Draghi escalates the war on cash: Goodbye 500-euro note
Yahoo Finance's Midday Movers is live each weekday at 12 p.m. ET. Today, we discuss the big Apple crash, the smartphone demise, hedge funds under pressure, and the war on cash.
Stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC, ^RUT) are bouncing a bit at midday after a nasty two-day slide, with energy (XLE) leading the way up and telecom (IYZ) in the red. Stephen Guilfoyle, managing director of floor operations for Deep Value Execution Services, comes to us live from the New York Stock Exchange to discuss today's market moves.
Alexis Christoforous is joined by Yahoo Finance's Melody Hahm and Thomson Reuters correspondent Bobbi Rebell, author of "How to be a Financial Grownup," to discuss the other stories we're keeping an eye on today.
Apple app store crash
A quick update on a breaking story. If you're on the Apple (AAPL) app store today, you might have noticed something wrong. The search feature is completely broken, with the app store returning the wrong results for search requests. Major brands are affected, such as Google, Uber, Tumblr, Vine, YouTube, and Candy Crush. The failure has been widespread and ongoing during the morning, meaning developer sales will likely be impacted. Yahoo Finance will keep you up to date on this developing story.
Smartphone growth just went negative
Tech companies are getting worried, as more and more people aren't updating their smartphones. Smartphone upgrades have been steadily declining over the last five years. For the first time this year, smartphone growth went into the negative for the first quarter. Since people are more reluctant to upgrade their devices, Apple is trying to expand into the automotive industry, while Samsung is pushing virtual reality gadgets.
Hedge funds under pressure
The big hedge fund powwow wrapped on Wednesday, where the likes of Jim Chanos, David Einhorn and Stanley Druckenmiller gathered to raise money for cancer at the Sohn Investment Conference. The one takeaway? Hedge funds are in trouble. They're underperforming the market and losing money to ETFs as investors are realizing they can make better returns with fewer fees.
Goodbye 500-euro note
Terrorists and drug cartels need cold hard cash to operate, and the European Central Bank is taking a big step to make it harder for them. The ECB will stop printing its 500 bill in the next two years, though it will still be in circulation. Many crime divisions say the bill helps fund crimes like the attack in Brussels and facilitates illicit businesses.
