Monday, May 02, 2011

Today's Headlines

Posted by Gary .....at 3:06 PM

Bloomberg:
  • Pakistan-Jihadist Ties May Have Led U.S. to Hit Bin Laden Alone. The U.S. decision to strike alone in killing al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his Pakistani hideout may underscore American concerns over the decades-old links between the Pakistani military and Islamic militants. U.S. officials said they didn’t inform their Pakistani counterparts of the attack on the compound, just a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad, the country’s equivalent of West Point. Located 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the capital, Islamabad, the city is surrounded by army installations and weapons factories. “It is inconceivable that bin Laden was hiding in a place that is the alma mater of Pakistan’s army without some people in our security establishment -- either military, intelligence or police -- being aware that he was there,” Imtiaz Gul, director of the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies, said in a phone interview from his office.
  • Terror Threat Remains as Bin Laden Likely to Inspire Attacks Even in Death. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh denounced the U.S. killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, while a Palestinian Authority spokesman said his death will be “good for peace.” “This is a continuance of the U.S. policy of atrocities,” Haniyeh told reporters today in Gaza City. Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the U.S., European Union, and Israel, is scheduled to sign a reconciliation agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah faction this week in Cairo.
  • Breast Cancer Survival May Be Hurt by U.S. Guideline, Data Show. Women under 50 who follow advice of a U.S. panel to forgo annual mammograms are risking more severe forms of breast cancer because of it, three studies led by radiologists suggest. Failing to get regular breast screenings left women more likely to discover cancer at an advanced stage, retrospective research at hospitals in Ohio and Missouri found. The delay resulted in larger tumors and a worse prognosis once the cancer was uncovered, the data found. A study in Colorado suggests 62% of doctors changed their advice to match the U.S. guideline and 16% few women got the test.
  • Teva(TEVA) to Buy Cephalon(CEPH) in $6.8 Billion Transaction. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), the world’s largest generic-drug maker, agreed to buy Cephalon Inc. (CEPH) for $6.2 billion, trumping a hostile offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (VRX) The boards of Teva and Cephalon approved the deal, the companies said in a statement today. Petah Tikvah, Israel-based Teva will pay $81.50 a share in cash, 12 percent above Valeant’s offer. Including assumed debt, the purchase values Cephalon at $6.8 billion. Valeant dropped its plan to buy Cephalon.
  • Arch Coal(ACI) to Acquire International Coal(ICO) for $3.4 Billion. Arch Coal Inc. (ACI) agreed to buy International Coal Group Inc. (ICO) for $14.60 a share in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.4 billion to become the second-largest U.S. metallurgical coal producer. Arch expects pro forma metallurgical sales to reach 11 million tons in 2011 and 14 million tons over the next three years from the combined operations, the St. Louis-based company said in a statement. The offer price is 32 percent more than International Coal’s closing price of $11.03 on April 29.
  • Fed Says Banks Eased Lending Terms, Loan Demand Increased. Banks eased lending terms in the first quarter as they forecast improvement in the U.S. economy and companies sought more loans, according to a Federal Reserve survey. “The April survey indicated that, on net, bank lending standards and terms generally had eased somewhat further during the first quarter of this year,” the central bank said today in its quarterly survey of senior loan officers. The looser standards for business loans reflected more competition among banks and some banks “also pointed to a more favorable or less uncertain economic outlook,” the Fed said.
Wall Street Journal:
Fox Business:
  • SEC Disputes Buffett's View of Solol Inquiry. The Securities and Exchange Commission is disputing Warren Buffett's interpretation of the inquiry regarding former Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) executive David Sokol, Fox Business Network's Charles Gasparino reported Monday, citing regulatory officials.
MarketWatch:
CNBC.com:
  • Manufacturing Index Up, Construction Spending Rebounds. U.S. manufacturing activity index rose to 60.4 percent in April, its highest level since July, while construction spending rebounded in March. The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed in April for a second straight month but input prices were at their highest in nearly three years, according the Institute for Supply Management. The industry group said its index of national factory activity fell to 60.4 in April from 61.2 the month before. The figure topped economists' forecasts for a reading of 60. The index for prices paid rose to 85.5 from 85, the highest since July 2008.
  • Teen Joblessness May Hit Record in Summer 2011. As a consequence, urban studies experts said cities like Chicago—where summer unemployment among African-Americans aged 16 to 19 years approaches 90 percent—could experience a rise in street violence.
  • 'Free Money' About to Cause Big Problem: Welch. "Free money in the hands of very smart people for too long is going to create something that's not very pleasant," Welch said. "I don't know what it exactly is. But every time we get free money to lots of people who are very, very smart and know how to use it you end up with a bubble or a problem that we don't quite see in front of us."
  • Gaddafi Shells Misrata Amid Chemical Weapons Fears. Muammar Gaddafi's forces used tanks to shell the besieged western town of Misrata on Monday, as rumors fueled fears that the Libyan leader was preparing to use chemical weapons. Hundreds have been killed in Misrata over the past two months as Gaddafi has attempted to seize the only major rebel bastion in the western part of the country.
Business Insider:
Zero Hedge:
Washington Post:
  • Shortages of Key Drugs Endanger Patients. Doctors, hospitals and federal regulators are struggling to cope with an unprecedented surge in drug shortages in the United States that is endangering cancer patients, heart attack victims, accident survivors and a host of other ill people. A record 211 medications became scarce in 2010 — triple the number in 2006 — and at least 89 new shortages have been recorded through the end of March, putting the nation on track for far more scarcities. The paucities are forcing some medical centers to ration drugs — including one urgently needed by leukemia patients — postpone surgeries and other care, and scramble for substitutes, often resorting to alternatives that may be less effective, have more side effects and boost the risk for overdoses and other sometimes-fatal errors.
Reuters:
  • U.S. Lawmaker Has "Questions" for Pakistani Security. A top U.S. lawmaker said on Monday that Pakistani security services have questions they need to answer following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in an affluent area of Pakistan. "I think the Pakistani Army and intelligence have a lot of questions to answer given the location, the length of time and the apparent fact that this facility was actually built for bin Laden and its closeness to the central location of the Pakistani army," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said at a news conference.
  • Greek Debt Maturity Extension Possible - ECB's Wellink. European central banker Nout Wellink said on Monday he opposed a debt restructuring for struggling Greece but was open to the idea of a possible extension of maturities. In the first public comments from a member of the ECB's Governing Council pointing to a possible rescheduling of repayments for the debt-mired euro zone state, Wellinck said: "Restructuring is essentially saying: 'Send me the bill. We feel sorry for you.' You shouldn't do that. Paying the bill hurts."It may sometimes take longer than expected. It can sometimes lead to a restructuring -- but not in the way some advocate it to be -- that ... leads to a longer maturity of debt." Wellink, taking questions from students at Tilburg University in the south of the Netherlands, said that if Greece did not repay borrowed funds in full, it could stay frozen out of the financial markets. "You also have to say: 'If you don't pay the bills you never have to knock on our doors again. That your access to financial markets is closed... "That you will come in a downward spiral, whose negative effects are even bigger than the pain you suffer and have to suffer on the short term.' You have to explain that it (restructuring) is not an option," Wellink said.
  • Islamists Vow Bin Laden Death Will Not Mute Jihad Call. Members of militant Islamist forums vowed on Monday to avenge the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden, while others prayed the news was not true.
  • GE(GE) Wins $500 Million Contracts From Saudi Electricity.
Diario Economico:
  • The Portuguese government on May 4 will present the memorandum of understanding on the aid package that was negotiated with officials of the IMF, European Commission and ECB, citing an European Union official.
Xinhua:
  • Japan Suspects Radiation Lead From Fuel Rods at Plan in Fukui Prefecture.

    Radioactive leakage from fuel rods at a nuclear power plant in the city of Tsuruga in Fukui prefecture on Honshu island of Japan are believed to be the cause of a surge in the density of toxic substances detected in coolant water, the prefectural government said Monday. Japan Atomic Power Company, owner and operator of the potentially faulty nuclear plant, has said it will attempt to manually override the plant's No. 2 reactor's system in an effort to contain the leak and conduct further investigation into its critical cooling systems. The utility firm operating the 1,160-megawatt No.2 reactor at its Tsuruga nuclear plant cited "technical difficulties" at the reactor and while claiming there had been no radiation leak did confirm a possible leak of iodine from the reactor's nuclear fuel assemblies into its coolant system, adding a new saga to the nation's ever-unfolding nuclear crisis.

The Media Line:
  • For Many Arabs, Bin Laden Was a Has-Been. Osama Bin Laden may have topped the United States' most wanted list, but in his birthplace of Saudi Arabia he was regarded Monday as little more than an historic figurehead whose ideological sway has dwindled to near nothingness. “Bin Laden is history. He died a long time ago when he went into hiding," Eman Al-Nafjan, an influential Riyadh-based blogger told The Media Line. "Saudis are quite indifferent to the news about his death. There is neither mourning nor excitement.” "Today people are discussing whether Bin Laden was a Shaheed [martyr] or a criminal who deserved to die," Abdullah Jaber, a political cartoonist for the Saudi daily Al-Jazirah told The Media Line. "The man is dead but his worldview of bloodshed and terror live on.” Jaber added, however, that since the Al-Qa’ida attack in 9/11, Saudi popular support for Al-Qa’ida has gradually decreased and is today at an all-time low.
Online Intl News Network:
ARY News TV:
  • Taliban militants threatened to attack Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari to avenge the death of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, citing the group's spokesman.

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