STOCKS NEWS US-Ambac postpones municipal bond arm, shares sink

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1324 ET 19June2009-Ambac postpones municipal bond arm, shares sink
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Shares of Ambac Financial (ABK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) tumbled on Friday, after the bond insurer
again postponed the launch of its municipal bond arm Everspan after struggling
to raise money from outside investors to fund the unit.

Ambac and other bond insurers had been pinning hopes for a revival of their
business on launching municipal-focused units, after ratings agencies stripped
the insurers of their "triple A" ratings following heavy credit losses from a
foray into guaranteeing repackaged debt.

For details, see [ID:nN19447607]

The stock dropped 15 percent to $1.06.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1149 ET 19June2009-Option traders pounce on BofA calls
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Option traders appear to be optimistic on Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and
a number of them anticipate more gains this summer, as BofA shares rose 10
cents to $13. The shares fell 6.2 percent for the week, but some options market
players expect strength over the next two months, according to WhatsTrading.com
option strategist Frederic Ruffy. The BAC August $14 call option has become one
of the top favorites, with 59,512 contracts traded so far, against an open
interest of 49,818 lots, Reuters data showed. Friday's trades included a
"reverse diagonal spread," where a strategist bought 15,000 August $14 calls
and sold 15,000 January 2010 calls at the $20 strike. The trade cost 45 cents
on the likely view that shares would move beyond $14.45 by the August
expiration, but not above $20 by mid-January, he said. In all, 225,000 calls
traded in BofA, compared with 62,000 puts, according to Trade Alert.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1132 ET 19June2009-LUKOIL to buy stake in Total, blocking Valero
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Lukoil (LKOH.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) will buy a stake in a Dutch refinery from France's Total
SA (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), gaining a foothold in northwest Europe and blocking a bid by
Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to enter the region.

The move was a blow to Valero's efforts to gain a position in Europe, where
it wants to buy refineries and take advantage of cross-Atlantic trading
opportunities with its U.S. plants.

For details, see [ID:nLJ579651]

Shares of Valero rose 1 percent to $17.59 on the NYSE.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1113 ET 19June2009-Citigroup: Anecdotal evidence suggests market buoyancy
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Citigroup wrote on Friday that anecdotal evidence suggested a more buoyant
Wall Street, noting that in several instances, "the very same investors who
perceived our bullishness several months ago as bordering on lunacy now
consider our market outlook (S&P 500 .SPX at 1,000 by year-end) to be too
conservative."

The brokerage firm added that to some degree, "we have been surprised by
the speed of this turn of events, but the equity market's powerful move since
early March most likely explains this shift."

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1054 ET 19June2009-Ex-Merrill exec denies approaching BofA's Lewis
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Winthrop Smith, a former executive at Merrill Lynch, on Friday denied
approaching Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis along with two other
former Merrill executives to discuss buying back all or part of Merrill.

The statement came after the Financial Times reported that Smith, along
with two others, had approached Lewis.

For details, see [ID:nN19439260]

Shares of Bank of America, a Dow component, fell 0.3 percent to $12.86.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net