Syria,Obama,NeimanMarcus,Verizon,Vodafone,Apple,iphone5 and so much more

Reposted:Of Wall Street and Wahlburgers
The chase by Greg Bonnell:

Good morning all. With Frances off to Bonnie Scotland I'll be supplying your daily "morning note" fix. Monday is off to a busy start, with lots to talkabout…

Syria continues to be top of mind for the markets as U.S. President Barack Obama makes half-a-dozen media appearances today to sell his case for a military strike against Syria. Meanwhile in what is a rare occurrence, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was also seen on American TV presenting his case on CBS and PBS. Recall on Friday that U.S. and Canadian equities plunged after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would support Syria in the event of a strike, with weapons. Investors are jittery, and rightly so. President Obama will also address the American people, weary from a decade of war in both Iraq and in Afghanistan,on Tuesday evening. You'll want to keep your eye on oil futures as well on this one, with WTI trading slightly lower this morning.

We're also keeping an eye on your retirement dollars, at least the ones you'll be receiving from the federal government, amid reports the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is set to make a big move in the retail space. The Wall Street Journal reports that Neiman Marcus is close to finalizing a deal to see itself to Ares Management and the CPPIB for some $6 billion US. Neiman runs 41 stores under the same name across the U.S. and two Bergdorf Goodman department stores on New York's City's Fifth Avenue. Yours truly will be tracking that story today.

If you're a fan of bond roadshows then today is your day. Wall Street is seeking buyers forVerizon's $20 billion US or so bond offering. Big number, yes, but price tag for Vodafone deal is even bigger - $130 billion.

Investors also have some global economic data points to chew on this morning. August exports in China increased more than estimated - rising 7.2 percent from a year earlier (call was for 5.5 percent) - and inflation is staying below government targets. Both are seen as signs of a sustained rebound for China, the world's second largest economy, following a slowdown. Chinese stocks are hitting a three-month high and copper is on the upswing as well.

The Japanese economy grew at an annualized 3.8 percent in the second quarter. This should give Prime Minister Shinzo Abe some support in his push for a sales-tax increase. And Tokyo will host the 2020 Olympic Games, which will give the world's third largest economy a much-needed kick. The yen weakened and Japanese stocks rose following the news.

If you're all about the tech gadgets you're no doubt waiting with bated breath for the latest fromApple. The iPod/iPhone/iPad maker lifts the curtain on its latest offerings tomorrow at 10 a.m.Pacific Time (1 p.m. ET) at its Cupertino campus. A refresh on the iPhone5 is expected, as well as a lower-cost version of the iPhone rumoured to come in at least five colours. Apple is losing market share to the makers of lower-cost handsets - the tech giant doesn't have an offering in that space. Expect that to change tomorrow.

Canadian investors will have fresh building permits data this morning (8:30 a.m. ET release). Call there is for 3.5 percent month-over-month increase for July. Tuesday brings housing startsdata to mull over (expectation is 190K).

Last, but definitely not least… Mark Wahlberg will be in the BNN studios at 4:45 p.m. ET as the actor brings his burger business, Wahlburgers, to Toronto. Now fans of the famously ripped Wahlberg have two reasons to say "yum" when they think of the former Funky Bunch leader. Word is, however, that Mr. Wahlberg will keep the shirt on today. Sorry.

www.bnn.ca

Verizon, Microsoft deals dominate Market News

 

Hold the phone: Verizon, Microsoft deals dominate
The chase by Frances Horodelski:

"The Misnamed Months - As you may recall from Latin class back in the third grade, we are entering a string of misnamed months. Based on their respectiveLatin bases September means 7th month; October means 8th; November, the 9th and December the 10th. That confusion came from inserting a month to honourJulius Caesar (July) and Augustus Caesar (August)." - Art Cashin

25% more traffic on the road; 25% more news stories to report. Welcome to September.

Hold the phone. It is a telecom day. Verizon is buying Verizon Wireless for $130 billion US from Vodafone for a combination of cash ($58.9 billion) and stock ($60.2 billion). VZ says the deal will be immediately accretive to earnings. VZ had its credit rating reduced to BBB+ from A- while also raising its dividend by 1.5 cents quarterly. Interesting twist - according to reports, Vodafone will pay only $5 billion in taxes on the transaction in the U.S. (none in the UK as the deal is structured through its Dutch subsidiary). What do you think the G20 will say about that? The UK's Independent calls it an "84 billion pound tax avoidance bonanza" which is an overstatement, but still a topic of conversation.

Following this announcement, VZ's CEO Lowell McAdam told Bloomberg that it had only limited interest in Canada and has no interest now. He also noted that the speculation about Canada was "way overblown". And that's the other major "phone" story as BCE (owner of Bell Media/BNN), Telus and Rogers are expected to post substantial rallies this morning. But "hold the phone", could someone else with deep pockets still be interested in supporting the new wireless entrants in Canada? Maybe this is one of many questions to ask today. RBC is the first off the mark with new buys on Telus and BCE. Canaccord has raised targets on Telus (now $39), BCE (now $45) and Rogers (now $49).

Sticking with phones, Microsoft has announced an agreement with Nokia to acquire the handset business and patents of the latter for $7.2 billion. The devices and services business represents about half of revenues leaving Nokia to be a network equipment supplier company. Microsoft is paying 0.35x revenues. Questions here include: can two weak entities in the wireless business make one strong one; what does this mean for BlackBerry as one buyer is potentially now gone; what are the valuation comparables for a BlackBerry buyout. BBRY is up 4.8% (!) Note that in the most recent data on short positions, the bears increased their short position on the company by almost 7 million.

But don't think this is it - there is an extraordinarily full calendar of things to consider as we move through September. Today we get monthly production numbers from the likes ofCanadian Oil Sands and Suncor; The Bank of Canada meets tomorrow (no rate change is expected); the G20 begins their conversations this week (September 5); September 6 is the U.S. (and Canadian) jobs numbers; September 9 sees the Italian government assessing the Berlusconi situation and also the Fall session of the U.S Congress where they will debateSyria; September 10 sees Intel and Apple before analysts and industry types (and a new iPhone for apple); September 12 - the SEC reviews the Nasdaq outage from two weeks ago; the Fed meets on September 17-18 (will they or won't they?); Microsoft is having an analyst day on September 19; the Germans go to the polls on September 22. And overarching it all will be the possibility of a debt ceiling debate that may go very well (or not). Whew - can we go back to the summer please.

And September often brings one of the busiest seasons for early previews for the quarter and for the rest of the year. With the Street still expecting 4th quarter earnings growth in the order of about 11% (on easy comparisons), there is room for disappointment. The equity markets aren't particularly overbought now as they were a few weeks ago, but September has a nasty habit of hitting you when you least expect it. Be careful - and keep your pencil sharp - there will be plenty of opportunities.

www.bnn.ca