"Whatever your work is, dignify it with your best thought and effort." - Esther Baldwin York

Morning News of Note:

• GE: Spielberg Link Boosts Value of DreamWorks How much is Steven Spielberg worth? That's the billion-dollar question for NBC Universal as it negotiates to buy DreamWorks SKG. NBC Universal, the entertainment unit of General Electric Co., has entered a two-month period of exclusive discussions in its effort to acquire DreamWorks. The deal could value the movie studio co-founded a decade ago by Mr. Spielberg at considerably north of $1 billion, people familiar with the matter have said. (Full Story) WSJ
• MO RAI: Seniors Group Sues Big Tobacco To Recover Money for Medicare A conservative seniors group filed suit against big U.S. tobacco companies, seeking to recover billions of dollars spent on smoking-related diseases by Medicare, the federal health-insurance program for the elderly. The case relies on a little-known but recently strengthened provision of Medicare law that allows someone to sue on behalf of Medicare when it pays medical expenses that another party had a legal obligation to cover -- for example, when a corporate health plan has agreed to cover the expenses, or when a business or other party injured the Medicare beneficiary and is liable. (Full Story) WSJ
• July Payrolls: U.S. employers added 207,000 workers to their payrolls in July, the most in three months and enough to keep incomes rising and consumers spending, economists said in advance of a government report today. The figure is based on the median estimate of 73 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The forecast compares with 146,000 jobs added in June and is about the same as this year's average. (Full Story) Bloomberg
• PG: Procter & Gamble-PG to auction Spinbrush and Rembrandt-TheDeal.com: PG will be selling its Spinbrush brand as a concession to win approval with the European Commission to acquire G. Sources say the company will also sell Rembrandt, a brand owned by G, to win Federal Trade Commission approval for the G acquisition. MER is advising PG on its divestitures.

Market Comments: The market opens down this am, despite a stronger than expected payrolls report (207k vs. 180k consensus). Oil and bond yields are both higher this morning, which is likely pressuring stocks, in addition to more profit taking after the very strong run we've had.

So far, the homebuilders and select retail stocks look to be getting sold the hardest. But it's still early-- way early.

long GE, MO, PG