Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Iran’s top nuclear negotiator said there are “positive steps” in US-backed incentives aimed at persuading the Islamic Republic to hold international talks about ending the production of nuclear fuel.
- China is stepping up efforts to keep the uncensored version of Google’s(GOOG) Internet search engine from users in the country, a journalism advocacy group said. Internet users in major Chinese cities had problems connecting to Google.com in the past week. The site was unavailable to the whole country on May 31.
- Copper led declines in metals on speculation that the US will raise interest rates to fend off inflation, boosting borrowing costs that may curb demand for raw materials.
- Emerging-market stocks fell to their lowest level in almost five months after Fed Chairman Bernanke signaled borrowing costs will rise again, reducing the attractiveness of riskier assets.
- Qwest Communications(Q) will offer Windows Live antivirus software to high-speed Internet access customers, switching from McAfee(MFE) as Microsoft introduces expanded online programs this year.
- The dollar gained the most in almost three weeks against the euro and yen as traders increased their bets that the Fed will raise interest rates.
- The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia named economics professor Plosser as president, giving new Fed Chairman Bernanke a fellow career academic to help make interest-rate decisions.

Wall Street Journal:
- US providers of ETFs plan to move on from oil and precious metals and offer more diverse commodity-related products.
- Intel Corp.(INTC) may sell a major part of its communications businesses in an effort to strengthen the company against competition in its main markets.
- GE’s(GE) NBC television is considering partnerships with Bolt.com and other popular video Web sites in an effort to attract younger viewers.
- Time Warner’s(TWX) cable television unit plans to upgrade as many as four million set-top boxes with software from OpenTV Corp.(OPTV), to allow for more applications from third-party providers.

NY Times:
- Former US president Clinton is set to appear at more than two dozen fund-raisers for Democrats around the country, seeking to collect at least $20 million.

Dow Jones Newswires:
- Japan’s Finance Minister Tanigaki said deflation isn’t over and the central bank should use caution in setting monetary policy.

USA Today:
- Motorcycles sales are increasing as consumers look to save money on gas by switching to fuel-saving forms of transportation, citing Motorcycle Industry Council statistics.

Washington Post:
- Iraqis are confident that their newly formed government will help curb violence in the country.
- The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence wants the country’s imagery intelligence agency to provide US soldiers with laptop computers that display pictures and video of what may lie ahead.

NY Post:
- Fulcrum Global Partners LLC, which charged for its stock research while most Wall Street firms provided it free, has closed after five years.

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