Economic Post #1

We start with the rundown:

1. Earnings that were contributing
2. What's in the market?
3. The buying opportunity
4. Is there a recession coming?

1. EARNINGS THAT WERE CONTRIBUTING

First, Visa and American Express are the most interesting. Card spending wasn't very impressive, which could mean that the economy is headed for a slowdown. It's not so easy, however. Visa and AXP are just some indicators.

Next, it's the earnings from the Internet names that gain money mostly from ads, like Google, Yelp, Twitter, and Facebook. As seen, all of these beat by a considerable amount, which means that people like to be on the Internet now. Some businesses, Yelp and Twitter, have posted profits compared to the estimated loss.

After that comes the e-commerce and their connections. Amazon is the most prevalent, with disappointing results. Their miss contributed to the UPS problem, where they fell on earnings. It's not too happy when this happens.

Finally, all the other earnings certainly contribute, some more than the other.

2. WHAT'S HAPPENING?

Takeovers just can't get any better... or can they? With Dollar Tree acquiring Family Dollar and Zillow acquiring Trulia, that's 2 deals that would cost about $11B in total. This isn't as big as others, like AbbVie's single deal with Shire for about $50B.

The DLTR-FDO deal and Z-TRLA would be smaller than many other announced deals, but this could have a pretty big impact. Walmart might benefit from the former deal, but it could be harmful. Also, Zillow and Trulia's combined company may change the way people shop for homes. We'll just have to wait and see.

3. THE BUYING OPPORTUNITY

There's a stock that has good growth, posted a profit recently, and could be taken over. Have you figured it out? It's Yelp (NYSE:YELP.)

Yelp has good growth, just posted a profit of 4 cents per share, and could be taken over by sites like Priceline and even Facebook. Yelp has a partnership with OpenTable, so Priceline buying Yelp would have some synergy because of the partnership. Priceline could then expand. You can use Yelp for good deals on vacations, which is just what Priceline does.

Their growth is good. It may not be the best, but Yelp has good growth in the long term. These reasons certainly say Yelp is a good stock.

4. THE RECESSION RISK

Is there actually a recession coming? The answer right now is No. You might say that the retail problems and the earnings from Visa and AXP will point to a recession, but that isn't enough. It could mean a slowdown but it won't be a recession. There are a lot of banks that the United States is trying to say are doing illegal activities, but it's not pausing the market. BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, and Barclays have been investigated and some were fined for illegal activities, like tax evasion and dark pool operations (for the Swiss bank and Barclays respectively.) This didn't pause the market.

To wrap it up, we're all fine. I'll see you in the next post.