S&P downgrades SoftBank to 'junk' status, shares slide

TOKYO (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's cut SoftBank Corp's debt rating two notches to "junk" grade, citing financial risks from its $21.6 billion purchase of U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp and Sprint's proposed buyout of Clearwire Corp .

The downgrade spurred a slide in SoftBank's shares, but analysts said the drop was largely due to profit-taking after the stock had surged in anticipation of the Sprint deal, which received final regulatory approval on Friday.

S&P had warned in March it would cut SoftBank's rating to BB+, its highest non-investment grade, if the Sprint deal was concluded.

The downgrade is unlikely to increase financing costs for SoftBank, which should be able to rely on funding from Japanese banks, said Hiroshi Yamashina, senior telecoms analyst at BNP Paribas in Tokyo.

SoftBank in May said it would issue 400 billion yen ($3.96 billion) in retail bonds in the Japanese market, while in April it raised the size of a dual-tranche bond issue in dollars and euros to the equivalent of $3.3 billion from $2 billion.

S&P said SoftBank's outlook was stable, as the ratings agency expects steady growth in its Japanese mobile business and gradual improvement in Sprint's operating performance as the merger brings cost reductions and other benefits.

Moody's Investors Service on June 12 said SoftBank's offer for Sprint would have a limited impact on its rating - now at the agency's lowest investment grade rating of Baa3. The rating has been put on review for a possible downgrade.

SoftBank shares tumbled after news of the downgrade, trading nearly 5 percent lower on the day at 5,600 yen, their lowest this month. They pared losses to end at 5,680 yen, down 3.4 percent.

SoftBank's five-year CDS was quoted around 210 basis points on Monday after the downgrade, a widening of about 20 bps from Friday.

(Reporting by Mari Saito, Nobuhiro Kubo, Dominic Lau and Naoyuki Katayama; Writing by Edmund Klamann; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-downgrades-softbank-junk-status-shares-slide-072006467.html

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EE doubling 4G spectrum allocation in 12 cities tomorrow to boost speed

EE invited us to a breakfast get-together this morning, and spectrum was on the menu. Back in April, EE reported that it would be doubling the LTE spectrum allocation in ten cities, promising twice the speeds, at some point during the summer. We now know the switch is being flipped tomorrow, and in addition to the ten already announced, Derby and Nottingham are also getting double bandwidth to play with.

Filed under: Wireless, Internet, Mobile

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/5pZtxqwWt6g/

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Stock futures point to flat open before factory data

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures pointed to a flat open on Tuesday, paring back from earlier modest gains as investors looked ahead to the latest economic data.

Wall Street has shown signs of positive momentum, with investors becoming more optimistic about the economic outlook since Federal Reserve officials signaled that the central bank's bond-buying stimulus policy wasn't ending imminently.

While markets have stabilized after a recent sharp decline, the S&P 500 remains more than 3 percent below its record closing high.

"We're seeing a retracement of a sell-off that was based in fear, though the market will likely continue to be emotional," said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York.

William Dudley, the president of the New York Fed, will speak at 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT) about national economic conditions. His comments will be closely scrutinized for clues about when the Fed might begin to scale back its quantitative easing.

May factory orders will be released at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) by the government, and economists polled by Reuters expect a rise of 2 percent, twice the rate of the previous month.

Data on the Institute for Supply Management's New York regional business activity is also on tap for Tuesday, leading up to Friday's closely watched June payrolls report.

Auto companies will report June car sales on Tuesday, providing an indicators of consumer spending.

Wall Street has shown an ambiguous attitude toward U.S. data in the past six weeks, as positive reports sparked declines on concern that signs of a strong economy would cause the Fed to accelerate tapering its bond-buying program.

"Today's move will likely come down to whether we see a strong reaction to the data," Pursche said. "We'll likely be very unpredictable ahead of the payrolls report."

The Labor Department will report June non-farm payrolls on Friday, and economists have forecast an increase of 165,000 jobs. The stock market will have a shortened session on

Wednesday and U.S. financial markets will be closed for Independence Day on Thursday.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.6 point and were slightly below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 2 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 4 points.

Equities surged in the first half of the year, hitting record highs before pulling back dramatically in June on concerns the Fed would begin reining in its stimulus, which helped fuel 2013's gains.

While stocks closed higher on Monday on strong manufacturing and construction data, they ended well off their highs of the session. The S&P lost more than half of its gains, a sign of investor caution. More volatility is expected as the economy eventually moves to a no-stimulus environment.

In corporate news, alcoholic beverage company Constellation Brands Inc fell 2.4 percent to $51.90 in premarket trading after the company reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that missed expectations.

Sources said Pfizer Inc and Novartis AG may make preliminary bids for Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc . On Sunday, Onyx turned down a roughly $10 billion offer from Amgen Inc .

Onyx jumped 1.6 percent to $133.40 before the bell.

Zynga Inc rose 3.2 percent to $3.23 in premarket trading after naming Don Mattrick, the head of Microsoft's Xbox business, as its chief executive.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-higher-positive-momentum-persists-112123953.html

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra, huge mobile star, but will it be successful?: http://wtim.e...

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Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup

Get Politics Newsletters:

This week, America took another step on the path leading to a more perfect union -- while demonstrating that it's a journey that proceeds in fits and starts. On Tuesday, a divided Supreme Court took the nation backwards by striking down a crucial section of the Voting Rights Act. The very next day, the equally divided high court moved us forward by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act. This ruling wasn't a victory just for gay Americans -- just as Tuesday's decision wasn't a defeat just for minority voters. When our nation's policies move us towards our founding ideals, it's a victory for all Americans. Speaking of victories, this week's dramatic filibuster by Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis, which blocked an extreme anti-choice bill, demonstrated that the spirit needed to keep making our union more perfect is alive and well -- and also marked the birth of new political star. #StandWithWendy #PinkSneakersRule

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Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/sunday-roundup_288_b_3521573.html

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Rolling Stones set stage alight in Glastonbury debut

By Belinda Goldsmith and Isla Binnie

PILTON, England (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones lived up to their reputation as one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands when they played to more than 100,000 revelers on Saturday during their first performance at Glastonbury, the world's best-known music festival.

Despite an average age of 69, the four band members strutted, strummed and shrieked their way through a set lasting over two hours that began with "Jumping' Jack Flash" and ended with fireworks exploding off the stage during "Satisfaction".

The crowd cheered and sang along as the band that celebrated 50 years in the music business last year rocked through a playlist of old and new hits while security staff tried to block entry to the overcrowded field.

"It's great to be here doing this festival. After all these years they have finally gotten around to asking us," said rubber-lipped frontman Mick Jagger, who turns 70 next month.

Glastonbury began as a hippie retreat in 1970 and has become known for its megastars over the years with Beyonce, U2, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie among the headline acts. The Rolling Stones were the most notable absence from the lineup.

Festival founder Michael Eavis, who holds the festival on his 900-acre (365-hectare) farm in southwest England, has publicly delighted in finally persuading the band to play at the three-day event that drew 150,000-plus music fans by Saturday.

From the outset, the Rolling Stones showed there was no generation gap, as they got the crowd cheering to "Honky Tonk Woman" and then singing along to "Miss You".

Five songs into their set, Jagger introduced a new number, "Glastonbury Girl", that he said he wrote for a girl he met at the festival on Friday night when he joined the audience to watch the headline act Arctic Monkeys.

"HIGHLIGHT OF 43 YEARS OF GLASTONBURY"

As they played "Sympathy for the Devil", a metallic phoenix rose from the top of the stage, wings flapping and eyes flashing, amid shooting flames.

"I want to thank you for coming to our shows for 50 years," yelled Jagger, who bounded across the stage after introducing his band mates, drummer Charlie Watts and guitarists Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards.

"If this is the first time you have ever seen the band, do come again," joked Jagger, who earlier in the day said he would keep performing as long as his fans wanted him.

That could be a while, judging by the response of festival-goers who said the Rolling Stones more than met their expectations.

The average age of Glastonbury festival-goers has risen to 36 over the years but even younger fans were full of praise for the veteran rockers who have released more than two dozen studio albums and 100 singles over the past five decades.

"I thought it was epic. I thought they smashed it. I expected a dropped note here, a cracked voice there," said Mark Smalley, 27, an events manager from Plymouth on the south coast.

Speaking immediately after the band came off stage, Eavis told the BBC that the Rolling Stones were "the highlight of 43 years of Glastonbury".

The Rolling Stones ended the second of three days of music at the festival where the lineup also included Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, psychedelic rockers Primal Scream and Laura Mvula as well as smaller acts on 58 stages across the sprawling site.

British folk rockers Mumford & Sons will close the 2013 festival on Sunday night.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rolling-stones-set-stage-alight-glastonbury-debut-010605613.html

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July 4th fireworks scrapped at a number of bases

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Fourth of July won't have a patriotic boom in the sky over some military bases because budget cuts and furloughed workers also mean furloughed fireworks.

Independence Day celebrations have been canceled at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base and at the Army's Fort Bragg, both in North Carolina. The annual July Fourth celebration also has been scrapped at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga.

The reason is money ? namely the lack of it.

The failure in Washington to follow up a 2011 budget pact with additional spending cuts meant $85 billion across-the-board cuts that began in March. Budgets tightened, the military took a major hit and many federal workers absorbed pay cuts through forced furloughs.

When the decision was made to forgo fireworks at Camp Lejeune, the commanding general, Brig. Gen. Thomas Gorry, said the cancellation would "ensure that we can mitigate the fiscal challenges we are currently facing."

Last year's Independence Day at the base cost about $100,000, including $25,000 for the fireworks. The big issue is paying the overtime to personnel for security, transportation, logistics and safety. Base officials said they couldn't justify paying overtime when federal workers are losing pay while furloughed.

Brandy Rhoad Stowe says the fireworks at Camp Lejeune always were spectacular, and she said that she and her kids, ages 3 and 9, will miss them this year.

"I know fireworks might seem silly to other people," Stowe said in an interview. "But what is the Fourth of July without fireworks?"

Her husband is a master gunnery sergeant with seven combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.

Stowe says she understands the budgets cuts but still feels a little shortchanged.

"It's just a bummer for the kids," she said. "It's like the Grinch stealing Christmas."

Marines and their families at Lejeune will instead be able to participate in some free activities ? golf, bowling, skeet shooting, archery and movies.

Other bases that are canceling ceremonies to mark the nation's birthday:

?Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, where the annual Jammin' July 4th put on by the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw and local city and county officials has been scrapped. The base plans a smaller "freedom bash" on July 3 with pool games, face painting and bouncy castles.

?The Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, which is scaling back by canceling the fireworks and instead hosting a daytime celebration featuring the Pacific Fleet Band and the Air Force Band of the Pacific.

?New Jersey's Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/july-4th-fireworks-scrapped-number-bases-132547148.html

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