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CA-BUSINESS Summary

20/11/08

Democrats set December 2 deadline for automakers' to offer plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate and House Democratic leaders at a news conference: * U.S. Senate Democratic leader Reid says "the sad reality is that no one has come up with a (auto) plan" that can be passed by house and senate, signed by president.

TD Bank sees C$350 million trading charge, stock drops

TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto-Dominion Bank said on Thursday that the "dramatic" lack of liquidity in global credit markets will prompt charges of C$350 million ($273 million) for credit-trading losses, reducing its fourth-quarter earnings. Shares of Canada's second largest bank fell to a four-year low on Thursday morning, before paring some of the losses. Other bank stocks were also down amid a general stock market selloff on weak economic data and continued concern about U.S. automakers.

TSX extends fall on oil, TD Bank warning

TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Stock Exchange's main index sank to its lowest level in nearly five years on Thursday afternoon as an earning warning from Toronto-Dominion Bank pressured the financials group and the price of crude slid below $50 a barrel. The S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> fell 602.67 points, or 7.1 percent, to 7,887.89.

Teck Cominco could sell stakes in core assets

TORONTO (Reuters) - Teck Cominco would consider selling off minority stakes in some core assets to pay off debt if sales of noncore assets and cost cuts prove insufficient to do so, a company official said on Thursday. Teck announced several cost-cutting measures on Thursday designed to help it pay down a $5.8 billion bridge loan by next October. It used the loan to finance its $13 billion acquisition of Fording Coal.

GM shares rebound on news of bailout deal

DETROIT (Reuters) - Shares of General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co jumped on Thursday, rebounding from multi-decade lows after U.S. senators reached a bipartisan agreement on a government bailout for the struggling U.S. automakers. U.S. Senators including Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, Missouri Republican Christopher Bond and Ohio Republican George Voinovich plan a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EST, to announce their agreement on bipartisan auto aid, a Senate Democratic aide said on Thursday.

Oil drops 7 percent to 3-1/2-year low below $50

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped more than 7 percent to below $50 a barrel on Thursday as a bearish U.S. jobs report intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession and further crushed fuel demand expectations. The U.S. government reported the number of workers making new claims for jobless benefits surged last week to the highest level in 16 years, helping to push down global equity markets.

APEC ministers urge free trade against crisis

LIMA (Reuters) - Trade and foreign ministers from the United States, China and other economies around the Pacific Rim called on Thursday for new free trade deals as a way out of the global economic crisis. The ministers' recommendations to avoid raising tariff barriers and to deepen economic integration among members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, trade group, will be presented to a summit of leaders at the weekend.

Government will take all measures to combat crisis: PM

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government will take whatever fiscal and monetary measures are needed to combat the global financial crisis, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Parliament on Thursday. Harper, predicting that Canada would suffer further from the U.S. slowdown, also said Ottawa would not balance the budget by raising taxes or cutting essential services in a time of upheaval.

Teck cuts spending, sells assets to pay down debt

TORONTO (Reuters) - Teck Cominco will slash spending, sell assets, withdraw from the Petaquilla copper project in Panama and suspend dividend payments under a sweeping plan to cut debt from its acquisition of Fording Canadian Coal Trust, the company said on Thursday. Combined with a previously announced C$1.1 billion tax break, the measures total C$2.4 billion ($1.9 billion) and are aimed mainly at helping Teck pay down and refinance a $5.8 billion bridge loan as quickly as possible. Teck also took on $4 billion in term debt in the $13 billion takeover of Fording, which closed in October.

Enbridge sells C$500 million of debt despite turmoil

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc said on Thursday it has placed C$500 million ($390 million) in corporate debt with investors in recent days despite market turmoil. The company, whose pipelines carry the lion's share of Canadian oil exports to the United States, said its pipeline unit sold C$300 million in 10-year notes bearing a 6.62 percent coupon to a group of 30 institutional investors.

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