Monday Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets

Good Morning!

Novartis to Buy Alcom for $39B... Microsoft, Yahoo Hold Meetings... WaMu to Receive $5B Cash Infusion... Asian, European stocks up... Dollar higher across the board... And the futures are indicating a higher open.

Download Larry Connors' Most Read Book "How Markets Really Work" FREE until Monday Night!
This book normally retails for $49.95 but you can download it free until Monday, April 7. Click here to download your free copy.

TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know

Alcon to Be Sold for $39 Billion - Wall Street Journal
Swiss pharmaceutical giant NovartisAG said it has agreed to buy a 77% stake in the eye-care company Alcon from NestleAG for about $39 billion in a two-part transaction.

Washington Mutual to get $5 Billion Infusion - MarketWatch
Beleaguered thrift Washington Mutual is in negotiations to receive a $5 billion cash infusion from private-equity firm TPG and a consortium of other investors.

Microsoft Sends Yahoo! Merger Ultimatum - TheStreet.com
The software giant says it will stage a proxy battle and lower its offer if Yahoo! doesn't negotiate a deal in three weeks.

Amazon Accelerates Its Move to Digital - NY Times
With the No. 1 source of music sales now an online downloading service, Amazon.com looks at the development of its digital offerings with a sense of urgency.

Rights and Wrongs - Economist.com
Having lost fortunes, banks such as UBS now have to raise money again.

For more stories as they happen, go to our Breaking News section.

TradingMarkets 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Today

• Family Dollar Stores (FDO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported earnings of $0.45, beating estimates by $0.03 per share.
  
  
• Allegheny Technologies (ATI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 on Friday. ATI shares rose more than 12% as speculation grew the company could be a takeover target.
  
  
• General Motors (GM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) lost nearly 5%, making it the worst performer in the Dow on Friday.
  
  
• A. Schulman (SHLM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beats estimates by $0.10, on higher revenue and reaffirmed its net income guidance.
  
  
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford (F | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) paid company CEO Alan Mulally $21.7 million last year.
  
  
• Schawk (SGK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported earnings above consensus forecasts by $0.01, on revenue that was in-line.
  
  
• Before the market open on Monday, Alcoa (AA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is scheduled to report earnings, with analysts looking for $0.42.

For a list of today's highest PowerRating stocks, click here.

TradingMarkets 5 PowerRatings Stocks for Today

TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards

Download Larry Connors' Most Read Book "How Markets Really Work" FREE until Monday Night! - TradingMarkets
This book normally retails for $49.95 but you can download it free until Monday, April 7. Click here to download your free copy.

Trader Vic Returns (Part II) - TradingMarkets
In this second half of our conversation with "Trader Vic" we listen to his advice about the value of trading systems, how to choose which futures to trade, and what it takes today to successfully day-trade the S&P futures market.

Free Report! The Only 3 Options Trading Strategies You'll Ever Need - TradingMarkets
There may be as many ways to trade the market as there are traders who want to do so. But the difference between the professionals and the amateurs when it comes to trading is that the majority of professional traders know that the edge lies in buying markets when they are weak and selling them when they are strong.

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