Tax bill might make it, CVS to purchase Aetna, Shopping this weekend was highest ever

December 04, 2017

The Senate passed its version of the tax bill over the weekend and now the House and the Senate will reconcile their respective versions of the tax bill before it becomes a law. The news has sent U.S. Stocks considerably higher to begin the week now that the uncertainty surrounding taxes has ended. The Stock markets will look ahead to Friday’s Jobs Report for November where it is expected that employers hired 190,000 new workers during the month.

In corporate news, drugstore chain CVS has agreed to purchase health insurer Aetna in a deal that will change the way large company’s purchase health-care benefits. The deal is expected to cost CVS nearly $70 billion and should reduce healthcare costs for consumers, immediately, said the two CEOs of both companies on CNBC this morning. The merger will allow stores to “not be just about products, but also service offerings that can help people on their path to better health,” said the two CEOs.

The National Retail Federation reports that from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, more than 174 million Americans shopped in stores and online during the five-day holiday weekend, beating the 164 million estimated shoppers from an earlier survey. The most popular day for in-store shopping was Black Friday, cited by 77 million consumers, followed by Small Business Saturday with 55 million consumers. In addition, credit cards are the most popular form of payment this year, used by 40% of shoppers, up from 39% last year. That’s tied with debit cards, which is also used by 40%, the same as last year; 18% plan to pay with cash and 2% will use checks.

Consumers shopping for clothes