Eagle Eye Opener: Futures Up; Greek Riots; Samsung Beats Apple

U.S. Index Futures up One Day After Biggest Loss of the Year (Reuters)

A day after the Dow plunged 312 points — the steepest sell-off of the year on Wall Street — U.S. stock index futures were up on the prospect of investors looking for bargains in American markets. And they may just find them, as some big names lost significant value yesterday, such as Whole Foods Market (WFM), falling more than 4% and Concur Technologies (CNQR) sliding 6%. The main reason for the sell-off yesterday was uncertainty about how the Obama administration would deal with the looming “fiscal cliff” — a concern that does not appear likely to be answered soon.

Greeks Riot in the Streets Again as More Austerity Measures Pass (AP)

Investors wondering when the “all-clear” signal will be given to pile back into European investments — especially those with strong ties to Greece — were given a crystal clear answer yesterday: not yet. In what’s becoming a terrible habit, Greeks rioted in the streets again in protest of another round of austerity measures designed to cut the wages and pensions of workers. Despite the riots, the Greek parliament narrowly passed this second round of measures in the hope that it would be enough to convince the European Union (EU) to release another $40 billion in bailout loans. The 17 EU members meet next week to decide whether or not to release the funds.

Piling On: Samsung Pounds Apple in Sales (YahooFinance.com)

Investors in Apple (AAPL) have been getting pummeled during the last month. In addition to Apple’s share price taking a beating, rival Samsung (005930 on the Korean Stock Exchange) (SSNLF on Nasdaq) usurped the iPhone’s leadership position in global smartphone sales for Q3, according to Strategy Analytics, a technology industry watchdog. Samsung recorded 18 million units sold during Q3 to Apple’s 16.2 million units, breaking Apple’s two-year strangle-hold on its leadership position. However, the iPhone 5 is expected to reclaim the top spot in the fourth quarter and could reignite investor enthusiasm for Apple.