Financial News

LONDON (ShareCast) - Wall Street continues to decline along with other markets around the world. There was an attempt at a rally in the middle of the morning but this was short-lived.

The Dow Jones is 61 lower at 9,728 and there are only two risers in the index. Nasdaq (NASDAQ: news) is 11 down at 2,038 and the wider ranging S&P just over six lower at 1,036.

The market has shrugged off a major acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A - news) which its chairman, Warren Buffett, described as 'an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States'.

Buffett's investment vehicle has dug deep and splashed out $44bn in cash and shares on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway. Berkshire Hathaway, which already owns 22.6% of the business, is paying $100 a share for the rest of the firm. Today's acquisition, which includes $10bn of Burlington Northern debt, is the biggest in Berkshire's history, and more than twice as big as the second biggest acquisition the so-called 'Sage of Omaha' has ever made.

'Our country's future prosperity depends on its having an efficient and well-maintained rail system,' Buffett said.

Shares in Burlington chugged higher, taking sector peers CSX (NYSE: CSX - news) , Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP - news) - Bulrington's main rival on the west coast - and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC - news) with them.

In a separate move, Berkshire surprised the market with news of a 50-for-1 split of its Class B common stock.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS - news) was the voice of gloom for semiconductor shares as it turned cautious on the sector, which it said is 'in the final innings of the semi[-conductor] cycle.' The broker downgraded CPU-maker Intel (NASDAQ: INTC - news) and memory chip maker Micron Technology (NYSE: MU - news) to 'equal weight' from 'overweight'. Graphics chip maker Nvidia and mobile phone chip maker Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - news) tumbled in sympathy.

The higher than expected third quarter loss from UBS (Virt-X: UBSN.VX - news) hit financials. Bank of America (NYSE: IKJ - news) , American Express (NYSE: AXP - news) and Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF - news) are all lower.

Stanley Works has agreed to merge with rival DIY and power tools maker Black & Decker in an all share deal that values the latter at $4.5bn. Stanley (Berlin: SYC.BE - news) shareholders will own 50.5% of the enlarged group which will be known as Stanley Black & Decker. Both shares reacted positively to the news.

The Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting today, with the Fed's policy statement due to be published on Wednesday.

S&P 500 - Risers Burlingtn N Sante Fe (BNI) $97.58 +28.28% Black Decker Corp. (BDK) $59.22 +25.10% Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $41.38 +6.65% Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) $58.59 +6.41% CSX Corp. (CSX) $45.52 +6.26% Stanley Works The (NYSE: SWK - news) (SWK) $47.78 +5.83% Newmont Min Corp. (NEM) $45.71 +4.91% Snap On Inc (NYSE: SNA - news) . (SNA) $37.65 +4.38% Archer Daniels Mdlnd (ADM) $31.70 +3.88% Norfolk So Corp. (NSC) $48.40 +3.80%

S&P 500 - Fallers Novellus Systems Inc. (NVLS) $19.55 -5.94% Sandisk Corp (NASDAQ: SNDK - news) . (SNDK) $19.90 -4.63% Kla-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $31.34 -4.61% Capital One Financial (COF) $36.52 -4.57% Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) $48.54 -4.41% L S I Logic Corp. (LSI (NYSE: LSI - news) ) $4.91 -4.29% Vulcan Materials Co (NYSE: VMC - news) (VMC) $45.25 -3.97% Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $32.12 -3.95% Teradyne Inc (NYSE: TER - news) . (TER) $8.10 -3.80% CBS Corp (NYSE: RBV - news) . Class 'B' (CBS) $11.67 -3.71%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT - news) . (CAT) $55.80 +0.56% United Technologies Corp. (UTX (A045880.KQ - news) ) $62.73 +0.11%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Intel Corp. (INTC) $18.39 -3.26% Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) $14.33 -2.05% Merck (MERK.JK - news) & Co. Inc. (MRK) $30.66 -1.92% American Express Inc. (AXP) $35.04 -1.79% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $52.81 -1.69% General Electric Co. (GE) $14.24 -1.59% Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) . (MSFT) $27.45 -1.54% Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD - news) . (HD) $24.70 -1.43% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $29.00 -1.39% AT&T Inc. (T) $25.25 -1.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $41.38 +6.65% J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $31.19 +3.55% Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $57.64 +3.41% Nii Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: NIHD - news) . (NIHD) $27.66 +3.09% Genzyme Corp (NASDAQ: GENZ - news) . (GENZ) $51.31 +1.97% Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $29.28 +1.63% Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) $6.54 +1.55% Cephalon Inc (NASDAQ: CEPH - news) . (CEPH) $55.03 +1.46% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $32.72 +1.38% Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC) $64.93 +1.31%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Kla-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $31.34 -4.61% Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $32.12 -3.95% Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ: AMAT - news) . (AMAT) $11.85 -3.70% Altera Corp (NASDAQ: ALTR - news) . (ALTR) $19.27 -3.26% Intel Corp. (INTC) $18.39 -3.26% Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ: LRCX - news) . (LRCX) $32.97 -3.11% Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $21.12 -2.90% Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE - news) . (EXPE) $22.45 -2.69% Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Ads (AAL-A.TO - news) (TEVA) $49.82 -2.68% Echostar Communications Corp. (DISH) $17.12 -2.45%