Jim Gallagher

WHEW! STOCKS REBOUND: Investors are breathing easier today as stocks started the week with a gain after last week’s drubbing. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.46 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.73 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.72 percent.

Markets calmed down after last week’s nastiness, which saw the S&P take its worst stumble in two years. The big-stock index is now 2.5 percent off its all-time high of July 25.

Traders found happiness in Berkshire Hathaway, which topped earnings expectations. The government of Portugal added to the cheer by bailing out Banco Espirito Santo, easing financial jitters in the eurozone. But the euro was trading at nearly its lowest level since November, compared to the U.S. dollar.

LINKEDIN SHORTCHANGES: LinkedIn, the social network for employees and job-hunters, shortchanged its own workers, according to the Labor Department. The company agreed to pay $6 million to settle a complaint that it failed to pay 359 employees for all the hours they worked. The settlement includes $3.59 million in unpaid overtime.

RGA GET KUDOS: Analysts at JP Morgan say they are bullish on Reinsurance Group of America. The Chesterfield-based company is America’s largest life reinsurer. In our view, RGA’s superior return on equity and limited macro exposure merit a premium valuation, they wrote, and we expect multiple expansion and steady book value growth to drive upside in the stock. Yet the company trades at a discount to similar stocks, the analysts wrote.

LOCAL GAINER:  Build-A-Bear Workshop gained 4.7 percent today, riding an upgrade from BMO Capital Markets. BMO raised the stuffed-animal company to outperform from market perform and set a 12 month price target at $14 per share. It closed today at $10.98, up 49 cents.

ITT IN TROUBLE:  Stock in ITT Educational Services Inc. a for-profit college operator, fell 46 percent after a deal to sell and lease back real estate fell through.

College Portfolio Buyer LLC canceled the purchase of up to 24 pieces of property on July 29, Indiana-based ITT said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale would have brought ITT Educational as much as $119.1 million.

ITT operates ITT Technical Institute in Earth City.

State attorneys general, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the SEC are scrutinizing marketing, loan and accounting practices at ITT Educational, according to Bloomberg News. The company has said that the Education Department may require it to post a letter of credit to continue qualifying for federal student grants and loans.

ITT is the second for-profit educator to run afoul of Uncle Sam. Corinthian College, parent of Everest College with an operation in Earth City, nearly shut down last month after the government cut it off from the federal student loan program. It reached a deal with the U.S. Education Department to sell or close its 97 schools across the country, including its Everest College site in Earth City.

Meanwhile, Anthem Education, another for-profit school, last month notified the state of Missouri that it plans to lay of 67 employees. It has Anthem College locations in Fenton and Maryland Heights.

For-profit colleges have drawn criticism for low graduation rates and high rates of default on student loans.

BANKS LOOSEN UP : Banks eased their lending standards in the second quarter, according to a new Federal Reserve survey.   They loosened up on several loan categories amid a broad pickup in loan demand, the Fed said.

LOCAL INDEX: The Bloomberg St. Louis Index rose 4 to 877.