Blackberry maker Research in Motion showed today that the non-iPhone-user may be an endangered species…but they’re not yet extinct.
Dow: 13,437 (-0.36%) S&P 500: 1,441 (-0.45%)
There’s good anticipation (Christmas Eve) and bad anticipation (credit card statement post Vegas weekend). Today was packed full of heavy econ data and news that was firmly in the second category. Investors sat around waiting to hear news on the state of Spanish banks, a look at consumer spending vs. consumer income, and manufacturing reports from the deep dish Chicago area. The outcome, in case you’re wondering, was negative for both US data reports, surprisingly not that bad for Spanish banks…and I’m just glad I didn’t drop my company credit card for the “Dream Dollars” purchased late night on the Vegas Strip. Investors are happy to escape the weekend with the Dow falling a mere 49 points.
Spanish Banks score better than expected on EU-mandated “Stress Tests”
This summer the European Union agreed to support Spanish banks that lost billions from their catastrophic real estate bust through a direct bailout. The Spanish government was happy to step aside and stay out of the mess, but they needed to administer “stress tests” to see just how much money los Bancos needed. The report was better than expected – 60 billion euros isn’t that bad when you were expecting as much as 100. The banks will need a capital injection of 59 billion euros to be able to stand firmly again and fuel their economy through loans after years of just trying to survive. Investors exhaled deeply; glad to see Spain’s crisis is not as bad as imagined.
BlackBerry maker beats earnings estimates
Well looky here – Research in Motion has got some life in her yet. Maybe this is just the case of standards being absurdly low, but the BlackBerry creator posted a 2nd quarter loss that wasn’t nearly as bad as Wall Street analysts expected. Sure, revenues dropped 31% over the last year, but their cash position slightly improved. RIMM has fallen consistently and comically since the iPhone era as users realize they don’t have to “click-clack” type their way through text messages – but higher sales in India, South Africa, and other developing countries where iPhones are less affordable were up big. Their stock shot up 5% today, but can the Canadian-based RIMM turn things around for good?
Over the Weekend:
- Despite poor manufacturing data in the Chicago region and American spending being ever more pinched by high prices at the pump, consumer confidence continued to rise today according to the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. October is here, can baseball playoff fever lift spirits ever further?
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