On The Fly: Top five weekend stock stories

Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Becton Dickinson (BDX) announced a $24B cash and stock deal to acquire fellow medical technology company C. R. Bard (BCR). The transaction, priced roughly 25% above Bard's closing quote Friday, will shave $300M from annual costs and expand Becton Dickinson's position in "fast growing clinical areas," the companies said. 2. As Wells Fargo's (WFC) April 25 shareholder meeting looms, reports from Reuters and the Wall Street Journal suggested that a full re-election of the bank's board could be less than guaranteed in the wake of its account opening scandal. Elsewhere in corporate governance, United Continental (UAL) CEO Oscar Munoz agreed to drop a chairmanship clause from his contract following the recent passenger "dragging" incident, leaving decisions on the position in the hands of the board. 3. Centrist independent Emmanuel Macron and right-wing leader Marine Le Pen won the first round of France's presidential election Sunday and will now face off in a May 7 runoff vote. 4. This weekend's International Liver Congress brought clinical updates from Albireo Pharma (ALBO), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Arbutus (ABUS), Merck (MRK) and others. 5. Sarepta (SRPT), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), MGM Resorts (MGM), Alcoa (AA), O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY), Seritage (SRG) and U.S. bank majors Citi (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Wells Fargo saw positive mention in Barron's, while Infosys (INFY) and Harley-Davidson (HOG) were discussed cautiously.