News Summary (SNWL, TGT, AMZN, AAPL, BKS, SNE)

According to Dennis Lockhart, President of Atlanta Fed, the US economy has become strong enough for the Federal Reserve to consider hiking interest rates. He said, "The time is approaching when it will be appropriate to consider recalibrating interest rate policy. I do not believe that time has yet arrived. As the economy continues to improve and financial markets find firmer ground, extraordinarily low policy rates will not be needed to promote recovery and will become inconsistent with maintaining price stability." The leading IT security and data backup and recovery solutions provider, SonicWALL Inc SNWL, has entered into a definitive takeover agreement with Thoma Bravo LLC-led investor group for approximately $717 million. Shareholders of SNWL will receive $11.50 in cash for every common share held by them, reflecting a 28% premium to yesterday’s closing price. The stock rallied 25.92% to $11.32 in the pre-market session. As of this Sunday, buyers will be able to purchase the Kindle e-reader from their local Target TGT stores as the device will start selling at TGT’s general merchandise and food discount stores worldwide. As of now, Kindle can be purchased only through Amazon's AMZN website, making TGT the first brick-and-mortar store to offer the device. The move is triggered by the company’s aspiration to rise ahead of competitors, such as iPad from Apple AAPL, Nook from Barnes and Noble’s BKS and Sony Reader from Sony SNE. TGT’s senior vice president, Mark Schindele, commented, “We are thrilled to bring guests nationwide this incredibly light, portable, easy-to-read product that allows them to get all the news and books they want.” In the stores, Kindle will be sold at the same price at which it is available on Amazon.com. By 10:02 am, shares of TGT had risen 1.10% to trade at $54.96. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.