Markets react to policymakers | Calamatta Cuschieri

European stocks broke a three-day winning run Thursday, with bank shares being held back by doubts on further US interest rate hikes before the end of the year, while the euro came under further pressure following Mario Draghi’s minutes on the European Central Bank’s meeting last month. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -0.59% fell 0.6% to close at 376.87, led by losses for financial and oil-and-gas shares.

US stocks also fell on Thursday as weak technology shares weighed following disappointing results from Cisco Systems Inc. and a lackluster performance in a Wal-Mart Stores unit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off its four-day string of gains and dropped 122 points to 21,901. The S&P 500 shed 16 points to 2,452, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index skidded about 53 points lower to 6,303.

All you can watch movies for just $10 a month

Netflix co-founder, Mitch Lowe, who now runs a startup called MoviePass, has proposed offering cinema-goers the opportunity to go to all the showings they want for about the price of a single ticket each month. The fee will let customers get in to one showing every day at any theater in the US that accepts debit cards. MoviePass will pay theaters the full price of each ticket used by subscribers, excluding 3D or Imax screens. Theater operators should certainly welcome any effort to increase sales as movie theaters struggle with recent declines in sales.

MoviePass’ goal is to amass a large base of customers and collect data on viewing behaviors. That information could then be used to eventually target advertisements or other marketing materials to subscribers. MoviePass could lose a lot of money subsidizing people’s movie habits. So the company also raised cash on Tuesday by selling a majority stake to Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc., a small, publicly traded data firm in New York. Helios and Metheson shares rose at the close in New York.

Latest on Air Berlin

Air Berlin, Germany's second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses. The German authorities have granted a bridging loan of 150 million euros to keep Air Berlin's planes in the air for up to three months and secure 7,200 jobs in Germany while buyers for its assets are found.

A first round of formal talks for the sale of the insolvent airline assets will be held with its bigger local rival Lufthansa on Friday, ahead of other prospective bidders, a senior labour union official said. Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt has called for Lufthansa to buy a major part of the assets, saying Germany needs a "national champion" in international aviation.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Peter Petrov, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.