Main market news here.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced it is buying online ad agency aQuantive Inc. (NASDAQ: AQNT) in a $6 billion cash deal, in what could be argued as overpaying. The deal is for $66.50 a share, an 85% premium over Thursday's close for aQuantive. It almost seems like a desperate move by Microsoft as it tries to follow the recent deals from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). AQNT shares are up 78.4% in pre-market trading (8:36 a.m.).

Shares of ValueClick Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) jumped 8.5% in premarket trading (8:41 a.m.) following the deal.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) shares are up 11.11% in pre-market trading (8:09 a.m.) after it posted a third-quarter profit surge of 23%, cracking $1 billion in quarterly sales. Excluding one-time charges, the company would have reported net income of $1.13 per share or revenues of $1.15 billion (a 21% jump compared to last year's period), beating the $1.08 per share average estimate by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial and the $1.12 billion in expected revenues.

British Airways (NYSE: BAB) misbehaved and admitted to it. While reporting a net loss of 124 million pounds in its final quarter, the company revealed it has set aside 350 million pounds (US$690 million; €510 million) to pay possible fines for its admitted anticompetitive behavior. The company discussed long-haul fuel surcharges with rivals. Investors, not surprising, weren't happy sending shares down 4% in London.

AppleGate, that's what they now call the false reported delays in the iPhone. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares have suffered a momentary lapse due to the report, wiping $4 billion in market cap before the stock recovered following the retraction. Engadget, our sister blog responded to the allegations against it. Not only that but Michael Arrignton of Techcrunch defended Engadget's decision to publish the story, and even bitter rivals Giszmodo did. There are still many unanswered questions regarding the original fake/false email that was sent. Some suspect that more than a harmless prank, it could have been an intentional foul play with vested interest in the outcome. It is eerily odd that a day after the false report, the FCC approval for the iPhone was announced and the stock rose nearly 2% and continues to gain another 0.9% in pre-market trading (8:24 a.m.).

Green gets in your eyes? Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) gave more than $2 million in 2006 to groups, that Greenpeace says, are global warming skeptics. Yet, ExxonMobil constantly tries to convince us it is becoming more climate-unfriendly. While the company cut its donations to such groups by more than 40% from 2005, it still funds about 40 "skeptic groups."