It’s Alibaba’s world and we’re all just living in it this week, but there’s plenty more to look forward to next week. Yahoo Finance’s Jeff Macke, Aaron Pressman, Michael Santoli and Aaron Task break down everything you need to know before your morning grind on Monday.
Strong Dollar
“The dollar’s been ripping higher for a few reasons,” says Yahoo Finance senior columnist Michael Santoli. “We can see a path at least next year when the Fed raises rates and the U.S. domestic economy is looking better, especially when compared to everybody else.” The euro and Japanese yen are crashing, he points out.
The U.S. dollar index is nearing 4-year highs, which means companies will start to point to it as a headwind. Oracle already has. “I don’t think it's crippling for earnings,” says Santoli, “but it’s something that hasn’t been a factor in the past few years.”
Can BlackBerry come back?
BlackBerry’s newest smartphone, the Passport, will be out next week. The phone will be released on September 24th, and it will have a keyboard, large screen and a reported 15-hour battery life. “This could be make or break,” for BlackBerry says Yahoo Finance tech reporter Aaron Pressman.
“I don’t think it has much of a chance,” he says.
End of the quarter
Markets are still up around 9% for the year, but Jeff Macke is looking for even more strength. “We’ve got one more week for September to become the historically ominous month that it’s supposed to be,” he says, “but August wasn’t either.”
Hedge fund managers are trailing the Alibaba IPO which could mix things up, according to Macke. But he’s still looking for strength into the end of the month.
