WORLD FINANCIAL NEWS ON MAY 26, 2015

U.S. stock futures were mixed this morning after the Memorial Day weekend. In a week which saw new records, the Dow and S&P 500 declined Friday. But May remains on track to be a strong month. (CNBC) The dollar rose against a basket of currencies today, extending gains since a round of improved inflation data Friday and driving the euro to around $1.09for the first time in a month. (Reuters) Stocks in Asia were largely higher overnight, with markets in China and Japantaking the lead with new multi-year highs, despite an absence of fresh cues offshore. (CNBC) Charter Communications (CHTR) has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable(TWC) for $195 a share in cash and stock, or $78.7 billion. Unlike inComcast's attempt to purchase TWC, there's a $2 billion breakup fee. (CNBC) Federal prosecutors are likely to bring criminal charges against General Motors (GM) over an ignition-switch defect linked to more than 100 deaths, but the particulars were still being worked out. (WSJ) General Motors was approached by Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne about a possible merger in March, but GM CEO Mary Barra was not interested in such a deal. (NY Times) Twitter (TWTR) has been holding talks to buy Flipboard in a stock deal that would value the news app at more than $1 billion. The social media giant has faced pressure from Wall Street to grow and innovate. (Re/code) Apple (AAPL) has named senior vice president of design Jony Ive to the new position of chief design officer, handing off his daily managerial duties to two "long-time collaborators." (USA Today) Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist senator from Vermont, told CNBC the 90 percent top income tax rates of the 1950s might not be too high. A growing body of statistical and qualitative surveys provide some common patterns among billionaires that offer clues into the "billionaire personality"and what it takes to make extreme wealth. (CNBC) Greece is committed to liberalizing its economy, reforming its pension system and running a reasonable primary budget surplus, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis wrote in an op-ed. (Reuters) Recovery teams are set to resume looking for the 12 members of two families who authorities say are missing after a rain-swollen river in Central Texas carried a vacation home off its foundation. (AP) John Nash, winner of the Nobel prize in economics and the subject of the movie "A Beautiful Mind," was killed with his wife, Alicia, Saturday in a car crash in New Jersey. (NBC News) Anonymous telephone threats against commercial airliners, possibly from the same source, caused a scare on Monday involving four international flights at airports in New York and New Jersey. (AP)

	BY THE NUMBERS

The shortened week gets off to a busy start for economic reports, beginning with the April durable goods report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are looking for a 0.1 percent decline following a 4.4 percent increase in March. At 9 a.m. ET, the Case-Shiller on home prices for March and for the first quarter will be out, with forecasts calling for a 4.9 percent year-over-year increase in prices for the first three months of 2015. At 10 a.m. ET, the government's April new home sales report is seen showing a 6.0 percent increase to an annual rate of 510,000 units, in a partial recovery from March's 11.4 percent drop. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index, also out at 10 a.m. ET, is expected to come in at 95.0 for May, little changed from April's 95.2 reading. Auto parts retailer AutoZone (AZO) is out with quarterly numbers this morning, on an otherwise light day for earnings. TiVo (TIVO) and Workday(WDAY) issue reports after today's closing bell.

	STOCKS TO WATCH

AstraZeneca (AZN) shares are under pressure, after a key experimental psoriasis drug was linked to suicide concerns. The drugmaker had been sharing development of the drug with Amgen (AMGN), which has dropped out following this development. Wal-Mart's (WMT) auditor, Ernst & Young, allegedly knew of bribery allegations against the retailer in Mexico long before Wal-Mart disclosed that news. That accusation comes from pension fund advisor CtW Investment Group. Amazon (AMZN) has changed its European tax practices amid regulatory investigations by EU regulators, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company is now booking revenue from retail sales in individual European countries, instead of channeling all sales through low-tax Luxembourg. BlackBerry (BBRY) will lay off an unknown number of workers in its device business, according to Re/Code. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports on how the then-Research in Motion chiefs reacted when they saw Apple's iPhone in 2007.