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The House Ways and Means Committee passed a Republican tax-cut bill on Thursday, advancing a key GOP priority. The measure, which would cut corporate taxes to 20% and eventually eliminate the estate tax, passed the panel by a vote of 24 to 16. It now heads to the House floor. The Senate Finance Committee released its own tax plan earlier Thursday, and the two chambers must agree on a single measure before sending it to President Donald Trump.

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The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday released its version of a tax plan, which differs in some key respects from a House panel’s. The Senate version would delay implementing a 20% corporate tax until 2019, versus next year, as House Republicans wanted. It also sets a top individual rate of 38.5% instead of the 39.6% in the House plan. The Senate measure also would double the estate-tax exemption but not repeal the tax, as House Republicans wanted. And unlike the House bill, the Senate’s fully repeals the deduction for state and local taxes. The House and Senate versions would need to be reconciled into one bill for President Donald Trump to sign.

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore must “step aside” if allegations about his initiating a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 are true. A Washington Post report Thursday described that alleged encounter, and says three other women also said they were pursued by Moore when they were teenagers. Moore, now 70 years old, is running in the special election for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ former seat against Democrat Doug Jones.

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Nvidia Corp.’s stock slid 2.9% in afternoon trade Thursday, extending its pullback from a record close earlier this week, as investors brace for the graphics chip maker’s fiscal third-quarter results after the close. Options traders are expecting a relatively volatile reaction to the results, perhaps with a slight upward bias. A strategy known as a straddle, which involves the simultaneous purchase of both bullish and bearish options with identical strike prices at current levels, implies a one-day post-earnings move of about 7.8% in either direction. The average one-day post-earnings move over the past 32 quarters has been 7.3%, with the average decline on the 12 down days of 4.8% and the average decline on the 20 up days of 8.8%. Nvidia’s stock closed at a record of $212.03 on Tuesday. It has nearly tripled (up 191%) over the past 12 months, making it the best performing S&P 500 component over that time 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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Apple Inc. has acquired privately held InVisage Technologies, according to a media report Thursday. It was not immediately clear when Apple bought the company, and neither firm responded to a request for comment. Apple stock edged down less than 1% to $174.67 in afternoon trading. InVisage makes digital image sensors that are often deployed in cameras such as those on smartphones, medical imaging devices, and in automotive imaging. InVisage has raised an estimated $33 million and last took on funding in December of 2014, according to FactSet. Apple stock has gained 50% this year, with the S&P 500 index rising 16%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , of which Apple is a component, is up 18% this year.

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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Despite the firm selloff in the major indexes from record highs Thursday, the Arms Index, used to measure buying or selling intensity, suggests investors are in a buying mood. On big down days, the Arms tends to rise above 1.000, as the ratio of down volume to up volume rises relative to the ratio of declining stocks to rising stocks. But the NYSE Arms has slipped to 0.648 and the Nasdaq Arms is at 0.876, a sign that buyers on the dip have been more aggressive than sellers. The Nasdaq Composite Index is threatening to fall the most since August, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are on track to fall by the most in more than two months. Those moves came as the CBOE Volatility Index , a measure of implied volatility, jumped 12% to trade at 10.95, still far below its historically average at around 19.

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Overstock.com Inc. shares shot up 22% in active afternoon trade Thursday, putting them on track to close at a 12 1/2-year high, after the online discount retailer’s third-quarter report. The shares have now rocketed 168% over the past three months. Chief Executive Patrick Byrne said in statement that around a the end of 2017, he would be exploring a hybrid business that includes some form of a “click-and-brick,” or online-plus-brick-and-mortar model, or a strategic partnership with a “the right large partner.” Byrne is Overstock’s largest shareholder, with 6.62 million shares, or 26.5% of the shares outstanding, according to FactSet. The stock’s rally could have increased the value of his stake by $58.5 million on Thursday, and by $203.1 million over the past three months. In comparison, shares of online home furnishings company Wayfair Inc. have tumbled 21.5% over the past three months, and the S&P 500 has gained 4.2%.

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Gold on Thursday marked its highest settlement in more than three weeks. “Gold prices have rebounded, likely reflecting some safe-haven flows on U.S. stock market weakness and Middle East risks,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “In our view, the longer term trend is likely to be lower due to [Federal Reserve] rate increases and balance sheet tapering, which should provide a modest lift to real interest rates–a headwind for gold prices.” December gold rose $3.80, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,287.50 an ounce. That was the highest finish since Oct. 16, according to FactSet data.

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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Despite the firm selloff in the major indexes from record highs Thursday, the Arms Index, used to measure buying or selling intensity, suggests investors are in a buying mood. On big down days, the Arms tends to rise above 1.000, as the ratio of down volume to up volume rises relative to the ratio of declining stocks to rising stocks. But the NYSE Arms has slipped to 0.655 and the Nasdaq Arms is at 0.886, a sign that buyers on the dip have been more aggressive than sellers. The Nasdaq Composite Index is threatening to fall the most since August, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are on track to fall by the most in more than two months. Those moves came as the CBOE Volatility Index , a measure of implied volatility, jumped 14% to trade at 11.16, still far below its historically average at around 19.

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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