Freeport Stock Jumps On BHP Takeover Rumors

Excerpt from our Wall Street Breakfast, a one-page summary of this morning's key market-moving and stock-moving stories:

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up Amid BHP Bid Speculation [Reuters]

Summary: Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold stock jumped 5% in late trading on rumors of a takeover bid by BHP Billiton. But with Freeport's $11 billion market cap and a problematic mine in Indonesia, most analysts give the rumor little chance of fruition; BHP has its own mining challenges it's currently addressing. The speculation comes just two days after Freeport bid to takeover its far larger copper mining counterpart Phelps Dodge for $25.9 billion. BHP, with a market cap of $114 billion, is big enough to absorb both Freeport and Phelps Dodge.
Related links: Media coverage: Dow Jones Newswire . Commentary: Does Freeport's Phelps Dodge Acquisition Signal a Top in Metal Prices? , Credit Suisse: Copper Prices Should Rise On New Chinese Demand , The Gold Miner ETF: A Close Look , Playing the Copper Rush , all coverage of metal miners
Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: Freeport (FCX), BHP Billiton (BHP), Phelps Dodge (PD), Inco Ltd. (N), Cabot Corp. (CBT), Southern Copper Corp. (PCU), Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM), Rio Tinto plc (RTP) • ETFs: SPDR Metals and Mining ETF (XME), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX)

Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast summarizes today's key market- and stock-moving news. Receive it by email every weekday morning (free/no spam).

Seeking Alpha is not affiliated with Reuters.