Tag Archives: Shares

Dow, S&P hit record highs

The two major US indexes closed on a record high on Tuesday, largely spurred by positive developments in the health care sector. The Dow closed at 14.662 and S&P 500 hit a record high of 1.570. The Dow has experienced a Phoenix-like ascendance from the ashes, but some investors worry that the market rally is simply a sign of the coming storm. Many also speculate that the strongly performing indices are not indicative of a healthy economy and that the two entities operate on a different set of rules. Nevertheless, the US economy has shown signs of improvement, although the recovery has been slower than any previous post-recession recovery.

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Say Analysts

The Dow and S&P 500 continued their high runs for the sixth consecutive week and were up by 2 per cent by the end of the week, but the continued stock rally in the US and Japan is not necessarily cause for optimism, some analysts say.

These analysts take the rally-induced enthusiasm with a pinch of salt. For instance, CNBC’s Marc Faber pointed out that what we are seeing now in terms of investor behaviour was exactly what we saw four years ago when such short-lived enthusiasm ended badly.

“We’re up very substantially, I think investors who today rush into stocks should be reminded of that,” Faber observed. He said that the current rally will end in “a 20 per cent correction or a more nasty sell off at some point this year.”

While some express caution, the S&P 500 is nearing its all-time highs and the Nasdaq hiked up by 0.4 per cent, both driven by robust jobs data which inspired many investors to express faith in the economy’s ability to bounce back.

LinkedIn All Work And No Play

According to its fourth-quarter earnings report, LinkedIn boosted its shares almost 20 percent to $148.50 by early Friday afternoon — breaking an all-time high for the professional and increasingly popular social network.

In other LinkedIn related news, the company banned Facebook’s bangwithfriends.com app from its site, leaving the sex-crazed workaholics out in the cold. According to LinkedIn the app sullied its terms of service, which explicitly forbids endorsing adult activities. Paradoxically, the site is about adult of activities: finding and keeping an unexciting job.

Nokia Bouncing Back?

The heavily criticized Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop has been able to turn the ailing mobile giant’s luck with well-timed and executed changes, and on Friday the hard work paid off as Nokia’s share jumped 18 percent in the Helsinki stock exchange signaling a shift that might restore the company’s status as a market maker after several years of decline.

After massive layouts last June, I wrote a piece predicting a gloomy future for the Finnish flagship. Astonishingly, there are real signs that Nokia is bouncing back. The world of technology coupled with top-notch marketing can work wonders and usually the Finns, who excel in producing quality products, but fail in marketing, seem to have managed to persuade the younger generations that Nokia is still hip and not just a phone for toddlers to play with and geriatrics to step on.
A report at forbes.com makes the argument that Apple is no longer the gadget of choice for teenagers.

“The signs that youngest smartphone audience has cooled on Apple have been steadily accumulating over the past few months. Apple, for instance, dropped several spots or remained flat on several teen brand opinion polls, including marketing agency’s Smarty Pants’ Young Love survey. And while 67% of affluent teens still say they intend to purchase an iPhone as their next upgrade, reports Piper Jaffray, Samsung pulls in second with a strong 22%. Perhaps more importantly is the fact that it was unthinkable a mere 12 months ago that any teen would prefer any phone to an iPhone if given the option,” Forbes’ Larissa Faw wrote.

Although the mobile phone market is no longer a game of only a few players, Nokia will face tough competition from constantly improving Samsung and even ailing HTC and RIM, but perhaps Apple’s downfall is Nokia’s silver lining.