Ackerman Stake Gives Starbucks a Jolt
Activist investor Bill Ackman just revealed that his Pershing Square hedge fund has a $900 million 15.2 million share stake in Starbucks (SBUX) .
News of the stake sent the company's stock jumping more than 3% Tuesday afternoon. Today's move brings Starbucks' stock out of the red for the year.
Ackman revealed the firm's stake at Grant's Interest Rate Observer conference in New York.
Reports of a Trian Takeover Sends Papa John's Soaring
Papa John's Inc. (PZZA) is up more than 7% Tuesday following reports from Dow Jones Newswires that activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management is considering a takeover of the company.
Dow Jones also reported that there are numerous other suitors looking to take a bite into the beleaguered pizza chain.
Nelson Peltz, founder of Trian, and Wendy's chairman invited ousted CEO John Schnatter to a meeting to discuss a possible sale this summer. While those talks didn't bear any fruit, it is not clear whether Wendy's would be a part of the take over.
Premarket
U.S. futures are falling across the board Tuesday, including a triple digit fall for the blue chip Dow Jones.
Dow futures are falling 0.56%, indicating an open 148 points lower, while Nasdaq futures declined 0.62%, indicating an open 46 points lower, and S&P futures are falling 0.59%, indicating an open 17 points.
In Asia, the Nikkei dropped 1.32%, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.17%, and the Hang Seng fell 0.05%.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 declined 0.58%, the DAX fell 0.92%, and the CAC 40 dropped 0.56%, with about four hours left in trading.