Thursday, August 24, 2006

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Apple Computer(AAPL) is recalling 1.8 million Sony(SNE) batteries used in its Macintosh notebooks after faulty units caused some injury. The move comes a week after Dell(DELL) instituted a similar recall.
- A patch of thunderstorms and winds in the Caribbean may become the fifth tropical storm of the year today and threaten Barbados, Grenada and nearby islands.
- Nymex Holdings, owner of the world’s largest gold futures market, plans to pay members who trade metals about $275 million in stock to win their approval of around-the-clock electronic trading.
- BP Plc(BP) cut production at the biggest oilfield in the US for a second time in less than a month because of a gas compressor breakdown.
- Richard Fentin, manager of the $15.6 billion Fidelity Value Fund, is producing market-beating returns by finding inexpensive stocks in technology and health care, industries typically favored by so-called growth funds.
- France is drawing mounting criticism for its reluctance to make more troop commitments in Lebanon, after it led the effort to win a cease-fire there.

Wall Street Journal:
- Europe is unable to deploy enough troops to implement the ceasefire in Lebanon as it lacks the military capability, is unable to command local authority, and fears casualties.
- Schneider National and other US trucking companies are turning to older couples to overcome a shortage of long-haul truck drivers.
- New Orleans has converted more than half of the 53 public schools expected to open next month into privately run institutions in a bid to improve the city’s educational standards.
- Qualcomm(QCOM) and Intel(INTC) are fighting over the market for wireless access to the Internet.
- Tom Cruise, the actor and producer dropped by Viacom’s(VIA) Paramount Pictures, may be a risky investment for the hedge funds he plans to turn to for film funding.
- Corning(GLW) shares plunged this summer as demand for LCDs used in flat-panel televisions and laptops slowed, and some market observers sense a buying opportunity.
- Nokia’s(NOK) new E62 wireless phone will offer features similar to Motorola’s(MOT) Q and Palm’s(PALM) Treo and will probably be the least expensive of this group of so-called smartphones.

NY Times:
- Amnesty International accused Israel of war crimes for its bombing of civilian infrastructure, while refusing to condemn Hezbollah for firing thousands of rockets into Israel’s civilian population.
- NYC projects supported by Mayor Bloomberg, such as redeveloping part of the city’s west side, are being hindered by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
- Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff said border security measures supported by the Bush administration have reduced the number of illegal immigrants entering the US from Mexico for the first time in many years.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
- Wal-Mart(WMT) formed an alliance with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to increase the diversity of its suppliers.

AP:
- Iran’s proposal to negotiate over its nuclear program, delivered to Chinese, French, German, Russian, UK and US diplomatic representatives on Aug. 22, will likely be rejected.

USA Today:
- Ford Motor(F) is considering going private to give it time to complete its restructuring without pressure from shareholders.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung:
- German household bankruptcies may rise by more than 40% this year due to higher unemployment, stagnating real wages and an increase in the number of indebted households, citing the Creditreform rating company.

AFP:
- Somali Islamic militants warned Ethiopia of a possible “full-scale war” as their fighters prepared to fight warlords allegedly supported by Ethiopian soldiers.

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