U.S. indexes are higher in mid-day trading while new government
data released this morning showed prices consumers pay for everyday
goods were in check. Also, shares of mobile game maker Zynga (ZNGA)
began trading on the Nasdaq today.
In U.S. data, the Labor Department announced that consumer
prices were unchanged in November, mainly due to declining energy
costs. So-called core prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2%.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast CPI to be unchanged
overall, with a 0.1% increase in the core rate.
In company news:
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (
VRX
) announced that it had made a proposal to the Board of Directors
of ISTA Pharmaceuticals (
ISTA
) to acquire ISTA for $6.50 per share in cash. The proposed
transaction has a total equity value of approximately $314 million
on a fully diluted basis. In addition, ISTA has net debt of
approximately $13 million, bringing the total enterprise value to
approximately $327 million. ISTA later rejected the offer.
Wells Fargo (
WFC
) said late yesterday that it has acquired EverKey Global Partners,
an investment boutique offering global equity strategies to
institutional clients. Financial terms were not disclosed. EverKey
will become part of the company's wholly owned institutional asset
management subsidiary, Wells Capital Management, which is part of
WFC's Asset Management Group.
Tilman J. Fertitta announced today that his wholly-owned
company, Fertitta's Morton's Restaurants, Inc. and is wholly owned
subsidiary Fertitta Morton's Acquisition, Inc. have signed an
Agreement to acquire 100% of Morton's Restaurant Group, Inc. (
MRT
) for $6.90 a share.
Pfizer (
PFE
) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said they will supply millions of extra
doses of pneumonia vaccine to an international partnership that
provides immunization to children in developing countries.
Fitch Ratings late Thursday downgraded Goldman Sachs (GS),
Deutsche Bank (DB) and five other large banks based in Europe and
the United States, citing "increased challenges" in the financial
markets. Fitch cut long-term ratings on Barclays Plc (BCS) and
Credit Suisse AG (CS) by two notches to 'A' from 'AA-'. The agency
cut by one notch its long-term ratings on Bank of America Corp
(BAC), French bank BNP Paribas, Citigroup (C), Deutsche Bank AG and
Goldman Sachs Group.
Carnival (CCL) shares are moving higher as the cruise line is
upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC. The firm raised the
price target to $38 from $34.
Commodities are mixed as February gold contracts are up $13.50
to $1,591 an ounce while January crude oil contracts are down $1.25
to $92.62 a barrel.
In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (USO) is down 0.86%
to $35.82 and the United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) is down
0.29%, to $6.88.
In precious metal ETFs, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is up 1.52% to
$154.65. Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) is up 1.01% to $52.20.
iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is up 1.28% to $28.58.
Here's where markets stand at mid-day:
-NYSE up 9.53 (0.13%) to 7,226.63
-DJIA down 47.00 (0.40%) to 11,821.81
-S&P 500 down 0.50 (0.04%) to 1,215.25
-Nasdaq up 7.91 (0.31%) to 2,548.92
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei down 0.6%
Hang Seng up 1.4%
Shanghai Composite up 2.0%
FTSE-100 up 0.1%
DAX-30 down 0.5%.
MID-DAY NYSE INDEX WATCH
NYSE Energy up 0.1% at 11,765.39
NYSE Financial up 0.1% at 3,915.09
NYSE Health Care down 0.4% at 6,805.89
NYSE Arca Tech 100 up 0.1% at 1,055.80
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) MRT, (+33%) Going Private at $6.90 Per Share, 34%
Premium
(+) ISTA, (+74%) Buyout Offer from Valeant
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-)RIMM, (-12.1%) Reports Lower Profits, BlackBerry Delay
(-)STJ, (-2.1%) FDA Classifies Riata Device Recall as Class
I
(-)QTWW, (-30.8%) Prices Offering
(-)SAP, (-2.7%) Downgraded to Neutral from Buy