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Dow Jones reported a fake story about Google buying Apple
As 9to5Mac reports, the Dow Jones newswires had a bit of a shakeup this morning after a "technical error" led to the announcement of some rather ridiculous fake news. Dow Jones reported that Google would be buying Apple for a mere $9 billion -- which would be quite a steal if true -- and that the deal was struck between Alphabet CEO Larry Page and the late Steve Jobs. The report went on to say that Google employees would be moving into Apple's "fancy headquarters" and that Google employees said, "Yay."
Russian hackers reportedly stole stock trading info from Dow Jones
Last week, Dow Jones (owner of The Wall Street Journal among other things) said that its customer database was hacked -- but it's possible the company has been contending with a much bigger data breach for a long time now. According to Bloomberg, the FBI, Secret Service, and SEC have all been investigating a theft of data from Dow Jones by Russian hackers who wanted to access insider trading information. There's a bit of a twist to the story, however: Dow Jones is strongly denying the Bloomberg report.
Hacked AP Twitter reports White House bombing, causes brief dip in Dow
You might have noticed that the AP's Twitter account was hacked this afternoon and spread a report of a bombing at the White House. That yet another Twitter account was hacked isn't the interesting part, it's the immediate (if brief and shallow) plunge that the financial markets took. We don't really need any further reminders of the power of social media, but it's hard to ignore this particularly stark demonstration of the real-time effects. In this hyper-connected environment a breaking news tweet that was only live for a few minutes and, in retrospect, contained many glaring clues to its falsehood, caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop to 14,567, from 14,697. Now, that only represents a roughly 1-percent drop, and it lasted only about as long as the tweet itself -- the markets quickly bounced back and stabilized. But it is a firm reminder that virtual events can have significant real world consequences.
Could AAPL split in a move toward Dow? Bernstein analyst thinks it will
A week after Apple posted its third-quarter earnings for 2012, Bernstein Research analyst A.M. "Toni" Sacconaghi speculates that the time is right for Apple to split its stock if it wants a future spot as an indexed member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow is woefully underpopulated with technology companies, Sacconaghi argues, and IBM and Microsoft were added during a time when the PC market was far less mature than the smartphone market is now. But if Apple was to join the DJIA, the price of the stock would have to come down from the current $607 that it's trading at as of this morning. The Dow is a price-based index with few stocks selling more than $100 a share. Granted, this is speculation worthy of Chris Rawson's rumor roundups. Despite some headlines indicating that it's practically a done deal, Sacconaghi's scenario is just that -- a "what if" situation. As Barron's Tiernan Ray rightfully points out, Apple has not indicated that it has any current intention of splitting its shares -- although the company has done so three times before, most recently in 2005. The New York Times's DealBook blog is also considering Apple's fiscal future, pointing out a few possible big-game acquisition targets for the company's ample cash hoard. Writer Andrew Ross Sorkin saves the serious caveats for the end of the post (much of Apple's cash is overseas and cannot be repatriated without a tax hit, for example) after he speculates on some truly blue-sky options for Apple's shopping list. Twitter and Path? Nuance? Sprint? Research In Motion?!? Despite the reports of past talks between Apple and Twitter, none of these seem particularly likely. If we're throwing darts at the stock listings, though, perhaps Apple will fork over $68 billion and take over Comcast, which would gain it 51% of NBC Universal along with millions of paying cable customers. [via Reuters] #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
AAPL declines again, S&P and Nasdaq see an impact
When it comes to stocks, Apple is an influencer and any changes in its stock price will affect US stock indexes. That's what happened on Monday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged and the NASDAQ and S&P fell because of Apple, says a report in Forbes. The NASDAQ and S&P both include Apple, and the company's five day decline is dragging the two indexes down. Apple's stock is now sitting at US$580.13, a 4.2 percent decline from its previous high of $610.28.
AAPL hits all-time record high
Perhaps because of optimistic analysis going into tomorrow's conference call, Apple's stock price has hit an all-time high today. While the Dow Jones average was down overall, AAPL rose $6 at one point, hitting $371.06 as a high. That's huge -- bigger a stock price than it's ever been before. Analysts say that there are a few factors here, with the big expected earnings only one of them. The HTC patent ruling was another big piece of good news to Apple's investors, and a lot of Apple's moves in general have really been turning out well lately, from the integration of iOS subscriptions and Apple's deals with both media providers and developers, to more recent innovations like iCloud and the new versions of iOS and OS X coming soon. In short, Apple's hitting its stride in a whole new way, and there's still a lot of room to grow yet. Note: Past performance is never an indication of future stock prices. This post should not be considered sound financial advice.
The case for an Apple stock split redux
Just about a year ago I wrote a post explaining all the hoopla over an expected AAPL stock split which never happened. At that point AAPL shares were trading at $202.86 and many felt that it was just too expensive for most small investors to buy. Last week, Apple closed at $348.14 after a few weeks of a roller coaster ride taking the stock down from a 52 week high of $364.90. No one really knows why the fairly quick drop happened. Rumors covered everything from the health of Steve Jobs and the question of a succession plan, to delays of the iPhone 5 and the iPad 2; but the fact of the matter is that an annual increase in price of around $145 ain't chopped liver. The vast majority of AAPL stockholders are investment firms, with the little guy being mostly left out due to the high stock price. It's emotionally unsatisfying to buy a handful of shares, and with only five or six shares in your portfolio the profit potential is decreased. That's mostly emotions talking, but the market is strongly influenced by emotions like fear, excitement and greed. So what would happen if Apple decided to split its stock anywhere from two to one, up to a four to one split? AAPL has split two for one three times, in 1987, 2000, and 2005 -- but it hasn't happened in the last six years. Philip Elmer-DeWitt writing for Fortune's Apple 2.0 posed an argument asking if the time is right. He made a reasoned case both for and against splitting.
Hedge fund using Twitter to predict stock prices, OK Cupid to meet girls
For some reason, we weren't surprised when Derwent Capital Markets announced plans to launch a hedge fund in February that will trade based on something called "Twitter sentiment," among other things. The science behind it comes from researchers at the University of Manchester and Indiana University, which maintains that there is a correlation between public mood and the Dow Jones industrial average. Apparently, a calm public seems to indicate that the Dow will go up, while an anxious public indicates that the Dow will go down. And according to Johan Bollen, an associate professor of informatics and computing at IU, Twitter posts can be analyzed and used to judge the public mood -- with a greater than 87 percent accuracy. Hit the source link to see him state his case.
Sony e-readers get exclusive Dow Jones, New York Post content
Hoping to read the New York Post on an e-reader anytime soon? Then your choices just got quite a bit more limited, as the newspaper has signed a deal that will see Sony offer the only version of the paper for digital reading devices. Joining it are various exclusive offerings from Dow Jones & Company, including The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch, which won't be completely exclusive to Sony readers, but will be available in special editions only available on Sony readers -- that includes The Wall Street Journal PLUS, a digital edition of the morning paper that also features an update of the day's events after the close of the markets. Owners of the Sony Reader Daily Edition will also naturally be able to get the day's papers wirelessly delivered to their readers, with subscriptions running between $9.99 and $19.99 a month.
