Warren Goes Apple Picking
Heading into the close the FTSE 100 is flat on the day, having recovered all its morning losses.
- Dow, S&P 500 start the week on the front foot
- Oil prices surge again
- Warren adds Apple to his buffet
US markets have soundly beaten their European peers over the past
week, and today was no exception, with Wall Street beginning the new
week in much better form than markets on this side of the Atlantic. Yet
another leap higher for oil has played an important part, as the ongoing
bullish move is boosted by the sudden focus of attention on Nigeria,
where production continues to falter. This story has ticked along for a
while but only now has it really got full attention – a tale of weaker
supply, it makes a nice change from the ‘rising demand but still strong
supply’ narrative. A weaker US dollar has helped commodity prices to
move higher, and when combined with this morning’s good news for Lonmin
the mining sector continues to comfortably outperform, a reasonable
indicator of risk appetite.
Warren Buffett has also added his magic to the afternoon session, on
news that the Sage bought stock in Apple in the first quarter. At around
10 times earnings, Apple is beginning to look much more attractive than
it did when it was trading above $120 and was on around 16 times
earnings. Perhaps this is the moment that the slump comes to an end – it
would certainly send the right message, bringing other investors back
on board at a moment when faith in the tech giant seemed to be wavering.
