Bloomberg:
- Take-Two Interactive Software(TTWO) shareholders formed a group to replace the board and overthrow management of the video-game maker after four quarters of losses. Shares of Take-Two surged 19% after investors including Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LLC and David Shaw’s DE Shaw hedge funds announced the plan today in a regulatory filing. 43% of the float is short.
- Fremont General and New Century Financial shares rose as mortgage-lending stocks rebounded for a second day, buoyed by a report showing an increase in home-loan refinancing and rising prospects for takeovers.
- Hedge funds run by Man Group Plc, Winton Capital Management and Transtrend BV were among those battered during last week’s global equity market decline.
- Nat gas futures are falling in NY on forecasts showing much warmer weather is on the horizon.
- Oil is rising $1.10/bbl. after a US government report showed supplies fell more than estimates.
- Coffee prices in NY fell to a four-month low after Brazil, the largest grower, reported exports jumped 14% in February, more than analysts forecast.
- Exxon Mobil(XOM) plans to spend almost $21 billion exploring for oil and expanding refineries this year. The company plans to begin pumping oil or gas from 20 projects in the next three years after seven start-ups in 2006.
Wall Street Journal:
- Dieter Zetsche, DaimlerChrysler’s(DCX) CEO, confirmed that the company is in talks with General Motors(GM) about sharing development costs of sport-utility vehicles.
- A Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(WMT) program to get employees to adopt one product as their favorite for the year and give it special shelf space has helped improve marketing.
- A group of media activists is blocking proposals by the FCC and media companies to ease rules on how many properties media companies can control in a local market.
NY Times:
- Some US companies are trying to develop a method to convert algae into fuel, with one California start-up, LiveFuels Inc., aiming to annually produce 20,000 gallons of fuel per acre of algae. The company is among a large group of alternative energy start-ups seeking backing from venture capitalists. Investments in clean energy by venture capitalists more than doubled to $2.4 billion in 2006.
- Sony Corp.(SNE) plans to introduce today an upgraded online service for its PlayStation game consoles in the US.
- Sirius Satellite Radio(SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio(XMSR) must persuade the FCC that prices wouldn’t increase if the companies merged.
LA Times:
- Sam Zell, the Chicago billionaire and real estate investor, is a “strong contender” to buy Tribune Co.(TRB).
Reuters:
- Former Fed Chairman Greenspan said the decline in US home sales has reached a bottom, citing a speech at a technology conference in NY.
Dow Jones:
- Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs, said the yen’s weakness before its recent rally didn’t result from the carry trade.
Chronicle of Higher Education:
- Women have earned more science and engineering undergraduate degrees than men since 2000, and the number awarded to women has increased every year since 1966.
InformationWeek:
- A US Federal Aviation Administration official is considering choosing Google Inc.(GOOG) online applications instead of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista operating system.
Financial Times:
- The rate of corporate defaults is unlikely to rise until mid-2008 because companies can refinance their way out of trouble, citing a presentation by Ernst & Young LLP in London. The annual default rate on mezzanine debt, which ranks after senior lenders in a default, was less than 2% in the final quarter last year.
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