Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 31 May 2017
A25

Banks pull stocks away from records as 7-day streak ends

business travel. ny stocks tumbled 11.05
Still, stocks remain close to points, or 0.8 percent, to
their record highs. JJ Kina- 1,371.19.
han, chief market strate- Bond prices rose. The yield
gist for TD Ameritrade, said on the 10-year Treasury
he thinks stocks will stay at note fell to 2.21 percent
high levels until more de- from 2.25 percent late Fri-
tails about the Trump ad- day. With interest rates fall-
ministration’s tax proposals ing, JPMorgan Chase de-
become public. clined $1.46, or 1.7 percent,
“Barring unforeseen events, to $83.90. Smaller banks
it’s really going to come fell harder, as Hope Ban-
down to progress and de- corp dropped 67 cents, or
tails about the tax plan,” 3.7 percent, to $17.48 and
he said. “We’ve had this First Financial Bancorp sank
run up primarily on the fact 75 cents, or 2.9 percent to
that earnings have been $25.05.
good.” Oil prices recovered from
However Kinahan said he an early stumble and fin-
thinks it’s likely Wall Street ished only slightly lower, but
will be disappointed with energy companies contin-
any tax cut package that ued to fall. Hess dropped
does pass, since the ad- $1.47, or 3.1 percent, to
Traders Tommy Kalikas, left, and Fred Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. ministration’s proposals will $46.67 and Schlumberger
A seven-day winning streak for stocks came to a quiet end Tuesday as banks dropped along with
bond yields and interest rates. likely be scaled back in shed 85 cents, or 1.2 per-
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) Congress. cent, to $68.74. The S&P
The Standard & Poor’s 500 500 index of energy com-
By MARLEY JAY Investors snapped up Energy companies fell to index lost 2.91 points, or 0.1 panies reached its lowest
AP Markets Writer government bonds and their lowest prices in a year. percent, to 2,412.91. The level in a year. Benchmark
NEW YORK (AP) — A sev- high-yield stocks includ- Technology companies Dow Jones industrial aver- U.S. crude lost 14 cents
en-day winning streak for ing phone companies and continued to soar while air- age fell 50.81 points, or 0.2 to $49.66 a barrel in New
stocks came to a quiet utilities. As bond prices lines slumped as investors percent, to 21,029.47. The York. Brent crude, the inter-
end Tuesday as banks, rose, yields and interest worried that the govern- Nasdaq composite dipped national standard, fell 45
especially smaller ones, rates fell. That reduced the ment could expand a ban 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to cents to $51.84 a barrel in
dropped along with bond profits financial institutions on laptops in passenger 6,203.19. The Russell 2000 London.q
yields and interest rates. En- can make from mortgages cabins during international index of smaller-compa-
ergy companies also sank. and other types of loans. flights, which could affect
It’s primetime at Amazon: shares hit $1,000

By JOSEPH PISANI more affordable and gen- story.
AP Business Writer erate brokerage fees. But The value of a company
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon, companies like Amazon is determined by its stock
the internet goliath that rev- have chosen to reward its price and the number of
olutionized the way much long-term investors. shares on the market. Am-
of the world buys books, The last time Amazon has azon.com is well over four
toilet paper and TVs, hit a split its stock was nearly 18 times the size of Priceline,
new milestone Tuesday. Its years ago, according to fi- NVR and Seaboard com-
stock surpassed the $1,000 nancial research firm Fact- bined. It’s 17 percent big-
mark for the first time. Set. ger than Berkshire Hatha-
That price put Amazon’s Another company with a way, a multinational con-
market value at about similar philosophy is Alpha- glomerate with ownership
$478 billion, double that bet Inc., the parent com- stakes in some of America’s
of the world’s biggest tra- pany of Google. most well-known consumer
ditional retailer, Wal-Mart, Amazon just beat Alphabet brands like Coca-Cola, in-
and more than 15 times to the $1,000 level, with its surance companies and
the size of Target. A $1,000 Class A shares just $2 short U.S. infrastructure.
investment on Amazon’s of $1,000 Tuesday. Since launching a web-
first day of trading in 1997 Only four other U.S.-listed site to sell mostly books in
would be worth more than companies have shares 1995, Amazon has trans-
$500,000 today. trading above $1,000: on- figured retail, sent revenue
Not only has Amazon line travel booking com- numbers to stratospheric
changed the retail land- pany Priceline Group Inc., heights, and is among the
scape since it became a homebuilder NVR Inc., biggest reasons longtime
public company 20 years pork producer and ocean powerhouses like Macy’s,
ago, it’s now part of a small transportation company Borders bookstores and
cadre of high-flying stocks Seaboard Corp. and the even RadioShack have suf-
belonging to companies apostle of long-term invest- fered.Those companies are
that have defied Wall ing, Warren Buffett, with his closing locations and Ama-
Street and shunned stock holding company Berkshire zon is filling the void, some-
splits. Hathaway Inc. But stock times literally.q
Those splits make the stock prices only tell a part of the