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Macy’s Inc. was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Cowen & Co., which lowered its price target to $52 from $70. The firm said in a note that third-quarter same-store sales will be down 0.8% compared with the firm’s prior flat estimate. The decline follows weak traffic in September and October and negative impact on fall and winter apparel caused by warm weather. Cowen believes Macy’s diversification with brands like beauty retailer Bluemercury and its new off-price Backstage stores are long-term positives, but also “capital intensive” moves that limit earnings growth. Cowen also sees Amazon.com Inc. as a growing threat in the apparel, footwear and accessory markets. Macy’s shares are down 32.2% over the past three months. The S&P is down 0.4% for the same period.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The pace of new-home sales in the U.S. sank 11.5% in September to an annual rate of 468,000, marking the lowest level in 10 months. Wall Street had expected sales to flatline or fall slightly after a strong surge earlier in the year, but the dropoff was much sharper than expected. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast sales to achieve a seasonally adjusted 550,000 rate. Sales for August were also revised down to a 529,000 pace from an original 552,000, which would have been a postrecession high. Although sales fell in all regions, the Northeast experienced an unusually large 62% decline that could owe to temporary factors. Another factor in slower home sales may be rising prices. The median price of a new home in September was 13.5% higher compared to one year ago: $296,900 vs. $261,500. Despite the big drop in sales in September, new-home purchases are up 2% in comparison to September 2014. Home builders have also sped up construction to tap into growing demand and the supply of new homes on the market jumped to 5.8 months from 4.9 months in August, setting a five-and-a-half year high.

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U.S. stocks opened little changed on Monday as investors took a pause after big gains last week. Investors assessed a number of earnings reports and await a report on new-home sales. The S&P 500 opened off a points at 2,073. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched 2 points to 17,646. The Nasdaq Composite began the day down 2 points at 5,030.

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From:: Stock Market News

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Cowen & Co. and its price target lowered to $43 from $46. The firm said in a note that it based its downgrade on the findings of its National Handbags Survey, which indicates that growth in the handbag category is moderating and momentum for the Kors brand is slowing. The firm conducted channel checks in 30 states with 65 participants. Shoppers are turning their attention to consumer electronics and apparel, especially the denim and athleisure categories. Cowen notes that the Fall 2015 collection includes updated styling moves away from the trendy “It Bag” shapes and colors loyal customers are used to. Respondents indicate that inventories are growing in U.S. department stores. Cowen said its survey suggests Kate Spade & Co.’s handbags were preferred to Kors’ and Coach Inc.’s , it said in a note. Michael Kors shares are down 48.7% for the year so far. Coach shares are down 19.8% for the same period, and Kate Spade is down 37.5% for the year-to-date. The S&P is up 0.8% for the year so far.

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PayPal Holdings was added to the Goldman Sachs “Americas Conviction List” on Monday, ahead of the payment company’s quarterly earnings results, due Wednesday. Goldman maintained its 12-month price target of $45 on the stock, which implies a 29% return potential. Shares of PayPal are down 14% since the company began trading as an independent public company following a spinoff in July from eBay Inc. . Goldman said the decline in PayPal’s stock has been related to competition, not near-term financials, at least in the near term. Goldman said it expects PayPal to grow total payment volume by 19.2% to $69.4 billion in the third quarter, representing a slight acceleration from 18.9% in the second quarter.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Pep Boys–Manny, Moe & Jack’s stock soared 22% in premarket trade Monday, after the auto parts retailer agreed to be acquired by Bridgestone Americas Inc. in a deal valued at $835 million in cash. As part of the deal, Bridgestone, which is the U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Bridgestone Corp., will pay $15 for each Pep Boys share outstanding. That represents a 23% premium to Friday’s closing price of $22.15, and would be the highest price seen in the stock since March 16, 2012. The deal is expected to close in the beginning of 2016. Pep Boys’ stock has run up 24% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.8%.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that the fourth quarter got off to a strong start, reaffirming its outlook for the quarter and for 2016 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $7.5 billion (EBITDA), excluding any one-time costs that may turn up following recent events. “We are not anticipating any impact, but it is hard to predict how recent events will impact the business in the short term,” the company said in a special presentation to investors to address recent allegations of accounting issues. The company said it is still committed to reducing leverage to 4.0 times adjusted pro forma EBITDA by the end of 2016. The company has no meaningful debt maturing until 2018. Shares were down 5.7% in premarket trade.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. disclosed Monday that it received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding payments made and agreements between its Bausch & Lomb division and medical professionals. The payments and agreements were related to B&L’s surgical products Crystalens IOL and Victus femtosecond laser platform, according to Valeant’s quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The DOJ indicated the subpoena was issued as part of a criminal investigation into possible violations of Federal health care laws, Valeant said in the SEC filing. Valeant came under fire last week amid allegations of revenue-recognition improprieties surrounding Philidor, a specialty pharmacy company. The company is making a slide presentation Monday to address investor questions. Valeant’s stock dropped 4.2% in premarket trade Monday, after plunging 35% last week.

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FedEx Corp. said on Monday that it expects shipments during the holiday period between the Black Friday and Christmas Eve to rise 12.4% above year ago levels to 317 million shipments. This holiday period includes one more day that last year, the company said. FedEx expects the holiday period to include three shipment volume spikes, including Cyber Monday and the first two Mondays in December. The package delivery service said it was adding 55,000 employees for the holidays, and will expand operations, such as seven-day sort operations during its peak season for its FedEx Ground business. The stock, which edged up 0.2% in premarket trade, has lost 8.1% year to date while the S&P 500 has gained 0.8%.

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Concordia Healthcare Corp. said Monday it expects to more than double the size of its business following the close of its acquisition of Amdipharm Mercury Ltd. on Oct. 21, forecasting revenues of $1.02 billion to $1.06 billion for fiscal 2016. The drug company is expecting adjusted net income of $330 million to $355 million, or EPS of $6.29 to $6.77 for the year. The company expects the combined business to generate high single-digit revenue growth in the next three years, driven by organic volume growth and up to 60 new product launches. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 17% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.8%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News