Stocks to watch for Monday, July 14, 2008:
 

  • Anheuser-Busch (BUD) has agreed to be acquired by Belgian company InBev after the offer was increased to $52 billion, creating the world's largest brewing company. The deal now must pass through regulatory and shareholder approval. BUD holds more than 48% market share in the US. Shareholders will receive $70 a share, a $5 increase over the offer Anheuser-Busch rejected in June.

  • Boeing (BA) won a $4 billion contract from FlyDubai for 50 single-aisle 737 airliners and an additional four aircraft to be sourced from lessor Babcock & Brown, reported Reuters. The deal was made at the opening of world's biggest airshow, outside of London in Farnborough. Boeing will be competing with rival Airbus on other deals, including one from Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways, which is expected to be split between the two.

  • Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) saw the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve lay out a plan this weekend in which the federal government will stand firmly behind the mortgage companies, reported The Wall Street Journal. The Treasury will vie for Congressional approval for a temporary increase in a longstanding Treasury line of credit for the two companies. Also, if it becomes necessary, the Treasury hopes to be able to buy equity in either company.

  • GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to pay Actelion 3.3 billion Swiss francs ($3.28 billion) for the development of the insomnia drug almorexant. The company beat out rivals Novartis (NVS), Pfizer (PFE), Schering-Plough (SGP) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) for the deal.

  • Yahoo (YHOO) rejected a joint offer by Microsoft (MSFT) and investor Carl Icahn which was conditioned on the removal of CEO Jerry Yang. The deal would have been for YHOO's search business, plus would let Icahn and his slate of directors control the rest of the company, reported The Wall Street Journal. The company countered by saying it'd still sell in its entirety to Microsoft for $33 per share or negotiate a new offer based on the search business alone. MSFT rejected the offers.


Market Recap
 

  • Asian trading closed skewed to the downside with the Hang Seng -0.77%, Nikkei -0.23%, Sensex -1.03%, Taiwan -1.21% and Shanghai +0.76%.

  • Quickly glancing towards Europe, we see green with the CAC +1.80%, DAX +1.30%, FTSE +1.77%, ATX +1.24%, Swiss Mkt. +1.38% and Stockholm +1.28%.

  • In commodities, crude oil is down -1.15 to 143.96 while gold is edging higher +0.4 to 961.0 this morning.