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Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. plunged 12% in active morning trade Monday, putting it on track to close at an 8-month low. The struggling department store chain said that Bruce Berkowitz, chief investment officer of investment advisor Fairholme Capital Management LLC, was stepping down from its board of directors at the end of the month. Fairholme Capital controlled 28.9 million Sears shares as of June 30, which would make it the second-largest shareholder with 26.9% of the shares outstanding. The stock has now erased virtually all the gains it has made since it announced a $1 billion restructuring in early February. The stock has now lost 26% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 0.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

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Shares of PG&E Corp. fell another 10% Monday, extended their Friday losses after the company acknowledged that it may face some liability stemming from the California wildfires. PG&E “has about $800 million in liability insurance for potential losses that may result from these fires. If the amount of insurance is insufficient to cover (PG&E’s) liability or if insurance is otherwise unavailable, PG&E Corporation’s and the Utility’s financial condition or results of operations could be materially affected,” the company said in a filing Friday. Possibly downed power lines are among the causes under investigation for the deadly fires in northern California counties. Shares have fallen 14% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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Shares of TransEnterix Inc. rocketed 53% on heavy volume toward an 18-month high, after the medical device company received regulatory clearance to market its robotic surgery device. Volume spiked to more than 35 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 1.9 million shares, and enough to make the stock the most actively traded on the major U.S. exchanges. The company said late Friday that the Food and Drug Administration have marketing clearance to its Senhance System that gives surgeons a 3-D high-definition view of the surgical field and remote control of three robotic arms to perform procedures. The stock has now nearly tripled over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

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The Canadian dollar regained some strength against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, after the Bank of Canada published its autumn Business Survey Outlook. The BOC reported expectations for sustained sales growth in autumn, adding on from strong summer activity. That said, the survey’s indicator declined to 19 from 32 in the summer survey. Investment and employment indicators have softened, while pressures on the labor market have intensified. “Expectations for growth of input and output prices are stable, as an uptick in costs for labor and non-commodity inputs is offset by the recent appreciation of the Canadian dollar,” according to the report. Inflation, which is next due to be report at the end of this week, is expected to remain modest. One U.S. dollar bought C$1.2529 on Monday, off of its C$1.2558 intraday high, but up compared with C$1.2467 late Friday.

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Shares of Apple Inc. ran up 1.6% to a four-month high in morning trade Monday, to pace the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gainers. The price gain of $2.44 was adding about 17 points to the Dow’s price, which was up 28 points. The second-biggest percentage gainer was J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s stock , which was rising $1.20, or 1.3%, to add 8 points to the Dow. The biggest loser was Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s stock , which fell $1.29, or 1.5%, to shave about 9 points off the Dow’s price.

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Shares of Nvidia Corp. rose 0.4% in morning trade Monday, and reached an all-time intraday high earlier in the session, after Mizuho raised its price target, citing strength in its GPU business and trends in the China data center market. Analyst Vijay Rakesh affirmed his buy rating, and boosted his price target to $220, which is 12% above Monday’s intraday high of $195.80. Rakesh said pricing for graphics processing units has been trending higher in recent months, given strong demand from the gaming and cryptocurrency markets, which should provide a tailwind for results. He said recent business deal wins in China should provide another tailwind, as should growing demand from the self-driving market. The stock has nearly tripled over the past 12 months, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index has climbed 51% and the S&P 500 has rallied 20%.

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U.S. stock benchmarks opened at all-time intraday highs to kick off the week, as investors focused on more than 200 companies set to report quarterly results during the next several sessions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60 points, or 0.3%, at 22,928, supported by healthy gains in shares of Travelers Cos. Inc. , J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Apple Inc. in early trade. The S&P 500 index climbed 5 points, or 0.2%, at 2,557, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 18 points, or 0.3%, at 6,623. All three equity benchmarks hit intraday records in the early moments of trade.

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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The Weinstein Co. said Monday it has reached a deal for an “immediate capital infusion” from Colony NorthStar Inc.’s private equity arm Colony Capital. The media production and distribution company, which was founded by now-disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob in 2005, said it has entered into talks with Colony for the potential sale of all, or a significant portion, of its assets. “We believe that Colony’s investment and sponsorship will help stabilize the Company’s current operations, as well as provide comfort to our critical distribution, production and talent partners around the world,” said Weinstein Co. board member Tarak Ben Ammar. Weinstein was kicked out of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over the weekend, after multiple reports of allegations of sexual harassment and rape. Colony NorthStar’s stock edged up 0.5% in morning trade. It has tumbled 14% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has gained 4.0%.

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Shares of Nordstrom Inc. tumbled 6.2% in premarket trade Monday, putting it on track to open at a 4-month low, after the company said it has suspended the exploration of a going-private transaction until after the holiday season. That confirms a report in the New York Post earlier this month, that said going-private talks had faltered. The department store chain said Monday said it would evaluate any going-private proposal after the holiday season. The stock had dropped 9.5% since the Post story came out through Friday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF had lost 4.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 2.1%.

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Merchants Bancorp said Monday that it expects its planned initial public offering to price between $17 a share and $19 a share. That means the Indiana-based bank holding company, which is looking to sell 5.56 million shares, could raise $105.6 million in the IPO, or up to $121.4 million if all the options to buy additional shares granted to underwriters are exercised. The company has applied to have its stock listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “MBIN.” The lead underwriters are Sandler O’Neill, Stephens, Raymond James and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. The company is planning to go public at a time when the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has gained 4.9% over the past three months and the S&P 500 has tacked on 3.8%.

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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