Exxon, Palm HP, Unilever: Hot Trends
NEW YORK (
) --
The chatter on Main Street (a.k.a. Google) is always of interest to investors on Wall Street. Thus, each day, TheStreet compiles the stories that are trending on Google, and highlights the news that could make stocks move.
"Palm HP" is the No. 1 trending topic on Google this morning following
Hewlett-Packard's
(HPQ) - Get Report
agreement on Wednesday to buy
Palm
( PALM) for $1.2 billion.
Investors have been waiting months for Palm to find a buyer, after big names like
Dell
(DELL) - Get Report
said they wouldn't purchase the company.
The deal will make HP, which already is a giant in personal computers, a leader in the growing smartphone business.
The oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico is growing -- almost as fast as Internet searched for the phrase "Gulf of Mexico oil spill" -- as experts now say it is expelling oil at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day, instead of the prior estimate of 1,000 barrels as day. The oil slick could hit shore as early as this weekend, threatening Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
The oil spill occurred after the
oil rig Deepwater Horizon
, which is owned by
Transocean
(RIG) - Get Report
and operated by
BP
(BP) - Get Report
, exploded last week, leaving 11 workers still missing.
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Report
is a trending topic after it reported a
38% surge in first-quarter profit
. This is the first year-over-year gain for Exxon since the third-quarter of 2008.
During the quarter, the oil giant earned $6.3 billion, or $1.33 a share, as revenue soared 41% to $90.25 billion.
Unilever
(UL) - Get Report
is also a popular search as it too saw its
first-quarter profit climb 31% to $1.4 billion
as sales rose 6.7%.
Unilever, the maker of household products such as Lipton tea and Dove soap, said underlying volume growth was 7.6%. Its operating margin rose 60 basis points, driven by improved gross margins and lower overhead costs.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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