The transaction announced Thursday night by Textron will enable the Providence, R.I.-based diversified firm to expand its general aviation division by adding Beechcraft's special mission, light attack and trainer aircraft to its portfolio. It will also bring Cessna and Beechcraft, both based in Wichita, under one corporate owner.
"From our customers' perspective, this creates a broader selection of aircraft and a larger service footprint — all sharing the same high standards of quality and innovation," Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly said in a formal statement announcing the agreement.
"I think it's an extremely good fit in terms of product," Donnelly added, referring to Beechcraft's popular King Air line of twin-engine aircraft and Cessna's Caravan and Citation jet lines during a Friday morning conference call with Wall Street analysts.
Beechcraft emerged from bankruptcy court protection this year after shedding much of its debt. Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture had said in October that the sale of his company's legacy jet assets was close to completion.
In a statement announcing the acquisition deal, Boisture said Textron's experience and willingness to invest in Beechcraft "will help us continue to satisfy our customers and meet our business objectives at a faster pace."
Textron said Friday it would issue roughly $1.1 billion in new debt to finance the deal and provide working capital. However, the company expects to maintain its current debt ratings, Donnelly said.
Holders of equity interests in Beechcraft parent Beech Holdings have delivered sufficient proxies in favor of the transaction, Textron said. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the first half of 2014, the company said.
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“Today, the power of Morgan Stanley’s platform—a premier investment bank and one of the world’s pre-eminent wealth and asset management franchises—is clearer than ever before,” explained Gorman (right), in a statement. “With this milestone behind us, we have added momentum to carry out our full plan to achieve higher shareholder returns.” 
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"It's been an amazing journey so far, for me personally and for all of us at the company," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the Facebook earnings call.
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Getty Images Many people are willing to sacrifice almost anything to be with their family during the holidays. After all, there's no place like home for the holidays, right? But the truth is, sometimes it isn't worth the financial sacrifice to make it home. If you just can't justify the costs of traveling home this holiday season, you're not alone (although it might feel like you are). Perhaps you're surrounded by friends and family who pull out all the stops for the holidays and expect you to do the same. Or maybe you've already ensured everyone that you'll be there, and you're worried that your change of plans might land you on everyone's naughty list. Two years ago, Johnny and I were faced with the fact that we wouldn't be making it to our parents' homes for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Johnny had just started a new job, and his company strongly discouraged him from leaving for the holidays. We wanted to make the responsible financial decision and keep Johnny in good standing at his new job. And so we had to tell our families that we wouldn't be home for the holidays. But how? Tell them sooner rather than later: Even though you might be dreading telling your family that you won't be coming home, delaying the inevitable won't help the situation. The closer to the holiday season, the more likely that your family will have made plans around your arrival. They'll appreciate a heads-up. And who knows -- maybe the extra time will give your loved ones a chance to put a holiday box in the mail for you (Please, Mom?). Break the news as personally as possible: Two years ago, Johnny's family was expecting us for Christmas. When debating how to tell them, we realized the most personal approach would be best. So we video-chatted with his family one Sunday to break the news. Because we took the time to video-chat, they were able to see our genuine disappointment, and much to our relief, they immediately understood. If we'd told them by text or email, our explanation might have seemed less sincere. Find ways to let your family know you care: Despite being by ourselves, Johnny and I still wanted a way to connect with his family at Christmas. We had a tight budget, so we headed to a dollar store and bought everyone funny (OK, maybe just weird) gag gifts. We sent other gifts to our Secret Santas, but the gag gifts helped everyone know we were thinking of them. They all opened the box on Christmas morning, and everyone had a good laugh over video-chat.
Richard Drew/AP NEW YORK -- Strong third-quarter results from technology companies drove investors into stocks on Friday, giving the market its third straight weekly gain. After reporting results that topped expectations, Microsoft (MSFT) rose 6 percent and Amazon.com rose 9 percent. The Dow (^DJI) rose 61 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,570. The Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) rose 14 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,943, the highest it's been in 13 years. And the Standard & Poor's 500 (^GPSC) rose 7 points, 0.4 percent, to 1,759, another record high. The gains were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 rose, led by telecommunications with an increase of 1 percent. Most companies that have reported third-quarter earnings are beating financial analysts' estimates. Even so, earnings for companies in the S&P 500 index are expected to grow just 4.5 percent over the same period a year ago, according to S&P Capital IQ, a research firm. At the start of the year, earnings were expected to rise at more than twice that pace. Some market watchers are calling for caution, saying that a significant part of the profit growth has come from cutting expenses, not increasing revenue, as the global economy remains sluggish. "The question is: What is the outlook for earnings?" Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities, said. "There is only so much you can do with cost-cutting." Major U.S. stock indexes have soared this year. The S&P 500 is up 23 percent, the Nasdaq composite 31 percent. In addition to higher earnings, investors have been encouraged by continued economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Many had expected the Fed to pull back from its stimulus before the end of year, but now think the central bank will hold off until next year, possibly until March. The Fed is buying $85 billion worth of U.S. government and other bonds with the aim of keeping interest rates low. The stimulus program has helped investors brush aside a few warning signs about the market. Stocks look fully priced by some measures comparing them to earnings, for instance. And revenue growth is slowing. Revenue for S&P 500 companies is expected to grow just 2 percent for all of 2013, half the growth of the year before. Economic news Friday suggested they may struggle to increase sales for a while yet. The U.S. government that reported orders for long-lasting factory goods, excluding aircraft and military-related products, fell 1.1 percent. Also, the University of Michigan said its index of U.S. consumer sentiment fell in October as concern grew that the partial government shutdown this month and the political fight over the nation's borrowing limit would slow growth. Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Microsoft beat analysts' forecasts for revenue and earnings, giving hope to investors that its shift to devices and services from PC-based software will be successful. Microsoft rose $2.01, or 6 percent, to $35.73 after reporting a 17 percent increase in third quarter net income late Thursday. Amazon.com (AMZN) was up $31.18, or 9 percent, to $363 as investors continue to shrug off its losses. The online retailer reported late Thursday that its revenue surged 24 percent to $13.8 billion in the third quarter, more than financial analysts had expected. Zynga (ZNGA) rose 19 cents, or 5 percent, to $3.73 after the Internet gaming company reported it had cut its losses in the third quarter. The maker of "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" is trying to appeal more to users of smartphones and tablet computers under a new CEO. In bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for mortgages and many other kinds of loans, edged down to 2.51 percent from 2.52 percent. The yield has fallen sharply since Sept. 5, when it hit 3 percent, and is the lowest it's been in three months.
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) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Sycamore Partners to acquire women’s luxury footwear company Stuart Weitzman Holdings LLC. 
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Shizuo Kambayashi/APChild seats, manufactured by Takata, displayed at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo. DETROIT -- Takata Corp. defied a U.S. safety agency's demand for a nationwide recall of driver's side air bags, setting the stage for possible legal action by the government and leaving some drivers to wonder about the safety of their cars. In a Tuesday letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration obtained by The Associated Press, Takata said its own data and testing support limiting the recall to high-humidity areas, such as along the Gulf Coast. A Takata official repeated those claims Wednesday morning at a hearing before a House subcommittee. The air bag's inflators can explode with too much force, spewing shrapnel into the passenger compartment. At least five deaths and dozens of injuries have been linked to the problem worldwide. Under pressure from lawmakers, the U.S. safety agency on Nov. 26 demanded that Takata and a number of automakers broaden a recall of driver's side air bags to all 50 states. At Wednesday's hearing before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, an executive from Honda (HMC) said the automaker would expand its recall nationwide. Honda is one of Takata's biggest customers. So far automakers have recalled about 14 million vehicles worldwide for Takata air bag problems, including 8 million in the U.S. A nationwide recall would add 8 million vehicles to existing recalls, Takata said. Up until now, cars were only being recalled in high-humidity areas in Florida, Hawaii, along the Gulf Coast and in some U.S. territories. Takata has maintained that prolonged exposure to airborne moisture can cause the inflator propellant to burn faster than designed, causing it to explode with too much force. A number of committee members expressed concern that the limited nature of the recall was confusing to consumers outside of the current recall zones. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, the panel's senior Democrat, said she's received letters from constituents "who are literally afraid to drive their cars." But Hiroshi Shimizu, senior vice president of global quality assurance at Takata, maintained the company's defiant stance, telling lawmakers at the hearing that the available data and scientific evidence on the air bags "doesn't support" a nationwide recall. Takata also contends that NHTSA only has authority to seek recalls from auto manufacturers and makers of replacement parts, not original parts suppliers. NHTSA disagrees. Late Tuesday, NHTSA called Takata's decision "disappointing" and said it will review the response to determine the agency's next steps. A week ago, the agency threatened civil fines and legal action if Takata didn't declare the driver's air bag inflators defective and agree to the recall. It can impose fines of up to $35 million. David Friedman, deputy NHTSA administrator, is also scheduled to appear at Wednesday's hearing. National Recall Sought In calling for a national recall, NHTSA pointed to inflator ruptures that injured drivers in California and North Carolina -- both outside the recall zones. Takata said in its letter that it has tested 1,057 driver and passenger inflators taken from locations outside the high-humidity zone, and none of them has ruptured. The company said it will expand production of replacement inflators for the current recalls and will expand the recalls if warranted. The dispute between the government and Takata left automakers caught in the middle. Besides Honda, NHTSA has told other affected automakers -- Ford (F), Chrysler (FCAU), Mazda and BMW -- that they need to recall the driver's side inflators soon. BMW has said its recalls are national already, while Ford and Chrysler wouldn't comment. Wednesday's hearing is the second in Congress regarding the Takata air bag matter. Earlier this year, Congress held a number of highly publicized hearings into General Motors' (GM) handling of a recall of cars with defective ignition switches that are now linked to deaths. Investigations into that issue are ongoing. "I'm sorry to say that it has been a bad year for auto safety," said Fred Upton, R-Michigan, at the opening of the hearing. -.