EBay (EBAY) to Spin Off PayPal Into Separate Business

Morning Money Memo…

PayPal is splitting from eBay and will become a separate and publicly traded company next year. The corporate breakup is expected to be completed in the second half of 2015. An EBay announcement today said its board decided that the separation was the best path for growth and shareholder value creation for each business.

EBay shares jumped more than 11 percent in pre-market trading.

Dan Schulman, the president of the enterprise growth group at American Express, will be the new president at PayPal, effective immediately.

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has urged EBay to split off its payments business. Until now the company said it made sense to keep PayPal and EBay under the same corporate roof.

Concern Over Ford Profits

Will Ford's profit warning be the first of many? The share price of the second largest U.S. auto company plunged more than 7 percent as the firm cut its full-year profits outlook.

At a conference for investors, CEO Mark Fields said he expects a pretax profit of around $6 billion this year, down from the $7 billion to $8 billion the firm previously forecast.

Ford's Europe chief, Stephen Odell, said falling sales in Russia and the rapid decline of the ruble forced the company to lower its outlook.

Ford's European operations are likely to declare a loss of well over $1 billion this year. The region's economic troubles and slower growth in South America are a worry for many large multi-national corporations.

World of Snacks

Snacks are a growing segment of the global food industry, but there are big differences in different regions.

A study of more than 30,000 consumers in 60 countries by the research firm Nielsen found that about 9 in 10 people snack at least once a day and one in five is snacking three to four times daily.

Americans prefer salty chips, while chocolate is the top selling global choice.

"Snacking connects consumers globally," James Russo, senior vice president at Nielsen, told USA Today.

The report said the impact of the snacking boom will have a huge impact on how food companies make and market their products.

Buy Stuff or Experiences?

The economy is growing at a faster rate, confidence has improved recently and American consumers may spend more money during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Sean Kim of growthlist.com said now may be a good time for consumers to re-consider their budget priorities, spending more on experiences such as travel or entertainment with family and friends and spending less on stuff.

"The reason why this is so important is that we're all looking to grow: personally, professionally, whatever it is," said Kim. "Keeping things around you, whether it is furniture, clothes, whatever, it is a lot of what limits the ability to just go and do something."

Gold Loses Luster

Gold is losing its shine as an attractive investment. The precious metal's price fell four weeks in a row and tumbled again Monday. Gold futures are priced at $1,210 an ounce as the dollar continues to gain in value against other currencies.

Microsoft to Give Peek at New Windows?

Microsoft is hoping to win back some corporate customers with its newest version of the Windows operating system. The software giant is expected today to give users a sneak peek at an event in San Francisco. Desktop users are hoping the next-gen OS is friendlier than Windows 8, which many have avoided in favor of earlier, less-glitchy versions of the operating system.