Reuters: Politics

• House-backed defense budget sets up clash with Obama May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Friday to authorize $642.5 billion in defense and war spending next year, defying a White House veto threat by exceeding President Barack Obama's Pentagon funding request by several billion dollars. […]
• Jury deliberations in Edwards trial to resume next week May 18, 2012
  GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Jurors weighing whether former U.S. Senator John Edwards illegally used campaign funds to conceal an extramarital affair when he ran for president headed home on Friday and will resume deliberations next week. […]
• House Republicans top Democrats in April fundraising May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party's fundraising arm working to elect its candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives raised $6.9 million in April, slightly more for the month than its Democratic counterpart. […]
• Attacks over Bain Capital don't stop Romney's rise in polls May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON/TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Is Mitt Romney an out-of-touch elitist and bully who led a rapacious business that killed common folks' jobs? […]
• Top Republican woman in Congress becomes a force May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the last three weeks, she has sparred on national television with Democrats over Republican policies toward women, been called a "lying mouthpiece" by a liberal blog, and chided former House speaker Nancy Pelosi. […]
• Health secretary urges contraception compromise May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's top health official on Friday took the debate over whether healthcare coverage should include contraceptives to the campus of a Catholic university that has been deeply divided over the administration's policy. […]
• Afghanistan fundraising goal eludes as US heads to NATO summit May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the eve of this weekend's NATO summit, the United States remains short of its goal of raising $1.3 billion in security funds from its partners in Afghanistan, after a money-raising blitz failed to garner immediate contributions from allies coping with fiscal and political pressures. […]
• Tea Partiers yearn for a "truly red" Tennessee May 18, 2012
  NASHVILLE, May 17 - When conservative Tea Party activists helped Republicans extend their majority in Tennessee's legislature in 2010, they expected to get the legislation they wanted. […]
• Appeals court affirms minority voting rights law May 18, 2012
  (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a key provision of the landmark U.S. voting rights law aimed at protecting minorities in states and local areas with a history of racial discrimination. […]
• Lawmakers push foreclosure relief for military May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday voted to further insulate some service members from home foreclosures and extend borrower protections to disabled veterans and surviving military spouses. […]

Investing

• Stock Indexes Showing Consistently Bad Action
  Stocks racked up a complete week of daily losses, the first time that has happened since the holiday-shortened Thanksgiving week. The Nasdaq and the IBD 50 each dropped 1.2% Friday, while the S&P 500 and the NYSE composite each shaved 0.7%.Volume rose sharply across the board, thanks partly to options expirations. The NYSE composite is now slightly down […]
• Sector Leaders' List Shrinks After Many Fall Again
  The Sector Leaders' list shrank again on Friday after many top stocks again suffered widespread losses, with many falling in high volume. The list shrank for a third day, to 15, after Apple (AAPL) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) dropped out, replaced by Chinese game site NetEase (NTES). The list has had as many as 19 members in recent weeks, but even the […]
• How To Reduce Taxes On Your Social Security Benefits
  Social Security benefits -- yours, your parents or an elderly relative's, let's say -- can be subject to income tax. But you can take steps to minimize or avoid the hit, which can save thousands of dollars. The key is to trim your non-Social Security income -- often by turning vulnerable categories of income into safe ones. Suppose a hypothetical E […]
• Medical Stocks Forming Bases Amid Market Sell-Off
  Medical stocks have held up relatively well during the current correction, with many forming bases at a time when other leaders are breaking down. The medical sector contributed seven stocks to this week's IBD 50, including three in the top 15. It's not a good idea to buy stocks during a correction, but these are worth watching in preparation for a […]
• New Highs Analysis: Wal-Mart Touches Multiyear Peak
  Wal-Mart (WMT) scored a place on the new highs list Friday, as the retail king touched a multiyear high of 62.63. That actually wasn't a completely brand-new peak, but rather the stock matched a prior high. Wal-Mart previously climbed to the 62.63 level on Feb. 1. Since Feb. 1, the world's biggest retailer has been consolidating in the vicinity of […]
• Guggenheim Defensive Equity Faring Better Than Market
  Some stocks will tend to hold up in tough market conditions. These defensive issues generally come from the food, utility, telecom or tobacco spaces. Even though they tend to take less heat when the market gets rough, they can still get hit hard on occasion. But income investors can lower risk through an exchanged traded fund (ETF) such as the Guggenheim Def […]
• Spotting The Correct Buy Point In SolarWinds
  When stalking a trade, a lot of factors need to come into play before taking action. But being too rigid and waiting for everything to be perfect can cause you to miss out on some big winners. The CAN SLIM investing methodology is a top-down approach. Every aspect should be in play, without exceptions. You want the market to be in an uptrend before buying st […]
• Wheat Notches Biggest Weekly Gain In 16 Years
  Wheat headed for its biggest weekly gain in 16 years on Friday, adding about 16% to prices as hot and dry weather kept fears simmering about production losses in the U.S. Plains and Russia. Soybeans slipped after three straight sessions of gains, while corn climbed on wheat's coattails. The promise of a bumper U.S. hard red winter wheat crop was eroding […]
• Mellanox Avoids Flaws Seen In Many Israeli Stocks
  Mellanox Technologies makes sure that its customers' servers and data-storage systems all get along, even if those systems weren't made to work with each other. Mellanox's clients need to connect their servers and data-storage equipment to each other. Often, a corporate customer will be working with a hodgepodge of systems cobbled together ove […]
• SXC On Buyout Rampage
  Companies can grow organically or through acquisitions. SXC Health Solutions (SXCI) is taking the latter approach. The provider of pharmacy benefit management and IT services has been on a buyout binge in recent years. It recently announced its fifth acquisition since December 2010. Last month SXC agreed to buy rival Catalyst Health Solutions (CHSI) in a cas […]

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Reuters: Mergers News

• Martin Marietta appeal moved to eve of Vulcan meet May 18, 2012
  May 18 (Reuters) - Martin Marietta Materials Inc's appeal of a lower court ruling that halted its $5 billion hostile tender for Vulcan Materials Co was postponed to May 31, the day before a key... […]
• Mexico's Slim eyeing Telekom Austria stake-report May 18, 2012
  VIENNA, May 18 (Reuters) - Mexico's Carlos Slim is eyeing a stake in Telekom Austria and is believed to have held initial talks with its two biggest investor groups, Austrian magazine Format... […]
• Winnebago gets $321.5 mln buyout offer May 18, 2012
  […]
• Hong Kong bid for LME bourse puts squeeze on rivals May 18, 2012
  LONDON/NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - A 1.2 billion pound ($1.9 billion) bid from Hong Kong for the London Metal Exchange could be hard to beat on price and carried assurances about maintaining the... […]
• Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions May 18, 2012
  May 18 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 1430 GMT on Friday: […]
• REFILE-UPDATE 1-Ex-miner Abbott may collect millions from LME sale May 18, 2012
  LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - From straitened origins in coal mining and the rag trade, Martin Abbott is in line for a major windfall as the 135-year-old London Metal Exchange goes under the hammer. […]
• German clothes exporter looking for buyer -sources May 18, 2012
  FRANKFURT, May 18 (Reuters) - The family owners of Schustermann & Borenstein have mandated Goldman Sachs to sell the German clothing exporter, two people close to the transaction said on Friday, a... […]
• UPDATE 1-El Paso Pipeline buys assets worth $635 mln May 18, 2012
  May 18 (Reuters) - El Paso Pipeline Partners LP said it will acquire Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline Co LLC and the remaining interest in Colorado Interstate Gas LLC it does not already own from El Paso... […]
• CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-ING's Asia life insurance sale shifts into top gear May 18, 2012
  * Deal could yield about $100 mln in fees for bankers, lawyers […]
• CORRECTED-ING Asia life insurance sale shifts into top gear May 18, 2012
  * Deal could yield about $100 mln in fees for bankers, lawyers […]

Reuters: Technology News

• Intelsat Global files for IPO of up to $1.75 billion May 18, 2012
  (Reuters) - Intelsat Global Holdings S.A., which provides satellite communications services, filed with U.S. regulators on Friday to raise up to $1.75 billion in an initial public offering of common stock. […]
• Historic Facebook IPO marred by trading glitches May 18, 2012
  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - For a company that is dramatically upending business strategies and social relationships around the world, Facebook Inc made a surprisingly modest debut on the Nasdaq on Friday as a sky-high valuation and trading glitches capped the stock's rise. […]
• Mexico's Slim eyeing Telekom Austria stake: report May 18, 2012
  VIENNA (Reuters) - Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is eyeing a stake in Telekom Austria and is believed to have held initial talks with its two biggest investor groups, Austrian magazine Format reported, without citing sources. […]
• Ex-Yahoo CEO Thompson leaves F5 Networks' board May 18, 2012
  (Reuters) - Networking gear maker F5 Networks said former Yahoo Inc CEO Scott Thompson has resigned from its board of directors, effective immediately. […]
• Worries mount as Nokia burns through cash May 18, 2012
  LONDON/HELSINKI, May 18 (IFR/Reuters) - Nokia Oyj is tearing through its cash reserves at an unsustainable rate, raising what some analysts say are serious questions about the struggling Finnish phone maker's ability to stabilize its finances in the months ahead. […]
• Verizon data fans to pay more in service or phones May 18, 2012
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless plans to make its data-hungry customers pay a lot more, either in service fees or smartphone prices, as it tries to cut costs and boost revenue from data services. […]
• ZTE confirms security hole in U.S. phone May 18, 2012
  (Reuters) - ZTE Corp, the world's No.4 handset vendor and one of two Chinese companies under U.S. scrutiny over security concerns, said one of its mobile phone models sold in the United States contains a vulnerability that researchers say could allow others to control the device. […]
• GM ad move followed failed Facebook pitch: sources May 18, 2012
  DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook may only have itself to blame for why General Motors rained on its IPO parade this week. […]
• Samsung gets 9 million preorders for new Galaxy phone: report May 18, 2012
  SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co has received some 9 million pre-orders for its third-generation Galaxy S smartphone from more than 100 global carriers, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Friday. […]
• Iran threatens to sue Google over dropping Persian Gulf May 17, 2012
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry threatened on Thursday to take legal action against Google for dropping the name Persian Gulf from its Google Maps and leaving the waterway between Iran and Arab states nameless, state television reported. […]

Reuters: Private Equity

• Winnebago gets $321.5 mln buyout offer May 18, 2012
  […]
• RLPC-Bristol Airport under pressure to refinance debt May 18, 2012
  LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - The owners of Bristol Airport may have to stump up some cash to help with the refinancing of 515 million pounds ($814 million) of debt which falls due next year, banking... […]
• German clothes exporter looking for buyer -sources May 18, 2012
  FRANKFURT, May 18 (Reuters) - The family owners of Schustermann & Borenstein have mandated Goldman Sachs to sell the German clothing exporter, two people close to the transaction said on Friday, a... […]
• WRAPUP 3-U.S. firms eye Myanmar as sanctions suspended May 18, 2012
  WASHINGTON/HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters) - The suspension of U.S. sanctions barring investment in Myanmar in response to political reforms in the poor Southeast Asian state opens the door to U.S. firms... […]
• UPDATE 1-Fondiaria gets cool Unipol reaction to merger terms May 18, 2012
  * Unipol reaction "chilly" - source (Releads, adds Fondiaria statement, source, shares) […]
• UPDATE 2-Carlyle in talks on $1.25 bln Taiwan bank sale-sources May 18, 2012
  * Ta Chong shares end 7 pct limit up, reversing from 3 pct loss […]
• UPDATE 1-Australia's PEP kickstarts Link Group sale-sources May 18, 2012
  * Link Group's annual EBITDA estimated at $120-130 mln-source […]
• Australia's PEP kickstarts Link Group sale-sources May 18, 2012
  HONG KONG/SYDNEY, May 18 (Reuters) - Australian private equity fund Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) has kickstarted the auction of share registry business Link Group, a deal that could value the... […]
• Bain, TPG's Lilliput woes a warning on India investing May 18, 2012
  HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters) - Last September, less than two weeks after an IPO plan was approved, the private equity owners of India's Lilliput Kidswear got a call that set off a chain of events that... […]
• Carlyle plans $1.25 bln Taiwan bank sale to Yuanta-sources May 18, 2012
  TAIPEI, May 18 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Carlyle Group and other major shareholders of Taiwan's Ta Chong Bank plan to sell the bank to Yuanta Financial in a deal worth up to T$37 billion... […]