U.S. markets began the week on a negative note after an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report out today said that global growth is slowing, and traders still were trying to recover from Friday’s surprisingly strong jobs report.
China lent credence to the OECD report a couple of days ago by saying that its October exports fell 6.9% year-over-year, and imports were down 18.8%. Both were below expectations. The OECD report also warned that the trade growth slowdown could trigger a worldwide recession.
At the closing bell, in an unusual finish, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were all off by 1%.
However, mergers and acquisitions helped push a few stocks higher — namely Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) and Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE:PCL) — while Dean Foods Co (NYSE:DF) also was bid higher to round out our list of three of Monday’s best stocks.
Apache Corporation (APA)
APA stock, which has struggled recently, gapped up to its 200-day moving average today. The catalyst for the 13% move was a report that Apache had received an unsolicited takeover approach, but that Apache has fended this bid off and will continue to defend itself on any further attempts to be acquired.
Apache is worth more than $18 billion, so any buyout would constitute a major transaction within the energy sector. That said, last week APA reported a loss of $5.7 billion for the latest quarter, but did beat expectations in doing so.
Between June and October, APA stock sank from $60 to $37, but has regained most of that loss within the past month.
Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (PCL)
Plum Creek shares blasted 17% higher today after the Seattle-based timber company agreed to be acquired by Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE:WY) for $8.4 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, WY will issue 1.6 shares of WY stock for each share of PCL stock, at a value of $48.64 per share.
According to The Street, the combined entity will now be a $23 billion timber REIT. Weyerhaeuser CEO Doyle R. Simons will remain in his position, while Plum Creek CEO Rick R. Holley will become non-executive chairman.
WY stock was down a bit over 3% on the day.
Dean Foods Co (DF)
Dallas-based Dean Foods was doing well today after reporting third-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share on $2.03 billion in revenue. The EPS beat the estimates of Wall Street analysts, who saw the company reporting 24 cents a share, but revenues fell short of a $2.05 billion expectation.
Dean also gave full-year 2015 earnings estimates between $1.15 a share and $1.25 a share. The company said that the dairy portion of the company is doing as well as ever in both costs and retail prices.
DF stock finished up by more than 7% to break above recent resistance at $18.50 today.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
