Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The cost of leasing a container ship has dropped almost 20% since a peak in June, Lloyd’s List reported.
- E*Trade Financial agreed to buy BrownCo, JPMorgan Chase’s online brokerage, for $1.6 billion in cash.
- The US, which imports three-fifths of the world’s beluga caviar, will ban shipments of the eggs from the Caspian Sea region to protect falling sturgeon stocks.
- The human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS appears to have weakened since the start of the pandemic more than two decades ago, according to a Belgian study published today in the journal AIDS.
- GE agreed to buy IDX Systems, a healthcares information technology provider, for about $1.2 billion.
- Ford will eliminate half its suppliers and sign long-term contracts with the rest to reduce costs and revive profit.
- Caterpillar may add $1 billion in sales over the next two years as the Gulf Coast cleans up and rebuilds from Hurricane Katrina, analysts said.
- John G. Roberts, backed by united Republicans in the US Senate and half the Democrats, won confirmation to be the nation’s 17th chief justice and take his place as the first new member of the Supreme Court in 11 years.
- US Treasuries are falling after a government report showed weekly jobless claims fell more than forecast.
- Gasoline futures retreated from a four-week high as rising imports may help make up for output lost from refineries that were shut because of hurricane damage.

Wall Street Journal:
- Vonage Holdings, a closely held provider of internet-based calling, has chosen Citigroup, UBS, Deutsche Bank and Bear Stearns to manage its proposed IPO.
- Victims of Hurricane Katrina have expressed praise for relief provided by the Salvation Army.
- General Electric, Bechtel and American Electric Power may announce today that they will start planning engineering and design of the first US big coal-fired power plant that would use cleaner-burning technologies.
- Tracking devices supplied by Bulldog Technologies and SC-integrity are helping shippers cut down on a boom in cargo theft.
- Walt Disney may announce today that it plans to sell a $49 digital-audio player aimed at children between 6 and 12 years of age to tap into growing demand for electronics.

NY Times:
- Guidant’s handling of problems with its heart devices may be under a US criminal probe.
- Some US middle-class families are paying less for houses with the help of government agencies, private developers, not-for-profit groups and employers.

LA Timest:
- Spain is investing $100 million in a campaign to improve business ties with the US and overcome recent political tensions between the two countries.