Stocks Stumble Early, Rally for Minor Gains; GE Tumbles, Halves Dividend

Stocks continue to show weakness on a day-to-day basis, with implicit underpinning via central bank purchases, much as was the case today as General Electric (GE) posted horrifying third quarter numbers which cost the stock more than seven percent of its market capitalization [19.02, -1.47 (-7.17%)].

The company cut its annual dividend in half, from $0.24 to $0.12, and announced a broad-based restructuring, shedding up to $20 billion of its core assets.

Jeff Immelt, former CEO and Chairman of the Board, had been under pressure from investors to make changes until his ouster just weeks ago.

There's speculation that General Electric could be bounced from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a position its held since November 7, 1907, having fallen by as much as 35% in the past year while the overall market has posted strong gains. GE is the oldest continuous member of the blue chip index.

GE's hammering at the open no doubt contributed to the dour mood in the early going, but stocks regained their footing and gradually advanced throughout the somewhat lackluster session.

The Dow closed at a new all-time high last Tuesday, but has been subdued since. With the year of 2017 drawing to a close and many fund managers closing their books (or already having done so), it will be interesting to watch the movement of the major indices over the coming weeks and through the holiday season.

Black Friday is a mere 11 days off. Gobble, gobble.

At the Close, Monday, November 13, 2017:
Dow: 23,439.70, +17.49 (+0.07%)
NASDAQ: 6,757.60, +6.66 (+0.10%)
S&P 500 2,584.84, +2.54 (+0.10%)
NYSE Composite: 12,316.83, -5.78 (-0.05%)