ICE to buy NYSE Euronext for $8.2 bln

REUTERS - In October, Jeff Sprecher, chief executive of upstart IntercontinentalExchange , approached NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer with a modest proposal to team up on clearing trades in London. As the men continued talking, Sprecher grew bolder, instead suggesting that ICE buy NYSE in what became an $8.2 billion deal announced on Thursday. The deal will link up two powerful derivatives exchange...

Read More..

Wall Street bounces back on hope for "cliff' solution

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rebounded from early losses on Thursday after Republican House Speaker John Boehner said he would keep working on a solution to the "fiscal cliff" while also slamming President Barack Obama's approach to budget talks. NYSE Euronext was the S&P 500's biggest gainer, surging 34 percent to $32.25 after IntercontinentalExchange Inc said it would buy the operator of...

Read More..

Regulator plans to sanction JPMorgan on "Whale" trade - report

(Reuters) - A U.S. bank regulator is planning to issue a formal action against JPMorgan Chase & Co , demanding that the bank fix lapses in risk controls that allowed some of its traders to build a risky bet that lost $6.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a division of the Treasury Department that oversees banks, is not expected...

Read More..

ICE to buy NYSE Euronext for $8.2 billion

REUTERS - In October, Jeff Sprecher, chief executive of upstart IntercontinentalExchange , approached NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer with a modest proposal to team up on clearing trades in London. As the men continued talking, Sprecher grew bolder, instead suggesting that ICE buy NYSE in what became an $8.2 billion deal announced on Thursday. The deal will link up two powerful derivatives exchange...

Read More..

Trafigura 2012 earnings fall below $1 bln - FT

SINGAPORE, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Commodities trader Trafigura earned about $1 billion for the second straight year in 2012, but down from a record achieved last year due to higher staff costs and new investments, the Financial Times reported. The privately-held company, based in Geneva and Singapore, made a profit of $991.9 million in the year to September, down 11 percent from last year's record $1.11...

Read More..

ICE to acquire NYSE in $8.2bn deal

London, Dec. 21 (ANI): IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), the 12-yr old firm dealing in contracts tied to energy and commodity prices, has agreed to buy NYSE Euronext for cash and stock in a deal worth 8.2 billion dollars. As part of the deal, ICE also gains control of the Liffe (London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange) and stock exchanges in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and Amsterdam....

Read More..

NHL lockout has chilling effect on business

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Most everywhere Lou Billittier turns these days, the Buffalo restaurateur is reminded of the NHL  lockout, and its impact on his blue-collar, sports-mad town where Dominik Hasek became a star and the French Connection is still revered.Billittier misses the familiar faces of Sabres players having their traditional game-day lunch at his restaurant, Chef's. He recalled a recent...

Read More..

Barring setback, Redskins' RG3 looks good to go

    *      Kirk Cousins will start in place of Griffin wgho is sitting out with a sprained knee. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)  less ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Robert Griffin III looks good to go.The Washington Redskins rookie had a full practice Thursday for the second straight day as the team prepares for this week's game against the Philadelphia Eagles."I like...

Read More..

AP IMPACT: Steroids loom in major-college football

WASHINGTON (AP) — With steroids easy to buy, testing weak and punishments inconsistent, college football  players are packing on significant weight — 30 pounds or more in a single year, sometimes — without drawing much attention from their schools or the NCAA in a sport that earns tens of billions of dollars for teams.Rules vary so widely that, on any given game day, a team with a strict no-steroid...

Read More..

It's official, Andersen is new Wisconsin coach

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Several schools tried to lure Gary Andersen away from Utah State.Wisconsin finally got him.Andersen was officially hired as the Badgers' new coach Thursday, and will be formally introduced at a news conference Friday morning. He replaces Bret Bielema, who left the Badgers for Arkansas this month."I don't know if I can really have a word for how excited I am to be at Wisconsin...

Read More..

Barea, Wolves snap Thunder's 12-game streak

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — J.J. Barea ended Oklahoma City's 12-game winning streak almost all by himself.Playing with the tenacity that made him so important to the Mavericks' run to the title two years ago, Barea scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 99-93 victory over the Thunder on Thursday night.Kevin Love had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists...

Read More..

Laclede to double customers in $1 billion deal with Energy Transfer

(Reuters) - Natural gas distributor Laclede Group Inc  is buying two utilities from Energy Transfer Equity LP  for $1 billion, doubling its customer numbers and boosting its exposure to more stable state-regulated income.More than 91 percent of Laclede's earnings will come from rate-regulated business after the acquisition of Missouri Gas Energy and New England Gas Co, owned by Energy Transfer's...

Read More..

Zurich puts Sandy storm damage claims at $700 million

ZURICH (Reuters) - Zurich estimates that damage claims relating to tropical storm Sandy, which hit the United States in October, will amount to $700 million in its fourth-quarter earnings.The Swiss insurer's announcement on Monday also said that it expects $58 million of "reinstatement premiums due on reinsurance covers". The company gave no further explanation. It is due to report quarterly earnings...

Read More..

Burundi coffee earnings rise 46 pct in November

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's coffee revenues rose 46 percent in November from the previous month on higher prices and export volumes, the country's industry regulator said on Friday.The country earned $5.7 million from the sale of 1,671,638 kg versus $3.9 million it earned in October from the export of 1,205,919 kg."Coffee farmers were asked to produce Arabica beans of highest quality following...

Read More..

Empire Co profit rises on higher sales at Sobeys

(Reuters) - Empire Co Ltd  reported a higher second-quarter profit as sales at its Sobeys supermarket chain rose due to acquisitions.Net earnings increased to C$93.3 million ($95 million), or C$1.37 per share, from C$78.1 million, or C$1.15 per share, a year earlier.Total sales rose 9 percent to C$4.40 billion in the quarter ended November 3.Sales at established stores, a key measure for retailers,...

Read More..

MetLife warns on 2013 profit, expects no stock buybacks

(Reuters) - MetLife Inc  warned that 2013 earnings might be well below Wall Street expectations  and said it did not expect to buy back any shares next year, a blow to investors who have been waiting more than a year for a capital return.The largest life insurer in the United States also said it needed to move faster on strategic changes amid a persistently low-interest-rate environment.While...

Read More..