ECONOMY & MARKETS

Dow and S&P continue to be fueled by General Electric, Exxon Mobil; but Nasdaq slips

Ranjit Singh Boparan has offered to purchase Northern Foods for 73 pence per share, or 341-million pounds sterling, outbidding rival Greencore for the Goodfella's pizza brand owner.

A New York Jets win this Sunday not only would propel the team to its first Super Bowl appearance since 1969, but could also give the team a boost in revenue while it makes payments on $650-million in debt.

Below is a comprehensive professional biography of hedge fund manager David Tepper gathered from publicly available information:

Economic activity in Tunisia has been hit by recent political turmoil but it is hard to know exactly by how much without a proper assessment, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday.

Nigerian interbank lending rates fell to an average of 4.92 percent this week from 9.25 percent last week as budgetary allocations to the three tiers of government boosted liquidity, traders said on Friday.

The Kenyan shilling was barely moved against the dollar on Friday as traders squared positions but they said high oil prices were likely to stoke dollar demand and weigh on the local currency next week.

South African government bonds sharply extended losses on Friday, a day after the central bank left interest rates unchanged and hinted it might have ended a cutting cycle as inflationary pressures rise.

US gasoline stocks rose 4.443 million barrels during the last week as demand languished at seasonal levels while the output from refineries rose, Platts said in a release.

Gold touched a two-month low in Europe on Friday, pressured by a firmer appetite for assets seen as higher risk on expectations the economic recovery was gaining traction, but a retreat in the dollar prevented a steeper drop.

Shares of Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) suffered a brief sell-off yesterday afternoon when it was revealed that renowned billionaire investor Warren Buffett was resigning from the company’s board after three decades of service.

US stocks advanced in early trade on Friday as upbeat quarterly results from General Electric and Google and strong German IFO business sentiment data boosted investor sentiment.

As the market will be concerned in the near-term with the management shuffle, an analyst at Jefferies hinted at a possibility that Eric Schmidt could become the Chief Executive of Apple.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Danvers Bancorp, Drugstore.com, Cytori Therapeutics, Glu Mobile, and Micron Technology. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Acorda Therapeutics, VIVUS, Synaptics, MannKind, and Biogen Idec.

Singapore Exchange will start operating the world's fastest trading engine on August 15 that can handle 1 million order book changes per second per partition, said a media report.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Friday are: General Electric, Google, Micron Technology, Sara Lee, American International Group, Schlumberger and Biogen Idec.

Ambulatory surgery centers operator NovaMed Inc. (NOVA) said it agreed to go private and be acquired by an affiliate of Surgery Center Holdings, Inc. for $13.25 a share in cash.

The Japanese cabinet office said on Friday the economy is showing signs of growth momentum and that the exports sector has been helped by China's growth and strong recovery in the U.S.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a higher opening on Friday with futures on the S&P 500 up 0.15 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11 percent and Nasdaq100 futures up 0.15 percent.

GE reported 52 percent growth in its quarterly profit that blew past estimates on growth in Technology Infrastructure and NBC Universal Businesses and lower costs

The companies that reported earnings before the markets open on Friday are: General Electric, Bank of America, Schlumberger, BB&T, Air Products and SunTrust Banks.

The companies that reported earnings after the markets close on Thursday are: Google, AMD, Capital One, International Game Technology, Wipro, Consolidated Edison, Maxim Integrated, Flextronics, Intuitive Surgical, Polycom...

New GDP figures at purchasing power parity (PPP) seem to suggest that China may have already overtaken the U.S. as the world's largest economy.

FBR Capital Markets lowered its 2011 profit view of Advanced Micro Devices, after the company ousted its Chief Executive Dirk Meyer.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Friday are: Bank of America, Advanced Micro Devices, Google, General Electric, Intuitive Surgical, Schlumberger, International Game Technology, Emulex and Capital One Financial.

Business confidence in Germany continued to improve further in January, posting a gain for an eighth consecutive month.

UK retail sales slid 0.8 per cent in December as food, petrol and clothing sales remained under pressure and the adverse effects of the snow dented high street spending.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: Warner Music Group, American Reprographics, GMX Resources, Energy Transfer Partners and Aspen Insurance Holdings. The top after-market NYSE losers on Thursday are: International Game Technology, Emulex, Medley Capital, Jones Apparel and Kinross Gold.

The Irish Times reported on Friday EU finance ministers have opened tentative talks on the restructuring of Greek sovereign debt but analysts have pointed out that the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) will not be enough to take Greece through a successful debt restructuring.