UPDATE 1-Fremont sells property loan business for $1.9 bln

(Reuters) - Fremont also said it had agreed to sell a minority stake in
the entire company to an investor group led by Gerald Ford, the
former chief executive of Golden State Bancorp Inc., for about
$80 million in the form of preferred stock and warrants to buy
more common shares.




Fremont shares jumped 19.5 percent to $8.50 in premarket
trading.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

United Natural Foods profit up

(Reuters) - Net sales for the latest quarter were $732.5 million, up from $637.1 million in the year ago quarter.




Analysts on average expected the company to earn 35 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $731.59 million, according to Reuters Estimates.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

S.Africa maize slips as crop data looms

(Reuters) - South Africa's main maize prices slipped on Tuesday as traders switched direction after snapping up futures in the previous session.

July white maize dipped by 0.24 percent to 1,683 rand a tonne, failing to hold above the session peak of 1,706 rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

White Sugar Declines as India, Brazil Bumper Crops May Outweight Demand

(Bloomberg) -- White sugar fell in London on concern
bumper crops from India and Brazil, the top producers, will
outweigh demand.

Global production will exceed demand by 6.9 million metric
tons this year after record sugar prices a year ago spurred
farmers in India and Brazil to expand plantings, C. Czarnikow
Sugar Ltd., the world's biggest sugar broker, said on May 9.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Central European Stocks Gain, Led by Telekomunikacja on Court Ruling

(Bloomberg) -- Central European shares rose, paced by
Telekomunikacja Polska SA after a Polish court annulled a fine
issued to the country's largest phone operator.

KGHM Polska Miedz SA, the Polish company that mines more
copper in Europe than any competitor, climbed for a second day
after prices for the metal advanced. Immoeast AG also gained
after the Austrian real-estate developer said it sold 2.84
billion euros ($3.8 billion) of new shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Australian Dollar Advances on Investor Appetite for Risk, Yield Premium

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar advanced,
snapping five days of losses, as rising appetite for risky
investments lured traders to the nation's higher-yielding assets.

The currency gained as stock markets from China to the U.S.
climbed yesterday, suggesting investors are searching for better
returns. The local dollar has risen against 14 of the 16 most
active currencies this year as investors have been attracted to
Australia's key borrowing cost at a six-year high of 6.25
percent, 1 percentage point above the equivalent U.S. rate and
5.75 percentage points more than in Japan.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Lead Jumps to Record on China's Plan to Raise Export Taxes; Copper Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Lead rose to a record in London on
concern supply may fail to meet demand this year after China, the
world's largest producer, said it will raise export taxes from
June 1. Copper and aluminum also gained.

China will charge higher export taxes on 142 products,
including lead and zinc, to pare a record trade surplus that's
threatening to hurt relations with nations including the U.S. Lead
will be in a deficit for a fifth consecutive year in 2007, the
Lisbon-based International Lead and Zinc Study Group said on May 15.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News