Despite a wild week on many fronts from weather to Washington, D.C. to the situation in Syria, the Dow was up nearly 225 points or 0.86 percent for the period ended Oct. 10. The DJIA rose 150.66 on Thursday, a day ahead of another rise on Friday due to positive news on the European Union-Brexit, U.S.-China trade and news that The Fed will purchase $60 billion monthly in short-term notes to ease any liquidity concerns within the U.S. banking system. Eleven stocks rose, led by biggest gainer Sportsman’s Warehouse, and four declined, paced by Camping World on a percentage basis. Big 5 Sporting Goods has named Stephen Carley, the former CEO of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, to its board. Dick’s shares bounced higher after CEO Ed Stack’s appearance on CNBC where he said he did not expect any slowdown in holiday purchases by consumers this year. Target (not on the Index) is helping to launch the new Toys R US website and handle all sales and order fulfillment for it via a deal with Toys’ new owner, TRU Kids. Walmart’s new U.S. President and CEO on Nov. 1 will be John Furner, who will work with the discounter’s ecommerce czar, Marc Lore, on continuing to improve the retailer’s omnichannel experience. Separately, the discounter reportedly laid off dozens at Bonobos, which it purchased for $310 million in 2017, on Oct. 7. Kohl’s CFO Bruce Besanko is retiring Dec. 31, stepping away from the post on Nov. 1 with VP of Finance Jill Timm taking over.  

Potentially good news for U.S. consumers and brands that manufacture in China came Friday with news from the Trump Administration that a “very substantial phase one (trade) deal” with the country has been made covering intellectual property, financial services and Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods. A planned tariff increase to 30 percent from 25 percent on some Chinese imports, scheduled to take effect tomorrow, has been halted. From a political perspective, the China “trade win” was needed for the administration following a week of negative news on Syria-Kurds and the ongoing impeachment inquiry investigation by the House. Meanwhile, new data released last week suggested U.S. manufacturing was in a recession, but U.S. consumers are more optimistic this month with their sanguinity at a three-month high. The Segment outperformed the Dow for the period with a nearly 2.6 percent increase. Biggest percentage gainer was Callaway; biggest percentage decliner was GoPro, which began fulfilling pre-orders of its new Hero8 Black camera a week ahead of schedule and saw hedge fund Prentice Capital increase its stake. Fitbit (no longer on the Index) is shifting certain manufacturing operations away from China to avoid Section 301 tariffs and by Jan. 2020 will no longer maker any of its smartwatches or trackers in the country. Puma strikes a multi-year sponsorship contract with esports brand Cloud9 for an apparel collection. Nike decides to shutter the Oregon Project, an elite running/training group, after the initiative’s head coach and Swoosh endorser Alberto Salazar was slapped with a four-year ban due to doping. Nike is expected to assist Oregon Project athletes, including Chicago Marathon participants Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasay, transition to new coaches. Adidas teams with Snapchat and Dick’s Sporting Goods, according to Business Insider, on the first sponsored, shoppable mobile game, “Baseball’s Next Level,” on the app. Peloton sees its Italian rival, Technogym, enter the streaming-online-fitness class market.