Tag Archives: Microsoft stocks

Yellen’s Comments Send Gold Lower

Here’s today’s ‘Just A Minute’ bringing you a 60 second summary of what’s happening in the financial markets:

Main Trading Event Of The Day: USD PPI @ 12.30 GMT

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING TODAY

Yellen’s Comments Send Gold Lower

As Janet Yellen testified before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, gold sank 1 percent in 10 minutes, taking the metal back below $1,300 for the first time in nearly a month. Rather than being the victim of a massive bearish trade, the metal seems to have was reacted to a slightly less dovish outlook from the Fed chair than some gold holders were expecting or hoping for. This could signal that higher rates will come sooner rather than later which is anti-inflationary, and presents competition for gold.

Several traders still noted the oddity of gold moving so quickly on comments that didn’t surprise many people. At 10:55 a.m. EDT, about 7,600 gold contract traded, which means that nearly $1 billion in nominal gold value changed hands in that minute. This boost in volume led to speculation that gold futures fell because someone “dumped” $2.3 billion worth of the futures. Other analysts however believe the explanation was simply down to Yellen’s comments which caused one trader to sell gold, the sale of which triggered stops around the $1,300 level.

Spot gold edged up slightly to $1,296.35 an ounce, after losing 3.3 percent in the last two sessions the metal’s biggest two-day loss since October. With the break below $1,300 an ounce and technical weakness, further losses for gold may be likely.

Japan: Demand Exceeds Supply for First Time Since 2008

Demand has overtaken supply in the Japan for the first time in six years, adding to inflationary pressure in the world’s third-biggest economy. The Bank of Japan’s measure swung to 0.6 percent in the first quarter from negative readings back as far as 2008. The change followed six straight quarters of economic growth that closed a shortfall between demand and supply that had put downward pressure on prices. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has said he expects the elimination of this output gap, together with rising inflation expectations, to help drive consumer price gains toward the central bank’s 2 percent target. Whether this will actually lead the way to stable inflation, given lackluster growth in wages remains to be seen and companies are still cautious.

Stocks: Microsoft: Job Cuts Imminent

Microsoft is planning its biggest round of job cuts in five years after CEO Satya Nadella said last week that he was preparing to make sweeping changes at Microsoft. The reductions will probably be in engineering, marketing and areas of overlap with Nokia. The restructuring which may be unveiled as soon as this week may end up being the biggest in Microsoft history, topping the 5,800 jobs cut in 2009, according to sources. Nadella commented that Microsoft would have to become more focused and efficient as he issued his first company mission statement, calling for greater emphasis on mobile devices, cloud-computing and productivity software as consumers and businesses buy fewer personal computers to check e-mail, browse the Web and access data and software. Traders will be watching for news of Microsoft’s job cuts and the possibility of trading opportunities.

That sums up today’s highlights! Find us throughout the day on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn for all the latest trading news. We hope you have a profitable day on the markets.

Just A Minute!

Here’s today’s ‘Just A Minute’ bringing you a 60 second summary of what’s happening in the markets:

Main Trading Events Of The Day: EUR German Ifo Business Climate @ 09.00 GMT

Earnings Reports: N/A

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING TODAY

Gold Heads For 4^th Week OF Gains On Ukraine Default Fears

Gold ended Friday on a high note and is expected to post its fourth week of gains as concern of prolonged political unrest in Ukraine raises fears of a sovereign default, fuelling demand for safe-haven assets. With the growing international concern over the situation in Ukraine, some additional movement into gold in anticipation of continued flare-ups and unrest could be expected. Adding to gold’s appeal are fears that U.S. data releases this week may miss expectations as the recent extreme winter weather continues to stall economic activity. Further evidence of a deepening contraction in China’s economy, which dropped to a seven-month low last week, may also provide another boost. These factors have, according to analysts, helped put the luster back on gold’s safe-haven status for many investors. In a further bullish signal, hedge funds plowed into gold and crude oil as prices rallied last week. Friday data showed the bullish money wagered by commodity speculators was driven to the highest level since 2011. Nevertheless, market professionals holding bearish views maintain that gold’s safe-haven bid and renewed Asian physical buying will offer limited impetus to prices, and won’t be strong enough to offset investor outflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Last Tuesday, gold hit $1,332.10, its highest since October, lifted by follow-up demand after gold posted a more than 4 percent gain last week.

Sugar Exports From Thailand Jump 22% on Demand Gain While Corn Extends Decline

Sugar shipments from Thailand will surge 22 percent to a record this year as output expands to an all-time high and Asian demand increases, according to the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board. Exports will climb to 9 million metric tons this crop year, beating the 8.5 million tons estimated in December and last year’s 7.4 million tons. Rising Thai supplies may help to curb global prices that rallied from a 43-month low in January as drought in Brazil and the smallest crop in four years in India, the two biggest producers, trim a global surplus. Raw sugar for May delivery rose 2.3 percent to close at 17.07 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. on Feb. 21. That day prices reached as much as 17.14 cents, the highest for a most-active contract since Dec. 2.

Meanwhile, Corn dropped for a second day after U.S. production in 2014 will be a record, expanding stockpiles before next year’s crop. The contract for May delivery fell as much as 0.5 percent to $4.565 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $4.585 at 2:14 p.m. in Singapore. Prices climbed a fifth week in the period ended Feb. 21, the longest rally since July 2012. Corn tumbled 40 percent last year as farmers in the U.S. harvested the biggest crop ever, pushing global output to an all-time high, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The world’s largest exporter will produce a record 13.985 billion bushels as yields jump 4.1 percent. Domestic stockpiles on Aug. 31, 2015, will reach 2.111 billion bushels, 43 percent more than a year earlier.

Microsoft To Cut Windows Price 70%

Microsoft Corp is reported to be cutting the price of Windows 8.1 by 70 percent for makers of low-cost computers and tablets as they try to fend off cheaper rivals like the Google Chromebook. Manufacturers will be charged $15 instead of the usual $50 to licence Windows 8.1 and preinstall it on devices that retail for less than $250. Stronger competition from Apple and Google cut revenue last quarter at Microsoft’s devices and consumer licensing division, which includes Windows software, as the computer industry posted its biggest annual decline on record. By offering incentives for PC makers to sell cheaper models, Microsoft may be able to increase its share of the growing $80 billion tablet market and fend off Google’s Chromebook. Microsoft has sold more than 200 million licences of Windows 8 since the program went on sale in October 2012, a slower rate of adoption than the previous Windows 7. Global computer shipments fell a record 10 percent last year and are forecast to continue to decline this year as tablets and smartphones lure consumers away from traditional desktop and notebook designs.

That sums up today’s highlights! We hope you have a profitable day on the markets.

Just A Minute!

Here’s Tuesday’s ‘Just A Minute’ bringing you a 60 second summary what’s happening in the markets today:

Main Trading Events Of The Day: U.S. Fed Chair Yellen Testifies @ 15.00 GMT; U.S. JOLTS Job Openings @ 15.00 GMT

Earnings Reports: Look out for AIG coming up Thursday.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING TODAY

Analysts Expecting Janet Yellen To Emphasise Continuity

All eyes will be on Federal Chair Janet Yellen later today as she testifies on monetary policy and the U.S. economic outlook. Financial markets will be watching closely for any signal that Yellen is contemplating policy changes even though economists think such a signal is highly unlikely. Yellen’s appearance is of particular interest because it follows two weak monthly jobs reports and a spate of market volatility largely tied to turmoil in emerging markets. Her testimony comes four days after the release of the government’s nonfarm payrolls report, which had the economy creating a lower-than-estimated 113,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate falling to 6.6 percent, a five-year low and not all that far from the Fed’s threshold for reducing stimulus. Stocks ended with modest gains on Monday as investors digested recent market gains and looked ahead to new Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s first testimony before lawmakers.

Asian Stocks In Biggest Leap Since November

Asian markets continued to climb ahead of Janet Yellen’s first public appearance as chair of the US Federal Reserve. Major indices in the region were positive, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leading with a 1.8 per cent gain, its third climb in four sessions. The Shanghai Composite added 0.9 per cent to Monday’s 2 per cent gain while South Korea’s Kospi was on pace for a fifth straight daily gain with a 0.5 per cent rise. The solid gains were notable following a less than enthusiastic session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 nudged forward 0.2 per cent. Blue chips were relatively unmoved. A gauge of Asian stocks outside Japan rose, heading for its biggest advance since November. Investors believe that Yellen is going to be dovish given the recent weakness in U.S. employment numbers and that long term investors could start accumulating Chinese shares. Valuations are cheap but investors need to bear in mind that financial conditions might remain tight as the government reins in excessive credit growth.

Is Cash Cow Microsoft A Good Buy?

Microsoft is a great cash cow of a company and has a strong position in cloud computing, a growing market. The company’s stock has risen by more than 10% since Ballmer announced he was stepping down. Compared to other tech giants, Microsoft is relatively cheap and pays a healthy dividend, so, should you buy? There are one or two signs to cautious of. Microsoft faces a serious long-term challenge that may prove very damaging. First of all, there’s Microsoft’s weak position in smartphones and tablets which is certainly a major problem but the main concern is that Microsoft’s near monopoly on desktop operating systems is under threat. Asus has just launched a budget desktop PC in the U.S. that is retailing for just $179, almost 50% cheaper than the cheapest PC produced by Hewlett-Packard. It manages to do this using Google’s Chrome OS operating system, which Google gives away free. By contrast, the Hewlett-Packard PC uses Windows which is not free; Hewlett-Packard has to pay a licence fee to Microsoft. Two of the three top-selling laptops on Amazon.com over Christmas were Chromebooks, powered by Chrome OS and this is a trend expected to continue. If you are considering investing in Microsoft, remember that although it is still early days for Chrome OS, the momentum as we have seen, is beginning to build.

That sums up Tuesday’s highlights! We hope you have a profitable day on the markets.

Be Honest, You Want One…

This week Microsoft unveiled its newest gaming console, The Xbox One, due to go on sale later this year. It comes 8 long years after the release of the Xbox 360, in which technological revolutions like smartphones, cloud computing and online video delivery services have changed the face of computing and entertainment alike. In fact to call the Xbox One a console at all is to do it a great disservice, the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s winning gaming platform is more like a complete home entertainment system, set to become the centrepiece of millions of living rooms across the globe.

“We have an ambitious vision to become the all-in-one system for every living room,” Microsoft’s Don Mattrick said at the unveiling. The new Xbox is a leap forward in technology, utilising 5 billion transistors, to the Xbox 360’s 500 million. It will feature an 8 core processor, 8GB of memory and a 500GB hard disk. The new system will be able to integrate your existing television subscription package into its menus, make Skype calls, browse the internet and can be controlled by voice command and physical gesture owing to an updated version of Microsoft’s Kinect system which will ship with every Xbox One.

The Kinect’s high definition, wide angle camera captures video at 30 frames per second, perfect for two way chats on your T.V, and its infrared sensors are so powerful that they can read your pulse by monitoring pigmentation changes in your face. Call out “Xbox watch Bloomberg” and it will instantly take you there, or “watch Boiler Room”, and it will automatically scan every channel listing for it, if not there it will survey online streaming services for your favourite film and deliver it to you within seconds.

Microsoft’s Surface tablets have failed to gain the traction the company hoped, and its Window’s phone has only managed to garner 3.2 percent of the smartphone market. Xbox, however, has always been a winner for Microsoft, its previous version selling 77 million units worldwide and accounting for almost half of the gaming console market. This new release looks set to further build on this success.

Despite under performing on the Nasdaq for several years, Microsoft stocks have been trending upwards of late. They have risen from 26.42869 to 35.27349, out-performing the technology index with gains of 30% in this year alone. At the moment the company’s stock is trading just short of its pre-2008 highs. And if the hype surrounding the Xbox One translates to sales it is likely that Microsoft stocks could touch $40 this year.

Watch the Full Unveiling Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bFVptu6QbY

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