The Dow Jones today surged another 421 points as investors continued to cheer the U.S. Federal Reserve's timeline for raising interest rates. Technology stocks led today's charge, with Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) gaining 10% on strong quarterly earnings, and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) adding nearly 2.3%.
The VIX, the market's fear gauge, plunged more than 13.5% on the day.
Here are the top stories from the stock market today...
The Tesla stock price opened at $212.38 today (Thursday), meaning the stock has fallen 27.1% since the all-time it hit in September.
TSLA stock's dip has coincided with the plummet in crude oil prices. At this week's five-year low of $53.60 a barrel, WTI crude oil is now down 47.7% in the last six months. Brent oil trades just above $61 a barrel today. The global benchmark priced over $110 a barrel this summer.
by David Zeiler
The Bitcoin forecast for 2015 is for major strides toward the promise we've been hearing about for more than a year.
The power of the idea – a decentralized, digital currency that includes ownership data and can move money around the world in an instant – just keeps gaining traction.
But the Bitcoin forecast 2015 isn't just for more of the same. For sure, mass adoption will continue. But next year we'll see a lot more activity on Wall Street as well as a lot more innovation from Bitcoin startups.
This will be a pivotal year for Bitcoin...
by Jim Bach
Yahoo stock secured a win in mobile ad revenue, according to a recent report.
It looks like Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) is going to overtake Twitter in market share for mobile ads.
This is a welcome development. But will it help Yahoo with a true turnaround?
Several of this year's penny stocks with the biggest gains surfaced unexpectedly. They boasted share-price growth as high as 104%.
While many investors are hesitant, if not completely opposed, to the penny stock game, others know that it's all a matter of properly conducted research separating the successful from the fruitless.
Just take a look at these, the biggest penny stock winners of 2014...
Good morning! Stock market futures for Thursday, Dec. 18, forecasted a 138-point gain from yesterday's close.
The Dow Jones jumped 288 points Wednesday on news that the U.S. Federal Reserve plans to be "patient" with its timeline for raising interest rates. Markets were also fueled by a surge in energy stocks, which received a slight bump from rising oil prices and declining capex spending across Canada.
Today, investors will focus on Russia, weekly jobless claims, and notable earnings reports from Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) – and a Wall Street beat just in from Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) that has sent shares up more than 13.5% pre-market.
Here are the other top stock market news stories for Thursday, Dec. 18...
The collapse in oil prices has exposed some vulnerable economies. All of them are dependent upon crude export sales to maintain even the appearance of a national budget.
As you might expect, every member of OPEC falls into this group, although Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates have sufficient reserves that will allow them to carry sizable budget deficits for some time.
However, Venezuela, Iran, and Nigeria are in a real bind. Each needs oil to be over $100 a barrel to keep it all afloat. That's tough to finesse when oil is selling for less than $60 a barrel.
Today, Caracas is on the verge of defaulting (again) on its sovereign debt, Tehran may need to reintroduce rationing, while Abuja is fighting an incendiary civil war against Islamist fundamentalists in the north.
Yet these nightmares are hardly limited to OPEC. Other export-dependent producers are likewise taking it on the chin.
And at the top of this list is Russia, which has now come completely off the rails...
by Diane Alter
Get the ten most-Googled terms of 2014 – with a twist…
A look at hottest searches provides a fantastic measure of the year's most important happenings. And as a bonus to the regular list format, we've paired each term with a link to one of our favorite 2014 Web articles on that topic. Check them out for a quick refresher, a moving read, or exceptional visual content.
Today's Fed meeting gave the Dow Jones a boost. The blue-chip benchmark jumped 288 points on news the Federal Reserve plans to be patient with its timeline for raising interest rates.
The S&P 500 jumped 2% on the day, its largest gain for 2014. The VIX, the market's volatility gauge, plunged more than 17% on the day.
Here's a closer look at what moved the markets today...
by
Now that the gold price looks like it will end 2014 down, rounding out three years of weakness for the metal, the outlook for gold in 2015 is even more anticipated…
The biggest questions around gold's direction in 2015 include: Is gold finally done consolidating? When will it regain its bullish trend? Is gold a good buy today?
Let's take a look at all the factors to consider in our Gold Price Forecast 2015...
