Thursday, December 15, 2005

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the voting in Iraq today has “gone very well so far” and that voter turnout will be “high.”
- Crude oil is falling for a second day after a government report showed that US stockpiles last week were 11% higher than the five-year average.
- Robert Hagstrom, manager of the Legg Mason Growth Trust, increased his investments in Amazon.com and EBay after the companies’ shares tumbled because he expects more shoppers to buy gifts online.
- The US dollar is rising the most in more than a week against the euro after a Treasury Department report showed foreigners increased purchases of US securities in October at a historic pace.
- The union representing 32,000 NY subway and bus workers hardened its public stance on contract negotiations ahead of a midnight deadline, saying the likelihood of a strike was increasing.

Wall Street Journal:
- US net purchases of foreign stocks in the first 10 months of this year are likely to have exceeded the 2003 record of $86.6 billion.
- Quizno’s Corp., which operates the Quizno’s Classic Subs restaurants chain, is to be sold at auction and may fetch as much as $2 billion.
- Walt Disney may buy partner Pixar, citing research reports by CSFB.
- Microsoft is reorganizing its consumer units, citing an internal memorandum that it’s reviewed.
- BMW is set to pass DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz cars in worldwide sales for the first time since 1993.
- Ford Motor will run new ads in US gay and lesbian magazines such as the Advocate and Out, after the automaker appeared two weeks ago to have pulled some Jaguar and Land Rover ads from such magazines, citing a Ford letter to gay groups.
- Comcast, Time Warner and other companies with cable systems are experimenting with offering local-content, on-demand services such as video dating or high-school football games.
- Wal-Mart Stores has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard to boost holiday sales of technology products at its stores.
- Time Warner’s HBO unit may announce an agreement today to offer two channels of programming on Cingular Wireless’s phones.
- Google will provide links to musicians’ songs, lyrics and related material at the top of its results pages, starting today.

Washington Post:
- The US House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation that grants local law enforcement agencies funds to investigate and prosecute brothel owners, pimps, and customers of prostitutes.

Arab News:
- Saudi Arabia plans to increase by 61% the number of new oil wells its drills next year to boost production, citing a statement from state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

NY Times:
- Google, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems will underwrite a $7.5 million lab for computer research at the Univ. of Cal. in Berkeley.

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