Close

Market Wrap: Oh, 'No'-kia!; Spain's Bank Figures; Twitter-gate 2012; SmartMoney Makes Smart Move

June 21, 2012 5:33 PM EDT
Market wrap-up for June 21st

End of the Day: Dow Jones down 250.8 to 12,573.57; S&P 500 down 30.2 to 1,325.51; Nasdaq down 71.4 to 2,859.09

The following is a brief summary of events moving markets today:
  • Imagine all the canceled vacations to Ibiza: Numbers are in from two consulting firms hired by Spain to evaluate the capital requirements needed for the country's banks to remain solvent. Initial results are a little daunting.

    Firm Oliver Wyman said the Spanish financial system would need between €51 billion and €62 billion (about $78 billion) should the country's GDP shrink by 6.5 percent and house prices fall 60 percent from the peak.

    The other firm, Rolan Berger Strategy Consultants said banks will need €51.8 billion should such a situation unfold.

    For more on the audit, click here.

    Spanish investors saw heightened demand in a recent bond sale, unloading €2.22 billion of 3.40 percent April 2014, 4.00 percent of July 2015, and 5.50 percent of July 2017 maturities. Spain only planned a €2 billion sale and got about €7.762 billion in bids.

  • Voi ei!: Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) foray into personal computing via a tablet leads to the belief the company might just continue the trend right into a smartphone design. (After all, a tablet's just an overgrown smartphone, right?) Well, that spells bad news for Nokia -- with a capital N. The Finnish mobile company is putting plenty of eggs into Microsoft's Windows Phone basket, eschewing further development of its Symbian OS in the process. Already hampered this year by critics who asked why Nokia didn't opt for Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android just to secure a little foothold before moving the the Microsoft platform, it's current price level of $2.38 doesn't leave much more room to fall.

    Nothing out of Microsoft this week suggested it plans to build its own smartphone, utilizing an HTC device at its demo on Wednesday.

    Nokia ended the session down 4.8 percent.

  • Spending shift in crop production: Archer Daniels Midland Co (NYSE: ADM), Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), and others showed little reaction today despite Senate approval of new legislation which would allow subsidies on agricultural production and instead moving to a crop-insurance program.

    Typically, the government pays out about $5 billion per year to farmland owners whether they've planted crops or not. The new system will trim subsidies by $19.5 billion over 10 years, though government payments to cover insurance premiums and subsidize crop-insurance companies would increase $3.2 billion. There were also $4.5 billion in food-stamp reductions being proposed, mostly from closing a loophole in which those who receive state assistance to cover heating bills will also be able to receive food stamps, bringing total cuts over 10 years to about $23.6 billion.

    The bill would still need to go through the House before being enacted.

  • Tweet no more: For all of those (like us) who basically saw their day stopped due to Twitter being on the fritz, well, you can breathe easier; the company affirmed service is restored.

  • More raises than pleated khakis can muster: According to reports out Thursday, employees at Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) retail stores should be seeing a boost in their paycheck, to the tune of 25 percent. Many believe the increase is a long time coming, with retail sales increasing 50 percent last year. Raises will be determined by store performance as well a location.

    For more on the boost, click here.

  • Smart money bets on digital: News Corp.'s (Nasdaq: NWSA) Dow Jones & Co. announced today its SmartMoney magazine would cease print operations and focus more on its digital format. About 25 positions would be eliminated while SmartMoney would add six editorial staff.
Click here to go to Streetinsider's Full News Feed and never miss a beat!


Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

You May Also Be Interested In





Related Categories

Market Check

Related Entities

Standard & Poor's, Twitter