Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Friday’s latest read on U.S. employment appears to have quashed any notions toward the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in the month of September. Not that we were exactly hearing a growing clamor for a near-term raise, but a handful of FOMC Presidents have said they are ready to make a move. But 151K new jobs in the month of August was deemed too weak for such considerations; expectations had been for 175K new jobs.

More mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are hitting the wires this morning, with Med Tech major Danaher (DHR Quick QuoteDHR - Free Report) paying $4 billion for diagnostics company Cepheid . This amounts to $53 per share in cash and some debt considerations. Danaher expects the acquisition to add 5 cents per share in value one year after the close of this deal, which is expected before the end of the year.

General Electric (GE Quick QuoteGE - Free Report) is purchasing two 3D printing companies in Europe: Arcam AB from Sweden and SLM Solutions AG from Germany. Both companies print metal parts for things like airplane turbines. GE is spending $1.4 billion to acquire the two firms.

And German pharma giant Bayer AG (BAYRY Quick QuoteBAYRY - Free Report) continues its pursuit on agribusiness major Monsanto , raising its offer to $127.50 per share from $125 previously. Bayer has spent the past four months trying to take over the seed and pesticide giant,which would amount to Bayer’s largest acquisition ever.

Finally, a little later this morning we will see the ISM Services data reported, which should get some added attention following last week’s disappointing ISM Manufacturing read, which slipped below 50, indicating contraction. Will services follow suit? Zacks’ Exec VP Steve Reitmeister goes into further detail this morning here: Set Your Timer for 10am ET Today

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor