Shell Bids for Cove Energy, Americans to Save Tax Refunds: Hot Trends

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Popular searches on the Internet Wednesday include Royal Dutch Shell(RDS.A) after the oil company made a 992.4 million pound ($1.6 billion) bid for African explorer Cove Energy.

Cove's board has said it expects to recommend the acquisition to its shareholders. Cove put itself up for sale last month after making one of the world's largest gas discoveries in Mozambique.

Shell hasn't had success in East Africa and is reportedly interested in the acquisition in order to gain a foothold in Mozambique. Shell plans to increase exploration spending by 35% this year to about $5 billion.

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Tax refund is trending as a new survey by the National Retail Federation found Americans are planning on saving their tax refunds this year instead of spending them.

According to the survey, nearly 44% of those expecting refunds will allot some of the refunds to savings, the most in the survey's nine-year history. Nearly 40% said they will use the money to pay off debt, while nearly 29% will spend it on everyday expenses.

Americans are eager to file their taxes as well, as 64.4% of Americans will have filed their taxes by the end of February -- the highest number since 2006.

The NRF said about two-thirds of taxpayers are expecting a refund this year.

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Apple(AAPL) is a hot topic as the tech titan defended itself Wednesday in a Shanghai court for the rights to its iPad trademark.

In the case, Apple faces small Chinese computer display maker Shenzhen Proview Technology that claims the sale of the iPad trademark to Apple in 2009 by Proview's Taiwan affiliate was invalid.

Apple said that Proview's own "IPAD," or Internet Personal Access Device, has not been sold or marketed for years, potentially making Proview's claim to the trademark invalid, and that Proview violated the sales contract of the trademark by failing to transfer the rights to it in mainland China. Proview is suing Apple to stop selling the iPad under its name in China. iPads have been removed from retailers in some Chinese cities for the time being.

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The chatter on Main Street (a.k.a. Google, Yahoo! and other search sites) is always of interest to investors on Wall Street. Thus, each day, TheStreet compiles the stories that are trending on the Web, and highlights the news that could make stocks move.

-- Written by Brittany Umar.

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