Advertisement
Canada markets open in 8 hours 45 minutes
  • S&P/TSX

    21,837.18
    -12.02 (-0.06%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,149.42
    +32.33 (+0.63%)
     
  • DOW

    38,790.43
    +75.66 (+0.20%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7379
    -0.0010 (-0.13%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.57
    -0.15 (-0.18%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    88,449.82
    -4,176.49 (-4.51%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,164.20
    -0.10 (-0.00%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,024.74
    -14.58 (-0.72%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.3400
    -4.3400 (-100.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ futures

    18,182.00
    -49.50 (-0.27%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    14.33
    -0.08 (-0.56%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,722.55
    -4.87 (-0.06%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    39,746.59
    +6.19 (+0.02%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6788
    -0.0004 (-0.06%)
     

Wall Street remains in a funk; Google going to #1?; Dark pools deal

Wall Street remains in a funk after a rough January. All three major indexes (^DJI^GSPC^IXIC) kicked off February in the minus column after China's official factory activity index fell to a three-year low last month and crude prices (CLH16.NYM) remain mired in the red on fading hopes that OPEC oil producers will come together to cut output.

Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App

Aetna (AET) posted a beat on both its top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter. Profit jumped 38% from a year ago thanks to strong growth in membership and an increase in premiums, as well as improved margins for its Medicare and Medicaid plans. However, the company gave a disappointing outlook for the year. 

Alphabet (GOOGL), Google's parent company, is slated to report quarterly results after the close of trading this afternoon. Investors will be closely watching because it will be the first time Alphabet will break out results for what it calls "Other Bets," such as spending on self-driving cars and Google Fiber. Analysts are looking for Alphabet's profit to rise to $8.10 per share from $6.88 a year ago and revenue to rise nearly 15% to about $21 billion.  

Questar (STR) soared in early trading on news that power producer Dominion Resources (D) is buying the natural gas distributor for about $4.4 billion in cash. The deal will help Dominion to expand its natural gas operations.  

ADVERTISEMENT

Nokia's (NOK) U.S. listed shares fell sharply this morning. Investors don't seem impressed with the financial terms of its patent settlement deal with Samsung. The agreement is expected to lift sales at the Finnish telecom equipment provider's patent division by more than $1 billion in the next three years.  

Chipotle (CMG) may soon be able to put the E.coli outbreak behind it. The Wall Street Journal reported that the CDC is expected to announce as soon as today that the investigation of Chipotle's E.coli outbreak is closed. However, investigators still haven't been able to find the ingredient responsible for the contamination.  

Microsoft in the spotlight in Iowa caucus

After months of campaigning, debates, and just general political bluster, the very first votes of the 2016 presidential race come with tonight's Iowa caucuses. And Microsoft (MSFT) will be right in the middle of it providing a free app that uses cloud technology that officials will use to report the vote tally.

Dark pools settlement

Finally, some legal light thrown on dark pools. Barclays (BCS) and Credit Suisse (CS) agreed to pay a total of about $154 million in penalties to settle charges they misled investors about those so-called dark pools.