corporate

The insurer owned $160.7 bln of corporate bonds at the end of 2010.

"We see opportunities to lower the percentage of our business in the financial community, and banks, European banks, so forth and so on," said Henrickson.

MetLife Inc. (MET) is down 1.19% to $45.75 after announcing plans to reduce debt holdings issued by financial firms, Bloomberg reported, quoting its CEO Robert Henrikson at an investor presentation.

Pulse Electronics Corporation (PULS) has received an unsolicited proposal from Bel Fuse (BELFB) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Pulse Electronics for $6.00 per share. The Pulse Electronics Board of Directors will revie

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) is up 2%, buoyed by 2010 fourth quarter adjusted EPS of $3.67 compared to $3.69 a year earlier and the Street view for $3.60. Revenue slipped less than 1% to $13.14 billion from $13.25 billion but toppe

Consumer shares are mostly down in Thursday's pre-market. The sector is packed with action today, with news from heavyweights such as Dish Network (DISH), IMAX Corp. (IMAX) and Target Corp. (TGT).

Personnel changes could be announced as early as this month, the report said.

Microsoft shares are up $0.04, or 0.15%, to $28.23.

Microsoft (MSFT) shares are higher, following a Bloomberg report that the software giant is planning to shake up management further as it looks to add senior product executives with an engineering background.

Morgan Stanley upgraded Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to equal-weight from underweight and raised its price target to $44 from $35. Global Payments Inc. provides electronic transaction processing, information systems, and services.