Sales of Higher-Risk Mortgage Bonds Will Fall in Second Half, Lehman Says

(Bloomberg) -- Sales of new bonds backed by higher-
risk, higher-rate mortgages will slow further in the second half
of this year, according to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Issuance of bonds backed by subprime mortgages will drop 66
percent from the same period in 2006 to $75 billion, reflecting
a 57 percent drop from the first half of this year, analysts at
Lehman wrote in a report today. Alt A mortgage bond sales will
tumble 48 percent from last year's second half, the report said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UPDATE 1-U.S. existing home sales fell in June

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, July 25 - The pace of existing home
sales in the United States fell in June to a
lower-than-expected 5.75 million unit annual rate while prices
and inventories showed signs of stabilizing, the National
Association of Realtors said in a report on Wednesday.




Sales were off 3.8 percent in June and hit their lowest
since November 2002 when it was 5.73 million unit pace.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Gentex quarterly earnings rise 14 percent

(Reuters) - Net income rose to $31 million, or 22 cents a share, from
$27.2 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose
15 percent to $163.5 million.




Analysts had expected the Zeeland, Michigan-based company
to report earnings of 21 cents a share and revenue of $160.6
million, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market 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

UPDATE 1-Harley-Davidson net rises on international sales

(Reuters) - The company reported a second-quarter profit of $290.5
million, or $1.14 a share, compared with $243.4 million, or 91
cents cents a share, a year earlier.




Sales rose 17.7 percent to $1.62 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Grainger posts higher quarterly profit

(Reuters) - Analysts had expected earnings of $1.19 a share, according
to Reuters Estimates.




Sales at the company, which sells such items as lighting,
motors and janitorial supplies needed by contractors and
facility managers to run their buildings, rose to $1.6 billion
from $1.48 billion. Wall Street was expecting $1.59 billion.



Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Lonmin Shares Plunge After Company Defers Platinum Sales After Breakdown

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Lonmin Plc fell the most
since at least 1999 after the platinum producer cut its sales
forecast following a breakdown at one of its plants that
prompted it to delay deliveries of the metal.

Sales of as much as 90,000 ounces of platinum, or about a
10th of its production, will be delayed until the next financial
year starting Oct. 1, the company said today in a statement.
Lonmin said in May it would process stockpiled ore to make up
the shortfall following the December furnace leak.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Taiwan UMC's June sales fall 0.44 pct from yr ago

(Reuters) - Sales at United Microelectronics Corp. were T$8.745 billion last month, lower than T$8.784 billion in the same month last year, the company said on its Web site . UMC had sales of T$8.220 billion in May.



Sector leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Rand to Gain 12.5 Percent Versus Yen on Uridashi Bond Sales, Okasan Says

(Bloomberg) -- The rand may gain 12.5 percent
against the yen after a three-fold increase in sales of South
African bonds to Japanese investors, said Tsutomu Soma, a
dealer at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo.

The currency has risen 3.8 percent versus the yen in
2007 as the difference in yield between two-year South
African and Japanese bonds widened to a three-year high of
8.462 percentage points. Sales of rand Uridashi bonds, local
currency debt sold to individual investors in Japan, climbed
248 percent to $652.9 million in the first half from a year
earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Cattle Futures Gain as U.S. Exports Indicate Rising Beef Demand; Hogs Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Cattle futures rose for a third
straight session as a weekly export sales report indicated strong
demand for U.S. beef. Hog prices fell.

U.S. exporters reported net sales of 11,300 metric tons of
beef for the week ended June 28, including 1,300 tons for Japan
and South Korea, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Sales
to those two nations, which had been closed to U.S. beef for much
of the past three years because of mad-cow disease concerns,
indicates longer-term sales growth, said Troy Vetterkind, a
trader at e-Hedger in Chicago.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Sales slide for Ford, Chrysler; Nissan jumps

(Reuters) - Ford's overall monthly sales, including sales into commercial fleets, were down 8 percent, although the No. 2 U.S. automaker eked out its first monthly gain in showroom sales since October.




Sales for Chrysler Group were down 1 percent in one of its last months in operation as a unit of DaimlerChrysler AG . Chrysler is being taken private by Cerberus Capital Management in a $7.4 billion deal expected to close as early as this month.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Audi brand U.S. car sales drop 3.1 pct in June

(Reuters) - Sales of its revamped TT sports coupe and roadster model
line increased by almost fivefold to nearly 500 units, while its
massive Q7 premium sports utility vehicle enjoyed a 26.7 percent
increase in sales on the year.




In the first six months of 2007, Audi sales rose 13.0
percent to 45,711 units.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Pending home sales lowest since September 2001: NAR

(Reuters) - The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in May, fell 3.5 percent to 97.7 from a downwardly revised level of 101.2 in April. The May index is the lowest since 89.8 in September 2001.




Wall Street analysts polled ahead of the report were expecting the May index to rise 0.2 percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Australia's Retail Sales Growth Probably Accelerated to 0.7 Percent in May

(Bloomberg) -- Australia's retail sales growth
probably accelerated in May, marking the 12th straight increase,
as job gains and rising wages buoyed spending.

Sales rose 0.7 percent after gaining 0.1 percent in April,
according to the median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News. The Bureau of Statistics will release the report
tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in Sydney.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Apple IPhone, Must-Have for Technophiles, May Be Tougher Sell for Parents

(Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer
Jerry Yang wants an iPhone. Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff
plans to trade in his Motorola Inc. Razr for one. Chuck Jones
not only doesn't want one, he also isn't about to spend $1,000
or more to get iPhones for his two daughters.

While technophiles clamor for Apple Inc.'s combination
mobile phone and music player, some regular consumers like Jones
are less enthusiastic. The iPhone is pricier than rivals, lacks
the keyboard used by text messagers and works only on an AT&T
Inc. network. Parents also may balk at the $200 penalty to
switch wireless carriers, no matter how much their kids beg.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

BT Chief Verwaayen Says `Absolutely Confident' Sales Will Beat Forecasts

(Bloomberg) -- BT Group Plc Chief Executive Officer
Ben Verwaayen said most analysts are too pessimistic about sales
growth at the U.K.'s largest phone company.

``We are absolutely confident that we will do better than
most people think,'' Verwaayen, 55, said in an interview at BT's
London headquarters. He declined to give a financial forecast.
Sales will rise 2.5 percent in fiscal 2008, based on the average
of 25 analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Apple's IPhone, Must-Have for Technopiles, May Be Tougher Sell for Parents

(Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer
Jerry Yang wants an iPhone. Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff
plans to trade in his Motorola Inc. Razr for one. Chuck Jones
not only doesn't want one, he also isn't about to spend $1,000
or more to get iPhones for his two daughters.

While technophiles clamor for Apple Inc.'s combination
mobile phone and music player, some regular consumers like Jones
are less enthusiastic. The iPhone is pricier than rivals, lacks
the keyboard used by text messagers and works only on an AT&T
Inc. network. Parents also may balk at the $200 penalty to
switch wireless carriers, no matter how much their kids beg.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

General Mills 4th-quarter profit rises

(Reuters) - Analysts, on average, forecast 63 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.




Sales rose 7 percent to $3.06 billion. Analysts, on average, forecast $2.99 billion, according to Reuters estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Best Buy to expand; raises dividend, share buyback

(Reuters) - The plan comes after Best Buy reported quarterly earnings last week that missed analyst estimates by a wide margin and gave a disappointing full-year forecast as television sales cooled.




The Minneapolis-based company said the number of stores in the United States and Canada could now approach 1,800, up from its prior plan to have 1,400. It currently has 1,035 Best Buy, Future Shop and Pacific Sales stores in those markets.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

WRAPUP 1-U.S. new home sales ease, while confidence falls

(Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. homes fell 1.6 percent last month to an
annual rate of 915,000 from a downwardly revised rate of
930,000 in April, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.
Analysts had been looking for May new home sales of 925,000.




While sales fell, sales prices rose. The median sales price
of a new home climbed 1.5 percent in May to $236,100 from
$232,700 in April. That marked a reversal for new homes from
April, when prices fell a record amount but sales rose
strongly.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News