Stocks closed higher this past Friday, lifting the Nasdaq Composite back into the black for the week, after the European Central Bank said it would take further steps to ease loan collateral for banks. Facebook rose 3.8% to close after Nomura Equity Research initiated coverage of the social-networker with a buy rating and $40 price target. Zynga, which depends on Facebook for the majority of its revenue, gained 4.8%. Also, Electronic Arts added 2.2% after Citigroup cut its rating to neutral from buy, citing “limited” catalysts for EA’s stock. EA also said that DreamWorks acquired the movie rights to EA’s “Need For Speed” racing-game franchise. The global economy will be in focus next week as concerns over Spain's banking system continue to fuel investor anxiety. Eurozone leaders announced that they agreed on a set of growth-enhancing policies equal to about €125 billion, or 1% of eurozone GDP, ahead of a key two-day summit for European Union leaders, which will bring together the leaders of all 27 members of the EU. Also, investors will monitor U.S. data, including the Case-Shiller home-price index for April, consumer-confidence figures for June, May durable-goods orders, pending home-sales figures, weekly jobless claims, first-quarter GDP figures, the Chicago PMI and UMich consumer-sentiment gauge for June. Also, Google will hold its annual developers conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, the co. is rumored to be working on its own tablet. Implied volatility inched below the 17.5 level on light trading volumes. OptionSmart
Stocks fell sharply yesterday as investors lowered their expectations for a key summit of European Union leaders later this week. Spain was in focus after the government officially requested EU loans to help bailout the nation's banks, borrowing costs have risen recently to record highs above 7%. Also, new home sales for May rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate 369,000, above 350,000 expected. Tech followed the broad market retreat, pushing the Nasdaq down 2%. Research In Motion fell 7.5% after analysts at Morgan Stanley reportedly downgraded the stock. Big names in the tech sector also felt: Microsoft shed 2.7%, while Hewlett-Packard slid 4.1% and Intel gave up 3.3%, joining the worst performers on the Dow Jones Industrial. In the evening trade Apollo had climbed 10% after the company said its Q3 earnings were $1.20 a share, better than the $0.97 a share expected. Implied volatility inched higher on light trading volumes. Stock Seasonality Trading
The market closed in negative territory yesterday, after clawing back from much steeper losses in the last hour of trading. Leaders at the two-day EU summit in Brussels are faced with the daunting task of coming up with a concrete solution. Trading was largely driven by speculation and rumors. Fears of a global slowdown also sparked a steep sell-off in oil prices, which ended the day down more than 3%. Weekly jobless claims dropped slightly more than expected. The market is set to open higher on positive news from Europe.
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