Tribune Debt Has 50 Percent Default Risk, Higher Than Ford's, Swaps Show

(Bloomberg) -- Tribune Co. has a 50-50 chance of
missing interest payments on some of the $13 billion in debt it
will have after real estate investor Sam Zell buys the company,
trading in the company's credit-default swaps shows.

Prices of the swaps, financial contracts used to speculate
on a company's ability to repay debt, have jumped $331,000 since
the first step in the sale was completed in May. It costs
$770,000 to protect $10 million of Tribune bonds for five years,
according to CMA Datavision, indicating a more than 50 percent
risk of default. That's up from 32 percent on May 24, based on a
JPMorgan Chase & Co. pricing model.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Investor Burkle joins Dow Jones union in bid try

(Reuters) - The union has also reached out to Warren Buffett on a potential counter-offer for the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, but has not received a response yet, he said.




Burkle was part of an unsuccessful bid for publisher Tribune Co. earlier this year.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News