The slump was led by CNOOC, the Chinese oil giant, after announcing plans to acquire Canadian oil producer NexenInc for 15.1B. The announcement was received with a 4% loss as investors think the company is overpaying.In the same sector China Petroleum & chemical corp fell .6% after agreeing to buy a 49% stake in Talisman Energy for 1.5B, another Canadian company.

Europe is again down on Spanish Banking concerns as the FTSEurofirst falls .2%. Financial shares were top decliners with the insurance sector down 1.2% and banking down 1%. Moody’s changed its outlook for Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to “negative” from “stable” on pure speculation of Greece leaving the Eurozone. The Eurozone PMI fell to 44.1 from 45.1 in June touching a 37 month low and unemployment fell for a seventh consecutive month and at the fastest rate in 2.5 years.

Commodities look bleak to begin the session with crude, natural gas, gold and silver all starting in the red.

Contributer Chris Rygh is currently pursuing his MBA in Wisconsin and has a passion for the Market. Comments can be directed to ryghcw19@uww.edu

This morning Sarepta announced that they posted statistically significant results after a 36-week study on their medication Eteplirsen, a treatment for DMD. Patients were issued doses of Eteplirsen once weekly during the study that ended with a successful 6-minute walk test relative to patients who received placebos. The study was performed at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Heading the decline are the six Spanish regions expected to request central government aid according to Spains El Pais newspaper. Leading the decline, McDonald’s (MCD) fell -2.85% after the fast food company reported a larger than expected drop in second quarter profits and warned of slowing same store sales growth.
European stocks also plunged, with the Stoxx Europe 600 sliding 2.5%. Spain’s IBEX 35 index fell 1.1%, trimming losses after the country’s financial regulator imposed a short-sale ban. Spanish borrowing costs rose to a euro-era high, with the country’s 10-year bond recently yielding 7.44%. The euro fell as far as $1.2067, a new two-year low against the dollar.

The CBOE VIX index, jumped 15%, the largest one day climb this summer.
In the corporate news, Haliburton rose 2.14% after the oil-services company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results. Wet Seal (WTSLA) slid after firing its chief executive and saying it expects to report a deeper-than-expected second-quarter loss than previously forecast.

CNOOC agreed to buy NXY for $27.50 a share or 61% higher than Friday’s close. NXY reported Q2 earnings of 19 cents, missing analysts’ expectations of 39 cents a share. Last year at this time NXY reported earnings of 46 cents a share and blames the earnings decrease on oil and gas prices. Q2 revenue jumped gained 11.5% to 1,769.3 million from 1654.7 million last year. the buyout is estimated to be finished in the fourth quarter.

Nexen holds a diversified portfolio consisting of both production and exploration units. Their exploration branch primarily functions in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and the North Sea.

David Cornes holds a degree in economics from the University of Montana.