U.S. stock futures lower on rate-cut concerns - MarketWatch

U.S. stock futures lower on rate-cut concerns - MarketWatch

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over the weekend launched a probe into Merck (MRK:

MRK) and Schering-Plough (SGP:

SGP) over the timing of a release of a negative study into their cholesterol drug Vytorin. UBS separately upgraded Merck to buy, saying the sell-off on the trial's results was too steep.

General Motors (GM:

GM) may attract attention after a bankruptcy judge approved Delphi's reorganization plan. However, Deutsche Bank warned that lenders have not signed up for Delphi's $6.1 billion bankruptcy exit financing package. "We continue to believe that GM will receive some value from its Delphi bankruptcy claim. However, we see increased risk that the value could short of our prior expectations," the analysts said.

Alliance Data Systems (ADS:

ADS) plunged 38% to $40.59 in pre-open trade after it said its $6.8 billion takeover by Blackstone Group (BX:

BX) is in jeopardy, as Blackstone is unwilling to meet requirements set by the Office of the Comptroller.

Countrywide Financial (CFC:

CFC) said its chairman and chief executive, Angelo Mozilo, will give up $37.5 million in severance fees owed in connection with the lender's impending takeover by Bank of America (BAC:

Verizon Communications (VZ:

VZ reported a 4% profit rise, helped by growing subscriptions to its mostly-held mobile arm