Welcome to Deal Stocks, where we focus on a handful of select public
companies involved in activity across the deal spectrum -- including
M&A, private equity, IPOs, bankruptcies and corporate
restructurings. These are the transactions that define The Deal and are
likely contributors to a stock's gains or losses. Join in the
conversation on Twitter @dealstocks.
The market was either celebrating Citigroup Inc.'s (NYSE:C) newest largest shareholder or another possible divestment as the New York-based bank finished strongly, rising 25 cents, or 8.42%, to $3.22. The closing price was the first time Citigroup finished up above $3 since July 20. Overall, the Dow closed down 26, or .29%, to 9,070.72 while the Nasdaq finished down 7.75, or .39%, to 1,967.76.
Citigroup was one stock that moved against the grain of a declining market, advancing on reports that Uncle Sam will own a total of $34% of the bank. Additionally, media reports suggest that Sumitomo Trust & Banking agreed to acquire the New York-based bank's Nikko Asset Management for ¥100 billion or ($1.1 billion). But The Deal's Laura Board reports otherwise: Sumitomo of Osaka, Japan, said that "nothing specific in this regard has been decided at this moment." (See ThebDeal Pipeline -- subscription required.) A Citigroup spokesman in Japan also declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Citi's beaten-down cousin is moving closer to selling its Taiwan unit, Nan Shan Life Insurance. Taiwan's government is in process of reviewing business plans and sources of funding for potential bidders that do not include private equity firms. American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) also offloaded most of its Polish operations to Banco Santander SA. (The Deal Pipeline subscribers can read the full story here.) Shares of AIG finished the session in the red. Here's a closer look at other stocks involved in deals:
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The long-awaited search deal between Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is finally done, as the two hope that combining forces will help them close on Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) so-far insurmountable lead. Shares of Yahoo! closed down as investors wondered where Yahoo! CEO Carol A. Bartz's "boatloads of money" were.
The dealmaking extended into the pharmaceutical industry as well as Sanofi-Aventis SA (NYSE:SNY) has reportedly bought out Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) in their Merial animal health venture. The value of Merck's stake could be as high as $2.8 billion.
All eyes will be on Cablevision Corp. (NYSE:CVC) on Thursday, which will report second-quarter earnings. The markets will be waiting to see if the media conglomerate will have any updates to its announcement in May that it is exploring the possibility of a spinoff of its Madison Square Garden unit. - George White and Gerald Magpily
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VITAL SIGNS |
|
Figures are calculated
according to the latest stock data available at approximately 4:30 pm
ET |
|
July 29, 2009 |
|
Benchmark |
Spread |
Change from previous day |
1 week ago |
1 month ago |
1 year ago |
|
LIBOR 1-MONTH |
0.29 |
-0.003 |
0.29 |
0.31 |
2.46 |
|
LIBOR 3-MONTH |
0.49 |
-0.004 |
0.50 |
0.60 |
2.80 |
|
TED |
0.30 |
+0.003 |
0.31 |
0.41 |
1.12 |
|
Exchange |
Average |
Change from previous day |
1 week ago |
1 month ago |
1 year ago |
|
VIX |
25.69 |
+0.68 (+2.72%) |
23.47 |
25.35 |
|
|
T-bond |
Current Price/Yield |
Price/Yield change |
|
3-Year |
99-14+ / 1.69 |
-0-04+ / .049
|
|
5-Year |
99-30 / 2.64 |
-0-05.5 / .037 |
|
10-Year |
95-19 / 3.66 |
|
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