Stocks opened in negative territory, but then made a brief run toward positive territory. The move made by the averages to pare their losses fell short and the sellers regained control, with the move to the downside accelerating following a report that the tax plan to be proposed today by Senate Republicans will delay a cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% until 2019. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims bounced 10,000 to 239,000 in the first week of November. Wholesale sales climbed 1.3% in September, with inventories up 0.3%. In Asia, Chinese inflation firmed by more than anticipated. China’s CPI rose 1.9% in October and its PPI rose 6.9%. In Europe, the EU raised its 2017 GDP growth forecast to 2.2% from a prior view of 1.7% and predicted 2.1% growth in 2018. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Macy’s (M) have advanced nearly 9% after the retailer reported slightly worse than expected quarterly sales, but better than expected earnings. Macy’s also backed its sales and earnings guidance for full-year 2017, with CEO Jeff Gennette saying, “We are excited about our plans for holiday, which is when Macy’s truly shines as a gifting destination.” On the other side of the retail coin, Kohl’s (KSS) shares are down about 1%, though that is much improved from the stock’s earlier levels, after the company’s earnings missed the consensus forecast and it narrowed its yearly profit guidance. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers following their earnings reports were Perrigo (PRGO), which gained 9%, and 21st Century Fox (FOXA), which is up 4%. Among the noteworthy losers after their earnings reports were CenturyLink (CTL), which dropped 6%, and TransDigm (TDG), which fell 7%. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 246.87, or 1.05%, to 23,316.49, the Nasdaq was down 89.45, or 1.32%, to 6,699.67, and the S&P 500 was down 23.83, or 0.92%, to 2,570.55.