Peter Schacknow, Senior Producer, CNBC Breaking News Desk
U.S. stocks continue to enjoy a positive August — against historical trend — with the Dow and S&P 500 now riding a six-week winning streak. Friday’s left the Dow just four points short of its highest close since December of 2007, while the S&P 500 was about a point shy of its own multi-year closing high.
This may well be a “news vacuum” week for the markets in terms of economic numbers, with none out today and relatively few this week. The earnings calendar is similarly light, though investors will be paying close attention to this morning’s report from home improvement retailer Lowe’s (LOW) following an upbeat report from rival Home Depot (HD) last week. After today’s closing bell, retailer Urban Outfitters (URBN) is among the handful of reports set for release.
Coventry Health (CVH) leads our list of stocks to watch, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that it’s struck a deal to be acquired by Aetna (AET) for $5.7 billion in cash and stock. The price of $42.08 per share is a more than 20 percent premium to Coventry’s closing price on Friday.
Best Buy (BBY) could be influenced by two pieces of news: one, that buyout talks between the electronics retailer and founder Richard Schulze have broken down, with Best Buy saying Schulze had rejected its due diligence offer. Schulze has offered to buy the company for between $24 and $26 per share. Separately, the Journal reports that Best Buy has selected Hubert Joly as its new CEO to replace interim chief Mike Mikan. Joly is former head of privately held travel company Carlson.
Facebook (FB) remains on the watch list, both because of its ongoing price decline, and following a ruling involving its “sponsored stories” advertising program. A judge has rejected a proposed legal settlement over charges that Facebook violated its members’ rights through that program.
Flight attendants at AMR Corp.’s (AAMRQ) American Airlines have accepted the company’s contract offer, voting nearly 60 percent in favor. That means AMR will not go to court to attempt to void a prior pact with that group as it unsuccessfully tried to do with its pilots.
Google’s (GOOG) Motorola Mobility unit has filed a new claim with the International Trade Commission against Apple (APPL), saying Apple infringed seven of its patents. Those patents include those for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings tells the Sunday Telegraph that his company will attempt to outbid BSkyB for the premium rights to movies from Hollywood’s six biggest studios. BSKyB current holds those rights. Netflix launched in the U.K. and Ireland in January and has more than one million customers there.
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