BREAKING NEWS: Stocks Kick Week Off in Bullish Fashion

The major stock-market indices made it three winning sessions in a row Monday, posting sizable gains on the heels of a handful of corporate mergers and better-than-expected economic data out of Japan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 213, or 1.9%, and the index is now higher than it was before S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating. The Nasdaq Composite index rose by 1.9% and the S&P 500