For the most part, stocks were little changed on Monday.
The Dow and the S&P 500 saw another day of muted trading, while the Nasdaq ticked up.
Let’s jump to the scoreboard:
- Dow: 21,544.55, -35.52, (-0.16%) S&P 500: 2,472.26, -0.28, (-0.01%) Nasdaq: 6,412.38, +24.71, (+0.39%) US 10-year yield: 2.254%, +0.021 WTI crude: $46.38, +0.61, +1.31%
1. Some of the most powerful people in the US are talking about a massive change to healthcare. Once confined to the fringes of debate, the idea of single-payer healthcare is making a comeback. Democratic Party leaders are starting to suggest they are open to advocating such a system.
2. The IMF downgraded its forecast for US economic growth. “The major factor behind the growth revision, especially for 2018, is the assumption that fiscal policy will be less expansionary than previously assumed, given the uncertainty about the timing and nature of U.S. fiscal policy changes,” the IMF report said. “Market expectations of fiscal stimulus have also receded.”
3. Stocks are back near record highs - and they have the weaker US dollar to thank for that. The dollar has tumbled about 8% since the start of 2017, which has resulted in a boost for US corporate earnings that are already the best in five years.
4. Meanwhile, traders haven't been this bearish on the US dollar in over a year. Traders continue to sell the US dollar, with net positioning for the greenback close to turning short for the first time since May 2016.
5. Traders betting against Alphabet are getting clobbered. Short sellers have taken a $1.1 billion bath on their bearish wagers since the start of 2017 as the stock has surged roughly 23%, according to data provided by S3 Partners, a financial analytics firm.
6. Blue Apron got a deluge of bullish ratings from Wall Street, and its shares jumped. Of 11 new recommendations, Blue Apron received seven "buy" or "outperform" ratings and four "equal weight" ratings, according to Bloomberg. Blue Apron surged as much as 9% in premarket trading to $7.18 a share.
7. The hedge fund that got a huge payout from Amazon's Whole Foods deal has a new target. Jana Partners has made an investment in Pandora Media Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, seeing the stock as under-valued with an opportunity to grow its advertising revenue. Pandora shares were up 2% to $9.66 at 11:09 a.m. ET on Monday.
ADDITIONALLY:
This chart shows a major shift in the way Americans eat.