Intel, Cisco, J&J Lure Value Funds as Price Ratios Converge Most in Decade

(Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and
Johnson & Johnson, perennial favorites of money managers seeking
U.S. stocks with the fastest profit growth, are becoming staples
for so-called value investors.

Shares of growth companies in the Standard & Poor's 500
Index trade at an average 16.3 times estimated earnings, while
value stocks, those priced at a discount to the market or their
historical average, trade at 14 times profits. The gap between
them, now 2.3 points, has narrowed from 25.5 at the beginning of
the decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Anadarko shares up as 2nd-qtr profit tops Street

(Reuters) - HOUSTON, July 31 - Shares of independent oil and
gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp. climbed on
Tuesday, a day after the company reported better-than-expected
quarterly earnings and raised its annual production forecast.




Houston-based Anadarko's shares initially rose more than 5
percent, but fell back a bit and were trading up 4.4 percent,
or $2.20 at $52.30 on the New York Stock Exchange at midday.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-LCA-Vision posts lower Q2 earnings, cuts 2007 view

(Reuters) - Shares of the provider of vision correction services, which
also cut its full-year 2007 earnings outlook, were down more
than 14 percent at $36.90 in morning trade on the Nasdaq.




Including the impact of deferred revenue, the company now
sees 2007 earnings of $1.90 to $2.00 a share, on revenue of
$308.0 million to $315.0 million. In May, it had forecast
earnings of $2.05 to $2.15 a share for the year.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Headwaters Q3 earnings soar, raises FY07 profit view

(Reuters) - The South Jordan, Utah-based company also raised its
full-year earnings outlook above analysts' estimates.




Shares of Headwaters, which makes building materials
products and alternative energy, were up nearly 13 percent in
late morning trade, making them one of the highest percentage
gainers on the New York Stock Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Sun Microsystems posts 4th-qtr profit as costs fall

(Reuters) - Sun, which returned to profit in the second and third quarters after five consecutive quarterly losses, has tried to stage a recovery by revamping its product line, selling servers powered by chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Intel Corp. , among other moves. The company last year announced about 5,000 job cuts to reduce costs.




Shares of Sun, which also sells workstations, software, storage and services, have fallen 9.2 percent this year, as of Friday's close.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

CNA, Dow Jones, MC Shipping, RadioShack, Southwest Gas: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 1:10 p.m. in New York.

Some mortgage lenders fell after American Home Mortgage
Investment Corp. (AHM US) delayed its quarterly dividend and
raised doubts about whether it has enough cash to stay in
business. Shares of American Home were halted.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

CNA, Ingersoll-Rand, RadioShack, ValueClick, Vivus: U.S. Equity Movers

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

Some mortgage lenders fell after American Home Mortgage
Investment Corp. (AHM US) delayed its quarterly dividend and
raised doubts about whether it has enough cash to stay in
business. Shares of American Home were halted.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.A.E. Shares Decline, Led by Etisalat and Dubai Islamic Bank: Gulf Stocks

(Bloomberg) -- Shares in the United Arab Emirates
dropped, paced by Emirates Telecommunications Corp., known as
Etisalat, and Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Market Index fell 2.8 percent to
3430.03, the biggest one-day drop since June 7, 2006. The Dubai
Financial Market General Index slipped 0.6 percent to 4226.77,
bringing the two-day decline to 2.4 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-Deb Shops to go private in $395 mln cash deal

(Reuters) - The offer price of $27.25 per share is just over 2 percent
more than the stock's Thursday closing price of $26.68.




Shares of the company were ahead of the offer price at
$27.30 in thin pre-market electronic trade.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Exxon profits dips 1 pct on natgas price weakness

(Reuters) - Shares fell nearly 2 percent to $91 before the bell.




The company's production dipped 1 percent on an oil
equivalent basis from last year due to field decline and lower
European demand for natural gas.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

FTSE 100 Benchmark Index Drops, Paced by Rio Tinto; Punch Taverns Declines

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. FTSE 100 Index dropped to a
two month low, paced by Rio Tinto Group and Antofagasta Plc as
copper prices retreated in New York.

Punch Taverns Plc led pub companies lower after Goldman,
Sachs & Co. removed the pub owner from its ``conviction buy''
list. Shares of British Energy Plc tumbled.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 2-National Oilwell 2nd-qtr profit soars, tops view

(Reuters) - HOUSTON, July 25 - National Oilwell Varco Inc.
said on Wednesday its second-quarter profit more than
doubled, well surpassing Wall Street estimates, as high energy
prices sparked strong demand for its oil and natural gas
drilling equipment.




Shares of the Houston-based company were up 5 percent, or
$5.66, to $117.99 in early trade on the New York Stock
Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Chile Peso Falls Most in 2 Months; Lower U.S. Earnings Lift Risk Aversion

(Bloomberg) -- Chile's peso fell the most in two
months as lower-than-expected earnings at U.S. companies reduced
investors' appetite for riskier emerging-market assets.

The currency extended a drop from a 14-month high as U.S.
stock benchmarks declined, signaling investors were pulling away
from riskier bets. Countrywide Financial Corp. and DuPont Co.
said the U.S. housing slump lowered profits. Shares of Texas
Instruments Inc., the world's biggest maker of chips that run
mobile phones, fell the most in almost two years after sales
missed analysts' estimates.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Tellabs shares up on report of Nokia Siemens offer

(Reuters) - Shares in Nokia fell 0.52 percent in Helsinki trading, compared with a 0.42 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx European technology index .




The two companies declined comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Tellabs shrs jump on report of Nokia Siemens offer

(Reuters) - HELSINKI/NEW YORK, July 23 - Shares of Tellabs Inc. surged 19 percent on Monday after a financial news Web site reported the U.S. telecommunications equipment maker was entertaining a $7 billion bid by a joint venture of Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG .



TheStreet.com said Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL] was offering about $16 to $17 a share for Tellabs, citing a source familiar with the deal.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US STOCKS-Futures rise on deals, profits; Merck gains

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 23 - U.S. stock futures rose on
Monday as deal news and stronger-than-expected profits from
drug maker Merck & Co. and others eased anxiety about
earnings, which led to Friday's sell-off.




In one of the deals, GlobalSantaFe Corp and
Transocean Inc. said they had agreed to a combination
that would create an offshore oil drilling company worth about
$53 billion. For details, see [ID:nN23380261]. Shares of
Transocean were up 7.3 percent in electronic trading before the
open.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; Merck Advances in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little
changed before companies including Merck & Co., the third-largest
U.S. drugmaker, and American Express Co. report earnings.

Shares of Merck rose in Germany, while American Express
didn't trade in Europe. Tellabs Inc. surged after Thestreet.com
said Nokia Siemens Networks may bid for the maker of equipment
for phone and Internet systems. Pharmaceuticals company Schering-
Plough Corp. declined.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Multiplex formally recommends Brookfield bid

(Reuters) - Shares in Multiplex last traded at A$4.97.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Tam Shares Drop After Jet Crashes in Brazil, Killing as Many as 200 People

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of TAM SA, Brazil's biggest
carrier, tumbled the most in two years on concern yesterday's crash
in Sao Paulo will shatter confidence in the nation's already
strained airport infrastructure and slow travel.

The stock sank as much as 8.9 percent, leading the Brazilian
benchmark index's steepest decline in a month, after a TAM airliner
skidded off a runway and burst into flames, killing as many as 200.
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, operator of a plane that crashed
in Brazil 10 months ago, killing 154 people, posted its biggest
drop since April.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Singapore Petroleum Shares Rise to Record After Refining Margins Increase

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Singapore Petroleum Co.,
the only oil refiner traded on the city state's stock exchange,
rose to a record on speculation a surge in refining profit may
boost second-quarter earnings.

The shares gained as much as 25 cents, or 4.1 percent, to
an all-time high of S$6.40 ($4.21), and traded at S$6.30 at
12:23 p.m. Singapore time.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News