Mid-Day Minute - July 2

Ex-Goldman programmer bail set at $750,000
Federal police are holding a former Goldman Sachs computer programmer accused of stealing secret trading codes from the investment bank. His bail is set at $750,000.

Judge approves sale to New GM
A Federal bankruptcy judge on Sunday evening has approved a sale to the U.S. government, and some smaller stakeholders that will let Old GM sell only its best assets to New GM, opening up the way for a smaller General Motors Corp. to emerge from bankruptcy. The decision had been opposed by some investors in GM, however the judge said saying the only other option would have been to liquidate all the assets of the firm.

Rio Tinto sells food packaging division for $1.2 billion
Mining giant Rio Tinto sold its food packaging business to Bemis Co for $1.2 billion, a move which comes just after the miner completed a $15.2 billion rights offering to raise funds to pay off debts. The sale of Alcan Packaging Food Americas comes as Rio Tinto looks to shrink the number of assets it acquired when it bought Alcan Inc. last year. Rio Tinto has announced $3.7 billion in divestments so far this year.

Bank of America tops World Wealth Manager list
Bank of America has toppled crisis-hit UBS as the world's biggest wealth manager as the industry faces shrinking wealth and another tough 12 months, a survey showed on Monday.

Best Buy set to sell green cars
Best Buy, known as a vendor of giant televisions, is moving towards a new market by selling electric-powered scooters, bicycles and Segway transporters.

DOJ Opens Review of Telecoms
The Justice Department has begun an initial review to determine whether large U.S. telecom companies such as AT&T and Verizon have abused the market power they've amassed in recent years.

Samsung predicts sharp rise in profit
Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest maker of memory chips and liquid crystal display screens, gave a surprisingly bullish profit forecast which suggested that the worst might be over for the technology giant.

Citigroup appoints new international leadership
Citigroup Inc. said Monday said it has appointed new leaders for its Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa divisions. Citigroup also appointed former World Bank Managing Director Shengman Zhang as Asia-Pacific chairman.