“Rob Schneider was busy last week with all the ‘Corporate Matrimony’ on Wall Street”
Dow: 13,982, (-0.1% last week, +6.7% YTD)
Links Worth Snacking On:
- Chart of the Week – Presidents Day by the numbers
- MarketSnacks – Q&A on the European debt crisis with professor Maria Lorca-Susino
- WSJ Video – How 10 American airlines became 4
- Wall Street Oasis – 15 things I wish I knew as a 1st year banking analyst
- Bloomberg – What happens when Warren Buffett buys your company
- DealBook - What does it mean when trading activity spikes right before an acquisition? Probably good ol’ insider trading
- CNN Money – Burger King twitter gets McHacked
- AdAge – Google using Google to promote a Google movie
- Blog Maverik – Mark Cuban talks from the heart on what it’s like to own a professional sports team
Few things encourage a 3-day weekend of getting after it like meteorites crashing into Siberia. Luckily, MarketSnacks is here to hold your hand for all the Wall Street news. From the State of the Union to Valentine’s Day, stocks were mixed all week led by some major mergers & acquisitions.
#1. Big Week of Mergers & Acquisitions
Nothing’s quite as sexy as multiple large-cap companies getting it on. First Comcast snagged the remaining 49% it didn’t own NBC Universal from General Electric (GE). GE finally gave up the rest of their television business just as Tracy Jordan & Jenna Moroney had their last TGS episode.
On Valentine’s Day, American Airlines & US Airways became life partners to create the world’s biggest airline. With American Airlines in bankruptcy, consolidation seemed like the only way the two companies could go on. What used to be 10 big American airline companies is now 4.
Then Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway & Brazilian private equity firm 3G ate up Heinz for $23 billion. The Pittsburgh-based company famous for concocting 57 different ketchup varieties inked the biggest food company buy-out ever.
#2. AB InBev finally got its Mexican acquisition
Remember when Belgian-based AB InBev had their planned acquisition of Grupo Modelo squashed by the US Justice Department? Well the deal is back on, baby. InBev agreed to let Grupo’s Corona fall out of the deal to convince regulators that they won’t control too much of the beer market. Constellation Brands nabbed Corona instead and skyrocketed up ~40%.
#3. Corporate Drama
Apple snagged some Page 6 worthy attention on rumors it’s planning a smart iWatch for your stupid, boring wrist. Research in Motion shares got hit after Home Depot announced it’s switching all its execs & managers from BlackBerrys to iPhones. And Google was a little shaky after Chairman Eric Schmidt said he’s selling part of his hefty pile of GOOG shares.
#4. State of the Union reactions
The big thought for investors was on their fries. McDonald’s and other fast food joints sank on fears oh higher labor costs after Prez Obama proposed a higher $9 minimum wage in Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
#5. Europe’s 4th Quarter GDP wasn’t too hot
Over in the Eurozone, crepe-eating economies are worse than most analysts expected. The Eurozone contracted by 0.6% in the Sept – Dec period of 2012. Even more startling – Germany and France joined the downward dance with the rest of ‘em. Oh yeah, and MarketSnacks posted an awesome Q&A on with a published European finance expert…
What MarketSnacks Is Checking Out This Week:
- Monday – MARKETS CLOSED FOR PRESIDENTS DAY
- Tuesday – February Housing Market Index, Earnings: Barnes & Noble, Dell, La-Z-Boy
- Wednesday – January Housing Starts & Building Permits, Earnings: Boston Beer, Six Flags, Cheesecake Factory
- Thursday – Weekly Jobless Claims, January Existing Home Sales, Earnings: Wal-Mart, AIG, HP
- Friday – Earnings: Washington Post, Abercrombie & Fitch
