Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- GM will cut prices on 30 of its 2006 models to attract new customers as the company stop giving employee discounts to all buyers.
- US corporations posted better-than-expected profit growth of 14% in the second quarter.
- Atkins Nutritionals filed for bankruptcy protection in NY as consumer interest in low-carb weight-loss programs faded.
- Crude oil is rising within 25 cents of an all-time high after the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd heightened concern about the stability of the world’s largest oil exporter.
- US Treasuries are falling, pushing 10-year yields to the highest since mid-April, as a manufacturing index for July rose more than forecast.
- The US dollar is dropping the most in almost three weeks against the euro on speculation the US currency’s 11% rally this year reflects higher interest rates and faster growth in the US than in Europe.

Wall Street Journal:
- Joe Eberhardt, a German marketing expert, is one candidate to succeed Eckhard Cordes as head of DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz division.
- Guidant may say today that it’s returning to the market’s fastest-growing segment, that of treating patients with congestive heart failure.
- Cisco Systems, Internet Security Systems and US cybersecurity officials have been working over the weekend to avert possible attacks on Internet routers, after a public presentation on how system weaknesses could be exploited.
- Summit Partners, a private equity fund, will buy a one-third stake in hedge fund Coast Asset Management for $127 million.
- More investors in 401(k) US retirement plans will face charges for moving investments between mutual funds.
- The Central American Free Trade Agreement is likely to help the economy in Florida, where international trade provides 13% of the economy, citing local officials.
- Reality TV producer Mark Burnett appears to have made a serious mistake with his new reality series “Rock Star: INXS” on Viacom’s CBS.

NY Times:
- Television networks are offering more Internet programming for US viewers as demand for online advertising increases.

Washington Post:
- The number of mosques in the suburbs of Washington, DC is growing as the Muslim community in the region almost doubled during the 1990s.

Austin American-Statesman:
- Texas’s House of Representatives approved selling $41.1 million of bonds to finance a stem-cell research facility in Houston that may help the state compete in studies of the technology to treat diseases.