U.S. exchanges are struggling for gains, with traders flocking to the safety of gold as travel and leisure sectors slump after Friday's attacks in Paris. Among the equities in focus are hospitality interest Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (NYSE:HOT), pharmaceutical concern Baxalta Inc (NYSE:BXLT), and retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT).
WMT is up 0.7% at $56.78, despite news that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) cut its holding in the security by 2.1 million shares. However, Buffett this morning told CNBC that the reason he reduced his stakes in WMT and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was to fund a Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE:PCP) deal. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has had an abysmal year so far, dropping 33.8% and last week touching a three-year low of $56.30. With holiday shopping just ahead, WMT is among many retailers trying to make up for recent ugly data, announcing last week that it would offer almost all of its Black Friday deals on its website as well as in stores. Still, worries that unseasonably warm weather could curb shoppers' appetites have been weighing on many retail stocks, and WMT is no exception. The true test will come tomorrow morning, when Wal-Mart reports quarterly earnings.
AD best AI trade you can make today…? (it’s not MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN or AAPL) AD
AD Crazy Opportunity!! Tiny AI Stock just $3 “This Type of AI Will Be Worth “Ten MSFTs.” AD