Market Wrap: Apple's Galaxy-Sized Victory; AOL Fires-Up the ATM; Commodities Snub Isaac; Merger Monday!

Market wrap-up for August 27th

End of the Day: S&P 500 down 0.7 to 1,410.44; Dow 30 down 33.3 to 13,124.67; Nasdaq up 3.4 to 3,073.19

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

• iBan: Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) toppled rival Samsung in a U.S. patent battle, causing shares to rise to a new all-time high at $680.87.
  
  Apple will also submit a request on banning certain Samsung phones from U.S. import. Currently, data point to Apple selecting Samsung's Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 on AT&T and T-Mobile, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, S2 Epic 4G Sprint, Galaxy S Showcase, DROID Charge, and Galaxy Prevail.
  
  
• Merger Monday!: The following is a list of the more notable merger announcements on the session:
  • Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) to acquire rival Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG) for $87.50 per share. Click here for more.
    
  • IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq: IACI)unit Ask.com to acquire The About Group from The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) for $300 million in cash.
    
  • Private equity firm Thoma Bravo to acquire Deltek, Inc. (Nasdaq: PROJ) for $13 per share. Click here for more color on the deal.
    
  • M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) to takeover Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: HCBK) for 0.08403 of an M&T share in the form of either M&T stock or cash. Value on the deal is about $3.7 billion. More here.
    
  • Kenexa Corp. (Nasdaq: KNXA) will be scooped-up by IBM (NYSE: IBM) for the kingly sum of $46 per share, or total of $1.3 billion. Click here for more color.
    
  • Cypress Semi(Nasdaq: CY) increased its all-cash offer to acquire all of the outstanding stock of Ramtron Int'l Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR) by 7.5 percent, from $2.68 up to $2.88 per share.
• Here, have some cash and added value: AOL, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) ended the session Monday on a strong note, following as mentioned, the move now puts pressure on AOL peer Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), which is currently evaluating its capital allotment and operating strategy. Yahoo! exited its Alibaba stake earlier in the year, netting quite a profit on the move.
  
  
• Let 'em rip!: Crude and nat gas prices are ebbing Monday following lowered expectations and potential damage from tropical storm Isaac already being priced in. Instead, chatter now surrounds whether or not the U.S. will release some reserves to quell ever-rising gasoline prices and allow consumers a little relief.
  
  Fun fact: In 2008, national gasoline prices averaged just over $4 per gallon when crude prices ripped to $147 per barrel. Currently, we're enjoying the same wonderful pricing structure with crude prices about 35 percent lower. (Yes, we know costs, taxes, and other items contributing to gasoline pricing structures have risen over the past four years. We just wanted to brighten up your Monday a little.)
  
  
• Schulze gets Best Buy into the "friend zone": The chatter between big box retailer Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and founder Richard Schulze is heating up, as Best Buy granted non-exclusive access to certain due diligence information and permission to form an investment group with private equity sponsors to Schulze earlier.
  
  Part of the deal is that should Schulze propose a transaction that the Board rejects, he cannot pursue an acquisition of Best Buy until January 2013.

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