The Dow Gained 8 Points, Nasdaq Fell 5

The Dow gained 8.25 points today to close at 12,661.74, the Nasdaq fell 5.28 points to close at 2,470.60, and the S&P 500 lost 1.40 points to close at 1,446.99. Several deals were announced today, making for another 'Merger Monday'. State Street (NYSE: STT) announced the acquisition of Investors Financial. Hanover Compressor (NYSEL HC) announced a merger with Universal Compression (NYSE: UCO), private equity firms acquired Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) and other private equity firms acquired Triad Hospital (NYSE: TRI) for $6.4 billion.

Volume was heavy with 2.52 billion shares trading on the NYSE and 1.97 billion trading on the Nasdaq.
Decliners topped Advancers by a margin of 18:15 on the NYSE and 17:13 on the Nasdaq.

In Individual stories, Investors Financial Services (NASDAQ: IFIN) gained 27.4% after State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Investors Financial Services in a stock transaction valued at approximately $4.5 billion. Columbia Laboratories (NASDAQ: CBRX) fell 67.9% after announcing its Phase III clinical trial of progesterone for the prevention of preterm birth in women with a previous preterm birth earlier than 35 weeks gestation did not achieve any reduction in the incidence of preterm birth at week 32, the primary endpoint, or at weeks 28, 35 and 37, secondary endpoints of the study.

Companies expected to report earnings Tomorrow: Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP), Avon (NYSE: AVP), Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Emerson (NYSE: EMR), InterActive Corp (Nasdaq: IACI), Nat'l Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV), Perot Systems (NYSE: PER), Tyco (NYSE: TYC), and Wrigley (NYSE: WWY).

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