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08:20 EDT Week in review: How Trump's policies moved stocks - Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly: 1. WAL-MART: Following the footsteps of Wells Fargo (WFC), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), and other companies that had previously announced plans to raise their minimum hourly wage for their employees to reflect the new tax reform law, Wal-Mart (WMT) said on Thursday that it will increase the starting wage rate for all hourly associates in the U.S. to $11. The world's largest retailer also said it plans to expand maternity and parental leave benefits and provide a one-time cash bonus for eligible associates of up to $1,000. 2. BIG BANKS' TAX GUIDANCE: On Friday, JPMorgan (JPM) advanced after the bank reported better than expected adjusted earnings and managed revenue in the fourth quarter. CEO Jamie Dimon said the enactment of tax reform is a "significant positive outcome for the country" and as a result of the tax plan the bank will be "increasing and accelerating" some of its investments in "employees, customers and communities" it serves. Well Fargo also reported better than expected earnings but its revenue fell a bit short of the consensus forecast. Of note, both banks gave guidance that they expect their FY18 effective tax rate to be approximately 19%. Citigroup (C) is expected to report on January 16 and investors will be awaiting its take on the expected impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 3. APPLE, MICROSOFT TO BENEFIT FROM TAX BILL TIMING: Companies that stockpiled trillions of dollars offshore free of U.S. income tax may get one final break before paying up, assuming their fiscal years do not follow the calendar year, Bloomberg reported. According to the publication, a timing quirk in the tax overhaul that President Donald Trump signed last month may be good news for companies such as Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO), all of which started their fiscal years before January 1. Firms including Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amgen (AMGN) and General Electric (GE), with fiscal years that began on January 1, appear to lose the benefit, the report noted. Apple alone may be able to cut more than $4B off a future tax bill, according to Stephen Shay, a tax and business law professor at Harvard Law School who wrote about what he called the "potential loophole" last month. 4. TOYOTA, MAZDA: On Wednesday, Mazda (MZDAF) and Toyota (TM) announced they have selected Huntsville, Alabama as the site of their new joint-venture manufacturing plant. The new plant will have the capacity to build 300,000 vehicles annually, with production split evenly between two lines for each company to produce Mazda's crossover model that will be newly introduced to the North American market and the Toyota Corolla. The joint venture represents a $1.6B investment that Mazda and Toyota plan to make with equal funding contributions. facility is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs, and production is expected to begin by 2021. The day after, President Trump tweeted: "Good news: Toyota and Mazda announce giant new Huntsville, Alabama, plant which will produce over 300,000 cars and SUV's a year and employ 4000 people. Companies are coming back to the U.S. in a very big way. Congratulations Alabama!" 5. TARGET CHANGES ON TAX REFORM: This week, Wells Fargo raised its price targets of several stocks to reflect the impact of tax reform, including Darden Restaurants (DRI), BankUnited (BKU), Steven Madden (SHOO), Ross Stores (ROST), lululemon (LULU), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Tiffany (TIF), Burlington Stores (BURL), Carter's (CRI), Boot Barn (BOOT), while lowering Signet Jewelers' (SIG) target. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse also raised its price targets for Pinnacle Foods (PF), J.M. Smucker (SJM), Ingredion (INGR), and Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) to incorporate tax reform legislation impact. "Week in Review" is The Fly's weekly recap of its recurring series of "Trump Effect" exclusive stories.
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