Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The average US home price rose 5.87% during the fourth quarter from the fourth quarter a year ago.
- General Motors(GM) reported a 3.4% gain in February sales versus estimates of a 7% decline.
- US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the economy is “healthy,” citing low unemployment and rising consumer confidence.
- The perceived risk of owning low-rated sub-prime mortgage bonds plunged today as a government report suggested that US home-price appreciation is stable.
- Corn, soybean and wheat prices plunged in Chicago after a US government report showed export sales of all three commodities declined last week.
- Gold in NY fell for a third straight day as speculators trimmed record long positions on worries over falling emerging market demand.

Wall Street Journal:
- People who put money into mutual funds that invest abroad took a beating in this week’s global share sell-off, citing figures from the Investment Company Institute. Funds that invest in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and China, fell 4.2%, those that spread their money over a wide range of emerging markets dropped 5% and those that concentrate on Latin America did worst, declining 7.7%.
- The US administration and Congress are trying to reach a compromise that would allow pending international trade agreements to move ahead while providing safeguards for labor rights.

NY Times:
- General Electric’s(GE) NBC may oust John Reiss as executive producer of “Nightly News With Brian Williams.” NBC executives told the Times that changes to the program aren’t a reaction to the sharp ratings drop.
- Oracle Corp.(ORCL) is close to a deal to buy Hyperion Solutions(HYSL) for more than $3.1 billion.

Financial Times:
- Home Depot’s(HD) wholesale supply unit is being targeted by three groups of private-equity firms and might fetch $11 billion if sold.

Wirtschaftswoche:
- SAP AG, the world’s largest business-management software maker, may get an offer from US buyout firm Silver Lake Partners.

Saudi Press Agency:
- Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest state oil company, reported a production capacity of 10.7 million barrels a day by the end of 2006, citing Abdallah Jum’ah, the company’s CEO. Aramco made gas finds last year of 10.4 trillion cubic feet, doubling the company’s target. The Haradh 300,000-barrel-a-day Arabian Light Crude increment was completed five months ahead of schedule.