- Sprint (NYSE:S) is up 4.4% and T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) up 1% in early going a day after a Fox Business story echoed other reports that a regulator OK is close for the carriers' $26.5B merger, with a decision that could come by Wednesday.
- Assuming that talks keep moving as they have been, regulators told the companies they could make a settlement announcement Wednesday or Thursday or even sooner, according to that report.
- Reading one set of tea leaves, an appearance by antitrust chief Makan Delrahim before the Senate antitrust subcommittee set for Tuesday was canceled.
- One potential wild card is still Dish Network (DISH +0.6%) chief Charlie Ergen, who's said to have agreed to broad outlines on an asset purchase that John Legere and Marcelo Claure can live with -- though a change of heart from Ergen could lead to the Justice Dept. suing to block the deal.