New record highs for US stock markets | Calamatta Cuschieri

U.S. stocks finished higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 index and Dow industrials closing at record highs on the back of a rally in telecommunications and technology shares. Investors mostly looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary-policy meeting, which is slated to conclude Wednesday. The Central Bank is expected to deliver its third, and last interest-rate hike for 2017.

A new big acquisition for Apple

Apple has acquired Shazam the company announced yesterday. The deal was reported by TechCrunch last week and said it's worth $400 million. Shazam lets users identify songs, movies, TV shows, and commercials from short audio clips. "Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users” Apple said.

Shazam can help Apple in a number of ways; the most evident would be with Apple Music, where Shazam’s team could help improve the experience of such service. If Apple decides to shut down the app, it would also take away referrals to Spotify, which together with Apple Music gets 1 million clicks per day from Shazam. Also, Shazam’s music and sound recognition, which is already integrated with Siri, could gain a deeper integration with iOS.

Apple is also likely interested in Shazam’s augmented reality technology, which could help improve its own offerings. The purchase is Apple’s biggest acquisition since it bought rapper Dr Dre’s headphones company Beats Electronics for $3bn in 2014. The deal should close in the coming weeks.

A good time for Tesla

Tesla Inc.’s stock surged to a six-week high on Monday, climbing above two widely followed moving averages for the first time in weeks.  The electric car maker’s shares rose 4.4%, closing at the highest level since October 31st.  After November 16th, 2015, the stock chopped higher by as much as 12% in two weeks, but then plunged 33% lower in mid-February.

The stock has been volatile the past few months, due to the optimism for Semi big rigs. Last Friday the food services company Sysco Corp announced that it has ordered 50 of Tesla Inc.'s new, fully electric Semi tractors. Other companies that have already put in orders for the vehicle include Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Linda De Luca, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.