Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Crude oil plunged to the lowest this year in New York on doubts that OPEC ministers will come to an agreement to cut production enough to stem falling prices.
- Visa, lured by MasterCard’s 84% gain since it went public in May, plans to sell shares in an offering that may dwarf its credit card rival.
- Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications said third-quarter profit almost tripled on sales of handsets with high-resolution cameras and Walkman music players.
- The US budget deficit is set to come in around 1.9% of GDP, significantly better than prior estimates and lower than the 40-year average of 2.3% of GDP.
- Bill Gross, manager of the world’s largest bond fund at PIMCO, said demand for emerging-market debt may wane as a result of the 25% fall in oil prices.
- Jacuzzi Brands agreed to be bought by Apollo Management LP for about $990 million.

Wall Street Journal:
- News Corp.’s(NWS) Myspace.com wants to expand its relationship with Google(GOOG).
- Bank of America(BAC) will offer up to 30 free online stock trades a month to banking customers with at least $25,000 in deposits.
- Airlines’ share prices are creeping up despite slowing revenue growth, because fuel prices, which account for 20 to 30 percent of carriers’ operating costs, are falling.
- Egan-Jones Ratings may offer ratings of mutual funds by the end of the year, citing the company’s marketing chief.

NY Times:
- Europeans are showing less tolerance toward Muslim immigrants as worries about Islamic extremism spread since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
- New York City is to start a program which will steer developers toward building low-cost housing.
- Apollo Management Group and Texas Pacific Group have raised their bid for Harrah’s Entertainment(HET) to more than $15.5 billion.
- A non-profit group in the US plans to provide 1.2 million educational computers for Libyan children by June 2008.
- Yahoo!(YHOO) has fallen out of favor with some advertisers, as new video and social networking sites attract more visitors.

NY Daily News:
- New York City’s Hudson Yards Project will generate more than $25 billion in revenue over 25 to 30 years after development.

Reuters:
- Nigeria’s oil production will probably rise to 2.5 million barrels a day next year, citing President Olusegun Obasanjo. Nigeria’s recent loss of 600,000 barrels a day of oil production will probably last until February.

Boston Globe:
- Election ballots in more than a third of Massachusetts’ cities and towns will ask voters next month whether US troops should immediately be withdrawn from Iraq. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is critical of the initiative, saying he believes troops should return after stability is achieved in Iraq.

Washington Post:
- American households will pay lower heating bills this winter as natural gas bills are forecast to drop for the first time since the winter of 2001.

Les Echos:
- A 700 mile fence between the US and Mexico, approved last month by the US Congress, won’t staunch trade between the two countries, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernest Derbez said.

NKK Television:
- The Japanese government will block all North Korean ships from entering the country’s ports.

AFP:
- Iran may cut 140,000 barrels a day in oil production if OPEC lowers quotas by a total of 1 million barrels a day.

El Nacional:
- Venezuela plans to base spending in next year’s budget on an average oil price of $29 a barrel.

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