Tag Archives: apple

Apple, Amazon Lead 5 Tech Stocks Making Notable Moves

Loading the player… Apple ( AAPL ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Tesla ( TSLA ), Fitbit ( FIT ) and Yahoo ( YHOO ) are five big-name tech stocks making notable moves in the stock market today as the major indexes rally for a second session. The Nasdaq is trading at its highest level this year, and the S&P 500 is trading higher than the levels it saw in late December. Apple Retakes 200-Day Line Apple hit resistance at its 200-day moving average for the past week and a half, but looks like it may be able to close above that level today with a 1.5% gain in above-average turnover. Apple hasn’t traded above the 200-day since November, and that was only briefly. The stock is now 16% below its late-April peak. The consumer tech giant is set to report quarterly results in a few weeks. Analysts have been expecting lower iPhone demand this year, but some say there may be a pickup once the iPhone 7 is launched. Amazon Breaks Out Amazon is breaking out of a cup-with-handle base with a 603.34 buy point, rising 1.6%. Volume is tracking above average. The stock tried to edge into buy range the last two sessions but closed below the pivot. Shares are now trading 12% below their high reached in late December. Citi on Tuesday said Amazon is one Internet stock that has the greatest opportunity to produce better-than-expected Q1 results, which the e-commerce giant will report later this month. Tesla To End Losing Streak? Tesla is looking to end its four-session losing streak as it climbs back above the 250 price level with a 2.4% rise. But volume is not strong. The electric car maker is trading 11% below its July high. On Tuesday, Tesla introduced a few upgrades to its Model S, and Global Equities Research says this will improve the car’s production rate by 10%. That could be a good sign as Tesla is ramping up production of its Model X and prepping production for its Model 3. Fitbit Surges On Bullish Report Fitbit is jumping 12.7% in big volume, hitting a more than two-month high. The stock is trading 67% below its all-time high. Citi issued a bullish report on the stock, saying that Blaze and Alta sales could fuel upside to Q1 results and a positive Q2 outlook. The maker of fitness trackers said late last month that it sold 1 million units of each of the two new models in their first month of availability. Fitbit also reports earnings later this month. Will Yahoo Hit 8-Month High? Yahoo may be able to close at an eight-month high, climbing 1.2%, but volume is tracking lighter than average. Shares are 19% below their 52-week peak. Suntrust Robinson Humphrey raised its price target on Yahoo, which is looking to be acquired.

Jury Out On Whether Ad Blocking A Help Or A Hurt To Programmatic

The jury’s still out on whether ad blocking will help or hurt the expansion of programmatic advertising, a survey of U.S. marketers has found. Wall Street has expressed off-and-on concern that Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) decision to let users install apps that prevent ads from appearing in its Safari mobile browser could cut into the business of ad-tech companies, but an industrywide decline has not materialized. A March survey by investment bank RBC Capital Markets and Advertising Age found that 58% of respondents believe ad-blocking technology will have a “somewhat negative” effect on the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Another 20% of respondents said ad blocking will have a “significantly negative” effect on the programmatic advertising space, said the survey, which was reported by research group eMarketer on Wednesday. Still, some marketers believe ad blocking could be good for programmatic, with 6% of the marketers surveyed saying ad blocking would have either a “significantly positive” or “somewhat positive” effect on automated ad buying. Even so, some senior ad buyers in the U.S. are bracing for trouble as programmatic advertising expands. The RBC survey found that 57% of ad buyers listed multidevice measurement as a problem for programmatic, followed by fraud (47%), ad blocking on smartphones (35%) and privacy issues (18%). Gaming, social networking and tech-related websites are said to be most affected by ad-blocking software. Gaining Steam Seven months after Apple made ad blocking possible on iOS mobile phones , eMarketer says that the trend is gaining steam. That could mean companies including Alphabet ( GOOGL ) search unit Google, French ad firm Criteo ( CRTO ) and others that rely on advertising to make money aren’t totally in the clear, though they’ve said that ad blocking isn’t affecting their business. Ad sales conducted by machines rather than ad salespeople — so-called programmatic ads — take less time to execute and cost advertisers less, which accounts for their popularity with advertisers, though it tends to lower revenue for online-ad platforms. Ad blockers serve to reduce the amount of bandwidth that a user needs by cutting down the amount of content — seen and unseen — that a page has to load. They can also help with privacy by blocking programs that track users’ browsing habits — good for users, bad for advertisers who want to show their ads to people who are the most likely to buy their products. Mobile is driving programmatic advertising growth, with mobile accounting for more than two-thirds of all programmatic digital display-ad spending this year, says eMarketer in a report on Tuesday. Facebook ( FB ), Google-owned YouTube, LinkedIn ( LNKD ) and others are helping to drive the trend. Declining Growth Rate U.S. programmatic digital display-ad spending is projected to rise to $27.4 billion in 2017, up 24%, eMarketer said last week. But that growth rate is declining from a projected 39% this year and 53% in 2015, the research group said. Mobile programmatic spending will reach $15.45 billion in the U.S. in 2016, representing 69% of all programmatic digital display-ad spending, according to eMarketer. That’s up from 60% in 2015 and 46% in 2014. Apple stock climbed 1% in midday trading in the stock market today , near 112, and is up more than 20% since touching an eight-month low early this year. Alphabet stock rose by a fraction, near 770 and approaching a cup-with-handle breakout buy point at 777.41.

How To Trade In Gold ETFs After Robust 30-Year Rally?

Thanks to global growth concerns, reduced expectations for rate hike, geopolitical tensions and bearishness in the stock market, gold posted the biggest first-quarter gain in three decades. In addition, the adoption of negative interest rates by most central banks such as Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and Europe boosted the demand for gold bullion and pushed the prices higher. Investors should note that most of the gains came in the first six weeks of the year and thereafter the momentum of increase slowed down. What’s In Store? The Fed signaled that interest rates in U.S. would stay low for some time and dialed back its projection from four lift-offs to two hikes in its recent meeting. This is weighing on the dollar and propelling the price of gold. The release of minutes last week showed that the Fed is unlikely to raise interest rates in April, signaling that weak global growth could hurt the ongoing recovery in the U.S. economy. Further, continued rise in the Japanese currency dampened investors’ faith in central banks’ ability to boost growth across the globe. Further, an erratic market showed up again as volatility in oil price and weak corporate earnings in the U.S. raised demand for the yellow metal as a store of value and hedge against market turmoil ahead of the Q1 earnings season. However, the recent slew of encouraging data especially on the manufacturing activity and job growth fronts reflect strength in the U.S. economy and perked-up risk-on sentiment. As a result, the strongest Q1 rally of the yellow metal seems to be fading given that gold was up just 1.3% in the first few trading sessions of April. Considering the robust gains in the first quarter, gold is still off about 35% from its 2011 all-time high of $1,900 per ounce (read: ETFs to Gain or Lose After Strong Jobs Report ). To sum up, the stability in the financial market and an improving U.S. economy could bolster the case for rate hike again and may dull the appeal for the safe haven asset in the coming months. Given the volatile environment for gold investment, investors should place their bet on gold ETFs cautiously or could take advantage of the quick turn in sentiment with the help of leveraged or inverse ETFs. Gold ETFs These ETFs are directly linked to the spot gold price or futures and are worth watching in the coming months. These have a favorable Zacks ETF Rank of 3 or ‘Hold’ rating with a Medium risk outlook. SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: GLD ): This is the largest and most popular ETF in the gold space with AUM of $32.6 billion and average daily volume of around 8.8 million shares. The fund tracks the price of gold bullion measured in U.S. dollars, and kept in London under the custody of HSBC Bank USA. Expense ratio comes in at 0.40%. The fund has added 0.6% so far this month. iShares Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: IAU ) : This ETF offers exposure to the day-to-day movement of the price of gold bullion and is backed by physical gold under the custody of JP Morgan Chase Bank in London. It has AUM of $7.5 billion and trades in solid volume of more than 8 million shares a day on average. The ETF charges 25 bps in annual fees and has gained 0.7% this month (read: Ride on Gold Rally with Best ETFs and Stocks of 2016 ). Van Eck Merk Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: OUNZ ): This product seeks to provide investors with a convenient and cost-efficient way to buy and hold gold through an exchange-traded product with the option to take physical delivery of gold when desired. It charges 40 bps in fees per year but is unpopular and an illiquid option with AUM of $99.5 million and average daily volume of 42,000 shares. OUNZ is up 0.7% this month. Leveraged Gold ETFs Investors who are bullish on gold right now may consider a near-term long on the precious metal with the following ETFs depending on their risk appetite. ProShares Ultra Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: UGL ): This fund seeks to deliver twice (2x or 200%) the return of the daily performance of gold bullion in U.S. dollars. It charges 95 bps in fees a year and has amassed $89.3 million in its asset base. Volume is light at under 40,000 shares per day. The ETF has gained 0.86% in the first few trading sessions of April. PowerShares DB Gold Double Long ETN (NYSEARCA: DGP ): This ETN seeks to deliver twice the return of the daily performance of the DBIQ Optimum Yield Gold Index Excess Return, charging 75 bps in fees per year. It has accumulated $131 million in its asset base so far and trades in an average daily volume of 69,000 shares. The ETN is relatively flat so far this month. VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN (NASDAQ: UGLD ): This product provides three times (3x or 300%) exposure to the daily performance of the S&P GSCI Gold Index Excess Return plus returns from U.S. T-bills net of fees and expenses. The ETN has been able to manage an asset base of $64.6 million while charging a higher fee of 1.35% annually. However, the note trades in solid volume of over 546,000 shares a day on average and has returned 2% this month. Inverse Gold ETFs Any encouraging data on the economy could provide investors’ a near-term short opportunity on the bullion according to their risk appetite. DB Gold Short ETN (NYSEARCA: DGZ ): This ETN offers inverse (opposite) exposure to the performance of the DBIQ Optimum Yield Gold Index Excess Return. It has managed assets of $23.7 million so far this year and trades in a solid volume of 146,000 shares a day on average. It charges 0.75% in annual fees and has lost about 0.7% so far in April. ProShares Ultra Short Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: GLL ) : This fund seeks to deliver twice the inverse return of the daily performance of gold bullion in U.S. dollars, charging 95 bps in fees a year. It has $75.4 million in AUM and trades in lower average daily volume of 25,000 shares. The ETF has shed about 2% so far this month. VelocityShares 3x Inverse Gold ETN (NASDAQ: DGLD ): This product provides three times inverse exposure to the daily performance of the S&P GSCI Gold Index Excess Return. It has been able to manage an asset base of $17.4 million while charging investors a higher fee of 1.35% annually. The note trades in a light average daily volume of 43,000 shares and is down 2.1% so far this month. Link to the original post on Zacks.com