
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]
1. Moving the Markets
Markets shifted lower today amidst mixed domestic data, higher bond yields and (believe it or not) renewed concerns over Greece. After a myriad of budget cuts, a million lost jobs, 250,000 closed businesses and nearly 240 billion euros ($267 billion USD) in rescue loans, the country is once again on the brink of default and relations with its creditors are worse than ever.
Tech stocks took a hit today. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG) all declined. There was some interesting news though regarding Microsoft. We heard reports today that Microsoft is considering a bid for Salesforce.com, one week following a report the company was fielding bids for a potential takeover. The Salesforce stock (CRM) shot up 3.3% on the news, but did not comment on the rumors. Remember that Microsoft has already notched two major tech deal acquisitions of late. In September of 2013, the company announced it would acquire Nokia’s (NOK) handset business for $7 billion and last September, they scooped up the video game franchise Minecraft for $2.5 billion.
As for economic data, we heard today that the March trade deficit came in at $51.4 billion, which was far above expectations. Apparently, we just keep importing and the largest since 2008.
In earnings news, Walt Disney Co’s (DIS) quarterly revenue beat analysts’ expectations, helped by increased spending by visitors at its theme parks and strength in the company’s TV networks business. The company’s shares rose as much as 2% to a record high of $113.30. Tomorrow, we will hear from Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR), Tesla (TSLA) and a number of other market movers.
With the markets stuck on a black diamond slope today, it’s no surprise that all of our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight slumped and closed down. Leading to the downside was the Russell Mid-Cap Value (IWS) with a loss of 1.39%, while financials (IYF) held up the best by surrendering only 0.79%.
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