Market Wrap: Italy Gets Attention...Finally; AMR Belly-Flops; TE Connectivity Goes Shopping; Facebook!

Market wrap-up for November 29th

End of the Day: Dow Jones up 32.6 to 11,555.63; Nasdaq: down 11.8 to 2,515.51; S&P 500 up 2.6 to 1,195.19

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

• It's-a no big-a deel: Italy will be the prime focus in talks at an upcoming meeting of EU finance ministers following a recent bond auction which saw yields on Italian debt hit euro-record levels.
  
  On Tuesday, yields at a 10-year bond auction rose to 7.56 percent, above the critical 7 percent benchmark countries like Greece, Ireland, and Portugal hit before needing to seek help from external sources.
  
  Separately, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti is said to be holding meetings with Eurogroup President Jean Claude Juncker and French Finance Minister Francois Baroin in order to discuss Italy's finances.
  
  
• Airline sector strong today as: AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) filed for chapter 11 protection under the U.S. bankruptcy code, spurring a fire sale on the shares. Though it hit about 16 circuit breakers, AMR flattened out after about the third one, hanging at the mid-30 cent range for the duration of the session.
  
  In a statement from the release: "AMR's Board of Directors determined that a Chapter 11 reorganization is in the best interest of the Company and its stakeholders. Just as with the Company's major airline competitors in recent years, the Chapter 11 process enables American Airlines and American Eagle to continue conducting normal business operations while they restructure their debt, costs and other obligations."
  
  Delta (NYSE: DAL) finished the day up 5 percent, United Continental (NYSE: UAL) was up 6 percent, JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) rose more than 10 percent and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) was up 4.5 percent.
  
  
• Rivals? We don't need no stinkin' rivals: TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Wende and has made a binding offer to acquire Deutsch Group SAS (Deutsch), in a transaction valued at €1.55 billion (approximately $2.06 billion at current exchange rates). The proposed acquisition will enable TE to provide a wide range of industry-leading connectivity products for harsh environment applications.
  
  It is expected to be accretive to the Company's adjusted earnings by approximately $0.20 per share in fiscal 2013, excluding acquisition-related costs. The potential acquisition is expected to close by the third fiscal quarter ended June 29, 2012.
  
  
• Confidence fits like a glove: According to data from the Conference Board Tuesday, consumer confidence over the last month ripped from an upwardly revised 40.9 in October to 56.0. The jump is the largest sequential gain since April of 2003. The Street was looking for a reading of 44.0 for the month.
  
  
• Now how're they gonna generate growth?: Facebook reached a privacy settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), tough no cash terms were announced. Basically, the FTC said if Facebook screws up, then there will be some cash penalties.
  
  Notably an aggressive charge, the FTC hit Facebook with eight counts of privacy violations it constituted to be "unfair and deceptive."
  
  FTC Chair Jon Beibowitz said, "The settlement signals that the FTC will use every tool at its disposal to make sure that every company treats every user's privacy with care and respect."

Click here to go to Streetinsider's Full News Feed and never miss a beat!

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Walmart (WMT) PT Lowered to $130 at UBS on Investment Narrative's Competing Dynamics
• Is the global equity rally broadening? UBS weighs in
• Beike (BEKE) PT Raised to $23 at Morgan Stanley