Dow climbed 72, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ gained 34. The MLP index fell 3 to the 456s & the REIT index went up 3 to the 271s. Junk bond funds were higher & Treasuries pulled back as stocks rose. Oil had a good day along with stocks but gold saw selling.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Microsoft, a Dow stock, invested $15M in Foursquare Labs, forging a partnership that will help move. The investment is part of a funding round from late last year that valued Foursquare at more than $600M. MSFT is adding features to its Windows Phone software in an effort to compete with the iPhone & Google Android software, which together dominate the smartphone market. Location data from Foursquare will appear in a voice-activated assistant, code-named Cortana, that has yet to be released. Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley said it, after struggling to generate sales in almost 5 years on the market, will get a new stream of data licensing revenue from the partnership. Cortana, named for the artificially intelligent character in MSFT’s popular “Halo” video game series, is scheduled to be part of the Windows Phone 8.1 release, to be introduced within several months. As part of the deal, MSFT will gain access to more of Foursquare’s data than the company makes available publicly & to other partners which will allow MSFT, with a user’s permission, to push out tips, suggestions & discounts tied to a person’s location, said Zig Serafin, a VP in the Bing search unit. Foursquare has 45M users. Satya Nadella, the new CEO for MSFT named today, is speeding up a turnaround for the software maker. MSFT stock slipped 14¢.
Microsoft Buys $15 Million Stake in Foursquare for Mobile Data
Photo: Bloomberg
JC Penney dropped the most in more than 4 months after posting Q4 same-store sales that rose less than estimated. Sales at locations open at least a year rose 2%, which runs thru Jan. The analyst projection was for a 4.1% gain. Same-store sales climbed 3.1% in the 9 weeks thru Nov-Dec. The company ended Q4 with more than $2B in liquidity, meeting its forecast. Q4 results on Thurs. The sales gain came in a holiday season in which retailers ramped up profit-eating discounts to lure shoppers into stores. Chains from have cut profit forecasts because of the discounts & lower-than-expected sales. The company repeated its Q4 outlook, saying it was pleased with its holiday performance without providing sales data for Dec as it had for previous months. Beauty products, activewear, sweaters, dresses & boots were among the strongest categories during the holidays. Last month, the company said it planned to close 33 stores & eliminate 2K jobs to save $65M a year. The closings, which will be completed by early May, represent about 3% of the stores, & the job cuts would be about 2% of its workforce. The stock slumped 60¢.
J.C. Penney Falls as Same-Store Sales Increase Misses Analysts’ Estimates
This rally was rather lackluster. Shorts have been making money all year, so they bought back to take a day off & enjoy profits. Nothing special in the markets today. Traders are waiting for macro economic data this week. Retailers will be reporting Q4 results shortly & they should be telling.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.05% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.31% | |
U.S. 10-year |
2.62% |
| CLH14.NYM | ....Crude Oil Mar 14 | ....97.09 |  ...0.66 | (0.7%) |
Microsoft, a Dow stock, invested $15M in Foursquare Labs, forging a partnership that will help move. The investment is part of a funding round from late last year that valued Foursquare at more than $600M. MSFT is adding features to its Windows Phone software in an effort to compete with the iPhone & Google Android software, which together dominate the smartphone market. Location data from Foursquare will appear in a voice-activated assistant, code-named Cortana, that has yet to be released. Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley said it, after struggling to generate sales in almost 5 years on the market, will get a new stream of data licensing revenue from the partnership. Cortana, named for the artificially intelligent character in MSFT’s popular “Halo” video game series, is scheduled to be part of the Windows Phone 8.1 release, to be introduced within several months. As part of the deal, MSFT will gain access to more of Foursquare’s data than the company makes available publicly & to other partners which will allow MSFT, with a user’s permission, to push out tips, suggestions & discounts tied to a person’s location, said Zig Serafin, a VP in the Bing search unit. Foursquare has 45M users. Satya Nadella, the new CEO for MSFT named today, is speeding up a turnaround for the software maker. MSFT stock slipped 14¢.
Microsoft Buys $15 Million Stake in Foursquare for Mobile Data
Microsoft (MSFT)
Photo: Bloomberg
The US budget deficit will fall to a 7 year low as a share of the economy, driven downward by stronger economic growth that has boosted tax revenue & helped contain spending, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The
fiscal 2014 deficit is expected to narrow to $514B, or 3% of GDP, from $680B last year. The projected gap is down from 9.8% of GDP in 2009, the widest in records
dating back to 1974, & is close to the average of the past 4
decades, the agency said. The budget was in surplus from 1998-2001. Revenue
that’s forecast to grow this year more than 3 times as fast as
spending is helping the US narrow a deficit that reached a record $1.4T in 2009. While the CBO report showed a short-term improvement,
it also sees deficits swelling again over the next decade as a result
of rising health-care costs & interest payments on gov debt. The shortfall will exceed $1T again starting in 2022 &
reach $1.07T, or 4% of GDP, in 2024.
That will push publicly held debt to $21.3T, or 79.2% of GDP, by 2024 from $12.7T, or 73.6% this year. A suspension of the
federal debt limit, enacted by Congress in Oct, is scheduled to
expire on Fri & Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has repeatedly urged
Congress to act quickly to raise the cap, saying the gov’s
ability to meet obligations will run out before the end of this
month.
JC Penney dropped the most in more than 4 months after posting Q4 same-store sales that rose less than estimated. Sales at locations open at least a year rose 2%, which runs thru Jan. The analyst projection was for a 4.1% gain. Same-store sales climbed 3.1% in the 9 weeks thru Nov-Dec. The company ended Q4 with more than $2B in liquidity, meeting its forecast. Q4 results on Thurs. The sales gain came in a holiday season in which retailers ramped up profit-eating discounts to lure shoppers into stores. Chains from have cut profit forecasts because of the discounts & lower-than-expected sales. The company repeated its Q4 outlook, saying it was pleased with its holiday performance without providing sales data for Dec as it had for previous months. Beauty products, activewear, sweaters, dresses & boots were among the strongest categories during the holidays. Last month, the company said it planned to close 33 stores & eliminate 2K jobs to save $65M a year. The closings, which will be completed by early May, represent about 3% of the stores, & the job cuts would be about 2% of its workforce. The stock slumped 60¢.
J.C. Penney Falls as Same-Store Sales Increase Misses Analysts’ Estimates
J.C. Penney Company (JCP)
This rally was rather lackluster. Shorts have been making money all year, so they bought back to take a day off & enjoy profits. Nothing special in the markets today. Traders are waiting for macro economic data this week. Retailers will be reporting Q4 results shortly & they should be telling.
Dow Jones Industrials
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