Market Wrap: Google Gets All Travel-y; Peltz Wears Down Ingersoll; Romney's Veep Pick; Merger Monday!

Market wrap-up for August 13th

End of the Day: Dow Jones down 38.5 to 13,169.43; S&P 500 down 1.8 to 1,404.11; Nasdaq up 1.7 to 3,022.52

The following is a brief summary of events moving markets today:

• Going places..: The surprise story of the day was Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) entering an agreement to acquire Frommer's travel guide from John Wiley (NYSE: JW-A)(NYSE: JW-B). The move follows Google's 2011 acquisition of Zagat and will be another stepping-stone for Google to transform into more than just a search provider.
  
  Frommer's started in 1957 with Wiley acquiring the company in 2001.
  
  Terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed with the release.
  
  
• ...while cutting the fat: In less surprising Google news, the company announced about 4,000 jobsat recently-acquired Motorola Mobility would be cut. Google said it expects to take a charge under $275 million in the move.
  
  Of the total cuts, two-thirds will be outside the U.S. and about one-third of Motorola's 90 facilities will be closed.
  
  
• Merger Monday!:
  • Focus Media Holding Limited (Nasdaq: FMCN) received a takeover proposal of $27 per share from a consortium of investors, which includes CEO Jason Jiang and The Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG).
    
  • Verint Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: VRNT) signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Comverse Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: CMVT).
    
  • Tokyo Electron Limited will acquire FSI International, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSII) for $6.20 per share in cash.
    
  • Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) said it will purchase BP Plc's (NYSE: BP) integrated Southern California refining and marketing business for $1.175 billion, plus the value of inventory at the time of closing, which was $1.3 billion at the time of the release.
    
  • Eagle Rock Energy Partners, L.P. (Nasdaq: EROC) signed a definitive agreement to acquire BP America Production Company's (NYSE: BP) Sunray and Hemphill processing plants and associated 2,500 mile gathering system serving the liquids-rich Texas Panhandle for $227.5 million in cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.
    
  • LJ International Inc. (Nasdaq: JADE) received a "go private" proposal at $2 per share.
• Will all the Peltz's in the room please take a seat? Thank you: Trian Fund's Nelson Peltz won a board seat with Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR). The appointment comes following discussions between the two and avoids a potentially long proxy battle.
  
  In addition, Peltz will also join the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and the Finance Committee of Ingersoll Rand’s Board of Directors.
  
  His Trian Fund held a 7 percent stake in the diversified machinery company.
  
  
• The R's have it: Over the weekend, [solely to this author's disbelief] GOP presidential candidate Willard Mitt Romney didn't pick one former Alaskan governor for a running mate. Instead, Romney went with young Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan (probably to keep the syllable count in his favor).
  
  Many media outlet suggest one of the bigger topics Romney/Ryan plan to battle President Obama on is Medicare, with some tax cut debate thrown in for good measure.

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