Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Major U.S. stock indices are all rising on the news of Facebook's (META 3.69%) acquisition of WhatsApp and today's economic data. As of 1:30 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 2.58%) was up 110 points to 16,150. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 2.63%) was up 11 points to 1,839.
Facebook is acquiring WhatsApp for $19 billion, or roughly 10% of Facebook's current market cap. The social media giant's stock is up 0.25% to $68.23 on the news. While not in the Dow, Facebook is a large component of the S&P 500. This continues Facebook's strategy of buying potential disruptors at a high price. Facebook's purchase price values each of WhatsApp's 450 million users at roughly $40 per user; that is a bargain compared to Facebook's value of $130 per user, but remains a very high cost nonetheless. The acquisition involves $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in Facebook shares, and $3 billion in restricted stock units for WhatsApp's founders and employees.
There were four U.S. economic releases today.
|
Report |
Period |
Result |
Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Weekly new unemployment claims |
2/8-2/15 |
336,000 |
339,000 |
|
Consumer price index Inflation Rate |
January |
1.6% |
1.5% |
|
Core CPI |
January |
1.6% |
1.7% |
|
Markit flash PMI |
February |
56.7 |
53.7 |
|
Leading indicators |
January |
0.3% |
0% |
The one to pay attention is the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index which jumped 0.3% in January, indicating the economy will continue to expand -- albeit at a slow rate. The index was led higher by the continued large spread between the federal funds rate and the 10-year Treasury bond, indicating easy profits for lenders, and a drop in the four-week average of new unemployment claims to 333,000, from a weekly average of 358,000 in December.
