Stocks to Watch Tuesday: Seagram, PlanetRX.com, Broadcom, Thomas & Betts

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M&A Earnings/revenue Offerings/stock actions Miscellany

French water and utility company Vivendi and beverage and entertainment giant Seagram (VO) have set financial terms for their proposed $32 billion merger, according to published reports.

Vivendi's board approved the deal as well as the board of Canal Plus, a French pay-television company that is joining its assets with Vivendi and Seagram. The Wall Street Journal's interactive edition reported that Canal Plus shareholders will receive two shares of Vivendi for each share of Canal, in addition to an ownership stake in a broadcast unit which will be spun off further down the road. The Seagram board was still meeting late today, according to The New York Times online edition.

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Thomas & Betts (TNB) became the latest company to warn of weak earnings ahead. The electronic component maker said it sees second-quarter earnings significantly below the current five-analyst estimate of 74 cents a share. The company said the expected earnings decrease is due to new processing system costs.

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Standard & Poor's said Broadcom (BRCM) will replace GTE (GTE) in the S&P 500 index.

Major Indices INDEX CHANGE % VALUE YR TO DATE Dow 108.54 +1% 10,557.84 -8.2% S&P 500 21.54 +1.5% 1486.00 +1.1% Nasdaq 129.29 +3.4% 3989.85 -2% Russell 2000 9.05 +1.8% 522.79 +3.6% TSC Internet 13.07 +1.5% 909.59 -21.2% NOTE CHANGE PRICE YIELD 10-Year Treasury -4/32 103 20/32 5.999%

In other postclose news (earnings estimates from First Call/Thomson Financial; earnings reported on a diluted basis unless otherwise specified):

Earnings/revenue reports and previews

Healthcare Internet site, PlanetRX.com(PLRX), announced this evening that it expects its second-quarter sales to be a below-estimate $9 million and expects to report a second-quarter loss of between 62 cents and 63 cents.

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Offerings and stock actions

Home furnishings retailer Furniture.com (FURN) said it is withdrawing its plans for an IPO due to unfavorable market conditions. The offering was supposed to be underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Salomon Smith Barney , William Blair and E*Offering. However, the company said it will receive an additional $27 million in private equity financing from a number of investors.

Silicon Storage (SSTI) set a 3-for-1 stock split.

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Miscellany

A Food and Drug Administration panel rejected Inamed's (IMDC) adjustable stomach device for treating severely obese patients.

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