End-of-Day Market Summary for October 17, 2011

This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' summary for Monday, October 17, 2011, covering headlines from Monday's trading session. Today at market close, the Dow Jones Index traded down about 248 points or 2.13%, the S&P 500 traded 1.94% lower, the Nasdaq Composite Index traded down 1.98%, and the U.S. dollar trades higher near the $77.41 level. Earlier today, Jefferies upgraded Cummins CMI to Buy and Goldman Sachs upgraded Caterpillar CAT to Buy. View all of today's upgrades here. First Global downgraded Alcoa AA to Underperform and BGC Financial downgraded Apple AAPL to Hold. View all of today's downgrades here. Overseas, European markets ended their trading session lower. Britain's FTSE 100 decreased 0.54%, Germany's DAX slid by 1.81% and France's CAC 40 lost 1.61% on the session. Asian stocks ended their session higher. China's Shanghai Index rallied by 0.37%, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.50%, and the Hang Seng index increased by 2.01%. On the economic calendar, Empire Manufacturing came in at -8.48 versus an estimate of -4; Industrial Production came in at 0.2%, matching its estimate of 0.2%; Capacity Utilization came in at 77.4% versus an estimate of 77.5%. On the commodity front, gold and silver futures traded lower today, with gold trading about 0.24% lower today. Energy futures are lower as well with crude oil down about .45% near the $86.42 level and gasoline futures are trading lower by about 2.86%. Natural Gas futures are lower by about 0.24% and copper futures are trading over 0.64% lower. On the earnings front this morning, Charles Schwab SCHW Reported Q3 EPS $0.18 vs $0.19 Est; Revenues $1.18B vs $1.19B Est, Citigroup C Reported Q3 EPS $1.23 May Not Compare to $0.82 Est; Revenues $20.8B vs $19.59B Est, Wells Fargo WFC Reported Q3 EPS $0.72 vs $0.72 Est; Revenues $19.6B vs $20.22B Est. In corporate news, L-3 Communications LLL announced that it will be partnering with Virginia Tech to develop cyberscurity solutions and promote research. The partnership aims to increase the company's national exposure. IMAX Corporation IMAX and Eastman Kodak EK announced that they entered a strategic partnership that will utilize Kodak's patents with IMAX's cinema technologies. Terms were undisclosed, but the deal is royalty bearing to Kodak. Neostem NBS announced that it has acquired Amorcyte, a clinical stage cell therapy company. The transaction's value is undisclosed, but it will be paid for via stock and cash. Today's movers include: Kosmos Energy KOS +6.80% following the acquisition of El Paso by Kinder Morgan. Amyris Biotechnogies AMRS -6.83% after the company's price target was lowered by a mid-tier firm. Anadark Petroleum Corporation APC +6.48% after Jefferies raised the company's price target to $104. Oasis Petroleum OAS +6.16% after positive analyst comments regarding Brigham Exploration's merger today. This concludes your news summary for October 17, 2011.