The Market In 5 Minutes: Industry-Changing M&A In Media, Aerospace, And Financial Services

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 74 points to 18,140.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 9.50 points to 2,144.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 29 points to 4,872.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 0.33 percent to trade at $51.61 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.53 percent to trade at $50.58 a barrel.

USA Chicago Fed National Activity Index for Sep -0.14 vs -0.72 prior reading.

  • New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in New York at 9:00 a.m. ET.
  • St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard will speak in Fayetteville, Ark. at 9:05 p.m. ET.
  • The manufacturing PMI for October will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
  • The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
  • Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans is set to speak in Chicago at 1:30 p.m. ET.
  • Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell will speak at 1:45 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

More than a third of the Dow Jones Industrials are on deck to report quarterly results this week. Wall Street expectations are lowest for Chevron CVX and Exxon Mobil XOM as the sector struggles with slowly recovering oil prices. Expectations are perhaps highest for DuPont D and Visa V.

  • T-Mobile TMUS Reports Q3 EPS $0.42 vs. Est. $0.23, Rev. $9.2B vs. Est. $9.42B
  • Kimberly-Clark KMB Reports Q3 Adj. EPS $1.52 vs $1.54 Est., Sales $4.6B vs $4.73B Est.
  • VF Corp. VFC Reports Q3 EPS $1.20 vs $1.15 Est., Sales $3.5B vs $3.63B Est.

Sell-Side Themes

Several firms initiated coverage of MedEquities Realty Trust MRT with a $13 or $14 price target.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

  • JPMorgan downgraded Ariad Pharmaceuticals ARIA to Underweight.
  • Mizuho downgraded Teva Pharmaceuticals TEVA to Neutral.
  • Macquarie upgraded Comcast CMCSA to Outperform.
  • Canaccord upgraded Goldcorp GG to Buy.
  • Goldman Sachs started Jack In The Box JACK at Sell.
  • JPMorgan started Skyworks Solutions SWKS at Neutral.

Deal Talk

AT&T’s T blockbuster $85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner TWX promises to reshape the media landscape—if the companies can navigate a series of obstacles, including possible opposition from U.S. antitrust authorities and objections by lawmakers and media and telecom rivals.

TD Ameritrade AMTD will buy Scottrade Financial Service in a $4 billion deal, combining two leaders in the retail market for the buying and selling of stocks as the landscape for stock picking continues to lose favor to index investing.

Rockwell Collins COL and B/E Aerospace BEAV have entered into a definitive agreement under which Rockwell Collins will acquire B/E Aerospace for approximately $6.4 billion in cash and stock, plus the assumption of $1.9 billion in net debt.

In The News

Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is due to be sentenced on Monday for leaking grand jury information to embarrass a rival and then lying about it to investigators.

Bill Murray was the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize, one of comedy’s most significant honors. His attendance hadn’t been guaranteed: The Chicago Cubs needed to seal a World Series berth Saturday night before or else he would have been tempted to skip the ceremony for the final game.

Blogosphere

Inflation is coming. Marcus Ashworth writes, "From Washington to Tokyo, the message is loud and clear. Unfortunately, a big swathe of investors aren't listening."

Trending

TWX T V UGAZ AMTD HMNNY KONE BEAV GNW FB S AMZN NVDA VFC

#TheWalkingDead picked up Sunday where its sixth season cliffhanger left off. Yet it also revealed that AMC's AMCX signature hit has become a gimmicky show under producer Scott M. Gimple, "one far less deserving of the massive audience it enjoys."

Guess This Chart

  • This company reported Q4 earnings Monday morning of EPS $0.35 vs $0.38 Est., down 13 percent year-over-year.
  • The company also announced a plan to acquire a key competitor for $4 billion in cash and stock.
  • Sympathy plays include E*TRADE Financial, Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab.

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

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