Business Today: Stock futures slip after strong gains, earns eyed

Click to View in Browser 04/18/2012 Stock futures slip after strong gains, earns eyed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures dipped on Wednesday after the S&P 500 tallied its biggest gain in a month and ahead of another round of corporate earnings. Euro zone tensions boost German debt, sterling jumps LONDON (Reuters) - Fears of a resurgence in the euro zone debt crisis boosted demand for safe-haven German bonds on Wednesday, while the Bank of England and a European Central Bank official signaled more monetary policy easing to support growth was unlikely. Warren Buffett has prostate cancer, sees no danger (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc Chief Executive Warren Buffett said he has stage 1 prostate cancer but his condition "is not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way." Halliburton Q1 profits rise on strong North America sales (Reuters) - Halliburton Co , the world's second-largest oilfield services company, on Wednesday reported higher quarterly profits as North American sales reached a record high, lifting its shares in premarket trading. BlackRock Q1 profit steady as ETFs draw billions (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc , the world's largest asset manager, said first-quarter profits were steady, bolstered by strong inflows into its popular iShares exchange-traded fund business. Lingering customers just one hurdle for Starbucks China growth LOS ANGELES/BEIJING (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp has ambitious expansion plans in China, but like any big new emerging market there are teething problems, not least of which is that customers love it so much they stay for hours and hours and sometimes don't even buy a drink. RLPC-Glencore signs $6 billion merger loan: bankers LONDON (Reuters) - Commodities trader Glencore signed a $6 billion syndicated loan backing its $90 billion merger with miner Xstrata on Tuesday after raising nearly $11 billion in syndication, banking sources said on Wednesday. American CEO quits Nippon Sheet after "disagreements" TOKYO (Reuters) - The American president and chief executive of Nippon Sheet Glass Co Ltd quit the company after less than two years in the post following "fundamental disagreements" with the board over strategy, chairman Katsuji Fujimoto said on Wednesday. Nestle near buying Pfizer's baby formula: sources LONDON (Reuters) - Nestle , the world's biggest food group, is closing in on a deal to buy Pfizer's infant nutrition business for up to $10 billion to boost its business in China and extend its lead in the world of formula milk for babies, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Exclusive: Chesapeake CEO took out $1.1 billion in unreported loans HOUSTON (Reuters) - Aubrey McClendon, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp, has borrowed as much as $1.1 billion over the last three years against his stake in thousands of company wells - a move that analysts, academics and attorneys who reviewed loan documents say raises the potential for conflicts of interest. Related Video Breakingviews: British Bank of England Governor a must Tesco plans £1bln fightback as UK market share slides Economic News Spain seeks health care cuts as crisis deepens U.S. factory decline suggests economy losing steam A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend