The market has been bullish for most of the year, and it may finally slow down once earnings season is finished, according to Nuveen’s Brian Nick. Nevertheless, Nick believes 2018 will feature a bullish market as well with plenty of stocks to watch.
The weekend was mired with controversy, as well as news of a potential pharma merger, with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) grabbing the weekend’s headlines.
Here’s what went down:
Stocks to Watch: Apple Inc.
Apple enforced its policy of cutting ties with employees who break the rules by letting an engineer go following his daughter’s iPhone X indiscretion.
Brooke Amelia Peterson has a hobby of making YouTube videos, or Vlogging, which is a way of chronicling her everyday life through videos that she uploads on the video-sharing site.
However, one of her videos had content that revealed details about the iPhone X before the company had a chance to announce them. In the video, she visits her father in the Apple cafeteria in Cupertino and borrows his smartphone.
For about 45 seconds, she scrolls down while using the iPhone X, showing off the new design and camera of the device. Apple asked Brooke to take off the September video, which she did, but it was too late at that point.
Apple responded by firing Peterson for his daughter’s actions, proving that the company will let someone go if they break the rules, even if they do so unwittingly.
AAPL shares are up 40.8% year-to-date.
Stocks to Watch: CVS Health Corp
Rumors of a CVS merger with Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) picked up some steam over the weekend.
The former has reportedly placed a $66 billion bid to bring in the healthcare services provider. Such a move would combine Aetna’s health care, pensions and insurance services to the pharmacy’s business plan.
Buying Aetna — the No. 3 health insurer in the country — would help CVS lower the prices of drugs in the U.S. as the move would allow the latter to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Such a price reduction across the board would pressure other healthcare services providers and pharmaceuticals to reduce the prices of the products they sell in order to meet the competition brought forth by the combined company.
The $66 billion bid amounts to more than $200 per share. AET stock closed at $173.12 per share at the end of Friday’s session. The deal could take a while to actually happen.
CVS stock is down 12.6% YTD, while AET has risen 39.6%.
Stocks to Watch: General Electric Company
General Electric’s executives are in hot waters over their lack of communication with the conglomerate’s board regarding a private plane.
The company’s CEO and other execs reportedly failed to mention to the board that the now-retired boss Jeff Immelt had an additional business jet that flew him around.
Executives eventually mentioned the plane to the GE board in October. They also failed to open up about a complaint lodged within the company several years ago, denouncing the use of company funds to fuel Immelt’s jet.
Immelt was CEO of GE for roughly 16 years, and it wasn’t until an Oct. 18 Wall Street Journal report revealed the existence of the jet that the execs opened up to the board.
The company had told its board directors in 2014 that it had scaled back its use of private jets, and the backup plane would only be used for trips to risky locations.
GE stock has declined 34.2% throughout the course of the current calendar year.
