Astral hungry for deals after Standard buy

(Reuters) - "Do we still have an appetite? The answer is yes," Ian Greenberg told analysts during a conference call discussing the company's third-quarter earnings.




Greenberg also said he's not concerned about taking on debt as Astral has other ways, such as using its own shares, to finance a deal if leverage gets uncomfortably high.


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Basell bows out on Huntsman, clearing Apollo's path

(Reuters) - Huntsman said on Friday the Apollo bid was a higher offer and had given Basell until Wednesday to make a counter offer.




Apollo raised its offer again on Monday of this week to $28 per share from its previous offer of $27.25 per share even though Basell had not yet responded to their first bid. Basell had offered $25.25 per share.


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US STOCKS-Wall St indexes extend gains, Dow up 1 pct

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average was up 135.51
points, or 1.00 percent, at 13,713.38. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was up 12.44 points, or 0.82 percent, at
1,531.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 18.46
points, or 0.70 percent, at 2,670.25.




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US STOCKS-Wall St advances on retailers; Alcoa gains

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 12 - U.S. stocks advanced on
Thursday, lifting the Dow to a record, after major retailers,
including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted surprisingly
strong monthly sales figures, boosting optimism about the
outlook for profits.




Shares of Alcoa hit a record high, rising after Alcoa was
outbid in its attempt to acquire rival Alcan Inc.



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U.S. 30-year mortgage rates spike in latest week

(Reuters) - Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief
economist, said the mortgage finance giant expected rates to
stay around their current levels through the end of the year.




"Freddie Mac expects weakness in the housing market to
persist in the second half of the year, with 2007 total home
sales and housing starts hitting 5-year lows," he also said.


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UPDATE 2-Moody's raises loss expectations on subprime loans

(Reuters) - Nicolas Weill, team managing director and chief credit
officer at Moody's, said the agency is increasing its loss
expectations for newly originated loans by 10 percent, and for
other loans to as high as 25 percent.




Moody's on Tuesday cut ratings of 399 mortgage-backed
securities and may cut ratings of another 32, affecting a total
of $5.2 billion in debt. For details, see [ID:nN10336254]


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NEXT UP-Rising oil prices seen supporting U.S. TIPS sales

(Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department will sell $8 billion of
10-year Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities on
Thursday, plus an estimated $5 billion in 20-year TIPS later
this month. In July 2006, it sold $17 billion in 10-year and
20-year TIPS.




Crude prices climbed above $76 a barrel in London,
an 11-month high, prompted by robust worldwide demand and news
that OPEC saw no need right now to produce more oil.


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