U.S. Stock Market News: LOCO and FDO Surge, RSX Slumps

Stock market today, July 28, 2014: U.S. stock market numbers were up modestly on Monday ahead of a critical round of data that the federal government will release this week.

Today, a report indicated that the services sector reached a four-and-a-half-year high, creating new optimism about the nation's economic recovery. On Wednesday, the markets will see their first glimpse of second-quarter GDP, while Friday centers on the July unemployment rate. The dollar edged lower in anticipation of this week's looming events.

Here's the scorecard from today's trading session:

Dow: 16,982.59, +22.02 (+0.13%)
Nasdaq: 4,444.91, +057 (+0.03%)
S&P 500: 1,978.91, -4.65 (-0.10%)

Now here are the top stories from the U.S. stock market today:

• The Crazy Chicken: Shares of El Pollo LoCo Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LOCO) surged another 43% on the day, reaching a new high after its IPO on Friday. The Mexican-style chicken chain has seen incredible demand for its stock. LOCO shares closed at $34.48 today, offering a massive premium over the $15 per share that was part of its IPO. For the full story on what to expect from LOCO stock after its IPO momentum dies down, go here...



• Merger Mania: Shares of Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) surged more than 24% on news that the company plans to sell its business to Dollar Tree Inc. (Nasdaq: DLTR) for $8.5 billion. Full details on the FDO-DLTR tie-up can be found here. In other deal news, shares of Carlyle Group LP (Nasdaq: CG) slipped 1.5% this afternoon on news that the company is looking to purchase Acosta Sales and Marketing for roughly $5 billion in cash and assumption of debt.
• Russia a Wreck: Markets in Russia slumped for the third-consecutive day on news that the White House is looking to unleash another round of sanctions on the nation and its leaders. The Market Vector Russia ETF Trust (NYSE Arca: RSX), which tracks the price and yield performance of the DAXglobal Russia Index, slipped another 1% on the day. U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States and four European allies would soon adopt "new measures" against Russia in the wake of significant geopolitical problems in Ukraine, including a downed passenger jet that lost 298 lives two weeks ago.
• Twitter Earnings Report: Investors are gearing up for a second-quarter earnings report from Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) that will be released tomorrow after the market close. Thomson Reuters estimates that earnings per share will register a $0.01 loss with quarterly revenues of roughly $283 million. This marks just the second earnings report for the company after its 2013 IPO. TWTR stock was down roughly 0.5% ahead of tomorrow's announcement.
• Meaty Profits: Shares of Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) were up more than 2% on news that the company's earnings per share jumped 9% in the second quarter. The company also announced that JBS USA Holdings Inc. would purchase Tyson's poultry divisions in Brazil and Mexico for roughly $575 million. Tyson also plans to shut three plants in the United States, a move that will displace roughly 900 employees.

Now our experts share some of the most important investment moves to make based on today's market trading - for Money Morning Members only:

• This Miracle Material Is Our Secret Weapon in the Coming Energy War: China and Russia's $400 billion natural gas deal was one of the first shots in their energy war against the United States and Europe. But our Michael Robinson discovered one company's products that are a big part of the technology that provides our best defense in this coming war. And that makes this a "defense" technology we can feel proud about profiting from...
• A Clear Way to Profit from a Graying Population: The Baby Boom generation, which includes everyone born from 1946 through 1964, is now entering retirement age (65) at a rate of 10,000 per day. Naturally, the more seniors there are, the more demand there will be on the medical community for better and safer therapies, and more ways to profit from this trend...
• Don't Hesitate on This Industry Boom That's Already Here: If you follow the headlines, you'd think the last place to invest your hard-earned money is in healthcare. But here's the thing. As technology investors, our job is to look beyond the politics of the moment and take a look at what others may be missing. Turns out, if you picked the right healthcare investment over the last two years, you would have beaten the S&P 500's returns by more than 50%. And here's why...