Global Investing Roundups

Best Buy Goes Kiosk; Strike Averted at Verizon; Pilgrim’s Pride Shutdown; JDA Doubles Up; Japan’s Stimulus; Oil Hits New Three-Month Low; Waste Management Raises Bid; UPS in Talks with Competitor

  • Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) plans to install self-service kiosks in eight major U.S. airports, The Associated Press reported. The vending machines will be stocked with cell phone and computer accessories as well as digital cameras, memory storage devices and headphones. Best Buy is calling the new program, “Best Buy Express.”
  • Japan will issue a stimulus package to support its ailing economy by the end of the month, MarketWatch reported. The package is expected to include financial support for small and midsize firms, as well as assistance to consumers suffering from high prices. "The economy has been in a difficult situation," Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was quoted saying ahead of the outline's release. "We will employ all fiscal and taxation measures" to stimulate the economy.
  • Oil prices finished at a new three-month low yesterday (Monday) after briefly dropping below $113 a barrel mark. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 75 cents to settle at $114.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as low as $112.72 a barrel earlier in the day.
  • Waste Management Inc. (WMI) has raised its unsolicited buyout offer for Republic Services Inc. (RSG) by 9% to $6.73 billion. The new offer of $37 a share comes less than a month after Waste Management, the nation's largest trash collector, offered to buy Republic in an all-cash buyout worth $34 a share, or $6.2 billion.
  • United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) is in talks to buy Dutch rival TNT NV (OTC: (TNTTY), a source familiar with the talks told Reuters. TNT's express delivery unit, which accounts for two-thirds of sales, is seen as the key attraction for its rivals because of its relative resilience in an economic downturn.