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For U.S. stock market report double-click 0748 ET 12June2009-Soros: credit default swaps should be banned ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Credit default swaps are "instruments of destruction" that should be outlawed, billionaire investor George Soros said on Friday.

Soros said the asymmetry of risk and reward embedded in CDS exerted so much downward pressure on the bonds underlying the contracts that companies and financial institutions could be brought to their knees.

"Some derivatives ought not to be allowed to be traded at all. I have in mind credit default swaps. The more I've heard about them, the more I've realized they're truly toxic," he told a banking conference.

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Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 0743 ET 12June2009-Futures pressured by drop in crude oil ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. index futures were under pressure on Friday, weighed on by a drop in the price of crude oil. Investors were also looking ahead to key consumer confidence data.

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Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 8 points while S&P 500 futures fell 4.40 1.6 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1.75 points.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 0732 ET 12June2009-Microsoft to ship new Windows w/o IE in Europe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Software giant Microsoft Corp plans to send the newest version of its Windows operating system in Europe without its Internet Explorer web browser, in a step to counter pressure from European regulators.

The reversal comes shortly before the European Commission is due to rule on antitrust charges brought against Microsoft in January, claiming that the world's largest software company abuses its dominant position by bundling its Internet Explorer browser, shielding it from head-to-head competition with rival products.

Until now, Microsoft has claimed that the browser was an integral part of the operating system and should not be pulled out, but it now plans to do that for a European version of Windows 7, due to be rolled out later this year.

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Shares of the Dow component fell 3 cents to $22.80 in premarket trading.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 0725 ET 12June2009-Crude oil falls on stronger U.S. dollar ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July crude futures tumbled on Friday, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar. Investor concerns that prices had risen too far despite improving sentiment about the economy also affected oil prices.

Crude oil reached a near eight-month high on Thursday.

"Most commodity markets are still quite overbought and could be subject to a modest sell-off next week," said Edward Meir, analyst at MF Global. "We are getting to a stage where the steep run-up in prices has arguably over-discounted the modest brightening we are seeing in the U.S. macro picture."

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The contract fell 1.8 percent to $71.38 per barrel.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 0717 ET 12June2009-Hoku plunges, may not continue as going concern ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shares of Hoku Scientific plummeted in premarket trading on Friday, a day after it reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss, helped by lower expenses, but said it may not be able to continue as a going concern over the next 12 months.

The company, which provides raw materials to the solar industry, said it may not be able to secure final funding for its polysilicon facility, which it estimates would cost about $390 million to construct.

"The company may not have sufficient funds to complete the construction of its polysilicon plant, or to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months," it said in a statement.

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The stock sank 28 percent to $3.15 in premarket trading. Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS

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