TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) - Stocks expected to move significantly in trading on Friday include the auto makers and home builders as well as AIG, ArcelorMittal, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Panasonic, Pilgrim's Pride, and Yahoo. U.S. markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Wall Street's Friday session will close early, at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern.
American International Group Inc., (AIG:
1.95, 0.00, 0.0%) the New York insurer, and Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA, (UBB:
66.40, 0.00, 0.0%) (BR:UNIBANCO: news, chart, profile) the Sao Paulo, Brazil, banking group, said late on Wednesday that they agreed to buy each other's cross-holdings in their Brazilian joint ventures. Terms weren't disclosed. AIG will continue to offer products and services through AIG Brasil, "while continuing to work with" Unibanco Seguros on opportunities in fields including reinsurance and corporate insurance, the companies said.
ArcelorMittal (MT:
25.48, 0.00, 0.0%) (FR:005786: news, chart, profile) is targeting up to 9,000 voluntary redundancies as part of its plan to cut expenditure by $1 billion. The firm said it is meeting with its European Works Council to present the plans Thursday. The focus is mainly on non-production employees and represents around 3% of the total workforce, the group said. "The global economic reality means that it is only sensible to adopt such measures," said Bernard Fontana, executive vice president for human resources.
Auto Makers: Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache said the scales are tipping in favor of a federal bailout for General Motors (GM:
4.81, 0.00, 0.0%) and Ford (F:
2.15, 0.00, 0.0%) . GM is also considering shedding its Saturn, Saab and Pontiac brands as part of its effort to cut costs to secure $12 billion in government loans, according to a Bloomberg report.
Bank of America Corp. (BAC:
15.43, 0.00, 0.0%) was cleared by the Federal Reserve to buy Merrill Lynch (MER:
12.21, 0.00, 0.0%) . Bank of America aims to close the deal, valued at about $50 billion, this year. Once the purchase is completed, Bank of America will have the world's largest wealth-management business, with around $2.5 trillion in client assets.
CBRL Group Inc. (CBRL:
18.26, 0.00, 0.0%) holders approved changing the company name to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. The common stock will continue trading under the symbol CBRL on Nasdaq.
Credit-Card Issuers: U.K. credit-card issuers, at the urging of the government, agreed to give certain borrowers as much as an extra 60 days to pay what they owe, The Wall Street Journal reported. Debtors who are working out their situations with not-for-profit debt-advisory agencies qualify for the program, the government said. The accord comes days after the U.K. announced at 20-billion-pound ($30.8 billion) economic-stimulus plan. The country's biggest card issuers include Barclays, (BCS:
54.82, 0.00, 0.0%) (UK:HSBA: news, chart, profile) Bank of America, (BAC:
15.43, 0.00, 0.0%) Lloyds TSB (LYG:
10.50, 0.00, 0.0%) (UK:LLOY: news, chart, profile) and HBOS, (HBOOY:
1.33, 0.00, 0.0%) (UK:HBOS: news, chart, profile) the Journal reported.
Fannie Mae (FNM:
0.71, 0.00, 0.0%) intends to bring the share price of its common stock above $1 in a bid to remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As a part of this effort, Fannie Mae is working with its conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to determine what action to take. Alternatives include a reverse stock split, the company said.
Home Builders: KB Home (KBH:
12.40, 0.00, 0.0%) , D.R. Horton (DHI:
7.52, 0.00, 0.0%) and Pulte Homes (PHM:
10.77, 0.00, 0.0%) were downgraded at Moody's to Ba3 from Ba2. Moody's said the ratings could be lowered again, particularly if the companies' trailing 12-month cash-flow generation begins to drop sharply, if their debt leverage increases, or they continue taking substantial asset-impairment charges.
New York & Co., (NWY:
1.37, 0.00, 0.0%) the New York specialty apparel retailer, said it would buy back as many as 3.75 million of its shares in the next 12 months. And it said that its majority holder has indicated that it also intends to buy as many as 3.75 million company shares. The holder said it would instruct the broker executing the purchases to fulfill all the company's purchase orders before it fulfills orders on behalf of the holder, New York & Co. said. At Nov. 26, the company had 60 million shares outstanding.
Panasonic Co., (PC:
14.65, 0.00, 0.0%) (JP:6752: news, chart, profile) the Osaka, Japan, consumer-electronics company, slashed its forecast of fiscal 2009 net income by 97%, saying that "business conditions are deteriorating sharply." The company cited "the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending and ever-intensified price competition." The company also said it would write down the value of investment securities as a result of the decline in stock prices and would book restructuring expenses. Read the article.
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (PPC:
1.02, 0.00, 0.0%) and its lenders agreed to extend the waiver under its company's credit lines until noon U.S. Central Time Dec. 1. "Pilgrim's Pride continues to pursue opportunities to refinance and recapitalize its business, and to position itself to capitalize on its strategic advantages," the poultry producer said in a statement. \
Yahoo Inc.: (YHOO:
10.58, 0.00, 0.0%) Carl Icahn, the activist investor and Yahoo board member, increased his stake in the Internet company. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Icahn purchased 6.8 million shares Nov. 24 through Nov. 26 for an average $9.88 each. The acquisition brings Icahn's total stake to 75.6 million shares. Icahn agreed to join the board in July, after acquiring more than 68 million, or nearly 5%, of the shares and urging the company to entertain an acquisition offer from Microsoft Corp. Negotiations between Yahoo and Microsoft (MSFT:
20.49, 0.00, 0.0%) ultimately failed and Microsoft has said it's no longer interested in a merger.
