Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Crude oil in NY is falling .30/bbl. after Valero Energy, the nation’s largest refiner, said it will restart a facility that had been closed due to “fire damage.” Refiner “outages” across the country have resulted in low production of gasoline and a decline in supplies, which has boosted gasoline prices to record highs for this time of the year. US oil inventories are still near eight year highs.
- Cisco Systems(CSCO) is at the high end of its long-term sales forecast for growth of 10-15%, said Chief Development Officer Charlie Giancarlo. The company is seeing “very strong demand,” Giancarlo said.
- Blackstone Group LP is considering a $20 billion takeover offer for SLM Corp.(SLM), the largest US student loan provider.
- General Electric(GE) said first-quarter profit rose 8% as CEO Immelt’s strategy of selling more power-plant and aviation equipment overseas paid off.
- McDonald’s(MCD) said first quarter profit rose, topping analyst estimates, on the biggest European sales gain since 1994.
- Genentech(DNA) is testing a breast-cancer treatment that may add $1.5 billion in annual sales to its Herceptin drug business.
- The dollar fell to a two-year low against the euro and weakened versus the yen, despite a better trade deficit report, as core producer prices came in below estimates.
- Merck’s(MRK) share jumped the most in more than two years after the drugmaker said profit rose 13%, beating estimates, as sales of its newer products offset losses to generic competition.

Wall Street Journal:
- China has renamed the 50-year-old Chinese Export Commodities Fair as an import-export exposition and for the first time set aside 315 stands for foreign companies out of a total of 31,000.
- US automakers, including General Motors(GM), are looking for an American alternative to the next generation of hybrid-car batteries coming out of Japan.

NY Post:
- Jones Apparel Group(JNY) may sell the Barneys NY apparel and accessories chain to Istithmar, the private equity firm owned by Dubai, for about $950 million.

Boston Global:
- Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has implemented a plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions throughout the city. Menino plans to reduce fuel consumption by city-owned vehicles 5% within 5 years. The city also plans to buy at least 15% of its electricity from renewable energy sources and recycle 10% more material within five years.

Washington Post:
- The SEC will change its process for settling with companies, which could reduce penalties that businesses pay, citing officials.

Euro am Sonntag:
- SAP AG(SAP) expects sales to grow significantly more than the overall market for business-management software in 2007, helped by new products for mid-sized companies, deputy CEO Leo Apotheker said.

Energy News Today:
- Valero Energy(VLO) restarted a crude unit capable of processing 104,000 barrels of oil a day at its “fire-damaged” refinery near Sunray, Texas.

Xinhua News Agency:
- China’s stock transaction tax revenue surged six-fold in the first quarter as its stock markets rose, citing Shu Qiming, a State Administration of Taxation official.