STOCKS GO NOWHERE: Here's what you need to know

US stocks rose to new highs for a second-straight day but finished the trading session little changed. The Dow held above 20,000.

Here's the scoreboard:

• Dow: 20,099.78, +31.27, (0.16%)
• S&P 500: 2,296.71, -1.66, (-0.07%)
• Nasdaq: 5,656.98, +0.65, (0.01%)

1. Sean Spicer, White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, told reporters on Thursday that the administration is considering a 20% border tax on Mexican imports, according to the White House press pool report.

2. The Mexican peso tumbled after Mexico's president, Enrique Peña Nieto, announced he had canceled a meeting scheduled for next week with President Donald Trump. Mexican opposition figures had reportedly urged Peña Nieto to cancel the meeting to protest Trump's demand that Mexico pay for a border wall.
3. Verizon and Charter are exploring a merger. According to The Wall Street Journal, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam approached officials "close to Charter," and they're in preliminary talks.
4. Swiss biotech company Actelion agreed to be purchased by Johnson & Johnson in a $30 billion all-cash deal, following weeks of speculation. The offer to acquire all of Actelion's outstanding shares for $280 was unanimously approved.
5. Caterpillar beat on fourth-quarter earnings but once again lowered its outlook for the year ahead. The industrial-equipment maker said it cut its outlook "due to the strengthening of the US dollar."
6. New home sales fell to a 10-month low in December, by 10.4% at a seasonally adjusted rate of 536,000. But for 2016, sales were the strongest since 2007.
7. Initial jobless claims rose more than expected last week, by 22,000 to 259,000. Claims have been below 300,000 for 99 straight weeks.

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