Market Views:Microsoft's Roadmap and Tesla's Prospects

On the the recent slide in the stock market,I don't think it's gonna turn into much,said Andrew Burkly,managing director at Oppenheimer&Co.We're expecting kind of a 5-10% dip.Earnings season's been OK.People are looking to rotate into more of a global capex story.Overall we think the earnings season is turning out pretty well.*
We're not strong on the fundamentals of Microsoft,but on the opportunity for change,according to Rick Sherlund,US Technology Research Team head at Nomura Securities.If you were to take an internal candidate for CEO and pair it with CFO Amy Hood,you could come up with a pretty good conclusion.
I think you need radical changes in the business itself,more services in the cloud.Enhance shareholder value with dividend increases and share buybacks.That gives you the freedom to change more businesses to business light with lowered margins.*
In the long run,you have to bet on emerging markets growth,said Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.Basically the flattening of the world is getting great opportunity in these countries.*
December's Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.1%,the smallest increase since 2012.December existing home sales rose 1.0%.The national median home price was 198,000 dollars,up 9.9% from December 2012.*
Tesla Motors is selling its Model S electric sedans starting at 121,000 dollars in China.They are being shipped now for March or April delivery.Hong Kong alone took 300 orders in August.China is the number one market for luxury auto sales and has a pollution problem,making it a promising territory for Tesla.*
Asian markets were down in Tuesday trading on worries about Chinese economic data and the Fed meeting later today.US stock futures rose,however,after three straight days of decline.*
Tesla Motors(TSLA)

Conference Board:Where The Arrow Points

The Conference Board says that economic indicators point to continued weak growth through fall and winter.The Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.3 in August following a 0.6 increase in July and a 0.3 increase in June.
According to CB economist Ataman Ozyildrim,the August increase was driven by components measuring financial and monetary conditions which offset substantially weaker components measuring expectations.The growth trend in the LEI has moderated and positive and negative contributors to the index have been roughly balanced.The indicators point to rising risks and volatility,and increasing concerns about the health of the expansion.
Ken Goldstein,another CB economist,said there is growing risk that sustained weak confidence could put downward pressure on demand and business activity,causing the economy to potentially dip into recession.While the chance of that happening remains below 50/50,the odds have certainly increased in recent months.
The Conference Board is a global,non-profit,independent business membership and research organization working in the public interest.It strives to provide the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society.

Recession Haunts Wall Street

As Wall Street looks forward to summer,it has warnings of recession in its face.David Rosenberg,Chief North American Economist of Merrill Lynch,points out some startling signs of a downturn.For the past four quarters,the U.S. economy has registered annualized growth of less than 3%.In the past sixty years,this has always foreshadowed recession.Similarly,the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators have declined on a year-to-year basis for three straight months.Every time it did that for the past fifty years-except in 1967-recession followed.Jim Hatzius,Chief U.S. Economist of Goldman Sachs,thinks there is a 25% chance of recession,citing the housing downturn as a burden on the economy.It would seem wise,then,to augment defensive holdings such as consumer staples and health care.