More Data Breach News From Google And Home Depot

We are about a week away from the launch of the iPhone 6 phones but already we are seeing various providers and retailers offer special packages in hopes of using the popularity of the iPhone with consumers to help drive sales elsewhere at the companies. WalMart (NYSE:WMT) has decided to sell the latest version of the iPhone below the standard price to draw consumers into its stores while Verizon has announced a free iPhone 6 for those who sign a two year contract and trade in a used phone. The rush is on and we would not be surprised to see further aggressive moves among retailers and service providers alike who are attempting to gain market share.

Chart of the Day:The British Pound is falling as the vote on Scottish Independence looms. It would seem to us that the vote shall result in a 'No' vote, especially with the number of corporations who would be forced to move their headquarters and those who are urging Scotland's voters to stay in the UK so as not to drive up the cost of doing business. The logistics of any split would be overwhelming and we doubt that a clean break could be made in the 18 months that those pushing

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for Scottish Independence have estimated it would take. EST): Est.: $129 BThe Asian markets are mostly lower today:

All Ordinaries down 0.51%Shanghai Composite down 0.29%Nikkei 225 up 0.76%NZSE 50 up 0.49%Seoul Composite down 0.74%In Europe, the markets are lower this morning:

CAC 40 down 0.56%DAX down 0.24%FTSE 100 down 0.52%OSE up 0.12%More Russian HacksIt appears that the latest victim of scammers is Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) which had 5 million email account passwords posted to a Russian Bitcoin site. According to early reports, Google was not hacked but rather experienced a situation much like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) did with the celebrity naked photo leaks. The passwords and associated data were gathered over a few years via various techniques; mainly phishing and hacking of individuals.

With Google, like Apple, trying to break into the payments business and make users' experiences better from the initial search for a product to quickly being able to purchase it, we would look for further efforts to deter accounts from being compromised. A two step process for logging into accounts could become the norm for users and it seems to us that everyone is simply waiting for one of the big boys to make the initial move.

Home Depot Holding StrongOperationally speaking Home Depot (NYSE:HD) has

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been hitting on all cylinders. That explains why the shares had been such strong performers up until news of the data breach broke and why shares have not been weighed down by continued news flow surrounding the data breach.

With the latest events however, we do think that readers who have been long the name might want to take some profits as more regulators begin to look into how the company allowed the breach to take place. Regulators and lawmakers are not the company's only problem these days as there is talk of class action lawsuits being filed and we still have no idea what the cost to the company will be.

Lowe's has closed the gap in performance over the past month with Home Depot as the data breach has provided a steady flow of negative news for its larger competitor.

The good news resulting from this breach and that of Target (NYSE:TGT) is that it is speeding up the adoption of new technology which will better protect data. Home Depot, for instance, will have the new chip enabled check out terminals installed at all of its locations by the end of the year, and that will be a positive for consumers moving forward.

Even though Home Depot has been killing Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) headtohead, investors might find better returns at the smaller home improvement retailer as Home Depot works through this data breach. If the events that unfolded at Target are any indication of what is in store for Home Depot, then investors could find this drags out longer than expected.