AIG says rating cuts to raise costs - Business

Reuters - Hewlett-Packard Co is in talks to buy technology outsourcing company Electronic Data Systems Corp for $12 billion to $13 billion in a deal which would vault it to a close second to IBM in technology services.

AIG sees no need to honor ex-CEO request to delay AGM (Reuters)

Reuters - Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, former chief executive of American International Group , has said the insurer is in "crisis" and urged a delay in its annual general meeting scheduled for Wednesday, according to a letter he sent to the board.

Australia's Westpac bids $17.6 billion for St George (Reuters)

Reuters - Westpac Banking Corp Ltd launched a $17.6 billion all-share bid for smaller rival St George Bank Ltd in a tie-up that would create Australia's biggest bank by market value.

Nissan operating profit falls 14 percent (Reuters)

Reuters - Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) reported a 13.7 percent drop in fourth quarter operating profit on Tuesday and forecast a sharp fall in annual profits this year due to a weaker dollar, rising commodities prices and sinking U.S. demand.

SocGen net profit falls 23 pct, beats consensus (Reuters)

Reuters - Societe Generale , the French bank hit by the world's worst rogue trader scandal, reported a 23.4 percent fall in first quarter net profit although earnings came in above the average market forecast.

Survey: 1 in 10 boomers borrowing for everyday expenses (AP)
AP - The economic downturn is hitting roughly one in 10 middle-aged and older Americans especially hard, compelling them to borrow money for everyday living expenses and to seek help from family, friends or charities, according to a survey released Tuesday by the AARP.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American International Group said on Friday two rating agency downgrades will likely increase funding costs for some of its businesses, and has required it to post $1.6 billion more in collateral.The one-notch downgrades by Standard & Poor's and Fitch followed AIG's report on Thursday that it suffered a record first-quarter net loss of $7.8 billion, driven by a costly write-down in the market value of assets linked to subprime mortgages.The earnings report came after the stock market close and sent AIG shares down $3.06, or nearly 7 percent, to $41.09 in Friday morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange."A one-notch downgrade of the holding company is very manageable for us," AIG Chief Executive Martin Sullivan told investors on a conference call."Importantly, both agencies kept the financial strength ratings of our insurance company subsidiaries at the "AA-plus" level, which is most important to us"AIG, the world's largest insurer, announced plans on Thursday to raise $12.5 billion to boost its balance sheet.Investors have been hopeful that the value of residential mortgage assets will shortly rebound, and thereby lower AIG's collateral requirements and help boost results in future quarters.But Steve Bensinger, who is stepping aside as AIG chief financial officer, told investors he did not yet see signs of recovery in the structured credit market for residential mortgage securities, including subprime."We don't see any precise evidence to date that those markets have rebounded," he said on the call.

Other news from Business category:

U.S. victims of attacks in Israel sue Swiss bank - 13, May 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - American victims of bombings and rocket attacks in Israel have sued Swiss bank UBS AG for more than $500 million, accusing the bank of helping fund the militants behind the attacks through dealings with Iran.

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Hitachi losses grow, forecast below expectations - 13, May 2008
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Hitachi Ltd tumbled to a quarterly loss on slow TV sales and a tax writedown but said it would rebound to a profit this year, and its shares were up 5 percent.

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Finmeccanica to buy DRS for $5.2 billion - 13, May 2008
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Finmeccanica SpA reached a $5.2 billion deal to buy DRS Technologies Inc. securing itself a bigger presence in the growing U.S. defense market which accounts for half the world's military spending.

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Beazer Homes releases long awaited '07 results - 13, May 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home builder Beazer Homes USA said on Monday that it lost $10.70 per share in fiscal 2007, it released restated results for several years, and said it remains the target of several state and federal investigations.

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SocGen net profit falls 23 percent - 13, May 2008
PARIS (Reuters) - Societe Generale , the French bank hit by the world's worst rogue trader scandal, reported a 23.4 percent fall in first quarter net profit although earnings came in above the average market forecast.

More
Australia's Westpac bids $17.6 billion for St George - 13, May 2008
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Westpac Banking Corp Ltd launched a $17.6 billion all-share bid for smaller rival St George Bank Ltd in a tie-up that would create Australia's biggest bank by market value.

More
AIG sees no need to honor ex-CEO request to delay AGM - 13, May 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, former chief executive of American International Group , has said the insurer is in "crisis" and urged a delay in its annual general meeting scheduled for Wednesday, according to a letter he sent to the board
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HP in talks to buy EDS to compete with IBM - 13, May 2008
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co is in talks to buy technology outsourcing company Electronic Data Systems Corp for $12 billion to $13 billion in a deal which would vault it to a close second to IBM in technology services.

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Oil falls from record high on China demand worries - 13, May 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell from a record high over $126 a barrel on Monday as a dip in crude oil imports into No. 2 consumer China stirred concerns high prices were eating into demand.

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Long slump may follow crunch: JPMorgan CEO - 13, May 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon on Monday told bank investors that while the current credit market crunch may soon be over, the U.S. economy could still face a deep and extended recession.

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Software News

Microsoft software gives free tours of space (Reuters)

Reuters - Any Star Trek fan knows that space travel is not always easy, but Microsoft Corp wants to make traveling the "final frontier" as simple as turning on your computer.

SOA Software buys LogicLibrary (InfoWorld)
InfoWorld - Matching up critical components in the SOA space, SOA Software, which provides SOA governance automation, said Monday it has acquired SOA repository and governance vendor LogicLibrary.

Microsoft readies service packs for dev tools (InfoWorld)
InfoWorld - Microsoft released Monday beta versions of separate service packs for the Visual Studio 2008 software development platform and the accompanying .Net Framework 3.5, a Microsoft official said in a blog.

Google's Friend Connect To Spread Social Data (TechWeb)
TechWeb - InformationWeek - The software is part of an emerging set of technologies like OpenID, OAuth, OpenSocial, and the data access APIs published by Facebook, Google, and MySpace.

Three Charged in Dave & Buster's Hacking Job (PC World)
PC World - It may not have been the greatest hack ever, but police say the malicious software sneaked onto restaurant chain Dave &...

Windows XP SP3 Woes Especially Affect AMD Systems (NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - Users who thought the Windows XP operating system would be more reliable than its younger sibling Vista are being buffeted by reports that the latest update for XP, Service Pack 3, has its own problems.

U.S. victims of attacks in Israel sue Swiss bank - 13, May 2008

Hitachi losses grow, forecast below expectations - 13, May 2008

Finmeccanica to buy DRS for $5.2 billion - 13, May 2008

Beazer Homes releases long awaited '07 results - 13, May 2008

SocGen net profit falls 23 percent - 13, May 2008

Australia's Westpac bids $17.6 billion for St George - 13, May 2008

AIG sees no need to honor ex-CEO request to delay AGM - 13, May 2008

HP in talks to buy EDS to compete with IBM - 13, May 2008

Oil falls from record high on China demand worries - 13, May 2008

Long slump may follow crunch: JPMorgan CEO - 13, May 2008