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Shares of Etsy Inc. skyrocketed more than 24% on Friday following a hat-tip by Google Inc. on the company’s earnings conference call late Thursday. Google specifically named Etsy as one of the developers seeing a boost in traffic as part of Google’s efforts to use indexing to help people find what they need within third-party apps. “Developers like Etsy are already seeing a boost in traffic as a result of deep linking,” said Omid Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer. Google said it has 50 billion links within apps indexed, and that 25% of signed-in Google searches on Android now return deep links, taking users right to content within an app or to a link so they can install it. Short interest, or bearish bets, in Etsy’s stock had increased more than four-fold since the company’s initial public offering, as of the end of June, the last available data on short interest. The company’s shares were up 24% to $21 in recent trade.

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From:: Stock Market News

The EU has approved a bridge loan of 7.16 billion euros ($7.76 billion) for Greece, giving the debt-stricken country breathing room to push ahead with its bid for a third bailout. The short-term financial assistance, made under the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), will have a maximum maturity of three months and be delivered in two installments, the Council of Europe said in a statement. “This agreement, backed by 28 European Union Member States, prevents Greece from an immediate default. It means that €7.16 billion will reach Greece on time, by Monday,” Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-president for the euro, said in a statement. Greece has a €4.2 billion debt-related payment due to the European Central Bank on Monday, and is in arrears on payments to the International Monetary Fund. The bridging loan “will allow Greece to clear its arrears with the IMF and the Bank of Greece and to repay the ECB, until Greece would start receiving financing under a new [bailout program] from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM),” the Council of the EU said in a statement.

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From:: Stock Market News

By Nina Lincoff

Two local banks closed a mutually beneficial deal earlier this year, marking the healthy return of South Florida’s mortgage climate. Miami-based Pacific National Bank purchased 72 mortgages from Coral Gables-based BAC Florida Bank as part of its three-year strategic plan in April.

The mortgage transaction was recorded in Miami-Dade and Broward County court records.

“We sold them $21 million in loans,” said Frank Robleto, president and CEO of BAC Florida.

The Coral Gables bank has long had… …read more

From:: biz journal foreclosures

Best Buy Co.’s stock slumped 5.8% in morning trade Friday, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch did an about-face and turned bearish on the consumer electronics retailer, citing concerns that sales will be weak over the second half of the year. Analyst Denise Chai downgraded the stock to the lowest underperform rating, after being at the highest buy rating for the last 18 months. She cut her stock price target to $32, which is about 3% below current levels, from $45. Chai said she is worried that same-store sales could turn lower through year end, given a mixed product cycle, and that the company’s continued reinvestment in the business is offsetting cost-cutting efforts. She also sees limited catalysts to boost valuation. “We believe [Best Buy] will continue to increase capital return and perform well relative to the industry, but if [second-half comparable-store sales] are negative, as we forecast, shares and the multiple are at risk,” Chai wrote in a note to clients. The stock has now lost 16% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has gained 5.5% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 3.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Consumer sentiment fell to a preliminary July reading of 93.3 from a final June level of 96.1, according to reports on the University of Michigan gauge released Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a July figure of 95. Economists follow readings on confidence to look for clues about consumer spending, the backbone of the economy. For context, the consumer-sentiment gauge averaged 86.9 over the year leading up to the recession.

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From:: Stock Market News

Analysts at Susquehanna Financial Group set a $75 price target for PayPal, which will begin trading on Monday under the ticker PYPL on the NASDAQ, following its split from eBay Inc. after today’s close. Susquehanna analyst James Friedman wrote in a note that the company’s roadmap suggests that PayPal has large ambitions as it pursues a strategy for broader merchant acceptance and increased consumer usage. Friedman pointed to the buying power of PayPal’s active customers, technology capabilities to help merchants, potential collaborations in its Paydiant customer base and key assets Venmo and Braintree as potential keys to PayPal’s success moving forward.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks were mixed as gains in tech stocks were offset by losses in the rest of the market. The main indexes were still on track to record solid weekly gains, however. The Nasdaq Composite hit an intraday record as tech stocks rallied. Google shares soared double digits at the open, after the tech group beat earnings expectations on Thursday. The S&P 500 was off by 2 points, or 0.2%, at 2,122. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61 points, or 0.3%, to 18,058. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed other indexes, rising 27 points, or 0.5% to 5,189, trading at record levels.

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From:: Stock Market News

By Brian Bandell

IMC Property Management bought a repossessed office complex in Miami-Dade County’s West Kendall at a 24 percent discount to its old mortgage.

An affiliate of Regions Bank (NYSE: RF) seized the property, at 8785 S.W. 165th Ave., in March in a $16.45 million deed in lieu of foreclosure with Lucky Start Executive Plaza. It recently sold it for $12.5 million to North Miami-based IMC, an experienced investor in commercial property that specializes in turnaround projects.

The office plaza, a few blocks… …read more

From:: biz journal foreclosures

The Boeing Company said Friday it will book an after-tax charge of $536 million, or 77 cents a share, in the second quarter, due to higher-than-expected costs related to its KC-46 tanker aircraft. The aerospace giant said the higher costs are being driven by a required reworking of the airplane’s fuel system. “”While we are disappointed with this charge, we are investing the necessary resources to keep this vitally important program on schedule for our customer, and meet our commitments for delivering the initial 18 tankers to the U.S. Air Force by August 2017 and building 179 tankers by 2027,” Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. The company still expects the global market for refueling tankers will be worth $80 billion and expects the KC-46 program to be profitable in its first production phase. The company will update guidance on July 22 and expects to adjust its full-year outlook because of the charge. Shares fell 0.9% in premarket trade, but have gained 14% in the year so far, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is up just 6.7%.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in June, spurred by rising costs for housing, gasoline and food such as eggs, the government said Friday. That matched the forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch. Energy prices rose 1.7% and food prices increased 0.3%, the Labor Department said. Excluding food and energy, so-called core consumer prices rose 0.2% in June. Over the past 12 months the main CPI has risen by an unadjusted 0.1%, the first time it’s shown a yearly increase since December. Core prices are up a mild 1.8% in the past year. Real or inflation-adjusted hourly wages, meanwhile, fell by 0.4% in June. Real hourly wages are up a lackluster 1.7% in the last 12 months.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News