On The Fly: Top stock stories for Friday

Stocks opened little changed and remained that way for most of the day. There was little in the way of a catalyst to propel the market in one direction as the earnings calendar has quieted and the economic calendar was devoid of any data releases. The tone was set early in the day by contradicting reports on whether China had agreed to major trade concessions. The confusion kept many investors on the sidelines, which kept the market drifting throughout the day. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In energy news, Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. rig count is up 1 rig from last week to 1,046. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of PayPal (PYPL) rose 2% after it agreed to acquire iZettle, a small business commerce platform in Europe and Latin America, for $2.2B. Shares of Square (SQ), meanwhile, were down marginally as analysts commented that the iZettle acquisition could elevate the competitive landscape for the company, especially outside the U.S.... Nordstrom (JWN) shares fell 10.9% after the department store operator reported quarterly results and issued fiscal 2018 guidance last night... Campbell Soup (CPB) shares fell 12.4% after it reported better than expected quarterly earnings but cut its earnings guidance for fiscal 2018 and announced the immediate retirement of CEO Denise Morrison. After the company cited tariffs as an impact on their earnings, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the company was using that "as a cover up for other problems," according to CNBC... Amazon (AMZN) was in focus after the Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump personally pushed U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan to double the rate the Postal Service charges Amazon.com and other firms to ship packages. So far, Brennan has resisted the president's demand, the report noted... Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Goldman Sachs (GS) chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein will likely step down from his position in December, at which time president David Solomon will likely be named his successor. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Dell Technologies (DVMT), which rose 6% after it said it continues to evaluate potential business opportunities, including a potential public offering of shares of DHI Common Stock of Dell, a potential business combination between Dell and VMware (VMW), and a potential conversion of shares of Class V common stock of Dell into shares of DHI Common Stock of Dell. Also higher was Deere (DE), which gained 5.75% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was Baidu (BIDU), which fell 9.5% after it said that Qi Lu will no longer serve as COO of the company and the stock was downgraded at Credit Suisse. Also lower was Insys Therapeutics (INSY), which slipped 5.3% after the FDA posted documents in advance of an advisory committee meeting to discuss a new drug application from Insys for a sublingual spray formulation of buprenorphine. INDEXES: The Dow rose 1.11, or 0.004%, to 24,715.09, the Nasdaq lost 28.13, or 0.38%, to 7,354.34, and the S&P 500 declined 7.16, or 0.26%, to 2,712.97.