GE, Vivendi Agree on $5.8 Billion Value for NBC Stake 
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. and Vivendi SAagreed on a $5.8 billion valuation for the Frenchtelecommunications company’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal,according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
A deal between Vivendi and NBC Universal’s 80 percentowner, Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, would clear the way forthe creation of an entertainment joint venture controlled byComcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable company. A final agreementmay be announced as soon as this week, said one of the people,who declined to be named because the discussions are private.
The agreement on price was reached after GE Chief ExecutiveOfficer Jeffrey Immelt and Vivendi Chief Jean-Bernard Levy metin France last week. The sides had been less than $500 millionapart and also have discussed how payments would be structured,two people said on Nov. 25.
UPDATE 1-GE, Vivendi agree to value NBCU stake at $5.8 bln
* GE, Vivendi agree to deal on NBC Universal stake-source
* GE to pay Vivendi $5.8 bln for stake -source (Recasts throughout, adds background on deal, companycomments)
NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N) andVivendi SA (VIV.PA) have agreed in principle to a deal in whichGE would buy the French company's 20-percent stake in NBCUniversal for $5.8 billion, a source familiar with the mattersaid on Monday, paving the way for Comcast Corp's (CMCSA.O)proposed joint venture with GE.
Markets Rise, With Spending and Dubai Weighing In
Wall Street spent Monday trading in a narrow range but managed to push higher at the close.
Despite a lackluster day, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose more than 5 percent in November, their biggest gains since summer. The Nasdaq rose slightly less than 5 percent for the month.
Investors spent much of the session gauging the fallout from Dubai’s debt crisis and weighed results from the first weekend of holiday shopping.
Online retailers rev up deals to keep up momentum
NEW YORK — Retail Web sites kept amping up the deals Monday, the first day after the Thanksgiving holiday, to try to maintain the long weekend's strong online sales.
Though the Web is only about 10 percent of the holiday shopping pie, it's seen most of the growth so far this year — an encouraging sign after last year's first online sales decline.
Coremetrics, a web analytics company in San Mateo, Calif., said that as of 1 p.m. Monday, sales for the day that the industry still pitches as "Cyber Monday" were up 19.6 percent over a year ago.
UAE Pledge Calms Markets but Dubai Fears Remain
European shares slipped Monday as investors continued to worry about the contagion effects from a possible default by Dubai World on its obligations.
Banking, oil and construction stocks fell in Europe amid fears that creditors and investors would lose at least part of their money in projects — which are now likely to be halted — in the United Arab Emirates. Stocks in Dubai dropped Monday as well, although not as much as feared, as the market there reopened after a four-day holiday and traders got their first chance to catch up with the Dubai World news.
But Asian stocks rose and European and American government bond prices held relatively stable, investors said, suggesting that the fear of a major contagion was contained.
Dubai Shares Plunge, Abu Dhabi Index Slides Most in Eight Years
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai shares tumbled and Abu Dhabi’sstock index fell the most in at least eight years on the firsttrading day since the government announced state-run DubaiWorld, with $59 billion of liabilities, may delay debt payments.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index dropped 7.3percent to 1,940.36, the biggest decline since October 2008. AbuDhabi’s ADX Index tumbled 8.3 percent, the most since Bloombergbegan compiling the data in 2001.
“Investors are not separating between Dubai and AbuDhabi,” said Yazan Abdeen, a fund manager at ING InvestmentManagement Ltd. in Dubai. “Country risk does not separatebetween cities.”
Treasuries Drop as UAE Support Curbs Dubai Concern (Correct)
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell, eroding the biggestmonthly gain since March, after the United Arab Emirates’central bank said it will back the state’s lenders as they facelosses from Dubai World’s possible default.
Ten-year notes slid for the first time in a week and Asianstocks gained the most in almost eight months after the AbuDhabi-based regulator said it will lend to banks at half apercentage point above the three-month local benchmark interestrate. It acted after Dubai World, a state-owned holding company,announced on Nov. 25 that it was seeking to delay loan payments.
“The moment of panic where people buy Treasuries haspassed,” said Luca Jellinek, a senior rates strategist inLondon at ANZ Banking Group Ltd. “Treasuries are not back wherethey were before this happened, so people are still de-riskinginto year end.”
European Stocks Drop as Bank of Ireland, Bourbon Fall; Asian Shares Rise
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- European shares fell, trimming theDow Jones Stoxx 600 Index’s monthly gain. Asian stocks rose asthe United Arab Emirates’ pledge of support for banks easedconcern losses from Dubai World’s possible default will spread.
Bank of Ireland Plc slid 1.8 percent after saying it maymake a loss of 3.4 billion euros ($5.1 billion) on loans itsells to the country’s so-call bad bank. Bourbon SA, the ownerof the second-biggest fleet of supply and crew ships for the oilindustry, dropped 3.4 percent after Oddo Securities downgradedthe shares. National Australia Bank Ltd. and Commonwealth Bankof Australia climbed more than 4 percent in Sydney after sayingthey don’t expect “material” losses from Dubai.
Europe’s Stoxx 600 fell 0.4 percent to 241.65 as of 8:51a.m. in London, trimming its monthly advance to 2 percent. Thegauge declined 0.4 percent last week as Dubai World, theinvestment company burdened by $59 billion of liabilities,sought to delay debt repayments.
European Bonds Little Changed After UAE Support for Lenders
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- European government bonds werelittle changed after the United Arab Emirates’ central bank tooksteps to limit the fall-out from a possible default by DubaiWorld, the state-owned holding company.
The yield on the 10-year bund headed for a monthly decline.Bonds rose last week after Dubai’s plan to delay debt paymentsled investors to seek the safest assets. Euro-zone consumerprices rose for the first time in seven months in November, theEuropean Union statistics office in Luxembourg said today.Policy makers will keep the region’s main interest rateunchanged at a Dec. 3 meeting, according to a Bloomberg survey.
“The support package from the U.A.E. should take theluster off bonds,” said Nick Stamenkovic, a fixed-incomestrategist in Edinburgh at RIA Capital Markets Ltd., a brokerfor banks and money managers. “Investors may be reluctant topush prices significantly higher ahead of the ECB meeting”because of the risk of a surprise, he said.
Cyber Monday Sales Rise 16% in US, Coremetrics Says
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Online sales in the U.S. rose 16percent today from a year ago as consumers hunted for bargainson Cyber Monday, according to online marketing firm Coremetrics.
Internet sales as of 3 p.m. New York time were at about thesame level as on Black Friday, although they were increasingmore quickly, San Mateo, California-based Coremetrics said in ane-mailed statement. The firm collects data from 500 retailers,including Petco Animal Supplies Inc., Bath & Body Works andOffice Depot Inc.
The recession pushed more consumers to the Internet, wherethey can easily compare prices and search for discounts, saidFiona Dias, vice president at GSI Commerce Inc., which helpsretailers sell products online. Web sales rose over the weekendand were expected to jump 10 percent to 15 percent today fromlast year, according to Shawn Milne, an analyst at JanneyMontgomery Scott LLC.
