Dow Jones Today, June 24, 2014: The U.S. stock market dipped on Tuesday despite continued positive economic data in consumer confidence and domestic housing markets. Consumer confidence struck its highest monthly level since January 2008. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that new home sales increased 18.6%, reaching a seasonally adjusted rate of 504,000 units for the year. This is the highest level since May 2008.
Here's the scorecard from today's trading session:
Here Come the Hikes: Philadelphia Fed Bank President Charles Plosser said that he expects the U.S. economy to grow at a higher rate than 2.4% for the balance of 2014. During a speech at The Economic Club of New York, Possner said he foresees the central bank raising interest rates ahead of schedule if inflation rises and unemployment continues to retract.
Downward: Shares of Walgreen Co.(NYSE: WAG) slipped 2% after reporting lackluster third-quarter results that were shy of Wall Street estimates. The company did increase its quarterly profits to $722 million, or $0.75 per share, and showed adjusted earnings of $0.91 per share, up from $0.85 per share last year. Despite the gain, projected earnings were $0.94 per share. The company said it plans to announce new operations and management strategies this summer.
The Giant Wants More: Shares of Web.com Group Inc.(Nasdaq: WWWW) plummeted more than 20% on news that Google Inc.(Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) announced plans to enter the domain-name registry business. Google has launched an invitation beta site that allows business owners to create unique domain names that end in terms like ".photography." The announcement led to an analyst downgrade of Web.com, which would become Google's competitor.
Making Up Is Hard to Do: Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) said it will again accept pre-orders of Warner Bros.(NYSE: TWX) films and other products. Amazon has been locked in a very public dispute over pricing for more than a month with filmmakers and publishing houses.
Heading East: U.S. healthcare firm Abbott Laboratories(NYSE: ABT) announced it will purchase Russian drugmaker Veropharm for between $395 million and $495 million in an all-cash deal. Though the company has sold products in Russia for decades, this is the first time the company will have a Russian manufacturing presence.
Now our experts share some of the most important investment moves to make based on today's market trading - for Money Morning Members only:
The Wild Card in the Ongoing Global Energy Crisis: The conflict in Iraq is escalating beyond all hope of control - and it's impacting a huge number of investments worldwide. So we reached out to Dr. Kent Moors, one of very few people who've advised both the Kurdish regional and Iraqi federal governments. What he told us was incredible and potentially profitable...
The Oil "Crisis Spike" Is Just Getting Started: First there was Ukraine. Now, Iraq is in flames. Oil prices are now likely headed higher. In this case, supply and demand only works in the textbooks. These days, geopolitical events can quickly outdistance the "market-only" factors. Here's what you need to know if you're looking to invest in energy this summer...
Let's Double Our Money... with a Little Help from the Greatest Analyst Who Never Lived: Here's a great new way to make money. Bill Patalon is a big Sherlock Holmes fan. That doesn't surprise us at all; Bill's a keen analyst himself, and his own sleuthing has led us to some spectacular profits. Take, for example, these plays in the software industry poised to soar...
This Metal Problem Could Ignite China's Smoldering Crisis: Concerns of China's growth moderating and housing prices dropping 5% this year aside, this might be the real reason for renewed easing: Recent reports indicate that copper and aluminum used as loan collateral may have been re-hypothecated or, worse, may never have existed at all...
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.