Russell 2000 poised to climb
The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures are rising and the small-cap index is poised to move up following news of mergers and acquisitions.
MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) will sell a 9.5% stake to state-owned Dubai World for $5 billion, according to news reports this morning. That comes to a price of $84 per share, 13% above the stock’s closing price of $74.32 on Tuesday.
Mergers and acquisitions have been absent during the past few weeks, as markets have been affected by a credit squeeze.
Omaha, Neb.-based TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: AMTD), which provides online securities brokerage services, and rival E*Trade Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: ETFC) are in merger talks, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Elsewhere, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications for the week ended August 17 decreased 5.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The four-week moving average, a more accurate measure that smoothes out sudden volatile movements, fell 1.3%.
The survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations.
