Market Minute: Ford Faces F-150 Probe; the Dow Sets a Record

The Dow sets a record, and Ford's top-selling pickup is under investigation.

The three major averages last week snapped a streak of four weekly gains in a row. The Dow industrials (^DJI) edged slightly lower, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) both lost 1.1 percent.

Still, the Dow has gone a record 101 trading days without a three-day losing streak. We haven't seen three straight down days this year.

Federal regulators are investigating complaints that certain Ford F-150 pickups experienced an unexpected power loss when the driver was accelerating. The preliminary examination covers 2011 to 2013 models with EcoBoost V-6 engines. The F-150 is one of Ford Motor's (F) most popular vehicles.

News Corp.'s (NWS) plan to split into two companies won the backing of the company's board. Publishing assets such as The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post will take the News Corp. name. The faster growing Fox News, FX and film studio will be called 21st Century Fox. The split is set to be finalized late next month. News Corp. also says it will take a charge of up to 1.4-billion dollars this quarter.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) has agreed to acquire eye-care giant Bausch & Lomb for nearly $8.7 billion in cash and debt. The private-equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired Bausch & Lomb for $3.7 billion back in 2007. Reports that this deal was in the works surfaced late Friday.

Jefferies has raised its rating on Merck (MRK) to a "buy." It says the drugmaker could restructure its operations and spinoff a key division.

Luxury retailer Tiffany & Co. (TIF) says its quarterly profit edged up by less than 3 percent, but that easily topped expectations.

And the embattled cruise industry has suffered another black eye. A Royal Caribbean ship, the Grandeur of the Seas, had a serious fire en route to the Bahamas yesterday. This follows a series of incidents involving Carnival Corp. (CCL) cruise ships.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg

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