Stock Market Today Moving on AAPL and Oil Price News

Good morning! Right now futures indicate the stock market today opening higher than yesterday's close. The Dow added 19 points yesterday, but the market reacted negatively to a poor earnings report issued by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM). According to reports, investment guru Warren Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) lost nearly $1 billion after IBM shares sunk by more than 7% yesterday.

The most important numbers to watch today - besides the Dow - are China's third-quarter GDP rate and the report on existing home sales for September. This morning, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that China showed a 7.3% year-over-year quarterly growth rate in the third quarter. This is the lowest GDP growth rate in five years as the nation continues to face weakening production and real estate levels. The announcement will likely fuel Chinese central bankers to add more stimulus measures to stave off a continued slowdown.

Meanwhile, existing home sales slipped 1.8% in August. This year, existing home sales are down 5.3% year on year. With Friday's positive report on new home sales and housing starts, but relative weakness in home prices, this report will be an important barometer on the continued health of the U.S. housing market.

Here's what else you should know to make your Tuesday profitable:

  • Oil Prices Today: Oil prices were back on the rise this morning, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, rising nearly 0.3% on increasing Chinese demand. November contracts for WTI crude were up nearly 0.2% as well, but trailed Brent by roughly $3 per barrel. The price of WTI was flat on Monday, finishing at $82.71 per barrel. With oil prices still suppressed, our energy expert Dr. Kent Moors offers three takeaways for the U.S. energy sector right now. And his 35 years of expert advice give him the foresight to provide one play that you can take right now while others are too distracted by figures in China or European growth concerns.
  • stock market todayAAPL Report: Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) rallied more than 1% in post-market hours after the company crushed Wall Street earnings expectations on strong sales of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models. Apple reported earnings of $1.42 per share, above analyst expectations of $1.31. The figures were a 20% increase over the $1.18 EPS in the same quarter a year ago. Quarterly revenues were $42.1 billion, beating expectations of $39.74 billion. That was a 12% increase over last year's revenue of $37.5 billion. Here's the full recap of Apple's quarterly report.

Become a Money Morning Member to get the rest of our roundup and our investment Tip of the Day - it's free!

  • Tip of the Day: Yesterday, our Bill Patalon told Private Briefing readers that that high-yielding dividend stocks were one of the best ways to navigate this whipsaw market. But today, we're going to show you just how powerful one particular dividend play can be. In fact, this boring income play could net you 76%, even in today's volatile market.
  • Tragedy in Moscow: The chief executive officer of French oil giant Total SA (NYSE ADR: TOT) died Monday night after his private jet collided with a snowplow at a Russian airport. Christophe de Margerie and three crewmembers were killed as his plane was taking off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport, and visibility was low. According to reports, the snowplow operator, who also died in the crash, was drunk and a criminal investigation is underway. Total's board is meeting today to decide how to proceed without him. Shares of Total were down in pre-market hours.
  • Blackberry Boom: A day after shares of Blackberry Ltd. (Nasdaq: BBRY) rallied 8.5% on positive sales news of its newest phone, the Passport, its stock continues to rise on news that it could soon be acquired by Lenovo Group Limited (OTCMKTS ADR: LNVGY). According to Reuters, the two companies had engaged in previous merger discussions in 2013, but they failed to reach a deal. Benzinga.com, citing an unknown source, said that an offer as high as $15 per share could this week.
  • Dead Deal: Pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) announced plans to terminate its agreement to purchase Ireland-based rival Shire Plc. (Nasdaq ADR: SHPG). Terms of the deal, originally slated at $55 billion, will now require AbbVie to pay Shire a break-up fee of $1.64 billion. The news came on the same day that hedge fund Paulson & Co. urged executives at Botox giant Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) to merge with Shire. Paulson & Co. is the top shareholder in Allergan and the third largest shareholder in Shire Plc.
  • Economic Calendar: Today's economic calendar features the weekly ICSC-Goldman retail-store-sales report, the Redbook report on chain store sales, and an update on existing home sales.
  • Earnings Reports: Stay tuned for earnings reports from Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW), The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).
[epom key="ddec3ef33420ef7c9964a4695c349764" redirect="" sourceid="" imported="false"]

Full U.S. Economic Calendar October 21, 2014

  • ICSC-Goldman Store Sales at 7:45 a.m.
  • Redbook at 8:55 a.m.
  • Existing Home Sales at 10 a.m.
  • 4-Week Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.

Editor's Note: Investors are taught that bear markets can't occur unless short-term interest rates are higher than long-term interest rates. But that measure may be off the mark this time...

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.

Read full bio