Monday, August 08, 2005

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- E*Trade Financial agreed to buy the online brokerage Harrisdirect from BMO Financial Group for $700 million in cash.
- Quest Diagnostics, the biggest US operator of medical-testing laboratories, said it will acquire LabOne in a cash transaction valued at $934 million.
- Whirlpool sweetened its offer for Maytag to $1.6 billion, topping a bid from Ripplewood Holdings for the third time.
- The UK today warned that terrorists in Saudi Arabia may be in the “final stages of planning attacks,” after the US closed its diplomatic missions in the capital, Riyadh, and in Jeddah and Dhahran.
- Crude oil in NY jumped to a record, approaching $64 a barrel, as a threat to the US embassy in Saudi Arabia heightened concern that supplies from the country could be jeopardized.

Wall Street Journal:
- Liberty Media Chairman John Malone said Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. should increase returns to shareholders by buying back stock.
- Dell plans to sell a desktop computer for game playing using chips made by Nvidia.
- Benon Sevan, the official who ran the UN/Iraq oil-for-food program, resigned hours before the scheduled release of a UN report that’s expected to accuse him of taking kickbacks.
- Linux Corp. and other makers of “open source” software face demands from users for higher levels of service, support and software functions.
- US malls are turning to Israeli security specialists to devise programs to protect the some 1,200 US commercial shopping centers from possible terrorist attacks.
-An increasing number of research firms are being established in the US to collect information on companies by tapping their customers, suppliers, employees and competitors.

NY Times:
- Electronic Arts may be losing its creative edge as it plans to release 25 game sequels and one original game by the end of this year.
- Flights in the US have been so delayed that 2005 looks set to be worse for planes leaving late than any year since 2000; nearly 17% of flights left airports late in the year until June.

Financial News:
- Goldman Sachs has lost 146 of the firm’s 240 partners since its May 1999 IPO.

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