Daily Highlights: 9.14.09

• Asian stocks fall amid valuation concerns; drags MSCI index from a 1-yr high.
• Baucus health care plan raises plenty of concerns despite major concessions to industry.
• Britain's Conservative Party considering bank privatization plans in case of election victory.
• China starts probe of US auto, chicken imports after US imposes tariffs on tire imports.
• China 'strongly opposes' Obama's tire import tariffs, may appeal to WTO.
• China’s electricity usage rose 8.22 percent in August from a year earlier.
• Chinese govt in talks on taking a minority stake in Virginia-based power-plant developer AES.
• Dollar trades near 7-month low on falling borrowing costs.
• Oil drops below $69 as US dollar rebounds, Asian stocks slide.
• Steel prices drop 8%, reversing course in sign mills ramped up too quickly.
• UK housing market slump will resume next year on continued squeeze on mortgages:E&Y.
• US Retail sales probably rose last month on 'Cash for Clunkers' program.
• AMR negotiating with Japan Airlines to form a far-reaching joint venture.
• Alcon to acquire EsbaTech AG for $150M cash plus as much as $439M in milestones.
• Appeals court affirmed verdict that Microsoft products infringed an Alcatel-Lucent patent.
• Cadbury Chairman says 'low-growth' Kraft's $16B offer 'unappealing'.
• Campbell Soup's Q4 net down 22% on write-downs. Revs slip 11% to $1.53B.
• Deutsche Telekom hire Deutsche Bank as adviser to assess possible takeover bid for Sprint Nextel.
• EnCana Corp. to get $3.5B from splitting off its oil sands business into a separate co.
• FedEx raises Q1 EPS view to $0.65-0.95 (cons $0.70), stokes hopes for recovery.
• GE, Areva, Korea Electric in $41B UAE nuclear power race: report.
• GM rescinds temporary pay cuts for salaried staff, including many executives.
• India's Reliance Industries may buy oil fields in Gulf of Mexico, Brazil to hedge India-only risk.
• J&J negotiating to reduce price of a previously announced $1.5B deal with Elan Corp.
• Magna Intl plans to cut 10500 jobs at General Motors Co.'s Opel unit.
• Melco Intl's 1H loss widened 32% to $104.7M, cites sharp decline in casino wagers.
• Noble Energy North Sea unit for sale; priced at $350M. Suitors incl Maersk.
• Nyrstar to buy U.S. zinc mine complex from the Glencore Group for $126M.
• Repsol makes Venezuela’s biggest gas discovery, est. at 8 trillion cubic feet.
• WPP PLC Chief Martin Sorrell says there is little to cheer about in the advt industry.
• Wynn Resorts to list its Macau casino operations in Hong Kong on Oct. 9.

Recent Egan-Jones Rating Actions
OGE ENERGY CORP (OGE)
IRON MOUNTAIN INC (IRM)
NEIMAN MARCUS GROUP INC/THE (NMG)
TYCO INTERNATIONAL LTD (TYC)
POTASH CORP OF SASKATCHEWAN INC (POT)
MOSAIC CO/THE (MOS)
NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORP (NSM)
PERKINELMER INC (PKI)
IDACORP INC (IDA)
MONSANTO CO (MON)
CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES (CRL)
BECKMAN COULTER INC (BEC)
MILLIPORE CORP (MIL)

Data provided by Egan-Jones Ratings and Analytics

Comments

[They steal from...]

GM rescinds temporary pay cuts for salaried staff, including many executives.

good thing we are paying their salary out of our children's piggy banks...

Wow, slow morning.  Am I first?