MILWAUKEE (AP) - MGIC Investment Corp. said Tuesday it does not believe it has to complete its purchase of Radian Group Inc., after their joint interest in a mortgage investor became all but worthless.

The stock deal was originally valued at nearly $4.9 billion, but shares of both companies have lost more than half their value since it was announced Feb. 6. The deal would exchange 0.9658 share of MGIC for each Radian share, and it valued Radian at $60.78 per share, three times the current price.

Trading of both companies' shares was halted Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. MGIC rose $1.60, or 4.8 percent, to $34.88 before the halt, while Radian slipped $2.38, or 10.3 percent, to $20.85.

Last week, private-mortgage insurer MGIC Investment and credit risk manager Radian Group revealed their investments in subprime mortgage investor C-Bass LLC could be worthless.

Rein in spending and avoid credit-card debt

Question: I have credit-card debt at high interest rates on several cards, as well as student loans. Going into my last year in college and being wary of the future, carrying this debt scares me. I have been wondering if I should consider a debt-consolidation loan. What do you think? Answer: I am not a fan of consolidation loans. What attracts most people to consolidation loans is the potentially lower monthly payments. However, the main drawback of such loans is that they usually raise a person's average interest rate on his debt. .

Agrium's Earnings Exceed Previous Record by 60 Percent

ALL AMOUNTS ARE IN US$, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

Agrium Inc. (Toronto:AGU.TO - News) (NYSE:AGU - News) announced today its highest ever quarterly earnings, with net earnings for the second quarter of 2007 of $229-million ($1.70 diluted earnings per share), a more than 60 percent increase over net earnings of $142-million ($1.06 diluted earnings per share) for the same period in 2006. Net earnings for the first six months of the year were a record $218-million ($1.63 diluted earnings per share), more than double 2006 net earnings of $94-million ($0.71 diluted earnings per share) for the same period in 2006.

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Soft real estate market takes toll on PrivateBancorp

PrivateBancorp Inc., the Chicago-based parent company of The PrivateBank-Milwaukee, today reported second quarter net income of $8.8 million, or 40 cents per share, which was down from $10.0 million, or .47 cents per diluted share, in the same period a year ago. "The year-over year-decrease in our net interest margin and the increase in non-performing assets negatively affected our operating results. We have been proactive in identifying our non-performing assets, and we are committed to improving our credit quality," said Ralph Mandell, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company. PrivateBancorp's non-performing assets to total assets were 0.70 percent at June 30, 2007, compared with 0.09 percent a year earlier. Of the $31.3 million in total non-performing assets, 45 percent are from the Chicago market, 32 percent are from St.

AES Reports Strong Second Quarter Results

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) today reported strong results for the quarter ending June 30, 2007. Revenues increased 17% to $3.3 billion compared to $2.9 billion for the second quarter of 2006, while net cash from operating activities increased 19% to $526 million compared to $442 million last year.

Second quarter income from continuing operations was $279 million or $0.41 per diluted share versus $193 million or $0.29 per diluted share in second quarter 2006. Second quarter net income was $247 million or $0.36 per diluted share versus net income of $175 million, or $0.26 in second quarter 2006. Adjusted earnings per share (a non-GAAP financial measure) was $0.41 versus $0.28 in second quarter 2006. This increase in adjusted earnings reflects the positive impacts of: a net positive per share impact of $0.15 due to one-time benefits from a gain associated with the acquisition of lessor interests and tax recoveries at certain subsidiaries; improvements in gross margin; decreases in net interest expense.

GE Money Reaches Agreement with UniCredit on Acquisition of New BPH

GE Money, the global consumer lending unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE) announces that it has today signed an agreement with UniCredit regarding the acquisition, by GE Money, of Bank BPH, which will be completed following the completion of the spin-off of a portion of Bank BPH's business to Bank Pekao (referred to hereafter as "New BPH").

The spin-off of a portion of the business of Bank BPH into Bank Pekao has already been approved by the shareholders' meetings of both banks and is subject to the consent of the Polish Banking Supervision Commission.

Under the terms of the agreement, GE Money will acquire close to 66% of the shares of New BPH from UniCredit. The transaction envisages also the future acquisition by GE Money of 49.9% of BPH TFI (BPH's asset management unit) that Bank BPH does not already own from CABET Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank Austria Creditanstalt (part of the UniCredit Group).

Companies not allowed to solicit students on campus

CARBONDALE - Southern Illinois University Carbondale took action a few years earlier to remove itself from student credit card solicitation - a problem that embroiled many major universities."Southern Illinois University does not allow credit card companies on campus to solicit to students. The university does not sell names to credit card companies," said Rod Sievers, SIU chancellor's office spokesman.

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