SF Fed’s Williams: ‘it’s not obvious that the stock market is overvalued’

Now that the D.C. debt-ceiling and budget arguments have been pushed into 2014, consumer confidence is going to figure as a big factor moving forward on the Federal Reserve’s tapering decision, according to San Francisco Fed President John Williams.

Williams made the comments in a press roundtable following the Asia Economic Policy Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Tuesday.

Recap: Tesla third-quarter earnings call

• • 5:24 pm (EST)

  Waiting for the call to begin. Tesla shares now down 10% at $157.61 in after-hours trade, despite the company vowing to raise Model S production in the fourth quarter to "just under" 6,000 vehicles, which bumps up the full-year production target to 21,500.

China worrying about Fed taper may be show: Brookings’s Dollar

While China may be worrying out loud about the effects of the Federal Reserve tapering asset purchases, it may not be that much of a big deal to the world’s second-largest economy, especially if the nation’s Communist Party adopts reforms at a meeting this weekend.

New York Stock Exchange’s new owner: small-time investors are getting ripped off

In stock trading, the little guys are getting ripped off – and that’s according to the person who’s about to take over the New York Stock Exchange.

Jeff Sprecher, CEO of IntercontinentalExchange Inc.  /quotes/zigman/373487/delayed /quotes/nls/ice ICE , or ICE, was discussing his company’s third-quarter earnings results with analysts on Tuesday when he veered on a tangent about how the markets are unfair to small investors. ICE is preparing to buy the parent company of the NYSE, the country’s best-known and iconic stock exchange.

Apple beefs up margins on iPad Air, teardown says

Apple Inc. hasn’t said yet how well the iPad Air did over its launch weekend, but a teardown report from IHS iSuppli on Tuesday suggests the company has improved its profit margins on the full-sized tablet.

IHS iSuppli estimates that it costs Apple about $310 to build the 16GB version of the iPad Air with cell connectivity. This version sells for $629 in the U.S. — implying a margin of about 51% for the device. IHS estimated a $358 build cost for the third-gen iPad last year at a similar point in its lifecycle, implying a margin of about 43% for that version.

It should be noted while that such teardown reports can estimate costs for acquiring components and assembling the device, they don’t reflect other factors, such as the cost of embedded software or royalties paid on any technology. Investors tend to use these studies as a single data point. Apple’s shares were trading down a fraction on Tuesday afternoon.

Twitter IPO reminder for U.S. Congress members: You can’t join

As Twitter gets set for one of the hottest initial public offerings of the year, the U.S. House of Representatives ethics committee has a reminder for congress people and their staff: You can’t join.

A memo from the committee, posted by The Wall Street Journal, reminded House members, officers and employees that based on the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act” they are prohibited from “participating in IPOs in a matter ‘other than is available to members of the public.”

“IPO participation, however, is normally not available to the general public,” the memo said. “The Committee recommends that any Member, officer, or employee who has questions about participating in any IPO contact the Committee in advance of your purchase to determine whether or not the purchase would be permissible under the Act.”

Investors still have to pay more to insure against a U.S. debt-ceiling disaster

The market impact of the debt-ceiling debate is fading, but it hasn’t gone away entirely.

As fear crested that Congress wouldn’t be able to reach a deal to raise its borrowing limit, the cost of credit default swaps used as protection against a U.S. default on its debt spiked. After the federal government reached a deal in mid-October to raise the debt ceiling until early next year, costs eased lower. But they remain at elevated levels as investors anticipate a similar debate playing out early next year.

Call of Duty: Ghosts blasts into stores, but less of a hit with critics

Activision Blizzard Inc. launched “Call of Duty: Ghosts” in stores on Tuesday to what is expected to be more blockbuster sales, though critics are so far taking a dimer view of the latest version of the shoot-em-up videogame franchise.

At least, that’s according to the latest scores on Metacritic, which compiles game review scores from dozens of reviewers and assigns a widely-tracked “Metascore.” As of midday Tuesday, “Call of Duty: Ghosts” had garnered a Metascore of 75 for both the Xbox 360 version and  the PlayStation 3.

That’s down from the average Metascore of 83 for last year’s COD iteration, known as “Black Ops 2.” It’s also the lowest average critic score in the history of the Call of Duty franchise, according to a search of Metacritic’s website. Critic scores on the franchise peaked with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” which averaged a rating of 94 from its late 2009 release. The following two COD releases — “Black Ops” and “Modern Warfare 3″ — averaged a score of 88 for the two consoles.

Also worth noting is that “Battlefield 4″ — the combat shooter released by Electronic Arts last week — has an average Metascore of 82 across the two consoles. The two games are expected to battle it out closely in the coming holiday season, along with the blockbuster “Grand Theft Auto V” from Take-Two released in September, though the latter is from a different gaming genre.

Lloyd Blankfein is an optimist — even if it isn’t cool

Lloyd Blankfein says he’s an optimist about the economy – even if it isn’t cool.

Easy to say so when you’re the CEO of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. /quotes/zigman/188479/delayed /quotes/nls/gs GS , the most powerful bank around, and were paid $13 million last year. But Blankfein, speaking Tuesday  at a panel at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.,  said that the biggest problems that bloodied the economy in recent years have already “been chewed through.” Banks have been recapitalized, for instance, and the conversation on Europe has shifted over one year from how it’s falling off a cliff to how its recovery will be slow.

Tesla’s third quarter: a reckoning with infatuated investors

Tesla Motors Inc. reports it third-quarter results after the closing bell. Expectations are running high. So far this year, Elon Musk’s maverick electric car company has blown by analysts’ earnings forecasts. It’s also been knocking down production and profit targets with clock-like regularity, setting a high bar in the minds of investors and raising the possibility of a nasty backfire if it misses.

Here are the numbers.

According to FactSet’s poll of analysts, Tesla is expected to earn 8 cents a share in the quarter ended Sept. 30, reversing a year-ago loss of 92 cents a share. The EPS estimate excludes one-time charges, and there will be some big ones this quarter. Among likely items are spending on building out its electric recharging system. It’s also been spending heavily in Europe, including the opening of an assembly plant in The Netherlands. And then there’s development of the Tesla Model X, its SUV crossover, which is scheduled to roll out in the fourth quarter. Analysts will be paying close attention to company updates on all of these undertakings.