Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Instagram Founders Part With Facebook, Wall Street Braces for Fed | Free Lunch

Read MoreHide Full Article

On today’s episode of Free Lunch, Associate Stock Strategist Ryan McQueeney highlights breaking news involving Qualcomm and Apple, as well as AMD. He also speculates about the Federal Open Market Committee meeting commencing today. Later, he highlights the recent evolution of media stocks.

Want more video content from Zacks? Subscribe to Zacks Investment News now!

Free Lunch is the newest show from Zacks Investment Research. It is streamed live, four times per week, and features breaking news and analysis from Zacks strategists. Free Lunch is available on YouTube, Facebook Live, Twitter, Ustream, and more.

U.S. stocks were relatively flat in morning trading Tuesday, with energy and financial leaders experiencing the best of the trading as Wall Street braces for news out of the FOMC meeting commencing today.

The impending rate hike has been expected for some time, but there’s not certainty when it comes to the tone the Fed will set for the near future, and it is likely that investors will wait until the meeting concludes tomorrow to truly establish next steps.

Elsewhere, Silicon Valley experienced a leadership shakeup this morning as the founder of Instagram announced they were leaving Facebook , which bought the picture-sharing platform in 2012. Reports have suggested the Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg’s increasing presence at Instagram caused a rift between the leaders.

Other major stories from Tuesday morning include a fresh escalation in ongoing legal disputes between Qualcomm (QCOM - Free Report) and Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , with the former accusing the iPhone maker of stealing trade secrets, and the latest analyst sentiment regarding AMD (AMD - Free Report) after its recent monumental run.

The first half of today’s Free Lunch focuses on these new stories. Make sure to check out Ryan’s recap of the headlines!

Later, the host returns to a conversation about the evolving nature of the media industry. The Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) -led streaming revolution has changed what it means to be a content producer, and that means traditional media conglomerates have been forced to adapt.

Media conglomerates have underperformed the S&P 500 for years, and Wall Street is likely looking for the evolution of the business to result in stronger outcomes soon. Consolidation has been an answer for some, as evidenced by AT&T (T - Free Report) and Time Warner’s merger and the pending pairing of Disney (DIS - Free Report) and most of 21st Century Fox (FOXA - Free Report) .

But is that the only direction for media to move? And where does that leave competitors like Viacom ? Ryan answers these questions, and several more, on the second half of today’s show!

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.

Click here for the 6 trades >>