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President Donald Trump has reached out to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, inviting him to the White House to try to strike a deal to avert a government shutdown, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. Without a deal before midnight the federal government would partially shut down for the first time since 2013.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of A.O. Smith Corp. traded up 0.9% in midday trade Friday, putting them on track for a record close, after the maker of water heating equipment said it raised its quarterly dividend by 29%. The new dividend of 18 cents a share, which is up from 14 cents a share, will be payable Feb. 15 to shareholders of record on Jan. 31. At current share prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 1.08%, compared with an implied yield for the S&P 500 of 2.02%, according to FactSet. “The company’s strong balance sheet and cash-generating ability give us the confidence to increase our dividend,” said Chief Executive Ajita Rajendra. The stock has rallied 40% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 24%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The 10-year Treasury note yield is flitting around a 3-year high amid speculation that the federal government could go into a partial government shutdown if a stopgap spending bill is not passed. The yield for the benchmark maturity was at 2.635%, the highest since September 2014, according to Tradeweb. In addition, improving global growth and growing inflation concerns have put U.S. government paper under pressure. Debt prices fall when yields rise. Investing luminaries including Bill Gross of Janus Henderson and Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital have recently warned that a bond bear market could end the the record bull run in equities.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday morning was being dragged lower on the back of a sharp decline in shares of International Business Machines Corp. The Dow component was down 3.7%, or about $6.14, which translates to a more than 40-point weight on the blue-chip benchmark. The slide in IBM’s shares occurred despite fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, and returning to revenue growth. IBM’s shares has beaten earnings expectations for 13 straight quarters but its stock has still suffered. A $1 swing in any one of the Dow’s components translates to a $6.83-point move in the benchmark. The Dow was most recently flat, with Armonk, N.Y.-based technology company anchoring the average lower. The S&P 500 index was up 0.2% at 2,803, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was showing a 0.2% gain at 7,311.

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From:: Stock Market News

ADT Inc.’s stock opened at $12.65 on the NYSE at 10:21 a.m. ET, or 9.6% below the initial public offering price of $14. Since the open, the stock has traded in a range of $12.55 to $12.97. The home security services company’s IPO had priced late Thursday well below the expected range of $17 to $19. The company sold 105 million shares in the IPO, before options granted to underwriters, to raise $1.47 billion, and to give the company a $10.5 billion valuation. ADT’s IPO comes at a time when the Renaissance IPO ETF has gained 5.5% over the past three months and the S&P 500 has rallied 9.4%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday morning was being dragged lower on the back of a sharp decline in shares of International Business Machines Corp. The Dow component was down 3.6%, or about $6, which translates to a roughly 40-point weight on the blue-chip benchmark. The slide in IBM’s shares occurred despite fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, and returning to revenue growth. IBM’s shares has beaten earnings expectations for 13 straight quarters but its stock has still suffered. A $1 swing in any one of the Dow’s components translates to a $6.83-point move in the benchmark. The Dow was most recently down 33 points with the lion’s shares of that decline coming from the Armonk, N.Y.-based technology company. The S&P 500 index was up 0.1% at 2,800, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was showing a 0.1% gain at 7,303.

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From:: Stock Market News

General Electric Co.’s stock tumbled 3.6% in morning trade Friday, putting it on track to suffer the worst five-day stretch since the depths of the Great Recession, in the aftermath of the company’s disclosure of a surprise massive loss in its legacy insurance business. The stock, which was trading at the lowest level seen since Dec. 2, 2011, has now plunged 15.0% amid a five-session losing streak. That would be the biggest five-day percentage decline since it plunged 17.0% in the five days ending March 6, 2009, which was the day after it closed at a 16 1/2-year low of $6.66. On Monday, GE said it take a fourth-quarter after-tax charge of $6.2 billion and make a $3 billion capital contribution to its insurance subsidiary that will grow to $15 billion by 2024. That follows GE’s transformation plan announced in November, which also helped extend price declines. The stock has now shed 48% over the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 32%.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stock-market indexes opened slightly higher on Friday and were on track to book modest weekly gains. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were trading above previous record closing levels, as investors shrugged off fears of a potential government shutdown. The S&P 500 rose 6 points, or 0.2%, to 2,804. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index advanced by 19 points, or 0.3%, to 7,315. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24 points, or 0.1%, to 26,028. All three indexes were set for weekly gains of less than 1%. Among the worst performers on Wall Street, shares of IBM sank in the wake of fourth-quarter results.

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From:: Stock Market News

A new Morgan Stanley survey found strong early interest in Facebook Watch, the company’s newly launched video platform. Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak wrote Friday that 40% of Facebook Inc. use Facebook Watch weekly, while 24% of them use it daily. “We are encouraged (and admittedly surprised) by this early Watch traction as it speaks to Facebook’s ability to drive adoption of new products,” Nowak wrote. “We view Watch (and video) as the next key long-term driver of Facebook engagement and monetization.” Three-quarters of survey respondents who use Facebook Watch said they view videos shorter than 20 minutes every week through the platform, while half reported weekly viewings of videos that were longer than 20 minutes. Nowak wrote that these patterns are similar to what the firm has observed among viewers of Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube service. YouTube remains the leader for video consumption, he added. Facebook shares are up 41% over the past 12 months, while Alphabet shares have gained 38% and the S&P 500 is up 24%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Amazon.com Inc. has raised the cost of its monthly Prime membership fee to $12.99 from $10.99, a nearly 20% rise. The $99 cost of the full-year Prime membership has not changed. In October, Amazon launched a Prime Student offer at $5.49 per month, which is now $6.49. Prime Video membership will stay at $8.99. Amazon said more than four million people started Prime trials or started paid memberships in one week during the holiday season. Amazon shares are up 1% in Friday trading and up 60% for the past 12 months. The S&P 500 index is up 23.6% for the period.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News