Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a weaken open for Wall Street on Monday. European shares were falling, while Asian stocks dived; Japan's Nikkei fell 1.9% to 8,508.32.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. on Monday is relatively light.

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The yield on 10-year Spanish government bonds surged 25 basis points on Monday to 7.46%, a level that saw other European nations needing a financial bailout. Spain's IBEX was falling about 3%.

BusinessInsider noted Monday that Spain continues to be in deep debt trouble after reports surfaced that certain Spanish regions would be requesting bailout funds from the government.

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U.S. stocks finished sharply lower Friday as the soaring Spanish borrowing costs renewed concerns about Europe's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 121 points, or 0.93%, to close at 12,823 on Friday. The year-to-date gain sits at 4.95%.

The S&P 500 fell 14 points, or 1.01%, to settle on Friday at 1363. The Nasdaq sank 41 points, or 1.37%, to finish at 2925.

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NRG Energy (NRG) said Sunday it reached a deal to buy GenOn Energy (GEN) for $1.7 billion in stock.

Seeking Alpha noted that the merger creates the largest competitive power generation company in the U.S.

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McDonald's (MCD), the fast-food giant, is expected by analysts Monday to post second-quarter profit of $1.38 a share on sales of $6.94 billion.

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Other companies on the earnings docket Monday include Texas Instruments (TXN), Halliburton (HAL) and Hasbro (HAS).

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Germany's Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) said Monday that Tarceva in combination with Nexavar tablets for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer, failed in further improvement of overall survival.

Bayer and Onyx jointly produce Nexavar. Tarceva is sold by Astellas Pharma and Roche.

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DreamWorks Animation (DWA)reached a deal to buy Classic Media for $155 million.

Classic Media owns such titles as "Casper," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Lassie."

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Ernie Els won the British Open on Sunday when Adam Scott bogeyed the final four holes.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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