Thursday, April 12, 2007

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The shares of MedImmune Inc.(MEDI) rose after a report that the company, maker of the FluMist nasal spray vaccine, hired Goldman Sachs Group to explore a possible sale.
- Jones Apparel Group(JNY) may sell its Barneys NY unit for more than $1 billion to a private-equity fund linked to Qatar’s royal family.
- Valero Energy(VLO), the largest gasoline refiner in the US, said it’s McKee oil refinery won’t reach full capacity this year. Low refinery utilization, as a result of “outages,” has been the driving force behind higher gas prices this year. Oil surged 1.84/bbl. on the news.
- California home prices rose last month, with the median price in Southern California setting a record, DataQuick Information Systems said.
- US retailers, led by Wal-Mart Stores(WMT), reported March sales rose 5.9%, the best March since 2004 on strong purchases of holiday gifts and spring clothing.
- The al-Qaeda-linked group that killed 33 people in Algeria yesterday has members in Europe and is targeting France, said French presidential candidate and former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

Wall Street Journal:
- Sub-Saharan Africa is starting to experience social and economic development after decades of deprivation and conflict, Paul Wolfowitz, the president of the World Bank, wrote. 17 countries, home to one in three Africans, have achieved annual growth rates of 4% or better in the past decade, with even higher growth in those that were ravaged by years of conflict, Wolfowitz said.
- Global Hyatt Corp. plans a new brand of luxury hotels called Andaz, with the first ones opening in London, NY and LA.
- US pension funds are adopting riskier investment strategies and are moving cash away from domestic stocks and into international shares and hedge funds in an attempt to juice returns. Some pension funds are giving their portfolio managers more freedom to engage in short selling the vary companies their investors may work for.
- A personal computer program that eliminates unwanted trial software, ads and offers can be downloaded at www.pcdecrapifier.com, Walter Mossberg writes.
- CBS Corp.(CBS) is set to announce deals to distribute television and other video programming to Web sites including Microsoft Corp.’s(MSFT) MSN and Time Warner’s(TWX) AOL.
- Ralph Whitworth, a US activist investor, has built a stake of almost 1% in mobile-phone company Sprint Nextel Corp.(S).

NY Times:
- A five-year effort to prosecute voter fraud has turned up little proof that problems exist, citing court records and interviews.
- The US military believes Iran may be supplying weapons and training to both Sunni and Shiite militias in Iraq, citing Major General William B. Caldwell.

Forbes:
- Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu has passed investor Warren Buffett to become the world’s second-richest man.

Financial Times:
- A study ordered by Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors about hedge funds will not call for specific steps to boost regulations, citing a draft of a report expected next month.

Daily Telegraph:
- CVC Capital Partners Ltd., Centaurus Capital Ltd. and Cerberus Capital Management were among firms whose representatives were interrogated by hostile Dutch legislators of all parties at a parliamentary hearing in The Hague yesterday. Dutch politicians demanded laws to restrict the activities of British and US hedge funds and private-equity firms.

Dagens Industri:
- Nasdaq Stock Market(NDAQ) bid $3.3 billion for OMX AB and the board of the Swedish exchange will meet today to discuss the offer.

Vedomosti:
- Evraz Group SA is in talks to buy Canadian steelmaker Ipsco Inc.(IPS)

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