Market Update – Ford (NYSE:F), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)
Lets start with some American economic news. Reports from the Commerce Department indicate that personal income levels remained unchanged last month, however consumer spending still rose 0.3% inFebruary. Experts had expected a 0.1% increase in American income. On the European front, there’s relief in the markets that the Greece situation seems to be heading towards resolution. The EU announced late last week that it had a rescue plan in place for Greece, and now the Balkan nation is planning to sell approximately 5 billion euros worth of it’s debt this week. This is Greece’s third bond offering this year.
The Australian is reporting that China’s reported culture of corruption cost the country approximately 1 billion yuan last year in payments to Rio Tinto mining company. The group confessed to the bribes, paid to four of the Anglo-Australian mining companies China-based executives, but they disputed the reported amount. Prison terms, described as ‘harsh’, were handed out to them this week and range between 5 to 10 years each. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to this strict punishment to foreign investors.
On Sunday, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has agreed to sell one of it’s divisions, Volvo, to a China-based company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, for an reported sum of $1.8 billion. The Detroiot automaker has been trying to sell the unprofitable Volvo division since 2008, in order to focus on its core products. Ford acquired Volvo in 1999 for a reported $6.45 billion.
CLICK HERE to read Oakshire Financial’s latest Bourbon and Bayonets, titled “A Timely Chinese Opportunity”. No sign-up or e-mail address is required, it’s totally FREE.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) has formally announced plans to build approximately 340 million euros worth on wind power in Europe. According to the European Wind Energy Association, Europe’s offshore wind energy demand is expected to grow an estimated 70% over the next couple years. GE is planning on developing and expanding its wind turbine manufacturing and service facilities throughout Europe in an effort to increase its share of this explosive demand for wind energy.
The US Treasury Department is beginning to sell approximately 7.7 billion shares in Citigroup (NYSE:C) in an effort to unwind its ownership stake for a profit. The Department owns this stake in the company as a result of the American taxpayers financial bailout plan last year. The sale should not affect the Treasury’s warrants for Citi’s common stock, nor does it include the Treasury’s holdings of the company’s trust preferred securities.
The market seems to be eagerly awaiting the release of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad. The iPad, Apple’s new take on portable computing, is going to be released in Apple and Best Buy stores on April 3rd to what investors hope is much fanfare. The online tech community originally received the product very poorly, but despite this the iPad appears to be gaining recent steam with consumers. This weekend’s sales will be closely watched by investors, and Morgan Stanely (NYSE:MS) is reporting that the hip tech company is planning to ship over six million units to stores around the country.
That’s all for the day. Be sure to check in later for a new Oakshire article, brought by one of our favorite guest contributors!
P.S – Have your read up on our premium subscribers exclusive report on China’s automobile industry? In it, Stanley Barnes explores their addiction to a specific rare earth metal, and discusses how it could benefit your portfolio greatly. CLICK HERE to explore more.
Random Posts
The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
