Free Republic

Stocks rose slightly on Monday, recovering losses from earlier in the session as oil dipped despite rising geopolitical worries following last week’s U.S. killing of Iran’s top general. Monday’s marginal gains were in contrast to Friday’s sharp decline. The Dow and S&P 500 had their worst trading day in a month on Friday, the morning after President Donald Trump approved a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed top Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. “If you were looking for a reason to sell, you got one,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. “But the fundamental backdrop hasn’t changed in...

Stocks rose sharply on Monday as investors cheered news of Canada joining a trade deal with the United States and Mexico. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 264 points as American Express and Boeing outperformed. The S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent, led by 1 percent jumps in materials and industrials. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7 percent as Amazon and Apple both climbed more than 1 percent. "The biggest risk factor [in the market] is a trade war and we've dialed that down a bit," said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners. Bailey noted, however, the market may...