Market Minute: Suitors Circle Hulu; Yahoo Bets on Tumblr

The business week starts with potential buyers circling around Hulu, while Yahoo makes a big bet on social media.

For the fourth week in a row, the Dow industrials (^DJI) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) begin the week at record highs. The Dow gained 1.6 percent last week, the S&P jumped 2 percent and the Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC) rose 1.8 percent.

The video site Hulu continues to attract interest. Reports say DirecTV (DTV) is considering a bid. Time Warner Cable (TWC), Yahoo (YHOO) and several private groups have also expressed interest. Hulu owners Walt Disney (DIS), Comcast (CMCSA) and News Corp. (NWS) have been weighing options, including the sale of the business.

Yahoo has agreed to buy the Tumblr. Published reports say the deal is worth $1.1 billion. Tumblr has more than 100 million users, but so far it has generated very little revenue. The deal is seen as a bold move by Yahoo to seek a younger audience.

Generic-drug maker Actavis (ACT) has agreed to acquire Warner Chilcott (WCRX) for $8.5 billion. Warner Chilcott makes health-care products aimed at women. The deal comes as Actavis itself has been the subject of buyout efforts from Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) and Mylan (MYL).

And the consulting firm Accenture (ACN) has agreed to buy Acquity (AQ), a digital marketing company, for $316 million. Acquity shares doubled on the deal.

United Airlines today will fly passengers to Chicago from Houston on a 787 Dreamliner. It's the first domestic commercial flight for the Boeing Dreamliner since it was grounded in January following a series of safety incidents involving the plane's battery system. On board the flight today -- the CEOs of both United Continental Holdings (UAL) and Boeing (BA).

Goldman Sachs (GS) has downgraded its rating on Deere (DE) to "sell." It sees a downside risk to the farm equipment maker's earnings this year.

And General Electric (GE) says it will receive $11 billion in dividend and special dividend payout from its GE Capital unit this year.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg

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