ConEd, Marvel, Northwest Airlines: U.S. Equity Preview

By Jeff Kearns

June 29 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. markets tomorrow. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names, and prices are as of June 27 in New York, unless stated otherwise.

Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED US): The New York utility and its union agreed to a three-day cooling-off period proposed by Governor David Paterson, leaving Wall Street's power-line repair crews on duty until at least the morning of July 2. ConEd's stock fell 75 cents to $38.42.

Marvel Entertainment Inc. (MVL US): The comic-book publisher's shares may fall should the company lose the rights to such billion-dollar character franchises as Spider-Man and the Hulk, Barron's reported, without citing anyone. Marvel shares fell 92 cents to $33.

NDS Group Plc (NNDS US): News Corp. (NWS/A US) and Permira Advisers LLP offered to buy out public investors in NDS Group Plc for $60 a share. NDS, whose technology enables access to pay- television services, is already 72 percent owned by News Corp. Under the offer, Permira would end up with 51 percent of the company and News Corp. would reduce its stake to 49 percent, the companies said June 27 in an e-mailed statement. NDS fell 78 cents to $49.70.

Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA US): The leaders of the carrier's pilots union approved a tentative contract agreement with merger partner Delta Air Lines Inc. and its pilots, according to a message on the Air Line Pilots Association Web site today. Northwest added 1.9 percent to $6.31 in regular trading.

Parexel International Corp. (PRXL US): Quintiles Transnational Corp. said it won't proceed with an offer for computer software-maker ClinPhone Plc, leaving the door open for Parexel as the sole bidder. On June 13, Parexel offered to buy ClinPhone for 91 million pounds ($181.5 million) or 135 pence in cash per share. Parexel rose 9 cents to $26.59 on June 27.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR US): Brazil's state-controlled oil company may rise 25 percent within a year should three new deepwater oil wells it found prove productive, Barron's reported, citing analysts. The company's American depositary receipts, which each represent two common shares, rose 91 cents to $69.23.

Tongjitang Chinese Medicines Co. (TCM US) lost 20 percent to $5.30 in extended trading. The maker of Chinese medications said Chief Executive Officer Xiaochun Wang and director Yongcun Chen withdrew their offer to purchase the company. The two canceled their offer because of ``the recent deterioration of the credit market,'' the company said in a statement.

Walt Disney Co. (DIS US): The media company's ``Wall-E,'' a movie about a trash-compacting robot, earned $62.5 million in its first weekend to top the domestic box office, bettering the $55 million estimate of Steve Mason, an analyst at FantasyMoguls.com. Disney shares rose 4 cents to $31.57 on June 27.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in New York at jkearns3@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: June 29, 2008 14:32 EDT