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Restaurant Brands International Inc. , which owns and operates Burger King, was downgraded to sector perform at RBC Capital Markets, which lowered its price target to $44 from $48. The bank is concerned about Burger King’s ability to compete based on value pricing, it said in a note, and is lowering its fourth-quarter same-store sales growth estimate to 2% from 4%. RBC also lowered Burger King’s full-year same-store estimate to 1% from 1.5%. The bank said cost reductions will no longer be a key valuation driver, and the upside will be offset by negative currency impact. Restaurant Brands shares are up 13% for the year so far. The S&P is up 1.6% for the same period.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Construction spending climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in September to take year-on-year gains to 14.1%, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Residential construction jumped 1.8% during the month, while nonresidential spending slipped 0.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – U.S. manufacturers grew in October at the slowest rate in more than two years, a survey of executives found. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index fell slightly to 50.1% last month from 50.2%. That’s the lowest level since May 2013. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast the index to rise to 51%. Readings over 50% indicate more companies are expanding instead of shrinking. The employment gauge dropped 2.9 points to 47.6%, marking the lowest level since the U.S. exited the Great Recession in mid-2009. Yet the ISM’s new-orders index rose 2.8 points to 52.9%, a three-month high.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s stock rose 3.1% in morning trade Monday, to bounce off a more-than two-year low, despite a downgrade at Goldman Sachs. The stock had plunged more than 60% in three months through Friday, amid allegations that it was using its relationship with Philidor and other pharmacies in its network to inflate revenue. Goldman analyst Gary Nachman cut his rating to neutral from buy on Monday, and slashed his stock price target to $122 from $180, saying it could take a long time for the company to restore investor confidence. “Given the events that have transpired very rapidly in recent weeks that have raised many questions about certain aspects of [Valeant’s] business model, we have less confidence the market will reward the stock anytime soon without clarity as the path forward,” Nachman wrote in a research note to clients. “We expect a much longer road than we previously thought for the dust to settle and for [Valeant] to be able to regain investor confidence to attract a sufficient amount of new money into the stock.” Separately, Jefferies analyst David Steinberg kept his rating on Valeant at buy, but cut his stock price target to $174 from $224.

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From:: Stock Market News

Coty Inc.’s pending $12.5 billion deal to buy Procter & Gamble Co.’s beauty business was the largest retail and consumer sector deal of the third quarter, according to a new report from PwC US. It was one of 11 deals in the quarter worth more than $1 billion, which totaled $39.7 billion. There were 36 deals worth more than $50 million in the quarter, according to the report, for a total of $46.6 billion. Deal value for the quarter was up from $29 billion in Q2, with deal volume up 6%. PwC said it expects the increase in deals to continue through the remainder of 2015.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Monday as investors weighed mixed earnings reports and deal news, while awaiting data. The S&P 500 opened 2 points, or 0.1%, higher at 2,081. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat 17,659 at the open. The Nasdaq Composite began the day up 10 points, or 0.2%, at 5,065.

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Oracle Corp. said Monday that it plans to hire 50 engineers over the next six months and launch more aggressive recruiting tactics in an effort to support growth of its cloud services, particularly its data-as-a-service platform. The company will hold a recruitment event on Wednesday at the former Colorado-based headquarters of Datalogix, which Oracle acquired earlier this year to bolster its data services. That will kick off a larger, multi-month recruiting effort by the company within its Oracle Data Cloud business. “We are looking for talented, hungry engineers,” Eric Roza, Senior Vice President of Oracle Data Cloud, said in a statement. Shares of Oracle were inactive in premarket trade. They have declined 2.7% over the last three months, compared with a 1.2% decline for the S&P 500.

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From:: Stock Market News

Health care consulting firm MedAssets Inc. said Monday it has agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Pamplona Capital Management for $2.7 billion in cash. Pamplona will pay $31.35 per each MedAssets share, for a 44.5% premium over the 30-day volume-weighted average price of its stock. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter. Pamplona is planning to combine the MedAssets revenue cycle management business with its Precyse business, and to sell the MedAssets spend and clinical resource management business to VHA-UHC Alliance, a network of non-for-profit hopstials. MedAssets shares were halted in premarket trade, but are up 19% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Monday it has agreed to acquire private biotech company Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc. for up to $300 million in upfront payments and up to $1.775 billion in milestone payments if certain goals are realized. Cardioxyl is specialized in treatments for cardiovascular disease. The deal is expected to cut 2015 GAAP earnings per share by about 12 cents. “The acquisition of Cardioxyl strengthens Bristol-Myers Squibb’s heart failure pipeline with a Phase 2 asset that has the potential to change the course of the disease rather than simply treating the symptoms,” Bristol-Myers Chief Scientific Officer Francis Cuss said in a statement. The company expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 11% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Visa Inc. reported on Monday fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.51 billion, or 62 cents a share, up from $1.07 billion, or 43 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, but below the FactSet earnings-per-share consensus of 63 cents. Revenue rose to $3.571 billion from $3.23 billion, just above the FactSet consensus of $3.566 billion. The credit card giant said it expects fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS growth in the low end of the mid-teens percentage range, while the FactSet EPS consensus of $3 implies 14.5% growth. The company announced a new $5 billion stock buyback program. Earlier, Visa said it reached a deal to buy Visa Europe Ltd. in a deal valued at about $23.4 billion. Visa’s stock, which was down 2% in premarket trade, has climbed 18% year to date through Friday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 0.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News