Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Wheat plunged the most in 10 weeks after a government report showed US growers seeded more acres with spring crops to take advantage of prices that rallied to a record this year.
- Commodities Signal Bubble Bursting as First-Half Ends.

Wall Street Journal:
- Nearly four years after Merck & Co.(MRK) yanked the painkiller Vioxx off the market, beleaguered pharmaceutical-industry executives say they are facing a tough new regulatory climate that is altering the landscape of drug development. Over the past 16 months, Schering-Plough Corp.(SGP) CEO Fred Hassan and his top scientists have pulled the plug on two drug-development projects – one for obesity and the other for cholesterol – that had the potential to produce big sellers. And they’re considering scrapping a third.
- China’s Export Machine Threatened by Rising Costs. Orders Drop, Shops Idle in Sweater City; Losing Wal-Mart(WMT).
- The US Federal Aviation Administration gave the country’s airlines high marks for complying with maintenance standards, citing a study to be completed today. FAA inspectors found an “exceptionally high” level of compliance with the agency’s standards. Spot checks of maintenance jobs found compliance levels exceeding 99% and there were no cases of carriers deliberately trying to hide information from inspectors.

Lloyd’s List:
- New orders fro capsize commodity carriers fell 55% in the second quarter because of concern that too many vessels are being built, citing Francois Cadiou, a broker at Barry Rogliano Salles. Fifty-three such vessels were ordered in the second quarter compared with 117 a year earlier and 650 for all of last year. Orders will probably drop by half this year.

Reuters:
- Iraq will open six oil fields and two gas fields to international companies for long-term development contracts, citing the country’s Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani. Iraq has pre-qualified 41 US, European and Asian companies to participate in the licensing round.

Die Welt:
- The European Union plans to enable patients to seek and reclaim costs for medical treatment outside their home country, citing a confidential paper by Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou. Reimbursement rates in the country of residence will apply under the rules set to be approved July 2. Patients are to cover the difference if the cost of treatment is more expensive abroad.