Stocks opened in positive territory and continued to tack on gains in the opening hour amid reports of an agreement with Mexico on a new trade deal. The President, who confirmed an agreement with Mexico to replace the NAFTA deal, said he would begin negotiations immediately with Canada. With the gains today, the S&P hit a new all-time high and the Nasdaq crossed 8,000 for the first time. The Dow, with its midday gain of roughly 1%, has surpassed the 26,000 level. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Chicago Fed national activity index fell 0.35 points to 0.13 in July while the Dallas Fed manufacturing index fell 1.4 points to 30.9 in August. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were 2% lower near noon after founder and CEO Elon Musk said over the weekend that his company will remain public. In a blog post, Musk said that he met with the board of directors late last week to let them know that he believes the “better path is for Tesla to remain public.” The board agreed with this assessment and released a statement that it has dissolved the Special Committee put in place to look into a going private transaction… Meanwhile, shares of Pfizer (PFE) are down nearly 2% after the company reported primary results from the Tafamidis Phase 3 Transthyretin Cardiomyopathy study. Following the announcement, STAT’s Adam Feuerstein tweeted that the Pfizer data was “good” though “basically in line with expectations,” adding that he believes Alnylam (ALNY) “should still be higher today,” since “Tafamidis leaves room for others.” Alnylam shares have surged 18.5% after Pfizer’s release… The Economic Times reported that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) is in talks to acquire a 3%-4% stake in One97 Communications, parent of Paytm, for somewhere between $285M to nearly $360M. The deal, which would value Paytm at about $10B, is reportedly being done through a primary subscription of shares and could be Berkshire’s first direct investment in India, according to the ET. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Tilray (TLRY), which rose 20% after its Canada unit said it had been selected by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation to receive an initial purchase order for adult-use cannabis. Also higher was Limelight Networks (LLNW), which gained 9% after Craig-Hallum analyst Jeff Van Rhee started coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and $6 price target. Among the notable losers was Eidos Therapeutics (EIDX), which plunged 31% after Pfizer reported its primary Tafamidis study results. Also lower was Bloom Energy (BE), which fell 4.5% after Credit Suisse analyst Michael Weinstein downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral, citing valuation. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 269.82, or 1.05%, to 26,060.17, the Nasdaq was up 75.84, or 0.95%, to 8,021.81, and the S&P 500 was up 22.60, or 0.79%, to 2,897.29.
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