News on Stocks in Our Portfolios
03:58 PM It's a happy marriage for Ecolab (ECL +2.5%) and Nalco (NLC +1.5%) after shareholders with both companies approve a $5.4B merger of the two firms that service the water, hygiene, and energy industries. The final price tag for the deal will be ~$8.3B, including the offer value of $5.6B for Nalco's shares and $2.7B for the assumption of Nalco's net debt. Comment!
03:58 PM Emerson Electric (EMR +6.4%) says it has submitted a bid to win an automated systems contract at Iraq's giant Zubair oil field. Emerson - a specialist in oil and gas, refining and power automation - submitted the bid to a consortium led by Italy's Eni (E +5.6%), Zubair's operator. The field holds ~8B barrels of oil reserves. Comment!
02:34 PM Boeing (BA +4.3%) and its machinists union reach a new four-year labor contract, ensuring the next-generation 737 will be built in Washington state and possibly securing a second 787 assembly line in South Carolina. The general counsel of the NLRB, and likely the Obama administration, will have to sign off on the deal. Comment!
02:21 PM Caterpillar (CAT +7%) says it plans to invest $210M in India, consisting of $150 million for a facility that will produce its Perkins engines, plus an additional $62 million to expand its existing off-highway truck manufacturing facility in Chennai. The investment aims to capitalize on the country's burgeoning road construction and infrastructure development activities. Comment!
01:11 PM ConocoPhillips (COP +3.8%) plans to continue its recent asset sale efforts by shedding a Louisiana refinery, according to Bloomberg's sources. A Global Hunter analyst believes the sale, which reportedly won't occur until after Conoco has spun off its refining business, could generate $700M-$1B in proceeds, excluding inventory. (previously) Comment!
Economics
This Week’s Data
The November Chicago purchasing manager’s index came in at 62.6 versus expectations of 59.6.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/11/misc-chicago-pmi-increases-to-626.html
October pending home sales rose 10.4% versus estimates of a 1.5% increase.
The latest Fed Beige Book report was generally up beat on most economic sectors in most geographic areas.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/11/feds-beige-book-economic-activity.html
Weekly jobless claims rose 9,000 versus forecasts of a 3,000 decline. Clearly, a break in the string of positive data points.
Politics
Domestic
If you haven’t seen it, here is Leon Cooperman’s letter to Obama:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/please_mr_president_1w09X6wgl7ABy8M40UFMMP
Bank spending on lobbyists (short):
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/11/bank-spending-on-lobbyists-2010-vs-2011/
International War Against Radical Islam
China will not hesitate to defend Iran (4 minute video in Chinese with English subtitles):
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/china-will-not-hesitate-protect-iran-even-third-world-war
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