Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Rio Tinto Group(RTP) agreed to buy Alcan Inc.(AL) for $38.1 billion, overwhelming a hostile bid by Alcoa Inc.(AA).
- Gasoline futures fell for a second day after a report that BP Plc(BP) began starting up a unit at its Whiting, Indiana, refinery.
- Natural gas futures in NY are falling after an EIA report showed inventories rose more than estimates as demand waned and moderate weather reduced electricity needs for cooling. Supplies are on pace to exceed record highs later this year.
- The yen fell to a record low against the euro as rallying global stocks signaled investors were taking on risky bets, including so-called carry trades.
- Merck(MRK) may pay as much as $1.1 billion to Ariad Pharmaceuticals for a late-stage treatment for cancer.
- India’s industrial production growth slowed for a second month in May as the highest interest rates in five years crimped demand and currency gains weakened exports.
- Wal-Mart Stores(WMT) said June sales at US stores open at least a year rose 2.4% versus estimates of a .8% gain despite high gas prices and housing problems.
- Nintendo said its top-selling Wii video-game console may be in short supply this holiday season in the US as the bulk of sales concentrates at the end of the year.
- Activist investor William Ackman has accumulated a stake of more than 5% in Target Corp.(TGT), the second-biggest US discount retailer, a person with direct knowledge of his plans said.
- Economists raised forecasts for US second-quarter growth to 3.6% from 3.2% after this morning’s trade report showed US exports hit another record high.

Wall Street Journal:
- Nokia Oyj(NOK) will put a Skype Internet phone service link on one of its phones for the first time.
- US railroad shares have risen more than 20% this year as investors have joined Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn and hedge funds such as Atticus Capital LLC and Jana Partners LLC on the train.

NY Times:
- President Bush’s report to Congress on Iraq security will show progress on almost half the 18 benchmarks set by US lawmakers. There have been declines in civilian casualties and deaths from car and truck bombs, the report says. The White House report will say improvements are still needed in the performance of Iraq’s security forces and government.
- United Parcel Service Inc.(UPS) is spending more than $1 billion a year on research to find faster ways of delivery.

National Post:
- BP Plc(BP), Europe’s second-largest oil company, recognized Canada’s oil sands for the first time in its annual tally of reserves. Acknowledgement that the oil sands hold 163.5 billion barrels of undeveloped reserves in BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy report is a change from the past, when it ignored Alberta’s oil deposits, citing Mark Finley, BP’s head of energy analysis.

AP:
- Google Inc.(GOOG) plans to integrate different Web sites to provide mapping information for gas prices, home prices and other applications.

Tagesspiegel:
- Apple Inc.’s(AAPL) iPhone has attracted more than 1,000 enquiries a day in Germany, months before the combination music player and mobile phone is slated to go on sale in the country.

Challenges:
- Airbus SAS Chief Executive Officer Louis Gallois said every 10 cent gain in the euro against the dollar costs his company $1.38 billion.