August 2009

Sanofi’s Experimental Clot Drug Otamixaban Shows Promise in Heart Patients

August 30, 2009

By Michelle Fay Cortez Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — Sanofi-Aventis SA’s experimental anti-clotting drug prevented deaths and cardiac complications in people with mild heart attacks and severe chest pain better than standard treatment, a study found. Patients given Sanofi’s otamixaban were 40 percent less likely to have a second heart attack, need an emergency procedure to open clogged arteries or die than those given heparin and Schering-Plough Corp.’s Integrilin. The study, from the second of three phases needed for approval, was presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona today. While heparin and Integrilin have been used for years to prevent clots that cause complications in patients undergoing procedures to clear clogged arteries, it’s difficult to get the right dose and patients must be closely monitored. If otamixaban proves effective in larger clinical trials , it may also compete against other blood thinners, including Sanofi’s Lovenox, the Medicines Co. ’s Angiomax and GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Arixtra. “There is intense interest in finding a more effective, reliable and safe replacement for heparin,” said Marc Sabatine , the lead researcher and a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “With otamixaban, we can use a weight-based dose and patients fall right into the target range. It’s much more convenient to give.” Otamixaban is given intravenously and inhibits a key enzyme needed for blood to clot. A previous study found the drug was effective in lower-risk patients undergoing a planned procedure to clear the heart arteries. The new trial involved a higher risk group of patients undergoing the procedure known as angioplasty. Both trials were funded by Paris-based Sanofi. $1 Billion Drug If the drug proves safe and effective in larger studies, it could eventually generate $1 billion to $1.5 billion in annual sales, Alexandra Hauber , an analyst at J.P. Morgan, said in an Aug. 21 note to investors. The earliest it could be available is 2012, she said. “Due to the limited disclosure provided by Sanofi in the agent, we believe that it is not yet on the radar screen of investors,” she said, describing the study as a potential “upside surprise” for the company. The lowest two doses of the drug were insufficient to keep the arteries clear in the study, while the highest level raised bleeding rates, Sabatine said in a telephone interview. While the main goal was to find the best dose for larger trials, the heart risks after a week were significantly lower in patients getting a moderate dose of otamixaban, without increasing the risks of serious bleeding, he said. Intermediate Dose Patients getting the intermediate dose also had a 46 percent reduction in death and heart attack rates , and the benefit lasted through the full six months of the study. “We achieved our goal of figuring out what is the right dose range for a big, phase 3 trial to definitively establish the drug’s benefit,” he said. “This may not only replace heparin, it could simplify treatment.” Planning for the final, phase 3 studies has started, and it may take two to three years to get results, Sabatine said. In an accompanying comment in The Lancet, John Eikelboom and Jeffrey Weitz of McMaster University in Canada said otamixaban needs to show that it’s better than heparin and Angiomax, or bivalirudin, before doctors would prescribe it. “Otamixaban might be a useful alternative to heparin for patients with acute coronary syndromes” undergoing angioplasty, they wrote. “However, do we need another parenteral agent for this indication? Without safety or convenience advantages, otamixaban would need to show efficacy that is superior not only to heparin but also to bivalirudin, before it would be adopted for clinical use.” To contact the reporter on this story: Michelle Fay Cortez in London at mcortez@bloomberg.net

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AstraZeneca’s Brilinta Cuts Heart Attack, Death More Than Sanofi’s Plavix

August 30, 2009

By Michelle Fay Cortez Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — AstraZeneca Plc’s experimental blood-thinner Brilinta prevented 16 percent more heart attacks, strokes and deaths than standard therapy with Sanofi-Aventis SA’s and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. ’s Plavix in a study. Brilinta’s potency didn’t cause more episodes of serious bleeding, a common complication seen with drugs that ward off heart conditions by preventing blood clots from developing, the research showed. The findings position Brilinta to rival Plavix, the second-biggest selling medicine in the world with almost $10 billion in annual revenue, for millions of patients suffering from heart attacks or severe chest pain. About 1.3 million Americans are hospitalized each year with heart attacks and chest pain known as acute coronary syndromes. While aspirin and Plavix have lowered their subsequent health risks, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Death from any cause was also significantly lower in patients taking Brilinta, according to the results of the study known as Plato. “I think this will become the new standard of care,” said Douglas Weaver, a cardiologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a past president of the American College of Cardiology, in an interview. “It’s more rapid, more effective and it appears to be safer” than Plavix and another competitor, Effient, from Eli Lilly & Co. and Daiichi Sankyo Co. “I don’t think they could have done much better than they did in this trial.” The trial, funded by London-based AstraZeneca, included 18,624 patients and was one of the most eagerly anticipated findings presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona this week. It was simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Sales Estimate Sachin Jain , an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, forecast $500 million in sales by 2015 in an Aug. 17 note to investors, and said he may raise his estimate to $1.3 billion if the drug has a meaningful benefit without serious side effects. AstraZeneca needs Brilinta to help replace sales lost to generic competition for its best-selling drugs, as products including Seroquel that now account for about 62 percent of the company’s revenue will face lower-priced competition by 2014. The Brilinta findings may not be enough to replace the lost sales, wrote Kevin Wilson , an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London, in an Aug. 19 note to investors. “Brilinta peak upside sales of $4 billion would be expected to be reached more than five years post-launch, once physicians become comfortable with how to get the best out of the product,” he wrote. “Even exceptional Brilinta success is not enough,” given the time it would take for doctors to embrace it, he said. Seeking Approval AstraZeneca plans to file for approval of Brilinta in the fourth quarter and hopes to begin selling it next year, said Gunnar Olsson , the company’s head of cardiovascular therapy. Brilinta, Plavix and Effient all work by preventing platelets from clumping together in the blood to form clots. Plavix and Effient, which was approved this year in Europe and the U.S., last for the life of the platelet, or about a week, and are given once a day. Brilinta needs to be taken twice daily. About 30 percent of patients don’t respond well to Plavix. Brilinta’s effects wear off in a few days, making surgery easier for patients who need it. One in 10 patients rushed to the hospital with chest pain or heart attacks actually need by-pass surgery, said Christopher Cannon , a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. If they are given Plavix or Effient, they must wait five days before getting the surgery, he said. ‘Huge Conundrum’ “It’s a huge conundrum, a headache for doctors, hospitals and patients,” he said in a telephone interview. “This opens the door. It’s a neat differentiating factor that could open up treatment options.” In the study, 9.8 percent of patients taking Brilinta for a year after being treated for a heart attack or worsening chest pain suffered another heart attack or stroke, or died from vascular disease, compared with 11.7 percent of those given Plavix. Overall, 4.5 percent of Brilinta patients died from any cause, significantly fewer than the 5.9 percent of Plavix patients who died. The rates of major bleeding were similar between the two groups, occurring in 11.6 percent of those on Brilinta and 11.2 percent of those on Plavix. Fatal bleeding in the brain was more frequent in those given Brilinta, while fatal bleeding in other areas was more common with Plavix. Brilinta was linked to more serious bleeding in the brain and stomach of patients who didn’t undergo bypass surgery, the study found. Safety Monitoring In an accompanying comment in the New England Journal, Albert Schoemig of the German Heart Centre in Munich wrote that the safety of Brilinta, also known as ticagrelor, needs to be tracked closely. “The whole story concerning the adverse effects of ticagrelor may require evaluation in a much larger number of patients, something that may be beyond the capacity of a randomized trial,” Schoemig wrote. “We should carefully monitor patients receiving this drug to establish the overall impact of its side effects.” A separate study unexpectedly found high doses of Plavix and aspirin failed to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or death from cardiac causes better than lower doses. The trial, dubbed Current Oasis 7 , involved more than 25,000 patients and is one of the first to specifically compare the most widely used doses of the two drugs given to almost all patients with heart attacks and severe chest pain. Plavix Results About half of patients get the higher double dose of Plavix with the expectation that more medicine will better prevent deadly clots from forming, Cannon said. The same rationale is given for using more aspirin. “We’ve adopted this because it makes good sense, but there is very little evidence,” he said. “It’s a fascinating thing how hard it is to prove the right dose. Now, 10 years in, we’re seeing if a higher dose helps.” In patients who underwent procedures to clear clogged heart arteries, about 70 percent of those in the trial, the double 600-milligram dose of Plavix lowered heart risks by 15 percent. In them, 3.9 percent of those getting high dose Plavix for a week developed complications or died within a month, versus with 4.5 percent of those given the approved 300-milligram dose. The trial was funded by Sanofi and Bristol-Myers. It could change the way doctors view Lilly and Daiichi’s Effient, since studies used to get approval of the drug known chemically as prasugrel used the lower Plavix dose for comparison. Higher Dose The higher dose Plavix slashed the risk of stent thrombosis, a deadly complication that occurs when a blood clot clogs a device used to prop open the artery, by 42 percent, said Shamir Mehta, director of interventional cardiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. There were no differences in stroke and death rates from cardiovascular disease alone, or in bleeding rates, he said. “This will result in a change in practice so patients will be receiving a double dose of clopidogrel for a full week, rather than just when they first come in,” he said in a telephone interview, using the chemical name for Plavix. “All things considered, a double dose of clopidogrel looks pretty good. It comes down to safety, since the efficacy outcomes were very similar to each other.” To contact the reporter on this story: Michelle Fay Cortez in London at mcortez@bloomberg.net

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Nation’s Leading REO Asset Managers to Offer Real Estate Agents Insights on Marketing and Sales of B

August 30, 2009

… What are the secrets for selling distressed properties? What do asset managers look for in listing real estate brokers? What are the foreclosure sales opportunities in the future? The nation’s leading REO …

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2009 Oregon Foreclosures Nearly Double From 2008

August 30, 2009

… over the same period in 2008. The real-estate downturn has had a strong impact on … “We currently have over 14,000 foreclosures and distressed Oregon properties in our database, many available …

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AstraZeneca Drug Beats Plavix

August 30, 2009

In a clinical trial, an experimental heart drug from AstraZeneca significantly reduced patients’ rate of death from heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems when compared to the blockbuster drug Plavix.

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Working-Class Boston Neighborhood Turns Out for Favorite Son’s Last Hurrah

August 29, 2009

By Tom Moroney and Karen Leigh Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — Well-wishers plastered old campaign banners and American flags on graffiti-smudged brick walls. They peered from apartment windows and stood in the rain in front of tiny shops in Boston’s Mission Hill section yesterday as scores of dignitaries arrived for the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy . The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help , a towering stone church on Tremont Street, was chosen because Kennedy had prayed for help there when his daughter, Kara, was sick with lung cancer in 2002. Pulitzer-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin , waiting in the rain to get into the funeral Mass, saw another reason for picking what is simply called Mission Church. “See all the people in the windows there,” Goodwin said, pointing to those looking out from three-story working-class apartments across the street as dignitaries’ limousines pulled up at the church. “It really shows the roots of this Kennedy family .” “It’s just extraordinary,” she said. Both Kennedy’s grandfathers were prominent Boston politicians, drawing their power from a similar working-class base. On his mother’s side, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald was elected the first Irish-American mayor of the city in the early 1900s. On his father’s side, P.J. Kennedy was a saloon owner and ward boss. The 1914 marriage of their children, Kennedy’s parents, Rose and Joseph, was seen as a merger of the two powerful families. Racially Mixed Mission Hill has a total of 18,000 blacks, whites, Hispanics and Asians with 36 percent of residents living below the poverty line, according to census data. Near the church on Tremont Street are an auto parts shop, laundromat and doctors’ offices. A deli outside the security zone swarmed with those seeking a glimpse the politicians and business chiefs showing up for the funeral of Kennedy, who died Aug. 25 at age 77 of brain cancer. William Bulger , the former president of the Massachusetts Senate who was raised in Boston’s Southie neighborhood, told of the first time he met Kennedy in 1962. Kennedy aides had invited him to Locke-Ober restaurant hoping to enlist him in Kennedy’s first Senate campaign. Lobster Dish Bulger said he ordered an expensive lobster dish and was so busy eating he never looked up until someone suggested he acknowledge his host. Kennedy quipped, “Don’t worry about him. We couldn’t afford to feed him anyway,” Bulger recalled. Christine Schwarzman , wife of Blackstone Group Chief Executive Officer Stephen Schwarzman , said, “It was a privilege to have known Ted and to know Vicki,” the late senator’s wife who spent hours greeting mourners when her husband’s body lay in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Boston Celtics Hall-of-Fame center Bill Russell was there, as was Boston Red Sox owner John Henry and cellist Yo-Yo Ma , who performed at the Mass. Across from the church as guests continued to move through the security check, staff at youth center Sociedad Latina had painted its windows in tribute to Kennedy. “The hope still lives and the dream shall never die,” read part of one message, borrowing from Kennedy’s 1980 speech at the Democratic National Convention after losing the primary race to President Jimmy Carter . Slept at Office Executive director Alexandra Oliver said she and some of the staff slept in the office overnight because they were told they wouldn’t be able to gain entrance in the morning. “Kennedy loved this community,” she said. Caprice Taylor Mendez, 36, originally from Guatemala , said she was inspired by Kennedy to become a citizen in 1998. “We need more people with that spirit who believe in human rights,” she said. “It’s really messed up,” said pizza-shop worker Antonio Gomez, 30, of Kennedy’s death. “He did good for the people.” At security blockades where waves of multicolored umbrellas could be seen, dozens stood in the rain. “I don’t really care if I get wet,” said Brian Ebel, 32, of Millis, Massachusetts , 18 miles west of Boston. “I definitely was a fan. I grew up here and he’s just always been a part of my life.” Best View Among those with the best view were apartment dwellers directly across from the church, some of them students attending local colleges. Sipping from a coffee mug inside a first-floor window, Ryan Dunleavy, 23, a recent college graduate, said he knew about the Kennedy family from a young age. “My grandmother was the first woman selectman in my hometown and so we’d hear about them all the time,” he said. “She was like the Rose Kennedy where I come from.” His boyhood friend, Ryan Berube, 22, a Northeastern University finance student, sat next to him. “You hear all about the Kennedy curse, that he was the only brother to live out his natural life, and then you hear about all the things he’s done for civil rights and other issues,” Berube said. “It’s incredible really,” he said. “Really incredible.” To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Moroney in Boston at Or tmorrone@bloomberg.net Karen Leigh in Washington at kleigh@bloomberg.net .

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General Motors, China FAW Set Up Venture to Make Light Commercial Trucks

August 29, 2009

By Bloomberg News Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — General Motors Co., China’s largest overseas automaker, formed a 50-50 joint venture with China FAW Group Corp. to make light commercial trucks in the country as it aims to offset plunging U.S. vehicle demand. The venture between Detroit-based GM and Shanghai-based FAW has a total investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million), GM said in a statement today. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in November and received Chinese government approval in July, GM said. The partnership with FAW, called FAW-GM Light Duty Commercial Vehicle Co., will be GM’s third joint venture with a local automaker. General Motors is betting on China, its second-biggest market, for growth as demand for its vehicles tumbled 38 percent in the U.S. this year through July, compared with a 43 percent sales increase in China. “The competition in this segment is fierce, it’s not going to be easy to make this venture successful,” Zhang Xin , a Guotai Junan Securities Co. analyst in Beijing, said in a phone interview. “Neither GM nor FAW is that strong in light commercial vehicles.” GM now makes passenger cars in China with SAIC Motor Corp. , China’s largest domestic automaker, in an equally owned joint venture. That partnership, Shanghai General Motors Co. , boosted sales 26 percent in the first seven months to 345,332 vehicles, helped by government stimulus programs aimed at spurring auto sales. The U.S. automaker also makes minivans in a venture with SAIC Motor and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co. SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. sold more than 600,000 units in the first seven months. “GM is stronger in passenger cars while FAW makes better medium commercial vehicles,” Zhang said. “I’m not so optimistic about this venture.” Total auto sales in China, including trucks and buses, rose 23 percent as the country surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s biggest auto market. For Related News and Information: Top transportation stories: TOP TRN China auto news: TNI CHINA AUT China auto sales: CNVSPSGR HCP M News on GM: 3341199Z US CN BN U.S. auto industry: TNI USAUT

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Job Losses in U.S. Probably Slowed, Factories Expanded as Recovery Nears

August 29, 2009

By Timothy R. Homan

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Keys To Buying A Foreclosed Home (barron's Business Key …

August 29, 2009

Keys To Buying Foreclosed and Bargain Homes-New BookUS $3.50 End Date: Thursday Sep-03-2009 15:36:12 PDTBuy It Now for only: US $3.50Buy it now | Add to.

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Big supply of existing homes makes it a buyer market

August 29, 2009

… for a buyers market in the Athens-area real estate field. Real estate professionals say activity in … to do with a foreclosed home or distressed sale.” In Oconee, about 17 percent of …

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Lots of Empty Lots

August 29, 2009

lots in Herriman were purchased and improved by developers hoping to cash in on the valley’s once-hot real estate market, only to be left holding an overpriced asset after the Wasatch Front’s boom went bust in 2007. Unable to sell the lots, and unable to

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Boston’s Gritty Mission Hill Section Was Scene for Kennedy’s Last Hurrah

August 29, 2009

By Tom Moroney and Karen Leigh Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Well-wishers plastered American flags and old campaign banners on graffiti-smudged brick walls. They peered from apartment windows and stood in the rain in front of tiny shops in Boston’s Mission Hill section as scores of dignitaries arrived for the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy . The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help , a towering stone church on Tremont Street, was chosen because Kennedy had prayed for help there when his daughter, Kara, was sick with lung cancer in 2002. Pulitzer-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin , waiting in the rain to get into the funeral Mass, saw another reason for picking what is simply called Mission Church. “See all the people in the windows there,” Goodwin said, pointing to those looking out from three-story working-class apartments across the street as dignitaries’ limousines pulled up at the church. “It really shows the roots of this Kennedy family .” “It’s just extraordinary,” she said. Both Kennedy’s grandfathers were prominent Boston politicians, drawing their power from a similar working-class base. On his mother’s side, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald was elected the first Irish-American mayor of the city in the early 1900s. On his father’s side, P.J. Kennedy was a saloon owner and ward boss. The 1914 marriage of their children, Kennedy’s parents, Rose and Joseph, was seen as a merger of the two powerful families. Racially Mixed Mission Hill has a total of 18,000 blacks, whites, Hispanics and Asians with 36 percent of residents living below the poverty line, according to census data. Near the church on Tremont Street are an auto parts shop, laundromat and doctors’ offices. A deli outside the security zone swarmed with those seeking a glimpse the politicians and business chiefs showing up for the funeral of Kennedy, who died Aug. 25 at age 77 of brain cancer. William Bulger , the former president of the Massachusetts Senate who was raised in Boston’s Southie neighborhood, told of the first time he met Kennedy in 1962. Kennedy aides had invited him to Locke-Ober restaurant hoping to enlist him in Kennedy’s first Senate campaign. Lobster Dish Bulger said he ordered an expensive lobster dish and was so busy eating he never looked up until someone suggested he acknowledge his host. Kennedy quipped, “Don’t worry about him. We couldn’t afford to feed him anyway,” Bulger recalled. Christine Schwarzman , wife of Blackstone Group Chief Executive Officer Stephen Schwarzman , said, “It was a privilege to have known Ted and to know Vicki,” the late senator’s wife who spent hours greeting mourners when her husband’s body lay in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Boston Celtics Hall-of-Fame center Bill Russell was there, as was Boston Red Sox owner John Henry and cellist Yo-Yo Ma , who performed at the Mass. Across from the church as guests continued to move through the security check, staff at youth center Sociedad Latina had painted its windows in tribute to Kennedy. “The hope still lives and the dream shall never die,” read part of one message, borrowing from Kennedy’s 1980 speech at the Democratic National Convention after losing the primary race to President Jimmy Carter . Slept at Office Executive director Alexandra Oliver said she and some of the staff slept in the office overnight because they were told they wouldn’t be able to gain entrance in the morning. “Kennedy loved this community,” she said. Caprice Taylor Mendez, 36, originally from Guatemala , said she was inspired by Kennedy to become a citizen in 1998. “We need more people with that spirit who believe in human rights,” she said. “It’s really messed up,” said pizza-shop worker Antonio Gomez, 30, of Kennedy’s death. “He did good for the people.” At security blockades where waves of multicolored umbrellas could be seen, dozens stood in the rain. “I don’t really care if I get wet,” said Brian Ebel, 32, of Millis, Massachusetts , 18 miles west of Boston. “I definitely was a fan. I grew up here and he’s just always been a part of my life.” Best View Among those with the best view were apartment dwellers directly across from the church, some of them students attending local colleges. Sipping from a coffee mug inside a first-floor window, Ryan Dunleavy, 23, a recent college graduate, said he knew about the Kennedy family from a young age. “My grandmother was the first woman selectman in my hometown and so we’d hear about them all the time,” he said. “She was like the Rose Kennedy where I come from.” His boyhood friend, Ryan Berube, 22, a Northeastern University finance student, sat next to him. “You hear all about the Kennedy curse, that he was the only brother to live out his natural life, and then you hear about all the things he’s done for civil rights and other issues,” Berube said. “It’s incredible really,” he said. “Really incredible.” To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Moroney in Boston at Or tmorrone@bloomberg.net Karen Leigh in Washington at kleigh@bloomberg.net .

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RICS: Distressed Sales Increase Worldwide Except Hong Kong with Little Change

August 29, 2009

RICS Research Commercial Property Distressed Sales Q2 2009 Hong Kong, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Over seventy five percent of countries surveyed have seen a rise in distressed sales in he commercial property market, says RICS

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Ravi Karandeekar's Pune Real Estate Investment Blog: The Hindu …

August 29, 2009

The developer has to either keep prices low or tie up with funding agencies such as private equity and complete the projects to get a delta premium for the built property: Real estate markets are unlikely to witness a ‘V’-shaped …

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Japan Set to Vote as Polls Predict Opposition to Unseat LDP

August 29, 2009

By Sachiko Sakamaki Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s voters go to the polls today with surveys predicting the Liberal Democratic Party will lose power for only the second time since 1955. Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan may win more than 300 of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Yomiuri newspaper, the country’s biggest daily, said on Aug. 28. The Yomiuri quoted Prime Minister Taro Aso a day earlier as saying “criticism has been building” toward the LDP. Hatoyama’s party says Aso hasn’t done enough to address problems that include record unemployment, soaring welfare costs and a declining, aging population. Aso has committed 25 trillion yen ($267 billion) to revive an economy that is just emerging from its worst recession since World War II. “The LDP has become so lazy and inert by staying in power too long,” Tokyo resident Hiroko Yoshida, 75, said at an Aug. 25 rally for Hatoyama. “Times are tough now, and politicians also need to work hard.” Some long-time LDP lawmakers are facing serious challenges for their seats. Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said this month he’s in the toughest election fight of his career. Others who may lose include three former prime ministers: Yasuo Fukuda , Yoshio Mori and Toshiki Kaifu . No ex-premier has lost his seat since Tanzan Ishibashi in 1963. Family Rivals The Liberal Democrats have dominated Japan’s postwar political landscape, governing the country for all but 10 months since being formed in 1955. The party’s first premier was Ichiro Hatoyama, grandfather to the man now aiming to break the LDP’s stranglehold. Ichiro was a rival of Shigeru Yoshida , prime minister from 1948-1954 and Aso’s grandfather. Aso is the fourth prime minister since the last lower house election in September 2005. Then-premier Junichiro Koizumi led the ruling party to a landslide victory, securing with coalition partner New Komeito a two-thirds majority. In September 2006 he handed the reins to Shinzo Abe , who stepped down a year later pleading ill health. His successor, Yasuo Fukuda , also lasted a year before quitting amid political deadlock and party disarray. Since taking office in September 2008, Aso has had three cabinet ministers resign due to scandal. He has faced criticism from Koizumi and other members of his party, some of whom tried to have him replaced before he dissolved parliament last month and called the election. Funding Scandal Hatoyama took over as head of the opposition in May after Ichiro Ozawa was forced to step down over a campaign-funding scandal. Hatoyama kept Ozawa, the DPJ’s main strategist, on as a senior party executive and he has orchestrated most of the regional campaigning. The LDP held 303 of the 480 seats in the lower house before Aso dissolved parliament and three legislators have since left. The DPJ, which is already the biggest party in the less-powerful upper house, held 112 seats when parliament was dissolved and has added three. LDP coalition partner New Komeito holds 31 seats. The remaining seats are divided among smaller parties and independents. A total of 1,374 candidates are running for 300 single-seat constituencies and 180 seats divided into 11 regional blocks that are distributed to parties based on their proportional share of the vote. Japanese cast two votes: one for a person and one for a party, and parties can put favored candidates who lost in their constituency into a proportional seat. The eligible voting age in Japan is 20, and about 104 million people can vote. To contact the reporter on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net .

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Japan’s Voters Go to Polls as Surveys Predict Opposition Will Unseat LDP

August 29, 2009

By Sachiko Sakamaki Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s voters go to the polls today with surveys predicting the Liberal Democratic Party will lose power for only the second time since 1955. Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan may win more than 300 of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Yomiuri newspaper, the country’s biggest daily, said on Aug. 28. The Yomiuri quoted Prime Minister Taro Aso a day earlier as saying “criticism has been building” toward the LDP. Hatoyama’s party says Aso hasn’t done enough to address problems that include record unemployment, soaring welfare costs and a declining, aging population. Aso has committed 25 trillion yen ($267 billion) to revive an economy that is just emerging from its worst recession since World War II. “The LDP has become so lazy and inert by staying in power too long,” Tokyo resident Hiroko Yoshida, 75, said at an Aug. 25 rally for Hatoyama. “Times are tough now, and politicians also need to work hard.” Some long-time LDP lawmakers are facing serious challenges for their seats. Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said this month he’s in the toughest election fight of his career. Others who may lose include three former prime ministers: Yasuo Fukuda , Yoshio Mori and Toshiki Kaifu . No ex-premier has lost his seat since Tanzan Ishibashi in 1963. Family Rivals The Liberal Democrats have dominated Japan’s postwar political landscape, governing the country for all but 10 months since being formed in 1955. The party’s first premier was Ichiro Hatoyama, grandfather to the man now aiming to break the LDP’s stranglehold. Ichiro was a rival of Shigeru Yoshida , prime minister from 1948-1954 and Aso’s grandfather. Aso is the fourth prime minister since the last lower house election in September 2005. Then-premier Junichiro Koizumi led the ruling party to a landslide victory, securing with coalition partner New Komeito a two-thirds majority. In September 2006 he handed the reins to Shinzo Abe , who stepped down a year later pleading ill health. His successor, Yasuo Fukuda , also lasted a year before quitting amid political deadlock and party disarray. Since taking office in September 2008, Aso has had three cabinet ministers resign due to scandal. He has faced criticism from Koizumi and other members of his party, some of whom tried to have him replaced before he dissolved parliament last month and called the election. Funding Scandal Hatoyama took over as head of the opposition in May after Ichiro Ozawa was forced to step down over a campaign-funding scandal. Hatoyama kept Ozawa, the DPJ’s main strategist, on as a senior party executive and he has orchestrated most of the regional campaigning. The LDP held 303 of the 480 seats in the lower house before Aso dissolved parliament and three legislators have since left. The DPJ, which is already the biggest party in the less-powerful upper house, held 112 seats when parliament was dissolved and has added three. LDP coalition partner New Komeito holds 31 seats. The remaining seats are divided among smaller parties and independents. A total of 1,374 candidates are running for 300 single-seat constituencies and 180 seats divided into 11 regional blocks that are distributed to parties based on their proportional share of the vote. Japanese cast two votes: one for a person and one for a party, and parties can put favored candidates who lost in their constituency into a proportional seat. The eligible voting age in Japan is 20, and about 104 million people can vote. To contact the reporter on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net .

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Yen Advances as Fluctuations in Global Stocks Reduce Higher-Yield Demand

August 29, 2009

By Oliver Biggadike and Matt Townsend Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — The yen rose all of its major counterparts this week as fluctuations in global stocks close to their 10-month highs encouraged demand for assets less likely to generate a loss. “Risk assets in general were getting a little tired,” said Brian Kim , a currency strategist at UBS AG in Stamford, Connecticut. “The performance of equities and high-yield currencies was showing some fatigue.” The dollar advanced against the euro before next week’s U.S. payroll report on speculation the greenback will repeat its performance on Aug. 7, when the rate of job losses unexpectedly improved. The yen rose against the dollar as foreign investors added to holdings of Japan’s stocks in anticipation of an election victory by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. The yen advanced 1 percent to 133.85 versus the euro, from 135.21 on Aug. 21. The yen appreciated 0.8 percent to 93.60 against the dollar, from 94.38 The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.4303, from $1.4304. Japan’s currency climbed 3.9 percent to 7.07 versus the Mexican peso and 1.4 percent to 15.52 against Norway’s krone on speculation investors will reduce carry trades, in which they borrow in a nation with low interest rates and invest where returns are higher. Japan’s target lending rate of 0.1 percent compares with 4.5 percent in Mexico and 1.25 percent in Norway. The yen rallied from August to December last year as the credit crisis intensified and forced investors to repay loans in Japan they used to fund purchases in other countries. The currency also strengthened as investors parked funds in the country because the size of the markets in the world’s second- biggest economy makes it easy to move money in and out. Stocks Fluctuate The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fluctuated this week, gaining 0.3 percent, after touching 1,030.98 on Aug. 27, the highest closing level since Oct. 6. Japanese stocks may rise with a victory in this weekend’s election by the opposition party, analysts said. DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama and his party have pledged cash for child care and an abolition of highway tolls among their spending policies as they try to break the rule of Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party. The LDP has governed the nation for all but 10 months since 1955. Brazil’s real posted its biggest weekly loss against the dollar since February as the nation’s stock market fell for the first time since July 10. The real declined 2.7 percent to 1.8805 versus the dollar. Options Maneuver The euro plunged unexpectedly against the dollar yesterday amid speculation traders tried to use low trading volumes before a U.K. holiday to push the currency further away from a level that would trigger losses on options. The U.S. currency’s advance versus the euro accelerated at 2:19 p.m. in New York as trading volume fell after investors in London began a three-day holiday weekend, said Scott Ainsbury , who helps manage about $9 billion in assets in New York at FX Concepts Inc., a hedge fund. Yesterday’s decline was a reverse of the dollar’s drop against the euro at 2:05 p.m. on Aug. 27. Traders speculated that an options trade may have given some market participants an incentive to push the euro above $1.4450 to avoid making a payment. The people on the other side of the trade, known as counterparties, would receive that payment if the currency failed to touch that level. “There’s a large double no-touch that people believe exists between $1.4450 and $1.3950,” said Marc Chandler , global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. A double no-touch option produces a payout from the seller to the purchaser if an exchange rate fails to reach two trigger levels over a time period specified in the contract. U.S. Payrolls The U.S. lost 230,000 jobs this month, down from a drop of 247,000 in July, according to the median forecast of 65 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The unemployment rate is forecast to increase to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent. The report from the Labor Department is due on Sept. 4. The dollar rose 1.1 percent against the euro on Aug. 7 after the payroll report showed employers eliminated fewer jobs last month than economists forecast. Poland’s zloty delivered the biggest gains this month against the euro and dollar among 26 emerging-market currencies on speculation the nation’s economy is suffering less from the global recession than the European Union’s other eastern members. Gross domestic product in Poland expanded an annual 1.1 percent in the second quarter as exports contributed a net 3.12 percentage points to growth, according to a preliminary report from the Central Statistical Office in Warsaw. The nation’s central bank left its target lending rate unchanged at 3.5 percent on Aug. 26 and retained its “easing” stance. Policy makers can follow a “measured” easing in rates without weakening the zloty, the International Monetary Fund said on Aug. 21. The zloty headed for a sixth month of gains versus the dollar in the longest winning streak since July 2008, rising 1.7 percent to 2.8607. The currency traded close to a seven-month high against the euro, advancing 1.3 percent to 4.0916. To contact the reporters on this story: Oliver Biggadike in New York at obiggadike@bloomberg.net ; Anna Rascouet in London at arascouet@bloomberg.net

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ILFC Chief Udvar-Hazy in Talks to Buy Some AIG Unit Assets, WSJ Reports

August 29, 2009

By Mina Kawai Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Steven Udvar-Hazy , chairman and chief executive officer of International Lease Financial Corp., American International Group Inc. ’s aircraft-leasing unit, is negotiating to buy part of ILFC’s aircraft portfolio, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The talks between ILFC and Udvar-Hazy, who founded the world’s largest aircraft leasing company, are at the “preliminary stage,” the Journal reported. To contact the reporter on this story: Mina Kawai in New York at minkawai@bloomberg.net .

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Troubled Times: Challenges and Opportunities in Distressed Real Estate

August 29, 2009

It is becoming clear that the next shoe to drop in this historic recession is commercial real estate. Whether it is General Growth bringing so called bankruptcy remote entities into bankruptcy or increased distress in existing commercial buildings or

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Toyota Accused Of Hiding Evidence In Hundreds Of Rollover Deaths (VIDEO)

August 29, 2009

A former attorney for Toyota has accused the automaker of illegally withholding evidence in hundreds of rollover death and injury cases, in a “ruthless conspiracy” to keep evidence “of its vehicles’ structural shortcomings from becoming known.”

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Gordon Brown Visits Afghanistan, Seeks to Speed Training of Local Forces

August 29, 2009

By Thomas Penny Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown , visiting British troops in Afghanistan, said local forces should accelerate their training as part of a strategy to increase Afghan control over the country. During a six-hour trip to Britain’s Camp Bastion base in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan today, Brown said the target of training 134,000 soldiers by the end of 2011 should be brought forward to November 2010. He pledged British help to increase the number of recruits to 4,000 a month from 2,000. The Afghan army is currently just under 90,000-strong. “We can get another 50,000 Afghan armed personnel trained in the next year,” Brown told reporters. “Stepping that up means the Afghans take more responsibility for their own affairs, backed up by partnering and mentoring by British forces.” Brown’s suggestion that local troops should bear the burden of maintaining security comes as the U.S. is pressing its allies to increase their force levels in Afghanistan. Britain sent an extra 700 soldiers to provide security during this month’s presidential election, raising the strength of the U.K. force to around 9,000. The U.S.-led coalition numbers 65,000 personnel. U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal will ask once the Afghan election result is clear for 20,000 more international troops as part of his new plan to fight a resurgent Taliban, the London-based Independent newspaper reported today . Brown held talks with McChrystal as part of today’s visit. Poll Opposition Deploying more troops in Afghanistan would be politically difficult for Brown, who’s trailing in polls at home and faces an election by next June. A YouGov Plc poll in today’s Telegraph newspaper found 62 percent of people saying British troops shouldn’t be in Afghanistan, against 26 percent who support the deployment. No formal decision on further British deployment will be made until after McChrystal has presented his report and Brown has had a chance to discuss it with U.S. President Barack Obama , a person familiar with the British position said. Brown’s popularity has slid as increasing numbers of British soldiers die in the fighting in Afghanistan, where the U.K. has the second-biggest contingent behind the U.S. This month the total number of British deaths passed 200. In July alone, 22 British solders were killed, according to the Ministry of Defense . A Royal Marine was killed in an explosion while on foot patrol today near Gereshk, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, the London-based ministry said in an e-mailed statement. The next of kin have been informed. ‘Taliban Strengthening’ “What the increased level of British casualties this summer has done is focused public attention on the question of whether we’re succeeding in Afghanistan and what success means,” said Malcolm Chalmers, fellow at the Royal United Services Institute , a London-based military research group. “Since the Taliban is strengthening, it would appear we haven’t yet managed to succeed.” Brown, making his fourth visit to Afghanistan in 13 months, today told reporters that defeating the Taliban is critical to protecting the U.K. from terrorism. Speeding up the training of Afghan soldiers is part of a strategy of “Afghanization” being championed by the prime minister. “It will take time, they’ve only been an army for three years,” said Major Tom Wood of the Royal Logistics Corps, one of those training Afghan recruits at Camp Bastion. “But what people have got to understand is the Afghans are natural warriors, so in terms of fighting ability they’re brave beyond recognition. Their willingness to learn is fantastic.” Explosive Devices During his visit, Brown discussed improved techniques for detecting and disabling improvised explosive devices, which have killed three quarters of the soldiers who have died in Afghanistan. Brown said Britain would double the number of specialist troops it has in the country for dealing with the bombs, from 200 to 400 by the end of the year. The prime minister also pledged more support to Afghan farmers who abandon the cultivation of opium poppies and embrace conventional crops. Help will be given to 40,000 farmers, 10,000 more than this year, Brown said. District and provincial leaders will also be trained in the skills needed for effective local government, he said. Brown spoke by telephone today to both incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his challenger Abdullah Abdullah . He said he made it “absolutely clear” to both that the U.K. expects Afghanistan to train more soldiers. Final Results The Independent Election Commission said today that Karzai had 46 percent of the vote and Abdullah 31 percent, with 35 percent of the votes counted, the Associated Press reported. There’ll be a run-off if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first-round vote. Final results of the election aren’t expected until mid-September. Brown held talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari yesterday and General David Petraeus , the head of U.S. Central Command, in Scotland on Aug. 21. Turkey pledged yesterday to double its contribution to peacekeeping in Afghanistan to 1,600 troops when Turkey takes over control of the rotating command of NATO operations in the Afghan capital Kabul in November. To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny with the prime minister in Afghanistan at tpenny@bloomberg.net

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Senator Kennedy Is Mourned by Nation’s Political Elite at Boston Funeral

August 29, 2009

By James Rowley and Alison Fitzgerald Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — The nation’s political elite gathered at a Roman Catholic basilica in Edward Kennedy’s hometown of Boston and bade farewell to the Massachusetts senator whose legislative career spanned almost a half century. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden led a Washington delegation of Cabinet officials and lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senator John McCain , who attended the two-hour service. Three former presidents, George W. Bush , Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter , also assembled at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help with members of the Kennedy clan, which includes California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger , who is married to the late senator’s niece, Maria Shriver . “The world will long remember” Kennedy as “heir to a weighty legacy, a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; the lion of the U.S. Senate,” Obama said of the youngest brother to U.S. President John F. Kennedy, slain in 1963, and New York Senator Robert Kennedy, who was murdered during a 1968 quest for the nation’s highest office. Kennedy was given “the gift of time that his brothers were not” and “used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow.” ‘Compassion and Service’ In a tribute to Kennedy’s religious faith, the Reverend J. Donald Monan said that the late senator’s “zealously private” life of faith and prayer “held the secret to the extraordinary public life of compassion and service.” The body of Kennedy, who died Aug. 25 at age 77 of brain cancer, was borne to the church by a hearse from where it had lain in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. A steady rain fell as Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy , and other family members waited outside the basilica as the senator’s flag-draped coffin was carried into the church by a military honor guard. A faint aroma of incense permeated the sanctuary as the honor guard carried the casket down the aisle. Kennedy’s daughter, Kara Kennedy , led the congregation in responsive reading of Psalm 72 with the refrain: “Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace forever.” Ten of Kennedy’s grandchildren, nieces and nephews led the congregation in prayers, paraphrasing some of the late senator’s most familiar lines. These included Kennedy’s plea for universal health-care legislation, now pending in Congress. ‘Cause of His Life’ “For what my grandpa called the cause of his life, as he said that every American have decent quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege, we pray to the Lord,” said Max Allen, one of Kennedy’s grandsons. “The work begins anew, the hope rises again and the dream lives on,” said another grandson, Teddy Kennedy. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma played the Sarabande from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6. During communion, tenor Placido Domingo, accompanied by Ma, sang Cesar Franck’s “Panis Angelicus.” And during lulls in the service, the sound of raindrops could be heard pounding on the church’s stain-glass windows. Those in attendance included Jesse Jackson , former Vice President Dan Quayle and Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, one of Kennedy’s closest collaborators on health-care legislation. “It is terribly sad that Ted is no longer here,” Blackstone Group Chief Executive Officer Stephen Schwarzman said as he waited outside the church to pass through a security checkpoint. ‘Thanks, Ted’ The president and the first lady, Michelle Obama , appeared somber as they entered the packed church. The congregation stood up as the president entered the sanctuary. Traffic signs on the highway that Obama’s motorcade traveled to the church flashed signs saying “Thanks, Ted.” The church is located in Roxbury, a working-class section of Boston where Kennedy had prayed daily for Kara Kennedy’s health while she was undergoing treatment for cancer. “This church was a place of private prayer for a public man,” Kennedy’s parish priest, the Reverend Mark Hession, said in the homily. It “sits in a neighborhood where the important issues that animated Senator Kennedy’s career as so plainly visible, the needs of the poor” so that “the senator’s choice of this church for his funeral mass resonates with the meaning and purpose of his life and work,” Hession said. Display of Flags Crowds lined up for the security check before 6 a.m. Many storefronts and apartment buildings in the neighborhood displayed large American flags. One storefront posted a large banner adorned with a peace sign read: “Teddy, Your Service Will Be Remembered.” Blue and white Kennedy campaign signs were posted over windows and brick walls with a one-word message: “Thanks.” Crowds of residents clutching multicolored umbrellas gathered several blocks away at the street corners that had been blocked off. Honorary pallbearers included Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer , a former Kennedy staffer, and Senators Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts. Another former Kennedy aide, Kenneth Feinberg , the U.S. Treasury’s special master for compensation of executives of financial firms that received U.S. bailout money, was also an honorary pallbearer. Family members at the funeral, led by Kennedy’s widow, included Kennedy’s three children, Kara, Edward Kennedy Jr . and Patrick Kennedy , a Rhode Island congressman, and his niece Caroline Kennedy , daughter of the late President Kennedy. Also in attendance was Kennedy’s first wife, Joan Kennedy, the mother of the couple’s children. Last Surviving Son Kennedy served in the Senate almost 47 years and was the last surviving son of the political dynasty that included his brothers John, the nation’s 35th president, and Robert, who served as attorney general in his brother’s Cabinet and later a New York senator. Kennedy was “a tower of strength for his family and a towering presence on the American landscape,” Hession said. Following a flight to Washington and a motorcade stop for a brief prayer outside the U.S. Capitol, Kennedy’s body was to be buried beside his brothers on a hilltop overlooking the capital city at Arlington National Cemetery. To contact the reporters on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net ; Alison Fitzgerald in Boston at +1- a.fitzgerald@bloomberg.net

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Prince Alwaleed Ranks as Richest Saudi With Assets Valued at $16.3 Billion

August 29, 2009

By Glen Carey Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Prince Alwaleed bin Talal , Citigroup Inc.’s largest individual investor, was ranked the richest Saudi national by Arabian Business , even after losing 4.6 percent of his personal wealth in the past year. Alwaleed’s assets are valued at $16.3 billion, compared with $17.1 billion last year, the Dubai-based magazine said today in its 2009 Saudi Rich List , citing the accounts of Kingdom Holding Co., the prince’s investment company. The global credit crisis, lower oil prices and a decline in demand for crude have hurt investment and energy companies operating in Saudi Arabia. Kingdom Holding ’s second-quarter profit slumped 83 percent as returns on Alwaleed’s investments in stock markets and hotels fell. “Today, some of his more ambitious investments are showing the strain of the global economic slowdown,” Arabian Business said. “The depreciation in value of his 5 percent stake in Citigroup, for example, has been well-documented.” Citigroup lost 73 percent of its value in the past 12 months as investment losses eroded its capital. Alwaleed, nephew of the late King Fahd bin Abdulaziz al- Saud , stands out among more than 2,000 Saudi princes because he has made money. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Menlo College near San Francisco, he returned to the Persian Gulf and parlayed an inheritance of less than $1 million into a billion- dollar fortune in the 1980s, mostly through real-estate investments, according to Riz Khan’s biography “Alwaleed: Businessman, Billionaire, Prince”(William Morrow, 2005). Apple, Time Warner The prince, 54, built his fortune by investing in brand- name companies he considered undervalued, including Apple Inc. , News Corp. and Time Warner Inc . Forbes magazine estimated he was worth $13.3 billion in March, ranking him 22nd among the world’s billionaires. This year, Alwaleed’s investments haven’t kept pace with the Saudi benchmark. Shares of Riyadh-based Kingdom Holding have declined 4.3 percent. The Tadawul All-Share Index , the largest market in the Middle East by market value, has gained 19 percent. Kingdom Holding’s assets are valued at $7.26 billion, while the Prince owns $3.18 billion of real estate and $1.56 billion of media assets such as LBC and Rotana Holding, Arabian Business said, citing his financial accounts. Alwaleed’s other major assets, including an Airbus A380, are valued at $1.7 billion. The value of the prince’s cash remains confidential, the magazine said, adding that “we are assured it has not changed significantly since we were allowed to see the verified total figure in December.” To contact the reporter on this story: Glen Carey in Riyadh at gcarey8@bloomberg.net .

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European Stocks Advance for Second Week on Earnings, Data; L’Oreal Surges

August 29, 2009

By Julie Cruz Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — European stocks advanced for a second consecutive week as earnings reports and economic data added to signs the global recession is nearing an end. L’Oreal SA had its biggest weekly gain since September 2001 after reporting a smaller-than-estimated decline in earnings and forecasting a recovery. Natixis SA surged 49 percent after receiving a guarantee from its parent covering about 35 billion euros ($50 billion) of risky assets and said it may return to profit this quarter. Volkswagen AG posted a fifth straight weekly drop, the longest losing streak since October 2005. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index climbed 1.1 percent to 237.51. Economic reports this past week showed that the U.S. economy contracted less than forecast in the second quarter, while consumer spending rose last month. European confidence in the economic outlook gained twice as much as forecast in August. “We’ve had positive surprises from companies and the economy,” said Roland Lescure , who oversees about $119 billion as chief investment officer of Groupama Asset Management in Paris. “Investors are chasing the bull market.” The Stoxx 600 has rallied 50 percent since March 9 as companies worldwide from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Bayer AG and L’Oreal report better-than-projected earnings and investors speculate government measures and interest-rate cuts will help to pull the global economy out of a recession. The U.S., the world’s largest economy, shrank at a 1 percent annual rate from April to June, less than the 1.5 percent decline forecast by economists in a Bloomberg News survey, a report showed this week. Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in July as households took advantage of the government’s “cash for clunkers” program to buy new cars. National Indexes National benchmark indexes increased in all 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 advanced 1.2 percent, while Germany’s DAX climbed 1 percent and France’s CAC 40 rallied 2.1 percent. An index of executive and consumer sentiment in the 16 nations that use the euro climbed to the highest level since October, the European Commission in Brussels said yesterday. In Germany, business confidence rose more than economists forecast. Net profits at western European companies that have reported results since July 8 beat projections by 16 percent, while dropping 38 percent on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts expect earnings in the Stoxx 600 to grow 5.8 percent this year, estimates compiled by Bloomberg show. L’Oreal, Natixis L’Oreal, the world’s largest cosmetics maker, added 13 percent as it said operating profit fell 8.3 percent to 1.37 billion euros in the six months through June, above the 1.27 billion-euro median analyst estimate. Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG were among brokerages that upgraded the stock. Natixis jumped 49 percent. BPCE, the Paris-based lender that controls 72 percent of Natixis , agreed to absorb most of the losses that may stem from its structured credit holdings in exchange for a premium that will cost Natixis about 48 million euros a year, Natixis Chief Executive Officer Laurent Mignon said Aug. 26. The stock was raised to “buy” from “sell” at Citigroup Inc. Banks were the second-best performers in the Stoxx 600 this past week, adding 3.4 percent as a group. Allied Irish Banks Plc surged 33 percent, while Bank of Ireland Plc gained 28 percent. The National Asset Management Agency will buy loans with a face value of 90 billion euros at a discount from lenders led by both Irish banks to cleanse their balance sheets of souring real- estate assets, in the government’s latest bid to revive lending. Technology Shares Technology stocks rose 4.6 percent as a group, the biggest gain among 19 industries in the Stoxx 600. STMicroelectronics NV , Europe’s biggest chipmaker, advanced 15 percent. Infineon Technologies AG increased 3.4 percent. Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, raised its sales forecast for this quarter and Dell Inc. , the second-largest maker of personal computers, reported profit and revenue that topped analysts’ estimates. Petroplus Holdings Plc , Europe’s largest independent oil refiner, climbed 20 percent after Bank of America upgraded the shares to “buy” from “neutral,” saying Petroplus is the refiner that’s most likely to benefit from an improvement in diesel demand as emerging markets recover from the recession. Volkswagen tumbled 10 percent, the worst performance in the Stoxx 600, as Qatar exercised options . The Persian Gulf state acquired options for 17 percent of VW’s common shares from Porsche SE after mounting debt forced the maker of the 911 sports car to abandon plans to take over Europe’s largest carmaker. It exercised some of those contracts to take a 6.78 percent stake as of Aug. 26, Volkswagen said. Premier Oil Plc retreated 8.2 percent as the U.K. explorer operating in Europe, Asia and Africa said first-half profit fell 62 percent on the lower price of crude oil. Jefferies Group Inc. cut its recommendation on the stock to “hold” from “buy.” Dana Petroleum Plc dropped 7.7 percent after the Scottish explorer focusing on U.K., Norwegian and North African projects reported a first-half loss on lower sales. To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Cruz in Frankfurt at jcruz6@bloomberg.net .

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Fiduciary Duty Hits Street

August 29, 2009

Wall Street has agreed to put brokers under a fiduciary standard for customer dealings, but a battle looms over the standard’s toughness.

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ILFC Chief in Talks to Buy Assets

August 29, 2009

The CEO of AIG unit International Lease Finance Corp. is in early discussions to purchase a portion of ILFC’s aircraft portfolio and start a new leasing company.

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Polish Economy Will Grow 0.7% in 2009, More Than Forecast, Rostowski Says

August 29, 2009
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Ross: Consider investments in distressed CRE

August 29, 2009

Real Estate Investment SmartBrief | 08/28/2009 Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross labeled the commercial real estate sector ‘a time bomb’ in comments he made Thursday. Ross said the market underappreciates the sector

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Hedge-Fund Clients Flee Cerberus

August 29, 2009

Investors in hedge funds run by Cerberus, whose bet on the U.S. auto industry went bust, are withdrawing more than $5.5 billion, or nearly 71% of the assets.

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Oman July Inflation Slows to Four-Year Low 1.8% as Oil Drops, Dollar Gains

August 29, 2009
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Cairn’s Rajasthan Oil Field Opens as India Moves to Ease Import Dependence

August 29, 2009

By Rakteem Katakey and Pratik Parija Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Cairn India Ltd. today started production at its biggest oil field in Rajasthan state, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated a project that will help cut the nation’s dependence on energy imports. The Mangala field, operated by the unit of U.K.-based explorer Cairn Energy Plc , will have an estimated peak output of 175,000 barrels a day by 2011, equivalent to 20 percent of the country’s current oil production, and be the country’s second- biggest producer after Oil & Natural Gas Corp.’s Mumbai High. India, Asia’s third-biggest energy consumer, will earn 460 billion rupees ($9.4 billion) in revenue from the field, Oil Minister Murli Deora said at the opening ceremony today. “This will go a long way to meeting the country’s energy needs,” said Maitali Ramkumar, a New Delhi-based analyst with Asian Markets Securities Pvt. “We think crude prices will rise and that will only benefit Cairn.” Output from Cairn’s field, as well as the beginning of gas production off India’s east coast by Reliance Industries Ltd. earlier this year, will help India cut imports that supply more than 75 percent of its total energy requirements. Cairn will double investment in the Rajasthan oil field to 200 billion rupees, Deora said, and its output will cut the country’s oil import bill by 7 percent. The Mangala field will dwarf Cairn’s current output, which averaged 12,801 barrels of oil equivalent a day last year, according to the company’s annual report. Cairn produces crude oil from two other fields in India, one each off the west coast and east coast. Discount Sales Oil from Mangala may be sold 10 percent to 15 percent cheaper than the average price Brent crude fetched during the six months ended June 30, Cairn India said July 29. It has completed negotiations on pricing and commercial terms of crude sales from the field with Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. , the government’s nominated buyers of the crude, the company said. The company can sell crude at market prices, unlike state- run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. which must give discounts to state refiners on the oil it produces. Cairn planned to complete a pipeline to transport crude from Mangala to the west coast in Gujarat state within this year. The target for completing the pipeline looks “increasingly challenging,” Cairn India Chairman Bill Gammell said Aug. 25. Any delay to the export pipeline, as well as a second processing train, will be a “matter of weeks, not months,” Gammell said on a conference call with reporters. The timetable could be revised by weather-related events such as monsoons, he said. Cairn shares have advanced 51 percent this year compared with a 65 percent increase in the benchmark Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange. Ramkumar of Asian Markets Securities maintains a “hold” recommendation on Cairn India’s stock. To contact the reporters on this story: Rakteem Katakey in New Delhi at rkatakey@bloomberg.net ; Pratik Parija in New Delhi at pparija@bloomberg.net .

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China Investment Corp. Putting Billions in Hedge Funds, Chairman Luo Says

August 29, 2009

By Bloomberg News Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — China Investment Corp., the country’s sovereign wealth fund, is continuing to shift its investments away from cash and is investing billions in hedge funds and private-equity funds, Chairman Lou Jiwei said. China Investment has invested “many times” the $500 million that CIC was reported to have placed in hedge funds and private-equity firms in June, Lou said today in an interview in Beijing. He said China Investment was also investing in fund-of- funds. Lou said Beijing-based CIC’s performance this year “has not been bad” following last year’s 2.1 percent decline in its global investments. He didn’t elaborate. China Investment Corp. had $297.5 billion in assets and had 87.4 percent of its global portfolio invested in cash and cash equivalents at the end of last year, the fund reported earlier this month. In December, Lou said he didn’t “dare to invest in financial institutions” after losing money on investments in Blackstone Group LP and Morgan Stanley. CIC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley in June by buying an additional $1.2 billion of shares. CIC aims to allocate $6 billion to hedge funds by the end of 2009, company adviser Felix Chee said in June. Chee, who is a special adviser to the chief investment officer of CIC, said he will initially run CIC’s hedge fund and proprietary trading effort. Buying Shares The fund has also been buying shares in the property and resources sectors in recent months. It plans to buy shares of Songbird Estates Plc , a London-listed company that controls the owner of more than half the buildings in the city’s Canary Wharf financial district, Songbird Chairman David Pritchard said on a conference call yesterday. Songbird, which is selling shares to institutions to repay 880 million pounds ($1.4 billion) of bank loans, said CIC will buy a significant stake. CIC is interested in boosting its Canadian presence after buying a stake in Teck Resources Ltd. in July, the country’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in an Aug. 11 interview. Link to Company News:{CHININC SP CN } Link to Company News:{CHIVCZ CH CN }

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London Luxury Homes Sell at Fastest Pace Since July 2007 as Pound Weakens

August 29, 2009

By Peter Woodifield Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — London’s luxury homes this month sold at the fastest pace since the market started to slide more than two years ago as overseas buyers took advantage of a weakening pound, Knight Frank LLP said. About 250 homes and apartments costing more than 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) were sold during August, compared with about 75 a year earlier, said Liam Bailey , head of residential research at the London-based broker. Prices increased in August for a fifth straight month, reducing the annualized decline to the lowest since October. “The combination of rising prices and increasing confidence in the central London market has had a dramatic impact on the number of sales which have taken place,” Bailey said in an e-mailed statement today. Thousands of bankers and finance industry workers, the main buyers of luxury homes in the U.K. capital, have lost their jobs since the start of the credit crunch in 2007. Foreign buyers now account for more than 40 percent of purchases as they take advantage of the pound’s 11 percent drop against the dollar and 8.5 percent fall against the euro in the last 12 months. Luxury home prices fell 15 percent in the five months following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September, said Knight Frank. They have gained 4.7 percent in the past six months including a 1 percent month-on-month increase in August. Prices were down 12 percent from a year earlier, the smallest drop since October when they were 11 percent lower. V-Shaped Recovery “We are at the beginning of a V-shaped recovery,” said Stephen Yorke, chairman of D & G Investment Management. The company manages the 10 million-pound Prime London Capital Fund, owner of eight rental properties in Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Belgravia. A few properties are now fetching record prices as they attract multiple bidders, James Pace, head of Knight Frank’s Chelsea office, said in the statement. “This price growth has been focused on quality.” Knight Frank recently sold a four-story family house in the area for 15 percent more than it got for a similar property on the same street in November, said Pace. U.K. house prices as a whole are also rising on a month-on- month basis as low interest rates spur demand. In August they increased 1.6 percent, the biggest monthly gain since December 2006, cutting the decline from a year earlier to 2.7 percent, Nationwide Building Society said on Aug. 27. Knight Frank compiles its luxury index from prices on properties in the Mayfair, St. John’s Wood, Regent’s Park, Kensington, Notting Hill, Chelsea, Knightsbridge, Belgravia and South Bank neighborhoods of London. To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Woodifield in Edinburgh at pwoodifield@bloomberg.net .

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Markaz eyes sinking Reem developers

August 29, 2009

… time a major investment firm has targeted distressed property in the emirate. The Kuwait Financial … tenants to move in by January. Sorouh Real Estate, which is developing the northeastern part of …

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Iceland’s Bank Bill Averts Crisis

August 29, 2009

Iceland will reimburse the U.K. and the Netherlands almost $6 billion over a failed Internet bank, saddling the nation with debt but averting a diplomatic crisis.

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Japan’s unemployment hits record in July

August 29, 2009

Japan’s unemployment hits record in July

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Whirlpool to eliminate 1,100 jobs

August 29, 2009

Whirlpool to eliminate 1,100 jobs

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U.S. real estate investor tackles Italian football

August 29, 2009

U.S. real estate investor tackles Italian football

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Sun Microsystems reports $147m loss in Q2

August 29, 2009

Sun Microsystems reports $147m loss in Q2

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IRG Technology, Media and Telecoms Weekly Asia Market Review

August 29, 2009

IRG Technology, Media and Telecoms Weekly Asia Market Review

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US consumer spending grows 0.2% in July

August 29, 2009

US consumer spending grows 0.2% in July

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Virgin America’s FreeFest Express Takes Flight

August 29, 2009

Virgin America’s FreeFest Express Takes Flight

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SEC Criticized on Raters

August 29, 2009

The SEC’s inspector general criticized the agency over its handling of approvals for some credit-rating firms.

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Regulators Close Bradford Bank

August 29, 2009

Bradford Bank in Maryland and Mainstreet Bank in Minnesota were closed by regulators, marking the 82nd and 83rd U.S. bank failures of 2009.

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Consumers Give Lift to Technology Sales

August 29, 2009

Consumers are helping pull the tech sector out of one of its worst-ever slumps, and optimism is building that businesses may start switching on spending soon. Intel boosted its third-quarter sales forecast, citing strong PC demand.

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Hedge Fund Keeps Reins on Risk

August 29, 2009

For many hedge funds, the lessons learned from the crisis are causing them to keep a tight rein on their risk management, and their traders.

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Carrefour Posts Loss on Discounting

August 29, 2009

French retailer Carrefour posted a first-half loss as it poured hundreds of millions of euros into price cuts and other promotions to resuscitate sales in its home market.

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AIG Private Equity

August 29, 2009

Career Guide; Service Provider Directory; Private Equity Associate. Tags: AIG Private Equity , AIG Private Equity investments, AIG Private Equity holdings, limited partners, management, bankruptcy , filings, investors.

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Steve Parker: African-American Wendell Scott should be in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame!

August 28, 2009

NASCAR has a fabulous chance to grab some positive, international public attention as insiders and fans vote on the first five members of the sport’s new Hall of Fame, but, as they’ve done before, the powers-that-be have blown it. Five top vote-getters of 25 nominated drivers, owners and wrenches will be honored in the sport’s multi-zillion dollar Hall of Fame being built in Charlotte, NC. See the nominated group and find out more about the Hall of Fame by clicking anywhere on this line. NASCAR’s first and best-known Black race-winner, Wendell Scott, isn’t among those eligible for the Hall. He didn’t even make the top 25; voters for the final five couldn’t pick Wendell Scott if they wanted to. And … some cynics (and probably realists) ask … who can blame NASCAR for the “omission”? Wendell Scott in 1977 The sport’s TV ratings and attendance have dropped as its popularity has reached a plateau, coincidentally much like the Republican Party’s, with its major base of support in the nation’s southeast and those fans being overwhelming male and White. Why risk the enmity of some of those fans, it’s probably asked by the sport’s leadership and top sponsors, by nominating Scott for that first Hall of Fame group? Scott was the first African-American to compete regularly in and certainly the only one to win a NASCAR Grand National race, now known as Sprint Cup, the sport’s top national series. And this was in the American south of the 1960s, not the 21st century. Scott’s life story was portrayed in the 1977 film Greased Lightning, the driver played by Richard Pryor. NASCAR Hall of Fame is being built in Charlotte, NC It isn’t as if, the sport’s sponsors and owners know, there would be some massive increase in minority NASCAR fans if Scott were nominated. For too many at the top in NASCAR, Scott’s nomination or his entry into the Hall must be thought of as a lose/lose for the sport. And I’m basing this on NASCAR’s so-far feeble attempts to bring minorities into the sport as fans and/or participants, their “Drive for Diversity” program seeming to be talked about more in court cases than realistically-displayed on the tracks and in the pits and garages. Talk about cynical: the sport’s attempt to label current Sprint Cup driver Juan Pablo Montoya and his success as a product of their diversity program was worse than laughable; Montoya was born in Colombia and is the only driver to have won the CART championship, the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona all at his first attempt. “Hard Driving” by Pulitzer-winning author Brian Donovan recounts Scott’s career And NASCAR apparently still doesn’t discourage the display of the “rebel” flag at their events while it quietly settles, out-of-court, discrimination lawsuits. For those who want to defend that flag-waving, think for a moment of the Nazi flag and other Third Reich symbols being paraded by crazy white supremist and anti-Semitic groups. Would you feel comfortable and welcome at their events? Any patriotic American knows the rebel flag for what it is: a symbol of racism, the phony call for “states’ rights” and a fondness for the dissolution of the Union. Some might wonder: what does it all matter? It’s “only” a sport. Here’s why: this sport is bought-and-paid-for with hundreds of millions of dollars from America’s largest corporations and, thus, from the American people. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., in 1953, founded International Speedway Corp. to construct and manage tracks and promote races. ISC also owns several major NASCAR-related businesses and is now a publicly-traded company. In other words, NASCAR is no private country club, university or so-called civic organization. Almost every consumer in America has a money stake in NASCAR. And “Big” Bill France ran his sport his way, threatening and taking action against anyone espousing organizing drivers or anyone else into any sort of union which might threaten his absolute control. This is probably the reason many big NASCAR veterans now speak openly about Scott being treated poorly, but during his NASCAR career never spoke-out in his favor. This “tradition” continues in today’s NASCAR, still run with a heavy hand by the France family. NASCAR tried to pass-off Juan Pablo Montoya as a product of their “Drive for Diversity” program Those who ask, “Should Scott be in the Hall of Fame simply because he was the first consistently top-running Black driver in NASCAR?” are raising the old red herring which claims racism is over in America. Using that same argument, we can ask if Jackie Robinson should be in baseball’s Hall of Fame “just because” he was Black or if there’s something historic about Barack Obama being an African-American; of course Robinson should be in the HOF and Obama is special because of their ethnicity. How can that be ignored? But like Robinson and Obama, Scott was a winner, too. He was often in NASCAR’s top ten in national points, won a major national event (which NASCAR awarded to the runner-up so the local white beauty queen wouldn’t have to kiss him) and seemingly took it all in stride, never lashing-out at the sport during his career even though he seemed to have every right to do so. Scott raced a few years after after this Tucker competed in NASCAR events Click here for an opinion from an Alabama newspaper website. Based on his combination of grit, courage and driving and wrenching skills, and his race, especially in that place and in that time, Wendell Scott should be a member of NASCAR’s inaugural class Hall of Fame. What do you think? Remember, top executives of many NASCAR-supporting car-makers, other sport sponsors (and potential sponsors) and officials stop by this blog on a regular basis, so let them hear your voice. And let’s hear from all the sport’s fans, here, too … and I’m one of them.

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Senator Kennedy’s Passion for Public Service Remembered on Eve of Funeral

August 28, 2009

By Tom Moroney Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — Senator Edward Kennedy was remembered as a passionate public servant who loved his family, friends and a good laugh during a memorial service on the eve of his funeral and burial at Arlington National Cemetery. “It was never about him, it was always about you, a truly remarkable character trait,” said Vice President Joe Biden , one of many who recalled personal kindnesses performed for them by Kennedy. “Your father was a historic figure,” Biden said to Kennedy’s three children at the service last night at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. “He was a heroic figure beyond that” for his support of Americans trying to “start over again,” the vice president said. The funeral for Kennedy, who died Aug. 25 at age 77 of brain cancer, will be held today at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak. Afterward, the senator will be buried at the national cemetery outside Washington near his two brothers — President Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, and Robert Kennedy, killed by a gunman in 1968. “John Fitzgerald Kennedy inspired our America; Robert Kennedy challenged our America; and Teddy changed our America,” said Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. “He was a champion for countless people who otherwise might not have had one, and he never quit on them, never gave up on the belief that we could make tomorrow a better day. Never.” Frequent Laughter The audience laughed frequently at the stories told by speakers. Dodd recalled that after he underwent prostate surgery a few weeks ago, Kennedy called him, saying in a booming voice, “between going through prostate cancer surgery and doing town hall meetings, you made the right choice!” Kennedy’s niece Caroline Kennedy , daughter of the late president, spoke about how her uncle used to take his nieces and nephews on “family history trips,” including one miserable campout that he abandoned to check into a Ritz hotel. “Now Teddy has become a part of history,” she said. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah recalled that although he came to Washington to “fight Ted Kennedy,” the senator wound up becoming “one of my closest friends in the world.” “He and I didn’t agree on much,” Hatch said, adding that Kennedy sometimes would “lay into me with the harshest red-meat liberal rhetoric you could imagine.” Minutes later, Kennedy would come up and ask him, “How’d I do, Orrin?” “I miss fighting in public and joking with him in the back room,” Hatch said, his voice quavering. ‘Large Family’ Kennedy’s nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy II , a former congressman and the son of the late New York Senator Robert Kennedy , said his uncle had to look after “one very, very large family” after the assassinations of Joseph’s father and President Kennedy. “For so many of us, we just needed someone to hang on to, and Teddy was always there to hang on to,” his nephew said. “He had such a big heart and he shared that heart with all of us.” Arizona Senator John McCain , last year’s Republican presidential nominee, said that when he and Kennedy worked together on an immigration bill, “he was the best ally you could have.” “He was the most reliable, the most prepared, and the most persistent member of the Senate,” McCain said. “He took the long view. He never gave up.” Work on Issues Massachusetts’ other senator, Democrat John Kerry , cited Kennedy’s work on matters such as the Americans With Disabilities Act, workplace safety, children’s health issues and Meals on Wheels. “He labored with all his might to make health care a right for all Americans and we will do that in his honor,” Kerry said. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley will preside over today’s funeral in his role as Archbishop of Boston and will lead the final prayers of commendation. Obama’s eulogy is “obviously going to be very personal,” White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters on Aug. 27. The president has been vacationing this week on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard. More than 33,000 mourners filed past Kennedy’s flag-draped casket during the past two days at the library in Boston. His widow, Victoria , and other family members greeted visitors before the doors to the library, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, were closed to the public yesterday. Thousands of People Thousands of people waited alongside roads and on overpasses two days ago to glimpse the black hearse bearing Kennedy’s body from his home in Hyannis Port. Before arriving at the museum, the motorcade toured Boston, the city Kennedy’s grandfather John F. Fitzgerald once served as mayor. Among the locations the motorcade passed were the federal building named for his brother John, the office where he served as a Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney and the church where his mother, Rose, was baptized. To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Moroney in Boston at tmorrone@bloomberg.net

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