Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word difficult. 6 news.

WHEAT rose above US$10 a bushel for the first time yesterday, leading other grains and oilseeds higher in a food price spiral that threatens global economic growth. Chicago wheat futures jumped as much as 30 US cents, or 3.1 percent, to US$10.09 as dry weather threatened crops in Argentina, renewing concern that the world's farmers may not be able to grow enough to meet rising demand for bread, pasta and livestock feed. Rice also advanced to a record, while soybeans reached the highest price in 34 years and corn reached a nine-month peak, said Bloomberg News. Rising prices of food and fuel are stoking inflation and making it more difficult for central bankers to lower interest rates. Kellogg Co, the largest United States cereal maker, General Mills Inc, Nissin Food Products Co and Kikkoman Corp are among companies that have raised prices. "We are seeing a broad-based increase in cost pressures," Brian Redican, senior economist at Macquarie Group Ltd, said from

CHINA Eastern Airlines Corp, the nation's third-largest carrier, said it is in talks to buy 40 Boeing Co 737 planes and has applied to the government for 40 Airbus SAS A320s to expand its fleet. The planned purchases may help expand the Shanghai-based carrier's fleet by 53 percent to 322 aircraft in 2010 from the current 210, Zhang Jing, a China Eastern spokeswoman, said yesterday, confirming a Reuters report. Singapore Airlines Ltd and parent Temasek Holdings Pte plan to buy a 24-percent stake in China Eastern for HK$7.16 billion (US$918 million), cutting the carrier's debt and easing its "most difficult" period, Chairman Li Fenghua said last week. The cash infusion may help the company pay for the planes to compete with Air China Ltd, according to Bloomberg News. "Carriers are queuing up to buy planes as demand grows," said Ma Ying, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co in Shanghai. "China Eastern's stake sale will enable it to afford the

A drug seizure in Dubai highlights how counterfeit drugs move in a global economy, and why they are so difficult to trace.

By Axel Merk. "True leadership may have finally emerged to resolve the subprime crisis, although it was difficult to spot during a tumultuous week at the Federal Reserve (Fed). On Tuesday, December 11, 2007, the Fed cut interest rates by 0.25%."

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Capital One Financial and Radian Group were downgraded to sell from hold, and Countrywide Financial and MGIC Investment Corp. were cut to hold from buy at Citigroup. "We expect consumer lenders and insurers to face further credit challenges as home prices decline 3% to 5% in each of the next two years, mortgage rates reset and the macro economy slows. Moreover, tightening lending standards and underwriting practices should initially compound the problems, making it generally more difficult for consumer lenders to grow out of the downturn," the broker said.

Asian shares extended their losses Monday, with Australian benchmarks closing at a three-month low as investors caught up on a slump on Wall Street Friday on concern that accelerating inflation in the US will make it difficult for the Federal Reserve to continue to cut interest rates.