The Market In 5 Minutes: Merger Monday Mania

Below is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day -- it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

Macro Focus

Oil prices were lower as the prospect for a unified decision to freeze crude output among OPEC nations diminished. Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi told a local news agency that he has no plans to slowdown a rise in oil production and exports. Brent crude futures were lower by $0.41 a barrel at $48.31 while WTI crude futures were down $0.50 a barrel at $47.91.

Asian stocks were mixed on Monday after finance ministers from the G-7 nations gathered in Japan over the weekend. According to The Wall Street Journal, officials at the meeting have not come to an agreement on "how to address slack in the global economy."

Economy data out of Japan on Monday indicated exports fell 10 percent in April, marking an acceleration from a 6.8 percent dip the prior month.

BZ News Desk Focus

The retail earnings parade continues. Look for results from Best Buy BBY, Costco COST and Sears SHLD this week, and read a more comprehensive preview here.

Are you going to the Benzinga Fintech Awards on Tuesday? The hottest gala in New York City is being called by some as the "Oscars of Fintech."

Find out what's going on in today's market and bring any questions you have to Benzinga's PreMarket Prep.

Sell-Side Themes

A few Wall Street firms previewed PVH PVH earnings results later this week.

Options experts Carter Worth and Mike Khouw looked at the correlation between Nike NKE and Foot Locker FL.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

Deutsche Bank downgraded Big Lots BIG to Hold.
BTIG downgraded Boston Scientific BSX to Neutral.
B. Riley upgraded Pandora P to Buy.
Goldman Sachs upgraded Schlumberger SLB to Conviction Buy.
HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Radius Health RDUS at Buy.

Deal Talk

Germany-based Bayer publicly disclosed details of its proposed acquisition of Monsanto MON following speculation and stakeholder inquiries last week. Bayer confirmed it has made an all-cash offer to acquire all of Monsanto's common stock for $122 per share, valuing the company at $62 billion. The offer price represents a 37-percent premium over Monsanto's closing price of $89.03 on May 9 — the final trading day before market speculation of the acquisition surfaced.

Tribune Publishing TPUB rejected Gannett's GCI latest $864 million takeover proposal, but will agree to share confidential information with the U.S. newspaper company.

Luminex LMNX and Nanosphere NSPH have struck a definitive agreement under which the former will buy the latter. The transaction is expected to be accretive to its adjusted earnings by the end of the next year. Luminex said it boosted the offer price to $1.70 a share from $1.35 a share in an all cash transaction. The total transaction is now valued about $77 million compared to $58 million at $1.35 a share.

In The News

The United States announced an end to its embargo on sales of lethal arms to Vietnam. The move came during President Barack Obama's first visit to Hanoi, which his welcoming hosts described as the arrival of a warm spring and a new chapter in relations between two countries that were at war four decades ago.

Taiwan's TSEC index surged 2.62 percent following reports that local component manufacturers involved in Apple AAPL supply chain were told to prepare for an output of 72 million to 78 million units for the iPhone 7 by the end of 2016 - marking the highest output target level in around two years.

Blogosphere

"A reviving business can be hard to let go of, especially when the option is giving a seat at the table to the Chinese government and ceding control of the country's top fast-food operator." Read Gadfly's take on Yum Brands YUM China business.

Trending

DIA P BBY RRR MON SLB SLV ARCC CRK TBT DG DSW GE GOOG RLYP ARWR MU [StockTwits]

"It has become clear that there is a shift away from the expensive, all-in-one, type of financial solutions for real-time traders, passive investors, and those tangentially interested in financial market information" Check out the latest on Zero Hedge about the disruptors of financial technology.

Kevin Durant scored 33 points, Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Golden State Warriors 133-105 to go up 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals.