STOCKS GO NOWHERE: Here's what you need to know

jump rope

(A woman jumps with the legs tied by rope though old tires as she takes part in an extreme run "Bison race" near the town of Logoisk, Belarus September 17, 2016.Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Stocks jumped around within a close range on Thursday before finishing little changed.

They opened higher, tumbled around 10:30 a.m. ET, pulled into the green during the early afternoon, and then reversed course by the end.

First up, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 18,162.35, -40.27, (-0.22%)

• S&P 500: 2,141.34, -2.95, (-0.14%)

• Nasdaq: 5,241.83, -4.58, (-0.09%)

• WTI crude oil: $50.60, -1.22, (-2.35%)

• 10-year Treasury yield: 1.754%, +0.2 basis points

1. A major fallout from the housing crash is now at the lowest level since 2008. Distressed sales — foreclosures and short sales — as a percent of residential sales fell to 4% in September. Distressed and short sales made up about a third to half of all sales in 2012.

2. AT&T and Time Warner are reportedly talking about a merger, according to Ed Hammond, Alex Sherman and Scott Moritz at Bloomberg. The talks are informal, and neither side has hired an adviser, according to the report.

3. Microsoft crushed earnings and the stock beat its all-time high set in 1999. Microsoft stock was up over 5% on the solid beat on the top and bottom lines in after-hours trading.

4. Oil tumbled after the CEO of Russia's largest oil company said the country can "significantly" pump up production. Prices for WTI crude were down by around 2.6% to $50.49 per barrel, while prices for Brent crude were down by 2.7% at $51.24 per barrel around 3:02 p.m. ET.

5. The euro tumbled after the European Central Bank left rates unchanged and posted a press release that was completely unchanged in its wording (aside from the date) for the third consecutive meeting. Additionally, Draghi said at a press conference that the ECB has yet to discuss extending its current quantitative easing programme beyond its current end point of March 2017.

6. Verizon tumbled after adding fewer subscribers than expected. Verizon said net additions for FIOS video totaled 36,000, but analysts had estimated a gain of 59,000. At the same time, demand for higher internet speeds increased, reflecting the shift away from traditional cable-TV bundles and toward more customizable streaming services.

7. eBay shares slid 10% in early trade on Thursday after the company announced weak guidance for the fourth quarter. The ecommerce company said Thursday it expects adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations to be in a range of $0.52 to $0.54 for the crucial holiday season. That was near the low end of analysts' forecast for $0.54, according to Bloomberg.

Additionally:

Here's what the US presidential election could mean for Russia's and Iran's oil.

The CEO of one of the largest US homebuilders perfectly summed up the housing market.

Dunkin Donuts said people aren't buying doughnuts because they're worried about the election.

Here's every state's biggest international trading partner.

A 34-year-old trader at Goldman Sachs made a $100 million profit — and he is part of a dying breed.

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