STOCKS NEWS US-Immersion to start probe, shares sink

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1325 ET 01July2009-Immersion to start probe, shares sink
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Shares of Immersion Corp (IMMR.O) tumbled on Wednesday, after the company
said it was conducting an internal investigation into certain previous revenue
transactions in its medical business.

"As a result of this investigation, Immersion may discover information that
could raise issues with respect to its previously-reported financial
information, which could be material," the company said.

For details, see [ID:nBNG520039]

The stock dropped 22 percent to $3.86.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1321 ET 01July2009-Ford sales drop 10.9 pct in June
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Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Wednesday that U.S. sales fell 10.9 percent in
June for all of its brands, at the top of its expectations.

The automaker had expected to post a sales decline in the 10 to 20 percent
range in June. It also expects U.S. auto industry sales to be down in the 25 to
30 percent range.

For details, see [ID:nN01510786]

Shares of Ford rose 0.7 percent to $6.11.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1312 01July2009-Traders become bullish on Elan, calls heat up
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Option traders have turned optimistic on Elan Corp (ELN.I) (ELN.N) after
the Irish drugmaker said it will benefit from the Biogen-Acorda deal. Elan
shares jumped 7.85 percent to $6.87. Players in the July and August contracts
were seen scooping up calls expecting continued bullish movement in the stock,
said Andrew Wilkinson, analyst at Interactive Brokers Group. The July $7 strike
had 1,000 calls bought for an average 40-cent premium and 10,000 calls were
picked up at the Aug $7 strike for about 75 cents. Elan said it is set to
receive 7 percent of the upfront and milestone payments allocated to Acorda
Therapeutics by Biogen Idec for its role in manufacturing experimental multiple
sclerosis drug, Fampridine-SR. The Sunday Times newspaper this week said Swiss
drugmaker Novartis is in talks to buy parts of Elan. Elan, which hired
Citigroup in January to conduct a review of the business, said on June 10 it
expected to conclude a strategic transaction "in the near term", after talking
over the past few months with a number of the global players in pharmaceuticals
and biotechnology.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1306 ET 01July2009-Barclays downgrades lodging sector
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Barclays Capital downgraded the U.S. lodging sector to "negative" from
"neutral," saying recovery in the industry was likely to lag economic recovery
by more than the historical six months.

The brokerage cited margin pressures in 2010, corporate planners locking in
current low rates for the next year, slowing fee-based growth and increasing
foreclosures and potential bankruptcies as key factors that impede improvement
in lodging fundamentals over the next year.

The firm downgraded Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT.N), Marriott
International (MAR.N) and Choice Hotels International Inc (CHH.N) to
"underweight" from "equal-weight," saying they were the "most vulnerable."

For details, see [ID:nBNG496255]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1208 ET 01July2009-US may lose 1 mln more jobs in 2009-Macro Advisors
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The United States may be in for another 800,000 to 1 million job losses
this year and won't see a resumption of employment growth until 2010, Joel
Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisors, said on Wednesday.

Prakken, whose firm jointly developed the ADP Employer Services report on
private sector jobs, said economic growth will resume at a modest pace in the
second half of the year, coming in the 2-2.5 percent range after another fall
in output during the second quarter.

Earlier on Wednesday, ADP released a report saying U.S. private employers
cut 473,000 jobs in June, more than the 393,000 expected in a Reuters poll but
down from the 485,000 private sector jobs lost in May.

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