Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• BP(BP) Gains on Bid to Stop Gulf Oil Leak, Alaskan Sales. BP Plc jumped the most in 20 months in London trading on speculation the company may succeed in halting the biggest oil spill in U.S. history this week as it negotiates the sale of assets in Alaska. BP climbed 9.4 percent, the most since November 2008, to close at 398.95 pence in London. That’s 31 percent higher than the low reached June 25.
• Aon(AON) Agrees to Buy Hewitt Assoc.(HEW) for $4.9 Billion. Aon Corp., the world’s largest insurance broker, agreed to buy Hewitt Associates Inc. for $4.9 billion in cash and stock to expand its division advising companies on employee pay and benefits. Hewitt shareholders will receive $25.61 in cash and 0.6362 of an Aon share, valuing the offer at $50 a share, Chicago-based Aon said in a statement. That’s 41 percent more than Hewitt’s closing price on July 9.
• Iron Ore Spot Price Slumps to 2010 Low as Chinese Demand Slows. The spot price of iron ore delivered to China, the world’s biggest buyer of the steelmaking ingredient, slumped to its lowest level this year as steel production in the Asian nation slows. The cost of 62 percent iron ore delivered to the port of Tianjin dropped for a 15th consecutive day, declining 3 percent to $118.10 a metric ton, according to The Steel Index. That’s the lowest since Dec. 29. The price has tumbled 37 percent since reaching a high for the year of $186.50 a ton on April 21. Chinese iron ore buyers have been absent from the spot market for almost a month and are shunning purchases amid speculation of lower prices, Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty analysts said in a report dated July 9.
• Gold Falls as Dollar's Gain Cuts Demand for Alternative Asset. Gold futures fell as the dollar’s rally eroded demand for the precious metal as an alternative asset. The greenback gained as much as 0.6 percent against a basket of six major currencies. Last week, investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, dropped 0.4 percent, ending a 10-week climb. Gold futures for August delivery dropped $9.20, or 0.8 percent, to $1,200.60 an ounce at 12:12 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Bets on higher prices by hedge-fund managers and other large speculators dropped. Speculative long positions outnumbered short positions by 209,042 contracts on the Comex in the week ended July 6, down 15 percent from a week earlier, government data showed. “The highs for gold have been seen for the year,” said Leonard Kaplan, the president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois.
• Uganda Says Islamists Behind Bombings That Killed 70. At least 70 people died in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in two bomb attacks suspected to have been carried out by Somali insurgents linked to al-Qaeda, Ugandan security officials said. The blasts occurred at two bars where crowds were watching the soccer World Cup final, Fred Opolot, director of the Uganda Media Center, told reporters today in the city.
• CEOs Questioning Obama Policies Put on Boards. Last month, Verizon Communications Inc. Chairman Ivan Seidenberg accused the federal government of “injecting uncertainty into the marketplace.” Last week, he was named to a presidential panel on U.S. exports. “Obama is employing an age-old strategy used by presidents that’s known as co-optation,” said Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “You bring into the bosom of your administration outsiders who are either hostile or might become hostile and lock them in.”
• Avon(AVP) to Buy Jewelry Seller Silpada for $650 Million. Avon Products Inc., the world’s largest door-to-door cosmetics seller, agreed to buy jewelry company Silpada Designs Inc. for at least $650 million in cash to broaden its product line.
• EU Says Withholding Sovereign Risk Will Hurt Banks. The European Commission told government officials that failure to publish individual banks’ exposure to sovereign debt could damage investor confidence. “There is considerable opposition to the publication of individual exposures to sovereign debt,” the European Union’s executive arm said in a confidential letter dated July 9 that was obtained by Bloomberg News. “Stepping back” from planned publication of this information “would give the impression that we have something to hide.”
• Bernanke Says Borrowing Difficult for Small Firms. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said small businesses are having a tough time getting loans they need to expand or stay afloat and keep the U.S. economic recovery going. Some “creditworthy” firms with “strong” cash flows and a decline in collateral values are have trouble getting loans, Bernanke said today in opening comments in Washington to a Fed- hosted conference on efforts to reverse a drop in lending to small businesses. Banks’ loans to small businesses fell to $670 billion from $710 billion over the past two years, Bernanke said, citing government data. “Making credit accessible to sound small businesses is crucial to our economic recovery and so should be front and center among our current policy challenges,” said Bernanke, 56.
• Lacker Says Any Consideration of Easing 'Very' Remote. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said any consideration by U.S. central bankers of further monetary easing “is very far away.”

Wall Street Journal:

• U.S. to Issue New Drilling Moratorium. The Obama administration plans to issue a new order to halt deepwater oil and natural-gas drilling projects Monday, two people familiar with the matter said. Details of the new order—such as how many rigs it would cover, and how it would be structured—were not immediately available.
• U.S. Magazines See First Rise In Ad Pages, Revenue Since 2007. The number of U.S. magazine advertising pages and revenue increased in the second quarter on a surge from the auto sector, the first growth in 2 1/2 years for overall advertising, as a bottom may have finally been reached for the industry.
• Hedge-Fund Inflows $4 Billion in May - TrimTabs/Barclays. The hedge-fund industry recorded estimated inflows of $4 billion in May, the third month of more money getting put into them than leaving in the past four months, according to TrimTabs and BarclayHedge.

CNBC:

• Poll: What Can States Do to Attract Businesses?

MarketWatch:

• S&P Affirms Britain's AAA Sovereign Rating. Maintains negative outlook over uncertainty about spending cuts. Standard & Poor's affirmed Great Britain's AAA sovereign rating Monday, but the credit-rating agency warned the possibility of a downgrade remains if the new U.K. government doesn't deliver on making cuts to the budget deficit.

NY Times:

• Governors Voice Grave Concerns on Illegal Immigration. In a private meeting with White House officials this weekend, Democratic governors voiced deep anxiety about the Obama administration’s suit against Arizona’s new immigration law, worrying that it could cost a vulnerable Democratic Party in the fall elections. While the weak economy dominated the official agenda at the summer meeting here of the National Governors Association, concern over immigration policy pervaded the closed-door session between Democratic governors and White House officials and simmered throughout the three-day event.

Business Insider:

• Inside Apple's(AAPL) Amazing Store in China. Apple opened it second retail store in China's wealthiest city, Shanghai, this Saturday. As is tradition for Apple opening a new store, hundreds of people lined up to be the first to plow through the doors. This is just the start of Apple's big China push. The Wall Street Journal reports Apple plans on opening 25 stores in China by year end.

Zero Hedge:

• Baltic Dry Index Drops -3.3% to 1,840 For 32nd Sequential Decline, Longest Drop in 9 Years. (graph)

Forbes:

• New Layoffs Coming to CBS News? Another round of layoffs is said to be coming to CBS News, according to two veteran producers at the network. "My understanding is that the cuts are coming this month. I've heard this from the highest level," says one producer. If the cuts are made, it will be the third major round of layoffs at the network since 2008.

NYPost:

• NYC Taxpayers Foot 90% of Municipal Pensions. Taxpayers kick in an average $8.60 for every dollar that city employees contribute to their pensions, a sweet deal costing the Big Apple a bundle. Even though their own retirements are less secure, as private businesses have shifted from traditional pensions to riskier savings plans like 401(k)s, taxpayers' support for rock-solid public employee pension plans is growing. That's because pension funds are guaranteed to grow 8 percent a year -- and taxpayers have to make up the difference if they don't. Taxpayers' share of city pension costs has skyrocketed more than 900 percent in the last decade -- from $703.1 million in 2000 to $6.5 billion in 2009, according to the city comptroller's annual reports. The cost is expected to hit $7.6 billion this fiscal year and $8.7 billion next year. "It's a double-whammy for taxpayers," said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. "If they're privately employed, they shoulder the risks of saving for their own retirement. At the same time, they have to pay a steadily mounting cost of guaranteed pensions for government workers."
  

Rasmussen Reports:

• 53% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law. Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters nationwide favor repeal of the recently passed national health care law. The latest weekly Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey on the subject finds that 42% oppose repeal.

Politico:

• Moment of Truth for Energy Bill. The next three weeks represent Democrats’ last, best shot at getting an energy and climate change bill passed this year. In the White House and the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, it’s moment-of-truth time. People on every side of the energy debate say that Reid must unveil a concrete plan backed by a full-court press from the president this week, or the entire effort will fall apart in the run-up to the midterm elections. After weeks of indecisive caucus meetings and passionate but vague speeches calling for “comprehensive energy legislation,” Reid’s office on Friday assured POLITICO that clarity, at long last, is coming.

TheStreet.com:

• Finreg May Shine Light on Short Sellers. A little-noticed provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act may require large investors to disclose short positions in stocks to the Securities and Exchange Commission, something they are not currently required to do. The language in Section 929X(a) seems fairly clear in requiring the SEC to mandate detailed public disclosure of short interest on a monthly basis via what are known as 13(f) filings. Such filings currently require large investors -- defined as those that manage more than $100 million -- to disclose only their long positions.

Reuters:

• Fed's Duke: Double-Dip Downturn Not In The Cards.

Financial Times:

• Majority in Europe, U.S. Back Cuts, FT/Harris Poll Indicates. Spending cuts in Europe and the U.S. have substantial public support, citing the latest FT/Harris opinion poll. The poll indicates that most people disagree with governments' decision to let their budget deficits rise in response to the financial crisis that began in 2008. In all five European Union countries covered in the survey, majorities ranging from 68% in France and Italy to 54% in the U.K. took that view, the FT said. To the question of whether spending cuts are necessary to help long-term economic recovery, 84% of French responses, 71% of Spanish, 69% of British, 67% of German and 61% of Italian were in the affirmative, as were 73% of U.S. replies, the newspaper said.
• Obama Attacked Over Business Regulation. Antagonism between the Obama administration and the US Chamber of Commerce, America’s largest business lobby, appears set to ratchet up further this week with the group’s plan to host a “jobs summit” highlighting where it thinks Washington is going wrong. Accusing President Barack Obama of following a pro-union agenda that is burying US businesses in a new generation of regulations, Tom Donohue, president of the Chamber, whose imposing headquarters stands opposite the White House, said Washington’s trajectory is creating more uncertainty for businesses that will mean more job destruction. Mr Donohue cited Mr Obama’s failure to move the trade agenda forward at a stage when much of the rest of the world is powering ahead. “Just write down this number: $450m. That’s what the labour unions spent in the elections 18 months ago,” Mr Donohue told the Financial Times in its View From DC video series. “I think the Obama administration has demonstrated in more than many ways that they are concerned about a union agenda...They [unions] paid a deep price for it and they want some return.” US corporations have almost $2,000bn in cash in their treasuries, according to estimates. “Look at the tax cost in the healthcare bill and the tax cost in the capital markets bill and they add up to hundreds of billions of dollars,” said Mr Donohue. “It is a fundamental uncertainty [that is holding businesses back].”

Telegraph:

• British Banks Face US Suit Over 'Misselling' £1.6bn of Sub-Prime Loans. HSBC, Barclays and RBS are among 15 Wall Street banks accused by a US investment firm of mis-selling a total of $2.4bn (£1.6bn) in mortgage-backed securities.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:

• Algirdas Semeta, the European Union's Budget-Commissioner, said he is not sure that members will agree on a European financial transaction tax. Semeta said that EU tax decisions have to be "unanimously" accepted and he does not expect all states to agree on the terms. The competitiveness of European financial centers "must not suffer," Semeta said.