• Mergers and acquisitions front picked up steam over the weekend, with mergers reported by Man Group, Universal Health, and Apollo Global Management
• Man Group announced plans to buy GLG Partners (NYSE:GLG) for $4.50 per share or $1.6 billion
• Universal Health (NYSE:UHS) announced plans to pay $33.75 per share, or $3.1 billion, including $1.1 billion in debt, for Psychiatric Services (NASDAQ:PSYS)
• Apollo Global Management is reportedly in talks to acquire Pactiv (NYSE:PTV)
• Prudential plc launched its long-delayed, $20 billion rights offering for AIG’s (NYSE:AIG) Asian business AIA
• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS) to “overweight” from “neutral”
• Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) reported earnings of 34 cents a share, beating Zacks estimates by 3 cents, on a 4.7% sales gain to $12.4 billion, which topped Zacks estimates of $12.2 billion. Same-store-sales rose 2.4%. however, the company’s second quarter guidance fell short of Street estimates, coming in at 57-59 cents, below estimated of 62 cents; however, the firm lifted full year guidance to $1.37-$1.47 from $1.30-$1.42 compared to Street projections of $1.45
• Citigroup (NYSE:C) upgraded shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) to “buy”
