Tech Stocks Earnings Coming: Frothy Days Are Here Again?

Earnings from a spate of top digital companies will be reported in the coming days, including for Google (April 15), Yahoo (April 20), Apple (April 20), eBay (April 21), Netflix (April 21), Amazon (April 22) and Microsoft (April 22).

Most Wall Street analysts are expecting good news from the group as a whole, especially as the economy recovers. Bright points include the e-commerce and advertising markets, both of which have been rebounding.

In addition, extensive cost cuts over the last year and easy year-over-year comparisons for most companies will also brighten the financial picture.

That’s the hope at least, especially since tech stocks have been performing less robustly than the S&P of late.

Of all the tech companies, analysts are most worried about Google (GOOG) over a variety of issues, which has been pushing its share price down.

There are good reasons for long-term concern, despite expected strength in its core search business when the search giant reports tomorrow. But, from its battle with China to possible regulatory scrutiny from the federal government to its escalating fight with Apple (AAPL), Google is an ongoing digital soap opera.

And while its Android mobile operating system is growing, there are still questions of when and if Google can make bank from the business.

Yahoo (YHOO), the perennial weakling in recent quarters, is getting much better reviews, especially as the display ad market improves. Also a plus: Cost savings from its online ad and search partnership deal with Microsoft (MSFT).

Yahoo’s stock has been rising of late, above its consistent $15 range, to above $18 yesterday. Crossing to a $20 a share price would be a significant Rubicon for Yahoo.

Apple, though, seems to have remained an investor darling and it is expected to turn in another stellar quarter. Investors will be looking to hear if Apple will release actual iPad sales results, which some think the secretive company is lowballing.

Also of interest will be sales of its powerhouse iPhone, as well as any more news on the new operating system for it.

For eBay (EBAY), improvements in its main marketplace business, as well as continued strength in its PayPal division, will also be closely watched by investors.

But continued pressure from a range of new and old competitors and eBay’s ability to respond and grow remain a worry.

Netflix (NFLX), though, is only hindered by the bullishness around the stock already. Wall Street is expecting strong results from the online video rental company, especially as it continues to add subscribers and innovate its intense customer service focus.

For Amazon (AMZN), the impact of the Apple iPad and e-book prices will likely get a lot of attention, even though it has a much larger business beyond its Kindle e-reader. The improvement in the e-commerce arena is likely to be a boon to Amazon.

Last of all to report will be Microsoft, who earnings are more complex, given its many businesses.

While the focus will be on sales of Windows 7, in the digital arena, analysts will likely be interested in the status of its Yahoo partnership, the gains in search share for Bing and what plans the software giant has related to the cloud-computing arena.

StockSource.us
ABOUT US:

Stock Source is a full service investor relations firm dedicated to growth stocks. We seek out innovative, emerging companies poised for growth and tell their stories to qualified, aggressive investors looking for ground floor opportunities.

We connect investors with investment prospects—cutting through the noise and churn of Wall Street to shine the spotlight on companies on their way up. These companies trade on the Nasdaq, Amex, OTCBB, and Pinksheets.

Wall St futures point to higher open; data eyed

(Reuters) - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2 to 0.3 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Friday.

At 8.30 a.m. ET, Commerce Department releases its final estimate of Q4 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 5.9 percent annualized rate of growth, a repeat of the preliminary Q4 estimate.

The White House plans to announce on Friday it will require lenders to lower the mortgage payments of some unemployed workers and encourage lenders to eliminate some principal debt of homeowners who owe more than their home is worth, sources familiar with the plan said on Thursday.

Swiss banking giant UBS (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N) has slashed about 200 jobs in its U.S. brokerage unit, a source told Reuters. The job losses account for nearly 1.2 percent of the brokerage unit's 16,295 employees. A bulk of the job cuts were announced in the past two days, according to the Wall Street Journal. UBS declined to comment.

China will resume yuan appreciation in the second quarter but will keep its currency on a short leash, allowing a mere 3 percent rise over the next 12 months, according to a Reuters poll.

Commerce Department releases fourth quarter corporate profits at 8.30 a.m. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 10.0 percent rise versus a 12.7 percent increase in the previous report.

At 9.55 a.m., Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers release final March consumer sentiment index. Economists in a expect a reading of 73.0, compared with 73.6 in the final February report.

News Corp (NWSA.O) will charge readers for online versions of its UK Times and Sunday Times newspapers from June, becoming the first media firm to test consumers' appetite to pay for mass-market news online. Access to two new websites for the two titles will cost 1 pound ($1.49) per day or 2 pounds for a week. Subscribers to the print versions will get free access, News Corp said on Friday.

Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) releases its weekly index of economic activity for March 19 at 10.30 a.m. In the prior week the index read 130.9.

Shares of Accenture Plc (ACN.N) fell 2.1 percent to $40.90 in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported its second-quarter results.

General Motors Co GM.UL expects to repay $1 billion to the U.S. Treasury on Wednesday, attempting to settle the loan with the government ahead of schedule, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the plan. GM could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

Finish Line shares (FINL.O) rose 7.5 percent to $15.76 late on Thursday after the company reported fourth-quarter results.

European shares fell on Friday, after closing at their highest level in nearly 18 months, with banks the major losers, as fears still remained about peripheral economies in Europe. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares was down 0.3 percent.

Euro zone leaders agreed on Thursday to create a joint financial safety net with the IMF to help debt-ridden Greece and to try to restore confidence in their common currency after weeks of wrangling.

U.S. stocks ended flat on Thursday, dropping off earlier highs as a weak U.S. bond auction and global debt concerns continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 5.06 points, or 0.05 percent, to end at 10,841.21. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 1.99 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,165.73. And the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 1.35 points, or 0.06 percent, at 2,397.41.

Japan's Nikkei average .N225 climbed 1.6 percent to its highest close in 18 months on Friday as recent weakness in the yen buoyed exporters, and helped by investors looking to secure dividends before the financial year end.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Hans Peters)

http://www.stocksource.us
ABOUT US:

Stock Source is a full service investor relations firm dedicated to growth stocks. We seek out innovative, emerging companies poised for growth and tell their stories to qualified, aggressive investors looking for ground floor opportunities.

We connect investors with investment prospects—cutting through the noise and churn of Wall Street to shine the spotlight on companies on their way up. These companies trade on the Nasdaq, Amex, OTCBB, and Pinksheets.

Wall Street Despised in Poll Showing Majority Want Regulation

March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Americans are leery about creating a new federal agency to make consumer-protection rules for mortgages and credit cards and would prefer to enhance the existing powers of banking regulators.

Most people interviewed in the Bloomberg National Poll say they don’t like Wall Street, banks or insurance companies and favor letting the government punish bankers who helped cause the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Almost seven out of 10 people surveyed support using current bank regulators for consumer protection, backing positions held by the financial industry and Republicans over President Barack Obama’s proposal to establish an independent agency.

“People are generally satisfied with the way consumer protection has worked with banks,” said Ernie Patrikis, a partner specializing in banking supervision at the White & Case LLP law firm in New York. “Most Americans could care less about redoing the financial regulatory structure.”

The poll’s findings come as the White House and congressional Democrats pivot to focus more election-year attention on an unpopular political target -- banks and Wall Street -- following this week’s victory on health-care legislation.

As the country struggles with a 9.7 percent unemployment rate while financial stocks surge, 57 percent of Americans have a mostly unfavorable or very unfavorable view of Wall Street, versus fewer than one-quarter who have a favorable opinion. Banks are viewed badly by 54 percent of poll respondents, and 60 percent have a negative opinion of insurance companies.

Disdain for Executives

The poll also shows most Americans don’t like the nation’s top corporate bosses. Almost two-thirds say they have an unfavorable opinion of business executives, a rating that rivals the public’s disdain for Congress, which was viewed with disfavor by 67 percent of respondents.

The poll of 1,002 U.S. adults was conducted March 19-22 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Low esteem for financial firms was reflected in resentment of big paychecks on Wall Street.

Fifty-six percent of those polled say they would support government action to limit compensation of those who helped cause the financial crisis, or to ban those people from working in the banking industry.

“The amount of money that people on Wall Street make seems to be really out of bounds,” said Laure Sinclair, 52, a part- time accountant who lives in Dallas. “But I don’t know that the government can regulate that because we want to be a capitalist society.”

Consumer Protection

Obama’s proposal for a stand-alone consumer agency has been a main sticking point in negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans on broader legislation to increase oversight of Wall Street.

The Senate Banking Committee on March 22 approved a bill by Senator Christopher Dodd, the panel’s chairman and a Connecticut Democrat, to set up a consumer-protection bureau at the Federal Reserve with the authority to write and enforce rules. Obama continues to make the agency a priority as part of what would be the biggest overhaul of the system policing Wall Street since the 1930s.

“By creating a new consumer agency, we will finally set and enforce clear rules of the road across the financial marketplace,” Obama said in a March 22 statement. “I will continue to fight to strengthen the bill and against attempts to undermine the independence of this agency.”

Populist Ire

As Democrats and Republicans seek to tap populist ire, the poll shows there may be political advantage in taking on big financial institutions such as Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp., and New York’s Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The majority of poll participants -- 56 percent -- say big financial companies are more interested in enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary people, while 40 percent say such firms play a vital role in enabling the economy to grow.

At the same time, Americans are divided over the scope of government regulation. More than 40 percent of Americans say the government has gone too far in measures to fix the financial industry; 37 percent say it hasn’t done enough. Almost six out of 10 people say Wall Street hasn’t gone far enough on its own to protect against future emergencies.

“Anything the government gets their fingers in, they mess it up,” said poll participant Norman White, 60, a community college electronics instructor who lives in Colfax, Louisiana. “I don’t have a very high opinion of the government running anything.”

Views of Fed

The Fed could use some marketing help, the poll shows. More than a quarter of participants don’t have an opinion about the central bank, while 42 percent have a favorable view and 31 percent hold an unfavorable view.

While gloomy about the nation’s economic outlook, most Americans believe there is little chance in the next few years of another financial upheaval like the 2008 crisis that caused a near collapse of the U.S. banking industry. While 42 percent say they think such a scenario is at least fairly likely, 57 percent say it is only somewhat likely or not likely at all.

To see methodology and exact question wording, click on the attachment tab at the top of the story.

http://www.stocksource.us
ABOUT US:

Stock Source is a full service investor relations firm dedicated to growth stocks. We seek out innovative, emerging companies poised for growth and tell their stories to qualified, aggressive investors looking for ground floor opportunities.

We connect investors with investment prospects—cutting through the noise and churn of Wall Street to shine the spotlight on companies on their way up. These companies trade on the Nasdaq, Amex, OTCBB, and Pinksheets.