Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Wal-Mart Stores(WMT) said April same-store sales in the US rose 6.8%, the largest gain in almost three years, as rising incomes more than offset surging gasoline prices.
- Zacarias Moussaoui said “God save Osama bin Laden” as a US judge sentenced him to life in prison for conspiring in the Sept.11 terrorist attacks.
- The US budget deficit will be “well below” the government’s original prediction for the year because of surging tax revenue due to a robust economy, a senior Treasury official said.
- Crude oil is falling below $70/bbl., down more than $2/bbl., as US oil inventories approach a 9-year high and US demand for gasoline falters.


Wall Street Journal:
- Lehman Brothers(LH) has told some of its analysts to stop writing reports and switch to discussing stock choices and investment approaches directly with the firms’ traders and with clients such as hedge funds.
- US universities increasingly view research as a way to obtain extra financing and are holding staff accountable if they fail to produce findings that can attract grants or contracts.
- Fred’s(FRED) plans to build a third distribution warehouse to serve new shops it plans to open as sales rebound.
- PepsiCo(PEP) is planning a marketing campaign across the US after changing the recipe of its Lay’s potato chips to reduce saturated fat.
- The US and European Union are aligning more of their policies over trade with China, adding to pressure on the Asian nation to modify its commercial practices and disclose more of its military plans.
- Debt from emerging market countries may fall this year as rising yields on Treasuries attract investors to the higher-rate US government debt.
- Hedge funds that buy debt after corporate bankruptcies are increasingly starting to clash over revival plans with the private-equity firms that own the bankrupt companies.
- Visto Corp., a wireless e-mail technology company, has sued seven rivals, including BlackBerry maker Research In Motion(RIMM), for patent infringement.

AP:
- Beginning Oct. 1 the SEC will reduce fees for registration and issuance of securities by 71.3%, and fees on transactions by 50%, as part of a plan to cut red tape.

NY Times:
- Valerie Plame, the CIA officer whose name was allegedly leaked three years ago, has submitted a book proposal to at least two publishers.

Platts:
- Southern Copper(PCU) is in talks with Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Phelps Dodge as the company seeks to expand production.

Kuwait News Agency:
- Algeria generated $16 billion of oil sales in the first-quarter on record prices and higher production, the country’s Oil Minister said.