3 Stocks to Watch in Today's Market

U.S. stocks are set for a modestly positive open to begin the week, with futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) and S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) suggesting slight gains of about 0.2% to begin Monday's trading. The gains follow Friday's massive rally on a better-than-expected jobs report that saw employers add 163,000 jobs in July, well ahead of economist expectations of 100,000.

One story making headlines this morning is the fate of Knight Capital Group (NYS: KCG) , which announced losses of $440 million following a trading blunder that caused major volatility in shares of more than 140 companies last Wednesday. The losses exceeded Knight's last reported cash balance of $365 million and raised concerns of bankruptcy should the company fail to obtain financing. This morning that financing has come, but at a steep cost to shareholders. Knight's sale of $400 million in convertible preferred stock succeeds in keeping the company afloat, but shareholders are giving away nearly 75% of the company to avoid a death sentence.

After a shakeup among the board of directors limited his control, infamous Chesapeake Energy (NYS: CHK) CEO Aubrey McClendon will respond to calls for more prudent financial management during today's earnings report, which investors are anxiously awaiting. In the face of record-low natural-gas prices, Chesapeake, the second-largest natural-gas producer in the U.S., has been selling assets to raise cash, including the company's midstream assets, which it announced in June would be sold for $4 billion. For the quarter, earnings per share are expected to fall 90% to $0.08 on a 26% decline in revenue.

Also reporting today is IT outsourcing outfit Cognizant Technology Solutions (NAS: CTSH) . Management offered a more muted full-year outlook after reporting in-line first-quarter results back in May. The company, which relies on the financial-services industry for about 40% of revenue, is expected to report revenue growth of 20.6% to $1.8 billion this quarter. Earnings per share are seen growing 19.4% to $0.80.

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The article 3 Stocks to Watch in Today's Market originally appeared on Fool.com.

Brenton Flynn owns shares of Chesapeake Energy. The Motley Fool owns shares of Chesapeake Energy. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days.

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