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All three major indexes finished trading up, shaking off the malaise that marked the end of last week and the beginning of this one. The Dow reached nearly 200 points to finish Tuesday trading up close to 1% and mark one of its best days this summer. The S&P 500 locked in its second-best day this summer with gains of about 1%. And the Nasdaq rose over 1.3% for its fifth-biggest daily jump this year. BHP Billiton staged a swing back to profit Tuesday after the company announced it's selling its U.S. shale oil unit. The resources company reported second quarter earnings of $1.10 per share. BHP led materials stocks to finish off trading as the market's best performers. Rio Tinto , Dow Chemical , Vale and Praxair were all higher, sending the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF up over 1%. Chevron stock jumped late Tuesday as reports surfaced that its CEO is out. John Watson will reportedly leave Chevron as soon as next month. Current vice chairman Michael Wirth is considered first pick to take the helm at Chevron once Watson is gone. Even as the broader market saw big gains, Toll Brothers wasn't so lucky. The homebuilder finished Tuesday down 2.5% after quarterly sales figures fell short of analyst estimates. Although revenue surged 18.1% over last year, it missed forecasts and hampered the company's earnings beat. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Apple iPhone 8's 'Crown Jewel' Has Everything to Do With Your Face Facebook Losing Teens to Snapchat but Instagram Once Again Saves the Day Starbucks Could Be Poised for a Rebound Defense Names Take Wall Street Higher After Trump Outlines Afghanistan Strategy

All three major indexes are trading decidedly higher as rising defense stocks pull markets with them. The Dow trended up 0.7% with the S&P adding 0.8% as well. The Nasdaq jumped a solid 1.1% during midday trading. President Trump's hawkish speech on an Afghanistan strategy brought gains for Boeing , General Dynamics , Northrup Grumman and Lockheed Martin . Trump outlined plans to "change dramatically" the approach to the long-running conflict in Afghanistan Monday night. The President changed his campaign tune, promising to "fight to win" instead of withdrawing entirely. And crude oil prices rebounded after a sharp 2% decline Monday. At midday Tuesday, West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.7% to $47.72 per barrel. Rising prices come as concerns OPEC members wouldn't comply with production agreements dissipate some. And DSW Inc stock was surging more than 20% at midday after the shoe retailer reported its first comp sales growth since 2015. Earnings of 38 cents per share also topped estimates. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Apple iPhone 8's 'Crown Jewel' Has Everything to Do With Your Face Facebook Losing Teens to Snapchat but Instagram Once Again Saves the Day Starbucks Could Be Poised for a Rebound Defense Names Take Wall Street Higher After Trump Outlines Afghanistan Strategy

President Donald Trump said troop levels will be ramped up but no numbers were given. He also says the United States will not engage in nation building but rather 'terrorist killing'. The United States has been in a war, in some form or another, in Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. Also Defense Secretary General James Mattis made an unannounced visit to Iraq. He is visiting troops there and the Prime Minister. A Los Angeles jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $417 million to a women who claimed that the talc in its iconic baby powder causes ovarian cancer. She alleged the company failed to warn customers about the dangers of talc powder. Johnson & Johnson said in a statement that it would appeal the judgment and that science supports the safety of its baby powder. Macy's is adjusting to the new realities of retail by hiring a former eBay executive to be its new President. Watch More with TheStreet: Jim Cramer Reveals What to Watch in Salesforce's Earnings on Tuesday Panera Bread: Now a Private Company That Is Labeling Its Cups With Sugar Counts A Mortgage Lending CEO Reveals Why Millennials Are Buying Homes Later in Life Is Amazon Building an Army to Take on Best Buy's Geek Squad?

It was a mixed start to the week with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 managing small gains, while the Nasdaq remained in the red. Consumer staples and telecom stocks were the best performers on Wall Street. It was another bruising day for Foot Locker Inc. as its shares sold off in sympathy with Nike Inc. , which was lower on a Jefferies downgrade. Foot Locker, a major carrier of Nike products, has declined for three days in a row. KeyBanc reiterated Broadcom Ltd. as OVERWEIGHT ahead of its earnings report on Thursday. The firm believes chipmaker Broadcom is likely to get a boost when Apple Inc. releases its highly anticipated iPhone 8. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. topped a quiet box office weekend with its new release, The Hitman's Bodyguard. The Samuel L. Jackson action film took the top spot with $21.6 million in domestic takings.

Stocks held narrowly mixed as bulls waited on the sidelines for reason to move back into the market. A selloff in crude oil prices pulled the energy sector lower to start the week. Jefferies has cut its rating on Nike Inc. to HOLD from BUY as competition from Adidas heats up. The firm said growth and margins could be pressured as marketing campaigns become central to holding market share. Herbalife Ltd. rallied after conducting a self-tender offer to purchase up to $600 million in shares. The vitamin company also said it had held talks with a potential investor on going private. The Container Store Inc. stumbled after amending loan agreement terms and reducing its full-year profit guidance. Adjustments to its loan agreement are expected to rack up around $7 million in incremental interest costs.

Today's solar eclipse could be the most viewed event in human history. The event occurs in an era of record internet usage-where 95% of American adults own a mobile phone. Tech experts are asking if the solar eclipse will cause the internet to buckle. There have been special temporary mobile towers moved into the areas of totality to handle all the excess internet usage. President Donald Trump will address the nation tonight to outline his strategy on Afghanistan. There's no word on exactly what he will say but analysts do expect it to include more troops in the area. Tonight's speech will be the 3rd prime time address in the President's term. Recode is reporting that former General Electric (GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt is the front-runner for the CEO job at Uber. The article says others are still in the running but Immelt has the support of board members.

Wall Street ended Friday lower as more drama unfolded in the White House. Donald Trump's presidency was under scrutiny again after news broke that chief strategist Steve Bannon has left the White House. The New York Times reported that Trump insisted that Bannon resign and the adviser submitted his formal notice on Aug. 7. His departure was delayed by the violence at a right-wing rally in Charlottesville, VA, and its aftermath. Gap Inc. reported quarterly earnings more than double a year earlier. The casual clothing retailer earned 68 cents a share over its quarter ended July 29, far better than 31 cents a share a year earlier and higher than estimates of 52 cents. Foot Locker Inc. lost roughly one-quarter of its value in its worst daily performance since late 2008. Industry peers such as Nike Inc. , Finish Line Inc. , and Buckle Inc. also sold off. Estee Lauder Companies Inc. reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter. First-quarter sales are expected to climb 9% to 10%. Current-quarter adjusted earnings guidance of 94 cents to 97 cents a share came in higher than a targeted 91 cents.

13 people are dead and 100 injured in the terror attack at a popular tourist spot in Barcelona. Authorities are still searching for the driver of that van that plowed through the crowds. Meanwhile, 5 suspected terrorists are dead in a separate incident south of Barcelona. Police believe the 2 incidents are related. President Donald Trump has said the United States will do whatever it takes to help Spain. Mylan Labs has reached a $465 million settlement over the epipen scandal. The settlement resolved claims that Mylan avoided higher rebates to state medicaid programs by misclassifying epipen as a generic product even though it was marketed and prices as a brand-name product. Gap profits more than doubled in the recent quarter. Old Navy stores were again the strong link. Banana Republic sales were weak. Gap also attributed the performance to better managed inventory and fewer discounts. Watch More with TheStreet: How Do You React To Coworkers Discussing Politics At Work? Will Donald Trump's Comments about Charlottesville Lead to More White House Departures? What Does Alibaba Actually Do? Drowning in Debt? Here's How to Get Above Water

All three major indexes are down for the month after tallying losses Thursday. Heavyweights Walmart Stores Inc and Cisco weighed on the Dow to bring it down over 260 points points or 1.2%. It's the first day in five that the index fell into the red. Also sagging were the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, each down 1.4% and 1.8% respectively. Markets compounded Thursday losses after a van rammed into a crowd in Barcelona. Early reports said at least 12 people were killed and as many as 32 injured. The van reportedly sped into a crowd in the Las Ramblas tourist destination. Two arrests have been made. The world's largest retailer might have reported second quarter profits that beat analyst estimates, but Walmart stock took a beating anyway Thursday. Shares closed down nearly 2% as earnings declined to 96 cents per share for the Dow component. And more confusion from activist investor Bill Ackman's quest to install three dissident directors on the board of Automatic Data Processing . Ackman argued Thursday that ADP should cut staff, integrate operations and focus on innovation. Investors are confused, though, since many think ADP is doing just fine without Ackman. Shares dropped over 5% making ADP among the S&P laggards Thursday.

Video Transcript: This is how markets closed this Wednesday, August sixteenth. This week's midpoint found markets up, but little changed, with the Dow tallying a gain to inch back above 22,000. The S&P rallied just barely to notch about a 0.14% gain. And the Nasdaq finished Wednesday up 0.19%. Domestic politics took the spotlight, as President Trump took to Twitter to announce he's disbanding the CEO councils he created. The decision comes after at least eight members from the Manufacturing Council and Strategy and Policy Forum called it quits. The business leaders left the groups in response to President Trump's reaction to racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. And the Fed's July meeting minutes showed it'll wait for an upcoming meeting to get started shedding some of its debt. Investors had previously expected a balance sheet trim relatively soon, pending predicted economic expansion. Teva Pharmaceuticals was hit with another blow Wednesday. Analysts at Citigroup, which was one of Teva's last holdouts with a buy rating, downgraded the stock to neutral. Citi admitted it was, "wrong about Teva" and expressed concerns about generic drug pricing. Today's nearly 3% decline pared gains made yesterday for the Israeli drug maker. And that's a wrap for the day. In New York, I'm Kinsey Grant for TheStreet. Watch More with TheStreet: Jim Cramer Reveals Best Retail Stock to Own to Survive Retail Apocalypse President Trump Just Took a Swipe at Amazon on Twitter, Again As Facebook and Twitter Wrestle With Their Terms of Use, These Companies Are Taking a Stand Against White Supremacy Your Collection of Sports Memorabilia Is Probably Worthless