The markets opened lower with the Dow losing 26 points to 13,248 over concerns that France may slip into a recession next year. Nasdaq fell 15 points to 3061.
On the upside
Aetna (NYSE: AET) will pay approximately $5.7 billion in cash and stock to acquire rival Coventry Health Care (NYSE: CVH).
A Seeking Alpha contributor wrote that it was a good time to consider buying Molycorp (NYSE: MCP).
Sterne Agee expects record gaming revenue in Macau for the month of August lifting shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS).
On the downside
Zagg (Nasdaq: ZAGG) co-founder and chief executive Robert Pedersen stepped down after selling $4.2 million worth of company stock to meet margin calls prompting a downgrade. Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) named Hubert Joly to the position of chief executive after discussions with founder Richard Schulze fell apart.
Barron's wrote that Waste Management (NYSE: WM) may drop 10% to 15% for consistently missing earnings expectations.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 815.
European Concerns Weigh Markets Down To Lower Open
August 20, 2012 at 10:43 AM EDT
