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US stock market daily report (September 26, 2012, Wednesday)

Contributed by Millennium Traders

Google (GOOG) announced Wednesday they will buy 48 megawatts of wind power from the Grand River Dam Authority for its Mayes County, Okla., data center. Financial terms were not disclosed but Google will purchase electricity from the authority's share of the 300-megawatt Canadian Hills Wind project. "This agreement marks the first time Google has contracted directly with a utility provider to increase its renewable energy consumption," according to a statement from the Authority. The Grand River Dam Authority, an Oklahoma state-owned electric utility, said the Canadian Hills Wind Project is expected to begin operations later this year. The 135-turbine Canadian Hills Wind project is being built by Apex Wind Energy outside Oklahoma City and is the largest wind farm in the state with enough power for 100,000 homes. Apex said the project is expected to cost $470 million.

The Commerce Department announced Wednesday that sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. fell in August to an annual pace of 373,000 from July's revised level of 374,000. July originally was reported at 372,000 and was the highest since April 2010. The median sales prices soared 11.2% during August to $256,900, striking single biggest monthly increase ever recorded. The supply of new homes on market remained steady at 4.5 months. Except in the South where the housing market has generally been the strongest, sales rose in all regions.

Dean Foods (DF) were higher by 5% into late afternoon trading Wednesday following a trading halt as the company said it's exploring the sale of its Morningstar business. In a statement, Dean Foods has not yet identified a buyer for Morningstar, but it "believes the business possesses an attractive portfolio in a growing marketplace and a top-notch management team." Dean Foods only plans to sell Morningstar if a transaction can maximize shareholder value "and helps ensure the future success of the business," the company said. Shares of Dean Foods have gained 47% in 2012 and have risen 84% in 2011.

For a second time, Federal regulators on Wednesday moved to lengthen a comment period and delay adoption of a proposal seeking to ensure big bank derivatives-trading institutions have enough capital to survive future major credit crunches. Five federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve, are allowing banks and others until November 26 to comment on a proposal seeking to set up margin and capital requirements for so-called "swaps-dealers" or "major swap participants" including major U.S. banks. Required by the post-crisis Dodd-Frank Act, the agencies proposed the rule in April, 2011. In June, 2011 - the agencies extended the amount of time interested groups had to comment on the proposal until July 11, 2011, a deadline that was in place until the extension announced Wednesday. The agencies said that the extension was put in place to give interested groups more time to consider the proposal and how it relates to a global bank derivatives capital requirement also under consideration.