Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Syria held an official ceremony to mark the withdrawal of its remaining soldiers and intelligence agents from Lebanon and the end of 29 years of military presence in the country.
- Germany’s six leading economic institutes cut their forecast for growth this year in half to .7% as consumer spending slows and unemployment reaches levels not seen since WWII.
- Japan’s household spending, buffeted by reduced overtime hours and stagnant wages, fell for a second month in March and the economy lost jobs, suggesting consumers won’t help sustain a recovery from last year’s recession.
- Billionaire Ken Langone, who’s considering a takeover bid for the NYSE, wants to close its trading floor, ending the way the world’s biggest stock market has operated for more than two centuries.
- Shares of Roche Holding AG and partner Genentech jumped after research showed their Herceptin treatment cut the risk of relapse among women newly diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.
- IBM’s top 50 managers will give up pay increases this year after the company had trouble closing orders last quarter.
- US Treasury notes are falling after a report showed new-home sales surged 12.2% to a record pace, adding to evidence that housing is still contributing meaningfully to economic growth.

Wall Street Journal:
- The NYSE and Archipelago plan to offer a menu of products besides stocks as they seek to widen profit.
- The US Senate may debate a bill to legalize the status of hundreds of illegal immigrant college grads in coming months.
- More US corporations are starting campus recruiting drives from fall to spring, suggesting demand for candidates with a MBA degree is growing.
- The National Academies, the leading US scientific advisory body, plans to issue ethics guidelines on embryonic stem-cell research today, including not paying donors for eggs or other tissues.

NY Times:
- AIG found at least $1 billion more in accounting errors in an internal review than previously disclosed.
- Qwest Communications may increase its bid for MCI to $32 a share if Verizon Communications matches Qwest’s $30 a share offer from last week.
- Wall Street executives, including Merrill Lynch CEO O’Neal, are questioning Goldman Sachs’ role in adviser in the NYSE’s proposed takeover of Archipelago.
- Neiman Marcus has received bids for its credit card unit from American Express, Citigroup and HSBC Holdings.

USA Today:
- US federal lawmakers have accepted $16 million in privately funded trips since 2000, with more than half sponsored by nonprofit organizations that don’t have to say who’s footing the bill.

AP:
- Wal-Mart Stores will move most over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine to the pharmacy in all of its stores by early June.

Detroit News:
- GM may close more North American plants.

Boston Globe:
- Massachusetts lawmakers yesterday agreed on details of a stem-cell research bill, moving the measure closer to becoming a law.

AFP:
- Oil spills worldwide plunged over the past 30 years because of improvements in ship engineering.