US & WORLD MARKETS

Tokyo Poised to Close Higher After Tankan Report

Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan survey of business sentiment came in slightly stronger than expected.

Front-month crude-oil futures rose as much as 23 cents to $140.23 in electronic trading in Tokyo

Japanese trading houses, which invest heavily in crude oil and mining operations, were on the advance, with shares of Mitsubishi Corp. climbing 2.8%.

Investors also chased up energy producer Nippon Oil and Inpex Holdings, shares of which advanced 2.2% and 1.5%, respectively.

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were among gainers in Sydney after Japanese steel maker

Nippon Steel Corp. confirmed Tuesday that it has agreed to a 96.5% price increase for high-grade iron ore this fiscal year. Shares of Rio Tinto climbed 2% to in Sydney trading.

Stocks End Quarter Just Above ‘Bear,’ But Challenges Remain for Rest of Year

Corn, Wheat Fall After U.S. Farmers Planted More Than Expected

Corn fell the maximum permitted by the Chicago Board of Trade and wheat dropped the most in 13 weeks after the government said U.S. farmers planted more of both crops than previously expected.

Corn was sowed on 87.3 million acres, up 1.9 percent from a March forecast, and spring-wheat planting jumped 6.8 percent to 14.197 million acres, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report today. Corn prices doubled in the past year to a record on June 27, and wheat jumped 13 percent this month after reaching a record in February. The U.S. is the world’s largest corn grower and wheat exporter.

Corn futures for December delivery fell the CBOT’s 30-cent limit, or 3.8 percent, to $7.57 a bushel, the biggest percentage drop since Jan. 23. The most-active contract reached a record $7.9925 on June 27. Corn is still up 26 percent this month, the biggest monthly gain since June 1988.

Wheat futures for September delivery fell 53.25 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $8.5875 a bushel in Chicago, the biggest drop since March 31. Futures have tumbled 36 percent from a record $13.495 a bushel on Feb. 27. The price is up 48 percent in the past 12 months after adverse weather curbed harvests in 2007.

Stocks: A First Half from Hell

Indexes rose slightly Monday, ending the worst month for the S&P 500 since 2002. It was the worst June showing for the Dow since 1930

The unhappy recap: Stocks dropped quickly at the start of the year, then seemed to hit bottom in March when investment bank Bear Stearns collapsed. But a rally in April and May fizzled, and June 2008 ended as one of the worst Junes on record — the worst June performance for the Dow Jones industrial average since 1930, and the worst June for the S&P 500 ever.

The Dow has dropped 14.4% so far in 2008; Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has plunged 12.8%; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is down 13.6

Rumors about Lehman Brothers (LEH) added to the volatility. There was speculation that Barclays (BCS), the British bank, may be planning to buy Lehman at a discount to its current price. Lehman shares dropped 11%.

Oil hit a record high of $143.67 per barrel overnight, but retreated on Monday. On the NYMEX, crude oil for August delivery settled at $140 per barrel, 21 cents lower than Friday’s close.

The June Chicago purchasing managers index, or PMI, was expected to fall in June but instead inched higher. The reading 49.6 beat May’s PMI of 49.1. The employment index improved from 41.2 to 46.7.

For the month of June the Dow lost 10.2%, while the S&P 500 fell 8.6% and the Nasdaq was down 9.1%. More than four-fifths of the S&P 500 was in negative territory for the month, and almost half was down 10% or more. The worst performers included many financial and automotive stocks, while many of the market’s best-performing stocks were in the energy sector.

Among Monday’s stocks in the news, H&R Block (HRB) impressed investors with earnings of $1.66 per share, beating a loss of 26 cents a year ago. The tax preparer says it expects to earn between $1.60 and $1.70 per share next year, which is above analysts’ predictions. The firm also raised its annual dividend 5.3%.

Del Monte Foods (DLM) agreed to sell its seafood business, including StarKist, to Dongwon Enterprises for $363 million.

Campbell Soup (CPB) announced a $1.2 billion stock buyback program. The company expects 2008 earnings to be on the upper end of its previously announced 5% to 7% growth range.

Usana Health Sciences (USNA) says Gull Holdings and Unity Acquisition Corp. have raised their buyout offer from the company from $26 to $28 per share.

Solarfun Power Holdings (SOLF) entered into a long-term polysilicon supply deal with Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Company. Also, Solarfun says it will buy the 48% of Jiangsu Yangguang Solar that it doesn’t already own.

Major European indexes were mixed Monday. In London, the FTSE 100 index was up 1.74% at 5,625.90. In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.85% to 4,434.85, while Germany’s DAX index slipped 0.06% to 6,418.32.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 moved 0.46% lower at 13,481.38, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.27% to 22,102.01.

A Cringing Quarter for Venture Capitalists

venture capitalists experienced a very poor second quarter. The industry’s trade association said Tuesday that for the first time since 1978, not a single venture-backed company went public in the quarter.

The other bad news was the industry’s disclosure early Monday morning that acquisitions of venture-backed companies are down sharply too. In the second quarter, 50 merger and acquisition deals of venture-backed companies were completed. That’s down from 70 in the first quarter.

In the first half of 2008, there were 120 such deals altogether, down 28 percent from the 169 in the first half of 2007.

And now the merger and acquisition track has slowed too.

BUSINESS TECH

Microsoft reportedly will cut Xbox 360 price

Sources say $50 price cut for the 20GB model will come before E3, the video game industry’s biggest trade show.
(From Reuters)

The last hurrah for Windows XP

The OS will be supported and sold in limited fashion for some time to come, but Monday marks its last day as a widespread option on store shelves and new PCs.
(Posted in Beyond Binary by Ina Fried)

Andreessen to join Facebook’s board

There’s no conflict of interest with Marc Andreessen’s social-networking start-up Ning, both companies say. The veteran entrepreneur will provide some guidance to Mark Zuckerberg and his largely young team.

Online ad spending should grow 20 percent in 2008

Despite a sour economy, JupiterResearch predicts that a trend away from traditional advertising will continue in the coming years.

Symbian’s new mobile-app role

With an acquisition and a new foundation, Nokia casts Symbian into the limelight hogged by Apple’s iPhone and Google Android

At MTI Micro, pushing fuel cells for portables

MTI Micro’s goal is to displace lithium ion batteries in portable gadgets. The first fuel cells, it says, are due in 2009

CBS closes CNET Networks acquisition

CBS announced Monday it completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of CNET Networks, publisher of many Web sites including CNET News.com, setting the stage for expanding its CBS Interactive division into five categories.