The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.08%) was rising in early trading Monday, up nearly 30 points as of 11:30 a.m. EST. With little economic news to dictate the flow of trade, investors may be focusing on individual stocks. Dow component Verizon Communications (VZ -0.05%) was down about 0.43% following an acquistion, while tech stocks Twitter (TWTR) and Micron Technology (MU -0.77%) were trading higher.
Fed speeches later today
While there were no major economic releases early on Monday, three Federal Reserve governors will speak later today. Richmond Fed head Jeff Lacker will speak at 12:30 p.m. EST, while St. Louis' Jim Bullard will speak just after 1 p.m. EST. The Dallas Fed's Richard Fisher will give a speech later this afternoon. While none of these particular officials can solely determine the Fed's upcoming actions, investors might look to their speeches to get a sense of how the central bank will act in the coming months.
Suggestions that the Fed could plan to pull back on its economic stimulus in the near future, might be met with a market sell-off, while statements supportive of further monetary accommodation could contribute to a market rally.
Verizon drops after announcing EdgeCast acquisition
Verizon announced Monday that it had acquired EdgeCast, a content delivery network. TechCrunch said last week that the deal was worth $350 million. That makes the deal relatively small for Verizon -- meaning that it had little affect on Verizon's shares -- but by integrating EdgeCast's network of servers, Verizon may be able to offer a better video streaming mobile service.
Verizon has shown some interest in getting into online video, partnering with Redbox to create Redbox Instant, a competitor to Netflix that combines video streaming with DVD rentals.
Twitter keeps trending higher
Twitter shares were up nearly 7% early on Monday -- investors may have been reacting to a note from Evercore Partners released on Friday. Evercore Partners raised its price target on shares of Twitter to $52 per share, citing Twitter's recent targeted-ad announcement. Likening it to Facebook's "Custom Audience" ad product, Evercore Partners believes Twitter's "Tailored Audiences" have the potential to draw in a lot of interest from advertisers.
Micron might be benefiting from supply constraints
Micron's rally wasn't nearly as impressive as Twitter's, but shares were up nearly 4% early on Monday. Micron Technology has become a favorite among hedge-fund investors, with funds including Greenlight Capital, Baupost Group and Highfields Capital holding stakes.
Reports on Friday suggested that DRAM output could be constrained well into the winter, possibly to Micron's benefit. As a supplier of DRAM products, Micron should be expected to benefit from an environment that pushes DRAM prices higher.
