May 13, 2014:The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a new closing record today (Tuesday). The S&P 500 hit a record intraday high, touching over 1,900 for the first time ever.
Now here are the top stories from the stock market today:
Not Going Away Quietly:Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl. Inc. (NYSE: VRX) announced this morning it will likely increase its offer for Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN). The company is currently reevaluating the Botox maker and will provide further details on increasing its $46 billion bid on May 28. Allergan's board rejected the offer this week, stating that it believed the bid substantially undervalued its products and operations. In case you missed it, here's the Allergan deal back story.
The Soda King Strikes Again: In an effort to boost its products and offerings in the at-home beverage industry, The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) is making yet another bold move. This morning, the company announced plans to raise its stake in Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (Nasdaq: GMCR) to 16% from 10%. In February, Coca-Cola signed its first agreement to sell at-home sodas through Keurig. Coca-Cola is sticking to its soda-focused strategy, despite slumping sales in the United States...
Berlin's Bad News: There seems to be a reason why Germany's central bank is going to boost stimulus in the near future. This morning, Germany's investor confidence level fell for the fifth consecutive month. This figure has hit its lowest level in more than a year, according to the ZEW Institute. The May confidence level slipped to 33.1 from an April score of 43.2. Consensus estimates expected about 40 for May's reading.
The Deal That Won't Die: The mega-merger is back on. This morning, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced it might increase its $106 billion offer to purchase AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE ADR: AZN). The deal has been mired by regulatory uncertainty in the United Kingdom. Pfizer said it will reevaluate the structure to its offer, but it does remain committed to staying in the current price range. The company's top executives will appear before the Parliament this week to discuss the deal and answer questions about the future of AstraZeneca's labor force in the U.K. Find out more about this deal - and its effect on PFE stock - here.
The Fed's Game Continues: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the central bank must reduce the scope of its emergency lending. The President did not discuss monetary or fiscal policy in his speech today, though Lacker has been a very strong critic of the Federal Reserve's actions to prop up the banks over the last six years. Fed Chair Janet Yellen will speak later this week, although questions remain about the United States' anemic first-quarter growth. Many are suggesting that the United States is mired by false economic growth. Our Shah Gilani says that the Fed's game is up - no longer can we continue to buy our GDP growth through money pumping and bond purchases...
Time to Turn High-Tech "Rust" into Gold: In his more than three decades of working with Silicon Valley companies, Michael A. Robinson found high-tech "rust" may be a lot less obvious and much more insidious. But while this "rust" often takes down companies, it happens to be setting up three cash-generating firms that offer big opportunities today...
This One Factor Will Isolate Huge Winners... Quickly: If you're a do-it-yourself type of investor, you might be overwhelmed trying to make heads or tails of all the information at your disposal. But let's take a moment to demystify how to use a stock screen - and then we'll finish up with a "cherry on the top." It's an additional input that will take you quickly to tremendous gains...
The Emerging Market Game Changer Is Here: Many observers thought the BRICS nations would encounter too many obstacles to collaborate effectively in creating an institution to take on the IMF. But after announcing such plans just over a year ago, the next BRICS summit in July is likely to see the official launch of these institutions. The implications are huge for investors...
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.