Tag Archives: amzn

Facebook Nears New Buy Point As Big Techs Retake Key Levels

Loading the player… A new base is taking shape for Facebook ( FB ), as the social media giant’s stock has finally broken through an area of resistance. Facebook’s popular photo-sharing app Instagram said Tuesday it’s soon rearranging feeds to show posts based on what users would most likely want to see, rather than showing them chronologically. That’s much like an algorithm Facebook uses. Shares are on track for their fourth straight day of gains, with the stock breaking through resistance at the 110 price level. The stock now looks to be forming the right side of a new base, rising 1.2% in soft volume Wednesday. Facebook is trading 4% below its February high and a potential buy point. Apple On 6-Day Win Streak Meanwhile, Apple ( AAPL ) has notched gains for the past five sessions, boosted by a gap-up yesterday, as Morgan Stanley said iPhone demand was tracking ahead of expectations. Volume is tracking lighter than average as the stock looks to gain more today. Up 1.4% in afternoon trade, Apple is now trading above the 105 price level, an area the stock hasn’t traded above since Jan. 4. Apple is 21% below its high reached last April. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft Retake 50-Day Lines Among other large-cap tech stocks, Amazon ( AMZN ) was able to retake its 50-day line on Monday and is continuing to hold above that level. Amazon shares are 16% below their late December high and a potential buy point. Amazon stock rose 0.5% intraday. Google parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ) was able to retake its 50-day line last Friday. The stock is now looking to break past resistance at the 750 price level. Alphabet is 6% below its February peak, up 0.8% Wednesday afternoon. Microsoft ( MSFT ) also retook its 50-day recently. Microsoft shares are trading about 4% below a potential buy point, rising 1.5% Wednesday.

Apple Urges Court To ‘Zealously Guard Civil Liberties’

Apple ( AAPL ) late Tuesday urged a federal judge to side with civil liberties when it reconsiders an FBI demand to force Apple to hack its iPhone security software. Apple filed its last scheduled legal brief before next Tuesday’s federal court hearing over unlocking an iPhone that belonged to deceased San Bernardino, Calif., shooter Syed Farook. In its brief, Apple acknowledged that the case is “in a difficult context after a terrible tragedy.” “But it is in just such highly charged and emotional cases that the courts must zealously guard civil liberties and the rule of law and reject government overreaching,” Apple’s lawyers wrote. “This court should therefore deny the government’s request and vacate the order.” Apple said the Justice Department and the FBI are asking the court to force Apple to resolve a policy and political issue that is dividing Congress and agencies of the executive branch. “The Justice Department and FBI argue that this court must decide the issue in a vacuum, without regard to either the swirling national debate about mandating a back door or the dangers to the security and privacy of millions of citizens posed by the relief they seek on behalf of the United States,” Apple’s lawyers wrote. Apple maintains that the All Writs Act can’t be used as “an all-powerful magic wand” to authorize such orders. Forcing Apple to create new software that degrades its device security is “unprecedented” and would have dangerous consequences, Apple says. It would violate the company’s First Amendment rights against compelled speech. “The government’s position has sweeping implications,” Apple’s attorneys wrote. “Under the government’s view, the state could force an artist to paint a poster, a singer to perform a song or an author to write a book, so long as its purpose was to achieve some permissible end, whether increasing military enrollment or promoting public health.” Apple is asking U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym to vacate her Feb. 16 order that Apple assist the FBI in unlocking Farook’s iPhone. The parties will meet in federal court in Riverside, Calif., next Tuesday to argue the case. The case has fueled a debate over smartphone encryption, which has pitted Silicon Valley and civil rights groups against the federal government and law enforcement agencies. Companies supporting Apple’s position include Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Facebook ( FB ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ). RELATED: Apple-FBI Feud Over iPhone Encryption Turns Ugly .

Amazon.com Vs. FedEx And UPS Not Any Budding Rivalry — Yet

A new report from RBC Capital Markets asks the ever more pressing question about Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and its deliveries ambitions: Does the transportation sector have a problem? The short answer is no — at least not yet, according to RBC analyst John Barnes. The crux of the issue for the e-commerce leader is that its shipping costs soared 32% to $11.5 billion in 2015, while sales rose about 20%. That, says Barnes, suggests that Amazon might have trouble ahead if it continues on course. As a result, Amazon has been taking more of the shipping task into its own hands. RBC emphasizes, though, that Amazon isn’t anywhere near able to separate itself from shipping partners such as UPS ( UPS ) and FedEx ( FDX ). But the company will incrementally begin to do so, the report says, at least in certain areas. In prior years — though not in 2015 — both UPS and FedEx have stumbled during the critical holiday season. Packages not being delivered on time, Barnes says, is like Amazon being closed on random days without warning. Amazon’s massive distribution network is as complex as it is large. It includes a growing trucking operation and the recently disclosed air transport and ocean shipping components. Ocean shipping is where Barnes suspects the company will attack first. “We believe Amazon will take over large swaths of its ocean freight supply chain, as the move can lower its own shipping costs, drive third-party sellers to the platform and eventually turn into a profit center,” Barnes wrote in the report, released late Monday. As IBD has reported, industry experts estimate that the ocean shipping business has the potential to be worth millions in free cash flow for Amazon, mostly from selling capacity to third parties. Analysts says that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos might not go after the free cash flow but instead drive the value back to consumers in some fashion, such as still-lower prices. But the ocean shipping industry is vast, and Barnes estimates that the Seattle-based company would grab only between $200 million and $400 million in business. It could, though, affect shippers such as Expeditors International of Washington ( EXPD ) as well as UPS and FedEx. The ocean shipping grab isn’t without precedent, either. Wal-Mart ( WMT ) has been taking possession of suppliers’ goods in China and doing its own shipping for years. Amazon’s growing air network is one area where the company will be content to work with third parties, Barnes said. Amazon’s  recently announced deal with Air Transport Services Group ( ATSG ) to lease 220 767 jets highlights this point. As part of the deal, Amazon will be able to purchase about 20% of ATSG’s common shares over a five-year period. Meanwhile, Barnes says that UPS and FedEx are both fighting Amazon’s long-term onslaught. UPS now provides 30% of Amazon’s parcel needs, netting $2.2 billion in revenue, and FedEx hauls in $1.5 billion, or about 20%. Those figures translate to about 8% and 10% of ground revenue, respectively, for the shipping companies.