Bloomberg:
- Shareholders of NYSE Group(NYX) approved the $14.6 billion purchase of Euronext NV, paving the way for the creation of the first trans-Atlantic securities market.
- Sugarhouse Casino, a $550 million project headed by Chicago investor Neil Bluhm, and Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia, a $410 million project proposed by Connecticut’s Mashantucket Pequot tribe, were awarded slot licenses for Philadelphia, making it the largest US city with casino gambling.
- A US plan to screen everyone who visits a doctor for HIV may get derailed by laws in at least eight states that require strict confidentiality and consent.
- Chilean stocks, riding a global copper mania, have become more expensive than equities in neighboring Argentina and Brazil. A decline in the metal’s price may undermine the market in 2007.
- CarMax(KMX), the largest used-car dealer in the US, said third-quarter profit almost doubled and raised its full-year forecast for the second time in three months as customers bought more luxury cars and light trucks.
- Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi strongly endorsed a temporary boost in US troop strength in Baghdad to control sectarian violence, one of several ideas being weighed by the Bush administration.
- FedEx(FDX) said second-quarter profit rose 8.5%, but failed to lift forward guidance, thus disappointing investors.
- Prime Minister Tony Blair, ending a six-day visit to the Middle East, said the world faces a “monumental struggle” against extremist groups seeking to undermine Western governments. He singled out Iran as the region’s biggest threat.
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s opponents were poised to secure a majority on Tehran’s City Council, in the first political setback suffered by Iran’s president since he won the office in June 2005.
- Natural gas is falling to a two-month low in NY as mild weather decreased demand and near record speculation by investment funds.
- Copper tumbled to a six-month low in NY as rising inventories and slower global growth fueled concern that demand may lag behind mine output.
- Gold prices are falling in NY on speculation the value of the dollar will hold steady against the euro, eroding the precious metal’s appeal as an alternative investment.
Wall Street Journal:
- IAC/InterActiveCorp’s Ticketmaster plans to acquire a 25% stake in ILike.com in a bid by the two companies to use the Internet to promote interest in music and concerts.
- Equity Office Properties Trust received approaches from at least four different parties before the real estate company agreed to sell itself to a unit of private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP for $20 billion.
NY Times:
- Leon Black, founder of Apollo Group and a former lieutenant of Michael Milken, has catapulted into the higher echelons of private equity with $37 billion worth of deals this week.
- Paramus, New Jersey, which has more parking spots than people, generates $5 billion a year in retail sales, about as much as the gross domestic product of Cambodia, Nicaragua or the sultanate of Brunei.
NY Post:
- Illegal video downloads were carried out at six million US households in the third quarter compared with 1.2 million that obtained permission to download videos legally, citing a study by NPD Group Inc.
International Herald Tribune:
- French security forces have broken up three Islamic terrorist plots in the past 18 months, including planned attacks on the Paris metro and Orly airport, citing an interview with anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere.
Interfax:
- Azerbaijan, the third-largest oil producer in the former Soviet Union, raised crude-oil production 46% in the first 11 months of the year.
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