Australia & New Zealand
Financial News
BHP Settles Rio Bid Evidence Dispute With South Africa's Antitrust Agency BHP Billiton Ltd. has reached a settlement with the Competition Commission, South Africa's antitrust regulator, relating to a summons for information concerning the company's hostile bid for Rio Tinto Group.
New Zealand Oil & Gas Full-Year Profit Surges 14-Fold on Tui Field Output New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd., the country's biggest publicly traded explorer, said full-year profit jumped 14-fold on production from an offshore field.
Crude Oil Falls After IEA Says It May Release Stockpiles If Gustav Strikes Crude oil fell more than $2 a barrel after the International Energy Agency said it would tap strategic stockpiles if Tropical Storm Gustav disrupts energy production in the Gulf of Mexico.
Wheat Falls For Fifth Day on Tumble in U.S. Export Sales, Harvest Forecast Wheat fell for the fifth straight session on signs that demand for supplies from the U.S., the world's largest exporter of the grain, has waned after the price rallied in the first three weeks of August.
HCF Wins Support for $221 Million Manchester Unity Offer, Australian Says HCF, Australia's third largest health insurance fund, has won board support for its A$256 million ($221 million) takeover offer for Manchester Unity Australia, the Australian newspaper reported.
Danone Seeks Buyers, Including CC-Amatil, for N.Z. Drinks, Review Reports Groupe Danone SA has appointed JPMorgan to advise on the sale of its New Zealand drink brands including energy drink V and Just Juice, the National Business Review reported, without saying where it go the information.
AMP First-Half Profit Falls as Investors Exit Managed Funds, Stocks Slump AMP Ltd., Australia's biggest provider of pension plans, said first-half profit declined 22 percent as investors shunned managed funds and markets slumped.
Origin Energy, BG Takeover Target, Predicts Slower Full-Year Profit Growth Origin Energy Ltd., Australia's biggest producer of gas from coal seams, forecast slower profit growth in the coming year as it fights a A$13.7 billion ($12 billion) hostile takeover bid from BG Group Plc.
Worldwide
Financial News
Dell Second-Quarter Profit Falls Short of Analysts' Estimates; Shares Drop Dell Inc., the world's second-largest personal-computer maker, posted a profit that trailed analysts' projections and said a slowdown in technology spending is expanding into Europe and Asia.
Stocks in U.S. Climb as GDP Revision Signals Economy Is Growing; AIG Rises U.S. stocks climbed the most in three weeks, led by manufacturers and financial companies, after growth in exports helped the economy expand faster than estimated in the second quarter.
U.S. Economy Grew Faster Than Estimated in Second Quarter on Export Gains The U.S. economy expanded faster than previously estimated in the second quarter, helped by a surge in exports that will probably wane as Europe and Japan head toward recessions.
Lehman May Eliminate as Many as 1,000 Jobs, Fourth Round of Cuts This Year Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the investment bank that's trying to shed mortgage assets and raise capital, is poised to eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in the fourth round of cuts at the firm this year, people familiar with the matter said.
Muni Bonds Gain as Bush Tax Cuts Expire in Shift to 40% Wealthiest Bracket Wall Street has some election-year advice for its customers: load up on municipal bonds because income taxes for the wealthy are bound to rise.
Boeing Offers 38% Pay Increase to Machinists in Final Bid to Avoid Strike Boeing Co. gave its largest union a final contract offer that would increase pay and benefits by $34,000, or 38 percent, on average over three years in an effort to avoid a strike next week.
Comcast Sets Threshold for `Excessive' Internet Use, May Warn Heavy Users Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable operator, said subscribers whose use of the Internet exceeds 250 gigabytes of data a month may get a warning call and could lose their service.