Thursday, June 3, 2010
This could hurt blackberry and Iphone subscribers...
AT&T shifts away from unlimited data plans. AT&T (T) announced yesterday that it will no longer sell unlimited internet data plans to new customers with smartphones and iPads (AAPL), opting instead for usage-based pricing that charges heavy bandwidth users more. Analysts said the move will bring some much-needed common sense to the wireless industry, and likely marks the beginning of the end for unlimited data plans.
Market closes slightly higher...
Market recap: Stocks bounced around and finally ended in marginally positive territory in cautious trading ahead of tomorrow's jobs report. The major averages were boosted by a continued rebound in the tech and energy sectors, and NYSE advancers outnumbered decliners by about three to two.
At the close:
Dow +5.74
Nas +21.96
S&P +4.45
At the close:
Dow +5.74
Nas +21.96
S&P +4.45
BP making progress....
BP (BP) says it achieves an "important milestone" on shearing a pipe from the blown-out Gulf well and that it could take 12-24 hours to determine success in capping the wellhead.
Bad news for drillers...
MMS stops issuing permits for new oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico regardless of water depth, effectively extending the earlier suspension of permits for deepwater drilling into shallow waters.
I need to get in the Govt. Contacting business...
Apart from Boeing's (BA) $1.7B contract to work on the FAA's GPS-based "NextGen" air traffic control system, another $2.5B is yet to be awarded on two more contracts. The program has a $7B ceiling - largest ever for the FAA - and General Dynamics (GD) and ITT (ITT) won contracts last week as well.
Mortgage Rates still low....
Mortgage rates were little changed from last week, Freddie Mac reports, with 30-year fixed-rate loans sitting at 4.79% with 0.8 points, vs. a year-ago 5.29%.
Bad news for commodities...
CEOs of Freeport-McMoran (FCX -2.4%) and Codelco say China’s plans to curb its economy threaten to reduce copper demand, further lowering commodities prices that have already slumped on Europe's economic concerns. China is a "risk to the world’s marketplace in the near term," FCX's Adkerson says, but its inflation fight "will likely lead to a more sustainable situation going forward."
Fed almost ready to start raising rates...
The U.S. economy is almost strong enough to allow the Fed to begin raising interest rates, but we're not quite there yet, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart says. "As the economy continues to improve and financial markets find firmer ground, extraordinarily low policy rates will not be needed to promote recovery and will become inconsistent with maintaining price stability."
Might be a good time to lock in a mortgage or car loan.
Might be a good time to lock in a mortgage or car loan.
Kindle to go on sale at Target this Sunday...
Starting Sunday, feel free to pick up a Kindle (AMZN) at your local Target (TGT). Until now, the e-reader was only available through Amazon's website but the company is looking to get an edge on competition from the iPad (AAPL), Nook (BKS), Sony Reader (SNE),
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