Live Financial And Business News By SaneBull

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will begin large-scale air defense war games on Sunday to help protect its nuclear facilities against any attack, a senior commander said.

GENEVA (Reuters) - After a year's delay, scientists at the world's biggest accelerator have restarted an experiment to recreate "Big Bang" conditions that had sparked suggestions the earth would be sucked in by millions of black holes.

BEIJING (Reuters) - At least 31 miners were killed and 78 remain trapped 500 meters (yards) underground following a gas blast at a mine in China, state media said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to show patience over the economy and argued that his just-concluded Asia trip was critical for U.S. exports, countering criticism he had returned empty-handed.

(Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Senate hope to clear the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcare reform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historic legislation.

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Prime MinisterVladimir Putin on Saturday vowed to continue Russia'santi-crisis programme as the economy moves out of one of thedeepest recessions in post-Soviet history.

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama onSaturday urged Americans to show patience over the economy andargued that his just-concluded Asia trip was critical for U.S.exports, countering criticism he had returned empty-handed.

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Senate hope toclear the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcarereform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historiclegislation.

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Senate hope toclear the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcarereform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historiclegislation.

Nov 21 (Reuters) - The debate over U.S. healthcare reformis full of terms familiar to lawmakers and lobbyists but oftenobscure to the public.

STOCKHOLM, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A U.S.-led group will make anoffer for Ford-owned Volvo cars next week, rivalling a bidalready on the table from China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the daily Dagens Industri reported on Saturday.

Blackstone has been allowed to conduct due diligenceat Gala Coral after making an audacious late intervention in thebingo group's 2.5 billion debt restructuring. Blackstone couldmake a 250 to 300 million pound cash injection in Gala, whichwas valued at five billion at its peak, in return for a majoritystake. Gala's private equity owners -- Cinven, Candover andPermira -- have already agreed a deal with junior lendersdesigned to keep the business' bingo and gaming divisionsto

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has said he would considerpostponing his retirement if directors need more time to find asuccessor or smooth the transition to the next CEO, the WallStreet Journal reported on Friday.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The chief executive of DeltaAir Lines Inc says the SkyTeam alliance of globalcarriers would be willing to invest more than its proposed$1.02 billion in Japan Airlines , the Wall StreetJournal reported.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - News Corp , TimeWarner Inc and Qualia Capital LLC are interested inbuying Hollywood's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, home of theJames Bond movies, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

MEXICO CITY, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investmentin Mexico plunged 37 percent in the first nine months of 2009as the world financial crisis bit into capital flows, accordingto data released by the government on Friday.

NEW YORK - Federal Reserve Bank of New York PresidentWilliam Dudley speaks before the Columbia University WorldLeaders Forum sponsored by the Program for Economic Researchand Center for Japanese Economy and Research, ColumbiaUniversity, 1745 EST/2245 GMT. Speech topic TBD. Audience Q&Aexpected. Columbia University, Rotunda, Low MemorialLibrary.Must RSVP by 5 p.m. ET Dec. 4: Tanya Domi, 212 854-5579or TD207@columbia.edu; or Jeffrey Smith, 212 720-6139 orjeffrey.smith@ny.frb.org

---------------------------------------------------------

MEXICO CITY, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy likelyexpanded 2.4 percent in the third quarter compared with theprevious three months as the country began to recover from adeep recession, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters.

* No big new spending measures in 2010 budget (Adds fresh comment, Liberal Party reaction)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A weekly measure of futureU.S. economic growth fell to a nine-week low along with itsyearly growth rate, but the slouch in figures that recentlyreached record highs does not signal a rocky recovery, aresearch group said on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The number of mass layoffsreported by U.S. employers fell last month from September, agovernment report showed on Friday, suggesting job losses wereclose to bottoming.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A weekly measure of futureU.S. economic growth fell to a nine-week low along with itsyearly growth rate, but the dip in the index that recentlyreached a record high does not signal a rocky recovery, aresearch group said on Friday.

For Today in Germany diary double-click on [DE/DIARY]

For German corporate events diary click on [WEU/EQUITY]

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has said he would considerpostponing his retirement if directors need more time to find asuccessor or smooth the transition to the next CEO, the WallStreet Journal reported on Friday.

* Fund now has about 25 pct of Landry's outstanding shares

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. securities enforcersare looking at some of the high frequency trading that hedgefunds are doing, a top Securities and Exchange Commissionofficial said on Friday.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Chinese thin film solarcompany Trony Solar Holdings Company Limited raised the amountof its initial public offering on Friday, adding to the buzzaround the many U.S.-based publicly traded solar companies.

* Suit covers transactions from 2005 to early 2008 (Adds Merrill on reviewing suit, paragraph 3)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Dow Corning Corp [DOWCR.UL]sued Merrill Lynch & Co on Friday over the loss of $166 millionin auction rate securities, accusing Merrill of misleadinginvestors about the safety and liquidity of the risky debtmarket that collapsed early in 2008.

* Covered bond proposal may be added to systemic risk bill

Nov 20 (Reuters) - The following financial servicesindustry appointments were announced on Friday. To inform us ofother job changes, e-mail moves@thomsonreuters.com.

* Will use proceeds to retire existing debt (Recasts with pricing, ratings upgrade)

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov 20 (Reuters) - Minnesota businessmanTom Petters made a final push on Friday to convince a federaljury he was not responsible for a $3.65 billion Ponzi schemethat bankrupted his company.

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama onSaturday urged Americans to show patience over the economy andargued that his just-concluded Asia trip was critical for U.S.exports, countering criticism he had returned empty-handed.

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Senate hope toclear the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcarereform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historiclegislation.

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Senate hope toclear the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcarereform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historiclegislation.

Nov 21 (Reuters) - The debate over U.S. healthcare reformis full of terms familiar to lawmakers and lobbyists but oftenobscure to the public.

TOKYO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Japan's government and rulingparties are considering using money from state-owned JapanPost's [JP.UL] massive savings and insurance units to makeloans to regional businesses, a Japanese newspaper said onSaturday.

* Colombian military chiefs meet, no troop build-up seen

* Takeover battle has raged since July (Recasts, adds Cosmos comment)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Axiant LLC, a provider oflegal collections services, said on Friday it filed for Chapter11 bankruptcy protection and will be sold NCO Group Inc, aprovider of accounts receivable outsourcing services.

HONG KONG, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Las Vegas Sands Corp ,the world's most valuable casino company, has priced theinitial public offering for Sands China Ltd atHK$10.38 per share, a person familiar with the offering said.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co onFriday said its credit card contracts will no longer requirecustomers to resolve disputes through arbitration, a practicethat critics view as unfriendly to consumers.

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama onSaturday urged Americans to show patience over the economy andargued that his just-concluded Asia trip was critical for U.S.exports, countering criticism he had returned empty-handed.

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's jobapproval rating has dropped below 50 percent in a second majorpoll in an indication he is suffering from the long healthcaredebate and weakness in the economy, Gallup said on Friday.

* Hershey mulls bid of at least $17 bln for Cadbury-source

* Asian carp DNA found beyond barriers meant to block fish

* Men accused of conspiracy to wage war against U.S. (Adds quote from U.S. Attorney)

* Covered bond proposal may be added to systemic risk bill

CHICAGO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The number of cattle beingfattened in U.S. feedlots as of Nov. 1 was up about 1.5 percentfrom last year's low supply, but remained low historically asthe weak economy has discouraged cattle production and hurtbeef demand.

(For full coverage of U.S. healthcare reform, click [ID:nN20512341])

SANTIAGO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Union workers at Chile'sAltonorte copper smelter said on Friday they expect tough wagetalks with owner Xstrata , which claims tight margins onlower treatment charges has hurt the business.

* Will use proceeds to retire existing debt (Recasts with pricing, ratings upgrade)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has said he would considerpostponing his retirement if directors need more time to find asuccessor or smooth the transition to the next CEO, the WallStreet Journal reported on Friday.

* Fund now has about 25 pct of Landry's outstanding shares

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. securities enforcersare looking at some of the high frequency trading that hedgefunds are doing, a top Securities and Exchange Commissionofficial said on Friday.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Chinese thin film solarcompany Trony Solar Holdings Company Limited raised the amountof its initial public offering on Friday, adding to the buzzaround the many U.S.-based publicly traded solar companies.

* Suit covers transactions from 2005 to early 2008 (Adds Merrill on reviewing suit, paragraph 3)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Dow Corning Corp [DOWCR.UL]sued Merrill Lynch & Co on Friday over the loss of $166 millionin auction rate securities, accusing Merrill of misleadinginvestors about the safety and liquidity of the risky debtmarket that collapsed early in 2008.

* Covered bond proposal may be added to systemic risk bill

Nov 20 (Reuters) - The following financial servicesindustry appointments were announced on Friday. To inform us ofother job changes, e-mail moves@thomsonreuters.com.

* Will use proceeds to retire existing debt (Recasts with pricing, ratings upgrade)

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov 20 (Reuters) - Minnesota businessmanTom Petters made a final push on Friday to convince a federaljury he was not responsible for a $3.65 billion Ponzi schemethat bankrupted his company.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - News Corp , TimeWarner Inc and Qualia Capital LLC are interested inbuying Hollywood's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, home of theJames Bond movies, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Unilever United States Inc.said on Friday it was voluntarily recalling certain Shedd'sCountry Crock chilled side-dish products because they maycontain sulfites.

LOS ANGELES, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Blockbuster Inc said on Friday that it would change its stock structure in amove the beleaguered U.S. movie rental chain said will improveliquidity.

HONG KONG, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Las Vegas Sands Corp ,the world's most valuable casino company, has priced theinitial public offering for Sands China Ltd atHK$10.38 per share, a person familiar with the offering said.

* Fund now has about 25 pct of Landry's outstanding shares

* Obama administration not directly involved in talks (Adds Chrysler statement)

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Honda Motor Co Ltd has again produced the most fuel efficient and leastpolluting vehicles on American roads, the U.S. governmentprojections for 2009 showed on Friday.

* Hershey mulls bid of at least $17 bln for Cadbury-source

* Analysts say supply issues benefit Amazon's Kindle (Adds detail throughout, analyst and spox comments, changesheadline)

CHICAGO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The number of cattle beingfattened in U.S. feedlots as of Nov. 1 was up about 1.5 percentfrom last year's low supply, but remained low historically asthe weak economy has discouraged cattle production and hurtbeef demand.