Opening View: Yahoo! to Reject Microsoft Bid, May Explore Merger with Time Warner's AOL

Opening View: Yahoo! to Reject Microsoft Bid, May Explore Merger with Time Warner's AOL

U.S. stock futures were steady this morning, as investors brace themselves for economically revealing data later this week. Overseas markets were suffering in the wake of this weekend's Group of Seven (G7) meeting, which revealed possibly worse-than-expected subprime-related losses to come, while crude futures inched higher after threats from the Venezuelan government. Stocks in focus this morning include Yahoo!, Microsoft, Time Warner, Motorola, Nortel Networks, and Hasbro...

Taking a look around the Street, oil futures were last seen up 8 cents at $91.85 a barrel, as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez this weekend threatened to cease oil sales to the U.S. The South American politician stated that, if Exxon Mobil ( XOM: sentiment, chart, options) wins a court dispute freezing the Venezuelan government's assets, crude supplies would be cut off to the U.S.

The big news of the weekend comes from the now-notorious possible buyout of Yahoo! (YHOO: sentiment, chart, options) by Microsoft (MSFT: sentiment, chart, options) . The former of the companies is expected to reject the latter of the pair's $44.6-billion takeover offer. Microsoft, however, is expected to take its proposition directly to YHOO shareholders. In related news, London's The Times reported that Yahoo may explore a merger with Time Warner's (TWX: sentiment, chart, options) AOL unit.

Speaking of mergers and acquisitions, Motorola (MOT: sentiment, chart, options) is reportedly in talks with Nortel Networks (NT: sentiment, chart, options) . The companies, according to The Wall Street Journal, are thinking of merging their wireless-infrastructure arms. A merger of the powerful communications companies could reportedly create a firm with potential for $10 billion in annual sales.

In earnings news, toy maker Hasbro (HAS: sentiment, chart, options) this morning reported that fourth-quarter net income rose 24% to $133.7 million, or 84 cents a share, from $108.3 million, or 62 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue increased 16% to $1.3 billion, compared to $1.12 billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting earnings of 81 cents a share on revenue of $1.22 billion.

Economic Calendar