| Market Summary |
Stocks closed mixed on Monday. A rally in the dollar and a drop in oil prices was not enough to boost the markets. Weakness in Internet stocks like Sohu.com, Google and Yahoo and a series of mixed earnings news weighed on the markets. President Bush proposed a $2.5 trillion budget that calls for deep cuts in government spending, domestic programs from farm aid to housing grants for the poor in an effort to reduce the deficit. Wal-Mart said that sales at stores open more than a year will rise 2 percent to 4 percent in February. More Market News
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| Market News |
President Bush sent Congress a $2.57 trillion budget plan Monday that would boost spending on the military and homeland security but seeks spending cuts across a wide swath of other government programs. Bush's budget would reduce subsidies paid to farmers, cut health programs for poor people and veterans and trim spending on the environment and education. (source: ABCNews) Full Story
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Weeks after a move to raise listing fees on its auction site created an uproar, eBay offered an olive branch to sellers in the form of lowering some fees and improving customer service. But if the moves patch up some of the damage done to its customers, some worry that it may come at the expense of operating margins. (source: The Street) Full Story
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PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s $779 million deal for embattled Riggs Bank has fallen apart, Riggs parent company said Monday, and Riggs is suing the regional bank for damages. Riggs National Corp. said its board has rejected a reduced merger bid of $19.32 a share from Pittsburgh-based PNC that was made after Riggs pleaded guilty to violations of a law to prevent money laundering. The original cash-and-stock deal was valued at $24.25 a share. (source: Yahoo) Full Story
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| Market Analysis |
Big gains for tiny telcos? Sure, the industry giants are all merging. But you should be taking a closer look at small telcos. Sprint is buying Nextel. SBC is scooping up AT&T. And now Verizon and Qwest are said to be looking at MCI. At this pace, it seems like there will be just one major nationwide telecom carrier left standing by the end of 2006. Or will there? Despite all the consolidation among the big brand name companies in the sector, there are still plenty of tiny telecoms out there. (source: CNNMoney) Full Story
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Deriving the Most from Dividends.With companies' cash at record levels, S&P thinks some funds may go to boost investor payouts. Here's how you can tap into high-yield stocks. Dividend-paying securities have become increasingly popular among investors for a number of reasons, including favorable tax rules and high-yielding equities' appeal as a safe haven during periods of market volatility. (source: BusinessWeek) Full Story
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Five weeks into the new year, the merger juggernaut is at full tilt. The biggest deals weigh in at tens of billions of dollars and unite companies that are household names: Gillette and Procter & Gamble. AT&T and SBC Communications. Travelers Life & Annuity and MetLife. But even before January's jumbo deals rolled into the spotlight, mergers and acquisitions were on the rise among small and midsize companies. The overall number of deals climbed 8 percent to 8,313 last year, from 7,702 in 2003, while the dollar value surged 46 percent to $833 billion in 2004, from $570 billion a year earlier, according to the Association for Corporate Growth. One new wrinkle in the merger environment is a heightened appetite of foreign buyers, who are capitalizing on the weaker dollar, for acquiring US companies. (source: Boston.com) Full Story
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