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Stock market close, Friday, July 18: The DJIA bounced back on Friday, up more than 100 points following Thursday's worst performance since early April. Geopolitical tensions remain high following the attack on a Malaysian jet airliner over Ukrainian skies yesterday morning, and Israel's tactical launch inside Gaza.
Here's the scorecard from today's trading session:
DOW: 17,098.51 (+0.72%)
NASDAQ: 4,432.15 (+1.57%)
S&P 500: 1,978.18 (+1.02%)
And here are the top stories from the stock market today:
- Volatility Slumps: The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 15% on Friday, one day after it surged 32%, its largest gain since April 2013. Despite the recent uptick, this index (commonly known as the Fear Index) is below its historical average of nearly 20. Get more on the VIX and how this powerful index works here.
- Read Up, America: Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) were up more than 1.4% on news that the company will launch Kindle Unlimited, an unrestricted subscription reading and audiobook service for Kindle and other mobile devices. According to reports, the service could generate more than $1 billion in new revenue for Amazon, a level that excites investors.
- Software Stumbles: Shares of RealPage Inc. (NYSE: RP) plummeted more than 22% on news that the software company slashed its second-quarter guidance. It cut its second- quarter revenue outlook to $93.8 million to $94.8 million, down from $106 million to $108 million. RP said its financial struggles are due to rental property owners reducing their marketing spending over concerns of falling vacancy and turnover rates.
- Spin-Off Excitement: Global giant General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) announced that quarterly net income jumped 13%, but that failed to stop shares from sliding more than 1%. The company reported improving revenue in oil and gas equipment and jet engines. GE also announced that it plans to spin off its credit card business in an IPO by the end of July. Here's why we love GE stock and today's earnings...
- Volatility Spikes: Google stock (Nasdaq: GOOGL) was up more than 3% today, crossing $600 per share on Thursday's news that the company beat second-quarter earnings expectations and that its chief business officer is exiting the firm. The company announced that quarterly revenue increased 22%, but didn't include results from its Motorola Mobility unit, which will soon be sold to Lenovo Group Ltd. (OTCMKTS: LNVGY). The company's chief business officer Nikesh Arora will be moving to SoftBank Corp., where he will become the company's vice chairman.
Now our experts share some of the most important investment moves to make based on today's market trading - for Money Morning Members only:
About the Author
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.
Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.