Stocks Take a Tumble
The September slump may have started a day early. Stocks tumbled Monday, despite some upbeat corporate and economic news. Investors started the day off pessimistic after a large drop in Chinese shares increased fears that U.S. markets have gotten too far ahead too quickly. September has historically been a bad month for stocks, but a larger pullback may occur following a strong summer advance. Merger and acquisitions were not enough to propel stocks to higher ground during the session. Walt Disney (DIS) announced that it would acquire Marvel Entertainment (MVL) and Baker Hughes (BHI) said that it would purchase rival BJ Services (BJS). Bank stocks, which have led the market higher in recent sessions, headed lower. Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS), and AIG (AIG) were some of the biggest decliners. Economic news released today was mostly positive. A report showed manufacturing activity in the Midwest was stronger than expected during August. Reports on auto sales and employment are also slated for release this week. Oil prices sank nearly 5%, falling below $70 a barrel. In currency trading, the dollar weakened against the euro and yen.
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Fresh News from the Street
Excelsior! Disney buys Marvel -- Disney (DIS) said Monday it will buy Marvel Entertainment (MVL), the comic-book company behind popular characters such as Spiderman and Ironman.
6 Things You Should Know About Disney Buying Marvel
Baker Hughes and BJ Services Strike $5.5B Deal -- Baker Hughes (BHI) said Monday it would pay $5.5 billion in cash and stock to buy BJ Services Co. (BJS).
Apple, Unicom iPhone Deal Not Exclusive -- Apple Inc. (AAPL) said Monday its sale of iPhones in China isn't through an exclusive deal with China Unicom (CHU).
US Turns Profit on Bank Bailouts -- The U.S. government has hauled in about $4 billion in profits from large banks that have repaid their obligations from last year's federal bailout. Hopefully, taxpayers will benefit from this return on investment. It may be a little too early to determine if this will occur.
Is TARP Profitable? -- The huge government bailout could have cost taxpayers $700 billion. Now it looks like it might break even.
Wal-Mart Launches Online Marketplace - Watch out Amazon (AMZN)! Wal-Mart (WMT) is adding about 1 million items to its Internet site by teaming up with a number of other vendors.
Merck Reorganizes as Schering Deal Nears Close -- Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) unveiled the proposed organizational structure for the company if and when its proposed merger with Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP) is completed.
Newsstand Sales Drop 12% --Consumers are buying fewer magazines at newsstands given the deep recession and the availability of plenty of free reading material online.
Eye on Asia -- The bear is back as Chinese stocks plunge.
Morgan Stanley Weighed by Pay -- Shares of Morgan Stanley (MS) declined following a downgrade from Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.
Other Juicy Tidbits
The Mistakes We Make and Why We Make Them -- How investors think often gets in the way of their results. Meir Statman looks into our heads and tells us what we're doing wrong.
The Recession Ended In the Second Quarter
The Other Big Threat to Microsoft (Besides Google) -- Microsoft's (MSFT) No. 1 rival is a household name, Google (GOOG). But a strong candidate for No. 2 is a company that is scarcely known outside the technology industry.
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