Stocks Climb as Invasion Fears Fade

The stock market is working its way higher again today. The S&P 500 cracked 1,870 earlier today. The good news is that tensions in Eastern Europe seem to be falling lower. Shares of the Russian ETF ($RSK) are up another 3.3% today. It’s up more than 11% from last Thursday’s low. We also got a favorable report on housing starts.

This is the first day of the two-day Fed meeting. All the action, however, will come tomorrow when the Fed releases its statement, updates its forecasts and Janet Yellen holds her first press conference.

On our Buy List, Microsoft ($MSFT), of all stocks, is doing very well today. The shares are up nearly 4% and it’s close to hitting $40. The company may introduce Office for Apple’s iPad next week.

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella will begin unveiling his vision for the company when he debuts a version of Office for Apple Inc.’s iPad and offer some features of the application for free at an event next week, said people with knowledge of the announcement.

The Redmond, Washington-based company will introduce Office for the iPad with limited capabilities that can be upgraded to premium versions requiring a subscription to the Office 365 Internet-based software, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. At the event, which will be held March 27 in San Francisco, Nadella will also discuss his commitment to software services that work on Microsoft’s Windows and rival operating systems, the people said yesterday.

Microsoft last closed above $40 in July 2000.

Posted by on March 18th, 2014 at 11:32 am


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