Category: Stock Market News

Talen Energy Corp.’s stock shot up 18% in premarket trade Friday, after the power generation company agreed to be acquired by private investment company Riverstone Holdings LLC, in a deal that would value Talen at about $1.8 billion. The deal includes Talen’s $3.3 billion in unsecured debt. As part of the deal, Riverstone, which already owns 35% of Talen’s stock, would pay $14 for each Talen share it didn’t already own. That represents a 17% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $11.94. Based on 128.53 shares outstanding, according to FactSet, the per-share bid would give Talen a market value of $1.799 billion. Talen will have a “go shop” period of 40 days, in which Talen may actively solicit alternative bids. If Talen accepts a superior bid, Talen would pay Riverstone $25 million. Talen’s stock has soared 92% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has gained 3%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Glencore PLC is holding discussions with Tehran about setting up a copper industry in Iran, British newspaper The Times reported Friday. The talks follow the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran, which wants its copper production to be 10 times its current size by 2025, the report said. While the Iranian government has signed a deal with commodities giant Glencore, Tehran has also held talks with mining rival Rio Tinto PLC , Mehdi Karbasian, president of the state-owned mining company, told the Times. Glencore shares rose 2.3% in early trade Friday, while Rio Tinto shares were up 0.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

A missing 7-year-old Japanese boy who was abandoned on a mountainside by his parents has been found alive and well, according to media reports. Yamato Tanooka was found in a military barracks hut a few miles from the spot in Hokkaido where his parents had left him on Saturday to discipline him for throwing stones at cars and people. The boy had taken shelter in the hut, where he kept warm using futon mattresses and drank water from a tap outside, reports said. A massive hunt involving hundreds of police and troops has been underway in the thick forest since Yamato disappeared, and the parents, who initially kept quiet about abandoning the boy, have come in for high criticism.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Apple Inc. on Thursday experienced service outages for some users and has slowly been restoring service. At around 3:45 pm Eastern, services like Apple’s App Store, Apple TV, Find My iPhone, and several iCloud based services were unavailable for some users. As of 6:30 pm Eastern, only a few iCloud based services were still down for some users, according to Apple’s website. Apple shares were up less than 0.1% at $97.77 after hours.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shiseido Americas Corp., a subsidiary of Shiseido Co. Ltd., said Thursday it has entered into an agreement with Alitcor Inc. to acquire its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gurwitch Products. The Gurwitch portfolio includes luxury skincare brand ReVive and luxury cosmetics and skincare brand Laura Mercier. Shiseido’s stable of brands include NARS, BareMinerals, and Clé de Peau Beauté. The transaction is expected to close in the third quart of 2016. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Security and networking company Blue Coat Inc. will go public via an initial public offering a year after it was sold to Bain Capital Investors for $2.4 billion, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. However, Bain will continue to hold a majority voting stake even after the deal, the company said. Blue Coat reported sales of $598.3 million and a net loss of $289.1 million in the fiscal year ended April 30. The shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol BLCT.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday accused a New York City-based trader of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars by covering up trading losses at her currency-focused hedge fund. According to the SEC, since at least January 2012, Haena Park, 40, lied about the profitability of her strategies for trading foreign currencies and futures to solicit investments in her fund, Phaetra Capital. In that time, she raised at least $14 million from more than 30 investors while suffering more than $16 million in trading losses, the SEC said. The complaint alleges Park used fictitious monthly statements to cover up her losses and paid back early investors with new money invested in the fund, an arrangement the SEC described as “Ponzi-like.” Park attended Harvard University and was employed at various financial firms between 1998 and 2008, according to the SEC’s complaint. The SEC is bringing a civil action against Park while the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York will pursue criminal charges. Park ran her fund out of an office on 6th Avenue according to an SEC filing. Park didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Gap Inc. said Thursday that sales for the month of May fell 5% to $1.18 billion from $1.25 billion for the same period last year. Same-store sales decreased 6%, with the company reporting declines at each of its brands. The namesake Gap brand saw same-store sales fall 3%. Same store sales at Banana Republic were down 11%. And at Old Navy, same-store sales were down 7%. The company said in a release that performance improved leading into the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Sunday and Monday of the holiday fell in the fiscal month of June, as opposed to May last year, which negatively impacted May results. Gap shares are up 4.5% in after-hours trading, but down 51.3% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 0.2% for the last 12 months.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Broadcom Ltd. shares rose more than 6% late Thursday after the San Jose, Calif., chip maker formerly known as Avago reported better-than-expected adjusted second-quarter earnings and sales in line with forecasts. Broadcom said it earned $3.56 million, or $2.53 a share, in the second quarter, up from $2.13 a share in the second quarter of 2015. Revenue reached $3.54 million, up from $1.61 million from the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of $2.38 a share on sales of $3.55 million. The company also announced an interim dividend of 50 cents a share, up from 49 cents in March. The dividend is payable on June 30 to shareholders of record on June 17.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday with the S&P 500 closing above the 2,100-mark for the first time since April as oil prices rebounded on the back of a weekly drop in U.S. crude supplies. Crude oil had been pressured earlier after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to reach an agreement to cap member production. July West Texas Intermediate crude rose 16 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $49.17 a barrel, bouncing back from below $48.
The S&P 500 gained 6 points, or 0.3%, to close at 2,105 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average [S: DJIA] climbed 49 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 17,838. The Nasdaq rose 19 points, or 0.4%, to close at 4,971.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News