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U.S. stock market report 1327 ET 08Sept2009-Teekay Offshore to buy vessel for $320 mln ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teekay Offshore Partners LP said it will acquire a floating production storage and offloading vessel from its parent company Teekay Corp for $320 million.

Teekay Offshore Partners, whose tankers are used to transport oil from offshore fields to onshore processing facilities, said that its parent company has agreed to provide $220 million in vendor financing.

This amount and the $104 million of equity raised by it last month will help in completing the acquisition by mid-September, Teekay Offshore Partners said.

For details, see

Shares of Teekay Offsore rose 2.7 percent to $14.69 while Teekay Corp fell 0.3 percent to $18.94.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1325 ET 08Sept2009-UBS upgrades Micron to "buy," shares advance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UBS Investment Research upgraded Micron Technology Inc to "buy" from "neutral," saying it expects DRAM prices to rise in the medium term due to supply shortages and rising demand for PCs and smartphones.

Demand continues to be strong but inventory across the chain is fairly lean, analyst Uche Orji wrote in a note dated Sept. 7.

The unavailability of critical lithography equipment that peers need to move to 12-inch fabrication technology and to reduce manufacturing costs, is modestly benefiting Micron, which has a high share of high-end production, Orji said.

For details, see

Shares of Micron rose 3.7 percent to $7.62.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1322 ET 08Sept2009-Sprint to offer $100 credit to new Pre users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sprint Nextel Corp hopes to lure customers from rival service providers with a special $100 service credit for new subscribers who buy Palm Inc's Pre, essentially giving the device a 50 percent price cut a few months after it started selling the phone.

Sprint said on its website that the offer, which does not apply to existing customers, would be available for new Sprint customers who sign up before Oct. 31 and commit to a 2-year service contract. The service credit would be added to customer invoices over a 3-month period, the company said.

Sprint's existing Pre price tag was $199, after rebates.

For details, see

Shares of Sprint fell 1.3 percent to $3.76 on Tuesday while Palm was up 2.7 percent to $15.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1314 ET 08Sept2009 Schaeffer's recommends hedge gold short positions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With gold futures nearing $1,000 an ounce for the fifth time since March 2008, it is crunch time again, said Todd Salamone, vice president of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research in a note. "While we remain bearish on the yellow metal, we recommend hedging your gold short positions, as a breakout above $1,000 could lead to sharp gains," the note said. For example, investors could consider a vertical call spread on the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund, he told Reuters. The trade would give strong profit potential should gold rally. GLD options are expensive. The ETF's option implied volatility is is above its historical volatility. GLD shares rose 20 cents to $97.73. December gold was up $1.90 at $998.60 an ounce at 12:19 a.m. EDT (1619 GMT) on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It ranged from $992.60 to $1,009.70, the highest price since Feb. 20.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS

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