South Korea's Won Strengthens on Consumer Confidence; Bonds Little Changed

(Bloomberg) -- The South Korean won had the
strongest close in more than a month after a central bank report
showed consumers were the most optimistic in 15 months in the
second quarter. Bonds were little changed.

Growth in Korea's gross domestic product is likely to
strengthen ``gradually'' over the rest of 2007 as domestic
demand picks up, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development said June 20. The won rose after the finance
ministry said consumers are supporting the expansion in Asia's
third-largest economy.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Stockland increases, prices US$450 mln bond issue

(Reuters) - The offer, Stockland's third visit to the U.S. traditional
private placement market, was almost twice oversubscribed at
the final prices and increased from an initially announced
US$300 million, the market source said.




Typical buyers of private placements are U.S. insurance
companies keen on long-dated paper to match their assets.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

As Real Soars, Brazilians Make Love to Gucci, Porsche, Prada and Tiffany

(Bloomberg) -- Never have Gucci, Porsche, Jaguar,
Prada and Tiffany been so in love with Brazil, home of the
world's best-performing currency over the past three years.

The waiting list for Prada SpA's new spring-summer line of
leather bags has swelled to 120 people at Dona Santa, a luxury
goods store in the Brazilian coastal city of Recife. The most
expensive bag in the collection costs $3,600, equal to about
half the annual income of the average Brazilian household.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Amaranth Distorted Natural Gas Market, Evaded Regulators, Senate Reports

(Bloomberg) -- Amaranth Advisors LLC held natural
gas trades worth more than $18 billion and exploited loopholes
to evade regulators who tried to limit the firm's speculation on
its way to becoming the biggest-ever hedge fund collapse, a
Senate investigation found.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Amaranth made trades that were
big enough to sway prices, in some cases controlling gas
contracts for a particular month equal to all the fuel consumed
by U.S. residential customers in the period, according to the
analysis by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

LSE Credit Rating Is Placed on Review for Possible Downgrade by Moody's

(Bloomberg) -- London Stock Exchange Plc, which
agreed to buy Borsa Italiana SpA on June 23 for 1.63 billion
euros ($2.2 billion), has been put on review by Moody's Investors
Services for possible downgrade of its debt rating.

The decision to review the LSE's rating follows the
announcement that the exchange had reached agreement with the
board of Borsa Italiana on the terms of the recommended offer,
Moody's said today in an e-mailed statement.


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Dow Jones, Murdoch near pact on independence: report

(Reuters) - The Wall Street Journal said News Corp.'s offer had reduced the Bancroft family's involvement in the editorial protection system and Dow Jones was working on a counter-proposal.




Dow Jones declined to comment. News Corp. and the Bancroft family were not immediately available to comment.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Aerofot, Arcelor Mittal, HVB, ING, Unified Energy: European Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may rise or fall
in European markets. Prices are from the last close.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.3 percent to 392.43.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index dropped 1.1 percent to 3933.98. The
Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the 13 nations using the
euro, lost 0.3 percent to 3922.84.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News