The 2018 C-Suite Shuffle Continues; Honeywell Spins Automation Unit -- ICYMI

Here's what you need to know now for Monday, Oct. 1.
By Michael Brown ,

Markets were still busy digesting Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report and Elon Musk's weekend settlement with the SEC when we were hit with a slew of big morning C-Suite changes at some of America's top companies Monday. General Electric (GE) - Get Report announced that CEO John Flannery would step aside immediately, while Pfizer (PFE) - Get Report , the New York-based drug conglomerate announced that its CEO, Ian Reed, would also be vacating his post. The executive shuffles, which continues a year busy with turnover as America's top companies, overshadowed a rally in U.S. equities driven by the latest Nafta negotiations. To that end, companies with significant North American exposure, i.e. Ford (F) - Get Report and General Motors (GM) - Get Report , which have significant operations in Canada and Mexico, as well as the U.S., rose. While some investors breathed a sigh of relief it may be a bit too soon to count your chickens, as the current deal between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, still has details that need to be ironed out. Other details surrounding the deal, and its impact on issues such as automotive supply chain origins, steel and aluminum tariffs and the contentious issue of U.S.-Canada lumber trading, still haven't been fully revealed. But the framework agreement does remove a significant tariff-related risk for the global financial markets heading into the final months of the year.

Honeywell (HON) - Get Report , was busy on Monday. The industrial giant and a holding in the Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust, which is managed by Jim Cramer and the AAP team, announced that it had completed the spin-off of its former transportation systems Garrett Motion. Garrett shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as GTX on Monday, and closed up almost 11% to $18.50 after opening at $16.99, above its $16.75 pricing. At the same time, Honeywell proper (RemainCo) said it would acquire Germany's Transnorm Group from private equity firm IK Investment Partners for almost $500 million. The business that provides automation for parcel, distribution and e-commerce warehouses. The company is expected to become part of Honeywell's Safety and Productivity Solutions segment. For those wondering how to trade the news, the AAP team has you covered: "GTX was never fully in our cards because we believe Honeywell's RemainCo is the real gem," the team wrote in a note Friday. "Following the completion of this spinoff and its Homes business by the end of the year, management will have decreased its end-market exposure to six from eight, and all six have strong appeal from an investment perspective."

Markets Today: Stocks ended mostly higher on Monday, Oct. 1, after White House trade officials reached an agreement with Canada to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement in a deal that removes tariff risks from around $1.2 trillion worth of a goods each year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 194 points, or 0.73%, to 26,652, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.1%.

Honeywell is a  holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells HON? Learn more now.

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