Morning News Summary for May 19

Retail

Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD) reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss as sales at Sears stores plunged both at its home turf and in Canada. Like rivals Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowes (NYSE: LOW), Sears has seen demand for appliances fall after a government stimulus for energy-efficient models ended last year.

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IPOs

Commodities trader Glencore made a steady market debut on Thursday, with shares trading just above the widely expected launch price of 530 pence, giving it solid currency for potential acquisitions. Initial grey market, or conditional, trade showed the shares changing hands at more than three percent above the offer price, indicating appetite for the stock. Many investors were left out after Glencore was flooded with orders for its shares.

More information can be found here.

Acquisitions

U.S. construction machinery maker Terex Corp (NYSE: TEX) has formally launched a well-flagged $1.3 billion bid for Demag Cranes with a hostile offer 10 percent below the German group's share price. Demag was put in play in October when Finnish group Konecranes made an approach. It has since rebuffed approaches from both Terex and Konecranes.

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Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical said Thursday it reached a 9.6 billion euro ($13.6 billion) deal to buy Swiss drugmaker Nycomed in what would be one of the biggest overseas acquisitions by a Japanese firm. Takeda said it will finance part of the transaction through a loan of about 600-700 billion yen ($7.4-8.5 billion) and plans to complete the acquisition by the end of September, subject to antitrust clearance.

More information can be found here.

World News

Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the IMF, saying he needs all his energy to fight charges that he sexually assaulted a hotel maid, prompting an immediate political tug-of-war over his job on Thursday. Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York on Saturday dashed his prospects of running for the French presidency in 2012 and sparked debate over the 65-year-old tradition that a European is appointed as head of the Washington-based global lender.

More information can be found here.