The markets traded flat during the midday with the Dow adding 2 points to 18,163. Nasdaq rose 4 points to 5,194.
General Electric will merge its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes to create a new publicly traded company with annual revenue of approximately $32 billion. Current Baker Hughes shareholders will own 37.5% of the new company and receive a one-time cash dividend of $17.50 per share. Current GE shareholders will own 62.5% of the new company.
Performance Sports Group filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Canada. The sports equipment retailer will sell most of its assets to an investor group led by Sargard Capital for $575 million. Business operations are expected to continue as normal while the bankruptcy proceeds.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk unveiled rooftop solar panels that look like normal roof tiles and shingles. The tiles are made of textured glass that appear to be ordinary shingles with solar cells underneath. The efficiency of the solar cells were reduced by a mere 2% by the textured glass. Musk expects to increase efficiency with improved engineering designs.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE while decliners outpaced advancers by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 3 points to 2,129. Bitcoin gained $3 to $700.
