Stocks Opened Mixed, IBM Plunged

U.S. stocks fell at the open on Monday, as indexes were weighed by IBM, which fell more than 7 percent on disappointing quarterly results. The Dow Jones industrial average lately fell 89.36 points, or 0.55%, to 16,291.05. The S&P 500 was up 1.79 points, or 0.09%,, to 1,888.55. The Nasdaq Composite gained 11.84 points, or 0.28%, to 4,270.27.

International Business Machines Corp. posted sharply lower earnings in its third quarter as sales fell across several divisions and the tech giant unveiled a deal to transfer its semiconductor operations to Globalfoundries Inc. IBM reported net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 of $18 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with profit in the year-earlier quarter of $4.04 billion, or $3.68 a share. Revenue fell to $22.4 billion from $23.3 billion a year earlier.

Struggling retailer Sears Holdings Corp said it would raise up to $625 million through a rights offering of senior notes due 2019 and warrants to buy shares.

Cleco Corp. (CNL) a Louisiana-based public utility holding company, said it will be bought out by a group of North American investors for $55.37 per share in cash, an agreement that values the company at $3.47 billion, plus the assumption of $1.3 billion of assumed debt.