Iceland green field
Flickr - Champignon.Bunny
Low volatility persists in the markets.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 13,271, -3.5, -0.0%

S&P 500: 1,418, -0.0, -0.0%

NASDAQ: 3,076, -0.3, -0.0%

And now the top stories:
  • One of the more under-reported stories has been the Shanghai Composite (i.e. the Chinese stock market), which hit a post-crisis, 3-year low this morning.  Indeed, it's divergence with the S&P 500 can only be described as "stunning."

  • The Shanghai Composite seems to be tied to fears of a hard economic landing in the world's second largest economy.  As evidence of decelerating growth has been piling up, more and more experts have increased their expectations for government stimulus.  However, this weekend's report of rising property prices gives Chinese policymakers less flexibility to ease.

  • Another under-reported story has been the quiet sell-off in the U.S. Treasury security market, which has sent interest rates up.  Many have attributed the move to the improving U.S. economic data and the relative stability in the euro area, which continues to work through its debt crisis.  Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Michael Hartnett has declared the 30-year Treasury yield as the "most important chart in the world."

  • Economist David Rosenberg thinks the recent Treasury sell-off is just a hiccup in a long-term bull market. "We have had no fewer than eight such episodes of 40+basis point spasms since yields peaked in the summer of 2007," he wrote.  "Each one did not last long and presented a gift of a buying opportunity for patient investors who have an ability to see the forest past the trees."

  • Other analysts are much more bullish.  Jeff Saut of Raymond James sees the S&P 500 heading to 1,500.  Tom Lee of JP Morgan sees it going to 1,475 before election day.

  • Health-care giant Aetna confirmed that it would be acquiring Coventry Health Care for a 20 percent premium to the Friday closing price.  Shares of both companies soared today.  

  • Apple officially became the most valuable U.S. company in history.  The 2 percent rally in the stock sent its market cap to $622 billion.  The record was previously held by Microsoft, which hit $618.9 billion in 1999.

  • Valuation guru Aswath Damodaran updated his valuation analysis of Facebook stock based on the latest data.  He sees its intrinsic value at $23.94 per share.  But is it a buy?  Not necessarily.  "I have a limit buy order for the stock at a price of $18," he wrote.