Merger Monday! Here’s Who’s Involved
Stocks are higher on merger news. Â Is
CEO behavior a good predictor for stocks? Traders think so, and point to the
strong M&A activity this year, implying plenty of cash as well as CEO
confidence. Stock buybacks and dividend increases have also been strong this
year
Washington Mutual
(
WM |
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PowerRating) is buying Providian in a $6.45
billion deal.
Catellus is being acquired by Prologis [PLD|{LD] 3.6 billion
Precision Drilling
(
PDS |
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PowerRating) is selling its energy services division
to Weatherford in a $2.3 billion deal.
The Wall Street Journal said Agilent
(
A |
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PowerRating) is selling its
semiconductor products division; the sale could fetch $1.5 – $2 billion.
Apple
(
AAPL |
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PowerRating) is expected to switch to Intel
(
INTC |
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PowerRating)
chips, dumping IBM. The move is expected to save money on the McIntosh line. Â
Oil is near a 6-week high; copper continues its rally.Â
Strong sectors are:Â Internets
(
$ECM.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.83%Â Â Gold
(
$HUI.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+0.75%Â Â Â REITs
(
$DJR.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.65%Â Â Â
    Â
Weak sectors are: Â Â Disk
Drives
(
$DDX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.45%Â Â Semiconductors
(
$GSM.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.20% Â Â Â Networking
(
$GIP.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-1.04%
Dow | -15.30 | 10,445.67 |
Nasdaq | -4.06 | 2067.37 |
S&P 500 | -2.50 | 1193.52 |
The dollar is -0.47 at
87.57
Crude Oil is -0.51 at
54.52
Gold is +2.80 at 426.30
ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume is 457 million on the NYSE and
677 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is negative.
NYSE | Issues | |
Advancing | 1444 | Up Vol 179 |
Declining | 1630 | Down Vol 273 |
0.88 | 0.65 | |
Nasdaq |
||
Advancing | 1265 | Up Vol 256 |
Declining | 1590 | Down Vol 421 |
0.79 | 0.60 |
Stocks in the News
FuelCell Energy
(
FCEL |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.06 but revenues were light.
Taser
(
TASR |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) customers will be subject to a 24-hour waiting
period–the same as gun buyers. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed the
legislation on Friday, which goes into effect January 1.
The Wall Street Journal reports Earthlink
(
ELNK |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will
offer Internet calling on regular phones.
Teva Pharmaceuticals
(
TEVA |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) sadi Q4 earnings will we lower
because of a ruling which prevents it from selling the generic version of Abbot
Labs’ Biaxin.
ATI Technologies
(
ATYT |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) slashed its sales guidance for Q3 and Q4.
ETrade is sweetening its offer for Ameritrade.
Brice Wightman
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