UPDATE 1-West Fraser falls to second-quarter loss

(Reuters) - North America's second-largest softwood lumber producer
said it lost C$14 million , or 33 Canadian cents a
share, in the quarter. That compares with a profit of C$104
million, or C$2.41 per share, a year earlier.




The results benefited from C$25 million in gains, while the
year-before result were boosted by C$106 million of one-time
items.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-McAfee shares fall 1.7 percent after results

(Reuters) - The company's shares fell 1.7 percent in after-hours
trading.




It also expects to take $100 million to $150 million in
noncash charges as it restates previous financial results
related to past stock option grants following a probe into
accounting for those grants.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Fronter Airlines posts quarterly loss on costs

(Reuters) - Denver-based Frontier posted a fiscal first-quarter net
loss of $3.5 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a
profit of $4 million, or 10 cents per share in the year-ago
period.




Increased fuel expenses due to derivative losses, Lynx
start-up costs, and a seat replacement project combined to
lower earnings by 20 cents per share, the company said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

London Stock Exchange Says Record Number of Trades Made Today on Bourse

(Bloomberg) -- London Stock Exchange Plc, Europe's
largest exchange by the market value of companies listed, said a
record number of trades were made today on the bourse.

About 798,800 trades were made, 9 percent higher than the
previous record, LSE said, citing preliminary estimates. The
value of the trades was 13.42 billion pounds ($28 billion), just
shy of the record 13.47 billion pounds traded on February 28.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

CORRECTED: New investor wave buys into films after early kinks

(Reuters) - LOS ANGELES - A new wave of investors is scooping up stakes in films from private equity and hedge funds that have poured $10 billion into Hollywood but are losing patience with long wait for profits, industry watchers say.




Hedge funds and private equity firms bought up pieces of many Hollywood films, both big budget and art house-sized, in recent years, and money keeps pouring in from all over the world -- fattening film budgets and adding more titles to theater marquees.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. credit market sells off on pulled financings

(Reuters) - Spooked by pulled financings for the buyouts of DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler and Alliance Boots, investors scrambled out of riskier bonds, with the brokerage sector and junk bonds taking the worst hits, traders said.




In the junk bond market, buyers vanished and actively traded bonds went into free fall, with some benchmark auto bonds down five points on the day.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-Benchmark U.S. subprime indexes sink to new lows

(Reuters) - "July remittance reports are out and the market has had its
say. The numbers were not good," said one dealer. "The bottom
line is that the appetite for risk is waning across all sectors
so it's no surprise the most volatile market of them all got
hit hard," the dealer said.




Remittance reports, which offer a snapshot of subprime loan
performance over the last 30 days, showed delinquencies
continued to rise in July. Subprime mortgages are made at high
interest rates to borrowers with poor credit histories.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes sink on housing, oil, credit fears

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 26 - U.S. stocks tumbled on
Thursday on signs of further deterioration in the U.S. housing
market, a jump in oil prices and a worsening climate for
financing corporate takeovers.




The broad Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 2 percent
at one point, and the steep decline led the New York Stock
Exchange to impose trading curbs which restrict large-block
sales when a stock was falling.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Wells Fargo shuts nonprime mortgage unit, cuts jobs

(Reuters) - The company will shut operations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, resulting in a loss of 170 jobs, and in Des Moines, Iowa, where it will seek other positions for 67 affected workers. Wells Fargo's home mortgage unit is based in Des Moines, while the parent is based in San Francisco.




Wells Fargo, which is also the fifth-largest U.S. bank, said nonprime wholesale lending last year represented 1.6 percent of its $397.6 billion of residential mortgage loan volume. It said it will still offer nonprime loans directly to consumers through its Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Wells Fargo Financial units.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Ten-year note up a full point in price

(Reuters) - The benchmark notes were yielding 4.78 percent,
down 12 basis points on the day and more than a half percentage
point from a June peak.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Bush, Congress leaders to meet on spending showdown

(Reuters) - Both sides are uneasy about what lies ahead. Only two months remain before the start of a new fiscal year and Bush has threatened to veto several of the dozen annual spending bills that would pay for programs ranging from weapons and foreign aid to retiree benefits and domestic security.




A failure by Congress and the White House to work out these kinds of disagreements led to government shutdowns at least five times over the past 26 years, the most serious coming in late 1995 and early 1996, generating voter backlash.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Argentine stocks, bonds sink on risk aversion

(Reuters) - BUENOS AIRES, July 26 - Argentine stocks took
their steepest one-day fall in percentage terms since February
on Thursday and bonds also sank, pressured by widespread
concerns about the U.S. economy and credit market troubles.




But the peso rebounded after four sessions of steep losses,
with the help of dollar selling by state-run banks.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Crude Oil Futures Fall From 11-Month High on Signs Rally Was Unjustified

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell from an 11-month high
in New York on speculation prices have risen more than justified
by declining U.S. inventories.

U.S. supplies fell 1.1 million barrels to 351 million
barrels, leaving inventories 4.6 percent higher than a year
earlier. Stockpiles in Cushing, the delivery point for West Texas
Intermediate crude oil, or WTI, traded in New York, plunged 22
percent to 21.2 million barrels in the past nine weeks, according
to the Energy Department.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Latecoere to tap markets for Airbus factory bid

(Reuters) - "A capital increase is being prepared to finance the
operation," it said in a statement on its first-half revenues,
which grew 12 percent to 253.2 million euros.




It said more details would be released in the second half.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Microsoft acquires a stock market for ads

(Reuters) - Terms were not disclosed.




AdECN, which first launched its services in October 2005, functions like a Nasdaq stock exchange for advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising. It is based in Santa Barbara, California.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

RPT-UPDATE 4-Ford swings to surprising 2nd-quarter profit

(Reuters) - DETROIT, July 26 - Ford Motor Co. on
Thursday posted its first profit in two years on a surprising
turnaround in its auto business and cost-cutting in its
troubled U.S. operations, pushing its shares up over 3
percent.




Ford also said it is exploring a sale of its Jaguar and
Land Rover luxury units, a spin-off Ford executives said they
now view as probable.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Tenneco posts higher quarterly earnings

(Reuters) - Excluding one-time items, Tenneco earned 87 cents per
share. Analysts on average expected Lake Forest, Illinois-based
Tenneco to report earnings of 77 cents excluding one-time
items, according to Reuters Estimates.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Exxon profits dips 1 pct on natgas price weakness

(Reuters) - Shares fell nearly 2 percent to $91 before the bell.




The company's production dipped 1 percent on an oil
equivalent basis from last year due to field decline and lower
European demand for natural gas.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Franklin Resources reports higher quarterly earnings

(Reuters) - That compares with $371.4 million, or $1.41 a year ago.





Read more at Reuters.com Market News

L-3 posts higher net, but forecast disappoints

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 26 - L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its full-year profit forecast on Thursday, citing strong demand for its military electronics and intelligence network services.



The defense contractor said net profit rose to $188.1 million, or $1.49 per share, from $49.8 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier, when earnings were burdened by one-time charges.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Benchmark profit falls on restructuring charges

(Reuters) - Shares in Benchmark fell 5.3 percent to $22.73 in morning
trading on the Nasdaq.




The company, which makes computers, telecommunications
equipment and other electronics, posted second-quarter net
income of $25.9 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with
$27.5 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-West Marine Q2 earnings beat Street view, shares rise

(Reuters) - Shares of the company rose nearly 6 percent to $14.10 in
midday trade on the Nasdaq.




The company said its second-quarter net income rose 42
percent to $20.1 million, or 92 cents a share, from $14.2
million, or 66 cents a share, a year ago.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Janus net jumps 57 pct, beats expectations

(Reuters) - Janus, which specializes in "growth" style investing, turned the corner on its core mutual fund flows in the quarter, posting its first quarterly net inflows in six years.




But short-term performance and inflows slipped at subsidiary INTECH, which focuses on institutions.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Tidewater 1st-qtr profit up, but shares tumble

(Reuters) - HOUSTON, July 26 - Tidewater Inc. , the
world's largest provider of vessels for the offshore oil
service industry, on Thursday said its first-quarter profit
rose as rates for its equipment climbed, but higher-than
expected costs hampered results.




Shares of Tidewater swooned, falling more than 8 percent,
or $6.53, to $70.37 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock
Exchange.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Beazer, D.R. Horton, Black & Decker fall

(Reuters) - Beazer Homes USA Inc. posted a quarterly loss as the home builder took charges for inventory and abandonment of land option contracts.




Black & Decker Corp , a maker of tools and household appliances, reported its profit fell, blaming a tough residential construction sector and higher commodity prices. Black and Decker said the weakness in housing will "continue to adversely affect" the company's earnings.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Wall St tumbles on oil, housing, credit woes

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Thursday as a surge in oil prices, concern about the housing slump and a worsening climate for financing takeovers cut investors' appetite for risk in a global equities sell-off.

News of a disappointing quarterly profit from Exxon Mobil Corp. weighed on the energy sector and sent Exxon shares down more than 3 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European stocks at 3-month low, caught in global slide

(Reuters) - European shares fell across the board on Thursday, suffering their biggest daily drop in more than four months as a worsening environment for financing takeovers and worries about U.S. housing sparked risk aversion.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 2.6 percent lower at a provisional 1,530.6, the lowest finish since April 2 and down for the third day in a row.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-WCI shares plunge 23 pct after no bid arrives

(Reuters) - Hedge fund investor Carl Icahn pushed the company to put
itself up for sale and offered to buy it for $22 per share, but
WCI rejected the offer.




The company said in May it would continue to pursue
offers.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 2-Alitalia asks for money as Rome ponders next move

(Reuters) - ROME, July 26 - Alitalia has asked for
more money as the Italian government, barred by the European
Union from pumping more cash into the ailing carrier, struggles
to figure out how to save it.




Rome is unsure whether to start a new bid process from
scratch or begin direct talks with potential suitors after its
seven-month auction collapsed last week when all bidders pulled
out, the economy minister said on Thursday.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Crude Oil Rises Above $77 as Supplies Dwindle at Cushing, Oklahoma, Depot

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil in New York rose above $77
a barrel and traded at a premium to Brent oil for the first time
since February after a glut in supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma,
disappeared.

Stockpiles in Cushing, the delivery point for West Texas
Intermediate crude oil, or WTI, traded in New York, plunged 22
percent to 21.2 million barrels in the past nine weeks, according
to the Energy Department. U.S. gasoline and heating-oil supplies
rose as refineries increased operating rates to 91.7 percent of
capacity for the same week, the highest in 10 months.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Comcast net up, but shares down on subscriber loss

(Reuters) - Although Comcast's profit and revenue growth was in line with expectations, the company lost 95,000 basic video subscribers in the second quarter -- a much bigger loss than the 20,000 forecast by Bear Stearns analyst Spencer Wang or the 12,000 estimated by Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.




Comcast usually loses some customers in the second quarter as university students terminate their contracts at the end of the school year, but analysts had expected that to be offset this quarter by subscriber gains elsewhere. Comcast had lost 91,000 basic video subscribers in the year-ago period.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Emerging-Market Bonds Fall to 9-Month Low as Investors Shun Riskier Assets

(Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market bonds slid, pushing
yields over U.S. Treasuries to the widest since October, as
investors reduced their holdings of riskier securities.

Developing nation debt has declined for five days as
growing losses in so-called collateralized debt obligations
backed by subprime mortgages triggers risk aversion. Argentine
and Venezuelan bonds, among the riskiest in emerging markets,
led losses.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

South Korea's Kospi Index Falls Most in Four Months; Lotte Shares Decline

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's Kospi index fell the
most in four months as investors judged excessive the rally that
this week drove the Kospi index above 2,000 for the first time.
Samsung Electronics Co. led the decline.

``Today's loss is because of profit-taking,'' said Kim Ki
Bong, who oversees $2 billion at CJ Asset Management Co. in
Seoul. ``Shares have become more volatile of late as people are
quicker to sell if the market turns down and buy more heavily
during the rallies.''


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Czech Koruna Trades Near 2 1/2-Month High After Bank Raises Interest Rates

(Bloomberg) -- The Czech koruna traded near a 2 1/2-
month high as the central bank raised its main interest rate by
quarter-point, as expected by economists.

The bank's seven-member board raised the 14-day repurchase
rate to 3 percent, still the European Union's lowest. The
increase was the second this year as the bank attempts to quell
accelerating inflation.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

US STOCKS-Futures tumble on oil, housing, credit worry

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 26 - U.S. stock futures slid on
Thursday, putting Wall Street on course to drop at the open, as
global equities fell on concerns over rising oil prices,
deterioration in housing and a worse climate for deal
financing.




S&P 500 futures were down 16.70 points, below fair
value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking
into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration
on the contract.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

AutoNation CEO says US housing to hurt auto sales

(Reuters) - "As best as we can tell, we see no indication it's going to
get any better this year," he added.




Jackson also said sales of pickup trucks, many of which are
bought by construction workers, will continue to be hurt by the
weak housing market. Pickups have traditionally been the most
profitable segment for automakers.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Shire Q2 earnings rise, ups 2007 revenue forecast

(Reuters) - Underlying earnings per American depositary share were 61.2
U.S. cents in the three months to June 30 on a 31 percent rise
in revenues to $575 million.




Forecasts ranged from 50 to 69 cents for earnings and from
$522 million to $565 million for revenues, according to a
Reuters poll of 11 and 8 analysts respectively.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

ICE posts higher quarterly profit

(Reuters) - Excluding charges, the company earned 85 cents per share.




Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-MarineMax 3rd-quarter profit falls

(Reuters) - The retailer said net income for its fiscal third quarter,
ended June 30, was $13.9 million, or 73 cents per share,
compared with $17.5 million, or 90 cents per share, a year
ago.




Excluding items the company said it earned 50 cents per
share.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 2-Ford swings to surprise second-qtr profit

(Reuters) - DETROIT, July 26 - Ford Motor Co on Thursday swung to a surprise second-quarter profit after seven quarters of losses on cost-cutting and a turnaround in its core automotive operations, pushing shares higher.



Ford, which is in the midst of a restructuring plan that includes closing 16 plants and cutting up to 45,000 jobs, posted a net profit of $750 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with a loss of $317 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-MBIA second-quarter earnings fall 4 pct

(Reuters) - Net income fell to $211.8 million, or $1.61 a share for the
second quarter from $221.4 million, or $1.62 a share, a year
earlier.




Operating profit rose to $1.57 per share from $1.50, MBIA
said.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Liberty Group sees stronger H1 earnings

(Reuters) - South African insurance and asset management group Liberty Group expects headline earnings per share for the six months to end-June to increase by up to 55 percent, the firm said on Thursday.

Liberty Group, South Africa's third-biggest life insurer which is 30 percent-owned by Standard Bank, said headline EPS and EPS are expected to be 45-55 percent higher than the corresponding period a year ago.


Read more at Reuters Africa

D.R. Horton posts quarterly loss after charges

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 26 - D.R. Horton Inc , the largest U.S. home builder, reported its first quarterly loss as a public company on Thursday after taking more than $1 billion of charges, chiefly related to the lower value of land and other assets.



For its fiscal third quarter, ended June 30, D.R. Horton posted a loss of $823.8 million, or $2.62 per share, versus a profit of $292.8 million, or 93 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

European shares extend losses, insurers weigh

(Reuters) - European shares extended their losses at midday on Thursday as gains in major oil company shares were offset by declines in insurance stocks such as Legal & General, while credit worries prevailed.

Royal Dutch Shell gained 2.3 percent after second-quarter profit jumped, while Legal & General dropped 6.3 percent after the size of a share buyback disappointed investors.


Read more at Reuters Africa

EU okays Roche's new anaemia drug Mircera

(Reuters) - ZURICH, July 26 - Swiss-based pharma firm Roche Holding AG said on Thursday the European Commission had approved its drug Mircera to treat anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease.



The potential blockbuster drug belongs to a class of medicines known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. They are used to boost red blood cells in anaemia patients to help avoid the need for blood transfusions.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPDATE 1-Suncor second-qtr profit hit by upgrader shutdown

(Reuters) - Suncor, which runs the country's second-largest oil sands
operation, earned C$641 million , or C$1.39 a
share, compared with a year-earlier C$1.22 billion, or C$2.65 a
share.




Excluding items, second-quarter earnings were C$510
million, or C$1.11 per share for the quarter, compared with
C$758 million, or C$1.65 per common share


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Newell Rubbermaid profit rises on cost savings

(Reuters) - Excluding special items, the maker of Sharpie markers,
Graco baby products and Rubbermaid storage containers reported
a profit of 55 cents a share.




Analysts had expected a profit of 52 cents a share,
according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

European Insurance Stocks Fall, Led by Legal & General; ABB Advances

(Bloomberg) -- European insurance stocks declined,
led by Legal & General Group Plc after the company said flood
claims hurt first-half profit.

Legal & General, Britain's third-biggest insurer, fell the most
in four years. ABB Ltd., the world's largest builder of electricity
networks, led gaining shares after reporting earnings that beat
analysts' estimates. Petroleum Geo-Services ASA jumped after the
world's third-biggest oilfield mapping service said profit more than
doubled.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sweden market committee to look at Nasdaq-OMX deal

(Reuters) - The committee, which includes former Riksbank Deputy
Governor Kerstin Hessius and the government's adviser on
privatisation, Karin Forseke, will look at possible effects on
market liquidity and the costs and competitive situation for
issuers, investors and other market actors.




It will also look at what would happen if the merger did not
go through, other possible combinations or partnerships for OMX
-- which owns and runs stock exchanges in Sweden, Finland,
Denmark, Iceland and the Baltic states -- and how a merger could
affect markets in the European Union.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Australian Dollar Holds Near 18-Year High on Bets Interest Rates Will Rise

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar traded close
to an 18-year high on bets the central bank will raise the
benchmark interest rate next month.

The currency also climbed the most in almost five months
against the New Zealand dollar after that country's central bank
signaled a rate increase today may be the last. Australia's
dollar has gained the most of the 16 most-active currencies this
month as a report yesterday showed inflation was faster than
expected.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News