Market News

Credit Suisse: Apple’s annuity like cash flow make it worth $150 per share from $140 prior. The analyst adds Apple to the firm’s top investment ideas list (U.S. Focus List) and maintains its Outperform rating. The analyst also stated that according to him Apple’s services unit could double it revenues by 2020.

Citi: Says Apple’s capital return program will increase to at least $240 billion from the current $200 billion and maintains a Buy rating and $130 price target. The analyst at Citi, Jim Suva, says that if Apple could grow its market share in India from the current 2% to 13% like in China, annual unit sales would go up by 15-20 million units. He said Apple’s iPhone 5 SE was going to help the company make a strong push in India and the rest of Asia-Pacific where 80% of the phones sold are at a price point less than $400 per unit.

more...

Q1 2016 was a particularly weak period for the global equity underwriting industry – something that weighed on deal volumes for the largest U.S. investment banks for the period. Changes in deal volume for these banks largely mirrored those for the overall industry.

more...

Recently, Viacom launched VOOT in India, which is a Video on Demand platform available free of charge for customers using iOS- and Android-based devices, or PCs. The company will drive revenues through advertising on this platform. Viacom has moved its entire content library in India (including MTV and Nick) to VOOT,which is aimed at curating the largest repository of kids characters in the Indian OTT (over the top content) space. Viacom operates in India as a joint venture with Reliance Industries, which is one of the largest media groups in the region. Its Video On Demand platform launch comes shortly after Netflix was launched in India in January this year. India’s television market is expected to double in the next five years and is estimated grow to around $ 20 billion by 2020. Video On Demand is a huge growth opportunity in the region as the penetration of smartphones and fast interest access increases. Viacom is witnessing strong revenue growth in India. As the company focuses on high quality content customized for local preferences, the region could be a growth driver for Viacom in future, in our view.

more...

Looking at the sectors faring best as of midday Tuesday, shares of Industrial companies are outperforming other sectors, losing just 0.6%. Within that group, Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) and W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively. Among industrial ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (AMEX: XLI), which is down 0.3% on the day, and up 4.16% year-to-date. Raytheon Co., meanwhile, is up 2.45% year-to-date, and W.W. Grainger Inc. is up 15.94% year-to-date. Combined, RTN and GWW make up approximately 3.1% of the underlying holdings of XLI.

more...

The late David Halberstam, the best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, relayed an interesting story in Playing for Keeps, - his authoritative biography of Michael Jordan published in 1997. Seeking to underscore the global impact and cultural significance of Jordan during the height of his fame in the 1990s, Halberstam recalls friends going on safari in Africa who reported seeing children - almost all of whom were poverty stricken and living in squalid conditions - wearing tattered Chicago Bulls.

more...

Shares in Hon Hai Precision, the big Taiwan iPhone assembler that said last week it would lead the purchase of a majority stake in Sharp for $3.5 billion, dropped by 2.1% to a two-and-a-half week low in Taipei on Tuesday as investors reconsidered the cost of the purchase and business outlook this year.

more...

On Fox Business last week, Graham and Buffett-style investor Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), CEO of GAMCO Investors, said he was optimistic about the U.S. economy and listed water as a sector in which he had particular interest. Dr. Michael Burry, after spotting the systemic threat to the global financial system, also started investing in water post-financial crisis, according to the movie featuring him, "The Big Short."

more...

Fixed-income exposure among individual investors rose last month to levels not seen since January 2015, tying a three-year high. The March AAII Asset Allocation Survey also shows higher exposure to equities and smaller cash positions.

more...

A new DOL rule is a gamechanger for retirement savers. Here's what it means to you.

more...

Arch rival Samsung is hailed as the volume leader in the Indian cellular market with a market share of 30% as of February of this year compared to 2% for Apple according to market research firm Counterpoint.

Another research firm, GfK, says that Samsung Galaxy J2, J5 and J7 account for nearly 20% of the Indian market by value.

In addition, Samsung has recently introduced a new feature in its phone like the “S bike” mode that allows callers to get a notification that the owner of the phone cannot answer since he is riding his motorcycle. (Seriously?)

Indeed, if one goes to flipkart.com and looks for the cheapest Android based Samsung phone, you can find one for about $81 or INR 5,390 which is the Samsung Galaxy Star Pro and the most expensive Samsung available on the site is the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 for about $960 or INR 63,000.

more...