Stocks: 5 things to know before the open

Click chart for in-depth premarket data.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Here are the five things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:

1. Upbeat markets: U.S. stock futures were looking perky, setting the stage for what could be another record high for the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow closed at a new high of 17,157 Wednesday after the head of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, said interest rates would stay low for a "considerable time" after its bond-buying program wraps up. Investors cheered the announcement, also pushing up the S&P 500 by 0.1% and the Nasdaq by 0.2%.

Most European and Asian markets were also in positive territory Thursday. The Mumbai Sensex surged by 1.8% and the Dax in Germany was rallying by 1% in early trading.

2. Get ready for Alibaba: The company is expected to price its IPO after the market close in a range of $66 to $68 per share. The Chinese e-commerce giant is set to start trading in New York Friday in what could be the biggest initial public offering of all time. The company could raise more money than Facebook (FB, Tech30) or Visa (V) when they went public.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

3. Scotland votes on independence: Scots have begun voting Thursday morning to decide whether Scotland should become an independent country.

More than 4.2 million people have registered to vote, the largest electorate ever in Scotland, and turnout in the referendum is expected to be high.

A vote for independence would mean Scotland splits from the rest of the United Kingdom, made up of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Polls close at 5 p.m. ET. Results are expected early Friday.

London's main market index -- the FTSE 100 -- was moving higher alongside other European stock markets. The British pound was firmer against the U.S. dollar.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

4. Stock market movers: Shares in Sony (SNE) came crashing down in Tokyo after the company forecast it would post a staggering net loss of $2.1 billion for its fiscal year ending next March. Shares fell by as much as 13% before recovering slightly to close with a loss of 8.6%.

Watch Pier 1 Import (PIR)trading Thursday. Shares plunged in extended trading after the company said profit was nearly cut in half during the most recent quarter.

5. Earnings and economics: Rite Aid (RAD) will report quarterly earnings before the opening bell and Oracle (ORCL, Tech30) will report after the close.

The U.S. government will post weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET. August housing starts and building permits come out at the same time.

First Published: September 18, 2014: 5:15 AM ET

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Apple says iOS 8 will shield your data from police

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In a blog post, Apple says that iOS 8, which began rolling out Wednesday, has new encryption that will no longer allow the company to bypass a customer's passcode to access the data.

"So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8," it said.

Related: iOS 8 - How to get it, and whether you should

Earlier versions of the operating system allowed the company to bypass the password, as does rival operating systems, according to Apple.

But if customers back up the information on iCloud, the protection from warrants disappears, since Apple will comply with warrants to turn over information on its servers.

Related: Apple's iOS 8 HealthKit launch derailed by bug

But Apple clearly senses that added privacy protections are a selling point for its products.

"I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will," wrote Apple CEO Tim Cook on the blog.

The site also brags that the Electronic Frontier Foundation has given Apple top marks for "standing with our customers when the government seeks access to their data."

First Published: September 18, 2014: 7:56 AM ET

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Who's getting rich off the stock market?

Only 49% of Americans own stocks.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Only 49% of Americans have any money in stocks at all, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. That figure includes everyone invested in retirement funds (think pensions and 401(k) plans) as well as those who take the time to buy specific stocks such as Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Ford (F) and Facebook (FB, Tech30).

"Part of the reason there is so much discussion about income inequality is there is a group of people who participated in the stock market over a period where it nearly tripled, and there's another group of people that didn't," said Mark Grinblatt, a professor of finance at UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

Related: More families own cats than stocks

Even among the half of America that has money in the market, there are disparities. The top 10% of American households have roughly $282,000 each in the market, if you take the median value of their holdings.

Compare that to the middle class, which has a median value of a mere $14,000 a household.

The reality is the more money you put into the market, the more you stand to gain (or lose).

Putting a dollar into the popular S&P 500 index that tracks the largest companies traded on U.S. stock exchanges in March 2009 would leave you with $3 today. That's a nice 200% return, but obviously if you had invested $1 million in the market over the same time period, you would now have $3 million.

The stock market has been especially kind to Caucasians and college graduates.

White households typically have about three times the amount of money invested that non-white families have, according to the Fed data. That's held true since the 1990s when the market shot up during the dotcom era.

Education also plays a major role. Only 35% of households headed up by someone with a high school diploma have any money in the market. Compare that to homes led by someone with a college degree -- 72% of them have investments in equities.

Professor Grinblatt has shown through research that people with higher IQs are more likely to put money into stocks.

"Even among two siblings from the same family, the sibling who has the higher IQ is more likely to participate in the stock market," he told CNNMoney.

On the one hand, some of these disparities should be expected. Rich people have more money lying around in savings that they can invest than those who are struggling to pay their bills. But the issues go deeper than that.

Even among Americans who are working and likely to have savings, they aren't always choosing to invest.

Related: How we made nearly $1 million on Apple stock

In its latest survey, the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that only 64% of workers save for retirement or have a spouse that does so.

"It's much easier for the average American to buy a smartphone that commit to a retirement plan," says Dan Greenshields, CEO of Capitol One ShareBuilder.

In 2007, stock ownership peaked at just over 53% of American households owning any equity investments. The financial meltdown and housing crisis hurt peoples' pocketbooks, but it also shook their faith in the system.

There are calls for more education about money matters to try to close some of the stock market investing gap.

"If we give individuals responsibility for their own retirement savings, we have to make sure that they first of all save enough and that they know how to invest," said Annamaria Lusardi, a professor at George Washington University who specializes in financial literacy.

"We need to start in K-12 schools," Lusardi added. "Any year we delay by not adding financial education is one more generation out out of high school without the skills and knowledge they need."

First Published: September 18, 2014: 6:46 AM ET

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Hong Kong tycoon buys 30 Rolls-Royce Phantoms

Casino magnate Stephen Hung seals record order with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

Gambling magnate Stephen Hung is buying the luxury fleet through his casino firm Louis XIII Holdings.

The company is building a new casino in the Chinese territory of Macau, and Hung says the cars are needed to transport guests.

Louis XIII says the fleet will be the largest in the world. Two of the cars, equipped with "external and internal gold plated accents," are the most expensive Phantoms ever commissioned.

"Louis XIII and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars share the same philosophy: to deliver the perfect experience to the world's most discerning customers," Hung said.

Related: Where the billionaires are now

Hung's new casino is due to open in 2016 and will compete for a slice of Macau's riches. Gambling revenue in the territory topped $45 billion last year -- seven times larger than Las Vegas.

Hung is well known in Hong Kong for his ostentatious displays of wealth. According to a Wall Street Journal profile published late last year, the tycoon has a personal nine-car luxury fleet that includes a Bentley worth $1 million.

Related: Macau's gambling industry dwarfs Vegas

Hung's wife, Deborah Valdez-Hung, is said to be the owner of Hong Kong's most recognizable car -- a hot pink Rolls Royce. The car is adorned with a vanity plate that reads: "DEBORAH."

First Published: September 17, 2014: 6:46 AM ET

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Ready for the Fed? Watch these two words

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

When the Fed issues its policy statement on Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, the only two words that may matter to Wall Street are "considerable time." Here's why.

The Fed has used these words to describe how long it will be before it starts to raise interest rates again.

The central bank cut its key short-term rate to near zero at the height of the credit crisis/Great Recession in December 2008. Rates have been at those historic lows ever since.

And even though the economic recovery has been painfully slow and inconsistent for many, it still is a recovery.

So are rate hikes coming soon? The answer to that question is also the name of Kanye's collaborator on "Two Words" -- Mos Def. It's just a matter of when.

There will be a lot of words in the Fed's statement. But Wall Street only cares about two.

If "considerable time" remains in the statement, Fed watchers will assume that the central bank is likely to keep rates near zero until next summer.

That's what Wall Street is hoping for right now. Stocks rose on Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal's Fed reporter suggested that "considerable time" is going to stay in the statement.

But if those words are removed, there will be instant speculation (and probably a lot of market jitters) about the Fed possibly moving to raise rates as soon as next spring.

"If the Fed wants to leave the door open for a March interest rate hike, it will need to drop the 'considerable time' language," said Zach Pandl, senior portfolio manager and interest rate strategist at Columbia Management.

"This indecision's bugging me" Pandl thinks the Fed will probably keep those two words in the statement Wednesday.

But obsessing about if they should stay or should they go now may be a moot point. (If they go, there will be trouble?) Pandl said it is a "virtual certainty" that the "considerable time" language will be cut from the Fed's next statement in October.

That makes sense. The Fed is expected to announce Wednesday that it is going to cut, or taper, the size of its monthly bond purchases one last time before ending the program, dubbed quantitative easing or QE, altogether in October. So it will be more appropriate then for the Fed to begin discussing the timing of interest rate hikes.

Related: Market hopes the Fed doesn't fumble interest rates

But not everyone agrees. Steve Van Order, fixed income strategist for Calvert Investments, argues that the Fed should hold off on changing the statement until December. He thinks QE should officially end first before the Fed worries about rate hikes.

Van Order added that the problem with the "considerable time" language is that there is really no consensus on what it exactly means. Janet Yellen goofed in her first press conference as Fed chair back in March when she said it could be six months after QE was over.

But couldn't a "considerable time" be three months? Or nine?

"How much time does the Fed really need to set the market up for a rate hike that is still months away?" Van Order asked.

Rate hikes are coming. Get used to it. Fortunately, it appears that investors are already prepared for the inevitable rate hike.

Bond yields have ticked higher lately, and that's usually what happens when the Fed is getting ready to raise rates. Stocks have been more volatile too.

But investors should also not lose sight of the fact that a rate hike is sorely needed and should be welcomed. It means the economy is finally strong enough to handle higher rates.

Related: Don't freak out about the Fed!

The Fed has been in fire-fighting mode for nearly six years. The flames are out. The Fed can put down the hose.

But the Fed also knows that it shouldn't move so quickly and risk killing the recovery either. That's why it has to continue to focus on the data.

"Yellen will not want to make the mistake of tightening too soon. If they are going to make a mistake, it will be waiting a little too long to raise rates," said Sam Wardwell, investment strategist at Pioneer Investments.

First Published: September 17, 2014: 7:39 AM ET

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Peterson will get $691,176.50 a week not to play

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Minnesota Vikings have banned him from team activities while he deals with charges in his home state of Texas that he injured his four-year old son while disciplining him.

But unlike Ray Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens running back caught on a video knocking out his then-fiancee, Peterson has not been suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell. So he will continue to get paid.

Peterson's salary this year is $11.75 million, which comes to $691,176.50 a week during the course of the 17-week NFL season. He signed a six-year, $86.3 million contract before the 2011 season.

Related: Anheuser-Busch criticizes NFL

Peterson, widely considered one of the NFL's best players, did lose one of his two major sponsorship deals when Castrol motor oil, a unit of BP (BP), announced Tuesday that it was terminating its contract with him. His other major sponsor, Nike (NKE), said it is following developments. The value of those deals has not been disclosed.

Related: NFL - Richer than ever, despite controversy

Rice lost $9.5 million in salary this year and in the coming two seasons when he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL last week. But he got to keep $25 million of the $35 million five-year contract, even if he never plays another game.

First Published: September 17, 2014: 8:28 AM ET

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4 million fewer uninsured as Obamacare kicks in

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

There were 41 million Americans lacking coverage in early 2014, down from 44.8 million last year, according to the National Health Interview Survey, the first official government look at the uninsured after Obamacare policies kicked in on January 1. The uninsured rate fell to 13.1%, from 14.4%.

The survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, interviewed more than 27,600 people from January through March and asked them their coverage status. It also detailed whether they have private policies or participate in government programs.

While the report does not attribute the decline to Obamacare, it does show the health reform is meeting its prime directive -- reducing the number of uninsured. Some 3.7 million respondents, or 1.4%, said they were covered by policies bought on the federal or state-based health insurance exchanges.

Related: Thankful for Obamacare

"This is probably one of the largest decreases we've seen," said Robin Cohen, a statistician at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

But even this survey doesn't give a complete picture into Obamacare's effect on the uninsured. Many people signed up for coverage late in the enrollment cycle, so their policies didn't kick in until May. The survey's second-quarter data, which will be released at year's end, will capture those enrollees.

The report found young adults had the largest drop in uninsured levels. The share decreased from to 20.9%, from 26.5%. Many of them gained coverage through public programs, such as Medicaid.

The uninsured rates of those in poverty and near poverty also declined sharply. These folks gained coverage both through private policies and public programs. Under Obamacare, just over half of states and the District of Columbia expanded Medicaid to cover everyone under age 65 up to 138% of the poverty level.

Related: Are you middle class?

The survey found that adults in states that expanded Medicaid were more likely to be insured -- the uninsured rates in these states fell to 15.7%, from 18.4%. There was no significant decrease in states that didn't expand Medicaid.

Latinos and blacks also saw their uninsured rates fall. The Obama administration and community activists pushed particularly hard to sign up Latinos and blacks because they are more likely to lack coverage. However, inroads, particularly into the Latino community, were stymied by language barriers and fears that undocumented family members could be deported. Only 10.7% of those who signed up for Obamacare were Latino and 16.7% were black.

Just how well Obamacare is working remains to be seen. The Obama administration reported in the spring that 8 million people signed up for policies on the health care exchanges. But it's not known how many people completed enrollment by paying their first month's premium, nor how many were previously uninsured.

Open enrollment for 2015 begins Nov. 15.

First Published: September 16, 2014: 12:01 AM ET

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Stocks: 5 things to know before the open

Click chart for in-depth premarket data.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Here are five things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:

1. Fed meeting begins: Policymakers at the U.S. Federal Reserve start a two-day meeting. Fed chair Janet Yellen will deliver her latest assessment of the economy and plans for policy on Wednesday after the meeting is over.

2. Weak start: U.S. stock futures were declining ahead of the open and all major European markets were in the red in early trading.

U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday. The Dow was up 44 points. But the S&P 500 slid 0.1% and the Nasdaq was 1% lower.

Shares in major tech companies took a big beating Monday. Tesla (TSLA) shares dropped by 9% after a Morgan Stanley analyst wrote a note saying the automaker's steady rise over the past two years won't go on forever.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

3. Anticipating Alibaba: Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) was yet again the standout premarket performer. Shares were rising by about 1% ahead of the open after Alibaba said it was raising the price range for its initial public offering. Alibaba shares are expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BABA" later this week, and that will mean a massive windfall for Yahoo, which owns a large portion of the Chinese e-commerce company.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

4. Ruble trouble: The Russian ruble continued declining versus the U.S. dollar to hit an all-time low as money continues to flow out of the country. One dollar will now buy you nearly 39 rubles.

Russia's currency, stock market and economy have been suffering as Western nations impose harsher sanctions against Moscow over its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Related: Sanctions hit Russian oil and banks

5. Economic data: At 8:30 a.m. ET, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release August data on producer prices. This data gives a good indication of trends for price inflation for consumers.

Then at 10 a.m., the U.S. Census Bureau will release findings from its annual report on income, poverty and health insurance.

First Published: September 16, 2014: 4:48 AM ET

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Who would get Roger Goodell's job?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gave Goodell a ringing endorsement Sunday: "Roger has done an amazing job for the game and that's where I'm going with this."

One big reason is money. The Cowboys are estimated to be worth an NFL-high $3.2 billion, according to Forbes. That's up from $1.2 billion in 2006, when Goodell took over.

But Goodell's job isn't guaranteed. Many sports commentators have called for Goodell to resign, as has the National Organization For Women.

Members of Congress are calling for action, too. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said if it's confirmed that the NFL had a video of Ray Rice knocking out his girlfriend, "Commissioner Goodell must go, for the good of the NFL and its fans."

Blumenthal told CNN he may support legislation to strip away some of the advantages the NFL enjoys in antitrust law.

There have been more than 50 other NFL players charged with domestic abuse during Goodell's tenure, most of whom received no league discipline.

If public pressure forces Goodell to resign, sources in the industry tell CNNMoney it's unlikely the owners would turn to an outsider to take his place.

Goodell's predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, served as the league's outside counsel for nearly 20 years. Goodell has worked for the league since interning there right out of college.

So the names on the short list are not familiar to the public, or even most fans:

The guy behind the most owner-friendly labor contract: Jeff Pass

Jeff Pass, the league's executive vice president and general counsel, is the second highest paid NFL executive, earning $7.2 million. The league's chief negotiator with the players' union, he has repeatedly topped the union at the bargaining table, winning the most owner-friendly labor contract among the major pro sports.

The football guy: Mark Murphy, the Packers' CEO

Most team owners would have to give up a lot to become commissioner. But shares in the Green Bay Packers are publicly owned, so that's less of an issue for CEO Mark Murphy.

He had an 8-year career as an All Pro safety for the Redskins, served as athletic director at two colleges and also served with the players union. He has both a law degree and MBA.

Mark Murphy, Green Bay Packers CEO.

This TV guy has meant big money for the owners: Steve Bornstein

Steve Bornstein was the CEO of the NFL Network and executive vice president of media for the league before retiring this year. He's also a former president of ESPN who was instrumental in getting the NFL its own network.

Nothing is more important to the league's owners than its broadcast deals. Since retiring from the NFL, Bornstein, 62, has been working as chairman of The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

The Disney Guy: Bob Iger

ESPN is the most valuable part of Walt Disney Co. (DIS), and Disney CEO Bob Iger is already due to retire from the company in 2016.

He was rumored to be under consideration as the next baseball commissioner before that sport went with its own insider. NFL commissioner is an even more attractive job.

Bob Iger, Disney CEO

The digital guy: Brian Rolapp

Brian Rolapp succeeded Steve Bornstein as the league's head of media. Before that, his duties included bringing all the league's digital websites together and the creation of NFL Now, the site that allows fans to access online highlights personalized to their favorite teams and players.

The Silicon Valley guy: Twitter's CFO, Anthony Noto

Anthony Noto was chief financial officer of the NFL for nearly three years from 2008 to 2010. After that, he was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, overseeing its technology, media and telecom group, before taking the Twitter job last month. While old media is what created the NFL's financial might, new media will play an increasingly important role in the future.

Not Condoleezza Rice

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly once described NFL commissioner as her dream job. And perhaps a female commissioner could help repair damage with female fans - certainly more than all the "guys" on our short list.

Still, one source dismissed the speculation. "It's the most successful league in sports. Why turn to an outsider?"

And besides the question of an insider or outsider, it's tough to picture the ultimate boys club of U.S. business turning to a woman to run their game, no matter how much they may have angered the 45% of their fans who are women.

First Published: September 16, 2014: 8:06 AM ET

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CFO bails on RadioShack in middle of cash crisis

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The electronics retailer says John Feray has quit the CFO job for "personal reasons." It will use a consultant, Holly Felder Etlin, as an interim CFO without actually hiring her for the post.

RadioShack (RSH) announced last week it was down to its last $30 million in cash and "actively exploring" ways to raise the additional money.

But CEO Joe Magnacca admitted that time is running out on the company..

"It's clear that the current pace of our turnaround is simply not fast enough to address our near-term [cash] needs," he said. He also said while it hopes to avoid a bankruptcy that would wipe out existing shareholders' stake in the company there is no "predetermined outcome" to what it will do about the cash drain.

Related: Six endangered brands

Neither Feray nor Magnacca signaled anything about Feray's departure plans in a brief call with analysts and investors last week. They also did not take questions, which executives typical do during such conference calls.

The company's network of more than 5,000 stores has done little to battle competition from Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and other online retailers. In March, the company said it needed to close 1,100 stores, or about 20% of its total. But three months later, it was forced to scale back to only 200 store closings when lenders balked at providing the cash needed to close more stores.

Closing stores can be expensive, requiring payments to landlords to exit leases as well as severance to employees and the cost of liquidating inventory.

The company also disclosed last week that sales at stores open at least a year plunged 20% in the most recent quarter due to lack of customer traffic and weak demand for mobile devices. Losses more than doubled to $137.4 million.

If it does find a lifeline, it could be from its largest shareholder, hedge fund Standard General, which owns nearly 10% of the company. Last month, sources told CNNMoney that it was in talks to give it a cash infusion.

First Published: September 15, 2014: 8:25 AM ET

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