Every morning the Street of Walls team puts out an update on market levels, today’s top stories, and active M&A deals.
Today’s Top Stories:
- Gov’t Supercommittee:it appears that the Supercommittee will wind up failing. The Washington Post reports the committee could admit defeat as early as Mon while members took to the Sun morning talk show circuit to blame the other side for intransigence http://wapo.st/sZzLtl
- Soros urges ECB to Step In: Soros says there is currently a crisis of confidence in Eurozone sovereign debt w/investors losing faith pretty much across the board, even in the AAAs
- HF Analyst Headcount: The average headcount for a hedge fund under $1 billion in assets was 12, for funds between $1-5 billion the average headcount was 32 and for funds over $5 billion the average headcount was 127 http://bit.ly/t6NLPx
- Housing Near a Bottom: For the first time in a long time, housing figures are coming in better than expected http://on.wsj.com/uE8xwU
- Goldman & Apollo PE Team Up: GS’s PE unit has teamed w/Apollo Global Mgmt to make a bid for BAC’s MBNA Europe unit (Bloomberg)
- UBS Bonus Pool Cut: CEO tells the FT the firm may have to cut the annual bonus pool to ensure this year’s trading scandal doesn’t wind up eating into profits too much (FT)
- Black Friday Retail Preview: “After staying at home in Oct and early Nov, we believe consumers are ready to hit the stores on Black Friday, which is expected to be the top Holiday shopping day for the fifth consecutive year. In the NRF’s 2011 BF Shopping survey, 33.3% of consumers surveyed said they would shop on BF weekend, up from 27.1% LY, as they seek the deep discounts offered by retailers” (Citi Research)
- Icahn Buys more Tropicana: Carl Icahn disclosed that he is the beneficial owner of 65.06% of the oustanding common stock of Tropicana Entertainment (OTC: TPCA.PK), an increase from the previous 61.6% holding disclosure on August 26, 2011 http://bit.ly/tL6Bos
Economic Calendar:
- Monday: Chicago Fed, Existing Home Sales
- Tuesday: 3Q GDP, Personal Consumption, Richmond Fed, FOMC Meeting Minutes
- Wednesday: Durable/Cap Goods Order, Personal Income, PCE Deflator, Initial Jobless Claims, U. of Mich Confidence Sentiment, Kansas Fed Survey
- Thursday: US Market closed
- Friday: N/A
M&A Watch:
- Resolution said talks about a possible acquisition of Phoenix Group Holdings have terminated (BBG)
- GILD to buy VRUS for $11B. Huge premium (89%) as VRUS has best-in-class HCV (Hep C Virus) franchise
- Pearson Plc agreed to acquire Global Education & Technology Group Ltd for RMB1.8 billion
- Alleghany (Y) agrees to buy Transatlantic Holdings (TRH) for $3.4B ($59.79/sh)
