Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Today's Markets

• Asian markets traded lower Tuesday. Nikkei: -0.8%. Hang Seng: -0.9%. Shanghai: -1.55%.
• In Europe, markets followed Asia lower. FTSE: -1.21%. CAC: -1.5%. Dax: -0.9%.
• U.S. index futures were down as of 8:30. S&P: -0.4%. Dow: -0.3%. Nasdaq: -0.3%.

Must Know News

• Yahoo/Microsoft square off. Yahoo (YHOO) may play 'hard to get' in an effort to entice Microsoft's (MSFT) to sweeten its $46.1B bid. Yahoo has received a number of tentative approaches from media, telecom and private equity groups that could potentially lead to a rival bid. Microsoft revealed Monday it would have to borrow money for the first time in order to foot the bill.
• New ETFs could challenge mutual funds. The SEC is beginning to approve some actively traded ETFs, a move that could rock the mutual-fund business. Previously, ETFs have been limited to tracking indexes such as the S&P 500, rather than active stock picking by fund managers.
• Monoline crisis far milder than thought. Morgan Stanley (MS) says financial institutions should only lose $5-7 billion from exposure to bond insurers, way short of recent estimates of as much as $70 billion.
• Tyco easily beats estimates. Tyco's (TYC) reported Q1 EPS of $0.74, widely beating analyst forecasts of $0.56. Revenue of $4.87B also beat consensus estimates of $4.86B. For 2008, EPS guidance of $2.60-2.70 was in-line.
• Toyota posts solid Q3 growth; emerging markets offset U.S. sales drop. Toyota's (TM) Q3 net profits were up 7.5% on strength in emerging market sales, despite a sales drop in North America. Net profit was ¥458.67 billion ($4.3 billion); sales climbed 9.2% to ¥6.71 trillion.
• CME net jumps on big volume. CME Group (CME) reported Q4 EPS of $3.77 vs. consensus estimates of $3.62. Q4 revenue was $529.5M, just short of the $535.25M expected. CME increased its dividend by 34% to $1.15.
• Social sites stumble. Ad revenues at social networking and video-sharing sites are growing at a rate slower than many expected, a trend that could impact stocks such as Google (GOOG - YouTube), Microsoft (MSFT - Facebook) and News Corp. (NWS - MySpace).
• Staples courting Corporate Express? Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf says Staples (SPLS) is in talks to acquire Corporate Express, one of the world's largest office products wholesalers. Corporate Express denies any negotiations.
• BP's Q4 falls short. BP (BP) said it was very disappointed with its Q4 EPS of $0.94 after charges. Revenue rose 30% to $81.22B from $62.53B. An ING analyst said the quarter will disappoint investors, but noted share weakness could be a buying opportunity.
• News Corp.'s earnings unaffected by economy. News Corp. (NWS) reported in-line FQ2 EPS of $0.27. Revenue of $8.59B was better than consensus estimates of $8.25B. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said he wasn't planning a bid for Yahoo (YHOO). NWS said the writers strike had no material impact on its quarter, and that it has not seen any weakness despite the current economic turndown.
• Yum! beats but falls short on outlook. Yum! Brands (YUM) reported Q4 EPS of $0.44, just ahead of $0.42 analyst forecasts. Revenue of $3.2B also bettered estimates of $3.14B. Yum sees 2008 EPS of $1.85 up from a prior $1.82, but short of the Street's consensus of $1.87.
• Sun-Times puts itself on block. Sun-Times Media (SVN), parent of The Chicago Sun-Times, is considering selling itself. It is also looking at alternative ways to boost share value, such as strategic partnerships and joint ventures.
• National Semi cuts sales forecast. National Semiconductor (NSM) said FQ3 sales will fall 9-10% sequentially, worse than a previously forecasted 1-5% decline. Shares are down 5.3% in the pre-market.
• Nvidia gets physical. Graphics card maker Nvidia (NVDA) agreed to acquire privately-held Ageia Technologies, which makes physics processing software used in game development.
• Factory orders gain, companies cut jobs
• Fed says bank loan standards now tighter
• Trading volumes lift NYSE Euronext

Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.