Currency Fund Returns Reach Record in June on Carry Trades, Parker FX Says

(Bloomberg) -- Cumulative returns on currency funds
rose to a record in June as managers profited from declines in
the yen and the dollar, according to Parker Global Strategies.

The yen slid against the euro and the pound last month as
investors borrowed Japan's currency at the lowest interest rate
in the industrialized world to fund purchases of higher-yielding
assets, known as carry trades, Parker Global said. The dollar
fell against major currencies in June as slowing inflation and
consumer spending prompted traders to pare bets on a U.S. rate
increase, Parker Global said.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Bear Stearns Tells Investors in Failed Hedge Funds There's `No Value Left'

(Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos. told investors in
its two failed hedge funds that they will get little if any money
back after ``unprecedented declines'' in the value of AAA rated
securities used to bet on subprime mortgages.

Estimates show there is ``effectively no value left'' in the
High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund
and ``very little value left'' in the High-Grade Structured
Credit Strategies Fund, Bear Stearns said in a two-page letter.
The second fund still has ``sufficient assets'' to cover the $1.4
billion it owes Bear Stearns, which as creditor gets paid back
first, according to the letter, obtained yesterday by Bloomberg
News from a person involved in the matter.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Avanir, First Mutual, Ford, Movie Gallery, Wendy's: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes on U.S. exchanges.
Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share
prices are as of 9:35 a.m. in New York.

American Capital Strategies Ltd. (ACAS US) rose $1.75, or
4.1 percent, to $44.75. The specialty finance company will
replace Dollar General Corp. (DG US) in the Standard & Poor's 500
Index, S&P said in a statement.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

FOKUS 1-Investoren- Vodafone soll bis zu 56 Mrd Euro ausschtten

(Reuters) - ECS-Chef Glenn Cooper sagte der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters,
die Gruppe betreibe keine großen Veränderungen im
Vodafone-Management und wolle den Konzern auch nicht zu einem
Übernahmeziel machen. Angestrebt sei lediglich ein Wechsel der
Strategie. Cooper sprach von "enthusiastischen" Reaktionen auf
seine Vorschläge. Ein geplantes Treffen zwischen Cooper und
Vodafone-Chef Arun Sarin hatte die Mobilfunkfirma jedoch
abgesagt.




Branchenexperte Morten Singleton von der WestLB zeigte sich
von den Vorschlägen der Investoren nicht begeistert, da der von
ECS angepeilte Schuldenberg ineffizient und risikoreich sein
könne: "Mit dem Säbelrasseln wollen sie in die Schlagzeilen, um
den Aktienkurs anzufeuern." So sei auch der Vorwurf übertrieben,
Vodafones Kapitalstruktur sei ineffizient.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News