Top 10 News Items 12/6-12/10: Chinese IPO's On Fire!; S&P Makes A Plethora of Changes to Indices; AGL, Nicor Announce Major Deal In Nat-Gas Sector
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Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:
1. The IPO's of several China-based companies were, to say the least, en fuego this week. After pricing at $12.80, Youku.com (Nasdaq: YOKU), the so-called "Hulu of China", opened just under $27 on Wednesday and by Friday morning, had just barely touched $50. Shares closed this week at $37.50. China Dangdang (Nasdaq: DANG), which priced at $16, opened around $24.85 and closed this week's session at $32.79.
2. Standard & Poor's announced a number of important index changes to the S&P 500 this week: Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FFIV), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Newfield Exploration (NYSE: NFX) will be added to the S&P 500 as of next Friday. King Pharma (NYSE: KG), which is being acquired by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), New York Times (NYSE: NYT), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) and Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) will be removed from the index.
3. On the M&A front, AGL Resources (NYSE: AGL) and Nicor Gas (NYSE: GAS) announced a massive $8.6 billion merger in the nat-gas sector this week. Nicor shareholders will be entitled to receive for each share of Nicor common stock, $21.20 in cash and 0.8382 shares of AGL Resources common stock, for a total value of $53 per share.
4. Shares of Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC) surged more than 26% on Friday following reports that the company could be looking for interest from private-equity groups. Some analysts have valued the company at more than $5 billion.
5. General Electric (NYSE: GE) shares finished this week on a strong note as the company announced that it will raise its quarterly dividend by 17% from 12c to 14c/share. The dividend will yield about 3.20%.
6. Community Health (NYSE: CYH) offered Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) $6/share on Thursday night of this week, sending shares of Tenet surging by about 55% on Friday. Tenet acknowledged and rejected the Community Health bid. After opening lower, Community Health shares closed Friday's session up 13%.
7. Shares of Compellent (NYSE: CML) were very volatile this week following news that the company is in talks with Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) in a takeover deal that could come at an 18% discount.
8. Air Products (NYSE: APD) once again raised its bid for Airgas (NYSE: ARG), this week to $70/share. Air Products called the latest offer its "best and final" offer. Despite the news, shares of Airgas finished this week lower.
9. lululemon (Nasdaq: LULU) shares surged more than 22% to end this week's session following strong Q3 results and guidance on Thursday. The company reported quarterly EPS of 36c, beating the Street by 11c, on sales of $175.8M. lululemon said it expects Q4 EPS in the range of 46-48c on sales of $210-$215 million.
10. Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) had a rough week on Wall Street following its Q3 earnings report. Green Mountain said it expects Q1 EPS of 14-18c and sales growth of 55-60%. For FY11, the company sees EPS of $1.19-$1.29 on sales growth of 45-53%.
1. The IPO's of several China-based companies were, to say the least, en fuego this week. After pricing at $12.80, Youku.com (Nasdaq: YOKU), the so-called "Hulu of China", opened just under $27 on Wednesday and by Friday morning, had just barely touched $50. Shares closed this week at $37.50. China Dangdang (Nasdaq: DANG), which priced at $16, opened around $24.85 and closed this week's session at $32.79.
2. Standard & Poor's announced a number of important index changes to the S&P 500 this week: Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FFIV), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Newfield Exploration (NYSE: NFX) will be added to the S&P 500 as of next Friday. King Pharma (NYSE: KG), which is being acquired by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), New York Times (NYSE: NYT), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) and Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) will be removed from the index.
3. On the M&A front, AGL Resources (NYSE: AGL) and Nicor Gas (NYSE: GAS) announced a massive $8.6 billion merger in the nat-gas sector this week. Nicor shareholders will be entitled to receive for each share of Nicor common stock, $21.20 in cash and 0.8382 shares of AGL Resources common stock, for a total value of $53 per share.
4. Shares of Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC) surged more than 26% on Friday following reports that the company could be looking for interest from private-equity groups. Some analysts have valued the company at more than $5 billion.
5. General Electric (NYSE: GE) shares finished this week on a strong note as the company announced that it will raise its quarterly dividend by 17% from 12c to 14c/share. The dividend will yield about 3.20%.
6. Community Health (NYSE: CYH) offered Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) $6/share on Thursday night of this week, sending shares of Tenet surging by about 55% on Friday. Tenet acknowledged and rejected the Community Health bid. After opening lower, Community Health shares closed Friday's session up 13%.
7. Shares of Compellent (NYSE: CML) were very volatile this week following news that the company is in talks with Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) in a takeover deal that could come at an 18% discount.
8. Air Products (NYSE: APD) once again raised its bid for Airgas (NYSE: ARG), this week to $70/share. Air Products called the latest offer its "best and final" offer. Despite the news, shares of Airgas finished this week lower.
9. lululemon (Nasdaq: LULU) shares surged more than 22% to end this week's session following strong Q3 results and guidance on Thursday. The company reported quarterly EPS of 36c, beating the Street by 11c, on sales of $175.8M. lululemon said it expects Q4 EPS in the range of 46-48c on sales of $210-$215 million.
10. Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) had a rough week on Wall Street following its Q3 earnings report. Green Mountain said it expects Q1 EPS of 14-18c and sales growth of 55-60%. For FY11, the company sees EPS of $1.19-$1.29 on sales growth of 45-53%.
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