“Stocks traded mixed near session lows Thursday as the earlier bounce from a better-than-expected jobless claims report fizzled,” JeeYeon Park reports for CNBC. “Major averages are on pace for their biggest weekly drop in more than four months. ‘There’s more profit taking going on…this might be the continuation of the recent pullback,” said Alan Valdes, director of floor operations at DME Securities. ‘Volume’s been light and there’s still the usual uncertainty regarding the election, ‘fiscal cliff’ and Europe.'”
“On the economic front, weekly jobless claims tumbled 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000, hitting the lowest level since February 2008, according to the Labor Department. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims edging up to 370,0000 last week. The four-week moving average for new claims fell 11,500 to 364,000,” Park reports. “However, the report may have been distorted by one state not posting its claims number for the week as expected. A Labor Department spokesman said the state accounted for much of the decline, but did not name the state. ‘I was told the state not revealed subtracted 30,000 from the weekly initial jobless claims figure,’ wrote Peter Boockvar, managing director at Miller Tabak. ‘This would take the ‘adjusted’ number to 369,000, about in line with the original expectations of 370,000. The mix up was due to a ‘timing issue’ in delivering data to the Labor Department.'”
Park reports, “Apple [AAPL $630.80, -10.11 (-1.58%)] edged lower after a federal appeals court reversed an injunction that barred rival Samsung from selling its Galaxy Nexus smartphone… On the economic front, U.S. trade deficit increased to $44.2 billion in August, mostly in line with analyst expectations, according to the Commerce Department. Overall exports dropped amid European concerns, while imports slipped slightly.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Yeah, one state forget to post its jobless claims number for the week as expected in a “mix up” right after the empty suit is exposed as the fraud he is in front of 70 million in the most-viewed presidential debate in history.
Wasn’t Illinois, was it? 😉
Dittos1 Why is every so-called “reporter” of today’s unemployment news so eager to FORGET CALIFORNIA’S missing data? Adding in the figures from the “missing state” will make these first time unemployment filer numbers SKYROCKET for the week–and everyone knows it! This “oversight” is criminal, folks, and little more than fodder for the weak-minded and pathetically gullible. What a country.
ugh, the lower the water level for ‘them’, the more fecal material floats to the top, as it were
Obama’s extension of the Bush Tax Cuts expire 31 December and are in a sunset provision- meaning they expire without action by Congress and the President. If they expire every American of all income levels will see a significant tax increase and given the partisan rancor in the House of Representatives and deadlock in the Senate it doesn’t look good for an extension.
Secondly, the budget deal sequestration kicks in January 1, triggering automatic cuts across many different areas of government and the Feds are the biggest customer of countless businesses. Again, given the situation on the Hill, the likelihood a deal will get done at this late date is doubtful.
Third, a lot of consumers and enterprises are playing wait and see until the results of the election are evident. Same with the Lame Duck Congress and items 1 & 2. People go not like uncertainty. It could seriously affect Holiday spending- a massive chunk of many retailers entire take.
Fourth, China is sliding into recession and Germany looks like it is cooling. If the US, Germany and China are all in recession or slow recovery what about the rest of the developed world? The EU crisis is still hanging over the European Union like a bad marriage neither partner is willing to end.
Fifth, the extreme heat experience in the US has destroyed or severely reduced grain and other agricultural yields which is expected to trigger serious food inflation. Factor in the downstream ripple effect and inflation pressures are significant going forward.
With all that uncertainty it is advisable to consolidate gains, gather cash and have a defensive position mapped out. If taxes increase, many will need significant cash to meet the bill. People facing uncertain business prospects and tax increases don’t buy iToys.
On the purely Apple side, the production yields on the iPhone seem to have cost Apple sales due to lack of availability and Apple has not released guidance regarding the projected production capacity through the (CY) 4th Quarter.
That’s part of what is pushing the market and Apple.
Wonderful theories, but Google appears to be immune to your analysis? Apple is getting old, iOS is stale, OSX sucks and has become the Windows Vista of Apple Inc, small screen devices appear to be selling well to the disciples but not doing much to attract new blood. Apple has a lot of issues the least of which is short changing Americans by being a corporate pig that does everything it can to avoid paying US taxes or hiring American workers. Pigs I say Pigs!
Google has a different business model that is subject to different pressures than Apple.
Google gives services away as a honeypot for eyeballs to sell to advertisers. Apple has to design, market and sell something to make money. Not the same business by a long shot.
Apple is a computer/electronics company. Google is an advertising sales company.
Well said. Apple will be trying to earn revenue in other areas going forward. Advertising and in particular entertainment media in some fashion. I believe that Apple realizes that the margins on their hardware will come down in the future but they are smart enough to increase revenue by other means. But it’s the closed ecosystem that Apple has that will incorporate everything they do into one world. And Apple will be able to pull more and more revenue streams into that ecosystem in the future to insure revenue will always be there. Apple will do just fine going forward thank you kindly.
Every single word of your post is complete and total nonsense. Every point you make is so easily refutable that you are either practicing Stephen Colbert – style satire, or you are every bit the blind ignoramus that ‘First 2010’ is.
hey, MDN. don’t you say anything, huh? it’s what apple did against for all. it’s paid back. $700 won’t be happened this year. or any time soon. don’t put your mind in wrong place. apple is just ordinary piece of company. Apple heyday is slowly gone now. I hope that apple fanboys should shut the hell up, admit reality.
Talk to me in January Eddie. I don’t know if it will hit $700 but I’m betting that it does with my own money. And even if it’s only $695 that’s not bad from this point. Apple is just an ordinary company? Hardly Eddie. It’s the biggest company out there by sales Eddie. So invest in AAPL soon Eddie or you’re going to miss the boat.
Miss the boat? When Edward’s ship comes in, he’s going to be at the bus terminal!