Tag Archives: apple

Netflix, Schlumberger Stocks Just Did This, While Apple Falls Short

Netflix ( NFLX ), Schlumberger ( SLB ), AbbVie ( ABBV ) and MasterCard ( MA ) all rose above their 200-day moving averages Tuesday, while Apple ( AAPL ) shares continued to close just below that support level. It’s not a huge surprise that several big-cap stocks retook their 200-day lines. The Nasdaq also did so on Tuesday. The Dow and S&P 500 have been above that level for weeks. Still, it’s a key step on the road to recovery. Netflix Netflix, which reports Q1 earnings on Monday, rose 4.2% on the stock market today to 107, its best level since late January. Netflix had run into resistance for several sessions just below  the 200-day. Netflix has been consolidating since peaking at 133.27 on Dec. 7. Schlumberger Schlumberger rallied along with the energy sector, as crude futures rose above $42 a barrel to a 4-month high. Schlumberger rose 2.7% Tuesday to 75.90, topping its 200-day line for the time since last June. AbbVie AbbVie rose 2.4% Tuesday, just getting above its 200-day line. It hasn’t been consistently held above that level since last August. Late Monday, the FDA approved a leukemia drug by AbbVie and Roche ( RHHBY ) unit Genentech. MasterCard MasterCard rose 0.4% Tuesday to 93.86. The stock has been finding support at or above its 200-day line for the past few weeks. The stock is forming a cup-with-handle base going back to Nov. 11. Apple As for Apple, shares rose 1.3% to 110.44, just below the 200-day line at 110.78. Apple crossed its 200-day on April 4 intraday, but has yet to close above that level since early October.

Global Manufacturing Picks Up: ETFs To Watch

The month of March will be remembered for the revival in the manufacturing sector in the world’s two largest economies – the U.S. and China. While a stronger dollar and huge capex cuts by energy companies to fight back the plunge in oil prices hurt the U.S. manufacturing sector, soft demand in the wake of global growth worries can be held responsible for the overall global slowdown. However, things took a turn in March as signs of stabilization showed up. Let’s delve deeper into the data. Finally Chinese Manufacturing in Positive If we talk of manufacturing slowdown, China comes first to mind. But after posting sluggish factory output data since July 2015, the economy posted growth in March. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 50.2 for March , which beat Reuters’ forecast of 49.3 and February’s reading of 49.0. Any reading at or above 50 suggests expansion in activity. While this official data considers larger companies, another index, namely Caixin Manufacturing PMI, considers smaller or medium-sized companies. Investors should note that the Caixin Manufacturing PMI for March also rose to 49.7 from 48.0 in February, “marking the first increase from the previous month in a year.” Improving Trend in the U.S. A five-month long losing streak also bucked the trend in the U.S. in March. The ISM manufacturing data expanded to 51.8 in March from 49.5 in February buoyed by new orders and increased output. The data came above the Wall Street Journal’s expectation of 50.5. Out of the 18 manufacturing industries, 12 reported expansion in March. What Cooks Up in the Euro Area? Coming to the Eurozone, the Markit Eurozone Manufacturing PMI came in at 51.6 in March 2016, surpassing a preliminary reading of 51.4 and 51.2 recorded in February. The reading also bettered the forecast of 51.4 . All is not well across the globe. But noticeable improvement in the big three gives us reasons to look at the below-mentioned international industrial ETFs. Global – iShares Global Industrials ETF (NYSEARCA: EXI ) The fund looks to track the S&P Global 1200 Industrials Sector Index. The $16.2 million ETF is heavy on the U.S. which takes about 53% of the basket. General Electric (NYSE: GE ) (8.62%), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM ) (2.93%) and Siemens AG ( OTCPK:SIEGY ) (2.56%) are the top three stocks of the fund. The fund charges 48 bps in fees. It added 0.5% in the last one month (as of April 5, 2016). China – Global X China Industrial ETF (NYSEARCA: CHII ) The Global X China Industrial ETF seeks to provide investment results of the Solactive China Industrials Index. The $3.6 million fund charges 65 bps in fees. This fund is heavy on building and construction (34.4%) and machinery and equipment (31.6%) industries. The fund has exposure to about 40 stocks. CHII added 2.9% in the last one month (as of April 5, 2016). U.S. – Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA: XLI ) This product tracks the Industrial Select Sector Index. General Electric occupies the top spot with an 11.7% allocation, while 3M, Honeywell (NYSE: HON ) and Boeing (NYSE: BA ) have a combined exposure of over 10% in the fund. XLI has garnered $6.65 billion in assets and trades in heavy volume of 13.8 million shares per day. It has a low expense ratio of 0.14%. The fund has the highest exposure to aerospace and defense (25.3%), followed by industrial conglomerates (21.6%). The product gained 2.4% in the last one month (as of April 5, 2016). Original Post

Teens Still Crave iPhones, But Not So Much Into iPads, Apple Watch

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) iPhone remains a sought-after item for U.S. teenagers, but young people are losing interest in iPads and have little interest for now in the Apple Watch. Those are among the findings of Piper Jaffray’s latest semiannual Taking Stock With Teens survey, released late Tuesday. Piper Jaffray surveyed 6,500 teenagers using classroom visits and electronic surveys for its latest report. Of those surveyed, 1,300 teens were in the upper-income group. IPhone ownership among U.S. teens rose to a high of 69% in Piper’s spring survey, vs. 67% in fall 2015. Plus, some 75% of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, up from 74% last fall. “Apple maintained steady momentum in iPhone ownership among teens,” Piper analyst Gene Munster said in the investment bank’s research report. “We continue to expect small positive changes in the share numbers for iPhone given purchase intent and the over indexing of teens to the U.S. in total, where we believe iPhone has around 50% share.” The latest Piper survey also found that tablet interest among teens is declining along with the product segment overall. Teen tablet ownership declined for the third consecutive survey to 59% this spring from 61% last fall. Apple iPad share was stable at 64% among tablet owners vs. 65% last fall. In the new category of smartwatches, 12% of teens said they own a smartwatch and Apple Watch represented 71% share of those owners, Munster said. Looking forward, 10% of teens say they are interested in purchasing an Apple Watch compared with 8% last fall, which represents a stabilization in interest after falling the last two surveys. The teen survey reinforced that the Apple brand “remains healthy among the young demographic,” Munster said. He reiterated his overweight rating on Apple stock with a price target of 172. Apple stock rose 1.3% to 110.44 on the stock market today . Looking at other consumer electronics, Fitbit ( FIT ) performed well in the survey, while GoPro ( GPRO ) showed weakness. The U.S. teen survey showed strong intent to purchase fitness trackers. Some 22% of upper-income teens plan to buy a fitness tracker in the next six months vs. 15% last spring, Piper analyst Erinn Murphy said in the report. Fitbit was the No. 1 fitness band at 72% ownership share, up from 53% in the fall. GoPro action cameras declined on teen wish lists, getting less than 1% vote for the first time in two years. Just 0.9% of teens listed GoPro as one of two top birthday gifts.