Tag: stock market

U.S. stocks maintained modest gains shortly after President Donald Trump delivered his inaugural speech, reiterating his campaign slogan to “Make America Great Again”. The S&P 500 was up 6 points, or 0.3%, at 2,270. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 16 points, or 0.3% to 5,556. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 67 points or 0.4%, to 19,798. The U.S. dollar briefly weakened but was unchanged after the speech. The ICE dollar index was at 101.00

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One of President Obama’s final acts before Donald Trump was inaugurated Friday was to sign a bill into law to make sure his Presidential Innovations Fellows Program, which pulls technology entrepreneurs into government to work on specific issues, sticks around. The program was started by the White House in 2012 and partners those in technology with lawmakers and federal agencies to work on issues such as saving lives, creating jobs and supporting entrepreneurship within the government, according to the press release. In the program, fellows serve for six months to 24 months. A similar bill was introduced by the House and Senate last year, but did not make it to the President by the end of the legislative session.

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General Electric Co. and International Business Machines Corp. have something in common that makes them rare among companies that report quarterly results: both companies’ financial statements list diluted earnings per share above basic EPS, and they have for years. Of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , Walt Disney Co. is the only other company that reports EPS in that way. Basic EPS is calculated using the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period, while diluted EPS takes into account all dilutive potential common shares, such as exercised options. Therefore, diluted EPS tends to be less than basic EPS. While it’s not wrong to report diluted first, it’s usual, like listing most-recent results to the right of year-ago results. An unknowing investor might at first glance think EPS is a bit larger than the actual bottomline number. “We present EPS in a way that we think is most representative of the company for investors,” a GE spokesperson told MarketWatch. IBM was not immediately available for comment. GE’s stock fell 1.9% in midday trade Friday, after reporting fourth-quarter revenue that missed expectations, while IBM’s stock gained 1.6% after reporting better-than-expected results. GE shares have rallied 9.3% over the past 12 months, while IBM shares have run up 39% and the Dow has climbed 26%.

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Whole Foods Market Inc. said Friday that the first New York City 365 by Whole Foods store, the lower-priced version of the grocery brand, will be in Brooklyn. The opening date has yet to be determined, but it will be located in the borough’s Cultural District. The first Whole Foods store opened in Brooklyn in 2013, and a new Whole Foods Market, the 11th in New York City, will open in Midtown Manhattan on Jan. 28. The first three 365 stores opened in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles, Bellevue, WA, and Lake Oswego, OR in 2016. Whole Foods says it has 23 365 store leases in development with the next one planned for Cedar Park, TX in April 2017. Whole Foods shares are nearly flat in Friday trading, and are up nearly 5% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 22.3% for the past 12 months.

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BlackRock Inc. , the world’s biggest asset manager, on Friday named former UK Chancellor George Osborne as a part-time senior adviser in a research division that focuses on economic and political events. Osborne is still a member of the UK parliament. BlackRock shares were slightly higher in midday trade, and are up 30% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 22%.

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FinTech Acquisition Corp. , a blank-check company, priced its initial public offering at $10 per share to raise $153 million. The company will offer 15.3 million units. Each unit is made up of one share of common stock and one-half of one warrant. FinTech Acquisition Corp. plans to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market, which is typically for small-cap companies, under the symbol “FNTEU” and start trading Friday.

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Alphabet Inc. was initiated with an overweight rating and $1,030 stock price target Friday at Pacific Crest Securities. Analyst Andy Hargreaves said Alphabet’s current valuation underestimates the sustainability of Google’s search and YouTube businesses. He believes YouTube could launch a multichannel video programming service in 2017. Shares of Alphabet rose 0.5% to $828.03 in premarket trade. They’ve risen 0.3% in the past three months and 15% in the past year. The S&P 500 , meanwhile, is up 6% in the past three months and 22% in the past year. The average rating on the stock is the equivalent to buy, while the average price target is $960.59, according to a survey of roughly 30 analysts surveyed by FactSet.

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U.S. stocks opened higher Friday as investors largely avoided big bets ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the nation’s 45th president. The main indexes were on track to end the week with modest losses, however. The S&P 500 opened up 8 points, or 0.3%, at 2,271. The Nasdaq Composite began the session up 21 points, or 0.4% higher, at 5,562. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 76 points, or 0.4%, to 19,809 at the open.

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Keane Group Inc. , an oil-field services company, priced its initial public offering at the high end of its range Thursday night. Keane priced its offering at $19 a share and will be selling 15.7 million shares, while its selling stockholder, Cerberus Capital Management LP, will be selling 11.06 million shares. Keane will not receive proceeds from the shares sold by the stockholder. Shares are expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday under the symbol “FRAC.”

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The U.S. video game industry generated $30.4 billion in revenue in 2016, according to new data from the Entertainment Software Association and NPD Group. Sales include everything from hardware, software, peripherals and in-game purchases and 2016’s gross is just above the $30.2 billion generated in 2015. Consumer spending on console platforms, such as Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Corp.’s XBox One, was driven by Activision Blizzard Inc.’s “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare,” Electronic Arts Inc.’s “Battlefield 1” and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s “NBA 2K17.” NPD Group pointed out the Pokemon craze that re-upped in 2016 with the Pokemon Go mobile game and release of Pokemon Sun and Moon, which garnered the highest launch month consumer spend in the history of the franchise, according to a news release. “Growth in entertainment software consumer spend was seen across the mobile, PC, virtual reality, subscription, portable and digital console segments,” NPD Group industry analyst Mat Piscatella said in a statement. “Consumers have more options to purchase and enjoy entertainment software than ever before, while developers have more and easier ways to delivering that content. No matter the delivery platform, entertainment software has never been more engaging, diverse or accessible.”

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