Shares News

By Tom Miles MOSCOW (Reuters) - Investors hoping to buy a slice of Russian state oil firm Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) in its initial public offering of shares are likely to learn the price on Friday, as well as hearing whether a judge will let the sale proceed. Rosneft is likely to settle on a price within a range of $7.45 and $7.55 per share after negotiations with bankers and  ...

Growing international tension over Israel's offensive in Lebanon has sent world markets tumbling as oil prices crept towards $77 (£42) a barrel. In the US, the Nasdaq ended on its lowest level for nine months while the Dow Jones saw treble-digit losses for the second day in a row. All the major European financial markets fell by 1.6% or more. Outside the Middle East, further supply worries in Nigeria also pushed oil prices higher. In New York, a barrel of light sweet crude jumped to  ...

By Philipp Gollner SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc. (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it will cut back on mail-in rebates and simplify its pricing on computers after customers complained the process for getting the sale price was too complex. Analysts said the move would help Dell improve customer relations, but would not significantly boost sales as the world's biggest personal computer maker said the prices that customers ultimately pay for its products rema ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Motorola Inc. and Cingular Wireless are the headliners next week as telecommunications companies begin to report quarterly results to a market increasingly skeptical about the industry's prospects. In the past few months, stocks of most telecom companies have tacked sharply lower amid concerns about whether they can maintain their recent growth trends. Equipment vendor ...

Russian oil firm Yukos has launched a desperate last ditch legal bid to stop its rival Rosneft's $10bn(£5.5bn) flotation on the London Stock Exchange. It is trying to get an injunction before Rosneft shares make their market debut - a move scheduled for Wednesday. The debate centres on Rosneft's Yugansk oil unit, which Yukos argues was illegally acquired. Rosneft bought Yugansk in 2004 after it was seized from Yukos and auctioned off to settle a disputed unpaid tax bill. Some have claim ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Its turnaround efforts stung by soaring gasoline prices, Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that it's cutting its quarterly dividend in half and that its board of directors would take a similar cut in compensation. The board voted to slash the third-quarter dividend Ford (F) will pay to Class B and common shareholders to 5 cents a share from 10 cents. The reduced dividend ...

LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones) -- Walt Disney Co. was downgraded to sector underperformer on Thursday, on concerns of a lackluster 2007. CIBC World Markets analyst Jason Helfstein wrote in a note to clients that the rest of 2006 is expected to be strong for the media and broadcasting giant, but his analysis of 2007 suggests slower growth. Helfstein's previous rating was sector performer. The antici ...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - Leading online financial-services firms Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade and E-Trade Financial are expected, to post an average 35% rise in profit for the second quarter, compared with the year-earlier period. On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the average gain is expected to be a more modest 3%. For the first quarter, the firms, on average, reported an almost 82% gain in ear ...

CHICAGO (Dow Jones) -- Tribune Co. said Thursday that its second-quarter profit fell 62% from the prior year on a charge related to the value of the licenses of two television stations it sold last month. Also Thursday, southeastern newspaper publisher and broadcaster Media General (MEG) said net income in the second quarter fell 47%, reflecting a gain on the sale of its Denver Post stake in th ...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Cowen Group Inc. is ending its eight-year marriage to French bank Societe Generale as it priced its initial public offering at a discount and saw its shares fall further in the face of dour stock market conditions. Cowen Group (COWN) opened at $16, flat with its IPO price, and fell to $15.55 on morning volume of about 4 million shares. The 2% drop in the IPO kept pace w ...