Stock market today, March 25, 2014: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.16% on Monday to finish the day at 16,276.89. The Nasdaq slumped 1.18% to 4,226.38, while the S&P 500 shed 0.49% to 1,857.46.
Here are today's five biggest stories and how they're impacting the markets:
Five Biggest Stories in Today's Stock Market, March 25, 2014
Wish Upon a Star: According to multiple reports, The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) has purchased YouTube channel operator Maker Studios for $500 million. The deal is the largest purchase ever of a YouTube network by a large Hollywood studio. Disney plans to use the channel to help develop and locate new talents around the world. This is the biggest purchase by Disney since its 2012 acquisition of the "Star Wars" franchise and Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion.
The New Economy: On Tuesday night, investors can expect a pricing of King Digital's initial public offering. The maker of mobile game "Candy Crush Saga" expects to hit the markets on Wednesday morning, officially filing on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts expect shares to open around $24, valuing the company at nearly $7.6 billion.
Emerging Problems: Even though Brazil is poised to unveil itself to the globe during the World Cup and Olympics, its economy is on the rocks. Yesterday, Standard & Poor's slashed the nation's credit rating on long term bonds to one level above junk status. The rations agency cited increased debt and irrational government spending practices.
Banks Behaving Badly: A federal court convicted five former aides of Ponzi Scheme director Bernard Madoff of helping the white collar criminal conceal his multi-decade operation. The first official Madoff trial, which lasted more than five months, was one of the largest in Manhattan history, and included dozens of witnesses and thousands of documents for discovery. The defendants will appeal while they await sentencing, arguing that they were unwittingly duped by Madoff into supporting his scheme.
An IPO to Avoid:The Box, a cloud storage company, officially filed the S-1 for an initial public offering on Monday. The competitor of Dropbox is expected to raise $250 million, despite the fact that the company's losses continue to pile up. The company earned revenues of $124.2 million last year, but faced a net loss of $168.6 million. The year prior, it earned revenues of $58.8 million, with a net loss of $112.6 million. Invest at your own peril.
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U.S. Economic Calendar March 25, 2014
ICSC-Goldman Store Sales at 7:45 a.m.
Redbook at 8:55 a.m.
FHFA House Price Index at 9 a.m.
S&P Case-Shiller HPI at 9 a.m.
New Home Sales at 10 a.m.
Consumer Confidence at 10 a.m.
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index at 10 a.m.
State Street Investor Confidence Index at 10 a.m.
4-Week Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
2-Yearr Note Auction at 1 p.m.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart speaks at 4 p.m.
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser speaks at 7 p.m.
Key Companies Reporting Earnings March 24, 2014
Consensus earnings per share for Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) is $0.93.
Consensus earnings per share for Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) is $-0.08.
Consensus earnings per share for McCormick & Co. (NYSE: MKC) is $0.58.
Consensus earnings per share for Sapient Corp. (Nasdaq: SAPE) is $0.10.
Consensus earnings per share for Steelcase Inc. (NYSE: SCS) is $0.17.
Others Reporting Earnings
Neogen Corp. (NEOG), G-III Apparel Group LTD. (GIII), Cache Inc. (CACH), CTI Industries Corp. (CTIB), Body Central Corp. (BODY)
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.