TODAYS PRIMER
Peter Schacknow, Senior Producer, CNBC Breaking News Desk
Wall Street comes off an uneven August which was nonetheless the first winning August since 2009. It also comes off a second straight week of losses heading into a holiday-shortened trading week. Investors will be watching the Democratic convention in Charlotte, NC while they await the August employment report, due out Friday morning.
Automakers kick off the shortened week by reporting their August sales numbers: Edmunds.com estimates an overall industry rise of 20.1 percent to an annual rate of 14.5 million units, which would be 2012’s third best month.
At 10 a.m. New York time, the Institute For Supply Management is out with its August manufacturing index, expected to come in at 49.9, virtually unchanged from July’s 49.8. At the same time, the government’s report on July construction spending is seen registering a 0.3 percent rise compared to June’s 0.4 percent increase.
Campbell Soup (CPB) is among the few companies set to report quarterly earnings this morning, with Smithfield Foods (SFD) also on the calendar. Auto parts retailer Pep Boys (PBY) is scheduled to report its quarterly numbers after today’s closing bell.
Medicis Pharmaceutical (MRX) leads our list of stocks to watch, agreeing to be bought by Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) for $2.6 billion in cash. Valeant says the deal will immediately add to earnings upon completion.
Sony (SNE) plans to debut a new tablet PC in the U.S. market this week, and says it doesn’t plan on entering into a price competition with other sellers.
Oracle (ORCL) will appeal a damage award against SAP (SAP) in a long standing court case. Oracle wants SAP to pay more in damages in the case, which so far has seen Oracle collect $306 million, with further appeals pending.
Morgan Stanley (MS) has been upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” by JPMorgan Chase, which has also downgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) to “underweight” from “neutral”.
IBM (IBM) has been upgraded to “overweight” from “equal weight” at Barclays.
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