STOCKS NEWS US-Google, Cisco eyed as possible Dow candidates

Stocks on the move ,[HOT-RTRS] Real-Time Equity news [U E]

U.S. stock market report [.N]
0820 ET 10March2009-Google, Cisco eyed as possible Dow candidates
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Analysts say U.S. bank Citigroup (C.N) and automaker General Motors GM.N
are most likely to be replaced on the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI.

But there is little consensus among investors about the type of company
that should be in the 30-stock blue-chip index. The list of contenders includes
companies like Google (GOOG.O) and Cisco CSCO.O as well as former investment
bank Goldman Sachs <GS.N and former Dow star US Steel (X.N).

For details, see [ID:nN09461770]

Reuters Messaging: deepa.seetharaman.reuters.com@reuters.net
0824 ET 10March2009-General Growth asks bondholders for leeway
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U.S. mall owner General Growth Properties GGP.N late Monday began asking
holders of $2.25 billion of bonds for nine more months of breathing room as it
moves to refinance its debt.

Warning that it may seek bankruptcy protection, it launched a so-called
solicitation process to obtain consent from holders of unsecured notes, asking
for consent to hold off on exercising remedies in case of defaults until Dec.
31, 2009. [ID:nN09486287]

Shares of General Growth closed Monday at 38 cents.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0819 ET 10March2009-Roche says $93/share bid for Genentech is fair
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Roche (ROG.VX) on Tuesday said that it deemed its $93 per share offer for
Genentech was fair, after a source familiar with the situation said the two
sides were in talks for a deal at a higher price.

The source on Monday said that Roche was in talks to buy the 44 percent of
Genentech that it doesn't already own for $95 per share. [ID:nLA302930]

Shares of Genentech rose 0.5 percent to $93.13 in premarket trade.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0810 ET 10March2009-Wachovia: J&J may try to buy Schering-Plough
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Wachovia on Tuesday said that Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) could try to buy
Schering-Plough SGP.N, a day after Merck & Co (MRK.N) said it would buy the
pharmaceutical company for $41.1 billion, or $23.61 a share.

"Given the stock component of the Merck deal and the 8 percent drop in
Merck's share price on Monday, the value of Merck's offer has fallen by $1 to
$22.60," Wachovia wrote. "Our merger analysis indicates that J&J could pay a 10
percent premium over Merck's original offer and the deal would be accretive for
J&J in the first year whether or not Merck exercised its right to buy out its
cholesterol joint venture with Schering-Plough."

Shares of Johnson & Johnson, a Dow component, rose 10 cents to $46.70 in
premarket trade while Schering-Plough shares added 7 cents to $20.30 before the
bell. Merck, another Dow component, rose 0.9 percent to $21.18 before the
bell.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0801 ET 10March2009-Futures surge on Citi news, Geithner
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U.S. index futures surged on Tuesday, after Citigroup's (C.N) Chief
Executive Vikram Pandit wrote a memo obtained by Reuters reading that the
company was profitable in the first two months of 2009, and that it was
confident about its capital strength.

The markets were also lifted by comments made by U.S. Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner to Reuters saying that the U.S. had done more in recent weeks
to tackle its economic problems than other countries had done in years.
[ID:nN10500796]

Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1 rose 117 points while S&P 500
futures SPc1 gained 13 points and Nasdaq 100 futures NDc1 were up 17.75
points.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0756 ET 10March2009-Moody's to publish list of at risk co's: WSJ
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Moody's Investor Service is expected on Tuesday to publish a list of
companies that are at risk of defaulting on their debt, according to a story in
the Wall Street Journal.

About 283 such companies are expected to be on the list, with names ranging
from Eastman Kodak (EK.N) to Unisys (UIS.N), and about 45 percent of the
companies on the list will default on their debt in the next year, Moody's
said. The Journal quoted a Kodak spokesman who said that speculation of that
kind was "irresponsible" and that the company was "financially solid."

Companies in the automobile, retail, media and casino gambling industries
appear often on the list, the Journal reported. [ID: nN09488396]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net