As the Fed begins its two-day meeting this morning, investors can only sit and wait until the proceedings are over and we get to hear what they discussed from Ben Bernanke later in the week. Many investors have concerns about interest rates rising, the future of the Fed’s bond-buying program, and where the committee sees the economy moving. The uncertainty and fear has led investors to sell this morning, and as of 11:45 a.m. EDT, the markets are mixed.
All three of the indexes were in the red earlier this morning, but turned themselves around about an hour ago — currently only the Dow Jones Industrial Average is lower. The blue chip stock index is down by 0.06% or 9.55 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both higher, by 0.03% and 0.26%, respectively.
A few market winners
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are moving higher by 2.05% as the company prepares for a bond sale in the future. This morning Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) filed a six-part bond offering through Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Moody’s has already given Apple’s debt a Aa1 rating, while S&P gave it an AA+ rating — both are the second-highest ratings each company gives. While Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has not officially revealed an amount, it is expected that the offering will be for roughly $15 billion to $16 billion.
Image: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Sirius XM released quarterly earnings this morning and managed to grow net income by 15%, as the subscriber base grew 9% during the quarter. Earnings per share came in at $0.02, matching the year-ago EPS, while revenue rose to $897.4 million from $804.7 million the prior year. The company also forecast revenue of $3.7 billion this year, while analysts estimate $3.41 billion. Additionally, Sirius announced that Jim Meyer, who has served as the interim CEO since December, when Mel Karmazin stepped down, is now the CEO. Shares of Sirius are up 3.26% as of this writing.
Lastly, shares of IBM are moving higher by 0.43%. The company is currently holding its annual shareholders meeting, and earlier announced that it would be returning more capital to shareholders this year. The board approved a 12% increase to the company’s already $3.40 yearly dividend, while also increasing the share repurchases program by $5 billion. The previous program was worth $6.5 billion, so this almost doubles the currently authorized amount.
The article Big Tech Stocks Buck the Falling Markets originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Matt Thalman owns shares of Apple and Sirius XM Radio. Check back Monday through Friday as Matt explains what caused the Dow’s winners and losers of the day, and every Saturday for a weekly recap. Follow Matt on Twitter: @mthalman5513. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM).
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