Important news from Roxana

* Starbucks aims to grab more market share with addition* Starbucks shares up 1.4 percentBy Lisa BaertleinLOS ANGELES, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp is going “Blonde,” expanding its coffee lineup with its lightest roast to date in a move aimed at wooing more customers and capturing a bigger share of the U.S. coffee market.The world’s biggest coffee company is known for its dark roasts, which have prompted some critics to say the chain’s coffee tastes burned. The new, lighter roast unveiled on Tuesday is milder in body and acidity than Starbucks’ traditional coffees and the company expects it to appeal to a broad audience.Mass-market competitors McDonald’s Corp and Dunkin’ Donuts offer milder brewed coffees and in recent years have added lattes, mochas and other sorts of “fancy” espresso drinks popularized by Starbucks.”We think this is a big opportunity,” Jeff Hansberry, president of channel development for Starbucks, told Reuters.According to Starbucks research, more than 40 percent of U.S. coffee drinkers — or about 54 million consumers — prefer a lighter roast coffee.Additionally, nearly 71 percent of all packaged coffee sales in the grocery aisle are either light or medium roasted coffee.Starbucks will begin selling its new Blonde blends in January through Starbucks cafes and supermarkets.Starbucks cafes also will brew a Blonde blend alongside its other daily coffees. Breakfast Blend is currently the lightest coffee available at Starbucks, while French Roast is at the darkest end of the roast spectrum.Starbucks’ last major addition to its brewed coffee lineup came in 2008, when it introduced Pike Place as an “everyday” brew. Chief Executive Howard Schultz later that year said Pike Place gave the company an incremental bump in sales.The company debuted Via instant coffee in 2009 and expects it to one day grow into a billion-dollar business.Starbucks restarted profit growth in 2010 after a two-year restructuring that involved slashing costs and shuttering almost 1,000 cafes globally. Since then, investors have enjoyed quarterly profits that often topped analysts’ views.Starbucks shares — up roughly 80 percent since the beginning of 2010 — gained 1.4 percent to $41.73 on Tuesday.

When asked for a comment, an Allianz spokesman had said relationships with the bank were excellent.Asked if the 8 billion euro figure was credible, Allianz board member Enrico Cucchiani said: “I don’t have the data handy, but I believe it is a correct ballpark figure.”The insurer owns 2.04 percent of UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank by assets.Asked whether Allianz would take part in a possible capital increase at UniCredit, Cucchiani said: “If and when it will be announced, we’ll consider it with great attention.”European banks are under pressure to beef up their capital ratios on the backdrop of a sovereign debt crisis and difficult funding conditions.UniCredit is the only big Italian lender to have stayed on the sidelines, while Italy’s other banks have raised 11 billion euros in capital increases so far this year.It is expected to present a new business plan in about a month, and Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni has said any decisions on capital boosting measures would be unveiled then.Cucchiani, who also sits on UniCredit’s board, said Allianz would support the Italian bank’s management, which was dealing with a difficult market situation with “great competency, determination, independence and great transparency”.Cucchiani also struck a reassuring note on the relationships between the insurer and UniCredit’s Italian shareholders.He said Allianz would act “in the interest of the markets to protect the institution and continuity” when it came to naming a new board at UniCredit. The mandate of the current board expires next spring.($1 = 0.721 Euros)

* China trade surplus narrows* Futures off: Dow 35 pts, S&P 6 pts, Nasdaq 6.5 ptsBy Chuck MikolajczakNEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday after earnings from JPMorgan Chase and weaker-than-expected economic data in China reawakened worry about a slowing global economy.JPMorgan Chase & Co slipped 1.8 percent to $32.62 in premarket after the first major U.S. bank to announce results for the period reported lower third-quarter net income as the European debt crisis set back corporate dealmaking.China’s trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September, as both imports and exports were lower than expected, reflecting global economic weakness and domestic cooling.”This is a news driven market, it is probably overly sensitive to China data. JP Morgan is a good indicator of what is happening in the banking industry and a little bit of an insight into where consumer banking is headed — on the conference call we are going to find out how much exposure they have to Europe and that is a concern for a lot of the banking sector,” said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.”That is kind of the news that would want you to make some money off the table”The S&P 500 is up about 12 percent from its intraday low hit last week on Tuesday and had its largest seven-day rally since March 2009.S&P 500 futures fell 6 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures shed 35 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 6.5 points.Economic data on tap includes weekly U.S. jobless claims, due at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT), with economists in a Reuters survey forecasting 405,000 new filings compared with 401,000 in the prior week.Also at 8:30 a.m (1230 GMT), the Commerce Department releases data on August international trade. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a $45.8 billion deficit compared with a $44.81 billion deficit in July.Google is reporting third-quarter earnings after the close and investors will be looking to see how the slowing economy is impacting its advertising business.A report on Wednesday that Akamai Technologies Inc was close to being acquired by Google has no merit, a person familiar with the matter said. Akami shares were up 4.6 percent to $24.45 in premarket trade.The CEO of AOL Tim Armstrong has been pushing the idea of a sale to Yahoo to top shareholders, which could see the company save $1.5 billion, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp , has agreed to buy Rolls-Royce Holding’s share of the International Aero Engines consortium in a $1.5 billion deal.Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter, that DuPont Co is seeking buyers for its polyester-film joint venture as well as its powder-based paint business.Elsewhere, European shares slipped in choppy trading in the morning after recent strong gains, with mining stocks among the biggest casualties after the Chinese trade data that was weaker than expected.Asian shares rose on growing optimism that Europe will take concrete steps to contain the region’s debt woes and head off a systemic banking crisisU.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as Europe’s progress toward bolstering its financial rescue fund brought more battle-weary investors back into the market.

* French sales growth slows, hit by weak non-food sales* Keeps 2011, medium-term sales growth goals* Acquisitions, new stores, demand boost overseas salesBy Dominique VidalonPARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Casino reported a slowdown in sales growth in its main French market on Wednesday, joining the ranks of European retailers to warn consumers are reining in spending against an uncertain economic backdrop.Casino, which competes with Carrefour and privately-held French retail chains Leclerc, Intermarche and Auchan, said on Wednesday it was able to offset the slowdown thanks to strong growth and acquisitions in emerging markets.Third-quarter sales jumped 21.2 percent to 8.71 billion euros ($11.9 billion), broadly in line with the 8.72 billion forecast in a Reuters poll of 11 analysts.Retailers are mostly struggling in Europe as disposable incomes there are squeezed by rising prices, subdued wage growth and government austerity measures.Tesco , the world’s third-biggest retailer, last week posted one of its biggest-ever quarterly falls in underlying sales in its main British market.Casino, with a network of around 10,000 stores in 10 countries, said it was protected by its expansion abroad.International sales climbed to account for 46 percent of group sales in the third quarter from 37 percent a year ago, helped by acquisitions in Brazil and Thailand, new store openings and a strong performance from existing outlets.Underlying sales growth in France, however, slowed to 1.2 percent excluding fuel, down from 2.2 percent in the first half and due in part to a 7.3 percent drop in sales of discretionary non-food goods at the group’s Geant hypermarkets.That drop could increase jitters ahead of third-quarter sales figures from bigger rival Carrefour on Thursday.CARREFOUR WORRIESCarrefour, the world’s second-biggest retailer behind Wal-Mart , makes a larger proportion of sales from hypermarkets than Casino, which also has a strong presence in faster-growing convenience stores and internet retailing.Carrefour is also exposed to other western European markets like Spain, Belgium and Italy, where consumers — like in France — are struggling.Casino finance chief Antoine Giscard d’Estaing told analysts he saw no reason to change the group’s expectation that trading profit in France this year would be similar to 2010’s level.Trading at the start of October had showed positive trends in all geographies, he added on a conference call.Casino reiterated a target to raise more than 1 billion euros from asset sales this year as it looks to reduce debts.Another goal is to keep its net debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) ratio below 2.2 times at the end of 2011.Casino shares closed up 2.7 percent at 61.49 euros on Wednesday. The stock has underperformed the STOXX Europe 600 retail index by 5 percent this year, but fared better than Carrefour which has trailed same index by 28 percent.