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Before the bell 12-11-06: Deals could push stocks higher

Stocks futures are positive in early morning trade, indicating to a similar start for stock.

Stocks might get a push higher today from several done deals, deals in the making, or possible deals. The strengthening dollar against the euro and the yen could also support stocks.

Today marks the beginning of a very busy week. The Federal Reserve will meet tomorrow and announce its decision on interest rates tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. By and large, the market doesn't expect the Fed to move interest rates, especially after Friday's job report.

On Thursday, member nations of OPEC will meet. For now, oil prices fell below $62 a barrel ahead of the meeting, as there are mixed signals as to what the members would decide.

Finally, a key inflation indicator, Consumer Price Index, is due to be released Friday morning. Today, however, only wholesale inventories data for October are due for release at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

But, as I mentioned earlier, today the buzz is all about the deals, the ones already signed and the speculated ones:

According to the Financial Times, the Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD) might announce a $100 million deal as it takes on a majority stake in Chinese chain HomeWay.

Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderugica Nacionale (NYSE:SID) raised its bid for Britain's Corus Group PLC (NYSE:CGA), topping an offer by Tata Steel of India.

British insurer Prudential Plc (NYSE:PUK) received a "very preliminary" approach, possibly from Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), for its Internet-banking business Egg, but rejected it.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) had seen strong interest and fierce bidding for its Aston Martin unit. Speculations are now that the line could sell for more than $1.2 billion.

The New York Times reports that Sabre Holdings Corp. (NYSE:TSG), owner of the Travelocity, is in talks with two groups bidding for company for more than $4 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s (NYSE:HET) board will meet Wednesday to discuss a buyout offer. In what seems to be a separate offer, a group led by Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) and hedge fund D.E. Shaw might also bid for Harrah's.

Smith & Nephew Group Plc (NYSE:SNN), is close to bidding about $11 billion for Biomet Inc. (NASDAQ:BMET). It could face competition from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) and Zimmer Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ZMH).

A few other companies with deal stories today: Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ:TRMB) that bought @Road (NASDAQ:ARDI) for $496 million, or $7.50 a share. Gannett Co. (NYSE:GCI) that may sell its U.K. newspaper unit Newsquest. Pearson (NYSE:PSO) and LG.Philips LCD (NYSE:LPL) also made unrelated deals.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-74.9212,454.83
NASDAQ-1.852,837.53
S&P 500-2.861,317.82

Last updated: May 27, 2012: 04:20 AM

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