WALL STREET JOURNAL:

Chip suppliers for cellphones including Qualcomm (QCOM), Texas Instruments (TXN) and Nvidia (NVDA) are moving aggressively to make products for Intel’s (INTC) new breed of pocket-size portable devices, called MIDs, the Wall Street Journal reported…UK TIMES: According to the UK Times, Barclays (BCS) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) were raided by the Office of Fair Trading as part of the investigation into price fixing loans to professional services firms…BLOOMBERG: Almost three dozen of the largest U.S. companies may have to slash their dividends, since the dividends greatly exceed their cash flow, Bloomberg reported. Large companies in this situation include General Motors (GM), Motorola (MOT), and New York Times Co. (NYT)…China Telecommunications Group (CHA) may announce today that it has bought the mobile phone assets of China Unicom (CHU) and its parent company for more than $14.4B, Bloomberg reported, citing the South China Morning Post. China Unicom could say that it is merging with China Netcom Group Corp. (CN) as early as today, the newspaper added…

Solar energy sector may see price slump-FT

The solar power industry could see price slumps due to a surge in the level of manufacturing capacity for solar panels which means that demand may exceed supply for the first time in years. Another factor contributing to potential price drops, is uncertainty over the degree of government subsidies in some key markets for renewable energy.

Sovereign wealth funds provided more than half the equity for Blackrock deal-FT

The BlackRock (BLK) deal for $15B of UBS’s (UBS) troubled mortgage debt highlights the evolving strategies of sovereign wealth funds. This has led to political back lash in the West and now sovereign wealth funds are looking for lower-profile opportunities through private equity funds.

Investor’s guide to Level 3 assets-WSJ

The Wall Street Journal’s “Comment from breakingviews” looks at Level 3 with its own “Idiot’s Guide”, a look at assets with “no observable price.” Accounting rule SFAS 157 means firms must divide up financial assets at market values into three levels. Level one is for assets with an easy to find price. Level two falls between levels one and three. The bottom line: Focus on level two where mortgage bonds and CDOs are if you want to predict a illiquid crisis

Apple’s iPhone coming to Spain-Gizmodo

Citing Spanish Web site Apple Weblog, Telefonica (TEF) will sell Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone in Spain. The 3G iPhone will be available for sale on June 18.

Acorda Therapeutics-ACOR announces positive data from Phase III Fampridine study

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. announced positive results from its second Phase 3 clinical trial of Fampridine-SR on walking ability in people with multiple sclerosis. A significantly greater proportion of people taking Fampridine-SR in the trial had a consistent improvement in walking speed compared to people taking placebo, as measured by the Timed 25-Foot Walk. Consistent improvement in walking speed was the primary endpoint of the study as outlined in the Special Protocol Assessment with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Great results and nice pop for shares premarket. I called this and have this name.

DNA: ASCO results are positive for Genentech@BMOC

BMO Capital notes that Genentech’s Avastin, when combined with chemotherapy, was found to be more effective than chemotherapy alone, in a study presented at the American Society of Oncology, or ASCO, meeting. In addition, no safety concerns were mentioned about Avastin’s use as a treatment for adjuvant colorectal cancer. The firm maintained their Market Perform rating on Genentech.

Investors will receive manufacturing data today, vehicle sales for the month of May tomorrow, mortgage and job data on Wednesday, employment data on Thursday, and non-farm payroll data on Friday.

IBM: Quarter is on track with four weeks to go@AMTR

Am Tech believes IBM’s quarter is on track to meet or exceed consensus estimates with four weeks to go as their sources indicate the new Z10 mainframe continues to help drive momentum. Shares remain Buy rated.

CSIQ signs $500M supply agreement with Neo Solar Power

Under the terms of the new agreement, NSP will supply several hundred megawatts of solar cells through 2013. The total contract value exceeds US$500 million.