U.S. Stock Futures news today february 14 2013

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U.S. Stock Futures news today february 14 2013 : A better-than-expected reading on the labor market helped push stock futures off the morning's lows, but stocks remained set to open lower after a weak reading on the European economy jarred investors.

Less than 60 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 38 points, or 0.3%, to 13920. Standard & Poor's 500-stock index futures lost three points, or 0.2%, to 1514 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell seven points, or 0.2%, to 2763.

Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.

Initial claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected during the latest week from the previous week, to 341,000. Economists expected 360,000 new claims.

H.J. Heinz soared 20% in premarket trading after the company agreed to be acquired by an investment group, including Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital in a deal valued at $28 billion, including debt. Berkshire's Class B shares ticked up 0.2%.

Fellow food companies Kraft Foods Group, General Mills and Campbell Soup also advanced, tacking on 1.6%, 0.8% and 1.9%, respectively.

Dow component Cisco Systems advanced 0.2% after the networking company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings but provided a somewhat downbeat outlook amid continued economic weakness in Europe and uncertainty surrounding government spending.

European markets were broadly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 shedding 0.3%, after euro-zone gross domestic product contracted 0.6% in the fourth quarter, worse than expectations of a 0.4% decline. The bloc's two largest economies, Germany and France, also shrank by more than expected. Germany's DAX index dropped 0.9% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.5%.

Asian markets generally rose as the Bank of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged and said the economy appeared to have stopped weakening. That helped offset data showing Japan's GDP contracted slightly in the fourth quarter, versus expectations of a slight increase.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which reopened after an extended holiday weekend, rose 0.9%. Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Crude-oil futures rose 0.2% to $97.21 a barrel, while gold futures declined 0.1% to $1,642.90 a troy ounce. The dollar advanced against the euro and nudged higher against the yen. Yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell to 2.049% as prices rose.

In other corporate news, Constellation Brands surged 32% after agreeing with rival Anheuser-Busch InBev on revised terms of A-B InBev's divestiture of Grupo Modelo's U.S. assets, in which Constellation will be granted perpetual rights for the Corona and Modelo beer brands in the U.S. for $2.9 billion. Constellation will also buy the rest of Crown Imports it doesn't already own for $1.85 billion.

US Airways Group added 3% after the air carrier and the parent of American Airlines formally announced merger plans, which are expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2013.

Artio Global Investors climbed 33% after agreeing to be acquired by the U.K.'s Aberdeen Asset Management for $175 million.

Best Buy shed 0.7%. The shares lost 2% on Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal reported just before the closing bell that the electronics retailer's founder, Richard Schulze, may cancel his plans to take the company private, and may instead line up investors to take a minority stake.

PepsiCo gained 1.9% after the beverage and snack giant reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue and announced a 5.6% increase in its quarterly dividend.

Angie's List surged 29% after the reviews-based website reported a fourth-quarter profit, while analysts were anticipating a loss, and provided a first-quarter revenue outlook that was above current projections.

Stamps.com slumped 20% after the web-based postage services company's fourth-quarter earnings topped estimates, but revenue and its 2013 outlook missed forecasts.

Zillow climbed 8.3% after the real-estate website reported a fourth-quarter profit versus, versus expectations of a breakeven quarter, along with better-than-expected revenue.
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advantages to using bond funds than individual bonds

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advantages to using bond funds than individual bonds : Returns on bonds have been strong and steady over the past couple of years, and investors have flooded cash into bond mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.

From January through November of last year, $346 billion flowed into bond funds and ETFs, while just $11 billion went into stock funds, according to the Wall Street Journal. There’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation here: money flows into bonds because of good performance, and good bond performance comes at least partly from high demand from investors.
But some bond experts are starting to question how long the good times can last. Barron’s reported that Loomis Sayles bond fund manager Dan Fuss felt the bond market was overbought and had “very high” risk. CNBC cited a note Bank of America credit strategist Hans Mikkelsen wrote to clients about the risk of “a disorderly rotation out of bonds—characterized by higher interest rates and wider credit spreads.”

Of course no one can know for sure what the future holds, but we do know that bond markets, like stock markets, do change over time, and what works in one market environment may not work in future markets.

Some investors see changing markets as a problem, but for active investors, changing markets can be an opportunity. Active investors can respond to changing markets. If foreign stock markets lag, they can move into better-performing domestic stocks. If growth is out of favor, active investors can turn to value stocks.

The same holds true for fixed-income. If interest rates rise, active fixed-income investors could invest in short-term bonds, which tend to remain fairly stable in rising rate environments, or use floating rate funds, which are more insulated from the negative impact of rising rates.  If credit conditions deteriorated, active investors could move to very high quality bonds, including Treasurys. If bond prices across the board were hit, active investors could even opt to go to cash.

I believe the most effective way for investors to actively manage their portfolios is to use mutual and exchange traded funds. Funds make it easy to move from one area of the market into another. This is especially true of bond funds.

Considering the headwinds facing the bond market, I think there are more advantages to using bond funds than individual bonds. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Diversification: Creating a truly diversified portfolio of individual bonds would require a portfolio upwards of $1 million. But investors can buy a diversified portfolio of bond funds with a few thousand dollars. Another benefit is that bond funds spread out their positions over many individual issues, and this can reduce credit (default) risk.  Most individual bond investors hold less than ten bonds in their portfolio. This may not be very risky when defaults are few and far between, but if the economy falters and more companies start to default on their debt, there could be greater danger in a homemade portfolio of individual bonds.


2. Expert Research: Most investors don’t check on companies’ financial health before buying their bonds. Instead they turn to rating agencies and simply buy a bond rated Aaa by Moody or AAA by Standard and Poor’s. But these ratings may not always be reliable, as the debt crisis of 2008 made painfully apparent. Mutual fund companies really earn their fees by doing the research on companies before they buy their bonds. This is particularly valuable when dealing with lower-quality bonds issued by smaller companies. Often companies don’t pay to have the ratings agencies evaluate their debt, so fund managers turn to their own team of analysts to evaluate risk.

3. Tracking Performance: Assessing the returns of a group of individual bonds can be difficult, because the income is not reinvested and some bond issues may not be readily priced. You’re more likely to pay attention to total return on your bond fund and ETF holdings—and more likely to notice when part of your portfolio isn’t working.

4. Access to Different Areas of the Bond Market: Investors who hold individual bonds don’t usually have access to foreign or emerging market bonds, but bond funds make it easy for investors to invest in niche areas like high yield corporate bonds, and global bonds, particularly those of emerging market governments. These areas are likely to become increasingly important sources of returns for fixed-income investors.

Emerging market economies issue about 10% of the world’s sovereign debt (bonds issued by governments), yet they make up about 40% of the world’s GDP. That puts them (as a group) in a good position to re-pay their debt. Bank loans are another type of security best accessed through mutual funds. Floating-rate funds are pools of bank loans made to companies, and the interest rates on those loans adjust as interest rates change. This can make them potentially appealing in a rising rate environment.

5. Liquidity: Perhaps the most important feature of bond funds versus individual issues is liquidity—the ability to exit a particular asset quickly and efficiently. If volatility increases and all areas of the bond market start to decline, active fixed-income investors can go to cash. By dumping bond funds and moving to the sidelines, fund investors make falling bond prices the fund manager’s problem. It’s much easier to sell shares of a bond fund than to unwind a portfolio of individual bonds. After all, a mutual fund is always required to buy back your shares but no one is required to buy back your individual bond.

These are just some of reasons are why I invest my fixed-income portfolios in funds and ETFs, rather than individual issues. As yields rose in January, I reduced my exposure to intermediate-term bonds in favor of bond funds like PIMCO Income (PONDX) and Osterweis Strategic Income (OSTIX), which have a broader spectrum of fixed-income that they can invest in.

PIMCO Income is weighted toward mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, but also holds about 13% in emerging market bonds and 5% in floating-rate bank loans.

Osterweis Strategic Income has more credit risk but lower interest-rate risk (due to shorter average duration) than some intermediate-term bond funds. OSTIX also holds about 18% cash because the fund’s managers would rather wait for the bonds they like to reach the prices they perceive to be attractive before buying them. These funds offer a little bit higher yield, and a little lower duration so they offer a little more protection in case interest rates were to rise. (source www.forbes.co )
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Alcoa Inc.earnings estimates report january 8 2013

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Alcoa Inc.earnings estimates report january 8 2013 :  Alcoa Inc. ( AA ) is scheduled to report its fourth quarter and full-year 2012 results after the market closes on Tuesday, January 8. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for the quarter is 7 cents per share, representing a significant year-over-year estimated decline of 316.67%. For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is 24 cents per share, representing an estimated year-over-year decline of 66.02%. With respect to earnings surprises, Alcoa has delivered an average negative earnings surprise of 25% over the trailing four quarters, implying that it has missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by that measure.
Third Quarter Flashback
Alcoa reported a loss in the third quarter of 2012, hurt by a hefty charge associated with environmental remediation and legal settlement and lower aluminum pricing. The company posted a loss of $143 million or 13 cents per share in the quarter compared to a profit of $172 million or 15 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time special items (including a $175 million charge mainly related to environmental remediation of the Grasse River and the settlement of a civil lawsuit against Aluminum Bahrain), Alcoa earned $32 million or 3 cents per share in the quarter. Analysts polled by Zacks were expecting the company to report break-even results. The company recorded a $40 million charge associated with the legal settlement in the quarter.

Revenues decreased 9.1% year over year and 2.2% sequentially to $5,833 million, but were ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,565 million. Alcoa said that aluminum prices dropped 17% year over year and 5% sequentially in the third quarter.

Alcoa lowered its global aluminum demand forecast for 2012 to 6% from its earlier expectation of 7%, owing to the slowdown in China. The company, however, expects the aluminum market to double in 2020 from the 2010 levels as the market is already ahead of the required 6.5% compound annual growth rate.

Estimate Revisions Trend

Agreement
In the past 30 days, 2 analysts (out of 14) have revised their estimates upward while 5 have decreased their estimates for the fourth quarter. Over the last 7 days, none of the analysts raised their estimates while one downward revision was witnessed.

A similar trend is seen for full-year 2012 with 2 analysts (out of 15) having made upward revisions in the past 30 days while 6 moving in the opposite direction. While none of the analysts made any upward revision over the last 7 days, one of them moved downward.

Magnitude
Given the relative lack of movements, estimate for the fourth quarter has been static over the past week. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter has been reduced by a penny to 7 cents per share in the last 30 days.

For full-year 2012, estimate decreased by a penny to 24 cents per share over the past week and has reduced by 2 cents over the past month.

Our View   
We believe that Alcoa's outlook depends on the uncertainties in the aluminum market. In addition, we remain concerned about the volatile aluminum pricing and rising raw material costs. We expect rising energy and raw material (especially caustic soda) costs to continue constrain margin.

Alcoa is pursuing strategies to move down its cost curves in its upstream businesses, and record profitability in its midstream and downstream businesses. In conjunction with the revenue targets, management is committed to improving margins that will exceed historical levels in the midstream and downstream operations. The company aims to achieve these goals by optimizing its portfolio and restructuring its high-cost assets.

The company trimmed its aluminum demand forecast for 2012 due to slowdown in China. Alcoa is divesting underperforming assets through its restructuring program and is aggressively pursuing cost-cutting actions. Moving ahead, higher demand in the aerospace and automotive markets is expected to drive results. However, weakness across building and construction and commercial transportation markets is expected to continue into the fourth quarter.

Alcoa faces stiff competition from Aluminum Corporation of China Limited ( ACH ) and Rio Tinto plc. ( RIO ). We currently have a long-term Neutral recommendation on Alcoa, which is in agreement with a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold). 

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Apple stock prices forecast 2016

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Apple stock prices forecast 2016, profit forecast,  profit margins ; Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)’s investors will soon have to adjust to the reality of the company transforming into a high-value but low growth consume brand from being a hyper-growth story, according to an analyst who has published a 100-page overview of the company.
Sanford Bernstein’s analyst Toni Sacconaghi released his report about two weeks back and on Thursday released a summary of the highlights of the report.

Sacconaghi has cut his target for Apple’s stock to $750 from$800 observing that the sales of Apple will slow down over the next three years. For fiscal 2013, he has also reduced his profit forecast to $49.41 a share from $50.57 a share.

Apple is still in a high growth phase at the moment, but analysts are generally agreed that it is on the verge of middle age and is likely to slow down soon.

Last year it became the most valuable company and currently it market cap is at around $510 million. Its share price reached a peak at the time of the launch of its iPhone 5 but since then has slid by more than fifth from the record $705.07 it had hit in September.

Shrinking profit margins are a major worry for investors as well as the company’s ability to keep innovating and surprising its customers every time.

The iPhone 5 did sell in record numbers but critics agreed that there was nothing much to the phone in terms of novelty, while applications like the maps which were faulty detracted from the phone’s popularity.

The iPhone accounts for nearly half the revenues that the company generates and nearly all of its profit.

So what is really going on in Apple? What are the reasons for this Wall Street darling losing favor to such a degree? Where is this stock ultimately heading in regards to a price target? These are some of the things that I am seeing with the fundamentals of the Apple business model.

Philippines peso exchange rate forecast 2013

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Philippines peso exchange rate forecast 2013, Philippines peso to US Dollar 2013 : The peso closed at 41.05 against the US dollar at the last trading day of 2012, gaining nearly 7 percent since the start of the year. The peso was the second fastest appreciating Asian currency against the dollar last year next only to the Korean won which rose by 7.17 percent.

In Monday's trading, the peso closed at P40.89 to $1. The rise of the peso has made Philippine-made goods more expensive in dollar terms and less competitive in the global market.
With this development in the local bourse, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said Monday that the Philippine economy will likely hit the high end of its growth rate target in 2012 and would maintain a "high growth" in 2013.

"Hitting the 5-6 percent growth target for 2012 is no big deal, " Balisacan said, adding that the economy was likely to have expanded by about 6.5 percent last year.

For the fourth quarter of 2012, he said the expansion of the gross domestic product (GDP) would definitely be higher than 4.5 percent, which was the minimum required for the Philippines to hit the higher end of the target for 2012.

Analysts here said sustained investors' appetite for blue chips has pushed all the PSE indexes.

"A lot of investors are positive and very optimistic of the nation's prospects this year and some stocks are catching up in terms of valuation," Mark Canizares, head of equities at Manulife Philippines, was quoted by reports as saying.

Monetary authorities have been successful in keeping inflation rate at bay with the December rate at 2.9 percent, bringing the average pace of the price movement to 3.2 percent, within the lower end of the range target of between 3.0 percent and 5.0 percent.

The country's foreign exchange reserves also hit an all-time high of $84.25 billion at the close of 2012, buoyed by the dollar purchases of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country's central bank, which were meant to temper what could have been a sharp appreciation of the Philippine peso.

The yearend gross international reserves (GIR) were enough to cover a year of the country's import requirements and were nearly six times the combined foreign currency-denominated debts of the government and private entities maturing within a year.

The latest amount of GIR was up by about 12 percent from $75.30 billion in the previous year.

The BSP admitted that it had been buying dollars from the market to prevent a steep rise in the value of the peso against the US dollar.

Officials said that under its policy, the BSP allowed the exchange rate to be generally determined by the market, but intervened through currency trading in cases of significant volatility pressures. They said the sharp and sudden rise or fall of the peso was disruptive to businesses and to the economy.

The appreciation of the local currency has also reduced the peso value of the dollar remittances sent by overseas Filipinos.

Meanwhile, in its latest global report, the Washington D.C. based Institute of International Finance (IIF) said that among emerging economies in Asia, the Philippines will continue to remain second only to that of China this year.

The IIF also said that in three years to 2014, yearly domestic growth of the Philippines would be above 6 percent.

The think tank said that the country's gross domestic product would follow through with a growth rate of 6.8 percent next year after the latest forecast of 6.5 percent for 2012.

In 2014, the IIF predicts that the Philippine economy will grow slower at 6.2 percent, to be overtaken by India and Indonesia for second and third place after China.   "The Philippines stands out for its strong growth this year," the IIF said. "Real GDP was 7.1 percent greater in the third quarter than a year earlier - up from 6.2 percent in the first half, and 3.9 percent for 2011."

The IIF also noted that remittances from overseas Filipino workers reached $17.3 billion in the first nine months of 2012, which was 5.7 percent higher year-on-year. On the local currency, the IIF said that the peso is expected to trade at 40.80 against the US dollar in 2013. The local currency will be much stronger in 2014 when it is expected to trade at a round 40 against the US dollar, the IIF said.

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Gasoline prices forecast winter 2013

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Gasoline prices forecast winter 2013, gas price estimates summer 2013, average gas prices 2013, expects gas prices 2013,  injections in 2013 : investment bank Goldman Sachs on Monday cut its 2013 US natural gas price forecast to $3.75/MMBtu form $4.25/MMBtu, saying mild winter weather across the US has failed to put a serious dent in storage levels.

The bank said higher levels of coal-to-gas switching in the power sector would be needed to avoid approaching storage capacity by the end of the 2013 injection season, meaning that "natural gas will need to price lower."
"We now expect 2.4 Bcf/d of coal-to-gas switching will be needed on average in 2013 to reach comfortable inventory levels of 3.85 Tcf by the end of the summer, up from 2.1 Bcf/d previously," Goldman said.

Goldman said it expects gas prices to average $3.25/MMBtu in the first quarter, $3.75/MMBtu in the second quarter, $3.75/MMBtu in the third and $4.25/MMBtu in the fourth. It predicted the average price in 2014 will be $4.25/MMBtu.

The bank said its current 2013 price outlook is "bullish" relative to the average forward curve price of $3.50/MMBtu.

Also on Monday, Raymond James and Jefferies & Co. cut their gas price estimates, citing mild December temperatures and forecasts calling for normal to above-normal temperatures across key eastern US market areas.

Raymond James said that while gas prices could still rally on a January-February cold snap, it is cutting its first and second quarter 2013 estimates by 75 cents to $3.50/Mcf and $3/Mcf respectively.

Jefferies raised its winter exit inventory estimate by 265 Bcf to 2.1 Tcf and cut its first-quarter price forecast to $3.60/Mcf from $3.75.

Both Raymond James and Jefferies cut their 2013 price forecasts by 50 cents to $3.25/Mcf and 4 cents to $3.40/Mcf, respectively.

Raymond James also released its initial 2014 gas price forecast of $3.75/Mcf and maintained its long-term gas price forecast of $4.25/Mcf.

Both analysts also released preliminary estimates for storage at the end of the injection season, which traditionally ends November 1, with estimates of 3.665 Tcf at Jefferies and 4 Tcf from Raymond James.

Jefferies estimated that the pace of injections in 2013 will be 24% above last year, assuming normal summer temperatures. That assumption, however, may miss the mark given that that past three summers wee at least 20% warmer than normal, Jefferies said.

The companies also cited continued growth in gas production because of associated gas output from oil wells, a reversal of price-related shut-ins of early last year and the expectation of additional pipeline capacity in the Marcellus Shale.

Jefferies focused on the improving hydro/nuclear output, while also mentioning that coal will keep any gas rallies in check.

"Gas has sustained a 20%+ market share in generation of power, which is similar to last year but above the mid-teens average of the last decade," Jefferies said. "Low hydro and nuclear output have boosted gas demand. However, precipitation and snowpack levels in the Rockies are rapidly improving as is nuclear operating rates."
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Alcoa Inc earning per share $0.06 revenues of $5.9 billion

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stock market today - Alcoa Inc earning per share  $0.06 revenues of $5.9 billion , Alcoa Inc earning per share report jan 8 2013 : Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) released its earnings report today, Tuesday January 8, after the market closed. The company announced earnings per share of $0.06, and revenues of $5.9 billion. The company’s result are often used by investors as a proxy for all industrial stocks because its products have wide industry demand, and its earnings are released early in the season. The firm beat estimates of its revenue, and its earnings per share was in line.Today’s earnings come in the midst of a gripping earnings season. Investors are nervous about the supposed recovery in the US economy, and its effect on corporate earnings. Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) shares closed today at $9.13 up 0.33%. After market trading, based on the firm’s earnings and the coming conference call, have not made any real change to the stocks prices of yet.

The company earned $0.72 per share for the full year 2011. The firm had revenue of $25 billion in the same year. The 2011 revenues came in more than 18% over 2010 revenues. This years results are disappointing in comparison.

Analysts are recommending, overall, that investors hold onto Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) shares. The firm’s stock is not expected to move much in the future, but if economic growth does return in a persuasive way, the company’s earnings are expected to take off. Alcoa shares didn’t change much in the course of 2012. The firm’s stock price finished just 0.82% below where it started the year.

Analysts were expecting Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) to earn around 6 cents per share and bring in revenue of around $5.64 billion. The company is not known for big surprises, but it can still surprise at times. The firms’ third quarter numbers came in at 3 cents. Analysts had forecast earnings per share of $0.

In the days leading up to the announcement of fourth quarter results, Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) saw its stock price trend upward. In the last month, the stock’s price has increased by just over 7%. More than 5% of that increase has come in the last five days.

The repercussions of the Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) earnings are usually expected to weigh heavily on the other industrial stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, DJIA. Alcoa produces a commodity aluminum, which is widely used in many markets. This, coupled with its announcement of earnings early in the season, make today’s numbers a thermometer for the rest of that index.

The most important things to keep track of f studying Alcoa are the price of aluminum, the expected price of aluminum, and the company’s restructuring and cost cutting progress. If the world economy swings majorly upward, or downward, the company’s demand will follow.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) had the benefit of high aluminum prices during the fourth quarter of 2012, that is responsible for a bump in the firm’s revenue this time around. Those pries may drop this year, due to rising inventories. 2013 could be a tough one for Alcoa.

Earnings season has officially started with the release of the Alcoa numbers, the next few weeks are going to be jam packed with figures for investors, with the really big announcements beginning next week.
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asian stock market january 9 2013

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asian stock market january 9 2013, Nikkei stock ; Asian shares inched up on Wednesday but the upside was limited as investors waited warily for corporate earnings season to kick off in full force, preferring in the meantime to book profits from a sharp rally at the start of the year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.1 percent.
Australian shares .AXJO rose 0.2 percent, breaking a three-day losing streak as top banks and supermarkets rose ahead of data expected to show retail sales recovered some strength before Christmas.

South Korean shares .KS11 opened up 0.2 percent. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) launched the local earnings season on Tuesday by announcing a better-than-expected estimated fourth-quarter operating profit.

"The main index is seen rangebound after steadily declining since last week's rapid gains as caution rules before fourth-quarter earnings," Kim Soon-young, an analyst at IBK Securities, said of Seoul shares.

Global shares fell and bond prices rose on Tuesday, with investors cautious ahead of a U.S. earnings season expected to show sluggish growth in quarterly corporate profits.

U.S. earnings season began on Tuesday with Alcoa Inc (AA.N), the largest aluminum producer in the U.S., reporting a fourth-quarter profit of $242 million, in line with expectations. Investors tend to scrutinize Alcoa's results to gauge overall economic health as the company's aluminum products are used in the automotive, appliance and airline industries. read more Alcoa In earnings report

U.S. corporate profits are expected to be higher than the third quarter's lackluster results, but analysts' estimates are down sharply from where they were in October.

Japan's benchmark , average .N225 opened down 1 percent, hit by the yen's pause from its steady fall over the past two months which sent it down about 12 percent against the dollar. The Nikkei had risen about 21 percent in the same period.
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HDFC Bank, Axis Bank Expected 2013-2015

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HDFC Bank, Axis Bank Expected 2013-2015, earnings estimate 2013, stock rating prices target 2013-2015, HDFC Bank eps forecast 2013, Axis Bank 2013  ; Macquarie, one of the leading global investment and fund management companies, says HDFC BankBSE 1.12 % and Axis BankBSE -0.07 % have potential to rally nearly 20 per cent from current levels.

The brokerage house says there is hard to find any flaw in the business model of HDFC Bank as it has above-average industry growth rate with stable margins and asset quality. It has put a 12-month price target of Rs 800 with 'outperform' rating.

Macquarie says HDFC Bank has shown impressive growth rate in segments such as commercial vehicles, gold loans, personal loans and credit cards. The bank has open 800 branches in the last 18 months, out of this nearly 70 per cent were in semi-urban and rural areas which are yet to break even.

The typical break-even period is 24 months, thus the cost-to-income ratio is expected to improve further. The brokerage house has increased fiscal year 2013 to 2015 earnings estimate by 5 to 6 per cent on the back of expected higher margins and lower credit costs.

Macquarie has upgraded Axis Bank to 'outperform' from 'neutral' with a price target of Rs 1625. The brokerage house says the stock is poised for a re-rating with the government's recent reform initiatives as the sector's asset quality has bottomed out.

Axis Bank has largest exposure to the SME sector amongst private banks. The brokerage says the sector should see a cyclical reversal in SME asset quality stress and expects slippage ratio to come down to 120 bps for the next 2 years compared to 150 bps expected for fiscal year 2013.

Macquarie has increase Axis Bank's fiscal year 2014 and 2015 earnings estimate by 15% and 11%, respectively, on account of lower credit costs and higher margins.
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Apple will to offer a cheaper iPhone 2013

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Stock  market today - Apple will to offer a cheaper iPhone 2013 : Apple is trying to decide whether it makes sense to offer a cheaper iPhone as it tries to boost sales in less-affluent countries and reclaim some of the market share lost to cheaper phones running Google's Android software, according to a published report.

Wednesday's report in The Wall Street Journal speculated that Apple could lower the iPhone's price by equipping the device with an exterior that costs less than the aluminum housing on current models.


A cheaper iPhone could come out as early as this year, or the idea could be tabled for future consideration, as has previously happened. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Journal said Apple began assessing the pros and cons of making a cheaper iPhone in 2009 and has periodically revisited the notion. Apple Inc. declined to comment to The Associated Press.

Apple so far has stuck with an approach that has stamped the iPhone as the gold standard, a device that warrants a higher price than other smartphones. Under this tack favored by Apple's late CEO, Steve Jobs, the company sells a premium-priced iPhone that has been updated annually with new features since its 2007 debut.

In an attempt to appeal to more budget-conscious consumers, Apple has been selling older models of the iPhone at discounts before phasing them out.

The latest iPhones start at $199 in the U.S., but those prices are subsidized by wireless carriers, which figure they can make up the costs through monthly service fees over the life of a two-year contract.

The unsubsidized prices start at $649. That is proving to be too much for many people looking to stay connected on the go, prompting them to snap up more affordable smartphones, including Android devices made by Samsung Electronics Co. and others. Google Inc. doesn't charge for the Android mobile operating system, making it easier for device makers to undercut the iPhone. Apple doesn't allow rivals to use the iPhone's iOS operating system at all.

Android devices accounted for 75 percent of smartphone shipments during the three months ending in September, up from 58 percent at the same time in 2011, according to the research firm IDC. The iPhone's share stood at 15 percent in September, up from 14 percent in the previous year.

Google says more than 500 million Android devices have been activated since the software's release four years ago. By comparison, Apple had sold about 271 million iPhones through last September.

Apple could fall further behind as it focuses more on markets outside the U.S. and Europe. That's because many households in some of the most promising markets, including China, can't afford iPhones at their current prices. Apple CEO Tim Cook, who took over the helm shortly before Jobs died in October 2011, is currently visiting China.

"The Western markets are saturated and Apple has to look at emerging growth markets and develop a product that meets the demands of the region and affordability," said N. Venkat Venkatraman, chairman of the Information Systems Department at Boston University's school of management.

Under Cook's leadership, Apple already has deviated from Jobs' philosophy by selling less-expensive versions of its products. Late last year, Apple introduced a smaller model of its iPad. The iPad Mini sells for $329, or about a third less than what the latest full-size iPad starts at. Even so, Apple is still charging $80 to $130 more for the iPad Mini than similar-sized tablets, including Google's Nexus 7.

Analysts are divided on whether a cheaper iPhone would be good for Apple. Some believe Apple needs to expand the choices to preserve market share and sustain revenue growth. Others fear a less-expensive iPhone would siphon sales from the premium model and diminish the company's profit margins. That same concern raised by the recent introduction of the iPad Mini is one of the reasons that Apple's stock price has fallen 26 percent from a peak reached in late September, just as the latest iPhone went on sale. Apple's stock fell $8.21 Wednesday to close at $517.10. apple stock prices forecast 2016

The iPhone and related products generated $80 billion in sales during Apple's last fiscal year, which ended in September. It accounted for more than half of the Cupertino, Calif., company's total revenue. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Reuters expected Euro zone factory output falls

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Reuters expected Euro zone factory output falls  : Euro zone factory output falls, may have hit botto Output at euro zone factories fell for the third straight month in November and against expectations of a rise, but Monday's data included some evidence to back hopes that the bloc's recession may now have bottomed.

Industrial production in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell 0.3 percent in November from the previous month, continuing its fall since the European summer, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said.


Factory output, two-thirds of which is generated by Germany, France and Italy, was also down almost 4 percent on an annual basis in the month, highlighting just how few cars, televisions and other goods like fridges Europeans have been buying at a time of record unemployment.

However, production of machinery used to make other goods, an indicator of future business, rose 0.7 percent in November from October, after two months of losses.

If production of those capital goods continues to increase, that could support business surveys and the view of the ECB that the euro zone will recover from recession in 2013 and that the economy hit bottom in the fourth quarter of last year.

Economists polled by Reuters expected a very modest rise in overall factory output in November from October, and a shallower fall on an annual basis.

"The uncertainty, the risk of a euro zone break-up was a major drag on businesses last year, but this year we are beginning to see some stabilization," said Ulrike Rondorf, an economist at Commerzbank. "We expect a recovery, especially in Germany, in the spring," she said.

The euro zone's debt and banking crisis has driven a vicious cycle of falling business consumer morale, repossessed homes and lengthening job queues that has sucked away demand for factory-made goods. Companies from Ford (F.N) to airline Iberia have announced thousands of job cuts across the European economy.

But a series of unprecedented steps, including a European Central Bank plan to buy the bonds of governments facing sharply rising borrowing costs, helped to calm a situation that threatened the viability of the common currency.

While households are yet to feel any sense of a recovery -production of durable consumer goods such as televisions fell nearly 8 percent in November compared to a year earlier - economists and policymakers see a turn in sentiment.

"The worst is behind us," David Mackie, an economist at JP Morgan said in a research note. "We believe that the euro area will exit recession in the first half of this year," he said.

Still, any recovery will likely be weak. The euro zone's economy as a whole will grow just 0.1 percent this year, the European Commission - the EU executive - forecasts. Large national economies such as Italy and Spain will not emerge from the downturn until 2014, according to the Commission.For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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why apple stock drop at at $500

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why apple stock drop at at $500 : Shares of the iPad and Mac maker closed the day at $501.75, down more than 3 percent, after spending much of the day floating in the $503 range. In the waning moments of the trading day, Apple shares had trended downward as low as $500.07 before rallying in the final five minutes.

As trading on the Nasdaq got under way this morning, Apple did very briefly hit $498.51 a few minutes after the opening. The share price had been slipping notably in premarket trading.

Apple's investors are unloading shares over news that the company has cut iPhone 5 component orders in half due to weaker-than-expected demand for its new smartphone. That came just weeks after UBS analyst Steven Milunovich cut his iPhone sales estimates by 5 million units in three 2013 quarters, saying that Apple would face increasing trouble selling both its smartphones and tablets. read Apple will to offer a cheaper iPhone 2013

Still, Milunovich isn't so worried about Apple's shares. He wrote in his research note that he expects Apple's shares to hit $700 over the next 12 months.

Over the last several months, Apple's shares have been steadily coming down. Apple's 52-week high is $705.07. At a closing price on Friday of $520.30, Apple is closer to its 52-week low of $418.66 than its high. In the last three months alone, Apple's stock has slid 17 percent.
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China stock market rose january 15 2013

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Stock market today - China stock market rose january 15 2013 : China's shares ended higher Tuesday, boosted by gains in green companies as investors continued to bet that Beijing may spend more to address the country's environmental woes after the capital city experienced its worst air pollution in recent years over the weekend.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both A and B shares, ended up 0.6% at 2325.68, extending a 3.1% rise in the previous session. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.6% to 932.55.
With a 3.7% rise in the past two sessions, analysts said the market may see some consolidation in the near term as profit-taking may kick in after the market's recent gains.

"Investor sentiment saw a turnaround Monday after Guo Shuqing's comments, but given we saw such a sharp gain in just two sessions, the market may need some pause before it can go further north," said Shanghai Securities analyst Peng Yunliang.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said Monday that China could substantially increase the quota allowed for foreign investors to invest in domestic equity markets.

In the medium term, "we expect investors to continue to favor environment protection-related stocks as well as water conservatory stocks as Beijing emphasizes air quality and upgrades of the underground water system," Mr. Peng added.

Tianjin Capital Environmental Protection Group was 10% limit-up at CNY5.36, Beijing Capital rose 5.2% to CNY4.64, and Beijing SPC Environment Protection Tech was also limit-up 10% at CNY19.56.

At the same time, concerns over rising inflation, after consumer prices in December accelerated faster than expected, may also cap any potential gains in the near term.

"After all, comments from Guo Shuqing (yesterday) only served some psychological purpose, and they didn't really change anything in market fundamentals, so we expect the market to consolidate with a downward bias in the near term," said Minsheng Securities analyst Zhang Lei.

Separately, Deutsche Bank said it remains positive on China's banks after recent group meetings with the management teams of China Construction Bank, AgBank and China Merchants Bank.

The house said profit guidance for 2012 was stronger than it had expected, given resilient net interest margin in the fourth quarter due to tight sector liquidity and improving loan pricing, recovering fee income, and largely stable asset quality.
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material psychological impact for Apple investors

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material psychological impact for Apple investors : The glossy sheen Apple (AAPL) has so brilliantly bestowed upon its iPhones and iPads is apparently wearing off its share price.

Apple stock fell well below $500 on Tuesday, shedding $200 billion in market value since peaking at more than $700 a share shortly after the launch of the iPhone 5 in September. Analysts were all over the map trying to decipher what's really going on with the world's most valuable company, even as Apple faces intense competition from rivals like Samsung, which has taken the lead in the smartphone race.

As Apple prepares for its closely watched earnings report next week, many wonder what this steady decline might mean for both Apple's future and for the people who buy and sell its shares.

"I think there's a material psychological impact here for Apple investors because there's been this aura of invincibility to the company that has now come off," said John Jackson, an analyst with IDC in Boston. "But then you could have seen this coming because it's only reasonable to expect some maturation of Apple's formula. They set a cadence of innovation and disruption for years, and now this price drop shows Apple is simply a victim of its own successive successes."

Panicking investors
Tuesday's slump, which followed a dip Monday after news reports indicated Apple was cutting parts orders for its iPhone 5 due to sagging demand, was undoubtedly a concern for institutional investors with massive holdings in Apple stock. But those investors, including pension and mutual funds with multibillion-dollar interests in Apple, may not be responsible for the stock's sharp decline.

"The big funds mostly hold; they don't play the retail game, which is buy and sell every other day," said Tim Bajarin with Creative Strategies. "And when I talk to the institutional investors that have a lot of Apple stock, they keep telling me they see Apple as a good buy and one that continues to be a good value."

Many analysts, instead, say it's the smaller retail investors who are panicking, perhaps giving up on Apple a bit too soon.

Apple's near-term fate should become much clearer Jan. 23 when the Cupertino tech giant announces its first fiscal quarter results. Many analysts, including Bajarin, expect the company to surprise those investors who have jettisoned Apple shares in recent months over concerns about how swiftly smartphone rivals have robbed market share from the iPhone-maker.

"We have every indication that both the iPhone and iPad Mini continue to be in strong demand going into the current quarter," Bajarin said.

Apple this week declined to comment on reports it was cutting orders of iPhone screens and other components, news attributed to anonymous sources that helped pull Apple shares down dramatically in recent days.

Word that Apple had halved its original order of 65 million iPhone 5 screens due to weak demand, as reported in both a Japanese daily newswire and The Wall Street Journal, has been widely questioned by many bloggers and analysts who feel the 65 million figure is unbelievably high and probably wrong.

"I don't know if it was actual manipulation of some kind, but whoever put out that story clearly gave false information and it had a ripple effect in the market," said Bajarin, adding that nobody except Apple knows for sure the original and reduced size of its parts order. Many observers who study Apple's supply chain are convinced that any reduced work order was the result not of weak demand but of improved performance by manufacturers to crank out the shiny LCD screens.

The $500 barrier
Some institutional investors, to be sure, have been moving out of Apple. After all, the analysts' consensus forecast has Apple posting a year-over-year decline in earnings for the first time in a decade when it announces earnings results next week. And Apple had warned last fall that its margins would take a hit because of the simultaneous launch of several products, including the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, which may have caused distractions among consumers and hurt sales.

Apple, whose stock slumped more than 3 percent Tuesday to close at $485.92, declined to comment for this report.

But clearly there is much afoot with Apple stock. A survey of more than 800 mutual funds by Bernstein Research indicated what it called "a transition in share ownership" throughout the past year. The study shows the percentage of growth-based mutual funds that own Apple has dropped while value-based funds have seen their market share of Apple increase, suggesting investors were switching gears in how they view the company's future.

Meanwhile, many retail investors have been dumping Apple stock, helping to shove the share price onto the skids. They see increasing competition -- including buzzed-about products like new offerings from Google (GOOG), Samsung and Research In Motion -- as threats to Apple's dominance in the smartphone market.

"Apple's down almost 9 percent already for this year, and I think that psychologically that $500 mark was a big barrier," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade, a retail brokerage house. "Many investors thought shares would hold at that point. But from a technical standpoint, which looks back at how a stock has performed in the past, people are now looking at $465 as where they expect Apple to bounce back up. If that doesn't happen, the next point they're looking at is $440.

"There's a feeling among many retail investors," Kinahan said, "that the safety they once had with Apple has now been jeopardized."
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Gold will climb toward $1,900 an ounce first half 2013

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Gold will climb toward $1,900 an ounce first half 2013  : Gold will climb toward $1,900 an ounce and average a record in the first half of this year as central-bank stimulus boosts investment demand, according to Thomson Reuters GFMS.

While investment fell 1.2 percent last year in tonnage, it set a record of about $87 billion as prices averaged the most ever, and will jump 20 percent in the first half from a year earlier, the London-based researcher said today in a report. Central banks added the most gold to reserves in 48 years in 2012 and will buy another 280 metric tons in the first half, countering a drop in jewelry purchases and higher recycling.

Bullion rose a 12th straight year in 2012 as central banks from Europe to China pledged more stimulus to bolster economic growth. Still, prices slid to a four-month low Jan. 4 after Federal Reserve minutes showed some policy makers favored ending $85 billion in monthly bond purchases this year as the recovery gains traction. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG are among banks that say prices will probably peak this year.

“Although there is now growing speculation around the structure and longevity of the Fed’s quantitative-easing program, policies of ultra-low interest rates across the western economies will persist in 2013,” Philip Klapwijk, global head of metals analytics at GFMS, said in a separate statement. “This will continue to support investor interest in gold in the absence of low-risk investments that can offer acceptable yields.”

Gold Price

Bullion for immediate delivery rose 0.1 percent this month to $1,677.74 by 9:57 a.m. in London. It averaged $1,669 last year and will average $1,775 in the six months through June as price gains accelerate in the second quarter and may “test” $1,900, according to GFMS, a unit of Thomson Reuters Corp. Gold reached a record $1,921.15 in September 2011.

Total investment slid to 1,614 tons last year and will jump to 840 tons in the first half, from 702 tons a year earlier, the researcher said. Bar demand fell 20 percent to 961 tons in 2012 and will rebound 8.5 percent in the first half. Coin minting slumped almost 19 percent to a four-year low of 199 tons in 2012 and will rise about 3.8 percent in the first half, GFMS said.

Investors hold 2,619 tons through gold-backed exchange- traded products, about 0.5 percent below the record set Dec. 20, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Jewelry demand dropped 4.4 percent to a three-year low of 1,885 tons last year amid higher prices and import taxes in India, GFMS said. China’s jewelry fabrication fell less than 1 percent in 2012, the first annual drop in nine years, the researcher said. It expects global jewelry demand to fall 4.2 percent to 891 tons in the six months through June.
Central Banks
Nations from Brazil to Iraq to Russia are buying metal to add to official reserves. Central-bank purchases increased 17 percent to 536 tons last year, and additions in the first half will be 1.2 percent higher than a year earlier, GFMS estimates. It said the figures don’t include the increase in reserves reported by Turkey, which has been accepting gold in its reserve requirements from commercial banks.

Purchases were “again driven by several central banks’ actions to moderate exposure to the major currencies, particularly in light of ongoing loose monetary policies and last year’s escalating sovereign debt concerns,” Klapwijk said. “We expect that large net purchases by the official sector will continue this year.”

Scrap sales fell 1.6 percent last year to a four-year low of 1,642 tons, GFMS estimates. Recycling will increase 7.5 percent to 827 tons in the first half as higher prices encourage selling, it said. Mine output added 0.2 percent to a record 2,841.9 tons in 2012 and may be 1,389 tons in the first half, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier, the researcher said. Gold producers’ average total cash costs climbed 17 percent to a record $736 an ounce in the first nine months of 2012, it said. source http://www.bloomberg.comFor the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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share Nifty index is expected today

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share Nifty index is expected today january 17 2013 : The 50-share Nifty index is expected to open soft on Thursday, while investors will keep a close eye on Hero MotoCorp and HCL Technologies ahead of their results which will be out later today. At 07:30 a.m., Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were up 20.50 point at 6036.50, indicating a soft opening on the domestic market.

Hero MotoCorp is expected to report a 2 per cent YoY growth in its consolidated net sales to Rs 6155 crore for the quarter ended December 31 from Rs 6031 crore reported in the year-ago period, according to ET NOW Poll.

HCL Technologies is likely to report a 6.75 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 825.2 crore for the quarter ended December 2012 as compared to a net profit of Rs 885 crore in previous quarter, says ET Now poll.

The Nifty closed just above its the psychological mark of 6,000 as weak global cues and concerns whether the Reserve Bank of India will cut interest rates at its next meet hurt sentiment.

Technically, after notching gains in two consecutive trading sessions, Indian market fell on profit-booking on Wednesday.

"In the coming trading sessions we need to watch whether Nifty hold 5980 levels on closing basis or not. Even the hourly chart of the Nifty indicates that it has retracement 61.8% of the last two trading session gains," LKP said in a report.
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Asian stock market opened january 17 2013

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Asian stock market opened january 17 2013 : Asian shares consolidated on Thursday as better-than-expected U.S. earnings lifted sentiment, but concerns over the global economic outlook and U.S. fiscal problem capped markets.The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.2 percent after falling the past two sessions.
"Fourth-quarter earnings results for U.S. companies have been better than expected, lifting investor outlook. However, concerns over the fiscal slope continue to weigh, and the main board is expected to see choppy trading above the 1,950-mark," Kim Soon-young, an analyst at IBK Securities, referring to South Korean shares .KS11, which opened up 0.3 percent at 1,983.67.

Australian shares .AXJO added 0.3 percent, led by the financials sector, but the market was capped by losses for miners after a big drop in iron ore prices on uncertainty over demand from China ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.

World stock markets ended flat on Wednesday with the banking sector rising as earnings from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) nearly tripled and JPMorgan Chase's (JPM.N) fourth-quarter net income jumped 53 percent and earnings for 2012 set a record.

But data showing demand for new cars in recession-bound Europe fell to a 17-year low in 2012 raised concerns about the global growth rate and weighed on sentiment. Worries were also apparent in global markets after the World Bank sharply cut its outlook for world growth this year to 2.4 percent from 3 percent, citing a slow recovery in developed nations.

The dollar and the euro regained ground against the yen early on Thursday, snapping two days of selling when investors took profits from these currencies' sharp and rapid rises against the Japanese currency since November.

Traders expect the yen to remain on a weakening trend amid expectations for bolder monetary easing measures from the Bank of Japan as part of the new government's push to drive Japan out of years of deflation and economic slump.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei average .N225 opened up 0.6 percent, after tumbling 2.6 percent for its largest daily decline in eight months on Wednesday. The Nikkei hit a 32-month high on Tuesday as the yen's slump to multi-year lows against the dollar and the euro bolstered exporters on improving earnings outlook. .T

The dollar rose 0.4 percent to 88.70 yen, off its peak since June 2010 of 89.67 touched on Monday, while the euro also climbed 0.3 percent to 117.81 yen, after surging to its highest since May 2011 of 120.13 yen on Monday.

Australian employment numbers due at 0030 GMT were expected to show no jobs growth and a higher unemployment rate of 5.4 percent. Any unexpected weakness in the report could see markets price in a bigger chance of an interest rate cut next month.

The data precedes a slew of economic reports from China which are due on Friday, including fourth-quarter GDP, December industrial output, retail sales and house price, offering investors clues on the health of Asia's biggest economy and global growth prospects.

In the United States, the Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes on regional economic conditions, showed mild growth across the U.S. in recent weeks but no signs that economic expansion will accelerate, while U.S. consumer prices barely grew in December.

In the credit default swap market, the five-year cost to insure against a U.S. default rose to 44 basis points on Wednesday, the highest since August 2011 during the first debt ceiling battle between U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers.

The euro steadied around $1.3287 against the dollar, after reaching an 11-month high of $1.3404 on Monday, and was also barely moved against the Swiss franc at 1.2375, after touching a 13-month high of 1.2413 francs on Tuesday.

U.S. crude eased 0.1 percent to $94.15 a barrel.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after an Algerian gas field came under attack from Islamist militants and as data showed crude stocks fell in the United States last week. (Reuters)For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Apple iPhone market share prediction 2013

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stock market today - Apple iPhone market share prediction 2013, Apple Smartphone Market Share Expected 2013 : One research firm says market share for Apple's iPhone will peak at 22 percent, and that the device will hit that ceiling this year -- with market share then remaining flat.

Despite predictions that half of all handset shipments will be smartphones by 2014, and a steady rise to 2.4 billion shipments by 2014: "Barring an unlikely collapse in Samsung's business, even Apple will be chasing Samsung's technology, software, and device leadership in 2013 through the foreseeable future," says ABI Research Senior Analyst Michael Morgan.


Apple currently holds an 18.5 percent share of the U.S. mobile subscribers market, according to recent ComScore figures. Samsung currently pegs in at 26.9 percent, rising by 1.2 percent in the three months ending with November.

Samsung continues to grow in market share at a steady rate -- occasionally falling by a percentage point here and there -- but Apple continues to, month-on-month, increase its share, and at a faster rate than Samsung.

Samsung has grown significantly in market share since 2010, from mid-single-digit percent through to around 30 percent at its peak, depending on the market share statistics one reads. The reason Samsung has rocketed so far and so quickly is partially thanks to the availability of its less-expensive smartphones that deliver a lower profit margin than Apple's. It's also because Samsung spreads its platform load across the various Android versions, but also Bada, Tizen, and Windows Phone.

Samsung has also invested in newer technologies faster than Apple did in the smartphone space, by including near-field communications (NFC) technology for wireless payments, and 4G LTE networking for next-generation mobile broadband speeds.

But if Apple were to gain further traction in the enterprise market, the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant could grab even more of the overall market for smartphones, and even surpass the estimated peak of 22 percent this year.

Apple does not pitch its products to the enterprise, at least on the face of it. The company said on its fiscal third-quarter earnings call that the number of iPhones in the enterprise has doubled, while the number of iPads in the enterprise has tripled. The rate of installing in-house apps, delivered through Apple's B2B application store, continues to increase rapidly.

Whether or not Apple pitches to the enterprise directly, indirectly, willingly, or inadvertently, the enterprise sector is knocking on Apple's door asking to be let in. Forget the BlackBerry, the iPhone is where it's at. Forget Windows on the PC, because businesses are starting to rely on post-PC devices, such as the iPad. Android isn't gaining traction in the enterprise space because Google's fragmentation of the Android ecosystem is making it increasingly difficult for IT managers to secure every single version. iOS has one, consistent version throughout, and benefits from the back-end mobile device management (MDM) enhancements.

If momentum carries on the way it has, and IT budgets stretch that little bit further in order to continue to snap up iPhones for their enterprise workspace, the consumer iPhone saturation point won't matter. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Pfizer animal health Zoetis Ipo shares prices

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Stock market today - Pfizer animal health Zoetis Ipo shares prices : Closing in on its IPO for its animal health unit Zoetis, Pfizer ($PFE) on Thursday reported that it would price shares between $22 and $25 each, potentially raising $2.2 billion when it happens at the end of the month, Bloomberg reports. The company intends to offer 86.1 million shares, a 20% stake, to investors.


Earlier in the day, the deal set off a scramble in the bond market with $30 billion in orders pouring in for a $3.65 billion four-part deal. For tax reasons, the sale starts with an equity-for-debt swap. After the IPO, Pfizer may distribute its remaining equity stake in Zoetis to shareholders, tax-free. Pfizer claims that the unit is the largest animal health and vaccines business in the world with sales in 2012 of $4.2 billion.

The company, the largest drugmaker in the world, has been trimming down under CEO Ian Read. The company has already agreed to sell its nutritionals business to NestléFor the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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stock market next week january 21-25 2013

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stock market next week january 21-25 2013 : With earnings momentum on the rise, the S&P 500 seems to have few hurdles ahead as it continues to power higher, its all-time high a not-so-distant goal.

The U.S. equity benchmark closed the week at a fresh five-year high on strong housing and labor market data and a string of earnings that beat lowered expectations. Sector indexes in transportation .DJT, banks .BKX and housing .HGX this week hit historic or multiyear highs as well.


Michael Yoshikami, chief executive at Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California, said the key earnings to watch for next week will come from cyclical companies. United Technologies (UTX.N) reports on Wednesday while Honeywell (HON.N) is due to report Friday.

"Those kind of numbers will tell you the trajectory the economy is taking," Yoshikami said.

Major technology companies also report next week, but the bar for the sector has been lowered even further.

Chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.N), which is due Tuesday, are expected to underperform as PC sales shrink. AMD shares fell more than 10 percent Friday after disappointing results from its larger competitor, Intel (INTC.O). Still, a chipmaker sector index .SOX posted its highest weekly close since last April.

Following a recent underperformance, an upside surprise from Apple (AAPL.O) on Wednesday could trigger a return to the stock from many investors who had abandoned ship.

Other major companies reporting next week include Google (GOOG.O), IBM (IBM.N), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and DuPont (DD.N) on Tuesday, Microsoft (MSFT.O) and 3M (MMM.N) on Thursday and Procter & Gamble (PG.N) on Friday.

CASH POURING IN, HOUSING DATA COULD HELP

Perhaps the strongest support for equities will come from the flow of cash from fixed income funds to stocks.

The recent piling into stock funds -- $11.3 billion in the past two weeks, the most since 2000 -- indicates a riskier approach to investing from retail investors looking for yield.

"From a yield perspective, a lot of stocks still yield a great deal of money and so it is very easy to see why money is pouring into the stock market," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

"You are just not going to see people put a lot of money to work in a 10-year Treasury that yields 1.8 percent."

Housing stocks .HGX, already at a 5-1/2 year high, could get a further bump next week as investors eye data expected to support the market's perception that housing is the sluggish U.S. economy's bright spot.

Home resales are expected to have risen 0.6 percent in December, data is expected to show on Tuesday. Pending home sales contracts, which lead actual sales by a month or two, hit a 2-1/2 year high in November.

The new home sales report on Friday is expected to show a 2.1 percent increase.

The federal debt ceiling negotiations, a nagging worry for investors, seemed to be stuck on the back burner after House Republicans signaled they might support a short-term extension.

Equity markets, which tumbled in 2011 after the last round of talks pushed the United States close to a default, seem not to care much this time around.

The CBOE volatility index .VIX, a gauge of market anxiety, closed Friday at its lowest since April 2007.

"I think the market is getting somewhat desensitized from political drama given, this seems to be happening over and over," said Destination Wealth Management's Yoshikami.

"It's something to keep in mind, but I don't think it's what you want to base your investing decisions on."For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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Nikkei share ehead Bank of Japan policy meeting

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stock market today - Nikkei share ehead Bank of Japan policy meeting  :  The Nikkei share average eased on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of a Bank of Japan policy meeting which is expected to set a 2 percent inflation target, double the current figure, and introduce more aggressive easing steps to boost growth.

    The BOJ is also widely expected to bump up its budget for asset purchases and discuss scrapping the interest it pays on banks' reserves, according to sources familiar with the central bank's thinking.

    The Nikkei fell 0.4 percent to 10,704.09 by the midday break, retreating for a second day in a row from Friday's nearly  hree-year closing high, with investors unwilling to play their hands before the BOJ announcement.

    "It's quite difficult for the market to move in one direction before the BOJ announcement. The market is closely monitoring what they are going to say after today's meeting," said Shun Maruyama, chief Japan equity strategist at BNP Paribas Securities.

    "If BOJ governor Shirakawa hints that the central bank has secured its independence, I think the yen could strengthen. On
the other hand, if he changed his attitude, the yen could soften. Anyway, the stock market is going to be very sensitive to moves in the forex market," Maruyama added.

    Investors have been girding for the BOJ decision since mid-November when Shinzo Abe, then the leading candidate to win a general election and now prime minister, began calling for
aggressive easing, helping to weaken the yen. That boosted exporters and sparked a 26 percent rally in the Nikkei.

    Some think the market has become overbought as a result, with the BOJ meeting a ripe opportunity for a correction. The Nikkei's up-down ratio, or the 25-day moving average of gainers
divided by the 25-day average of losers, stood at 146.85, well above the 120-mark that signals an overheated market.

    "I think the yen's weakening is pretty much over, which means the Nikkei's run is also over," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, general manager of investment and research at SMBC Friend Securities.
    The yen was still off its 2-1/2 year low against the dollar hit on Monday morning, trading at 89.43 yen.

    However, Nakanishi said the market would remain firm, albeit
with a different focus.

    "Exporters are overbought and attention is now going to switch to domestic companies as the supplementary budget is discussed in the Diet, which opens again on Jan. 28," he added.

    On Tuesday morning, Sony Corp remained in focus, gaining as much as 3.3 percent on the back of a report in the Nikkei business daily that it would launch a new version of its Xperia tablet in Japan this spring after halting sales last year due to problems.

    Sony topped the main board as the most-traded stock by turnover for a third day, after news on Friday that its U.S.

subsidiary would sell its New York headquarters building, with $685 million of the sale to be recorded as operating income.
    Toshiba Corp rose as much as 3.3 percent to 379 yen, its highest in nearly 10 months, after J.P. Morgan raised its rating to "overweight" from "underweight", citing expectations of strong earnings on a softer yen.      "The depreciation of the yen should significantly boost the profitability of the NAND business," J.P.Morgan said in a note.

    The broader Topix fell 0.5 percent to 900.60 in relatively active trade in the morning session, with 72 percent of its full daily average for the past 90 trading days.

    Other notable gainers included Olympus Corp, up 6 percent at 1,973 midday after UBS Securities started its coverage with a "buy" rating and a target price of 3,000 yen, against Monday's close of 1,862 yen.

    The company on Monday submitted to the Tokyo Stock Exchange a written affirmation on its internal control systems as
stipulated in the securities listing regulations, which, if approved, will see the camera maker's "securities on alert" status lifted. It was placed on that status following an accounting scandal that broke in late 2011.
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U.S. stocks market rose today Rise on Earnings

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U.S. stocks market rose today Rise on Earnings : U.S. stocks rose Friday, extending the S&P 500 index's longest winning run in more than six years, on improving profit from Procter & Gamble Co. and other quarterly results. "The housing market is generally positive and causing an upward bias to the market [and] quarterly earnings are generally in line to above expectations," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management.

 And, growth in emerging markets should be a positive factor for many U.S. multinationals, and is "one catalyst that could see earnings to the upside; you're seeing some of that with fourth-quarter results," he said.

 "That said, I think the market is a little ahead of itself, and I would like to see it go sideways in coming weeks to take some of the adrenaline out of the market," Sandven added.

 The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 52.23 points, or 0.4%, to 13,877.56. The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 5.96 points, or 0.4%, to 1,500.78, with consumer discretionary the best performing and technology advancing the least among its 10 major industries.

 Consumer discretionary is also among the better performing sectors so far this year, running second only to energy from the end of 2012.

 "The consumer at present hasn't pulled back the reigns; the market would tell you it hasn't had a major impact yet," said U.S. Bank's Sandven of the expiration of the payroll-tax recess, which meant the average American started getting paychecks smaller by about 2% this year.

 The S&P 500 on Thursday managed to finish with a seventh straight gain, ending at a five-year high, and briefly managed to clear 1,500 during the session for the first time since late in 2007.

 Without Apple Inc. (AAPL), the S&P's less than 0.1% rise on Thursday would have been closer to 0.5%, and the technology sector's 2% decline would have been a 0.5% gain, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst for S&P Dow Jones indexes.

 On Friday, Apple shares continued their decline, with the company falling to second behind Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) in market capitalization.

 Apple late Wednesday reported disappointing financial results, with a slew of analysts lowering their price targets on the iPhone maker in response. The company lost $59.9 billion in market value during the Thursday session alone, and its shares were treading water in Friday's dealings. .

Should the S&P end higher Friday, the index would notch its longest win streak since the nine-day run that ended in early November 2004.

Procter & Gamble (PG) reported a second-quarter profit well above expectations, with the household-products maker also hiking its sales and earnings outlook for the blue chip's fiscal year.

Halliburton Co. (HAL) shares climbed 4.8% after the oilfield-services company reported adjusted fourth-quarter results that topped estimates.

Of the 174 companies, or 29% of the S&P 500, that had reported earnings for the fourth quarter as of Thursday's close, 68% reported earnings that beat consensus estimates, almost 14% were in line, and more than 18% missed, according to Greg Harrison, earnings research analyst at Thomson Reuters.

 The Nasdaq Composite index (RIXF) advanced 13.82 points, or 0.5%, to 3,144.20. For every three stocks on the decline four gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where 306 million shares traded as of 1:30 p.m. Eastern. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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crude oil futures prices today have advanced

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crude oil futures prices today have advanced : Global oil prices have advanced, buoyed by a weakening US dollar, upbeat German economic data and gains on European stock markets, dealers said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March rose 41 cents to $US113.69 a barrel in London midday deals. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March, won 47 cents to $96.42 a barrel.
In foreign exchange trade on Friday, the European single currency surged to $1.3465 - which marked the highest level since February 29, 2012. The shared eurozone unit soared following news that German business confidence had struck the highest level in seven months.
The Ifo institute's closely watched business climate index for Europe's top economy rose to 104.2 points in January - its highest reading since June - from 102.4 points a month earlier.

The euro also spiked after the European Central Bank revealed that 278 eurozone banks will repay early 137.16 billion euros ($A176.53 billion) of ultra-cheap three-year loans made available to them last year in emergency liquidity measures.

'Crude oil prices extended gains on Friday ... mainly supported by the weaker US dollar that offered strong upside momentum to the market,' said analyst Myrto Sokou at the Sucden brokerage in London.

'In the meantime, European equity markets continue to post fairly strong gains.'

A weak greenback tends to stimulate demand for dollar-priced crude, which becomes cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies like the euro. That tends to stimulate demand and spark higher price levels.

European stock markets also advanced on Friday, with Frankfurt hitting a five-year high as the German data helped offset news that the British economy had contracted by 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Crude futures had jumped on Thursday on the back of growing optimism after strong economic indicators in the US, China and Europe.
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Amazon stock analysis next week

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Amazon stock analysis next week jan 28 -1 feb 2013 : Amazon stock prices is best stock to watch for next week and What's happening: Amazon.com (AMZN +3.79%) stock has been on fire over the last two months. While the majority of the retail sector had a lackluster holiday shopping season, things were great at Amazon. Online sales were higher than any holiday season in the past, and Amazon was the top used e-commerce site. Amazon has emerged as one of the strongest technology companies, also finding success in the highly-competitive tablet market with its Kindle Fire. Amazon is willing to sell its Android-powered tablet at a loss in exchange for gaining market share and using the tablet as a point of sale device to bring more users to its Amazon store. Analysts expect Amazon to report fourth quarter earnings On January 29 of $0.27 per share, down from $0.38 during the same period last year.
Technical analysis: AMZN was recently trading at $268.11, down $6.39 from its 12-month high and $96.11 above its 12-month low. Technical indicators for AMZN are bullish and the stock is in a weak upward trend. The stock has support above $254.25 and resistance below $262.75. Of the 30 analysts who cover the stock 22 rate it a "strong buy," one rates it a "buy" and seven rate it a "hold." The stock receives Standard & Poor's 3 STARS "hold" ranking.

Analysts' thoughts: We expect Amazon to show continued strength through 2013. Consumers trust the Internet for their shopping needs and Amazon remains the leader in the industry. While other companies have failed to really make an impact in the tablet market, Amazon entered the market and quickly had the best-selling Android tablets on the market. Amazon is estimated to have sold around 6 million Kindle Fire tablets during the holiday season. As Amazon continues to penetrate the market, it will improve revenues from its digital downloads. Since the margins on its digital downloads are so high, the more tablets it can sell the better. Amazon was very clever to sell the tablets at a loss, and its forward thinking approach to using the Kindle Fire as a point of sale device will pay off huge down the road.

Stock-only trade: While we are bullish on the stock, we would not recommend jumping into a new position at the current time. We would rather set up a new position only on a dip and would likely get into the stock under $240 a share.

Option trade: If you are looking for a hedged options trade on AMZN, consider a March 225/230 bull-put credit spread for a 45-cent credit. That's a potential 9.9% return (70.8% annualized*) and the stock would have to fall 14.0% to cause a problem.

Speculative call-only trade: For those of you with an appetite for higher risk and bigger returns, consider buying the July $280 call. If AMZN rises just 13.5% you can pull in a 20% or better profit on the option. However, if the stock moves lower, this kind of trade could lose a significant amount.
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General Motors stock analysis next week

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General Motors stock analysis next week, gm shares prices forecast next week : General Motors will react to Ford's earnings What's happening: The auto industry has been strong of late, and General Motors (GM +1.01%) has been no exception. The stock has had a bit of selling pressure since hitting its 52-week high earlier this month, but this has more to do with the current economic situation in Europe than it does with the auto market in the U.S. The auto industry has been in decline in Europe for the last 15 months, and December, new car registrations in the European Union were down 16.3%, the steepest one-month decline since 2008. GM's biggest American competitor, Ford Motor (F -1.37%) will report its fourth quarter results on January 29, and its results will have an impact on General Motors, especially any insight that Ford gives on the current condition in Europe.

Technical analysis: GM was recently trading at $28.57, down $2.11 from its 12-month high and $9.85 above its 12-month low. Technical indicators for GM are bullish and the stock is in a strong upward trend. The stock has support above $26.10. Of the 15 analysts who cover the stock 10 rate it a "strong buy," one rates it a "buy," three rate it a "hold" and one rates it a "sell." The stock receives Standard & Poor's 4 STARS "Accumulate" ranking.

Analysts' thoughts: We expect to see the American auto market to continue to improve in 2013. New vehicle offerings, a stable economy, and pickup demand remaining strong analysts believe that U.S. auto sales will eclipse the 15 million mark this year and rise above 16 million in 2014. In December, the U.S. government announced that it would sell its remaining 500 million shares of GM stock over the next 12 to 14 months, and as GM sheds the image of government control investors will be more likely to buy into the stock. We will keep a close eye on the European situation, since GM does a material amount of business in the region, but for now the U.S. market has been more than strong enough to offset the weak European market.

Stock-only trade: We do not like GM at its current level. The run-up we saw in the latter part of December appears to have been overdone and we believe there is still more room to the downside before the stock finds support. We would look to get into GM if shares were to trade below $26. We would sell the stock if it falls under $23.75 or 10% under your purchase price and take profits off the table should the stock jump above $29.75.

Option trade: If you are looking for a hedged options trade on GM, consider a March 22/27 bull-put credit spread for a 40-cent credit. That's a potential 8.7% return (62.2% annualized*) and the stock would have to fall 4.1% to cause a problem.

Speculative option trade: For those of you with an appetite for higher risk and bigger returns, consider buying the September $29 call. If GM rises just 11.9% you can pull in a 20% or better profit on the option. However, if the stock moves lower, this kind of trade could lose a significant amount.
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