Stocks opened with modest gains, but they were unable to establish any early momentum. Following another negative tweet from the President regarding Amazon (AMZN), the market gave up its gains and crossed into negative ground. As the comments were digested, the buyers re-emerged and pushed the market to its best levels of the morning with investors appearing ready to pick up bargains following yesterday’s steep selloff. However, the market has not gathered much strength, as the Nasdaq has slipped back into the red near midday. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., no economic data of note was reported. In Europe, the final Eurozone manufacturing PMI for March was inline with the flash reading at 56.6. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Tesla (TSLA) have advanced 3% after the company issued a production report for the first quarter that several Wall Street analysts called “good enough” to ease some of the recent worries about the automaker. Two days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an April Fool’s joke about bankruptcy, the company stated in its production release that it does not expect to require an equity or debt raise this year… Meanwhile, other U.S. automakers reported sales figures for March that broadly topped expectations. Leading the pack was General Motors (GM), which posted March U.S. sales that rose 15.7% compared to the same month last year. Also of note, GM announced that it will move to a quarterly schedule for reporting U.S. auto sales, ending its decades-long practice of issuing monthly sales reports… Spotify’s (SPOT) direct listing of stock is scheduled to begin trading on the NYSE today. Ahead of the opportunity for all investors to publicly trade his company’s stock for the first time, Spotify co-founder, chairman and CEO Daniel Ek said in a blog post that it is important to him that today “does not become the most important day for Spotify,” adding that the company is not raising capital, and that its shareholders and employees “have been free to buy and sell our stock for years”… Reuter reported last night, citing people familiar with the matter, that CBS (CBS) intends to make an all-stock offer for Viacom (VIAB) that values the latter below its current market valuation. However, CNBC’s David Faber reported this morning, citing his own sources, that CBS has not made a formal takeover bid for Viacom. Faber indicated that social issues, specifically a disagreement over who will be the number two of the combined company, are at the center of the deal talks. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), which rose 7.5% after it reported that March U.S. sales rose 14% year-over-year. Also higher was Rent-A-Center (RCII), which gained 7% after TheStreet said that the company has received multiple bids for a complete takeover. Among the notable losers was Longfin (LFIN), which fell 30% after the cryptocurrency-linked company disclosed that the Division of Enforcement of the SEC is conducting an investigation of trading in the company’s securities. Also lower was Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL), which dropped 21% after reporting that its proof-of-concept Phase 2 study of fostamatinib in patients with IgA nephropathy, an orphan autoimmune disease of the kidneys, did not achieve statistical significance for its primary endpoint. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 69.59, or 0.29%, to 23,713.78, the Nasdaq was down 3.74, or 0.05%, to 6,866.38, and the S&P 500 was up 3.81, or 0.15%, to 2,585.69.