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Market Recap 9.18.2012

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The iphone 5 is expected to ship on Friday and analysts predict that as many as 10 million units will be sold before the end of the fiscal year. Analysts also predict that the iPhone 5 may sell as many as 250 million units in its lifetime.  This could make the iPhone one of the most successful products Apple has ever launched.

Rumors of a potential release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve continued to circulate pushing oil prices lower today. Brent traded higher for seven sessions in a row before falling yesterday and today.

Things to look for this week:

Wednesday- Weekly mortgage apps, housing starts, existing Home Sales, AutoZone, General
Mills, Adobe Systems, Bed Bath & Beyond

Thursday- Jobless Claims, Earnings from CarMax, ConAgra, Rite Aid and Oracle.

Friday- iPhone 5 Ships.

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Halftime Report 9.17.2012

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Apple is trading up today gaining 5.84 (+0.83%).  Pre-sales of the Apple iPhone 5 have shattered the tech giant’s previous records with 2 million of the phone being sold in the first 24 hours they were available.  The record was held by the iPhone 4s which saw 1 million pre-orders on its first day of availability. Long line are already forming outside at New York City’s 5th Avenue Apple Store in anticipation of the product release.

Things to look for this week:

Tuesday- Housing Market Index, FedEx earnings

Wednesday- Existing Home Sales, AutoZone, General Mills, Adobe Systems, Bed Bath & Beyond

Thursday- Jobless Claims, Earnings from CarMax, ConAgra, Rite Aid and Oracle.

Friday- iPhone 5 Ships.

James Ramelli B.S. in Finance from UIUC. Email: james@keeneonthemarket.com Follow: @Jim_KOTM

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Market Recap 9.14.2012

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In a statement released yesterday the FOMC outlined their plan to purchase $40 billion worth of mortgage bonds every month.  The Committee also announced its intention to continue purchasing long-term debt in an effort to put downward pressure on long-term interest rates. The program means that the Fed will add around $85 billion to its $2.8 trillion balance sheet every month until economic conditions improve.  The program has a more or less open-ended time frame.  The Fed will evaluate the strength of the economy and will continue to ease until economic conditions, mainly unemployment, improve. 

Apple (AAPL) hit a new all time high today of 696.98.  iPhone 5 pre-orders opened today selling out in less than a minute.  The tech giant now has a market cap of over $648 billion.  The iPhone 5 is scheduled to be shipped next Friday.

Consumer prices index saw its biggest gain in 3 years. Retail sales were higher for the second month in a row.

Earnings next week:

Tuesday- FedEx

Wednesday- Auto-Zone, General Mills, Adobe Systems, Bed Bath and Beyond

Thursday- CarMax, ConAgra, Rite Aid, Oracle

Screen Shot 2012-09-12 at 11.09.46 AM

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Halftime Report 9.11.2012

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  Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has announced that China will indeed meet their growth target for the year.  Markets have long been concern over slowing growth in China.  The German Constitutional Court has also announced that their ruling on the European bailout fund will be announced tomorrow. 

 The FOMC meeting is scheduled to begin tomorrow with forecasts scheduled to be released on Thursday. Bernanke’s press conference is also scheduled for Thursday.  Many analysts expect that the Federal Reserve Bank will launch a third round of quantitative easing, but there is still some skepticism over whether or not Bernanke will have enough votes to push the program through.

Moody’s has announced that they may downgrade the U.S. government’s credit rating if they cannot lower the nation’s debt ratio in the upcoming budget negotiations.

Indicies are up with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both up around 6 points each. 

James Ramelli B.S. in Finance from UIUC. Email: james@keeneonthemarket.com Follow: @Jim_KOTM

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Market Recap 9.6.2012

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The S&P 500 closed at session highs of 1432.10 for a gain of 2.04%.  The Nasdaq also closed at session highs up 2.17%.  The DJIA closed at a session high of up 244.52 points for a gain of 1.87%.

A huge day for equities across the board, with the S&P 500 logging its best day since January 2008.

James Ramelli UIUC graduate in Finance. Email: james@keeneonthemarket.com Follow: @Jim_KOTM 

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Market Recap 8.31.2012

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Metals and energy rallied on Bernanke’s announcement that though no action will be taken now, the Fed will be ready to act should economic conditions worsen.  His comments are reminiscent of remarks he made in 2010 from Jackson Hole where he strongly hinted at the possibility of QE2.  Crude moved up $1.73 closing at $96.35.  Natural gas rallied nearly 2% closing at $2.801.  Gold surged higher closing up $36.60 closing at 1691.40.  Silver moved up 4.18% closing at 31.72.

Volatility was down today with the VIX falling a little over two percent closing at 17.47.    

The story of the day was the Bernanke speech.  Although he made no explicit statement about what action they would take if the economy deteriorates, the consensus is that it will almost certainly be another round of asset purchasing.  Markets rallied after the implementation of the first two rounds of easing but markets are concerned over the effectiveness of further easing.  Analysts expect that there the likelihood of easing is now very high and that we won’t hear another announcement of significance until around the election. 

James Ramelli University of Illinois graduate in finance Email: james@keeneonthemarket.com, Follow @Jim_KOTM