Deal Stocks and the broader market overall got a modest lift Thursday
due in part to much needed fuel price relief. Crude oil logged its
biggest single-day drop in over two months, falling $4.41 to settle at
$126.62 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average went the opposite direction, picking up 52.19 points to close
at 12,646.22. The news sent some relief to troubled financial services firms.
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Bruised and battered Bear Stearns Cos. stakeholders can use any help
they can get these days. They got a little boost on Thursday as
shares lifted 1.81% to close at $9.55 per share on the
not-so-surprising news that Bear's shareholders voted in favor of the
$10 per share bargain basement acquisition by J.P. Morgan Chase &
Co. The acquirer's shareholders seemed pleased that J.P. Morgan will
pick up the world's fifth-largest investment bank for pennies, as its
stock ticked up 1.66% to close at $43.57.
Another
beaten-down financial services company, Countrywide Financial Corp.,
got a bullish jolt too as it gained 8.23% to close at $5.39 per share.
Investors look to be confident that the long-awaited $4 billion
acquisition by Bank of America Corp. will close as the June 25
Countrywide shareholder vote on the deal approaches. The jump follows
an 8.5% increase on Wednesday on news that BofA said it plans
to appoint Barbara Desoer, its current chief technology and operations
officer, to run what will be its new combined mortgage operation. David
Sambol, Countrywide's president and chief operating officer, who was
originally slated to lead the merged business, will retire after
assisting Desoer with the integration.
The
airline sector, which has made deal headlines in recent months,
recorded healthy stock gains on the oil news. One of the brightest
spots was Northwest Airlines Corp., which had an 8.92% increase to
close at $7.08 per share. Northwest's pending merger partner Delta Air
Lines Inc. was not far behind, rising 8.67% on the day to close at
$6.14. -
Michael Rudnick
