Stocks opened with solid gains but saw their highs a short time after the open. In the absence of a catalyst, and amid continued concern over the escalating trade war with China, the averages were unable to build any upside momentum and closed little changed. The participation rate was lower due to the Jewish holiday, which led to lower volume and a market with little direction. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., consumer credit rose $16.6B in July to $3.9T, close to expectations, after June's $8.5B gain. In Capitol Hill news, Reuters reported that Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives intend to unveil another round of tax cuts this week in an effort to differentiate themselves from Democrats ahead of the November congressional elections. COMPANY NEWS: CBS (CBS) announced Les Moonves will depart as Chairman, President and CEO, effective immediately. Moonves and CBS will donate $20M, which has been deducted from any severance benefits that may be due Moonves following the board's ongoing independent investigation, to one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women. Joseph Ianniello, the media company's COO, will serve as President and Acting CEO while the Board conducts a search for a permanent successor. Additionally, CBS struck a settlement agreement with its parent company, National Amusements, which will see them dismiss their pending litigation in Delaware. Also, National Amusements confirmed that it has no plans to propose a merger of CBS and Viacom (VIAB) and has agreed that it will make no such proposal for at least two years after the date of the its settlement with CBS... Shares of Alibaba (BABA) slid about 4% after chairman Jack Ma announced he will step down in September 2019, with CEO Daniel Zhang taking over as chairman of the board. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Generac (GNRC), a provider of generators and emergency power supplies, which rose 5.6% as Hurricane Florence intensifies. Also higher was AMD (AMD), which gained 9% after Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers raised his price target for the stock to $34. Among the noteworthy losers was Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR), which dropped nearly 25% after an appeals court affirmed a lower court's judgment that certain patent claims related to its Ampyra drug are invalid. Also lower were shares of Engility Holdings (EGL), which slipped after the company agreed to be acquired by SAIC (SAIC) in an all-stock transaction valued at $2.5B. SAIC shares fell 9% following the deal announcement. INDEXES: The Dow fell 59.47, or 0.23%, to 25,857.07, the Nasdaq gained 21.62, or 0.27%, to 7,924.16, and the S&P 500 advanced 5.45, or 0.19%, to 2,877.13.
