Bloomberg:- The scandal-plagued United Nations, which urges the world’s companies to follow anti-pollution, labor rights and other standards of corporate responsibility, often ignores those aims when investment its own $29 billion employee pension fund.
- Merrill Lynch is earning the most money managing assets for individual investors since the stock market bubble’s peak five years ago.
- Crude oil is falling, heading for its first two-month decline in NY this year, as production recovers, supplies build and demand falls with the US hurricane season nearing an end.
- President Bush has chosen Samuel Alito, a federal appellate judge, as his nominee for the Supreme Court.
- Barrick Gold said it made an offer for rival Placer Dome valued at $9.2 billion in cash and stock.
- Chemicals in certain vegetables and herbs, such as broccoli sprouts, cabbage and gingko biloba, may help prevent cancer, according to five studies presented at a research conference today.
- The US dollar is gaining, reaching the highest in more than two years against the yen, as an index of Chicago-area business activity unexpectedly surged.
- Novartis AG, Europe’s second-largest drugmaker by market value, agreed to pay $5.1 billion to take control of US vaccine maker Chiron as governments raised spending on treatments for ailments such as avian influenza.
Wall Street Journal:- Saks Inc. is expected to announced that it will sell its Northern department-store group to Bon-Ton Stores for $1.1 billion.
- Kraft’s decision to halt advertising of certain products to children to help curb obesity has gained favor with some officials.
- Janus Capital Group of the US, which manages $130 billion, may be the subject of a takeover after a non-executive director quit last week because of a disagreement over a “strategic option” the company is pursuing.
- Sprint Nextel plans to introduce an over-the-air music downloading service today.
- The indictment of I. Lewis Libby on perjury and related charges may be difficult to prove.
- The SEC plans to check a sample of investment advisory companies randomly each year rather than visit each of them every five years.
NY Times:- NBC reporter Tim Russert, whose testimony was used to indict I. Lewis Libby is uneasy about being involved in a subject he’s reporting on.
- Atticus Capital, Third Point LLC, York Capital and other hedge funds face losses of 5-10% for October, as investments in energy stocks, takeovers and overseas stocks falter.
- The economic interaction between China and Japan has been increasing while diplomatic relations worsen.
- Sean McManus, appointed last week as the president of CBS News, faces a challenge in his new role after a flawed report last year on President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service and the ensuing retirement of Dan Rather.
- Small Internet access companies are trying to find new ways to connect with consumers as bigger companies dominate the market for high-speed services and they say they may have found the answer in wireless technology.
NY Post:- The Port Authority of NY & New Jersey will test smart cards next month on the PATH railroad linking Manhattan to New Jersey.
San Francisco Chronicle:- California wineries expect to reap 3.15 million tons of grapes this year, the second-largest harvest in state history.
USA Today:- US federal lawmakers have ordered an investigation into the increasing costs of repairing and maintaining machines that check luggage for bombs at airports.
Financial Times:- Carlyle Group, which manages the fourth-largest US buyout fund, may join a group of bidders considering an offer for Computer Sciences, the No. 5 US computer-services company.
Basler Zeitung:- Roche Holding AG wants to issue licenses allowing companies and governments to produce the Tamiflu flu drug on the condition that the product is kept for use in a possible pandemic and not sold.
Il Messaggero:- Italy aims to eliminate the use of oil in the production of electricity in the next five years, citing Industry Minister Claudio Scajola.
