Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

• Noble nets deepwater drilling permit. Noble Energy (NBL) was awarded the government's first deepwater drilling permit since last year's Gulf spill. The permit is for a well located in 6,500 feet of water about 70 miles southeast of Venice, La. As a precautionary measure, Noble has contracted to use Helix Energy's (HLX) capping stack to stop the flow of oil in the event of a well control event. The same system was used to help stanch the flow of BP's (BP) leaking well last summer. Regulators said additional permits will be granted in 'the coming weeks and months' if companies demonstrate they can drill safely.
• YRC plummets on restructuring decision. Shares of YRC Worldwide (YRCW) fell 21.6% in yesterday's trading after it announced it had reached an agreement in principle with lenders and other stakeholders to restructure the company. YRC said the move could result in "a very substantial dilution of existing equity holders" as some of its debt becomes converted into equity. The company has until July to close the restructuring transaction. Premarket: YRCW -7.5% (7:00 ET).
• Pep Boys gives up on sale. Pep Boys (PBY) abandoned efforts to sell itself after bids came in too low, sources said, sending shares down 10% in yesterday's trading to $12.53. The company had reportedly attracted initial indications of interest at $10-$11/share, but had expected a bid priced in the low teens. Pep Boys has tried unsuccessfully in the past to sell itself, and could still decide to revive the effort at a future date.
• Blackstone buys Centro assets. Australia's Centro Properties Group confirmed it was selling its U.S. assets to Blackstone (BX) for $9.4B. Offloading its 588 U.S. properties will allow debt-laden Centro to focus on running its Australian operations as a stand-alone company. For Blackstone, the deal is a hefty bet on the recovery of U.S. retail property.
• Health Care REIT buys Genesis assets. Health Care REIT (HCN) agreed yesterday afternoon to buy the real estate assets of privately-held rehab facility and nursing home operator Genesis HealthCare for $2.4B. The assets include 147 post-acute, skilled nursing and assisted living properties in 11 states. The deal followed an announcement earlier in the day that Ventas (VTN) would buy Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) for $7.4B, with both deals part of a larger consolidation trend in the rapidly growing health care and senior housing real estate sector.
• FDIC's Bair calls for bank restructuring. Speaking at Reuters Future Face of Finance Summit, FDIC chief Sheila Bair said the country's largest banks may need to restructure and downsize unless they can prove that they would be easy to dismantle in the event of another financial crisis. Among other steps, banks would have to set up more foreign subsidiaries and realign their legal structures. Bair said investors also need to accept that they'll get lower returns from banks that hold higher capital and run safer operations.
• Barclays buys U.K. Egg assets from Citi. Barclays (BCS) is paying an undisclosed sum to buy the U.K. credit card assets of online bank Egg from Citigroup (C). Egg's U.K. assets consist of 1.15M accounts with approximately £2.3B ($3.75B) of gross receivables. The purchase is part of Barclays' plans to boost its retail banking business, and is part of Citi's plan to sell non-core businesses.
• General Mills, Nestle vie for Yoplait. General Mills (GIS) and Nestle (NSRGY.PK) are said to be among the leading bidders for a 50% stake in Yoplait, as both submitted offers valuing the No. 2 yogurt maker at around €1.6B ($2.2B). Bright Dairy & Food Co. reportedly submitted a higher offer of around €1.7B, but it's unclear if the Chinese firm will receive final regulatory approval from its authorities. The stake is being sold by French private-equity firm PAI Partners, and a final bidder may be selected in the next few weeks.
• Siemens eyes IPO for lighting division. Siemens (SI) is reportedly considering an IPO of its Osram lighting division within the next two months, a step that would bring the conglomerate one step closer to a total exit from consumer products. Osram has an enterprise value of €6.5B-7B ($9B-9.7B), and Siemens has retained Deutsche Bank (DB), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Commerzbank (CRZBY.PK) to help prepare the potential IPO. In yesterday's trading, SI +3.4%.

Earnings: Tuesday Before Open

• Ares Capital (ARCC): Q4 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $156.9M (+126.4% Y/Y) beats by $28.4M. (PR)
• Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG): Q4 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.09. Shares +5.7% premarket. (PR)

Earnings: Monday After Close

• A123 Systems (AONE): Q4 EPS of -$0.43 misses by $0.06. Revenue of $24M (-2% Y/Y) beats by $2.4M. Shares -3.4% AH. (PR)
• Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP): Q4 EPS of $0.66 beats by $0.17. Revenue of $118.5M (+69% Y/Y) in-line. Shares -0.4% AH.(PR)
• Universal Health Services (UHS): Q4 EPS of $0.58 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $1.56B (+21% Y/Y) in-line. Shares +1.7% AH. (PR)
• Youku.com (YOKU): Q4 EPS of -$0.13 misses by $0.10. Revenue of $23M (+182% Y/Y) beats by $2.3M. Shares -7.4% AH. (PR)

Today's Markets

• In Asia, Japan +1.2% to 10754. Hong Kong +0.3% to 23396. China +0.5% to 2920. India +3.4% to 18447.
• In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris +0.3%. Frankfurt +0.5%.
• Futures at 7:00: Dow +0.4%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.6%. Crude +0.1% to $97.08. Gold +0.6% to $1418.70.

Tuesday's Economic Calendar

• Auto sales
  7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
  8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
  10:00 Hearing: Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Update (Bernanke)
  10:00 Hearing: Mortgage Finance Reform (Geithner)
  10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
  10:00 Construction Spending
• Notable earnings before Tuesday's open: ARCC, BMO, CNP, DRH, FIG
• Notable earnings after Tuesday's close: DNDN, MBI, MDR, NKTR, PAY, SINA, TIVO

The SA Currents team contributed to this post.

Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.

After you finish reading Wall Street BreakfastSeeking Alpha's Market Currentswill keep you current all day long.