U.S. stocks up on merger, oil news
NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Merger news and falling oil prices helped lift U.S. stock prices Monday in a broad-based rally, while an inventory report boosted bonds.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 20.99 or 0.17 percent to 12,328.48. The New York Stock Exchange said its listed volume was 2.36 billion shares. The Nasdaq composite gained 5.50 or 0.23 percent to 2,442.86, but the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 3.20 or 0.23 percent to 1,413.04.
Crude oil fell below $62 per barrel, and U.S. private equity group announced it was buying Pearson Government Services.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 10/32, trimming its yield to 4.52 percent. The increase was supported by a Commerce Department report of rising wholesale inventories.
The dollar rose to 116.82 yen from 116.35 as the euro moved higher to $1.3249 from $1.3204.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed at 16,527.99 after rising 110.17 or 0.67 percent, and London's FTSE 100 settled at 6,162.30 on a gain of 9.90 or 0.16 percent.
Report: EU members still aid key companies
BRUSSELS, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Members of the European Union gave businesses inside their national borders $85 billion in state aid last year, a European Commission report says.
The report, released Monday, reflects poorly on EU efforts to squeeze the financial pipeline from EU member governments to their most well-connected companies.
The European Commission, the administrative arm of the EU, insists it must vet all but the smallest of state aid payments. But that insistence apparently gets observed in the breach, the Financial Times said Monday.
Germany and France are the two biggest donors to their most-favored companies, like Airbus SA, Alstom SA and numerous German banks, the commission said.
Trimble buying @Road Inc. for $496 million
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Trimble Navigation Ltd. is buying @Road Inc., a California company that specializes in Internet information services, for $496 million.
Trimble said Monday in a news release it expects to finance the cash portion of the deal from available borrowings under its existing bank credit facility, balance sheet cash and a new term loan.
The company said it expects to cut costs by sharing "common infrastructure elements" and to achieve growth objectives by "leveraging existing capabilities at little incremental cost." Examples include the "consolidation of data centers, the consolidation of product platforms, leveraging sales force and distribution channels, the utilization of Trimble's international infrastructure and the reduction of public company compliance costs."
Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as the financial adviser to Trimble and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. acted as financial adviser to @Road.
Unions gain using card-check organizing
NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A national effort by U.S. labor unions to organize workers without having to go through a secret ballot is gaining momentum at local and state levels.
While it is unlikely union lobbyists will be able to end secret ballot organizing with new federal legislation, the drive to push so-called "card check" is gaining support from Democratic officials outside Washington, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Card-check organizing means workers can unionize if a majority of them sign non-secret cards expressing support for a union during a set period, such as 60 days. The technique is sometimes criticized as exposing workers to union intimidation because signatories -- and those who refuse to be signatories -- are publicly identified.
Since 2005, the Communications Workers of America has unionized more than 20,000 workers at Cingular Wireless, partly crediting the gains with Mississippi officials' support.
The Service Employees International Union organized 5,000 Houston janitors by getting workers to sign cards. City council members, state representatives and members of Congress openly supported the card check effort.
