Wall Street Hubbub 7/22: A Ballmer Coup at Microsoft (MSFT)?, Ford Debt Deal Pulled Due to FinReg, Paulson's New Fund

Rumors, gossip, scuttlebutt; they are all part of the Wall Street way. Here is a round-up of some of today's most interesting talk:

• There is a coup brewing to get rid of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer and others on the board of directors, as many executives and shareholders are disenchanted with the floundering stock price, the Daily Beast reported. While the story is likely far-fetched, investors in MSFT are bidding shares up 3 percent on hopes that there is a little truth to the rumors, or at the very least it will light a fire under Ballmer to "DO SOMETHING". Also, the company reports earnings after the close.
  
  
• Ford's (NYSE: F) finance arm pulled a new debt issuance after it was unable to use credit ratings in its offering documents because of FinReg. While this is clearly not a problem with Ford's debt, it is one of the first repercussions of the financial overhaul as rating agencies review their legal risk due to the new rules.
  
  
• McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) has been seeing interest today on renewed chatter it could be the target of a takeover bid. Shares are up 2.5 percent.
  
  
• John Paulson's Paulson & Co hedge fund is planning a new fund in Europe that will broaden his investor base. The firm is launching the fund under the European standard for open-ended investment funds, known as UCITS, that will track existing investments, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
  
  
• In addition to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), traders will be eying results from Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN). There has been a feeling the company will report strong results after releasing a curious press release a few days ago announcing that Kindle book sales have passed hard-cover book sales.

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