What the Stock Market Did Today: More Record Highs

What the Stock Market Did Today, May 30, 2014: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was relatively flat, but did squeeze out a gain for a record-high close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index also hit yet another record high today.

Here's the scorecard from today's trading session:

DOW: 16,717.17, +0.11%
S&P 500: 1,923.57, +0.18%
NASDAQ: 4,242.62, -0.13%

And here are the top stories from the stock market today:

• Earnings Updates: Shares of Infoblox Inc. (NYSE: BLOX) slipped by more than 35% on news that the automated network controller missed earnings and that its CEO Robert Thomas has announced his resignation. Meanwhile, shares of Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) soared more than 11.5% after the company reported stronger earnings than expected.

• Banks Behaving Badly: Reuters reports that the Department of Justice could demand that BNP Paribas SA (OTCMKTS ADR: BNPQY) pay more than $10 billion to settle charges that the company violated economic sanctions by conducting business in Sudan and Iran. In addition to the financial settlement, regulators are looking to strip the company of some of its banking privileges in the United States. The news immediately drew concerns about the company's ability to secure enough capital and prevent customers from pulling money from the bank.

• Shakeup at the Top: Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) slipped more than 1.5% on news that its chief information officer (CIO) Randy Krotowski will resign on June 1. The company will immediately launch an external search for his replacement in the coming weeks. Despite the drawback, the stock is up more than 12% since the beginning of the year.

• Emerging Market Woes: Despite voters' decision to move to a more business-friendly set of policies, India's economy is falling below expectations. Government officials announced that its economy grew at a 4.7% pace over the last fiscal year. This is below economists' expectations and is the second straight year that the company's economy fell below a 5% rate.

• So Long, Mr. Spin: In a surprise appearance during the daily White House press briefing, the White House announced that press secretary Jay Carney is resigning. Josh Earnest, the current deputy press secretary, will replace Carney. The announcement drew a lot of attention away from the resignation of Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki over the current scandal plaguing the agency.

Now for some of our best investments moves to make to play the stock market today…

Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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