Here's the scorecard from today's market trading:
DOW: 16,722, -0.13%
S&P 500: 1,924, -0.05%
NASDAQ: 4,234, -0.08%
And here are the top stories from today's market trading:
- The Buying Doesn't Stop: This morning, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) announced plans to acquire Pryte, a Finnish company that enables mobile phone users in underdeveloped nations to use wireless Internet apps. Although its service has not publicly launched, Facebook sees steep value in helping its customers without wireless data plans to access online services. Read more on what Facebook has been buying lately...
- Flying High: Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), the United States' third-largest carrier, was up more than 1% in market trading today after reporting strong passenger traffic in May. The company reported a 6% boost in passengers in May in addition to the purchase of 15 new Airbus (OTCMKTS: EADSY) jets that are set to arrive in 2018.
- Morning Jolt: Get ready to pay more for your a.m. rush. The J.M. Smucker Co. (NYSE: SJM) announced it will increase its U.S. coffee prices by an average of 9% as commodity prices have almost doubled since January 1. This move will likely trigger price jumps by coffee roasters as they attempt to reduce profit exposure to soaring bean prices. Coffee prices have soared over increasing drought concerns in Brazil.
- Profiting Off U.S. Production: Surf and skate clothing icon Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE: ZQK) watched helplessly as shares plunged by as much as 44% in today's market on horrible quarterly losses. The company lost $0.15 per share, well worse than consensus estimates of $0.02 per share.
- Targeting Global Growth: French regulators are livid with the United States over the $10 billion-plus fine proposed for BNP Paribas over accusations that the country's largest bank evaded sanctions between 2002 and 2009 in Sudan and Iran. The Hollande government has said that an "unfair and unilateral decision" by the United States could hurt transatlantic free-trade talks.
- Betting on Subprime Again: Are we back in 2008? A court filing revealed that activist investor Carl Icahn acquired nearly $51 million in common shares of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Fairholme Funds Inc. in March 2013. Icahn joins fellow activist investor Bill Ackman in bidding big on the U.S. housing market.
Now our experts share some of the most important investment moves to make based on today's market trading - for Money Morning Members only:
- This Is Like Investing in China... In 1980: A potential sea change is underway in India. And with a new, impressive prime minister, and a burgeoning consumer population, they're setting up as the next economic miracle... Here's how to make big profits from this nation's coming surge...
- The Next Trillion-Dollar Mortgage Meltdown May Be Coming: The fourth securitization deal of big investor-owned single-family homes for rent is here. Is this just another Wall Street gamble that will wreck the economy again, or is this time different? You be the judge. But Shah will tell you where he stands... and more important, how to protect yourself...
- This Defense Tech Play Is Scorching the Market: Many investors believe that with our presence in Iraq largely gone, defense firms will offer mediocre returns at best. But our Defense & Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson is not buying into it. He says massive profit opportunities are still there. And the market and the government are lining up behind them...
About the Author
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.