Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Yahoo! News: Health News

Yahoo! News: Health News


Wall Street flat on euro zone worries, weak consumer sentiment

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:48 AM PDT

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was little changed on Tuesday as a sharp rise in Spanish borrowing costs and weak U.S. consumer data kept investors away from risky assets ahead of the European leaders' summit later in the week. Spain's short-term borrowing costs nearly tripled at auction when the country sold 3.08 billion euros of its short-term debt, as the Treasury paid the highest rates to sell the paper since November. Trading is expected to be volatile ahead of a two-day summit of European Union leaders that begins Thursday. ...


Home prices up again, but consumers less confident

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:09 AM PDT

A home under construction is for sale in VirginiaNEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices picked up in April for the third month in a row, the latest indication a recovery in the housing market is gaining traction. But in a sign of the struggles still facing the broader economy, separate data on Tuesday showed consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in five months in June as Americans' expectations on the economy soured. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent gain. Compared to a year ago, home prices fell 1. ...


Roche cuts 1,000 U.S. jobs by closing NJ plant

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:39 AM PDT

Logo of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche is pictured in RotkreuzZURICH (Reuters) - Roche said it plans to cut 1,000 jobs by closing a Nutley, NJ-based plant, an attempt to clamp down on its drug development costs. "The overall number of programs in clinical development has grown substantially," Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan said in a statement on Tuesday. "The planned consolidation of our research and early development organization and the refocusing of research and development activities in Switzerland and Germany will free up resources that we can invest in these promising clinical programs while also increasing our overall efficiency," he said. ...


Euro zone Big Four confer after fifth state seeks aid

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 05:45 AM PDT

(From L) Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy, French President Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Monti and German Chancellor Merkel attend a meeting in RomePARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Finance chiefs of the euro zone's four biggest economies will hold last-minute talks in Paris on Tuesday evening to try to narrow differences on the currency area's future after Cyprus became the fifth country to request a bailout. Ministers from Germany, France, Italy and Spain will discuss how to manage the crisis in the short term and proposals for closer long-term fiscal and banking integration to prepare for a European Union summit starting on Thursday. ...


BMO says to build presence in U.S. Midwest

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:30 AM PDT

A Bank of Montreal sign is pictured in downtown Ottawa(Reuters) - Bank of Montreal plans to build on its 2011 acquisition of Wisconsin lender Marshall & Ilsley in five key markets in the U.S. Midwest, and said the 2011 acquisition will yield more cost savings than previously thought. Speaking at an investor presentation in Chicago, bank officials said the $4.1 billion deal should yield savings of more than $400 million. Previously the bank said savings would top $300 million. BMO, which doubled the branch count of its U.S. Harris Bank unit with the acquisition, also reiterated its medium-term goal of profit of more than $1 billion from its U.S. ...


Exclusive: Tycoon nears deal for Drydocks' South Asia operations: sources

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:32 AM PDT

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A company linked to Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok is close to a deal to buy a majority stake in the Southeast Asia operation of Dubai shipbuilder Drydocks World, two sources said on Tuesday. Drydocks, the shipbuilding and repair arm of Dubai World that is restructuring $2.2 billion of debt, sought insolvency protection in April. It is scheduled to announce a "global strategic alliance agreement" in Dubai on Wednesday. ...

Murdoch's News Corp considering splitting in two

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:40 AM PDT

The News Corporation building in New York(Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said it was considering splitting into two publicly traded companies, and sources familiar with the matter said publishing would be separated from entertainment. The news sent News Corp shares up by nearly 7 percent in morning trading on Nasdaq. Shareholders have been pushing for some time for a spin-off of the slower-growth publishing division after a phone hacking scandal hit the company's British newspapers. The scandal sent shockwaves through the group and forced News Corp to drop its biggest-ever acquisition of the pay-TV group BSkyB. ...


S&P says U.S. faces 20-percent risk of double dip

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:31 AM PDT

Traders stand outside the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States faces 20-percent odds of a return to recession, rating agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday, although it said a slow recovery remains the company's baseline forecast for the world's biggest economy. "But the risk of another downward leg on the recession remains real," the agency said in a statement. While S&P said it could be underestimating American consumers, years of stagnation, as Japan has seen, could also occur. "There are differences between Japan's situation and the current one in the U.S. ...


Euro market lockdown feeds bank dependence on ECB

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 05:40 AM PDT

The Euro sculpture is pictured in front of the ECB headquarters in FrankfurtFRANKFURT (Reuters) - Banks' demand for European Central Bank funding surged on Tuesday to 180 billion euros, well above expectations, more than four times the demand just a month ago and the latest evidence of a growing crisis-driven dependence on ECB funding. The euro zone's problems have choked off bank-to-bank lending. Only the safest banks in core parts of the bloc are still able to borrow on the open markets, leaving those in Spain, Italy and other countries with outsized debt burdens increasingly reliant on the ECB for their funding. ...


Bank bailout to spark firesale of corporate Spain

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 04:10 AM PDT

People protest at the entrance of Caixabank's extraordinary general shareholders meeting in BarcelonaMADRID (Reuters) - The European bailout for Spain's banks will push them to sell an empire of stakes in the nation's top companies, ending a cozy culture of corporate-banking links and prompting a wider shake-up in ownership of the company landscape. Spain formally requested euro zone rescue loans to recapitalize debt-laden former savings banks on Monday, but those who receive funds will be subject to European Union state-aid rules that include selling equity assets. ...


Research firm executive arrested on insider trading charges: FBI

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:36 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Law enforcement authorities said on Tuesday they arrested and charged an executive at an investment research firm as part of the government's wide-ranging probe of insider trading at the now-defunct Galleon Group hedge fund. Tai Nguyen of research firm Insight Research LLC surrendered to the FBI Tuesday morning, an FBI spokesman said, and was expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan later in the day. Nguyen was facing charges related to insider trading, the FBI said, but the exact charges have not yet been made public. ...

Britain extends credit-easing scheme to big firms

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:10 AM PDT

A man walks through the financial district in the City of LondonLONDON (Reuters) - Britain is to expand its credit-easing scheme for small businesses to include larger firms and will also give banks more options to access state-guaranteed funds to boost take-up, finance minister George Osborne said on Tuesday. The move comes as the government faces growing calls to stimulate Britain's flagging economy, which is suffering its second recession in four years. Policymakers have highlighted a lack of credit as a major obstacle to Britain's recovery. ...


BP investigates fatal Colorado natgas blast

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:59 AM PDT

A BP logo is seen on a petrol station in London(Reuters) - BP is investigating the cause of an explosion at a natural gas compressor station in western Colorado on Monday that killed one worker and injured two others, the company said on Tuesday. The incident occurred during maintenance on a pipeline at BP's Pinon compressor station near Bayfield, a small gathering hub for production from the company's San Juan basin, BP said in a statement. The station, which handles about 30 million cubic feet of gas per day, a tiny fraction of U.S. daily supply, has been shut and BP was unable to give a timeline for its restart. ...


Ford sees U.S. sales pace in June of high 13 millions

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:25 AM PDT

Louisville Assembly Plant employees work to assemble new 2013 Ford Escape on the production line at the company's newly transformed Louisville Assembly Plant in LouisvilleDEARBORN, Mich (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co sees the U.S. sales pace of new cars and trucks in June largely in the same range as in May as the outlook for the economy remains mixed, a top executive said on Tuesday. Ford North American President Mark Fields told reporters at a company event that the No. 2 U.S. automaker expects the rate for light-vehicle sales in June on an annual basis to finish in the high-13 million range. The U.S. sales rate in May was 13.8 million vehicles. Fields said the outlook for the U.S. ...


Number of U.S. businesses fell in 2010: Census Bureau

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:13 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. businesses with paid employees fell for a third straight year in 2010, but the rate of decrease slowed, the Census Bureau said on Tuesday. U.S. businesses numbered 7.4 million in 2010, down by 36,800 from the previous year. The decline between 2008 and 2009 was 168,000 establishments, according to the bureau's "County Business Patterns: 2010" report. Total employment was 112 million in 2010, a decline of 2.5 million workers. The drop from 2008 to 2009, at the height of the U.S. recession, was 6.4 million employees. ...

Coke to boost India investment by $3 billion

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 05:55 AM PDT

Bottles of Coca Cola are seen in a store display in New YorkNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co announced a further $3 billion in investment in India over the next eight years on Tuesday as the world's biggest soft drinks maker seeks to expand in a country where its flagship brand trails rival Pepsi. The investment by Coca-Cola and its bottlers, on top of a $2 billion five-year plan announced in November, will hearten Indian officials who are trying to restore investor confidence after growth fell to a nine-year low in the first quarter. ...


Delta sees Q2 unit revenue rise, fuel hedge loss

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:01 AM PDT

A Delta plane sits on a runway prior to takeoff at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York(Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc said a key revenue measure should rise in the second quarter, but it will record fuel hedge losses due to declining oil prices as well as staff cut charges. The carrier said in a federal filing on Tuesday that passenger revenue per available seat mile, a widely watched metric called unit revenue, would be aided by business travel and its flight expansion in the New York market. Delta said it expects an operating margin of 8 percent to 10 percent for the period, compared with 6.9 percent a year earlier. ...


Consumer confidence down for fourth month

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:07 AM PDT

File photo of shopper walking down aisle in newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market in ChicagoNEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer confidence fell for the fourth straight month to its lowest level since January, and the consumer expectations index was at its lowest level since November, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 62.0 from a downwardly revised 64.4 the month before. Economists had expected a reading of 63.5, according to a Reuters poll. May was originally reported as 64.9. ...


Goldman adds JPMorgan to conviction buy list

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 04:42 AM PDT

The JP Morgan Chase & Co. headquarters is pictured in New York(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs added JPMorgan Chase & Co to its America's conviction buy list, saying the U.S. bank's capital position and earnings power can offset its recent hedging loss of at least $2 billion. Goldman downgraded Morgan Stanley to "neutral" from "buy," and removed the stock from its conviction buy list, saying earnings could be hurt by muted capital markets activity. While Goldman sees value in Morgan Stanley's shares at current depressed levels, it expects better returns at JPMorgan. The 15 percent decline in JPMorgan share price since the largest U.S. ...


Insight: Vodafone in new 1-billion-pound UK tax "scandal"

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 04:43 AM PDT

A customer walks past the Vodafone logo in a shopping mall in PragueLONDON (Reuters) - The world's largest mobile phone company, Vodafone Group, has shaved 1 billion pounds, and possibly more, off the taxes its UK operating unit might have paid in the past decade, thanks to accounting factors not seen at other European units. A Reuters examination of statutory filings made by Vodafone across Europe over the past 16 years shows the UK taxman has often gone empty handed, while tax authorities in Germany, Spain and elsewhere have raked in billions of euros. ...


London Metal Exchange CEO expects bid vote approval

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:01 AM PDT

LME Chief Executive Martin Abbott attends the 7th World Copper Conference in SantiagoLONDON (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange's (LME) chief executive is confident that its shareholders, with some persuasion, will approve a $2.2 billion offer by the Hong Kong stock exchange for the world's biggest marketplace for industrial metals. "I think we will (get shareholder approval)," Martin Abbott said on the sidelines of the IDX International Derivatives Expo in London. "It's a board recommendation and we wouldn't have recommended something we weren't confident about. But it doesn't mean it's a done deal. We have to get out there and talk to shareholders. ...


Insight: A land owner caught between energy giants

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 04:01 AM PDT

Farmer Walter Zarembe stands in one of his wheat fields in Antrim County, Warner Township, MichiganGAYLORD, Michigan (Reuters) - A Michigan land owner who alleges he was jilted by two of North America's largest energy companies says emails made public Monday by Reuters prove that the two companies colluded to kill deals that could have earned him more than $54 million. Walter Zaremba, who is locked in litigation with Encana Corp, Canada's largest natural gas producer, said he has long suspected that Encana and Chesapeake Energy Corp had been working together, which would be a possible violation of state and federal antitrust laws. ...


SBA Communications to buy tower sites for $1.45 billion

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:24 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Cellphone tower operator SBA Communications Corp will buy 3,252 tower sites in the United States and Puerto Rico from privately held TowerCo for about $1.45 billion to take advantage of explosive growth in data traffic from users of mobile devices such as Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad. SBA, which has a market value of $6.64 billion, is the smallest of the three major U.S. tower companies but it is growing quickly as competition among existing participants is limited and entry barriers are high. The purchase, for $1.2 billion in cash and 4. ...

EU regulators approve Robert Bosch buy of SPX unit

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 03:08 AM PDT

View of the entrance of German automotive parts manufacturer Robert Bosch Belgian plant in TienenBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH gained EU approval on Tuesday to purchase the car service business of U.S. manufacturer SPX Corp for $1.15 billion. SPX is selling the unit to focus on its fast-growing flow technology business. The acquisition will boost world No. 1 car parts maker Bosch's presence in the North American diagnostics business. The European Commission, which acts as competition regulator in the European Union, said it did not see any major competition concerns as a result of the deal, confirming a Reuters report on Monday. ...


Coca-Cola plans to invest $5 billion in India by 2020

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 02:03 AM PDT

Bottles of Coca Cola are seen in a store display in New YorkNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co , the world's largest soft-drinks maker, plans to invest $5 billion in India by 2020, Chairman Muhtar Kent said in the Indian capital on Tuesday. Last November, the company had said it plans to invest $2 billion in India over the next five years to expand its non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink business in India. (Reporting by Anurag Kotoky)


Investors bet consumer stocks to follow Danone down

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 04:23 AM PDT

PARIS (Reuters) - Investors are betting European consumer-related stocks will fall further after a profit warning from food group Danone signaled a bigger-than-feared slide in spending in recession-plagued southern Europe. Shares of companies such as Carrefour, Heineken and Pernod Ricard, which have a significant exposure to the euro zone, are in the crosshairs of short sellers, who expect a wave of profit warnings before the second-quarter earnings season. ...

Cheaper coffee helps Egberts take on Kraft

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 03:07 AM PDT

Steam rises from a mug bearing the Cadbury logo in this photo illustration taken in PitlochryLONDON/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Cheaper arabica beans and ambitious goals have given Dutch group D.E. Master Blenders 1753 , maker of Douwe Egberts, a lift as it tries to overtake rival Kraft to become the second largest player in the coffee world. It has the freedom and war chest to take on Kraft and emulate world No 1 Nestle as it invests in its one-cup Senseo system, looks to expand outside Western Europe and perk up instant coffee output. The hidden giant of the global $58 billion coffee market is flexing its muscles after being buried as part of the U.S. conglomerate Sara Lee for 34 years. ...


EU summit doubts keep euro near 2-week low

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 05:07 AM PDT

Tokyo Stock Exchange employees monitor the market at the bourse in TokyoLONDON (Reuters) - Doubts that EU leaders can agree any effective action on the euro crisis at a summit this week kept the currency languishing close to a two-week low against the dollar on Tuesday and contributed to a near tripling of Spain's short-term borrowing costs. Equity markets, however, staged fragile recoveries from Monday's sharp selloff with Europe's broad STOXX 600 index gaining 0.1 percent and U.S. stock futures pointing to a rise on Wall Street. ...


Lennar in China Devt Bank talks for $1.7 billion capital: WSJ

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 12:08 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Lennar Corp , the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, is in talks with China Development Bank about raising $1.7 billion capital, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. Miami-based Lennar, the largest U.S. homebuilder behind D.R. Horton and PulteGroup Inc , plans to use the capital to kick-start two long-delayed projects - Treasure Island and Hunters Point Shipyard - in San Francisco, the daily said. The projects would see the two former naval bases turned into large-scale housing developments. ...

Nomura downgrades top three Greek banks

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 12:06 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Nomura cut its earnings outlook for Greek banks as financial institutions face sovereign concerns, growth challenges and higher loan-loss charges, and downgraded its rating on the country's three largest lenders. Nomura reduced its rating on National Bank of Greece SA and Eurobank to "reduce" from "neutral," while it cut Alpha Bank SA to "neutral" from "buy." The brokerage expects the banks to face a potential capital shortfall of 22 billion euro to 24 billion euro for this year and the next. ...

US gasoline prices cheapest since January

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:45 AM PDT

The price of gasoline has dropped to the lowest level in five months, giving drivers some relief ahead of the July 4 holiday.

News Corp. confirms it's considering split in 2

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:40 AM PDT

Under pressure to limit contagion from the British phone hacking scandal, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said Tuesday that it is considering splitting into two publicly traded companies.

FTC sues Wyndham over credit card breaches

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:30 AM PDT

The U.S. government has sued Wyndham Worldwide Corp. over allegations that it failed to protect consumers' credit card data.

Turkey, Azerbaijan sign gas pipeline deal

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:21 AM PDT

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the lawmakers of his Justice and Development Party at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. " Any Syrian military element that approaches Turkish border will be regarded as threat " Erdogan said four days after a Turkish warplane was shot down by Syria.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)Turkey and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement to build a pipeline to transport Azeri gas to Europe through Turkey.


Feds: For-profits could lose federal student aid

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:20 AM PDT

Former students in career-training programs at dozens of for-profit institutions have had so much trouble paying off their loans that the schools could lose access to federal student aid if they don't improve, new data from the U.S. Department of Education finds.

Federal court upholds EPA's global warming rules

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the first-ever regulations aimed at reducing the gases blamed for global warming.

Stocks waver on Wall Street in midday trade

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:13 AM PDT

Specialist Christopher Trotta works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 25, 2012. Wall Street was poised for a muted open Tuesday June 26, 2012, with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Major stock indexes drifted between slight gains and losses in midday trading Tuesday, following steep losses the day before. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. surged after the media conglomerate said it may split into two companies.


Leaders weigh urgent steps as Europe summit nears

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:09 AM PDT

European leaders are reaching for bold solutions to end a 2-year-old debt crisis that's spread economic misery across Europe, raised doubts about the future of the euro currency, rattled investors and threatened global growth.

Consumer confidence slipped in June

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:59 AM PDT

FILE-In this June 13, 2012 file photo, job seekers have their resumes reviewed at a job fair expo in Anaheim, Calif.Consumer confidence fell in June for the fourth month in a row as some Americans worry about slow hiring, low home values, the stock market and a worsening European economy that some fear will hurt the U.S. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Gilr)Americans can't seem to shake their uneasy feeling about the economy.


European plan tries to convince Germany to do more

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 08:57 AM PDT

The Reichstag building, house of German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. German parliament will vote on the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, and the EU fiscal compact on Friday, June 29. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)Top European officials have called on countries that use the euro to surrender more control over their national budgets, a move apparently aimed at easing Germany's fears of sharing debt burdens with struggling governments like Spain or Italy.


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