WSF Headline Roundup - 1/1/09 - $BAC / MER merger done; $GM gets access to $4B TARP funds; VIX dropped below 40 for first time since early Oct; Russia halted Ukraine gas supplies; Trump Entertainment gets 3 week reprieve for restructuring

• Merrill 95-Year Run Ends as Bank of America Buys Firm
• GM Gets $4 Billion in Loans; Chrysler Still Waiting
• Wells Fargo completes Wachovia purchase
• VIX Declines Below 40 as ‘Sheer Panic’ on Wall Street Recedes
• Russia Cuts Gas to Ukraine as Both Sides Seek Talks
• Trump Entertainment Gets 3-Week Extension to Restructure Debts
• Viacom Reaches Distribution Agreement With Time Warner Cable

Merrill 95-Year Run Ends as Bank of America Buys Firm - Bloomberg

Merrill Lynch & Co.’s 95-year run as an independent company is coming to an end as Bank of America Corp. completed its acquisition of the broker for about $33 billion in stock. 

Bank of America, the biggest U.S. home lender, closed the purchase today, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said in a PRNewswire statement. Scana Corp., South Carolina’s biggest utility owner, will replace New York-based Merrill Lynch in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.....

GM Gets $4 Billion in Loans; Chrysler Still Waiting - Bloomberg

General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker, received $4 billion in initial rescue loans from the U.S. Treasury to help it avoid collapse. Chrysler LLC, also in line for government help, is still waiting for its money. 

GM, which had said it might run out of cash by the end of the year without government aid, announced the deal today in an e-mailed statement. 

The loans are part of $17.4 billion in financing that the Treasury has promised to GM and Chrysler, a bid to avert a bankruptcy by either company amid a recession. GM’s infusion will help the Detroit-based automaker pay suppliers as its cash dwindles. Chrysler’s package is still being negotiated....

Wells Fargo completes Wachovia purchase - Reuters

Wells Fargo & Co said it has completed its roughly $12.7 billion purchase of Wachovia Corp, a big bet that it properly assessed the risks in Wachovia's huge book of mortgage and real estate loans.

The merger closed on Wednesday and more than doubles the size of Wells Fargo, creating the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets. Wells Fargo also has the nation's largest branch network, with more than 6,600 offices in 39 states and Washington, D.C., and one of its largest retail brokerages.....

VIX Declines Below 40 as ‘Sheer Panic’ on Wall Street Recedes - Bloomberg

The benchmark index for U.S. stock options dropped below 40 for the first time since Oct. 2 as stocks climbed a second day and traders bet that this year’s record equity market swings will ease. 

The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, dropped 3.9 percent to 40 and fell as low as 37.96. The index measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which added 1.4 percent to reduce this year’s loss worst loss since the Great Depression to 38 percent.....

Russia Cuts Gas to Ukraine as Both Sides Seek Talks - Bloomberg

Russia halted gas supplies to Ukraine today for the second time in three years in a payments dispute, raising the threat of disruption to natural-gas shipments to Europe, as both sides said they wanted talks to resume. 

Negotiations broke down shortly before midnight after Ukraine rejected an offer from OAO Gazprom, Russia’s state gas exporter, to sell it the fuel this year at $250 per 1,000 cubic meters, and insisted that Russia also pay higher transit fees. Ukraine said today it is seeking a price of $201. 

The repeat of an energy standoff between the former Soviet neighbors risks further souring Russia’s ties with the West, months after its war with U.S. ally Georgia. Gazprom, which supplies a quarter of Europe’s natural gas, mostly through Ukraine, cut Ukrainian deliveries in January 2006 amid a similar pricing dispute. The shutdown reduced gas flows to Europe and led to questions over both countries’ reliability as suppliers.....

Trump Entertainment Gets 3-Week Extension to Restructure Debts - Bloomberg

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. has until Jan. 21 to negotiate a debt restructuring after 70 percent of its bondholders and a bank agreed to extend the deadline following a missed interest payment. 

The forbearance agreement means holders of most of its $1.25 billion in notes and Beal Bank Nevada, which it owes $490 million, won’t exercise their default rights for coupon or principal payments for at least another three weeks. An earlier 30-day grace period to make an interest payment or renegotiate terms with bondholders expired yesterday. 

Trump Entertainment needs agreement from more than 75 percent of the bond principal holders to ensure the extra time, as 25 percent are enough to “accelerate the maturity of the notes,” the company said Nov. 28. Tom Hickey, a spokesman, declined to comment beyond yesterday’s regulatory filing....

Viacom Reaches Distribution Agreement With Time Warner Cable - Bloomberg

Viacom Inc. will continue to allow Time Warner Cable Inc. to carry the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central channels, after the companies reached an agreement on a new distribution arrangement. 

“We have a deal in principle with” Time Warner Cable, Viacom spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew said in an e-mailed statement. 

Viacom, controlled by Sumner Redstone, sought a fee increase from Time Warner Cable, the second-largest U.S. cable company. Higher fees may help Viacom weather a 3 percent decline in U.S. advertising sales in the third-quarter. 

New York-based Viacom had threatened to pull the channels off Time Warner Cable systems in the U.S. if a new agreement wasn’t reached by midnight....