New York Manufacturing Hits Lowest Level in Past 8 Months

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Jun 15 0
Stock News

Manufacturing in New York fell sharply this month, but still had growth according to the New York Federal Reserve. The general business conditions index dropped to 2.3, well short of economists predictions of 13.

Employment also dropped slightly with the indexes for six month outlook fell to 23.1, its fifth straight monthly decline.

“This survey is very volatile month to month so we can’t extrapolate the state of the entire country’s manufacturing base from this one region but New York was one of the standouts in May that is now showing its vulnerability,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak in New York. “I’m sure we’ll see more weakness in other regions as the global economy continues to slow.”

Futures are off their highs following this news with Dow futures up 16 points, Nasdaq futures up 16.70 points and S&P 500 futures up 5.75 points.


Oil Prices Rise as OPEC Keeps Output Steady

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Jun 14 0
oil prices

Oil futures went into green territory this afternoon on news OPEC agreed to keep its collective output unchanged at 30 million barrels per day for the second half of the year. Oil prices were choppy earlier today as investors waited to hear the results from the meeting.

Some OPEC ministers at the meeting called on Saudi Arabia to cut output to support oil prices over $100/barrel.

Oil prices are currently trading about $1 higher today at $83.5. Investors will also be monitoring this weekend’s Greek elections very closely as they may have huge impacts to markets globally.


A United States of Europe Suggests EU Energy Chief

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Jun 13 0
EU

Gunther Oettinger, European Union Energy Commissioner, told CNBC today the euro zone “needs a United States of Europe” and “there is no plan B” for the euro zone. Oettinger made these comments at the 161st meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna.

Oettinger stressed the need for European leaders to act fast to contain the current debt crisis. He added, “we have to bring some concrete proposals” to the next summit of European leaders. This summit will be held on June 28-29.

Gunther Oettinger defended Angela Merkel’s handling of the debt crisis and expects her and the newly elected French president to work closely together.

Europe’s main tool to fight the current crisis has been the Emergency Financial Stability Fund (EFSF). This will soon be taken over by a more permanent solution, the European Stability Mechanism. This new tool will provide up to 500 billion euros to struggling governments once it starts on July 1.

When it comes to Greece, Oettinger said he would prefer the country stay in the EU but the decision is ultimately up to voters. He then reiterated there “there is no plan B” for the monetary union. Basically either Greece adheres to the agreements they have made, or they cannot stay in the EU.

Investors in the U.S. will be watching developments out of Europe very closely as any bad news can send the markets down big time.


Greeks Pulling Money From Banks Ahead of Vote

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Jun 13 0
Euro Bills

Ahead of second election on Sunday, Greeks are withdrawing money out of banks and stocking up on food. Bankers have said about $1 billion were leaving banks daily and retailers are seeing an increase of consumers buying non-perishable food. Other goods at stores have seen a major drop in sales as the Greek people spend any money they have on food.

The latest official poll shows the conservative New Democracy party (supports bailout) and the leftist Syriza party (wants to cancel bailout deal) running neck and neck. With the election fast approaching, publishing polls is now illegal and each party is now leaking “secret polls” showing them in the lead.

“This is nonsense,” one reputable Greek pollster said. “Our polls show the picture has not changed much since the last polls were published. Parties may be leaking these numbers on purpose to boost their standing.”

The Greek people are fearing the worst come Sunday as they pull money from financial institutions and stockpile food. The elections in Greece will have an impact across the world as investors watch the results closely.


Bernanke Calls on Policymakers to Fix Nation’s Finances

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Jun 7 0
Bernanke

Ben Bernanke testified before the Joint Economic Committee today and gave no hints on another round of QE from the Federal Reserve. He instead called for fiscal policymakers to fix the nation’s finances and stop relying on the central bank for everything.

Analysts and investors have been hoping that the Fed would either issue another round of QE or extend Operation Twist, a program of swapping short-term bonds for ones with longer duration in order to keep 10-year and 30-year bond yields low.

Bernanke gave little hints to either of these, but did reiterate the Fed will continue to monitor the economy and act when needed. “The Federal Reserve remains prepared to take action as needed to protect the U.S. financial system and economy in the event that financial stresses escalate,” Bernanke said.

While the Fed is taking a wait and see approach, other central banks around the world are taking steps to prevent economic slowdown. China’s Central Bank cut its deposit and lending interest rates by a quarter percentage point, its first cut since 2008.

Stocks have come down from their early highs, but remain in the green at midday. The Dow is up 98 points, the Nasdaq is up 6 points and the S&P 500 is up 6 points.


Greece Shakes World Markets, Gold and Oil Reeling

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May 23 0
Euro Bills

Worries that Greece could exit the euro zone which in turn could lead to other weak euro nations leaving has shaken the global markets. The Dow is currently down more than 1% and traders are flooding into U.S. Treasurys, pushing yields close to historic lows.

Commodities took a big hit today with Marc Chandler, chief currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, describing it, “Gold is getting crushed. Oil is getting crushed. It’s like risk-off everywhere…This is really soured sentiment.” He added, “There’s talk the European finance ministers have told each other to prepare for Greece’s exit.”

Gold has fallen as much as 2% today and silver as much as 3%. Oil closed at less than $90 a barrel, its lowest close since October.

Some analysts beleive that a Greek exit could cause a cascading effect with other weak EU nations leaving.

European leaders were meeting in Brussels today to discuss the current EU situation and how they may be able to fix it.

The markets want solutions and want them fast as the Dow is off 103 points, the Nasdaq is down 16 points and the S&P 500 is down 9 points.


Lowe’s Cuts Profit Outlook, Shares Down 10%

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May 21 0
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Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW) cut its fiscal-year earnings outlook as demand slowed down near the end of a usually strong quarter. This cut in outlook comes a few days after its rival, Home Depot, missed Wall Street quarterly estimates on weak demand in April.

Both of these companies saw good demand during the warmer than usual winter months which could explain why the slow down now.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW) is currently trading down 10% at $25.69 with 36.9 million sharse tarded. Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is up 1.57% today at $47.79.


Yahoo! Rises on Reports Alibaba Deal Close

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May 18 0
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Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) is on the rise today after reports that it is close to selling part of its stake in the Alibaba Group. The details of the deal has Yahoo! selling half of its 40% stake in Alibaba back to the company. Jordan Rohan, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, said Yahoo could receive an estimated $4.6 billion in cash proceeds which translates into $3.75 per share. He also noted that shareholders would back this because, “Yahoo shares become a less risky investment through this deal.”

Finally a bit of good news for Yahoo! after its CEO Scott Thompson recently stepped down due to resume padding.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is currently trading up 5.38% at $15.67. The stock is seeing above average volume today with over 20.8 million shares traded, 5 million shares more than YHOO usually trades on a daily basis. Shares of YHOO are down about $1 a share for the year, but were trading as low as $14.50 back in March.


Zynga Shares Halted as Facebook IPO Fails to Impress

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May 18 0
Stock News

Shares of Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA) were halted earlier this morning after tumbling more than 13% as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) started off shaky. Facebook’s much celebrated IPO started with a dud today after opening at $42 and then falling to $38 before recovering some. The social media giant has been single handedly moving the market today with the Dow down as much as 51 points when Facebook was at $38.

Other social media companies are also getting hit hard today with LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) down 1.69%, Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) down 6.12%, Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) down 9.73% and Renren (NASDAQ:RENN) down 10.90%.

Today’s opening of Facebook was supposed to drive markets higher as investors turned their attention away from euro zone problems and other economic worries. So far, that has not happened with the markets trading slightly negative.« Continue »


Cisco’s John Chambers Comments Has Corporate IT Focused Stocks Reeling

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May 10 0
Cisco

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is currently down more than 10% at $16.85. Cisco’s drop comes as the company forecasted profits below what the Street was expecting.

It was Chief Executive John Chambers’ comments that had everyone talking today. Chambers warned of a “cautious IT spending environment.” This comment sent companies focused on corporate IT lower. Stocks such as Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:JNPR) and NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) both fell more than 5%.« Continue »


Stocks Recover After Multiple Down Days Following Euro Elections

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May 10 0
Stock Market News

Stocks are trading higher this afternoon thanks to a slightly better than expected jobless claims report. The Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell slightly last week to a seasonally adjusted 367,000. Analysts were expecting a slight uptick to 369,000.

Other domestic economic news include the U.S. trade deficit widening in March to $51.8 million and import prices falling 0.5%. Analysts were expecting the deficit to be closer to $50 billion.

In Europe, markets there closed higher as traders hope that Greek leaders could form a coalition government. These talks are still ongoing and should they fail, the country would likely be a technocratic government until new elections were held.« Continue »


Elections in Europe Bring Uncertainty Back to Markets

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May 7 0
Market News

News out of Europe is looking dire as weekend elections in Greece and France threw out governments who supported failing austerity policies in both countries. Socialist Francois Hollande defeated French President Nicolas Sarkozy while Greek elections saw fringe parties gain many seats in parliament.

The winners of the elections have vowed to put the needs of their people first, which could mean doing away with austerity measures their former leaders enacted as part of a solution to the euro zone debt crisis. This has left many investors uneasy about the future of the euro zone, but surprisingly the markets have bounced from their lows and are currently flat or slightly positive.« Continue »


Chrysler Recalls Some Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s

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May 7 0
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Potential problems in these cars’ electrical stability control and anti-lock braking systems initiated the recall. About 127,350 current models have been recalled according to the company and U.S. safety regulators.

Chrysler has said it is not aware of any injuries or crashes due to these issues. According to a filing, a fuse in the power distribution center in the vehicles may overheat causing loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.« Continue »


$OTT Chart

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Apr 23 0

Otelco Inc. provides a range of telecommunications services on a retail and wholesale basis. These services include local and long distance calling; network access to and from its customers; data transport; digital high-speed and dial-up Internet access; cable, satellite and Internet protocol television; wireless, and other telephone related services. The principal markets for these services are residential and business customers residing in and adjacent to the exchanges the Company serves in Alabama, Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, and West Virginia. In addition, the Company serves business customers throughout Maine and New Hampshire and provides dial-up Internet service throughout the states of Maine and Missouri. The Company offers various communications services that are sold to customers.

The Company received shocking information of non-renewal of their contract with Time Warner to provide network connections. This contract accounted for 11.7% of OTT’s revenues. To make things worse, the Company suspended dividend.

It is no surprise that investors dumped the stock like it was hot. We will see if this stock will continue dropping, or bounce off these levels as investors learn more about the direction of the Company in the near future. Major investors hope that this stock does not become too cheap!« Continue »