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We have less than two days before the Federal Reserve and Chairman Ben Bernanke take up the "what's next" questions.

As in: Will the Fed trim its bond buying? Will the Fed move interest rates higher? What exactly is the Fed hoping to accomplish?

The answer on Monday -- and only for Monday -- was yes, the Fed may start to trim its $85-billion-a-month bond buying campaign. "When" wasn't clear.  No, it's not moving interest rates higher any time soon. And what the Fed wants is an economy that, for the foreseeable future, can take care of itself and start to expand solidly.

We know this because the stock market ended nicely higher -- after ending un-nicely lower on Friday. In fact, June is now a positive month for stocks. For how long that will last won't be clear until after Wednesday.  

I’m selling Johnson Controls (JCI) out of my to raise cash in the current market, because 1) I think I can do better than the 12.9% return to my target price, and

2) because I think the uncertainty in that target has gotten higher recently.

Getting to my $42.40 target price was contingent on fairly decent second half 2013 auto sales from European automakers -- and that looks less likely with the most optimistic projections now putting off economic growth in the eurozone into 2014 -- and a pick up in orders in the company’s building energy unit. That too seems less likely as interest rates start to tick up, creating a drag on commercial construction.

 

By Zacks Equity Research

 

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) is set to report second quarter 2013 results on Tuesday. Last quarter, it posted a 10% positive surprise. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Growth Factors This Past Quarter

Adobe’s first-quarter earnings of 22 cents were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues were down both sequentially as well as from the year-ago quarter, but were above management’s guidance due to increased adoption of Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Margin expansion was limited due to the change in sales mix, which favored lower-margin products.

 

DreamWorks (DWA) Animation announced a multi-year programming deal with Netflix (NFLX).  The partnership will result in 300 hours of original programming, as DreamWorks Animation expands even further into the non-movie business. 

The new programs will be inspired by characters from the DreamWorks universe, including Shrek, the Croods and the upcoming Turbo.  But will the new deal pay off for investors?  In this installment of Stock Of The Day, Motley Fool analyst Andy Cross shares why he believes shares of DreamWorks Animation still have room to run. 

 

Updated: 5:24 p.m. ET

On May 31, crude oil in New York settled at $91.97 a barrel, and there were thoughts the price might break below $90.

On Monday, crude oil (-CL) briefly hit $98.74 a barrel before settling back to $97.77, down 8 cents from Friday. But the worry that crude oil might hit $100 a barrel is definitely at play, with the possibility of higher prices at the gas pump.

Brent crude, the benchmark North Sea oil that has a big influence on domestic gasoline prices, was at $105.57 a barrel after reaching as high as $106.67.

Light sweet crude is up 6.3% for the month and 6.5% on the year. Brent crude is flat for the month and down 5% in 2013.  

By Louis Bedigian 

Exchange-traded funds expert Doug Fabian sits down with Ray Collins from the MoneyShow.com and discusses three of his favorite new and innovative plays in the ETF market.

ETFs made easy. We're here now with Doug Fabian. Doug, there are some innovations in the world of exchange-traded funds.

Well, Ray, I love this area of ETFs. And in some sense it's getting really complicated, because there are 1,300 products, but there's really good stuff that's coming from American companies; there's innovation that I want investors to know about.

The first innovation that I want them to know about is an ETF that is actually a fund of funds ... an ETF of ETFs. Now, you might initially think that maybe somebody's going to get double-charged or something like that. That's not the case. If you have mutual funds inside a mutual fund, there is a compounding of fees, but not so in the world of exchange-traded funds when it's done by a single company.

 

By Dana Blankenhorn

 

Back in 2011, when I first started writing about financial topics, I remember pounding the table for Google (GOOG) over Apple (AAPL).

 

I was still pounding the table last September. At Seeking Alpha, I wrote a story called "A Strong Cloud Beats as Strong Device." Since then, investors have been buying that idea big-time.

 

Maybe too big. Since I wrote that piece, Google shares are up nearly 27%, a roughly $70 billion increase in its market cap. Apple, meanwhile, is down 34%, a loss of almost $200 billion to investors.

 

So my efforts have turned toward the other side of the trade. I have written lately on TheStreet that Apple is practically giving its stock away and that Google is in a bubble. 

 

By Tom Aspray, MoneyShow.com

Last week's lower close has left many of the key U.S. markets on the verge of stronger sell signals but the global markets are starting off the week on a very positive note. Japan revised its first-quarter growth to 4.1% as the Nikkei 225 gained almost 5%.

This could complete the correction in the Nikkei as it has reached the buy levels (MoneyShow) outlined last week. European stocks are strong as the Dax Index is up well over 1% in early trading with the S&P futures showing double-digit gains.

Of course, it will be the close Monday that is important as the daily charts reviewed in the Money Show's Week Ahead column need two consecutive strong closes with strong A/D ratios to indicate that the correction is really over.

 

By Tim Parker 

Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com 

By Matt Egan

 

Major Smithfield Foods (SFD) investor Starboard Fund pushed the meat producer on Monday to explore a breakup in favor of the $4.7 billion buyout offer reached with China's Shuanghui International Holdings.

 

The push by Starboard, which owns 5.7% of Smithfield's outstanding stock, is based on the belief that a sum-of-the-parts valuation of the world's largest meat producer would exceed the $34-a-share bid price from Shuanghui by as much as 62%.

 

According to a new report by MarketsandMarkets, the alternative sweetener market is due to grow into a $13.7 billion industry by 2018 -- a compound annual growth rate of 4.5% over the $10.5 billion in revenue booked in 2012. 

With the growing epidemic of diabetes and other diseases caused by a high-sugar diet, consumers are more than ever looking for sugar substitutes without the stigma associated with aspartame or saccharin.  

Since the approval for stevia's use by the European Union in 201, the market has grown considerably and will continue to do so at a rapid rate. 

Coca-Cola (KO) just introduced a reformulated Sprite in the U.K. after test-marketing it in Australia for a few years. 

 

By Bret Kenwell

 

Last Monday after the close, shares of Lululemon (LULU) fell off a cliff as management took investors by complete surprise during its first-quarter earnings report.

 

While investors were anxiously waiting to see how the company fared from the effects of the see-through pants issue, CEO Christine Day dropped a bomb on them by announcing her resignation.

 

Yes, Day has decided to step down, but will remain at the helm until a replacement is found. Shareholders were not happy, flushing the stock down approximately 20% over the next two trading sessions.