Microsoft introduces ‘wearables holograms’ for HoloLens

Microsoft Corp. introduced new “mixed reality gaming” features for its virtual-reality headset HoloLens on Tuesday. Dubbed Project Xray, it introduces a new concept Microsoft executives are referring to as “wearable holograms.” In a fighting game, for example, a user would be able to see accessories, such as a virtual shield, that move with their hands in their actual surrounding environment while wearing their HoloLens headset. The users can then can use those accessories, such as that shield, to interact with other holograms in the video game. Microsoft said it has started taking applications for the HoloLens developer kit, which it will make available for $3,000 beginning in the first quarter of 2016. The company did not say when the actual hardware device would be available for sale, nor did it give a hint as to how much it will ultimately cost. Shares of Microsoft were flat around $46.66 in recent trade. They are up more than 5% over the last three months, compared with a 4% decline for the S&P 500.

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DuPont’s stock on track for biggest price gain ever; accounts for more than half of Dow’s gain

DuPont Co.’s stock is soaring 11% in morning trade Tuesday, on track for the best one-day price gain in its history, after the company said late Monday that it was accelerating its cost-cutting plan and that its CEO was retiring. The price gain of $5.60 is adding about 37 points to the Dow’s price. The percentage gain of 10.8% would be the third biggest in its history, according to FactSet, behind the 11% jump on March 10, 2009 and the 11.5% surge on Oct. 13, 2008. The Dow was up 61 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 is tacking on 3 points, or 0.2%. The stock has now soared 20% since closing at a 2 1/2-year low of $47.32 on Sept. 28.

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S&P 500 opens lower after 5 days of gains

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower Tuesday as investors digested disappointing trade data that showed a stronger dollar hurt exports and resulted in a wider trade deficit in August. Tuesday’s modest pullback follows five straight sessions of gains for the benchmark S&P 500. The index opened 2 points, or 0.1%, lower at 1,985. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower, but within minutes was up 25 points, or 0.2%, at 16,803. The Nasdaq Composite began the day down 6 points, or 0.1%, at 4,775.

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Tesla stock opens lower after analysts say Model X is cool, but price is too high

Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. fell more than 2% Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered its target to $450 from $465, citing the high sticker price of the just-unveiled Model X. A group of analysts at Morgan Stanley, who tend to be among the more bullish on Tesla, said the sticker price for the Model X, which they estimate will be in the range of $120,000 to $130,000, might make 2016 volume targets difficult to achieve. Tesla has not yet released the price of the Model X, which is shipping later next year. The Morgan Stanley analysts nevertheless maintained an outperform rating on the stock, and called the Model X SUV an “impressive proof of concept for design, performance and utility.” Shares of Tesla have fallen 12% over the last three months, compared with a 4% decline for the S&P 500.

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Twitter unveils new curated tweets product

Twitter Inc. unveiled a new product, called Moments, Tuesday which will show the user curated tweets around certain news events or subjects. “Moments helps you find the best of Twitter as easily as tapping an icon – regardless of who you follow,” said a post on the Twitter blog. The product has its own tab and a lightning bolt icon on the Twitter platform. It was previously known as Project Lightning. Twitter said most of the “moments” right now are put together by a curation team at Twitter, but some are created by news partners such as Buzzfeed, Fox News and Vogue. The product will be available to users in the U.S. on Android, iPhones and desktop computers. Twitter shares were down less than 1% before the market open. The move comes a day after Twitter announced Jack Dorsey as its chief executive officer.

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Yuan surpasses yen as 4th most-used currency for payments

The Chinese yuan became the world’s fourth most-used currency for international payments in August, overtaking the Japanese yen, according to a report released by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication on Tuesday. SWIFT data showed 2.79% of international payments were settled in yuan, overtaking the yen’s 2.76%. The increase is remarkable because the People’s Bank of China devalued the yuan on Aug. 11, causing it to shed to shed 3% of its value against the dollar. The milestone was reached at a crucial time for the renminbi. Chinese policy makers have been lobbying the International Monetary Fund to add the yuan to its special drawing rights basket. Inclusion in the basket would confer the status of reserve currency on the yuan — a label Chinese policy makers have pursued for years. One of the criteria for inclusion in the basket is that the currency be widely used for international payments. The yen, which the yuan overtook, is one of the four currencies currently included in the basket. The other three are the U.S. dollar, British pound and the euro. The yuan recently traded at 6.36 yuan to the dollar, down 2.5% on the year.

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Apple iPhone estimates are too high, analyst says

One day after Citigroup cut its estimate on Apple Inc. and predicted other sell-side analysts would do the same, Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves said Tuesday iPhone unit estimates are too high for the first two quarters of fiscal-year 2016. Hargreaves raised his iPhone unit estimate to 66.9 million from 62.4 million, but said the estimate remains below both buy-side and sell-side expectations. A lower-than-expected iPhone unit outlook might prompt first-quarter revenue guidance “well below” the consensus estimate of $76.4 billion, he said. Apple might actually benefit from tempered expectations, as the premium price of its phone and stickiness of its customers drives value and protects cash flow over the long term, according to Hargreaves. Shares of Apple fell 0.2% in premarket trade, putting them on track to open around $110.60. They are down more than 12% over the last three months, versus a 5% decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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U.S. trade deficit leaps 16% in August to $48.3 billion

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. trade deficit jumped almost 16% in August to $48.3 billion, largely because of a strong dollar that reduced exports to their lowest level in three years. The U.S. also saw an increase in imports tied to the release of the latest iPhones and other consumer electronics. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had predicted the deficit would rise to a seasonally adjusted $48.1 billion. Exports fell 2% to $185.1 billion in August, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, with much of the decline resulting from fewer sales overseas of U.S.-produced petroleum and other industrial supplies. Lower oil prices contributed to the decline in export sales. Yet imports rose 1.2% to $233.4 billion even though U.S. demand for foreign oil fell to an 11-year low. Imports of cell phones and other consumer electronics shot up 30% to $9.01 billion. The U.S. trade deficit with China, where most cell phones are made, increased 14.4% to $32.9 billion in August. The gap with the European Union rose 17% to $14.5 billion.

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FedEx upgraded on improved profit outlook, favorable risk-versus-reward

FedEx Corp. was upgraded on Tuesday to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus, which cited expectations of improved profitability and a favorable risk-versus-reward scenario. Analyst David Ross said the package delivery service’s internal initiatives, such as the acquisition of TNT Express, should help deliver “significant earnings growth” in the face of slow global economic growth. Ross said he believes the margin outlook for FedEx’s Express business is positive, and profitability at its ground and freight businesses should improve following a disappointing fiscal first quarter. Ross sees upside potential for the stock to $200, and downside risk to $120, which represents a reward-versus-risk profile of 33% to 20%. FedEx’s stock gained 0.7% in premarket trade. It has fallen 14% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has slipped 3.5%.

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Freeport-McMoRan to shrink board, review its oil and gas operations

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. shares rose about 4% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the copper miner announced plans to shrink its board and start a review of its oil and gas business. The company said it is reducing the size of its board to nine members from 16, comprising seven independent directors plus two executive directors. It will also scrap its Office of the Chairman management structure. Separately, the company will review its oil and gas business with a view to either spinning it off, entering a joint venture or further cutting costs. The business’s “high quality asset base, substantial underutilized Deepwater Gulf of Mexico infrastructure, large inventory of low risk development opportunities and talented and experienced personnel and management team” offer opportunities to add value, the company said. The company is aiming to focus on its core copper mining business and is confident that copper prices will hold up given global demand and supply fundamentals. Shares have fallen 52% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has lost 3.4%.

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