Market Updates: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Cadbury PLC (NYSE:CBY), Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT)

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) board may extend its search for a new chief executive officer into 2010 if directors cannot settle on a candidate within the next three days. The directors may be willing to go past their Nov. 26 target and the Dec. 31 retirement of CEO Kenneth D. Lewis if it means getting a better choice. At least four external candidates, including Citigroup (NYSE:C) director Michael O’Neill, rebuffed approaches. Options include an interim chief or a delay in Lewis’s retirement. -Bloomberg

After Friday’s closing bell, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hershey Trust, the charitable trust that controls Hershey (NYSE:HSY), is pushing the company to launch an offer for Cadbury PLC (NYSE:CBY) that would outbid the $17 billion from Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT). Hershey’s package is likely to be bigger and offer more cash than what Kraft has proposed. -MarketWatch

Ciena Corp. (CIEN) will buy the optical networking and carrier ethernet business of bankrupt Nortel for $769 million after it trumped Nokia Siemens Networks in a three day auction. The deal will more than double Ciena’s turnover, prompting the market to focus on how the U.S. network equipment maker will integrate the new operations and cope with an increased debt load. Ciena confirmed details of the deal that sources disclosed on Sunday. Ciena’s winning offer consists of $530 million in cash and $239 million in 6 percent senior convertible notes due 2017. -Reuters

Leading U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $0.26 a share, up from $0.14 in the same period of last year. But revenue is expected to total $6.9 billion, or 4.3% less than a year ago. The full year forecast is for a profit of $0.25 a share (-16.7%) on $26.4 billion (-3.9%) in sales. -BloggingStocks

The most accurate dollar forecasters predict the world’s reserve currency will continue to slide even when the Federal Reserve begins to raise interest rates, which policy makers say is an “extended period” away. Standard Chartered Plc, Aletti Gestielle SGR, HSBC Holdings Plc and Scotia Capital Inc. stated that the dollar will depreciate as much as 7.1 percent versus the euro. About $12 trillion of fiscal and monetary stimulus, the world’s lowest borrowing costs and a record $4 trillion of government bond sales between 2009 and 2010 will weigh on the currency, they said. So will the nation’s 10.2 percent unemployment rate and signs that the economic recovery may falter. “History tells us the dollar shouldn’t start rising on a sustained basis until 12 months after the Fed starts to lift rates,” said Callum Henderson, the global head of foreign-exchange strategy for Standard Chartered. -Bloomberg