AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Tuesday, May 8, 2007:

U.S. Stocks Head for Lower Open

NEW YORK (AP) _ U.S. stocks headed for a lower open Tuesday following a moderate pullback in stock markets overseas. The selling overseas follows strong runs there and on Wall Street in recent weeks, perhaps making a bit of a breather overdue. The gains in 24 of the last 27 sessions on Wall Street marks the longest winning streak for the Dow Jones industrials since 1927.

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Reuters, Thomson in Talks to Combine

LONDON (AP) _ Reuters Group PLC and Thomson Corp. confirmed Tuesday that they are discussing a combination of their businesses which values Reuters at $17.7 billion. Thomson would pay $7.03 per Reuters share in cash and 0.16 Thomson shares for each Reuters share. Analysts at ABN Ambro called it a "knockout offer."

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Icahn Loses Bid for Motorola Board Seat

CHICAGO (AP) _ Carl Icahn may not have succeeded in his fierce campaign to land a seat on Motorola Inc.'s board. But the billionaire financier's proxy fight with the world's No. 2 cell phone company might not have been an outright failure, either.

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Testimony: Black Consulted on Everything

CHICAGO (AP) _ The former second in command of media mogul Conrad Black's Hollinger International newspaper empire says he never made a financial decision or sold an asset without consulting Black himself. F. David Radler, the star witness at Black's racketeering and fraud trial, contradicted defense claims that he himself engineered deals that siphoned off millions of dollars while Black was busy with other tasks.

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Takeover Bid for Qantas Collapses

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ A 10.8 billion Australian dollar ($8.9 billion) takeover bid for one of the world's best-known airlines, Qantas, finally collapsed on Tuesday, pulling the company's share price down sharply. Shareholders _ believed to include international hedge funds that stockpiled Qantas shares recently in hopes of making quick profits on the takeover _ dumped the company's stock when trading resumed for the first time since a chaotic long weekend surrounding the buyout attempt.

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World Bank Panel: Wolfowitz Broke Rules

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A special panel has found that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz broke bank rules in arranging a pay package and promotion for his girlfriend, a person familiar with the report said Monday. Wolfowitz was presented with the findings by the special bank panel investigating his handling of the 2005 promotion and pay raise of bank employee Shaha Riza.

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Air Fare Increases on Brink of Failure

DALLAS (AP) _ Major airlines were in danger Monday of losing ground on fare increases that they attempted over the past week, as the carriers tried to navigate through weakening demand for air travel. At least in some markets, United Airlines was sticking by its increase of up to $100 per round trip for tickets often bought by business travelers and increases of up to $20 per round trip for tickets on other routes, a spokeswoman said.

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Alcoa Offers $27B for Canada's Alcan

TORONTO (AP) _ Alcoa Inc., seeking to keep pace with growing Russian rival Rusal, launched a hostile $27 billion bid for Canadian aluminum rival Alcan Inc. on Monday, after failing in almost two years of private talks to reach a negotiated deal. Alcan's U.S. shares rose 34.5 percent, well above the offered price, suggesting investors think the bidding could go higher. Alcoa shares gained 8.3 percent.

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Thomson Confirms It Seeks to Buy Reuters

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Financial data provider Thomson Corp. confirmed Monday it approached the board of Reuters Group PLC about a possible bid for the British news service. Thomson said the move "may or may not lead to an offer" for Reuters. The company did not provide any further details in a short statement.

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Chrysler Ads Focus on Engineering

DETROIT (AP) _ Starting Tuesday, Chrysler will begin an advertising campaign designed in part to change the perception that its vehicles are great looking but behind competitors in technology and quality. The new spots, with the tag line of "Engineered Beautifully," will debut on prime-time television shows starting Tuesday night. The company also plans to carry the theme into print and Internet advertising.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Tuesday at a bid price of $687.50 a troy ounce, down from $688.00 late Monday in New York.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks edged lower Tuesday, with declines in autos and technology shares offsetting advances in banking stocks.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar fell in Asia Monday as weak U.S. jobs data released late last week raised expectations of lower U.S. interest rates.

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