SPDR S&P 500 Message Board

Agree with you

Sentiment: Buy

Apple has scheduled its annual World Wide Developers Conference for Monday.
Any thoughts?

European indices diverge from U.S. and Asian markets, and are mostly higher ahead of policy decisions at the BOE and ECB.

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke made good homework in researching 1929 crisis and how to prevent it happen again

1) Bloomberg reports the iAd team is engaging major brands to buy ads for iRadio ahead of a planned launch next week at WWDC; ad revenue will be shared with studios.
2) Fairly reliable KGI Securities predicts an updated 13" retina MacBook Pro will be launched at WWDC; it's said to be thinner than the current model, and to sport an improved camera. SKU leaks also point to at least one MacBook refresh.
3) Global Equities claims iOS 7 will support "bend" and "squeeze" gestures," but is short on details.
4) Worried about margins and competition, top shareholder Fidelity Contrafund cut its stake in Apple by another 9% in April, after cutting it by 12% in Q1

Nikkei 225 is up +2% today,
Europe markets are green

GLD Can not break 137.00 for a third time, not a good sign for gold longs.

As expected, the Financial Stability Oversight Council has proposed to designate AIG Prudential Financial and GE Capital as systemically important.
Prudential plans to appeal, although AIG won't.
The Fed has yet to finalize its requirements for systemically important non-bank financial companies, but they're expected to include stress tests and higher capital holdings.

Alcatel-Lucent takes lead in VDSL segment, says Dell'Oro
Alcatel-Lucent's 8.6 percent gain in its fixed network unit during the first quarter was largely driven by strong VDSL2 and vectored equipment shipments at a time when traditional wireline telcos are looking for ways to enhance the speeds on their copper-based networks.
The European vendor's fixed network unit result reflects the broader growth of the VDSL segment. VDSL2 with vectoring, a Dell'Oro Group report said, grew more than 15 percent year-over-year and accounted for the majority of DSL port shipments for the first time.

Thanks for sharing, I found the article on MarketWatch

U.S. is probably Alcatel's best bet - it generates majority of its revenue while South America and EMEA provide strong growth potential. ALU needs to focus on its key clients in the U.S. and form close ties to support and solidify its business while expanding in South America and EMEA to capitalize on markets out of competitors' radar for potential growth. Huawei's pledge to expand its workforce and business in the next five years is a sign of growth in the business, and Alcatel-Lucent must capitalize on this growth prospect.

1) Apple is due to go to court today over allegations that it conspired with five publishers to raise e-book prices. Apple is facing the suit alone after the publishers involved settled with the Justice Department.
2) Apple reportedly signed a licensing deal with Warner Music over the weekend as it looks to launch a music-streaming service at its developer conference next week. Apple still needs to finalize agreements with Universal Music Group and Sony .
3) Google is set to seize Apple's crown for mobile apps in the next few months. While Apple downloads tops those of Android by 50B to 48B, the monthly rate is 2.5B vs 2B in Android's favor.

AIG is STILL undervalued

Sentiment: Buy

A New York court is due to start a hearing today over whether it should approve Bank of America $8.5B agreement to settle claims with investors over soured mortgage bonds. While heavyweights such as BlackRock (BLK) and Goldman Sachs support the deal, it faces opposition from AIG , which says it has $10.5B worth of claims against BofA. Approval of the agreement would enable the bank to take a major step in cleaning up the mess it inherited when it bought Countrywide.

Gold prices rose Monday, a higher start for the precious metal in June following a more than 5% drop in the previous month.

Eurozone manufacturing PMI rises to a 15-month high of 48.3 (flash 47.8) in May from 46.7 in April, with the downturn easing across the bloc, although price deflationary pressures remain as input costs and output prices fall further.
The data "still suggest that GDP is likely to have fallen 0.2%" in Q2, says Markit, extending the eurozone's recession into a seventh quarter.

1) Indian iPhone sales continue to surge with the help of aggressive pricing (sacrificing margins for growth), installment plans, and a marketing blitz: Credit Suisse estimates monthly Indian sales are now near 400K, up from just 70K-80K recently.
2) By contrast, Apple has raised iPad/iPod prices in Japan thanks to a weak yen. No word on whether the iPhone, whose Japanese sales have soared, has also seen hikes.
3) A panel image leak for the 5th-gen iPad shows a slimmer form factor, with bezels perhaps even thinner than the iPad Mini's.
4) The App Store still has a 73%/27% monetization edge over Google Play (GOOG), per Distimo, though that's down from November's 81%/19%.

1) Citing an online ad exec, BI reports Apple is thinking of launching a mobile ad exchange (would send targeted ads based on activity on other sites/apps) to complement existing iAd offerings. Millennial Media (MM) and Google already compete here, and Facebook is thinking of jumping in.
2) Detwiler Fenton says checks indicate "North American iPhone sales remain resilient" in spite of the Galaxy S4 launch. Detwiler expects 30M iPhone sales worldwide in the June quarter, and sees new seller T-Mobile USA (TMUS) moving 1M units. The iPhone's share has been holding up stronger in the U.S. than in international markets.

Sharp rebounds in the futures from the lows, 128'240 and 139'03. Are they technically oversold? Perhaps, but there is plenty of momentum for higher rates.

Gold set to end lower for 7th month in 8