The loosing streak stopped overnight US up read more
Opening Bell 10 May 2012
Before the Bell 09 May 2012
New York
U.S. stocks retreated, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the lowest level in almost a month, as political tension in Greece intensified concern about a euro exit and a deepening of the region’s debt crisis.
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Bank of America Corp. fell at least 2.1 percent to pace declines among the biggest companies. McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest restaurant chain, slumped 2.1 percent as April sales trailed projections.
Equities fell as Greece’s leaders met for a second day to try to form a government after an election that raised questions about the nation’s membership of the euro. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Syriza party who has vowed to rip up the terms of Greece’s bailout, was handed the mandate to form a government after Antonis Samaras of New Democracy failed to reach a deal.
Eight out of 10 groups in the S&P 500 retreated as consumer discretionary, financial and commodity companies had the biggest declines. Utilities and health-care shares, which are less-tied to economic growth, rose.
Electronic Arts dropped 4.3 percent. The second- largest U.S. video-game publisher tumbled after its forecasts for the current quarter and fiscal year fell short of analysts’ estimates. The company plans to cut jobs.
Facebook Inc. officials are touting growth prospects for the largest social network in meetings this week in New York and Boston with hundreds of would-be investors before its record initial public offering. Facebook plans to raise as much as US$11.8 billion, the biggest ever for an Internet company.
Budget 2012
Tonight we will see the amount of spending cuts that are needed to return the budget to surplus as promised! But at what cost?
It defies belief that Australia calls this spending cuts when most other countires would call it “Austerity Measures.” and all to ensure that there is no backlash and verbal abuse form the other sides of the political landscape.
It is important as has been seen in the last few years to spend in order to avoid recession. Australia is in the mist of a double if not triple teared economy. More spending is needed to ensure the sectors of the economy most at risk are not left to die by a thousand lashes. But on the other side of the coin dont force the whole economy down buy double taxing the parts of the economy keeping Australia improving.
So it will be interesting to see how it is explained and justified tonight.
The week that was 04 May 2012
Despite a slow end to the week, the S&P/ASX 200
still managed to add one percent as of intra-day on
Friday. Gains were driven by rallies in the
consumer staples (+3%), telecoms (+2.8%) and
property trust (+2.6%) sectors.
Opening Bell 01 May 2012
Overnight Report
New York
Economic worries at home and in Spain led the Dow industrials lower on Monday, but the average eked out its seventh-straight monthly gain.
The information technology and industrials sectors led the S&P 500 lower Monday. Humana fell 8.1% as the health insurer’s raised guidance still fell short of analysts’ estimates. NYSE Euronext dropped 4.9% as the exchange operator’s earnings suffered from a continuing slump in trading activity.
Personal spending slowed in March, rising 0.3%, the Commerce Department said. The reading fell just shy of the 0.4% growth forecast by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires poll and followed an upwardly revised February increase of 0.9%, the biggest gain in over two and a half years.
Crude-oil futures shed 0.1% to settle at US$104.87 a barrel, while gold futures ticked down less than 0.1% to finish at US$1,663.40 an ounce. The U.S. dollar rose against the euro but lost ground against the yen.
Apple dropped 3.2% following a front-page report in the New York Times about methods to legally reduce its tax burden.
Ords Weekly 27 April 2012
A round up of the weeks market info
Before the Bell 27 April 2012
Before the Bell 26 April 2012
Overnight Report
New York
Surging shares of Apple and dovish words from the Federal Reserve chairman drove U.S.stocks higher for a second day and propelled the Nasdaq Composite to its biggest gain this year.
Apple jumped 8.9% after the technology bellwether reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations. That helped to dispel fears of a potential slowdown in iPhone sales, and lifted technology stocks in the U.S. and around the world.
Apple’s earnings report helped Broadcom, a supplier to the iPhone, jump 6.1%. That, in turn, made the tech sector the strongest performer on the S&P 500, on a day in which all 10 sectors of the index finished in positive territory.
Also in focus, the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee reaffirmed its commitment to keeping interest rates low at least through late 2014. At an afternoon press conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he wouldn’t hesitate to support the economy with more easing, if need be.
