Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know
NEW YORK (
) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Thursday, Sept. 26:
1.
-- U.S. stock futures on Thursday were pointing to gains on Wall Street, as the market looks to end its five-day losing streak amid a budget battle in Washington.
European shares were lower. Asian stocks ended Thursday's session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.2%.
2.
-- The
in the U.S. Thursday includes weekly initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT, the third estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m., and pending homes sales for August at 10 a.m.
3.
--
on Wednesday fell for a fifth session as the
S&P 500
posted its longest losing streak since December, reflecting uncertainty about the strength of the economic recovery and a deal on the U.S. budget.
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The S&P 500 slipped 0.27% to 1,692.77 while the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
shed 0.4% to 15,273.26. The
Nasdaq
fell 0.19% to 3,761.10.
4.
--
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. Report
is in talks with government officials to
settle federal and state mortgage investigations
for $11 billion, two people familiar with the matter told
Reuters
.
The settlement could include $7 billion in cash and $4 billion for consumers, the sources told the news agency.
The talks are fluid and the $11 billion amount could change, the people familiar with the matter told
Reuters
. The discussions include the Department of Justice, the
Securities and Exchange Commission
, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New York State attorney general, the sources said,
Reuters
reported.
JPMorgan is the biggest bank in the U.S. by assets.
5.
--
has added two more banks, JPMorgan and
Morgan Stanley
(MS) - Get Morgan Stanley Report
to help lead its coming
, people familiar with the matter told
The Wall Street Journal
.
The banks will join
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Report
, which until now has been working exclusively with Twitter to prepare its IPO filing and will remain in the top role, the people said.
In a tweet last month, Twitter announced its filing, which still remains private.
Twitter's IPO could come in November, people close to the company said, the
Journal
reported.
6.
--
Nokia's
board has discussed pursuing a tie-up with
Alcatel-Lucent
(ALU)
, following Nokia's recent deal to sell its handset business to
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
,
MarketWatch
reported, citing several people familiar with the deliberations.
on the issue are part of a broad review of many potential options for its future business strategy. It has discussed "all options" concerning a potential Alcatel-Lucent deal, but no formal discussions with Alcatel have been initiated, the people told
MarketWatch
.
7.
--
Citigroup
(C) - Get Citigroup Inc. Report
agreed to pay $395 million to
Freddie Mac
to settle claims on home loans it sold to the government-controlled mortgage finance company.
The agreement announced Wednesday involves 3.7 million mortgages sold between 2000 and 2012. Freddie Mac and its bigger sibling
Fannie Mae
pressed Citigroup and other big banks to take back mortgages they sold, which soured in the housing bust. In July, Citigroup agreed to pay $968 million to settle similar claims from Fannie.
8.
--
Fairfax
CEO Prem Watsa told
The Associated Press
he has every intention of completing the acquisition of
BlackBerry
undefined
, despite doubts that the $4.7 billion deal for the smartphone maker will be completed.
Fairfax is BlackBerry's largest shareholder.
BlackBerry announced earlier this week that Fairfax signed a letter of intent that "contemplates" buying BlackBerry for $9 a share.
BlackBerry shares fell 6% on Wednesday to $8, on doubts the deal wouldn't take place.
"We've got a track record of 28 years of completing what we've done. We've never re-negotiated," Watsa told the
AP
. "We thought long and hard before we offered $9 a share and we're not in the business of offering a number and at the last minute changing the figure. Over 28 years our reputation is stellar on that front. We just don't do that."Watsa noted the deal is subject to six weeks of due diligence but stressed Fairfax won't abandon it.
9.
--
Nike
(NKE) - Get NIKE, Inc. Class B Report
is expected by analysts on Thursday to post fiscal first-quarter earnings of 78 cents a share on revenue of $6.96 billion.
10.
--
Starbucks
(SBUX) - Get Starbucks Corporation Report
filed a trademark application for "Fizzio" as it continues its test of carbonated drinks.
The coffee company said in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the name would be for beverage-making machines, as well as a variety of drinks, including soft drinks.
The company has been testing sodas in Atlanta and Austin, Texas.
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel
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Joseph Woelfel
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