Market Wrap: Greece's New FinMin; News Corp May Divide, Conquer; Drop in Home Prices Slow; the Zynga Show

Market wrap-up for June 26th

End of the Day: Dow Jones up 32.0 to 12,534.67; S&P 500 up 6.3 to 1,319.99; Nasdaq up 17.9 to 2,854.06

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

• We choose you, Stournaras-achu!: Following the resignation of its finance minister yesterday, Greece named Yannis Stournaras to the spot. Aside from being a professor of economics at the University of Athens, Stournaras also chairs the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research in Greece.
  
  He's also no stranger to politics, having served as economic advisor to Greece's finance ministry from 1994 through the middle of 2000 and also participated in negotiations for Greece's entry into the euro zone in 2001.
  
  
• Will the new companies be "News" and "Corp?": News Corp (Nasdaq: NWSA) shares ended up at all-time highs after confirming it was considering a restructuring of the company into two separately-traded public companies.
  
  News Corp would split into entertainment and publishing units, which may allow News Corp to retain its 39 percent stake in British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSkyB).
  
  
• Some positive light in a hampered segment: S&P Case-Shiller's 20-City Index fell just 1.9 percent year-over-year in April, beating views looking for a larger drop of 2.5 percent. The drop is the smallest since November 2010. Homebuilding stocks like Lennar (NYSE: LEN), PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM), and Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV) all ended higher on the session.
  
  For more on the housing data, click here.
  
  
• And..?: Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA) shares sank late Tuesday following the unveiling of its Zynga with Friends social network as well as its new game entitled "The Ville." Shares had a nice run-up to the event, moving 22 percent since June 12th, so there might have been some profit taking going on.
  
  Or, investors could be wondering exactly how much life is left in a social "Bejeweled" (a.k.a. - Zynga's new "Matching with Friends" game).
  
  
• Buyback Frenzy!: In late Tuesday trading, both Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and retailer Guess? (NYSE: GES) approved stock buyback plans. Bristol-Myers will repurchase an additional $3 billion of its outstanding common, while Guess? boosted its plan by $500 million. Of note, H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) also extended the expiration on its previously announced $2 billion plan by three years, through June 30, 2015.

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