March 18 (Bloomberg) -- China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd., a Hong Kong-based builder controlled by the Chinese construction ministry, said 2009 profit climbed 48 percent as China's $586 billion stimulus package boosted home sales.

Net income rose to HK$7.47 billion ($962 million), or 91.5 Hong Kong cents a share, from HK$5.05 billion, or a restated 64 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a stock-exchange filing today. That beat the HK$6.55 billion average estimate of 12 analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales almost doubled to HK$37.3 billion, from HK$18.9 billion.

Electronic stock market operator Direct Edge secured approval from U.S. securities regulators Friday to convert its two stock trading platforms to full-fledged exchanges, putting it on more equal footing with much-larger rivals.

The company plans to relaunch its EDGA and EDGX trading platforms as exchanges in June alongside a migration to a new technology platform aimed at speeding trade execution times.

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Want Want China Holdings Ltd., the country's largest maker of rice cakes and flavored milk, climbed the most in almost four months in Hong Kong after the company said 2009 profit rose 19 percent, beating analyst estimates.

Want Want gained 5.1 percent to HK$5.61 at 11:56 a.m. local time, the most since Nov. 18. The stock has advanced 3.5 percent this year compared with a 2.9 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

CF begins exchange offer for Terra shares

NEW YORK — CF Industries Holdings Inc. said Friday it has begun its unsolicited $4.8 billion offer for fertilizer company Terra Industries Inc., which has already accepted a buyout offer from a Norwegian company.

Chemical maker CF, based in Deerfield, Ill., on Tuesday offered $37.15 in cash and nearly one-tenth of a share of common stock for each Terra share.

NEW YORK - CF Industries Holdings Inc. said Friday it has begun its unsolicited $4.7 billion offer for fertilizer company Terra Industries Inc., which has already accepted a buyout offer from a Norwegian company.

Chemical maker CF, based in Deerfield, Ill., on Tuesday offered $37.15 in cash and nearly one-tenth of a share of common stock for each Terra share.

The exchange offer for all of Terra's outstanding shares will expire at 5 p.m. Eastern time on April 2.

BRAMPTON, ONTARIO - A member of a homegrown terrorist group has pleaded guilty to participating in a plot to set off truck bombs in front of Canada's main stock exchange and two government buildings.

Jahmaal James entered the plea Friday in an Ontario courtroom.

James and 17 others were arrested and charged with terrorism offenses in 2006. The group came to be known as the Toronto 18.

They were charged with plotting to set off bombs outside Toronto's Stock Exchange, a building housing Canada's spy agency and a military base. The goal was to scare Canada into removing its troops from Afghanistan.

ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The Greek national strike got off to an early start Tuesday when communist protesters barricaded the stock exchange in Athens a day early.

Trading was conducted remotely and not affected by the blockade by a communist trade union, exchange officials said.

Meanwhile, the daily Kathimerini newspaper said journalists would join the 24-hour general strike Wednesday in protest of the socialist government's proposed austerity package.

new york (reuters) - the heads of the top u.s. stock exchanges have poured cold water on the obama administration's plan to bar banks from proprietary trading. the chief executive of nyse euronext (nyx.n) said on tuesday the president's plan falls

paris-trans-atlantic stock-exchange operator nyse euronext said tuesday it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter after goodwill impairment charges had dragged it into the red a year earlier. the company said it expects cost-cutting efforts

(rewrites, adding background and detail.) paris (dow jones)--transatlantic stock exchange operator nyse euronext (nyx) said tuesday that it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter of 2009 after goodwill impairment charges had dragged

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Harmony Gold Mining Ltd., Africa's third-largest producer of the metal, said it returned to profit in the three months through December after benefiting from a higher rand gold price.

In the South African currency, Harmony earned 264,774 rand ($34,112) a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for gold during the quarter, up 10.6 percent from the previous three months, the company said in a stock exchange statement today.

NEW YORK - Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol have been invited by NASDAQ, the world's biggest stock exchange, to ring their opening bell here Monday.

The stars of director Karan Johar's upcoming feature film 'My Name Is Khan' will become the first Indian actors to open the market, an honour usually reserved for CEOs of major corporations, when they ring in the first trading day of February at 9:30 a.m.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korea on Wednesday exchanged what appeared to be artillery fire near a disputed sea border with the South off the west coast of the peninsula, Yonhap news agency reported government officials as saying.

South Korea's presidential Blue House said both sides were firing into the air and there were no casualties, according to Yonhap. It has called a meeting of top national security officials.

HONG KONG -- The new head of Hong Kong's stock exchange, Charles Li, said the exchange would position itself to benefit from liberalization of China's currency that would "definitely" happen within the next decade.

"Nobody can say when the yuan is going to float freely, and I don't think it's going to happen tomorrow or the day after, but watch carefully, because change is accelerating in China," Mr. Li told reporters Monday.

A member of a homegrown terrorist group was found guilty Thursday of participating in a plot to set off truck bombs in front of Canada's main stock exchange and two government buildings.

Shareef Abdelhaleem, 34, was a member of the so-called Toronto 18 plot to set off bombs outside Toronto's Stock Exchange, a building housing Canada's spy agency and a military base. The goal was to scare Canada into removing its troops from Afghanistan.

BRAMPTON, Ontario - A member of a homegrown terrorist group was found guilty Thursday of participating in a plot to set off truck bombs in front of Canada's main stock exchange and two government buildings.

Shareef Abdelhaleem, 34, was a member of the so-called Toronto 18 plot to set off bombs outside Toronto's Stock Exchange, a building housing Canada's spy agency and a military base. The goal was to scare Canada into removing its troops from Afghanistan.

In the late 18th century there was a buttonwood tree in lower Manhattan where brokers gathered to trade stocks. But by 1817, the tree had become obsolete as a trading hub. The traders migrated indoors and changed the name of their group to the New York Stock and Exchange Board. The exchange moved a couple of more times after that, and in 1903 the NYSE opened for business in the neoclassical masterpiece that still stands at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets.

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian shares rose Friday, driven by an improved outlook for mining giant Vale (VALE) and the investment prospects raised by news that Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The benchmark Ibovespa stocks index ended 1.2% higher at 61,172 points on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, or Bovespa. Trading volume ended at a strong 6.9 billion Brazilian reals ($3.9 billion).

Cadbury today launched a furious attack on America's Kraft Foods, criticising its plans to take over the British chocolate company for around £10bn and casting doubts about how its US rival is run.

The criticism comes in a letter from Cadbury chairman Roger Carr, to Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive of Kraft. It was published on the Cadbury website at the weekend and a copy of the letter will be released to the stock exchange tomorrow.

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., HongKong’s biggest carrier, jumped the most in two weeks on thecity’s stock market after reporting a better-than-expected 15percent jump in annual sales.

The carrier surged as much as 6.1 percent and traded atHK$7.37 at 3:54 p.m. Cathay Pacific’s 2008 sales rose to HK$86.6billion ($11.2 billion), it said in a stock exchange statementtoday.

Passenger numbers rose 7.3 percent last year, helped bystrong demand in the first half, the arrival of new planes andextra flights to Australia, India and the Middle East.