August sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading day differences but not for price changes, were $499.1 billion, virtually unchanged from the revised July level, but down 0.7% from the August 2018 level, the Census Bureau reported. The June to July percent change was revised from the preliminary estimate of up 0.3% to up 0.2%.

Wednesday, the Dow gained 181.97 points (0.70%) to finish at 26,346.01, the NASDAQ closed 79.96 points (1.02%) higher at 7,903.74, and the S&P 500 increased 26.34 points (0.91%) to 2,919.40. The Russell 2000 was up 6.86 points (0.47%) at 1,479.46, and the Wilshire 5000 climbed 250.09 points (0.85%) to 29,754.98.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note was down 5/32, increasing its yield to 1.582%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond fell 1 1/32, bringing its yield up to 2.084%.

ON THIS DATE: In 1845, the United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1887, Thomas Edison organized the Edison Phonograph Company. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike that ended the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1959, Pan American World Airways announced the beginning of the first global airline service. In 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. The same day, he pleaded no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion in exchange for the dropping of charges of political corruption. In 1977, Joe Namath played the last game of his National Football League (NFL) career. In 1978, legislation authorizing the Susan B. Anthony dollar was signed by President Jimmy Carter. In 2001, President George W. Bush presented a list of 22 most wanted terrorists. In 2004, the actor Christopher Reeve, who became famous for his starring role in four Superman films, died from heart failure at the age of 52 at a hospital near his home in Westchester County, New York.