Stocks are higher at mid-day even though European leaders
stopped short of cobbling together a plan during a summit this
weekend to deal with the debt problem plaguing the continent. They
pledged to meet again on Wednesday. No economic reports due today,
but investors were buoyed by corporate earnings reports and deal
news.
Among the earnings drivers, Caterpillar (
CAT
) advanced over 5% before backing off after the company reported
third earnings of $1.71 per share, above expectations of $1.54 per
share and a sharp 40% increase over the $1.22 per share posted in
the year ago quarter. Sales and revenue were $15.71 billion, up
from $11.13 billion last year and above the analyst consensus of
$15 billion on Thomson Reuters. The outlook for 2011 sales and
revenues and profit has improved.
Investors also eyed a spate of M&A activity, including
acquisition deals between Cigna (
CI
) and HealthSpring (
HS
) and Oracle (
ORCL
) and RightNow Technologies (
RNOW
).
Also, Yahoo (YHOO) is higher following a weekend Wall Street
Journal report that Google (GOOG) has approached two private equity
firms about assisting in financing a deal to buy Yahoo's core's
business.
Asian equities gained sharply Monday. A rebound in a PMI reading
shows China's manufacturing sector is back into expansion
territory.
In company news,
The J. M. Smucker Company (SJM) today announced the signing of a
definitive agreement to acquire a majority of the North American
foodservice coffee and hot beverage business of Sara Lee (SLE).
Terms of the deal call for $350 million to be paid at time of
closing, with an additional $50 million paid in declining
installments over the next ten years.
Sanofi (SNY) today announced that it has appointed David Meeker
as chief executive officer for Genzyme, its wholly owned
subsidiary. Meekr will also join SNY's group management committee.
Meeker served as Genzyme's chief operating officer beginning in
2009.
NASDAQ OMX Group (NDAQ) is higher after it today announced that
it has agreed to acquire Glide Technologies Limited, a London-based
software-as-a-service provider specializing in corporate
communications and reputation management solutions. Financial terms
of the deal were not disclosed.
Shares of SemGroup (SEMG) are up by double-digits after Plains
All American Pipeline (PAA) disclosed today that on October 6, 2011
it submitted a proposal to SemGroup to acquire all of the
outstanding shares of SemGroup for $24.00 per share in cash.
Commodities are up. December gold contracts are up 1.18% to
$1,655 an ounce while December crude oil contacts are up $3.57 to
$90.51 a barrel.
In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 3.16% to
$34.92 and the United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) is down 0.96%,
to $8.73.
In precious metal ETFs, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is up 0.7% to
$160.64. Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) is up 2.7% to $55.44.
iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is up 1.08% to $30.81.