Reuters/David W Cerny
A man climbs an artificial wall of ice in the city of Liberec, Czech Republic.
Stocks were little changed on a relatively quiet day in the markets.All three major indices just barely squeaked into the green at the close.
First up, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 20,659.80, +3.70, (+0.01%)
- S&P 500: 2,356.75, +1.13, (+0.07%)
- Nasdaq: 5,878.68, +0.90, (+0.04%)
- US 10-year yield: 2.364%, -0.009
- WTI Crude oil: $53.05, +0.81, +1.55%
1. LARRY FINK: There's a big problem with America's plans for retirement. "The combination of global growth and medical advancements, driven by the free exchange of intellectual and financial capital across borders, has increased longevity dramatically in many parts of the world," he wrote in his annual letter to shareholders. "Yet living longer also means working longer - and paying for additional years of retirement."
2. 2 of America's biggest truckers are merging to form a $5 billion industry giant. Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation have agreed to merge to create a North American trucking giant. In an all-stock transaction, each Swift share will convert into 0.72 shares of the merged company. Each Knight share will be swapped for one Knight-Swift share.
3. Wall Street is about to find out whether the next big rally in stocks can be justified. First-quarter earnings season unofficially gets underway when three of the big banks announce their results on Thursday. Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo report before the market opens.
4. Tesla passes GM to become America's most valuable carmaker. Tesla's market cap briefly passed General Motors' on Monday, making the electric-car maker the most valuable automaker in America. Shares opened at an all-time high above $313 per share after Piper Jaffray raised its target on the shares to $368 from $223, indicating that its analysts expect the stock to gain about 21% from Friday's closing price.
5. Wells Fargo's board of directors has released its investigation into the bank's recent fraudulent-accounts scandal, pinning blame primarily on two former executives. Wells Fargo's board will claw back $28 million in pay from former CEO John Stumpf and $47.3 million from former head of community banking Carrie Tolstedt for their roles in the scandal, according to the report.
6. The Korean won tumbled amid "geopolitical anxiety." The won closed down by 0.5% at 1,143.64 per dollar. It has fallen for five consecutive sessions, and for nine out of the past 10.
ADDITIONALLY:
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