Buyout `Freeze' Shuts Wall Street Pipeline; $1.3 Billion of Fees Dries Up

(Bloomberg) -- While investment bankers feasted on an
unprecedented $8.4 billion of fees for arranging leveraged
buyouts in the first half, the rest of the year may prove to be a
famine.

``It's impossible to conclude that it's not going to be a
tougher time for Wall Street,'' said Steven Rattner, co-founder
of New York-based buyout firm Quadrangle Group and former vice
chairman of Lazard Freres & Co. ``There's going to be an impact
on revenues and profits.''


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ACA Capital shares could fall on subprime: Barron's

(Reuters) - Should the U.S. subprime troubles prove to be systemic across different geographies, then not only would shares be hammered, but the company could be toast, Barron's said.




If ACA buckles under, Wall Street firms whose securities the company insured would also be hurt. The $61 billion of ACA's insured exposure would come cascading back to balance sheets of the likes of Bear Stearns , Merrill Lynch , Lehman Brothers , and Citigroup along with some 25 other Wall Street counterparties, Barron's said.


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Avon quarterly profit falls on costs

(Reuters) - The world's largest direct seller of cosmetics said net income fell to $113 million, or 26 cents a share, from $151 million, or 33 cents a share, in the year-ago period.




Income included pretax costs of about $82 million on restructuring and revamping its products. Excluding the charges, the company earned 38 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates, missing Wall Street's forecast of 42 cents.


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UPDATE 2-News Corp, Dow Jones deal expected Tuesday-source

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 31 - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
is likely to secure a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co. Inc.
on Tuesday after drawing the support of a sufficient
number of votes held by the company's controlling family,
according to The Wall Street Journal.




The two sides are expected to reach a definitive agreement
by Tuesday evening, capping Murdoch's three-month pursuit of
the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, a source familiar
with the matter said.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Profit optimism lifts Wall St gloom

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 30 - U.S. stocks rose in choppy
trade on Monday after Wall Street's worst week in nearly five
years as optimism about the earnings outlook offset concerns
about the deteriorating credit market.




Expectations for quarterly earnings growth by Standard &
Poor's 500 companies were raised to 6.8 percent compared with
the year-ago period from 6.0 percent expected one week earlier,
according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

U.S. Stocks Rebound on Upgrades; KB Home, Nordstrom, Terex Shares Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rebounded, pacing a
global advance, after Wall Street brokerages told investors to
buy shares that fell during last week's $2.1 trillion global
sell-off.

KB Home led homebuilders higher after Citi Investment
Resarch raised the shares to ``buy.'' Nordstrom Inc. posted its
steepest gain since August on a Goldman, Sachs & Co. upgrade.
Terex Corp., the maker of trucks and cranes, surged the most in
three weeks and led the Standard & Poor's 500 Index higher
after Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised clients to buy the shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 4-RadioShack posts profit but sales weaken

(Reuters) - ATLANTA, July 30 - RadioShack Corp. reported a second-quarter profit on Monday on cost cutting, but sales missed Wall Street estimates, sending shares of the consumer electronics retailer tumbling 13 percent.



"The sales performance continues to be weak," said Tiffany Co, a director in the retail group with Fitch Ratings. She said declining sales would eventually cut into earnings.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

US STOCKS-Credit worries drag on stocks, offset profit view

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 30 - U.S. stocks traded little
changed in erratic trading on Monday after Wall Street's worst
week in nearly five years as concerns about the deteriorating
credit market countered optimism about the earnings outlook.




Tightening lending standards threatened to slow or halt the
heavy pace of corporate buyouts, including several major deals
by private equity firms, which have fueled a rally in stocks.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Investors take break from credit worries

(Reuters) - Signs of the recent bout of risk aversion, however, were not
far away. MSCI's main world stock index was 6
percent off its all-time high just 10 days ago and Wall Street
volatility was at highs not seen since April 2003.




"Clearly credit worries are still very much at the fore of
investors' minds," said Nick Stamenkovic, bond strategist at RIA
Capital Markets.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US economic growth rebounds in second quarter

(Reuters) - U.S. economic growth rebounded during the second quarter to its strongest pace since the beginning of last year on a surge in business investment, more government spending and a better trade performance, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

Gross domestic product that measures total output within U.S. borders gained at a 3.4 percent annual rate -- the fastest since 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2006 -- after barely growing at a downwardly revised 0.6 percent pace in the first quarter. Second-quarter growth exceeded Wall Street economists' forecasts for a 3.2 percent rate of increase.


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US stock indexes flat after GDP, Treasury's Paulson

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday, erasing small gains in a skittish session after a government report that showed a stronger-than-expected pace of economic growth in the second quarter.

Comments by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson briefly lent some support, but the underlying tone on Wall Street remained nervous, a day after equities suffered their second worst decline of the year.


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WRAPUP 1-U.S. economic growth rebounds in second quarter

(Reuters) - Gross domestic product that measures total output within
U.S. borders gained at a 3.4 percent annual rate -- the fastest
since 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2006 -- after barely
growing at a downwardly revised 0.6 percent pace in the first
quarter. Previously the government had reported that
first-quarter growth was at a 0.7 percent rate.




Second-quarter growth exceeded Wall Street economists'
forecasts for a 3.2 percent rate of increase and showed the
business sector picking up some of the slack left by consumers
who cut back on their spending.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Fortune Brands CEO bullish on Absolut acquisition

(Reuters) - Wesley also said some Wall Street analysts were
underestimating Fortune's ability to create shareholder value
through an acquisition, saying he did not see the 50 cent per
share to $1 per share dilutive impact to earnings that some
analysts have estimated.





Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns Bond Risk Surges, Credit Default Swaps Show

(Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning bonds of Wall Street
firms soared as concerns escalated that investment banks will be
hurt by losses from subprime mortgages and corporate debt.

Credit-default swaps on $10 million of Goldman Sachs Group
Inc. bonds jumped as much as $18,000 to a record $85,000,
according to broker Phoenix Partners Group in New York. Bear
Stearns Cos. credit swaps surged as much as $29,000 to $110,000,
also a new high. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. climbed as much as
$24,000 to $104,000.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

TREASURIES-Bonds retreat in face of strong stock outlook

(Reuters) - S&P 500 and other stock index futures pointed to a
strong opening on Wall Street, luring money away from
safe-haven bonds. Also, the government will auction two-year
notes later in the session, and the fresh supply could press
bond prices lower.




The main potential positive for Treasuries appeard to be
the existing home sales data that is due at 10 a.m. .
This has the potential to limit the bond market's losses if it
heightens worries about the troubled housing sector, which
punished stocks and lifted Treasuries on Tuesday.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, dollar stabilise after battering

(Reuters) - Credit spreads narrowed after blowing out earlier this week
on troubles at the U.S. high-risk subprime mortgage sector. U.S.
stock futures pointed to a firmer open on Wall Street a day
after posting their worst one-day performance since March.




The FTSEurofirst 300 index turned slightly into
positive territory after hitting a one-month low. U.S. stock
futures also rose after Web retailer Amazon.com
reported strong profit and raised its outlook.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

UPDATE 1-U.S. Steel quarterly profit falls 25 percent

(Reuters) - Net earnings were $302 million, or $2.54 per share, down
from $404 million, or $3.22 per share, a year earlier.




The results beat the average Wall Street profit forecast of
$2.35 a share, according to Reuters Estimates. Analysts lowered
their forecasts in April after U.S. Steel issued an earnings
warning.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

UPS profit up despite softer US market

(Reuters) - Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected earnings per share of $1.03, according to Reuters Estimates.




The Atlanta-based company reported revenue for the quarter of $12.19 billion, up from $11.74 billion in the same quarter in 2006.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

CORRECTED: Merck shares jump on strong profit, raised forecast

(Reuters) - NEW YORK - Drugmakers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. reported second-quarter results that handily topped Wall Street expectations on Monday, helped by increased sales of the cholesterol-lowering drugs they co-market and other medicines.




Merck, whose results were also spurred by soaring vaccine sales, really gave investors something to cheer about when it boosted its 2007 earnings forecast 25 cents per share and significantly raised the outlook for sales of several of its drugs, sending its stock up more than 8 percent.


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Caterpillar, Google, Intuitive Surgical, Kinetic, Pall: 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 10:10 a.m. New York time.

American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. (AHM US) rose 58
cents, or 5.4 percent, to $11.34. Shares of American Home, which
specializes in adjustable rate mortgages, plunged yesterday on
speculation its credit facilities might be pulled. Analysts at
JMP Securities and RBC Capital Markets said the company is not in
danger of losing its credit lines from Wall Street firms.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News