Top 10 News Items 3/8-3/12: Retails Sales Jump, AIG (AIG) Has Another Huge Sale, PotashCorp (POT) Raises Guidance, Citigroup (C) Surges
Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:
1. Retail sales improved by 0.3 percent in February, while economists had been looking for a 0.2 percent decrease for the month. The latest data shows that shoppers may in fact be opening their wallets, and in turn helping the economy emerge from the "Great Recession" that has struck the country. Excluding autos, retail sales jumped in February by 0.8 percent, well ahead of the 0.1 percent increase that economists had projected, while excluding auto sales rose 0.5 percent in January, revised down from a 0.6 percent increase. Excluding autos and gas, retail sales jumped in February by 0.9 percent, well ahead of the 0.3 percent increase that economists had projected.
2. After selling AIA Group last week for $35.5 billion, this week bailed-out insurer AIG (NYSE: AIG) sold ALICO to MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) for approximately $15.5 billion.
3. Late Thursday, PotashCorp (NYSE: POT) raised their first-quarter earnings guidance to a range of $1.30-$1.50, well above the initial guidance of $0.70-$1.00 provided on January 28, 2010. The analyst consensus is $0.94. PotashCorp said the upward revision reflects a sharp rebound in potash demand that is expected to drive a record quarter for North American sales volumes and strong offshore shipments, as well as higher-than-expected margins in nitrogen and phosphate. The news boosted shares of PotashCorp (NYSE: POT) and rivals Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), Agrium (NYSE: AGU) and Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI) on Friday.
4. Citigroup (NYSE: C) has an amazing week on speculation of a government share sale. The shares rose nearly 13% and has traded over 1 billion shares every day this week - dominating volume on the NYSE. Shares will likely continue to be a battleground - here are the reasons for and against the stock.
5. Continuing the frenzied pace of M&A in the biotech space, this week Facet Biotech Corp. (NASDAQ: FACT) agreed to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) for $27 per share, which was a 67 percent premium over the Tuesday closing price of $17 and higher than a previous bid from Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) of $17.50.
6. Rumors hit the market Tuesday that the government is considering short sale curbs on companies in which the U.S. government has a stake. The rumors sent shares of Citigroup (NYSE: C), AIG (NYSE: AIG), Fannie (NYSE: FNM), Freddie (NYSE: FRE) higher. The SEC addressed the rumors, saying there was not truth to them.
7. The biggest IPO so far this year came to the market on Thursday . Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE: ST) priced its initial public offering of 31,600,000 ordinary shares at a price to the public of $18.00 per share, the low end of the expected $18-$20 range. Shares closed the week relatively flat. Also on the IPO front, the CBOE and KBR (NYSE: KBR) filed for IPOs this week. The IPO is showing small signs of life.
8. InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN) surged 65% on Wednesday after an FDA advisory panel voted 9-3 to recommend approval of pirfenidone for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
9. General Growth Properties, Inc. (NYSE: GGP) confirmed it has received a proposal from Fairholme Capital Management, LLC and Pershing Square Capital Management to commit $3.925 billion of new equity capital at a value of $15.00 per share to facilitate GGP's emergence from bankruptcy. Together with the previously announced $2.625 billion proposal from Brookfield Asset Management, Inc., this proposal, if accepted, would provide GGP with more than $6.5 billion of committed equity capital.
10. A U.S. bankruptcy-court examiner that is investigating the conditions of the largest bankruptcy in the nation's history is blaming senior executives and auditor Ernest & Young for serious lapses that led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which was a major causality of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Full Report Here
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