Good morning! Stock market futures for Friday, Jan. 30, forecasted a 147-point decline from yesterday's close. The Dow Jones gained 225 points on Thursday on strong earnings reports from a number of Blue Chip companies and an upswing in oil prices.
Today, markets will focus the fourth-quarter GDP estimate - the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity that covers every sector of the economy. Analysts anticipate growth of roughly 3.1%. That's a decrease from 5% in the third quarter of 2014.
Investors will also track more Blue Chip earnings today. Stay tuned for reports from AbbVie Inc. (Nasdaq: ABBV), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM), and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA).
Here's what else you should know about the stock market today - including your "Money Morning Tip of the Day" - to make it a profitable Friday:
IPO of the Day: This morning, Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) will go public, and expectations are very high for the New York-based burger chain. Shares are estimated to open at $21 - a steep increase from the initial price range of $14 to $16 per share. So is Shake Shack a good investment? Money Morning Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson answers that very question in a breakdown you can read right here. Additionally, you can check out a breakdown of the 11 other IPOs that hit the market this week.- Veto Coming: On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to approve construction of the TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) Keystone XL Pipeline. The Senate received 62 votes in favor of the pipeline's construction - five short of the figure needed to override a presidential veto. The Obama Administration has stated it will veto, at least as long as the pipeline remains under evaluation from the U.S. State Department. We've compiled a list of stocks poised to profit when Barack Obama kills this bill in the coming weeks - click here to read all about them.
- Earnings Pop: Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) soared more than 11.5% in post-market hours Thursday after the company reported a sales increase of 15% compared to last quarter; however, there's one key number investors need to understand to know where Amazon is headed - and to play AMZN stock...
- Earnings Slump: Shares of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) were flat on news the tech giant jumped 15% in the fourth quarter, but still fell short of Wall Street expectations. The firm said declining online ad prices and a rising dollar continue to affect profits. Google reported fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $6.88 - $0.20 under projections. Revenue came in at $14.5 billion (16.9% growth year over year), also under expectations by $110 million. Still, we are calling this one of the most remarkable GOOG earnings in history - here's why...
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- Chinese Slump: Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) plummeted more than 8% Thursday after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported weaker than expected quarterly revenue. The news shattered Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), which is planning to spin-off its holdings in the company. Now that Alibaba stock has slid more than 27% from its 52-week high, concerns are emerging that analysts could downgrade the stock. All 22 analysts currently have a "Buy" rating on the stock. But today's dip represents a great buying opportunity for BABA stock. In fact, Money Morning's Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald says long-term investors would be "foolish" to not take this chance to add to their positions...
- Oil Prices Today: Oil prices are on track for a seventh consecutive monthly loss, despite a small uptick in crude figures this morning. Today, March 2015 futures for U.S. crude, priced at the NYMEX in New York City, increased by nearly 1% but still remained below $45 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent crude, priced in London, jumped about 0.5% to hit $49.38 per barrel.
Full U.S. Economic Calendar January 30, 2015 (NYSE: all times EST)
- GDP at 8:30 a.m.
- Employment Cost Index at 8:30 a.m.
- Chicago PMI at 9:45 a.m.
- Consumer Sentiment at 10 a.m.
- Farm Prices at 3 p.m.
A Tech Winner from Golden Globes? Fitz-Gerald picked up on an investing opportunity just by tuning in to the Jan. 11 Golden Globes award ceremony. He calls it "one of the biggest opportunities of the next five to ten years." See what stock he recommends here...
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.