Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Boeing(BA) and the Government of Iraq today announced an order for 30 Boeing 737-800 commercial airplanes, the first step in re-establishing that country's scheduled commercial aviation operations. Iraq has also contracted options for 10 additional 737s. Valued at $2.2 billion at current list prices, the order was previously accounted for on Boeing's Orders & Deliveries Web site attributed to an unidentified customer.
- Sprott Asset Management’s IPO this week will make a billionaire of the hedge fund company’s founder, spurring speculation Canada’s decade-old commodities boom is ending, investors say. The $226 million IPO is reminiscent of late June’s share sale of US private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP, said Stephen Jarislowsky, CEO of Jarislowsky Fraser in Montreal. That IPO preceded a 56% decline in monthly takeover volume in the US. “I don’t like the kind of stocks he invests in. They’re little companies that may or may not have any substance,” Jarislowsky said.
- Crude oil is rising above $120 barrel in NY after a report showed that US service industries unexpectedly expanded in April, signaling higher energy use.
- Corn and soybeans are falling as farmers accelerated planting of the two biggest US crops after above-average rainfall kept heavy machinery of Midwest fields.
- Hovnanian Enterprises(HOV), New Jersey’s biggest homebuilder, tripled its forecast for positive cash flow in fiscal 2008 as it cut prices on homes to stimulate sales. Shares rose as much as 5.7%.
- Marvel Entertainment(MVL) climbed as much as 9.9% in NY trading after its first self-produced movie, “Iron Man,” topped the US box office, and the company said 2008 sales and profit will be higher than it previously forecast.
- Jose Sergio Gabrielli, CEO of Petrobras(PBR), said the company plans to begin pumping crude from its 8 billion barrel Tupi field next year, a year ahead of schedule. (video)
- Wal-Mart Stores(WMT), the world’s largest retailer, expanded its drug offering with $10 three-month prescriptions, stepping up the fight for US consumers seeking cheaper medicines as fuel and food prices rise.
- Google Inc.(GOOG), owner of the world’s most popular Internet search engine, may benefit from “disarray” caused by Microsoft’s(MSFT) decision to drop its pursuit of Yahoo!(YHOO), according to a Goldman Sachs Group(GS) analyst.
- China’s economy is at risk of overheating and policy makers may raise interest rates and do more to soak up the cash flooding the financial system, officials said. “Growth has started to slow, why take the risk of taking additional cooling measures and risk stalling the economy?” asked Leslie Phang, Singapore-based head of private clients at Schroders Plc, which manages $275 billion.

Wall Street Journal:
- The manufacturing outlook in Europe’s southern economies is deteriorating faster than expected, and German consumers are also starting to scale back their purchases, new data showed. Differences between Europe’s northern and southern economies also appear to be widening, economists said. The PMI for Spain’s factory sector sank to its lowest level in nearly 6 ½ years, at 45.2. Output also contracted in Italy, where the index fell to 48.2 in April from 49.4 in March. Even in Germany, there are signs that economic activity may be slipping. March retail sales fell unexpectedly from February and more sharply than expected from a year earlier.
- Senator Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption, according to officials from the union and the Obama campaign. It’s an unusual stance for a presidential candidate. Policy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Dept. since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union.

NY Times:
- Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s(MSFT) CEO, walked away from a Yahoo(YHOO) deal on Saturday still looking for an answer to his company’s fundamental problem: its time-tested recipe for success isn’t working against Google(GOOG), the leader in the current wave of Internet computing.
- Mobile TV Spreading in Europe and to the US.

Forbes:
- UAL merger talks with US Airways intensify.

InvestmentNews:
- Hedge funds, powered by an increasing amount of capital that pension funds and other institutions pour into them, are playing a major role in the unusually high market volatility seen in recent months, according to the Securities Traders Assoc., NY.

USA Today:
- Barack Obama’s national standing has been significantly damaged by the controversy over his former pastor, a USA Today/Gallup Poll finds, raising questions for some voters about the Illinois senator’s values, credibility and electability.

FINalternatives:
- Hedge Fund Horse Wins Kentucky Derby.

c/net:
- Range Fuels expands to speed cellulosic-ethanol production. With a planned plant for next year, Range Fuels will be one of the first providers in operation. Other companies on the hunt to make cellulosic ethanol on a large scale include Coskata and Mascoma.

Financial Times:
- Intel(INTC), the world’s largest maker of semiconductors, will become more acquisitive and expand into areas such as consumer electronics, according to Pat Gelsinger, head of the chipmaker’s Digital Enterprise group.

CEO:
- Julius Baer Holding AG’s private banking chief Alex Widmer said the biggest danger for financial markets is over-production of basic materials such as steel, copper, cement and nickel. “We’re seeing the first sings already today that production exceeds demand,” he said.

China Daily:
- The number of Chinese children infected with hand-foot-mouth disease continues to rise, with reported cases exceeding 8,531 on Monday. 25 children have died of the disease. Anhui Province, in east China, and Guangdong Province, south China were the worst hit areas. The two regions were followed by Beijing, Jiangsu, Hunan and Hubei, according to statistics released by local health departments. Beijing has recorded at least 1,010 cases of the disease.