Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Justin Fuller, senior equity analyst at Morningstar Inc. says the Bear Stearns(BSC) hedge fund fallout is “a blip on the radar screen.”
- NY Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer disciplined two members of his staff after a report by the state attorney general found they improperly used state police to collect information about the use of state aircraft by one of Spitzer’s political rivals, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
- Hedge funds attracted $58.7 billion in new money in the second quarter, the industry’s second-highest amount following a record first quarter.
- United Rentals(URI) agreed to be bought by Cerberus Capital Management LP for $4 billion, the third sale of a US construction equipment-rental company in the past year.
- Merck(MRK) and Schering-Plough(SGP) beat analysts’ estimates for second-quarter profit as doctors wrote more prescriptions for their cholesterol drugs Bytorin and Zetia. Merck’s stock rose the most in more than two years.
- Transocean Inc.(RIG) agreed to buy GlobalSantaFe(GSF) for about $17 billion, combining the world’s two largest offshore oil and gas drillers in a market where demand for rigs has never been higher.
- Natural gas is plunging 6.2% today to nearly a seven-month low in NY as a combination of mild temperatures and record inventories served to undercut demand and push prices down.
- Cumulus(CMLS), a radio company with stations in 67 US markets, agreed to be bought for about $1.3 billion by an investor group led by CEO Lewis Dickey.
- Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) will buy Opsware Inc., the software company founded by Internet pioneer Marc Andreeseen, for about $1.6 billion to extend its push into business programs.
- Google Inc.(GOOG), escalating a battle with AT&T(T) and Verizon Wireless(VZ), may team up with smaller mobile-phone service providers to create its own multibillion-dollar network.

NY Times:
- Mattel Inc.(MAT) is releasing a new Barbie doll line that can be linked to a computer to access games, online chat rooms and virtual shops.

Barron’s:
- SAP AG(SAP) may attract a takeover offer from a leveraged buyout firm because its shares are cheap and the company’s earnings are growing.

TheStreet.com:
- Nokia Siemens Networks is considering a $7 billion bid for Tellabs Inc.(TLAB).

NY Post:
- Phillips-Van Heusen(PVH) has begun rolling out an Izod clothing line for women 40-55.
- General Electric’s(GE) NBC plans to move as many as 1,000 employees to a corporate park in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, from offices in Manhattan because of space shortages.

USA Today:
- NY Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is building what amounts to a separate organization devoted to winning women’s votes. Tonight 400 women plan to hold house parties to watch the Democratic candidates debate, twice as many parties as women held for Illinois Senator Barack Obama on June 24. Clinton’s campaign has special groups targeting nurses, businesswomen, minority women, New Yorkers, young women and graduates of Wellesley College, her alma mater.

Heren Energy:
- French power production at hydro plants rose 40% in June compared with the same month last year, citing monthly stats published by the country’s grid operator.

Financial News:
- Goldman Sachs(GS) is preparing to buy stakes in independent research firms to boost income from research while keeping costs down.