If Soy Is Expensive, Why Does Goldman Say Nevermind?

(Bloomberg) - Selling soybeans at their highest prices in three decades and corn while it flirts with the 1996 peak is a money-losing trade, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG. Corn at $4.55 a bushel is ``cheap,'' Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank says.

Goldman Sachs in New York expects soybeans to rise 29 percent in 2008, the best investment in commodities. Investors who followed the banks' advice and bought raw materials last year profited as the Standard & Poor's GSCI Index advanced 33 percent, beating the 3.5 percent gain in the S&P 500 Index and the 9.1 percent return from U.S. Treasuries, according to data compiled by Merrill Lynch & Co.

Read more at Bloomberg

Treasuries Little Changed on Signs of Slowing Expansion, Decline in Stocks

(Bloomberg) -- Treasuries were little changed as
Asian stocks slid and speculation increased that losses tied to
subprime mortgages will prompt the Federal Reserve to cut
interest rates this year.

Ten-year notes may extend their gains into a fifth week
after reports showed employers added fewer jobs than expected
last month and bond investors are becoming less bearish.
Treasuries are on track to return 5.3 percent this year, the
most since 2002, according to a Merrill Lynch & Co. index.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bear, Lehman, Merrill, Goldman Traded as Junk, Credit-Default Swaps Show

(Bloomberg) -- On Wall Street, Bear Stearns Cos.,
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman
Sachs Group Inc., are as good as junk.

Bonds of U.S. investment banks lost about $1.5 billion of
their face value this month as the risk of owning the securities
increased the most since at least October 2004, according to
Merrill indexes. Prices of credit-default swaps based on the
debt imply that their credit ratings are below investment grade,
data compiled by Moody's Investors Service show.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Low expectations for CIT, GE subprime sales

(Reuters) - Analysts say GE and CIT Group Inc. probably will get
far less for their respective subprime franchises than those
sold less than a year ago. The value of subprime assets have
tanked amid a rising wave of delinquencies and defaults on
loans to people with weak credit.




In contrast, Cleveland, Ohio's National City Corp.
looks pretty smart for locking up a deal for its First Franklin
Financial subprime franchise. Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.
agreed in September to pay $1.3 billion for First Franklin.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Retailer Lululemon resets IPO at 18.2 mln shrs

(Reuters) - According to its filing with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, it still expects the shares to price
between $10 and $12 each.




Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are the lead underwriters
for the IPO by the Canadian company.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Futures hint at Wall St fall, inflation data due

(Reuters) - Among earnings reports due later on Tuesday are Merrill Lynch & Co. , SLM Corp. , U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo .




Year-to-date, financial stocks are the worst performers of the ten major S&P industry groups and the sole sector with losses for that period.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Gold near 5-week high, focus on dollar and oil

(Reuters) - Spot gold was quoted at $667.10/667.70 an ounce by 1008 GMT, against $667.00/667.80 late in New York on Thursday, when it rallied to as high as $669.05 as the dollar tumbled to a record low against the euro.




"Funds have been attracted into these markets because they are in an uptrend and that gives them an opportunity to make some money. They are making the markets more volatile," said Richard Davis, director of natural resources at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Dendreon, ENSCO, Noble, GlobalSantaFe, Innovo, Savient: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 9:30 a.m. New York time.

Oil-service companies: Merrill Lynch & Co. downgraded some
oil-service companies on concern that oil prices will fall and
producer demand will wane. Noble Corp. (NE US), GlobalSantaFe
Corp. (GSF US) and Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO US) were
cut to ``neutral'' from ``buy.'' Shares of Noble, the fourth-
largest U.S. oil and gas driller by market value, fell $1.64, or
1.6 percent, to $99.55. Shares of GlobalSantaFe Corp., the
world's second-largest offshore oil and gas driller, fell $1.67,
or 2.3 percent, to $72.16. Shares of Diamond, the world's third-
largest oil and natural-gas driller by market value, fell $1.84,
or 1.8 percent, to $103.49. ENSCO International Inc. (ESV US),
which was reduced to ``sell'' from ``buy,'' fell $1.63, or 2.6
percent, to $61.66.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

BHP seeks partner for Alcoa bid: paper

(Reuters) - Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last month that BHP had appointed investment bank Merrill Lynch to work on a possible bid for Canada's Alcan Inc , which is the subject of a $28.7 billion hostile bid from Alcoa.




The Times said Alcoa was BHP's preferred target, but it was unwilling to pay a premium for assets that it does not want to retain and so wanted to team up with a bid partner.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. Treasury Notes Decline; Gains in U.S. Stocks Ease Demand for Safety

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. 10-year Treasury notes fell as
the Dow Jones Industrial Average's biggest gain in almost three
weeks reduced demand for the relative safety of government debt.

Bonds snapped a two-day rally after the Nasdaq Composite
Index of shares closed at the highest in six years, overcoming
concern spurred by terrorist plots in the U.K. last weekend. The
yield spread on U.S. corporate bonds yesterday widened to 1.01
percentage points more than Treasury securities, the most in two
years, Merrill Lynch & Co. data show, as bond investors shunned
riskier corporate debt.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

EEOC sues Merrill over alleged discrimination

(Reuters) - By Paritosh Bansal



NEW YORK, June 26 - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Merrill Lynch over the alleged discrimination of a former employee because of his Iranian origin and Muslim faith, according to a court filing on Tuesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Bear Stearns May Assume $3.2 Billion of Loans to Hedge Fund, People Say

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos. may take over about
$3.2 billion of loans that banks and securities firms made to one
of its money-losing hedge funds to prevent creditors from seizing
more assets, according to people with knowledge of the plan.

Bear Stearns, the biggest broker to hedge funds, offered to
assume the loans after Merrill Lynch & Co. took assets that
backed $850 million in credit lines, said the people, who
declined to be named because the proposal is confidential. Lehman
Brothers Holdings Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also put some of
their collateral up for sale.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

JPMorgan cancels Bear fund asset auction: source

(Reuters) - Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase and others had put some of the Bear Stearns assets up for sale, but JPMorgan Chase has canceled its auction and is negotiating instead, the source said.







Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Bear CDO lists total at least $1.44 bln - sources

(Reuters) - The lists, circulated by JPMorgan Securities and Morgan
Stanley, include CDOs managed by Tricadia Capital, Strategos
Capital Management and Bear Stearns Asset Management.




Wall Street dealers are participating in sales of the
securities from the Bear Stearns hedge funds that endured
double-digit losses in April, based on subprime mortgage
market bets. Merrill Lynch & Co. has seized $800 million of
assets from the funds with plans to sell them today after a
failed recapitalization, sources familiar with the situation
said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Merrill seizes $800 million Bear hedge fund assets

(Reuters) - Merrill Lynch declined to comment. Bear Stearns was not
immediately available for comment.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Merrill delays selling Bear Stearns assets - CNBC

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 18 - Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. plans to delay selling off some $400 million of assets seized from a hedge fund managed by Bear Stearns, CNBC said on Monday.



Merrill is delaying selling the assets until it hears the troubled hedge fund's plan to recapitalize, the network reported. Merrill and Bear are expected to discuss the plan on Monday or Tuesday, CNBC said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

JetBlue reviews growth plan for second time

(Reuters) - Dave Barger, who took over for David Neeleman a month ago, told a Merrill Lynch conference that he would have a clearer picture in about 60 days on where the airline's growth is headed.



Barger did not rule out the sale of more aircraft. He also said all options are being considered to improve revenues in key markets, but that the carrier had no plans to introduce first-class seating.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Investors Become Bearish on Banks, Insurers as Rates Climb, Merrill Says

(Bloomberg) -- Investors turned the most bearish on
bank and insurance stocks in more than a year this month as
expectations for higher interest rates reached an 11-month high,
a Merrill Lynch & Co. survey showed.

Money managers' preference for energy and industrial stocks
jumped as optimism for global economic growth touched the
highest since December 2005, according to 201 respondents who
together manage $689 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Treasuries May Fall as Traders Reduce Bets on Fed Interest-Rate Cut

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasuries may drop, pushing
yields to near the highest since August, as investors reduce
bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.

Traders have lowered the odds of a quarter-percentage-point
cut in the Fed's benchmark lending rate by year-end to 28
percent from 31 percent a week ago, helping push bond yields
higher. Merrill Lynch & Co. yesterday said it expects the Fed to
keep rates on hold for the rest of the year, dropping its
earlier forecast of three rate reductions.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Man Group's MF Global unit files for $1 bln IPO

(Reuters) - Citigroup, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch & Co.
and UBS Investment Bank are underwriting the IPO, and the
company has applied to list its shares on the New York Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol "MF," it said.





Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News