Lot of poeple feel that way.
KCG: THE LOOK…
April 25th, 2014
U.S. stock-index futures declined, indicating that equities will pare their second week of gains,
as Secretary of State John Kerry warned of costs to Russia’s economy unless it eases tensions in Ukraine.
Ford Motor Co. slipped 2 percent in early New York trading after posting earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates. Amazon.com Inc. dropped 2.1 percent after predicting a loss in the current quarter. Microsoft Corp. climbed 1.4 percent after posting quarterly profit that exceeded projections. Starbucks
Corp. added 1.6 percent after it forecast full-year earnings that beat estimates.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June dropped 0.4 percent to 1,866.5 at 7:34 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark has advanced 0.7 percent this week as companies from Apple Inc. to Netflix Inc. reported earnings that beat estimates. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts decreased 70
points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,361 today.
“The situation in Ukraine seems to be getting more tense, making investors nervous,” said Jacques Porta, who helps oversee $780 million at Ofi Gestion Privee in Paris. “A war would be a disaster for everybody. I think they will find a deal. With the U.S. earnings season, we’re seeing some good surprises.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed to meet commitments made at a meeting in Geneva a week ago to avoid an escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, Kerry said in Washington late yesterday. President Barack Obama plans to call European leaders today to discuss sanctions, following the resumption of
military drills by Russian troops along the country’s border with Ukraine.
“If Russia continues in this direction, it will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake,” Kerry said. “The window to change course is closing. If Russia chooses the path of de-escalation, the international community –- all of us –- will welcome it. If Russia does not, the world will make sure that the cost for Russia will only grow.”
European stocks fell, paring their fifth weekly gain in six weeks, as companies from Neste Oil Oyj
to Sandvik AB posted quarterly earnings that missed estimates and tensions escalated between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also dropped.
Neste Oil slid 5.8 percent, leading losses on the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index, after also lowering its 2014 profit forecast. Sandvik lost 3.5 percent. Deutsche Bank AG declined 2.2 percent after a report that it may announce a capital increase. Electrolux AB rallied the most in 4 1/2 years after
posting earnings that beat estimates and increasing its forecast for European demand growth.
The Stoxx 600 slipped 0.5 percent to 334.49 at 1:02 p.m. in London. The gauge is heading for a weekly advance of 0.6 percent amid increased mergers-and-acquisitions activity. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid 0.3 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index retreated 0.3 percent.
• Support:1871, 1863, 1850
• Resistance:1885, 1891, 1905
Facebook Inc. is showing the kind of accelerating revenue growth that Apple Inc. did three years earlier, which may help explain why the shares of the world’s largest social network failed to sustain gains yesterday.
The CHART OF THE DAY compares Facebook’s quarterly sales increases since the start of last year with adjusted revenue at Apple, the maker of iPhones and iPad tablet computers, from the first quarter of fiscal 2010 onward.
Apple’s sales growth peaked at 83 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2011 after accelerating for six straight quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company, based in Cupertino, California, benefited from surging demand for iPhones and the introduction of the iPad.
Facebook is going through a similar phase. Revenue at the Menlo Park, California-based company climbed 72 percent during the first quarter, up from 63 percent three months earlier. The increase was the fourth in a row. Sales of advertising aimed at iPhones, iPads and other mobile devices spurred the growth.
“Momentum continues to be undeniable strong,” Evan Wilson, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities LLC in Portland, Oregon, wrote yesterday in a report. Yet sustaining the pace in the second half will be a “big test,” he added, as year-ago results get tougher to beat.
Wilson is one of nine analysts with a hold rating or an equivalent on Facebook, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stock has 43 buy recommendations. Shares of Facebook closed 0.8 percent lower yesterday after rising as much as 3.7 percent during the day.
Markets being hit hard today:
NSADAQ -66
S&P -15
DJIA -145
AMZN -33
NFLZ -15
Everything on my screen is red except VIX and commodities
What do you think of this Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (known as FATCA)? I’ve seen some on this before and wondered what the expat community thought of it.
The U.S. dollar will officially collapse on 1 July 2014 due to the implementation of H.R. 2847.
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