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Precision Castparts Corp. is a “perfect fit” for Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. , says Sterne Agee CRT analyst Peter Arment, because “it’s in a growth industry (both organic and inorganic), has significant market shares in all platforms, high barriers to entry and is very profitable with industry leading operating margins.” Arment doesn’t foresee any antitrust issues, or any likely other suitors that can top Buffett’s bid for the company. He said the selloff in Precision Castparts’ stock over the last 18 months is a result of missteps in its oil and gas business, and because the company has missed earnings expectations in 13 out of 18 quarters. “Being private with Warren Buffett takes the latter issue off the table,” Arment wrote in a note to clients. Precision Castparts’ stock (PCP) has dropped 25% over the past 18 months through Friday, while the S&P 500 has climbed 16%. PCP soared 20% in premarket trade, while Berkshire Hathaway’s stock slipped 1.7%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Federal Reserve is concerned about low inflation and won’t move before it sees inflation returning to more normal levels, said Stanley Fischer, the vice chairman of the U.S. central bank, in a television interview Monday. “The interesting situation in which we are is that employment has been rising pretty fast relative to previous performance and yet inflation is very low. And the concern about the situation is not to move before we see inflation as well as employment returning to more normal levels,” he said. If the Fed were focused solely on inflation, it would have to try to be more accommodative, if that was possible, Fischer told Bloomberg TV. The economy still hasn’t returned to normal times, but “we hope to be doing that,” Fischer said. He said he agreed the economy needed to be reflated but said he was not in favor of a 4% annual inflation rate target. The Fed vice chairman said a large part of the decline of inflation is temporary and has to do with the decline in the price of oil and raw materials. “These are things which will stabilize at some point, so we’re not going to be as low as we are now forever,” he said. But he added the data has to drive decisions. Global disinflation “is a factor that bothers us,” he said. “It is not inevitable, it is not baked in the economies abroad, but it is there right now,” he said.

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From:: Stock Market News

Precision Castparts Corp.’s stock soared 19% in premarket trade Monday, after the maker of aircraft components and energy-production equipment agreed to be acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in a cash deal valued at $37.2 billion, including debt, which would make it the famed billionaire investor’s biggest ever acquisition. Under terms of the deal, Berkshire will pay $235 for each Precision Castparts share outstanding, which represents 21% premium to Friday’s closing price. The company’s market value at Friday’s close was $26.7 billion, according to FactSet. The Wall Street Journal had reported over the weekend that a deal was imminent. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2016. “I’ve admired PCC’s operation for a long time,” said Berkshire Chief Executive Buffett. “For good reasons, it is the supplier of choice for the world’s aerospace industry, one of the largest sources of American exports.” Precision Castparts’ stock has lost 20% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.9%. Berkshire’s stock, which dropped 1.8% in premarket trade, has lost 4.4% this year.

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From:: Stock Market News

Details have begun to emerge for Hillary Clinton’s plan to tackle college affordability, with media reports on Monday saying her “New College Compact” would cost $350 billion over 10 years. The Democratic presidential candidate had been expected to reveal particulars during town-hall discussions in New Hampshire on Monday and Tuesday. Clinton would “pay for the plan by capping the value of itemized deductions that wealthy families can take on their tax returns,” said a New York Times report. She “wants to help student debtors by taxing the rich,” said a Huffington Post article.

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From:: Stock Market News

The U.S. Consulate in Istanbul came under attack Monday, with its Twitter account saying it has closed to the public as officials there work with Turkish authorities to investigate. A man and woman opened fire on the U.S. Consulate in the Sariyer district, but they fled after police returned fire and there were no immediate reports of civilian injuries, according to a Reuters report. That attack follows a separate attack on a police station in a different district in Turkey’s largest city that reportedly left at least two dead and 10 injured. The violence comes as Turkey takes a more active role against Islamic State militants, an AP report said.

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From:: Stock Market News

Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford died suddenly Sunday at the age of 84, according to media reports. Variety quoted a statement attributed to the Gifford family: “It is with the deepest sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and friend.” Gifford, married to talk-show host Kathie Lee Gifford since 1986, would have turned 85 next Sunday. He starred for the New York Giants in the 1950s and 1960s before becoming an Emmy-winning sportscaster, most notably teaming with Howard Cosell and Don Meredith on ABC’s legendary “Monday Night Football” telecasts of the ’70s and ’80s.

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From:: Stock Market News

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” in its second week of release, has held its No. 1 spot at the U.S. box office, according to Box Office Mojo data, raking in $29.4 million. Though that figure was down 47% from a week earlier, it held off the opening-weekend performances of “Fantastic Four” and “The Gift,” whose box-office takes were reported as $26.2 million and $12 million, respectively. “Fantastic Four” has faced a harsh reception among critics and moviegoers and had been projected to perform nearly twice as well in its opening weekend.

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President Obama, in an interview with Fareed Zakaria aired Sunday on CNN, said he understands the suspicion and caution toward the Iran nuclear deal that are being expressed in Israel officialdom and public opinion. He said he had called on Benjamin Netanyahu and other critics of that deal to present an alternate approach that achieves as much as the recently agreed pact does but has received no reply. He added that “there is no doubt” that his or any future U.S. administration would respond forcefully in the event of any attack on Israel. Drawing a comparison to Cold War nuclear negotiations in which Soviet missiles were pointed at U.S. targets even as concessions were made by American negotiators, “here,” the president said, “we preserve all our options” in the event of a transgression. See: White House confident it has votes to block any resolution of disapproval on Iran deal even in light of Schumer announcement.

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As a phone-in guest Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Donald Trump insisted that his controversial remark about Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly has been widely misinterpreted. He told host Jake Tapper that he meant only to take note of Kelly’s anger at having been “bested” by him at one point in the Thursday debate. When he said blood had been issuing from Kelly’s eyes and “out of her wherever,” he meant only to pivot toward a wider policy point, he said. One would “almost have to be a deviant” to connect his blood references to menstruation, Trump said. He said that as president he would make strides in women’s health that his rivals for the Republican presidential nod could not match.

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From:: Stock Market News

Don’t throw in the drop cloth quite yet. We’ve queried pros far and wide to home in on useful color choice advice …read more

From:: DIY this old house