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Walmart to close all Marketside stores next week

* Will keep selling Marketside branded goods elsewhereBy Jessica WohlOct 14 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc will shut its four Marketside stores next week, abandoning the concept after three years as it works on opening other small shops.Marketside marked Wal-Mart's attempt to give U.S. shoppers a quick place to buy prepared food such as roasted chicken and freshly baked bread for last-minute meals without the need for a trip to a larger grocery store or supercenter. The stores also carry produce, wine and other groceries.The world's largest retailer opened its four Marketside stores in the Phoenix metropolitan area in 2008. A year later, it started to sell some Marketside branded food in other Walmart stores.The four Arizona stores -- in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe -- will close on Oct. 21, a spokesman said on Friday.Wal-Mart is not the first U.S. grocer to abandon the concept of a small shop selling prepared food to harried consumers looking for quick meal solutions. Supervalu Inc shut down a similar upscale concept store in Chicago, Urban Fresh, in 2009 after just over a year.Now, Wal-Mart is banking on another small-store concept, more aligned with its roots, as a potential growth vehicle in rural and urban locations where its larger shops would not work.Wal-Mart's Marketside stores, at roughly 16,000 square feet, are about the same size as the Walmart Express test format the company launched in June.So far, Wal-Mart is pleased with the five Walmart Express stores in Arkansas, North Carolina and Chicago. It plans to have 11 such stores by the end of the year.Walmart Express stores, which range from about 10,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet, feel more like traditional Walmart stores than the Marketside shops. Walmart Express stores are stocked with groceries and some housewares. Pharmacies are included in some of the locations.Earlier this week, Wal-Mart said it would ramp up openings of its Neighborhood Market stores, which at about 42,000 square feet are much larger than Marketside or Walmart Express stores but much smaller than Walmart supercenters.The first Neighborhood Market opened in 1998. There are about 185 such stores now. Wal-Mart plans to open 80 to 100 small- and medium-format stores in its next fiscal year. Most will be Neighborhood Markets. This year, it plans to open just 25 to 30 small and medium shops.The majority of Wal-Mart's new U.S. stores -- up to 120 this year and up to 135 in fiscal 2013 -- will continue to be supercenters.Even those are getting a bit smaller.New supercenters are set to be roughly 90,000 to 120,000 square feet. Walmart supercenters used to average about 185,000 square feet.

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TREASURIES-Prices undercut by higher stocks, retail sales

* Optimism over Europe despite Spain downgradeBy Chris ReeseNEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices fell on Friday as stocks climbed and stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales last month undermined the safe-haven allure of U.S. government debt.A perception that Europe was taking aggressive steps to stem its debt crisis, as Europe's finance ministers prepare to meet counterparts from the Group of 20 nations, also undermined the safety appeal of Treasuries.Retail sales rebounded in September at the fastest pace in seven months, rising 1.1 percent from a month earlier and adding to recent evidence the U.S. economy may still be recovering, albeit quite slowly."The outlook is good and getting better by the day. Risk is back on," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.The better-than-forecast sales figures emboldened those who are looking for the U.S. economy to stave off another recession, bolstering stock futures and undermining bond prices.Retail sales were "much better than expected. The September number was higher-than-expected and we had upward revisions in July and August. It's well balanced with a lot of categories going up," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.Benchmark 10-year notes were trading 20/32 lower in price to yield 2.26 percent, up from 2.19 percent late Thursday, while 30-year bonds were 1-16/32 lower to yield 3.23 percent from 3.15 percent.The optimism that Europe would be able to contain its debt crisis was tempered somewhat by Standard and Poor's ratings cut of Spain on Friday.

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UPDATE 1-ChinaEDU committee recommends adding board members

The members also recommended the educational service provider engage a financial advisor to help evaluate potential strategic transactions.The company, which is valued at about $96 million and provides services to online degree programs of Chinese universities, said its committee continues to investigate potential buyers for the company.Committee members have had conversations with interested potential acquirers, ChinaEDU said in filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

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TPG Capital prepares new $4-5 bln Asia fund-sources

TPG, a U.S.-based firm founded in 1992, currently invests into Asia from a $19.8 billion global fund raised in 2008, and its $4 billion regional fund TPG Capital Partners V, raised in the same year.The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to talk to the media. TPG's external public relations advisers were unable to provide immediate comment.The Asia fund is around 75 percent invested, one of the sources said. Its limited partner (LP) investors, include California Public Employees' Retirement System, according to Thomson Reuters data.The firm, with more than $48 billion in assets under management globally, has current Asia investments including Comtec Solar and Wumart Stores in China, Shriram Transport Finance Co and Lilliput Kidswear in India, and United Test & Assembly Centre in Singapore.

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EU sets conditions for signing up to Kyoto II

The environment council conclusions, agreed in Luxembourg on Monday, outline the bloc's negotiating position ahead of the next global climate conference in Durban, South Africa, which starts at the end of November."What's the point of keeping something alive if you're alone there? There must be more from the 89 percent," EU Environment Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told Reuters.The European Union stated the need for a road map that would indicate when the biggest emitters -- led by the United States, China and India -- would sign up. The milestones on the way, however, were imprecise.A first commitment phase of the Kyoto Protocol -- the only global, legally-binding contract on tackling climate change -- ends at the end of next year and analysts say time has run out to get a new world-wide deal in place before then.The United States signed, but has never ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Developing countries were excluded from the original pact signed in 1997, but have since become major emitters.As a bloc, the EU has taken a lead with binding EU goals that exceed its Kyoto commitments.It is in agreement with environmentalists and analysts that unless everyone joins in, it cannot solve global warming."If we do that (agree to a second commitment period) without any conditions attached, some would say we have saved Durban, but Durban would not result in one less tonne of carbon dioxide," Hedegaard told reporters."The easiest thing in the world is to bury this international process. The difficult thing is to find a way forward. We would have liked to see more progress, but we are trying to do our utmost to secure the only process that the world has so far.""HOT AIR"Monday's meeting also tackled the issue of allowances under the Kyoto process, known as Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) and referred to by critics as "hot air.The allowances to produce greenhouse gases up to a certain limit are divisive within the EU.East European nations such as Poland, holder of the rotating EU presidency, are keen to hold on to a surplus they have, EU sources said, as they can sell them to governments struggling to meet Kyoto targets.The environment council only managed to agree on an "ambitious approach to environmental integrity," EU sources said, without a firm decision on how many allowances could be carried over into a second phase of Kyoto after phase one expires.Polish Environment Minister Andrzej Kraszewski told reporters the AAUs were a problem."We're going to have to continue to work on it," he said.Denmark said it had long pressed for a discussion on restricting the amount of allowances to ensure they had value."We have not got very strong language on this," Danish Climate Minister Martin Lidegaard told Reuters, but said Denmark considered even loose wording amounted to a breakthrough.The EU carbon market did not react to Monday's conclusions, which were broadly in line with expectations.Analysts say the AAU issue has the potential to have an indirect impact as any EU language insisting on a restriction could encourage those holding a glut to sell them in haste.

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