Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

U.S. stock futures are mixed; stock markets open, bond markets closed because of Veteran's Day observance; Apple and HTC settle a patent dispute; costs rise at an Exxon LNG plant.
By Joseph Woelfel ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting a mixed open on Wall Street Monday amid worries over the fiscal cliff in the world's largest economy and data that revealed Japan's economy shrunk in the third quarter.

European stocks were trading lower while Asian shares ended Monday's trading session mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9% to close at 8,676.44. Growth figures showed Japan's economy contracted an annualized 3.5% rate for the quarter..

The economic calendar in the U.S. Monday is empty because of the observance of Veteran's Day. Stock markets are open while bond markets and banks are closed.

U.S. stocks

on Friday posted slight gains as a strong read on American consumer confidence provided a slight respite from worries about the fiscal cliff and the eurozone.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

added a little more than 4 points, or 0.03%, to close at 12,815. The blue-chip index lost 2.12% for the week, its worst performance in more than five months. The Dow has gained 4.89% year to date.

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

and Taiwanese gadget manufacturer

HTC

have settled their patent dispute.

The global settlement, terms of which are confidential, dismisses all existing lawsuits and includes a 10-year license agreement.

Exxon Mobil

(XOM) - Get Report

said Monday that the cost to build a liquefied-natural-gas project in Papua New Guinea has jumped more than 20% to $19 billion because of unfavorable foreign exchange rates and disputes with landowners.

Best Buy

(BBY) - Get Report

will hire Sharon McCollam, the former

Williams-Sonoma

(WSM) - Get Report

chief financial officer, as its next finance chief.

McCollam plans to join Best Buy, the electronics retailer that is undergoing a broad restructuring, at the end of the year, according to

The Wall Street Journal

, which cited an anonymous source close to the company.

Last month, Best Buy said CFO Jim Muehlbauer would leave at the end of the fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin

(LMT) - Get Report

ousted its president and chief operating officer, Christopher Kubasik, after an investigation found he had a relationship with a subordinate. He was scheduled to become CEO in January.

The

Securities and Exchange Commission

won't charge any individuals in its planned enforcement action against

JPMorgan Chase

(JPM) - Get Report

for the allegedly fraudulent sale of mortgage bonds, the

Journal

reported, citing people close to the investigation

Homebuilders

D.R Horton

(DHI) - Get Report

and

Beazer Homes

(BZH) - Get Report

are scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Monday.

The Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike D'Antoni, the former coach of the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, to replace Mike Brown as head coach.

The Los Angeles Times

said D'Antoni agreed to coach the Lakers after talks to bring back Phil Jackson broke down over the weekend.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel

>To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Joseph Woelfel

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