WORST DEAL IN HISTORY A deal that was viewed to be by many as the

"WORST DEAL IN HISTORY" "A deal that was viewed to be by many as the worst deal in thehistory of mankind just about two years ago, three years ago hasproven to be our growth engine as we thought it would be,"ChiefFinancial Officer Sam Leno told investors at a recent conference. It has also resolved itsmajor quality issues with regulators, clearing the way for somesuccessful cardiac rhythm management product launches. Recently, the company shed some of its non-core businesses,using the proceeds to pay down debt. For the past few years, Boston Scientific, which acquired itscardiac rhythm management business when it bought Guidant Corp in2006, has been beset by a heavy debt load, product recalls andtrouble with health regulators, resulting in lost market share.Shares stumbled to levels not seen since 1998. The announcement, greeted enthusiastically by Wall Street,came on the back of news a week earlier that a BostonScientific-sponsored clinical trial met its main goal.

* Shrs holding under 8-month-highs after new CEO announced Stocks * Bulls see more financial discipline under new management * Bears see too much debt in wake of Guidant acquisition By Debra Sherman CHICAGO, July 5 (Reuters) - Boston Scientific shares areholding just under their 8-month-highs after the medical devicemaker said that it retained industry veteran Ray Elliott to takethe reins from long-time CEO Jim Tobin. The canal is too shallow to submerge in.A more discreet option would be to sail round Africa. But such a trip would take weeks and limit Israel's ability to signal readiness to retaliate should it ever come under Iranian nuclear attack.The Dolphins are widely assumed to carry nuclear missiles, though Israel refuses to discuss this. It was spotted returning through Suez, along with an Israeli missile boat, on Sunday.An Israeli defense official said there would be no permanent deployment in Eilat of the German-made submarines, of which Israel has three, with two more on order."If anything, we are scaling down our naval operations in Eilat," the official said.The absence of an Eilat submarine base means a Gulf-bound Dolphin has to use Suez, fully exposed. World  |  Barack ObamaAn Israeli Dolphin-class submarine took part in a drill off Eilat last week, after sailing from the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal -- the first such voyage for the secret craft and a sign of Israel's growing strategic reach, defense sources said.Witnesses said the submarine, INS Leviathan, docked at Eilat's naval base on Tuesday and Wednesday.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel has no plan to station submarines in Eilat, a defense official said on Sunday, playing down speculation the Red Sea port could become a forward base for naval attacks on Iran. World  |  Barack Obama  |  Saudi ArabiaBarak, who last met envoy George Mitchell Tuesday in New York, travels to London later Sunday for another round of talks aimed at narrowing a rift with U.S. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he would discuss with a U.S. envoy Monday a compromise over a peace plan calling for an Israeli settlement freeze and seek ways to promote regional peace.

Thursday July 9: * Chile - Central bank's monetary policy meeting. Mosteconomists expect policy-makers to keep interest rates at 0.75percent, but another cut cannot be ruled out, Central BankPresident Jose de Gregorio told a news conference on June 30 * Peru - Central bank's monetary policy meeting. Peruvianpolicy-makers may cut the country's benchmark interest rate byanother 50 basis points to 2.5 percent. Stocks Currencies Bonds Brazil Mexico. Economists expecta 3.6 decline in activity, following a 4.6 percent drop in theprevious month. Tuesday July 7: * Chile - June CPI inflation, expected to rise some 0.2percent after a decline of 0.3 percent in the previous month. The following are some key data points investors will bewatching this week: Monday July 6: * Chile - May IMACEC economic activity. The slowdown in Brazil's headline inflation will likelycome from "the waning effects of the medicine and tobaccoprice increases and administered prices adjustment," BarclaysCapital said.

Mexico's consumer price index for June, due on Thursday,is forecast to rise about 0.2 percent, in contrast to thedecline of 0.29 percent in May, but still showing containedpressure on prices. "Although widely expected, given the latest polls, we lookfor the Mexican peso and credit to trade with a weaker bias onconfirmation of a split Congress," RBC Capital Markets said,adding that such a result would "lower the odds of meaningful,productivity-enhancing reforms being passed." Later in the week, however, key consumer inflation numbersin Brazil and Mexico are likely to take center stage. Brazil's benchmark IPCA price index for June, due onWednesday morning, is expected to rise about 0.3 percent,below the 0.48 percent rise in the previous month. Without enough support to pass the reforms, Calderon willprobably see Mexico's credit ratings downgraded later thisyear.