South Korea says U.S. wants revisions to FTA pact

(Reuters) - Many U.S. lawmakers from auto producing states charged the agreement would give South Korea a one-sided advantage to export more cars to the United States.




Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement released late on Saturday that the U.S. Trade Representative's office hoped to have additional discussion next week over the proposals.


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Bush blasts Democrats over budget spending

(Reuters) - Democrats who now control the Senate and the House of Representatives are crafting a dozen bills for more than $900 billion in government spending to fund items ranging from the space program and education to foreign aid and defense.




"I will use my veto to stop tax increases and runaway spending that threaten the strength of our economy and the prosperity of our people," Bush said in his weekly radio address. He was spending the weekend at his Texas ranch.


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Pound Gains for First Week in Three Amid Speculation U.K. Rates Will Climb

(Bloomberg) -- The pound gained for the first week
in three on speculation the Bank of England will need to keep
raising interest rates to slow the economy.

BOE Governor Mervyn King this week said the bank ``may need
to take further action'' to contain inflation, a week after it
boosted the main lending rate to a six-year high. Monetary Policy
Committee member Paul Tucker said in a speech yesterday a pickup
in money growth is an ``amber light'' for future inflation.


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UPDATE 1-Humana suspends some Medicare plans, ups 2007 view

(Reuters) - The Louisville, Kentucky-based health insurer also said it
is raising its fiscal 2007 earnings outlook to at least $4.25 a
share, including an expected impact of no more than 2 cents a
share from the suspension.




The company had in April forecast full-year earnings of
$4.10 to $4.25 a share.


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UPDATE 1-Venezuela not eyeing debt buy-back in IMF pullout

(Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez announced in April that the OPEC
nation would leave the IMF, seemingly unaware the move could
trigger a technical default on the South American country's
debt.




The cabinet source was denying reports in Venezuelan media
that the country could get round the default through a debt
buy-back.


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TREASURIES-Bonds in relief rally on tame core inflation

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 15 - U.S. government bond prices
staged a relief rally on Friday, cheered by benign data on core
inflation and weak consumer sentiment, which reduced prospects
of an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve.




U.S. government bonds, which have been hammered by concerns
about inflation and fears of rising interest rates globally,
also got a reprieve from unexpectedly soft data on industrial
output and capacity utilization.


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Wachovia to pay AG Edwards brokers not to leave

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 15 - Wachovia Corp. is offering retention awards to A.G. Edwards Inc. brokers equal to as much as 100 percent of the revenue they generated in the prior year, in a bid to limit defections ahead of its planned $6.8 billion purchase of the St. Louis brokerage.



The fourth-largest U.S. bank is hoping to lose no more than 3 percent of brokers it wants to keep, similar to the "regretted attrition" in 2003 when it created Wachovia Securities by merging its brokerage with that of Prudential Financial Inc. .


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