Amazon selloff deepening, M&A pumping Pfizer, Apple keeps rallying
Amazon.com (AMZN): shares burning down again, hit by as much as 5% and below $300. The e-commerce proxy is now down more than 12% since reporting in-line numbers last Thursday night. Without a buyback or buyout in the works, Amazon is largely without defense as sellers swamp the tape. Right now the stock is clearly being used as a source of funds for just about any other stock in the market.
Speaking of which, Pfizer (PFE) shares are thrusting higher by 5% after the company announced a $100 billion takeover bid of rival AstraZeneca (AZN). Pfizer has been sniffing around this deal for months, but this is the first firm price offering. You can bet other companies are watching this closely, as they consider ways to put their own cash to work. The action in Pfizer and other acquiring company stocks has been very positive. Look for more deals to be announced until that dynamic changes.
Apple (AAPL): up another 4% today and inching towards $600 per share for the first time since October 2012. The stock is now more than 10% higher than it was prior to reporting a strong quarter and huge buyback program last week. As we said with Pfizer, as long as Wall Street responds this favorably to taking on debt and buying back shares you can expect more of it. Whatever you think of the philosophy of buybacks, arguing against the tape is futile. Apple is now the first company to have a greater than $500 billion market cap twice. Great comeback story for the shares.
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