Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Sharply Lower; Time Warner Cable To Acquire DukeNet Communications For $600M

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.83 percent to 14,947.93 while the NASDAQ declined 0.62 percent to 3,784.19. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.72 percent to 1,678.36. Top Headline
Time Warner Cable TWC agreed to acquire DukeNet Communications LLC for $600 million in cash. The deal is likely to close in the first quarter of 2014. Equities Trading UP
Outerwall OUTR shot up 8.49 percent to $61.95 after Jana Partners LLC disclosed a major stake in the company. Shares of Donegal Group DGICB got a boost, shooting up 11.36 percent to $22.25 after Gregory Shepard offered $33-$37 per share for Donegal Group. Apple AAPL was also up, gaining 1.02 percent to $487.98 after Jefferies upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and lifted its price target from $425 to $600. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Liquidity Services LQDT were down 8.61 percent to $29.95 after Bank of America downgraded the stock from Buy to Underperform. DryShips DRYS shares tumbled 5.03 percent to $3.59. DryShips launched ATM equity offering with Evercore group. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co CTB was down, falling 11.62 percent to $26.08 on court filing. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.27 percent to $102.52, while gold traded up 0.73 percent to $1,319.40. Silver traded up 0.93 percent Monday to $21.96, while copper fell 0.74 percent to $3.28. Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.74 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.10 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.87 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.68 percent while U.K. shares dropped 0.77 percent. Economics
The Investor Movement Index for September will be released at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills. Data on consumer credit for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.