Business Today: Wall Street ends slightly higher, helped by acquisitions

	Click to View in Browser 02/14/2013 Wall Street ends slightly higher, helped by acquisitions NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 eked out a small gain for a third straight session on Thursday, helped by a flurry of merger activity, though investors see no catalysts to lift the market further with major averages near multi-year highs. Buffett, Brazil's 3G team up for $23 billion Heinz buyout (Reuters) - Warren Buffett and Brazilian financier Jorge Paulo Lemann are teaming up to buy ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co for $23.2 billion, in what could be the first step of a wave of mergers for the food and beverage industry. Big hedge funds fueled Apple's fourth-quarter share plunge BOSTON (Reuters) - Some of the biggest hedge funds that helped make Apple Inc a stock market darling lost faith and dumped their stakes in the fourth quarter, fueling the massive drop in the iPhone maker's share price. American Air unites with US Airways to create No. 1 carrier (Reuters) - AMR Corp and US Airways Group on Thursday unveiled an $11 billion merger deal after months of negotiations, creating the world's biggest airline with 6,700 flights a day. Apple's search technology lawsuit against Samsung may go on hold SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday asked Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd whether an Apple patent lawsuit over search technology should be put on hold for several months until after an appeals court resolves a separate lawsuit between the two companies. Wall Street waits to see if investors still love SAC Capital NEW YORK (Reuters) - Outside investors in Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors have until the end of the day to decide if they still love the embattled billionaire hedge fund manager. Ex-Stanford executives get 20 years over roles in $7 billion fraud (Reuters) - The final two defendants convicted for helping the former Texas billionaire financier Allen Stanford swindle investors were each sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison over their roles in his $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme. Chrysler recalls 370,297 trucks for possible loose fastener DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler Group LLC said on Thursday it was recalling 370,297 pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles globally because a loose fastener could cause the rear axle to lock up and make a driver lose control. Exclusive: Foreign investors set to sue Spain over energy reform MADRID (Reuters) - Foreign investors in renewable energy projects in Spain have hired lawyers to prepare potential international legal action against the Spanish government over new rules they say break their contracts. China, technology and the U.S. middle class: Chrystia Freeland NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech this week confirmed it: The pre-eminent political and economic challenge in the industrialized democracies is how to make capitalism work for the middle class. Related Video FACTBOX: Heinz food for thought Techquity: No love for Apple, "Wedding Crashers" vs. Google Economic News Jobless claims hint at firming job market Senator to watchdogs: bring more banks to trial A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend