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WALL STREET JOURNAL:

According to people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo! (YHOO) is again talking to Time Warner (TWX), this time about taking over AOL, with Time Warner taking a stake in the combined entity. News Corp. (NWS) has its eye on any Yahoo moves. Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT) is considering what its next move against Yahoo might be and is talking to News Corp…The Wall Street Journal also reported that, as part of the company’s plan to cut costs, Tribune Co’s Los Angeles Times newspaper may look to cut about 250 jobs, including about 17% of its news staff…FINANCIAL TIMES: The Financial Times reported that Chrysler, which has been searching for foreign partnerships, signed with China’s Great Wall Motor a memorandum of understanding to explore long-term business ties in areas that include technology, distribution and components…DALLAS NEWS: According to the Dallas News, AMR Corp’s (AMR) American Airlines informed its flight attendants’ union that is may lay off 900 flight attendants on August 31…YONHAP: Yonhap reported that LG Electronics will release “Dare,” a new touch-screen mobile phone in the U.S. that will compete with Apple’s (AAPL) latest iPhone models…

Judge says Google can’t be forced to turn over computer code-WSJ
A federal judge said Google (GOOG) cannot be forced to turn over the computer code central to their search functions, reports the Wall Street Journal. In a $1B copyright-infringement suit brought by Viacom (VIA), U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton, in a Manhattan court, allowed Google’s request for a protective order. The source code controls YouTube.com and Google.com’s Internet search tool, and Google says it’s a trade secret critical to its business success.

BHP, Chinese companies expected to agree on iron ore price increase today-FT

Mining company BHP Billiton (BHP) is expected to reach an agreement with its Chinese customers today on a record increase in iron ore prices. The agreement is expected to be in-line with a similar settlement negotiated last week by BHP’s rival, Rio Tinto (RTP), in which Rio hiked prices by 79%-96%.

NVDA: Believe company can recover within three quarters@AMTR
After Nvidia significantly lowered its guidance for its July quarter, Am Tech believes that the company can return to its previous rate of earnings and revenue growth within three quarters. The firm still remains buyers of the stock.
NVDA down hard after disappointing guidance and earnings.

FSLR: Deal highlights important trends, reit Buy@AMTR
After a subsidiary of EDF Energies announced a 1.8MW PPA agreement in New Jersey using First Solar modules, Am Tech believes the deal will only provide First Solar with $4M in revenue. However, the firm thinks the deal illustrates the importance of state initiatives to increasing solar use, as well as the high value of PPA agreements in the event that the U.S. adopts a carbon cap and trade system.

Pre-Market Movers: Ahead of the Bell

Today’s session is a short one. We can expect a flurry of activity at the open that quickly dribbles until the 1PM close. Despite news (Crude, Jobs, Euro) there is surprisingly little movement. The knee-jerk on Jobs looks to be to open them higher. That looks futures-led and could well disappear as we move to the open. There is very little volume other than in the ETFs which are seeing triple-normal volume for this time of day. It is not a good environment to get anchored on prices in either direction. Of the volume movers, Nvidia (NVDA) is the leader, trading down (-26.2%) after warning of a much-weaker than expected quarter last night after the bell. There is a sharp-drop in volume to the next most active, Chesapeake (CHK), trading down (-1.58%) on no specific news. The shares hit fresh lifetime highs yesterday so this is likely profit taking. Yahoo (YHOO) is trading up +2.7% not on a Microsoft takeover rumor as was the case yesterday, but on a possible hookup with AOL. Traders seem reluctant to let go of a positive outcome for Yahoo after the spurning of Microsoft’s $33 offer. Apple (AAPL) is trading up +0.2% which is likely related to futures action. Rest up folks, Earnings Season begins next week.

U.S. equity futures are quiet; Monthly jobs reports released

U.S.