Merger with Euronext N.V. - 2007
In May 2006, the NYSE Group bid €8 billion in cash and shares for Paris-based Euronext N.V. and penned a merger agreement with the latter, subject to shareholder vote and regulatory approval, despite a higher counterbid from Germany’s Deutsche Börse AG, which eventually withdrew the bid. The merger was finally completed with the stamp of SEC approval in 2007, creating NYSE Euronext. The merged firm was to be led by NYSE Group boss John Thain, with Euronext chief executive Jean-Francois Theodore as deputy chief executive officer and head of international operations. It created a truly global marketplace and brought many European firms under the NYSE which may otherwise have chosen not to list in the US markets, because of the implementation of extensive and stringent regulation following a series of corporate scandals, such as the collapse of Enron. The merger also reduced the costs and bureaucracy hitherto associated with transatlantic trading. (Photo shows the facade of the New York Stock Exchange decorated with the American flag, flags of European countries, and a banner announcing the NYSE Euronext alliance in April 2007) Reuters

Stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open for equities Friday after declines in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 all up 0.2 percent.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to address central bankers at an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., at 1400 GMT (8 a.m. local time). His speech last year laid the groundwork for the Fed's $600 billion bond-buying program to revive the economy.

Bernanke is unlikely to announce a third round of bond buying. The Fed has already bought $2.3 trillion in longer-term securities, a policy known as quantitative easing. Its most recent program, dubbed QE2, ended in June. But he could acknowledge the economy's strains and may show a willingness to take other, relatively modest, steps to shore up the recovery.

James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, said Thursday that a bid by the Fed to lower long-term interest rates further by rebalancing its portfolio would probably not have much impact.

The Commerce Department will release its second reading of U.S. second-quarter GDP data at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with economists forecasting a 1.1 percent annualized pace of growth, against 1.3 percent growth in the first reading.

Preliminary second-quarter corporate profits data also is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT. In the revised Q1 report, corporate profits rose 1.2 percent.

American International Group (AIG.N) Chief Executive Robert Benmosche has complained to senior executives at investment banks about the unfavorable research of the insurer's stock, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

At 9:55 a.m. EDT, Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers release the August final consumer sentiment index. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 56.0 compared with 54.9 in the preliminary August report.

Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) is due to announce results.

The top official behind Standard & Poor's downgrade of the United States said Friday it was not to blame for August's stock market rout, and warned that developed nations still needed to get their act together to tackle their mountains of debt.

European shares markets fell 0.7 percent in early trading Friday on nervousness ahead of Bernanke's speech, while Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.3 percent on bargain-hunting.

Federal reserve Ben Bernanke Dow jones Aig