1. Stocks boom: Investors are feeling downright cheery on Monday.
Asian stocks turned in a banner day, with some major indexes posting gains of 1% or more. European markets opened in positive territory.
US stock futures were also higher. The Nasdaq, which hit a record on Friday, was poised to hit new highs.
2. Tangled takeovers: Tech shares could be on the move Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Intel is considering a bid for Broadcom.
Broadcom has pursued a hostile takeover of rival Qualcomm in recent months, but it has so far been rebuffed.
Intel does not want the Broadcom-Qualcomm deal to happen. The Wall Street Journal said that Intel could step in with a big offer for Broadcom if the takeover starts to appear likely.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has expressed concerns that a Broadcom takeover of Qualcomm would undermine US efforts to stay ahead of China in the development of 5G tech.
Shares in E.ON and RWE rose over 5% after the German energy companies announced a complicated asset swap.
3. High fashion: Shares in Prada gained 15% in Hong Kong after the luxury brand reported a positive outlook for 2018.
“We are starting to see concrete benefits from the numerous strategic initiatives currently under way and we are expecting a return to growth in 2018,” said Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli.
4. Deutsche Bank: The German lender has released more details ahead of an IPO of its asset management unit. The bank plans to sell 20% of the unit at a price of €30 ($37) to €36 ($44) a share.
4. Coming this week:
Monday — Toys ‘R’ Us expected to announce it’s shutting in the US down after filing for bankruptcy in September
Tuesday — Consumer Price Index report; Dick’s Sporting Goods earnings
Wednesday — Signet Jewelers earnings; US retail sales
Thursday — Dollar General, Broadcom earnings
Friday — Tiffany earnings
