The markets opened lower with the Dow losing 15 points to 13,578 as investors locked in profits from last week's rally. Nasdaq slipped 6 points to 3180.
On the upside
BGI-Shenzhen will pay a premium of approximately $117.6 million to acquire Complete Genomics (Nasdaq: GNOM).
IRIS International (Nasdaq: IRIS) will be acquired by Danaher (NYSE: DHR) for approximately $338 million including the assumption of debt.
Starboard Value acquired a 13.3% stake in Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) saying that the stock was undervalued.
On the downside
Threshold Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: THLD) reported that the median survival of patients treated with TH-302 and gemcitabine compared with gemcitabine alone was not statistically significant. Profit taking sank shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF).
Evercore added Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) to its Conviction Sell list.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 5 points to 859.
Profit Taking Weighs Down Markets
September 17, 2012 at 10:39 AM EDT
