Thursday, November 30, 2006

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Cardinal Health(CAH) plans to sell its manufacturing and packaging unit, the source of $1.8 billion in annual revenue, to focus on hospital and pharmacy customers.
- Attacks on eastern Chad last week were conducted by mercenaries with ties to al-Qaeda and support from Sudan’s government and people close to Saudi Arabia’s royal family, Chad’s ambassador to the UN said.
- The bankers, traders and residents of Lower Manhattan are about to find out what it’s like to be in the vortex of the most concentrated construction zone in NYC’s history as construction at Ground Zero takes hold.
- Intuit(INTU) agreed to buy Digital Insight(DGIN) for $1.35 billion, adding a provider of Internet services to banks and expanding beyond its TurboTax and QuickBooks accounting products.
- Shares of US homebuilders jumped after Banc of America Securities upgraded the stocks, citing signs that the outlook for the housing market is improving.
- US Treasuries are rising, pushing the 10-year yield to the lowest since January on growth worries and diminishing inflation concerns.
- Oil is rising .54 as a cold weather system moved into the US and large funds raised bets to try and help performance before year-end.
- The US dollar is falling and is poised for its biggest monthly loss against the euro since April.
- US retailers’ sales rose in November as consumers shopped at department stores and bought luxury goods at the start of the holiday gift-giving season. Federated Dept. Stores(FD), the second-biggest US dept. store company, said sales surged 8.5%.
- OPEC considers $50/bbl. a fair price for oil, Venezuelan President Chavez said.
- Global crude oil prices are “stable” and OPEC does not need to cut supplies in the first quarter of next year, Algerian Oil Minister Khelil said. Global oil demand will fall by 2 million barrels per day in the second quarter of next year, posing a risk of rising inventories and falling oil prices, he said.

Wall Street Journal:
- Vodafone Group Plc is working with Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO) to start a mobile-phone advertising service that it hopes will boost sales in Europe.
- Electronic Arts(ERTS) will gain between $4 million and $5 million from in-game ads in the company’s “Need for Speed: Carbon” game over the holiday quarter.
- US and Latin American law enforcement agencies are concerned about a possible spread in the use of submarines to smuggle drugs into the US.
- BMW AG plans to offer two new vehicles with interior room similar to that of a sport utility vehicle but with better fuel efficiency.
- Automakers presenting new models and concept cars at the Greater LA Auto Show are focusing on fuel efficiency and smaller yet roomier vehicles.

NY Times:
- More doctors are switching to cosmetic medicine or adding the specialty to their practices as a way to earn extra income and cut hours.
- A $150 laptop designed for children in Third World countries has sparked a debate among educators and philanthropists about the role of computers in education and economic development. The laptop, developed by the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child project, will enter production in Taiwan in 2007. Five countries—Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria and Thailand—have said they will put the laptop in the hands of millions of students. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates opposes the project.

AP:
- Toyota Motor’s(TM) North American president, Jim Press, asked the US Congress to enlarge tax credits for hybrid gas-electric automobiles to speed buying of the energy-saving vehicles.

NY Post:
- Citigroup(C) Chairman and CEO Prince should consider breaking up the company to help boost its stock price, CreditSights analyst David Hendler said.

Washington Post:
- Democratic leaders decided not to introduce plans to improve oversight and funding for intelligence agencies, a proposal they campaigned to implement, citing House and Senate aides.

LA Times:
- Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad donated $10.5 million to a Los Angeles charter school organization to fund expansion and help efforts to lure students from traditional public schools.

Gulf News:
- Dubai Aluminum, known as Dubal, will add 60,000 tons of production capacity to its plant in Jebel Ali in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to make the factory the largest in the world.

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