Group items tagged

U.S. stock-index futures ticked higher on Tuesday as it absorbed fourth-quarter earnings from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the first of the major investment banks to report. A gauge of U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected in December, while Import prices were unchanged versus a 0.3 percent estimate. JPMorgan's net income fell to $5.28 billion, or $1.30 per share, in the fourth quarter from $5.69 billion, or $1.39 per share in the same quarter of 2012, JPMorgan said on Tuesday. Excluding items, the company reported earnings of $1.40 a share. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the Dow component to post earnings per share of $1.35 a share on revenue of $23.69 billion. Wells Fargo reported an 11 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, with shares of the nation's biggest mortgage lender slipping in pre-market trade. Overall, fourth quarter earnings for the S&P 500 are expected to rise about 7 percent. Financials are seen reporting the biggest profit increases - a 21 percent jump. Traders continue to watch Federal Reserve speakers for clues as to the rate at which bond-purchasing tapering will proceed. With that in mind, speeches by Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser at 12:45 p.m. and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher at 1:20 p.m. will attract interest. In stock news, Google reported late on Monday that it was buying home automation company Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. Frankfurt-listed Google stock traded around 0.9 percent lower early on Tuesday. In addition, Time Warner Cable has rejected $61.3 billion buyout bid by Charter Communications as "grossly inadequate."

Is JPMorgan Chase finally putting its legal problems behind it? The bank earned $5.3 billion, or $1.30 per share, in the final three months of 2013. Revenue fell 1% to $24.1 billion. Excluding certain one-time items, JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) said it earned $1.40 per share in the quarter. That topped analysts' expectations for $1.35 per share. Revenue beat expectations as well. Shares of JPMorgan, the largest bank by assets, were up about 1% in early trading. JPMorgan took a charge of $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter to resolve some of its biggest legal headaches. The charge was partially offset by profits from the sale of a large portion of JPMorgan's investment in Visa (V, Fortune 500), as well as the sale of the company's building at One Chase Manhattan Plaza. CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement that the bank is pleased "to have put some significant issues behind us this quarter," adding that "it was in the best interests of our company and shareholders for us to accept responsibility, resolve these issues and move forward." The results come less than two weeks after JPMorgan agreed to pay $2.6 billion to settle lawsuits stemming from its relationship with disgraced financier Bernard Madoff.

Investment Objective The Fund aims to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing principally in the equity and equity-related securities issued by small and mid-size companies (from $US100 million to $US8 billion in market capitalisation) located in or doing significant business in any developed country in the world. Why invest in global small and mid-caps? * High potential With higher estimated forward earnings per share growth, and lower long term debt to equity and price to book ratios than their larger cap counterparts, small-mid capitalization * Exposure to some of the fastest growing companies in the world There are more themes within the small cap universe and more industries to invest in, such as head-hunting/recruitment services, car rental, Chinese pharmaceuticals and parking services etc. * Opportunities for active management A large number of global small cap companies care covered by a comparatively small number of sell-side analysts. That creates stock-picking opportunities and the potential to generate above-benchmark returns.