STOCKS RALLY: Here's what you need to know

rally race car jump

(Massimo Bettiol/Getty)

Business Insider has launched Markets Insider, which combines the best of Business Insider with real time market data. You can follow the site on Twitter @MktsInsider, and on Facebook.

And now, the closing bell:

US stocks closed higher on a big "merger Monday" with several deals announced.

The offshore yuan, which is traded outside mainland China and does not trade within a tight, controlled band, fell to a record low.

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 18,223.03, +77.32, (0.43%)

• S&P 500: 2,151.33, +10.17, (0.47%)

• Nasdaq: 5,309.83, +52.43, (1.00%)

1. It looks like Wall Street doesn't believe that the AT&T/Time Warner cable deal will go through. On Saturday, Time Warner agreed to an acquisition by AT&T for $107.50 per share, but its stock hit an intra-day high of $88. Typically, when an acquisition is announced, the share price jumps and trades much closer to the deal price. Several politicians including both presidential nominees have expressed anti-competitive concerns.

2. T-Mobile soared to a record high after crushing earnings. Ahead of Monday's opening bell, T-Mobile announced earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $9.24 billion — beating Wall Street's expectations. The stock gained 10% to as high as $51.34, a peak since its 2013 listing.

3. Chinese tourism conglomerate HNA Group is buying a roughly 25% stake in Hilton. HNA is paying $26.25 per share — or about $6.5 billion — for the stake from private-equity company Blackstone. HNA Group has spent more than $20 billion on acquisitions this year, according to Bloomberg.

4. TD Ameritrade is buying discount brokerage Scottrade for about $4 billion, including $1 billion in new common equity and $1.7 billion in cash. Scottrade is looking to take advantage of TD Ameritrade's trading platforms and education services.

5. VF Corp. the company that makes Vans, Wrangler, and North Face, cut its guidance for profit this year. "We continue to operate in an uneven, global economic environment including especially sluggish retail conditions in the Americas, our largest market," said CEO Eric Wiseman in the earnings statement. The company said it now sees profit at $3.13 per share this year, down from a previous projection of $3.20, and less than analysts' average forecast of $3.19 according to Bloomberg.

6. Markit's flash manufacturing purchasing manager's index for October beat expectations, at 53.2. "Both output and new orders are rising at the fastest rates for a year amid increasingly widespread optimism that demand will pick up again after the presidential election, which has been commonly cited as a key factor that has subdued spending and investment in recent months," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, in the data release.

Additionally:

Today we launched Markets Insider, a new markets data extension of Business Insider

Goldman Sachs cut its earnings forecast for 2016, 2017, and 2018

EL-ERIAN: There are 2 election scenarios that'll cause the markets to go haywire

JOSH BROWN: This is what my clients have been 'brainwashed' into thinking

A hedge fund manager who retired at 36 says you should stay away from the industry

GOLDMAN SACHS CEO: I support Hillary Clinton

Economists never imagined negative interest rates — now they're rewriting textbooks

NOW WATCH: FEMA is tracking Hurricane Matthew using the 'Waffle House Index'

More From Business Insider

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

• STOCKS JUMP: Here's what you need to know
  

• STOCKS RISE: Here's what you need to know