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Weekly Market Wrap: November 15, 2013 Friday, November 15, 3:55 PM ET This forty-sixth trading week of 2013 comes to a close with investors believing interest rates could remain low for an extended period of time with Janet Yellen set to take over at the Federal Reserve. Hi. I'm Sayoko Murase. Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for November 15, 2013.
The Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are all trading higher this week. Crude oil futures are lower again this week, trading below $94.00 per barrel on Friday afternoon. And Gold futures are relatively flat this week, trading around $1,288 an ounce in Friday afternoon trading. In economic news, the Labor Department reported initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 339,000 claims.
While the overall number fell last week, the report was higher than economists had been expecting after the better-than-expected payroll report for October. In corporate news, McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) reported sales at stores open at least a year climbed by 0.5% globally in October. Looking regionally, sales increased by 0.2% in the US market, 0.8% in the European market and fell 2.8% in the Asia/Middle East/Africa markets.
Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) reported third quarter earnings of $3.74 billion, or $1.14 per share, as revenue climbed to nearly $115 billion. While earnings topped Wall Street estimates, sales fell short of expectations. Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) reported third quarter earnings of $177 million, or 81 cents per share, as revenue slid to $4.44 billion.
The company missed both top and bottom line estimates, causing weakness in the stock this week. Macy's (NYSE:M) reported third quarter earnings of $177 million, or 47 cents per, as revenue climbed by 3% to $6.28 billion. The company easily beat Wall Street estimates for both sales and earnings and issued full year guidance in the range of $3.80 to $3.90 per share.
This is the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday November 15, 2013. Please join us on Monday for the Week Ahead Market Report.
For MarketNewsVideo.com, I'm Sayoko Murase.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Smartphone owners use their devices everywhere from public restrooms to church
Even God can’t compete with the smartphone
Bill Siwicki
Managing Editor, Mobile Commerce
Is nothing sacred?
Apparently the answer for many smartphone owners is no. 48% of smartphone owners confess they would be comfortable using their devices in a place of worship, finds “Smartphone Secrets,” a survey of 1,152 U.S. adult smartphone owners conducted by research and consulting firm Kelton on behalf of LG Electronics, which makes smartphones.
Would being in bed with a partner cause smartphone owners to turn their devices off? Nope. 77% say they would openly use their devices in that setting, the survey says.
Perhaps being in a public restroom would make smartphone owners leave their devices in their pockets. Not a chance. 75% would feel no shame in using their devices in the water closet, the survey finds.
What’s more, among smartphone owners, 28% have used their phones while on a date with a significant other, 58% have used their phones when spending quality time with their family, and 62% have used their phone while around friends, the survey says.
“Smartphones have quickly become the modern day tool that most of us just can’t live without,” says James Fishler, senior vice president of marketing at LG Electronics USA. “With major advances in mobile technology in recent years, smartphones have gone beyond their original intent as a primary communication tool to become true life companions for everything from social situations to our most personal moments.”
64% of mobile phone users own smartphones, research firm Nielsen finds.
In addition to looking into where and when smartphone owners use their devices, LG studied how they use them. 35% of smartphone users admit to using their devices to avoid talking to someone, and 33% confess to using their phones to appear busy while alone in a restaurant or bar, the survey says. 48% of smartphone users say they have relied on their devices to take funny or shocking photos or videos, and 36% own up to using their devices to take “selfies” (self-portraits usually shared via social networks). And 41% of smartphone users divulge they have used their devices to research a topic to avoid not knowing about the subject during a conversation, the survey says.
With consumers using smartphones in all kinds of situations, it’s little wonder that they’re accounting for so much of shopper interactions with online retailers. 44% of time spent with online retail occurs on smartphones, web and mobile measurement firm comScore Inc. finds. But they are more likely to use tablets to buy. On average, 55% of mobile commerce sales occur on tablets while 45% stem from smartphones, according to data from 43 retailers that broke out their mobile sales figures by device for the recently published 2014 Internet Retailer Mobile 500. These 43 retailers will bring in $991 million in mobile sales in 2013—$544 million from tablets and $447 million from smartphones, the Mobile 500 finds. The 500 retailers ranked in the guide by their mobile sales will rack up $30.5 billion in mobile sales in 2013.
Colleges begin to get a taste of ‘Super Wi-Fi’ - How fast is fast?
Colleges begin to get a taste of ‘Super Wi-Fi’
By Agence France-Presse
So-called “Super Wi-Fi,” a new kind of wireless broadband, got a boost Thursday with the announcement that the technology would become available to hundreds of US colleges and universities.
Declaration Networks, a company working with colleges and non-profit groups, said it is now starting to offer the service to 500 schools around the United States.
The technology is often referred to as “Super Wi-Fi,” although some wireless providers point out it uses a different frequency for transmission than what most people use in cafes and in home networks.
The service uses “white spaces” or unused portions of the spectrum that is generally available for local television broadcasts.
This wireless technology offers a bigger range than existing hotspots, is being deployed in the United States and generating interest in a number of countries, including Britain and Brazil.
Declaration has been working with a consortium of higher education institutions and nonprofits called AIR.U, whose members are interested in improving high-speed wireless access, particularly in rural and other underserved areas.
“We are excited to be accelerating the implementation of next generation networks in educational communities by creating this nationwide sustainable program that will deploy high capacitybroadband networks leveraging White Spaces,” stated Bob Nichols, chief executive of Declaration Networks Group.
Declaration spokesman Barry Toser said West Virginia University is the first to deploy the service but added that “we are engaging with the other schools.”
He said Super Wi-Fi requires no additional equipment for most devices and can have a range of up to five miles (eight kilometers) compared with 350 feet (100 meters) for traditional Wi-Fi.
Toser said colleges will be able to contract with Declaration for access for their campuses, and that residents in nearby communities may also sign up.
The AIR.U initiative, announced in 2012, seeks to establish white space networks in underserved campuses and their surrounding communities. It is supported by Google, Microsoft, New America Foundation and the Appalachian Regional Commission, among others.
The new deployment “responds to the need at many colleges to quickly and easily close gaps in campus broadband connectivity,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at the New America Foundation and an AIR.U co-founder.
“Since Super Wi-Fi technology is new, we believe that these initial deployments will quickly give colleges and communities the experience and confidence to plan more extensive deployments in the future.”
[Image via Agence France-Presse]
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