Apple Earnings, Inflation and Housing Data

Tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) lead an array of bellwether companies reporting earnings next week, the highlight of an economic calendar that also includes housing and inflation data.

Hard off the release of its latest iPhones, Cupertino, Calif.-based will report after markets close on Monday. Analysts and investors will be looking to see if the firm’s latest gadgets have revived some of the momentum that seemed to have been lost after Apple founder and guiding force Steve Jobs died in 2011.

Analysts will be looking to see if Amazon, which reports Thursday, can tighten its losses as some investors are growing impatient with founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ sprawling plans to dominate the online retail business.

Car makers General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) report Wednesday and Friday, respectively.  

Other bellwether firms reporting earnings next week include Texas Instruments (TXN), Hallibrton (HAL) and IBM (IBM) also on Monday; Coca-Cola (KO), McDonald’s (MCD) and Yahoo! (YHOO) on Tuesday; General Motors (GM), Boeing (BA) on Wednesday; Caterpillar (CAT), Union Pacific (UNP) and Dunkin’ Brands (DNKN) on Thursday; Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Proctor & Gamble (PG) and Colgate Palmolive (CL) on Friday.

As the Federal Reserve focuses on inflation, analysts will be eyeing the release of the consumer price index on Wednesday, a key measure of price changes to a group of items regularly purchased by consumers.

On the data front, the all-important housing sector will come under scrutiny with the release Tuesday of existing home sales in September and on Friday new home sales last month.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2014/10/17/week-ahead-apple-earnings-inflation-and-housing-data/

New Sensational Like this phone? Are you prepared to pay $250,000 for this phone?

With a price tag of $250,000, Savelli smartphones come complete with 18-carat white gold casing encrusted with precious diamonds.

It's as much a piece of jewelery as a gadget.

Tweets from https://twitter.com/cnni/lists/the-business-view

The mission of its makers, the Geneva-based jeweler Savelli, was to "elevate a phone into haute couture."

"It's the most important object one has with them all the time -- it's in your hand, it's in your pocket, it's next to you when you sleep, you can touch it 100 times a day," Alessandro Savelli, the firm's CEO, told CNN's Nina dos Santos.

The jeweler is hoping to win the hearts of luxury shoppers, with the brand focusing exclusively on women.

"I think our customers are really looking for something special, really a beautiful object which they use every day and is extremely visible and really makes part of their persona," Savelli said.

The limited collection features 11 smartphones powered by Google Android system and decorated with luxury materials, such as sapphires and emeralds, and finished off with ostrich, python and iguana leather.

The two most expensive models are limited to only 27 pieces. The hand-made Emerald Night, is embellished with 18-carat rose gold and 400 brilliant-cut emeralds, while Emerald Insane features 75 baguette-cut emeralds on white gold.

The same techniques and materials used in jewelry manufacture are used to produce the phones, Savelli said.

"We don't really see the mobile phone industry as a competitor," Savelli said. "We see more the watch and jewelery as our universe."

After launching in Europe, the brand is now looking towards the east and emerging markets, such as China, Middle East and Russia, where the luxury business is booming.

Editor's note: Nina dos Santos is a news anchor and correspondent based in London. She is the host of CNN International's London-based business show, The Business View.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/16/business/most-expensive-smartphone/index.html?hpt=ibu_c2