Let the Good Times Roll as Tech Giants Hit All-Time Highs: LIVE MARKETS BLOG

Here's what happened on Wall Street, Friday, Oct. 27. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to recover from its earlier dip to close the day up 0.14% while the S&P 500 gained 0.81%

The index of the day, however, was the Nasdaq, rising 2.2%, which had its best session in nearly a year. The index was buoyed by strong days from blue-chip tech stocks.

The Nasdaq benefited from strong earnings in the tech sector specifically from Microsoft (MSFT) , Amazon (AMZN) , Alphabet (GOOGL) , and Intel (INTC) .

Tech Giants Help Nasdaq Grow Triple Digits

Amazon (AMZN) , Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) , three of the biggest companies in the world, all touched all-time highs Friday afternoon following strong earnings beats for each after hours Thursday.

Amazon was the sector's biggest gainer, hovering around a 13% increase for most of the day while Microsoft gained more than 7% and Alphabet rose nearly 6%. 

McDonald's China Changes Name to Golden Arches

Fast food eaters in China will now be referring McDonald's (MCD) by the name 'Golden Arches' after the U.S. company changed its official business name in the country. 

The old name Maidanglao has been changed to Jin Gong Men, a rough translation of the term Golden Arches. 

In yet another example that we are all the same, Chinese social media users immediately took to Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, to mock the new name and express their displeasure about the change. 

Amazon's Hypothetical Takeover of the Retail Sector 

As an exercise, Fitch Ratings likes to consider worst-case scenarios for different sectors should a significant disruption occur. With Amazon.com  threatening to disrupt everything from the way you watch television to the way you shop for groceries, the analysts at Fitch decided to turn their attention to the apparel retail sector.

In their scenario, Amazon increases its apparel market share to 25% from 7% over the next three years, effectively disrupting the sector.

In Fitch's scenario, in-store sales would decline 50% over the next three years. Larger retailers would see a 20% revenue decline and an EBIDTA decline of 40%.

The firm also warned of a "knock on" effect in which anchor stores in malls (stores that drive traffic to other stores in the mall) would leave the malls and create a domino effect that results in significantly lower traffic throughout the mall.

That event would negatively impact net operating income for the affected retailers by between 7%-19%. For the malls themselves, net operating income would fall by 25% for B malls and 13% for A malls.

Alibaba Co-Founder Takes 49% Minority Stake in NBA's Brooklyn Nets

Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai purchased a 49% minority stake in the NBA's Brooklyn Nets franchise in a deal that also presents the option to take a majority stake in the team in a few years, sources told ESPN Friday. 

The purchase price will be based on the team's $2.3 billion valuations, according to ESPN's league sources. 

The deal excludes the acquisition of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which also hosts concerts and other sporting events throughout the year. 

Editor's Note: story has been updated to show that the deal excludes the Barclays Center.

Alphabet Spent the Least on Moonshot Projects in 3 Years

Alphabet (GOOGL) reported spending $77 million on its moonshot projects in the third quarter, the lowest total is has reported since it began disclosing the finances of its ambitious future tech business segment. 

The money funded projects for everything from Waymo to balloons that provide internet service, but represents a significant reduction from the $324 million the company spent on future tech projects during the same period last year. 

Tesla Reduced Supply Orders by 40% per Week

Tesla (TSLA) reduced parts orders from auto component maker Hota Industrial Mfg. Co for its budget Model 3 vehicle to 3,000 a week from 5,000 a week in December, according to a Reuters report. 

The reduction is due to a bottleneck in production, according to the report, as the company looks to ramp up production for the much-hyped budget vehicle. With a starting price that is about 50% cheaper than Tesla's current lowest-priced offering, Tesla is hoping the Model 3 can help make the company a household automotive name. 

Tesla shares were down more than 1% premarket. 

Amazon Getting Into the Pharmacy Business

The St Louis Post-Dispatch reported that disruptor-in-chief Amazon (AMZN) has secured approval from 12 states for pharmacy licenses that will allow the company to begin distributing pharmaceuticals online. 

The news sent drug store stocks like Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) , Rite Aid (RAD) and CVS (CVS) tumbling. 

However, chatter that CVS is considering a purchase of health insurer Aetna (AET) has the stock rising premarket. Reports say that CVS offered about $200 per share for the company, an offer that represents a 20% upside from the stock's last closing price before news of the potential takeover broke.  

Aetna shares shot up nearly 12% within a matter of minutes after the rumors surfaced late in trading Thursday. 

Premarket

U.S. stock futures contracts were rising ahead of the opening bell Friday, pointing toward a higher opening for the three major indices in trading. 

In Asia, the Nikkei is back to its winning ways, climbing 1.24% to push its new winning streak to two sessions. The index had snapped a 16-day winning streak Wednesday before bouncing back slightly in yesterday's session. The Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite also rose in trading. 

Indices in Europe were also performing well with the CAC 40 in France rising 0.76%, the DAX in Germany climbing 0.71% and the FTSE 100 in the UK gaining 0.18% with about four hours left in trading across the Atlantic. 

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