The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened higher, traded down to 13,121.65 then up to 13,176.17. The NASDAQ opened higher, traded down to 3069.05 then up to 3085.81. Asian stocks were mixed on Monday. The Nikkei 225 ended the day at 9,085 – up 0.16%. The Hang Seng ended the day at 19,799 – down 0.41%. European exchanges were higher on Monday. The FTSE 100 was closed at 5,777. The DAX ended the day at 7,047 – up 1.10%. The CAC 40 ended the day at 3,463 – up 0.86%.

The yield on the 10-Year US Treasury note traded down from 1.688% to 1.640% versus the five-week modified moving average at 1.649%. Gold traded up to $1679.3 the Troy ounce then fell to $1666.2, above the 200-day simple moving average at $1648.1. Crude oil traded up to $97.72 per barrel then faded to $94.41 with the 200-day simple moving average at $96.75. The euro versus the dollar rebounded from 1.2493 to 1.2534 above its 50-day simple moving average at 1.2371.

Energy

Bonanza Creek Energy (BCEI) is begun with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital. Key Energy (KEG) is taken to Buy from Neutral with at SunTrust. Dow components – Chevron (CVX) down 0.06%, Exxon Mobil (XOM) down 0.12%. Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was trading at $71.96 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.03% on the day – up 4.09% year-to-date.

Materials

Mosaic (MOS) is a fresh Hold at Topeka. Citing expectations for higher ethane prices, UBS lowers LyondellBasell (LYB) to Neutral from Buy and Westlake Chemical (WLK) to Sell from Neutral. Dow Components – Alcoa (AA) down 1.39%, DuPont (DD) down 0.70%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) was trading at $35.60 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.67% on the day – up 6.27% year-to-date.

Industrials

After two years of trying, Hertz (HTZ) is set to acquire Dollar Thrifty (DTG) in a deal worth $2.3B ($87.50 per share – a premium of 8%, more than double the $41 that Hertz offered in 2010). To help get regulatory approval, Hertz has agreed to sell its Advantage Rent-A-Car unit to Franchise Services of North America and Macquarie Capital. Marten Transport (MRTN) is moved to Buy from Hold at Wunderlich. Dow components – Boeing Co (BA) up 0.58%, Caterpillar (CAT) down 0.55%, General Electric (GE) up 0.62%, 3M Company (MMM) down 0.22%, United Technologies (UTX) up 0.82%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) was trading at $36.64 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.19% on the day – up 8.56% year-to-date.

Consumer Discretionary

Tiffany’s (TIF) Q2 earnings were in line with its own expectations but came in just below those of analysts. Net profit rose 2% to $92M, or $0.72 a share, while revenue increased by the same amount to $887M. The jeweler lowered its FY EPS guidance to $3.70-$3.80 from a prior outlook of $3.95-$4.04. GM’s (GM) European unit Opel has denied a report in Germany’s Bild newspaper that it intends to slash a third of jobs in the country. The cuts would be part of a phased strategy that also includes reducing working hours, a move that Opel announced last week. Ford (F) has broken ground on a factory in Chongqing in southwest China, where it plans to start making its 2-liter EcoBoost turbocharged engine. rue21 (RUE) is raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies. Ignite Restaurant Group (IRG) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at KeyBanc. Dow Components – Disney (DIS) up 0.54%, Home Depot (HD) down 0.25%, McDonalds (MCD) up 0.85%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was trading at $45.32 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.13% on the day – up 16.12% year-to-date.

Consumer Staples

Annie’s Inc. (BNNY) is a new Outperform at Credit Suisse. TreeHouse Foods (THS) is now Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. Dow components – Kraft (KFT) down 0.38%, Coca Cola (KO) down 0.55%, Procter & Gamble (PG) up 0.40%, Wal-Mart (WMT) up 0.85%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was trading at $35.645 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.13% on the day – up 9.71% year-to-date.

Health Care

Allergan (AGN) is begun with an Outperform at William Blair. Globus Medical (GMED) is a new Outperform at William Blair. Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) is initiated with a Buy at brokerage boutique WallachBeth. Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) is begun with a Buy at ThinkEquity. BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Big Movers – Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) up 13.18%, Zalicus (ZLCS) up 10.32%, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM) down 12.27%. Dow Components – Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) up 0.22%, Merck (MRK) down 0.09%, Pfizer (PFE) down 0.29%. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) was trading at $38.78 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.10% on the day – up 11.79% year-to-date.

Financial

The drought will probably cause insurers their biggest agricultural loss ever, with gross indemnities of $30B and an underwriting loss of $18B. However, the government will pay for $14B through reinsurance programs and private firms $4B-$5B. Companies with exposure include QBE (QBEIF), American Financial (AFG) and Wells Fargo’s (WFC) Rural Community. State regulators are looking at changes that would force insurers such as AIG (AIG) and MetLife (MET) to increase by billions of dollars the amount that they would have to hold against the riskier mortgage bonds they’ve been acquiring lately. New York Mortgage Trust (NYMT) is a new Buy at Ladenburg. Weyerhaeuser (WY) is upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform by BMO Capital. Big Movers – Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) up 15.68%. Dow Components – American Express (AXP) up 0.03%, Bank of America (BAC) down 0.92%, JP Morgan Chase (JPM) up 0.43%, Travelers (TRV) down 0.24%. The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was trading at $15.13 at 3:30 PM on Monday, unchanged on the day – up 16.42% year-to-date.

Information Technology

Samsung’s (SSNLF) shares tumbled 7.45% in Seoul today following its $1.05B patent defeat to Apple (AAPL) on Friday, with the latter climbing 2.35% premarket, Nokia (NOK) jumping 11.4% and Microsoft (MSFT) edging up 0.8%. Apple has until today to outline which Samsung devices it wants to ban from being sold in the U.S. Read market currents for a summary of the latest reaction and analysis. Samsung (SSNLF) has followed Intel (INTC) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) in investing in ASML, with the South Korean company agreeing to provide the Dutch chip-equipment maker with €276M for R&D. ASML has now raised €1.38B from the three chipmakers for research. Samsung is also buying a 3% stake in ASML for €503M, bringing the total customer equity investment in the company to €3.85B. Eloqua (ELOQ) is initiated with Buys at both Needham Deutsche Bank, Overweight at JPMorgan and an Outperform at JMP Securities. FactSet Research Systems (FDS) is a fresh Market Perform at William Blair. Autodesk (ADSK) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. Broadcom (BRCM) is now Neutral from Buy at Nomura. Ellie Mae Inc. (ELLI) gets cut to Equal Weight from Overweight at Stephens. Dow Components – Cisco Systems (CSCO) up 0.44%, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) down 1.08%, IBM (IBM) down 0.86%, Intel Corp (INTC) down 0.16%, Microsoft (MSFT) up 0.69%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) was trading at $30.56 at 3:30 PM on Monday, unchanged on the day – up 20.16% year-to-date.

Telecommunication Services

Dow Components – AT&T (T) down 0.15%, Verizon (VZ) down 1.38%. The NASDAQ Telecommunications Index (IXTC) was trading at $197.08 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.37% on the day – up 0.07% year-to-date.

Utilities

Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) is downgraded to Underperform from Perform at FBR Capital. Dominion Resources (D) up 0.45%, Edison International (EIX) up 1.32%, First Energy (FE) up 0.24%, PG&E Corp (PCG) up 0.27%, Southern Company (SO) down 0.38%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) was trading at $36.67 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.14% on the day – up 1.95% year-to-date.

STOCKS: BCEI, KEG, CVX, XOM, MOS, LYB, WLK, AA, DD, HTZ, DTG, MRTN, BA, CAT, GE, MMM, UTX, TIF, GM, F, RUE, IRG, DIS, HD, MCD, BNNY, THS, KFT, KO, PG, WMT, AGN, GMED, JAZZ, SRPT, BMRN, ZLCS, PPHM, JNJ, MRK, PFE, QBEIF, AFG, WFC, AIG, MET, NYMT, WY, HCBK, AXP, BAC, JPM, TRV, SSNLF, AAPL, NOK, MSFT, INTC, TSM, ELOQ, FDS, ADSK, BRCM, ELLI, CSCO, HPQ, IBM, INTC, MSFT, T, VZ, PEG, D, EIX, FE, PCG, SO