Live Financial And Business News By SaneBull

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the United States, health experts said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's announcement of a new strategy on Afghanistan will not take place until after the Thanksgiving holiday next week, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear, according to new guidelines issued on Friday that aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The uproar over new breast cancer screening guidelines in the United States underscores the delicate balance scientists and health policy experts face in trying to convince a wary American public that less healthcare, in some cases, may be good for them.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who is little known outside his own country, as the bloc's first president on Thursday to lead efforts to make it more influential on the world stage.

* High-frequency trading likely to boost volume (Adds detail on co-location, additional quote, background,byline)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The charitable trust thatcontrols Hershey Co is pushing the company to launch arival $17 billion bid for Cadbury Plc , the Wall StreetJournal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with thematter.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A global retreat from riskyassets on concerns over the strength of the economic recoveryweighed on overseas shares traded in the United States onFriday, sending them lower for a fourth-straight day.

BOSTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Investors tempted to put moneyinto star hedge fund manager John Paulson's new gold portfoliowill have to commit at least $10 million and leave the moneylocked up for at least one year, according to a prospectus.

* Energy sector leads retreat (Updates to close; adds details, quotes)

* Shares close 3 percent lower (Adds company statement, updates share movement)

* Dow off 0.1 pct; S&P 500 off 0.3 pct; Nasdaq off 0.5 pct

* Much more improvement needed to boost refiner profits

* U.S. immigration agency to review firms' hiring records

(Adds comments from second Treasury nominee, background)

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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]

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Two Weeks Ended November 18 daily avgs-mlns (H.3)Free Reserves..............937,945 vs.rvsd...950,134Other Borrowings...........108,235 vs........109,119Seasonal Loans...75 vs.............67Total Borrowings...........217,690 vs........248,364Term Auction Credit........109,456 vs........139,245Excess Reserves..........1,046,180 vs......1,059,253Required Reserves...........62,697 vs.........62,410Total Reserves...........1,108,877 vs......1,121,663Non-Borrowed Reserves......891,1

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The charitable trust thatcontrols Hershey Co is pushing the company to launch arival $17 billion bid for Cadbury Plc , the Wall StreetJournal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with thematter.

BOSTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Investors tempted to put moneyinto star hedge fund manager John Paulson's new gold portfoliowill have to commit at least $10 million and leave the moneylocked up for at least one year, according to a prospectus.

(Adds comments from second Treasury nominee, background)

TORONTO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Collecting fine art is morethan just a hobby for savvy investors who see the art world asa $50 billion vehicle for generating wealth, storing it andpassing on to their heirs.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Vivendi SA andGeneral Electric have agreed that Vivendi will be paidclose to one-third of the value of its NBC Universal stake,although a value for the stake itself is still beingnegotiated, a person familiar with the matter said.

* Nickel stocks head for historical highs (Changes headline, adds NEW YORK to dateline, recasts, Updatesclosing prices)

* Terra shares up 5 pct, CF shares down 0.2 pct (Adds vote margin, nominee names, Agrium comment, context;updates stock prices)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures endedlower on Friday, dragged down by a resurgent dollar and asequities dipped on economic recovery worries.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Moody's Investor Services onFriday cut its credit rating for Sprint-Nextel Corp ,citing concerns about Sprint's ability to stabilize itsoperating performance and earnings.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - NYSE Euronext ,LCH.Clearnet, BATS Global Markets and other firms partneredwith banks have urged two U.S. legislators to drop a proposed"rigid" cap on dealer ownership of clearinghouses, according toa letter sent this week.

* U.S. immigration agency to review firms' hiring records

(Adds comments from second Treasury nominee, background)

* Colombian military chiefs meet, no troop buildup seen (Adds Colombia to complain to U.N., OAS)

* Says has enough capital to absorb adverse credit losses *Says "pleased" with core deposit trends

* Year-end pressures drive short-term trade (Recasts, updates comment, prices)

CHICAGO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Hospitality company Centerplatewill acquire smaller rival Boston Culinary Group Inc in a moveto beef up its presence in the large college market, as well asother entertainment venues, the company said on Friday.

* Jury rejects Fair Isaac claims related to credit scores

* Battle packs risks, possible rewards, for all senators

Nov 20 (Reuters) - The following are lists of upcoming high-grade andhigh-yield corporate bond offerings in the United States. The information wasgathered from Thomson Reuters U.S. new issues team, and other market sources:*Denotes 144a private placement debt offering.HIGH-GRADE BOND SALES EXPECTED FOR WEEK OF 11/30/2009 COMPANY AMT MAT/DEBT RTGS MGRS PRICED----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Easton-Bell Sports Inc on Friday sold$350 million of senior secured notes in the 144a privateplacement market, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service.

* Dow off 0.1 pct; S&P 500 off 0.3 pct; Nasdaq off 0.5 pct

(Adds comments from second Treasury nominee, background)

* 54 million doses of vaccine packaged or given (Adds CDC investigation into drug-resistant cases)

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - British health officials areinvestigating the likely person-to-person spread of adrug-resistant strain of swine flu, the Health Protection Agencysaid on Friday.

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - British health officials areinvestigating the likely person-to-person spread of adrug-resistant strain of swine flu, the Health Protection Agencysaid on Friday.

* Battle packs risks, possible rewards, for all senators

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

CHICAGO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - When the U.S. holiday shoppingseason kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving, retailers canexpect to see millions of less frightened but even more bargainhungry customers cross their thresholds.

* Dow off 0.2 pct; S&P 500 off 0.4 pct; Nasdaq off 0.6 pct

* Hershey and Ferrero considering joint Cadbury bid (Adds detail in paragraph 15) (For more Reuters DEALTALKS, click [DEALTALK/])

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The charitable trust thatcontrols Hershey Co is pushing the company to launch arival $17 billion bid for Cadbury Plc , the Wall StreetJournal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with thematter.

BOSTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Investors tempted to put moneyinto star hedge fund manager John Paulson's new gold portfoliowill have to commit at least $10 million and leave the moneylocked up for at least one year, according to a prospectus.

(Adds comments from second Treasury nominee, background)

TORONTO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Collecting fine art is morethan just a hobby for savvy investors who see the art world asa $50 billion vehicle for generating wealth, storing it andpassing on to their heirs.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Vivendi SA andGeneral Electric have agreed that Vivendi will be paidclose to one-third of the value of its NBC Universal stake,although a value for the stake itself is still beingnegotiated, a person familiar with the matter said.

* Nickel stocks head for historical highs (Changes headline, adds NEW YORK to dateline, recasts, Updatesclosing prices)

* Terra shares up 5 pct, CF shares down 0.2 pct (Adds vote margin, nominee names, Agrium comment, context;updates stock prices)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures endedlower on Friday, dragged down by a resurgent dollar and asequities dipped on economic recovery worries.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Moody's Investor Services onFriday cut its credit rating for Sprint-Nextel Corp ,citing concerns about Sprint's ability to stabilize itsoperating performance and earnings.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - NYSE Euronext ,LCH.Clearnet, BATS Global Markets and other firms partneredwith banks have urged two U.S. legislators to drop a proposed"rigid" cap on dealer ownership of clearinghouses, according toa letter sent this week.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The charitable trust thatcontrols Hershey Co is pushing the company to launch arival $17 billion bid for Cadbury Plc , the Wall StreetJournal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with thematter.

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A global retreat from riskyassets on concerns over the strength of the economic recoveryweighed on overseas shares traded in the United States onFriday, sending them lower for a fourth-straight day.

* Ford to invest 4 bln reais in Brazil, most in northeast

CHICAGO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - When the U.S. holiday shoppingseason kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving, retailers canexpect to see millions of less frightened but even more bargainhungry customers cross their thresholds.

* Previous record $22.2 million from "Harry Potter" movie

* Shares rise 18 pct (Adds conference call details, analyst comment, updates sharemovement)

* Auction brings in players who want legal filing -BNPP

LOS ANGELES, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Vampire romance movie "TheTwilight Saga: New Moon" raked in $26.3 million at NorthAmerican box offices in midnight showings, breaking the recordset by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," studioofficials said on Friday.

MADRID, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Spain's industry minister onFriday said after meeting with a top General Motors [GM.UL]executive that no more jobs would be cut at a GM Opel plant nearZaragoza than previously agreed with former prospective buyerMagna .

CAMACARI, Brazil Nov 20 (Reuters) - Brazil will havecreated 1.3 million payroll jobs by the end of 2009, PresidentLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday, as Latin America'slargest economy recovered from a brief recession.