MAJOR PAPERS:

• In a potential breakthrough for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodaphone Group's (NYSE: VOD) Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) are both in talks about Google's new mobile phone operating system, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Congress approved a seven year extension of ban on Internet tax, voting 402-0, and President Bush is expected to sign the bill, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Stan O'Neal may be gone, but the SEC's enforcement staff is now looking at how Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) informed investors about its $8.4B write-down that forced O'Neal out, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• CLP Holdings (OTC: CLPHY), Hong Kong's largest power company, is planning to bid for electricity assets in Australia, India, Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

• The Star reported that life insurance company Manulife Financial Corporation (NYSE: MFC) is open to making acquisitions in Malaysia if suitable opportunities in the country arise, according to Manulife's senior executive vice-president and general manager for Asia, Robert A. Cook.
• The U.K. Times reported that British Airways' (OTC: BAIRY) plans to create a new airline offering flights between Europe and New York have been thrown into disarray after the Federal Aviation Administration threatened to block any increase of air traffic into New York's chronically congested JFK Airport.

Newspaper wrap-up: Google in talks with Verizon Wireless and Sprint originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is in talks to acquire Navteq, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Acxiom Corporation's (NASDAQ: ACXM) private-equity suitors are negotiating to break off the $2.25B buyout, according to people familiar with the situation.
• United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract with the Teamsters union that lets UPS withdraw from the union's pension fund, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that the deal to transfer General Motors Corporation's (NYSE: GM) healthcare obligations to a union-managed trust could make the United Autoworkers union GM's largest shareholder.

• British energy giant BP (NYSE: BP) is searching for a new chairman, hiring a headhunting firm to search for a replacement for the current chairman, Peter Sutherland, reported the U.K. Times.

Newspaper wrap-up: Acxiom deal may be off originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• After less than a year in office, Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, resigned, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• With its sights set on Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM), Volkswagen AG (OTC: VLKAY) CEO Stefan Jacoby says he'll nearly triple sales of vehicles in the U.S. over the next decade, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column reported that director James Burke purchased $1.1M worth of AnnTaylor Stores Corporation (NYSE: ANN) stock on Friday, marking the first open-market purchase by an AnnTaylor insider in at least five years, according to InsiderScore.com.

• According to the U.K. Times, British bank Barclays (NYSE: BCS) has invested $1.5B in Golden Key, a fund that has gotten into trouble as a result of the global liquidity squeeze.
• Aluminum company Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL) is reportedly in talks to sell its packaging unit to India's Essel Group, reported the Economic Times.
• Music publishers have intensified their efforts to shut down popular Web sites that publish song lyrics without permission, reported the New York Post. The publishers are also demanding that Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) remove all references to the offending sites from their search engines.

Newspaper wrap-up: Barclays to bail out Golden Key originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• "The behavior in what we are observing in the last seven weeks is identical in many respects to what we saw in 1998, what we saw in the stock market crash of 1987, I suspect what we saw in the land boom collapse of 1837 and certainly [the bank panic] 1907," said Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• In an attempt to reverse slow North American sales of Gatorade, PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP) is launching a low calorie version, reported the Wall Street Journal.

• British arms manufacturer BAE Systems (OTC: BAESY) will reportedly receive a GBP20B deal next week to supply 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia, reported the U.K. Times.
• British telecom company Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) is considering buying the Italian and Spanish operations of Swedish telecom company Tele2, reported the Guardian.
• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
  
• NYSE Euronext Inc (NYSE: NYX) runs cash equity exchanges in five countries and six derivative markets worldwide, and Birkelbach Investment Securities feels the stock is "very undervalued."
• The outlook for Access Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ACCP) and ProLindac has vastly improved, said Steven Rouhandeh, CEO of SCO Financial Group, which owns a 30% stake in the company.
• NeoStem Inc (NYSE: NBS) is a tiny company that specializes in collecting, processing, and storing stem cells from healthy adults for their personal medical use, and Equity Dynamics is positive on the company's technology.

Newspaper wrap-up: Pepsi (PEP) to launch diet Gatorade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) announced another 900 job cuts as the company slashes costs in the face of a drop in lending volumes and rising defaults, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" section reported that CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) chairman Edwin Crawford sold 120K shares worth $45.4M Friday and Tuesday after exercising the same number of options for $2.8M.

• Italian carmaker Fiat (OTC: FIATY) is negotiating with India's Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM) on a joint bid for Ford Motor Company's (NYSE: F) Jaguar and Land Rover divisions, reported the Telegraph.
• British mobile telecom company Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) has received a $2B tax bill from the Indian government, reported the U.K. Times.
• The Economic Times reported, citing a source close to the development, that Ranbaxy has joined the bidding on Bradley Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSE: BDY) by placing a preliminary non-binding bid on the company.

Newspaper wrap-up: Countrywide (CFC) cuts more jobs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Alain Dassas has been named CFO of Nissan Motor Company (NASDAQ: NSANY), filing a position that has remained open for four years, reported the Wall Street Journal. Dassas runs the Formula One race car team at Renault, which has a 44% stake in Nissan.

• Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), Lehman Brothers Holdings (NYSE: LEH) and JP Morgan Chase and Company (NYSE: JPM), The banks involved in the underwriting of the TXU Corporation (NYSE: TXU) buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG, have offered to pay the $1B breakup free to convince the private equity buyers to back out, according to the U.K. Times.
• GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) is currently looking for someone to succeed CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier, who will retire next May, and investors are thought to want a CEO that will 'radically overhaul' the company and possible break it up, reported the Guardian.
• The Seattle Times reported that Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is expected to announce that the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner jet will be delayed at least until late October, according to an inside source.

• Herb Greenberg noted in his MarketWatch blog yesterday that International Rectifier Corporation (NYSE: IRF) disclosed on Friday after the market close how it was committing fraud by having a subsidiary hide products already booked as revenue in "off-books warehouses."

Newspaper wrap-up: Boeing expected to announce more Dreamliner delays originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• A contract awarded to American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) by the Department of Homeland Security wasn't put out for bid as is usually required, and is being investigated by the House's Committee on Energy and Commerce, as well as the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  
• The Wall Street Journal reported that private equity firm The Carlyle Group has been forced to lend a second $100M to mortgage fund Carlyle Capital, which has cancelled its dividend and is selling assets to meet margin calls, just two months after listing on the Euronext Amsterdam.
• U.S. consumers are defaulting on credit-card payments at a significantly higher rate than last year, raising the prospect that the problems in subprime mortgages will spread to other types of consumer debt, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
  
• Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) set up a $3B structured finance vehicle on behalf of German bank Sachsen less than three months before Sachsen's recent collapse, reported the Financial Times, which added that the finance vehicle set up by Barclays for the German bank had most of its assets invested in securities backed by prime and subprime U.S. mortgages.

• According to regulatory filings, State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) has the most exposure to asset-backed commercial paper among European and American banks, the U.K. Times reported.

Newspaper wrap-up: Carlyle Group bails its fund out again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS

• According to people familiar with the matter, Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) was close to accepting about $1.2B less for the sale of its wholesale distribution business to three private-equity firms, but there was uncertainty about whether the deal would close by last night's deadline, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) CEO Alan Mulally urged the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy and focus on economic growth, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

• British energy company BP plc (NYSE: BP) is warning that a fierce environmental campaign may force it to scrap a $3.8B expansion at one of America's biggest oil refineries, reported the U.K. Times.
• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
  
• Spirits company Diageo plc (NYSE: DEO) may be the perfect tonic for jittery markets, and could appreciate 20% to 25% annually for several years, said Randy Haase of Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund.
  
• As household budgets get squeezed, consumers are likely to spend more at discount retailers - and TJX Companies Inc (NYSE: TJX), owner of T.J . Maxx, is one of the best bets.
• In September, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ARNA) will announce 6-month safety review for its lead drug, lorcaserin, an obesity drug, which is in a large phase III test.

Newspaper wrap-up: Home Depot (HD) unit sale in limbo originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is making a $2 billion equity investment in Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC), people familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Ticket seller Ticketmaster, which is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI), has halted talks with concert promoter Live Nation Inc (NYSE: LYV), failing to reach a new, long-term agreement. The talks have "grown acrimonious" over the last year and a half, say people close to the situation, with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino threatening to start his own ticketing company rather than renewing with Ticketmaster, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Home Depot Inc's (NYSE: HD) sale of its wholesale supply division to a group of private equity firms is in doubt, due to uncertainty about the willingness of three investment banks to fund the deal, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).
  
• The Financial Times reported that Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) lost more than 7% of market share in the handset market in Q2, according to new figures.

• Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has reportedly postponed its $1.25B initial public offering, after investors showed little interest in the IPO, reported the U.K. Times.

Newspaper wrap-up: Bank of America invests in Countrywide originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to an internal email, Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) has begun laying off employees involved in originating loans, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

• The New York Times reported that the market is having doubts about the deal for the Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB), despite confidence from those involved that the deal will be done.
• Just weeks after acquiring its first pension scheme, Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) is looking for another; Citi is said to be looking at a European scheme that is worth about £200M, reported the U.K. Times.
• While the rugged cowboy has been the face for Altria Group Inc's (NYSE: MO) Philip Morris for many years now, the global brand could be fading, according to the U.K. Times.
• American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) has put its private banking business, which could be worth $400M-$500M, up for sale, according to the U.K. Times.
• The Telegraph reported that a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC), the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, is in talks to buy a 51% controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank, which would cost in the region of £2.5B.

Newspaper wrap-up: Countrywide (CFC) begins laying off employees originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Weekday Trader" suggest investing in several pharmaceutical names during the stock market woes, including Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK), Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE: LLY) and Schering Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP).
• Speculation intensified that the Federal Reserve is going to cut interest rates shortly, and moreover, some are suggesting that it already has cut them stealthily, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) will spend $5B on WiMAX through 2010, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) is considering smaller, higher-end stores for introduction early next year, reported the Wall Street Journal.

• The CEO of Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) , René Obermann, called for the European mobile phone networks to be consolidated, reported the Independent.
• Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) is believed to be negotiating the purchase of a European pension plan worth about GBP200M, reported the U.K. Times.
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the economy and markets are "resilient," and can absorb any losses from the recent market instability, and has not raised the possibility of policy changes to deal with the markets' problems, reported the New York Times.

Newspaper wrap-up: Fed rumored to be cutting rates shortly originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Home Depot Inc's (NYSE: HD) second quarter income drop of 15% may affect what will happen with the company's share buyback that is in part tied to the sale of its HD Supply wholesale business, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) may sell its 50% stake in BEB Transport & Speicher Service, a German natural gas pipeline firm, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• New Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS) CEO Glenn Murphy bought 150K shares of Gap stock for $2.3M Friday at an average price of $15.55, according to a Monday filing the SEC, reported Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column.
• The Financial Times reported that share prices and currencies in the Asia-Pacific region tumbled earlier today, as investors worried about the subprime mess pulled back from emerging markets.

• Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) will announce plans to float its highly profitable financial services division, Sony Financial Holdings, in what could be Japan's biggest initial public offering this year, creating a company with a market value close to 1T yen, reported the U.K. Times.

Newspaper wrap-up: Asian markets drop overnight originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• French bank BNP Paribas' Investment Partners unit is temporarily suspending three of its funds because of a lack of liquidity in the market as a result of the troubled subprime mortgage market, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) will delay for one or two years its new high mileage hybrids with lithium-ion battery technology due to possible safety problems, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) is putting its Godiva Chocolatier up for sale, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Weekday Trader" argued that it may be time to take profits in Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE: CMG), as the company hit a record high yesterday and trades at an enormous multiple.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that MMC Energy Inc (NASDAQ: MMCE) is not entering the ethanol market as the company does not believe it can be profitable yet.

• The U.K. Times reported that Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) president Charles Phillips said a global credit crunch will help Oracle as it will hurt competing private equity firms from raising cheap capital.

Newspaper wrap-up: More subprime woes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) plans to give its top trader, Warren Spector, the ax.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Kroger (NYSE: KR) announced last week that it would stop selling milk that carried synthetic hormones that are made by Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON), despite the FDA saying the hormones are safe.
• A group of financial experts predicted that the U.S. will enter a recession soon, due to inflation, the economic prescriptions of a Democratic president, and the housing market meltdown, reported Barron's Magazine.

• According to insiders, Martha Stewart is not happy with Lampert's Kmart chain as she feels the company is not doing enough to sell her Martha Stewart products in its stores, which in turn is causing a "drag" on Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc's (NYSE: MSO) earnings, reported the New York Post.
• While shopping on the Internet has always been a 24-hour ordeal, some traditional retailers such as Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) and Dick's Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE: DKS) are starting to realize the potential of offering online-only discounts when their stores are closed, reported the Chicago Tribune.
• Qatari investment firm Delta Two may have to provide more than GBP1B in additional equity in order to win backing from J Sainsbury's (OTC: JSAIY) board for its offer for Sainsbury, reported the U.K. Times.

Newspaper wrap-up: Bear Stearns to fire top trader originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) acquired a stake in Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT) that was below 5%, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported.
• R.H. Donnelley Corporation (NYSE: RHD) has paid about $350M for Business.com, the marketing directory Web company, beating out Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) and the New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) in the process, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY), which closed Wednesday at about $17.42, could swing lower as the peak summer season wanes amid continued concern about overall consumer discretionary spending, according to Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Weekday Trader" section.

• The U.K. Times reported that the global debt market crisis may delay or cancel the sale of Cadbury Schweppes plc's (NYSE: CSG) U.S. drinks arm.
• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) and Danone are in talks with Ramesh Chauhan to buy Bisleri, the bottled water brand that has become a generic name for the product category, reported the Economic Times.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-26-07: Berkshire invests in Kraft originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• If the FCC adopts auction rules that allow open access for users and wireless resellers, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is ready to spend a minimum of $4.6B for wireless licenses, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Delayed delivery of 55,000 vehicles at Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM), due to last weeks earthquake in Japan, wont result in changes of the car maker's production systems, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported on Friday that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) will decide next week whether to proceed with selling Jaguar and Land Rover after receiving a surprise offer for the British luxury carmakers from TPG Capital, the private equity firm, along with several other approaches.

• The U.K. Times reported that Efficient Capital Structures, the group seeking to push through radical changes at Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD), has won the backing of a string of leading fund managers, including Jupiter and Invesco Perpetual.
• The New York Times reported that there is a flaw in the Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone that allows hackers to take over the phone.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-23-07: Google ready to spend on wireless licenses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" reported that a batch of sales at Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) has followed Alcoa's withdrawal of its offer to purchase Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL): from July 13-17, four senior executives grossed $41.3M by selling 877,600 shares on the open market at per-share prices ranging from $46.67 to $47.47, according to SEC data.
• Andrew McKelveey, the founder and former CEO of Monster Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: MNST) was allegedly involved in the backdating of stock option grants for employees, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  

• Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) CEO Arun Sarin made a concession to rebel shareholders yesterday by promising to release value from Verizon Wireless, a joint venture in which Vodafone has a 45% stake, reported the U.K. Times.
• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
• Activist shareholders are putting pressure on Brink's Company (NYSE: BCO) to spin-off its home security unit, so that it can trade independently of the armored cars.
• Pipex Pharmaceuticals Inc (AMEX: PP) has been off Wall Street's radar screen, but perhaps not for long. Pipex may have a stable of winners in the making, including an orphan drug designation.
• The aircraft, auto, and architecture sectors are expected to be big users of Research Frontiers Inc's (NASDAQ: REFR) SmartGlass technology, which lets glass go from clear to opaque fast.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-20-07: Monster founder involved in options backdating originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) says that its two hedge funds tied to subprime loans are basically worth nothing, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• An "error in judgment" is what Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ: WFMI) chairman and CEO John Mackey called his anonymous blogging about his company and rival Wild Oats Markets Inc (NASDAQ: OATS) in an apology, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• SEC chairman Christopher Cox wants Congress to tighten its oversight of the $2.4T municipal bond market, the result of increasing complexities in the bond market and lax leadership at a number of firms, reported the Wall Street Journal.

• Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is planning to offer $24M to acquire Macy's Inc (NYSE: M), according to Women's Wear Daily (subscription required).
• The U.K. Times reported that Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) has deided against raising its bid for ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN).
• Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) is increasing its production capacity in North America and in other places, in order to meet growing demand for its fuel-efficient cars and to maintain momentum for global growth, reported the Associated Press.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-18-07: Bear Stearns calls its two subprime hedge funds worthless originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• IHOP (NYSE: IHP), of pancake house fame, is buying Applebee's International Inc (NASDAQ: APPB), the huge casual dining restaurant chain, for $2.2 billion in a deal concluded last night, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) is looking at a possible $160 billion bid for Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ), reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

• The U.K. Times reported that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is preparing to sell Volvo, the Swedish car group it bought eight years ago, in a move that could raise $8 billion.
• The Observer reported that BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) is lining up a £20 billion bid for Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA), after its bid for rival Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL) was trumped by Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP).
• Large American Internet companies, possibly including Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO), are considering snapping up Rediff.com India (NASDAQ: REDF), which runs one of India's most popular consumer Internet portals, reported the Hindustan Times.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-16-07: IHOP buying Applebee's originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Thanks to a downturn in sales, sportswear maker Liz Claiborne Inc (NYSE: LIZ) will seek to divest itself of 16 of its 36 apparel brands, equal to about $800 million of its $5 nillion in annual revenue, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL) has listened to customer concerns and has moved to eliminate "trialware" from a range of small business laptops and desktops computers.

• British mining company Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RTP) is believed to be preparing a $34 billion, or $90 per share, takeover bid for Canadian aluminum company Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL), reported the U.K. Times.
• According to the Economic Times, FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) has failed in its attempt to buy out Indian logistics company SafeExpress.
• The Chicago Tribune reported that the U.S. faces an "increased risk" of a terror attack this summer, according to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-11-07: Dell to eliminate trialware in some new computers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.