Before the bell: SNE, AAPL, MAT, GE, SBUX, MRK ...

Before the bell: Slightly lower open ahead of data

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) is planning to challenge rival Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in video downloads. Much like iTunes and the iPod, Sony will use its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable videogame machines, along with its Bravia high-definition televisions, to develop products and services to let users download television shows and movies.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the timeliness of Mattel Inc's (NYSE: MAT) disclosures of safety problems with toys imported from China. Timely response, apparently, is defined differently at the government than at Mattel's...

General Electric (NYSE: GE) has agreed to buy Sondex of Great Britain for $582 million, or $9.27 per share, in cash, a move that would bolster its oilfield services business.

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ: SBUX) said it planned to source coffee from China for the first time as it expands, reiterating its aim to more than triple its global outlets to 40,000 with China, a 5,000 year tea-drinking culture, expected to become its biggest overseas market.
Also, Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT) said it struck deals with Starbucks and Bosch Household Appliances to fuel growth of its Tassimo hot beverage system.

Dow component Merck & Co's (NYSE: MRK) combination pill to raise "good" HDL cholesterol met its main goals in a late-stage test.

More good news for Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) came from on a report that its experimental drug Zyprexa, which treats schizophrenia from a completely new angle and which appeared to work safely in patients, without some of the annoying and dangerous side-effects of older drugs.

Finally, in a move that may be signs of things to come, Zimbabwe has taken over U.S. food group H.J. Heinz Co's (NYSE: HNZ) 49% stake in the African nation's leading cooking oil maker. The government paid it $6.8 million for its stake in the firm.