Reuters Business Summary

Wall Street analysts see bigger 2008 loss for Merrill

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Several analysts, including Oppenheimer's Meredith Whitney, widened their loss view on Merrill Lynch MER.N, after the Wall Street investment bank and brokerage said it will take a $5.7 billion third-quarter writedown as it unloads risky debt and raises $8.5 billion in capital. The announcement follows Merrill's second-quarter loss of $4.9 billion, hurt by more than $9 billion in write-downs. Merrill has already recorded billions of dollars of writedowns from subprime mortgages and risky debt.

Home prices fell at record pace in May: S&P

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged at a record pace in May from a year earlier, with each of the 20 regions monitored showing annual declines for a second month, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes reported on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 0.9 percent in May from April, bringing the measure down 15.8 percent from May 2007.

Analyst sees $8 billion Citi writeoff after Merrill move

July 29 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo said on Tuesday that Citigroup Inc (C.N: 行情) may post third-quarter write-downs of about $8 billion from its exposure to collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), a day after Merrill Lynch & Co MER.N agreed to sell its CDOs for just 22 cents on the dollar. The analyst also forecast a third-quarter loss for Citigroup, and shares of the largest U.S. bank fell 4 percent to $16.70 in trading before the bell, from Monday's close of $17.43 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wall Street opens higher as oil declines

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose at the open on Tuesday as the price of oil fell and a batch of companies, including Amgen (AMGN.O: 行情), reported stronger-than-expected earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 36.23 points, or 0.33 percent, at 11,167.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 4.42 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,238.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 10.15 points, or 0.45 percent, at 2,274.37.

Loss-making Alcatel-Lucent dumps CEO and chairman

PARIS (Reuters) - Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA: 行情) ousted its chairman and chief executive on Tuesday and lowered profit expectations yet again -- further evidence that Asian rivals, Ericsson (ERICb.ST: 行情) and Nortel (NT.TO: 行情) are taking market share. The world's No. 1 provider of fixed-line telecoms networks has lost more than half of its market value since it started operating as a combined group in December 2006. Chief Executive Patricia Russo, who took the reins after the merger, leaves this year with a payoff of 6 million euros ($9.45 million).

Investor Pickens drops Yahoo shares: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens has sold his entire stake of Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: 行情) shares in frustration over its failure to reach a deal with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: 行情), the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday. Pickens bought 10 million Yahoo shares in May, backing a bid by activist shareholder Carl Icahn to bring the Internet pioneer back to the negotiating table over a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft.

Teck buys Fording Coal in $14.1 billion deal