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2792f4b77755dbd3e52e4accdbc7a4cb | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/cisco-joins-flurry-of-us-china-tech-partnerships.html | Cisco joins flurry of US-China tech partnerships | Cisco joins flurry of US-China tech partnerships
A pedestrian walks past Cisco Systems signage at the company's headquarters in San Jose, Calif.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Cisco Systems said Thursday it would form a joint-venture with Chinese server maker Inspur to sell networking and cloud computing products in China, where the Silicon Valley firm faces political pressure and declining sales.
Cisco and Inspur said they would invest $100 million in the project, although they offered few other details.
The partnership is one of a growing number of tie-ups between Chinese and U.S. technology firms announced during or ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States this week.
Microsoft said on Thursday it would partner with Baidu Inc and Chinese state-owned private investment firm Tsinghua Unigroup on cloud technology, while Dell announced last week it would invest $125 billion over five years in China.
Earlier this year, IBM pledged to help develop China's advanced chip industry with a "Made with China" strategy, while chipmakers Intel and Qualcomm are developing chips with smaller Chinese companies.
Similar to its dealings with the foreign auto industry in decades past, Chinese officials have made clear to foreign technology firms that market access depends on their sharing technology and cooperating with Chinese industry.
Like many of its peers, Cisco's market share has retreated in recent quarters in China, where its products have been labeled a cybersecurity threat by state media and government-affiliated experts.
U.S. business lobbies have said the Chinese allegations amount to protectionism, while China has pointed to the experience of Cisco's Shenzhen-based rival Huawei Technologies, which faced similar accusations from Capitol Hill when it sought to enter the United States.
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0bd3639ecb69860c83f62ead78d504f9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/could-gender-equality-boost-global-gdp-by-trillions.html | Could gender equality boost global GDP by trillions? | Could gender equality boost global GDP by trillions?
Political and business leaders with high aspirations to strengthen the world's economy should close the gender gap, according to the latest research.
In 2025, the world's gross domestic product (GDP) could get as high as a $28 trillion uplift, if women performed an identical labor role to their male counterparts; according to McKinsey Global Institute's (MGI) latest research.
John Fedele | Getty Images
While women make up half of the world's working-age population, females only deliver around 37 percent of the world's current GDP and make up 40 percent of its workforce overall, MGI's "The Power of Parity" report suggests.
Data and issues related vary depending on region. In developed societies like the U.S., the gap is narrower, with 46 to 47 percent of the workforce being female and contributing as much as 41 percent of national GDP.
India however has the most to gain, with women providing only 17 percent of its national GDP. Other regions mentioned who would benefit greatly include North Africa and the Middle East (18 percent).
One key area in the report is how 75 percent of total unpaid care work (child and elderly care, cooking) is done by women. However this hard work isn't considered as traditional GDP. If it was, it could be worth $10 trillion a year.
While many reports and initiatives have urged countries towards achieving gender parity, accomplishing this goal all over still remains a challenge.
It's not just work environments that need a makeover but social environments too, whether that's increasing leadership opportunities, to changing legal protection and improving women's reach to financial and digital devices.
To analyze the figures, MGI's report reviewed 95 countries—of which provide 97 percent of global GDP—against 15 gender quality indicators, from women's participation ratio to men in the labor force, to how much time is spent doing unpaid care work, and political representation.
While MGI's $28 trillion figure is seen as the world's "full potential" scenario to eradicating the gender gap; there is a more accessible target – a "best in region scenario", whereby if all countries within a particular region harmonize their rate of development to the region's fastest-improving neighbor. Such a target could contribute $12 trillion to growth worldwide in 10 years' time.
"One of the biggest takeaways is that gender equality represents a very significant economic value. It's a massive potential driver of economic growth," Anu Madgavkar, one of report's senior experts and authors, told CNBC over the phone.
Madgavkar said that almost all countries could benefit from reducing the gender gap. She added that for around half of countries analysed, the economic upside would be greater than 10 percent of what their "business as usual" GDP would be in 2025.
Workplace gender equality in Asia: Is China ahead?
This data helps support important institutions' push to promoting gender equality. The International Monetary Fund' published a "financial inclusion" report this September, which suggested that recruiting more women onto a banking institution's board, could make a bank more robust.
Madgavkar was keen to stress that no country in the world had achieved "high gender equality in the economy (workplace), without having done so in society", suggesting that these gains went hand in hand.
Overall the report underlines that to close the gap, and achieve this "economic prize", multiple areas must be addressed across the globe.
"Realizing the economic prize of gender parity requires the world to address fundamental drivers of the gap in work equality, such as education, health, connectivity, security, and the role of women in unpaid work," the report said.
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fc592cca6ac369a64c30470c266ca8fc | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/court-rules-batmobile-is-entitled-to-copyright-protection.html | Court rules Batmobile is entitled to copyright protection | Court rules Batmobile is entitled to copyright protection
The newest version of the Batmobile from “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”Source: Zack Snyder | Twitter
Batman won't have to worry about Batmobile knockoffs after a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday the caped crusader's vehicle is entitled to copyright protection.
The Batmobile's bat-like appearance and other distinct attributes, including its high-tech weaponry, make it a character that can't be replicated without permission from DC Comics, the copyright holder, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
"As Batman so sagely told Robin, 'In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential,'" Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote for the three-judge panel.
Why we can now all sing 'Happy Birthday'
Among the Batmobile's traits she cited in her ruling was its sleekness and power, which allow Batman to maneuver quickly while he goes after bad guys.
The ruling came in DC Comics' lawsuit against Mark Towle, who produced replicas of the Batmobile as it appeared in the 1966 television show featuring Adam West as Batman and the 1989 movie with Michael Keaton in the lead role.
The 9th Circuit said Towle sold the cars at his Southern California business for about $90,000 each.
Larry Zerner, an attorney for Towle, said his client copied the car's design, which can't be copyrighted.
Want your own Batmobile? Here's what it costs
"Characters exist in comic books and movies and TV shows," he said. "They don't exist in the real world. In the real world, it's just a car."
In its ruling, the 9th Circuit said Towle advertised each replica as the "Batmobile," and used the domain namebatmobilereplicas.com to market his business. He also advertised that the replicas would get noticed because of the Batmobile's fame, the court said.
Towle also argued the Batmobile at times appeared without its "bat-like" features. But the 9th Circuit said that was akin to James Bond changing from swimming trunks to a tuxedo: It didn't alter the car's innate characteristics.
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a022e04b5dc1112ccfe5e67d7e54b9ed | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/cramer-earnings-mean-nothing-stocks-headed-lower.html | VIDEO12:0012:00Cramer: Earnings mean nothing. Stocks headed lower Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer has a message for CEOs and shareholders about the market on Thursday; it doesn't matter how well a company is doing, or how much it beat estimates. Good news won't stop stocks from going down.
"With a few exceptions that are worth being constructive about, we have a first class bear market going and as I tell CEOs all the time, you need to stop taking the losses personally," the "Mad Money" host said.
Cramer thinks this market stinks, and it will keep sinking until it gets so low that the weak hands who keep expecting something better surrender their selling.
Positive action within companies simply won't have a notable impact on the market, so investors should stop being frustrated. Cramer went down the list of a few examples.
First are the horrendous problems of Volkswagen, which are spilling over to hurt all automakers. But what is bad for the goose is good for the gander, meaning every other auto company in the world could benefit.
We get reprieves but they are often sucker reprieves. One day they won't be. We have not reached that day yet, and we need to go still lower. So stay patientJim Cramer
Boeing Dreamliner 787Source: Boeing
Just because Volkswagen has some serious problems on its hands does not mean that people will stop buying cars; it means they may stop buying Volkswagens, which is more business for every other company in the industry.
"It is nuts to think that people will stop buying cars because VW rigged the emissions tests. Yet, nobody cares right now. At some point they will, just not now," Cramer said. (Tweet this)
The second example Cramer cited was Boeing. Did anyone notice that it just won $38 billion in orders from various Chinese airlines for 300 planes? The aircrafts ordered were the most lucrative on Boeing's product line. But that did not impact the stock as it sank more than 1 percent on Thursday.
Another symptom that Cramer noted is that yield protection has also been thrown out the window. Many investors tend to rely on protection from yielding stocks. When a stock goes low enough, the rising dividend yield is supposed to be attractive enough to curb selling versus low-yielding bonds.
However Cramer saw that higher-yielding stocks have now ceased to protect investors from losses, which is another sign of a bear market.
"These stocks are no longer acting as bond market equivalents, and it's not due to fear of the Fed. It's because we fear falling stocks," Cramer added.
Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Cramer Remix: Beware unicorn private companies Cramer: Spot an IPO revolution before it happens Waiting in line at Apple? There's an app for that
The last positive sign that failed to excite investors were the companies that reported fantastic earnings. Companies like General Mills, ConAgra and Lennar knocked it out of the park. Cramer couldn't believe how great their earnings were, yet the stocks barely budged.
Ultimately, Cramer found that right now it does not matter how strong a company's results are because investors are selling the good with the bad.
"We get reprieves but they are often sucker reprieves. One day they won't be. We have not reached that day yet, and we need to go still lower. So, stay patient," Cramer said. (Tweet this)
Rationality will creep back into the market one day. That time just isn't now.
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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d84d1687c226493de8d8686808d9bba5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/cramer-remix-here-is-your-volkswagen-trade.html | VIDEO1:2301:23Cramer: Here’s your Volkswagen tradeCramer Remix
Jim Cramer has a message for CEOs and shareholders about the market on Thursday; it doesn't matter how well a company is doing, or how much it beat estimates. Good news won't stop stocks from going down.
"With a few exceptions that are worth being constructive about, we have a first class bear market going and as I tell CEOs all the time, you need to stop taking the losses personally," the "Mad Money" host said.
Cramer thinks this market stinks, and it will keep sinking until it gets so low that the weak hands who keep expecting something better surrender their selling.
Positive action within companies simply won't have a notable impact on the market, so investors should stop being frustrated. Cramer went down the list of a few examples.
First are the horrendous problems of Volkswagen, which are spilling over to hurt all automakers. But what is bad for the goose is good for the gander, meaning every other auto company in the world could benefit.
Just because Volkswagen has some serious problems on its hands does not mean that people will stop buying cars; it means they may stop buying Volkswagens, which is more business for every other company in the industry.
"It is nuts to think that people will stop buying cars because VW rigged the emissions tests. Yet, nobody cares right now. At some point they will, just not now," Cramer said. (Tweet this)
Read More Cramer: Earnings mean nothing; stocks headed lower
CAT remains a sell, despite the fact that the company still produces the best big machines on EarthJim Cramer
Caterpillar, a large stock in the Dow Jones industrial average, sent shock waves through the market Thursday when it announced a shortfall of $1 billion in sales on a $49 billion basis. Additionally, it announced layoffs of as many as 10,000 workers as a result of the shortfall and weakness in various end markets.
The "Mad Money" host thought that Caterpillar was bizarrely honest about things. It pointed out twice in its release that this is the third consecutive year of sales going down, and at this pace it could be the first time in its 90-year history that it had declining sales four years in a row.
"That is an astonishing fact given that Caterpillar has been through a heck of a lot of downturns, not to mention the Great Recession and the Great Depression," Cramer said.
Historically, Cramer would have recommended investors to buy into the weakness. However, he still thinks that the company's revenue forecast is still way too optimistic given the horrendous backdrop.
"Even though the stock is down 28 percent year-to-date with a plus-4 percent yield, CAT remains a sell, despite the fact that the company still produces the best big machines on Earth," Cramer said.
Read More Cramer: Caterpillar pain is just beginning
However just because it is a bear market right now, does not mean Cramer cannot be constructive about individual stocks that can work in a difficult environment. In fact, these are the stocks that will soar once the smoke clears.
That is why Cramer took a closer look at Eli Lilly, which has been a Wall Street punching bag for years. It continually promised that it could develop something revolutionary in the pharmaceutical works but never really delivered.
That was until Thursday, when the stock shot up 6.5 percent in a single session from positive diabetes data. The stock is now up 23 percent, year-to-date.
"I'm thinking Eli Lilly might be exactly the kind of recession proof stock that you should buy into weakness right now," Cramer said.
Just because activist investors get involved with a particular company, that does not necessarily mean they will create valueJim Cramer
The TimkenSteel 3,300-ton in-line forge press at the Faircrest Steel Plant in Canton, Ohio.TimkenSteel
Sometimes, one of the few things that can get a stock roaring is when an activist investor decides to get involved with a company. But Cramer says to watch out, because activism is not always a good thing.
Cramer shared the cautionary tale of Timken, which was wrecked by activists who simply didn't know what they were doing.
"It is important to remember that activism does not always lead to positive results. In fact, sometimes these activist investors turn out to be dead wrong and their meddling actually destroys value," the "Mad Money" host said.
Timken was a classic cyclic stock, a maker of high-performance and alloy steel as well as various mechanical components. In 2011, business began to slow due to the worldwide economic uncertainty of the time, and the stock started to trade sideways.
In late 2012, activists pounced on the company. Both Relational Investors and the California state teacher's retirement fund took Timken under siege. They wanted Timken to break itself up into two separate companies: one for highly engineered mechanical components and one that would be more of a commodity steel maker.
The worst part is that the activists from Relational Investors who pushed for the breakup didn't even stick around. They sold a large chunk of their Timken position in the second quarter of 2014, right before the breakup, and the rest in the third quarter into the spike after the spinoff.
"Just because activist investors get involved with a particular company, that does not necessarily mean they will create value," Cramer said.
Read More Cramer's tale of horror—activism ruined this stock
Opko Health is another stock that has taken a beating recently. The $5.2 billion biotech company that has a major sideline in making diagnostic tests roared up more than 90 percent in the beginning of June from the strength of its diagnostic and pharmaceutical business.
However, in the past few months the stock has lost more than half of its value. Cramer attributed the loss to June 3rd when Opko announced it was acquiring the full service clinical laboratory company Bio-Reference Laboratories for $1.47 in all stock. Wall Street hated the deal, and the stock sank 15 percent he day it was announced.
To hear the story straight from the source, Cramer spoke with Opko Health's chairman and CEO, Dr. Phillip Frost.
"In all my years of being in the pharmaceutical business this is probably the best and most interesting acquisition I've ever made," Frost said.
In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks:
Cypress Semiconductor: "The stock has been killed, the yield is fine. What can I say? It is in a bear market, and it is a cheap stock. I can't back away from it now with that yield."
Blue Buffalo Pet Products: "We looked at it and we thought it was expensive versus its growth rate, and that has been proven by the fact that the stock keeps going lower."
Read MoreLightning Round: Yield is too attractive to ignore on this
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ac4c041028bff715a0c36b957fb46b13 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/cramer-tough-times-ahead-for-caterpillar.html | Cramer: Tough times ahead for Caterpillar | Cramer: Tough times ahead for Caterpillar
VIDEO3:3103:31Caterpillar announces layoffs, cost cutting
Caterpillar's future could be a grim one, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.
The construction equipment company announced Thursday it would cut between 4,000 and 5,000 jobs by the end of next year as part of a plan to reduce its annual operating costs by $1.5 billion.
Caterpillar also lowered its guidance for 2015, saying it expects sales and revenue to come in at about $48 billion, $1 billion less than previously projected.
The CAT logo is displayed on Caterpillar construction equipment.Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
"I think they're a precursor for more layoffs because of the strong dollar and China," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street."
The greenback has risen about 6 percent this year, while the preliminary Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to a 6 ½-year low in September.
"This is a company that's challenged in a lot of places. It's challenged in China; a lot of their end markets are weak. When you see this, you know the company's addressing what is a very slow roll on a lot of their businesses," Cramer said. "I don't know how you can address these challenges other than to have more layoffs
Caterpillar's stock was down more than 6 percent midmorning Thursday.
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b70bdad729364b29b364092aea09f24c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/data-most-global-equity-markets-in-correction.html | Data: Most global equity markets in correction | Data: Most global equity markets in correction
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Most equity markets around the world are trading in correction or bear market territory, marked by losses greater than 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
The indexes feeling the most pain include Greece's ATHEX Composite, China's SSE Composite, Russia's RTS and Saudi Arabia's All Share benchmark, each down more 27 percent from their 52-week highs.
Here is how the U.S. stacks up in relation to the rest of the world.
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850fc000d26c4b6a79ed24ad0861e572 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/demand-from-north-america-drives-accenture-results.html | Demand from North America drives Accenture results | Demand from North America drives Accenture results
Jussi Nukari | AFP | Getty Images
Accenture, a provider of consulting and outsourcing services, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, helped by strong demand in North America.
However, the company forecast first-quarter revenue below analysts' average estimate, due mainly to a stronger dollar.
Accenture forecast revenue of between $7.70 billion and $7.95 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $8.11 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Accenture, whose shares were little changed in premarket trading on Thursday, also said its board approved a $5 billion share buyback.
Revenue in Accenture's outsourcing business rose 9 percent in local currency terms, while consulting business revenue rose 14 percent.
The consulting business accounts for a little more than half of Accenture's total revenue, while its outsourcing unit contributes the rest.
Net revenue rose 1.4 percent to $7.89 billion.
Net income rose to $788.1 million, or $1.15 per share, in the three months ended Aug. 31, from $760.2 million, or $1.08 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.12 per share and revenue of $7.68 billion.
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2a7ec61681d8a9a4ddd672da9ddf4604 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/dollar-bounces-back-as-yellen-keeps-2015-rate-hike-view-alive.html | Dollar gains on increased expectations for 2015 Fed rate hike | Dollar gains on increased expectations for 2015 Fed rate hike
Getty Images
The U.S. dollar hit its highest in over five weeks against a basket of major currencies on Friday, a day after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she expected the central bank to hike rates in 2015, and after U.S. growth data appeared to support such a move.
In a speech late Thursday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who spoke a week after the Fed delayed a long-anticipated rate hike, said she and other Fed policymakers do not expect recent global economic and financial market developments to significantly affect the central bank's policy.
The comments surprised analysts since the Fed kept interest rates unchanged partly in a bow to worries about the global economy, leading some investors to push expectations for a first rate hike in almost a decade into 2016.
"It was a little bit of an about-face by the Fed, and it effectively puts a rate hike by the Fed either next month or in December squarely on the table," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.
VIDEO2:0402:04What worries Forex most?
Commerce Department data on Friday showed U.S. gross domestic product rose at a 3.9 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, up from 3.7 percent reported last month.
The data supported the case that the U.S. economy may be gaining enough strength to withstand a rate hike.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, hit 96.700 after the GDP data, its highest since Aug. 19, before trading at 96.22. The dollar hit its highest in over two weeks against the Japanese yen of 121.240 yen, before trading at 120.55.
The greenback hit a more than six-week high against the Swiss franc of 0.98420 franc earlier in the session. While the euro fell against the dollar after two straight days of gains, it remained within recent ranges and did not break below a more than two-week low of $1.11050 touched on Sept. 23.
The GDP data "certainly helps the view" of a 2015 Fed rate hike, said Eric Viloria, currency strategist at Wells Fargo Securities in New York.
Read MoreThis currency's collapse is astounding: Trader
The euro was last up 0.17 percent against the dollar at $1.1197. The dollar was up 0.13 percent against the franc at 0.9795 franc.
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78bed28ef22c2c5caa15a7e7c2dd8c3f | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/draftkings-is-letting-you-play-a-fantasy-league-ine-sports.html | You can now play a fantasy league in…e-sports | You can now play a fantasy league in…e-sports
Ever daydreamed about having your own fantasy professional video gamer team? Well your dream has come true.
DraftKings – a fantasy sports service where users can compete for cash in leagues such as the NBA and NFL – has launched a similar offering for e-sports or professional gaming.
Users will have a virtual $50,000 salary to spend on drafting in an eight-person team in different positions – just as they would in other sports. DraftKings has teamed up with six professional gaming teams such as Cloud9 and Mousesports and players will be able to pick gamers from these teams.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
E-sports is a rapidly growing area of gaming. It involves a team of gamers competing against each other in titles such as "League of Legends." These competitions are often held in massive arenas and last month, Madison Square Garden was sold out for a League of Legends world championship qualifying match.
You can earn HOW MUCH playing video games?
Revenues from e-sports are expected to hit $278 million this year, up 43.1 percent from 2014, according to gaming research firm Newzoo. In addition, the number of e-sports "enthusiasts" – those that engage with it more than once a month, is set to grow to 165.1 million by 2018, Newzoo said.
It is getting so big, that the world's largest technology companies all want a piece of the pie. Last year, Amazon bought Twitch – a company that streams videos of people playing games – for $970 million. And in August, Google launched its own video game streaming site called YouTube Gaming.
Players can start drafting their teams from Thursday but the first tournament kicks on Thursday 1 October to coincide with the start of the League of Legends World Championship. Users can enter a tournament for free or pay in order to play for cash prizes. For example, DraftKings is letting people enter one contest for $3 with a top prize if $2,000 if they win.
Fantasy sports has become a huge area with companies such as DraftKings and rival Fan Duel both getting big funding. In July, DraftKings raised a $300 million round of funding led by 21st Century Fox's Fox Sports unit, while Fan Duel received $275 million for investors earlier in that same month.
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8d734927ac295ea5c825a4e38d93377e | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/drug-prices-which-companies-may-be-the-next-targets.html | Drug prices: Which companies may be the next targets? | Drug prices: Which companies may be the next targets?
VIDEO2:0402:04Sky-high medsClosing Bell
VIDEO2:2802:28Biotech CEO speaks out after Turing price hikeSquawk Box
VIDEO1:4701:47Turing reverses course on drug pricingSquawk Box
The heat remained on biotech and pharmaceutical companies Monday as drug-pricing strategies remained under close scrutiny.
Valeant shares tumbled nearly 14 percent after Congressional Democrats pressed a Republican committee chairman to subpoena the drugmaker to turn over documents related to the pricing of Nitropress, a congestive heart failure treatment, and Isuprel, another heart drug. The company purchased the rights to both drugs and immediately hiked prices, the letter said.
Valeant is only the latest drugmaker being eyed over pricing practices. Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli was lambasted last week by medical groups, a presidential candidate and his own industry for raising the price of a 62-year-old drug by 5,000 percent.
He reversed course under pressure Tuesday night, but not before the national attention struck fear into the hearts of biotech investors over increased scrutiny of drug prices, sending stocks plummeting.
Turing may have been an egregious example, but it's not the only one raising eyebrows for skyrocketing price tags. Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal pointed out many companies ratchet up drug prices when the market presents an opportunity.
"They take drugs that have largely been underpriced before—or that's the way they'd call it," Gal said in a telephone interview. "They buy a drug that does not have good alternatives and they raise the price sky-high. And because it's very hard to say no to those patients; because there's no alternative, people cover this."
Gal pointed to three examples: Jazz Pharmaceuticals' drug Xyrem, Questcor's Acthar and Mylan's EpiPen.
All three of these stocks were trading lower Monday, with Jazz and Mylan down 8 percent and Mallinckrodt, the parent of Questcor, down 11 percent. This was against broader selling in the sector. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF fell 7.3 percent.
"We believe it is critical to hold drug companies to account when they engage in 'a business strategy of buying old neglected drugs and turning them into high-priced' 'specialty' drugs,' " the Democrats wrote in the letter sent to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Jazz, an Ireland-domiciled company, acquired Xyrem in 2005 in its $122.6 million purchase of Orphan Medical. The drug was approved in 2002 for daytime sleepiness and sudden attacks of muscle weakness, or cataplexy, in people with the sleep disorder narcolepsy.
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The company reported revenue from Xyrem of $29 million in 2006, the first full year after its acquisition. Last year, Jazz posted Xyrem revenue of $778.6 million.
While the company said it's expanded the number of patients the drug treats, the cost also increased an average of 29 percent a year from 2011 to 2015, according to data distributed this week by Evercore ISI analyst Mark Schoenebaum.
Jazz didn't immediately comment.
H.P. Acthar Gel was initially approved in 1952, the year before Turing's Daraprim, the subject of this week's controversy. It treats infantile spasms and exacerbations of multiple sclerosis in adults, among other indications, and its price, The New York Times reported in 2012, hopped one day in 2007 to $23,000 a vial, from $1,650.
The increase attracted scrutiny, but not enough to stop Questcor from continuing to raise the price. Between February 2007 and June 2015, data from Bernstein show, the drug's cost rose by more than 19 times.
Why don't insurers fight back? Gal said the company's developed a strategy to usher the drug through the reimbursement process.
"The way Acthar is sold is they basically go through an exception process," Gal said. "The doctor would use basically everything else before Acthar and then would use that when the patient ran out of other options. The company has a specialty person they hire that does as much of the paperwork for the doctor as they can, to work through the insurance company's exception process to get the drug approved."
Questcor was acquired by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals last year for $5.6 billion.
"Physicians carefully weigh therapy choices—some less expensive than Acthar, some more expensive—in determining the appropriate treatment for their patients," said Rhonda Sciarra, a spokeswoman for Mallinckrodt. "As a responsible drug company, Mallinckrodt offers patient assistance programs to facilitate appropriate access to the drug, and has donated several hundred million dollars' worth of Acthar to patients in need."
EpiPen, used in emergency treatment for life-threatening allergic reactions, is sold by Netherlands-based drugmaker Mylan. The price, according to data from Evercore ISI, increased 27 percent a year, on average, from 2011 to 2015, to more than $300 each dose.
Meanwhile, prescriptions for EpiPen rose 9.5 percent, on average, each year from 2011 to 2014, according to data from IMS Health. Sales in that time, the data show, rose an average of 42 percent a year, to more than $1 billion.
Mylan spokeswoman Nina Devlin said both sets of numbers are "higher than the actual numbers," but she declined to provide specifics.
Jupiterimages | Getty Images
The company added that it doesn't set the final retail cost of its products charged to patients, as this is often determined by the insurance coverage of the patient. Also, the company has programs to make the drug more accessible to some patients, including some that provide it at no cost.
Those programs, coupled with the company's outreach, has resulted in a 67 percent increase in the number of EpiPen patients over the past seven years, Mylan said.
"Mylan has worked tirelessly over the past years advocating for increased anaphylaxis awareness, preparedness and access to treatment," Devlin said. "As the leaders in this space, our efforts are aimed at benefiting those living with life-threatening allergies, and we take this leadership position seriously."
Many drug companies offer similar programs, which assist patients with insurance coverage in paying their co-payments.
"It's very hard to tell parents you can no longer get EpiPen," Bernstein's Gal said of the price increase. "You try to do that as an insurer."
Even with the rising number of patients and price, EpiPen, whose brand has become synonymous with allergies, isn't on the list of the top-grossing drugs in the U.S. That list is reserved for medicines like Gilead's Sovaldi and Harvoni, for hepatitis C, Otsuka's Abilify, for depression, and AbbVie's Humira, for rheumatoid arthritis. Each brought in more than $7 billion in 2014 sales in the U.S. alone, IMS data show.
The focus on drug prices, though, is only likely to intensify as the presidential election heats up—another reason Turing's Shkreli has found himself an industry pariah.
(Update: This story, originally published Thursday, was updated to include news tied to Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Comments from Mylan were added Thursday.)
(CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story contained an image with an incorrect caption.)
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1bdd61ff904405f53fce4ac8bcb0522e | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/early-movers-acn-ko-rl-bhp-csco-wmt-ba-bidu-more.html | Early movers: ACN, KO, RL, BHP, CSCO, WMT, BA, BIDU & more | Early movers: ACN, KO, RL, BHP, CSCO, WMT, BA, BIDU & more
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Lucas Jackson | Reuters
Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Accenture—The consulting firm reported quarterly profit of $1.15 per share, beating estimates by 3 cents, with revenue also above forecasts despite the negative impact of a strong dollar. The company also raised its dividend 8 percent and added $5 billion to its stock buyback program.
Coca-Cola—The beverage giant announced a new "National Product Supply System" in the United States, designed to streamline the supply process for its bottlers.
Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler—Auto stocks in general are under pressure as Volkswagen deals with its emissions scandal, and as BMW denies a report in the German magazine Auto Bild that its emissions were much higher than allowed in Europe.
Ralph Lauren—Citi upgraded the apparel maker to "buy" from "neutral," saying the stock is trading near the bottom of its valuation range and that new initiatives could drove topline growth.
BHP Billiton—Asset manager BlackRock cut its stake in the mining company by a substantial amount. Previously, BlackRock had held a roughly 5 percent stake.
Cisco Systems—Cisco announced the formation of a joint venture with China-based server maker Inspur to sell cloud computing and networking products in China.
Wal-Mart Stores—Wal-Mart wants price cuts from suppliers that make goods in China, according to a Reuters report. The retailer wants to share in the benefits generated from China's devaluation of the yuan.
Boeing—The jet maker struck a deal to sell 300 jets to China, as well as open a plant in that country that would work on part of the production process for its 737 jet.
Baidu—Baidu has signed a pact with Microsoft which will make Baidu the default home page and search engine for China-based users of the new Microsoft Edge browser.
IBM—IBM announced an expansion of its "Watson" computing platform, giving developers more tools to create applications and services.
Questions? Comments? Email us at marketinsider@cnbc.com
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be16f5185b27c9929eca8aadde736651 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/european-markets-vw.html | Europe closes under pressure; autos, miners in focus | Europe closes under pressure; autos, miners in focus
VIDEO0:4600:46Europe closes under pressure; Autos, Miners in focus
European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, as the fallout from the Volkswagen emissions scandal caused auto stocks to tumble and investors failed to take heart from positive German economic data.
The pan-European STOXX 600 finished the day down around 2.1 percent.
London's FTSE 100 ended roughly 1.2 percent lower, as the bleak outlook on basic resources weighed on the commodity-heavy index.
The French CAC and German DAX both closed ended around 1.9 percent, with the latter index paring losses slightly before the close.
It failed to gain much of a boost from Germany's closely-watched Ifo index, which showed that business sentiment rose in September. The business climate index came in at 108.5, a slight tick up from August's revised figure of 108.4.
Pressured by declines in global markets, U.S. stocks traded more than 1 percent lower Thursday, as investors awaited a post-close speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen.
Meanwhile in Europe, the chief executive of the scandal-hit German carmaker Volkswagen quit late on Wednesday. Martin Winterkorn announced his resignation after the company was accused of cheating U.S. emissions tests on its diesel cars.
In a statement issued by the company, Winterkorn said he was "shocked by the events of the past few days." A successor is expected to be determined at VW's supervisory board meeting on Friday.
On Thursday, Volkswagen sharply pared gains from earlier in the session to close down by 3.8 percent, after the German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that emissions test manipulation by the carmaker took place in both Europe and the U.S.
The STOXX 600 autos sector continued to be hit by the scandal, with the sector being dragged down 3.3 percent. BMW fell over 8.6 percent after a report in magazine Auto Bild claimed that some of its diesel cars were found to exceed emissions standards. It pared losses to finish trade down a little over 5 percent.
France's Peugeot Citroen and Italy's Fiat Chrysler also plunged, closing down 3.7 and 7.5 percent respectively.
Both basic resources and oil and gas that kept investors on their toes Thursday. The price of Brent and WTI crude rose on Thursday, butstocks such as Seadrill and Tullow Oil both closed over 4 percent lower.
Goldman Sachs cut its price target for both BHP Billiton and Glencore, while reiterating its sell rating on other mining stocks. Consequently, mining stocks took a tumble Thursday, with Glencore closing at the bottom of the STOXX 600, down 9.6 percent, while Anglo American ended down over 5 percent.
In individual company news, Thomas Cook Group was one of the top performers in Europe with shares closing up around 2.7 percent after the British travel company reaffirmed its guidance for the year and said winter trading had started positively.
Shares in Monte dei Paschi di Siena soared near the top of the STOXX 600, closing up around 4.4 percent after it said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with Nomura International to end a complex derivative trade called "Alexandria" that was hitting the Italian bank's profits.
In other market-moving news, Norway's central bank cut its key policy interest rate to 0.75 percent from 1 percent in a surprise move, as it warned that growth prospects for the country have weakened amid falling oil investment.
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505cc8f27d0599f03b76bbf140fc20bd | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/facebook-website-mobile-app-widely-reported-down.html | Facebook website, mobile app briefly reported down | Facebook website, mobile app briefly reported down
Mladen Antonov | AFP | Getty Images
Facebook was briefly, widely reported to be down on Thursday afternoon after experiencing technical difficulties, the second time in two weeks for the social media platform. The cause of the outage was not immediately available.
The company's mobile application was also reportedly operating with some interruptions.
Shares of Facebook stock are down 0.68 percent in midday trading, on a day that the market is broadly lower.
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89532a7854c9ea7930e25b46341451b9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/fed-blowing-its-chance-to-raise-rates-economist.html | Fed blowing its chance to raise rates: Economist | Fed blowing its chance to raise rates: Economist
VIDEO1:5101:51How the Fed rate hike affects the stock marketInterest Rates
Maintaining zero interest rates for so long is creating a scenario in which containing risks "becomes virtually impossible," according to an analysis from a former Fed official.
A "muddled mandate" has the Fed too focused on unemployment at the expense of price stability, wrote Athanasios Orphanides, a global economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.
Former Fed boards knew enough to begin raising rates after long periods of accommodation well before the economy hit the full, or "natural," unemployment rate, said Orphanides, a respected former senior Fed advisor and member of both the European Central Bank and Central Bank of Cyprus. The paper outlining his views appeared on the St. Louis Fed website and is based on a June speech he gave to that branch of the U.S. central bank.
In the analysis, he paints a grim scenario should the Fed not choose to start hiking rates soon, calling the current scenario "the case of the missing liftoff." The unemployment rate, currently at 5.1 percent, equals the 5.5 percent rate that the Congressional Budget Office considered full employment back in February, signaling the Federal Open Market Committee is well behind when previous Feds chose to begin raising rates, he said.
"If policymakers wish to ensure full employment and price stability over time, they cannot afford to permit immense policy accommodation in the system once full employment is reached," Orphanides wrote. "If they did, it would not be feasible to withdraw that accommodation on time without either generating inflation or tightening so abruptly it could cause a recession. For this reason, policy normalization ought to commence long before reasonable estimates suggest full employment has been restored."
Janet YellenJonathan Ernst | Reuters
The FOMC a week ago chose to delay again lifting its key funds rate off near zero where it has been since late 2008. That policy has come even though the headline unemployment rate is half where it was at its 2009 peak and the economy has not seen consecutive quarters of negative growth since the Great Recession ended.
Read More Bill Gross to the Fed: 'Get off zero, now!'
Fed Chair Janet Yellen will be speaking later Thursday, with market participants hoping for clues about whether the committee will move at all this year toward normalization.
Orphanides' paper comes at an interesting time for the St. Louis Fed: A report also issued over the summer contended that the Fed's monthly bond-buying program, or quantitative easing, that brought its balance sheet past $4.5 trillion basically failed to generate the central bank's economic objectives. Also, St.. Louis Fed President James Bullard, a nonvoting member of the FOMC, said after the meeting that given the chance he would have dissented from the committee's decision not to raise rates.
While critics fear the long-term inflation that the zero interest rate policy, or ZIRP, could generate, Fed officials worry about the opposite, namely that all of the liquidity and low rates have yet to generate inflation as measured by the committee's preferred indicators. Yellen herself also takes into account a more encompassing jobless rate that includes those who have quit looking for look or working part time for economic reasons, a rate that remains elevated at 10.3 percent.
To get past the policy confusion, Orphanides recommends the approach that previous Feds followed, particularly after recessions in 1981, 1990 and 2001.
Read More When the Fed raises rates, here's what happens
"The Federal Reserve followed this prudent, pre-emptive approach after every recession in recent decades. This strategy kept inflation in line with reasonable price stability and avoided stop-go cycles and abrupt and costly corrections. Not this time," he said. "Six years after the end of the Great Recession, the Federal Reserve has yet to begin the process of normalization from the unprecedented monetary accommodation it engineered during and after the Great Recession."
That likely will be the case for a while yet, though many on Wall Street are still predicting the Fed to hike before the end of the year.
Traders assign just an 11 percent chance the FOMC moves in October, a 35 percent chance of a December hike and a 46 percent probability for January. March carries the best chance ahead, with a 61 percent likelihood.
Read More Fed's window for 2015 rate hike is closing quickly
Ultimately, Orphanides fears, by the time the Fed does move it could be too late. He recommends the central bank forget its dual mandate of full employment and price stability and instead come up with a hard-and-fast policy of when it will raise rates. The Fed has tried setting economic benchmarks, but moved them when officials were dissatisfied with overall conditions.
"Fear of liftoff raises the odds that the Fed will soon be confronted with a costly dilemma: Tighten policy abruptly to control inflation, precipitating a recession? Or let the inflation genie out of the bottle to avoid recession?" Orphanides said. "The greater the delay, the greater the risk that an orderly unwinding of monetary policy accommodation becomes virtually impossible."
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d3516da57546b811108555fc4a9a6eca | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/food-delivery-drivers-sue-more-start-ups-for-employee-status.html | Food-delivery drivers sue more start-ups for employee status | Food-delivery drivers sue more start-ups for employee status
VIDEO2:1102:11Stage set for legal showdown over Uber drivers
More start-ups have been hit with complaints in California over the employee status of contract workers, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
Workers from food-delivery companies GrubHub, DoorDash and Caviar have filed complaints in court that their role as contractors should be re-classified as full-fledged employees, the Times reported. If upheld, the suits could allow take-out delivery drivers to be eligible for benefits like insurance and expense reimbursement.
A GrubHub spokeswoman said she could not comment on pending litigation. DoorDash and Caviar did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
The complaints come after similar on-demand services, like ride-hailing Uber and handyman-booking Handy, faced scrutiny from policymakers, courts and labor organizations over the treatment of gig workers.
Uber drivers' suit given class-action status
Jeb Bush, Uber and the new American contract worker
Will this Uber driver as employee ruling stick?
In economic address, Hillary Clinton calls out 'gig' economy
The food-delivery suits, like previous cases, focus on how the drivers are treated by managers, according to the Times, alleging workers are told where to go and how to dress, just like an employee. A recent ruling against Uber found if the company retained "all necessary control over the operation as a whole," the workers might be classified as employees.
Even as on-demand service companies grow rapidly, the complaints continue to be a trend in the industry.
Since the Uber ruling, the National Labor Relations Board expanded the definition of "employer" to include more industries that rely on temporary help. And presidential candidates like Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton weighed in on whether the flexible arrangements of freelancing outweigh the instability facing a growing pool of temporary workers in the U.S.
To read more about the most recent complaints, check out the San Francisco Business Times.
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4bd5de38c92fa254b09c136fac7a8e85 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/fords-hinrichs-us-emissions-testing-process-works.html | Ford's Hinrichs: We don't use 'defeat' devices | Ford's Hinrichs: We don't use 'defeat' devices
VIDEO1:5301:53Ford leads trucks nearly 40 yearsSquawk Box
A top Ford executive said Thursday the automaker does not use the type of devices Volkswagen has admitted to using to cheat vehicle emissions tests.
"We don't use defeat devices and we clearly understand what it means from an integrity standpoint to make sure our vehicles perform on the road like they do in the lab," Ford President of the Americas Joe Hinrichs told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
The Environmental Protection Agency has accused Volkswagen of installing a device in its diesel vehicles to run maximum anti-pollution controls only when emissions tests were taking place. VW has admitted the deception and apologized, with its U.S. boss, Michael Horn, saying the company had "totally screwed up."
The incident has raised questions about the integrity of U.S. emissions testing. Currently, U.S. car manufacturers conduct standardized emissions tests in their own labs and report results to the EPA and other regulators.
Read MoreVolkswagen emissions: Automakers' tobacco moment?
"The process works. Obviously the companies need to make sure they fulfill all the requirements that are out there and follow the testing to the T," Hinrichs said.
Ford has also suffered missteps when it comes to EPA ratings. The company identified errors in its fuel economy ratings for some 2013 and 2014 vehicles and reported the mistake to the EPA. Afterward, it offered to reimburse customers for the average fuel cost difference.
Hinrich said the testing process is complicated due the number of vehicles and configurations companies produce.
"We have to make sure we work with the government to make sure we can do all these tests," he said. "We'll work with the government to do that, and we obviously want our customers to know what they're getting with the label on the vehicle."
At the Texas State Fair on Thursday, Ford will unveil its 2017 F-250 Super Duty truck. Like Ford's revamp of the F-150, the vehicle incorporates an aluminum-alloy body, a first for the F-250.
The company has seen its U.S. market share for the truck segment dip recently, but remains the industry leader.
"This truck's going to help us keep that lead next year. We've been the leader for trucks for 38 straight years in the U.S. We're going to make it 39 this year," Hinrichs said.
—CNBC's Catherine Boyle contributed to this story.
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26c951caa232d44901d1dbb49ed3b23a | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/fries-get-a-cheesy-new-twist-from-canada.html | Fries get a cheesy new twist from Canada | Fries get a cheesy new twist from Canada
Move over, maple syrup! A new Canadian food export is stepping into the limelight.
Long a French Canadian staple, poutine (pronounced "pooh-teen") is beginning to gain traction in the U.S. More restaurants such as casual dining chain Red Robin and Smoke's Poutinerie sell the dish, which typically consists of fries topped with gravy and cheese curds.
Smoke’s Poutinerie’s Bacon PoutinePhoto: Geoff Kowalchuk
Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, said the item is just now starting to go mainstream since Red Robin debuted it recently.
"When you see a brand like Red Robin pick it up, that's a great indication that the trend has become mainstream. When you see a brand like McDonald's pick it up, it's over," Tristano said.
Brands like Red Robin have helped fuel a rapid rise in poutine offerings in the U.S. In the second quarter, there were 52 of those dishes on various menus, up from just six three years ago in the same period, according to Technomic. It's also surging in Canada—more than tripling to 730 in the second quarter, from 204 in the same period in 2012.
With the dish proliferating in restaurants, poutine comes in numerous incarnations. Red Robin's version consists of steak fries covered in gravy, garlic aioli, sautéed mushrooms and fried cheese curds.
Read More Meat wars: This is winning on fast food menus
Amy Woolen, the chain's director of field and franchise marketing, said the fries performed significantly better than its benchmark norms in testing.
As it brings poutine to its American audience, it is not choosing to downplay the curds. In fact, it is highlighting them in promotional material and selling them separately as a standalone appetizer.
"We're definitely not shying away from the cheese curds; we love them," said Woolen during a phone interview.
VIDEO0:4900:49Are McDonald's fries made out of potatoes? Restaurants
Canada-based chain Smoke's Poutinerie is taking a different tactic by branding the dish as loaded fries to American audiences.
"They don't know what poutine is. They definitely know what loaded fries are," said founder and CEO Ryan Smolkin during a phone interview.
Smoke's has expanded quickly in its home country. Since launching in 2009, it has opened more than 100 units in Canada and expanded south to the U.S. in December. It now has two locations in the U.S., but plans to open 800 locations in the next five years there.
Its core demo group is 18 to 25. Units are primarily in university towns, urban centers and nontraditional locations such as sports arenas. Its strategy so far has been "going where the target is or where they go, where they get the munchies," Smolkin said.
Read More Oktoberfest getting pricier...with a catch
As poutine migrates south, Tristano says restaurants are putting a higher-end spin on it along with a spicier one.
"I think in Canada it's been traditionally a more bland item. I think here you're starting to see the introduction of spicy flavors that are on trend with American customers," Tristano said.
As for highlighting curds to an American audience, Tristano does not think brands will hesitate.
"It probably inspires curiosity," he added.
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f2751a81c111b0ca0632f960938b7be0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/german-business-confidence-beats-expectations.html | German business sentiment rises in September | German business sentiment rises in September
German business sentiment unexpectedly rose in September, the Ifo Institute said on Thursday, suggesting that Europe's export engine is taking slowing Chinese growth in its stride for now.
The closely-followed Ifo business climate index rose to 108.5 from a revised 108.4 in August and was above analyst forecasts in a Reuters poll for a reading of 108.0.
An apprentice in the profession welder is working in a training center in Siegburg, Germany.Unkel | ullstein bild | Getty Images
Business sentiment rose in August following progress in Greek bailout talks and appears to have weathered market volatility in recent weeks. Concerns about weak economic data from China and uncertainty about the timing of U.S. interest rate increases rattled markets in August.
"Companies assessed their current business situation slightly less favorably than in August. However, they expressed greater optimism about future business developments," the Ifo Institute said in a statement. "The German economy is proving robust."
Earlier this month, the Ifo Institute forecast Germany's current account surplus would rise to a record 250 billion euros ($280 billion) in 2015 from 216 billion euros last year, driven by a rise in trade that has been lifted by a weak euro.
The euro has declined about 12 percent against the dollar in the past year, giving euro zone exporters a competitive edge in overseas markets.
Volkswagen shake up begins amid scandal
Still, German business sentiment could take a hit from an emission scandal that has embroiled car manufacturer Volkswagen this week and is expected to undermine trust in the German manufacturing sector.
Volkswagen is one of Germany's biggest employers, with more than 270,000 workers employed in the country.
Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe said the Volkswagen scandal broke too late to be reflected in the Ifo survey and that any negative impact would only likely be reflected in the next sentiment index, Reuters reported.
"The Ifo survey tends to lag a bit behind other surveys such as the ZEW and PMI, both of which softened in September," Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.
"And, of course, none of the surveys will yet have picked up the impact of the VW scandal," he said. "While the economic effects will not all be negative - indeed, the recall work will presumably boost activity - it would be no surprise to see sentiment in the German industrial sector fall in the next round of surveys."
For now, markets drew support from the upbeat Ifo survey, with Germany's benchmark Dax stock index up 0.75 percent out outperforming markets in London and Paris.
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f0db66d30f283865a720494ffdf35989 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/gold-dips-as-yellen-says-fed-on-track-to-hike-rates-this-year.html | Gold eases as Yellen remarks on rates boost dollar | Gold eases as Yellen remarks on rates boost dollar
AP
Gold fell from one-month highs on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen kept the door open to an increase in U.S. interest rates this year, sparking a dollar rally, while palladium was on track for its biggest weekly rise in almost four years.
Yellen said in a speech on Thursday that she expected the U.S. central bank to start raising rates later in 2015, as long as inflation remained stable and the U.S. economy was strong enough to boost employment.
Expectations for a rise in ultra-low rates, which have cut the opportunity cost of holding gold while weighing on the dollar, have helped push the metal down 5 percent this year.
Gold rallied after the Fed opted at its September policy meeting to keep rates on hold, hitting its highest since Aug. 25 on Thursday as dollar weakness prompted a wave of short covering. It has failed to maintain those gains, however.
VIDEO4:2504:25Dennis Gartman: Why I'm buying goldFutures Now
was down 0.6 percent at $1,145.75 an ounce, having climbed 2.1 percent on Thursday, its biggest one-day rise since January. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down 0.7 percent at $1,145.6, on track for their fifth straight quarterly loss.
Prices will likely meet resistance around the $1,150 per ounce mark, the 100-day moving average, traders said.
"The sell-off is most likely on the clarity from the Fed on a rate hike in December," Pradeep Unni at Richcomm Global Services said. "It's clear from (Yellen's) talk that the Fed paused in September only for the global markets' sake."
The speech sent the dollar to a five-week high against a basket of major currencies. The U.S. currency extended gains after data showed the U.S. economy expanded more than previously estimated in the second quarter.
Read MoreGolden opportunity? How to trade the metal's rally
Silver was down 0.3 percent at $15.12 an ounce, while platinum dipped 1.18 percent at $951.25 an ounce. Palladium was up 0.84 percent at $665 an ounce, off a nearly 12-week high at $674.50.
Platinum hit a 6-1/2-year low on Wednesday and was set for its biggest weekly drop since mid-July on fears that demand from the auto sector, where the metal is used in diesel catalysts, could fall following the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
In contrast, palladium, used more heavily in gasoline auto catalysts, was poised for its biggest weekly rise since December 2011, up 9 percent, on expectations that consumers could move away from diesel towards gasoline vehicles.
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ea8d601c08aec2e8fae7fb8e13d91571 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/greek-twittergate-shows-perils-of-tspiras-balancing-act.html | Greek 'Twittergate' shows perils of Tspiras balancing act | Greek 'Twittergate' shows perils of Tspiras balancing act
Alexis Tsipras, Greek Prime Minister at a meeting in Brussels, June 24, 2015.Julien Warnand | Pool | Reuters
The resignation of a junior Greek minister hours after his appointment has exposed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to fierce criticism and highlighted the challenge he faces to keep a fractious coalition together.
With the ink barely dry on Wednesday's cabinet appointments by the newly re-elected prime minister, deputy infrastructure and transport minister Dimitris Kammenos was asked to resign in a furor over offensive postings he was alleged to have made online.
Kammenos is a lawmaker with the right-wing Independent Greeks party, who are junior coalition partners with Tspiras's leftist Syriza. The two parties make uneasy bedfellows, but Tsipras needs the Independent Greeks' 10 MPs to give the government a slim majority of 155 seats out of 300.
VIDEO1:0401:04Draghi: Grateful of Greek agreement Europe Economy
The lawmaker denies the allegations of anti-Semitism and homophobia, saying his social media accounts had been tampered with and most of the alleged postings falsified.
The affair is an unwelcome distraction for the Tsipras as he grapples with the tasks of meeting the terms of Greece's latest 86 billion euro ($97 billion) bailout and dealing with tens of thousands of people arriving on Greek shores in Europe's biggest refugee crisis since World War Two.
Tsipras, who made the appointments on the recommendation of his coalition partner, appeared oblivious to the minister's reputation for controversial comments -- the lawmakers was lambasted by Jewish organisations in the summer for comparing Greece's economic predicament to Auschwitz.
"Everyone on Twitter knew about Kammenos except Tspiras," the centre-right Eleftheros Typos newspaper said on its front page on Thursday.
Tsipras eventually told his coalition partner that Kammenos should explain himself after news of a social media storm reached him in Brussels, where he was representing Greece at a summit on the migrant crisis.
Read MoreTsipras wins, now major reform challenges await Greece
"It shows inattention to detail, insensitivity, especially if they knew about it. And it shows that to err is human, but to err twice is stupid," said political analyst Theodore Couloumbis.
In July Tsipras parted company with Yanis Varoufakis, the combative academic he had appointed as finance minister, after Varoufakis repeatedly infuriated international lenders in talks over Greece's debt mountain.
That resignation and the subsequent bailout agreement exposed fissures in Syriza, culminating in a split that triggered a snap parliamentary election.
"Whether it was ignorance, or they were aware of it, it's inconceivable to appoint such a person to the government," veteran leftist Panagiotis Lafazanis told Reuters, referring to Kammenos' appointment.
"Citing ignorance is simply not justified," said Lafazanis, who is head of the Popular Unity party that broke away from Syriza last month.
A Syriza insider said it was all down to politics.
Read MoreEurope will receive up to 1M asylum applications this year:OECD
"There is not an issue with Tsipras's judgment...It is about keeping a balance with your partner in government," the party official told Reuters, declining to be named.
To illustrate the point, the official said Tsipras had rejected another person from the Independent Greeks' list.
Couloumbis said Tsipras had made some good choices too, such as the reappointment of Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and his deputy, George Chouliarakis.
"It's not fair to just talk about the banana peel he just stepped on without mentioning the right choices," he said.
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8777350ed6036b05ce394d4bf14f49cd | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/has-the-market-gone-loco-for-coco-bonds.html | Has the market gone loco for CoCo bonds? | Has the market gone loco for CoCo bonds?
This year is already proving a record one for contingent convertible—or "CoCos"—bonds as banks seek to boost their capital buffers, according to data provided for CNBC by financial software company, Dealogic.
So far this year, issuers have launched 102 CoCo bonds—which differ from regular convertible bonds in that they only convert to equity once a specified event has occurred, such as a share price hitting a certain level—up from 68 by the same point in 2014 and only one by the same point in each of 2010 and 2011.
Global contingent capital volumes year-to-date—Dealogic:
These securities have emerged as a popular way for banks, particularly in Europe, to raise their core "Tier 1" capital—a lender's first line of defense against financial shocks—to meet the more stringent capital requirements introduced after the global financial crisis of 2007-08. Banks are now required to hold 4.5 percent of "Common Equity Tier 1" of risk-weighted assets and 1.5 percent of "Additional Tier 1" (AT1) assets, in line with the provisions of the international Basel III financial agreement.
Strong issuance has been met with demand, with ultra-low interest rates from the major global central banks fueling a hunt for yield.
Returns on CooCo bonds from developed market issuers have largely trumped those on bank debt in the last few months, according to financial services company, Markit.
Both the Markit iBoxx USD Contingent Convertible Developed Market and iBoxx EUR Contingent Convertible Developed Market indices have returned more than 5 percent since the start of the year. Markit also noted that premiums required by investors to hold CoCos over subordinated debt had been falling and that issuance was seen accelerating further into the final quarter of 2015.
The party is over for junk bond investors
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However, analysts remain cautious about what remains a relatively unknown and untested instrument and regulators in countries like the U.K. have banned retail buyers from investing.
In June, the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority said CoCos were "generally not suited to the needs of ordinary investors," as it made permanent its ban on their sale to retail buyers:
"While CoCos can be designed in a range of different ways, all are highly complex instruments presenting investment risks that are exceptionally challenging to evaluate, model and price… We are concerned that ordinary retail investors are likely to be attracted to these securities and overlook or misunderstand their characteristics and risks," the body said in a report detailing its decision.
VIDEO2:0902:09UK's FCA bans CoCos for retail investorsSquawk Box Europe
Some features of the securities may worry institutional investors as well, including uncertainty as to whether they could upend the traditional pecking order of equity and bond capital holders in the event of issuer bankruptcy.
"The game is still new and the form of its players becoming evident. There is no clear standardization or uniformity among AT1 securities and fundamental analysis of bank assets… will continue to be key as investors size up the idiosyncratic risks," said Hermes Investment Management in a research note earlier this year.
Nonetheless, an increasing number of issuers are eager to enter the game. Although CoCos have largely been the preserve of large "bulge bracket" banks thus far, that looks set to change with a number of smaller lenders entering the fray in Europe.
The U.K.'s state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland bolstered its core Tier 1 ratio in August after issuing two CoCos worth $3.1 billion. And in the same month, France's BNP Paribas launched a $1.5 billion AT1 contingent capital bond. This followed a deal from Rabobank—the first Dutch issuer of AT1 instruments—and Ireland's entry to the fray with deals from Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB.
Deutsche Bank profit dips as plans to raise capital
Credit Suisse’s Dougan: Joint decision to leave
In addition, non-bank players may become more regular fixtures in the market. Moody's Investors Service said in July that insurance companies might launch more contingent capital bonds as evolving regulation in Europe, China and Australia, in particular, would allow them to classify these securities as regulatory-efficient capital.
"Many insurers globally are examining CoCo issuance, given low interest rates, successful issuance from banks and evolving regulatory capital requirements," said Simon Harris, a Moody's managing director, in a research note.
The biggest fans of CoCos at the moment however appear to be Chinese banks, which are responsible for eight of this year's 10 biggest deals so far, according to Dealogic.
The Agricultural Bank of China's $6.5 billion preferred share issue in March is this year's biggest deal, followed by a $4.7 billion investment grade bond from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, according to Dealogic. The two non-Chinese top 10 deals came from European banks, namely UBS and HSBC Holdings—the latter of which has strong ties to China-Hong Kong.
This year's top 10 CoCo deals—Dealogic:
—By CNBC's Katy Barnato. Follow her on Twitter @KatyBarnato.
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d10e39990e7f9a2ba25e0df4b792e3ab | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/hyundai-kia-benefit-from-vw-scandal-nissan-honda-toyota-shares-hit.html | Volkswagen scandal splits Asia's auto stocks | Volkswagen scandal splits Asia's auto stocks
A general view of Volkswagen Group's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.Alexander Koerner | Getty Images
Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal has divided investors in Asia's auto stocks, providing a fillip for South Korean carmakers that hope to get an edge, while depressing Japan's with worries about heavier testing.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor closed up 0.6 percent on Thursday, while its sister firm Kia Motors erased early gains to finish flat.
Shares of both companies powered up more than 3 percent on Tuesday, when the German carmaker acknowledged rigging vehicle emission tests in the United States, before the South Korean carmakers succumbed to a region-wide selloff on Wednesday that was triggered by a grim reading of China's all-important manufacturing sector.
Analysts reckon, however, that Volkswagen's scandal could be a longer-term boon for South Korea's carmakers.
Read More The rapid fall of VW's Martin Winterkorn
"For the first eight months of 2015, Hyundai Motor and Kia's combined market share in the U.S. was 8.1 percent, versus 3.8 percent for Volkswagen. Although Hyundai Motor doesn't have much of a diesel line-up in the U.S., the news could result in market share gains for both Hyundai and Kia," Sung Yop Chung, analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets, wrote in a Tuesday note.
"Furthermore, Volkswagen also has a competitive advantage in emerging markets. If the scandal becomes more global, it could provide tailwinds for [South Korean carmakers]," the Seoul-based analyst added.
Logistics company Hyundai Glovis and automotive parts supplier Hyundai Mobis closed up 4.3 and 0.9 percent respectively, outpacing the broader Kospi index which ticked up 0.1 percent on Thursday.
Read More
By contrast, auto-related names in Japan were crushed amid intensified scrutiny worldwide on the industry's environmental testing standards. Markets in Tokyo were trading for the first day following a five-day long weekend.
Nissan and Honda tanked more than 2 percent each, while Suzuki Motor, Mitsubishi Motors and Mazda Motor tumbled between 4.1 and 6.8 percent. Toyota Motor – a direct competitor of Volkswagen in Japan – got off comparatively lightly with a 1.9 percent fall.
The fallout from the scandal also left Japanese manufacturers of diesel particulate filters - Ibiden and NGK Insulators - reeling on Thursday. The stocks plummeted 7.8 and 7 percent respectively.
"The major selloff in automakers worldwide over the news around Volkswagen's emissions scandal did not bode well for the reopening of the Japanese markets," IG's market analyst Angus Nicholson wrote in a note.
VIDEO1:3901:39Volkswagen CEO steps down over emissions scandal
How the scandal unfolded
Volkswagen, the world's top-selling carmaker, admitted to U.S. regulators earlier this week that it had programmed its diesel cars to alter the running of their diesel engines to conceal their true emissions during emissions tests. The German carmaker has issued apologies, with its U.S. boss, Michael Horn, saying the company had "totally screwed up" in an event in New York on late Monday.
Following the revelation, authorities from France to South Korea announced investigations and threatened legal action, prompting the German company to set aside $7.2 billion in provisions for the third quarter to cover the potential costs of the scandal which could impact 11 million cars worldwide.
Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission said it was "considering the rights of consumers under the Australian consumer law" to see if car-buyers were misled by Volkswagen on their purchases. VW has not yet confirmed whether any of the cars sold in Australia are affected.
On Wednesday, chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned in a bid to contain an issue that has taken down Volkswagen's shares by around 26 percent so far this week. In a statement on Wednesday, Winterkorn said he would "accept responsibility" for the "irregularities that have been found in diesel engines."
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a8502f7f27b3b53a5b638da2284e5670 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/japan-august-cpi-falls-01-challenge-for-abes-new-arrows.html | Japan's core CPI in first y-o-y drop since August 2013 | Japan's core CPI in first y-o-y drop since August 2013
Getty Images
Japan's core consumer prices fell 0.1 percent in August from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday. It was the first year-on-year drop since August 2013.
The core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes fresh food prices, matched economists' median estimate for a 0.1 percent annual gain.
Read MoreStandard & Poor's downgrades Japan from AA- to A+
The so-called core-core inflation index, which excludes food and energy prices and is similar to the core index used in the United States, rose 0.8 percent in the year to August.
Core consumer prices in Tokyo, available a month before the nationwide data, fell 0.2 percent in September from a year earlier, versus a 0.2 percent annual fall seen by analysts in a Reuters poll.
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4ef294dd2bebe4a21615777396844cef | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/jon-najarian-buys-chip-stock-on-unusual-activity.html | Jon Najarian buys chip stock on unusual activity | Jon Najarian buys chip stock on unusual activity
Yellow Dog Productions | Getty Images
CNBC "Halftime Report" trader Jon Najarian bought shares of semiconductor maker Himax Technologies on Thursday after spotting unusual activity in the options market.
Najarian is one of the top traders in CNBC Pro's Model Portfolio competition, up 4 percent on the year, beating the S&P 500, which is down 7 percent.
Here is where Najarian sees the fast money headed:
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35ec5b85b3d0cd3a6b32db10ce6f4d67 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/latest-volkswagen-shake-up-begins-amid-scandal.html | Volkswagen shake up begins amid scandal | Volkswagen shake up begins amid scandal
Squawk Box Live had all the news and analysis on Volkswagen with its CEO Martin Winterkorn resigning Wednesday following the emissions scandal.
A senior VW source has told CNBC that more people are likely to follow the CEO out the door. The top two potential candidates for the head role include Herbert Diess, who recently joined from BMW and Matthias Müeller, CEO of Porsche.
Here's how the morning unfolded.
(App users please click here).
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6ae209242bb21dc446ad9dfe7ccdf93f | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/lightning-round-time-to-buy-ibm.html | Lightning Round: Time to buy IBM? | Lightning Round: Time to buy IBM?
It's that time again! Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on caller favorite stocks at rapid speed:
Cypress Semiconductor: "The stock has been killed, the yield is fine. What can I say? It is in a bear market and it is a cheap stock. I can't back away from it now with that yield."
Blue Buffalo Pet Products: "We looked at it and we thought it was expensive versus its growth rate, and that has been proven by the fact that the stock keeps going lower."
Huntsman: "This stock has fallen so much. Huntsman is a decent chemical company, it sells at about 6 times earnings. People must really think the earnings are falling apart. I think you should wait...it yields 3.5 percent. You have to wait until it yields 4 before I feel comfortable enough."
Radius Health: "I think Radius is great...They've got what almost could be called a miracle drug. I think it's terrific, I want you to buy it."
New Senior Investment Group: "I'm worried. When I see that 9 percent yield I think red flag. Most companies can't yield that and sustain it. So I'm going to say hey I don't know."
Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Cramer Remix: Beware unicorn private companies Cramer: Spot an IPO revolution before it happens Waiting in line at Apple? There's an app for that
Yahoo: "Yahoo is trading with Alibaba. As Alibaba goes down, Yahoo goes down. I think it is unfair. Yahoo has got a core business that is not being valued at all. I'm not against that stock here."
IBM: "Have you noticed that IBM is no longer going down while a lot of the other tech companies continue to go lower? Warren Buffett's got a big holding in it. I think it's way too late to sell IBM; 3.6 percent yield. You know what? I think it's getting attractive."
Aqua America: "I think it's kind of an expensive stock. I prefer a Con Ed at 4 percent. I just feel like if you want a utility go for that, or I like Dominion."
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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03795361d75b2a00b7ad7f62048baef2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/malaysian-ringgit-sell-off-may-worsen-over-economy-1mdb-najib.html | Does Malaysia’s ringgit face 1997 all over again? | Does Malaysia’s ringgit face 1997 all over again?
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The sell-off in the Malaysian ringgit, already among the world's worst performing currencies, may run further amid a toxic mix of shaky economic fundamentals and the spreading of what is being called the country's worst-ever political crisis.
The ringgit has fallen around 40 percent over the past year, with the U.S. dollar fetching around 4.34 ringgit on Thursday. That's the Malaysian currency's weakest against the greenback since late 1997, when the dollar at one point fetched as much as 4.88 ringgit.
"There remains significant downside risk even after the sharp ringgit correction," Hak Bin Chua, an analyst at Merrill Lynch in Singapore, said in a note Wednesday, noting that he sees little comfort from claims Malaysia is much stronger than in 1997, when it took a wallop from the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC).
Read More Timeline: The twists and turns in the tale of 1MDB
"Some leverage indicators are much higher than in 1997, including household, public and external debt," Chua noted, citing data showing household debt as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) is almost double at 86 percent, compared with 1997's level of 46 percent. He noted public debt as a percentage of GDP is also significantly higher at 54 percent, up from 31 percent in 1997.
"The ringgit depreciation has not strengthened exports or improved the trade balance at all," he said, adding he also expects foreign investors will begin unwinding their holdings of Malaysian government bonds once the Federal Reserve begins increasing interest rates, expected later this year. Foreign investors currently own 47 percent of Malaysia's rinngit-denominated debt that is currently outstanding.
"The current currency crisis may not be a repeat of history and 1997, but it sure rhymes and is probably far from being over," he said.
Chua sees another factor as set to weigh on the currency's prospects: "The current political crisis, sparked by the 1MDB scandal, is the worst in Malaysia's history."
Read More Why investors are snubbing Malaysian 'bargains'
The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund, launched in 2008 to promote economic development, has been in the limelight for months, amid allegations of false auditing, huge debt and, more recently, financial fraud. In July, the Wall Street Journal published a report alleging nearly $700 million flowed from the fund to Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal bank account. Najib has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Singapore and Switzerland have both suspended bank accounts tied to 1MDB and in the U.S., media reports said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating as well.
Analysts at HSBC said it's difficult to quantify the impact of political uncertainty on the currency so far, but in a note earlier this week, they said, "politics will become more significant for the currency if policy risks and economic costs start to materialize," especially with ratings agencies monitoring government spending.
But HSBC also doesn't believe the ringgit's 1997 levels necessarily offer any signal on just how far the ringgit could fall.
"It is possible for dollar-ringgit to go into uncharted territory," the HSBC analysts said, something other emerging market currencies have already done. "This time around, the broad U.S. dollar is appreciating also on its own merits," while during the 1990s, the greenback's strength was largely due to emerging market weakness, it noted.
, for one, has touched an all-time low against the greenback amid steep drops in the prices of its commodities exports and a drop off in demand from major trading partner China as well as domestic political turmoil.
HSBC doesn't believe the ringgit has reached its worst-case scenario yet. The bank is concerned that prices of palm oil, which accounts for around 8 percent of Malaysia's exports, are falling. Palm oil sales are denominated in ringgit, meaning a weaker ringgit doesn't improve the country's trade figures.
The weaker ringgit may already be boosting inflation in the country. Credit Suisse noted August inflation came in at 3.1 percent on-year, above its forecast for 2.8 percent, largely due to higher food prices as the weaker currency affected import prices. The bank expects the U.S. dollar will be fetching 4.50 ringgit in three months.
--Saheli Roy Choudhury contributed to this article.
—By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1
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8e199f74252bfe6e1a0dd29f9ca481aa | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/man-who-found-vw-errors-weighs-in-on-scandal.html | Man who found VW errors weighs in on scandal | Man who found VW errors weighs in on scandal
VIDEO3:4903:49Meet the firm that caught VolkswagenPower Lunch
When Daniel Carder first saw emissions abnormalities while testing Volkswagen vehicles, he thought, "What have we done wrong?"
After checking multiple times, Carder's research team at West Virginia University found early evidence that the world's second-largest automaker may have cheated on U.S. emissions tests. When the study ended in 2013, they publicly reported the findings.
"That was the end of our job," Carder, interim director of West Virginia University's Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions, said Thursday on CNBC's "Power Lunch."
A sign marks the location of a Volkswagen dealership in Evanston, Ill.Getty Images
More than two years later, the alleged use of software in diesel vehicles to alter their performance on environmental tests threatens Volkswagen's reputation and bottom line. It has spawned broader scrutiny about how automakers worldwide handle emissions standards.
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn stepped down Wednesday, saying he was "stunned that misconduct at such a scale was possible" at the company. It is expected to name Matthias Mueller, CEO of Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche, its next chief at a meeting Friday, sources told CNBC.
Read MoreMartin Winterkorn resigns as Volkswagen CEO
When researchers like Carder report emissions problems, it usually ends with a voluntary recall under an agreement between the manufacturer and a regulatory agency, he said. It is currently unclear whether Winterkorn or other senior leadership knew about the alleged cheating, and Carder declined to speculate on whether it was an institutional problem.
However, he noted that, based on past experiences with similar issues, he would not sell a Volkswagen car yet if he owned one.
Read MoreEurope's carmakers caught up in VW storm
—Reuters contributed to this report
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faaca74f7081f4e75d942ad2bf73b92b | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/markets-overlook-us-strength-overreact-to-china-feds-lockhart.html | Markets overlook US strength, overreact to China: Fed's Lockhart | Markets overlook US strength, overreact to China: Fed's Lockhart
Investors that have roiled global markets and thrown Federal Reserve policy off track should focus on the strength of the U.S. economy rather than the more remote risks of a global slowdown, Atlanta Federal Reserve bank president Dennis Lockhart said on Wednesday.
"Markets should first look at our characterization in the (Federal Open Market Committee) statements and in individual speeches of the economy really being on solid ground and performing well," said Lockhart, who supported last week's decision by the Fed to delay an interest rate hike but still says he expects to vote to raise rates some time this year.
His comments come a day before Fed Chair Janet Yellen delivers a high-profile speech on inflation, a topic that has divided policymakers who worry recent readings show a weakening economy from those who are confident inflation will rebound as the United States continues to grow.
Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.Scott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The issue is central to the timing of a first rate hike because one of the Fed's policy targets is a steady inflation rate of 2 percent, still substantially beyond recent levels. And its policy statement says explicitly rates should not be raised until there is confidence inflation will pick up.
Yellen will have to reconcile the Fed's disparate views at a time of unusual uncertainty in global markets. China, a bedrock of global growth for much of this century, is in the throes of an unexpected slowing. Coupled with tepid growth in Europe, Japan and elsewhere, there is concern the United States could be dragged down as well.
Weak Chinese manufacturing data on Wednesday triggered a drop in U.S. markets, another example of the volatility that prompted the Fed last week to delay what had been an expected rate hike—its first in nearly a decade.
Fed's Lockhart makes case to hike rates this year
Lockhart said he thought worries about the state of the global economy had become exaggerated, and were given too much weight over continued growth, healthy consumption and other U.S. strengths.
"China is slowing to still a very respectable pace of growth. It is ratcheting down a little bit, but there is a decent chance that the world is overreacting," he said.
"Markets should appreciate that the likelihood of substantial spillover to the U.S. domestic economy from developments abroad...is likely to be small," he said.
Concern about China, the sharp drop in U.S. equities, and the possibility that might cause a broader U.S. slowdown led the Fed last week to hold off on its long-debated rates liftoff.
That decision itself has contributed to uncertainty about the path of Fed policy, with investors pushing expectations of an initial rate hike ever-deeper into 2016 even as policymakers say they remain intent on hiking rates this year.
The situation has led to some of the most pointed criticism yet of Yellen, who steadily guided a "data dependent" central bank towards a rate hike as the U.S. economy improved, only to pull back at the last minute even though nothing fundamental changed in the U.S. outlook.
Cornerstone Macro analyst Roberto Perli said Yellen's speech on Thursday in Amherst, Massachusetts, will offer an important opportunity for her to clarify where the Fed stands.
Yellen has allowed expectations of a rate hike to build, he said, and now she needs to "either evaluate those expectations or...try to steer markets in a different direction by providing some rationale for whatever (she thinks) is the right thing to do at this point."
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5a8b0f0e2befda58136889935ad8e7f5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/markets-want-normal-fed-didnt-deliver-strategist.html | Markets want 'normal,' Fed didn't deliver: Strategist | Markets want 'normal,' Fed didn't deliver: Strategist
VIDEO2:4402:44Markets face earnings headwinds: ProSquawk Box
Markets are heading down a path of normalization, but the Federal Reserve disappointed last week by failing to put interest rates back on track toward historical norms, Voya Investment Management's Karyn Cavanaugh said Thursday.
The senior market strategist noted that the cost of U.S. crude oil and the dollar index are converging with their 30-year averages, while the expectation for market volatility, as measured by the VIX, is near a 25-year average.
But the Federal Open Market Committee still voted to leave its benchmark interest rate near zero, well below normal levels.
Read More Top managers on where to hide amid volatile market
"The Fed did not raise interest rates, and the market was a little bit disappointed in that ... because that's more the path of normal, and markets are looking for that path of normal," Cavanaugh told CNBC's "We have been talking for months and months that there would be liftoff in September, and then the Fed didn't pull the trigger."
Cavanagh said she doesn't expect the Fed to raise interest rates until 2016 because she expects little to change on the international front.
Last week, the Federal Reserve emphasized stress in overseas markets, such as China, after announcing it would not raise interest rates. Concerns about slowing growth in the world's second largest economy has rocked equities and other assets around the world in recent weeks.
Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist at Wells Fargo, said he maintained his view that the Fed would raise rates in December, but added that central bankers might only hike two more times in 2016.
Read More Yellen gets a do-over, but will she use it?
Fed Chair Janet Yellen will likely offer more clarity on Thursday in a speech on inflation at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, he said.
"I think what happened over the weekend was the Fed was surprised by the market reaction going into Thursday's close," he told "Squawk Box." "I think people were talking at the Fed on Friday, and they decided to come out over the weekend in force and start to lay the groundwork for that December meeting."
U.S. stocks turned volatile following the Fed decision on Thursday. Wren said the Fed needs to let the market know well in advance what will happen at its December meeting.
Meantime, market watchers will look to corporate earnings for direction, Cavanaugh said, adding that markets have done little this year because corporate earnings haven't done much.
Earnings have been weighed down by negative revenue growth this year. Revenue for companies fell about 3 percent on a year-over-year basis in the first two quarters of the year. Analysts expect revenues to be down 3.3 percent when companies report third-quarter earnings in the coming weeks, according to data from FactSet.
Read More Forget China. Focus on earnings, holiday sales: Stock picker
"Markets are going to depend on what goes on in corporate earnings, and that's the way it should be. That's the bottom line," Cavanaugh said. "If companies can get over this hurdle of the strong dollar, of low oil and move forward, then we'll see the market move forward."
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e145cb71c86ef92d1fc4574c10a54142 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/oculus-push-to-make-virtual-reality-mainstream.html | Oculus' push to make virtual reality mainstream | Oculus' push to make virtual reality mainstream
VIDEO0:5800:58Oculus cuts price of Gear VR headsetClosing Bell
At Oculus' developer conference in Hollywood on Thursday, Facebook's virtual reality platform unveiled lower-cost hardware and a slew of media partnerships that aim to bring the technology to the mainstream. While hard-core gamers wait for the Oculus Rift to launch for use with PCs in the first quarter of next year, a more casual user can get his or her hands on the Samsung Gear VR: A new version is going on sale for $99 in November, half the price of the headset last year.
Perhaps most important: Oculus users will now have access to more games and video content than ever before. In November, "Oculus Arcade" is launching, bringing classics including "Pacman" and "Sonic the Hedgehog" into the virtual realm. Oculus Video will enable users to experience more than ever before—from swimming with sharks to watching Lebron James prepare for a game, said Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe.
VIDEO0:3800:38Facebook secures content for OculusSocial Media
A Netflix app for Oculus launched Thursday, followed by apps from video game streaming company Twitch, along with Hulu, Vimeo and TiVo coming soon. Plus, Hollywood studios Fox and Lionsgate are partnering with Gear VR. Fox will bring more than 100 movies into the Oculus Store at launch, to watch the films in 2-D or 3-D within the Oculus VR Cinema app.
These Fox and Lionsgate films and Netflix shows aren't shot with the new VR cameras, so the legacy content won't be 360, like videos that are shot specifically for the format. But Samsung has referred to its headset as a "Head Mounted Theater."
Oculus CTO John Carmack says on Netflix's Tech Blog, "In many conditions the 'best seat in the house' may be in the Gear VR that you pull out of your backpack." The idea is that putting on an Oculus headset will allow users to feel like they're sitting in a screening room, providing a much more intense, immersive experience than simply staring at a smartphone or iPad screen. And the idea is that as each of these content companies create more VR content, they'll work with Oculus to make sure it's easy and compelling for users.
Beethoven rolls over into virtual reality
Virtual reality's next frontier—NFL practices
Thursday's announcements speak to the degree that VR is shifting from a high-tech experience for hard-core gamers, to an affordable way for anyone who wants to access entertainment to immerse themselves in content. We're still a ways off from there being a critical mass of content that's been shot in virtual reality, but Thursday's announcement certainly indicates that some of the biggest content players understand the power of the new platform, for generating new revenue and keeping consumers hooked on their brands.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise appearance on stage to underscore the importance of the new platform. "There is always a richer and more immersive medium. The next logical step is fully immersive VR," Zuckerberg said at the developers conference. He said what the company announced Wednesday is "just a 360 video. In the future you're going to feel like you're right there."
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a98191413bc816ca07baacc7418c6024 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/orders-for-us-durable-goods-fall-2-in-august.html | Orders for US durable goods fall 2% in August | Orders for US durable goods fall 2% in August
A Sears customer shops near General Electric appliances in Schaumburg, Illinois, September 8, 2014.Jim Young | Reuters
Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods dropped in August with weakness in a key category that tracks business investment plans.
The Commerce Department says that orders for durable goods fell 2 percent in August compared to July when orders had risen by 1.9 percent. A key category that serves as a proxy for business investment edged down 0.2 percent last month after gains of 2.1 percent in July and 1.5 percent in June.
The underlying demand for manufactured goods has been weaker this year as a strong dollar and China's economic slowdown have dragged down demand for American exports and big declines in oil prices have resulted in cutbacks in investment by energy companies.
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cc960df35d22c9f00be7c1fcac8a0239 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/permanent-qe-theory-gaining-backers.html | 'Permanent' QE theory gaining backers | 'Permanent' QE theory gaining backers
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Brian Kelly, hedge fund manager, "Fast Money" star, and author, joined CNBC Pro in an exclusive Q&A to address investment questions from subscribers. He shares his outlook on global markets, digital currencies, commodities, and more. Watch the highlights below.
Hedge fund manager Brian Kelly believes there's a high likelihood for quantitative measures from central banks around the world to become pretty much permanent.
Since the financial crisis hit in 2008, the Federal Reserve resorted to an unprecedented measure of economic stimulus by buying immense piles of bonds, a policy known as quantitative easing.
The result, according to estimates, added $3.5 trillion to the Fed's balance sheet as the program ended last October.
Kelly isn't alone.
"With rates at zero, fiscal policy will be needed to offset any negative shock that hits global economies," Steven Englander, Citi's global head of G-10 strategy, wrote in a note to clients Wednesday."The practical way of doing so is for central banks to indicate that their balance sheets will remain large permanently and keep expanding if targets are missed, opening the door for either additional spending or lower taxes financed by the central bank."
Here's how to trade another round, and maybe permanent, QE:
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1948ef0ff1543ec8ac67a3504a6d172a | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/pioneer-usa-ceo-makes-a-case-for-active-managers.html | Ariel Skelley | Getty Images
When it comes to your portfolio, what's the better option: Passive or active funds?
Why pay for professional management, the argument goes, it it costs more and the returns are so-so?
The eternal Wall Street struggle can get as fierce as the long-simmering rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox.
Read MoreOverwhelmed by fund choices? Relax, help is here
One one hand, active managed funds, typically mutual funds, are overseen by investment professionals hoping to outperform specific benchmarks. Because active managers are able to make informed and sometimes defensive decisions, the fees incurred are typically much higher
Passive vehicles, meanwhile, seek to mimic the holdings and returns of a specific market index, like the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. These mainly hands-off passive funds, including index funds and ETFs, do not attempt to beat the market, merely match the performance. Hence the lower fees and broad popularity.
Lately, it appears the odds are turning slightly in favor of active management pros.
According to Morningstar, active funds have outperformed the broader market this year, up 3.04 percent from January to April, with passive funds up 2.80 percent over the same time period.
That's the best year for active managers since the financial crisis with nearly 50 percent of active managers beating their benchmarks. The research firm found actively managed U.S. equity funds have seen about $700 billion in outflows since 2006.
VIDEO3:1003:10The case for active managementPower Lunch
Lisa Jones, ceo of Pioneer Investment Management, U.S.A., made the case for higher-fee, professional stock picking advice, over do-it-yourself selection, on CNBC's "Power Lunch" Wednesday.
Read MorePassive investing is profitable but there's a time to get active
"Given the volatility and confusion in the markets, which we expect to continue, we believe active management is prudent and can add value and protect your portfolio."
Pioneer, the nation's second oldest mutual fund with $72 billion in U.S. assets under management and $273 billion globally.
"Active managers have the edge, maybe not over cost," said Jones, "but in the diversification of risk across all sectors and the skill of our managers. We have an 87 year old track record of capital growth and reasonable income for investors. Active outperforms over the long-term."
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1f0f5b529287e57e635874291e24386d | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/pope-to-congress-time-to-act-on-climate-change-poverty.html | Pope to Congress: Time to act on climate change, poverty | Pope to Congress: Time to act on climate change, poverty
VIDEO4:3104:31Pope Francis: Congress needs to help nation grow
In a historic presentation to Congress, Pope Francis urged lawmakers on Thursday to take "courageous actions" on global warming, poverty and the refugee crisis.
"I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States—and this Congress—have an important role to play," the pope said in his prepared speech to a joint meeting of Congress.
The speech was the first time a pope had addressed Congress.
"Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a culture of care and an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature," the pope said in his prepared remarks.
Francis' environmentalist views have been criticized by some conservatives. Last week, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., he would boycott the pontiff's speech because of his climate change positions.
Upper East Side businesses pray for a prosperous papal visit
What CEOs can learn from Pope Francis
"If the pope wants to devote his life to fighting climate change then he can do so in his personal time. But to promote questionable science as Catholic dogma is ridiculous," Gosar said.
In his prepared remarks, Francis also urged lawmakers to take more action to help Syrian refugees.
"Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War. This presents us with great challenges and many hard decisions," he said in the prepared speech. "We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation. To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal."
The Department of Homeland Security said last week it was developing a plan for taking in at least 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year.
The pope began his visit to the U.S. on Tuesday and is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. He will conclude his visit on Sunday in Philadelphia.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Pope Francis delivered a speech to a joint meeting of Congress, not a joint session.
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655a35ea7c215985bce9db4a20cddd92 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/power-play-too-early-to-get-into-energy-and-commodities.html | Nikodash | iStock/Getty Images Plus
The Dow is down about 4 percent since last Thursday, when the Fed left interest rates unchanged.
Despite this sell-off, Steve Auth, chief investment officer at Federated Investors, tells CNBC's "Power Lunch" the market will find new legs later this year and volatility is a signal to buy stocks and re-position portfolios.
Read More Total to slash spending by $3B as oil price bites
But you have to be selective and stick to domestic cyclicals.
"We still think it is too early to buy into industrial and commodity names with big overseas exposure, as well as energy stocks," Auth said.
He believes oil will remain under pressure due to continued oversupply and weak demand, but things may improve soon. "We think energy is getting close to curing itself, as U.S. supply is being cut back, and the global economy re-accelerates next year," Auth said.
Industrials and energy are lower during trading, but West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude are higher.
Disclaimer
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a3b5d117315da88d1e060b3c6ff1cf11 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/scalpers-turn-papal-tickets-for-profit-drawing-churchs-ire.html | Scalpers turn papal tickets for profit, drawing church's ire | Scalpers turn papal tickets for profit, drawing church's ire
The rosary beads cost $175. Sounds a bit pricey, except the Craigslist ad says it comes with tickets to see Pope Francis. Same with the $10 train passes marked up to $85 in another listing.
With the wildly popular pontiff's U.S. tour shifting to New York on Thursday night and Philadelphia for the weekend, ticket scalpers are getting creative to make sure their listings don't get deleted or lost among dozens of ticket offers pouring in daily.
The same tickets that papal visit organizers doled out free of charge through parishes and online giveaways weeks ago are available on the online gray market with hefty price tags.
Pope FrancisGetty Images
Want a chance to see Pope Francis roll through New York's Central Park on Friday? That'll be $100. Or maybe you want to see him on stage alongside Mark Wahlberg, Aretha Franklin and Sister Sledge. Tickets to the Festival of Families in Philadelphia on Saturday are going for as low as $25.
On Craigslist, one listing for tickets to see the pope in Central Park appeared below one for pop star Ariana Grande's concert the next night in Brooklyn.
Church and civic leaders denounced the sales and asked websites to remove the listings. The auction site eBay has complied, saying the sales violated its terms of service. Posts have continued to appear on Craigslist. The website did not respond to a message Wednesday.
"It's disgusting that anyone would take a free ticket for someone to see His Holiness and decide to re-sell it," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "No one should buy such a ticket. It's just absolutely inconsistent with everything that this pope stands for."
Organizers made 80,000 tickets available to the public for the Central Park procession and 30,000 for the pope's three outdoor events in Philadelphia—10,000 each for the festival, Mass and a speech on immigration and religious freedom at Independence Hall.
Pope visit will lift spirits more than local economies
Scalpers started turning them for profit almost immediately, prompting an angry response from one Craigslist user who said they had ruined a "once in a lifetime chance" to see Pope Francis.
Several sellers, including the person offering rosary beads, did not respond to a request for comment.
Some people listing papal tickets were more charitable, giving them away because they didn't want them to go to waste. One asked for a one-page essay to help decide who should get the tickets.
One seller offered a set of three tickets to the festival in exchange for $500 he said was being donated to charity.
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c96dc2927c9b32fe84b2353fe03f2fa3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/shinzo-abes-new-policy-framework-more-hot-air.html | Abe's new policy framework: More empty promises? | Abe's new policy framework: More empty promises?
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo AbeYoshikazu Tsuno | Pool | Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is refocusing his attention back on the economy with an ambitious gross domestic product (GDP) target and three fresh "arrows" in what is being dubbed by some as "Abenomics 2.0", but is this another case of over-promising and under-delivering?
Abe, who won a rare second term in the otherwise revolving door world of Japanese politics as the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month, pledged on Thursday to raise GDP by nearly a quarter to 600 trillion yen ($5 trillion). He also unveiled three new goals for Abenomics : strong economic growth, assistance for child rearing to lift low birth rates, and social security measures to increase nursing facilities for the aged.
Abenomics is the term widely used to describe Abe's approach to reflate the economy, which was originally based on three pillars: monetary easing, fiscal expansion and structural reforms.
Abe's announcement comes as the economy continues to struggle with sluggish domestic demand and falling inflation. Japan's main inflation gauge – the core consumer price index (CPI) – dipped 0.1 percent on year in August – slipping further away from the Bank of Japan's 2 percent inflation target. It was the first year-on-year decline since April 2013, when the Bank of Japan launched its unprecedented asset-buying program.
The economy contracted in the three months through June and earlier this month, Standard & Poor's cut Japan's credit rating to AA- from A+.
VIDEO4:4504:45Japan enacts bills to ease pacifist stanceSquawk Box Asia
"Very few people will take the 600 trillion yen GDP goal very seriously. It's just politician's talk. In an overall shrinking society, this is clearly not achievable," Martin Schulz, a senior research fellow at Fujitsu Research Institute told CNBC.
Japan is grappling dual demographic headwinds of a rapidly ageing population and declining birth rates, posing a major challenge for the world's third largest economy. The country's native population fell by 271,058 to 126.16 million in 2014, the biggest drop on record and the sixth straight year of decline, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Nevertheless, Schulz gave a thumbs up to Abe's new arrows, which he regards as more realistic goals that will make a difference to Japanese society.
"While they may not sparkle investors' imaginations by most standards, they are realistic in terms of what's needed, and are more future-oriented compared with previously outlined structural reforms goals around energy, agriculture and trade," he said.
A lack of enthusiasm among investors was reflected in the performance of the benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which opened down 2.7 percent on Friday, before paring some losses to trade 0.3 percent lower.
Read More Japan's Q2 GDP revised up but pressure on Abe, BoJ remains
"There was not necessarily anything original in this announcement," said Masaki Kuwahara and Tomo Kinoshita, economists at Nomura.
"Support for child rearing and social security are both important policies, but their elevation into the second and third arrows comes somewhat out of the blue. It looks as though the government may have attempted to come up with policies to boost its flagging rating in addition to giving fresh impetus to initiatives that have gone slightly sideways, for example social advances for women, one of the flagship policies for Abenomics," they said.
While most agree, Abe's new policy framework is no game-changer, Jesper Koll, CEO of exchange traded funds provider WisdomTree, believes the Prime Minister may be laying the groundwork for further measures to support the floundering economy.
"He's acknowledging that the domestic economy has been weaker than expected, and not blaming external conditions. That's very important," Koll told CNBC.
Koll expects Abe's plan of action will proceed as follows. "The Prime Minister is heading to New York next week, where he will likely make several public speeches on the economy. Then we are likely to get a reshuffle of the cabinet," he said.
Following this, the Bank of Japan is scheduled to hold a monetary policy meeting on October 30, when an expansion of stimulus could be announced. If the central bank holds fire in October, an announcement in November is still a possibility, Koll said.
Simultaneously, Japanese parliament will likely announce a supplementary budget to bolster the economy, he said.
"We'll see a 'one dream, one team' approach involving the Bank of Japan, ministry of finance and cabinet office."
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7e5971a61c09de6e7d3e0355419e82eb | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/something-has-changed-in-the-gold-trade-gartman.html | VIDEO4:2504:25Dennis Gartman: Why I'm buying goldFutures Now
Stocks' pain has turned into gain.
Gold prices soared to a one-month high Thursday as fears of a global slowdown have investors seeking so-called safe haven assets like bonds and bullion. And according to Dennis Gartman, often referred to as the "commodities king," the rally in gold could just be starting.
"There's a real strength in the gold market when you look at it in non-U.S. dollar terms," the publisher of The Gartman Letter said Thursday in an interview with CNBC's "Futures Now." "The difference is enormous."
Read MoreHere's my Fed commodity trade: Jim Iuorio
While everyone focuses on gold's move relative to the dollar, Gartman says the real story is what's happening around the world. Pointing to gold priced in euros and yen specifically, the CNBC contributor said that bullion has actually been outperforming. As he noted, in euro terms, gold is up 4.6 percent in the past two years and 6.7 percent over the past five years. Whereas related to the yen, it's up 4.8 percent for two years and 26.4 percent in five years.
Gold priced in the U.S. dollar, however, has failed to maintain its footing in recent months, having fallen 12 percent from its late January high and now tracking for its worst quarterly losing streak since 1997.
"[It's] been in a phenomenal, unending, malevolent bear market since November 2011," Gartman noted. Since that time, gold has fallen nearly 35 percent. "If you have owned gold in dollar terms it has been a terrifyingly bad trade."
Read MoreCommodities pain spreading, Caterpillar retrenches
For Gartman, owning gold relative to foreign currencies should be a no-brainer. "Why would you want to fund gold in a currency that has been strong when you can fund it in a currency that has been weak?" he asked. "Monetary authorities in Europe and Japan have been far more dovish [than the Fed] and will continue to be far more dovish."
He believes gold could also benefit as the Federal Reserve further retreats from raising rates. "I'm neutral gold in terms of the dollar and long in other currencies," Gartman added.
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dd115bd8e27fb1777634d1fcdf0e5ca9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/stocks-setting-up-for-big-upside-reversal-technician.html | Stocks setting up for big upside reversal: Technician | Stocks setting up for big upside reversal: Technician
VIDEO2:2502:25Stocks setting up for reversal: TechnicianTrading Nation
Stocks sold off for the third day in a row Thursday, with the S&P 500 tracking for its worst quarter since 2011. However, one technician says the large-cap index could be setting up for a big reversal to the upside.
Technical analyst Rich Ross of Evercore ISI said the SPDR ETF that tracks the S&P 500, commonly known by its ticker symbol SPY, is showing some bullish signals.
Ross is watching four key levels in the SPY, which he said has potential upside to $206, a 7 percent gain from its Thursday close. First, the SPY hit a pivot level Thursday, when it tested the September lows around $191, Ross said.
"[This] is a sign of trend exhaustion coming off the top, so I would view this formation as a bullish reversal pattern," Ross said Thursday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "The fact that that reversal occurs at this key support ... I think that set the S&P up for another move to the upside."
Read More This is the next Dow stock to plunge: Technician
After a support line at $192, the next level would come in around $200, Ross said, which also acted as resistance for the SPY before the September Fed meeting. If the ETF breaks through $200, it could also go back above its 50-day moving average at $202.
Finally, Ross said the ETF could return back into its trading range before the stock market plunge in August above the $206 level.
However, Ross said stocks could see some more volatility before the SPY reaches back above its 200-day moving average.
"Let's take this move one step at a time. In the meantime, let's hold that $192 and see where we go from there," Ross said.
Want to be a part of the Trading Nation? If you'd like to call into our live Wednesday show, email your name, number and a question to TradingNation@cnbc.com
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02b2dcb78df574dddedc5eedafd20166 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/the-emerging-space-junk-business.html | The emerging 'space junk' business | The emerging 'space junk' business
Petrovich9 | Getty Images
Since we began exploring outer space, we have been trashing the place.
Call it "space debris" or "space junk," there is enough material floating through space or orbiting the Earth that some companies believe they can build a business around it, according to an article in Nature News. Space debris can be natural, such as meteroids, or human-made, such as old satellites or parts of spacecraft. A single piece of space debris can travel at speeds up to 17,500 miles per hour, well enough to damage a spacecraft or satellite in a collision, according to NASA.
So far, the U.S. military is the world's main monitor of free-floating junk, and it warns governments or other operators of hazards. But companies such as Pennsylvania's Analytical Graphics is developing their own junk-watching capability based on a large network of "off-the-shelf" sensors that currently tracks more than 6,000 objects in the Earth's orbit, up to 42,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface. That's far less than the 23,000 objects the military tracks with its multi-million-dollar telescopes and instruments, but Analytical Graphics is betting its system will prove useful to operators that want to protect the investments they launch into space.
Bezos, Musk space race just the beginning: Retired astronaut
Collisions with space debris are still rare, but they do happen. They can also compound the problem that caused them in the first place. An old Russian satellite collided with a functioning U.S.-based commercial satellite in 2009, instantly creating 2,000 pieces of new debris to space, according to NASA.
Sometimes the collisions are even intentional, For example, the Chinese government fired a missile to destroy an old weather satellite in 2007, as a way of testing an anti-satellite program. The collision added 3,000 pieces of new space debris.
The U.S. military performs its junk-watching service for free, but the private operators say the information provided by government is having a hard time keeping up with all of the new objects in space as the area around Earth becomes increasingly crowded. There are more than 20,000 objects larger than a softball floating in near space, another 500,000 larger than a marble, and millions more so small they are untrackable.
Read the full article in Nature News.
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b766e5e13f08d6fa618de51ad61a6a5c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/uber-bears-see-deeply-negative-us-interest-rates.html | Uber bears see 'deeply negative' US interest rates | Uber bears see 'deeply negative' US interest rates
Statues of a bear and a bull stand outside the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.Hannelore Foerster | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Rather than hiking rates and tightening monetary policy, two of the City of London's most renowned pessimists believe the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon cut them into "deeply" negative territory.
Societe Generale's Albert Edwards and Bob Janjuah, senior independent client adviser at Nomura, are two notoriously bearish - but widely-followed - strategists and made the conclusion over that very British tradition -- a cup of tea.
"I enjoyed afternoon tea with my fellow strategist Bob Janjuah of Nomura," Edwards said in his latest note published on Thursday.
"The next U.S. recession will probably arrive a lot sooner than most investors expect and will likely see more desperate monetary experimentation from the Fed. Bob and I thought that this time we would see deeply negative interest rates in the U.S. (and Europe)."
BoE's next move may be rate cut rather than hike: Haldane
The negative rate would only apply to banks but the lenders should in theory pass on this disincentive to save to its customers by trimming their rates.
Such a measure would likely come alongside another bout of bond–buying, according to Edwards, a measure which has also been touted from economists like Larry Summers, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary.
Fears over global growth was credited by the Fed as it decided to hold off on what would have been its first rate hike in seven years last week. While not a complete surprise, the uncertainty caused "risk-off" sentiment throughout global markets.
Just a day later, Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane entertained the idea at that the U.K. central bank could may have to cut rates rather than raise them because of deflationary fears and concerns over emerging markets.
Edwards highlighted in his note that Sweden was currently leading the way on negative rates with its current level of -0.35 percent - effectively charging the banks that are hoarding cash at the central bank.
Get ready to relive the 2008 crisis: Albert Edwards
The SocGen strategist also likened the situation in the U.S. to the decades of stagnation suffered by Japan, but added that the U.S. is currently even worse off.
"In the 1990s Japan could rely on exports as the rest of the world was growing strongly – unlike the situation for the U.S. now. This time is indeed different. It is worse!," he said.
"The last seven years of exploding central bank balance sheets will seem like Bundesbank monetary austerity compared to what is to come."
While his bearish thoughts and predictions are widely read by colleagues and rivals at fellow banking organizations, they do not always come true. In September 2012, he announced the U.S. was in recession and Wall Street would soon react, and warned of an "ultimate" death cross for the —where the 50-day moving average falls below the 200-day trend line.
Instead the S&P 500 continued to rally, and has gained around 32 percent since Edwards' pronouncement.
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b84c607faef4565b3e950436c413bccd | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/upgrading-to-the-new-iphone-5-questions-to-get-the-best-deal.html | Upgrading to the new iPhone? 5 questions to get the best deal | Upgrading to the new iPhone? 5 questions to get the best deal
Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Sept. 9, 2015, in San Francisco.Getty Images
With new iPhones hitting stores this week, some consumers are considering upgrade options with different carriers. And if you're confused by the endless options for data usage and phone payment plans, you aren't alone.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, did the math, and determined that for families, Sprint is the most affordable carrier, but for individuals, T-Mobile can be a compelling buy—as long as you pick a standard plan for your 6S.
While the WalletHub numbers provide an interesting baseline, their results were hotly disputed by other carriers, who argued that if you are, say, a video-streaming aficionado, or conversely, rarely open your mobile browser, these results may not hold as much weight.
But on top of the data, there are five questions you can ask your carrier to make sure you get the right plan.
WalletHub's study looked at the cost over two years of buying an iPhone 6S with at least 3 gigabytes (GB) of monthly data. It surveyed both different carriers and payment methods, such as a subsidized phone with a two-year contract, a leasing plan, buying the phone up front with no contract, or an installment plan from Apple or the carrier. WalletHub also separated individual plans from family plans, where the study calculated the cost of upgrading one of four phones to an iPhone 6S.
VIDEO1:4801:48Best cell phone plan for you?Closing Bell
The cheapest option for individuals was a T-Mobile leasing plan, which costs $1,881 over two years, and a Sprint leasing plan for families, at $3,401 for a family of four. The priciest choices were an individual installment plan from AT&T at $2,349, or adding a new two-year AT&T contract to a family plan, at $4,507 over two years.
Carriers were quick to point out to CNBC potential deals and exceptions to WalletHub's findings. They are being forced to provide better deals for consumers, now that phonemakers such as Apple and soon, maybe Samsung, offer financing plans, regardless of which carrier the buyer chooses.
"These plans have come a long way," said Jill Gonzalez, who assisted in WalletHub's research. "It used to be a one-size-fits-all-needs world, and it's not at all anymore. Reading into these plans and what they offer and how much they've changed, it's a big deal."
VIDEO2:5302:53Verizon CEO on the record
Perhaps the most notable way to save or splurge from WalletHub's numbers is to adjust your data usage outside of 3GB. The average smartphone owner uses 2.9GB, reports market research group NPD Group, though that figure varies widely.
AT&T, for instance, ended up more expensive by WalletHub's measure. It's important to note, though, this may not be the case if you aren't using the web on the go.
AT&T's value plans come with just 2GB of data usage, meaning that the 3GB standard in WalletHub's study would result in $15 monthly overage fees. If you are comfortable using 2GB or less per month, you can even roll data over to the next month under AT&T's plan.
Sprint and T-Mobile, meanwhile, offered more data per line than other carriers for families, at 10GB per line, compared with Verizon's 3GB at similar prices—meaning more bang for your buck, data hogs.
Read MoreSprint CEO: Why 'iPhone Forever' plan works
Another caveat is that while newer phone-leasing options may seem like a great deal, there is more there than meets the eye.
WalletHub's study assumes the buyer has excellent credit. If you have poor credit, leasing options might end up being pricier for you than a traditional plan, Gonzalez said.
Apple's new installment plan includes insurance AppleCare and a new phone every year—which could be a great deal if you tend to do major damage to your devices. But it's more expensive.
Finally, as with any leasing plan, the amount that you end up paying depends on how quickly you pay it off. If you pay above or below the minimum monthly payment, the fee you have left at the end could vary, carriers said.
Read MoreReviewers applaud iPhone 6S' Force Touch and Siri
Another potentially big way to save is by taking advantage or promotions that let you trade in your old phone.
Starting on Friday, a Sprint spokesman said, qualified customers can get iPhone 6S for $15 per month and iPhone 6S Plus for $19 per month, or $19 and $22, respectively, if they do not trade in an existing smartphone. A T-Mobile spokesman also said if a customer trades in a phone worth more than $90, the monthly fee would be lower than some competitors'.
If you're willing to wait for a new iPhone, you could get a better deal, too. Based on past releases, Gazelle, an online service to buy or sell used personal devices, expects to start selling iPhone 6S within three to six months for about $599, CEO Chris Sullivan said.
"It's not just price, it's whether you can take your phone with you," John Bergmayer, senior staff attorney of technology and communications issues group Public Knowledge, told WalletHub. "Can you unlock your phone if you break your contract? If yes, then (possibly, depending on network compatibility) not needing a new phone on a new carrier should factor in."
VIDEO2:0602:06AT&T: Apple carrier change not a big dealSquawk Alley
Verizon announced last month it would stop subsidizing phones in exchange for two-year contracts. Instead Verizon customers pay a flat fee for each phone line, and are offered four consolidated plans based on data usage. The move was similar to one by T-Mobile in past years, though in the WalletHub study, T-Mobile was more cost-effective than Verizon.
"Consumers usually tell us they make their decisions on value, not price," a Verizon spokesman told CNBC. "When you take into account the faster, more reliable performance of our network, and exclusive access services and features such as NFL mobile, customers tell us that's worth it."
To be sure, WalletHub's study also fails to take into account factors such as regional coverage, talk and text limits, cheaper phone options and customer service, all of which could sway consumer sentiment. Verizon and TracFone, for instance, scored highest in the 2015 American Customer Satisfaction Index, while AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint scored at or below the industry average.
AT&T also disputed WalletHub's conclusions. "Due to the lack of methodology and research, WalletHub's recent study does not reflect correct figures for a variety of AT&T's plans," said a spokesperson. "For accurate information regarding purchasing an iPhone from AT&T its best to contact AT&T directly."
Read MoreAT&T to combine television, wireless services in one bill
Even beyond the four major carriers, there may be an option that works for your needs that doesn't include the iPhone 6S. Indeed, start-up WhistleOut's estimates there are almost 270,000 phone-plan combinations.
Similar studies have used other criteria to assess the value of phone plans, though they might not be available for the iPhone 6S. A June study by Money magazine found carriers like Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cricket could also be cost-effective for lightweight users.
"There are a couple of things that Sprint has going for it," Gonzalez said. "The unlimited plans end up working a lot better, especially with current promotions," Gonzalez said. "AT&T does offer the rollover data, so if you're varying for month-to-month, that would help you out. [Verizon] are focusing on deals for people who have been there for years and remaining with them, where Sprint has done the exact opposite."
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2593ad3bb66b061f79234cd971008839 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/volkswagen-emissions-automakers-tobacco-moment.html | Volkswagen emissions: Automakers’ tobacco moment? | Volkswagen emissions: Automakers’ tobacco moment?
VIDEO1:2201:22What VW's scandal means for other stocksAutomobiles and Components
VIDEO2:1102:11How to trade autos amid the VW scandalHalftime Report
VIDEO0:5200:52Expect more departures at VW: Source
VIDEO4:0304:03Who will take over from VW's CEO?
The decimation of share prices across the autos industry this week highlights growing concerns that Volkswagen's problem could quickly turn into one for the entire carmaking industry.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has accused Volkswagen of installing a device in its diesel vehicles to run maximum anti-pollution controls only when emissions tests were taking place. VW has admitted the mistake and apologised, with its U.S. boss, Michael Horn, saying the company had "totally screwed up."
No other car manufacturers have officially been accused of this kind of behavior. However, the light shone on what Volkswagen was trying to sell as emission-reducing cars, which were in fact pumping more nitrogen dioxide (NOx) into the air than thought, could be uncomfortable for others.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The scandal should be "a massive wake up call to governments and regulators around the world," Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates told CNBC.
"More than fifty thousand people die early every year in the UK due to our illegally filthy air. Vehicle pollution is the main problem, with diesel vehicles the biggest culprit. Tough pollution standards are crucial for cleaning up our sub-standard air quality – which is why an urgent investigation is needed to ensure that the motor industry is complying with EU regulations."
Martin Winterkorn resigns as Volkswagen CEO
Even given the drastic share price falls, investors are likely to stay away from the automobile sector for a while as they wonder which company will be next. Analysts have been producing gloomy forecasts for both Volkswagen and the sector as a result, with one typical example from Societe Generale, which downgraded the sector from Overweight to Neutral, deeming it "dead money".
On Thursday Nordea Asset Management announced that its fund managers were banned from buying VW's stocks and bonds, saying that "the scandal is unacceptable from an investment point of view."
Yet the fallout could be even worse than feared, if it emerges that the problem of promoting cars as more environmentally friendly than they are goes beyond Volkswagen.
This kind of industry-wide problem is sometimes called a "tobacco moment" after the cigarette industry's early denials of the links between smoking and lung cancer, which eventually proved futile.
This gas can cause significant problems with the respiratory system, and even contribute to premature death. There are also signs that, despite air quality standards, its concentration in urban areas in Europe in particular is on the rise, as Europe has focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions rather than NOx emissions, as this recent article in Nature outlines.
In October last year, a study by the International Council on Clean Transportation identified a "wide discrepancy" between NOx emissions from new diesel passenger cars in official certification, and their actual NOx emissions in real-world situations.
Jeff Thurk, assistant professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame, argued in an email to CNBC that the scandal is due "largely to stark differences between car emission standards in the U.S. and Europe. Where U.S. regulators are concerned with limiting acid from nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, European regulators are concerned with limiting greenhouse emissions (e.g., CO2)."
VW scandal: $7.3B profit warning but damage could hit Germany
The difference in European policy produced what Thirk called, in a study published in August with Eugenio J. Miravete and Maria J. Moral, "important distortion effects in the European automobile market" and "a powerful tool to protect the domestic European auto makers". He estimates that the level of protection given to European produced cars was the equivalent of close to a 20 percent import tariff when the actual import duty amounted only to 10.3 percent.
European policymakers may themselves find they have questions to answer as the fallout from the story unfolds.
- By CNBC's Catherine Boyle
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c070a26e95976c27224316ac99200177 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/volkswagen-looks-to-porsche-to-rev-up-battered-company.html | Volkswagen looks to Porsche to rev up battered company | Volkswagen looks to Porsche to rev up battered company
Matthias Mueller, CEO of Porsche AG.Thomas Niedermueller | Getty Images
Matthias Muller, the current chief of Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche, is expected to be named CEO of Volkswagen, sources close to the VW Supervisory Board told CNBC on Thursday.
The VW Board will hold a previously scheduled meeting in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Friday, where sources with knowledge of the situation say Muller will be tapped for the top job at the embattled automaker.
One person close to Volkswagen's leadership told CNBC that Muller "has strong support on the board."
Read MoreVolkswagen scandal splits Asia's auto stocks
The executive will need it, given the widening scandal at the world's second-largest automaker. On Thursday, reports surfaced citing Germany's Transport Minister as saying that Volkswagen has admitted to rigging emissions tests on some diesel engine vehicles in Europe.
That news followed the bombshell announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that Volkswagen had secretly put software on 482,000 clean diesel cars in the U.S., allowing those cars to cheat clean-air emissions tests. The scandal has erupted into the biggest corporate crisis Germany has seen in years.
VIDEO1:4201:42Volkswagen CEO is out
After seven years running Volkswagen as CEO, the scandal claimed the scalp of Martin Winterkorn, who was forced to resign. In a parting statement, he described himself as "shocked by the events of the past few days. Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group."
It remains to be seen how many other VW executives are forced to leave the company. Volkswagen's U.S. unit said it had no comment when asked about reports that its boss, Michael Horn, would also leave.
Martin Winterkorn resigns as Volkswagen CEO
Volkswagen emissions: Automakers’ tobacco moment?
Volkswagen's leadership bench is loaded with veterans who have spent decades with the company. So why is Muller the best option to run the company while it grapples with the emission crisis?
"He has a lot of respect in this company," one source told CNBC. "Muller is thought highly of by executives and the labor unions as well."
Muller has run Porsche since 2010, during a time when Porsche sales and profits surged. It also helps that Muller is close to the Porsche family, which is the largest shareholder at Volkswagen.
Questions? Comments? BehindTheWheel@cnbc.com.
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3aae0ac88283a39fe5457b273aab1a67 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/wall-street-looks-to-yellen-speech.html | Wall Street on edge ahead of Yellen speech | Wall Street on edge ahead of Yellen speech
VIDEO2:2502:25Yellen: Still the voice for US’ economy?Worldwide Exchange
U.S. stock index futures indicated a lower open on Thursday as traders looked to a speech on inflation and policy from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, one week after the central bank surprised the markets and helped stir up new fears of deflation.
In morning economic news, durable goods showed a decline of 2 percent. Weekly jobless claims came in at 267,000. New home sales will be released at 10:00 am, ET.
Dow futures were briefly down more than 150 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also traded lower.
Treasury yields held lower, with the 2-year yield at 0.68 percent and the 10-year yield at 2.10 percent.
The U.S. dollar traded lower against major world currencies, with the euro at $1.125 and the yen at 119.4 yen against the greenback.
Traders are particularly eyeing Yellen's comments on inflation in the 5 p.m. ET speech at the University of Massachusetts, where the audience will not be able to ask questions.
Last week saw the Fed hold off on a rate hike, but its real surprise was the more dovish-than-expected message that came with it. It pointed to concerns about international developments—China's slowing growth—and pared back its own economic forecasts, including the one for inflation.
Since the Thursday meeting, commodities have tanked, with copper down more than 6 percent and oil down nearly 5 percent. China has also become an even bigger source of concern for markets, now that some worry the Fed might see more dire economic problems that could spread to the U.S. economy.
In Europe, European stocks traded lower, with investors keeping a close eye on shares in Volkswagen after its chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, resigned yesterday.
German auto company BMW traded down around 5 percent after a report in magazine Auto Bild claimed that some of its diesel cars were found to exceed emissions standards, which also weighed on sentiment in Europe.
Federal Reserve Bank Chair Janet Yellen.Getty Images
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.89 percent, while Japan's Nikkei finished 2.76 percent lower.
On the earnings front, Accenture reported quarterly profit of $1.15 per share, beating estimates by three cents, with revenue also above forecasts.
Read More Early movers: ACN, KO, RL, BHP, CSCO, WMT, BA, BIDU & more
Nike, Bed Bath & Beyond, Jabil Circuit and Pier 1 Imports are all expected to come after the bell.
In oil markets, Brent crude traded at around $47.88 a barrel, up 0.27 percent, while U.S. crude was at $44.64 a barrel, up 0.36 percent.
--CNBC's Patti Domm and Peter Schacknow contributed to this report.
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eada7a3e2e664c381791fef0703e54e6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/what-ceos-can-learn-from-pope-francis.html | What CEOs can learn from Pope Francis | What CEOs can learn from Pope Francis
It's hard to find fault with Pope Francis' pitchman technique. He is accessible, on point, and speaks in a language the world can understand. Over and over he delivers the same message—the Roman Catholic Church is a church for the poor—one that must go out among the people and act like a "field hospital" to tend to those in need.
"He is changing the face of the church without changing the product," said Thomas Gensemer, chief strategy officer of the public relations firm Burson Marsteller.
Even if the product is not changing, how it is managed, financed and delivered certainly needed freshening up when Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected the 266th pope of the Catholic Church in March 2013. The new pope inherited an ancient and massive institution tainted by the ongoing pedophilia scandal in the U.S., an insular and ineffective Curia, a corrupt Vatican bank and a church whose message was falling on deaf ears in many of the world's developed countries.
Reforming and restructuring the church was a tall order for a man whose audience goes beyond the 1.2 billion people who call themselves Catholic. In addition to being their spiritual leader, he is essentially the CEO of a nonprofit organization that the Georgetown University-affiliated research center CARA estimates employs, among others, 414,313 priests, 705,529 nuns, while operating 221,740 parishes, 139,029 elementary and secondary schools, as well as over 5,167 hospitals around the globe.
President Barack Obama (R) applauds Pope Francis speaks during an arrival ceremony for the pope at the White House in Washington September 23, 2015.Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Less than two years into Francis' tenure, executive coach John Baldoni, chair of leadership development at advisory firm N2Growth, said he gives the pope high grades as an executive.
"What he has done is to change perceptions," he said. "Whether they last remains to be seen."
Francis' strategy and message were made evident in the homily he delivered at his installation Mass. He urged the faithful to be protectors of God's gifts of the environment, those in need, families and friendships.
He also sounded the alarm that the status quo was no longer acceptable. He said old structures in the church needed to be re-examined if they inhibited the "joy of the gospel," he and warned that remaining "shut up in structures" gives us a false sense of security.
While the message is important, changing perceptions of the church also requires action. At 78, Francis has said he expects his tenure to be a short one, so he moved quickly to attack problems that have dogged the Vatican for years.
"One of the first issues he had to tackle were the reputational issues linked to the Vatican bank," said a person familiar with the pope's reform agenda who asked not to be identified. "He immediately replaced top management. He made sure the bank was opening every record and having it reviewed in a manner consistent with international regulatory standards."
In addition to having records reviewed, the bank fulfilled its reporting requirements to regulators and adopted anti-money- laundering programs that meet international standards.
"It's almost like he is out of central casting," the source said. "Any crisis manager will say you have to act quickly and decisively by first determining the scope of the problem, then deal with the problem in a transparent way, communicate with stakeholders and put procedures in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. That is what the Holy Father did."
Francis also took aim at the Curia, the Vatican's administrative body. Many saw the Curia as insular and ineffective, and while he has left it intact, he also appointed what is being called the G-9, a group of cardinals from around the world who serve as another sounding board and source of information for the pope, so he no longer relies solely on the Curia for his information.
"His willingness to make change internally, it makes him a real source of authority instead of just being a front man," said Gensemer. "It gives him authenticity."
The authenticity is helping Francis do something a CEO of any challenged firm has to do—change the culture and incentive system. By eschewing the fancier trappings of the papacy like an apartment at the Vatican, he is showing those who serve under him how he expects them to behave.
"What gets rewarded now is service. What gets rewarded now is humility. What gets rewarded now is simplicity," said the Rev. Manuel Dorantes, a graduate of Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business and a spokesman for the Holy See. "That's what gets rewarded now in the Vatican."
As the head of the church, Francis has also moved swiftly to lay the groundwork for another key part of his legacy, his successor. Since being named pope, he has changed the face of the College of Cardinals, appointing a new generation that now makes up 25 percent of 115 member body, a generation drawn mostly from the countries in the developing regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia, rather than Europe and the U.S.
"We can't forget that it's the board of directors who get to choose a successor and very likely will come from among them," said Dorantes.
Papal visit bigger than Super Bowl for telecoms
It is another way Francis is bringing the church's hierarchy closer to the people. Catholic populations are growing more rapidly in Africa and Asia, while Latin America is home to more than 40 percent of the world's Catholics.
Not everyone is willing to give Francis high marks as a manager. A July Gallup poll showed his favorability rating among U.S Catholics dropped dramatically here after he released his strong environmentalist encyclical "Laudato Si," a decline attributed mostly to unhappiness about his message among conservative Catholics.
Regarding the church's finances, Jack Ruhl, an accounting professor at Western Michigan University, said Francis "needs to improve the transparency of the church's finances here."
As for addressing the pedophilia scandal that continues to hurt the church's reputation and finances, Francis has created a tribunal to investigate bishops accused of shielding priests who were accused of child molestation. The tribunal has been welcomed by the victims and their advocates, though it is too early to know if it will help put this scandal to rest and provide closure and healing for the victims.
Still, Baldoni said CEOs of forprofit companies can take two key lessons from how Francis has managed his papacy so far: Don't be afraid to confront the elephant in the room and maintain open and honest communication.
And it is a communicator that Francis draws some of the highest praise.
"He is using social media like I have never seen anybody use it before," said Rob Reilly, global creative director at the advertising agency McCann Worldwide.
The pope's nine Twitter accounts, all in different languages, have a total of 23.4 million followers, and his most popular, @Pontifex, counts 7.1 million followers, more than TV host Stephen Colbert but less than NBA great Shaquille O'Neal.
His willingness to wade into a crowd and take selfies with the audience means his image is shared thousands, or even millions of times over, providing another chance to remind his audience of the church's overarching message of its commitment to the poor, or of whatever message he's delivered that day, be it on the European migrant crisis,his thoughts on homosexuals considering the priesthood ("Who am I to judge?"), and the streamlining of the annulment process for divorced Catholics.
When asked about Francis' longevity as a master communicator, Burson Marsteller's Gensemer said the pope can continue to be part of the daily conversation if he can continue to tap into the zeitgeist and focus on specific issues.
"It can't be a generic message of forgiveness," he said.
Among traditional Catholics, that message is not always well received. The pope's message has also been described as "confusing" by Philadelphia's Archbishop Charles Chaput, who will host Francis when he attends the World Meeting of Families on Friday and Saturday, and there is nothing in church teachings that say those on the front lines have to hew to what the pope says.
"The biggest risk," said Gensemer, is what will happen with the local parish priest and those under him, and whether his new talk with manifest itself in the local church and how it comes to life in local teaching."
Pope as pastor or business basher?
While many of the challenges he faces are not unlike the CEO of a forprofit organization, the measures of success by which Francis will be measured are different.
"Nonprofits are not a dollars-and-cents proposition," said N2Growth's Baldoni. "Success is measured in retention numbers and new people coming in."
As of yet, a March survey by Pew Research showed little change in church attendance in the U.S., though Dorantes said Francis' impact may really be immeasurable.
"The whole mission is to be able to bring people to encounter Christ, and so that's the real measurement for us of profitability," the Holy See spokesman said. "How many people have encountered Christ through the work of the Catholic Church throughout the world?"
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f1279407ad90c4834016dd8793c1abe4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/what-won-the-day-at-tech-crunch-disrupt-agriculture.html | What won the day at Tech Crunch Disrupt? Agriculture | What won the day at Tech Crunch Disrupt? Agriculture
CEO Allison Kopf and CTO Jason Camp from Agrilyst celebrate winning Startup Battlefield during TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 at Pier 70 on Sept. 23, 2015, in San Francisco.Getty Images
Agrilyst, an online platform that provides data analytics to greenhouse growers, took top honors at TechCrunch Disrupt's start-up pitch competition on Wednesday.
The start-up beat out 25 others to take home $50,000 cash, and, just as importantly, a higher profile in the start-up community.
"You win this competition and immediately your inbox is flooded with investor emails, which I know 'cause it just happened," said founder and CEO Allison Kopf.
Agrilyst helps farmers better manage operations by pulling in and analyzing data through an online dashboard. It's a platform created by co-founder Jason Camp, a tech veteran who has built companies acquired by Google and Yahoo. It helps growers manage tasks such as harvesting, enabling them to adjust the timing of the growth cycle based on yield performance. Data is drawn from sensors on greenhouse hardware, uploaded from documents or manually entered.
"It may not be the flashiest and it may not be consumer-driven, but it's needed in the [agriculture] industry and the industry is big," said Kopf.
Kopf has four years' experience as a hydroponic grower and estimates the addressable market in the U.S. alone to grow to $9 billion. "Tech is now interested in agriculture, and that's damn exciting!" said Kopf.
VIDEO2:5802:58Dropbox CEO: Our focus is on collaborationPower Lunch
Agrilyst launched the platform in private beta just two months ago, and the company is already working with six greenhouses and generating revenue. Customers pay a subscription fee of $1,000 per acre, per month. The grand plan is to expand to hardware and grow the company internationally. With more than 1 million acres of vegetable production houses globally, Kopf says this is just the beginning: "Our long-term vision is really starting with the data, expanding into hardware and seeing where that takes us. We're really focused on international development pretty quickly."
"I love it when a founder starts a company because they have a personal problem and start a company to find a solution," said Sequoia Capital's Roelof Botha, one of Disrupt's judges.
"If you think about the need to feed people with hydroponics, greenhouses is going to be an increasing trend. It's already a large market, and they have very nice tailwinds," said Botha.
Where investor Milner is betting: e-commerce, aliens, AI
Though investments may not happen on the spot at Disrupt, venture capitalists often circle back later when the companies have had time to prove themselves further.
Past winners have gone on become so-called unicorns—start-ups that have risen to $1 billion in value or higher—such as cloud storage service Dropbox, now valued at around $10 billion and cloud-based automated human resource service Zenefits, valued at $4.5 billion.
Others have been snapped up by software giants; online personal finance service Mint was acquired for $170 million in 2009 by Intuit and enterprise social networking service Yammer was bought for $1.2 billion in 2012 by Microsoft. Of 508 start-ups that have participated since the first competition seven years ago, 65 have been acquired and two have entered the public markets.
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24185819aa13073d036e7145b29265f3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/xi-and-obama-neither-expected-to-see-the-light.html | Xi and Obama: Neither expected to 'see the light' | Xi and Obama: Neither expected to 'see the light'
VIDEO5:1405:14What Xi has achieved thus far in his US visitSquawk Box Asia
VIDEO1:3801:38Xi's visit to the US is breaking the ice: BNY MellonSquawk Box Asia
VIDEO3:0303:03Pres. Xi Jinping visit just a show?Squawk Box
Chinese president Xi Jinping will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for meetings with U.S. political leaders. And while the visit is likely to herald several announcements, experts say they'll be paying attention to what isn't said.
Xi, who comes to the U.S. capital from Seattle meetings with business leaders, may well show a willingness to publicly discuss climate change issues, bilateral investment and military-to-military agreements. Still, China watchers tell CNBC that he will want to avoid breakthroughs on major points of geopolitical or cyber contention.
China's Xi to visit US tech—amid tepid expectations
"The conceptual gaps are huge, he isn't going to 'see the light' on anything," Robert Daly, who directs the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center, said of Xi, adding that it was equally unlikely that Obama would fold on major policy points.
Cybersecurity, which administration officials and press reports drummed up as a major issue before Xi's visit, looks unlikely to yield any important agreements, Daly and other experts told CNBC.
In fact, The New York Times reported that China and the U.S. may unveil some sort of understanding (formal or informal) on not using cyberattacks to cripple each other's critical infrastructure during peace time, but cybersecurity and geopolitical analysts largely said this is a meaningless agreement.
"Taking down critical infrastructure is clearly an act of war," Daly said. "So to say that you're not going to engage in an act of war in peacetime seems a little odd—all's well to have agreements, but this one does not address any of the problems we have now."
At best, any deal will simply resemble a call for restraint, said Jason Healey, a senior research scholar at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. Any suggestion that a Xi-Obama agreement could reach the level of an "arms control accord," as previous reports deemed, is overly optimistic, he said.
Although he deemed the infrastructure hacking truce a "side deal" to the chief concerns of both countries, Healey said any agreement is a positive step for the relationship.
Chinese President Xi Jinping accompanies President Barack Obama to view an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People on Nov. 12, 2014, in Beijing.Getty Images
"The agreement on cyberarms is nice ... but it won't mean very much on the practical side," said Adam Segal, a senior fellow for China studies and director of the digital and cyberspace policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. "It really is just symbolic."
But anything more than a symbolic recognition of a problem may be asking too much of Xi's visit.
Harvard Law School's Jack Goldsmith wrote earlier this week that any specific agreement, even a narrow one, is unlikely to be feasible, citing the problems defining "critical" infrastructure and verifying the other side's actions.
The biggest impediment to making a deal work, however, is simply that the Chinese government refuses to admit that it engages in any offensive cyberactivities.
VIDEO2:5302:53Xi Jinping reassures US business leadersClosing Bell
"China is a staunch defender of cybersecurity. It is also a victim of hacking," Xi said in a speech in Seattle. "The Chinese government will not, in whatever form, engage in commercial theft or encourage or support such attempts by anyone. Both commercial cybertheft and hacking against government networks are crimes that must be punished in accordance with law and relevant international treaties."
Beijing's repeated claims of innocence present a particular problem for any peace accord, experts told CNBC.
"It's not clear to know what an agreement means when China denies any activities of the sort," Daly said.
Would cybertheft sanctions on China be effective?
U.S. authorities have decried attacks originating in China for several years. Richard Bejtlich, FireEye's chief security strategist, told CNBC that no other country attacks American and European companies as frequently as China.
Many security analysts who spoke with CNBC said that the U.S.'s big problem is China's regular attempt at corporate cyberespionage.
"[That deal] does nothing to address the No. 1 problem, which is the steady erosion of our competitiveness by theft of commercial data," Bejtlich said. "If you can erode that key quality of innovation by being an exceptional fast follower—and maybe even beating the original product to market—then that makes life very, very difficult for us."
Most are expecting Xi's silence on the subject.
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9627011811430aaa88337673709b7570 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/24/your-first-trade-for-friday-september-25.html | VIDEO0:5800:58Fast Money Final Trade: TBT, TLT & moreFast Money
The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour was a buyer of TBT.
Dan Nathan was a buyer of TLT.
Karen Finerman was a buyer of FINL.
Guy Adami was a buyer of LMT.
Trader disclosure: On Thursday, September 24th the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, CLF, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JPM, LGF, T, TWTR, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO. Dan is long PYPL Oct call calendar, BA Oct put spread, INTC Oct put spread, QQQ Oct put spread, UAL Oct/Nov put spread, XLU call spread, TWTR, PG. Karen Finerman is long BAC, C, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, KORS, KORS call spreads, M, URI, she is short SPY, Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, FBT, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, GPS, IBB, JPM, KORS, KORs calls, M, M calls, SUNE, URI, URI long puts, XBI, KORS call spreads, M call spreads, her firm is short IWM, SPY, MDY, USO, Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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d2a10e05356ce9081bb7bce6f4e977fb | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/4-stocks-to-help-read-the-chinese-consumer.html | After Nike's blowout earnings report cited strong growth in China, many market watchers were left scratching their heads on just how the world's second-largest economy is faring. CNBC "Fast Money" traders stressed investors cannot judge wider Chinese consumption based on one company's performance.
Still, growth in China bodes well for Nike, said trader Brian Kelly. The company's stock rose nearly 9 percent Friday, a day after it reported quarterly earnings that easily topped expectations.
People wait in line at a Starbucks location.Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Trader Tim Seymour looked to coffee chain Starbucks to read the Chinese consumer. He said the company was in a "growth cycle" there, adding that it may have more room to expand.
Read MoreNike earnings: $1.34, vs expected EPS of $1.19
On the other hand, investors may want to watch Caterpillar to gauge the situation in China, said trader Steve Grasso. The industrial giant said this week it could cut up to 10,000 jobs by 2018, lowering sales guidance amid a commodities crunch influenced by China.
Read MoreCaterpillar to cut up to 10K jobs; lowers guidance
Trader Guy Adami said Freeport-McMoRan could also help gauge the effect China has on companies exposed to commodities. The stock has fallen nearly 60 percent this year.
Disclosures:
Tim Seymour
Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, CLF, DIS, F, FCX, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JPM, KO, LGF, T, TWTR, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO.
Steve Grasso
Long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, STRP, T, TWTR, GDX firm is long KO, MCD, WYNN, AMZN kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, GLD, Bitcoin, US Dollar, Crude Oil; he is short Yuan, British Pound, Euro, Yen, EEM, EWC, EWU, EWG, SPY, S&P 500 Futures.
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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c80076965d42ab124af5eb326a6dcb93 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/activision-launches-a-call-of-duty-e-sports-league.html | Activision launches a Call of Duty e-sports league | Activision launches a Call of Duty e-sports league
Video game publisher Activision is creating a worldwide e-sports league for "Call of Duty," the popular first-person shooter, with a prize pot of $3 million.
The new league will begin in January 2016, a few months after the latest game in the franchise, "Call of Duty: Black Ops III", is released to fans.
Fans wait to play Call of Duty Black Ops III at the E3 conference in JuneFrederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images
E-sports is fast becoming a money-spinning pastime: It generated $194 million revenue in 2014 through advertising, merchandise and media rights, according to games market research firm Newzoo. The sector is expected to keep growing and Newzoo predicts it will be worth $765 million by 2018.
"Three years ago, we held the first Call of Duty Championship to showcase the dedication and skill of 'Call of Duty' players around the world," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing in a press release.
"Since then, e-sports have become a global phenomenon with more than 120 million people watching online competitive gaming each year and 'Call of Duty' continues to lead as the top console e-sports franchise in the world."
Read MoreYou can now play a fantasy league in…e-sports
The league will consist of two divisions: a Pro division for seasoned e-sports teams, and a Challenge division allowing amateurs and aspiring teams the chance to compete. A series of regional competitions will be held, leading to the Call of Duty Championship in Autumn 2016.
Expanding into e-sports will also help to revive the 12-year-old game franchise.
"'Call of Duty' has been a persistent, high-level presence in gaming for well over a decade, and such a matured offering is at risk of stagnation," Steve Bailey, senior games analyst for IHS Technology, told CNBC via email. "Investing in a formal league structure allows 'Call of Duty' to maintain relevance in a fast-shifting landscape that also helps diversify its business."
Read More
However, the new league will face competition from other popular e-sports franchises such as "Counter-Strike", "League of Legends" and "DOTA".
"'Call of Duty's' biggest competition will come from other team-based shooters, especially 'Counter-Strike'. Even then, you could argue that 'Call of Duty' and 'Counter-Strike' target somewhat different audiences, so I think the risk of cannibalisation is yet some way off," said Bailey.
"One factor in favor of first-person shooters is that skillful play is easier to perceive, for the average person, compared to the complex systems that make up games like 'League of Legends.'"
Activision's new league is another indication that e-sports have become mainstream entertainment.
"ESPN is now a supporter of eSports, Turner has just formed its own leagues and is about to start broadcasting on TBS, and so on; eSports has its own superstar players and teams, doping scandals, sponsorship controversies, and tournament prize pots that rival many of the world's biggest sports," said Bailey. "Activision's new 'Call Of Duty' league will certainly add yet more validation to that pile."
Follow Luke on Twitter: @LukeWGraham
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6e594d89bfba686c6bf926cf06ca2a2c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/apple-iphone-growth-not-slowing-yet-analyst.html | Apple iPhone growth not slowing yet: Analyst | Apple iPhone growth not slowing yet: Analyst
VIDEO2:2302:23A renaissance of iPhone growth: Pro Closing Bell
For some Apple watchers, consumers assembled at the tech giant's brick and mortar stores for a product release can give key hints about growth prospects.
One bullish analyst sees positive signs from talking to buyers of the next-generation iPhone, which launched Friday morning. Concerns have grown that Apple's momentum could slow if the device saturates, but those fears look overblown based on the early rollout of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, contended Dan Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.
"We really saw a lot of enthusiasm across the board," he said on CNBC's "Closing Bell." "Apple's going to prove a lot of the skeptics wrong."
A customer at an Apple store in Moscow.Dmitry Dukhanin | Kommersant Photo | Getty Images
In a note Friday, FBR contended initial demand for the devices looked "very strong" and maintained its "outperform rating" on Apple shares. Pre-sales activity, including in China, looks promising for Apple, and first weekend sales of 12 million or more would signal a "renaissance of growth," Ives said Friday.
Read MoreApple: We are on pace to beat last year's iPhone first-weekend record
He expects an initial sales number from Apple early next week. The company previously signaled that first weekend sales could beat the record set with the launch of the iPhone 6 last year.
The sluggish stock would likely need that catalyst to climb higher. Apple shares are up about 4 percent this year, but dropped off significantly over the summer amid concerns about China, a key growth market.
Many market watchers have also noted that Apple faces challenging earnings reports later this year, when it could report iPhone sales lower than the blowout numbers it posted last year. Still, Ives sees a "massive growth opportunity" as more existing iPhone users start to upgrade their devices.
Read MoreChina's fake Apple stores thrive on new iPhone launch
Apple shares closed about a quarter of a percent lower Friday.
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6acee02798f3b495a26f3f3e9eadb9f1 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/bizarre-flag-fight-in-spain-ahead-of-catalan-vote.html | Bizarre flag fight in Spain ahead of Catalan vote | Bizarre flag fight in Spain ahead of Catalan vote
VIDEO3:3003:30Catalonia independence flag sparks controversySquawk Box Europe
VIDEO2:1202:12Catalonia independence is bad for businessWorldwide Exchange
VIDEO2:3002:30Catalonia: Pro-separatist companies is very smallWorldwide Exchange
VIDEO2:2102:21We are trying to get our freedom: Artus MasWorldwide Exchange
A bizarre scuffle over flags between regional politicians in Catalonia, the region in north-eastern Spain vying for independence, broke out on Thursday as tensions run high in the region before a key vote on Sunday.
In Barcelona on Thursday, politicians from pro-independence parties in Catalonia and Spain's ruling conservative party tussled over the unfurling of flags outside Barcelona's City Hall in what has been described as a "childish spat."
At a rally of pro-independence supporters gathered outside the city hall, Alfred Bosch and Jordi Coronas of the left-wing, pro-independence Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) hung an estelada -- the official flag of the separatist movement - from the city hall's balcony.
The act immediately provoked Alberto Fernández Díaz, from the conservative Popular Party of Catalonia (PPC) -- an affiliate of Spain's ruling People's Party -- to try to hang the Spanish flag to the jeers of the crowd watching the tussle. He refused to move his flag until both were removed.
The flag fight comes amid rising tension ahead of a key vote in Catalonia on Sunday that is widely an election testing the public's appetite for independence.
Separatists argue that Catalonia, an industrial area and popular tourism destination that contributes 19 percent of Spanish GDP, is subsidizing the rest of Spain but opponents say that Catalonia might have lose the euro and be forced from the European Union.
Pro-independence parties have said that if they win a majority of the seats in the Catalan parliament, they will push ahead with plans for an official referendum on independence and negotiations with the Spanish government in Madrid for more power. For its part, the government calls the notion of independence nonsensical and refuses to negotiate.
Speaking to CNBC Friday, Alfred Bosch, who was involved in the tussle over flags on Thursday, told CNBC that "it was not such a big deal" and denied it was an inflammatory move.
"We just showed the freedom flag and it represents a movement now rolling on in Catalonia. It was a question of freedom of expression," he said.
"I showed the utmost respect for the Spanish flag and tried to pacify people booing at the flag and I also offered my apologies to anyone who might have felt offended by what happened."
As for the election on Sunday, Bosch felt that a vote for independence was primarily was Catalonia having its own constitution and believed independence was just a matter of time. "Eventually, I imagine there will be a declaration (of independence) like there was in the U.S," he said.
Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld
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9cf49b6f1e9c191fff9b1d80468bc0a1 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/blackberry-posts-quarterly-loss-as-turnaround-continues.html | BlackBerry posts quarterly loss as turnaround continues | BlackBerry posts quarterly loss as turnaround continues
Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
BlackBerry reported a second-quarter adjusted loss on Friday as the company's turnaround continued and it attempted to boost revenue from its software division.
Excluding one-time items like a non-cash credit tied to the value of debentures and restructuring charges, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a quarterly loss of $66 million, or 13 cents a share.
Including the impact of the non-cash gain, in the period ended Aug. 29, it earned a net profit of $51 million. That compared with a loss of $207 million a year earlier.
Quarterly revenue fell 46.5 percent to $490 million in the period.
Analysts expected the Toronto-based company to post a loss of 9 cents per share on revenue of $611 million, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.
Earlier this month, Blackberry agreed to buy software provider Good Technology for $425 million an effort to bolster its enterprise business.
Nevertheless, the company's stock has continued to fall, plunging more than 7 percent in September and about 36 percent year to date, according to FactSet.
—CNBC contributed to this report.
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65c769f2501b7f5f424435d29e85a9b1 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/bond-investors-take-stock-of-yellen-speech.html | Bond investors take stock of Yellen speech | Bond investors take stock of Yellen speech
Federal Reserve Chair Janet YellenMary Schwalm | Reuters
U.S. government debt prices were lower Friday as investors reacted to Thursday's speech from Fed Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Yellen may have slightly recalibrated expectations for a rate rise by saying she personally anticipates a hike this year.
Treasurys
The Fed chair said it would likely be appropriate to raise rates from near zero "sometime later this year," though the decision would continue to rely on economic data.
In her comments last week, Yellen had not identified herself as part of the group favoring rate hikes this year, but she had made a similar comment during the summer.
On the data front, the final second-quarter GDP reading came in at 3.9 percent, above the expected 3.7 percent.. Consumer sentiment is due to be released at 10:00 a.m.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sat higher on Friday, at around 2.16 percent, after closing at 2.12 percent on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year bond was also up, at around 2.95 percent, after closing at 2.905 percent. The yield on a bond rises when its price falls.
Treasury bill yields surged earlier after surprise news that House Speaker John Boehner will resign from Congress ahead of a potential government shutdown.
Read MoreBoehner will resign from Congress
The yield for three-month Treasurys tripled in minutes, albeit from very low levels. Yields on six-month Treasurys also jumped.
Treasury bills represent government debt that matures in the very short term, and thus react to short-term fears around government funding. If the risk increases that short-term bills won't get paid off (currently seen as exceptionally unlikely), short-term yields will need to rise in order to compensate for that risk.
Thursday saw the Treasury Department auction $29 billion in seven-year notes at a high yield of 1.813 percent. The bid-to-cover ratio, an indicator of demand, was 2.51 and above the recent average of 2.45.
--CNBC's Alex Rosenberg contributed to this report
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68ce07fbbb7157016e5e8f264138c81c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/carbon-neutral-jebsen-jessen-aims-to-be-an-environmental-trailblazer.html | How this century-old firm is championing sustainability | How this century-old firm is championing sustainability
VIDEO11:0911:09Jebsen & Jessen aims to be an environmental trailblazerManaging Asia
Being one of Asia's first carbon-neutral companies, Jebsen & Jessen (SEA) makes sustainability a priority and is willing to turn down profitable projects if they fall short of the company's green requirements.
"There were certainly investment decisions which we have not taken and businesses which we have gotten out of. People questioned maybe because there's a certain degree of spoilsport. But there are also businesses that we went into thinking and hoping that there's money to be made," chairman Heinrich Jessen told CNBC's "Managing Asia."
One of which was ditching plastic-based covering and opting to produce paper-based packaging for the electronics industry in 1997.
"We made a rather large investment in paper-based packaging from recycled news print, [but] it turned out that the market was much smaller than we had thought. We're still doing the business though, because it fits the philosophy of going green," Jessen who has a master's degree in Industrial Environment Management from Yale University said.
Read MoreIt's not easy being green: The two sides of healthy turf
Based primarily in Southeast Asia, Jebsen & Jessen (SEA) Pte. Ltd is an industrial conglomerate with a history that stretches back 120 years. It owns and operates businesses in areas such as cable technology, chemicals and information technology.
The company went carbon neutral in 2011 and pushed for all of its business units to be ISO certified. Other environmentally-friendly policies include the banning of toxic chemicals such as solvents in its paints and the exclusion of shark fin soup - a mainstay of Chinese cuisine that's often seen as auspicious - at company dinners. Moving forward, the company has plans to further reduce its carbon footprint.
Heinrich Jessen, chairman of Jebsen & Jessen (SEA).CNBC
But moving sustainability up the priority list comes at a cost. When asked how he balances his ideals with the need to keep the company profitable, the former tropical ecologist said: " We tried a number of things which frankly didn't work out because people [and] the market are not willing to pay a premium yet. But I think making money also comes from saving money. Ultimately when you save resources, you are saving money."
"So, a major part of our 'sustainability-equals-profits' mantra ultimately stems from saving costs or reducing risks," Jessen added.
While he noted that the company's insurance premiums have "come down quite drastically as insurers [noted] a reduction in risks," the benefits of going green remain few and little.
For one, the policy of carbon neutrality has not yielded the company additional support from its clients. "There's no customer who said: "Because you're carbon neutral, I will place my order with you."
Read MoreLloyd's warns on climate change impact
From the end of regulators, companies are also not recognized for their efforts to operate in a more environmentally friendly way. Hence, Jessen recommends the implementation of a carbon tax.
"There are no tax savings when it comes to carbon neutrality and there's not much interest from the market so that is disheartening," he said.
Despite these, the third-generation boss told CNBC he is not giving up on his pursuit for greener pastures "I think somebody's got to [take a] lead in this... There will be a critical mass at some point that will take this on and I think it doesn't harm to be the model for that."
— This interview with Heinrich Jessen, chairman of Jebsen & Jessen (SEA) is the final installment of a five-part special series called "Managing Asia: The Next Generation". CNBC's Christine Tan spoke to leaders from the second- to fourth generation in Asia, to find out what it takes to transform family businesses to new levels of growth.
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64d22f72548ad94a083bb85e7b50541c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/carl-icahn-to-launch-new-website.html | Carl Icahn to launch new website | Carl Icahn to launch new website
VIDEO0:2800:28Carl Icahn is launching a new web siteInternet
Activist investor Carl Icahn is launching a new website, his office announced Thursday evening.
The site, www.carlicahn.com, will be used "from time to time to communicate with the public about our company and other issues," Icahn Enterprises said in a news release. The site was not yet live as of Friday morning.
The billionaire investor will also use other platforms to disclose material non-public information, including Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and the website www.shareholderssquaretable.com.
Read More Icahn becomes top Freeport-McMoRan shareholder
Icahn's Twitter account—with about 245,000 followers—is already widely watched for news on the activist's latest moves. In August, he used that platform to announce an agreement with Cheniere, and (potentially jokingly) accept a Treasury Secretary offer from presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
Cheniere tweet.
Trump tweet.
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f85b48e35171126930ba6becedfdc3fc | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/cash-flows-beat-stocks-for-first-time-since-1990.html | Cash flows beat stocks for first time since 1990 | Cash flows beat stocks for first time since 1990
Investors piled into cash-equivalent, money-market funds over the last week, making the asset class more popular than bond and equity funds for the first time in 25 years, new data shows.
Some $17 billion was pumped into cash funds in the week to Wednesday, while $3.3 billion where pulled out of stocks through ETFs and mutual funds, according to research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and EPFR Global published Friday.
Read MoreCharts point to breach of August lows for S&P 500
solvod | iStock / 360 | Getty Images
Meanwhile bond funds saw just $400 million in inflows over the same period, meaning cash is outperforming both asset classes this year for the first time since 1990, the data reveals.
Money market funds invest in very short-term, liquid debt such as U.S. Treasurys and offer investors low volatility, meaning they are often thought of as a cash-equivalent.
Corporate bonds saw their twelfth straight week of outflows, with safe-haven Treasury bond funds picking up some of the slack.
Global chief investment officer at UBS Wealth management, Mark Haefele has cut his U.S. high-yield corporate bond position this month, having been overweight the asset class since the end of 2011.
Read More'Ex-sector' ETFs offer new way to bet on stocks
"Recent market moves have investors questioning the efficacy of quantitative easing's (QE) upside impact on equity markets. Markets are likely to remain fragile in anticipation of economic growth data that are still a few weeks away," Haefele said.
"We have made one change to our tactical positioning this month: A downgrade in U.S. high yield from overweight to neutral.
"This position, which has performed well since initiation in 2011, no longer offers an attractive risk-adjusted rate of return. An increase to our equity overweight position is under consideration, but we need to see a reduction in market volatility and evidence that developed market economies are stable before taking action," he added.
Overall, Haefele is still overweight equities, in anticipation markets will move higher in the next six months.
As well as sticking to cash, investors pulled $7.4 billion from the State Street's SPDR S&P 500 ETF, the world's largest ETF.
BofA ML said bearishness on financial markets had peaked at levels not seen since October 2011, which they said is a contrarian "buy" signal for investors.
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f309c9af66ba0e74f78bc1527f3b4336 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/cnbc-digital-video-exclusive-jeb-bush-sits-down-with-cnbcs-chief-washington-correspondent-john-harwood.html | CNBC Digital Video Exclusive: Jeb Bush Sits Down with CNBC’s Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood | CNBC Digital Video Exclusive: Jeb Bush Sits Down with CNBC’s Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood
WHEN: Today, Friday, September 25
WHERE: CNBC.com's Speakeasy with John Harwood: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/an-undeterred-jeb-bush-vows-im-all-in.html
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 62, remains the financial heavyweight of the Republican presidential field, with more than $100 million raised for his Super-PAC and $11 million for his campaign as of midyear. But he is no longer the consensus front-runner, having fallen behind Donald Trump and Ben Carson nationally, and others in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He still benefits from significant institutional support from Republican officeholders, business leaders and policy advisers. He aimed to deepen those advantages with the recent release of his tax-cut plan, which went beyond anything his brother George W. Bush proposed. Bush sat down with John Harwood to discuss his campaign at the Parlor City Pub in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
A partial transcript from Speakeasy with John Harwood featuring Jeb Bush follows. All references must be sourced to CNBC.com:
HARWOOD: Governor, thanks for doin' this.
BUSH: Yeah.
HARWOOD: So in solidarity with your paleo thing, I got the same thing.
BUSH: Thank you.
HARWOOD: Trump does this low energy thing with you. There are times that I've looked at you and I've thought, "Maybe you lost too much weight and you look a little gaunt." Do you think that that might be—
BUSH: No. Trump is just proven the point, if you're loud and you repeat something over and over again—
HARWOOD: Yeah.
BUSH: You think that that turns it into truth.
HARWOOD: Right.
BUSH: This diet actually has created significantly more energy, if you think about it. If you're overweight and not in good shape, you can't sustain the kinda campaign I did. I mean, I campaign.
HARWOOD: Yeah.
BUSH: I mean, I'm all in.
HARWOOD: For real.
BUSH: I mean, I don't just go down the elevator, have a press conference, or stay in my room and call in. It should be arduous. You're running for president of the United States, for cryin' out loud." You gotta deal with Putin.
HARWOOD: Let's talk about economics for a minute. We had 12 years of Reagan and your dad, eight years of Clinton, eight years of your brother, and now seven years of Obama. The only president who oversaw 4% growth in every year of the term in the last generation was Bill Clinton in the second half of the 1990s after he had raised taxes, which many Republicans said was gonna tank the economy. Just as they've said about Obama's tax increase.
BUSH: Well, you look at the economy, it's-- no one's-- no one's celebrating 2% growth except the liberals.
HARWOOD: Okay. Let's go back to Clinton--
BUSH: They say the new normal. With the new normal, it's-- it's reject outta hand. Bill Clinton didn't reject the new normal.
HARWOOD: Right.
BUSH: He signed trade agreements. He was not hostile to capitalism.
HARWOOD: You really think Obama's hostile to capitalism?
BUSH: Yeah, no, I definitely do. I think he believes-- I think he has a deep-seated belief that through government programs and through government regulation, you can improve the social condition. I think that's his default place.
HARWOOD: There'd been a lot of Republican predictions in recent years, both for Clinton and Obama that tax increases, Obamacare was going to destroy the economy and with Clinton, the economy got better over the course of his term. And with Obama, the economy's gotten better. It's not great, but it's gotten better than it was—
BUSH: It's the-- well, it's the worst recovery in modern history. And disposable income for—
HARWOOD: Well, he inherited the greatest recession since the Great Depression.
BUSH: Yeah, we're in year six. At what point do we say, "The dog--" stop saying, "The dog ate my homework," and it's someone else's responsibility?
HARWOOD: You once in describing your years in prep school said, "I was a cynical little turd."
BUSH: This is the second time in the last week I've had to talk about my teenage years.
HARWOOD: I have got to think that the events that have unfolded in the campaign so far have revived just a bit of that cynicism.
BUSH: Not at all, not at all.
HARWOOD: Really?
BUSH: No. Man, this is the greatest—
HARWOOD: The look on you face on that debate stage when you're hearing some of the stuff from Donald Trump right next to you, and there's a look of disgust, that I can't believe he's saying this stuff, that's-- that's gotta make you cynical—
BUSH: No, not at all. It-- it's-- it is what it is. It's part of this angst that people feel. I can-- I can sense why people-- why he's a phenomena. But I think-- I think in the long run, people are gonna wanna have someone that has the experience and the skills and the ideas to lift them up. And I-- I'm not deterred by that at all.
HARWOOD: Governor, thanks so much.
BUSH: John, thanks.
HARWOOD: Great.
BUSH: Thanks for the dinner.
About CNBC:
With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 371 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms. These include CNBC.com, the online destination for global business; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides real-time global market data and live access to CNBC global programming; and a suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone and iPad Apps.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/cnbc/.
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4c849e61c690bd88865e9884ebd7fe63 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/cnbc-explains-how-copyrights-become-public-domain.html | CNBC Explains: How copyrights become public domain | CNBC Explains: How copyrights become public domain
Jose Luis Gutierrez | E+ | Getty Images
Grab a slice of cake. You can now sing "Happy Birthday" without risking a lawsuit.
A U.S. federal judge dismissed Warner/Chappell Music's copyright claim of the birthday tune and placed "Happy Birthday to You" into public domain on Tuesday.
The company has been enforcing the copyright since 1988, when it bought Birch Tree Group, a company that supposedly held the initial copyright, for $15 million, according to Billboard.
Why we can now all sing 'Happy Birthday'
The lengthy court case was brought forth in 2013 by musician Rupa Marya and filmmaker Robert Siegel, who argued that the company was wrongly asserting copyright ownership.
Judge George H. King ruled that Warner/Chappell Music did not own the rights to the lyrics of the song but rather the copyright to a specific piano arrangement in the melody.
This is not the first copyright to come under scrutiny in recent years and it will likely not be the last. Copyright law is complicated. So, how does it really work? CNBC explains.
Public domain encompasses all works that are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or a fee in order to be used. These works fall into this domain for three reasons:
The work is not considered copyrightable by law.The works have been given to public domain by the author.The copyright of the work has expired.
Literary works: Traditionally, novels, stories, essays, etc., but has since been expanded to include computer programs.Musical compositions: This copyright includes both the lyrics and the tune.Dramatic works: Plays, screenplays and TV scripts are included in this category.Pantomimes and choreographic works: This includes ballets, dances or mime routines.Artwork: This category encompasses paintings and drawing as well as sculptures, maps, diagrams and blueprints.Audio-visual works: Movies, film strips and even slideshow presentations are included in this copyright.Sound recordings: Different from a musical composition, a sound recording copyright goes beyond the sheet music and copyrights the sounds on the recording as separate entities.Architectural works: Similar to artwork, architectural works can be copyrighted by their blueprints, but they can also be copyrighted by their physical structure and design.
Ideas or factsExpired copyrightsWorks of the United States governmentLaws or regulationsWorks authors have dedicated to the public domain
All works published in the United States prior to 1923 are considered public domain. Why 1923? Because of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act and Disney's mascot Mickey Mouse.
The Copyright Act of 1909 initially stipulated that all works were granted protection for 28 years, with the option to renew for an additional 28 years. After that 56-year period, the work would enter the public domain, according to the United State Copyright Office.
"Steamboat Willie," the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon was published in 1928 and thus was slated to become public domain in 1984. However, Disney lobbied Congress in 1976 to extend copyright law to a term of 75 years. With that extension, the company's copyright would expire in 2003.
This wasn't the only time that Disney advocated for a copyright extension. In the late '90s, the company once again lobbied congress and in 1998 the Sonny Bono Act was signed into effect by President Bill Clinton. This act extended all existing copyrighted material by an additional 20 years.
Works that had been published in 1922 were unaffected because their 75-year copyrights had already expired by the time the extension was enacted. Works published in 1923, which had not expired in 1998, were granted the 20-year extension.
If Congress does not elect to extend the length of copyright, these works will begin to enter public domain in 2018. However, it would not be unexpected for Disney to seek another copyright extension for their famous rodent. In fact, brand experts in 2008 valued Disney's mouse at more than $3 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times. No doubt that number has only increased in the last seven years. (Disney didn't respond to a request for comment.)
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Architects ask for $2.9B to build Lord of the Rings city
According to the United States Copyright Office, copyright protection for all works created after Jan. 1, 1978, lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.
For any work made for hire, published under a pseudonym or anonymously, the copyright is set for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.
Unpublished works are a bit different, however. Works that were never formally published become part of the public domain 70 years after the author's death. In contrast, anonymously unpublished works are incorporated into public domain 120 years from the date of creation.
To make things even more complicated, copyrighted works can enter the public domain if they are not published with a copyright notice or haven't been registered for copyright within five years of publication.
These rules change depending on what year the work was published. Cornell University broke down the specific copyright and public domain terms in a timeline on its website.
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b756e19b889bbc50bf230ca8782da08e | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/cnbc-explains-john-boehner-resigns-whats-next.html | CNBC explains: John Boehner resigns, what's next? | CNBC explains: John Boehner resigns, what's next?
John BoehnerGetty Images
In the wake of House Speaker John Boehner's surprise resignation announcement, here's what will happen.
First, the House will call for an election to appoint a new speaker once the resignation takes effect at the end of October, as what happens when a new Congress convenes.
Once the election has been called, each major party conference or caucus nominates a candidate for speaker, according to the House website.
Read More Speaker John Boehner resigns from Congress
The winner must receive at least 50 percent of the roll call vote. However, this could be less than the majority of the House because of vacancies and absentee voters.
If an absolute majority is not reached initially, the roll call is repeated until one is reached.
Boehner, 65, became the 61st House speaker in 2011, succeeding Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and will be the first speaker to resign since 1989.
Pundits have said the number two Republican in the House, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California, is a front-runner to succeed Boeher.
Read More If you thought Boehner brought the ruckus, stay tuned
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995bed32790269b4913becd57bd5f2ec | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/court-shoppers-for-the-long-haul.html | With QVC's help, no more one-night stands for Zulily | With QVC's help, no more one-night stands for Zulily
When QVC's parent company announced last month that it would acquire online retailer Zulily for $2.4 billion, the obvious implication was that Zulily—which targets a younger shopper than QVC—could help the storied brand broaden its customer base.
But there's another, less-talked-about synergy that Zulily stands to gain from its predecessor: how to better attract repeat buyers.
After Zulily's second-quarter earnings call last month, management admitted that over the past two years it became too focused on quickly growing its customer base. As a result, it ended up recruiting consumers who had a lower-than-expected retention rate, and a lesser lifetime value.
Although QVC CEO Mike George said Zulily is already making strides in learning how to attract a more loyal customer, it's something his company, which generates 90 percent of its sales from repeat customers, can help accelerate.
"What I think we've learned over the years is, how do you earn that new customer who's going to stick with you, [and] who's not just there to buy the item on sale," George said.
Mike George, president and CEO of QVC Inc.Ramin Talaie | Bloomberg | Getty Images
One way QVC has done so is by targeting its advertising and marketing toward shoppers who aren't just looking for a quick deal on a particular purchase. Though George acknowledged that the most effective spending will always be paid search on a popular brand, QVC's approach is to instead focus on the platform and stories behind its brands.
"You know that you're making a bet that that spend will give you less attention initially … but over the course of that time period you'll start to earn that highly loyal, high-quality repeat customer," George said.
That strategy stands in marked contrast to transaction-based retailers, including Amazon, which thrive at filling impulse purchases, George said. But it's also what he said made Zulily so attractive. Despite catering to vastly different consumer groups—a recent report by RW Baird said that only 6 percent of Zulily's customers made a purchase on QVC last year—George said both companies strive toward a loyalty-driven model.
Last month, Zulily management spoke about a recent analysis it ran on shoppers visiting its site, who got there via one of two advertisements. One ad featured a well-known shoe brand; the other showed "uniquely styled but unbranded women's dresses."
Don't count on a very merry Christmas
The shoe ad generated twice the amount of customer activations on the first day; however, two and a half years later, the amount of spending attributable to those who clicked on the dress was significantly higher. The brand has since shifted its strategy accordingly.
"Traditionally, our marketing spend has been primarily on customer acquisition with only modest attention towards customers who had stopped purchasing from us," CEO Darrell Cavens said. "As we better understand the impact different types of ads have on lifetime value, we also see greater opportunities to tailor our messaging to customers post-acquisition."
Despite its missteps, Zulily still generates 88 percent of its sales from repeat buyers.
On QVC's end, George said he has yet to identify the synergies that will come from the Zulily acquisition, though he expects they will be more on the revenue than profit side. It has also not yet been decided exactly how the two brands will work together to leverage a combined customer base, and expose each brands' customers to the other platform.
VIDEO3:1803:18Worst holiday retail sales forecast in yearsClosing Bell
One idea being tossed around is bringing QVC's deal of the day to Zulily's site. George said that exposing the products QVC sells could help it overcome its reputation as a dated shopping model. Another idea is treating Zulily's sellers like a "farm team"—a baseball term for a team that provides training for young players. Similar to farm players, small vendors that perform well on Zulily could potentially get "called up" to the big leagues of QVC TV, George said.
Although Zulily and QVC tend to cater to different demographics—Zulily shoppers tend to be young moms, whereas QVC's clientele typically fall into the 35- to 65-year range—there is some overlap at the lower end of that range, George said.
He added that QVC has become increasingly relevant to younger shoppers through partnerships with millennial-friendly brands including BaubleBar and C. Wonder, and upgrading its iPad app to simplify the buying process for people who want to watch QVC on TV, but order through a digital device.
Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru cautioned that QVC will not be able to rely on the Zulily name alone to attract new customers, pointing to the fact that many customers are not aware that Banana Republic and Old Navy are run by the same company (Gap).
"Just because you own two different companies doesn't mean that the customer knows," she said.
How your buying behavior can predict your gender
Other challenges facing QVC in the modern world include cord cutters, an ability to obtain and hold onto premium channel placement and adjacencies, and keeping the attention of shoppers who are constantly consuming multiple forms of media at a time, Mulpuru said.
She added that while QVC shoppers likely aren't as obsessed with free shipping offers as the broader consumer base, the company does face a headwind in that it still charges shipping fees on many products, and returns cost between $6.95 and $10.95 for nondefective items, depending on their weight. That could deter new customers from shopping on the site, Mulpuru said.
Despite these hurdles, George said one advantage QVC holds is its experience as a direct-to-consumer retailer, at a time when most bricks-and-mortar retailers continue to struggle with digital. Not only does the company have experience engaging consumers with video, George said, "you can't underestimate" that it ships 170 million packages a year.
This logistics experience is another area in which Zulily stands to benefit from a QVC acquisition. In the third quarter of 2014, RW Baird analyst Colin Sebastian noted that the average order-to-ship time from Zulily fulfillment centers was a lengthy 11.6 days.
Luxury brands can be their own worst enemy
"Since Zulily does not pre-stock inventory, it typically has long order-to-ship times," he told investors.
Aside from the Zulily synergies, George said QVC is also focused on international growth. The company recently extended its reach into 109 million homes in China, making that the largest market in terms of reach. And last month, the company launched in France, its fourth European market.
George is also keeping his eye out for other "amazing" buyout opportunities—though he expects to spend most of his time realizing the synergies between QVC and Zulily.
"I certainly wouldn't rule out more acquisitions, but we have a lot to do get the full benefit out of the Zulily combination," he said.
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79cddde28f465030babdc6d6466aeeb3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/cramer-game-plan-how-to-play-the-coming-rate-hike.html | VIDEO12:2812:28Cramer game plan: Rate hike coming. How to play itMad Money with Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer called Friday's market a roller coaster, as it spent the day seesawing between people who want a rate hike and those who fear one. Ultimately, the Dow closed in the green, and the S&P and Nasdaq closed down.
"It makes sense. Some people want to believe that with Fed Chief Janet Yellen saying there will be a rate hike, we have somehow eliminated the uncertainty that the market loathes," the "Mad Money" host said.
But there are still bigger-picture worries in the back of Cramer's mind that a rate hike cannot solve. Such as the black holes of Glencore, the European commodity company; Petrobras, the Brazilian company with $170 billion in debt; and now disgraced Volkswagen. None of these issues benefit from a rate hike.
These concerns overshadow the strength of individual companies, such as Nike, which put up amazing numbers on Thursday and had almost no pin action outside of itself.
However, there will be winners of the rate hike in a higher-interest world.
"This impending rate hike will mark the beginning of a turn in the bank stocks, and I urge you to recognize that Wells Fargo's alive and doing quite well," Cramer said,
With these thoughts on his radar, Cramer laid out his game plan of stocks and events he will be watching next week:
Monday: Personal income, personal spending and pending home sales, as well as Vail ResortsCramer thinks this data will spark commentary that the Fed will act in its October meeting.
Vail Resorts: Will the notable decline in travel in the U.S., thanks to a stronger dollar making it more expensive for foreign travelers, impact the stock? Cramer wants to see what Vail has to say about these issues, though he expects a strong report.
Tuesday: Workday and General Electric analyst meetings, Costco, Diamond FoodsGeneral Electric: CEO Jeff Immelt has worked tirelessly to address major concerns about the company. GE has offloaded a ton of its financial exposure and beefed up manufacturing. Yet people are still worried that it has too much exposure to China, oil and gas. Cramer thinks this is insane and hopes that Immelt calms fears when he speaks.
Costco: Cramer expects a fantastic quarter, which could catapult the stock out of its funk that it has been in lately.
Wednesday: Chicago Purchasing Manager report, Paychex, BoxChicago PM report: Cramer's reluctance to endorse a rate hike stems from the overseas turmoil and a slowdown in domestic manufacturing due to the strong dollar. He expects this report to confirm his thoughts on manufacturing, but the market may be willing to overlook this weakness.
Box: The stock has been challenged lately. Cramer expects Box will have a good story to tell. But no one knows if it will be good enough to lift the stock given its action lately.
Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Cramer Remix: Here is your Volkswagen trade Cramer: Caterpillar pain is just beginning Cramer's tale of horror—activism ruined this stock
Thursday: Clorox and Dunkin Donuts analyst meetings, McCormick, MicronMicron: Cramer isn't expecting a hot number given the high supply of DRAM chips and flash memories. Anything can bounce, even Micron, but he isn't willing to endorse buying it ahead of the quarter. He recommended selling it into any bounce, either before or after the quarter.
Friday: Labor Department's nonfarm payroll reportThis report could be real ammo for the Fed to raise rates in October. Cramer expects a robust report, as most consider the pace that the U.S. is creating jobs to be too hot.
Ultimately, it is now clear to Cramer that there will be a rate hike soon. That means investors need to start to triumph over the stocks that do best in stocks work in a higher rate environment. That is the financials and companies that do better with a strong dollar.
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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ecda5d801c39b163955f0afe20294a90 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/cramer-remix-how-chinas-winning-with-nike.html | VIDEO1:2801:28Cramer: How China’s winning with NikeCramer Remix
Jim Cramer called Friday's market a roller coaster, as it spent the day seesawing between people who want a rate hike and those who fear one. Ultimately, the Dow closed in the green, and the S&P and Nasdaq closed down.
"It makes sense. Some people want to believe that with Fed Chief Janet Yellen saying there will be a rate hike, we have somehow eliminated the uncertainty that the market loathes," the "Mad Money" host said.
But there are still bigger-picture worries in the back of Cramer's mind that a rate hike cannot solve. Such as the black holes of Glencore, the European commodity company; Petrobras, the Brazilian company with $170 billion in debt; and now disgraced Volkswagen. None of these issues benefit from a rate hike.
These concerns overshadow the strength of individual companies, such as Nike, which put up amazing numbers on Thursday and had almost no pin action outside of itself.
"This impending rate hike will mark the beginning of a turn in the bank stocks, and I urge you to recognize that Wells Fargo's alive and doing quite well," Cramer said.
Read More Cramer game plan: How to play the coming rate hike
Cramer wants investors to stop doubting the Chinese consumer already. They have let weaker auto sales cloud their judgment about what is selling in China and what is not, and the Shanghai stock exchange is not reflective of the wealth in the People's Republic.
"I say that because Nike's conference call last night made everyone who had been skeptical about anything good from China look like total dopes," the "Mad Money" host said.
Nike blew away earnings on Thursday when CEO Trevor Edwards confirmed that revenue in greater China was up 30 percent. He went on to say that the gains were driven by strong performance across almost all key categories; he said he expects incredible growth to continue for years to come.
At the end of the day, Cramer does not want investors to judge the strength of the Chinese consumer by the action of the Shanghai stock exchange. Coffee, iPhones and snazzy sneakers are all highly discretionary items and should have been the first thing to fall if things were really bad in China.
Instead Starbucks, Apple and Nike are all strong in China. So, either the spending of the consumer is accelerating, or it's going unabated even though its industrial economy is struggling to grow.
"At this point, it would just be pure ignorance to reach any other conclusion," Cramer said.
Read More Cramer: Stop doubting the Chinese consumer
After the action that took place with ConAgra this week, Cramer wants to know what the heck just happened to its stock. On Tuesday, it reported a huge earnings beat, yet its stock was immediately slammed—down 7 percent in a single session.
In fact, Cramer now considers ConAgra to be the most schizophrenic stock out there. First, it plummeted on a positive but confusing quarter. Then, after the selloff many analysts defended it, it's back up to where it was before it reported.
"So, here is the big question: was it right for ConAgra to get crushed, or did the company actually give us some really good results that make the stock seem darned attractive at these levels?" the "Mad Money" host asked.
Cramer thinks the stock is still a buy, and dug deeper to find out what happened so investors could understand.
"I think that if ConAgra had reported on a good day…instead of right in the middle of a hideous marketwide decline, then the initial reaction to its quarter would have been a lot less negative," Cramer said.
Read More Cramer: This very erratic stock is now a buy
Another stock that has been obliterated in the past few months is XPO Logistics, the transportation and logistics roll-up that was down 8 percent on Friday.
When Cramer last checked in with XPO on May 5, the company seemed to be sitting on top of the world after announcing a $3.52 billion acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle. However, since then the transportation sector has taken a hit and more importantly, the market appears to have turned on XPOs roll-up business model.
Has the story changed for this company, or could this be a good entry point for the stock? To learn more, Cramer spoke with XPO's Chairman and CEO Bradley Jacobs.
"I can't predict what the stock market is doing. It's a risk on environment, a risk off environment. Our jobs is just to do deals that we believe in that we feel strongly about and in the long-term the stock will follow," Jacobs said.
In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks:
Blackstone Group: "A lot of people worry about Blackstone because the stock has acted poorly. I come back and say wait a second, the yield is fine and I want to be a buyer not a seller."
KKR & Co LP: "People feel that there is not a lot of room to be able to exit certain stocks and they want to come public. There is also a sense that they need high yield debt and the high yield market is closing. I have conviction that this stock over the long-term has been a winner and I'm not backing away."
Read MoreLightning Round: It's a winner & I'm not backing away
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5cabf1fe4c0e035b754962e685e520d3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/cramer-stop-doubting-the-chinese-consumer.html | VIDEO7:5007:50Cramer: Stop doubting the Chinese consumer Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer wants investors to stop doubting the Chinese consumer already. They have let weaker auto sales cloud their judgment about what is selling in China and what is not, and the Shanghai stock exchange is not reflective of the wealth in the People's Republic.
"I say that because Nike's conference call last night made everyone who had been skeptical about anything good from China look like total dopes," the "Mad Money" host said.
Nike blew away earnings on Thursday when CEO Trevor Edwards confirmed that revenue in greater China was up 30 percent. He went on to say that the gains were driven by strong performance across almost all key categories; he said he expects incredible growth to continue for years to come.
Cramer interpreted Nike's results as confirmation that China is its strongest market in the world.
"How strapped can this nation of 1.3 billion consumers be if China's leading the world in Nike sales, which are much stronger than they are in the United States?" Cramer asked.
With all that, if you still doubt the Chinese consumer, all I can say is give me a break. This is realJim Cramer
Customers wait in line to buy the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro in Zhengzhou, China, on May 12, 2015.ChinaFotoPress | Getty Images
There was previous skepticism about Apple's iPhone sales in China, until CEO Tim Cook emailed Cramer to confirm the acceleration in business. Eyebrows were also raised about how Starbucks could be saying its Chinese business is strong, and how its CEO, Howard Schultz, could be too ebullient in commentary.
Cramer doesn't agree. Yes, automobile sales have peaked in China, and its stock market crash may have hurt consumption in some areas.
But the most expensive cup of coffee is selling like hotcakes, the highest-end phones are flying off the shelves and Nike's exorbitantly priced sneakers are running strong.
"With all that, if you still doubt the Chinese consumer, all I can say is give me a break. This is real," Cramer said. (Tweet this)
Cramer speculated that the reason for the strength in Chinese consumers is because the stock market is very limited in China. It simply isn't the full representation of most individual's wealth. Additionally, the Chinese government has given the public multiple chances to get out of stocks at prices above where they were a year ago.
Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Cramer Remix: Here is your Volkswagen trade Cramer: Caterpillar pain is just beginning Cramer's tale of horror—activism ruined this stock
At the end of the day, Cramer does not want investors to judge the strength of the Chinese consumer by the action of the Shanghai stock exchange. Coffee, iPhones and snazzy sneakers are all highly discretionary items and should have been the first thing to fall if things were really bad in China.
Instead Starbucks, Apple and Nike are all strong in China. So, either the spending of the consumer is accelerating, or it's going unabated even though its industrial economy is struggling to grow.
"At this point, it would just be pure ignorance to reach any other conclusion," Cramer said.
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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d5f5e142dcca836e45a5d7427a85c948 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/dalai-lama-cancels-all-us-visits-next-month-due-to-health-reasons.html | Dalai Lama cancels all US visits next month due to health reasons | Dalai Lama cancels all US visits next month due to health reasons
The Dalai Lama.Getty Images
The Dalai Lama canceled all of his U.S. visits for October because of medical reasons, The Office of Tibet said Friday.
"His Holiness arrived in the United States earlier this week for a medical evaluation. Upon completion of the evaluation, the doctors have advised that His Holiness take complete rest," the office said in a release.
The Dalai Lama, 80, was scheduled to make appearances in Boulder, Colo., Salt Lake City and Philadelphia next month.
Read More China urges Obama to cancel Dalai Lama meeting
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59687390d9522cb660402c9aae13ec17 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/does-espns-sportscenter-have-a-future-in-a-digital-world.html | Does ESPN's 'SportsCenter' have a future in a digital world? | Does ESPN's 'SportsCenter' have a future in a digital world?
Anchor Kevin Negandhi (right) talks with Tim Tebow (center) and Mack Brown. File Photo.Icon Sportswire | AP
ESPN has long been a top player in sports media, with its signature "SportsCenter" news program at the center of that success, and profits, too.
But the giant sports network is being forced to re-evaluate its path, as a younger generation's real-time digital habits are reshaping the sports media landscape. And it looks like ESPN may be starting with "SportsCenter."
The company is expected to lay off up to 300 people over the next few months, according to The Big Lead citing multiple sources. It attributed the moves to parent company Disney asking the sports network to cut $100 million from its 2016 budget and $250 million in 2017. The Big Lead's sources said ESPN will cut the show's airtime in half and will drop its afternoon live show.
In a statement to CNBC, the network said: "ESPN has historically embraced evolving technology to smartly navigate our business. Any organizational changes will be announced directly to our employees if and when appropriate."
"I don't know if the average consumer is now buying (consuming) in 30-minute or one-hour blocks," said Rick Burton, a sports management professor at Syracuse University. "All of the day-parts concept is under attack. It's not only under attack in ESPN, but it's under attack at ABC, CBS, NBC. People now watch when they want to watch, and they will take it in shorter and shorter segments or blasts, and there are many more options."
For those reasons, "SportsCenter" is no longer a must-see for a whole new generation of impatient fans who are increasingly turning to sites like Bleacher Report and SB Nation to get their news fix, rather than wait on a TV show. Consider Perform Media, which owns sites like Sporting News and Goal.com and opened U.S. operations in 2010. The company says four years later, its audience was upward of 41 million unique visitors. In the past year, Vox Media's SB Nation has grown its unique users by more than 48 percent year over year.
That kind of growth in sports digital media may be threatening ESPN's market share. Sources who have seen Nielsen data say that there are 3.2 million fewer homes with access to ESPN TV properties year to date.
Part of the blame can be placed on cord cutters, who are opting into over-the-top viewing options and custom content streaming packages instead of a monthly cable bill. Subscribers pay about $6 per month out of their monthly fees to ESPN. At the same time, broadcast sports rights prices are at an all-time high—and to remain on top, ESPN needs to foot the bill to be able to show NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and more on TV.
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"Live sports will always be the best screen available, but (sports) news is now the first screen available," said Jeremy Carey, managing director of Optimum Sports, the sports media agency arm of Omnicom Group. "If you look at the dynamics at ESPN, 'SportsCenter' has long been a profit for them, but the model shifting to the first screen available means there's a bit of a race right now, and it's for news content."
Carey said sports outlets are competing to post information that trends digitally and on social media, which doesn't necessarily wait for a scheduled broadcast.
"With live sports, time-shifted viewing is minuscule compared to other forms of video entertainment," he said. "Because of this, sports news is a real-time endeavor, and the traditional mediums aren't necessarily the most efficient delivery system."
SB Nation Editor-in-Chief Kevin Lockland said modern sports viewers have grown up in a digital world, and they want their information from that type of medium. In addition, there's a demand for more than analysis: They want to know the culture around the games.
Through its conversational tone, Lockland said, the Vox Media site shares what is happening on the field as well as what is going on in the stands. The site isn't bound to the linear nature of TV, so the team can publish things as they happen.
"We've positioned ourselves as a sort of sports appreciation machine," Lockland said. "Our goal is to try and enhance a fans' experience."
In addition, he said today's fans aren't limited by geographic location. Thanks to the growth of fantasy sports, Lockland said, people want information on a variety of players on different teams.
"I think especially over the past five to 10 years, it's less about gaining market share and more about being in the top box of choices a sports consumer makes," he said. "They are going to multiple sources. Our goal is to be one of the top choices for a modern sports fan."
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The strategy of focusing on creating shareable big play content and meme-able moments—which doesn't rely on buying league rights—is what is helping digital media groups gain position, said Dan Donnelly, executive vice president at Sports at SMG, a Starcom MediaVest group. He said fans want to know more about the story behind the game. Digital media companies have obliged, giving way to the rise of companies like SB Nation as well as publications that have branched out to cover sports like Complex Media and Vice.
"What we're seeing is consumers are continuing to sit in front of that big screen TV in many ways, but what's happening is at the same time people are interacting with other platforms," he said. "There's the opportunity to engage with that same consumer, and at the same time you have the ability to enhance that experience and maybe try to get into the story-making mode."
With marketers trying to reach that highly desired and hard-to-reach male millennial audience, Donnelly said, they're willing to go where they see the eyeballs flocking. Companies like DraftKings and FanDuel (which were the top NFL advertisers this year) have snatched up prime real estate, and demand is at an all-time high. Advertisers are willing to try other options.
"In lot of cases, (ESPN) is more efficient than some of the other avenues, and rightfully so," Carey said. "But when we look at it, we're looking at reaching an audience. …The (ad) budget allocation is going to represent where the audience is, what's changing, how we reach that audience, how we use our data, and how we are starting to construct deals with vendors for data so we can talk to the audience in the right way."
Despite the threats of digital domination, Donnelly and Carey agree that ESPN is still the clear-cut market leader and will be for a while. Donnelly said that when it comes to live sports coverage and the "game around the game" lead up, everyone else pales in comparison.
Also, ESPN is willing to adapt. ESPN said its network is undergoing a number of "strategic enhancements," including adding more programs and live hours on weekend mornings. It said that the afternoon "SportsCenter" team would also be working on more original content for digital and social platforms, and resources would be shifted to fulfill those projects. During its 2015-16 Upfront presentation, ESPN announced it was moving "The Mike and Mike" show to New York in order to collaborate with ABC's "Good Morning America" cast, as well as bring in more pop culture elements.
Donnelly pointed out that "SportsCenter" has been branching out to include more digital content, as well as lifestyle items on its main broadcast like having musicians perform.
"They're trying to bring the millennial into that environment where it's not just about the game itself," he said. "It's got to be something more than that. It has to have a lifestyle element to sports, but not go too far because fans still love the actual games."
Carey doesn't fear for ESPN's future.
"ESPN gets through into the forefront of the conversation, but all the sports media conglomerates are actively doing it (changing to add digital content)," Carey said. "ESPN's just been so far ahead of the pack that everyone tends to look at them. I can certainly say that ESPN has taken the right steps to insure they continue to be the top source for sports news."
Syracuse University's Burton added: "Everyone is having to change to fit the consumption habits of the people who have the money."
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2add62f9d23b1328b00e6ad1d09e1076 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/early-movers-bbry-finl-spls-googl-aapl-mmm-pypl-more.html | Early movers: BBRY, FINL, SPLS, GOOGL, AAPL, MMM, PYPL & more | Early movers: BBRY, FINL, SPLS, GOOGL, AAPL, MMM, PYPL & more
Getty Images
Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
BlackBerry—The handset maker lost an adjusted 13 cents per share for its latest quarter, 4 cents wider than estimates. Its revenue was well short of forecasts, and it projected "modest" sequential quarterly revenue growth for the rest of fiscal 2016.
Finish Line—The athletic apparel and footwear retailer matched estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 57 cents per share. Revenue missed analyst forecasts, however, as same-store sales rose 1.5 percent.
PayPal—Canaccord began coverage on the digital payment services company with a "buy" rating, saying PayPal has a steady growth trajectory given the continuing shift to digital payment.
Box—Canaccord upgraded the cloud services company's stock to "buy" from "hold." It points to a recent slide in the share price and functionality additions that make the company's cloud services more attractive.
3M—Credit Suisse upgraded 3M shares to "outperform" from "neutral," citing the recent drop in the share price and a more favorable outlook compared to its defensive stock peers.
Staples—European regulators have opened an investigation into the company's planned purchase of rival office products retailer Office Depot, on competitive concerns. A decision will be made on whether to allow the deal by February 10.
Coca-Cola—Deutsche Bank reinstated coverage on Coke with a "buy" rating, pointing to a good price and product mix in developed markets and effective adjustment to changing consumer preferences.
Big Lots—The discount retailer earned a "buy" rating in new coverage at Citi, which likes the company's new management team and its prospects for driving earnings growth.
Apple—Apple's new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will hit stores today, with analysts expecting sales of up to 13 million phones over this first weekend of sales.
Google—Google is under antitrust scrutiny in the US, according to a Bloomberg report. Regulators are looking at the possibility that Google stifled access to its Android operating system for competitors.
Intel—The chipmaker was upgraded to "market perform" from "market underperform" at JMP Securities, on prospects for an improved outlook as the year draws to a close.
Nike—Nike earned $1.34 per share for its latest quarter, 15 cents above analyst forecasts, while revenue of $8.41 billion beat estimates of just under $8 billion. The athletic footwear and apparel maker was helped by higher prices and strength in the China market.
Pier 1 Imports—Pier 1 posted lower than expected results for its latest quarter, and the household goods retailer also cut its earnings forecast for the full year. Pier 1 said profit margins have been hurt by increased promotional and clearance activity.
Bed Bath & Beyond—The company matched estimates with quarterly profit of $1.21 per share, but sales were below estimates, and same-store sales increased by a lower than expected 0.7 percent compared to the prior year. The company's margins have been pressured in recent months by increased promotions, and higher spending on online advertising and technology upgrades.
Marvell Technology Group—Marvell is cutting its global workforce by 17 percent, with the chipmaker taking a charge of up to $130 million as a result. Marvell expects to save up to $220 million per year following the restructuring.
Amazon.com—The company announced plans to launch its Amazon Instant Video service in Japan, along with its Fire TV line of products.
Reynolds American—The tobacco producer is in talks to sell $5 billion in assets to Japan Tobacco, according to a Bloomberg report.
Questions? Comments? Email us at marketinsider@cnbc.com
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eec87938eb6a84e7e9b84a3b6290797a | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/ebenthal-buys-guard-rail-maker.html | Halftime's Lebenthal buys guard rail maker | Halftime's Lebenthal buys guard rail maker
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Brendan McDermid | Reuters
CNBC "Halftime Report" trader Jim Lebenthal is buying a beaten-down industrial stock he believes could rise ahead of a pending legal decision.
On Friday, the CEO of Lebenthal Asset Management purchased shares of Trinity Industries for his model portfolio, a stock that's fallen nearly 50 percent in the past 12 months. The company makes highway guard rails, among other things.
Here's why the investor thinks this company may be ready to move higher:
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0bc3e83f74ac756c9a6f4e49dde2f0c0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/eu-launches-extensive-probe-into-staples-bid-for-office-depot.html | EU launches extensive probe into Staples' bid for Office Depot | EU launches extensive probe into Staples' bid for Office Depot
VIDEO0:3200:32A hold put on office supply chains merger
European Union antitrust regulators opened on Friday an extensive investigation into U.S. office supplier Staples' $6.3 billion bid for rival Office Depot, concerned about price hikes as a result of the deal.
"The transaction could eliminate an important competitor and reduce the choice of suitable suppliers in already concentrated markets, which could lead to price increases," the European Commission said.
It will decide by February 10 whether to clear or block the deal.
Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld
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efa905964192e0b9e03c53dd31455011 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/european-markets-vw-chief-executive-yellen.html | Europe surges 2.8% at close; VW, Yellen in focus | Europe surges 2.8% at close; VW, Yellen in focus
VIDEO1:0801:08Europe ends sharply up; VW scandal, Yellen in focus
European stocks closed sharply higher on Friday, as concerns over the health of the global economy dimmed slightly after the U.S. Federal Reserve suggested it was still on course to raise interest rates in 2015.
The pan-European STOXX 600 finished Friday higher by 2.8 percent. On the week however, it was down 1.6 percent.
London's FTSE 100 ended 2.5 percent higher, while the German DAX finished up 2.8 percent, despite concerns about Volkswagen, which is one of Germany's major employers.
The French CAC saw a 3.1 percent pop, buoyed by data showing France's consumer confidence index at its highest since October 2007.
In the U.S. stocks traded higher Friday, as investors digested remarks from Janet Yellen, the chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
In a speech on Thursday, Yellen said that an interest-rate hike would likely be appropriate "sometime later this year," although the decision hinges on the strength of economic data.
In Europe, Volkswagen continued to dominate traders' minds, with the automaker seeing a sharp decline by the close, slipping 3.4 percent. Investors waited to hear who the company's next chief executive would be, following the resignation of Martin Winterkorn on Wednesday. Its stock has slumped 28 percent this week, following reports that VW used software to benefit its diesel engines' performance under U.S. test conditions.
After the close, Matthias Mueller was named as the new CEO, as expected.
The scandal continued to impact other European automakers on Friday.
German carmaker BMW saw shares finish up 4.2 percent, bouncing back from Thursday when a report in magazine Auto Bild said that the company could also be involved in emissions manipulation. The publication later backtracked on its claim and BMW denied any wrongdoing.
On Friday, Renault, Daimler and Fiat Chrysler all finished sharply higher, while Porsche (owned by VW) closed 3.2 percent lower.
VIDEO1:0301:03The Volkswagen emissions scandal by the numbers
Mining stocks rebounded on Friday, but underperformed other sectors as the commodity slump continued to keep investors on their toes.
London-listed Anglo American and Antofagasta failed to hold onto positive territory, closing 1.6 and 1.1 percent lower respectively.
Glencore shares hit an all-time low of 95 pence, after benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange hit its lowest level since July 2009. However, the copper-focused mining and commodities trading giant pared some losses by the close, finishing 1.4 percent down.
Meanwhile, Adidas shares closed up 4.1 percent after the sportswear maker got a boost from better-than-expected sales from Nike.
Other than Anglo American and Antofagasta, there were just a handful of stocks in the red, of which Zodiac Aerospace was at the bottom. Shares closed down 6.8 percent after reports emerged that the French company had lost a contract with a key client, American Airlines.
VIDEO1:0001:00Week ahead 28th Sept
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1a6e924bac5ed06d54fb7ea979cfce33 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/fed-just-threw-kerosene-on-the-fire-rbc-strategist.html | Fed just threw kerosene on the fire: RBC Strategist | Fed just threw kerosene on the fire: RBC Strategist
VIDEO1:3901:39Markets want 'normalized rates': ProSquawk Box
VIDEO3:3003:30Markets confused by Fed's mixed message: ProSquawk Box
VIDEO3:0403:04Yellen makes case for raising ratesFast Money
The Federal Reserve has lost credibility by failing to deliver a clear message during its interest rate policy announcement last week and because Chair Janet Yellen contradicted its decision in her speech, RBC Capital Market's Jonathan Golub said Friday.
"They took an unsettled situation and they just threw kerosene on that fire through all of their statements," RBC's chief U.S. market strategist told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "They didn't fix this with one speech.
During her speech Thursday at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Yellen said it would be appropriate to raise the Fed's benchmark fed funds rate "sometime later this year." However, she noted that the decision to normalize interest rates—which the Fed has held near zero since December 2008—would remain dependent on economic data.
Read MoreYellen 'felt dehydrated' after long speech
Last week, the Fed's policymaking committee voted to leave the fed funds rate unchanged. Afterward, Yellen cited the need for further evidence of labor market improvement and signs inflation is moving toward the Fed's target, as well as concerns about economic weakness overseas.
DRW Trading Group strategist Lou Brien said Friday the manner in which the Fed announced its decision was confusing. He said Yellen suggested the Fed may still raise interest rates this year, but presented inflation as a longer-term project and singled out trouble in emerging markets, which would probably take a long time to settle.
"What are they talking about? They're not raising because of these concerns, which are real concerns, and yet they could do it in October?" he said in a "Squawk Box" interview.
Yellen's speech on Thursday gave market watchers certainty that they could put the Fed's "mixed message" from last week behind them, he added.
U.S. stock market futures moved sharply higher ahead of the opening bell on Friday, with traders citing the clarity offered by Yellen's comments in Amherst.
Read More Yellen nudges markets slightly on rates
Golub said the market does not want to see interest rates soar to 2.5 percent within six months, but investors generally support normalization. History shows that rate hikes do not have to be disruptive to markets, he added.
"It's very clear on days where interest rates rise, stocks go higher. It happens across all sectors, and it happens across virtually all markets," he said.
With U.S. Treasurys providing meager returns in recent years, investors have fled to stocks and other higher-yielding assets.
Read MoreStocks setting up for big upside reversal: Technician
—CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this story.
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d16e0bcf9beae0d2e6c2d7d13576df81 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/glencore-shares-hit-fresh-all-time-low.html | Glencore shares hit fresh all-time low | Glencore shares hit fresh all-time low
Shares in mining and commodities trading giant Glencore touched a new bottom on Friday, hit by a torrid week of analyst downgrades and fears about China's economic slowdown and commodity price weakness.
The miner fell as much as 2 percent to a new nadir of 95 pence ($1.44) per share on Friday, having tumbled below 100p per share earlier in the week for the first time since listing.
Read MoreCheap mining stocks: Ripe for picking?
An employee walks past coal washing flotation cells, manufactured by Jameson Cells, a unit of Glencore XstrataBrent Lewin I Bloomberg via Getty Images
Despite regaining some of Friday's losses later in the session, the FTSE 100-listed company, which specialises in copper, coal, nickel and zinc, is down over 20 percent on the week and 65 percent on the year.
Sources told CNBC that other market rumors had also temporarily pushed the share price lower.
A spokesperson for Glencore told CNBC that the rumors were "dangerous", "utter rubbish" and "that hedge funds were spinning" the speculation.
Glencore shares took a hit on Tuesday when Credit Suisse slashed its earnings estimates for the metals and mining sector, as well as it forecasts for China demand and commodity prices.
Glencore took a further hit on Thursday when Goldman Sachs said the company's steps to reduce debt and bolster its balance sheet were inadequate. The investment bank lowered its share-price target on Glencore to 130 pence from 170 pence. It kept its rating on the Anglo-Swiss company at "neutral" but forecast continued volatility in its stock price.
Glencore shares touch all-time low
Severely weakened copper prices have also weighed on the company shares, with the price of copper set for a 3.5 percent drop this week, its largest since the second half of July.
Big miners across the board have been hit by concerns about China—one of the world's most important commodity importers—as well as the slump in the price of oil and other commodities.
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efe31756b6d28d620af21cdf09a184c8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/google-under-us-antitrust-scanner-for-android-operating-system-bloomberg.html | Google under US antitrust scanner for Android: Reports | Google under US antitrust scanner for Android: Reports
Source: Google
Google is facing a U.S. antitrust investigation into whether it blocked access to competitors' services on its Android mobile operating system, according to media reports.
The Federal Trade Commission has struck a deal with the Justice Department to probe Google's Android business. Google is being accused of giving priority to its own services on Android, while stifling access to others, a move that could give it an unfair advantage.
Google declined to comment on the reports.
Currently, most Android phones come pre-installed with Google services such as Google Maps, YouTube and the Google Play app store. The FTC and Justice Department probe will look into whether this practice gives the U.S. search giant an unfair advantage and is potentially damaging for rival app developers and handset manufacturers, according to the reports.
"If the allegation against Google is that Google is tying applications to its Android system, the suggestion may be that this hinders the development or market access of rival applications," Pinar Ackman, professor of law at the University of Leeds, told CNBC by email.
But Google could be let off the hook if it is proved that there is strong competition in the mobile operating system market – such as from Apple – and that consumers are not blocked access to other apps, Akman added.
"The bottom line is if the mobile operating system market itself is competitive and consumers have different means of installing different applications onto their devices, then it will be very difficult to prove any competition law infringement," the lawyer said.
The inquiry is in its early stages and could end without a case against the company, according to the reports.
This is not the first run in between the FTC and Google. The antitrust authority led an investigation into Google's search business in 2011 but in 2013, concluded that it would not bring a case against the technology giant after it agreed to make some changes to its practices.
But Google is still at loggerheads with regulators in Europe. In April, the European Commission, the European Union's (EU) executive arm, opened a form investigation against Google looking into whether the company has "illegally hindered the development and market access of rival mobile operating systems, mobile communication applications and services". The probe again focuses on whether the bundling of Google's applications hinders competition.
The EU is also investigating whether Google displayed its own shopping price comparison service more prominently than its rivals. Google responded to the allegations in August in a 100 page document.
"Economic data spanning more than a decade, an array of documents, and statements from complainants all confirm that product search is robustly competitive," Kent Walker, the company's senior vice president and general counsel said in a blog post last month.
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8c6e2d4ef7877814dd85d45b6c10f898 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/half-a-million-pounds-of-chicken-recalled-by-sanderson-farms.html | Half a million pounds of chicken recalled by Sanderson Farms | Half a million pounds of chicken recalled by Sanderson Farms
VIDEO0:2600:26SAFM recalling contaminated chickenProduct Recalls
Sanderson Farms is recalling more than a half million pounds of chicken products that may have been contaminated with metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.
Sanderson Farms first discovered the issue when it received a complaint from a processing facility that found metal shavings in the chicken. The contamination resulted from a malfunction with an ice-making machine during production.
None of the recalled chicken products were shipped to grocery stores or packed directly for consumers, according to a company statement. Sanderson noted that all of the products were purchased by three customers who intended to further process the chicken to make their own chicken products.
All three customers have been notified about the recall, according to the company statement.
So far, there have been no reports of injury from the chicken products.
For more on the recall, click here.
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6c19c25faa2a5361f01724455203eac0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/hoyer-no-govt-shutdown-if-common-sense-prevails.html | Hoyer: No govt shutdown if common sense prevails | Hoyer: No govt shutdown if common sense prevails
VIDEO3:5703:57Rep. Hoyer: Don't think there will be a shutdownSquawk Box
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Friday his party would cooperate with Republicans to pass a short-term spending bill and avoid a government shutdown if the parties can agree on a reasonable path forward.
Congress is on the brink of a second shutdown in two years as 28 Republicans threaten to vote down any spending bill that funds Planned Parenthood ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.
"If we pursue a reasonable, responsible common-sense resolution of the differences for the short term, as we have historically done, then no, I don't think there's going to be a shutdown," Hoyer, the House Minority Whip, told "Squawk Box."
Read More Another government shutdown? Here's the cost
Hoyer noted that Congress has historically been able to reach such an agreement, and he said there was no desire by Democrats to shut down the government.
"Democrats have not had a policy of shutting down government," he said. "Every time the government was kept open it was because Democratic votes overwhelmingly made sure that happened."
He said Republicans had engineered past government shutdowns, as well as a number of close calls, including during a 1995 budget battle, a 2012 debt limit debate, a 2013 row over the Affordable Care Act, and a disagreement earlier this year over immigration that nearly shuttered the Department of Homeland Security.
The issue of Planned Parenthood funding is important but extraneous to the business of funding the government, Hoyer added.
"I don't think the founding fathers had any thought in their mind that the board of directors of a great country would make a decision to shut itself down over extraneous issues," he said.
Read MoreAn undeterred Jeb Bush vows 'I'm all in'
Republicans have attempted to defund Planned Parenthood in the past, but Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., has led the latest effort this summer following the release of videos by an anti-abortion group that allege Planned Parenthood branches sold parts of fetuses for profit.
Three forensics experts hired by a consultant paid for by Planned Parenthood concluded the group behind the videos, the Center for Medical Progress, heavily edited and manipulated them to suggest wrongdoing.
Investigations in five states where the videos were shot determined Planned Parenthood acted within the bounds of the law. A 1993 law allows abortion providers to be reimbursed for the cost of handling and transporting fetal specimens donated for medical research.
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992f6d9d23cb36562f6b119356004c47 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/hyundai-recalls-470000-sonatas-to-fix-critical-engine-problem.html | Hyundai recalls 470,000 Sonatas to fix critical engine problem | Hyundai recalls 470,000 Sonatas to fix critical engine problem
VIDEO0:2900:29Hyundai recalls half a million SonatasAutomobiles and Components
Hyundai is recalling nearly a half-million midsize cars in the U.S. to replace key engine parts because a manufacturing problem could cause them to fail.
The recall covers 470,000 Sonata sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years equipped with 2-liter or 2.4-liter gasoline engines.
The company says metal debris may not have been removed from the crankshaft. That can restrict oil flow to the connecting rod bearings, causing them to fail. If that happens, the engines could stall and cause a crash.
Dealers will inspect the cars and replace engine assemblies if necessary for free. The company also will increase the engine warranty for 10 years or 120,000 miles.
Owners will be notified Nov. 2 and the recall will start when parts are available.
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bf09000d2e1e960e9bec300f4d5ce2e3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/if-you-thought-boehner-brought-the-ruckus-stay-tuned.html | If you thought Boehner brought the ruckus, stay tuned | If you thought Boehner brought the ruckus, stay tuned
VIDEO3:3303:33Boehner exit a sign of confrontation-hungry conservatives
House Speaker John Boehner's surprise announcement that he will resign from Congress at the end of October probably makes a shutdown less likely next week.
But it could make for a scary fall for markets and Wall Street.
Boehner's decision means restive House conservatives—who have been after Boehner for years—may feel they have won enough of a battle to accept a clean continuing resolution to keep the government running into December. And they are likely to defer to Boehner in his last act as speaker.
Read More Speaker John Boehner resigns from Congress
John BoehnerGetty Images
But once that's done it will set up a potentially titanic fight later this year to keep the government open and raise the debt limit. And there will be a new House speaker who will have to take over the nearly impossible job of showing effective governance and satisfying conservatives constantly hungry for battles with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.
That speaker is likely to be House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy who is next in line for the job and will have the support of most senior GOP leadership. But McCarthy, widely perceived as slightly to Boehner's left, is not entirely assured of a smooth path to the top job. Conservatives will likely want to push their own candidate who would be more inclined to push fights like the effort to defund Planned Parenthood in return for any measure to fund the government.
"He has a long record of distinguished service but it's time for new leadership," Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., told Politico of Boehner's leadership. "Conservatives will be working together, it's not going to be one or two of us, we're going to make a deal."
Read More Short-term yields spike on Boehner resignation news
Conservatives will not likely be able to block McCarthy's ascension. But even if the California Republican glides into the speakership he will inherit the same dysfunction that made Boehner's job so difficult since he got the top post following the tea party wave election of 2010.
In fact, McCarthy's job may be even harder as presidential candidates from Donald Trump to Ted Cruz to Carly Fiorina pressure congressional Republicans to pursue constant confrontation with Obama and Democrats. There is little downside for presidential candidates in a GOP primary to push for big fights. They are not thinking about the impact any shutdown or debt limit fight might have on Republicans' general election prospects next year. They are instead desperately looking to appeal to hard core GOP primary voters who don't want to see any capitulation to Democrats.
Many House conservatives also occupy safe seats. The only threat they worry about is a challenge from a more conservative Republican in a primary. So when it comes time to fund the government and raise the debt limit later this year, they will be hungry to wring concessions from Democrats over spending levels, Planned Parenthood and potentially other issues.
Read More CNBC explains: John Boehner resigns, what's next?
The White House in contrast will have no appetite for deal-making. And Hillary Clinton, under heavy pressure from the left and Sen. Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail, will be strongly inclined to pressure the party not to cave in to any demands from Republicans.
All of this will be happening this fall and winter as the Federal Reserve is likely to begin raising interest rates, setting up a challenging scenario for financial markets and American business. The uncertainty level over policy will only increase because in order to get the speakership, McCarthy is likely to have to make some promises to House conservatives that he will be tough in his approach to Democrats. And if he fails to live up to those promises in December, he could face the same kind of leadership challenges that Boehner had to deal with in his five years of speaker.
McCarthy on Friday said it was time to focus on "unifying" the Republican Party. But there is little reason to think he will actually be able to do it. Boehner, the ultimate institutionalist and loyal party man, could not do it even though he was beloved by many in the party.
Boehner, leaving after fulfilling a lifelong dream of having the pope speak to Congress, will bequeath to his successor a deeply divided party with twin goals of showing it can govern while also achieving conservative policy goals. Right now those goals cannot be achieved at the same time. And that could be very bad news markets that are already on edge and an economy that could easily falter if Washington once again descends into self-made chaos.
—Ben White is Politico's chief economic correspondent and a CNBC contributor. He also authors the daily tip sheet Politico Morning Money [politico.com/morningmoney]. Follow him on Twitter @morningmoneyben.
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61865d042e6d774f7a8d46002a73fddc | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/investments-for-an-aging-america-besides-health-care.html | Investments for an aging America—besides health care | Investments for an aging America—besides health care
Health care is often at the top of the list of industries seen benefiting from an aging America, but there are other investing options—including regional gambling, pet care and e-commerce, just to name a few.
Seniors participate in a Zumba class during the 8th Annual Healthy Living Festival in Oakland, California. (File Photo).Getty Images
Americans are living longer than ever, and the population aged 65 or older will be the fastest-growing segment over the next 35 years, according to a new Wells Fargo Securities report entitled, "Longevity—Conventional Wisdom About Aging…is Getting Old."
"Whether from genetics, lifestyle, fitness or access to health care, many Americans are living well into their 80s and 90s. The image of the senior citizen retreating to a rocking chair for a leisurely, peaceful retirement has become archaic," the report says.
The trend of Americans living longer and staying active is expected to benefit casino operators and gambling equipment makers, although the authors of the report cautioned that's "provided the benefits aren't eaten up by rising health care costs, higher living expenses, and/or reduced post-retirement benefits."
VIDEO1:0201:02Special tax break for retirement savers Tax Credits
As for the major Las Vegas casinos, the aging wave effect "will be more limited. The growth in Las Vegas is being driven by an increasingly younger, international and nightlife-oriented customer. Given this trend, we think an aging population will have a far greater impact on regional casino operators."
The domestic regional gaming sector's slot machine focus also gives it added benefits in the aging trend since as people age they "become progressively risk averse and migrate to slot machines from table games," according to the authors of the report.
Regional gaming stocks mentioned include Boyd Gaming, Penn National Gaming, Monarch Casino & Resort, and Isle of Capri Casinos.
How much do you really need for retirement?
These retirement plans have the highest fees
How millennials should save for retirement
The report highlights the cruise sector and a stock such as Royal Caribbean Cruises for opportunity, since it "aligns favorably with an aging demographic, because it offers consumers a wide selection of active/relaxed activities across global itineraries."
The authors point out the benefits the health care sector is expected to see along with medical office buildings and senior housing, but the thrust of the research was to highlight the more unusual investment opportunities that deal with how older Americans tend to spend their money and time.
For example, man's best friend got a notable mention in the report given figures showing that demand for pet care products runs high among older Americans—and a trend of them outspending the average consumer in this category. An estimated 41 percent of the 65-plus age group owns a pet and spends 9 percent above average on that animal.
5 planning strategies for adults who may need care
Wells Fargo said the "best way" to play the pet trend is J.M. Smucker, citing the company's March 2015 acquisition of Big Heart Pet Brands—a company with some leading pet brands such as Natural Balance, Meow Mix and Milk Bone.
The e-commerce space, with stocks such as Amazon was another sector singled out as right on target for the 65-plus crowd.
"In fifteen years, the 'new 65' will include people who grew up with an Atari 2600, got their first email address in their 30s, and their first iPhone in their early 40s," the report says. "While growth in e-commerce is often attributed to a younger customer demographic that grew up using the computer, we expect the 65-plus demographic to be a significant driver of online shopping. Online shopping appeals to older consumers who either don't drive or have other mobility constraints."
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eee6af1e2e18cdbacec4c619de4bbc91 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/latest-major-changes-due-at-volkswagen-amid-scandal.html | Major changes due at Volkswagen amid scandal | Major changes due at Volkswagen amid scandal
Volkswagen is due to announce major management changes Friday as the German automaker deals with an emissions scandal that has rocked its share price and seen CEO Martin Winterkorn resign.
The company is set to name the people responsible for the scandal and more executives are expected to leave. It is also set to name a new chief executive with Porsche's Matthias Mueller the current front-runner.
Squawk Box Live had all the news and analysis. Here's how the morning unfolded.
(App users please click here).
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433c95c9770815b3b59050f9a8168f87 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/money-moves-to-make-before-the-year-ends.html | Money moves to make before the year ends | Money moves to make before the year ends
AndreyPopov | Getty Images
With the new year a mere three months away, you may already be thinking about your 2016 resolutions.
A better plan? Focus on your current finances. By employing smart strategies now, you could see a reduction in your April tax burden, a boost in your retirement and college savings, and make a significant dent in any debt you might owe—starting off 2016 on the right financial footing.
—By Lucy Maher, special to CNBC.com Posted 25 September 2015
David Philips | Getty Images
Has it been a while since you've taken a close look at your investments? Due to changes in the market—notably its recent volatility—most investors find that over the course of the year, their allocations may no longer match their risk tolerance. Should you need to sell investments in non-tax-sheltered accounts at a loss, do so before December 31 to lower your tax bill. You can buy the stock back, but you'll have to wait 30 days in order to claim it for tax purposes.
However, there are other options. "If you own investments such as ETFs or mutual funds, you can sell the investment, take the loss and repurchase a similar investment owned by a different investment company," said Jeff Rose, CEO and founder of Alliance Wealth Managementand author of "Soldier of Finance."
Say, for example, you owned the XYZ high-yield bond fund and it's currently at a loss. "You could sell it and immediately purchase the ABC high-yield bond and not wait the 30 days to get back in," he explained.
Robert Pears | E+ | Getty Images
The good news: If you contribute to a 401(k), you still have time to increase your savings rate before year-end. If you're under 50 years old, you can contribute up to $18,000, an increase of $500 over last year. And those 50 and older can contribute up to $24,000.
If you're a high earner, there's even more incentive to up your contributions this quarter. Social Security withholdings are capped at $118,500 for 2015, so any dollar you make above $118,500 is free of the Social Security tax. If you make more than that, that means you've gotten back about 6.2 percent you're used to seeing deducted from your paycheck. Why not opt to put some or all of it toward contributions instead?
Another option: Contribute to a Roth IRA. You can contribute $5,500 for the year, or $6,500 if you're 50 years old or more. (Adjusted gross income limits for Roth IRAs for 2015 are $131,001 for singles or $193,001 for couples.) That money grows tax-free—you won't owe taxes on it when you take distributions out in retirement, as long as it has been there for five years or more.
While you're at it, many employers also allow you to set contribution rate increases to your retirement plans ahead of time, so why not do that for 2016?
Image source: DNY59 | E+ | Getty Images
Don't be one of those people stuck with a surplus of cash in their Flexible Spending Account and no way of using it before December 31. Though employers may allow workers to carry over up to $500 of unused balances or offer a 2½-month grace period in the next year to spend that money, other folks will find themselves scrambling to use up their funds. If you're one of them, opt for the hundreds of over-the-counter goods that are eligible. These might include first-aid kits, sunscreen of 30 SPF or higher, diabetic testing kits, prenatal vitamins, contraceptives and hot and cold packs. If you have a lot of money left in your account, it's a good time to load up your medicine cabinet.
If medical expenses are on your radar, look into a health savings account, or HSA. These perform like a savings account by offsetting the cost of high-deductible health plans by allowing you to deposit pretax dollars or deduct your contributions. This money grows tax-free—similar to an IRA or 401(k).
Take this time also to examine your insurance policies too. "Another, less common item that people don't address is insurance—life, health, disability," said Rose. "I like to use the end of year as a reminder to make sure that we have the proper coverage, aren't over paying on any polices, and identify any areas where we might have some vulnerability."
Melpomenem | Getty Images
Funding your child's college account not only supplies them with much-needed cash come matriculation time, it also acts as a tax break. That's because contributions grow tax-free, and depending on your state, individual and joint contributions are tax-deductible.
What's more, grandparents can combine their $14,000 annual gift limit up to five years in advance, meaning they can put $70,000 in a 529 account at once without incurring federal gift taxes, and that money will grow tax-free. (There's currently a $14,000 annual gift tax exclusion, so a grandparent can "gift" that amount annually without incurring the gift tax.)
A recent Fidelity study found those with 529 plans had saved an average of $34,900 for college compared with an average of $26,500 saved by families without a 529 plan. Assets in 529 plans reached a record level of $258.2 billion in June, a 5.6 percent year-over-year increase, according to the College Savings Plans Network, an association of the state-sponsored plans.
Read MoreGen Y parents plan to save more for kids' college
Courtney Keating | iStock | Getty Images
If you haven't already done so this year, get a copy of your credit reports, which are available free from each of the big three reporting agencies—Equifax, TransUnion and Experian—every 12 months. This is the time to make sure there are no errors that could hinder your ability to get a mortgage or another type of loan. If you're on the hunt for a new job or think you may be early next year, it's worth noting that many companies now look at credit reports as part of the hiring process. A quick review of your credit report also protects against identity theft.
See something fishy, like loans or credit cards that you never opened or items that don't show your account is in good standing after a settlement was satisfied? File a dispute with both the consumer credit reporting agency and the organization that supplied the faulty information.
Jodi Jacobson | Getty Images
Even the most organized folks neglect to update their employer benefits after they get married, divorced or have kids. Don't fall into this habit.
"One more thing that is super important is to do a beneficiary audit," said Rose. "Have you changed jobs and you have a new 401(k) or life insurance policy? Have you opened a new IRA or updated your will? If so, it's important to review all of your accounts where you have a beneficiary listed, including IRAs, 401(k)s and life insurance policies, and ensure you have the right loved ones listed."
Tashatuvango | iStock | Getty Images Plus
We've all been there: You pack up two large duffel bags of stuff you no longer need, only to watch them collect dust as the minutia of daily life takes hold. Rather than say you'll handle it tomorrow, do it today—or at least before December 31. That's because if you want to reduce your 2015 tax liability, you must make donations that can be itemized before December 31.
The same holds true for monetary charitable donations. If you have any stock that has appreciated over the years and you want to sell that without incurring capital gains, you may think about donating it, thereby avoiding a tax bill and gaining the ability to deduct the appreciated amount. Of course, be sure to vet the charities you have in mind and double-check that your intended donations are indeed tax-deductible. And always get a receipt.
Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Getty Images
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates in the coming months. That means credit cards with variable rates will charge cardholders more in finance charges, and mortgage rates and interest on other loans may creep up.
So it's a smart idea to set aside extra cash toward paying down any high-rate credit card debt now. If you have a good credit score, look for zero percent balance-transfer offers sooner rather than later. As the Fed moves away from a zero percent interest rate, credit card issuers are likely to do the same. Tackle your highest-rate card balance first to help minimize interest charges and knock out the debt faster.
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267751c7e03cf99d300048b9877a95bd | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/nike-has-more-room-to-run-analysts.html | Nike has more room to run: Analysts | Nike has more room to run: Analysts
VIDEO3:0303:03Nike beats Street, stock upgraded: AnalystSquawk Box
Nike shares soared 9 percent on Friday, after the company posted its ninth-consecutive earnings beat a day earlier. The athletic firm's stock is now up a whopping 57 percent over the past year, and analysts said shares have more upside.
But to get there, Nike will need to keep pushing, as comparisons will only get tougher.
"It's all about their brand," Sterne Agee CRT analyst Sam Poser told CNBC. "What they do better than anybody else is control their brand and build their brand."
Following Nike's first-quarter earnings report, in which the company said earnings per share came in at $1.34 (beating consensus estimates of $1.19), Poser upgraded Nike shares to "buy" and established a $150 price target.
The stock was near $125 in late morning trade.
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Analysts pointed to Nike's solid future orders growth; strength in China, despite the country's economic woes; and ongoing momentum in the athletic wear space as catalysts.
Still, BB&T analyst Corinna Freedman, who has a "hold" rating on the company, cautioned that struggles in Brazil, a deceleration in the highly competitive North America market and excess inventories from the port delays (which may lead to markdowns) could weigh on results.
"In our view, competition [in] the company's most mature market [North America] may be starting to take its toll on gross margins," Freedman told investors.
Nike store in the East Nanjing Road shopping area of Shanghai.Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Morningstar analyst Paul Swinand played down Nike's competition, saying the popularity of workout gear has "really been a story of a rising tide floating all boats."
"I've been hearing this since about 2003 or [2004] that this is a competitive game," he told CNBC. "Don't forget Under Armour is not even a 10th the size of Nike."
Still, Swinand acknowledged that it would be tough for Nike to keep up such positive momentum for the next nine quarters. That's especially true as footwear and apparel cycles typically last three to four years; the athleisure trend, by contrast, has already lasted five or six years, he said.
"They're just going to be lapping so many good quarters that it can't go on forever," Swinand said.
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840bf54affb1c8146993be149eeb78c7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/oil-prices-pare-gains-on-stronger-dollar-weak-japan-data.html | US crude settles 1.7% higher at $45.70 per barrel | US crude settles 1.7% higher at $45.70 per barrel
Workers from Select Energy Services at a Hess fracking site near Williston, N.D.Andrew Cullen | Reuters
U.S. crude oil settled higher on Friday to end the week in positive territory following a choppy trading session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled up 79 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $45.70 a barrel.
Brent futures were up 45 cents at $48.62 per barrel shortly by 2:36 p.m. EDT (1839 GMT). It had risen almost $1 at the session high, before turning negative prior to the rig count release.
Global rude markets seesawed around break-even much of Friday, jumping 2 percent in early trade on a boost from a Wall Street rally before slipping to near the day's lows.
Read More
Prices ticked back up after the latest weekly reading on the U.S. oil rig count from industry firm Baker Hughes showed a drop of 4 rigs, marking the fourth consecutive drop. A lower U.S. rig count is usually a bullish signal for oil as it suggests potentially lower production in the future.
VIDEO1:0001:00Countries claiming Arctic oilOil
Still, some traders and analysts were pessimistic that oil would continue trading higher in the coming weeks due to mixed outlooks for supply and demand and for the global economy.
"I'm predicting a return to the low $40 levels or even below by next month," said Tariq Zahir, a trader in crude oil spreads at Tyche Advisors in Laurel Hollow, New York.
"As U.S. refinery maintenance kicks into full gear, we're going to start seeing inventory builds instead of draws," Zahir said.
Read MorePope to Congress: Time to act on climate change, poverty
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said that marginal production costs in places such as the United States were poised to fall due to improved drilling efficiencies, meaning production will not decline as steeply as expected.
S&P cut its Brent and WTI forecasts by $5 to $50 per barrel and $45 per barrel respectively for this year and said it saw 2016 prices at $55 for Brent and $50 for WTI.
HSBC said that markets had focused too much on China's slowdown, warning that many developed economies were faltering as well.
"It turns out that developed market imports haven't been anywhere near as robust as relatively upbeat local demand data would suggest ... For all their recent swagger, developed markets are hardly firing on all cylinders. So, don't just blame China," the bank said on Friday.
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91658431a7d45acb7ebba9f1763bc6cc | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/pisani-thank-you-janet-yellen.html | Trader Talk | Trader Talk
VIDEO2:3802:38Stocks surge after Yellen's clarifying speech
Thank you, Janet Yellen, for finally taking a side and clearly stating that an interest rate hike seems likely sometime this year.
And thank you for finally clarifying the sudden emphasis that was placed on developments abroad in the last FOMC statement.
Specifically, thank you for this clarification: "The Committee is monitoring developments abroad, but we do not currently anticipate that the effects of these recent developments on the U.S. economy will prove to be large enough to have a significant effect on the path for policy."
Read More Yellen 'felt dehydrated' after long speech
Yellen is helping the banks this morning on higher interest rates prospects. This is not only important for banks, it's important for the .
Bank earnings estimates have been under some pressure recently on the inability to realize higher rates.
More importantly, investors are relying on higher bank earnings to balance out the disastrous decline in earnings from energy companies. There are precious few sources of earnings growth right now.
S&P Q3 Sector Earnings (source: Factset)
Consumer Discretionary: up 10.0% Financials: up 8.5% Health Care: up 7.4% Tech: down 0.2% Energy: down 65%
So Yellen helping the banks is good news. The bad news is that we still have to face this:
S&P 500 Q3 (Source: Factset)
Earnings: -4.5% Revenue: -3.3% Margins: 10.1% P/E: 16x
As I noted yesterday, this is the third straight quarter we have seen negative revenue growth, which hasn't happened since 2009.
Read MoreFed just threw kerosene on the fire: RBC Strategist
Margins, by the way, are near record highs—10.1%, just high of the record high of 10.5% last quarter.
Margins at record highs, revenues trending negative.
How do you keep earnings up on that?
More importantly, how do you pay 16 times forward earnings with only 2 percent GDP growth?
It's getting trickier, and the bulls are getting a bit more defensive.
"Flat is the new up," one trader quipped to me yesterday.
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d7d10c9d5872bd6c8ac4f1bac8bb2afd | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/popes-focus-on-the-poor-ascension-ceo-answers-the-call.html | Pope Francis meets with Gerard Gubatan of Brooklyn during his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport September 24, 2015 in New York City.Getty Images
Pope Francis' unwavering message to the U.S. this week was how to best provide more care to "all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty."
Answering the pontiff's call, was the ceo of Ascension, the largest non-profit U.S. health system and the world's largest Catholic health system.
Read More$1 in every $5 spent in the U.S. will be on health care
Dr. Anthony Tersigni, president and ceo of Ascension, told CNBC's "Power Lunch" Friday that Pope Francis' visit will motivate more health care providers into further action to help impoverished members of society.
"The Pope's visit serves as a reminder to keep in mind those around us trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope. As the world's largest Catholic healthcare system we are dedicated to serving those most in need. This is our mission, and it really is at the heart of all we do."
Specifically, Tersigni points out the need to provide preventative, primary and end-of-life care that is both compassionate and personalized.
"The Pope's determination to help impoverished members of society is dramatically changing how we think about healthcare, said Tersigni."
Last year, Ascension alone contributed nearly two billion dollars in charity care and programs to benefit communities in the United State. That is a more than seven percent increase from the prior year and approximately ten percent of patient revenue. Ascension Health includes 131 hospitals plus 1,900 outpatient centers, and senior, home health and long-term care facilities.
Read MorePope Francis drags Vatican Bank "kicking and screaming" into 21st century
"We hope to continue to grow that care," said Tersigni. "That's our mission, It always has been, and it's inspiring to have it reaffirmed by Pope Francis."
But Tersigni is mindful of the hard work ahead.
"Health care in America remains a complicated, fragmented and inefficient system, more focused on the bottom line than coverage, care or wellness. We're hoping to help redesign the system to better meet the needs of all walks of society."
Tersigni chairs the International Association of Catholic Hospitals and plans to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican next month.
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a01ddc8868b13c5f83986e0aa26b56ca | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/recession-risk-rising-low-returns-ahead-street.html | Recession risk rising, low returns ahead: Street | Recession risk rising, low returns ahead: Street
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Getty Images
Quantitative models for forecasting recessions are sending warning signals, suggesting low returns for risky assets are ahead, JPMorgan told clients this week.
"Current levels of recession risk predict below-average returns on equities and widening corporate spreads," JPMorgan economist Jesse Edgerton wrote on Wednesday. "At face value, these forecasts would suggest that asset allocations should begin to shift away from equities."
Wall Street firms such as JPMorgan rely on quantitative models to assess the probability risk of economic events and determine asset locations.
At the current levels, the investment bank sets the probability of a recession at 40 percent within the next two years and over 50 percent within three years, Edgerton said.
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37d6ee5d186aef5b3020ac6d337f1ad1 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/sensitive-data-for-9000-army-families-compromised-nbcs-dc-affiliate.html | Sensitive data of up to 9K Army families compromised: Report | Sensitive data of up to 9K Army families compromised: Report
Rafe Swan | Getty Images
Two breaches may have left sensitive information of up to 9,000 U.S. Army families vulnerable, NBC's Washington, D.C. affiliate reported Friday.
Data could include Social Security numbers, medical histories, addresses and child daycare information, according to the report. At least 82 families had private information seen by unauthorized individuals, the General Services Administration told the station, News 4.
The families took part in the Army's Fee Assistance program, which helps service members and civilian employees pay for private child care. After it found that the 82 families were vulnerable, the GSA offered credit monitoring and identity theft protection to all 9,000 participating families.
The report says the program has struggled to keep up with the subsidies, leaving some of its recipients straining to make ends meet.
Read MoreUS and China reach agreement on cybertheft
Read the full News 4 report here.
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dd025637db5530fd26e5a3c4d51dd956 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/short-term-yields-spike-on-boehner-resignation.html | Short-term yields spike on Boehner resignation news | Short-term yields spike on Boehner resignation news
VIDEO4:2504:25Speaker Boehner resigns Congress: NYT
VIDEO1:5601:56Boehner taking one for the team: Analyst
VIDEO2:0302:03What was behind Boehner's resignation announcement?Squawk Alley
Treasury bill yields surged Friday after surprise news that House Speaker John Boehner will resign from Congress ahead of a potential government shutdown.
Read MoreBoehner will resign from Congress
The yield for three-month Treasurys tripled in minutes, albeit from very low levels. Yields on six-month Treasurys also jumped.
Treasury bills represent government debt that matures in the very short term, and thus react to short-term fears around government funding. If the risk increases that short-term bills won't get paid off (currently seen as exceptionally unlikely), short-term yields will need to rise in order to compensate for that risk.
Experts are somewhat divided on whether Boehner's resignation would make a shutdown more or less likely. But with Treasury bills trading at yields near zero, any sniff of increased risk has the potential to create an outsized effect on that market.
Two years ago, as a debate over the federal debt ceiling led to a partial shutdown, short-term Treasury bill yields rose considerably into the event—which ended up having no effect on bills getting paid off.
Larry McDonald, head of U.S. strategy with Societe Generale's macro group, says a similar situation threatens to play out this year. He believes Congress is likely to pass a continuing resolution in the next week that will last for three months. Around the time it expires, the government will run out of cash and hit the debt ceiling, according to his research. The government will then be forced to negotiate a new continuing resolution as it runs out of money, which is what happened in 2013.
"You'll have the debt ceiling, the continuing resolution, and the December Federal Reserve meeting all within one week," McDonald said. "That means Treasury bills that mature in December are in some jeopardy."
"The shock announcement has increased the odds of a shutdown, if not this week then in early December," echoed Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.
The passage of a short-term continuing resolution is passed in the week ahead "would allow Congress to revisit the issue alongside the debt ceiling. Unfortunately, the new House Speaker may not want, or be able to, deliver a deal" at that time, Ashworth wrote.
Boehner plans to step down at the October, his office said Friday.
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b980629fa364c03ac1ca3242076a7c2e | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/so-why-all-the-fuss-over-what-janet-yellen-said.html | So why all the fuss over what Janet Yellen said? | So why all the fuss over what Janet Yellen said?
VIDEO1:4201:42Inside the mind of the FedThe Fed
VIDEO52:4652:46Inflation much more stable than it used to be: YellenFast Money
VIDEO2:3802:38Stocks surge after Yellen's clarifying speech
During a speech Thursday in Amherst, Massachusetts, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sent a message to the financial markets that the U.S. central bank remains on track to raise interest rates before the end of the year.
Just like she did in Cleveland on July 10. And in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 22. And in San Francisco on March 27.
In fact, the Fed leader's remarks that seemed to spark a fairly aggressive stock market rally Friday differed little from her previous speeches, or for that matter multiple statements released after this year's Federal Open Market Committee meetings over which Yellen presides.
What was it, then, that convinced the market that Yellen and the rest of the FOMC are finally serious this time about liftoff from zero rates before 2015 runs out?
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts on Sept. 24, 2015.Mary Schwalm | Reuters
It may have been a bit more optimistic tone about the pace of inflation gains.
She did seem more urgent than usual to place the "transitory" label on the factors holding back the inflation and accompanying economic acceleration the Fed so desperately wants to generate in an economy that has seen little. Yellen said FOMC officials "expect that the various headwinds to economic growth ... will continue to fade, thereby boosting the economy's underlying strength."
Read More
She followed that with an assertion that "it will be appropriate to raise" rates "sometime later this year" so long as all the underlying trends she sees hold.
In all, though, Thursday's speech offered not really much different than the standard Fed fare delivered to investors for most of 2015.
There was some chatter in the market that one of the propelling factors for the rally was that Yellen clearly indicated she was one of the 13 FOMC members (out of 18) who favors a rate hike this year.
But could that really ever have been in doubt? Even before taking over in March 2013 as chair, Yellen was famous for her consensus-building skills. To imagine that she was part of a small uber-dovish minority on the board—a lonely leader trying to hold back the hawkish tide—is implausible to say the least.
Instead, it seemed mostly to be her acknowledging that the case for keeping rates at zero has become increasingly wobbly, and she wants investors to know that the Fed at least can see what's happening.
Read MoreFed blowing its chance to raise rates: Economist
That argument for an economy dependent on zero interest rates got even weaker Friday with the Bureau of Economic Analysis revising second-quarter gross domestic product growth up to 3.9 percent (though the third quarter looks significantly less robust, depending on whose estimate you believe).
Also, a favorite bugaboo for Fed officials, the "tightening economic conditions" fear, carries little weight as well. While conditions have tightened marginally in recent weeks, the Chicago Fed's Financial Conditions Index reading is -0.61, with any negative reading indicating loose conditions. A year ago the reading was -0.87; it was -0.68 a month ago.
No, what the Fed is looking for is essentially permission from the markets to go ahead and hike.
Investors, despite Friday's rally, remain skittish.
In the week following the September FOMC statement, traders ditched U.S. equities and jumped to cash. Money market funds saw $17 billion of inflows and another $400 million net into bond funds, while U.S. equities lost $7.3 billion, pretty much all of it solely attributable to more than $7.4 billion getting drained out of the SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Finally, while the markets may have thought they witnessed a breakthrough from Yellen on Thursday, futures trading made a less resounding statement.
The probability of an October hike remained low Friday, with just an 11 percent chance, while December's likelihood stood at just 35 percent.
Translation: Yellen and the rest of the Fed still have a lot of work to do before convincing the market they're serious about getting monetary policy back to normal.
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52b090cfe4dbbb988721da2c8603a115 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/swiss-prosecutors-open-investigation-into-fifa-head-blatter.html | Swiss investigate Blatter for criminal mismanagement of FIFA | Swiss investigate Blatter for criminal mismanagement of FIFA
FIFA President Sepp Blatter pauses during a news conference at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, June 2, 2015.Ruben Sprich | Reuters
Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of world soccer body FIFA, on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation, the Swiss attorney general's office said on Friday.
Blatter was interrogated after a meeting of FIFA's executive committee in Zurich, and authorities carried out a search at FIFA headquarters on Friday.
"The office of the FIFA President has been searched and data seized," the office of the attorney general (OAG) said in a statement.
U.S. and Swiss authorities announced in May they were investigating corruption at the highest levels of the world's most popular sport, including in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 world cups to Russia and Qatar.
Fourteen soccer officials and sports marketing executives were indicted at that time, but until Friday authorities had not pointed the finger at Blatter, the 79-year-old Swiss who has run FIFA since 1998.
He has denied wrongdoing.
Blatter was questioned by the OAG's representatives and Michel Platini, the former French soccer star who runs European soccer body UEFA, was also asked to give information, the statement said.
Platini is favourite to win the election to replace Blatter when he steps down in February.
The statement said that Blatter was suspected of a "disloyal payment" of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.05 million) to Platini at the expense of FIFA, allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002.
The payment was executed in February 2011, the OAG said.
A spokeswoman for U.S. prosecutors declined to comment.
Blatter is cooperating with the investigation, his U.S. attorney said on Friday.
Attorney Richard Cullen said a contract that Blatter signed in 2005 with the Caribbean Football Union, according to the Swiss Attorney General, was "properly prepared and negotiated by the appropriate staff members of FIFA."
"Certainly no mismanagement occurred," Cullen said in an emailed statement.
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c5af9a9dc8ab29b4920c29213cc48311 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/top-5-stocks-of-the-week-and-how-to-trade-them.html | Top 5 stocks of the week and how to trade them | Top 5 stocks of the week and how to trade them
A Dollar Tree store in MiamiGetty Images
CNBC Pro highlights the top-performing stocks this week and analyzes whether the good times will continue.
(The price change was calculated as of midday Friday so it is subject to change. If one stock led multiple indices, we profiled the second best, too.)
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91fe979c44bf050ab559f96d0a8022d2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/top-analyst-this-stock-to-hit-1-trillion-value.html | Top analyst: This stock to hit $1 trillion value | Top analyst: This stock to hit $1 trillion value
The Apple 6S and 6S Plus iPhonesBeck Diefenbach | Reuters
As the bull market marched on earlier this year, Apple's market value topped $700 billion, and investors and analysts started chattering about the iPhone juggernaut eventually becoming the first $1 trillion stock ever.
Even after the stock market pullback, Apple is still the favorite on Wall Street to hit this milestone one day.
Not so fast, said top technology analyst Colin Gillis of BGC Partners.
Gillis, who's stock picks average 8.4 percent return over one year, according to TipRanks.com, said if there is a company that's going to do it, it's going to be this one, not Apple.
(See video below for answer and reason why:)
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ec3084b7b879994b2d07d47a52a78b15 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/tourists-hang-in-the-balance-as-government-mulls-shutdown.html | Tourists hang in the balance as government mulls shutdown | Tourists hang in the balance as government mulls shutdown
The international arrivals terminal is viewed at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.Getty Images
Gerda Stoof was delighted last week to be looking up at the 60-foot-tall stone faces of Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, South Dakota. She and her husband made a pit stop on their drive home from visiting new twin grandchildren in Ontario.
"I've heard about this all my life and have always wanted to see it," said Stoof, a native of Alberta, Canada. They were unaware that if they'd shown up a week later, the gates to the site of the iconic granite sculpture may have been locked.
That's because if Oct. 1 rolls around without the nation's lawmakers settling a budget for the new fiscal year, there may be a partial government shutdown that would affect the nation's more than 400 national parks and historic sites—including federal agencies that support tourism.
Read MoreAltman: Another government shutdown possible, here's why
If there is a partial shutdown, it would cost the U.S. travel sector at least $185 million per day in lost economic output, U.S. Travel Association economists estimate. That could also lead to the loss of 530,000 travel-related jobs due to temporary layoffs, reduced wages and fewer hours worked.
"Entire communities will be affected beyond our national parks, because hotels, attractions, restaurants and retail stores will also lose revenue," said Roger Dow, USTA president and CEO. "The growing perception, and what could soon be a reality, is that the U.S. simply won't be open for business late next week."
Hoyer: No govt shutdown if common sense prevails
Another government shutdown? Here's the cost
In October 2013, when national parks closed for 16 days due to a budget stalemate, USTA calculated that travel spending was reduced by $680 million, or nearly $43 million per day.
The experience in South Dakota, where facilities at iconic Mount Rushmore were shuttered, was replicated at federally run sites across the country.
"Visitors informed our tourism bureau that they were canceling their trips," said Jim Hagen, South Dakota secretary of tourism. Tour buses were rerouted, while others turned around and left the state.
"That's hundreds and hundreds of hotel rooms that went unoccupied and thousands of meals that were uneaten," said Hagen, adding that key regions saw fewer jobs. "Hours were reduced and in some cases people were laid off."
Not everyone was a loser, however.
"We're a seasonal business and were already operating with a limited staff, but we benefited," said Brandi Hunsaker, manager of the Ruby House Restaurant in Keystone. The restaurant hosted busloads of tourists who had planned to have lunch at the national park site, but ended up in town instead.
"But I felt bad for the people who were maybe on a trip of a lifetime and couldn't see Mount Rushmore," said Hunsaker. "If it happens again this year, I think traffic will just dry up, we'll close earlier and it will cost us business."
VIDEO4:0004:00Another federal shutdown? This time could be different
In 2013, South Dakota was one of a handful of states where officials were forced to dip into their own coffers to reopen facilities closed by the national budget stalemate.
If there's a repeat of the government shutdown, Hagen said, the state is prepared to pay to keep Mount Rushmore open again.
"When you have people who have spent thousands of dollars, and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars to fly internationally, to come to your state, you want to do something to accommodate them," said Hagen.
"This year, we're having an incredibly strong fall shoulder season and we've had a very strong summer season. So another government shutdown could affect us in a major way," he added.
Lawmakers are making some progress toward avoiding a shutdown, but for now there's a notice posted on the Department of Interior website advising potential national park visitors to stand by. The agency is "in the process of reviewing and revising its Contingency Plans for Operations in the Absence of FY 2016 Appropriations," according to the department.
And just to be safe, tourism officials across the country—including in Washington, D.C.—are working on ways to get the message to tourists about all the attractions that will remain open, even if federal facilities temporarily close.
"We'd want to let the public know D.C. is open for business," said Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination, D.C., "Our city is home to a wide variety of museums, arts and cultural attractions, excellent dining, fine hotels and world-class shopping—the vast majority of which are open even in the face of a government shutdown."
—Harriet Baskas is the author of seven books, including "Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can't or Won't Show You," and the Stuck at the Airport blog. Follow her on Twitter at @hbaskas. Follow Road Warrior at @CNBCtravel.
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bed657a8914bae64d17e261c7a3fe1f7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/traders-are-buying-protection-ahead-of-bank-earnings.html | Traders are buying protection ahead of bank earnings | Traders are buying protection ahead of bank earnings
VIDEO1:4401:44Options Action: More pain for banks?Options Action
It appears that some investors are still playing it safe when it comes to banks.
On Thursday, one trader placed a big bet against the XLF ETF, which tracks financial stocks. The trader bought 35,000 of the XLF Oct. 30 22-strike put options for 51 cents each. This is a $1.8 million bet that the XLF will fall below $21.49 by Oct. 30.
However, the bet hasn't been working in the trader's favor so far.
Bank stocks have suffered under a low-interest-rate environment, but on Friday morning the S&P 500 financial sector rallied 1.6 percent, rounding out the week with incremental gains.
Read More Dow jumps triple digits as Nike leaps 9%; financials lead
CNBC contributor Dan Nathan said an increase in bearish bets against financials in the options market could signal a defensive move going into third-quarter earnings season.
"About 50 percent of the weight of the [financials sector ETF] is going to report between now and October 30th. So it could be a protection trade," Nathan said Thursday on CNBC's "Fast Money. "[Traders are] trying to get protection at this big support level into earnings."
Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Bank of America and Citigroup are all scheduled to report earnings the week of Oct. 12. Together, the four stock holdings constitute about 28 percent of the XLF.
Nathan also noted that while the price of options has spiked, trading could become more volatile in the weeks leading up to third-quarter earnings.
"There's a lot of room to go if things really get crazy in the next couple weeks," he said.
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7c7574bbd4f385edb4728377710ba2a7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/turing-robotics-has-made-a-999-that-lets-you-transfer-files-in-5g.html | Meet the $999 phone that lets you transfer files in 5G | Meet the $999 phone that lets you transfer files in 5G
We've just about got 4G internet on our handsets, but one company has made a cover for your smartphone that will allow you to transfer files such as videos and pictures to your friends at 5G speeds.
San Francisco-based Turing Robotic Industries has created a case called the Turing Armor for its $999 Dark Wyvern smartphone. The company began taking pre-orders on Thursday.
Turing Robotic Industries claims that the case, which costs $179 on its own, will let you transfer 3.2 gigabytes of data in under 25 seconds, which is roughly around the size of a two-hour high-definition film.
The solution is based on a technology called WiGig – a WiFi-like service that allows the near-field transportation of data. This means that a user wishing to receive files would also need to have the Turing Armor case in order to receive files at 5G speeds. And they would have to be close to the person sending the files. The transfer of files does not eat into your monthly data usage that you get with a phone contract as it works on this separate WiGig technology.
Turing Robotic Industries
SYL Chao, the CEO of Turing Robotics Industries told CNBC the company had been working on a chip that would enable data transfer at 5G speeds and only recently had a "major breakthrough" that has allowed it to be commercialized. That is why it has not been built into the Dark Wyvern smartphone.
"It's not there to replace standard 4G, it's complimentary to the 4G. Say you are in a room with colleagues you can transfer an enormous amount of file in a short amount of time," Chao told CNBC in a phone interview.
Turing Robotics is the latest in a line of players attempting to market their smartphones as secure and trustworthy devices. The knockout feature, according to Chao, is the company's own authentication key. When you go onto a website, there is data exchanged and this is done securely through so-called authentication keys to try and make sure nobody can intercept that communication. But the keys are issued by a third party. Turing Robotics has created its own keys in bid to make communication between users of its devices more secure.
Chao said the company has released a developer's kit that will allows app makers to create apps which include Turing Robotics's special authentication key. This means that users of these apps, which are approved by Turing Robotics, will be more secure, Chao claims.
"Turing Phone is about trustworthy communication. It is something that won't fail," Chao said.
The Dark Wyvern smartphone comes in a 128 gigabyte version which comes free with the Turing Armor for $999. But it doesn't have a headphone jack or a USB port. Instead, these are built into the 5G case.
Turing Robotics is competing in an incredibly tough market which is set to slow. But still, analysts said
"In a market where 1.5 billion smartphones will be sold this year, there is enough cake for companies to all have a slice," Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, told CNBC by phone.
"Companies like this and others are effectively exploiting the sheer size of the market to carve out a niche. In order to do that profitably, you need to be lean, efficient and have a compelling offering."
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5c5ba97a92f00d75f2424f20e41f7bdb | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/us-final-q2-gross-domestic-product-39-vs-37-expected.html | US final Q2 gross domestic product 3.9% vs 3.7% expected | US final Q2 gross domestic product 3.9% vs 3.7% expected
VIDEO6:1106:11Q2 GDP (2nd revision) up 3.9% (annual rate)Squawk Box
The U.S. economy expanded more than previously estimated in the second quarter on stronger consumer spending and construction, the second upward revision in a row.
The Commerce Department said on Friday gross domestic product rose at a 3.9 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, up from the 3.7 percent pace reported last month.
The rise, which beat expectations in a Reuters poll for the third reading of Q2 economic growth to be unchanged at 3.7 percent, was driven by growth in consumer spending, mainly on services like health care and transport.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two thirds of U.S. economic activity, was revised up to a 3.6 percent growth pace from the 3.1 percent rate reported in August, helped by cheap gasoline prices and relatively higher house prices boosting household wealth.
Revised construction spending data helped to push up the headline figure, with non-residential fixed investment expanding 4.1 percent in the quarter.
The revisions to second-quarter growth also reflected a smaller accumulation of inventories than earlier estimated, with inventories contributing just 0.02 percentage point to growth rather than adding 0.22 percentage point.
VIDEO0:3100:31US economy looks to be on the up and upGDP
After-tax corporate profits were also stronger in the second quarter than previously thought. Profits after tax with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments showed a 2.6 percent rebound from a slump in late 2014 and early 2015, instead of the 1.3 percent increase reported last month.
The data supports the case that the U.S. economy may be gaining enough strength to withstand an increase in benchmark interest rates from record low levels.
The U.S. Federal Reserve last week held off on hiking rates, but Fed Chair Janet Yellen kept the door open to an increase this year in a speech on Thursday night, as long as inflation remains stable and growth is strong enough to boost employment.
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a238389ab5498eca2a3af10683f559e7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/us-stocks-open-higher-as-street-digests-yellen-speech.html | Dow up 100, but market mixed as biotech slammed | Dow up 100, but market mixed as biotech slammed
VIDEO2:0302:03Biotech trades below August lowsClosing Bell
VIDEO1:2801:28Not a whole lot of new information from Yellen: EconomistSquawk Box
VIDEO3:0303:03Nike beats Street, stock upgraded: AnalystSquawk Box
VIDEO2:2502:25Did Yellen move the needle on rate hike hopes?Worldwide Exchange
VIDEO2:3802:38Stocks surge after Yellen's clarifying speech
U.S. stocks closed mixed Friday, pressured by a plunge in biotechs, as investors digested Nike earnings and Fed Chair Janet Yellen's remarks.
The Nasdaq composite closed down 1 percent after falling more than 1.5 percent in afternoon trade, pressured by decline of nearly 5 percent in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB).
IBB had its worst day since April 2014, falling in record trade volume to below its closing low from the Aug. 24 "flash crash." The index closed in bear market territory, or more than 20 percent below its 52-week high. Forty-five percent of the Nasdaq 100 also closed in bear market territory.
Apple closed down 0.2 percent on the day but posted a 1.12 percent gain for the week.
"Often folks aren't eager to take on risk over the weekend," said Michael Arone of State Street Global Advisors. "Biotech — I think this is a little bit of an overreaction in a market where growth is scarce, valuations that are reasonably valued."
IBB had its worst day in 2015 on Monday after a tweet from Hillary Clinton raised concerns about "price gouging."
Armored Wolf Managing Director Bradd Kern is short IBB and said "further biotech downside is inevitable" based on expectations that more than 65 percent of the fund names will lose money in 2016.
"Biotech has attracted a lot of performance-chasing investors over the last couple of years, both on the retail and institutional side," he said. "Retail money has flooded into the ETF, and institutional investors have talked themselves into overweight positions without any consideration of fundamental investing principles, namely valuation."
The S&P 500 closed 0.05 percent lower as a 2.70 percent decline in health care more than offset a 1.45 percent gain in financials. The regional banking stock index also gained 1 percent.
The dollar index hit its highest intraday level since Aug. 19 before trimming gains.
Declines in United Health and Johnson & Johnson put the greatest pressure on the Dow Jones industrial average.
The blue chip index closed 113 points higher, with Nike jumping 9 percent to contribute about 66 points. Earlier, the index gained as much as 263.91 points, or more than 1.5 percent.
Nike reported earnings after the close Thursday that beat on both the top and bottom line, higher prices and strength in the China market.
"I think the great numbers from the Chinese business certainly help, help underscore that growth in China is not collapsing, that the consumer side is doing OK," said David Lefkowitz, senior equity strategist at UBS.
Stocks opened higher and tried to hold gains after three straight days of losses.
"Obviously Yellen's comments last night put us back on track for a rate hike this year so that's positive for the market," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
Read MoreYellen nudges markets slightly on rates
Yellen said in a speech after the close Thursday that she personally anticipates a hike this year.
"I think it gave a lot of people confidence that they didn't have to worry about the global condition, given the volatility in the last couple of days," said Alan Rechtschaffen, financial advisor and senior vice president at UBS Wealth Management Americas.
"She's a consensus builder. If she's out there saying it she feels she has consensus. Although it's her personal conviction she's a strong believer in not going against the flow," he said.
The Dow remained in correction territory, or more than 10 percent away from its 52-week high. The Nasdaq also fell back into correction mode, while the S&P 500 was about 9.5 percent away from its 52-week high.
All three major averages are negative for 2015 and posted weekly losses.
"When you're looking at a market that's healing sometimes you don't want to see it go up right away," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. She noted that a sharp jump after a few days of declines might be viewed as an unsustainable "dead cat bounce" and create "worry we go down again."
"The earnings season is absolutely critical for the direction of the market," she said.
Stocks closed well off their lows Thursday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 holding out of correction territory, or remaining within 10 percent of their 52-week highs.
"From a technical perspective we managed to hold the lower range of the trading range (Thursday)," Cardillo said, noting some "early window dressing" and short covering as September and the third quarter come to an end next Wednesday.
Kate Warne said markets were focused on Yellen's remarks more than morning news that Speaker of the House John Boehner would resign at the end of October.
"The shutdown in Washington could roil markets next week," she said. "People are putting that off because they don't know whether we know what will happen until the last minute. I think this time we know it's going to go down to the wire.(Boehner's resignation makes it more likely). With Boehner resigning, although not until next month, it clearly reflects on lack of Republican (consensus) in the House. It makes it more likely that there's a temporary government shutdown… and it would tend to trigger a negative market reaction but fortunately that doesn't tend to last very long."
Treasury yields held higher, a touch off session highs, with the 10-year yield at 2.16 percent and the at 0.70 percent.
Traders cited some concern about government shutdown and later a debt ceiling fight following Boehner's announcement.
Read More Short-term yields spike on Boehner resignation news
"It adds some uncertainty and depending on how the battle is going to go, it could even bring the Fed into question…we're off the lows," said David Ader,CRT Capital, chief treasury strategist.
Lance Roberts, head of Streettalklive.com, said a key focus is "the posturing and threats from the Administration will likely cause additional market angst given an already weak market. This was the same backdrop as 2011 when we debated over the debt ceiling then."
The U.S. dollar traded higher against world currencies, with the euro below $1.12 and the yen near 120.7 yen against the dollar.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George on Friday said she believes the Fed should raise interest rates soon so that it will "have the luxury" of being able keep rate hikes gradual.
On the data front, the second revision for second-quarter GDP was revised higher to 3.9 percent, boosted by stronger consumer spending and construction.
fell for the third straight month in September to 87.2, the lowest in nearly a year.
"I would think we focus on the last 45 minutes of trading," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. "If it's positive then we can feel good about next week."
Major U.S. Indexes
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed nearly 3 percent higher, helped by some recovery in auto stocks. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index closed down 1.62 percent, while Japan's Nikkei finished 1.76 percent higher.
Volkswagen ended 4.3 percent lower. After the local close, the carmaker officially named Porsche boss Matthias Mueller its new CEO.
Read More Volkswagen could be making these stocks a bargain
On the earnings front, BlackBerry and Finish Line both posted results before the bell.
BlackBerry plunged 7.48 percent after the struggling handset maker reported earnings that missed significantly on both the top and bottom line. The firm also projected "modest" sequential quarterly revenue growth for the rest of fiscal 2016.
Finish Line closed down nearly 20 percent after the athletic apparel and footwear retailer missed on revenue. Same-store sales rose 1.5 percent.
Read MoreEarly movers: BBRY, FINL, SPLS, GOOGL, AAPL, MMM, PYPL & more
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 113.35 points, or 0.70 percent, at 16,314, with Nike leading advancers and United Health the greatest decliner. The index ended the week 0.43 percent lower. Nike was the best performer for the week, while Caterpillar was the worst.
The Dow transports closed up 0.89 percent, but down 2.31 percent for the week.
Read MoreCommodities pain spreading as Caterpillar retrenches
The closed down 0.90 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,931.34, with health care leading three sectors lower and financials the greatest advancer. The index ended the week down 1.36 percent, with health care the worst weekly performer and utilities the best.
The Nasdaq closed down 47.98 points, or 1.01 percent, at 4,686.50, down 2.92 percent for the week.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, held near 23.
About eight stocks declined for every seven advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, with exchange volume of 975 million and composite volume of 3.7 billion in the close.
High-frequency trading accounted for 49 percent of September's daily trading volume of about 7.2 billion shares, according to TABB Group. During the peak levels of high-frequency trading in 2009, about 61 percent of 9.8 billion of average daily shares traded were executed by high-frequency traders.
Crude oil settled up 1.7 percent at $45.70 a barrel. Gold futures ended down $8.20 at $1,145.60 an ounce.
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14f064a9e33e4dd89615779a9b8aa654 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/25/volkswagen-could-be-making-these-stocks-a-bargain.html | Volkswagen could be making these stocks a bargain | Volkswagen could be making these stocks a bargain
VIDEO2:3502:35More car trouble ahead?Trading Nation
Automobile stocks slumped this week, following news that Volkswagen rigged emissions tests for its cars.
Despite a bounce after Friday's opening bell, the S&P 500 industry group of automakers and suppliers had fallen almost 4 percent in one week, making these stocks one of the worst performing groups in the index.
Ford and GM fell about 4 and 3.5 percent respectively in the week, but the week's most troubled company in the group is auto parts manufacturer BorgWarner, which is down 8 percent.
However, one portfolio manager says the tumble in auto stocks could have created some attractive buying opportunities.
Read MoreVW faces 'about the worst situation': Ex-GM exec
Erin Gibbs, chief equity investment officer of S&P Capital IQ, noted that many automaker stocks are trading at an extreme discount to their average price target on the Street.
"I actually see auto manufacturers as being an overreaction, they're getting hit because they're part of that industry," Gibbs said Thursday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "Ford, GM, Harley Davidson, they all look really good."
However, Gibbs, who oversees $12 billion in assets for S&P Capital, is less optimistic about the auto parts suppliers, which include BorgWarner, Delphi Automotive and Johnson Controls.
"[For] BorgWarner, I do think this [selloff] is justified," Gibbs said. "Break it down a little further and you can get some good buys," Gibbs said.
Read More As Volkswagen loses, other automakers could benefit
The charts appear to echo those views.
Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, said BorgWarner has been showing signs of trouble even before this week. The stock has tumbled more than 28 percent this year.
"The stock has certainly broken down, but there were some actually glaring signs of distribution heading into this breakdown, so we would continue to stay away," Wald said Thursday on "Trading Nation." "Now it is indeed oversold, but there are no signs of a base here."
Wald said the next level of support for BorgWarner would come in around $30, another 22 percent drop from where the stock closed Thursday.
Want to be a part of the Trading Nation? If you'd like to call into our live Wednesday show, email your name, number, and a question to TradingNation@cnbc.com
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