All Articles Tagged "stock market"
Creators of Multicultural Line Of Dolls Take Their Company Public
One World Doll Sophia. via Facebook
One World Holdings, parent company for The One World Doll Project, a company that creates a line of multicultural dolls, has taken the business public, trading under the symbol “OWOO.”
Stacey McBride-Irby
The company is led by CEO Joanne Melton, who worked at JP Morgan Chase between 1998 and 2002, becoming the first black manager of Commercial Loans Services and then the first black senior manager. Stacey McBride-Irby, SVP of product development, is a former project designer at Mattel, responsible for the So In Style line of African-American dolls, sorority Barbie, which celebrated the centennial of Alpha Kappa Alpha, and a black Barbie in the 1980s.
The company website describes the One World Doll Project as such:
THE ONE WORLD DOLL PROJECT promises to make one of the most significant positive cultural impacts on play and in the doll category in recent history. Our beautiful dolls and unique works of art are the beginning of a revolution in play, ready for a market yearning for something unique to its experience – a doll that both embraces contemporary girls of color and symbolizes who they can become.
Will you be buying a One World Doll? Or shares of its stock?
Stock Markets Close, Customers Run On Stores Ahead of Sandy
Image of Sandy taken at 9:02 yesterday morning. ‘NASA GOES Project/Rex Features via AP Images
At this point, the East Coast better be ready for Hurricane Sandy because she’s coming!
Stock exchanges have shut down market operations for the day, a decision made last night after the original plan to keep electronic trading going was scrapped. According to The Wall Street Journal, the markets will likely stay closed on Tuesday as well. Fears about how complicated it would be to keep the markets going caused the change of plan. The New York Times says this is the first weather-related closure in 30 years. Regulators and market and options operators decided to play it safe and shut it all down.
The big banks like Goldman Sachs are letting workers, for the most part, work from home. Some staffers have been asked to go to remote working stations in Connecticut and New Jersey.
A Manhattan supermarket. Image: AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano
Public schools, some hospitals and other facilities are closed up and down the coast where the storm is expected to hit. And over the weekend, crazy long lines outside of supermarkets and gas stations were a common sight. We’re hearing now on New York local news about a woman who bought 120 bottles of water in preparation. I witnessed what the man behind me in line at a local grocery store called “pandemonium” at the check out as carts clanked and lines became a tangled mess of people trying to pay for goods.
Hardware stores and gas stations were also packed with people purchasing provisions in case of an emergency situation. (Say that three times fast.)
And finally, thousands of flights have been cancelled today and through the coming day or two. You probably wouldn’t want to fly through a hurricane anyway.
*Update: The AP is reporting on Twitter that the financial markets will be closed tomorrow as well.
Good Economic News This Morning From the Stock Market, Facebook
AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool
If you took a look at stock news yesterday, you saw lots of financial reporters doing a major freak out about the steep decline in the markets. When we posted this story, the markets were tanking even as we got a little positive news about gas prices. The Dow Jones index closed down nearly 250 points.
But today, things are looking much brighter, thanks in part to Facebook. The social network announced its earnings after the closing bell, showing a 32 percent rise in revenue for the quarter ending in September to $1.26 billion and improved performance in the mobile arena. CNET quotes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who says the company can introduce new products and increase engagement on mobile devices. This morning, media has been crowing about the spike in Facebook stock, up 24 percent.
That news, coupled with a positive financial report from aviation company Boeing and news that manufacturing in China has declined at a slower rate than months past is sending the stock market into a happier place. We’ve also got news that the sales of newly-built homes in the US in September was up 5.7 percent to 389,000. The media price for a new home was $242,400, down from $250,400 in August.
Gas Prices Drop, But So Does the Stock Market
Recent gas prices in California. AP Photo/Gregory Bull
Huzzah! Gas prices are dropping. If I had a car, I’d be even happier. Gas prices! Can someone do something about the Metrocard price now?
Gas prices are falling at the fastest rate in years, going down 12 cents in the past week. The national average is now about $3.65 a gallon with AAA expecting prices to go down to possibly $3.25 per gallon by Thanksgiving. Gas prices typically fall this time of year as demand drops; summer travel pushes the need for gas up. “[S]upply shortages and refinery woes on the West Coast and Midwest” actually kept gas prices high from the summer and through autumn, says USA Today.
Also falling are stock prices, which were driven down by earnings reports from major companies that indicate economic problem here and abroad. The Dow Jones was down 245 points, the S&P 500 down 24 points, and the Nasdaq was down 39 points this morning following news from a number of companies that are considered “bellwethers” for the economy. 3M, which makes everything from tape to construction products to items used for medical care said “current economic realities” were giving them pause. Dupont is cutting jobs. And Xerox stock is down 19 percent for the year.
Yesterday, Caterpillar lowered it profits projections for the year and predicted unchanged demand in its earnings report, though the company is moving forward with plans to build new plants. “As we’ve moved through the year, we’ve seen continued economic weakening and uncertainty,” said the company chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman in this Wall Street Journal article. The company has already shut down plants and laid off workers. Caterpillar is so important because, as a construction and machines company, its sales reflect the health of a number of industries including mining and building.
The AP reports that the recession in Europe is playing a big role in the bad news, which is exactly why the region should’ve been a topic of discussion during last night’s debate. Also, companies are playing it cautious over fears about an increase in taxes due to the new healthcare law and the Great Recession.
Still… gas prices.
European Bank Woes Stir Global Fear
(New York Times) — Moody’s downgraded two of France’s biggest banks Wednesday and maintained the rating for a third bank under review, highlighting the escalating worries about the European banking system and renewing jitters in the global financial markets. Mounting worries about the exposure of three leading French banks — Société Générale, Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas — to Greece and their ability to handle a potential default by Greece on its debt had sent the stocks of all three financial institutions sharply lower in recent days. On Wednesday, Moody’s downgraded its ratings for Société Générale by one notch to Aa3 and for Crédit Agricole to Aa1, citing their exposure to the Greek economy and the fragile state of bank financing markets. It left BNP Paribas at Aa2, saying the bank had “ an adequate cushion to support its Greek, Portuguese and Irish exposure,” but kept it under review.
Apps for the Savvy Investor
(Smart Money) — As markets went berserk in August volatility, a record number of investors turned to smartphones and tablets to review their holdings and to execute trades. The ranks of mobile traders are small, but at some brokerages they’re growing faster than the market for smartphones. At TD Ameritrade (AMTD: 14.05, -0.47,-3.24%), mobile usage of its app has more than doubled over the past year, due in part to a major boost in August. ShareBuilder, which introduced mobile investment banking this year, reports four to five million page views from mobile apps each month and that roughly 30,000 investor trades were executed in August, up 63% from July.
Skittish Market Scares off Homebuyers
(Wall Street Journal) — Prospective home buyers are turning the stock-market turmoil and fresh worries about the economy into an opportunity to lower their offers on properties. Ryan Goodman just reduced bids on two homes in Barrington, Ill., “because the stock market sold off so much last week,” the 36-year-old risk analyst said. In July, Mr. Goodman and his wife offered $680,000 for a home listed at $800,000. While the seller later lowered the asking price to $750,000, the couple last week made a new offer of $650,000. “Unless we get a steal, we’re not going to buy any house,” he said. That dynamic threatens to put more pressure on home prices. “Buyers are going to use every point of leverage they can to get a lower price,” said Glenn Kelman, chief executive of real-estate brokerage Redfin Corp. “Sellers have to ask themselves how many people woke up this morning and said, ‘It’s a good day to buy a house.’ Far fewer than two or three weeks ago.”
Another Dive for the Dow
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 400 points for the fourth time this month, on concern the global economy is slowing and speculation that European banks lack enough capital. Caterpillar Inc. and FedEx Corp. fell at least 4.9 percent, pacing losses in stocks most-tied to the economy, as a Philadelphia-area manufacturing index sank to the lowest since 2009, jobless claims and consumer prices rose, and existing home sales slid. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. fell more than 6 percent, following a plunge in European lenders. Hewlett- Packard Co. sank 6 percent after cutting its earnings forecast. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slumped 4.5 percent to 1,140.65 at 4 p.m. in New York. All 10 groups in the S&P 500 dropped at least 1.2 percent, and only 10 stocks in the benchmark gauge advanced. The Dow fell 419.63 points, or 3.7 percent, to 10,990.58. Treasuries rallied, pushing 10-year yields to a record low. About 11.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges as of 4:27 p.m., 44 percent more than the three-month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A Portfolio Pick-Me-Up for Troubled Times
(Wall Street Journal) — The past couple of weeks have provided no shortage of drama: the debt-ceiling debate, a ratings downgrade of the U.S., questions about European banks and wild swings in the stock market. It all makes for a lot of sleepless nights. Given all the tumult, how can we add more sheep to our evenings? Ultimately, a smart, long-term investment strategy should enable us to weather — and even take advantage — of these kinds of storms. So, how to get there? A lot of times, sitting tight is the best strategy. Anyone trying to time the enormous swings of the past several days has probably discovered that’s not very easy. Still, doing nothing doesn’t always make us feel more secure. Here, then, are five strategies that might give you more calm without upending your portfolio.
Small Investors Losing Faith in the Market
(New York Times) — Small investors’ faith in the stock market is being tested again. After the market rout of 2008 that drastically shrank their retirement nest eggs, small investors withdrew hundreds of billions of dollars from American stock funds, and they kept bolting as the market rebounded sharply for much of last year. But earlier this year, having missed out on last year’s gains, some investors began to tiptoe back in. The timing for those people was off, and now they are being buffeted by the steep drops on Wall Street or bailing altogether. Still others who have been holding on in recent years have had enough.
