-margin electronic brakes supplier.
All Wennemer has to do is persuade Peter Loescher, the new
Siemens CEO, to abandon plans to float VDO and bury any thought
of a sale to TRW Automotive Holdings and its owner, The
Blackstone Group , for a reported 12 billion euros.




But first Wennemer may need to change his spots.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Stocks set to slip after Google, Microsoft

(Reuters) - Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, posted higher earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, but personal computer sales did not pay off as much as some analysts had hoped, sending shares down 2 percent in extended-hours trading.




Google reported earnings that missed expectations due to increased hiring and a jump in operating expenses, sending its stock down 7 percent after the bell.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; Google Falls, SanDisk Gains

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little
changed before Citigroup Inc., the world's biggest financial-
services firm, and Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of
earthmoving equipment, report quarterly earnings.

Citigroup and Caterpillar shares declined in Europe. Google
Inc. tumbled after rising costs at the world's most-popular
Internet-search engine caused second-quarter profit to miss
analysts' estimates. Schlumberger Ltd., the world's largest
oilfield-services provider, advanced after its earnings beat
analysts' estimates.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Potash Corp plans $1.6 bln mine in New Brunswick

(Reuters) - The four-year construction of the 2-million-ton project
will be financed using free cash flow and existing credit
facilities, the fertilizer maker said in a statement.




The project also earmarks $100 million for additional
upgraded granular production capability.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Hungary's Economy Minister Janos Koka Says He Will Resign by Year's End

(Bloomberg) -- Hungarian Economy Minister Janos Koka
will leave his post by the end of the year to devote more
attention to leading the Free Democrats' Alliance, the junior
coalition party.

``A party leader has enough to do even without government,''
Free Democrat board member Gabor Horn said this morning in an
interview with Hungary's TV2. ``He has told us, and the board has
accepted the decision, that he will leave the Economy Ministry by
the end of December.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Virgin Mobile USA files for $506 mln IPO

(Reuters) - The provider of wireless communications services said it
applied for a New York Stock Exchange listing under the symbol
"VM."




The filing did not reveal how many shares the company
planned to sell or the expected price.



Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Lead Heads for Its Biggest Weekly Gain Since 1990 in London; Copper Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Lead headed for its biggest weekly
gain since 1990 in London as production disruptions stoked
concern that supply will fall short of demand this year. Copper
rose to a two-month high and nickel also advanced.

Lead, used in car batteries, has surged after Doe Run
Resources Corp. cut production by about 50 percent at its
Herculaneum smelter in Missouri following a July 13 explosion.
The smelter accounts for about 2 percent of global production.
Ivernia Inc., which mines about 3 percent of world output, halted
exports March 12.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Vietnam Hires Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank for $1 Billion Bond Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam chose Barclays Capital,
Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG to manage its second
international bond sale, said Nguyen Thanh Do, director of the
finance ministry's external financing department.

The ministry said in May that the government plans a $1
billion bond sale by September. Vietnam sold $750 million worth
of dollar-denominated debt in 2005, in an offering where demand
exceeded supply by six times. Credit Suisse Group arranged the
sale.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Schlumberger second-quarter profit climbs

(Reuters) - Analysts on average had expected earnings of 96 cents a
share, according to Reuters Estimates.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Rand Heads for Fourth Weekly Advance on Expectations Rate Gap Will Widen

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's rand headed for a
fourth weekly gain, its best performance in almost a year versus
the dollar, on expectations the interest-rate gap with the U.S.
will widen.

The rand touched its highest in 11 months yesterday, buoyed
by expectations the Reserve Bank will keep raising borrowing
costs and on speculation the U.K.'s Standard Chartered Plc is in
talks to buy South Africa's Nedbank Group Ltd. The dollar held
near a record low against the euro on views slowing economic
growth will prevent the Federal Reserve from raising U.S. rates.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; Google Tumbles in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little
changed before Citigroup Inc., the world's biggest financial-
services firm, reports quarterly earnings.

Citigroup shares fell in Europe. Caterpillar Inc., the
world's biggest maker of earthmoving equipment, dropped before
posting earnings. Google Inc. tumbled after rising costs at the
world's most-popular Internet-search engine caused second-quarter
profit to miss analysts' estimates.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Nigerian inflation climbs to 6.4 pct in June

(Reuters) - Nigerian consumer price inflation accelerated to 6.4 percent year-on-year in June from 4.6 percent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday -- a setback to government which has made low inflation a priority.

"The rise in the index was caused mainly by increase in the price of some food items, fuels, some building materials, transportation and services," the bureau said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Chevron-Led Caspian Pipeline Group Faces $290 Million Russian Tax Claim

(Bloomberg) -- The Chevron Corp.-led Caspian
Pipeline Consortium received a $290 million back-tax claim from
Russian authorities for 2004 and 2005.

The venture is challenging the claim alongside similar
back-tax claims for previous years in the Moscow City Court,
Olesia Kuznetsova, a spokeswoman for the Caspian Pipeline
Consortium, said by phone in Moscow today. The claim was levied
by Russia's Federal Tax Service, she said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News