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A measure of volatility and fear on Wall Street late-morning Tuesday was little changed, even as President Donald Trump threatened to destroy North Korea if provoked. The CBOE Volatility Index , known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, was down 1.5% at 10, hovering around its lowest levels in its history, and far below its historic average of 20. The index, which measures options bets on the S&P 500 index 30 days into the future, typically rises when anxieties in the market escalate, with the indicator used as a measure of volatility and fear, because stocks tend to fall faster than they rise. In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, President Trump said the U.S. “has great strength and patience,” but would “totally destroy North Korea.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% at 22,349, the S&P 500 index was up about the same level at 2,505, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.1% at 6,461. The equity benchmarks failed to move significantly after Trump’s bellicose comments, which come on the heels of a number of ballistic missile tests from Pyongyang in recent months and heightening tensions in the Korean Peninsula. The S&P 500 and the Dow are trading in record territory, while the Nasdaq isn’t trading far off its own all-time high.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Mattel Inc. and Hasbro Inc. bounced sharply in morning trade Tuesday, despite the bankruptcy filing of Toys ‘R’ Us, which was the second-biggest customer of both toy makers in 2016. Mattel’s stock climbed 3.2%, after closing Monday at an 8-year low. Toys ‘R’ Us accounted for 11% of Mattel’s sales last year. Hasbro’s stock rallied 2.9%, after closing earlier this month at a 7-month low; Toys ‘R’ Us accounted for 9% of Hasbro’s 2016 sales. UBS analyst Arpine Kocharyan wrote in a note to clients that although bankruptcies can be disruptive to industries in the near term, similar cases have not over time impacted toy industry growth, as demand has been picked up by other channels. Meanwhile, Jakks Pacific Inc.’s stock shed 1.8% toward a record low; Toys ‘R’ Us was Jakks third-largest customer last year, accounting for 9.4% of 2016 sales.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stock-market indexes held on to modest gains on Tuesday, trading in record territory as President Trump delivered speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Trump singled out North Korea and Iran as rouge states and called for more economical isolation of these regimes. He also said that if the U.S. “is forced to defend itself for its allies, we’ll have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.” The S&P 500 was up 1.8 points, or 0.1%, at 2,505. The Nasdaq Composite index inched 7 points, or 0.1% higher to 6,461. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 25 points, or 0.1%, at 22,356.

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Exchange-traded funds that track the South Korean equity market were little changed on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump said the U.S. stood “ready, willing and able” to act against North Korea militarily if it threatened the U.S. Speaking at the United Nations, Trump said he would “destroy” the country if necessary, calling it a “depraved” regime whose pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the world. Military conflict would likely be devastating for the region, but investors didn’t seem to fear Trump’s words. The iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF rose less than 0.1% to $69.88, though it had risen as high as $70.12 earlier in the session. Despite elevated tensions with North Korea throughout the year, the fund is up more than 30% thus far this year. Separately, the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI South Korea Hedged Equity ETF was up 0.1%. Against the U.S. dollar, the South Korean won was unchanged.

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Shares of Sprint Corp. gained more than 8% during intraday trade on Tuesday after a CNBC report reignited speculation that the mobile company is in talks to merge with T-Mobile US Inc. . Shares of T-Mobile were up more than 3%, and shares of other mobile carriers also saw a bump, with Verizon Communication Inc. shares up nearly 3% and AT&T Inc. shares up close to 2%. In May, a Bloomberg report, citing sources, said that executives at Sprint had “informal contact” with T-Mobile about a possible merger. The wireless industry has become increasingly competitive and crowded, requiring companies to look for acquisition and/or partnership opportunities. Deal talks in the industry had been on hold until April 27 this year due to the government’s spectrum auction. Chairman of Sprint-owner SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, and Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Tim Hoettges, which owns T-Mobile, told investors following the hold to expect talk of industry consolidation, and T-Mobile said it expected to be involved. Shares of T-Mobile are up nearly 12%, while Sprint shares are down about 2% and the S&P 500 index are up close to 12%.

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Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday that it has introduced the Fire HD 10 tablet that the company says is 30% faster, can be equipped with Alexa hands-free capabilities, 32 GB of internal storage, a 10-inch widescreen and 10 hours of battery life. Priced at about $150, the tablet is available for pre-order today. Alexa will be available via a software update that will begin rolling out on October 11. Amazon shares are up 0.4% in early trading and up 30% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 12% for 2017 to date.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stock-market indexes opened in record territory on Tuesday as investors awaited the start of a two-day meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers. The S&P 500 opened 2.6 points, or 0.1%, higher at 2,506.7. The Nasdaq Composite index inched 11 points, or 0.2% higher to 6,466. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 33 points at 22,365 at the open. Among the best performers on Wall Street, Michael Kors Holding Ltd jumped after analysts at Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to outperform from perform.

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Shares of Nike Inc. slumped 1.9% in premarket trade Tuesday, after a downgrade at Susquehanna Financial, which is cutting the gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures in half. Analyst Sam Poser at Susquehanna cut his rating to neutral from positive, and slashed his stock price target to $54 from $64. The stock’s price decline of 99 cents ahead of the open would shave about 7 points off the Dow , while Dow futures were up 8 points. He said there is an oversupply of Nike basketball product in North America, which should pressure sales and margins, as it goes against Nike’s business model of keeping supply below demand. He said a near-term lack of innovation in select categories is also hurting performance more than expected. The stock has gained 5.3% year to date, while the Dow has climbed 13%.

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Shares of Tesla Inc. slumped 1% in premarket trade Tuesday, pulling back from the previous session’s record close, after Jefferies started coverage of the electric car company with a bearish underweight rating, citing concerns over valuation. Analyst Phillippe Houchois set his price target at $280, which is 27% below Monday’s record close of $385. He said he doesn’t believe Tesla can deliver gross margin levels that could be consistent with the attractive returns that investors seem to expect, given that product mix is declining faster than battery size and cost, battery manufacturing is set to be a low-margin business and as depreciation is catching up quickly. “It is with a bit of a heavy heart that we initiate coverage of Tesla at underperform,” Houchois wrote in a note to clients. “Achievements to date and vision are impressive, but we don’t think Tesla’s vertically integrated business model can be scaled up as profitably and quickly as consensus thinks and valuation multiples imply.” He expects Tesla to report losses until 2020, while the FactSet consensus sees a profit of $5.33 for 2019. Tesla’s stock has soared 80% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 12%.

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From:: Stock Market News