Top 10 6/27-7/1: Stocks Rally, QE2 Ends, Zynga Files IPO
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Price: $275.16 +0.05%
Overall Analyst Rating:
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Dividend Yield: 0.9%
Revenue Growth %: +9.8%
Overall Analyst Rating:
BUY (= Flat)
Dividend Yield: 0.9%
Revenue Growth %: +9.8%
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1. Stocks staged an impressive rally this week as the situation in Greece appears to be reaching a head and economic data was better-than-expected. The S&P 500 rose an amazing 5.6 percent throughout the week, the biggest weekly gain since July 2009.
2. QE2 officially came to an end this week. The program, hinted at in August 2010 and launched in November, aimed to stimulate the economic recovery which at that point was seen as too slow. While it can be argued about the effectiveness of the controversial program, the stock market is up about 26 percent since Ben Bernanke's Jackson Hole speech on August 27, 2010. Critics will point to the fact that commodities are up just as much or more since that time.
4. Social gaming company Zynga filed its much-anticipated IPO Friday. The company is seeing to raise $1 billion in the offering, which will be led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 was $235.4 million, up 133 percent from the $100.9 million reported last year. The company posted net income of $11.8 million in the same quarter, up from $6.4 million last year.
4. The Federal Reserve approved changes to the heavily-debated debit swipe fee caps. The Fed changed the debit interchange cap at 21 cents per swipe, well above the 12 cents the Durbin amendment had initially suggested. Debit swipe fees currently sit at 44 cents per transaction. Shares of the two largest processors, Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA), surged on the news.
5. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) announced that it has reached an agreement to resolve nearly all of the legacy Countrywide-issued first-lien residential mortgage-backed securitization (RMBS) repurchase exposure, representing 530 trusts with original principal balance of $424 billion.
6. BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) announces agreed to be acquired by private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC for $51.25 per share in cash.
7. Prime Minister George Papandreou austerity package was approved by the Greek Parliament. Among other measures, Papandreou's plan includes increase retirement ages, higher taxes on heating-oil and restaurants and bars, and a reduction in the country's tax-free threshold from €12,000 to €8,000.
8. A number of positive economic reports this week gave the market a jolt. Among them, the ISM Management index rose to 55.3 in June, from 53.5 in May. Economists had been expecting a drop to 52 in the month. The Chicago PMI was reported at 61.1, versus the consensus of 54.
9. Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB), has entered into an agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by affiliates of Providence Equity Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.64 billion, plus the assumption of approximately $130 million in net debt.
10. Former IMF cheif Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest Friday after the credibility of the hotel housekeeper accuser was put in serious question.
2. QE2 officially came to an end this week. The program, hinted at in August 2010 and launched in November, aimed to stimulate the economic recovery which at that point was seen as too slow. While it can be argued about the effectiveness of the controversial program, the stock market is up about 26 percent since Ben Bernanke's Jackson Hole speech on August 27, 2010. Critics will point to the fact that commodities are up just as much or more since that time.
4. Social gaming company Zynga filed its much-anticipated IPO Friday. The company is seeing to raise $1 billion in the offering, which will be led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 was $235.4 million, up 133 percent from the $100.9 million reported last year. The company posted net income of $11.8 million in the same quarter, up from $6.4 million last year.
4. The Federal Reserve approved changes to the heavily-debated debit swipe fee caps. The Fed changed the debit interchange cap at 21 cents per swipe, well above the 12 cents the Durbin amendment had initially suggested. Debit swipe fees currently sit at 44 cents per transaction. Shares of the two largest processors, Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA), surged on the news.
5. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) announced that it has reached an agreement to resolve nearly all of the legacy Countrywide-issued first-lien residential mortgage-backed securitization (RMBS) repurchase exposure, representing 530 trusts with original principal balance of $424 billion.
6. BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) announces agreed to be acquired by private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC for $51.25 per share in cash.
7. Prime Minister George Papandreou austerity package was approved by the Greek Parliament. Among other measures, Papandreou's plan includes increase retirement ages, higher taxes on heating-oil and restaurants and bars, and a reduction in the country's tax-free threshold from €12,000 to €8,000.
8. A number of positive economic reports this week gave the market a jolt. Among them, the ISM Management index rose to 55.3 in June, from 53.5 in May. Economists had been expecting a drop to 52 in the month. The Chicago PMI was reported at 61.1, versus the consensus of 54.
9. Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB), has entered into an agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by affiliates of Providence Equity Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.64 billion, plus the assumption of approximately $130 million in net debt.
10. Former IMF cheif Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest Friday after the credibility of the hotel housekeeper accuser was put in serious question.
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