The Dow Gained 68 Points, Nasdaq Adds 20

The Dow gained 67.96 points today to close at 11,352.01, the Nasdaq added 20.41 points to close at 2,160.70 and the S&P 500 added 6.69 points to close at 1,301.78. Today's theme was...if energy prices continue to fall, consumer spending will pick up. However, investors will continue looking at economic data this week, which should dictate the direction of the markets in the short-term. Separately, a barrel of oil fell $1.90 to $70.61 as Tropical storm Ernesto is projected to hit the Florida Keys and spare key gulf energy installations.

Volume was light with 1.16 billion shares trading on the NYSE and 1.40 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers crushed decliners by a margin of 23:10 on the NYSE and 19:11 on the Nasdaq.

In individual stories, Energy Partners, Ltd. (NYSE: EPL) closed 31.2% higher after received unsolicited proposal from ATS Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum Ltd., to acquire control of the Company at a price of $23.00 per share. Oilgear Co. (Nasdaq: OLGR) closed 37% higher after entering into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Lincoln Acquisition Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mason Wells Buyout Fund II, Limited Partnership, an affiliate of the Milwaukee-based private equity firm Mason Wells. Shareholders of the Company will receive cash consideration of $15.25 per share.

Tomorrow, investors will be looking for economic data on August Consumer Confidence (10:00AM EST) and the FOMC Minutes (2:00PM EST). Also, traders will be looking for earnings from ADC (Nasdaq: ADCT), Kirkland's (Nasdaq: KIRK), Sanderson Farms (Nasdaq: SAFM) and VA Software (Nasdaq: LNUX).

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