Wall Street Brief: WSJ Confirms iPad Mini, News Corp and Time Warner Score MLB Contracts

The Wall Street Journal is confirming earlier speculation about Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) mass production of its iPad Mini with reports that Asian suppliers have started manufacturing it. The tablet will include a 7.85″ screen, smaller than the regular iPad’s  9.7″ but larger than Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Nexus 7″ screen. LG Display and AU Optronics (NYSE:AUO) started production on the new screen in September.

Family Dollar Stores (NYSE:FDO) reported its FQ4 numbers, meeting analyst expectations as its adjusted EPS rose 14 percent to $0.75 and revenues increased 10 percent to $2.36 billion. Customer traffic and the value of average customer transactions also jumped. Family Dollar Stores sees FY13 at $4.10-$4.40 earnings per share, which was pretty much in line.

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News Corp’s (NASDAQ:NWS) Fox and Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) Turner networks extended their contracts for televising Major League Baseball until 2021, reported Bloomberg; the companies will pay a combined $6.8 billion. The contracts will enable the two to live stream games though the Internet to paying TV subscribers.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) founder Richard Schulze and four private equity firms, including Apollo Global (NASDAQ:APO), are reviewing the retailer’s books prior to a possible buyout offer valued around $10.9 billion with debt, reported Reuters. Schulze will join the firms  in a consortium and then present an offer.

Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) is conducting talks with three potential buyers to sell them $4 billion-$6 billion stakes in Gulf of Mexico oil blocks. According to Brazilian media reports, Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and BP (NYSE:BP) are likely interested parties. The divestments come from Petrobras’ strategy to sell $14.5 billion in non-core assets.

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