Stocks started the week with a mild gain as investors anticipate a statement from the Federal Reserve on Tuesday that will help lift stocks. Many investors believe that the central bank will hold interest rates steady at the historic lows near 0% in response to the recent weakness in the economy. Overall, the Dow rose 45.19 points to 10,698.75, the S&P 500 was up 6.15 points to 1,127.79, and the NASDAQ climbed 17.22 points to 2,305.69.
In the currency market, the dollar gained slightly gains the British pound, but weakened against the Euro and Japanese Yen. Oil rose $0.81 to $81.51 a barrel, and gold moved down $1.80 to $1,201.60 an ounce. The yield on 10-year treasury note dropped 0.02 points to 2.822%
Word on the Street
- HP (HPQ: Charts, News, Offers) took a plunge today after the news about the CEO Mark Hurd’s resignation over a sexual harassment accusation. Mark Hurd replaced the controversial former CEO Carly Fiorina about five years ago. He brought a solid A-game and helped lead HP to become a dominant player across many key technology segments. So the announcement and his abrupt departure came as a big shock to investors, and HP shares dropped 7.40% for the day. And from MarketWatch, here are tips for firms to avoid sexual harassment problems.
- In 2005, eBay (EBAY: Charts, News, Offers) acquired Skype for $2.6 billion, but after failed integration attempt, it sold a controlling stake to an investor group last year in a deal that valued Skype at $2.7 billion. Today, the popular Internet voice and video telephony service company announced that it plans to raise $100 million in an initial public offering of stock. The one thing that differentiate Skype from typical technology IPO is that it is currently profitable. The company reported a net income of $13 million on a revenue of $406 million during the first six months of 2010.
- Google (GOOG: Charts, News, Offers) and Verizon (VZ: Charts, News, Offers) announced a joint proposal that would allow ISPs to offer premium Internet channel separate from the traditional public Internet channel. According to the companies, this is not a slap in the face for the proponent of Net Neutrality, instead, it should help. Despite reassurance from the companies, many remain skeptical. This image from Gizmodo said it all.
- Another big recall hits the auto industry, this time, it’s from the king of reliability, Honda Motor Company (HMC: Charts, News, Offers). Today, Honda announced a recall of 428,000 vehicles in North America. Affected models include 384,220 Accord, Civic, and Element from the 2003 and 2004 model years in the United States, and 44,000 vehicles that span the same models plus some Acura 1.7ELs in the Canada.
- Today, McDonald’s (MCD: Charts, News, Offers) announced that it saw the largest monthly increase in same-store sales in more than a year. The company attributes its success to 2010′s hotter than average temperature and its new fruit smoothies and frappes.
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Stocks Stay Positive Ahead of Fed (HPQ, Skype, GOOG, VZ)
By: InvestorGuide Staff, dated August 9th, 2010Stocks started the week with a mild gain as investors anticipate a statement from the Federal Reserve on Tuesday that will help lift stocks. Many investors believe that the central bank will hold interest rates steady at the historic lows near 0% in response to the recent weakness in the economy. Overall, the Dow rose 45.19 points to 10,698.75, the S&P 500 was up 6.15 points to 1,127.79, and the NASDAQ climbed 17.22 points to 2,305.69.
In the currency market, the dollar gained slightly gains the British pound, but weakened against the Euro and Japanese Yen. Oil rose $0.81 to $81.51 a barrel, and gold moved down $1.80 to $1,201.60 an ounce. The yield on 10-year treasury note dropped 0.02 points to 2.822%
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