Deal Stocks: F, CIT, AMZN, MCO, FITB, RATE, BMY

Welcome to Deal Stocks, where we focus on a handful of select public companies involved in activity across the deal spectrum -- including M&A, private equity, IPOs, bankruptcies and corporate restructurings. These are the transactions that define The Deal and are likely contributors to a stock's gains or losses. Join in the conversation on Twitter @dealstocks.

The market was celebrating on Thursday as the Dow topped 9,000 for the first time since January. The Dow skyrocketed up 188.03, or 2.12%, to 9,069.29 reaching a new high this year while the Nasdaq closed up 47.22, or 2.45%, to 1,973.60. The markets were buoyed by a host of M&A deals from Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc. (NYSE:BMY), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Bankrate.com Inc. (NASDAQ:RATE) while earnings announcements generally registered better than expected.

Goldman Sach Group Inc.'s (NYSE:GS) decision to go with the Treasury's valuation of its TARP warrants could score it some good PR. And only days after it was bailed out by it bondholders, CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) is still considering restructuring through Chapter 11. Speaking of maintaining good PR, American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) is holding off on $2.4 million bonuses for 43 executives. This comes after public backlash on AIG, which paid $165 million in bonuses in March. Here's a closer look of other factors that swayed the performance of Deal Stocks on Thursday:

• Shares of Bristol-Myers finished up as it opened its wallet late Wednesday, purchasing Medarex Inc. for $2.4 billion.
  

• Amazon.com's all-stock acquisition of Zappo.com Inc. after market close Wednesday sent shares of the online retailer higher as investors applauded its growth prospects. The deal also puts another feature in the cap of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which invested about $35 million in the company roughly four years ago.
  

• Shares of Bankrate.com, although finishing in the red Thursday, still closed above the takeout price of $28.50 that private equity firm Apax Partners agreed to buy the company for in a debt-free deal Wednesday. The $571 million deal had Apax laying out all the cash itself instead of using leveraged debt, the key component in the firm's business model. (The Deal Pipeline subscribers can read the full story here.)
  

• On the other hand, shares of rating agency Moody's Corp. (NYSE:MCO) fell after National Indemnity, an insurer owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK), reported that it sold almost 8 million shares of Moody's this week.
  

Meanwhile on the earnings front:

• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported second-quarter profits fell 29% to $3.05 billion blaming weak consumer sales. The tech titan's revenue fell for the first time since it went public in 1986.
  
• Meanwhile, Netflix Corp. (NASDAQ:NFLX), which was rumored to be a takeover candidate of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) two weeks ago, saw a 22% increase in second-quarter earnings to a profit of $32.4 million.
  
• Swiss banking group Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) said its net income rose 29% in the second quarter, topping market expectations with a profit of $1.47 billion.

• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) beat analysts estimates, sending the stock higher. The Cincinnati bank said loan losses increased, but it reached an overall profit after a gain from selling part of its transaction processing unit. The bank reported net income of $856 million, or $1.15 per share.

• Ford Motor Corp. (NYSE:F) also rallied Thursday morning as it pulled a $2.4 billion profit with the help of one-time gains tied to debt restructuring.

• The New York Times Co.'s (NYSE:NYT) second-quarter profit rose 85% to $39.1 million. The media company has been undergoing a massive restructuring as it sold its classical radio station for $45 million as well as reached a $20 million agreement to cut costs at The Boston Globe. - George White and Gerald Magpily
  

	VITAL SIGNS
	Figures are calculated according to the latest stock data available at approximately 4:00 pm ET
	July 23, 2009
	Benchmark	Spread	Change from previous day	1 week ago	1 month ago	1 year ago
	LIBOR 1-MONTH	0.29	-0.001	0.29	0.31	2.46
	LIBOR 3-MONTH	0.50	+0.002	0.51	0.61	2.80
	TED	0.32	+0.010	0.33	0.40	1.05
	Exchange	Average	Change from previous day	1 week ago	1 month ago	1 year ago
	VIX	23.52	+0.05 (+0.21%)	25.42	30.58	21.31
	T-bond	Current Price/Yield		Price/Yield change
	3-Year	99-22+ / 1.60		-0-11 / .119
	5-Year	100-08+ / 2.56		-0-25 / .168
	10-Year	95-14 / 3.68		-1-03.5 / .139
	Sources: Bloomberg.com, CNBC.com