Opening Bell: 07.01.13

Onyx Rejects Amgen’s Takeover Bid, Then Places Itself on the Market (DealBook)
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. put itself up for sale on Sunday after having rejected an unsolicited $10 billion takeover bid by the biotechnology giant Amgen last week as too low. The company said in a statement that Amgen had proposed paying $120 a share in cash, a 38 percent premium to Onyx’s closing price on Friday. Onyx, which makes biopharmaceutical drugs, said it had hired the investment bank Centerview Partners to contact possible suitors. It has already been in touch with a number of potential buyers, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Tribune to Buy 19 TV Stations for $2.7 Billion (DealBook)
The Tribune Company agreed on Monday to buy 19 local television stations for about $2.7 billion, becoming one of the nation’s biggest commercial TV station owners amid an effort to build out its video and digital operations and move away from newspapers.

Nokia to pay €1.7bn to buy Siemens out of telecoms joint venture (FT)
Nokia is buying Siemens out of their telecoms equipment joint venture for €1.7bn, giving the Finnish group full control over what is its best-performing business but raising questions about the strength of its balance sheet. The full purchase of Nokia Siemens Networks adds the relative stability of the telecoms equipment business to the Finnish group’s struggling mobile phone unit, which has been subject to rumours about a possible sale.

Dell's Cash Overseas Is Needed at Home (WSJ)
Advisers working on Dell Inc.'s $24.4 billion buyout are trying to solve a problem: how to use the computer maker's foreign cash without paying a $2.6 billion U.S. tax bill. ... Teams of accountants, advisers and lawyers are putting in place a plan to use the company's foreign earnings tax-free to fund their deal now, as well as help repay the substantial debt that is being taken on as part of the transaction, a person familiar with the matter said. The solution doesn't affect Dell shareholders; rather, it is a quandary for the buyers.

Simons Strategy to Shield Profit From Taxes Draws IRS Ire (Bloomberg)
Renaissance sought to convert profit from Medallion’s rapid trading into long-term capital gains, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the dispute hasn’t been made public. The top federal rate on long-term gains is about half that on short-term. Versions of the strategy, which involved shifting ownership of Medallion’s portfolio to banks including Barclays Plc (BARC), were used for most of the past decade, one person with knowledge of the matter said.

Belgian diplomat booted from golf club, treated like ‘terrorists’ over wife’s breast-feeding (NYP)
Detective Scott Harding allegedly yelled, “Close the doors!” and two other diners were told to leave the terrace. “He was walking as if he was acting in a Western movie,” Neijens said. “He had one hand on his gun, one hand on his Taser.” Neijens said the officer warned the couple they were trespassing and said some people at the club thought they were terrorists because of their black backpack. When Remans, on the verge of tears, questioned why terrorists would breast-feed at a ritzy club, the cop allegedly replied, “In Sri Lanka, babies are used by terrorists.” Harding changed his tone when Neijens revealed his State Department-issued ID. “You have to understand, this club has had terrorism threats in the past,” the cop said.

The Bundesbank's fight to be heard (Reuters)
Thrust into the Bundesbank presidency in 2011 when his predecessor resigned in protest at ECB policy, Jens Weidmann heads a once-mighty institution that still employs nearly 10,000 people - far more than the 1,600 at the ECB - but which is struggling to adapt to life as just one of 17 national stakeholders in the ECB, albeit the biggest. The 45-year-old's task is daunting: often in the minority at the ECB, he must use all his tactical nous to gain traction with the Bundesbank's conservative, inflation-fighting policies. Failure would jeopardize Germans' confidence in the ECB, and the euro - a scenario that could hit support for the single currency project in its biggest member state.

Attacks from America: NSA Spied on European Union Offices (Der Spiegel)
Information obtained by SPIEGEL shows that America's National Security Agency (NSA) not only conducted online surveillance of European citizens, but also appears to have specifically targeted buildings housing European Union institutions. The information appears in secret documents obtained by whistleblower Edward Snowden that SPIEGEL has in part seen. A "top secret" 2010 document describes how the secret service attacked the EU's diplomatic representation in Washington. The document suggests that in addition to installing bugs in the building in downtown Washington, DC, the European Union representation's computer network was also infiltrated.

'Unprecedented' $80 Billion Pulled From Bond Funds (CNBC)
A record amount of money poured out of exchange-traded and mutual bond funds in June, according to a fresh report by TrimTabs, nearly double the amount pulled out of bond funds at the height of the financial crisis in October 2008. Investor fears over the scaling back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's bond purchasing program has seen the yield on 10-year Treasurys rise sharply to 2.5 percent as $80 billion left bond funds in June, according to the research.

China's Cash Crunch Shows Signs of Easing (WSJ)
The strong determination by China's new leaders to maintain a relatively tight monetary policy to facilitate economic rebalancing and cut long-term risks in the nation's banking system means borrowing costs for Chinese businesses are entering a new, pricier phase .... Nevertheless, the liquidity squeeze in China's interbank lending market showed signs of easing Monday, with the seven-day repurchase agreement rate, a benchmark of interbank borrowing costs, dropping to 5.43% on a weighted-average basis from 6.16% at Friday's close and a record 30% hit in an isolated trade on June 20. But the rate remains considerably higher than the 3.3% it had averaged this year before the cash crunch started in late May.

EU Accuses 13 Investment Banks of Hampering CDS Competition (Bloomberg)
The EU sent a so-called statement of objections to 13 banks, data provider Markit Group Ltd. and the International Swaps & Derivatives Association over allegations they worked together “to prevent exchanges from entering the credit derivatives business between 2006 and 2009,” the European Commission said in an e-mailed statement. “It would be unacceptable if banks collectively blocked exchanges to protect their revenues from over-the-counter trading of credit derivatives,” Joaquin Almunia, the Brussels-based commissioner in charge of competition, said in the statement. “Over-the-counter trading is not only more expensive for investors than exchange trading, it is also prone to systemic risks.”

McKesson Holders Urged to Vote Against Chairman (WSJ)
An influential union investment group is opposing the re-election of McKesson Corp.'s chairman and two other directors, citing what the group said was excessive chief-executive pay, the company's failure to heed a shareholder advisory vote calling for splitting the chairman and chief executive roles and other governance issues.

Talk of Mergers Stirs the Big Players in Cable TV (DealBook)
“Frothy is probably too polite a word” for the current climate, said Craig Moffett, the longtime Sanford C. Bernstein analyst who recently formed his own firm, Moffett Research.

Jennifer Lopez: Sorry I performed for Turkmenistan leader (NBC)
Jennifer Lopez is clearing the air after performing for Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow in his home country Saturday night. Despite the leader's oppressive record of human rights violations, the songstress took the stage to sing "Happy Birthday" to the 56-year-old. And after being criticized by the non-profit Human Rights Foundation for the performance, Lopez is now addressing the controversy surrounding her appearance at the event. In a statement obtained by E! News from Jennifer's rep, Lopez's performance was said to be part of a concert sponsored by "China National Petroleum Corporation that was presented to their local executives in Turkmenistan. [And] was not a government sponsored event or political in nature."