International Business News - the http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif Malia Obama told her parents that spending her 10th birthday helping her father campaign for the presidency far from home and "rocking out" with her family after takeout in a modest hotel room was the best she has ever had. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080705/play-of-the-day-malia-obamas-best-birthday.htm Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:09:16 EDT Is Barack Obama close to being shadowed by giant flip-flops and, worse, having the image stick with people all the way to the voting booth? Four years ago, Republicans branded as a "flip-flop" even the slightest rhetorical or policy change by John Kerry and sent huge replicas of the casual sandals to bob around the Massachusetts Democrat's events, feeding an image of him as a wishy-washy panderer. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080704/analysis-obamas-shifts-to-center-give-gop-ammo.htm Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:17:15 EDT Police have a suspect in the 1985 killing of a teenage boy whose body was found in a thicket months after he left home on a bicycle, a coroner said Thursday. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/police-have-suspect-in-pa-boys-1985-death.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:49:47 EDT A meal was rice and beans. Bed was the ground under a patched plastic tarp. They bathed in rivers, and when they weren't chained by the neck to trees, they were forced on long marches to new hideouts under the jungle canopy. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/colombian-hostages-say-life-grew-more-dire.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:23:07 EDT Guatemala's 36-year civil war cost some 200,000 lives, mostly of Mayan Indians caught between government forces and rebels. Twelve years after peace was signed, forensic anthropologists are still hunting for the missing. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/slow-painful-task-identifying-guatemalan-dead.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:26:38 EDT Major business events and economic events scheduled for the coming week (some dates are tentative): MONDAY, July 7 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/business-events-scheduled-for-the-coming-week.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:28:43 EDT One of the fireworks bursting above the city this year will contain a bit of cremated remains--a fitting tribute, organizers say, to the man who ran the annual event for 40 years. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/cremated-remains-part-of-fireworks-show.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:12:06 EDT Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. dropped on Monday and kicked off a holiday-shortened week of trading, on talk Barclays PLC will buy the country's fourth-biggest investment bank at a discount. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/hot-stocks-of-the-week-leh-cit-gm-nvda.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:50:48 EDT A local police officer involved in a motorcycle crash got a consolation prize Thursday--a chance to meet Barack Obama. Obama's campaign arranged for Officer Jerry Orvin to meet the Democratic presidential hopeful on an airport tarmac here, where the two shook hands and posed for photographs just before the candidate boarded his plane to fly to an event in North Dakota. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/85027-obama-2008.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/play-of-the-day-motorcycle-officer-meets-obama.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/play-of-the-day-motorcycle-officer-meets-obama.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:33:27 EDT Shares of Abbott Laboratories rose Thursday after regulators approved its drug-coated Xience V stent for sale. The Food and Drug Administration approved the stent late Wednesday, and Abbott expects it to take between 25 percent and 30 percent of the U.S. drug-coated stent market over the next 12 months. Analysts generally agreed with that estimate, and Goldman Sachs analyst Lawrence Keusch said Xience V will become the most-used stent in 2009. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/abbott-rises-after-fda-approves-xience-v-stent.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:37:31 EDT Shares of Nvidia Corp. lost nearly a third of their value Thursday after the graphics chip maker cut its second-quarter revenue guidance, prompting a spate of analysts to cut their ratings and earnings expectations on the stock. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/out-of-the-gate-nvidia-tumbles-after-outlook-cut.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:10:42 EDT Shares of major airlines declined after the opening bell as oil prices neared $146 a barrel and American Airlines said its June traffic declined. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $2.28 to a record $145.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/out-of-the-gate-airlines-decline-on-record-crude.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:20:01 EDT Shares of Penn National Gaming Inc. fell to a new low Thursday after the racetrack and casino operator said its planned $5.82 billion takeover by Centerbridge Partners and Fortress Investment Group has been terminated. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/out-of-the-gate-penn-national-gaming-shares-fall.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:58:26 EDT Shares of three communications-tower operators are attractively priced after about a month of steady declines, an RBC Capital Markets analyst said Thursday, raising his rating on all three stocks. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ahead-of-the-bell-rbc-upgrades-tower-operators.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:17:23 EDT An analyst upgraded L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. Thursday, saying the defense contractor likely won't be affected by a change in the U.S. presidency. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ahead-of-the-bell-l-3-communications-holdings.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:58:16 EDT An analyst upgraded Arch Coal Inc. and Peabody Energy Corp. Thursday, citing a better outlook for the coal sector. Citi Investment Research analyst John H. Hill boosted his rating on the companies to "Buy" from "Hold." http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ahead-of-the-bell-arch-coal-peabody-energy.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:37:55 EDT Shares of Aetna Inc. and Health Net Inc. were on pace to open at their lowest levels in years Thursday after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the health insurers due to falling profit margins. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ahead-of-the-bell-aetna-and-health-net-skid.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:37:38 EDT Abbott Laboratories will reach its market share goals for its drug-coated Xience V stent, analysts said Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration approved the stent late Wednesday, and Abbott expects it to take between 25 percent and 30 percent of the U.S. drug-coated stent market over the next 12 months. Analysts generally agreed with that estimate, and Goldman Sachs analyst Lawrence Keusch said Xience V will become the most-used stent in 2009. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ahead-of-the-bell-abbott-labs-stent-approved.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:57:53 EDT An analyst upgraded Alcoa Inc. Thursday, citing a recent drop in the aluminum company's stock. Soleil Securities Group analyst Charles Bradford boosted his rating to "Hold" from "Sell." http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ahead-of-the-bell-alcoa-upgraded.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:54:43 EDT Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo revised his second-quarter and 2008 estimates for Merrill Lynch & Co. Tuesday night, and now expects the investment bank to lose money because of larger-than-expected write-downs. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ahead-of-the-bell-merrill-lynch.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:30:06 EDT