Finance: RETAIL STOCKS RALLY: Here's what you need to know

Retailers extended Black Friday's rally into Cyber Monday.

Shares of retailers including some traditional brick-and-mortar stores extended Black Friday's rally into Cyber Monday. US retailers brought in a record $7.9 billion in online sales on Black Friday and Thanksgiving, a 17.9% surge from the prior year, according to Adobe Analytics.

The broader equity indexes closed little changed.

Here's the scoreboard:

• Dow: 23,588.12 +30.13 (0.13%)
• S&P 500: 2,602.10 -0.32 (-0.01%)
• Nasdaq: 6,881.33 -7.83 (-0.11%)

1. Meredith Corp. is buying Time Inc. for about $1.8 billion in a huge merger of magazines. Meredith will pay $18.50 a share in cash and tack on about $1 billion in debt. Meredith brings with it a magazine portfolio that includes Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, and Allrecipes, while Time owns properties including Time, Sports Illustrated, and, Fortune.

2. Bitcoin passed $9,600 and nearly cracked $10,000. The market for digital coins cracked $300 billion Sunday night for the first time as two of the largest cryptocurrencies approached significant milestones. Ethereum reached an all-time high of $485 on Sunday evening, shy of the much-anticipated $500 mark.
3. Sen. Rand Paul announced that he would support the Senate GOP tax bill in an op-ed on Monday, shoring up another vote for the massive legislative push. Paul had been a question mark for Republicans due to issues he raised over the winners and losers from the bill.
4. Gun background checks in America set a new record on Black Friday. Prospective gun owners filed 203,086 requests to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Last Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review the NICS.

Additionally:

Morgan Stanley forecasts volatility will make a comeback in 2018

Trump's pick to lead the top consumer watchdog agency showed up with doughnuts amid an intense legal battle

George Soros' former right-hand man sold his 20-acre estate for $25 million

Blockchain could soon power stock markets, music sales, and health records — here's how it works

The next 2 weeks could make or break Trump's first year as president

Snap hits its best levels since its earnings disaster

SOURCE - PULSE.NG posted by Campus94