5 Things You Need to Know Before the Stock Market Opens
BOSTON (TheStreet) -- The Moody's downgrade of six European countries leads your quick fix of company, market, economic and investing news for Tuesday, Feb. 14.
Tuesday's 5 Biggest Stories
Moody's downgrades Portugal, Italy and Spain and cuts the outlook for the U.K. and France. The market yawns. [AP via AJC]
Despite the downgrade, Spain easily auctions $7 billion in short-term debt. [CBS]
Italy even managed to auction off 12 billion euros as rates declined. [Businessweek]
Even the Germans feel pretty good about things, with investor confidence at a 10-month high. [Bloomberg] Obama's 2013 budget is out, and it looks like the president is settling in for an election-year tax fight. [Reuters]Company News
Apple (AAPL) is working on a tablet with a smaller screen. [WSJ] Meanwhile, the IPad 3 is set to launch on March 7 and it will feature 4G LTE wireless speeds. [Mac Rumors] Rackspace (RAX) is trading higher after beating fourth-quarter estimates. [Barron's] Boeing (BA) gets a big Indonesian order for 230 planes. [WSJ]Markets
You can't forget about Greece, though, especially with its rapidly shrinking economy, contracting at an annual rate of 7%. [WSJ]Investment Strategy
Investors should take a look at the best and worst mid-cap growth funds. [MarketWatch]Odds and Ends
Happy Valentine's Day. Here's a song by U.K. shoegazer legends My Bloody Valentine. [YouTube] -- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Robert Holmes. >To follow Robert Holmes on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/RobTheStreet. >To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.
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