M&A Activity Boosts Stocks; Dow GainsTriple Digits

• August 22, 2007
• Darren Wong

Bulls controlled the market on Wednesday, as merger and
acquisition news fueled the upward movement. Investors are also
focusing on the Federal Reserve, as more and more investors are
beginning to believe that the Fed will cut interest rates in the
near future.

Today’s strength is attributed to speculation surrounding several
potential mergers and acquisitions. TD Ameritrade
(
AMTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and E-trade
(
ETFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are reportedly undergoing
discussion to merge the two online brokerage firms (full
story). The merger could signal an end to the credit crunch
that has affected markets in recent months.

Crude oil future prices for September fell by
0.5% to $69.26 a barrel, which was an 8-week low. Gold
futures for December delivery rose 0.4% to $668.70 an ounce.

Around Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 1% to 7,500.48, France’s CAC 40
added 1.8% to 5,518.17, and Britain’s FTSE 100 index also added
1.8% to 6,196.00.

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Stocks in Motion

Toll Brothers ( TOL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q3 Profit Plunges, Homebuilding Revenues Lower (full story). TOL shares gained 5%. Google ( GOOG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Says YouTube To Offer Advertising Within Certain Partners’ Videos; Introduces ‘Sky’ (full story). GOOG shares added 1.2%. Accredited ( LEND | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) To Cut About 1600 Jobs, Halts Lending To Counter Industry Turmoil (full story). LEND shares dropped 6%. Whole Foods ( WFMI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Merger Waiting On FTC Appeal, Could Happen As Quick As Monday If FTC Appeal Fails (full story). WFMI shares rose 0.3%. H&R Block ( HRB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Borrows $1.05Bln From Credit Lines (full story). HRB shares lost 2%. For more stories as they happen, go to our Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Dow +145.27 13,236.13 NASDAQ +31.50 2,552.80 S&P 500 +16.95 1,459.37 NYSE NASDAQ Volume 2,677,224,000 1,776,062,000 Advances 2604 2091 Declines 693 949 Up Volume 1973 1334 Down Volume 529 351 New Highs 23 60 New Lows 69 78

Strongest/Weakest Industry Groups

Strongest Industries Weakest Industries Chemicals Internet Airlines Healthcare Gold Banking

Economic News

Mortgage Applications Slip In Mid-August (full story).

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com

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