Market Minute: Apple, Samsung Patent War Slogs On; JPMorgan's 'Whale' Woes

A big day in the Apple vs. Samsung battle, and the Feds want something unusual from JPMorgan. Those stocks and more are what's making business news Friday.

The market snapped a three day losing streak Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) gained 27 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 (^GPSC) added 6, and the Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC) rose 15 points.

This could be a big day in the long-running patent war between Apple (AAPL) and Samsung. The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to rule on whether Samsung violated Apple's patents. In addition, a federal appeals court determines whether Samsung should be allowed to continue selling certain products here. A jury previously ruled that Samsung did infringe on various Apple patents.

News reports say JPMorgan Chase (JPM) may not be able to complete a settlement with the government without admitting guilt. Usually firms are allowed to pay fines without admitting guilt. The case involves what became known as the "London whale" case, in which JPMorgan lost more than $6 billion in complex derivative trades.

Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial (PNC) is the latest in a series of banks to say it is the subject of Department of Justice investigation into the pricing of mortgage-backed securities.

Investors are bidding up the shares of Priceline.com (PCLN), the online travel site. Its quarterly profit rose a better-than-expected 24 percent. Priceline is likely to trade above $985 a share.

But Monster Beverage (MNST) might need a pick-me-up. It said earnings fell slightly, hurt by rising costs of defending itself against lawsuits and regulatory probes. The company's high-caffeine drinks have been linked to health problems.

Three other stocks are set to tumble on disappointing results: the rare-earth miner Molycorp (MCP), the biotech firm Dendreon (DNDN), and organic-food maker Annie's (BNNY). But Rackspace (RAX), which provides cloud computing services, topped expectations.

And Blackberry (BBRY) is reportedly considering a move to take the mobile-device maker private. According to Reuters, Blackberry is talking with the same private-equity firm embroiled in the effort to take Dell (DELL) private.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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