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New York hedge fund Starboard Value L.P. said on Tuesday it sent a letter to Media General Inc.’s chief executive to express its frustration that the TV station operator’s “significant delay” in commencing merger negotiations with Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. . Media General had announced a deal on Sept. 8 to buy fellow TV operator Meredith Corp. for about $2.4 billion. Nexstar followed by making an unsolicited bid to buy Media General on Sept. 28. Starboard sent a letter to Media General’s board on Sept. 29 saying it believed the Nexstar deal was a superior deal for Media General shareholders, while the deal to buy Meredith was “value destructive.” On Oct. 14, Media General said it reached agreement with Meredith that allows for the exchange of non-public information with Nexstar. “It has been close to a month since Meredith granted the waiver allowing Media General and Nexstar to engage in mutual due diligence, and we cannot understand why it should take so long for Media General to declare that Nexstar’s acquisition proposal is reasonably likely to lead to a superior proposal,” Starboard’s letter on Tuesday said.

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From:: Stock Market News

Global economic growth will be lackluster during the next two years, weighed down by the slowdown in China and other emerging markets, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report on Tuesday. That muted growth will hinder governments in reducing their debts and prevent central banks from raising interest rates significantly, said the report’s author, Marie Diron, in a news release. She also warned that authorities “lack the large fiscal and conventional monetary policy buffers to protect their economies from potential shocks.” Moody’s predicts G-20 GDP growth will average 2.8% in 2015-17, only 0.3 percentage point higher than in 2012-14 and below the 3.8% average recorded in the five years before the financial crisis, the release added.

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Shares of Overstock.com Inc. skidded in Monday’s extended session after the online retailer posted quarterly losses. Overstock reported it swung to a third-quarter loss of $2.6 million, or 8 cents a share, from a profit of $1.6 million, or 7 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue grew to $391.2 million from $353 million. Overstock.com shares slumped 5.9% in after-hours trading.

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Rackspace Hosting Inc. rallied in Monday’s extended session after the cloud-computing company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. Rackspace reported its third-quarter earnings rose to $36.5 million, or 26 cents a share, from $25.7 million, or 18 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue grew 10.7% to $508.9 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 20 cents a share on revenue of $503 million. In the fourth quarter, the company expects revenue to rise 2% to 3% sequentially. Shares of Rackspace jumped 8.3% in after-hours trading.

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The long fall of LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. hit another sudden decline Monday afternoon, with shares falling more than 20% after a disappointing earnings result. The electronic-toy company reported a net loss of $34.1 million, or 48 cents a share, on revenue of $67.2 million, representing a sales decline of more than 40% from the same quarter a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 18 cents a share on sales of $88.1 million. The company announced in October it was cutting more than a quarter of its work force, and Chairman Bill Chiasson said in Monday’s announcement that the company is still exploring strategic alternatives. Shares, which have dropped more than 80% this year, fell to less than 70 cents in late trading Monday after closing at 85 cents.

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Gap Inc. shares fell 6.1% in after-hours trading after it reported a 3% October decrease in same-store sales. Banana Republic had a 15% same-store sales decline for the month. Same-store sales fell 2% for the same period in 2014. Gap reported a 4% same-store sales decline versus 7% for the same period last year and Old Navy said it had a 2% increase versus a flat result for the same period in 2014. Sales for the month were $1.2 billion compared with $1.26 billion the previous year. For the third quarter of fiscal 2015, Gap reported sales of $3.86 billion, down from $3.97 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales for the quarter were down 2% compared with a 2% decline last year. Same-store sales were down 12% for the quarter at Banana Republic versus flat for the same period last year, down 4% at Gap compared with 5% for third quarter of 2014, and up 4% at Old Navy compared with a 1% increase for the same period in 2014. The company expects adjusted earnings per share between 62 cents and 63 cents for the third quarter. The FactSet consensus is 67 cents. Shares are down 34.2% for the year so far. The S&P is up 1% for the same period. See also: Gap downgraded as Banana Republic sales extend their decline

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Caesars Entertainment Corp. shares slumped in Monday’s extended session after the casino operator reported steep quarterly losses. Caesars reported its third-quarter loss narrowed to $756 million, or $5.44 a share, from a loss of $980 million, or $6.29 a share, a year earlier. Revenue shrank to $535 million from $1.39 billion. Caesars noted that results prior to Jan. 15 have not been adjusted to reflect Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. filing for Chapter 11. Shares of Caesars sank 13% in after-hours trading.

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U.S. stocks ended Monday with the sharpest decline in six weeks, marking a fourth consecutive session of losses for the S&P 500. Some analysts said the losses may be due to increased odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December after last week’s strong jobs report. The S&P 500 closed 20.60 points, or 1%, lower at 2,078.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 179.65 points, or 1%, to 17,730.68. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 51.82 points, or 1%, at 5,095.30.

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Atlassian Corporation Plc., a business software company, filed for an initial public offering Monday for its class A ordinary shares. In its initial filing, the company said it seeks to raise up to $250 million and trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol “TEAM.” The company has been profitable for 10 years and the company reported net income of $6.8 million in 2015, $19.0 million in 2014 and $10.8 million in 2013. It had revenues of $319.5 million for 2015, $215.1 million for 2015 and $148.5 million for 2013. Atlassian reported more than 51,000 customers.

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Mallinckrodt PLC’s stock plunged as much as 26% in intraday trade Monday, after noted short seller Citron Research said the stock could fall a lot more than embattled peer Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. . Citron published a report on Oct. 21 alleging accounting improprieties at Valeant related to its Philidor subsidiary. Valeant’s stock tumbled 19% that day, and over 40% since, prompting Valeant to sever ties with Philidor last week. Citron tweeted on Monday that at current prices, Mallinkrodt’s stock has significantly more downside than Valeant’s, and was a “far worse offender” of the reimbursement system–“more to follow.” The stock’s intraday low of $52.01 was the lowest level seen since January 2014. It has pared some of its losses, to be down 14% in recent afternoon trade.

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From:: Stock Market News