News Summary (DYN, BX, MIR, CPN, RRI, CMVT)

Crude-oil futures moved up, while the gold futures moved a bit lower after a report showed better-than-expected consumer sentiment in the month August. Crude oil for September delivery gained 0.5% to $76.10 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Gold moved slightly down, but kept small gains as the December gold contract added $0.10 to $1,217.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX. Shares of merchant power firms jumped today following the move of going private by Dynegy DYN in a $4.7 billion deal with The Blackstone Group BX. DYN’s shares gained about 59% following the news. The other gainers in the list were Mirant Corp MIR, Calpine Corp CPN and RRI Energy RRI. Shares of Comverse Technology CMVT dipped more than 16% after the company disclosed a fall in its bookings, along with negative cash flow from operations for the July quarter, in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Analyst Tom Roderick of Stifel Nicolaus downgraded CMVT to “hold” after the report. He mentioned, "While we have stood by the company for over four years as it has attempted to navigate its way through its delisting and attempted restatement, we are throwing in the towel on our Buy rating after the latest disclosure highlights an ongoing burn rate and operating loss level that exceeded our expectations." Read more from Benzinga's Markets.