Stocks finally saw some volatility, dropping sharply on Wednesday following reports President Trump may have obstructed justice by asking then FBI Director James Comey to drop his investigation of Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. The averages suffered their worst session of the year, but the pullback was short-lived, as investors once again stepped in to "buy the dip," recouping the majority of the mid-week losses with advances on Thursday and Friday.

MACRO NEWS: In the U.S., the Empire State manufacturing index fell to a seven-month low of -1.0 in May from 5.2 in April. The Philly Fed index rebounded 16.8 points to 38.8 in May, which was stronger than expected. The leading index rose 0.3% to 126.9 in April, setting a fresh record high going back to 1959. The NAHB homebuilder sentiment index rose 2 points to a reading of 70 in May. Housing starts fell 2.6% to a 1.17M rate in April while building permits declined 2.5% to a 1.23M rate, both of which were a bit worse than expected. Industrial production grew 1.0% in April, which was better than the 0.4% consensus forecast. 232,000 initial jobless claims were reported for the week of May 13, which was below the 240,000 that were forecast. In Brazil, the country's stock market and currency plummeted after a Brazilian newspaper reported that there was a secret recording of Brazil's new President Michel Temer that would implicate him in a national bribery scandal. Temer went on to say after the report that he does not plan to resign.

COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Wal-Mart (WMT) advanced over 3% on Thursday after the world's largest retailer broke with the recent trend of poor results from its smaller competitors. Wal-Mart's earnings and revenues topped expectations as it reported a U.S. same-store sales increase of 1.4% and strong e-commerce growth... Cisco (CSCO) dropped by more than 7% the same day as several Wall Street analysts called its April quarter results "solid" although the company guided below expectations for the July-end quarter... Among other companies that announced quarterly results this week, Target (TGT), L Brands (LB), Trivago (TRVG), Weibo (WB) and Sina (SINA) advanced immediately following their reports, while Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) and American Eagle (AEO) declined... Shares of a number of cybersecurity solutions providers - including Proofpoint (PFPT), FireEye (FEYE), Fortinet (FTNT), Check Point (CHKP) and Symantec (SYMC) - were among the best performers on Wall Street on Monday amid headlines about the "WannaCry" ransomware cyberattack that hit businesses, hospitals and government agencies in at least 150 countries... Qualcomm (QCOM) launched the next salvo in its ongoing battle with Apple (AAPL) over disputed royalties, filing a complaint in a U.S. court against the four manufacturers of the company's iPhones and iPads on charges of breaching their license agreements and other commitments... Twitter (TWTR) co-founder Biz Stone announced on Tuesday that he is returning to the company full time in a yet-to-be-named role with a focus on guiding the company culture and shaping "the experience internally so it's also felt outside the company"... Etsy (ETSY) shares jumped over 20% on Tuesday after the new CEO of the online craft marketplace operator responded to activist shareholders who disclosed stakes in the company by noting that it is now reviewing its strategic and operational plans. Later in the week, Athenahealth (ATHN) similarly surged by over 20% after activist investor Elliott Associates reported a 9.2% economic exposure in the company and said it may discuss a broad range of "operational and strategic matters" with Athenahealth's management... Shares of pharmacy chain operators CVS (CVS), Rite Aid (RAD), and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) slid on Wednesday after CNBC reported that Amazon (AMZN) is getting more serious about breaking into the pharmacy market.

In M&A news, Patheon (PTHN) agreed to be acquired by Thermo Fisher (TMO) for $35.00 per share in cash in a transaction that represents a purchase price of approximately $7.2B, including the assumption of debt. The New York Post reported that SiriusXM (SIRI) is in active talks about a bid for Pandora (P), though CNBC's David Faber subsequently said the companies are not reaching an agreement on price.

INDEXES: The Dow lost about 0.45% to close at 20,804.84, the S&P 500 fell about 0.39% to close at 2,381.73, and the Nasdaq declined about 0.64% to close at 6,083.70.