Market Roundup (UNH, GE, BP)

UnitedHealth UNH shares have slipped on higher volume after reports filtered into the market that the company is close to signing a takeover deal with Executive Health Resources. The deal price is rumored to be $1.5 billion. According to David Rosenberg, this is no time to be bullish as the rally is likely to meet resistance and is "devoid of volume [and] devoid of validation from the bond market." He said that if stocks fail to breach the 200-day moving average, he would become anxious about the market as it is "completely unprepared for 500K claims and sub-50 ISM." BP PLC BP said that it intends to claim US tax credits worth $9.9 billion, given the $32.2 billion-worth charge that the company has reported due to the Gulf oil spill. Although BP is just "following IRS regulations as they're currently written," the move is expected to become the latest "political hot potato" related to the BP oil spill. General Electric GE will pay $23 million to settle claims made by the SEC that some of its subsidiaries were involved in paying oil-for-food kickbacks to the Iraqi government as they tried to win contracts under a UN program. According to the SEC, GE "failed to maintain adequate internal controls to detect and prevent these illicit payments. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.