NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 18, 2017 / U.S. markets rose Monday as investors shifted their focus from geopolitical tensions to the current earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.90 percent to close at 20,636.92, up 4.42 percent year-to-date, while the S&P 500 rose 0.86 percent to close at 2,349.01, up 4.92 percent year-to-date. The Nasdaq increased 0.89 percent to close at 5,856.79, up 8.8 percent year-to-date.

Bank of America, eBay, General Electric, IBM, Netflix and Qualcomm are all scheduled to report earnings this week. Profit for S&P 500 companies are expected to increase by 10.4 percent in the first quarter of 2017, which would mark the first double-digit percentage gain since the third quarter of 2014, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

RDI Initiates Coverage on:

Facebook Inc.
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=FB

Snap Inc.
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=SNAP

Facebook's shares increased 1.46 percent to close at $141.42 a share on Monday. The stock traded between $139.75 and $141.55 on volume of 11.52 million shares traded. The company recently added a new feature to their popular Instagram app that allows users to send texts, videos and pictures that disappear after being viewed. Instagram added the "Stories" feature in August 2016, which has also been added to Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Instagram's "Direct" users have grown to approximately 375 million monthly users, from approximately 300 million in November 2016. Shares of Facebook have gained approximately 22.92 percent year-to-date.

Access RDI's Facebook Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=FB

Snapchat's shares declined 1.24 percent to close at $19.94 a share on Friday. The stock traded between $19.80 and $20.21 on volume of 11.71 million shares traded. Snapchat still seems to be the most popular choice among teens. According to Piper Jaffray's recent survey "Taking Stock With Teens", 81 percent of teens use Snapchat at least once per month, compared to 79 percent for Instagram. Additionally, 39 percent of the teens surveyed named Snapchat as the most important social network, compared to just 23 percent for Instagram. Shares of Snap have fallen approximately 18.55 percent since its IPO on March 2nd, 2017.

Access RDI's Snap Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=SNAP

Our Actionable Research on Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

Research Driven Investing

We are committed to providing relevant and actionable information for the self-directed investor. Our research is reputed for being a leader in trusted, in-depth analysis vital for informed strategic trading decisions. The nimble investor can leverage our analysis and collective expertise to execute a disciplined approach to stock selection.

RDInvesting has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.

Disclaimer: This article is written by an independent contributor of RDInvesting.com and reviewed by Nadia Noorani, CFA® charter holder. RDInvesting.com is neither a registered broker dealer nor a registered investment advisor. For more information please read our full disclaimer at www.rdinvesting.com/disclaimer.

CONTACT

For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly at:

Address:

Research Driven Investing, Unit #901 511 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10011

Email:

contact@rdinvesting.com

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

SOURCE: RDInvesting.com