A diamond worth 20 million smackers has been unearthed in Angola, or maybe it is worth “up to $14mln”, as news agencies can't agree.
That's probably because the company that unearthed it is Lucapa, an Australian company, and its 20mln valuation is in Aussie dollars, while US news agencies are, understandably, quoting its potential value in US dollars.
Either way, they all agree It's 404 carats, whatever that means, and “virtually flawless”. If only Liz Taylor were still alive to wear it.
Even so, it is only the 27th largest diamond ever discovered, though it is at least the largest ever unearthed in Angola.
Perhaps we could all club together and buy it, using Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN), the once sexy internet stock that suddenly finds itself a glamor stock once more.
The cheapskate shopper's favorite shot up by more than a third and is up by more than two-thirds in the last week, as Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) declared a 5.6% stake in the company on Friday,
At this rate, Groupon will be back at its flotation price before the decade is over. The stock is down about 85% during its life as a publicly listed company.
Medical technology company Stryker (NYSE:SYK) is laying out $1.3bn for Physio-Control International (PCI) from Bain Capital Private Equity.
PCI's stock-in-trade is respiratory devices, and the mega-deal is likely to leave Wall Street's investment bankers as it suggests the mergers & acquisitions bonanza is not over yet. Indeed, Stryker's deal is dwarfed by Apollo Global's $15bn acquisition of burglar alarm maker ADT, which it wants to merge with its home security firm Prime Security Services.
WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT
RISERS
ADT (NYSE:ADT), up 48.7%. See above.
Bebe stores (NASDAQ:BEBE), up 29.1%. Like-for-like sales in the retailer's second quarter were down 2.5% year-on-year and it made an underlying loss of five cents a share; what's not to like? It seems the sales were better than expected, though.
Sonus Networks (NASDAQ:SONS), up 23.7%. The voice over internet protocol (VoIP) specialist cheered the market with earnings that beat the Street's estimate and an outlook statement that raised the spirits – and probably analysts' estimates.
FALLERS
Tonix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TNXP), down 36.5%. The drug discovery company focused on post-traumatic stress disorder said its Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical study of TNX-201 (dexisometheptene mucate) in episodic tension-type headache did not meet its primary endpoint.
Community Health (NYSE:CYH), down 26.0%. The hospitals operator caught the market on the hop by announcing a fourth quarter loss.
GoGo (NASDAQ:GOGO), down 28.6%. The in-flight Wi-Fi provider has a battle on its hands to retain American Airlines as a customer, as the airline has served notice to switch to rival ViaSat.