Bank of Queensland Completes Its Biggest Sale of Debt Backed by Auto Loans

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Queensland Ltd., a regional
Australian lender, raised A$1 billion ($855 million) in its
biggest sale of bonds backed by automobile and equipment loans.

The bonds were sold to domestic and offshore investors in
nine parts, sale manager Macquarie Bank Ltd. said in an e-mailed
statement. The largest portion was A$717.5 million of AAA-rated,
August 2013 securities yielding 23 basis points more than the
benchmark swap rate.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-S&P raises Morgan Stanley debt rating to "AA-minus"

(Reuters) - S&P raised Morgan Stanley's senior unsecured debt rating to
"AA-minus," the fourth-highest investment grade rating, from
"A-plus."




The rating agency also changed Morgan Stanley's outlook to
stable from positive, which means no other rating changes are
expected in the next two years.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Fannie Mae portfolio grows in June, down in 2007

(Reuters) - Fannie Mae said that its non-agency securities totaled $122.8
billion at the end of the second quarter, of which $47.2 billion
were backed by subprime loans. Nearly all of the subprime-backed
bonds, $46.9 billion, were rated 'AAA' or the equivalent by at
least two ratings agencies and none of them have been downgraded,
Fannie Mae said.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

MBIA, Ambac Risk Trading at Junk Levels on Subprime Default Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- The perceived risk of holding the
bonds of MBIA Inc. and AMBAC Financial Group Inc., owners of the
two largest AAA rated bond insurance companies, has jumped to
speculative grade on worries about subprime-mortgage defaults.

Credit-default swaps based on $10 million of MBIA's bonds
more than doubled in the past month to $114,000, while Ambac
contracts tripled to $91,000, according to CMA Datavision in
London. Those levels imply a credit rating of Ba2 for MBIA and
Ba1 for Ambac, the two highest junk ratings, according to the
credit-strategy group at Moody's Investors Service.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Comair says FY profit to climb 20-40 pct

(Reuters) - South African airline operator Comair -- a franchised partner of British Airways -- on Tuesday said full-year headline earnings per share and EPS would increase between 20-40 percent.

But the company said "unprofitable ticket pricing" by state run airline SAA through its new low-cost airline Mango had negatively affected industry profits in the fourth quarter of the financial year to end-June.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Copa Holdings, Fleetwood, Playtex, Spectrum Brands: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 11:40 a.m. New York time.

Alcoa Inc. (AA US) rose $1.91, or 4.2 percent, to $47.20.
The world's second-biggest aluminum maker said yesterday it
withdrew its unsolicited takeover bid for aluminum producer Alcan
Inc. (AL US) after Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU) made a higher offer
of $38.1 billion. Separately, Credit Suisse Group increased its
share-price estimate for Alcoa by 22 percent to $55, saying that
takeover speculation would support the stock. Alcan shares fell
45 cents to $98.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

3M plans 7-year euro benchmark bond -lead

(Reuters) - 3M is rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service and AA by
Standard & Poor's.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Costco, Discover Financial, Local.com, SanDisk: 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 on June 29. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company
names. Share prices are as of 7:30 a.m. in New York.

Apple Inc. (AAPL US) rose $1.36, or 1.1 percent, to $123.40
in trading before U.S. exchanges opened. The U.S. debut of the
iPhone drew thousands of shoppers over the weekend, emptying most
of AT&T Inc.'s (T US) inventory and causing network glitches as
the flood of customers began activating the device. Shoppers
bought as many as 500,000 units over the weekend, Piper Jaffray
analyst Gene Munster said, more than twice his projection of
200,000. JPMorgan analyst Bill Shope estimated sales were
312,000. Before the phone's debut, analysts expected Apple to
sell 50,000 to 200,000 units.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Apple, DTE Energy, Lions Gate, Seaspan, Theravance: U.S. Equity Preview

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

Apple Inc. (AAPL US) shares rose as much as $1.62, or 1.3
percent, to $123.66 in extended trading. The U.S. debut of the
iPhone drew thousands of shoppers over the weekend, emptying most
of AT&T Inc.'s inventory and causing network glitches as the
flood of customers began activating the device. Shoppers snapped
up as many as 200,000 iPhones the first day after the device went
on sale June 29, according to Global Equities Research.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Carlyle Group Reduces Size of $400 Million Mortgage Fund IPO by 25 Percent

(Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group, the buyout firm run by
David Rubenstein, cut the size of the initial public offering for
a fund that invests in bonds backed by mortgages by 25 percent to
$300 million after a slump in the U.S. subprime market.

Carlyle trimmed the offering from $400 million and reduced
the price of the shares to $19 from a range of $20 to $22,
Carlyle Capital Chief Executive Officer John Stomber said in an
interview today. The firm said earlier in a statement it would
delay the pricing of the fund, which will mostly invest in AAA
rated residential mortgage-backed securities. The fund also
targets loans, junk bonds and collateralized debt obligations.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Crude Oil Declines on Forecast for Increase in U.S. Gasoline Inventories

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell to a nine-day low in New
York on forecasts U.S. gasoline supplies rose for an eighth
straight week.

An Energy Department report today will probably show U.S.
gasoline stockpiles gained 1 million barrels last week, according
to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. A record 41.1 million
Americans may travel next week for the Independence Day holiday,
the AAA said in a survey released yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

CDOs in `6-Inch Hooker Heels' Fooled Moody's and S&P, Pimco's Gross Says

(Bloomberg) -- Holders of some investment-grade
portions of collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime
mortgages will lose all of their money, according to Bill Gross,
manager of the world's biggest bond fund.

Bankers and money managers bundle securities into CDOs and
divide them into slices with credit ratings as high as AAA from
Standard & Poor's and Aaa by Moody's Investors Service.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Apple, Cardinal Health, GeoPharma, Google: U.S. Equity Market 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. Shares prices are as of 8:15 a.m. New York time.

Apple Inc. (AAPL US) added 91 cents to $123.25 in trading
before U.S. exchanges opened. RBC Capital rated the shares
``outperform'' in new coverage, setting its price forecast at
$160. RBS said it saw further upside for Apple shares based on
the company's continued dominance of the MP3 player market with
its iPod and iTunes and gains from its Mac computers.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News