Melly Alazraki
Toronto, Canada - http://
Before the bell: Stocks futures steady ahead of GDP, housing data
U.S. stock futures were mixed Tuesday morning, trading in a tight range after snapping a three-day losing streak Monday with a strong rally. This morning, investors await a slew of economic reports as they digest recent tech earnings and more bank news.Stronger-than-expected home sales data, as well as rising commodity prices and a weak dollar, helped fuel markets Monday, which closed at least 1.3% higher.
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So long peak oil, here comes peak uranium
We all got used to hearing about peak oil, especially after a whistleblower recently alleged that the International Energy Agency has downplayed a looming oil shortage to appease the U.S. and prevent panic buying. What we haven't heard much about is the looming uranium shortage. Last week, Michael Dittmar, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, said that the world is running out of uranium and nobody seems to have noticed. The International Atomic Energy Agency forecast last year said that power generated from nuclear plants could double by 2030 as governments look to alternative energy sources. So while there is great investment in nuclear power, uranium is not plentiful.
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Before the bell: Stock futures higher as gold sets another record, dollar slumps
U.S. stock futures rose Monday morning as investors reacted to rising commodity prices, including a new record for gold, and the dollar's retreat. Further, economists expect job losses to peak in the first quarter. It seems Wall Street is about to join the world markets rally.The U.S. dollar fell against the euro and the yen Monday, following some escalating tensions with Iran and after Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the central bank should continue its asset-buying program beyond its current cut-off date. The Dollar Index fell for the first time in three days. What's more, forecasters predict that it will continue sliding, even when the Fed begins to raise interest rates based on supply and demand forces.
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Before the bell: Futures lower on Dell's earnings, ECB move
U.S. stock futures fell Friday morning, indicating continued weakness in the stock market. Dell's worse-than-expected earnings reported late Thursday are putting pressure on equities as a whole and technology shares in particular. Investors may be moving toward safer securities in the absence of confidence in the strength of the sector, which has already stumbled the last couple of days.On Thursday, stocks fell across the board: the Dow industrials were down 0.9%, the S&P 500 declined 1.3% and the Nasdaq composite skidded 1.7%, following an analyst downgrade of semiconductors. This put further pressure on a sector that was already reeling from earnings the day before. Economic reports didn't help to increase investors' confidence Thursday.
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SocGen's proposed portfolio for a global economic collapse
French bank Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible "global economic collapse" over the next two years, The Telegraph reports.
In a 68-page report titled "Worst-Case Debt Scenario," SocGen explains that the rescue packages over the past year have merely transferred private liabilities onto government shoulders, creating a fresh set of problems. Debt levels, public or private, are too high as a share of GDP. The deleveraging process will take years.
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Before the bell: Futures lower on economic concerns; retail, tech in focus
U.S. stock futures declined Thursday morning, pointing to a lower start on Wall Street as investors started weighing the possibility that stocks have run up too far and too fast ahead of the economy -- the economic recovery may not be as robust. The retail sector is in focus with several retailers reporting earnings. The tech sector could also experience pressure.On Wednesday, stocks ended lower with technology shares leading the decline, and the Nasdaq composite down nearly half a percent. Results from Salesforce.com (CRM) and Autodesk (ADSK) weighed on the sector as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Microsoft (MSFT) were among the leading decliners in the Dow.
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures lower on economic concerns; retail, tech in focus
Before the bell: Futures fall after housing, inflation data
U.S. stock futures edged higher Wednesday morning, a little above the 13-month highs they reached Tuesday, as investors await key data figures, including consumer prices and housing starts. As traders take a breather from the recent runup in stocks, the same trends that pushed markets higher on Tuesday remain: the dollar dropped and commodities soared, driving mining stocks higher in overseas markets. [Update 8:30 a.m.: October housing starts were down 30% from last year, the weakest since April. CPI rose 0.3% in October on higher energy, car prices. At first glance, these figures may affect the mood negatively. 8:35 a.m.: Stock market futures are declining, indicating a lower start.]
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures fall after housing, inflation data
Before the bell: Futures edge lower ahead of inflation data
U.S. stock futures edged lower Tuesday morning following yet another strong rally on Monday. This morning, investors await some economic data due out before the opening bell, including an inflation gauge and a housing indicator. The housing market is further in focus with Home Depot's earnings report.
On Monday, stock markets closed about 1.4% higher across the board after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke didn't indicate a change in the Fed's policy any time soon to support the dollar. In fact, as the U.S. economy remains weak and unemployment keeps rising, the Fed will likely extend its low interest rate policy longer. He did mention the central bank policy will ensure that the "dollar is strong." The dollar edged higher from its 15-month lows following Bernanke's speech.
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Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of retail sales data
U.S. stock futures followed global markets higher Monday morning as Japan announced its economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace and governments around the world said they would maintain their stimulus policies. Investors are also awaiting a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, GM's first earnings report since emerging from bankruptcy, as well as more economic data, including retail sales and manufacturing. Japan's gross domestic product grew at an annual pace of 4.8% in the third quarter, its largest expansion in more than two years. This was higher than economists' 2.6% projection. The world's second largest economy relies heavily on exports and demand at home and overseas improved, indicating its trading partners are also recovering.
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of retail sales data
Before the bell: Stock futures higher ahead of consumer sentiment, trade gap data
U.S. stock futures were higher Friday morning indicating Wall Street, after taking a two-day rest from its drive upward, was ready to rebound. While investors await several economic releases, including trade balance and consumer sentiment, Walt-Disney's better-than-expected results has helped sentiment.On Thursday, U.S. stocks declined, after crude inventories were reported higher than expected, dragging down oil prices, oil companies and the markets. Investors also questioned the sustainability of the recent rally, driving the Dow industrials down nearly 100 points.
Continue reading Before the bell: Stock futures higher ahead of consumer sentiment, trade gap data
Before the bell: Stocks to open lower despite Wal-Mart's beat
U.S. stock futures were lower Thursday morning after the Dow industrials hit yet another 13-month high on Wednesday, but the S&P 500 couldn't close above the 1,100 level. Even though Wal-Mart beat earnings and improved its outlook, futures declined as investors await weekly jobs data.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) posted third-quarter profit of 84 cents a share, above Bloomberg's analyst estimates for profit of 81 cents. Wal-Mart also upped its full-year profit above estimates, but fourth quarter guidance barely matched projections. Sales grew by just 1% in the quarter. WMT shares slid over 1% in pre-market trading.
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Before the bell: Stocks ready to climb on hopes of continued low rates
U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, indicating stocks will open on an upbeat note after investors expectation that interest rates will remain low for some time increased following speeches from Federal Reserve officials. As the dollar further fell, investors turned to asset buying, pushing stocks higher.Stocks looked for direction Tuesday, finishing the day mixed and not much changed, as Wall Street took a break from a 6-day rally. Today, U.S. bond markets are closed for Veteran's Day.
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EU objects to Sun-Oracle deal
It's not the first time this happened, and likely not the last. The European Commission has objected to Oracle's (ORCL) acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) after U.S. authorities have approve the $7.4 billion deal.The issue is Sun's database product, MySQL, which European antitrust authorities fear wouldn't be developed after the acquisition since Oracle has its own database and therefore it would hurt competition in the database business. Together, the two will have quite a large share of the market, the EU contends. The U.S. authorities disagrees, saying there are enough competitors in the market and that "the merger is unlikely to be anticompetitive."
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Before the bell: Stocks ready for a lower open after reaching 13-month highs
It was to be expected. After Wall Street climbed to 13-months highs with stocks rallying over 2% just on Monday to add to last week's gains, finally U.S. stock futures edged lower Tuesday morning, indicating stocks will are poised to retreat somewhat at the open. There's not much news this morning as investors await some housing data.Deals and the Group of 20 helped sentiment Monday push stocks for their six straight higher close. Several deals in the making boosted investor confidence as did the Group of 20, which said over the weekend that it would keep economic stimulus measures in place for now. And with the Federal Reserve indicating it would keep rates low, buyers came back in droves Monday taking the Dow industrials up over 200 points.
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Before the bell: Futures climb as Wall Street eyes deals
U.S. stock futures climbed significantly higher Monday morning, pointing to a strong open on Wall Street following gains in overseas stock markets. With little in the way of economics data and earnings, investors mostly are following several potential deal news.Last week, with mostly encouraging economic data and generally better-than-expected earnings, the Dow reclaimed the 10,000 mark and remained above it despite the unemployment rate reaching 10.2%. It seems for now, the promise of a recovery and a Federal Reserve that's keeping stimulating policies are enough to boost sentiment.
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Struggling Playboy outsources business ops
J. Crew earnings preview: A strong Q3 all buttoned up?
Twitter to make acquisitions, generate revenue in 2010
