Merger Monday!
Stocks are virtually
flat Monday as two large banks are merging. Wachovia
(
WB |
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PowerRating)
will acquire Southtrust
(
SOTR |
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PowerRating) for $14.3 billion; Wachovia will swap
.89 for each WB share for each Southtrust share. Taser International
(
TASRR |
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PowerRating)
boosted its 2004 outlook, and now expects 150% growth.
Oil prices eased as Iraq resumed exports after a
six-day stoppage due to sabotage.
The first manned commercial space flight flew
outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Launched from a larger plane, SpaceShipOne
entered space 62 miles above the earth and landed safely in Mohave, CA. Designed
by Burt Rutan (Voyager), the $20 million project was funded by Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen.
The Supreme Court ruled that patients cannot sue
HMOs over coverage decisions. The decision blocks two lawsuits, one against
Aetna
(
AET |
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PowerRating) and the other against Cigna
(
CI |
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PowerRating).
Asset manager Pilgrim Baxter must pay $90
million to settle trading abuse allegations.
Two former Quest
(
Q |
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PowerRating) execs agreed to
settle lawsuits. Without admitting any wrongdoing, Augustine Cruciotti will pay
$150,000 and Stephen Haggerty will pay $30,000.
This is a busy week for IPOs, with
Cendant spinoff Jackson Hewitt Tax Service,
the 2nd largest tax preparer in the US, expected between $18-20. Also look for
SalesForce.com (CRM), a developer of customer relationship manager software,
outdoor merchandiser Cabela’s (CAB), expected between $15-17, and luxury
hotel REIT Strategic Hotel Capital, anticipated between $15-17.
Three British naval vessels were seized by Iran
and eight crewmembers arrested; the vessels were in Iranian waters.
| Dow | +2.55 | 10418.96 |
| S&P 500 | +1.05 | 1136.08 |
| Nasdaq | +3.91 | 1990.61 |
Strong today are Hardware
(
HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.52%,
Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) +0.89%,
Chemicals
(
RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.52%, Networking
(
NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +.40%.
Weak today are GoldÂ
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.25%, Healthcare
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.18%, Oil
Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.09%.
10-year Notes are +080 at
108 195
The dollar
is +0.17 at 89.45
Gold is -0.40 at 393.70
Crude Oil is -0.75 at
38.25
Volume is 516 million on
the NYSE, and 651 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1769 | Up Vol 278 |
| Declining | 1336 | Down Vol 202 |
| Ratio | 1.32 | 1.37 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1521 | Up Vol 385 |
| Declining | 1381 | Down Vol 227 |
| Ratio | 1.10 | 1.69 |
Stocks in the news:
Simon Property Group will acquire
Chelsea Property Group for $3.5 billion. Simon will pay $66/share for each
Chelsea share and assume debt and preferred stock.
Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
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PowerRating) said it expects
sales to be on the low end of forecast for 4-6% growth.
Walgreen
(
WAG |
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PowerRating) posted higher
profit on stronger sales, reporting 0.33 vs. 0.29 a year ago.
Brice Wightman
bricew@tradingmarkets.com