#PreMarket Primer: Thursday, February 13: Comcast To Buy Time Warner Cable

After a big day Tuesday, the markets took a pause Wednesday. The Dow was down about 31 points to finish the day at 15,993.94.The S&P was down less than one point to 1,819.26 and the NASDAQ was up 10 points to close at 4,201.29.

This morning, U.S. markets are weak on European concerns. The Dow is indicated down about 50 points while the S&P is five points lower. The NASDAQ is about 13 points lower.

Top Stories

• Comcast CMCSA will purchase Time Warner Cable TWC for about $44 billion or $159 per share.
• AMCOL International ACO announced Wednesday an agreement with to be acquired by Imerys IMYSF for $41 per share in cash. AMCOL is a producer and marketer of diverse specialty materials. The deal is expected to close in H1 2014. AMCOL closed Wednesday at $41.24, a gain of 12 percent.

Read Benzinga’s M&A Chatter report from Wednesday, here.

Asian Markets

Profit taking sent Asian markets lower Thursday. The Nikkei was down about 1.8 percent to close at 14,534.74 and the Hang Seng was down nearly 0.5 percent to finish at 22,165.53.

The Shanghai Composite closed 0.5 percent lower at 2,098.40 and the Kospi was down about 0.4 percent closing at 1,926.96.

European Markets

Political strife in Italy, profit taking, and disappointing corporate earnings are putting pressure on European markets. The FTSE is down about 0.6 percent at 6631.76 and the DAX is 0.2 percent lower at 9,521.43. Finally, the CAC is 0.2 percent lower at 4,295.31.

Commodities

Commodities are lower with the exception of natural gas. WTI is down about 0.7 percent at $99.60 while Brent is 0.5 percent lower at $108.24. Natural gas is up two percent at $4.95 as winter weather in the south causes regional supply disruption.

Gold is down about 0.4 percent at $1,290.10 and silver is lower at $20.18. Copper is down about 0.4 percent at $3.24.

Currencies

The euro is 0.06 percent higher against the dollar at 1.3672 and the dollar is about 0.6 percent lower against the yen at 101.95.

The pound is 0.3 percent higher against the dollar at 1.66 and the Aussie dollar is at 0.8961 against the dollar—up about 0.7 percent.

Pre-Market Movers

Time Warner Cable is up 14 percent while Metlife MET is up five percent. Angie’s List ANGI is down 17 percent while LeapFrog Enterprises LF and Charter Communications CHTR are down 10 percent.

Notable Earnings

Earnings reports from Wednesday:

• Talisman Energy TLM reported fourth quarter EPS of -$0.11, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01. Revenue of $929 million missed the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion.
• Deere & Company DE reportedfirst quarter EPS of $1.81, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53. Revenue of $7.65 billion beat the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion.
• Alpha Natural Resources ANR reported fourth quarter EPS of -$0.52, beating the consensus estimate of -$0.61. Revenue of $1.1 billion missed the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion.
• Whole Foods Market WFM reported first quarter EPS of $0.42, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44. Revenue of $4.2 billion missed the consensus estimate of $4.3 billion.
• Cisco CSCO reported second quarter EPS of $0.47, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46. Revenue of $11.2 billion beat the consensus estimate of $11.3 billion.
• MetLife MET reported fourth quarter EPS of $1.37, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30. Revenue of $18.38 billion beat the consensus estimate of $17.43 billion.

The following companies will report after the closing bell today:

• Pepsico PEP is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $1.01 per share on revenue of $20.16 billion.
• Discovery Communications DISCA is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.92 per share on revenue of $1.56 billion.
• Avon Products AVP is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.30 per share on revenue of $2.75 billion.
• American International Group AIG is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.96 per share on revenue of $8.56 billion.

To see the complete report, read our Earnings schedule for today.

Economics

Initial jobless claims will reach the market at 8:30 AM ET along with retail sales. The EIA Natural Gas Report will be closely watched at 10:30 and Fed Chief Janet Yellen will appear before the Senate at 10:30 AM ET.