Today's charts: Apple's big unveil; more shoppers hit Whole Foods; Bernstein recommends buying five retailers

Seana Smith
·Host

Wall Street awaits Apple’s big announcement

Wall Street’s anxious to see the products Apple (AAPL) unveils during its big launch event today. Some of the products the tech giant is expected to launch are three new iPhones, including its 10th anniversary iPhone, an updated smartwatch and an improved Apple TV. Apple shares have gained about 40% so far this year. The event is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

More shoppers hit Whole Foods following price cuts

More people are shopping at Whole Foods after the company slashed its prices following Amazon’s (AMZN) takeover of the grocer. The data, compiled by Foursquare Labs, shows foot traffic at the grocery chain spiked by more than 25% over two days last week compared with a year earlier. Whole Foods has cut the prices of a number of its products, including organic fuji apple, organic avocados, salmon and tilapia.

Bernstein recommends buying five retailers

Bernstein launches new coverage on 10 retailers, and the firm is bullish on select athletic apparel and footwear companies and sees “compelling value opportunities” in specialty retail. Analyst Jamie Merriman rated Coach (COH), L. Brands (LB), Nike (NKE), Ross Stores (ROST) and TJX Companies (TJX) as outperform. Names he’s more cautious on include Lululemon (LULU), VF Corp (VFC) and PVH (PVH), which are all rated market perform. Merriman slapped both Under Armour (UA) and Michael Kors (KORS) with underperform ratings, citing competitive risks and valuation concerns.

DowDuPont alters spinoff plan

DowDuPont (DWDP), which was formed through the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont, is shifting its spinoff plan, following pressure from activist investors including Nelson Peltz and Dan Loeb. The combined company said certain adjustments will be made between the Materials Science and Specialty Products divisions. Andrew Liveris, executive chairman of DowDuPont, discussed the changes, saying, “Our DowDuPont Board is fully aligned and confident that these targeted portfolio adjustments are the right actions to take and will benefit all stakeholders over the long term,”