Closing Bell: Business executives in Texas say the US economy is still a 'big concern'

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September 26, 2016

Stocks dove on Monday ahead of the first presidential debate.

Financial and healthcare stocks led the pack into the red, while Deutsche Bank shares cratered to a record low after weekend reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not provide state assistance to the lender.

First up, the scoreboard:

Dow: 18,094.83, -166.62, (-0.91%)
S&P 500: 2,146.10, -18.59, (-0.86%)
Nasdaq: 5,257.49, -48.26, (-0.91%)
WTI Crude: $45.64, +$1.16, (+2.61%)
10-year yield: 1.584%, (-0.031)

Business executives in Texas say the US economy is still a "big concern." The latest report from the Dallas Fed's manufacturing survey showed that while business leaders were more optimistic about the future on aggregate, some cited ongoing concerns about the economy, skilled-labor shortages, and oil prices.
The pound fell back to near Brexit lows. Although the currency recovered some of its earlier losses, it was little changed around 1.2963 against the dollar in the afternoon — not that far off of the post-Brexit low of 1.2798.
Oil prices jumped as OPEC and Russia headed to Algiers for informal talks. Prices for Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, jumped up 3.2% at $47.98 a barrel mid-day ET, before retreating slightly to around +2.5% in the afternoon. Notably, Reuters reported on Monday that Bijan Zanganeh, Iran's oil minister, downplayed the talks, noting that "this is an advisory meeting and that's all we should expect from it.
Disney is thinking about bidding on Twitter, according to Bloomberg's Alex Sherman and Sarah Frier. Twitter's stock rebounded on the news after being down nearly 4% during early trading. Disney's stock tumbled about 1.6%.
Meanwhile, an analyst at Oppenheimer thinks no one should buy Twitter at its current price . More specifically, Jason Helfstein thinks the social-media company is facing a stagnating user base and dwindling impact.
The Chicago Board of Options has agreed to buy Bats Global Markets in a $3.2 billion deal. The deal is valued at $32.50 per Bats share, a 23% premium over Bats' closing price on Thursday, when reports of the deal talks first emerged. It consists of 31% cash and 69% CBOE stock.