Vikas Shukla

Post Market News Stocks that were active in the U.S. trading on Friday include Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHLD), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) and Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) Market Levels U.S.: Dow Jones: 15,273.50 (-0.14%), S&P 500: 1,649.62 (-0.05%), Nasdaq: 3,459.14 (-0.01%) World Markets: Shanghai: 2,288.53 (+0.57%), Nikkei 225: 14,612.45 (+0.89%), Hang Seng Index: 22,618.67 (-0.23%), TSEC: 8,209.78 (-0.34%), FTSE 100: 6,654.34 (-0.63%), EURO STOXX 50: 2,764.29 (-0.45%), BSE Sensex: 19,704.33 (+0.15%) Metals: Gold: $1386.60 (-0.37%), Silver: $22.50 (-0.05%), Platinum: $1451.90 (-0.36%) Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2933 (+0.01%), USD/JPY: 100.99 (-0.87%), GBP/USD: 1.5136 (+0.21%), USD/CAD:  1.0319 (+0.14%), USD/CNY: 6.1316 (-0.04%), AUD/USD: 0.9655 (-0.85%) 10 year U.S. Treasury: 2.01% (+0.02), 30 year U.S. Treasury: 3.17% (+0.01) Market & Economy Update Data showed today that jobless claims fell to 340,000 last week. Moreover, orders for durable goods rose more than expected in April. All three major indexes ended the session lower today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 21 points to 15,273.50, the S&P 500 Index slipped 0.91 points to 1,649.60, while Nasdaq fell 0.28 points to 3,459.14. Stocks In Focus Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) The Federal Trade Commission has started an investigation into whether Google is using its strong position in online advertising to illegally curb competition. The investigation is still in preliminary stages,
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Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) shares have risen consistently despite billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman calling it a pyramid scheme and placing a $1 billion short bet. The nutritional supplement maker’s CEO Michael Johnson continues to fight back. The battle of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is a recent cover story in Bloomberg Businessweek written by Duane Stanford. In December 2012, Pershing Square Capital Management chief Bill Ackman delivered a presentation. He massacred the company in almost four hours with 340 slides. At one point, he even said that over 90 percent of the profits Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) distributors earn comes from recruiting. Herbalife executives said that was an outright lie. Ackman shorted over 20 million shares of the nutritional supplement maker, mostly between $50-$70 per share. The stock plummeted about 40 percent in just four days. But Herbalife CEO stood rock solid, denying all allegations. Then legendary investor Carl Icahn entered and started buying shares, starting an open battle against Bill Ackman. On Valentine’s Day, Icahn declared that he had built a 13 percent stake in the company. He called the nutritional supplement maker a 100 percent legitimate business Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) shares started rising slowly. But prices fell again when an outside auditor quit as
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The Japanese stock market witnessed another day of volatility after falling more than 7 percent yesterday. The severe price swings kept the Asian markets on the edge. Nikkei 225 Index closed 0.9 percent higher to 14,612.45 after falling more than 500 points in the last trading session. During today’s active trading, the index twitched back and forth in the 1000-point range. Japanese Stock Gains In terms of volume, a total of 5.89 billion shares changed hands, the fifth highest volume in the history of Nikkei. But it was below yesterday’s record of 7.66 billion shares. At the close of morning session, Nikkei was up 2.7 percent as traders started piling back the heavily sold stocks in the previous session. However, as soon as the afternoon session started, the sell off began which pulled the index down by 3.5 percent within hours. Finally, Nikkei 225 Index closed the session with 0.9 percent in gains. Analysts and economists scrambled to figure out why the markets have fluctuated to such a degree. The Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that the central bank has no targets for the level of yen and stock prices, so the central bank won’t comment on day-to-day
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UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) chief financial officer will meet the activist investor Knight Vinke Asset Management LLC next week, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The New York-based activist investor has been pushing for a breakup of UBS’s investment banking division. Before UBS AG (NYSE:UBS)’s annual meeting, Knight Vinke demanded in an open letter that the Swiss lender’s investment banking unit be separated from its core retail banking and wealth management operations to lower the risk and unlock shareholder value. The meeting between Tom Naratil and Knight Vinke Asset Management LLC will come almost a month after the New York-based investor, which owns about 1 percent of UBS, initiated the call for a breakup. Tom Naratil meets a number of investors every quarter to discuss developments and get their feedback. Sources said that the next week’s meeting between the two parties is preliminary, and it is unlikely bank management will give a green signal to Knight Vinke’s proposals. Investment Banking Nearly Destroyed UBS Knight Vinke argued that the ownership of investment banking unit almost destroyed UBS during the 2008 financial crisis, and now it should be transferred to employees and managers. During the financial crisis, the investment banking
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Post Market News Stocks that were active in the U.S. trading on Thursday were Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) and PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETM). Market Levels U.S.: Dow Jones: 15,296.60 (-0.07 percent), S&P 500: 1,650.57 (-0.29 percent), Nasdaq: 3,459.42 (-0.11 percent) World Markets: Shanghai: 2,275.67 (-1.16 percent), Nikkei 225: 14,483.98 (-7.32 percent), Hang Seng Index: 22,669.68 (-2.54 percent), TSEC: 8,237.83 (-1.92 percent), FTSE 100: 6,696.79 (-2.10 percent), EURO STOXX 50: 2,776.78 (-2.05 percent), BSE Sensex: 19,674.33 (-1.93 percent) Metals: Gold: $1391.80 (+1.78 percent), Silver: $22.51 (+0.16 percent), Platinum: $1457.20 (-0.82 percent) Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2932 (+0.83 percent), USD/JPY: 101.88 (-0.59 percent), GBP/USD: 1.5105 (-0.68 percent), USD/CAD: 1.0305 (+0.01 percent), USD/CNY: 6.1340 (-0.12 percent), AUD/USD: 0.9738 (-0.04 percent) 10 year U.S. Treasury: 2.01 percent (0.00), 30 year U.S. Treasury: 3.18 percent (-0.01) Market & Economy Update After a months long rally, global stock markets slumped today due to a confluence of events. Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke said yesterday that the central bank may scale back its stimulus program over the next few months. Additionally, data showed today that China’s flash PMI fell to 49.6 in May from 50.6 in April. Analysts say actual PMI could be lower than the flash reading. It caused Japanese stocks to tumble more than
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) has asked for the release of an independent examiner’s report on how Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:GMA) (NYSE:GKM) and its mortgage unit Residential Capital, dealt before the later filed for bankruptcy in 2012. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company said that the report will help it determine whether a bankruptcy settlement between the two companies is fair. Last week, the timely release of the report accelerated settlement negotiations involving ResCap, Ally Financial and the creditors of ResCap. The U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn ordered the report to be filed under seal and its details be kept confidential until July 3 as long as ResCap continues to make progress. However, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) said yesterday that release of the report was necessary for creditors to assess if the pending settlement is fair. Last summer, it was Berkshire Hathaway that demanded the appointment of an independent examiner. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) owns a large part of ResCap’s junior secured bonds. Last year, it acquired a portfolio of ResCap’s mortgage debts for $1.5 billion during a bankruptcy auction. ResCap, which was once one of the largest mortgage firms in the United States, was forced to file for Chapter
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Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk repaid the $451.8 million loan to the U.S. government nine years ahead of schedule. Tesla has faced a lot of criticism over the loan it received from the Department of Energy.  Now, Elon Musk-led electric car maker is the only U.S. car maker to have fully repaid the government loan under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program of DOE.  Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) recently raised about $1 billion in a stock and bond offering. The government will make approximately $12 million from its $465 million loan to the electric car maker, according to Forbes. Elon Musk expressed his gratefulness to the government for its help in getting the Model S in the market. He thanked the Congress, DOE, their staff and the American taxpayer. Tesla Irritated Chrysler But Elon Musk’s statement on Twitter, which says that Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is the only American car maker to have fully repaid the government loan, didn’t go down well with Chrysler Group LLC chief Sergio Marchionne. Chrysler immediately issued its own statement, saying that Tesla shouldn’t forget that Chrysler had fully repaid its loan. Chrysler chief took a veiled shot at Elon Musk with “Question: short memory or short-circuit?” Sergio Marchionne clarified
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China’s manufacturing activity contracted in May for the first time since October 2012, raising concerns that growth in Asia’s largest economy is slowing. A preliminary survey by HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) (LON:HSBA) showed that new orders declined this month, and China’s flash Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) skidded to 49.6 in May. A reading below 50 is a sign of contraction in manufacturing activity. China’s actual PMI in April was 50.6, which had already declined from 50.9 in March. The consistently declining factory activity indicates that it will become increasingly tough for China to reach its 7.5 percent GDP growth target this year. The world’s second largest economy grew at 7.8 percent last year, the slowest pace since 2000. Even if China achieves its 7.5 percent growth target, it will be the lowest growth rate since 1990. Analysts Cut Their Forecasts A number of analysts have cut their growth forecast for China. Earlier this week, UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) lowered its full year growth estimate from 8 percent to 7.7 percent. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has already lowered its forecast to 7.6 percent from 8 percent. Citi Research said in its latest report that the official PMI reading could be even
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The International Monetary Fund managing director and former finance minister of France, Christine Lagarde is being grilled by French judges in a special court over her role in approving a €400 million ($520 million) to a colorful and highly controversial businessman when she was finance minister of the country. The questioning by court threatens to affect the reputation of France as well as Ms Lagarde. Entrepreneur Bernard Tapie had received that payment after a private arbitration process to resolve a dispute between him, Credit Lyonnais bank and the government related to the botched sale of adidas AG (ETR:ADS) (FRA:ADS). Mr Tapie had claimed that the credit Lyonnais defrauded him in the Adidas deal, a sports equipment maker he owned in the 1990′s. Adidas Deal Christine Lagarde is considered a trailblazer and her negotiation skills were highly admired through the Eurozone debt crisis. But her decision to take the Adidas dispute out of the courts to a private arbitration fueled speculations. The case going into a private arbitration was against the logic because it involved a state-owned bank. Leading Socialist lawmakers, including the prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault asked the court of justice of the republic (CJR) to investigate in 2011. Tapie was close to Lagarde’s previous boss
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is redeploying hundreds of employees to help the nation’s largest bank resolve mounting regulatory problems, people familiar with the developments told Dan Fitzpatrick and Julie Steinberg of the Wall Street Journal. The company plans to double the number of staff working on regulatory issues by the end of this year. JPMorgan expects that there could be more regulatory enforcement actions attacking the loopholes in its consumer operations. With over  256,000 employees worldwide, the Jamie Dimon-led bank continues to record solid growth, and its shares closed yesterday to six-year highs. But the bank’s senior executives realize that it would take several years to resolve the regulatory problems and regain regulators’ trust. JPMorgan Already Has Four Enforcement Actions On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) shareholders voted in favor of Jamie Dimon’s dual role as the bank’s chairman & CEO. Many of the bank shareholders were demanding that the roles of chairman and chief executive officer be split. After his victory at the annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday, Dimon’s next challenge is to overcome regulatory problems. According to the research firm SNL Financial, JPMorgan already has four enforcement actions. Two of the enforcement actions are about risk management weaknesses that the regulators identified
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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has hired the long-time technology industry analyst Michael Gartenberg to work at its Cupertino headquarters. Before joining the iPhone maker Gartenberg worked for Gartner Inc. as an analyst. He has extensively covered digital media business and technology heavyweights including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Michael Gartenberg is currently working under Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s global marketing head Phil Schiller, but his role at the company is not known yet. Connie Guglielmo of Forbes tried contacting Gartenberg at his Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) office but didn’t receive any response. Gartner Worked at Microsoft, Too. It’s not the first time Gartenberg has joined a technology company he covers. Earlier in February 2007, he joined Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) as an”enthusiastic evangelist” according to Forbes. However, his tenure lasted only for one month. At Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), his job was to engage and interact with people enthusiastic about Microsoft products. In short, Gertenberg described his responsibility at Microsoft as a bridge between the company and end users. After quitting the software giant in March 2007, Gertenberg started working again as a technology analyst. During an interview, he said that he is an analyst at his core, so he wasn’t ready to stop doing it back then. Before working for
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