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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said it has approved what will be the 14th options exchange, called the EDGX Exchange Inc., from BATS Global Markets. There already are 12 options exchanges in existence, and the agency earlier this year gave its approval to a creation of the 13th, called the ISE Mercury. The EDGX exchange will prioritize orders by price and not by time. BATS says the exchange will go live on Nov. 2 and will join the fourth-largest options market by share, BZX Options, which considers price as well as time in determining order priority.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Groupon Inc. fell nearly 4% in early trade Monday after the company’s price target was lowered to $8 from $11 at Brean Capital and other brokerages lowered full-year estimates on the daily deals site, which reported second-quarter earnings on Friday. Raymond James maintained a market perform rating, but lowered its outlook citing growth challenges in Groupon’s core local business, which decelerated to 8% year-over-year growth in the second quarter from 12% the period prior. Sterne Agee CRT said the results were “not as bad as feared,” but lowered its price target to $8 from $12. J.P. Morgan also lowered earnings expectations, citing “slightly increased uncertainty on future earnings,” and reduced its 12-month stock target by a dollar to $8. Shares of Groupon traded around $4.28 in recent trade. They have fallen more than 35% over the last three months, vastly underperforming the broader S&P 500, which is down 0.9%

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks soared at the open in early Monday trade, as investors appeared to be heartened by comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, who hinted that the U.S. central bank may not lift interest rates until inflation returns to normal levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 165 points, or nearly 1%, at 17,535.76, while the S&P 500 was up almost 18 points, or 0.9%, to 2,095. The Nasdaq Composite Index was 43 points higher, or 0.9%, at 5,087.

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From:: Stock Market News

Twitter Inc. shares gained 4% Monday after it announced a multiyear partnership with the National Football League to start with the 2015 NFL season. With the partnership, Twitter users will see NFL content presented by brands, such as breaking news and analysis, custom game recaps and in-game highlights from previous games. NFL and Twitter will also work on further discovery features, according to the release. Twitter and the NFL have been partners since 2013 through the Twitter Amplify platform. “Over the past two years, NFL content on Twitter has seen best-in-class user engagement rates, and the expanded partnership will bolster the fan experience on the platform,” said Glenn Brown, head of Twitter Content Partnerships and Amplify.

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From:: Stock Market News

Leading videogame-industry companies GameStop Corp. and Electronic Arts Inc. are set to benefit from an upcoming refresh in consoles, according to PiperJaffray analyst Michael Olson. The analyst raised his price target on Electronic Arts, which makes popular videogames such as Madden NFL and FIFA, to $85 from $79, and on videogame retailer GameStop, to $56 from $52. He backed overweight ratings on both stocks. Olson said he believes calendar-year 2015 and 2016 will be the equivalent to 2007 and 2008 in terms of a hardware refresh, which should trigger increased software sales. “We believe the footprint of next gen hardware is now large enough to drive sustainable software growth,” he said. For EA in particular, he pointed to the November launch of Star Wars Battlefront, which he said could take off among the growing next-generation console installed base. Shares of both companies were inactive in premarket trade.

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Donald Trump said Monday that he agrees with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ opposition to President Barack Obama’s trade policy. Sanders “has struck a nerve. He knows the problem at least,” Trump said in an interview on MSNBC. The difference between them is that Sanders is “is not going to do anything about it” while Trump said he could negotiate good trade agreements with the Chinese. Asked about three ideas to restore the economy’s health, Trump said he would trim the fat of the federal government, simplify the tax code and give incentives to spur investment in depressed inner cities. He said he would like to simplify taxes to the point where H&R Block Inc. would be out of business.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Twitter gained 2% Monday morning after Monness, Crespi, Hardy & Co. analysts upgraded the company to buy from neutral. The analysts cited Twitter’s recent positive stock moves and the idea that the “worst will soon be behind Twitter.” “We believe now is the time to pivot to a positive outlook on the stock,” the analysts said. The analysts set a new price target of $35. The analysts noted that Twitter does still face “uncertainty” due to pending changes to the platform, chief executive changes and slowed user growth. Shares of Twitter have fallen 23% in the past month compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 0.1%

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Dean Foods Co. reported on Monday second-quarter net earnings of $26.5 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a loss of $645,000, or 1 cent a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 33 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 26 cents. Sales fell to $2.01 billion from $2.39 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $2.07 billion, as total volume declined 3%. Raw milk costs fell 33% from a year ago. For the third quarter, the milk producer expects EPS of 17 cents to 27 cents, surrounding the FactSet consensus of 21 cents. “With volume performance coming in-line with our expectations and a generally favorable commodity environment, we delivered a fourth consecutive quarter of sequentially improving gross profit and operating income,” said Chief Financial Officer Chris Bellairs. Separately, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing late Friday that Chairman Tom Davis resigned from the board of directors, effective immediately. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has dropped 8.5% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Dean Foods Co. reported on Monday second-quarter net earnings of $26.5 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a loss of $645,000, or 1 cent a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 33 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 26 cents. Sales fell to $2.01 billion from $2.39 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $2.07 billion, as total volume declined 3%. Raw milk costs fell 33% from a year ago. For the third quarter, the milk producer expects EPS of 17 cents to 27 cents, surrounding the FactSet consensus of 21 cents. “With volume performance coming in-line with our expectations and a generally favorable commodity environment, we delivered a fourth consecutive quarter of sequentially improving gross profit and operating income,” said Chief Financial Officer Chris Bellairs. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has dropped 8.5% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC on Monday he’s in the market to do several small acquisitions over the next six months, but ruled out any major takeover deals for a while. His comments came after his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. announced its biggest buyout deal ever, through the $32 billion takeover of Precision Castparts Corp. . Speaking with CNBC’s Squawk Box Monday morning, Buffett said his company now needs time to “reload” on cash reserves after the Precision takeover, ruling out another “elephant”-sized deal, but noting that it won’t exclude smaller acquisitions. B-shares of Berkshire Hathaway were down 1.4% ahead of the bell, while the A-shares were flat. Precision shares rallied 20%.

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From:: Stock Market News