Stocks opened higher as concerns surrounding the Turkish economic crisis eased overnight. The averages opened in positive territory and lost most of their gains in the opening 30 minutes before reversing and moving back to session highs. The move is broad based as each of the major equity indices is higher by roughly 0.4%. Oil prices have bounced back as well with crude sporting a gain of 0.3%, but off its best levels from earlier. ECONOMIC NEWS: In the U.S., the July NFIB small business optimism index moved up 0.7 ticks to 107.9, another record high. U.S. chain store sales fell 1.2% in the week ended August 11, according to The Retail Economist report, largely reversing the 1.4% bounce in the August 4 week. July import prices in the U.S. were flat and export prices fell 0.5%, weaker than analysts expected. COMPANY NEWS: Tesla (TSLA) confirmed this morning that the car maker’s board of directors has formed a special committee comprised of three independent directors to act on behalf of the company in connection with Elon Musk’s previously announced consideration of a transaction to take the company private. The committee has not yet received a formal proposal from Musk regarding any transaction nor has it reached any conclusion as to the advisability or feasibility of such a move, Tesla noted… Meanwhile, Home Depot (HD) was in focus after the home improvement retailer reported better-than expected results for the second quarter and raised its fiscal 2018 earnings per share guidance. Of note, the company said on its quarterly earnings conference call that the current tariff environment is “manageable” and that it sees $6B of share repurchases in FY18… Additionally, shares of Tapestry (TPR) jumped over 12% after the company, previously known as Coach, reported better than expected fourth quarter results, driven by strong performance of its Kate Spade business. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was SJW Group (SJW), which rose 5.2% after California Water Service Group (CWT) submitted a revised proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of SJW for $70 per share in cash. Also higher was Advance Auto Parts (AAP), which gained 7.2% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was Vipshop (VIPS), which slipped nearly 15% after Citi analyst Alicia Yap downgraded the stock to Sell from Buy and cut her price target to $8 from $17, citing declining margins and decelerating growth. Also lower were Switch (SWCH) and Alta Mesa Resources (AMR), which fell a respective 24.5% and 19% after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: At midday, the Dow was up 83.67, or 0.33%, to 25,271.37, the Nasdaq was up 43.61, or 0.56%, to 7,863.49, and the S&P 500 was up 17.29, or 0.61%, to 2,839.25.