Macro
Search catalysts, news stories, and pressures, or browse the trust-weighted news feed below.
month values ▾
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.50 | -0.40 | -0.40 | +0.09 | -0.30 | -0.20 | -0.20 | -0.10 | -0.10 | +0.12 | -0.10 | -0.10 |
Healing off the bottom: Fed at 1%, market bottomed in March, survivors consolidated and ad markets slowly recovered. Still negative but steadily improving.
How this mood is scored ▾
News Corp. is acquiring a 34% controlling stake in Hughes Electronics, parent of DirecTV, from General Motors and public shareholders in a $6.6 billion cash and stock deal. The acquisition, pending regulatory approval, will expand News Corp.'s U.S. pay-TV footprint and intensify competition in the cable market, with Rupert Murdoch assuming chairmanship of Hughes.
General Electric agreed to combine its NBC television network with Vivendi Universal's film studio, cable channels and theme parks, valuing the entertainment assets at about $14 billion. GE would own 80% of the new NBC Universal, with Vivendi retaining roughly 20%, and pay about $3.65 billion in cash at closing. Completed in May 2004, the deal created one of the world's largest media companies.