2:30PM NY, U.S. Market Movers

21st Century Holding Co. (TCHC: chart), which underwrites insurance, said that it is buying back up to $5 million of company’s common shares. The company also said that its full-year earnings outlook in a range of $2 to $2.50 per share and second-quarter profit will come in higher than the first quarter''s 11 cents per share. As a result, shares of the company rose 8.7%.

Cellcom Israel Ltd. (CEL: chart) shares climbed 8% after the company reported its first-quarter net income rose 43% to 208 million shekels, or 2.13 shekels per share, equaling US$0.51 per share. Revenue climbed to 1.44 billion shekels, or about $346 million.

Inforte Corp. (INFT: chart) said that it agreed to be acquired by Business & Decision Group for $50 million, or $4.25 per share, in cash. The deal is worth about $22 million, the companies said in a statement. Shares climbed 29.7%.

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (MGIC: chart), which engages in the development, marketing, and support of application development and deployment platforms, said that its first-quarter net earnings increased to $1 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with a profit of $30,000, or breakeven per share, in the year-ago period. The company said revenue climbed to $16.35 million from $16.19 million last year. Shares climbed 8%.

Republic Property Trust (RPB: chart), real estate investment trust, said it is going to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. Republic Property Trust formed a special committee to assess the alternatives. This month, the company reported a net loss for the three months of $2.8 million and funds from operations for the same period of $2.8 million. During the same period in 2006, Republic Property reported net income of $61,000 and funds from operations of $4.5 million. Shares climbed 11.6%.

Active Power Inc. (ACPW: chart), which makes backup power supply systems, said that errors related to its accounting for stock options grants amounted to about $3.4 million. Active Power recorded an expense of $1.5 million, or 3 cents per share, in first quarter related to the review. Shares fell 5.5%.

Optimal Group Inc. (OPMR: chart) shares of payment processor plunged 10.6% after an analyst downgraded the stock on fears of legal action by federal prosecutors in New York, who are conducting an ongoing investigation of the online gambling industry. Attorney''s Office for the Southern District of New York issued seizure warrants for certain company funds. The warrants cover about $4.2 million Optimal affiliate FirePay Ltd. has on deposit in a reserve account and about $15 million Optimal Payments has on deposit in a money market account.

Source Interlink Cos. (SORC: chart) shares fell 13.4% after the company said it will buy magazine publisher Primedia Inc. enthusiast media division for about $1.2 billion in cash. The unit, which Primedia said in February it would consider selling, includes more than 70 magazine titles and 90 web sites. It leaves Primedia with its Consumer Source business, which publishes free consumer guides.

1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks ended lower, dragged by weak mining stocks.

European stock markets finished in the negative territory on Monday, dragged by weakness in the metals sector. Rio Tinto shares fell 3.5% and Lonmin dropped 3.4%. Notable gains for DaimlerChrysler and Nokia failed to offset losses. German automotive giant DaimlerChrysler advanced 1.8% boosting the autos sector after private-equity firm Cerberus agreed to buy 80% of Chrysler Group from DaimlerChrysler for $7.4 billion. Rival Peugeot gained 1.1% and Renault gained 2.5%.

Tech shares also stood out among gainers, led by Nokia which rose 4.8% after lifting its Q2 financial outlook. Competing phone- maker Ericsson advanced 2.5%, while microchip supplier STMicroelectronics gained 1.2%.By region, the German DAX Xetra 30 lost 0.3% at 7,459.61, the French CAC-40 declined 0.4% at 6,026.42, and the U.K. FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% at 6,555.50.


11:30AM Market turned mixed on profit-taking ahead of data.

The three major averages pulled back off their highs for the session as buying interest diminished ahead of the release of some key economic data, including a closely watched report on consumer price inflation. Profit-taking helped offset news that DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX: chart) agreed to sell 80% of Chrysler for $7.45 billion news. The automaker advanced 1.4%, while Ford Motor Co. (F: chart) rose 4.7%. Magna International (MGA: chart) one of the last bidders for Chrysler dropped 1.6%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was even dragged lower by weakness among disk drive, networking, and internet stocks. Dell (DELL: chart) dropped 2.1%, Yahoo (YHOO: chart) lost 1.7%, and Cisco (CSCO: chart) fell 1%. At the same time, telecom stocks advanced, boosted by 3.5% gain for Nokia (NOK: chart) after it lifted its outlook for the second-quarter.

In morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 33.56, or 0.25%, to 13,359.78. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 1.00, or 0.07%, at 1,506.85, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 5.28, or 0.21%, to 2,556.94. Bonds were little changed, as many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of Tuesday''s economic data. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was at 4.68%, unchanged from late Friday.


9:45AM U.S. markets opened higher on merger activity.

Wall Street opened in the positive amid strength in the automotive sector, generated by news that DaimlerChrysler AG said it will sell 80.1% of struggling Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management LP for $7.4 billion. Among blue-chip stocks, General Motors Corp. (GM: chart) jumped 5.7%, while Ford Motor Co. (F: chart) gained 4.5% on reports that the Ford family is planning to sell part of its controlling stake in the company. Again on the Dow, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: chart) rose 1%, following a court ruling that Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA: chart) infringed on a patent for Aciphex, an anti-ulcer drug co-marketed by Johnson & Johnson. Dow member Home Depot Inc. (HD: chart) gained 1) ahead of earnings release on Tuesday.