• General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced that its underwriters exercised their greenshoe option to purchase an additional 71.7 million shares, helping the formerly bankrupt auto company notch up a record $23 billion

• Quantas resumed flights of its Airbus A380 aircraft, the first since an explosion of an engine on November 4 caused an emergency landing and forced a review of the entire A380 fleet

• Shares of FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) and Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO) may get a boost after a positive mention in this week's edition of Barron's

• Deere (NYSE: DE) catches an upgrade from "Market Perform" to "Outperform"

• Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) announced it has offered to acquire 51% of South African retailer Massmart