rumor: Pittsburgh-basedF.N.B. Corp. ($20.32billion) and North Carolina's Yadkin Financial Corp. ($7.42 billion) are in advancedtalks for an all-stock deal, Reuters' sources say. Both banks reportsecond-quarter earnings today.

The Wall Street Journal's sources add andToronto-Dominion Bankhad alsobid for Yadkin.

Other earningsresults to watch out for are those by Bank of New York Mellon Corp., , andCitizens Financial GroupInc. Private equityfirm Blackstone GroupLP, specialty lender and fintech firm are also reporting.

BB&T posted second-quarter net income available tocommon shareholders of $541million — a 19.2% year-over-year increase. EPS was , reflecting5-cent-per-share impact from merger-related and restructuring charges,partially offset by a tax benefit.

For BNY Mellon, net income applicable to common shareholderswas $825 million, or75 cents per share, in the second quarter. It was $830 million, or 73 cents pershare, in the year-ago period.

In the asset management space, there's been muchcommentary aboutPacific Investment Management Co.LLC's new CEO pick. The Financial Times remarks the poaching of Manny Romanis because PIMCO "needs aturnaround," and Roman has done it for . A Wall Street Journal piece is moreskeptical, saying bond-fund managers currently have it sotough that Roman, despite his qualifications, "could still end uprunning very hard just to stand still."

In any case, predecessor Douglas Hodge told the WSJ he had been "completelyon board" with the change, as PIMCO is now "in a very differentplace" than it was after the departures of Mohamed El-Erian and Bill Gross.And Chief Investment Officer Dan Ivascyn told the FT the firm is now open to acquiringother asset managers or taking part in joint ventures.

Fourrescued Italian banks are being auctioned off, and the deadline is at 4 p.m.GMT — with Apollo GlobalManagement LLC possibly the only bidder, say sourcesfor Reuters. The banks are Banca Marche, Banca Etruria, CariChieti and CariFe,now valued at €1.4 billion. Apollo's offer is expected to be even lower.

Meanwhile, investment firm has filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy.

Backin February, the FT reported onsecret CEO meetings.Today, the group, which counts JPMorgan Chase &Co.'s Jamie Dimon, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Warren Buffett, 's Larry Fink andGeneral Electric Co.'sJeffrey Immelt amongits members, is expected to release its "Commonsenseprinciples of corporate governance." The listof suggestions arguesagainst offering earnings guidance, among other things. The WSJ, TheNew York Times and the FT reporton the development.

In other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific:

Europe:Iran seeks bond market return;Bank of Mauritius cuts rate; Mashreqbank Q2 profit down YOY

Middle East& Africa: EBA's MREL study results; Swedbank, Danske post Q2 results; S&Pcuts Turkey

The day ahead

Earlymorning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, theHang Seng rose 0.54% to 22,000.49, and the Nikkei 225 was up 0.77% to 16,810.22.

In Europe asof midday, the FTSE 100 was down 0.34% to 6,706.02, and the Euronext 100 fell0.29% to 865.42. 

On the macro front

Thejobless claims report, the Chicago Fed national activity index, the FHFA houseprice index,  the existing home salesreport, the Leading Indicators report, the EIA natural gas report, the Fedbalance sheet and the money supply report are due out today. 

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