Stocks opened in positive territory and remained there throughout the session. The averages crept higher during the morning but once they found a level, they drifted in a very narrow range. The S&P flirted with a new record for most of the day as it attempted to bypass the previous closing high set on January 26. The market picked up momentum last week when reports surfaced that the U.S. and China would begin low-level negotiations on trade. Despite the President saying he didn't believe anything would come out of talks this week, the averages remains at elevated levels amid the market's new-found trade optimism. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., no economic data of note was reported. COMPANY NEWS: The parent of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, TJX (TJX), reported a better than expected same-store sales increase of 6% and raised its full-year profit outlook, sending its shares up about 5%. Fellow retailer Kohl's (KSS) also increased its full-year earnings view, but by an amount that was smaller than its second quarter earnings beat, which left some question about its assumptions for the second half of the year. Kohl's shares finished about 2% higher following the report... Medical device maker Medtronic (MDT) gained nearly 6% after its quarterly results beat estimates and the company increased its organic revenue growth guidance for the fiscal year... Shares of several discount brokerage operators - including E-Trade (ETFC), TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) - fell after CNBC reported that JPMorgan (JPM) plans to launch a new app next week that provides a portfolio building tool and at least 100 free trades in the first year... In addition, Microsoft (MSFT) was in focus after the software giant launched a new initiative called Microsoft AccountGuard with the intention of protecting the American election process. The company announced the initiative in response to its Digital Crimes Unit identifying hackers linked to the Russian military intelligence agency formerly known as the G.R.U. that attempted to attack conservative U.S. think tanks. Reuters later reported that Russia's foreign ministry called such accusations of cyber-targeting a "witch-hunt." MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Tilray (TLRY), which rose 11% after it signed an agreement to supply the province of Ontario with cannabis products in anticipation of the launch of the adult-use market. Also higher were Premier (PINC) and Toll Brothers (TOL), which gained a respective 15% and 14% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers were Coty (COTY) and J. Jill (JILL), which fell a respective 7% and 10.5% after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: The Dow advanced 63.60, or 0.25%, to 25,822.29, the Nasdaq gained 38.17, or 0.49%, to 7,859.17, and the S&P 500 rose 5.91, or 0.21%, to 2,862.96.
