The “drawn-out auction” for Yahoo’s core business is finally nearing an end, with the last round of bidding due Monday, according to sources inside the Y – NYTimes

More on why the next European financial crisis will likely feature Italy and the world’s oldest bank—Monte dei Paschi – WSJ

Line’s IPO kicked off in NY yesterday with a 30% jump, boosting spirits in a “skittish” tech industry – NYTimes and Bloomberg

Its Tokyo debut today was gangbusters, too – WSJ

The 2d Circuit’s nixed a bid by investment fund SRM Global Master Fud LP to revive its $200 million securities fraud suit against Bear Stearns and Deloitte over alleged lies about Bear’s pre-collapse financial health. The Court found that American Pipe’s tolling rule didn’t apply “to a federal law establishing time limits for certain claims of securities law violations” – Law360

Color me appropriately surprised to learn that Citi maintains a “US Economic Surprise Index” that measures economic data relative to expectations.  The Index has swung to positive after living in negatives for much of the past year-and-a-half, and a new batch of economic data out later today is expected to confirm its optimism (and basis for the recent market rally) – WSJ

China delivered relatively solid Q2 economic growth figures early this morning, posting an increase of 6.7% in GDP vs. a year ago (though, like much of the report, the GDP figure is “notoriously questionable”).  The Times tries to read between the lines to suss out some truth – NYTimes [and WSJ]

If nostalgia counts for anything, odds are pretty good that this new offering from Nintendo will sell about a billion units – Bloomberg

Have a great weekend.