Capital One Financial reaches deal to buy ING Direct USA

Capital One Financial says it’s buying ING Direct USA in a deal valued at $9 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, Netherlands-based ING Groep will receive $6.2 billion in cash and $2.8 billion in the form of about 56 million shares in Capital One, based on a share price of $50.07. Capital One says the deal will make it the fifth-largest depository in the country.

ING Direct USA, a banking and investment company, will hold on to the company’s “orange ball” branding and use the ING Direct trademark for a transitional year.

Positive reports help nudge S&P 500, Dow Jones upward

Better-than-expected reports on home building and jobs pushed two of the three major stock indexes higher Thursday. The broader market ended mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 64.25 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 11,961.52. The Dow is now slightly higher for the week.

The S&P 500 rose 2.22, or 0.2 percent, to 1,267.64. The Nasdaq composite lost 7.76, or 0.3 percent, to 2,623.70. The two are less than 1 percent lower this week.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.92 percent, the lowest since November, from 2.97 percent late Wednesday. Bond yields fall when prices rise.

Toyota: N. American plants to be at 100% by September

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday that its days of running limited production lines are almost over, with normal levels to be restored months ahead of schedule following Japan’s March 11 earthquake.

Toyota said it expects all North American production to get back to 100 percent in September, following the parts shortage brought on by the quake devastation.

Average North American production is currently at more than 80 percent, Toyota said, with eight out of 12 models currently at 100 percent, and four others held back because of a lack of parts.

Boeing increases projection for plane orders until 2030

Boeing Co. upped its forecast Thursday for aircraft demand over the next 20 years, saying airlines will need $4 trillion worth of new planes to meet a pickup in passenger numbers, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

Airlines will need 33,500 new jets from now through 2030, Boeing said in a statement.

Boeing executives released the new forecast ahead of next week’s Paris Air Show, which highlights the planemaker’s industry-dominating rivalry with Europe’s Airbus.

Deal to give gas company 44,000 miles of pipelines

Energy Transfer Equity LP said Thursday that it has agreed to acquire natural gas company Southern Union Co. for about $4.2 billion, creating one of the country’s largest natural gas pipeline companies.

The combined company would have more than 44,000 miles of natural gas pipelines and about 30.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas transportation capacity.

It would be the second major acquisition for Dallas-based Energy Transfer in the past few months. In March, the company’s subsidiaries formed a joint venture to acquire LDH Energy Asset Holdings LLC, a Wilton, Conn., energy marketing and transportation company, for about $1.93 billion in cash.

Pandora Media stock price falls on second trading day

Buyer’s remorse already may be setting in for some investors in Internet radio station Pandora Media Inc.

After intense demand drove up the price for Pandora’s initial public offering of stock, the shares lost nearly a quarter of their value on their second day of trading. Thursday’s harsh reversal of fortune left Pandora’s stock below its IPO price of $16. The shares fell $4.16, or 24 percent, to close at $13.26.

The misgivings are bad news for investors who paid as much as $26 on Pandora’s first day of trading.

 

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