The Market In 5 Minutes: A Merger Monday For Michael Myers

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 13 points to 18,110.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 2.50 points to 2,126.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 14.25 points to 4,819.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures slipped 0.74 percent to trade at $49.34 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.57 percent to trade at $48.42 a barrel.

USA Personal Spending (MoM) for Sep 0.50% vs 0.50% consensus estimate. Personal Income (MoM) for Sep 0.30% vs 0.40% consensus estimate.

  • The Chicago PMI for October is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET.
  • The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for October will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.
  • The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
  • Data on farm prices for October will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

  • Cardinal Health CAH Reports Q1 EPS $1.24 vs. $1.21 Est., Rev. $32B vs. $31.04B Est.
  • Diamond Offshore DO Q3 EPS $0.10 vs $0.08 Est., Revenue $349.2M vs $363.2M Est.
  • Check Point CHKP Q3 EPS $1.13 vs $1.08 Est., Revenue $428M vs $423M Est.

Alibaba BABA is scheduled to report its latest results before the opening bell on Wednesday, followed by Facebook FB after trading concludes on the same day.

Wall Street consensus forecast calls for earnings and revenue at Alibaba to have tumbled from last year for the period when its share price broke above $100 for the first time since January 2015. Meanwhile, top and bottom line results from Facebook will be strong, if the analysts are correct. This in a quarter when its market capitalization first topped that of ExxonMobil.

Sell-Side Themes

Coupa Software COUP and Advanced Disposal Services ADSW quiet period was lifted, with several firms weighing in on their stocks.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

  • Bank of America downgraded Nike NKE to Underperform.
  • Credit Suisse downgraded AbbVie ABBV to Neutral.
  • Deutsche Bank upgraded Macy's M to Buy.
  • Raymond James upgraded Marathon Petroleum MPC to Strong Buy.
  • Piper Jaffray started Alder BioPharma ALDR at Overweight.

Deal Talk

General Electric GE reached a deal to combine its oil-and-gas business with Baker Hughes BHI, creating a publicly traded energy powerhouse that would give GE a cost-effective way to play any recovery in the industry. GE will contribute its oil-and-gas business and $7.4 billion through a special one-time cash dividend of $17.50 for each Baker Hughes share.

Centurylink CTL confirmed it has reached an agreement in which it will acquire Level 3 Communications LVLT in a cash and stock transaction that values the company at $34 billion or $66.50 per share.

In The News

Federal authorities have obtained a warrant to review a tranche of newly-discovered emails that could be related to the previously-closed investigation of Hillary Clinton’ handling of classified information, an official familiar with the matter said Sunday. As federal agents prepare to scour roughly 650,000 emails discovered on a laptop for possible links to Clinton’s private server, the case lays bare tensions within the FBI and the Justice Department over how to investigate the Democratic nominee.

Over-the-top streaming network Netflix NFLX, which recently reported strong Q3 results riding on subscriber growth momentum, has long been rumored to be a takeover target. Here is a list of suitors rumored to have wooed Netflix in 2016.

Blogosphere

"Stocks always have a positive expected return," writes Michael Batnick. "With the passage of time however, these expected returns turn into realized returns and obviously they’re not always positive."

Trending

BHI LVLT LL CAH WMB PFE GE CTL OCLR CRR SNE RCL INCR JCP DO TEVA

Aroldis Chapman pitched the first eight-out save of his big league career, needing to hold off the Cleveland Indians in Game 5. Chapman fired his 100 mph heat and preserved the Cubs' 3-2 win Sunday night, cutting Cleveland's lead to 3-2. The Cubs won a #WorldSeries game at Wrigley for the first time since 1945.

Guess This Chart

  • This stock has had four down days in a row, and is due to report earnings later this week.
  • One year ago this Thursday this company bought a key competitor for $18/share in cash, or $5.9 billion.
  • Sympathy plays include Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive.
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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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