Until about 2 p.m. EST, it looked like just another day in the market. But two hours before the closing bell rang in the weekend, a flurry of selling began, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) down 208 points, or 1.4%, to end at 15,115. Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE ) stock led blue chips lower, as Wall Street panicked, presuming the Fed would taper its stimulus efforts after business activity jumped in May.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) ended as the top stock in the Dow, adding 0.3% on news that the chip maker would power Samsung's upcoming 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3. Not only is it great for Intel to align itself with a market leader in an up-and-coming tablet market, but the company is also stealing business from a rival. ARM Holdings�was formerly the exclusive manufacturer of chips in Samsung-powered devices.�
Alcoa (NYSE: AA ) shares barely stayed in the black on Friday, tacking on 0.1%. However, on a day like today, when 28 of the 30 stocks in the Dow fell, maintaining small gains isn't so shabby. Investors were encouraged by confidence from Chicago's manufacturing industry, as the Windy City's purchasing managers' index registered at 58.7 today, far higher than the reading economists expected.
Best Income Companies To Buy For 2015: Apple Inc.(AAPL)
Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
APA Microsoft Windows store at Best Buy. Best Buy, the largest U.S. specialty retailer of consumer electronics, reported lower-than-expected revenue for the third straight quarter, as fewer people bought PCs and electronics, and those who did increasingly bought them online. Best Buy (BBY), shares of which fell 6.7 percent in early trading, said it expected same-store sales to decline in the low-single digits in the second half of the year. Same-store sales fell 2.7 percent in the second quarter ended Aug. 2, more than the 2.2 percent decline estimated by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix. U.S. same-store sales slipped 2 percent. Best Buy also said operating margins were likely to remain under pressure due to higher sales of lower-margin items, overall industry softness and discounting in Canada and China. "We see the margin guides as conservative," J.P. Morgan (JPM) analyst Christopher Horvers wrote in a note, adding the company could benefit from the anticipated iPhone launch and sales of ultra high-definition 4K televisions. Apple (AAPL) is expected to launch its latest iPhone next month. Best Buy said it expected continued softness in mobile phone sales ahead of the "highly-anticipated" release of new models. The company saw encouraging customer response to 4K televisions, but their impact on sales would be "relatively limited" this year, Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly said on a conference call. Best Buy said it plans to invest $40 million-$50 million in the second half to improve operations such as shipping and order fulfillment. "Industry-wide sales are continuing to decline in many of the consumer electronics categories in which we compete," Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam said in a statement Tuesday. Sales of consumer electronics such as TVs and desktop and notebook computers fell 2.5 percent industrywide in the quarter, the company said, citing NPD Group's Weekly Tracking Service. Such items make up about 65 p
- [By Rich Smith]
Over in Russia, market-leading cell phone provider Mobile TeleSystems (NYSE: MBT ) has just confirmed that, as of 2012, it no longer sells Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL ) new iPhone models to its customers directly. The company does still stock, and sell, some older iPhone models. But for iPhone5 and on up, MTS now answers phone calls from Apple with a Spasibo, ne nada. ("Thanks, but no thanks.")
Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)
Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By DailyFinance Staff]
The looming Fed taper has been the talk of Wall Street for months, but it still came as a surprise to investors when it actually happened. Stocks rallied Wednesday following the Fed's decision to cut its $85 billion a month purchase of bonds by $10 billion, beginning in January. Outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy continues to "make progress." The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) soared 292 points on the news, its third biggest one-day gain this year. The Dow also hit a closing high, as did the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC), which gained 29 points. And the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) rose 46 points. Consider it Bernanke's final present to the market before he retires from his position atop the Fed. Among the big blue chip winners, 3M (MMM) rose 3 percent, while Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX) and Goldman Sachs (GS) all rose 2 percent. But Microsoft (MSFT) was flat, reflecting across the board weakness in tech stocks. Many of the biggest players on the Nasdaq lost ground despite the overall market rally. Apple (AAPL) and Twitter (TWTR) ended lower and Tesla (TSLA) lost nearly 3 percent. Part of the reason for the tech weakness was an earnings miss and a weak forecast from Jabil Circuits (JBL), a key maker of electronics. Its shares plunged 20 percent. But homebuilders were strong following a report showing that housing starts last month rose to highest level in nearly six years. Lennar (LEN), which also posted strong earnings, jumped 6 percent. William Lyon Homes rose 4 percent, KB Homes (KBH) and Toll Brothers (TOL) each rose 3.5 percent. Ford (F) shares skidded more than 6 percent after lowering its profit forecast for next year. The company also warned that it may not meet its target for 2015 and 2016. In part, Ford blames the high expenses tied its planned launch of a record number of new vehicles next year. Finally, the movie theater chain AMC Entertainment (AMC) rose 5 percent from its $18 a share IPO price. This is exp
- [By Dimitra DeFotis]
Adams’ partial list of potential losers:
BP (BP) : the highest profile potential loser. It owns 19.75% of Russian energy giant Rosneft, which accounted a third of�BP�� production in the fourth quarter. Sanctions that inhibit oil and gas flows to Europe, or banking/capital flows, would “hit Rosneft and BP early and hard.” An offset: there could be an uptick in demand for a pipeline 30% owned and operated by BP because it transports Azerbaijan oil through Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean ��a southern route avoiding Georgia and Ukraine. Chevron (CVX) pipeline investments could be stymied. It also�signed a 50-year agreement to explore for and develop oil and gas in western Ukraine, involving up to $10 billion of investment. “A Russian takeover spikes that deal,” Adams says. Oilfield services companies Halliburton (HAL), Baker Hughes (BHI), and Weatherford International�(WFT) all do business in Russia that could be prohibited if it is labeled a rogue nation.The crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s tactics make U.S. assets look more secure and more valuable: some U.S. refiners that could export fuel, utility holding companies that could export liquefied natural gas, and related pipeline companies could see even more benefits, longer-term, �from the North American fracking and horizontal drilling boom. But approval of the TransCanada (TRP) Keystone XL pipeline is a necessary piece of that equation, Adams writes.
Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)
McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Say what you will about McDonald’s (MCD)–and a lot has been said–but it just increased its dividend for the 38th consecutive year. Still, Morgan Stanley’s John Glass and team worry that McDonald’s streak could be in jeopardy if the fast-food giant doesn’t turn its business around:
Andrew Hinderaker for The Wall Street JournalMcDonald’s�announced 5% dividend increase is better than we expected against low expectations. Despite an expected decline in operating income this year, McDonald’s could in part fund this increase with reductions in capital spending.
McDonald’s�announced a 5% dividend increase to 0.85c, greater than our 0.83c estimate (+2.5% Y/Y). This puts the annualized dividend yield at 3.6%, among the highest in restaurants.�McDonald’s reiterated its goal of returning $18-20B to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, putting it just behind pace ($3.2B returned or 16-18% complete in 20% of the time). Dividends/shr grew faster than EPS in ��2 and ��3, and are expected to again in ��4, putting the dividend payout in ��4 at 61% vs. 47% in ��1. We expect this payout ratio to normalize over time and to fall below 60% in ��5 (assuming another 5% dividend/shr increase). However, if a recovery stalls, continued dividend growth could be at risk.
Shares of McDonald’s have gained 0.9% to $94.35 at 1:38 p.m. today.
- [By Andrew Marder]
Yesterday, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ) announced that starting next week, it will provide calorie counts on all of its menu boards in its U.S. stores. The move follows earlier menu updates by McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) and others, as companies try to get out in front of any new legislation. Since 2010, when health care legislation came into effect, the FDA has been working on a law requiring businesses to display calorie information. That effort seems to have stalled out due to strong lobbying and sharp differences between the sides in the debate.
Top 5 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: Visa Inc.(V)
Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
The stock doing its best to sink the Dow 30 today was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V). The credit and debit card issuer was hit with a $5 billion lawsuit this morning. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is the first of the big retailers to file its own case for damages related to card swipe fees charged by Visa and other issuers. Visa�� stock traded down 1.91% today at $211.65 in a 52-week range of $161.27 to $235.50. Trading volume was nearly equal to the daily average of around 3.2 million shares traded.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
After five days of losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6% to 15,928.56, while the S&P 500�rose 0.6% t0 1,792.50, ending its three-day losing streak. The Dow got a boost from Pfizer (PFE), Visa (V) and General Electric (GE), while the S&P 500′s biggest winners included homebuilder DR Horton (DHI) and T. Rowe Price (TROW).
- [By Paul Ausick]
After announcing last Friday that they would not be processing any transactions for Russian banks, Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) restarted payment processing on Saturday. Payment processing was halted following the inclusion of individuals who own banks on a list of 20 Russian officials and businesspeople who have been identified as targets of U.S. sanctions related to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
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