STOCKS NEWS US-Delphi shares sink after offering priced

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0958 ET 18Aug2009
Delphi shares sink after offering priced

Shares of Delphi Financial Group Inc sank on Tuesday, after the company said its previously announced offering of 3 million class A common shares were priced at $21 a share, a 10 percent discount to their Monday's closing price.

This is the employee-insurance provider's second offering at a 10 percent discount this year. In April, the company offered 10 million shares at $17.50 a share.

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Shares of Delphi tumbled 10.3 percent to $20.89.

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0950 ET 18Aug2009
Best Buy to team up with Sony on Altus line of products

Sony Corp and Best Buy Co Inc on Tuesday unveiled a collaborative line of audio products, Altus, which will be sold on a Sony web site, at Best Buy stores and through some other retailers.

The wireless music systems, speakers, and home theater products include two docking systems for Apple Inc's iPods and iPhones.

The products, which also include systems that will stream music wirelessly from computers, range in price from about $200 to $800.

Shares of Best Buy were 0.3 percent lower at $34.66 while U.S.-listed shares of Sony gained 0.9 percent to $27.27.

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0941 ET 18Aug2009
Transcept to cut 30 pct of jobs

Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc on Tuesday said it would cut about 30 percent of jobs in order to reduce expenses, following its recent partnership deal with Purdue Pharmaceutical.

The company expects to record a restructuring charge of about $525,000 in the third quarter because of the cuts.

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The stock edged 0.2 percent higher to $9.

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0930 ET 18Aug2009
Markets open modestly higher after results, data

U.S. stock indexes opened modestly higher on Tuesday after better-than-expected results from retailers Home Depot Inc and Target Corp offset a surprise drop in U.S. housing starts.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to 9,153.33, while the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 981.14, and the Nasdaq was up 0.5 percent to 1,940.62.

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0918 ET 18Aug2009
Ezcorp to invest in Cash Converters

Pawn and payday lender Ezcorp Inc said on Monday it will buy about 108 million newly issued shares of Australia's Cash Converters International Ltd, in a deal valued at about $45 million.

Ezcorp, which is paying 50 Australian cents per Cash Converters share, will own about 30 percent of the outstanding ordinary shares of Cash Converters upon completion of the transaction.

The Austin, Texas-based company said it will hold two of five seats on board of Cash Converters, which sells second-hand goods.

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Ezcorp shares rose 0.3 percent to $12.05.

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0910 ET 18Aug2009
Goldman upgraded to 'buy' at Pali

Pali International upgraded Goldman Sachs Group Inc to 'buy' on Tuesday, citing the company's strong fixed income, currency and commodities (FICC) segment and a stabilizing hedge fund business.

The firm said a growing debt market, the likelihood of increasing volatility when interest rates begin to rise and the lack of competition continued to make FICC a 'solid story.'

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Shares of Goldman gained 1.8 percent to $160.11.

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