The markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow dropping 79 points to 18,065. Nasdaq tumbled 34 points to 5,204.
Sony launches its PlayStation VR headset today. Priced at $399, the device requires a PlayStation 4 which must be purchased separately. Hand controllers and a camera are also not included. Approximately 50 games will be available for the PS VR.
Amazon plans to hire over 120,000 workers in the United States for the holiday shopping season. The number of temporary workers is about 20% more than last year. Online sales are expected to climb between 7% to 10%. Amazon expects to transition more than 14,000 seasonal workers to regular, full time positions after the holidays.
Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf unexpectedly retired after working for the bank for 34 years. Stumpf has been CEO for the past nine years. Most recently, Stumpf has been embroiled in the fake accounts scandal that led to a $185 million settlement. Stumpf will retire with a $134.1 million package.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 fell 9 points to 2,129. Bitcoin added $1 to $634.
