Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Decline; Lennar Profit Beats Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.20 percent to 15,370.43 while the NASDAQ declined 0.16 percent to 3,759.11. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.26 percent to 1,697.50. Top Headline
Lennar LEN reported a 39% rise in its third-quarter net profit. Lennar's quarterly net profit surged to $120.7 million, or $0.54 per share, from $87.1 million, or $0.40 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue rose 46% to $1.6 billion from $1.1 billion, while new orders climbed 14%. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.45 per share on revenue of $1.55 billion. Equities Trading UP
Greenway Medical Technologies GWAY shot up 18.21 percent to $20.25 after the company agreed to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $20.35 per share. Shares of Applied Materials AMAT got a boost, shooting up 8.12 percent to $17.29 after the company announced its plans to acquire Tokyo Electron in an all-share deal. CarMax KMX was also up, gaining 3.25 percent to $51.63 on upbeat Q2 results. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Cypress Semiconductor CY were down 10.18 percent to $10.28 after the company lowered its Q3 forecast. Red Hat RHT shares tumbled 10.37 percent to $47.44 after the company reported Q2 results. Piper Jaffray downgraded the stock from Overweight to Neutral. Carnival CCL was down, falling 6.47 percent to $34.98 on Q3 results. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.51 percent to $103.06, while gold traded down 1.29 percent to $1,309.90. Silver traded down 1.75 percent Tuesday to $21.48, while copper fell 1.61 percent to $3.25. Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.63 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.88 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.35 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.72 percent while U.K. shares climbed 0.37 percent. Economics The ICSC-Goldman Sachs store sales index dropped 1% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose 1.8% in July from June, while the index climbed 12.4% y/y in the month. The FHFA house price index climbed 1% in July from June, while the index surged 8.8% y/y. The Richmond manufacturing index declined to 0.00 in September, versus a prior reading of 14.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 12.00. The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 0.4% in the first three weeks of September from August. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 79.70 in September from a revised reading of 81.80 in August. Economists were expecting a reading of 79.90. The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills and 2-year notes.