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Snap Inc. hit its lowest prices yet Wednesday, as rival Facebook Inc.’s Instagram openly crowed about the success of its Stories offering, which mimics Snapchat’s feature of the same name. On the anniversary of the launch of its Stories feature, Instagram noted in a blog post that 250 million people used its Stories function daily, with users younger than 25 spending 32 minutes a day in the Instagram app and older users averaging 24 minutes a day in the app. While Instagram has previously revealed that its Stories feature had more users than Snap, this was the first time Facebook has divulged the amount of time users spend in the app, which Snap has said is a more important metric than total users. In its filing for an initial public offering, Snap said users younger than 25 spent more than 30 minutes a day in the Snapchat app, while older users averaged 20 minutes a day. Snap shares hit a new intraday low of $12.53 in Wednesday’s session, more than 26% lower than the company’s IPO price of $17, while Facebook was down about 1.2% in a tough day for tech stocks not named Apple Inc.

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From:: Stock Market News

Time Inc. said on Wednesday that it is building out its Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazine brand into its own full-fledged business. Time announced Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Enterprises, a new division that Time hopes will extend the brand by developing licensing programs, new businesses in partnership with swimsuit models and leveraging content and promotional assets of Time and Sports Illustrated. “By tapping into SI Swimsuit’s enormous reach, unparalleled brand loyalty and talented models, we have extraordinary potential to develop new licensing and business opportunities that span a variety of categories,” said Sports Illustrated Editorial Director Chris Stone. Time has been struggling as of late, as the company suffers from a declining print business. After deciding not to sell itself back in June, the company has cut jobs and begun restructuring the business. Time has also been selling some businesses in an effort to condense its portfolio and focus on it core brands. Shares of Time have declined nearly 23% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 10%.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s is rallying toward a sixth straight record close, but the stock market’s internal readings are painting a very different, negative picture. The number of declining stocks is outnumbering advancers by a 1,832-to-966 margin on the NYSE and by a 2,005-to-610 score on the Nasdaq exchange. Volume in declining stocks represents 67% of total volume on the NYSE and 74% of Nasdaq volume. Meanwhile, the Dow is up 20 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite is shedding 0.4%. Despite the Dow’s gain, only 12 of 30 components are gaining ground. Apple Inc. by itself is keeping the blue-chip barometer afloat. If the stock was flat, rather than up $7.74, or 5.2%, in the wake of better-than-expected second-quarter results, the Dow would be down 33 points.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The White House is reportedly considering former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to run the Homeland Security department as it looks to replace former boss John Kelly. Perry, the U.S. Energy secretary, is among a handful of candidates being considered, according to Bloomberg. Kelly was recently named President Trump’s chief of staff. Homeland Security is the agency in charge of enforcing the nation’s immigration laws, a subject with which Perry is familiar as the former Texas governor. Texas has a long border with Mexico and a large population of Hispanic and Latin-American immigrants.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The White House is reportedly considering former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to run the Homeland Security department as it looks to replace former boss John Kelly. Perry, the U.S. Energy secretary, is among a handful of candidates being considered, according to Bloomberg. Kelly was recently named President Trump’s chief of staff. Homeland Security is the agency in charge of enforcing the nation’s immigration laws, a subject with which Perry is familiar as the former Texas governor. Texas has a long border with Mexico and a large population of Hispanic and Latin-American immigrants.

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St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Wednesday the U.S. central bank should “pause” on further rate hikes “for now” given the low inflation readings. In an interview with Market News, Bullard said that he would not support further rate hikes in the near-term given the inflation outlook. The headline and core of the PCE index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, have both softened closer to 1.5% in recent months, well below the central bank’s 2% target. Bullard, who is not a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year, has been pressing the central bank to start to reduce the size of its balance sheet. Analysts think the Fed will decide start to shrink its asset holdings at its next meeting in late September.

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President Donald Trump called a Russia sanctions bill he signed on Wednesday “significantly flawed,” and said that it included “unconstitutional provisions.” Among those provisions were what Trump called displacing presidential authority to recognize foreign governments. The bill slaps new sanctions on Russia and also restricts Trump’s ability to ease sanctions on Moscow. The bill overwhelmingly passed both chambers of Congress and prompted Russia to order staff cuts at the U.S. embassy and American consulates. It also imposes penalties against Iran and North Korea.

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From:: Stock Market News

A popular way to wager on the energy sector was sinking on Wednesday, weighing on the broader market as crude-oil prices drifted lower in late-morning trade. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF was down 1.2%, which would market the energy-focused funds worst daily drop since June 21, when its slipped 1.6%. Leading the charge lower was a 15% drop in Pioneer Natural Resources Co.’s stock and an 11% skid in Range Resources Corp. . Only Phills 66 , up about 1.2%, and Exxon Mobil Corp. gaining 0.4%, were in positive territory. U.S. traded crude-oil futures were down 0.8% at $48.75 a barrel, weighing on energy-related companies that drill for oil and provide services to the oil outfits. The energy sector was the worst performer among the S&P 500’s 11, along with consumer-discretionary shares. The S&P 500 index was off 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , however, was off its highs, having surpassed a milestone at 22,000, up 0.1% at 21,986.

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From:: Stock Market News