STOCKS NEWS US-UnitedHealth settles with NY attorney general

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U.S. stock market report [.N]
0912 ET 13Jan2009-UnitedHealth settles with NY attorney general
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UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) Tuesday agreed to a settlement with New York
State's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over concerns about the independence of
the company's databases, which are used by health plans to set reimbursement
rates.

Under the terms of the settlement, UnitedHealth will transfer its Ingenix
database to a non-profit entity and pay $50 million to fund the independent
database. It will not need to take a financial charge. [ID:nN13386399]

Shares of UnitedHealth slid 2.9 percent to $24.90 in premarket trade.
0859 ET 13Jan2009-JPMorgan lowers view on large-cap banks
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JPMorgan Tuesday lowered its view on large cap banks, saying the group's
results in the fourth quarter of 2008, as well as 2009, were "likely to be hurt
significantly by sharply higher credit costs and markets related weakness, with
credit losses rising sharply in credit cards, commercial real estate and also
commercial loans." It expects capital ratios will remain under pressure.

The firm slashed its earnings outlook for several large banks, including
Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup (C.N) and Wells Fargo (WFC.N), among others.
For the current fiscal year, JPMorgan sees earnings of 89 cents a share for
Bank of America, a loss of $3.25 a share for Citigroup and earnings of $1.95 a
share for Wells Fargo. It previously saw earnings of $2.76 a share, a loss of
$1.71 a share and earnings of $2.22 a share, respectively.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0853 ET 13Jan2009-Trade deficit shrinks by 28.7 pct in November
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The U.S. trade deficit shrank by 28.7 percent in November, as weak consumer
spending and falling oil prices caused a record drop in imports, a U.S.
commerce department report showed on Tuesday. It was the biggest contraction in
12 years. [ID:nN13387045]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0847 ET 13Jan2009-ML: 2009 will be as hard on CMBS as 2008 was
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Merrill Lynch on Tuesday said it expected 2009 to be as hard a year for
commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) as 2008 was. "Our outlook is for
property values to fall and CMBS credit problems to ratchet up as the economic
landscape is negative," it wrote.

The firm sees a further decline of about 20 percent in commercial real
estate values and said that financing would be difficult to obtain. "Even if
available, [the financing] is likely to have lower leverage. We think this and
a poor economic environment will send cap rates higher and they could
eventually reach 9-10 percent."

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0821 ET 13Jan2009-Citigroup slides in premarket on outlook worries
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Shares of troubled bank Citigroup Inc (C.N) fell in premarket trade on
Tuesday as investors worried about the company's outlook, as well as the fear
of more credit losses ahead.

The stock, a Dow component, lost 9 percent to $5.10 before the bell.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0813 ET 13Jan2009-Bernanke: global econ being hit hard by crisis
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Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, on Tuesday said the
global economy was being hit hard by the financial crisis, and that the timing
and strength of the recovery would depend on how governments respond.

Bernanke also said that the Fed had tools that could be developed to help
manage balance sheet shrinkage. [ID:nN13384393]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0755 ET 13Jan2009-Crude oil down on demand worries
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February crude futures fell on Tuesday, as investors feared that the
recession would impact demand. Also weighing on the commodity was a rise in
strength in the dollar compared with the Euro, and Russia signaling that it
would restart natural gas supplies to Europe.

The contract fell 2.8 percent to $36.55.

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