comScore Releases July 2008 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
RESTON, VA, August 21, 2008 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. In July 2008, Americans conducted 11.8 billion core searches (up 2 percent versus June) as Google Sites slightly extended its lead in core search market share by 0.4 percentage points.
July 2008 U.S. Core Search Rankings
Google Sites led the U.S. core search market in July with 61.9 percent of the searches conducted, up from 61.5 percent in June, followed by Yahoo! Sites (20.5 percent), Microsoft Sites (8.9 percent), Ask Network (4.5 percent), and AOL LLC (4.2 percent).
comScore Core Search Report*
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Core Search Entity
Share of Searches (%)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Point Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Core Search
100.0%
100.0%
NA
Google Sites
61.5%
61.9%
0.4
Yahoo! Sites
20.9%
20.5%
-0.4
Microsoft Sites
9.2%
8.9%
-0.3
Ask Network
4.3%
4.5%
0.2
AOL LLC
4.1%
4.2%
0.1
* Based on the five major search engines including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.
Americans conducted 11.8 billion searches at the core search engines, representing a 2-percent gain versus June. Google Sites handled nearly 7.3 billion core searches (up 2 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.4 billion and Microsoft Sites with 1 billion.
comScore Core Search Report*
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Core Search Entity
Search Queries (MM)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Percent Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Core Search
11,541
11,753
2%
Google Sites
7,096
7,273
2%
Yahoo! Sites
2,416
2,405
0%
Microsoft Sites
1,056
1,045
-1%
Ask Network
501
531
6%
AOL LLC
471
499
6%
* Based on the five major search engines including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.
July U.S. Expanded Search Rankings
In the comScore July 2008 analysis of the top properties where search activity is observed, Google Sites led with 9.9 billion searches, a 4-percent increase versus June. Yahoo! Sites ranked second with 2.5 billion searches, followed by Microsoft Sites with 1.1 billion and AOL LLC with 814 million.
comScore Expanded Search Query Report
July 2008 vs. June 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch 2.0
Expanded Search Entity
Search Queries (MM)
Jun-08
Jul-08
Percent Change
Jul-08 vs. Jun-08
Total Expanded Search
16,668
17,158
3%
Google Sites
9,601
9,945
4%
Google
7,277
7,463
3%
YouTube/All Other
2,324
2,482
7%
Yahoo! Sites
2,570
2,546
-1%
Yahoo!
2,530
2,510
-1%
All Other
40
36
-10%
Microsoft Sites
1,102
1,090
-1%
MSN-Windows Live
1,069
1,058
-1%
Microsoft/All Other
33
32
-3%
AOL LLC
792
814
3%
AOL Search Network
430
452
5%
MapQuest/All Other
362
362
0%
Fox Interactive Media
457
547
20%
MySpace
448
539
20%
All Other
9
8
-11%
Ask Network
506
535
6%
Ask.com
341
364
7%
MyWebSearch.com/ All Other
165
171
4%
eBay
444
435
-2%
Craigslist.org
342
340
-1%
Facebook.com
157
173
10%
Amazon Sites
152
166
9%
To request more information on comScore qSearch 2.0, please visit http://www.comscore.com/contact
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate
Contact:
Andrew Lipsman
Senior Analyst
comScore, Inc.
312-775-6510
press@comscore.com
Friday, August 22, 2008
Virgin Mobile closes $38M Helio acquisition
WARREN, N.J.
Virgin Mobile USA Inc. said Friday it completed its acquisition of struggling cellular carrier Helio LLC for $38 million in stock.
Under the terms of the buyout, announced June 27, Helio owners EarthLink Inc. and SK Telecom, a South Korean carrier, received limited partnership units and shares equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA stock.
SK Telecom and British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group also will each invest $25 million in Virgin Mobile as part of the deal, giving SK Telecom a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.
"This acquisition of Helio also comes with a number of financial benefits, including improved network rates from Sprint for Virgin Mobile USA, and strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group which improve our capital structure and increase liquidity," said Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile's chief executive.
The Helio deal brings about 170,000 new customers to Virgin Mobile, the company said.
Both Virgin Mobile and Helio use Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network, which makes the integration of the two businesses possible. Virgin Mobile said the better network rates will reduce effective cost per minute by 8 percent in 2009.
SK Telecom will be granted two seats on Virgin Mobile's board.
Helio was not a publicly traded company, so data on its financials have been scant, but it has contributed to losses at EarthLink.
Shares of Virgin Mobile dipped 3 cents to $2.69 in midday trading.
Virgin Mobile USA Inc. said Friday it completed its acquisition of struggling cellular carrier Helio LLC for $38 million in stock.
Under the terms of the buyout, announced June 27, Helio owners EarthLink Inc. and SK Telecom, a South Korean carrier, received limited partnership units and shares equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA stock.
SK Telecom and British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group also will each invest $25 million in Virgin Mobile as part of the deal, giving SK Telecom a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.
"This acquisition of Helio also comes with a number of financial benefits, including improved network rates from Sprint for Virgin Mobile USA, and strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group which improve our capital structure and increase liquidity," said Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile's chief executive.
The Helio deal brings about 170,000 new customers to Virgin Mobile, the company said.
Both Virgin Mobile and Helio use Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network, which makes the integration of the two businesses possible. Virgin Mobile said the better network rates will reduce effective cost per minute by 8 percent in 2009.
SK Telecom will be granted two seats on Virgin Mobile's board.
Helio was not a publicly traded company, so data on its financials have been scant, but it has contributed to losses at EarthLink.
Shares of Virgin Mobile dipped 3 cents to $2.69 in midday trading.
Lehman CFO Callan, COO Gregory ousted from posts
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/lehmans-cfo-coo-ousted-turmoil/story.aspx?guid=%7B897F3C46%2D6458%2D47A8%2D8299%2D5D580FB0438E%7D
Lehman CFO Callan, COO Gregory ousted from posts
By Alistair Barr, Greg Morcroft & Riley McDermid, MarketWatch
Last update: 11:13 a.m. EDT June 12, 2008
Comments: 131
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Gregory are leaving their posts, becoming the latest victims of the credit crisis swirling across Wall Street.
Video: Discussing downsizing
Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney gives her take on Lehman Brothers, among other topics. (June 11)
Shares of Lehman (LEH:
15.48, +1.76, +12.9%) rose 1.1% to $24 during early trading but quickly turned lower, leaving them with a loss of more than 40% during the past month. The shares have been buffeted in recent months as investors question the firm's capital position and its transparency amid the ongoing credit crisis.
Lehman said Bart McDade would replace Gregory, while Ian Lowitt has been tapped to replace Callan. 'Headline risk will weigh on the stock.'
— Matthew Albrecht, S&P
Callan, who had served as the firm's CFO since December 2007, will be rejoining the investment-banking division at Lehman in a senior capacity, the company said in a press release. Read related commentary.
On Monday, Lehman said it sold $130 billion in assets in recent months, reducing leverage, but analysts and others said questions remain about the brokerage firm's illiquid holdings and how it has valued some of those exposures.
Lehman also reported a preliminary net loss of $2.8 billion for the second quarter ended May 31, surprising analysts and investors, and unveiled plans to raise $6 billion by selling new shares and preferred securities. See full story.
Some analysts said Lehman's management had lost credibility because earlier this year executives said the brokerage firm didn't need to raise any more capital. But the credit crisis has taken another turn for the worse in recent weeks, putting intense pressure on Lehman.
"We believe the moves result from the company's preliminary results, which included the first quarterly loss since going public, and its planned $6 billion capital raise, which has garnered investor criticism," said Matthew Albrecht, analyst at Standard & Poor's Equity Research, in a Thursday note to clients. "Headline risk will weigh on the stock."
Albrecht cut his price target on Lehman shares to $27 from $35 but maintained a hold rating, saying the company has acted aggressively to reorganize its balance sheet into a more financially viable structure.
'Appropriate response'
"This is an appropriate response. There were specific actions taken in the last six months that suggested Lehman was not on track where they should have been," said Dick Bove, analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann, in an interview on CNBC.
Lehman made "serious miscalculations" when trying to hedge mortgage-related exposures and other holdings of troubled assets, he said, adding that management should have tried to raise more capital earlier than it did.
Callan and Gregory "deserved to be fired because they did things wrong," Bove added.
By the same token, Dick Fuld should not be ousted as chief executive because he has done so much to build the firm during a long tenure, Bove continued.
"I wouldn't nail [Fuld] because of the last two quarters," Bove said. "They need to look at his record over the last couple of years."
Alistair Barr is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
Greg Morcroft is MarketWatch's financial editor in New York.
Riley McDermid is a MarketWatch reporter based in New York.
Oil falls over $6 as dollar strengthens
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices tumbled nearly $7 a barrel Friday, erasing the previous session's spike, as the dollar strengthened and investors worried that a decline in demand will spread outside the United States.
U.S. crude for October delivery traded down $6.60 to $114.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar rose after a key measurement showed British economic growth stalled in the second quarter.
The U.K.'s gross domestic product between April and June showed zero growth, the country's statistics office reported Friday.
The economic weakness in Britain signaled that falling demand for oil due to high fuel prices could spread to Europe, according to Kyle Cooper, director of research with IAF Advisors in Houston.
"Fewer trucks delivering packages, fewer people going to work ... There's a very strong correlation between GDP growth and oil usage," said Cooper.
The U.K. report follows other reports this week showing weakness in the euro zone and Japanese economies, putting U.S. investment - and the dollar - in a more favorable light.
A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for foreign investors, because crude futures are traded in U.S. currency. Rising dollar values also pull investor money out of oil, since many use crude and other commodities as a hedge against inflation.
Georgia-Russia: Oil settled up more than $5 a barrel to $121.18 Thursday on tensions between NATO and Russia over the nation's occupation of Georgia. Georgia contains several vital pipeline links that carry crude oil and natural gas between Europe and Asia.
But those tensions appeared to ease Friday.
"There was the potential for some type of action across the Georgian border and we just haven't seen anything," said Neal Dingmann, senior energy analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co.
Also easing supply worries, a BP-led consortium prepared to resume oil flow through the region's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, a major oil link between Turkey and the Caspian Sea.
"We're still integrity testing," said BP spokesman Toby Odone, "We expect it will be back in normal operation next week."
U.S. gasoline demand: Falling demand for petroleum-based fuels in the United States has been the main force behind oil's fall from a record high of $147.27 in mid-July.
Demand for gasoline last week was about 9.5 million barrels a day, or 1.6% lower than it was last year, according to an Energy Department inventory report released Wednesday.
Drivers were also spending less time on the road in June, according to a second report from the Transportation Department last week.
Drivers will even cut back over the Labor Day weekend, according to a projection from motorist group AAA. The number of travelers avoiding cars and air travel, and using buses, trains, or other transportation will increase by 12.5% this year, AAA said.
National gasoline prices are down more than 42 cents a gallon from the record high set last month, according to the AAA's daily survey of service stations, falling below $3.70 a gallon.
U.S. crude for October delivery traded down $6.60 to $114.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar rose after a key measurement showed British economic growth stalled in the second quarter.
The U.K.'s gross domestic product between April and June showed zero growth, the country's statistics office reported Friday.
The economic weakness in Britain signaled that falling demand for oil due to high fuel prices could spread to Europe, according to Kyle Cooper, director of research with IAF Advisors in Houston.
"Fewer trucks delivering packages, fewer people going to work ... There's a very strong correlation between GDP growth and oil usage," said Cooper.
The U.K. report follows other reports this week showing weakness in the euro zone and Japanese economies, putting U.S. investment - and the dollar - in a more favorable light.
A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for foreign investors, because crude futures are traded in U.S. currency. Rising dollar values also pull investor money out of oil, since many use crude and other commodities as a hedge against inflation.
Georgia-Russia: Oil settled up more than $5 a barrel to $121.18 Thursday on tensions between NATO and Russia over the nation's occupation of Georgia. Georgia contains several vital pipeline links that carry crude oil and natural gas between Europe and Asia.
But those tensions appeared to ease Friday.
"There was the potential for some type of action across the Georgian border and we just haven't seen anything," said Neal Dingmann, senior energy analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co.
Also easing supply worries, a BP-led consortium prepared to resume oil flow through the region's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, a major oil link between Turkey and the Caspian Sea.
"We're still integrity testing," said BP spokesman Toby Odone, "We expect it will be back in normal operation next week."
U.S. gasoline demand: Falling demand for petroleum-based fuels in the United States has been the main force behind oil's fall from a record high of $147.27 in mid-July.
Demand for gasoline last week was about 9.5 million barrels a day, or 1.6% lower than it was last year, according to an Energy Department inventory report released Wednesday.
Drivers were also spending less time on the road in June, according to a second report from the Transportation Department last week.
Drivers will even cut back over the Labor Day weekend, according to a projection from motorist group AAA. The number of travelers avoiding cars and air travel, and using buses, trains, or other transportation will increase by 12.5% this year, AAA said.
National gasoline prices are down more than 42 cents a gallon from the record high set last month, according to the AAA's daily survey of service stations, falling below $3.70 a gallon.
Alpharma Not Interested In Being King's Queen
Despite a rejection from Alpharma's board, King Pharmaceuticals has decided to go public with its offer for the specialty pharmaceutical company anyway.
The Bristol, Tenn.-based pharma announced on Friday that it has offered Alpharma (nyse: ALO - news - people ) a $33.00, all-cash bid that valued the company at $1.4 billion. The offer is a 37.3% premium over Alpharma's closing share price on Thursday. Alpharma, which makes pharmaceuticals for humans and animals, previously rejected King Pharmaceuticals (nyse: KG - news - people ) when contacted in July and early August, according to a letter written by King's chairman, Brian Markison.
But maybe Alpharma's board was on to something. Investors of the Bridgewater, N.J.-based company pushed its shares up beyond the offer price on Friday morning. Shares of Alpharma were up 42.3%, or $10.17, to $34.21. Alpharma didn't respond to calls for comment. Alpharma develops painkiller Kadian, which had sales of $167.7 million, in 2007.
Despite the response from the board and the clear response from shareholders, Markison said in his letter that King planned to forge on with the deal anyway. "We continue to prefer to work together with you and your board to complete a negotiated transaction, and we are prepared to commit all necessary resources to do so. If we are unable to negotiate a transaction, we are prepared to take this offer directly to your stockholders," said Markison.
Jeffries analyst Dave Windley said that he would expect the offer to go higher, likely to the range of $36.00 to $38.00 per share. He added that Endo Pharmaceuticals (nasdaq: ENDP - news - people ) and Cephalon (nasdaq: CEPH - news - people ) may also be interested in acquiring Alpharma, but that King would be the best for the company.
Shares of King, which specializes in research and development and pain drugs, jumped 7.1%, or 80 cents, to $12.04, on news of the bid. King's key revenue drivers include Avinza, which treats chronic pain, and Skelaxin, a muscle relaxant. The drugs had sales of $653 million and $440 million, respectively in 2007, making up about half of the company's total revenue of $2.14 billion.
"It would also further diversify King’s business with an additional source of steady cash flow from Alpharma’s Animal Health division, a leading feed additives business," added Markison.
The Bristol, Tenn.-based pharma announced on Friday that it has offered Alpharma (nyse: ALO - news - people ) a $33.00, all-cash bid that valued the company at $1.4 billion. The offer is a 37.3% premium over Alpharma's closing share price on Thursday. Alpharma, which makes pharmaceuticals for humans and animals, previously rejected King Pharmaceuticals (nyse: KG - news - people ) when contacted in July and early August, according to a letter written by King's chairman, Brian Markison.
But maybe Alpharma's board was on to something. Investors of the Bridgewater, N.J.-based company pushed its shares up beyond the offer price on Friday morning. Shares of Alpharma were up 42.3%, or $10.17, to $34.21. Alpharma didn't respond to calls for comment. Alpharma develops painkiller Kadian, which had sales of $167.7 million, in 2007.
Despite the response from the board and the clear response from shareholders, Markison said in his letter that King planned to forge on with the deal anyway. "We continue to prefer to work together with you and your board to complete a negotiated transaction, and we are prepared to commit all necessary resources to do so. If we are unable to negotiate a transaction, we are prepared to take this offer directly to your stockholders," said Markison.
Jeffries analyst Dave Windley said that he would expect the offer to go higher, likely to the range of $36.00 to $38.00 per share. He added that Endo Pharmaceuticals (nasdaq: ENDP - news - people ) and Cephalon (nasdaq: CEPH - news - people ) may also be interested in acquiring Alpharma, but that King would be the best for the company.
Shares of King, which specializes in research and development and pain drugs, jumped 7.1%, or 80 cents, to $12.04, on news of the bid. King's key revenue drivers include Avinza, which treats chronic pain, and Skelaxin, a muscle relaxant. The drugs had sales of $653 million and $440 million, respectively in 2007, making up about half of the company's total revenue of $2.14 billion.
"It would also further diversify King’s business with an additional source of steady cash flow from Alpharma’s Animal Health division, a leading feed additives business," added Markison.
Medio Systems Inc. to benefit deal between Google and Verizon
Telecom company Verizon Communications Inc. is nearing agreement with Google Inc. on a wide-ranging deal to boost internet searches by cell phone users, according a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) considered other possible partners for the mobile search deal, including Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), of Redmond, Wash., the report said.
A Seattle startup, Medio Systems Inc., may benefit from a Verizon-Google tie-up. Medio Systems already handles digital content searches for Verizon and would manage an enhanced search service in the event of a Google deal, The Wall Street Journal said.
Verizon, of New York, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), of Mountain View, Calif., are still negotiating key issues and the deal isn’t final yet, the report said.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) considered other possible partners for the mobile search deal, including Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), of Redmond, Wash., the report said.
A Seattle startup, Medio Systems Inc., may benefit from a Verizon-Google tie-up. Medio Systems already handles digital content searches for Verizon and would manage an enhanced search service in the event of a Google deal, The Wall Street Journal said.
Verizon, of New York, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), of Mountain View, Calif., are still negotiating key issues and the deal isn’t final yet, the report said.
Oil Declines, and Markets Push Higher
Continuing a rally that began Thursday afternoon, shares on Wall Street rose Friday in response to a decline in oil prices, speculation that Lehman Brothers might be sold and expectations that the federal government would soon reaffirm its support of the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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The Dow Jones industrial average was up 180 points, or 1.58 percent, early Friday afternoon, and the S.&P. 500-stock index rose 0.91 percent. The Nasdaq was up 1.2 percent.
Light sweet crude oil was down $3.78 to $117.40 a barrel after surging more than $5 on Thursday. Given that energy prices have been the main driver of record-high inflation over the last few months, the dropping oil price helped relieved market-wide fears.
The prices of other commodities, including gold and corn, also fell on Friday after climbs earlier this week.
“As I look at the markets, we’re going up one day, down the other day,” said Edward Rombach, derivative markets analyst at Thomson Reuters. “Gold and oil go up and the dollar goes down, and the reverse happens the next day. The swings are pretty big.”
The dollar strengthened against the euro Friday, climbing 0.7 percent to $1.4796 per euro, from $1.4899 on Thursday.
Speculation that the troubled brokerage firm Lehman Brothers might be bought by the Korea Development Bank was taken as good news by investors wary of the shock waves that have rippled through the financial sector. Lehman rose $1.76 to $15.48. Its stock price has fallen about 76 percent over the last year.
“After what happened with Bear Stearns, there were concerns that Lehman might be the next shoe to drop,” said Alec Young, equity strategist at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research, referring to a Fed-engineered buyout of Bear Stearns by its rival JPMorgan Chase in March. “The possibility that something might be happening with Lehman is helping stabilize things, since one firm’s state can have a broad effect on the entire market.”
Other banks stocks were also slightly higher. Morgan Stanley rose 1.9 percent; Citigroup was 0.5 percent higher; and Merrill Lynch, 0.58 percent.
Analysts said the markets had also gotten a lift from rumors that Treasury officials might soon make a speech reaffirming their guarantee of Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac. Rumors about a forthcoming statement along these lines have been swirling for several days and strengthened on Thursday afternoon.
“The spreads coming in now are an indication that the market believes, and that it would be the logical next step, that Treasury explicitly backs Fannie and Freddie,” said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford. “They are too big to fail. They are the epicenter of the meltdown.”
A tempered speech Friday from the Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke indicating that the Fed was not likely to raise interest rates anytime soon also buoyed investors.
“The recent decline in commodity prices, as well as the increased stability of the dollar, has been encouraging,” Mr. Bernanke said. “If not reversed, these developments, together with a pace of growth that is likely to fall short of potential for a time, should lead inflation to moderate later this year and next year.”
Mr. Bernanke hedged his words by saying that “the inflation outlook remains highly uncertain.”
Friday’s stock rally has led some analysts to give optimistic views of the near future.
“The combination of good news today and the fact that the market appeared to be sold out yesterday leads me to believe that at least for the near term we’ve got a sold out market,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at R.W. Baird & Company. “The news that we’re getting on commodity prices and financials is not new, so those who are looking to sell on that have already done so.”
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The Dow Jones industrial average was up 180 points, or 1.58 percent, early Friday afternoon, and the S.&P. 500-stock index rose 0.91 percent. The Nasdaq was up 1.2 percent.
Light sweet crude oil was down $3.78 to $117.40 a barrel after surging more than $5 on Thursday. Given that energy prices have been the main driver of record-high inflation over the last few months, the dropping oil price helped relieved market-wide fears.
The prices of other commodities, including gold and corn, also fell on Friday after climbs earlier this week.
“As I look at the markets, we’re going up one day, down the other day,” said Edward Rombach, derivative markets analyst at Thomson Reuters. “Gold and oil go up and the dollar goes down, and the reverse happens the next day. The swings are pretty big.”
The dollar strengthened against the euro Friday, climbing 0.7 percent to $1.4796 per euro, from $1.4899 on Thursday.
Speculation that the troubled brokerage firm Lehman Brothers might be bought by the Korea Development Bank was taken as good news by investors wary of the shock waves that have rippled through the financial sector. Lehman rose $1.76 to $15.48. Its stock price has fallen about 76 percent over the last year.
“After what happened with Bear Stearns, there were concerns that Lehman might be the next shoe to drop,” said Alec Young, equity strategist at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research, referring to a Fed-engineered buyout of Bear Stearns by its rival JPMorgan Chase in March. “The possibility that something might be happening with Lehman is helping stabilize things, since one firm’s state can have a broad effect on the entire market.”
Other banks stocks were also slightly higher. Morgan Stanley rose 1.9 percent; Citigroup was 0.5 percent higher; and Merrill Lynch, 0.58 percent.
Analysts said the markets had also gotten a lift from rumors that Treasury officials might soon make a speech reaffirming their guarantee of Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac. Rumors about a forthcoming statement along these lines have been swirling for several days and strengthened on Thursday afternoon.
“The spreads coming in now are an indication that the market believes, and that it would be the logical next step, that Treasury explicitly backs Fannie and Freddie,” said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford. “They are too big to fail. They are the epicenter of the meltdown.”
A tempered speech Friday from the Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke indicating that the Fed was not likely to raise interest rates anytime soon also buoyed investors.
“The recent decline in commodity prices, as well as the increased stability of the dollar, has been encouraging,” Mr. Bernanke said. “If not reversed, these developments, together with a pace of growth that is likely to fall short of potential for a time, should lead inflation to moderate later this year and next year.”
Mr. Bernanke hedged his words by saying that “the inflation outlook remains highly uncertain.”
Friday’s stock rally has led some analysts to give optimistic views of the near future.
“The combination of good news today and the fact that the market appeared to be sold out yesterday leads me to believe that at least for the near term we’ve got a sold out market,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at R.W. Baird & Company. “The news that we’re getting on commodity prices and financials is not new, so those who are looking to sell on that have already done so.”
Boeing's Game: Bid or No Bid?
Its threat to pull out of the renewed Air Force tanker competition with Northrop/EADS could rile up Congress—possibly just what Boeing wants
by Joseph Weber and Keith Epstein
BW Exclusives
Boeing's Game: Bid or No Bid?
Stocks Sharply Higher after Bernanke Speech
The Final Fate of Fannie and Freddie
Apple's Ambitious iPhone 3G Plans
MBA Moms Most Likely to Opt Out
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The high-stakes poker game between Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS alliance to build $35 billion worth of airborne refueling tankers is taking a new and—for Boeing—very risky turn. Boeing says it has "little option" but to pull out of the tanker competition if the Defense Dept. doesn't give it six months to submit proposals for the larger plane with greater fuel capacity sought by the Air Force.
Company spokesman Daniel C. Beck tells BusinessWeek that "if Boeing is unable to secure sufficient time to prepare a competitive proposal, there is little option for Boeing other than to no-bid." Within Boeing, sources tell BusinessWeek, some managers are arguing for pulling out of the competition regardless of what the military does.
Boeing on Aug. 21 leaked word to The Wall Street Journal that it may fold its cards. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's defense unit, warned that "there is a really high likelihood that we would no-bid the program" if the company doesn't get the time he says it needs to recast its plans to accommodate a bigger plane than Boeing has long planned on.
The Defense Dept., in reopening the competition Aug. 6, gave both planemakers until Oct. 1 to submit new bids and to enter more discussions that would lead to "best and final" offers by the end of November or early December. It said it wants to have the competition wrapped up by New Year's Day, well in advance of a new Administration and Congress. Boeing (BA) supporters have said that timetable is far too short (BusinessWeek.com, 8/13/08) to shape a new proposal, even though Boeing has had since at least February to retool its bid. It was in February that the Air Force awarded the contract to the Northrop (NOC) alliance, triggering a protest by Boeing that led to a new competition.
Boeing's Strategy
Although the threat of taking its chips off the table suggests that Boeing plans to simply quit, the move actually may improve the company's chances of winning the new battle. Such a delay could move the decision into the hands of a new White House and Congress that might be more inclined to favor Boeing. Boeing would be taking a gamble that Democrats would control Washington, since they generally are believed to tilt in favor of the heavily unionized company, and even more so because Northrop is allied with EADS, or European Aeronautic Defence & Space (EAD.PA), maker of Airbus planes.
So far, Democratic politicians from Washington State, where Boeing does much of its manufacturing, have pushed hard for the home company. They have pressed for more time and sought to have the decision made by Congress, instead of the Pentagon or the Air Force. The Air Force made significant errors in awarding the contract at first to the Northrop partnership, the Government Accountability Office ruled in June after a Boeing protest. Among them, GAO said, was giving extra credit for a larger plane—based on the Airbus A330 model—after telling both companies initially that it wouldn't give such credit. Boeing based its design on its smaller 767 commercial jet. This was deemed unfair.
If Boeing does actually pull out of the competition, analysts say, it would be betting that Congress won't tolerate a no-bid situation, preferring competition over what would amount to a single-supplier award. The company may figure that Congress would prefer to extend the deadline for just a few months to make sure the Pentagon has a reasonable choice. Indeed, Albaugh in his comments to The Wall Street Journal minimized the delay. "This is an airplane that's going to be in the inventory 40 years," he said.
by Joseph Weber and Keith Epstein
BW Exclusives
Boeing's Game: Bid or No Bid?
Stocks Sharply Higher after Bernanke Speech
The Final Fate of Fannie and Freddie
Apple's Ambitious iPhone 3G Plans
MBA Moms Most Likely to Opt Out
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The high-stakes poker game between Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS alliance to build $35 billion worth of airborne refueling tankers is taking a new and—for Boeing—very risky turn. Boeing says it has "little option" but to pull out of the tanker competition if the Defense Dept. doesn't give it six months to submit proposals for the larger plane with greater fuel capacity sought by the Air Force.
Company spokesman Daniel C. Beck tells BusinessWeek that "if Boeing is unable to secure sufficient time to prepare a competitive proposal, there is little option for Boeing other than to no-bid." Within Boeing, sources tell BusinessWeek, some managers are arguing for pulling out of the competition regardless of what the military does.
Boeing on Aug. 21 leaked word to The Wall Street Journal that it may fold its cards. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's defense unit, warned that "there is a really high likelihood that we would no-bid the program" if the company doesn't get the time he says it needs to recast its plans to accommodate a bigger plane than Boeing has long planned on.
The Defense Dept., in reopening the competition Aug. 6, gave both planemakers until Oct. 1 to submit new bids and to enter more discussions that would lead to "best and final" offers by the end of November or early December. It said it wants to have the competition wrapped up by New Year's Day, well in advance of a new Administration and Congress. Boeing (BA) supporters have said that timetable is far too short (BusinessWeek.com, 8/13/08) to shape a new proposal, even though Boeing has had since at least February to retool its bid. It was in February that the Air Force awarded the contract to the Northrop (NOC) alliance, triggering a protest by Boeing that led to a new competition.
Boeing's Strategy
Although the threat of taking its chips off the table suggests that Boeing plans to simply quit, the move actually may improve the company's chances of winning the new battle. Such a delay could move the decision into the hands of a new White House and Congress that might be more inclined to favor Boeing. Boeing would be taking a gamble that Democrats would control Washington, since they generally are believed to tilt in favor of the heavily unionized company, and even more so because Northrop is allied with EADS, or European Aeronautic Defence & Space (EAD.PA), maker of Airbus planes.
So far, Democratic politicians from Washington State, where Boeing does much of its manufacturing, have pushed hard for the home company. They have pressed for more time and sought to have the decision made by Congress, instead of the Pentagon or the Air Force. The Air Force made significant errors in awarding the contract at first to the Northrop partnership, the Government Accountability Office ruled in June after a Boeing protest. Among them, GAO said, was giving extra credit for a larger plane—based on the Airbus A330 model—after telling both companies initially that it wouldn't give such credit. Boeing based its design on its smaller 767 commercial jet. This was deemed unfair.
If Boeing does actually pull out of the competition, analysts say, it would be betting that Congress won't tolerate a no-bid situation, preferring competition over what would amount to a single-supplier award. The company may figure that Congress would prefer to extend the deadline for just a few months to make sure the Pentagon has a reasonable choice. Indeed, Albaugh in his comments to The Wall Street Journal minimized the delay. "This is an airplane that's going to be in the inventory 40 years," he said.
"What we're asking for is an additional four months to have a meaningful competition."
Says Boeing's Beck: "Keep in mind that in the first competition it was nine months" from first indications of the Air Force's requirements to submission by the aircraft manufacturers of their first proposals. It takes months, he says, to "thoroughly understand the requirements, conduct trade studies, finalize a configuration determine costs, and then align costs and schedule."
Boeing has hinted at seeking more time for a while, and the Washington rumor mill has been abuzz about the companys next move for weeks. In a statement e-mailed to BusinessWeek last week after Boeing officials met at Ohio's Wright Patterson Air Force Base with Defense officials, company spokesman Beck made clear Boeing's preference for a recast request for proposal, or RFP. "We hope that it was just the beginning of a continuing dialogue as we move toward a final RFP that prescribes the right aircraft and gives appropriate weight to all of the capabilities that will be required for the evolving mission over the next several decades," Beck said. "Boeing remains committed to providing the Air Force with a next-generation tanker that meets real-world mission requirements and that is selected through a fair, open, and unbiased competition that follows a realistic timetable."
The Air Force Already Blinked Once
By contrast, Northrop officials have welcomed the shorter timetable, and they say enough time has elapsed. Northrop Vice-President Paul Meyer called his company's session with Defense officials a "productive review." He said the Defense Dept. won't alter the specifications it laid down when Northrop Grumman won the first round. "It is also clear that the department recognizes the need to begin production of the next generation of aerial refueling tankers as quickly as possible," Meyer added in a prepared statement, noting that the current tanker fleet is nearly 50 years old. "We look forward to submitting our proposal within the timeline established by the Defense Dept."
While Northrop favors speed—figuring that the Pentagon is tilting its way—it, too, has proven a shrewd poker player at times. Last year it threatened to pull out of the competition unless the military altered its initial bid request, and the Air Force obliged it. That time the Air Force blinked. This time, however, the Pentagon may be hard-pressed to blink again.
Boeing began considering using its 767 as a new tanker as early as 1992; it might have used a larger plane in the recent tanker competition, but the company says it had no idea the Air Force would want a plane with more fuel and cargo capacity.
"We still believe it was the right plane for that competition," says Beck. Boeing and military officials have no meetings scheduled between now and the anticipated release of a final request for proposals by the Air Force next week.
Bernanke Says U.S. Inflation Should Slow Into 2009
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said inflation should ease later this year and in 2009, while warning that policy makers will act if price increases don't slow over the ``medium term.''
A recovery in the dollar and declines in commodity prices ``should lead inflation to moderate,'' Bernanke said in a speech to the annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. The Fed ``is committed to achieving medium-term price stability and will act as necessary to obtain that objective,'' he said.
The Fed chief said the benchmark interest rate is ``relatively low'' given an increase in price pressures. Financial turmoil has ``not yet subsided,'' and is contributing to weaker economic growth and higher unemployment, he said.
Bernanke said that as the central bank deals with the current turmoil, officials must also consider how to overhaul regulations to minimize the risk of future crises. He reiterated his endorsement of the Treasury getting power to resolve failing investment banks, and signaled a need for a new, comprehensive supervision of systemic risk.
Policy makers will ``continue to review'' the Fed's measures to ensure liquidity to determine ``if they are having their intended effects,'' Bernanke said. The central bank has introduced several tools since December to provide liquidity to commercial and investment banks.
Bernanke's comments on inflation follow government figures last week that showed consumer prices climbed the most in 17 years in the 12 months to July, propelled by energy and food costs.
Futures Trading
Traders added to bets that the Fed will increase borrowing costs by the end of the year, futures prices show. Odds of at least a quarter point boost in the main rate by the end of December rose to 26 percent from 18 percent yesterday. The highest probability is that the Federal Open Market Committee keeps the rate at 2 percent until next year, the contracts show.
Bernanke ``seems really comfortable with where policy is right now,'' said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. ``The challenge is how patient is the Fed going to be.''
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 0.8 percent, to 1,287.68 at noon in New York. The dollar climbed 0.7 percent to $1.4803 per euro. Gold lost $12 to $825.01, while two-year Treasury notes slid, sending their yields up to 2.40 percent, from 2.31 percent.
`Severe' Disruptions
In his speech to the Kansas City Fed Bank's two-day conference on financial stability, Bernanke again defended the Fed's role in keeping Bear Stearns Cos. from collapse, and said ``the economy could hardly have remained immune from such severe financial disruptions.''
Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and other ex-central bankers have warned in recent months that the Bear Stearns rescue will encourage investors to take on excessive risk and set the stage for bigger bailouts.
``Where can the limits be drawn?'' Volcker, the Fed chairman from 1979 until 1987, said June 9. The following month, the Fed opened up discount window lending to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to revive confidence in the two largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
The Fed chairman has tried for the past year to curb a global credit crisis that has led to a higher U.S. jobless rate, slower economic growth and some $505 billion in credit losses at financial firms.
Fed Powers
Bernanke asked Congress to give the Fed more authority over the U.S. payments system, and to consider devising a way to resolve failing investment banks. He also said regulators must shift their focus and consider how individual banks and brokers may together present large risks to the financial system.
``Making the systemic risk rationale for guidances and reviews'' of financial firms ``more explicit is certainly feasible and would be a useful step toward a more systemic orientation for financial regulation and supervision,'' Bernanke, 54, said to the conference of scholars and central bankers.
Bernanke also called for ``stress tests, not at the firm level as occurs now, but for a range of firms and markets simultaneously.'' Such exams might ``reveal important interactions that are missed by stress tests at the level of the individual firm.'' He said the technical and information requirements regulators need to conduct such tests ``could be daunting.''
Fed Lending
The Fed has opened up lending to nonbanks for the first time since the Great Depression, accepted mortgage debt as collateral for loans and cut the interest rate on its discount window lending. The measures have broadened the Fed's oversight and lender-of-last resort role.
Bernanke opened the discount window to investment banks in March after rescuing Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy. The Fed facilitated the firm's merger with JPMorgan Chase & Co. by loaning against $29 billion of Bear securities. It opened the discount window in July to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
``They are in a lot of new lines of business now in terms of lending to entities they didn't use to, in terms of taking credit risk that central banks don't usually have,'' Vincent Reinhart, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former director of the Board's Division of Monetary Affairs said before the speech. ``The Federal Reserve is over-extended.''
Central bankers have also reduced the benchmark lending rate 3.25 percentage points since September to 2 percent. They have kept the rate at that level since April even as the consumer price index rose to 5.6 percent in July, the fastest increase on an annual basis in 17 years.
Mortgage Delinquencies
While the Fed has expanded its lending, markets instability has continued and credit has remained scarce. Investors are concerned mortgages delinquencies will increase, leading to greater losses at banks and other financial institutions.
Shares of Fannie Mae have fallen 58 percent this month, while shares of Freddie Mac have fallen 61 percent.
Nearly a quarter of all adjustable rate mortgages to borrowers with weak or limited credit history were delinquent in the first quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Meanwhile, some 463,000 Americans have lost jobs since January, and economists expect annualized rates of growth of just 1.2 percent in the third quarter and 0.45 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg Survey.
A recovery in the dollar and declines in commodity prices ``should lead inflation to moderate,'' Bernanke said in a speech to the annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. The Fed ``is committed to achieving medium-term price stability and will act as necessary to obtain that objective,'' he said.
The Fed chief said the benchmark interest rate is ``relatively low'' given an increase in price pressures. Financial turmoil has ``not yet subsided,'' and is contributing to weaker economic growth and higher unemployment, he said.
Bernanke said that as the central bank deals with the current turmoil, officials must also consider how to overhaul regulations to minimize the risk of future crises. He reiterated his endorsement of the Treasury getting power to resolve failing investment banks, and signaled a need for a new, comprehensive supervision of systemic risk.
Policy makers will ``continue to review'' the Fed's measures to ensure liquidity to determine ``if they are having their intended effects,'' Bernanke said. The central bank has introduced several tools since December to provide liquidity to commercial and investment banks.
Bernanke's comments on inflation follow government figures last week that showed consumer prices climbed the most in 17 years in the 12 months to July, propelled by energy and food costs.
Futures Trading
Traders added to bets that the Fed will increase borrowing costs by the end of the year, futures prices show. Odds of at least a quarter point boost in the main rate by the end of December rose to 26 percent from 18 percent yesterday. The highest probability is that the Federal Open Market Committee keeps the rate at 2 percent until next year, the contracts show.
Bernanke ``seems really comfortable with where policy is right now,'' said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. ``The challenge is how patient is the Fed going to be.''
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 0.8 percent, to 1,287.68 at noon in New York. The dollar climbed 0.7 percent to $1.4803 per euro. Gold lost $12 to $825.01, while two-year Treasury notes slid, sending their yields up to 2.40 percent, from 2.31 percent.
`Severe' Disruptions
In his speech to the Kansas City Fed Bank's two-day conference on financial stability, Bernanke again defended the Fed's role in keeping Bear Stearns Cos. from collapse, and said ``the economy could hardly have remained immune from such severe financial disruptions.''
Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and other ex-central bankers have warned in recent months that the Bear Stearns rescue will encourage investors to take on excessive risk and set the stage for bigger bailouts.
``Where can the limits be drawn?'' Volcker, the Fed chairman from 1979 until 1987, said June 9. The following month, the Fed opened up discount window lending to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to revive confidence in the two largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
The Fed chairman has tried for the past year to curb a global credit crisis that has led to a higher U.S. jobless rate, slower economic growth and some $505 billion in credit losses at financial firms.
Fed Powers
Bernanke asked Congress to give the Fed more authority over the U.S. payments system, and to consider devising a way to resolve failing investment banks. He also said regulators must shift their focus and consider how individual banks and brokers may together present large risks to the financial system.
``Making the systemic risk rationale for guidances and reviews'' of financial firms ``more explicit is certainly feasible and would be a useful step toward a more systemic orientation for financial regulation and supervision,'' Bernanke, 54, said to the conference of scholars and central bankers.
Bernanke also called for ``stress tests, not at the firm level as occurs now, but for a range of firms and markets simultaneously.'' Such exams might ``reveal important interactions that are missed by stress tests at the level of the individual firm.'' He said the technical and information requirements regulators need to conduct such tests ``could be daunting.''
Fed Lending
The Fed has opened up lending to nonbanks for the first time since the Great Depression, accepted mortgage debt as collateral for loans and cut the interest rate on its discount window lending. The measures have broadened the Fed's oversight and lender-of-last resort role.
Bernanke opened the discount window to investment banks in March after rescuing Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy. The Fed facilitated the firm's merger with JPMorgan Chase & Co. by loaning against $29 billion of Bear securities. It opened the discount window in July to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.
``They are in a lot of new lines of business now in terms of lending to entities they didn't use to, in terms of taking credit risk that central banks don't usually have,'' Vincent Reinhart, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former director of the Board's Division of Monetary Affairs said before the speech. ``The Federal Reserve is over-extended.''
Central bankers have also reduced the benchmark lending rate 3.25 percentage points since September to 2 percent. They have kept the rate at that level since April even as the consumer price index rose to 5.6 percent in July, the fastest increase on an annual basis in 17 years.
Mortgage Delinquencies
While the Fed has expanded its lending, markets instability has continued and credit has remained scarce. Investors are concerned mortgages delinquencies will increase, leading to greater losses at banks and other financial institutions.
Shares of Fannie Mae have fallen 58 percent this month, while shares of Freddie Mac have fallen 61 percent.
Nearly a quarter of all adjustable rate mortgages to borrowers with weak or limited credit history were delinquent in the first quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Meanwhile, some 463,000 Americans have lost jobs since January, and economists expect annualized rates of growth of just 1.2 percent in the third quarter and 0.45 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg Survey.
No NSG decision on India waiver, next meet in Sep
Vienna (PTI): India's efforts to get a quick and clean exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group for doing nuclear commerce did not materialise on Friday in the face of reservations expressed by some countries that could lead to rewording of the draft waiver.
The 45-nation group will meet early next month, possibly on September 4-5, to consider the changes which US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said are necessary to accommodate the concerns raised by some countries.
"The meeting was positive... Many delegates raised some questions and the US is pleased (with that). I remain optimistic and we will continue to make progress," John Rood, leader of the US delegation at the NSG meet, told reporters after the two-day discussions.
"The NSG will meet again in the near future to work on these constructive discussions," he said.
After intense deliberations over the move that will end India's 34-year-old isolation in the civil nuclear commerce, diplomats said no final decision could be arrived at.
Further discussions will be required for which the NSG is expected to be convened again on September 4 and 5, they said.
The discussions remained inconclusive as some members raised questions over the move to grant waiver to India since it is not a signatory to the NPT.
Indications that the decision could be delayed emerged during the day when Boucher said in Mumbai that some amendments would be made to the draft waiver moved at the NSG.
The proposals for amendments in the draft were made by some countries during the deliberations at the two-day meet.
New Zealand, Switzerland and Austria particularly aired non-proliferation and nuclear testing issues and questioned why the exemption should be given to India which is not a signatory to the NPT.
Boucher said some countries had "objections" and "we need to listen" to them.
"I don't want to lie to you...I can't really lie. There might be some changes that we could accept. But we are pushing for a clean text", Boucher told reporters in Mumbai.
"The US and India will have to sit together and see what we can accommodate and what we can't. We will have to talk to the other governments involved", said Boucher who will meet officials of External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi on Monday.
He did not specify as to what kind of changes would be made in the draft which was finalised after tough negotiations between Washington and New Delhi and was moved by the US at the NSG meet on Thursday.
Boucher, however, said nothing will be done to "impede" the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Sources in Vienna said some changes would be made in the language of the draft and the US will bring it back at the next NSG meeting.
India has maintained that it would not accept any conditions being attached to the waiver.
The NSG meeting on September 4-5 will be crucial considering the time constraint for operationalization of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
After the NSG clearance, the deal will go back for final vote by the US Congress which will meet on September 8 for a three-week session, the last before the American Presidential elections.
The 45-nation group will meet early next month, possibly on September 4-5, to consider the changes which US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said are necessary to accommodate the concerns raised by some countries.
"The meeting was positive... Many delegates raised some questions and the US is pleased (with that). I remain optimistic and we will continue to make progress," John Rood, leader of the US delegation at the NSG meet, told reporters after the two-day discussions.
"The NSG will meet again in the near future to work on these constructive discussions," he said.
After intense deliberations over the move that will end India's 34-year-old isolation in the civil nuclear commerce, diplomats said no final decision could be arrived at.
Further discussions will be required for which the NSG is expected to be convened again on September 4 and 5, they said.
The discussions remained inconclusive as some members raised questions over the move to grant waiver to India since it is not a signatory to the NPT.
Indications that the decision could be delayed emerged during the day when Boucher said in Mumbai that some amendments would be made to the draft waiver moved at the NSG.
The proposals for amendments in the draft were made by some countries during the deliberations at the two-day meet.
New Zealand, Switzerland and Austria particularly aired non-proliferation and nuclear testing issues and questioned why the exemption should be given to India which is not a signatory to the NPT.
Boucher said some countries had "objections" and "we need to listen" to them.
"I don't want to lie to you...I can't really lie. There might be some changes that we could accept. But we are pushing for a clean text", Boucher told reporters in Mumbai.
"The US and India will have to sit together and see what we can accommodate and what we can't. We will have to talk to the other governments involved", said Boucher who will meet officials of External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi on Monday.
He did not specify as to what kind of changes would be made in the draft which was finalised after tough negotiations between Washington and New Delhi and was moved by the US at the NSG meet on Thursday.
Boucher, however, said nothing will be done to "impede" the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Sources in Vienna said some changes would be made in the language of the draft and the US will bring it back at the next NSG meeting.
India has maintained that it would not accept any conditions being attached to the waiver.
The NSG meeting on September 4-5 will be crucial considering the time constraint for operationalization of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
After the NSG clearance, the deal will go back for final vote by the US Congress which will meet on September 8 for a three-week session, the last before the American Presidential elections.
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