Early BUZZERS: Apple Climbs HIGHER on iPhone 5, Facebook BACKSLIDES

Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) closed more than 1 percent higher yesterday and continue to attract attention in early trading today. The tech giant finally unveiled the long-awaited iPhone 5, featuring a taller screen, thinner and lighter body, and 4G wireless compatibility. The new smartphone, launched by senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, at the company’s media event in San Francisco, has a screen display that measures 4 inches diagonally and features five rows of icons, plus the four shortcuts on the bottom. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), a chip supplier to Apple, also traded higher.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares had their biggest one day jump on Wednesday, but edged slightly lower in late afternoon hours and continue to backslide this mroning. Mark Zuckerberg made his first public appearance at the TechCrunch Disrupt since Facebook went public in May. He provided hope to shareholders by highlighting positive results in mobile. “What we are seeing already, even with the early mobile ads that we have, is that they are performing even better than the right hand column ads on desktop…there’s a huge opportunity,” explained Zuckerberg.

Don’t Miss: FACEBOOK: Zuckerberg Speaks Out

Amazon.Com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares traded slightly higher in late afternoon trading but are moving lower this morning. The online retailer will begin collecting sales tax in California on Saturday, but it is expanding distribution centers in order to offer faster delivery times. “We want fast delivery,” Jeff Bezos explained, according to the New York Times. At a minimum, “we can work on making it the next day.”

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) shares are up over 2 percent this morning. The clothing retailer announced that its board declared a special cash dividend of $1.50 per share, in addition to a regular quarterly dividend of 11 cents per share. Robert Hanson, chief executive officer stated, “The special cash dividend is a component of our capital allocation plan, which balances continued investment in our business with top tier shareholder returns.”

Investor Insight: More Apple Goodies That ROCK