The markets hit record highs today to start the New Year! The Dow 30 added 95, the S&P 500 was higher by 22, and the Nasdaq 100 was the best performer on the day adding 103. Investors stayed bullish while the media focused on predictions and guesses about what 2018 has in store.
Tomorrow investors will get a look at manufacturing numbers along with minutes from the Fed's last meeting. Both can be market moving and will be a media focus.
Target (NYSE: TGT) shares popped 3.66% today on predictions from tech analyst, Gene Munster that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) will buy them in 2017. The analysts prediction cited Target as being "the ideal offline partner" due to "shared demographic", and "manageable but comprehensive store count." Investors rushed to participate in this speculation despite there being no comment from either company or news to support the prediction. Part of the reason for this is investors knowing that Amazon needs to compete with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). Target has 2300 stores at the moment compared to Wal-Mart's 12,000 but Target also has a more desirable base when it comes to the family market, which Amazon has been after.
Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW) shot up 8.02% today as the company announced DJ Khaled as their new "Social Media Ambassador." In exchange for his new participation DJ Khaled will get shares and a board seat right next to Oprah Winfrey. Investors have cheered Weight Watchers and their efforts recently and today seems to be no different.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) made headlines today, gaining 1.79% as it got an upgrade from an analyst at Piper Jaffray. The company maintained their overweight rating, noting that the 2018 iPhone sales will be exactly what the company needs to move shares to their $200 price target.
Disney (NYSE: DIS) was also higher today as it also received an upgrade. Shares were up 3.25% today after earning an upgrade from Macquarie to outperform. Disney has many things to celebrate today as it's most recent Star Wars movie became the highest grossing movie of 2017.