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UPDATE 1-Domino's profit tops Street as sales hold up

* U.S. same-store sales up 3 pct, int'l up 8.1 pctOct 18 (Reuters) - Domino's Pizza Inc reported a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street's expectations, helped by higher sales at established restaurants around the world.Domino's had net income of $22.1 million, or 36 cents per share, for the third quarter ended Sept. 11, up from $16.6 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, Domino's profit was 35 cents per share, topping analysts' average estimate by 2 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.The pizza delivery chain, which competes with Papa John's International Inc and Yum Brands Inc's Pizza Hut chain, said revenue rose 8.3 percent to $376.3 million.Sales at Domino's restaurants open at least one year were up 3 percent in the United States and up 8.1 percent internationally. Same-restaurant sales are a gauge of restaurant performance.Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Domino's changed its U.S. pizza recipe last year to make it more flavorful.

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Shy Shalit a haunting symbol for Israelis

His breathing sometimes labored and his speech faltering,the soldier offered the first details of his life in captivity in an interview with Egyptian television following his release in an exchange for a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons."They were long years," he said, speaking Hebrew through an Arabic translator. "But I always thought the day would come when I finally got out of captivity."Last seen pleading, calmly, for his life in a videotape released in September 2009 by the militants who held him, Shalit on Tuesday said he hoped his release would lead to peace between Palestinians and Israelis and he missed his family and friends.In captivity, the tank crewman became a haunting symbol for Israelis torn between a desire to bring him home and a gnawing awareness that his freedom would not come cheap.But details of his personal life are sparse. The website's summary reads:"Gilad Shalit, a son to Noam and Aviva and a brother to Yoel and Haddas, was born in Nahariya on 28 August 1986. When he was two years old, his family moved to Mitzpe Hila in the western Galilee. Gilad studied at Maona elementary school and middle school at Kfar Vradim. He studied at Manor-Kavri high school and excelled in science. In 2005, Gilad enlisted in the tank corps and served in Battalion 71 of the 188th Regiment."Beyond that sketch of a typical young Israeli barely started out on adult life, there had been little to say about him as he had sat, hidden and largely incommunicado somewhere in Gaza.RITE OF PASSAGEHis parents, Noam, an engineer, and Aviva won widespread sympathy among compatriots, for whom sending their children to do military service is a shared rite of passage.After his release under an Egyptian- and German-brokered deal to swap 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including more than 300 serving life terms for attacks on Israelis, the freedom campaign's website read "Gilad is Home" and showed a photograph taken of him in an Israeli army uniform after his release at a border crossing with Egypt.Such prisoner exchange deals between Israel, Arab countries it has battled and Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups are nothing new for Israelis, who have traditionally seen repatriation of their nation's captured sons in Biblical terms."Thy children shall come again to their own border," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoting from the Book of Jeremiah, said last week in announcing the deal with Hamas, an Islamist group that is one of Israel's most bitter enemies.For Palestinians, the release from Israeli prisons of men and women whose life stories are also typical of a region locked in conflict for generations, was also a cause to celebrate those whom many regard as heroes in a struggle for statehood.CROSS-BORDER RAIDShalit, now 25, was seized on June 25, 2006 by militants who tunneled their way out of Gaza and then surprised his tank crew along the frontier fence, killing two of his comrades and spiriting him into the enclave.The former Israeli armed forces chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, said in May that Israel had been unable to locate Shalit after years of trying and urged that a "reasonable price" be paid for his liberty.His parents have campaigned hard, though never seemed to relish living in the public eye. His mother last year described her son as "quiet and introverted." She said: "All he was interested in high school was the computer, television and the basketball court, where he spent most of his time."The last sign of life received from the conscript soldier, who has since been promoted from corporal to sergeant, was a videotape released in September 2009 by the militants who hold him. Israel freed 20 female Palestinian prisoners in return.Pale and thin, Shalit pleaded for his life. He has not had any visit from the International Committee of the Red Cross."I hope that the current administration, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, won't waste this opportunity to achieve a deal, and as a result I will finally be able to realize my dream and be released," said Shalit, who also holds French citizenship through his French-born paternal grandmother."Thank you very much, and goodbye," he said, standing up briefly as the video ended.In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip murals sprouted, showing an elderly, grey-haired Shalit, still awaiting his freedom.Shalit was reunited with his family an Israeli air base, where Netanyahu also greeted him. "Welcome, Gilad. Welcome back to Israel," Netanyahu said, according to an official statement."It's so good you came home."

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Shy Shalit a haunting symbol for Israelis

His breathing sometimes labored and his speech faltering,the soldier offered the first details of his life in captivity in an interview with Egyptian television following his release in an exchange for a thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons."They were long years," he said, speaking Hebrew through an Arabic translator. "But I always thought the day would come when I finally got out of captivity."Last seen pleading, calmly, for his life in a videotape released in September 2009 by the militants who held him, Shalit on Tuesday said he hoped his release would lead to peace between Palestinians and Israelis and he missed his family and friends.In captivity, the tank crewman became a haunting symbol for Israelis torn between a desire to bring him home and a gnawing awareness that his freedom would not come cheap.But details of his personal life are sparse. The website's summary reads:"Gilad Shalit, a son to Noam and Aviva and a brother to Yoel and Haddas, was born in Nahariya on 28 August 1986. When he was two years old, his family moved to Mitzpe Hila in the western Galilee. Gilad studied at Maona elementary school and middle school at Kfar Vradim. He studied at Manor-Kavri high school and excelled in science. In 2005, Gilad enlisted in the tank corps and served in Battalion 71 of the 188th Regiment."Beyond that sketch of a typical young Israeli barely started out on adult life, there had been little to say about him as he had sat, hidden and largely incommunicado somewhere in Gaza.RITE OF PASSAGEHis parents, Noam, an engineer, and Aviva won widespread sympathy among compatriots, for whom sending their children to do military service is a shared rite of passage.After his release under an Egyptian- and German-brokered deal to swap 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including more than 300 serving life terms for attacks on Israelis, the freedom campaign's website read "Gilad is Home" and showed a photograph taken of him in an Israeli army uniform after his release at a border crossing with Egypt.Such prisoner exchange deals between Israel, Arab countries it has battled and Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups are nothing new for Israelis, who have traditionally seen repatriation of their nation's captured sons in Biblical terms."Thy children shall come again to their own border," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoting from the Book of Jeremiah, said last week in announcing the deal with Hamas, an Islamist group that is one of Israel's most bitter enemies.For Palestinians, the release from Israeli prisons of men and women whose life stories are also typical of a region locked in conflict for generations, was also a cause to celebrate those whom many regard as heroes in a struggle for statehood.CROSS-BORDER RAIDShalit, now 25, was seized on June 25, 2006 by militants who tunneled their way out of Gaza and then surprised his tank crew along the frontier fence, killing two of his comrades and spiriting him into the enclave.The former Israeli armed forces chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, said in May that Israel had been unable to locate Shalit after years of trying and urged that a "reasonable price" be paid for his liberty.His parents have campaigned hard, though never seemed to relish living in the public eye. His mother last year described her son as "quiet and introverted." She said: "All he was interested in high school was the computer, television and the basketball court, where he spent most of his time."The last sign of life received from the conscript soldier, who has since been promoted from corporal to sergeant, was a videotape released in September 2009 by the militants who hold him. Israel freed 20 female Palestinian prisoners in return.Pale and thin, Shalit pleaded for his life. He has not had any visit from the International Committee of the Red Cross."I hope that the current administration, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, won't waste this opportunity to achieve a deal, and as a result I will finally be able to realize my dream and be released," said Shalit, who also holds French citizenship through his French-born paternal grandmother."Thank you very much, and goodbye," he said, standing up briefly as the video ended.In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip murals sprouted, showing an elderly, grey-haired Shalit, still awaiting his freedom.Shalit was reunited with his family an Israeli air base, where Netanyahu also greeted him. "Welcome, Gilad. Welcome back to Israel," Netanyahu said, according to an official statement."It's so good you came home."

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Palestinian inmates begin leaving Israeli jails: witness

The first vehicles that left a jail in central Israel were carrying female prisoners, most to be freed in the West Bank. They were accompanied by security personnel from Egypt, who mediated the swap deal, an official said.

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New Issue-BNG adds 50 mln stg to 2017 bond

Borrower Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG)Issue Amount 50 million sterlingMaturity Date November 29, 2017Coupon 3.25 pctIssue price 104.683Spread 97 basis pointsUnderlying govt bond Over the 4.0 pct 2016 UKTPayment Date October 21, 2011Lead Manager(s) Royal Bank of ScotlandRatings Aaa (Moody's), AAA (S&P),AAA (Fitch)Listing AmsterdamFull fees UndisclosedDenoms (K) 1Parent ISIN XS0562887082Security details and RIC, when available, will beonCustomers can right-click on the code forperformance analysis of this new issueFor ratings information, double click onFor all bonds data, double click onFor Top international bonds newsFor news about this issuer, double click on the issuer RIC,where assigned, and hit the newskey (F9 on Reuters terminals)Data supplied by International Insider.

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Spanish stocks - Factors to watch on Friday

Spanish oil firm Repsol expects to invest about $1 billion in refinery and exploration projects in Peru, company President Antonio Brufau said on Thursday after meeting with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala. For a full story, click on:ABERTISThe motorway company is seeking 3 billion euros of brownfield highway concessions on the east coast of the United States, Cinco Dias reported without citing a source.IBERDROLASpanish utility Iberdrola said on Thursday it has issued 600 million euros of a new 4-year bond due Jan. 25 2016.For a full story, click on:FERROVIAL , FCC , ABERTIS , ACCIONASpain shelved the multi-billion euro privatisation of its two biggest airports on Thursday after bidders struggled to raise financing. Local infrastructure firms Ferrovial, FCC, Abertis and Acciona were all involved in the sale process. For a full story, click on:For today's European market outlook double click on .For real-time moves on the Spanish blue-chip index IBEX please double click onFor IBEX constituent stocks highlight .IBEX in the command box and press the F3 button on your keyboardFor latest news on Spanish stock moves double clickFor Spanish language market report double click onFor latest Eurostocks report please double click on

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Gross' PIMCO makes a big move into mortgages

Gross increased mortgage debt to 38 percent of assets in his $242 billion PIMCO Total Return Fund in September, from 32 percent in August, as the U.S. central bank announced last month that it "will now reinvest principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities."PIMCO's latest bet on mortgages isn't going unnoticed.Gross, who helps oversee $1.2 trillion as co-chief investment officer at PIMCO, made headlines earlier this year and came under heavy criticism when the manager widely known as the "bond king" bet heavily against U.S. Treasuries -- one of the biggest outperformers of this year.His move into mortgage-backed securities also comes as the PIMCO Total Return fund's cash equivalents and money-market securities fell to negative 19 percent September, from negative 9 percent in August.In having a so-called negative position in cash equivalents and money-market securities, it is an indication of derivative use and short-term securities being put up as collateral as a way to boost leverage and increase the fund's holdings in bonds with longer maturities such as mortgage-backed securities, Treasuries and corporate bonds, according to Eric Jacobson, director of fixed-income research at Morningstar who has covered PIMCO for more than a decade.Over the years, some analysts in the fixed-income world have pointed out that Gross' use of derivatives to boost leverage and exposure to higher-yielding assets is what distinguishes the Total Return Fund from an ordinary plain vanilla bond fund."One very basic thing to know, too, is that PIMCO classifies anything with a duration of one year or shorter as cash -- regardless of sector," Jacobson added.Jacobson said after careful examination of the PIMCO fund's effective duration of 7.14 years -- about double over the last six months -- "it doesn't necessarily mean PIMCO raised their pure interest-rate risk to the United States. They didn't double down on Treasuries."Rather, PIMCO took on "loose" interest rate risk to other credit and government markets, he said, noting that the Total Return fund increased exposure in non-U.S. developed and emerging markets securities in September.Duration is a bond's sensitivity to interest rate fluctuations, and going longer duration is an investment strategy when rates are expected to remain low or drop further and vice versa.All told, the PIMCO Total Return fund's bad call on Treasuries earlier this year has cost it.It is up only 1.06 percent year to date versus the benchmark BarCap U.S. Aggregate Index which is up 3.99 percent. But on a three-year basis, the fund is up 10.14 percent against the benchmark's 9.36 percent returns. The fund has also held up well over the last five years, with the fund up 7.80 percent versus the BarCap's 5.48 percent returns.

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UPDATE 1-Mosaid in talks with private equity firm, stock up

"Mosaid has received a formal nonbinding indication of interest for a potential transaction," company lawyers said. "The potential bidder is a substantial private equity firm with an international presence and over $5 billion in capital under management."

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Egypt's army appeals for unity after Christian clash

"Egypt's Copts are part of the fabric of this society. All Egyptians are citizens with the same rights and obligations," said General Mahmoud Hegazy, a member of the army council that has ruled since Mubarak was deposed by a popular uprising."The power of the Egyptian people is in its unity. Egypt was never more in need of unity than it is now. The armed forces belong to the people, whether Christian or Muslim," Hegazy told a news conference.Amnesty International said some of the dead had bullet wounds. A doctor at a Christian hospital had told reporters on Monday that 14 of the 17 dead brought in to his hospital had been hit by bullets."The armed forces would never and has never opened fire on the people," Hegazy said.The army was praised when it took control after Mubarak was ousted for its restraint in handling protests. But anger at the military has mounted as the transition to civilian rule has dragged on and for what activists say are increasingly tough tactics."The martyrs who died in Maspero had Christians among them," Hegazy said of the violence on Sunday in the neighborhood of Cairo around the headquarters of state television.Christians turned their fury on the army. They said protesters responded with stones and other projectiles only after the military used heavy-handed tactics. Military and other vehicles were torched in the violence.

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Midsized firms an underappreciated jobs engine: GE

There is a parallel in corporate America: the 200,000 companies that make up the "middle market," bigger than the start-ups and small businesses that attract government help but not as hefty as the big businesses whose revenues have passed $1 billion and have Wall Street's backing.According to an analysis by General Electric Co and the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, these companies, which together generate more than $9 trillion in annual revenue, are an underappreciated driver of employment: They account for one in three U.S. jobs and continued to add workers -- 2.2 million of them -- during the recession, when their larger rivals shed some 3.7 million employees.Even so, with the memory of the 2008 credit crisis still fresh, these companies are also worried about their finances, GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt told reporters."They have access but they're worried," Immelt said. "This is a lot different than 2008, guys. There is liquidity, there are pockets of growth, and I think people have confidence that they might be able to find the right pockets of growth."MORE LABOR-INTENSIVETwo factors contribute to their continued hiring, the report found. Even during the recession more mid-sized than large companies grew revenue and they are generally less able to automate processes than their larger peers."Middle market firms are, by nature, more employee-intensive than large firms," the report found. "Their processes and systems are typically less mature than those of large corporations, so they tend to compensate by hiring more people."Mid-sized companies employ 80 percent more workers per dollar of revenue that they generate than their larger rivals, according to the study, based on a poll of 2,028 executives, including 1,447 from middle-market companies.While GE, the largest U.S. conglomerate with $147.97 billion in forecast 2011 revenue, is far from a mid-sized company, those are a core market for its GE Capital finance arm, which loans money and leases equipment to them.Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, along with fellow large U.S. companies including FedEx Corp, on Thursday is convening several hundred executives and academics in Columbus, Ohio, for a summit intended to discuss the role that mid-sized companies play in the U.S. economy.MORE PLAN TO ADD WORKERSAt a time when stubbornly high unemployment -- which has hovered near 9 percent for more than two years -- remains one of the biggest problem spots in a sluggish U.S. economy, more mid-sized than large companies are planning to add jobs.A related GE Capital study released on Monday found that 68 percent of chief financial officers of middle-market companies, defined as those with more than $10 million and less than $1 billion in annual revenue, plan to hire more people over the next year. That is nearly double the 36 percent of chief executives of large U.S. companies who plan to add jobs over the next six months, according to a Business Roundtable survey of its members released last week.Job creation has been an area of particular focus for GE's Immelt since he signed on as a top adviser to the Obama administration on jobs and the economy early this year. He has repeatedly said that GE, which like many of its peers reduced its headcount by tens of thousands during the downturn, plans to hire some 15,000 people in the United States this year, a figure that includes both new positions and people to fill jobs that become vacant.