Wall Street >>> Mixed Verdict for Stocks as Dow Falls, Nasdaq Climbs

The markets ended with a mixed picture on Monday as M&A action helped send the Nasdaq Composite to another new 2009 high but crumbling commodities kept the broader markets from joining the party. Dell's $3.9B offer for Perot Systems leads to modest tech advance amid stumble in other sectors.

A multibillion-dollar takeover in the technology sector couldn't rouse the broader market in a ho-hum session Monday but did help keep the Nasdaq in positive territory at the closing bell.

Today’s Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.34 points, or 0.42%, to 9778.86, the Standard & Poor's 500 lost 3.64 points, or 0.34%, to 1064.66 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 5.18 points, or 0.24%, to 2138.04.

Aside from Dell’s $3.9 billion takeover of Perot Systems and a $2 drop in oil, the markets were impacted by Lennar’s big quarterly loss and bearish commentary from fertilizer giant Potash.

The choppy day for stocks comes after the Dow soared 215 points last week, its biggest weekly gain since July 24. Stocks have extended their summer surge with little difficulty this month amid increased optimism about an economic recovery. The Dow had closed higher in nine of the previous 11 sessions, ending on Friday at its best level since early October.

In fact, Monday's modest 41-point slide for the blue-chip index represents its worst day since plunging 186 points on Sept. 1, an impressive stretch for the Dow considering September's bearish track record.

“It’s nice to see the market isn’t getting the selloff everyone has talked about,” commented NYSE trader Jonathan Corpina of Meridian Equity Partners. “We’re not going to go up 50 or 80 points every day but the fact we’re hanging in there is important.”

Stocks will “probably pull back for three or four days here and then the market probably rights itself a little bit” before “rallying into the month’s end,” said Michael James, senior equity trader at Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Despite the early week struggles, some bullish traders have their sights kept on the pivotal 10000 level on the Dow and beyond.

“10000 is a foregone conclusion. People are chasing returns at this point," said NYSE trader Jason Weisberg of Seaport Securities. “I hate to do this publicly, but the chart points to Dow 11000.”