The markets started the week with a strong day despite a major decline from a Dow 30 component. The Dow 30 added 20, the S&P 500 gained 2, and the Nasdaq 100 was higher by 6 on the day. Tax reform continues to be a major focus as consensus is split 50/50 on weather or not a deal can be done. Tomorrow traders will get a look at production prices which can be a market mover.
General Electric (NYSE: GE) was one of the main focus stocks today as shares broke down to new lows today, losing 7.17%. The move came on an announcement from the company that they would be slashing it's dividend by 50% in attempt to try and turnaround some of it's businesses. The CEO, John Flannery announced his plans on how the company would move forward, which included reducing the size of its board of directors from 18 to 12 members next year. Shares had their worst day of the year on the news and is now lower by over 40% for 2017.
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) shares made new highs again today as the company was seen raising prices of some of its online products in what was speculated as an attempt to get more traffic back to their stores. The retail giant continues to tweak it's strategy in an effort to compete with it's main rival Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Shares are higher by 33% on the year and investors will now focus their attention to earnings which are scheduled for later in the week.
Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) was the latest name to join the M&A front as the Wall Street Journal reported that they made an offer to buy Mattel (NYSE: MAT). This deal could officially merge the U.S.'s largest toy makers, but terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. Both stocks traded higher on the news. Mattel shares surged 20.66% on the news, and Hasbro added 5.89%.