General News:
– The Wall Street Journal says that states are working to provide funds to halt foreclosures.
– There could be a higher Federal minimum wage, according to several news sources.
– Bloomberg reports that the S&P 500 share-weighted EPS is up 8.1% year over year, which is good EPS growth.
– Gas prices dropped below a national average of $3 a gallon over the weekend, while energy futures had their own decline on Monday on suggestions that OPEC may increase its output.
Asia/Europe:
Asia:
– Asian stocks fell, led by Japanese exporters, after the dollar declined to a six-week-low against the yen amid concern the U.S. economy is slowing.
– Japanese supermarket sales fell 1.5%.
– Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s second largest, said lending irregularities uncovered by the government auditor last month took place before its initial public offering a year ago.
– News reports out of Japan suggest that the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) is likely to lose the upper house, which could lead to the end of Prime Minister Abe’s rule.
– Property prices in 70 major Chinese cities rose 7.1% year over year in June.
Europe:
– European stocks advanced, lifted by takeovers in the financial and technology industries.
– TomTom NV, the world’s largest maker of car navigation devices, agreed to buy digital-mapping company Tele Atlas NV for about 2 billion euros ($2.77 billion) in cash, adding information and routes for drivers.
– Turkey’s benchmark stock index surged to a record and the lira hit a six-year high after voters re- elected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, strengthening his mandate to pursue European Union talks and budget discipline.
– Barclays Plc, vying to buy ABN Amro Holding NV in the biggest banking takeover, raised its offer to 67.5 billion euros ($93.4 billion) after lining up investments from China and Singapore.
Corporate News:
– Hasbro Inc. (HAS) reported strong sales of Transformers and Spider-Man toys, but said one-time costs and a recall of Easy Bake Ovens drove second-quarter profit well below year-ago results.
– Carmakers Mazda and Honda (HMC) and more than half of Toyota’s (TM) shuttered assembly lines will restart at least some production over the next two days because a key parts supplier damaged by a major earthquake resumed operations.
– Transocean Inc. (RIG), the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor, said it will combine with smaller competitor GlobalSantaFe Corp. (GSF), creating a company with a full range of offshore drilling services in the world’s key markets.
– Drug developer Merck & Co. (MRK) said its second-quarter profit jumped nearly 12% on an across-the-board rise in drug sales, and the company boosted earnings guidance for the year.
– Rumors are reported that Tellabs (TLAB) may be bought by Siemens AG (SI).
– United Rentals (URI) will be purchased by Cerberus for $6.6 billion.
– EV3 (EVVV) and FoxHollow (FOXH) have announced a merger.
– Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, said it is cutting prices on back-to-school items and other products in a move to combat the effect of high gas prices on customers’ spending.
