Monday, March 27, 2006

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Natural-gas futures in New York may resume their downtrend as mild weather cuts heating demand, leaving supplies near record levels, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
- Optimism that the US economy and earnings will growth without fueling inflation sent US stocks toward their biggest first-quarter advance in seven years.
- Alcatel’s(ALA) potential takeover of Lucent Technologies(LU) may spark a wave of takeovers among networking-equipment companies.
- Globalization may end up being the saving grace for Ben S. Bernanke’s Federal Reserve that productivity was for Alan Greenspan’s.
- US Treasuries are falling before Federal Reserve officials start a two-day meeting where they’re expected to raise interest rates for the 15th straight time and in advance of an auction today of two-year notes.
- Nigerian militants releases three oil workers, two US citizens and a Briton, who were kidnapped more than a month ago in the Niger River delta.

Wall Street Journal:
- Alcatel’s(ALA) plan to merge with Lucent Technologies(LU) is part of an effort to meet competition from Chinese telephone-equipment makers such as Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp.
- Total SA, Europe’s third-largest oil company, is leading the development of oil extraction from sand in Canada as oil prices rise.
- Major League Baseball’s Web site has agreements with 25 clients, including CBS Corp., to help provide live streaming video to large audiences on the Internet.
- Regulators of the Federal Home Loan Banks may cut a subsidy granted to thousands of lenders including Washington Mutual(WM) and Citigroup(C).
- The SEC has subpoenaed Gradient Analytics, an Arizona-based securities research firm, about its dealings with journalists and hedge-fund advisers, citing a March 10 document.
- The change in US bankruptcy law introduced last year hasn’t significantly affected corporate insolvencies, citing talks with attorneys.
- Revised US Labor Dept. disclosure rules for unions with annual revenue of at least $250,000 offer members and government auditors added details about their spending patterns.

LA Times:
- Tenet Healthcare(THC) is revamping its hospitals to doctors’ orders in an effort to win back their favor and fill more beds following nationally reported legal problems.

NY Times:
- Rallies in the US in support of immigrants have drawn so many people that even the organizers have been surprised.

Asharq Al-Awsat
- Saudi Arabian brokerages received few requests from foreign residents in the kingdom to buy stocks after they were allowed to trade in a market previously limited to nationals.

Reuters:
- Time Warner’s(TWX) studio division plans to open at least 200 stores in China as demand increases for its trademark characters.

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