Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- China’s production of metals for its power, manufacturing and building industries surged to records in April. Output of copper rose 17% to a record 274,000 metric tons, while production of aluminum surged 38% to a record 974,000 tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
- Tudor Investment and Highfields Capital Management bought Motorola(MOT) shares in recent months, betting the mobile-phone maker will return to profit and recoup lost market share.
- Pepco Holdings(POM) said today that it will transform its 2,000-vehicle fleet to more environmentally friendly technologies by using electric hybrids and alternatively fueled vehicles to reduce its fuel bill and curb greenhouse gas emissions.
- Toyota Motor(TM), the biggest seller of gasoline-electric cars, widened its range of hybrid Lexus sedans as it seeks to catch up with BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the luxury car market.
- Crude oil jumped above $64/bbl. in NY on speculation by investment funds that US gas supplies won’t be adequate to meet demand this summer because refiners are unexpectedly shutting units.
- ConocoPhillips(COP) will idle a fluid catalytic cracking unit and a boiler at its refinery in Borger, Texas, for scheduled repairs.
- Gold in NY is falling to the lowest in seven weeks, breaking its intermediate-term uptrend, as a gain in the value of the US dollar is reducing the appeal of the precious metal.
- Copper is dropping the most in 11 months in London on speculation that stockpiles in China will continue to build on record production of the metal.
- President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair said the US-UK alliance in Iraq and cooperation on other global issues won’t be diminished once Blair leaves office next month.
- Senate negotiators reached an agreement on immigration legislation aimed at providing a path to citizenship for 12 million illegal aliens, while improving US border security.
- The US House of Representatives by a vote of 397-27, authorized $644 billion for defense spending in fiscal 2008.
- Manufacturing in the Philly region accelerated more than forecast this month as orders and shipments rose, adding to evidence that businesses are growing more optimistic the economy will gather speed.
- US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will meet an Iranian envoy on May 28 to urge Iran to stop “stoking sectarian violence” in Iraq, State Dept. spokesman Sean McCormack said.
- Li Ka-shing, Asia’s richest man, said China’s stock valuations “must be a bubble” and prices are likely to decline.
- Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he sees “no serious” spillover from subprime problems to the rest of the US economy.

Wall Street Journal:
- Clear Channel Communications(CCU) is closer to being sold, as major shareholders moved to back a $19.4 billion bid by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners.
- Samsung Electronics has developed a better small, portable personal computer called Q1 Ultra that has a built-in keyboard for e-mail and typing Internet addresses.
- Sun Trust Bank’s(STI) sale of 9% of its stake in Coca-Cola(KO), and its stated intention to decide this year what to do with the rest, may set it up for takeover.
- William Gross, the investment chief at PIMCO, said he made a “big mistake” last year when he took the view that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates.
- Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is taking his policies of socialist transformation into the countryside, with a promise to end big landed estates. Since coming to power, his government has “handed over” 8.8 million acres of land to the poor. 4.5 million acres of this land was seized from private owners.
- Dow Jones’(DJ) board decided yesterday against consideration of Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion offer for the company as long as there is opposition form the holders of more than 50% of the voting shares.

NY Times:
- A hospital group in central Pennsylvania is experimenting with the equivalent of a health care warranty, a flat fee for treatment that includes 90 days of follow-up care. It’s a radical shift from the traditional arrangement, where hospitals charge for follow up visits and thus have little financial incentive to provide efficient upfront care.

Chronicle of Higher Education:
- Virginia Tech, the site of the recent mass murder spree, is expecting record student enrollment this fall.

Fortune:
- News Corp.(NWS/A) will spend a relatively modestly $100 million to start Fox Business Channel, a figure that could grow substantially should the parent company succeed in its bid for the Wall Street Journal.

USA Today:
- The number of minorities in the US has reached 100 million, or about a third of the total population for the first time, citing Census estimates released today. Hispanics are still the largest minority at 44.3 million, accounting for about 50% of the national gain in population of 2.9 million between July 2005 and July 2006.

Guardian:
- BP Plc(BP) and Rio Tinto Plc(RTP) will probably announce today that they’re setting up a joint venture to offer electricity utilities “clean coal” technology.

Khaleej Times:
- Gold sales in the UAE jumped 23% in the first quarter to $735 million even as prices for the metal rose 17%.