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Pure Storage Inc.’s stock ran up 8.4% in midday trade Monday, putting it on track to close above its initial public offering price of $17 for the first time since it went public last Wednesday. Analyst Ittai Kidron at Oppenheimer said one “ripple effect” from Dell Inc.’s $67 billion buyout of EMC Corp. was that emerging storage vendors, including Pure Storage, could not only see a lift in their business activity, “but also become price acquisition targets.” Kidron said the emerging storage vendors will become the default new partners or acquisition targets for Cisco Systems Inc. , NetApp Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. , and others, as EMC and Dell integrate. The stock closed it’s first day at $16.01, or 5.8% below its IPO price, then fell further to hit an intraday low of $15.50 on Thursday, before bouncing to close Friday at $16.60.

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From:: Stock Market News

Railroad stocks took a hit in midday trade Monday, after J.P. Morgan analyst Brian Ossenbeck cautioned investors not to chase the recent surge in the sector ahead of third-quarter earnings. Norfolk Southern Corp.’s stock dropped 3%, and was the biggest decliner among components of the Dow Jones Transportation Average , after Ossenbeck specifically pointed the company out as “the one to avoid.” The stock had shot up 11% in nine sessions through Friday, but was still down 27% year to date at current prices. Norfolk is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Oct. 28. Ossenbeck wrote in a note to clients, that he advises caution on “calling the bottom and buying the group solely on valuation,” as his review of key end markets “still yields few green shoots while pressure on margins from negative mix is an emerging trend.” Among other railroad components within the Dow transports, shares of CSX Corp. fell 2.9%, Union Pacific Corp. shed 2.8% and Kansas City Southern slid 1.5%. Each of those stock rose in the double-digit percentage range the past nine sessions through Friday. The Dow transports were down 0.3% in midday trade, while the S&P 500 tacked on 0.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

By Emily Bregel

Baltimore-area homes sales last month reached their highest September figures in at least 10 years. But the median sales price was hindered by a large number of distressed sales, new data shows.

Foreclosures and short sales totaled 678 in September, making up nearly 23 percent of all closed sales for the month, according to data released Monday by RealEstate Business Intelligence LLC, a subsidiary of MRIS. The median sales price for foreclosures was less than $106,000 and $170,000 for short sales.

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From:: biz journal foreclosures

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has named Curt Garner its first chief information offier, effective Nov. 23. In this role, he’ll use technology to improve customer experience, said Steve Ells, founder and co-chief executive officer of Chipotle. Garner was previously the CIO at Starbucks Corp. where he worked for the company for 18 years. Chipotle stock is up 8.6% for the year so far. The S&P is down 2% for the same period.

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

By Rachel Jefferson

Student housing is on the rise. As of September 2015, student housing occupancy rates hit 96%, up from 95.3% last year. Properties in closer proximity to campus have even higher rates of occupancy. According to Axiometrics, more than 49,000 new beds were scheduled to be delivered for the fall semester. For many of these universities, additional beds will be delivered in the spring. Off-campus housing appears to be most lucrative, with some universities reporting 100% occupancy.

student housing market stats on Axiometrics.

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From:: Property Management

Moody’s Investors Service on Monday placed Dell Inc.’s Ba2 corporate family rating on review for an upgrade, following the news that Michael Dell and partners are buying ECM Corp. in a $67 billion deal. The move reflects the view that “despite the significant increase in debt and initial leverage, Dell’s overall credit profile will be enhanced with the acquisition of EMC, a merger that will create the largest private technology company in the world based on revenues,” said Moody’s. Standard & Poor’s earlier affirmed its BB-+ rating on Dell, but placed its long-term ratings on review for a possible downgrade.

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

Shares of Esperion Therapeutics Inc. surged 4.4%, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. climbed 3.2% and Amgen Inc. ran up 1.9% in morning trade Monday, after RBC Capital analyst Michael Yee said the companies could benefit from Eli Lilly & Co.’s discontinuation of development of its heart disease treatment, evacetrapib. Yee said he believed cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) class drugs, such as evacetrapib, were the primary competitive threats to proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK-9) class drugs from Amgen and Regeneron that have been approved, and Esperion’s ETC-1002 drug in late-stage trials. Shares of Medicines Co. , which Yee said has a PCSK-9 drug in Phase II development, tacked on 0.4%. Merck & Co.’s stock slumped 1.8%, as Yee said they have a similar drug, but in studies with different risk profile patients. Lilly’s stock tumbled 7.3%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded Volkswagen AG’s long-term rating by a single notch to A-minus from A and said it is keeping it on CreditWatch negative, and could downgrade it again in the near term by up to two more notches. The agency also lowered ratings on VW’s core subsidiaries, including Volkswagen Financial Services AG and Volkswagen Bank GmbH, to A-minus from A, and cut the long-term issuer credit and financial strength ratings on its captive insurer Volkswagen Insurance Co. Ltd. “The downgrade reflects our assessment that VW has demonstrated material deficiencies in its management and governance and general risk management framework,” S&P said in a statement. “We believe VW’s internal controls have been shown to be inadequate in preventing or identifying alleged illegal behavior in the U.S. and misconduct in other regions.” The move comes after VW admitted it used special software to falsify data in emissions testing of diesel-powered vehicles.

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From:: Stock Market News

Symphony, the maker of a cloud-based communications platform that launched to the public last month, said Monday that it raised more than $100 million in financing from a group of investors led by Google Inc. . Other investors include Lakestar, Natixis , Societe Generale , UBS Group and venture capitalist Merus Capital. This is on top of the $66 million Symphony raised previously from 15 financial institutions, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch , J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse . Symphony CEO David Gurle called the most recent financing round “a vote of confidence” in the company’s business, and said the company will use the funds to help spark global adoption of the platform.

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

U.S. stock markets are open for trade, but bond markets are closed for the Columbus Day holiday on Monday. Stock markets are expected to observe regular-trading hours, with markets slated to open at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time and close at 4 p.m. Eastern. Trading in energy and metals futures also are observing their usual trading schedules. The next holiday for U.S. stock markets is Thanksgiving on Nov. 26., and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association–a financial-markets industry group–is recommending an early 2 p.m. Eastern close on Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving. Because many U.S. federal institutions are closed on Monday, trading volume is expected to be relatively low, despite the fact that many markets are officially open.

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