The markets recovered from steep early morning losses but continued trading in negative territory during the midday with the Dow dropping 88 points to 24,257. Nasdaq lost 12 points to 6955.
Tyson Foods' venture capital unit Tyson Ventures has invested in smart steam oven maker Tovala. Customers use their smart phones to scan a bar code on prepackaged meals that are delivered by Tovala. The bar code relays cooking instructions to the steam oven.
Best Buy will reportedly eliminate CDs from its line of products by the end of June. As customers switch to streaming services such as Apple Music, Pandora and Spotify, CD sales have plunged. Global revenue for the recording industry came mostly from digital sales in 2016 with physical format sales coming in at 34%.
After a report that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the new leadership of Mick Mulvaney has scaled back its investigation into the September cyberattack on Equifax, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he would like a report on the investigation. The personal data of more than 145 million people were compromised last year when the credit reporting agency was hacked. In the five months since the attack, no subpoenas have been issued to Equifax and no sworn testimony have been taken from Equifax executives.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 6 to 5 on the NYSE and by nearly 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 tumbled 18 points to 2,630. Bitcoin surged $484 to $7,294.
