STOCKS DO NOTHING: Here's what you need to know

The major indexes bounced off their lowest levels of the day in early trading but ultimately closed little changed on the back of two straight weekly declines. It was a quiet day for economic data, and earnings season is now mostly behind us.

Here's the scoreboard:

• Dow: 21,689.40, +14.89, (0.07%)
• S&P 500: 2,426.63, +1.08, (0.04%)
• Nasdaq: 6,203.81, -12.71, (-0.20%)

1. Pershing Square Capital Founder Bill Ackman had a rough Monday. Shares of Herbalife, his five-year-long short target, spiked 8% following news that it had talks to go private. And, ADP said it rejected Ackman's board nominations. Pershing Square bought an 8% stake in the company earlier this summer.
2. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said President Donald Trump is not a Nazi sympathizer. "I don't believe the allegations against the president are accurate, and I believe that having highly talented men and women in our country surrounding the president in his administration should be reassuring to you and all the American people," he said in response to former Yale classmates calling for him to resign.
3. Total is buying Maersk's oil and gas business in a $7.45 billion deal. The French energy giant said the deal would strengthen its operations in the North Sea and boost earnings and cash flow.
4. DoubleLine Capital Founder Jeff Gundlach said a report that investors were fleeing his biggest fund was "pointless." The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that the Total Return Bond fund saw outflows in the nine months from last September by 13% to $53.6 billion as of July 31.

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