Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; Saks Posts Wider Loss

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.13 percent to 15,101.67 while the NASDAQ surged 0.49 percent to 3,620.21. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.18 percent to 1,658.82. Top Headline
Saks SKS reported a wider second-quarter loss. Saks posted a quarterly loss of $19.6 million, or $0.13 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $12.3 million, or $0.08 per share. Excluding one-time items, it lost $0.10 per share. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.08 per share. Its revenue rose 1% to $707.8 million from $704.1 million, versus analysts' estimates of $732.3 million. Its same-store sales increased 1.5%. Equities Trading UP
Edwards Group EVAC shot up 18.34 percent to $10.00 after the company agreed to be acquired by Atlas Copco Group for $10.50 per share. Shares of Chesapeake Energy CHK got a boost, shooting up 1.47 percent to $25.37 after Carl Icahn lifted his stake in Chesapeake to 9.98% from 8.98%.. Cellcom Israel CEL was also up, gaining 4.06 percent to $11.58 after the company reported Q2 results and named Ron Shvili as its Chief Technology Officer. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Cobalt International Energy CIE were down 13.45 percent to $25.42 after the company provided an operational update on its deepwater drilling operations in West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico. Trulia TRLA shares tumbled 4.27 percent to $44.13 after analysts at RBC Capital downgraded the stock from Outperform to Sector Perform. B2Gold BTG was down, falling 8.79 percent to $3.01 after the company announced private offering of US$225 million of convertible senior subordinated notes. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.25 percent to $107.19, while gold traded down 0.01 percent to $1,370.80. Silver traded down 0.42 percent Monday to $23.28, while copper fell 0.92 percent to $3.34. Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 1.61 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.98%. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.32 percent and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.80 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.55 percent. Economics
The Treasury is set to auction 3- and 6-month bills.