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100 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/03/wall-street-analysts-favorite-stocks-on-tuesday.html | ABNB | Airbnb | Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Rivian, Amazon, Airbnb, Warby Parker, HP, FedEx and more | Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: KeyBanc reiterates Nvidia as overweight KeyBanc raised its price target on Nvidia to $750 per share from $670 and said it sees "outsized growth." "Our quarterly supply chain findings are mixed. China demand remains weak but does not appear to be getting meaningfully weaker, while we are seeing pockets of recovery within the PC and smartphone markets. Additionally, we're seeing progress being made associated with inventory destocking in the channel." Read more about this call here. Evercore ISI initiates Aclaris Therapeutics as outperform Evercore ISI said the biopharma company is a "true biotech binary." "As we continue to search for attractive investment opportunities in I & I [inflammation & immunology], we're initiating coverage of ACRS with a $22 PT (200%+ upside) and Outperform rating." Citi names Arista Networks a top pick Citi said Arista shares are too attractive to ignore. "We continue to see attractive risk-reward on communication equipment stocks following our June launch." Bank of America adds FedEx to the US1 list Bank of America added the stock to its top picks list. "We are adding FedEx Corp (FDX), Blue Owl Capital Inc (OWL), and RenaissanceRe (RNR) to the US 1 list. We are removing Knight-Swift Transportation (KNX). KNX remains Buy-rated." Evercore ISI adds Ally Financial to the tactical outperform list The firm added the home and auto loan company to its tactical outperform list and said it sees an attractive entry point for Ally. Evercore ISI also reiterated its long-term in-line rating. "However, we believe emerging efforts to contain expense growth, coupled with stabilizing-to improving used car values, bode well and could present near-term upside to the stock's discount valuation." Stifel initiates Churchill Downs as buy Stifel said the horse racing company is one of the best growth stories around. "While horse racing viewership continues to face secular headwinds, we see potential for high-growth OSB operators to expand the TAM while CHDN continues to develop a unique flywheel & moat as the market leader in live, historical, and online horse racing." Raymond James upgrades Clean Energy Fuels to strong buy from outperform Raymond James said the clean energy company is on the verge of a re-rating. "Upgrading Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) from Outperform to Strong Buy, with the company on the cusp of ramping up in-house RNG production." JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as a top pick JPMorgan said ignore the noise and buy the dip in shares of Amazon. "We hear a number of concerns in our investor conversations including: 1) AWS growth given recently slowing 3P data; 2) state of the US consumer & retail; 3) increased competition; 4) rising fuel costs; 5) magnitude of holiday hiring; & 6) the FTC lawsuit." Baird initiates Vestis as outperform Baird said in its initiation of the uniform rental company that it's a "self-help story." "We believe Vestis has been under-managed and under-invested during Aramark's ownership with new management energized with a thoughtful plan in early stages." Piper Sandler reiterates Alphabet as overweight Piper Sandler said Alphabet is an "AI winner." "Shares have outperformed despite the onset of a DOJ trial and seemingly ramping infrastructure investment. The market may be telling us i) new product opportunities are forthcoming; and ii) valuation remains undemanding." Bank of America upgrades HP Inc. to buy from underperform Bank of America said in its double upgrade of the stock that it finally sees a "bottom" in free-cash flow for HP Inc. "In our opinion, as goes FCF so go the shares for HPQ. We see the following levers for FCF improvement (1) recovery in PCs driving growth in the negative cash conversion cycle business that will generate higher FCF in 2024 and beyond, (2) cost actions that should improve profitability." Read more about this call here. JPMorgan reiterates Tesla as underweight JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock to $135 per share from $120 but said it's standing by its underweight rating after the company reported delivery numbers Monday. "While this represents a fairly material reset of expectations, actually the decline in deliveries outlook is the least meaningful of expectation resets for Tesla this year because it has come despite large declines in average selling price which have exacerbated the impact of the volume shortfall on all other performance metrics." UBS initiates Interactive Brokers as buy UBS said the multinational brokerage company is an "insulated and attractive growth profile with a unique footprint." "Also, IBKR' s trading business has actually proven more resilient than brokerage peers, with commission revenue only down 6% YTD vs. a record 2021 trading environment driven by larger derivative order sizes and a higher commission mix." UBS initiates CDW as buy UBS said it sees "double-digit EPS growth and cash flow optionality mispriced in shares" for the tech products company. "Through a pivot to more software and service centric offerings, we forecast CDW organic revenue CAGR of at least 6% over the next several years following a modest decline in CY23." Morgan Stanley reiterates Rivian as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating after the company reported delivery numbers. " Rivian reported 3Q deliveries came in 6% above our forecast while reiterating its FY23 production guide of 52k units which we see as supportive of our current FY delivery forecast of 48k units." Evercore ISI upgrades Warby Parker to outperform from in line Evercore ISI said it sees upside to estimates for the eyewear company. "But we see 1) a fundamental inflection story based on product & marketing developments, 2) positive survey results, 3) upside to Street estimates." Read more about this call here. KeyBanc downgrades Airbnb to sector weight from overweight KeyBanc said margins have peaked for the short-term home rental stock. "We believe this could create an overhang on shares as ABNB transitions from a growth to GARP investor base." Bank of America upgrades Booz Allen Hamilton to buy from neutral Bank of America said in its upgrade of the management consulting company that it likes the "AI implementation." " BAH's unique exposure to rapidly growing technologies and modernization efforts supports strong organic growth in the near term." KeyBanc initiates Emerson Electric as overweight KeyBanc said the electric company's transformation works. "Newly Transformed Pure Play Automation Company with Underappreciated Catalysts from Recent M & A." Goldman Sachs initiates Trex as buy Goldman Sachs said the wood decking and railing manufacturer is well-positioned. "In our view, Trex is well positioned to leverage favorable secular shifts along with company-specific initiatives to drive growth and profitability ahead of our broader building products coverage." Goldman Sachs upgrades AllianceBernstein to buy from neutral Goldman Sachs said in its upgrade of the investment management company that it sees improving growth. "With the stock down 12% YTD we think the market is under appreciating AB' s industry-leading organic fee growth prospects and its differentiated operating margin expansion, resulting in a more durable EPS growth outlook over the next 2 years." UBS upgrades Warner Music Group to buy from neutral UBS said investors should buy the dip in shares of the music company. "We see WMG as a LT beneficiary of secular industry trends in music and see the recent pullback as a buying opportunity." Read more about this call here. Citi reiterates Apple as buy Citi said iPhone demand remains strong for Apple. "We tracked the iPhone 15 series delivery times from Apple online store in select countries and compared with iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 series. Overall, demand appears strong in a softened overall smartphone market." Wedbush adds Constellation Brands to the best ideas list Wedbush said it sees numerous positive catalysts ahead for the stock. "We see multiple upcoming catalysts on the horizon for STZ which adds to our overall conviction on the company's ability to continue to outperform and drive strong topline and earnings growth, while unlocking multiple expansion." Bank of America initiates Dycom as buy Bank of America said in its initiation of the telecommunications infrastructure company that it's uniquely positioned. "We are positive on DY because 1) it enjoys a strong infrastructure project backlog, 2) it is well positioned to monetize incremental telecom and cable company wireline buildout initiatives." | 2023-10-03T00:00:00 |
101 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/05/here-are-18-stocks-jim-cramer-is-watching-including-clorox-rivian-airbnb.html | ABNB | Airbnb | Here are 18 stocks I am watching in the market, including Clorox, Rivian and Airbnb | Here are some of the tickers on my radar for Thursday, Oct. 5, taken directly from my reporter's notebook:
If you like this story, sign up for Jim Cramer's Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free. | 2023-10-05T00:00:00 |
102 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/27/airbnb-is-offering-a-free-stay-at-barbies-malibu-dreamhouse.html | ABNB | Airbnb | Airbnb is offering a free stay at Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse—here's how to book | Get ready to live like Malibu Barbie for a day.
In a marketing stunt ahead of the release of director Greta Gerwig's hotly-anticipated "Barbie" movie, a listing has appeared on Airbnb offering guests a stay at Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse.
The all-pink mansion is hosted by Ken — played by Ryan Gosling in the upcoming film — and looks like the iconic Barbie playset come to life.
"Placed perfectly above the beach with panoramic views, this life-size toy pink mansion is a dream come true!" it reads.
Guests will have access to Ken's "awesome wardrobe to find your best beach fit," and will walk away with a set of yellow-and-pink roller skates and a surfboard.
Upon arrival, guests will be met by a concierge who will give them a tour of the property and "ensure a comfortable stay for you and your guest — including showing you around and setting out and arranging meals." | 2023-06-27T00:00:00 |
103 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/18/airbnb-ceo-says-he-wooed-first-investors-with-boxes-of-cereal.html | ABNB | Airbnb | Airbnb CEO says his $75 billion company was rejected by investors—until a $40 box of cereal turned things around | Some people secure startup investments with well-organized pitches and PowerPoints. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and his two co-founders did it with $40 boxes of cereal.
And it was almost by accident, Chesky said at a recent Stanford Graduate School of Business event.
When Chesky and his two co-founders — Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk — launched the company in 2008, investors were skeptical of the idea that people would casually invite strangers into their homes for overnight stays. Rejected by the VC world, the trio turned to their own customers for fundraising dollars, Chesky said.
Specifically, they sold self-designed cereal boxes featuring then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain as a breakfast option in Airbnbs. The cereal proved popular, selling more than 1,000 boxes and making $30,000 for the company, Chesky said.
That turned at least one investor's head back in their direction, he added: Tech startup accelerator Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham offered them an investment specifically because of the cereal.
"If you can convince people to pay $40 for $4 boxes of cereal, maybe, just maybe, you can convince strangers to live with each other," Graham told the trio, according to Chesky.
Y Combinator was responsible for one of Airbnb's earliest investments, giving the then-startup $20,000 in exchange for 6% of the company, according to Crunchbase. Airbnb and Y Combinator didn't immediately respond to CNBC Make It's request for confirmation.
Today, Airbnb has a market capitalization of $75.13 billion. The company helped create and popularize the modern on-demand lodging industry, normalizing the idea that investors initially thought would never take on.
It might have never happened without the cereal: Airbnb was rejected by multiple major investors during its first year of operations, Chesky noted in a 2015 Medium post. "The investors that rejected us were smart people, and I am sure we didn't look very impressive at the time," he wrote.
But while rejection doubtlessly stings, it's not always the end of the world for startups. For example, Bumble CEO and co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd was rejected by investors several times while trying to launch her dating app, she said at the Aspen Ideas Festival last summer.
Investors weren't keen on the idea of women solely initiating conversations with matches, and told her the platform would fail because it defied social norms, Wolfe Herd said. She used the no's as motivation and evidence that her ideas were future-facing, she added.
"I just retrained my brain from Day 1: Every time I got a hurtful email or tweet or some investor telling me [the idea for Bumble] was stupid, I just got really excited about it," Wolfe Herd said. "People generally don't know how to see things that don't exist yet, so you just have to believe in yourself."
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Don't miss: | 2023-04-18T00:00:00 |
104 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/13/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-calls-out-rto-mandates-from-bosses-going-away-to-the-hamptons.html | ABNB | Airbnb | Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky calls out RTO mandates from execs 'going away to the Hamptons' and Europe this summer | In an interview earlier this week, Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky pointed out that a revival of return-to-office pushes are often coming from executives with the most amount of flexibility.
"I guarantee you that many of these CEOs who are calling people back to the office in New York City are going away to the Hamptons for the summer or going to Europe in August," Chesky said in a "Decoder" podcast interview published Tuesday.
Of course, Chesky is incentivized to encourage remote work, which can allow people to work while traveling for extended periods of time. He said monthly stays make up one-fifth of Airbnb's business and are one of its fastest-growing segments.
Even so, senior-level workers generally get more flexibility in when and where they work. Some 43% of managers worked in a hybrid arrangement versus 18% of non-managers in March 2023, according to an Axios analysis of data from WFH Research.
Meanwhile, 45% of managers were expected to report on-site full-time, compared with 62% of non-managers.
At some of the highest ranks, Cowen Partners, an executive search firm, says 75% of their current openings are hybrid, up from 25% pre-pandemic.
Chesky made a big bet on flexible work in April 2022 when he announced Airbnb staff could "live and work anywhere," citing the "most productive two-year period in our company's history" while working remotely, and that employees wouldn't get a pay cut for moving.
The announcement led to a spike of more than 800,000 people flocking to its career page.
Chesky has since only doubled down on flexible work, saying that businesses who don't embrace it are at a "disadvantage" and that "the office as we know it is over." He also acknowledged that an era of "pure work-from-home" is ending as more people return to worksites, but that CEOs have to be strategic in how they offer flexibility in the long term.
"Here's the calculation every CEO has to make," he said: "Are you more productive having people physically in an office together and then constraining who you hire to a 30-mile or a 60-mile commuting radius to the office? Or by allowing your team to be able to hire people from anywhere?"
A lot of it will depend on the role, he said — software engineers, accountants and lawyers might be able to work more independently than creative teams, for example. But overall, he said, "a giant sea of desks probably isn't the most effective thing, and many roles will be much more effective when allowing flexibility so you can have a global talent pool."
Chesky re-emphasized on the podcast his stance that some in-person connection is important, though — the majority of Airbnb staff are expected to gather for a week once a quarter, and the CEO says he goes into the office about every other week, multiple days a week.
"We don't want to recreate this world of 'Wall-E' where everyone's just staring at screens all day and no one has any interaction in the physical world," he said.
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Check out: Bosses think in-office work 3 times a week is ‘the magical number.’ ‘It’s not,’ says CEO | 2023-05-13T00:00:00 |
105 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-doubted-by-mom-now-worth-billions.html | ABNB | Airbnb | When Brian Chesky co-founded Airbnb, his mom said, 'You're not an entrepreneur, you're unemployed'—now he's worth $9.3 billion | Many folks once scoffed at the idea that people would rent their homes to strangers — including Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky's own mother.
That's according to Chesky, who told the story at a recent Stanford Graduate School of Business event. As he recounted, he was a 20-something industrial designer, struggling to pay rent. He moved to San Francisco to live with his college friend Joe Gebbia, and they realized they had a business idea after renting out their home and its three air mattresses during a design conference.
"At that point, my mom said, 'So I guess you don't have that job with health insurance anymore.'" Chesky said. "And I said, 'No, mom, I'm an entrepreneur.' And she said, 'No, you're unemployed.'"
Joined by a third co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk, the trio officially launched their website in 2008. Their timing wasn't ideal: The co-founders spent much of the Great Recession visiting NYC hosts to photograph rentals for their website and better understand the guest experience, Chesky told LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman's "Masters of Scale" podcast in 2017.
Business started taking off in April 2009, after the company landed a $585,000 investment from Sequoia Capital. In February 2011, Airbnb announced that guests had booked one million nights in its rentals.
The company was reportedly valued at $31 billion in 2017, before they went back to the drawing board in March 2020. Months before Airbnb's scheduled initial public offering, business dropped 80% in eight weeks during Covid-19 lockdowns, Chesky told Stanford students.
"When you're our size ... that is like being an 18-wheeler going 80 mph then you slam on the breaks," he said. "Nothing good happens. Within weeks, journalists were predicting, 'Is this the end of Airbnb?'"
To combat a company-wide collapse, Airbnb's executive team conducted layoffs, took personal pay cuts and slashed the marketing budget from "$1 billion to ... zero," Chesky said. Divisions like design, finance and marketing were condensed into one department, encouraging collaboration across teams, he added.
The company turned a 40% profit in 2022, Chesky said. Today, Airbnb's market cap is $75.49 billion, and Chesky's net worth is $9.3 billion, according to Forbes.
"I never focused on trying to make a lot of money," Chesky said. "I just focused on being efficient as possible [and] obsessing over the experience."
Looking back, Chesky said his mother's discomfort may have been warranted. Both of his parents were social workers, and his mother wanted him to pursue work that "pays you a lot of money" instead, he said.
"When you're starting [a company], it's mostly in your head," Chesky added with a laugh.
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106 | https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-credit-cards-for-booking-airbnb-vrbo/ | ABNB | Airbnb | The best credit cards for booking Airbnb, VRBO and more: Get rewarded for your next vacation rental | Vacation home rentals through sites like Airbnb and VRBO are great options for large groups, families, budget travelers or anyone who needs accommodations in remote locations. Short-term rental sites aren't known for having rewarding loyalty programs like hotels. So if you want to maximize your rewards, you'll want to use one of the best credit cards for booking with Airbnb or VRBO. With the right card, you can earn bonus travel rewards or cash back on your vacation home rentals. And since there are no complicated loyalty programs to navigate, redeeming points for home rentals is straightforward.
Best credit cards for Airbnb and VRBO bookings
Best overall
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Learn More On Capital One's secure site Rewards 5 Miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 2X miles per dollar on every other purchase
Welcome bonus Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
Annual fee $95
Intro APR N/A for purchases and balance transfers
Regular APR 19.99% - 29.99% (Variable)
Balance transfer fee $0 at the Transfer APR, 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
Foreign transaction fee None
Credit needed Excellent/Good See rates and fees, terms apply. Pros 5 miles per dollar on hotel and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit up to $100 every 4 years Cons No introductory APR
There’s a $95 annual fee Learn More View More
Best for travel benefits
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Learn More On Chase’s secure site Rewards Earn 5X total points on flights and 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3X points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases plus, 10X points on Lyft rides through March 2025
Welcome bonus Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
Annual fee $550
Intro APR None
Regular APR 22.49% - 29.49% variable
Balance transfer fee 5%, minimum $5
Foreign transaction fee None
Credit needed Excellent
Terms apply. Read our Chase Sapphire Reserve® review. Pros $300 annual travel credit for travel purchases
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit up to $100 every four years
Priority Pass™ Select lounge access at 1,000+ VIP lounges in over 500 cities worldwide
Points are worth 50% more when redeemed for travel via Chase Travel℠
Special benefits at The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
Complimentary year of Lyft Pink membership Cons High annual fee, but it can be offset by taking advantage of all the card’s perks
No introductory APR Estimated rewards earned after 1 year: $1,469
$1,469 Estimated rewards earned after 5 years: $3,346 Rewards totals incorporate the points earned from the welcome bonus Learn More View More
Best for no annual fee
Citi Double Cash® Card Learn More Rewards Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, for a limited time, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/24
Welcome bonus Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
Annual fee $0
Intro APR 0% for the first 18 months on balance transfers; N/A for purchases
Regular APR 19.24% - 29.24% variable
Balance transfer fee For balance transfers completed within 4 months of account opening, an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies; after that, a balance transfer fee of 5% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies
Foreign transaction fee 3%
Credit needed Fair/Good/Excellent
See rates and fees, terms apply. Read our Citi Double Cash® Card review. Pros 2% cash back on all eligible purchases
Simple cash-back program that doesn't require activation or spending caps
One of the longest intro periods for balance transfers at 18 months Cons 3% fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S. Estimated rewards earned after 1 year: $443
$443 Estimated rewards earned after 5 years: $2,213 Learn More View More
Best for cash back
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card Rewards 3% on a category of your choice and 2% on grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category and grocery stores purchases) and 1% on all other eligible purchases. However, you can earn 25%-75% more cash back on every purchase if you're a Preferred Rewards member.
Welcome bonus $200 online cash rewards bonus after making at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days from account opening.
Annual fee $0
Intro APR Introductory 0% APR for your first 15 billing cycles on purchases and on balance transfers made within 60 days of account opening.
Regular APR 18.24% - 28.24% variable
Balance transfer fee Intro fee of 3% of the amount of each transaction make with 60 days of account opening. After that, 4% of the amount of each transaction
Foreign transaction fee 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of each transaction made in a foreign currency
Credit needed Excellent/Good Terms apply. Pros No annual fee
Introductory APR period on balance transfers and purchases for the first 15 billing cycles
$200 online cash rewards bonus
Have a choice of 6 different categories you can change monthly Cons 3% foreign transaction fee
Can't receive a greater cash-back rate unless you're a Preferred Rewards member View More
Who's this for? The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards card is ideal for anyone who loves cashback and wants to maximize their return across a wide range of purchases. And it's even more rewarding if you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member. Standout benefits: Cardholders earn 3% cash back in a category of their choice, which can be travel or any of the following: gas, online shopping, dining, drug stores and home improvement and furnishings. You'll also earn 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and the 3% or 2% bonus cash back applies to the first $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter, then you'll earn 1%. You can boost the cash back you earn with this card by 25% to 75% if you qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. Your rewards tier is determined by how much money you have deposited in your Bank of America deposit and Merrill investment accounts, including retirement accounts. To earn the 75% rewards bonus you'll need to reach the Platinum Honors tier, which requires a three-month average daily balance of $100,000 or more. But at that tier, you'll earn a massive 5.25% cash back in the bonus category you choose each month, like travel which includes bookings with Airbnb or VRBO. How to redeem rewards: You can redeem your cash back for a statement credit, check or as a deposit into an eligible Bank of America or Merrill account. Learn more: Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards review: A credit card that lets you choose the bonus categories
Best for small businesses
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card Learn More On Chase's secure site Rewards Earn 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in select categories each account anniversary year (travel; shipping purchases; internet, cable and phone services; and advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines), 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
Welcome bonus Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual fee $95
Intro APR None
Regular APR 21.24% - 26.24% variable
Balance transfer fee Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee None
Credit needed Good/Excellent
Terms apply. Read our Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card review. Pros Free employee cards
Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase TravelSM
1:1 point transfer to leading frequent travel programs
No fee charged on purchases made outside the U.S.
Generous welcome bonus worth up to $1,000 Cons $95 annual fee
No introductory 0% financing offers for purchases or balance transfers Learn More View More
FAQs
Should you get a credit card for your Airbnb or VRBO booking?
Unless you're a frequent traveler who regularly stays at Airbnbs or VRBOs, it might not be worth opening a new credit card just to book a single homestay. However, it is worth using whatever travel rewards credit card you have to pay for your vacation rental as earning some rewards is better than earning no rewards. Depending on how many credit cards you're comfortable having, it may be worth opening a credit to pay for your vacation rental because you can earn a valuable welcome bonus at the same time. Then you can use that bonus to book your next vacation. You'll just want to make sure it's a card that's useful for more than just booking vacation home rentals.
How to choose a credit card for home rental purchases
When choosing a credit card for your vacation home rental spending, consider what cards you're likely to qualify for and which ones are the most rewarding for you. The top travel and rewards credit cards typically require you to have good credit or excellent credit. If you're in the process of rebuilding your credit, you may need to start with a secured credit card or another card that's designed to help you repair your credit score. Credit card rewards generally fall into two categories: intro bonus and ongoing benefits. Sign-up bonuses are typically the most valuable credit card benefit, but they are one-time bonuses. The rewards for your purchases and other ongoing perks should make the card worth it for you over the long haul and justify the annual fee if there is one.
How to earn extra rewards when booking Airbnb rentals
In addition to the rewards you can earn with a credit card, Airbnb has partnerships that allow you to earn extra frequent flyer miles on your bookings. You can earn 1X Delta SkyMiles on Airbnb stays when you book through Delta and 3X Avios points on Airbnb stays and experiences when you book through British Airways. Before you make these bookings be sure you have cookies enabled in your browser, otherwise, the purchase won't track property and you won't receive the bonus miles.
How to redeem credit card rewards for vacation rentals
Redeeming credit card rewards for vacation rentals is easy because it doesn't require you to understand how to maximize a complicated rewards program. Instead, you can use your credit card rewards to offset the bookings you make at sites like Airbnb and VRBO. How you redeem your credit card rewards depends on what specific card you have. Cashback is straightforward and can be used to simply offset the cost of your home rental. You can usually redeem flexible travel rewards to pay for travel purchases at a rate of one cent per point, but this isn't universal. So you'll need to research how your specific cards work. If you have a cobranded airline or hotel credit card, you typically won't have a way to directly redeem the points and miles you earn for a vacation rental.
Bottom line
Booking a vacation home rental with sites like Airbnb or VRBO is a great option for family vacations or anyone who wants extra space or access to unique amenities that aren't available at hotels. But vacation rental sites don't offer the same level of rewards (if any at all) you can earn with hotel loyalty programs. If you want to earn or redeem rewards for your vacation home rental, you'll need to find the right credit card for the job. The best credit cards for booking with Airbnb and VRBO earn bonus rewards on these types of purchases and allow you to use your rewards to pay for bookings.
Our methodology
To determine which cards offer the best value for vacation rental bookings, CNBC Select analyzed over 230 of the most popular credit cards available in the U.S. We compared each card on a range of features, including, the credit card's rewards, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR, balance transfer fee and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available. We also considered additional perks, the application process and how easy it is for the consumer to redeem points.
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Information about the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party. | 2023-04-04T00:00:00 |
107 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/12/new-york-city-to-delay-enforcing-law-against-airbnb-hosts.html | ABNB | Airbnb | New York City to delay enforcing law against Airbnb hosts | Supporters of Airbnb hold a rally on the steps of New York City Hall showing support for the company, Oct. 30, 2015.
The City of New York will delay enforcing a municipal law that Airbnb said could limit the number of people who can host rentals in the city, a Friday court filing showed.
The short-term rental company filed a lawsuit against the city on June 1 over the law it called a "de facto ban" against short-term rentals set to go into effect on July 1.
Under the law, hosts must be permanent occupants of the units being rented and must register with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement before posting rentals.
The office will not issue fines against hosts or booking services until Sept. 5, according to the filing.
"Both parties agreed to a temporary stay of enforcement to afford them the opportunity to fully brief the issues before the court," said Jonah Allon, deputy press secretary for the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Airbnb said that the law would make it harder for hosts to do business by requiring that they comply with numerous zoning regulations, dwelling laws, and housing maintenance and construction codes.
"We hope the city will use the extra time to collaborate with us on a sensible alternative solution that will benefit Hosts, tourism, and the local economy," said Airbnb's attorney, Karen Dunn, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Airbnb said that in the first week of July, more than 5,500 short-term rentals are reserved to host more than 10,000 guests in New York City. | 2023-06-12T00:00:00 |
108 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/10/airbnb-ceo-chesky-cautious-says-customers-want-affordability.html | ABNB | Airbnb | Airbnb drops on cautious outlook as CEO says customers want 'affordability' | The Airbnb app is displayed on a smartphone with the Airbnb website displayed on a laptop in the background.
"With inflation, people are more focused than ever on affordability," he said. "We're really focused on trying to make sure prices are modulated in North America."
CEO Brian Chesky told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday that Airbnb is being cautious about its second quarter because of affordability pressure it is experiencing in North America.
Shares of Airbnb tumbled 10% Wednesday, a day after the company released its first-quarter report that offered slightly weaker-than-expected guidance and a cautious outlook for the current quarter.
Chesky expressed similar concerns about price sensitivity in North America during the quarterly call with investors Tuesday, adding that in the U.S. the lowest price offerings on the platform have the highest occupancy. He said that as Airbnb rates normalize, the company expects to see an increase in occupancy across more listings.
In its first quarter, Airbnb beat analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines, and total revenue rose 20% year over year. The company swung to a net profit of $117 million, or 18 cents per share, from a net loss of $19 million, or 3 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. The figure marks the first time Airbnb has been profitable during its first quarter on a GAAP basis.
But the home-sharing platform warned that second-quarter comparisons would be tough, saying, "Nights and Experiences Booked will have unfavorable year-over-year comparisons in Q2 2023 as we overlap pent-up 2022 demand following the COVID Omicron variant."
Airbnb forecast second-quarter revenue between $2.35 billion and $2.45 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting $2.42 billion.
Analysts at Bernstein said the company posted a "solid enough" quarter despite the challenges it is anticipating in the current quarter. They maintained their outperform rating on the stock and said in a Wednesday note they see company headwinds as a "short timing effect."
Baird analysts also said that Airbnb's results were "generally solid" but that they were overshadowed by concerns about what could come in the second quarter.
"While we remain somewhat cautious near-term based on macro and discretionary spending risks, longer-term outlook remains bright given strength of brand, platform and management team," the analysts wrote in a note Wednesday.
-- CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report | 2023-05-10T00:00:00 |
109 | https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/27/akamai-shares-plummet-after-guidance-comes-up-short.html | AKAM | Akamai | Akamai shares plummet after guidance comes up short | Shares of Akamai Technologies plunged 13 percent Wednesday after giving current-quarter guidance well below analyst estimates.
The Cambridge, Massachussetts-based company said it expects adjusted third-quarter earnings of 59 cents to 62 cents a share on revenues of $566 million to $578 million. Analysts had expected Akamai to forecast earnings of 66 cents a share on $590.9 million, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.
In a Tuesday conference call with analysts and investors, CFO James Benson said that the company is "anticipating media traffic and revenue volumes from one of our large Internet platform customers to decline further in the third quarter," which would lead to "a further sequential decline in our Media business in the third quarter." | 2016-07-27T00:00:00 |
110 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/30/after-hours-buzz-cgnx-akam-more.html | AKAM | Akamai | Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Cognex, Akamai & more | Check out the companies making headlines after the bell:
Cognex stock plummeted more than 16 percent after hours. The machine vision systems company reported earnings that beat analyst expectations but slightly missed on revenues. Guidance was very weak with 2018 revenue looking to be 10 percent lower than expected.
Akamai shares rose more than 3 percent in the extended session after reporting earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates.
Allison Transmission stock surged more than 3 percent post-market. The transmissions manufacturer beat expectations on top and bottom lines. It also increased its revenue and sales guidance for the upcoming year.
Shares of Tenet Healthcare gained 5 percent in extended trading. The hospital company reported revenues and earnings that surpassed analyst expectations. Its earnings guidance was also raised well above estimates.
Inogen stock soared more than 22 percent after the bell. The med-tech company's earnings and revenue exceeded Wall Street's estimates, partially due to an income tax benefit of $1.1 million in the first quarter. The company also raised its 2018 guidance.
Electronics for Imaging shares jumped almost 5 percent post-market. The printing technology company's earnings fell in line with estimates but its revenue was higher than expected. | 2018-04-30T00:00:00 |
111 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/akamai-results-beat-estimates-as-cloud-security-drives-growth.html | AKAM | Akamai | Akamai results beat estimates as cloud security drives growth | Akamai Technologies trounced Wall Street's estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit on Monday as its aggressive push to cloud security paid off and traditional business of speeding up content delivery on web stabilized.
Shares of the company rose 4.3 percent to $74.75 in extended trading.
The company's revenue rose 11.4 percent to $668.7 million, beating analysts' estimate of $654 million, with revenue from cloud security business surging 36 percent to $149 million.
But net income fell 28 percent to $53.7 million, or 31 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31 as the company recorded a $15 million restructuring charge and $23 million related to settlement of a legal dispute.
The company's media content business remained under pressure as large media customers such as Apple and Amazon.com develop in-house capabilities to handle their web traffic.
Revenue from the big six internet platform customers such as Facebook , Microsoft , and Netflix fell 14 percent to $44 million, but the overall media and carrier division revenue rose 6 percent to $316 million.
"We expect it (revenue from big six) to be more or less like that this year, so it will be less than last year but now the declines are much smaller," Chief Executive Officer Tom Leighton told Reuters on a post-earnings call.
"The big six are now less than 7 percent of our revenue overall and they are no longer having the impact on our revenue growth that they did before.
"Excluding items, Akamai earned 79 cents per share, beating analysts' average estimates of 70 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. | 2018-05-01T00:00:00 |
112 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/09/akamai-jumps-on-report-of-a-strategic-review-by-morgan-stanley.html | AKAM | Akamai | Akamai jumps on report of a strategic review by Morgan Stanley | Shares of cloud service company jumped Tuesday on a Bloomberg report of a strategic review by Morgan Stanley that could potentially put the company up for sale.
The stock rose as much as 5 percent in afternoon trading.
Bloomberg reports the review is prompted by pressure from Elliott Management, which bought a 6.5 percent stake in the company in December.
The hedge fund at the time indicated it would push the company to curtail wasteful spending and to improve what it deemed poor strategic planning for expanding into new markets, sources told Reuters.
Akamai reported net income of $60 million in the last quarter, according to SEC filings, down more than 20 percent from the same period the year before.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. | 2018-01-09T00:00:00 |
113 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/trump-cracks-about-cybersecurity-to-akamai-ceo-at-roundtable.html | AKAM | Akamai | Trump jokes to Akamai CEO about cybersecurity: 'The DNC could have used you' | Akamai is best known for its content delivery network (CDN) business, which is used by big web sites to deliver content like video more efficiently. But it also offers services that protect against certain types of cyber-attacks that can affect website reliability.
The wisecrack, which was met with laughs and groans, came as The White House hosted technology CEOs like Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos on Monday.
President Donald Trump on Monday joked to technology CEOs that the Democratic National Committee "could have used" more cybersecurity.
U.S. President Donald Trump (C) greets Apple CEO Tim Cook (L) and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella before a meeting of the American Technology Council in the State Dining Room of the White House
The DNC was hacked during the last presidential campaign when stolen Democratic material was given to WikiLeaks. Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, said last month that she believed the technology, including Russian hackings, WikiLeaks, "fake news" and the DNC's weak database were factors in her election loss.
Trump has previously said, though, that Clinton's focus on the hack was out of embarrassment for her loss.
Tweet: Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed!
The summit builds on President Donald Trump's aim to bring a business sensibility to politics, stemming from Trump's background as a media mogul.
Presidential advisor Jared Kushner said earlier on Monday that the government needed to "unleash the creativity of the private sector," noting that the U.S. government uses technology that's more than 50 years old in some cases.
Tweet: POTUS jokes that he's created more stock market value than the $3T+ in market capitalization of companies present
But it comes at a time when technology companies have more money and influence than ever in many respects.
Apple 's Tim Cook and Alphabet 's Eric Schmidt are among CEOs that have positioned themselves squarely against the administration on issues concerning immigration and the environment. But there are also major "gov-tech" contracts that could be up for grabs, former interim Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Monday.
— With reporting by CNBC's Kayla Tausche | 2017-06-19T00:00:00 |
114 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/12/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-after-hours-atvi-trip-akam-twlo.html | AKAM | Akamai | Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Activision Blizzard, TripAdvisor, Akamai and more | Check out the companies making headlines after the bell:
Shares of Activision Blizzard were volatile in extending trading Tuesday following a mixed fourth-quarter earnings report and weak outlooks for both the first quarter and full year. The stock initially fell 3 percent after the company reported earnings of $1.29 per share on revenues of $2.84 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $1.28 a share on revenues of $3.04 billion, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates.
Activision also issued weak first-quarter guidance, saying it expects earnings of 20 cents a share on $1.18 billion in revenue, compared to the estimated earnings per share of 46 cents on $1.45 billion in revenue. For 2019, Activision estimates earnings of $2.10 per share on revenues of $6.3 billion, also below the estimated earnings of $2.54 per share on revenue of $7.25 billion.
The company also announced on the conference call that it is cutting its workforce by 8 percent. The stock was last seen about 2 percent higher in after-hours trade.
TripAdvisor shares dropped as much as 6 percent following mixed earnings. The travel and restaurant website company reported $346 million in revenue, beating estimates of $343 million. Earnings per share were 27 cents, compared to the 29 cents expected by Wall Street. Revenue was driven by its non-hotel segment, which saw year-over-year growth of 38 percent. The stock is up more than 60 percent over the last year.
Akamai shares were volatile in extending trading after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. The stock initially rose about 3 percent after the Massachusetts-based technology company beat on the top and bottom lines. It reported $713 million in revenue, compared to estimates of $704 million. Earnings per share were $1.07, higher than the expected $1 expected by analysts. The company also announced CFO Jim Benson will retire in March. He will be succeeded by Ed McGowan, the senior vice president of finance. The stock was last seen about 2 percent lower.
Shares of Groupon fell more than 14 percent after market close on Tuesday after posting mixed earnings. Earnings per share were 10 cents, missing estimates by 3 cents. Revenue was $800 million, compared to the $789 million forecast by analysts. North American active customers fell 2.5 percent to 30.6 million.
Twilio shares fell more than 4 percent after hours Tuesday despite better-than-expected earnings. The cloud communications company reported fourth-quarter earning of 4 cents per share on revenues of $204 million. Analysts had expected earnings per share of 4 cents on revenues of $185 million. | 2019-02-12T00:00:00 |
115 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/45928644 | AKAM | Akamai | Is Amazon Poised to Eat Akamai’s Lunch? | “But Akamai hasn’t been growing anywhere close to that for two years,” he said. “It makes you wonder why, and I think it’s because of competitive pressure.”
At the same time Amazon has been rolling out more services that are set to compete with Akamai.
“I’m watching that Amazon train coming in,” he said. “That’s what an Akamai investor should be most cautious about.”
Akamai shares closed down half a percent midday at $32.61. Mahaney had a price target of $27 per share. Amazon closed down 2.2 percent at $178.56.
Josh Brown of Fusion Analytics sounded bullish on the sector but wary of Akamai.
“There’s some question as to why isn’t growing or seeing the same margin growth that it used to,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing you just say, Look, maybe it’s cheap, but I don’t know enough and clearly there’s too big of a question mark surrounding it.”
IPO Questions
“Fast Money” host Scott Wapner asked Mahaney about a Wall Street Journal article that implied a link between his status as an widely followed Internet analyst and IPOs backed by Citigroup.
“My record on picking stocks, whether they’re IPOs , whether they’re banking clients or not, is pretty clear. We’ve done all sorts of things with those stocks. Even with banking clients, we’ve gone out with buys, sells, holds. The record’s clear. No particular comment,” Mahaney said. “Clients that are long Akamai aren’t particularly happy with my call today, but that’s part of the business.”
______________________________________________________
Got something to to say? Send us an e-mail at [email protected] and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap. If you'd prefer to make a comment, but not have it published on our Web site, send those e-mails to [email protected].
Trader disclosure: On Jan. 9, 2011, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Najarian is long AAPL stock and calls; Najarian is long C; Najarian is long JPM calls; Najarian is long WFC calls; Najarian is long MSFT; Najarian is long INTC; Najarian is long YHOO; Najarian is long BMY calls
For Whitney Tilson
Tilson is long NFLX
Tilson is short CRM
For Josh Brown
Fusion Analytics is long AAPL
Fusion Analytics is long COP
Fusion Analytics is long JPM
Fusion Analytics is long LULU
For Brian Kelly
Shelter Harbor Capital is long
Shelter Harbor Capital is long TSM
Shelter Harbor Capital is long KRE
Shelter Harbor Capital is long IWM
Shelter Harbor Capital is long XHB
Shelter Harbor Capital is long GLD
Shelter Harbor Capital is long SLV
Shelter Harbor Capital is long short
Shelter Harbor Capital is short Dax
Shelter Harbor Capital is short Eurostoxx
Shelter Harbor Capital is short CS
Shelter Harbor Capital is short UBS
For Shaw Wu
Sterne Agee makes a market in AAPL shares
For Jeff Kilburg
Kilburg is long Long 10 yr
Kilburg is long 30 yr
Kilburg is long TLT
For Abigail Doolittle
* No disclosures
For Mark Mahaney
Gregory Hertz, CFA, CPA, Associate, holds a long position in the securities of AOL, Inc.
Patrick Feeley, CPA, CFA, Associate, holds a long position in the securities of WebMD Corp.
William Reinhardt, CFA, Associate, holds a long position in the securities of Google Inc.
Steven J Fullerton, Associate, holds a long position in the securities of Google Inc.
Neil A Doshi, Associate, holds a long position in the securities of Google Inc.
Rohit Thapliyal, Associate, holds a derivative position in the securities of Amazon.com Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates beneficially owns 1% or more of any class of common equity securities of Akamai Technologies Inc, Ancestry.com, eBay Inc, Netflix Inc, Yahoo! Inc. This position reflects information available as of the prior business day.
Within the past 12 months, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates has acted as manager or co-manager of an offering of securities of Ancestry.com, Google Inc, Groupon, Inc., WebMD Corp, Active Network Inc, Bankrate Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates has received compensation for investment banking services provided within the past 12 months from Orbitz Worldwide Inc, eBay Inc, Google Inc, Groupon, Inc., WebMD Corp, Active Network Inc, Bankrate Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates expects to receive or intends to seek, within the next three months, compensation for investment banking services from Yahoo! Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or an affiliate received compensation for products and services other than investment banking services from AOL, Inc., Monster Worldwide Inc, Orbitz Worldwide Inc, Akamai Technologies Inc, Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Expedia Inc, Google Inc, Groupon, Inc., IAC/InterActiveCorp, Priceline.Com Inc, Tree.com, Vistaprint NV, WebMD Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Active Network Inc, Bankrate Inc in the past 12 months.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following as investment banking client(s): Bankrate Inc, Ancestry.com, Active Network Inc, Groupon, Inc., Orbitz Worldwide Inc, eBay Inc, Google Inc, WebMD Corp, Yahoo! Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following as clients, and the services provided were non-investment-banking, securities-related: AOL, Inc., Monster Worldwide Inc, Orbitz Worldwide Inc, Akamai Technologies Inc, Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Expedia Inc, Google Inc, Groupon, Inc., IAC/InterActiveCorp, Priceline.Com Inc, Tree.com, Vistaprint NV, WebMD Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Active Network Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following as clients, and the services provided were non-investment-banking, non-securities-related: AOL, Inc., Monster Worldwide Inc, Orbitz Worldwide Inc, Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Expedia Inc, Google Inc, Groupon, Inc., IAC/InterActiveCorp, Priceline.Com Inc, Vistaprint NV, WebMD Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Bankrate Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or an affiliate received compensation in the past 12 months from Bankrate Inc, Ancestry.com, Active Network Inc, Groupon, Inc..
Analysts' compensation is determined based upon activities and services intended to benefit the investor clients of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and its affiliates ("the Firm"). Like all Firm employees, analysts receive compensation that is impacted by overall firm profitability which includes investment banking revenues.
The Firm is a market maker in the publicly traded equity securities of Monster Worldwide Inc, Akamai Technologies Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Ancestry.com, Blue Nile Inc, eBay Inc, Google Inc, Groupon, Inc., HomeAway, Inc., IAC/InterActiveCorp, Netflix Inc, OpenTable, Inc, Priceline.Com Inc, ReachLocal Inc, Tree.com, ValueClick Inc, Vistaprint NV, WebMD Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Active Network Inc, Bankrate Inc. | 2012-01-09T00:00:00 |
116 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/44880461 | AKAM | Akamai | Google-Akamai Deal? | “I don’t think Google needs an Akamai to boost the performance of its own video network,” he said. “They do that pretty well themselves.”
Plus, Mahaney sees a lot of risk for Google if the company does the deal—not only regulatory but business ones as well. He thinks media companies like Netflix and Yahoo! probably wouldn’t want to use Akamai if it was owned by Google.
Shares of Google were up Wednesday as the tech titan prepared to report its quarterly results after the close Thursday.
Wall Street analysts expect another strong quarter for the Internet firm. But while there has been some chatter about a potential to lower expectations for 2012, Mahaney doesn’t think that’s the case.
“We haven’t seen any recessionary impact on Google’s search span,” he said. “And they got a new tailwind just in the next quarter or two (from) all this disruption at Microsoft and Yahoo.”
Mahaney sees mid-to-high teens growth for 2012 in the company’s core search business.
“I don’t think there’s a dramatic change in the growth trajectory,” he said.
______________________________________________________
Got something to to say? Send us an e-mail at [email protected] and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap. If you'd prefer to make a comment, but not have it published on our Web site, send those e-mails to [email protected].
Trader disclosure: On Oct 12, 2011, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders; Najarian is long AAPL; Najarian is long C; Najarian is long MSFT; Najarian is long MS; Najarian is long YHOO bonds; Najarian is long WFC calls; Najarian is long ETFC; Najarian is long PEP; Najarian is long A; Najarian is long AKAM; Terranova is long VRTS; Terranova is long LQD; Terranova is long MUB; Terranova is long FCX; Terranova is long TBT; Terranova is long OXY; Terranova is long HOS; Terranova is long F; Terranova is long LULU; Terranova is long OIH; Terranova is long CAT; Terranova is long AXP; Terranova is long EMC; Terranova is long WFC; Terranova is long AAPL; Terranova is long IBM; Terranova is long Silver December $40 puts; Finerman owns AAPL; Finerman owns GOOG; Finerman owns JPM; Finerman owns MSFT; Kelly is long cooper; Kelly is short treasury bonds; Kelly is long IBM; Kelly is long KRE; Doolittle is long FAZ; Doolittle is long GLL; Doolittle is long SDS; Doolittle is long SSO; Doolittle is long TYP; Doolittle is long TZA; Doolittle is long ZSL; Gartman is short S&P 500 futures; Gartman is short euro; Gartman is long corn; Gartman is long wheat; Gartman is long British Pound
For Karen Finerman
Finerman’s firm owns short calls AAPL
Finerman’s firm owns JPM stock leaps & short calls
Finerman’s firm owns MSFT
Finerman’s firm owns YHOO
For Mark Mahaney
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates beneficially owns 1% or more of any class of common equity securities of eBay Inc, Netflix Inc, Yahoo! Inc. This position reflects information available as of the prior business day.
Within the past 12 months, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates has acted as manager or co-manager of an offering of securities of eBay Inc, Google Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates has received compensation for investment banking services provided within the past 12 months from eBay Inc, Google Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or its affiliates expects to receive or intends to seek, within the next three months, compensation for investment banking services from Yahoo! Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or an affiliate received compensation for products and services other than investment banking services from Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Google Inc, Priceline.Com Inc, Yahoo! Inc in the past 12 months.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following as investment banking client(s): eBay Inc, Google Inc, Yahoo! Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following as clients, and the services provided were non-investment-banking, securities-related: Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Google Inc, Priceline.Com Inc, Yahoo! Inc.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following as clients, and the services provided were non-investment-banking, non-securities-related: Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Google Inc, Priceline.Com Inc, Yahoo! Inc.
For Gerard Cassidy
A member company of RBC Capital Markets or one of its affiliates managed or co-managed a public offering of securities for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the past 12 months.
A member company of RBC Capital Markets or one of its affiliates managed or co-managed a public offering of securities for Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in the past 12 months.
A member company of RBC Capital Markets or one of its affiliates received compensation for investment banking services from Citigroup Inc. in the past 12 months.
A member company of RBC Capital Markets or one of its affiliates received compensation for investment banking services from Morgan Stanley in the past 12 months.
For Alexandra Lebenthal
No disclosures
CNBC.com with wires. | 2011-10-12T00:00:00 |
117 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/100397731 | AKAM | Akamai | Akamai Eyes New Second-Screen Technology: Report | The future blending of TV and computing is getting more interesting all the time.
According to a report from KurzweilAI.net, researchers at Akamai are busy working on a new technology that will automatically know what you're watching on TV and then stream secondary content to your smartphone or tablet.
Akamai is considered a Web optimization company. Its online servers handle as much as 30 percent of all Web traffic — including some of the most popular destinations on the Web.
The company says the idea is simple. It wants to create a standard for today's TV/Internet technology that lets users get scores and other facts on a small screen while watching a sporting event on the big screen or, for instance, police statistics and news reports while they're watching a crime show.
At the moment, second screen information is handled by separate apps for each TV broadcaster. Akamai's new system would negate the need for multiple apps.
Ratings company Nielsen says 40 percent of Americans are also using their smartphones/tablets/computers at the same time they're watching TV. Akamai thinks that it will be able to create a way to keep everything flowing faster and even more seamlessly than today's current methods.
Experts believe that the market for second-screen content could increase more than tenfold in the next three to four years. | 2013-01-22T00:00:00 |
118 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/28/after-hours-buzz-yelp-akamai-panera-more.html | AKAM | Akamai | After-hours buzz: Yelp, Akamai, Panera & more | A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Biotechnology provider Gilead Sciences blew past earnings projections with adjusted earnings of $3.15 a share, 44 cents above estimates, on revenue of $8.24 billion, which was also above estimates. The stock rose about 3 percent after hours.
Yelp , the online business review site, plunged about 15 percent after it reported a surprise second-quarter loss of a 2 cents a share, versus expectations of profit of a penny a share. The company reported second-quarter revenue of $134 million, slightly above projections, but third-quarter sales guidance was light. The company also said its chairman Max Levchin would step down from the board to pursue other interests.
Citrix shares rose 4 percent after the maker of office connectivity software earned an adjusted $1 per share on $797 million in sales for the second quarter. That topped expected earnings of 82 cents per share on $790 million in revenue. Citrix also said its CEO, Mark Templeton, would retire. Templeton, who joined the company in 1995, before it went public, will stay with the firm until it finds a replacement.
Social media firm Twitter saw its shares jump more than 4 percent after it beat on the top and bottom lines. The stock turned negative after the company provided bearish guidance during its earnings call. It was last down about 7 percent.
Buffalo Wild Wings, which specializes in New York-style chicken wings, missed profit and sales estimates. However, the stock popped 7 percent as same-store sales increased 4.2 percent at company-owned restaurants and 2.5 percent at franchised restaurants.
Panera Bread missed earnings and sales forecasts, but the restaurant operator's shares increased about 7 percent as same-store sales at company-owned locations grew 2.4 percent, on par with estimates. In addition, Panera said comparable-store sales at systemwide locations rose 1.8 percent, versus expectations of 2.2 percent.
Cloud computing firm Akamai Technologies tanked about 10 percent on disappointing earnings and guidance.
| 2015-07-28T00:00:00 |
119 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/03/heres-a-list-of-strong-buy-rated-stocks-with-above-average-yields-for-the-second-half.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | Here's a list of strong-buy rated stocks with above-average yields for the second half | (This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.) Healthy stocks with high dividends could be a good place to find returns in the second half of 2020, a period investors say will have more twists and turns as uncertainty reigns about the future of the economy. Investors are balancing a skew of improving economic data and a resurgence in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and abroad. Investors and economists are throwing darts at a moving target, with outcomes hinging on vaccine results, a second virus wave and a presidential election. Amid the volatility and uncertainty a handful of healthy stocks with generous dividends could be way to receive yield in a world of disappearing income. CNBC PRO used the S & P Capital IQ system to screen for stocks rated "strong buy," that also have a dividend yield higher than the market's 1.9% average yield. A strong buy means "total return is expected to outperform the total return of a relevant benchmark, by a wide margin over the coming 12 months, with shares rising in price on an absolute basis," according to S & P Capital IQ. So not only are these stocks paying a high and stable dividend, they are also poised to beat the market in S & P's view. Take a look at the list here. The list is well-represented with defensive stocks. Consumers have shown they will buy staple goods like toothpaste and laundry detergent, even in tougher economic times. Coca-Cola , Pepsico , Conagra Brands and Tyson Foods are relatively insulated from the coronavirus weakness, as consumers stock up on food and avoiding physical restaurant. Plus, these stocks play a generous dividend. Coca-Cola has a 3.76% dividend yield and Pepsico has a 3.17% dividend yield. Conagra Brands has a 2.6% dividend yield and Tyson Foods has a 2.88% dividend yield. Similarly, health care stocks like CVS Health and Merck & Co . are safer in terms of the global pandemic. CVS Health has a dividend yield of 3.15% and Merck & Co. has a dividend of 3.25%. Real estate and home improvement stocks make up a portion of the list. Prologis , which owns warehouses, and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which owns medical laboratories among other assets, could benefit from the coronavirus crisis as companies need more space for storage and health research. Home Depot could benefit from people refinancing their mortgages in this low interest rate environment and putting the money back into their homes. Many analysts on Wall Street say the de-urbanization caused from the pandemic will be good for home improvement stocks like Home Depot. The company also pays a 2.49% dividend yield. Aerospace and defense companies Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics also offer bountiful payments to shareholders with a dividend yield of 2.55% and 3.37%, respectively. Broadcom pays a generous 4.23% dividend. CNBC Pro's list is also well-represented with energy companies like Cabot Oil & Gas , Exelon , PPL and Sempra Energy .
The Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City, New York. Eugene Gologursky | Getty Images | 2020-07-03T00:00:00 |
120 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/06/billionaire-sam-zell-ocasio-cortez-wealth-redistribution-wont-work.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | Billionaire Sam Zell: Ocasio-Cortez-style wealth redistribution won't work — Americans don't want handouts | Sam Zell, a billionaire businessman and philanthropist, believes the wealth redistribution ideas of far-left Democrats, such as freshman firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, won't work because Americans would rather earn success than get handouts.
"Everyone in America wants to be rich. Everybody in America wants to succeed," Zell told CNBC on Wednesday. "That's, by the way, what made America great, because everyone wants to move forward. Everybody wants to contribute. Everybody wants a piece of the pie, rather than wants it given to them."
Looking to narrow the wealth gap in the United States, Ocasio-Cortez — and several candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — are in favor of taxing the rich more to help pay for services for the greater society.
"Redistributive policy leads to inequality. It's just the opposite of what you think," said Zell, who contended that wealth redistribution during the eight years of former President Barack Obama's administration held the economy back.
An investor who does business all over the globe, Zell said in a "Squawk Box" interview Wednesday that wealth disparities exist everywhere. But he believes the U.S. is one of the world's most equal economies.
Zell also bases his worldview on what he learned growing up as of the son of Jewish immigrants who landed in America after fleeing Poland right before the Nazis invaded. He went on to amass a net worth of more than $5 billion. He has said in the past that he's neither Republican nor Democrat, indicating that he tends to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
As a boy in Chicago, Zell recalled asking his father, a jewelry wholesaler and real estate investor, why the poor who outnumber the rich don't just vote them out of office. He said his father told him, "Everybody in America doesn't want to do anything that would, 'screw up his chance,' to make the next move forward."
Zell was always entrepreneurial.
While in college and law school, he built an apartment management business. He also bought and rehabbed properties. Shortly after spending only four days as a lawyer, he founded in 1968 what would become Equity Group Investments, an investment firm that started in real estate but has since branched out into energy, communications, logistics, manufacturing, transportation and health care. He's also co-founder and chairman of Equity Residential , Equity Lifestyle and Equity Commonwealth , three publicly traded real estate investment trusts, or REITs.
While he's been generally supportive of the way President Donald Trump has run the economy, Zell said he was disappointed that fellow billionaire Mike Bloomberg decided not to run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Bloomberg, who served most of his first two terms as New York City mayor as a Republican and the third as an independent, switched his party affiliation to Democrat in October.
Zell called Bloomberg a "wonderful asset of our country" and the kind of centrist needed to squelch the political divisiveness in the nation.
Zell was in pretty good company yearning for a Bloomberg run. Last month, when the former mayor was still thinking about it, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett told CNBC he would support Bloomberg if he were to run for president. The billionaire Buffett said at the time, "I think he would be a very good president."
On Tuesday, Bloomberg said he decided not to enter the race. | 2019-03-06T00:00:00 |
121 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/48862433 | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | REITs Still Offer Shelter from the Storm | Favorable industry fundamentals, strong balance sheets and a stabilizing US economyhave combined to make real estate an attractive asset for investors, whose portfolios should continue to benefit for some time.
Publicly traded U.S. REITS, fully known as real estate investment trusts, — with combined market capitalization of more than $500 billion — have outperformed the broader stock-market, although investors would be wise to choose holdings based on sectors, geographic markets and company quality.
The FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index also outperformed the S&P 500 over the past three years, with nearly 28 percent in average annual returns, compared with roughly 14 percent for the S&P 500, as of July 31. Annual returns over five years averaged some 4.5 percent for the REIT index, versus 1 percent for the S&P 500.
Low interest rates, rising rents, strengthening demand and limited property supply bode well for REITs, which appeal to investors as relatively safe havens that represent real assets and provide solid dividend income. REITs typically invest in apartments, office buildings, hotels or other property types.
“We like the growth and income story that REITs offer investors,” Philip J. Martin, Morningstar’s director of REIT research and strategy, said. Morningstar, though, believes REITs are trading at a 10-percent to 15-percent premium to fair value, with multifamily housing companies at a 20- percent to 25-percent premium, healthcare REITs at fair value and other segments somewhere in between.
“We’re being very selective in terms of business model, in terms of portfolio, in terms of location,” Martin said.
Improving Fundamentals
Balance sheet strength and dividend growth potential will be differentiating factors for REITs, which need to show they can weather economic uncertainty and dislocation and increase their dividends to outpace rising interest rates and inflation, he said.
Steve Shigekawa, Neuberger Berman managing director and real estate fund co-portfolio manager, said his firm’s outlook for investing in REITs remains favorable primarily because of improving fundamentals.
The firm believes REITs diversify holdings and enhance returns in investor portfolios, giving shareholders exposure to real estate.
In addition, REIT dividend yields are attractively valued now compared with fixed-income alternatives, such as U.S. Treasurys, one factor that may be driving stock performance, Shigekawa said. In 2010, REITs provided investors with $18 billion in dividends, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
While macroeconomic and political uncertainty persist near term, “our long-term view is positive,” Shigekawa said, adding that REITs with strong balance sheets should weather market downturns.
It’s relatively easy to play the economic cyclewith REITs, Morningstar’s Martin said, noting that investors in a defensive mode can lean to less cyclical sectors like healthcare REITs and shift into office, industrial or lodging as the economy improves.
Neuberger’s Shigekawa noted that economic growth and job creation are growing, albeit modestly, which appears to be driving demand for commercial real estate, including office buildings, apartments and industrial assets. Demand for commercial real estate versus the supply coming online is favorable for landlords, he said, explaining that supply across property types remains near historic lows. | 2012-09-05T00:00:00 |
122 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/these-dividend-stocks-could-be-a-way-to-play-defense-during-these-volatile-times.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | These dividend stocks could be a way to play defense during volatile times | As stocks plummet and bond yields sink to record lows, investors seeking relatively safer returns might look to some low-volatility stocks that pay a generous dividend. The major stocks average sold off Monday on fears that the deadly coronavirus will dent global growth. Investors were specifically spooked by the spike in cases outside of China. At session lows, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,000 points, and the S & P 500 went negative for the year. Markets were struggling to rally on Tuesday, but many investors have their doubts the volatility will end here. CNBC used FactSet to screen for stocks with a dividend yield greater than 2% that also have a beta less than 0.9, meaning they are relatively stable stocks that pay an above-average dividend. To narrow the list even more, all of the stocks have more than 60% buy ratings from Wall Street analysts, with an average 12-month price target that forecasts the stock will go up from here. Utilities are the most represented industry on the screened list, surfacing names like NRG Energy , Exelon , Ameren and NiSource . Utilities are generally more stable stocks, as demand for electricity and gas is a steady consumer and business need, even during economic downturns. NRG Energy pays a 3% dividend yield and Exelon pays a 3.1% dividend yield. Ameren and NiSource pay a 2.3% and 2.8% dividend yield, respectively. In addition to being defensive stocks, these stocks have low volatility. Electric services company Ameren has a beta of 0.2, meaning that on a trading day when the S & P 500 might be down 1%, Ameren would only be down 0.2%. The same applies to the upside. Fast-food chain McDonald's and big box retailer Target could also be good stocks to hide out in until the coronavirus fears settle down. McDonald's pays a 2.3% dividend and has a beta of 0.2 and Target has a beta of 0.7 and pays a dividend of 2.3%. In comparison, the yield on the 10-year Treasury is about 1.37%, its lowest level since 2016. Health-care giant Merck & Co . also made the list with a 3% dividend yield and 0.3 beta. Tyson Foods pays a 2.2% dividend and has a 0.5 beta. REIT Alexandria Real Estate Equities could be another good defensive pay with a 0.5 beta and a healthy 2.5% dividend yield, as long as real estate doesn't get hit significantly in a downturn. Amid the market sell-off on Monday, the real estate sector outperformed, bolstered by the low interest rate environment. When yields drop, mortgage rates also go down and more people refinance their mortgages. Alexandria Real Estate Equities fell less than 1%, while the S & P 500 fell 3.35% on Monday. To be sure, because these companies have a low beta they will likely underperform the market if averages bounce back. However, if these tough times continue, these shares are likely to hold up better than the market and pay a decent yield along the way. Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.
A shopper is seen in a Target store in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Brendan McDermid | Reuters | 2020-02-25T00:00:00 |
123 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/30/here-are-wall-streets-favorite-dividend-stocks-right-now.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | Here are Wall Street's favorite dividend stocks right now | (This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.) As the fast-spreading coronavirus causes unprecedented disruption to society and wreaks havoc on the financial markets, investors need to find steady income somewhere. The stock market has tumbled and the economy is facing a deep recession from the shutdown of U.S. businesses during the COVID-19 quarantine. On Wednesday the Commerce Department reported the first U.S. GDP growth decline since 2014 and the pain is expected to continue. Certain stocks with high dividends could be way to receive yield in a world of disappearing income and market volatility. Dividend stocks have traditionally been coveted by investors because they provide guaranteed returns to shareholders, typically paid out annually out of the company's profits. CNBC used FactSet to find Wall Street's most loved dividend-paying stocks. CNBC sorted through all the S & P 500 stocks and found those with the highest percentage of buy ratings and a healthy dividend. The list features stocks which all have a dividend yield higher than the market's current 2% dividend yield. Take a look at Wall Street's favorite dividend stocks here. To be sure, any dividend could be at risk in this tough economic environment. But even for accounting for that risk, Wall Street analysts love these stocks and believe the price will appreciate as well. Energy stocks are well-represented on the list. Many stocks in the energy sector are known to pay generous dividends historically. Certain energy behemoths are resorting to cuts in capital spending and raising additional funds, just to keep their dividend promises. Energy stocks have been beaten down recently from oil's historic drop due to an evaporation of demand for the commodity during the coronavirus pandemic. Phillips 66 , Diamondback Energy , NRG Energy, FirstEnergy Corp , Marathon Petroleum , Pioneer Natural Resources , Valero Energy , Baker Hughes and Chevron all make CNBC's list. Utility AES Corporation not only has a bountiful 4.3% dividend yield, but Wall Street got bullish on the company during the pandemic. AES has been upgraded by about two thirds of its analysts in the past 30 days, as the U.S. economy has been forced to shut down. Real estate stocks also make up a portion of CNBC's list. Prologis , which owns warehouses across the U.S., and Alexandria Real Estate Equities , which owns medical laboratories among other assets, could be benefiting from the coronavirus crisis as companies need more space for storage and health research. Prologis has a 2.5% dividend yield and Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a 2.7% dividend yield. Consumer staples Mondelez International and Tyson Foods are also on the list of Wall Street's favorite dividend paying stocks. The defensive stocks are getting a boost from the millions of consumers stocking up on food items during the stay-at-home orders. The oreo-maker has a dividend yield of 2.2% and the meat producer has a dividend yield of 2.8%. BlackRock and Synchrony Financial also make CNBC's list. The world's largest money manager has a 2.9% dividend yield and the financial company has a generous 5% dividend yield.
A BlackRock signage is displayed on a monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images | 2020-04-30T00:00:00 |
124 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/01/steve-varsano-sells-airborne-opulence-to-the-upper-upper-upper-class.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | Selling airborne opulence to the upper-upper-upper class | "Trump Force One," a quarter-century-old Boeing 757, might not be the largest, or the fastest, or the most expensive private aircraft in the world, but it holds the undeniable virtue of being the most famous. With a pair of powerfully inefficient Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofan engines, the plane was flown by discount airlines after its completion in 1991 (the first in Denmark, the second in Mexico) before it was sold in 1995 to Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder. Allen is said to have selected this particular plane from his personal fleet to ferry about his N.F.L. team, the Seattle Seahawks. In 2011, Donald J. Trump reportedly paid $100 million for the plane and in short order erased whatever traces of Seahawk might have remained: The plane's face-lift included the installation of a silken master bedroom, as well as 24-karat-gold plating on the bathroom fixtures and seat belts. The plane's opulence — its seats embroidered with what the reality-TV star claimed was the Trump family crest — and its billionaire pedigree recalled a venerable tradition of elite mobility, whereby warrior-aristocrats would commission costly ships not just for splendid seafaring and maritime conflict but for exchange among themselves, as gifts befitting their shared station. These practices endured for millenniums, from Pharaonic barges and Chinese imperial dragon boats to medieval Viking galleys (as, in the 10th century, when King Harald Fairhair of Norway presented to King Aethelstan of the West Saxons and the Mercians a purple-sailed vessel with a bow of gold) and British royal yachts, which Queen Victoria lent liberally to friends like the Empress of Austria. More from The New York Times:
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Facebook aims to soothe Wall Street over news feed changes The early custodians of the American experiment, with egalitarian ideals and no real use for fancy boats, moved from here to there with relative humility. In 1787, when Thomas Jefferson set out from Paris for a three-month, 1,200-mile visit to American interests in Mediterranean seaports, he took no servants and paid personally to refresh the carriage horses. It was only with the arrival of the train that Americans developed a taste for class-differentiated transit. Perhaps the first private celebrity rail car was built by P.T. Barnum as a touring parlor for the "Swedish nightingale," Jenny Lind, and soon these were de rigueur among robber barons like Leland Stanford, George Gould and Charles Schwab. William H. Vanderbilt, during the decade-long tenure he enjoyed as the richest man in America, ordered what The Chicago Daily Tribune identified in 1882 as "the most expensive private vehicle in the world." The Vanderbilt featured a "grand saloon" with lavish exterior panels of train depots and suspension bridges rendered in oil, but its owner emphasized not the trappings but the performance: "Mr. Vanderbilt has inherited his father's fondness for fast traveling, and, in a lesser degree, the old Commodore's partiality for what is known in railroad-parlance as 'going special' — which is traveling with a special engine, on special time and without regard to the trains and traffic of the road." Yet even after these industrial and financial titans had begun to avail themselves of such perquisites, our heads of state maintained lingering reservations about priority treatment. In late 1863, the government appropriated funds to outfit President Lincoln with a custom rail coach. Later accounts would inflate the car's extravagance, but according to the assistant master car builder in Alexandria, Va., "Anyone who knew the habits of Mr. Lincoln would scout the idea of his designing an armored car of such luxurious appointments for his own use in going to the front."
The Great Emancipator rode in it but once, when the somber whistle-stop tour of the "Lincoln Special" returned his earthly remains to Springfield. It was not until 1942, after aides persuaded President Roosevelt that safety concerns necessitated a special-purpose vehicle, that American commanders in chief took their passage in executive style, in a V.I.P.-retrofitted version of the Pullman Company's Ferdinand Magellan. In January 1943, the train delivered Roosevelt under cover of night to Miami. He was taken in three legs across the Atlantic on a Boeing 314, the Dixie Clipper, to meet Churchill and De Gaulle in Casablanca. It was the first time a sitting U.S. president had flown. And now our current president has brought the spirit of the private plane — the great symbol of extreme excess in isolated and theoretically productive comfort — to American public life. As a candidate, he held rallies in hangars so that his supporters might witness the grandiosity of his roaring descent from the sky. Once in office, Trump appointed the most disproportionately enplaned administration in history: According to Forbes, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has a Dassault Falcon; Linda McMahon, the Small Business Administration administrator, has a Bombardier Global; Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her family maintain a fleet of 12 private jets, including a Boeing and six Gulfstreams, as well as four helicopters; Gary Cohn, the chairman of the National Economic Council, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross each retain private-jet shares in a fractional-ownership arrangement. The fact that the administration backed a tax-reform plan that enshrines an exemption for private-jet owners has only confirmed for its critics their sense that Trump's party cares inordinately for the well-being of the 1 percent. This is not the case; this solicitousness is rather more accurately geared toward the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the 1 percent. There are only around 22,000 private jets in use worldwide, and even a majority of these are simple minivan-size craft and other puddle-jumpers, commonly flown by hobbyist pilots; they would strike most observers as less luxurious than alarming. The number of truly elite planes is just 7,000, give or take, in the divisions that the industry calls "super midsize," "large-cabin" and "heavy" or "bizliner." Often they are technically owned by governments, large corporations and offshore shell companies, though irrespective of paper tenancy almost all of them are ultimately operated for, and exchanged among, a globalized confraternity of individual potentates: a commingled class of plutocrats, kleptocrats, oligarchs, financiers, technologists, real-estate and natural-resource barons and blue-chip celebrities. Imagine, if you will, in the unbreathably thin, cloudless, low-pressure air high above your head, our modern royalty aloft on their way to Davos, making enviable time. Like most people who make their living in private aviation, Steve Varsano — owner of the Jet Business, whose extravagant retail space in London is the world's only walk-in storefront jet dealership — sees Trump's election as a harbinger of great things for his industry. The early 2000s were boom times for aviation, and the crash of 2008, after years of ramped-up production, hit the industry hard, not just economically but politically. Barack Obama, Varsano believed, created an environment hostile to private aviation: The president humiliated the near-bankrupt auto manufacturers after they arrived in Washington hat in hand on their corporate jets, and in a 2011 news conference about the economy, Obama mentioned corporate jets six times. After Trump's inauguration, when Varsano and I first spoke, he was once again sanguine about the sector's prospects. He got so many phone calls after Nov. 8, 2016, he said, that he started looking for a new retail space twice the size. "The guy is changing the optics of private aviation," he told me in March. "He's the mascot of private jets."
Varsano, who says he has sold or helped to sell almost 300 aircraft over the course of his career, is a large, fit, exceptionally good looking and effortlessly agreeable self-made man of 61. He has an imposing head crowned with slicked-back pewter hair, piercing eyes of an Aegean blue, an imperial nose and the resplendent smile of a beloved crooner on a Caesars Palace pension. He wears suits made by the Ghanaian-British Savile Row designer Ozwald Boateng over worn Italian loafers, and carries a weathered gray Louis Vuitton briefcase with a heavy metal clasp. His business card is milled from galvanized metal. By his estimate, the total value of sales he has brokered exceeds $4 billion. Although Varsano shares the migratory patterns of his clients, and it is not unusual for him to fly from London to New York or Dubai for lunch, he thinks his most effective work is done in a stationary environment. His groundbreaking storefront concept rested on a simple premise, which might be called, in contrast to the "foot traffic" that animates most retail, Bentley traffic. The scene: A jaded "principal," as the industry refers to owners or potential owners, seated languidly in the rear of a Mulsanne, catches the apparition of a full-scale airplane fuselage glowing in a plate-glass window, removes his Cartier sunglasses and petitions his driver to loop back around. On arrival, these principals are typically received at a back door, asked for a business card and then stalled by reception just long enough — usually no more than 90 seconds — for Varsano to locate the V.I.P. in his proprietary worldwide database of owners, then press a button that splashes the store's enormous display wall with an image of the visitor's current plane. The gambit has worked: In the four years his first location was open, Varsano hosted, by his count, precisely 117 billionaires. (Varsano's business requires great discretion, and he allowed me to hang around the showroom on the condition I not name names.) Varsano's client database is a directory not merely of internationally mobile wealth but of the airborne truth of contemporary sovereignty: contrails of power with only a glancing relationship to the nation-states below. Our civilian acquaintance with these networks is limited to the shadows they cast on the ground, in the form of private airports, and the bureaucratic residue they leave behind as the Panama or Paradise Papers. Varsano is the rare figure able to hold in his head an image of the entire vast but tiny complex as flesh and bone suspended, at cruising altitude, in hollow metal tubes. There aren't many places on Earth with a large enough community of transient billionaires to support such immoderately high-end retail, but central London is one of them. After much thought about his new location, Varsano decided that the best chance of catching his customers on their brief earthbound dalliances was from a space on Park Lane, which runs along Hyde Park's eastern perimeter. Varsano declined to divulge the rent, but comparable real estate listings suggest a price of about three-quarters of a million dollars a year. The store's interior has been furnished as a gallery of sumptuous surfaces: panels of midnight blue velvet offset with enormous beveled mirrors; columns and floors in a storm-cloud-patterned marble; rectilinear sconces of a translucent black-veined marble; timbering of dark lacquered walnut and mahogany; side tables set with purple succulents in glimmering copper spheres and moon-white orchids. To the rear is a clubroom, supervised by a large photograph of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin on an aircraft's staircase — Varsano sold Sinatra a Learjet in the early 1980s, though his honor obligated him to tell me it wasn't the one in the picture — and Varsano's personal office, swathed in gray crocodile skin, where he sits, behind an armored door, at a desk once owned by Margaret Thatcher. The front window acts as a behemoth aquarium for Varsano's pièce de résistance: the bulk of the fuselage of an actual Airbus A319. The segment of plane in Varsano's window, were it a JetBlue workhorse, would represent perhaps 20 rows of plastic trays and passenger elbows. The Jet Business mock-up has the capacity for one passenger of roomy ambition, along with a small entourage. Varsano encourages his clients to appoint an airplane interior as if it were a second home, and in that spirit he directed a tony design firm to decorate his floor model to the last degree of his own preference, a nostalgic homage to aggressive 1980s overkill: suede linings; black mink throws on couches and captain's chairs of cream leather; hardwood and chrome; a heavy wooden artisanal backgammon board; chandeliers of droopy rectangular mirrors. Bottles of Royal Dragon Superior Vodka are set into the cupholders, and the bars are stocked with Dom Pérignon. Behind a fixed bulkhead where the fore galley would be, fitted lengthwise into the cross-section, is a corporate-raider-inflected "boardroom." At an industry trade fair in Geneva last May, I overheard an industry analyst explain Varsano's storefront to a Russian lawyer: "It's like you go to his shop to buy an airplane the way you might buy a dress or a car." The booths at the fair seemed to make this comparison plausible; while some of them offered pragmatic aviation solutions (soundproofing, flameproofing, protecting your cockpit from laser attack), there were also great billowing capes of sample leather upholsteries called Monarch and Noble and Duchess, and honeycomb composites made to resemble the fine grain of any protected wood, and vendors that offered bespoke seat-perforation patterns. Varsano, however, finds the analogy flippant. In a 2013 interview, shortly after his shop opened, Varsano told the BBC: "The view that it's all about flying off on a skiing trip with Champagne and girls is just so untrue." For Varsano, an aircraft is a practical necessity — a "business tool" or a "time machine." "Good usage of a private aircraft is about 400 hours a year," he told me. "I did the math, and my calculation is that even 200 hours of use of a corporate jet adds 33 days to an executive's year. Now, you bring two or three other execs with him — do the math, and all of a sudden you've got a free C.E.O.! When the automobile companies came to appear in front of Congress and they got such a hard time for arriving on their corporate jets, they shouldn't have been so wimpish! They should have said, 'Yeah, we came in on a private jet, we have a million employees and we've got to fly back tonight at midnight to be in the office at 7 a.m. to save this company.' "
On a Saturday in October, two days before he was set to reopen, Varsano invited me to a late dinner with two of his friends at a restaurant in Berkeley Square that was reserved through 2018. After we finished dinner a little after 11, Varsano suggested we visit his office for a sort of soft opening. The showroom was arrayed in muted sky blues and overcast grays, and we took our places in deep-set swiveling club chairs oriented in a semicircle before 32 tiled wide-screen panels of vivid high-definition display. Overhead was a large elliptical inset of soft eggshell leather, gently branded with the company's geometric logo of intersecting flight paths, illuminated by a recessed orbit of dusky yellow. He picked up an infrared mouse and asked one of the two friends — a luminously preserved businessman who asked not to be named — to begin by telling him how much he'd be willing to spend, in theory, on a replacement of his seven-year-old plane. "Let's say 60 million," the businessman said. Varsano entered a price setting on the enormous screen's left sidebar. This number, it should be noted, represented only the price of the aircraft itself. For the larger planes, buyers often spend the same amount of money on personal customization as they do on the initial purchase. "What's the longest trip you do regularly?" "London to Los Angeles." Varsano set the range to 4,700 nautical miles. "How old a plane would you feel comfortable with?" "New." "Let's say two years," Varsano proposed. The businessman looked away from the screen and at Varsano. "O.K., one year." Varsano clicked the corresponding setting. "How many passengers?" "Fourteen." Varsano finalized the search, and the screen tiled itself into brochure-quality images of aircraft exteriors. "There are 13 suitable planes potentially on the market for you." By "on the market," he meant planes that were either actually advertised somewhere or were technically off-market but, as with anything, available at the right price. Varsano scanned over the images. "Should we include an A.C.J. or a B.B.J., or not one of those big ones?" About 20 years ago, in an attempt to capture a share of what was then an increasingly profitable private market, Boeing and Airbus developed imprints of their companies — Boeing Business Jets, or B.B.J., and Airbus Corporate Jets, or A.C.J. — that sell commercial airliners with V.I.P. configurations. These "bizliners" are much larger than a typical private jet, with space for multiple bedrooms and showers or thrones, and use more gas; they can cost from $90 million to $500 million, and as much as $13,000 an hour to run. Individuals, Varsano told me in Geneva, often avoid them because of what the industry calls "ramp presence": The size and bulbousness of a B.B.J. or an A.C.J. invite class resentment, and, worse, might remind onlookers of the easyJet they flew in on. A Gulfstream is regarded as a more prudent and tasteful choice. The G650, Gulfstream's flagship product, is currently the skyfaring object of greatest desire, and it is no exaggeration to call the $70 million aircraft the world's single greatest status commodity. Desire for them is so ardent in part because of their physical elegance — they have a phocine aspect, with a silkily sloping underbelly and large, widely spaced elliptical portholes, with an interior like a conch shell — and in part because they cut a more discreet profile. "Then we'll compare three possibilities: a bizliner, a Gulfstream G650 and a Global 6000" — the last of these a roughly comparable model from the Canadian firm Bombardier. "Let's look at the ranges," Varsano proposed, and the screen lit up with a world map, centered on London and overlaid with "maximum range perimeters" in red, blue and yellow, scrolling across the continents in chromatic sine waves. The ranges swept down from Los Angeles almost to São Paulo before coming back up to the east, to comfortably include Dubai, and then ultimately sweeping in a band between Beijing and Tokyo. The businessman nodded. "Now let's look at the differences in cross-section." Three overlapping fuselage outlines appeared on the screen, again in red, blue and yellow. "It's a 100 percent scale," Varsano said. "Get up and stand there." The businessman measured himself against the images and did not find the dimensions wanting. "O.K., sell me the B.B.J.," the businessman said, in a failed attempt to seem idly flirtatious. Varsano clicked again. "Here's the market data, all the B.B.J.s for sale around the world according to our database." The video wall exhibited a branded, proprietary table with the relevant real-time statistics — date of manufacture, delivery date, passenger allowance, range, expected price — for around 20 planes. The top line featured an aircraft that had only a thousand hours on it, which represented either about two and a half years of private use or perhaps a month and a half of commercial deployment. It was located in an Asian country for more than $70 million and had been on the market for almost a year. Varsano scrolled through images, drawn from his firm's database, of the actual interiors of the available planes, while subtly discouraging the businessman from his instinct to purchase one brand-new. This was in part because delivery of new planes can take a very long time and in part because there is no rational reason for anyone to purchase a new plane, and on some level the idea violates Varsano's respect for his product's engineering and durability.
"So, Steve," the businessman asked, with the merest hint of vulnerability, "what would you buy?" Varsano shrugged; he was used to the question. He also knew exactly what the businessman should buy — he could size that up within minutes — but was careful never to seem pushy. "I would buy the B.B.J. if I was taking long flights all the time and bringing along my kids and their nannies and whatever animals." He paused. "On the other hand, you can't fly directly to Aspen," because the runway is too short. "You'd have to fly to Rifle, and then drive 45 minutes. In London, you couldn't fly in and out of Northolt at maximum weight, but you'd be O.K. in Farnborough and Luton." "What about the Gulfstream?" "Well, you'd get to L.A. an hour faster, but you'll drive yourself crazy with the kids and the nannies and the animals." The businessman, who had both grown children and still-nannied children, said nothing. "But the thing is," Varsano continued, "you have to fly on one of these yourself — and that means chartering one and taking the whole family to L.A., not just taking an empty one to Milan alone. You won't have the real experience that way." "Well, I love the idea of a B.B.J., but I don't like the noise, the cabin volume." He paused again. The pretense that this was simply a fun half-drunken near-midnight exercise had been openly abandoned. "This is coming up. I have to do it sooner rather than later." Varsano wears special French cuffs with round cutouts to display a saucer-size watch; he glanced down and saw that it was nearly midnight. He stood up and asked us to take our places on the dimly moonlit sidewalk outside. We watched as he ceremonially lifted the shades for the first time, revealing the pristine fuselage bathed in pools of aquamarine and royal blue. Tufts of cumulus, floodlit from below, had been painted on the ceiling above the plane. After just a few moments, Varsano closed the shades again, and the incandescent celestial blue disappeared once more into the reflected red and white flashes of terrestrial traffic. Underneath Varsano's burnished charm is the working-class New Jersey of his youth. At one point, he made T-shirts for his friends and prospective clients that said, "Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, stop apologizing for your success, buy a jet!" He is known for his honesty and diligence, as well as a certain slickness to his operation. On a shared panel at the Geneva fair, an industry journalist looked over at Varsano and said, "Steve is a guy, he goes to one wedding in India and he came back having sold eight jets." He bristles at the idea, however, that he is a good salesman who happens to sell airplanes. When the third-generation scion of a private-fleeted family told him he should diversify his wares, Varsano just shook his head. Planes are what he knows and has adored since childhood. "I don't want to be the guy opening up the trench coat" — he pantomimed a black-market peddler — "saying, I got watches in here, yachts over here, real estate here." More than one person told me that Varsano probably knew more billionaires personally than anyone alive. He admitted he had never quite gotten used to his current circumstances. Though he had been dealing jets on and off for almost 30 years, for a long time, he said, "I wasn't really part of this world. I just worked in it." Varsano was born in Manhattan but raised on the far side of the George Washington Bridge, in the working-class suburbs near Teterboro Airport. Teterboro now hosts the largest share of American private-jet traffic, but back then it was just another local airstrip. He was brought up by a single mother — his father left his family when Varsano was 5 — who always worked at least two jobs, as a waitress and in beauty salons, where Varsano swept the floor. When he was 14, a friend's older brother took him up in a four-seater Cessna. He would work for a month as a dishwasher to be able to afford an hour of flying lessons and got his pilot's license when he was 17. He went to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a prestigious flight academy in Daytona Beach that he calls "the Harvard of the sky." It was his first exposure to extreme international wealth, especially the variety that accrued to despots and their associates. "It was full of kids like the son of Idi Amin, who drove Ferraris around Daytona and would then go back to the military in their country. It was a real who's who." He first worked as an intern at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport, then moved to Washington in 1978 for an entry-level job as an aviation lobbyist. The association had a plane he could fly whenever he liked, as long as he paid for gas, but he was making only $13,000 a year. It was the age of disco, and his roommate ran the Apple Tree, "the hottest club in D.C. It was the place to go, a special elite place." He worked as a doorman to make gas money for the plane. One day a guy came into the Apple Tree with a Learjet on his tie pin. "These were the days people used to wear tie pins," Varsano explained to me. "When people used to wear ties." Varsano went up to him and discovered he worked for a jet brokerage. "I said, Screw this, I want a job there." The man got him an interview.
"I put on the best polyester suit I could find, and I go in there, and everybody's sitting around in T-shirts and jeans. They told me they never meet their customers. They do it all on the phone. I say, 'How do you sell a $5 million plane on the phone?' But that was just the way the business was done." They allowed him to work on a commission-only basis. At night he put in shifts as a waiter in McLean, Va., and by day he tried to sell planes. "At 4 p.m. I'm talking to a guy about a $4 million Learjet, and at 6 p.m. I'm getting yelled at to refill some guy's coffee. It was a humbling experience, and it kept me grounded. Seven or eight months later, I sold a Westwind II to one of the richest guys in Venezuela." (He claims that as they neared Miami during the delivery, the Venezuelan's associates pulled a gun and tried to kidnap him to Caracas, but he managed to escape.) In the 1980s, Varsano began to move in Washington's society circles; he hosted charity benefits, including one at the Old Post Office building, which is now Trump's Washington hotel, and dated socialite doyennes like Shari Theismann, the ex-wife of the Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann. He took a trip to England to pick up a plane for delivery and came back with a right-side-drive Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer; his vanity plate was "BUYAJET." He once drove it up the White House driveway to return Fawn Hall, Oliver North's secretary, to her car. In the spring of 1985, Varsano was named Bachelor of the Month by Cosmopolitan magazine. "At 29," the Washington journalist Rudy Maxa reported, in a follow-up about the thousands of scented letters Varsano received from Cosmo's readers, "he earns more than $100,000 a year traveling the world, selling private jets. With thick, dark hair, a strong chin and firm physique, he's an Italian stallion who dresses sharp, looks sharp and feels sharp." After Varsano sold a plane to the corporate raider Nelson Peltz in the mid-'80s, he went to work for him in the world of private equity, where he developed a halfhearted fondness for the Gekko manner. Varsano coordinated Peltz's purchase and overhaul of High Winds, DeWitt Wallace's estate in Bedford, N.Y.; Peltz infuriated the local community by flying his helicopter to Manhattan almost daily. (A representative for Peltz disputed Varsano's account of their relationship but declined to provide specifics.) When Varsano and a subsequent boss acquired some fast-food companies in the early 2000s, he found himself in charge of the developing-market expansion of the Long John Silver's brand. Each time he visited the offices of Russian oligarchs or Middle Eastern royals, he found they invariably displayed a model of their private planes. They loved the opportunity to talk about them with someone as knowledgeable as Varsano, and he realized that he had stumbled into an enormous opportunity.
More than one person told me that Varsano probably knew more billionaires personally than anyone alive.
Fifteen years ago, 85 percent of the private planes in the world were in the United States, but he could see that was changing. The deals he does today bear out this shift. He outlined one example: "Russian owner, Panamanian shell company, Swiss-registered airplane, selling to a Chinese corporation, with the inspection in Switzerland, lawyers in Germany and the U.K. and the escrow agent in the U.S." Varsano knows his relevant client base down to nearly the last person, and his aim is to maintain up-to-date records on every single one of the six or seven thousand jets that are large enough for the Jet Business to follow. Roughly a quarter of its business is with first-time buyers, but those leads tend to be so dicey that Varsano's staff dedicates most of its time and energy to plane-owning people and organizations. "If you've got a fast-food restaurant," Varsano told me, "it's easier to get the guy who comes in three times a month to come in four times a month than it is to get a new customer. So we try to check in with all the current owners at least every quarter." A research staff works on a trading floor behind convexities of smoked glass, at cockpit-like desks of kid-glove Bentley leather with three screens apiece. They begin with an industry-standard subscription database, but its information — serial number, registration information, sales history, whatever is known of the ownership and any publicly listed current prices — is almost always incomplete or unreliable, as the most sensitive data is concealed underneath layers of shell companies incorporated in places like Delaware, Panama or the British Virgin Islands. Beyond ferreting out the basic question of ownership, Varsano's researchers try to gather as much market information as they can. They'll see that a given plane is going out of warranty in a year or two, or is about to hit the end of a corporate depreciation schedule, or is due for the sort of routine but expensive engine check that regulators require, or they'll know a new model is due from the factory soon, and they'll ask if the owner has given any thought to a sale. Varsano is known to represent serious buyers, so if they call and say they've got a customer in the market for a G650 or a Falcon 900LX, his researchers are confident they'll get legitimate (if exaggerated) bid-ask spreads.
After a long afternoon with one of his researchers, I mentioned to Varsano that his constant emphasis on the utility of jets was at times hard to square with the tenor of a market that seems to rely so much on appurtenance and churn. Airplanes are so rigorously regulated in their maintenance that there's practically no difference, outside cockpit avionics and maintenance fees, between a 20-year-old Gulfstream GV and a freshly delivered G650 except that new-plane smell and about $50 million. Varsano had a prepared answer — about range and cabin pressure and what it's worth to a chief executive of a $10 billion company to land at his or her destination refreshed and ready to go — but on some level he's well aware that his business relies on covetousness and increasingly customized definitions of need. One of the peculiarities of inequality, as psychologists and social scientists have somewhat belatedly come to understand, is that it has a kind of fractal nature. The relationship of the middle class to the rich is replicated in the relationship between the merely rich and the extremely wealthy. Varsano's target class is so small that these dynamics, here between the extremely wealthy and the unimaginably so, are crystallized on the level of the individual. The owner of a $25 million plane feels morally judicious — even humble — insofar as he doesn't own a $70 million plane, while at the same time he admires that of his neighbor and hopes for an upgrade. The three or four hundred owners of the $70 million plane come to see it in short order not as a luxury but as a business and lifestyle requirement, and are in turn frustrated that the wireless signal isn't strong enough and that there just aren't enough landing slots in Hong Kong or hangar spaces for parking in Mumbai. Over the spring, Varsano had insisted that I really couldn't comprehend the appeal of these planes unless I flew with an owner myself. "You could read a book about swimming," he said, "but until I throw you into the pool, you're not going to swim." He offered to connect me to a customer who might grant me that privilege: his buddy Tony Robbins, motivational guru to the jet-possession set. Robbins flies 400 hours a year, including regular runs to London and Australia, and wherever he goes, he takes an entourage — usually a trainer, a bodyworker, two assistants, his wife and her Yorkie. One summer day, my phone rang from an unknown number, and Robbins's deep but sweetly croaking voice boomed on the line. A few years ago Robbins mentioned to his friend Steve Wynn that it was time for him to buy a plane, and Wynn told him that he was crazy to talk to anyone but Varsano — that he would never even think of buying a plane from anybody but Varsano. Varsano helped Robbins buy a Bombardier Global Express previously owned by Micky Arison, the chairman of Carnival cruises and the owner of the Miami Heat, who had recently decided to upgrade to a Gulfstream G650. Varsano literally had to walk across hot coals to close the deal. Robbins loved the plane. It felt like his second home — or, to be more precise, his seventh. Robbins told me he was flying to Vancouver that afternoon and said that I was welcome to fly with him in about 10 days' time from Vancouver to Las Vegas, with a stopover in Spokane to drop off his wife. His schedule, he explained, probably wouldn't coalesce until a few days before he set off — "Part of the value of having a private jet," he explained in a subsequent voice memo, "is that you don't have to make decisions until the last minute" — and he ultimately decided on a Friday that he'd be leaving for Vegas the following Tuesday morning. My overbooked flight to Seattle arrived late, but fortunately my overbooked connecting flight to Vancouver was also late. One of Robbins's assistants texted me the night before to ask if I had any dietary restrictions and to say that the plane was set to depart at 11:30 the next morning, so I should be at the Shell Aerocentre at Abbotsford, some 40 miles east of Vancouver, no later than 11:20.
When I arrived at the private terminal, I was supposed to look for a tail number that included, as many registrations do, the owner's initials. That task was made considerably easier by the fact that the plane — the size of a building and bone-white against the wildfire-smoked sky — was emblazoned with a modestly stylized "TR" monogram. It was also the only aircraft there, just sitting on the apron slightly askance, the way you might hurriedly park at midnight in an otherwise empty lot. The underbelly of the aircraft was painted a soft navy, with curved racing stripes of silver and gold. Robbins showed up with his wife and her parents, proceeded through a gate in the chain-link fence and strolled slowly to the plane's stairs. The pink-necktied captain came to relieve me of my bag, stuck a green Post-it on it upon which someone had scrawled "Vegas" and asked if it would be acceptable to place it in the rear cargo bay. He did that himself. Two maintenance men loaded the rest of the luggage from the tarmac into the hold, saving the garment bags and the golf clubs for last. With five minutes before takeoff, the captain came to usher me to the plane, where I was met by Robbins's aeronautic major-domo, Ariane, a tall, well-seasoned flight attendant in a gray business-suit uniform. The interior smelled faintly of eucalyptus. She took me to Robbins, who was sitting in what Varsano had told me was the V.I.P. chair, on the starboard side facing forward toward the galley and the pilots. After briefly introducing me to his wife, Robbins suggested we retire to the rear of the aircraft to introduce ourselves. At 6-foot-7, Robbins could not begin to stand fully upright in any non-bizliner plane, but the Global came close, and he had to reduce himself by only a head to make his way past the couch and the sideboard to the rear of the cabin. About a minute with Robbins is enough to convince anyone that his size is actually a practical matter of spatio-energetic prerequisite: Any smaller vessel would simply disintegrate at the slightest vent of his life force. This energy is indivisible into units of small talk, and if Robbins ever allows for a moment of conversational entropy — by looking away from your eyes for a split second — it's only out of politeness, to afford you the opportunity to regather your own wan, windblown vitality. He wore all black, a black exercise V-neck over black shorts, with a black baseball cap and black-and-red Nikes, in what could only have been a genuine if futile attempt to dim the charge of his fluorescence.
When you ask the bank to finance an aircraft, their rule of thumb is that your net worth has to be at least five times greater than the price of the plane. Steve Varsano owner of the Jet Business
Both the couch in the main cabin and the conference-room area in the rear had been opened out into their bed configurations, with fleecy comforters and pillowcases monogrammed with the plane's registration number. The beds and corridor were littered with multicolored balloons and confetti and conical party hats, and above the entrance to the rear of the cabin was affixed a sign that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY. The family had celebrated the birthdays that weekend of both his wife and one of his assistants, Mary, whom he called his "right arm," though as an adult human of regular size she seemed relatively petite in comparison to his actual right arm. While Robbins had been with his wife's family, Ariane had found the most well-stocked party store in northern Vancouver and had decorated the plane as a surprise. This effort had not gone unnoticed. "You went to north Vancouver to find a party store? You're so incredibly dedicated." He turned to me. "She makes it feel like home." Ariane began to back away. "Well, it is your home." "Ariane," Robbins continued, "is like family for us. She treats this place like it's a home — and it is a home away from home. You've got all your stuff on it, all your family on it." He'd been chartering planes since he was 31 or 32, and he was now 57. He had been an owner for only three years, but the difference had come to seem like one of the great disjunctures of his life. "It's a different quality of life, for sure. I can go from the West Coast to China nonstop, East Coast to Australia with one stop. I have a resort in Fiji, and obviously going there before was a difficult situation, but now it's easy. You can do everything on your own terms, on your own timeline, which is wonderful." The beds were out and made because the beds were always out and made in case somebody decided to sleep. Ariane came back and offered us a selection of newspapers and some scones. "The captain says the flight to Spokane will be 37 minutes and should be pretty smooth." He told me about his admiration of Varsano, then moved on to talk of Crispr, the Human Genome Project and machine learning, and Moore's Law — always stopping to make sure that I was there with him, that I was interested, that if I had something to contribute I should feel welcome, that we were "tossing the ball back and forth" — and how he wanted to make sure that there was enough investment in new biotechnologies that the rejuvenatory stem-cell therapy for which he'd paid a Panamanian clinic many tens of thousands of dollars would soon be cheap enough that everybody could benefit. He pointed at me as an example of someone who could benefit. Then he abruptly stood up and said that he wanted to spend a little time up front with his wife, but that we could resume such an interesting conversation on the leg to Vegas. As he moved to the front, he invited me to help myself to the breakfast buffet — hash browns, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, a vast array of fruit — that Ariane had set up on the sideboard. I looked at the panel behind the chair that Robbins vacated and saw that we had only 17 more minutes to arrival. I hadn't even noticed we'd taken off. We stopped in Spokane, dropped off his wife, went through private Customs and Border Protection and resumed our way to Vegas. Robbins invited me to the front and asked if I'd made sure my family would have a secure financial future. It was only the soft bing-bong chime that indicated our initial descent over the rumpled and barren landscape of southern Nevada that even remotely recalled the experience of commercial flight. Otherwise, the experience felt nothing at all like being on an airliner. In fact, it didn't quite feel like flying at all. It was more like sitting in a comfortable leather armchair in a pleasingly cool and well-appointed room that at some point incidentally rose above the clouds and stayed there for a little while. Many of the people I spoke to in Geneva talked about private aviation as a variety of peak experience — and such an inarticulable experience was, after all, why Varsano told me that I could never understand private aviation without an experiential component — but that wasn't quite right. It was if anything the opposite of a peak experience, distinguished not by anything explicitly euphoric or divine but by its total coruscating absence of everything that makes contemporary commercial air travel a pricking trial of alienation and diminishment.
Varsano had planned to open the heavy shades for good on a Monday morning in October at 8 a.m., and I arrived shortly beforehand to join him. I came up the stairs from the street into the reception area, and the security guard asked me twice if I had an appointment; I told Varsano that, although I was wearing a jacket, perhaps I ought to have ironed it first. "Well, the first thing I tell these security guys," Varsano said, "is if a guy comes in here with torn jeans and a T-shirt, that guy might be worth $5 billion! A guy comes in and looks like me" — he shot his cuffs and smoothed his waistcoat — "those guys are the working stiffs." Shortly after 8, Varsano pressed some buttons in an app on his phone to raise the shades, and the showroom's gray-and-blue interior flooded with rare London sun, mottled with umber from a hurricane bound for Ireland. Varsano's visitors tended in the past to show up whenever and however they felt like it, so Varsano was anxious that initial business would be slow. The storefront's start-up costs had been extremely high. He occasionally mentioned to people that for the capital he sank into the store, he could have his own plane. His first appointment came via text from a member of a minor, impoverished branch of the aristocracy of a Southern European country, a useful person for whom Varsano had some pity. Some websites identified him as a count, and his Instagram account featured grainy, oversaturated selfies with Ivanka Trump and Silvio Berlusconi. The count was with an American friend and wanted to broker an introduction; if the meeting resulted in the sale, Varsano would kick him a finder's fee. He was a member of an entire echelon that had been surprised to find that what they possessed was no longer real wealth, and they weren't sure how to accommodate an economy that had changed so rapidly beneath their ancient lineages. "These people," Varsano told me, "they don't even know how to make a living — all they know is they know people, they have incredible family connections, and that's how they survive. He's a professional introducer." Over the next three days of renewed operation, Varsano had at least three serious visitors a day, and nobody stayed for less than an hour. They were all men, though he did plan to bring a female billionaire friend to see it after a late dinner nearby. There was one guy who'd run a large private-equity firm and then went on to oversee the national fleet of a Persian Gulf country, which was interested in selling at least two G650s in the next year; he had come in an entourage of four and said, almost apologetically, that he'd been hearing such impressive things about Varsano's store for so long, and that he regretted his visit was so belated. There was another guy from a Central European management company who'd recently gotten a good deal on a very large commercial airliner in a V.I.P. configuration; he wanted Varsano to go in on a deal to gut-renovate the interior over the course of a year and then put it back on the market at a substantial markup. Varsano said the aircraft was likely to sell to a head of state, probably in Africa. Or, Varsano clarified, it would sell to the rich friend of a head of state, and then when they took the test run somehow the head of state would happen to be aboard for the ride. That was usually how it worked.
When you ask the bank to finance an aircraft, their rule of thumb is that your net worth has to be at least five times greater than the price of the plane. Steve Varsano owner of the Jet Business
At the end of a long day, he came and sat next to me on the trading floor. Almost all of his employees had gone home for the evening, and the room glowed its serene empyreal blue and white against the rush-hour traffic outside. "People think that all of this is just for the rich guys, but it's really for corporate middle management to run their businesses," he told me. "That accounts for 70 percent of all flights." It wasn't the first time he had mentioned the statistic in defense of plane ownership. It's the other 30 percent, though, that make his business possible. The only unkind thing I ever heard Varsano say about "the rich guys" had to do with the propensity, especially marked among the younger buyers, to back out of a deal that 10 people had spent months putting together just because they decided at the very last minute that they liked the cut of some other plane's jib. It was clear, though, that like many professionals who rely for their livelihood on capricious billionaire patronage, he felt some ambivalent mixture of scorn and admiration in equal measure. When populists fail to seethe at a tax bill favorable to the owners of jets, it's not simply because they should like to think that when at last they own their own jets they'll enjoy the same privileges; it's also because each side wants to protect its own billionaires and the crumbs they provide. After all, the seven billion of us are increasingly living on the largess of the 7,000 of them. Varsano was constantly being put into situations where despite his near-unparalleled expertise in aviation he was treated as an elevated TaskRabbit, called in on contract to kick the tires and hang the Picasso. These were constant blows to his hard-won professional esteem. Still, he had great faith in the resources of the extremely wealthy. "There are 230,000" — he said "thousand" with an astonished emphasis — "people in the world with a net worth, excluding their primary residence, of $30 million or more. In the luxury industry you call them ultrahigh-net-worth individuals. When you ask the bank to finance an aircraft, their rule of thumb is that your net worth has to be at least five times greater than the price of the plane. That means even if you're at the bottom of that list, there are at least 230,000 people who might buy a $6 million airplane — though maybe they'd stop at $4 million, because then you need a million bucks a year to fly it." No matter how hard his work or positive his outlook, Varsano knew he didn't stand a chance of paying the rent on his storefront selling $4 million planes. There's a strong downward pressure on commissions, which regardless of the purchase price of the aircraft usually top out at $1 million — a take of 1.4 percent on a $70 million plane. That world is just so vanishingly small, and there's so much information on the market, and the principals are so powerful, that somewhere there's invariably a small-time broker with a desk and a cellphone ready to elbow in for a fee that Varsano would consider an insult to his professional acumen. "There's always some guy out there willing to do a deal for $25,000," he complained. | 2018-02-01T00:00:00 |
125 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/25/full-transcript-billionaire-investor-warren-buffett-speaks-with-cnbcs-becky-quick-on-squawk-box-today.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | FULL TRANSCRIPT: BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR WARREN BUFFETT SPEAKS WITH CNBC'S BECKY QUICK ON "SQUAWK BOX" TODAY | WHEN: Today, Monday, February 25th
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box"
Following is the full unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Berkshire Hathaway Chairman & CEO Warren Buffett on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Monday, February 25th. Video from the interview is available on CNBC.com.
All references must be sourced the CNBC.
BECKY QUICK: All right. Yes. Let's bring in our special guest this morning. Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett joining us-- just after writing his annual letter to shareholders. And-- Warren, this is a big deal. It's something that the investment community-- kind of waits on and-- sees as a must-read because you spend so much time actually it yourself--
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, too much.
BECKY QUICK: When do you start writing the letter?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, this one I--started very earlier-- very early because I had one section in mind. It turned out to be the last section when I talk about the American tailwind. I probably wrote that in-- late summer. And-- then I work around different sections. But-- it-- takes a long time. I am not a first draft writer.
BECKY QUICK: Well, for people who have been reading this for a long time, this letter was markedly different than you've written for the past three decades or so. Because at the top, the opening of every letter-- in the past to this point has been-- Berkshire's percentage change in book value--
WARREN BUFFETT: Right.
BECKY QUICK: --as the measure that you thought was most important. This time, you kinda stripped it out and said, "It's not the most important metric anymore for a couple of reasons," one of which Berkshire has changed so markedly. But also-- you just think it's-- not gonna be the way that you'll be measuring things in the future.
WARREN BUFFETT: No, it's not-- the more relevant-- figure at least over time. Not in any one-year period. But basically it's market value. Because we have become overwhelmingly an operating company. And we hope to become even more so than-- a company that-- really have a lot of stocks and bonds. So-- I've-- actually talked about that in previous reports. I wouldn't have wanted to quit in a year where I got clobbered by the one I was dropping with adopting one that made me look good. So-- I actually included 'em both in. And it was a good year to-- make the transition. And-- you said it's different. It-- I've always had the image that I am talking to my sisters. I have two sisters. They're both-- Berkshire's pretty much their whole investment. They're smart. They're not active in business. So-- they're not reading about it every day. But I pretend they've been away for a year and I'm reporting to them on their investment. And then this year because we may be repurchasing shares, I tried to have the vision that they were talking to me about whether they should sell their shares and I was explaining to them exactly how I would look at it if I were in their shoes. So-- it's, "Dear Doris and Bertie," at the start and then I take that off at the end. But I'm talking to them. And I'm trying to talk to 'em in a manner where if-- you know, they're practically entirely in Berkshire and if they were thinking of selling some, here's what I'd want 'em to know before they made a decision.
BECKY QUICK: To do that, you used-- a new-- description for--coming up with it this time, which was the idea of having five groves. You being maybe a timber company and having five groves that Berkshire's really invested in. You broke down-- and looked at each of them on a case-by-case basis. One being the-- non-insurance businesses that Berkshire owns. Another being the equities-- bunch that you have. The final one's the insurance companies, but you also have treasuries and cash that you're holding. What am-- oh, and then businesses that you own part of, not all of—
WARREN BUFFETT: Right, jointly.
BECKY QUICK: --would be the five groves. That's pretty interesting. How'd you come up with the idea of just the groves? Because it is something that-- somebody who's not so steeped in business can get their head around pretty easily.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. Well, Berkshire, you know, has dozens, and dozens, and dozens of companies. And-- when analysts look at it, you know, they wanna go out and figure out, you know, how many boxes of Valentines we sold, you know, in our candy company. And you can get totally lost in terms of looking at the forest by trying to look at every tree. cause some of the trees are flourishing, some of 'em are decaying, and some of 'em are huge and important, and others are more or less twigs. So I thought I would group the assets in a way that was logical and where you could sorta figure out-- the valuation that you might attribute to that particular grove. And-- I think it's a lot better than trying to describe-- 80 or 90 businesses with three hundred and-- what? Close to 390,000 employees. I mean, we're in one of the businesses right now. And this is a very interesting business. But we've got Jordan's in Boston. We've got Star in Houston. We have RC Willey. And to go through every one and tell 'em about the latest store we opened and it's much better just to look at 'em in groups because they make sensible groups.
BECKY QUICK: To that point, this is the Ask Warren show, and we have gotten a lot of questions that have come from viewers, some from Berkshire shareholders, others from people who are just longtime watchers. I'd like to bring up a question that comes from-- Marcelo P. Lima . He-- writes in, and I think this comes from Twitter, "Mr. Buffett, in your letter you note that some of Berkshire's trees are diseased and unlikely to be around in a decade. Which ones do you have in mind, and how do we prevent healthy trees from joining them?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, well-- I did say that. And-- but I would not name the ones that have major problems just from a morale standpoint. With the we're gonna keep running 'em. And-- but they-- we have companies that are on the downswing as well as on the upswing. And-- it would be-- it just-- it would be very tough. And-- the ones that are, as I call it, diseased, they're a very, very, very small part of our earnings. You'd-- gain nothing analytically, and you'd have a hundred people go to work today feeling, you know, "Well, we might as well give up," or something of the sort. So I don't like to name 'em specifically, although you could probably figure some out by-- looking at our list of companies. There's-- some companies are just in the wrong industry. I mean, you know-- if you made-- you know, whatever it may-- well, even making televisions in this country, I mean, that was a hot industry, you know-- when I was young. And-- we don't do it anymore. We sell a lot of 'em here at our store, but-- so I would not like it if I were working at Company X and-- my boss had just got through saying, you know-- "You're in decay."
BECKY QUICK: You do name some of the big redwoods that you consider to be-- essential to the grove though. I--think you said that-- Berkshire Hathaway Energy and the railroad, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, are two of the biggest redwoods that stand in the groves.
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, they're big. They're big. And-- both set records for after-tax earnings last year. Combined, they earn-- right around $8 billion after tax. And $8 billion's a lot of money to us. That's a third of our operating earnings. We earn twenty-four-- a large fraction-- of operating earnings last year. $24 billion. And-- those two companies alone earned $8 billion. Now, Berkshire Hathaway Energy also has multiple companies. But the BNSF Railroad is just one big railroad.
BECKY QUICK: Let's talk about that operating profit number. It was $24.8 billion. But on a gap basis, what you're now focusing on, it was $4 billion. And that comes because of an accounting change that came into play this time around. It was $20.6 billion paper loss on your investment holdings that you now count back in from the huge amount of securities that you own and then also the $3 billion write-down on Kraft. You go out of your way to emphasize again that you don't think people should be looking at these gap earnings even though you're reporting them that way.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, we say the same-- well, that's the final gap earnings. The $24.8 billion also are gap earnings, but they're operating earnings. And-- I think they were-- we had outside tailwind on that. But-- they were 41% greater than any year we've ever had on operating-- earnings. But-- beyond that, we have this large portfolio of stocks and also the write-down on Kraft-Heinz. But mainly it was the portfolio of stocks. And-- we've made a lot of money over-- in stocks over time. But there's been years-- when we've lost money, too. And I-- tell the shareholders that-- that we expect-- to make money on stocks over time. We haven't got the faintest idea what years we'll-- be up or down. And then they changed the rule last year so that unrealized-- gains or losses are recognized through gap income. That had not been true-- for dozens and dozens and dozens of years before. So that changed our figures. But I-- that's why I explain-- that's why I tell Doris and Bertie what's happened in accounting during the year as well as the business.
BECKY QUICK: But you should point out this time it was a decline of more than $20 billion. There will be quarters where you'll see a huge upswing. And you don't think people should pay attention to the upswing either –
WARREN BUFFETT: No. Absolutely not.
BECKY QUICK: That these are just fluctuating numbers.
WARREN BUFFETT: No, no. They should pay attention to how we do over ten years in the stocks we own. But actually the way the rule works now, every minute it's recorded earnings, it's mark to market. And we're buying stocks that in some cases we will hold ten, twenty, maybe even longer years. And those companies are retaining earnings. They're reducing the number of shares. They've got a lot of things going for them. And I would, you know, I have bet a lot of money. We had $173 billion of equities at year end. And I love having those. And they will make us money over time. But I have no idea what they'll do in the next year or two.
BECKY QUICK: All right. Let's talk through a few other questions that have come in from viewers just regarding Berkshire while we're here. Eric LeFante wrote in and said, "Warren, how have you structured Greg Abel and Ajit Jain's compensation now that they oversee dozens of different businesses?" You did point out that you think the business is much better run now that those two are vice-chairmen, each running their own set of companies.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, our proxy will be out very soon. Shows what they received. I think unless there's some calendar quirk or something like, that they will have each received $18 million last year. And the base salary is a high percentage of that. And then a bonus is discretionary with me. But they're doing a fabulous job.
BECKY QUICK: Bonus is discretionary just based on—
WARREN BUFFETT: Based on how I wake up in the morning, yeah.
BECKY QUICK: On that same sort of—
WARREN BUFFETT: That may be the only one you'll read about like that in our proxies.
BECKY QUICK: There's another question that comes in regarding Greg and Ajit that says – this is from Rational Walk. A suggested question on Monday. "Given that Abel and Jain are not only responsible for running most businesses but also vice-chairmen, shouldn't they be up on stage along with Charlie at the annual meeting? Many of us would like to hear from them."
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, well, you will hear from them more in the sense that they will be up front with microphones ready to take on any questions that come. You know, it's not going to be that many years where the two of us are up on – and they will be up on the stage when we rearrange the format. And rearranging the format means rearranging me and Charlie to some degree. But it's logical for them. And I hope lots of questions get directed to them at the annual meeting because we'll feed them into them. I should mention one thing about their comp. There's this rule, and I may not be giving it to you exactly proper, but there's a rule for public companies that you get to deduct only a million dollars unless – for compensation – unless the excess is tied to some formula. So everybody pays, you know, you can be running the super company of all time, and they tend to range the base salaries so they're a million or $2 million and then call the rest something that qualifies under the IRS where they get the deduction for it.
BECKY QUICK: I didn't know that's—
WARREN BUFFETT: Oh yeah. Oh, believe me. Every company knows it. And their employment consultants know it and everything. So you have all these salaries, but then they have something that makes it very easy for them to make a lot more money. And that money is deductible whereas I don't think what we pay in the way of excess – I think it's over a million – is deductible. But, I mean, it would be a joke. And so we are paying them a fair amount of money, I believe, that's not deductible, whereas at almost any other company you see, they're designing it so that it is deductible.
BECKY QUICK: I always wondered why base level—
WARREN BUFFETT: The base salary is – yeah, it's ridic –
BECKY QUICK: $775,000 or million dollars. I didn't know that's why.
WARREN BUFFETT: I mean, it's so transparent. But it makes everybody feel good. They passed it, I don't know, ten or twenty years ago. And immediately everybody, "oh, we just had this revelation that now that you're really only worth a base salary of a tiny amount," you know? And it came to be about designing something like this. You know, and I said, "You know, it's just a joke. I mean, we're not going to pay them a million dollars a year." So, you know, they've got huge responsibilities. So you will see a little different situation. I think the bonus I give them that I think it was 16 base and two bonus. I think the two is probably deductible.
BECKY QUICK: So 6:19 on the East Coast and you're already making friends. Well done. Let's get to another question from the audience. This comes from Brian Chan. He asks, "How are Ted and Todd's performance since they joined about eight years ago?" The money managers who are there. "Have they –" Ted Weschler and Todd Combs – "Have they performed better than index? Charlie said recently that most money managers did not add any value compared to an index."
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. The first few years, each of them they came at a slightly different time. Maybe a year to a year and a half or something. Different times. And they got well ahead of the index, and they got paid compensation. Now, they got paid so it came in thirds, so that it could be clawed back – two thirds of it if they'd missed the second year and so on. Overall, they are a tiny bit behind the S&P each by just almost the same margin over the same time.
BECKY QUICK: Over the entire period?
WARREN BUFFETT: Over the entire period. And the entire period's a little different for both of them. They now manage about $13 billion each. They've done better than I have. So I—
BECKY QUICK: Well, that's a good measuring stick.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. So no, it isn't a measuring stick. But I mentioned it because if I don't, somebody else will. So, you know? They also – both of them – have done an incredible amount of work in terms of acquisitions, and Todd in particular on our medical venture. Anything at Berkshire – we made an arrangement with Lee Enterprises in terms of managing our newspapers. Ted handled all that. I mean, you know, he got my approval on it, but a million details. And they both have contributed all kinds of ways to Berkshire. But it has been a tough time to beat the S&P. But that's the deal we've got with them. And they've got a small carry-forward of deficiency to make up. I mean, they had some clawed back earlier. They made pretty good money for a few years. Substantial. Some of it clawed back because of the three-year put-back arrangement. And then now they've got a small carry-forward.
BECKY QUICK: Okay. Another question that came in—
WARREN BUFFETT: But they've done better than I have, Becky.
BECKY QUICK: Tony Dickinson writes in "What changes should we expect from GEICO with the transition from Tony Nicely to Bill Roberts? And how do they approach leadership differently?"
WARREN BUFFETT: They're two peas in a pod on that. I mean, they've worked together so long. They're so compatible. They have the same feelings about GEICO. I mean, nobody can quite match GEICO's – Tony's feelings about GEICO, but there's just no change. I was at a meeting of GEICO that they had maybe forty of their top executives. And everybody went around, introduced themselves, and gave the length of time they'd been with GEICO. I think the shortest time any one of those people said was 19 years.
BECKY QUICK: Wow.
WARREN BUFFETT: GEICO grows its own.
BECKY QUICK: We are here at the Nebraska Furniture Mart, and we're going to talk more about a story I think you have from Mrs. B., Mrs. Blumkin, the founder of Nebraska Furniture Mart, coming up a little bit later. Right now, we're going to take a quick commercial break. When we come back, we were also going to talk to Warren Buffett about the big drop in Kraft-Heinz shares on Friday. We'll talk about the markets, we'll talk about the economy, and much more. Right now though as we head to that break, let's take a look at the biggest pre-market winners and losers in the Dow.
BECKY QUICK: Welcome back to a special edition of Squawk Box. We are live in Omaha, Nebraska with Berkshire Hathaway's chairman and CEO, Warren Buffett. Warren, we're just sitting down with you for the first time since the news last week that Kraft-Heinz put out. There was so much news it's hard to even summarize it all.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah.
BECKY QUICK: They came out with earnings that missed expectations. They said, "By the way, it's not gonna get better in 2019." They revealed that there's an SEC investigation taking place into accounting. They wrote down the value of the brand by just over $15 billion. Were you surprised by any of this news? What did you think of what happened? 'Cause the street was surprised. The stock was down over 30%.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. Well, I may have learned a week or ten days before about something -- like the SEC investigation. I'm not-- I'm not on the board, but Greg's on the board. And I talked to Greg. And Greg had been talking a lot to the head of the audit committee. And he's a terrific guy. Jack Pope. But the write-down-- I do my own write-downs in my mind. So I was not surprised by that, although-- the accounting firms look at write-downs a little differently than I do. But I would not argue with 'em on it. And I can give you some math that would substantiate it. I've been watching-- I was wrong in a couple ways on Kraft-Heinz. But the-- I think we talked the GLIDE luncheon time about the packaged goods brands losing some ground against the retailers.
BECKY QUICK: Was that just over a year ago?
WARREN BUFFETT: Six months ago. The GLIDE-- well, the packaged goods companies are always in a struggle with retailers. My-- our family had a grocery store for a hundred years. And we-- then we didn't have much bargaining power. But the really strong brands, they can go toe to toe with Walmart, or Costco, or whomever it may be. But the weaker brands tend to lose out. Now, the interesting thing about Kraft-Heinz is that it's still a wonderful business in that it uses about $7 billion of tangible assets and earns $6 billion pretax on that. So on the assets required to run the business, $7 billion-- they earn $6 billion-- roughly after depreciation pretax. But we and certain predecessors, but primarily we, we paid $100 billion more than the tangible assets. So for us, it has to earn on $107 billion, not just on the $7 billion that the the business employs. And we don't have a way-- it would be a wonderful if we had a way to deploy another $7 billion and earn $6 billion, but it isn't there. So I think that when you're going toe to toe with a Walmart, or a Costco, or maybe an Amazon pretty soon and-- you have a modestly good brand, maybe one where the trend's a little against it or something like that, you know, you've got the weaker bargaining hand than you had ten years ago. The really classic situation is this if you think about it, Becky. Heinz was started in 1869. So it had all that time to develop various products, particularly ketchup, things like that. The Kraft part of it's a little more murky, but it goes back to C.W. Post in 1895. Those companies have brought all kinds of brands out. All kinds. You know 'em. You had 'em when you were a kid. You have 'em now, some--
BECKY QUICK: Raisin Bran, sure.
WARREN BUFFETT: --some of 'em. They've been distributed worldwide through tens and hundreds of thousands of outlets. They've had hundreds of millions...they spend a fortune on advertising. And their sales now are $26 billion. Costco introduced the Kirkland brand in 1992, 27 years ago, and that brand did $39 billion last year whereas all the Kraft and Heinz brands did 27-- $26 or $27 billion. So here they are, a hundred years plus, tons of advertising, built into people's habits and everything else, and now Kirkland, a private label brand, comes along and with only 750 or so outlets does 50% more business than all the Kraft-Heinz brands. So house brands, private label, is getting stronger. It varies by country around the world, but it's bigger. And it's gonna keep getting bigger.
BECKY QUICK: Okay. A couple of questions on it. First of all, does that mean you overpaid?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, we did overpay. We didn't overpay for Kraft. I mean, for Heinz--
BECKY QUICK: For Heinz.
WARREN BUFFETT: We bought that originally. It was a 50-50 deal. It was private. And--
BECKY QUICK: A 50-50 deal with 3G.
WARREN BUFFETT: Pardon me?
BECKY QUICK: With 3G.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, with 3G. We had two stockholders. And then we overpaid for Kraft. And we wrote down $15 billion of that. And that-- you know, and that's the CPAs' work-- way of looking at it. Actually, the markets marked it down more than that. And probably quite properly. The thing to remember is-- you know-- you know how the stock doesn't know you own it. You pay $10 for a stock, it goes to $8, and you think, "If it ever gets back to $10, I'll sell it." You know, and if it goes up $20, you say, "I can take-- sell half of it and take all my money out." All those things are nuts. But in business, if we paid $7 billion for Kraft, which is all it takes to run the business, it would still earn the same amount as if we paid the $100 billion premium. The stock-- the business does not earn more just because you pay more for it. And we not only-- after buying Kraft, everybody started speculating about the things we'd buy. So the prices of everything went up. And then on top of it we paid large premiums for it. And we misjudged it.
BECKY QUICK: I hear what you're saying about the house brands and the competition from places like a private label brand that Costco puts out. But what about just millennials' changing habits? How much of it is that younger consumers don't want the brands that their parents and grandparents wanted?
WARREN BUFFETT: There's some change in habits. But if you think about it, people don't really change their habits that much. If you try to think of the billion-dollar brands that have been created in food and they're private label, there's very few billion-dollar brands being created in food. Some have did it in yogurt probably. You know? But you don't really see-- that has not been a huge change. Physical volume hasn't changed much. The ability to price though has been changed. And that's huge.
BECKY QUICK: We had an analyst on last week on Friday talking about what she perceived as the problems with Kraft-Heinz. She said she thinks they're under-investing in the business. I mean, that's kind of been 3G's way, to cut to the bone. And that's how you make this profitable. But she thinks the brands have been under-invested in. Would you agree with that?
WARREN BUFFETT: I don't think so. But that's hard for me to tell. But see-- well, I was on the board. I mean, I saw lots of innovation on different products. And you saw them advertised to some extent. I do not think, but I don't know this for sure. But I think if you take the ten largest food companies, I think in innovation-- they've tried a lot of things. But how many things work? If you look Kellogg and General Mills and go up and down-- Coca-Cola, I mean, how many new products really become big? You read about 'em and all that. But take Heinz Ketchup. You know, it's got 60% of the ketchup market. It's got higher percentages in other parts of the world. And it's a very, very, very strong brand. Philadelphia Cream Cheese is a strong brand. But other brands are weaker. And you are right certainly that in certain categories, maybe in a Kool-Aid, or Jell-O, or something like that-- you know, they go back 75 years or something. And there's some secular trend against that. But that isn't the key. I mean, they cut costs not in innovation, or in product quality, or anything like that. They just took it out of SG&A basically. Now, they may have made a mistake in terms of working-- I shouldn't say "they." We may have made a mistake in terms of trying to push hard against certain of the retailers and finding out that we weren't as strong as we thought they were-- we were.
BECKY QUICK: Let's go to one of the questions from viewers because we got a lot of questions related to--
WARREN BUFFETT: Sure.
BECKY QUICK: --Kraft-Heinz. This one's number T5. Someone named J.C. Dominguez wrote in, "Is this the type of incident and time when you buy more Heinz? Or do you pull the plug?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Oh, we don't pull the plug on them. We've never sold a share of Kraft-Heinz. And if we sold or bought, it has to be reported within two days. So we wouldn't be able to do anything significant. But it isn't our style. We are the partners with 3G on it. And so we have exactly the number of shares we had before. And I guess I should never say never-- at age 88 in terms of what somebody else might do. But I can tell you I have absolutely no intention of selling. I've got absolutely no intention of buying.
BECKY QUICK: Why wouldn't-- if you're sticking with the business and it's 30% cheaper today, why wouldn't you buy more?
WARREN BUFFETT: 'Cause it isn't worth as much.
BECKY QUICK: So you think it was a fair write-down that the market gave it?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, at 35-- you've got a billion, 200 million shares out. So that's $42 billion for the equity. And we own $30 or $31 billion. So the whole company is selling for $71 or $72 billion. And as I mentioned, it has about $6 billion of operating income. Now, for $6 billion, would you pay a lot more than $72 billion where it doesn't look like it's going to be going up for a while? Maybe even-- well, they said it was gonna go down in 2019. You know, there are other things I think where you get more for your money and better prospects. Not that I regard the prospects for Kraft-Heinz as terrible. I may be-- I would-- if I had to bet one way or another, I think people will eat more of our products this year than last year.
BECKY QUICK: But if you see better places to deploy money, why don't you sell?
WARREN BUFFETT: We-- well, A) we can't as a practical matter move around tens of billions of dollars that easily. But beyond that I mean, if we're working with a million dollars or $10 million, would I have a position in it? No. You can move around with a million or $10 million. And Ted and Todd can move around reasonably well with $13 billion. But that can be difficult. $173 billion, I mean, you dance like an elephant. Not like some guy on Dancing With the Stars.
BECKY QUICK: We have a lot more questions that have come in regarding the partnership with 3G and 3G's style of doing things, but we'll get to that in just a little bit. In the meantime, we have to take another break.
WARREN BUFFETT: Okay.
BECKY QUICK: When we come back, we do have much more from Warren Buffett, including his thoughts on Berkshire's Apple stake, what he thinks about the markets, too. Right now though as we head to a break, let's take a look at Friday's S&P 500 winners and losers.
BECKY QUICK: This is a special edition of Squawk Box, live from Omaha, Nebraska. We are speaking to Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett. The economy, the markets, trade talks, and much more. Find out where the legendary investor is putting his money to work and what he has his eye on this year.
JOE KERNEN: Good morning. Our top story, President Trump announcing yesterday he would-- delay an increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. He cited progress in the trade talks and said if it continues, there would be a summit. They would plan a summit at Mar-a-Lago. As a result, stocks in Shanghai surging overnight, up 5.6%. U.S. equity futures at this hour, sharply higher this morning as well, up triple digits. As you can see, up 140 on the Dow Jones. The S&P up about 11. NASDAQ up 38. We're not that far from some new highs. Pretty amazing. Right now, let's get back to Becky Quick in Omaha with Warren Buffett. And, you've got important things to talk about. I don't know if you've talked about March Madness yet, Beck. But, you know, he--
BECKY QUICK: Nope, we have not.
JOE KERNEN: --he-- he--
BECKY QUICK: Do you want to jump in with that?
JOE KERNEN: Well, no. We can at some point. But, you know, he always, like, offers up these things. Like, they sound attractive. You-- but, you know, you could win something, and he never pays off. Ever. Anything. I mean, last year I think it was-- I think it was to get to the-- what--
BECKY QUICK: It's because nobody wins.
JOE KERNEN: --to get to the Elite 8 or something. Let's think about a way where--
WARREN BUFFETT: No, no, we-- we always -- we always have a sure winner, Joe. Last year, it-- it's true the favorites got knocked out early. But-- but we did split-- there's a $100,000 consolation prize for whoever does the best. Now, that got split eight ways last year. But-- but the year before, we had five people that came within one game and just to the last games of-- of winning the million-dollar prize. Now, if they'd won the million, they would have had to have split it if all five had won it. But there's a million-dollar prize. And we're going to do it again this year. And we limit it to employees of--
JOE KERNEN: I know.
WARREN BUFFETT: -- of Berkshire. But close personal friends of mine who have a brick also may be entitled to enter. I don't know.
BECKY QUICK: Joe, he invited you to enter last year, and you didn't do it.
JOE KERNEN: No, no. No, we were doing other things where-- where-- depending-- let's do it again this year, Warren, with—with the Creighton versus Xavier thing. Because they both have losing sort of records, and they-- they're-- they're not doing quite as well. Although Creighton just beat Georgetown. And yesterday, Xavier just beat-- Villanova. I don't know if you saw. It was pretty good. So let's do something there, and let's-- let's see. There's a NetJet card I could think about. I don't know what the payout—
WARREN BUFFETT: Well.
JOE KERNEN: --is gonna be, but let's see who goes further.
BECKY QUICK: You can get another brick.
JOE KERNEN: Yeah, exactly. If I'm lucky--
WARREN BUFFETT: I get-- I get 30 s-- I get 30 seconds on the program versus a NetJet membership for you. Is that it?
JOE KERNEN: Kind of.
WARREN BUFFETT: I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll let you name the bet, and I will let you name the stakes. And-- and-- we'll go from there.
BECKY QUICK: Whoa.
JOE KERNEN: Really?
WARREN BUFFETT: This is the honor system, Joe.
JOE KERNEN: You know--
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah.
JOE KERNEN: --okay, let's do that.
BECKY QUICK: Now, you're talking his language.
JOE KERNEN: But, you know, he's very crafty and very smart. Like, he-- he sent me a NetJet card. It had my name on it, but it was absolutely useless. It was like-- you know, it was like-- I used it as a luggage tag. It was-- it wasn't worth anything. And--
BECKY QUICK: Well, you said-- you said NetJet card. You didn't say it had to work for flights.
WARREN BUFFETT: That's a starter card. That's a starter card, Joe. We've got big things planned for you.
JOE KERNEN: I do have great things to talk to you about. I'm worried, I mean, I think you think the market's expensive, Warren. So I want to talk to you about that. I mean, you don't like to say that. And you say long term it's going to be fine. But you've got a lot of metrics you're looking at there, like the-- market cap to GDP or GNP. That-- that looks expensive there, right? I mean, there are things that look expensive, and you're having trouble finding things. So-- you know, you need to be honest with us about that.
WARREN BUFFETT: The market—
JOE KERNEN: Is it really expensive?
WARREN BUFFETT: Joe, if-- it depends on interest rates. We've talked about that before. If you tell me that 3% long bonds will prevail over the next 30 years, stocks are incredibly cheap. Because even-- you know, I mentioned that Kraft-Heinz earns $6 billion on $7 billion in tangible assets. Even if you pay $70 billion and you earn $6 billion on it, that's better than having $70 billion on it and 3% government-- interest rates govern everything. And-- and if there were a way to short 30-year bonds and own the S&P for 30 years, I would give you enormous odds that the S&P is going to beat 30-year bonds. Now, we've had this period of extended long-term low rates not only here but around the world. And now, it looks like we're not going to jack them up very fast. So, we may be in a new world, the world that Japan entered back in 1990. And if so, stocks will, when we look back on it, will look very cheap. But, you know, this has not been the history of the United States, to have these continued low interest rates. So, I -- there's no-- if I-- if I had a choice today for a ten-year purchase of a ten-year bond at whatever it is or ten years, or-- or buying the S&P 500 and holding it for ten years, I'd buy the S&P in a second.
BECKY QUICK: Well, that-- that brings us to a question that a viewer wrote in. This is T-67. @PiyushPant says: "From the annual report and the 13F, it looks like Berkshire was the least active in the public markets in the quarter when the stocks were the cheapest. You also did fewer buybacks in the fourth quarter when Berkshire was cheaper. Was taking the foot off the gas in the fourth quarter a conscious decision?" And based on what you just said-- we got all these signs that-- that looked like the Fed was not going to be raising rates in the fourth quarter, too. So why wasn't that a buy signal for you?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I-- I thought stocks were a buy in the fourth quarter, just like they did in the third, and second, and first quarter. But sometimes we have other things in mind, too, that may use a lot of money. And sometimes they work out, and sometimes they don't. But-- but--
BECKY QUICK: Wait. Does that mean you were holding your cash in case a deal came through?
WARREN BUFFETT: We had at least one deal possibly. It wasn't very large. And, so, we-- I like stocks in the fourth quarter. But-- I like-- I would like buying a business even better.
BECKY QUICK: Is that still--
WARREN BUFFETT: And incidentally, I-- I did say in the annual report that we expect to be buyers-- net buyers of stocks in this year. We have not been net buyers, I should point out. I mean, the market's gone pretty much straight up. I still think stocks are more attractive, but I have trouble buying it when every day it's up.
BECKY QUICK: The deal that you just mentioned, is that potentially still on the books?
WARREN BUFFETT: No.
BECKY QUICK: So it's not--
WARREN BUFFETT: I don't think-- I don't think it is. No.
BECKY QUICK: Is it a deal here in the United States?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, "Is it bigger than a--" yeah.
BECKY QUICK: Is it bigger than a breadbox--
WARREN BUFFETT: I-- I just-- I'll-- I'll give you a hint. It's on this planet.
BECKY QUICK: So, you went out of your way in the letter to say that you do think buying businesses outright is more expensive, even though you don't think stocks are too expensive here.
WARREN BUFFETT: No-- no question that, yeah--in this-- in stocks now, you have-- or businesses I should say you have a huge, huge, huge buyer. And-- that's not only-- and companies are eager to buy, too. But you also have private equity. And if, I don't know whether private equity-- it's-- it's flexible because they can call on their partners for more money and all that. But let's just assume that they would have a trillion available. Now, they use a lot of leverage. They call themselves private equity, but they're really private debt, you know, to a great extent. But that trillion might buy as much as, say, $3 trillion of assets if it's leveraged with $2 trillion of debt. Well, the total stock market is something like $30 trillion. And if you take the top five companies, you knock another-- or six companies, you knock four or five-- $4 trillion off that. So you're down to something where the buying power of private equity plus just the normal buying power from companies that want to get-- it's just a huge amount of competition.
BECKY QUICK: When you start looking around, is that-- do you think the private equity companies are overpaying for this? Or can they--
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I think they'd--
BECKY QUICK: --make it work?
WARREN BUFFETT: --rather not. I mean, they obviously want to make the best deals they can. But they are in a game that is so much more competitive than it was for them. If you go back to a 1970s when. you know, when-- leveraged buyouts started, which are the same thing they're doing now but the name kind of lost its appeal there at some point. But the deals you could make then were enormously more attractive than the deals you could make now.
BECKY QUICK: Let-- me ask you one more question that came in from a viewer. You've-- you've kind of answered this, but there-- may be a little more to the answer. This is T-84, for the control room. Nic writes in: "Why didn't a large acquisition happen for Berkshire during the fourth quarter 2008 selloff? Are you anticipating a much bigger decline in the market?" Or was-- I guess maybe it was the timing of it. Maybe it was so quick.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. Well, there, too, in-- in 2008, for example, we were going to buy Constellation Energy. We ended up buying the stock and making some money on it. But-- but that was part of a deal. When Constellation fell apart, and it was in the fall of 2008, both-- I was watching the tape. Dave Sokol was watching what was going on. And we practically called each other at the same time. And he was on a plane with Greg to Baltimore.
BECKY QUICK: Greg Abel?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. That day. And-- and we contracted to buy it. So we-- we were-- we were ready to buy that. And we-- we tried on other things. And we-- but-- but we participated in marketable securities big time at that point, too, as you know. We spent-- I think we spent $16 billion in three weeks where-- when nobody else was spending anything.
BECKY QUICK: When was that? What--
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, between about September 15th and October 7th or 8th. And then we already had another $3 billion committed to the Dow, which was not going to get taken down until later on. So we went through our cash pile pretty fast. Too fast actually.
BECKY QUICK: You have a huge cash pile right now though. What is it--
WARREN BUFFETT: We have a huge cash pile.
BECKY QUICK: $112 billion?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, we're-- yeah, we're--
BECKY QUICK: And that doesn't even count the other $20 billion in cash-like--
WARREN BUFFETT: No, that does count it. I mean, but the $110 billion or something like that, that-- that--
BECKY QUICK: $113 billion, whatever it was, yeah.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, that-- that-- that counts $20 billion. And, you know, I never get right down to $20 billion anyway. But-- but we've got a lot of cash. And we'd love to use it. But we're a private equity firm that's going to borrow six or seven times what they call EBITDA, which I don't use as a metric-- they're gonna pay more than we are. And, you know, as I said, we-- we pay too much for cap-- if you pay too much for something, it doesn't accommodate you by earning more money to make you look good. It-- it earns what it earns. And if we'd paid-- if we'd paid $10 billion less for Kraft, it would have still earned the same money, you know, basically.
BECKY QUICK: Right. This is a question that comes in. This is F-7, control room. Doug Wofford writes in: "Warren, when you come across bad news on a holding, for example Kraft-Heinz, can you share the sequence of criteria you use to determine if the stock is on sale and buy or a bust and to sell? What really concerns you as-- as what is in-- what-- as to what is in back of a dip?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, the stock market is there not to instruct me. It's there to serve me. So if it if there's bad news and the stock goes down, the question is in my-- I have is-- is the long-term valuation changed? And-- you know, there was-- well, there was certainly bad news at GEICO when we bought it, for example. But there was bad news in American Express when I originally bought it back in the '60s. It was the investment partnership I ever made. So what you like is bad news about a fundamentally good business. And then you going to make sure that it's still a fundamentally good business. But, no, bad news on a good business. We're better off because Apple stock is down significantly from where it was four or five months ago than if it stayed there. Apple will probably-- they may not, but they have said they're going to down to cash neutral. They could do it either by acquisitions, or dividends, or repurchases. And my guess is it'll be mostly repurchases. They are about $130 billion away from cash neutral now. If the stock were at $200, it would buy 650 million shares. If it's at, you know $150, you buy close to 900 million shares. We're way better off, you know, if it's at a lower price when they're repurchasing shares. Our partners are selling out to us, and they're selling out cheaper than otherwise. The worst thing that can happen from our standpoint with Apple is that it sells at $230 or something like that because we don't like buying as well at that sort of price.
BECKY QUICK: We have a lot more to talk about with Apple. There are a lot of questions that came in from shareholders on that, too, or from viewers on that. But we are coming up towards the top of the hour. And to make sure that we make this a good business, Joe, I'm going to send it back to you right now.
JOE KERNEN: Okay, Beck. Thanks. We have a lot more obviously coming up. Still have two more hours with the oracle, Warren Buffett. We're going to talk-- a lot more about his biggest holdings and his view on the market-- and the economy and much more, and what the Green New Deal would do for Berkshire Hathaway. I just-- it boggles the mind. We'll see. Squawk Box will be right back.
BECKY QUICK: This is a special edition of Squawk Box live from Omaha, Nebraska. We are speaking to Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett. The economy, the markets, trade talks, and much more. Find out where the legendary investor is putting his money to work and what he has his eye on this year.
JOE KERNEN: Plus, all of this morning's headlines and market-moving news as the second hour of Squawk Box begins right now.
JOE KERNEN: All right, Warren Buffett's annual letter to shareholders released-- over the weekend. Let's get to-- Becky Quick. And at some point you gotta find out if he has a favorite-- did he vote in the Geico contest? Does he have a fa-- I-- the cavemen are still my-- politically incorrect and--
BECKY QUICK: Oh, oh, of all of-- all the ads? No, me too. I'm glad you g-- that they brought those back.
JOE KERNEN: And did you notice-- ask Warren if he's noticed, all these other insurance companies that used to be so serious, they're all tryin' to do comedy now. There's-- one where a guy has these stupid-- he's ridin' a bike and he's got these disgusting calves that they-- they're all doin' comedy 'cause it worked so well for Geico.
BECKY QUICK: Warren?
JOE KERNEN: Has he noticed--
WARREN BUFFETT: The camel, I think, is winning-- the contest--
BECKY QUICK: Oh you know, I liked him too--
JOE KERNEN: Is it?
BECKY QUICK: "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike."
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, the camels-- yeah, it-- well, I was back at Geico ten days ago and the camel was running while I had--
JOE KERNEN: Yeah-- you should win some type of--
BECKY QUICK: I- get that.
JOE KERNEN: --of mad-- you know, Mad Men or advertising m--
BECKY QUICK: Mad Men.
JOE KERNEN: You-- singlehandedly-- you know, turned that into-- you know-- people need to do that. If-- I mean, Geico-- what the heck is a Geico? It's a government and m-- you know, it woulda gone nowhere, but you ramped up all that ad spending and look at it now. So I mean, you-- really-- it's sort of a -- they owe you, the whole advertising industry.
WARREN BUFFETT: I'm-- Joe, I-- am so glad that you remembered that I was the one that came up with the idea of Geico-- the Geico-- I-- the gecko. I mean-- people--
JOE KERNEN: That lizard--
WARREN BUFFETT: --people at Geico seemed-- people at Geico misremember that entire-- they think it was their idea, and I remember I sketched that little--
JOE KERNEN: Isn't that the way it is--
WARREN BUFFETT: --guy out and said, "Why don't we try the g--" I thought it was crazy--
JOE KERNEN: That happens on the show a lot, I know. We don't-- neither one of us get credit where we-- you know, the people forget what we do--
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, I know that. Yeah, well our day'll come--
BECKY QUICK: It's the heavy lifting. Hey-- Warren, let's talk a little bit about what Joe was just talking about. Joe, stay there because I know you wanted to ask about BYD, that might play into this. The trade talks with China. How big of a deal is that? What have you seen on your companies, on your investments?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I see the monthly reports from the companies come through, and-- a fair number-- you know, not in insurance at all obviously, but-- a fair number of 'em are-- the tariffs have had some impact. Now we're talkin' 10% tariffs-- and they-- a number of 'em say if it get-- if it were 25% there'd be some big adjustments. Some of it the suppliers have swallowed over in China. -- some we split with 'em, but it's-- it pushes prices up. I mean, there's just-- there's no question about that. But it hasn't had a big effect at 10%. A number of 'em told me at 25%, I mean, the world changes. You either get a lot more money for your product, or you source it differently, or you do something.
BECKY QUICK: So are you relieved to hear of the deadline being extended, being pushed off? That March 2 it's not all gonna go to 25%
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I'm relieved at the idea that there's still some chance that sense will prevail. I-- the-- it is bad for China, it's bad for us-- if we get into some kind of a trade war. And---- you know, negotiations are tough and something like this is-- a big deal to both-- both countries. And to some extent you're playing a game of chicken and-- because it hurts both countries. And I generally think when two very smart countries have something very important at stake they'll end up making rational decisions. I mean, I've been figuring that way with the Russians ever since-- you know, the nuclear bomb. The-- even though you get all kinds of tensions and-- people generally figure out what's best for themselves, and the best thing for both China and the United States is to work out something-- sensible that both sides can live with.
BECKY QUICK: Did you think there was a valid reason for amping up these negotiations, for saying, "Hey, hey, hang on a second. We're not getting a fair shake?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I think we haven't been getting a fair shake to some degree. But I think we can sustain-- I mean, to some extent-- the United States can do things that no other country can do. So-- as I think number of smaller countries, for example, if they wanna run trade surpluses with us, I mean, and the-- and it strengthens their economy, it doesn't hurt us that much. I mean, I think we've got a role to play in the world that way, but I don't think we can be Uncle Sap either.
BECKY QUICK: Joe, you have some breaking news?
JOE KERNEN: Yeah, out of-- General Electric-- breaking to a lot of us that-- realize GE had-- this much money-- tied up in biopharma. The company General Electric is selling its biopharma business to Danaher-- kind of interesting-- Danaher for $21.4 billion, and $21 billion of that will be in cash. GE says it's gonna use the proceeds-- to reduce leverage-- strengthen its balance sheet. It expects the deal-- to close during the fourth quarter-- of this year. And it-- there's a lot of-- you know, there's a lot of comments about how-- you know, from Culp about how this-- is in keeping with their plan to-- reduce leverage-- strengthen the balance sheet-- and-- all the other things. The deal-- Danaher meanwhile sees the deal adding $0.45 to $0.50 to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year and-- instead of us talkin' about this-- Becky, me or you, I guess-- we should get Warren's-- comments on what he thinks of this move--
BECKY QUICK: Let's do just that. And I do wanna bring up-- this is something, Warren, that we got viewer questions about too, randomly. GE-- control room T102, Brian Savage wrote in, "Mr. Buffett, given the recent turmoil of GE do you believe Larry Culp is the right man for the job? And if you could advise him what would you inform him he should do? Lastly, if he is the guy why haven't you invested in a company like GE given your current funds?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. Well, I think he should sell-- the medical operation for $21.4 billion to Danaher. I mean, that sounds-- I-- think that-- that GE should deleverage. No great insights there. I-- they believe the same thing, I'm sure. So-- they just-- they owe-- they owe more money than they should at present, and they should sell assets to some degree, not in a fire sale at all. And this is not a fire sale price. So I-- applaud what they-- what was just announced And-- I met Larry had a terrific record-- at Danaher, at-- and-- you know, we are a big customer of GE, we are a big supplier of GE. You know, I've had some connection with the company for decades, and they did call us in 2008 when they needed money. And-- so-- I think all America's cheering for GE, but I'm certainly one of those that is cheering.
BECKY QUICK: Have they called you more recently?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well-- I've talked to them off and on over the last year or two, but I've said the same thing, pretty much-- is what I'm saying right here.
BECKY QUICK: Joe, you have other questions on this front?
JOE KERNEN: Not so much-- on that. I got a lotta things obviously that we wanna talk about. And I guess Warren probably does know GE pretty well. I-- does he have-- I'd like a little more color to his comments on GE. He probably doesn't wanna do that. What do you-- what's your expression? What do you say? "You--criticize by-- just generally, but you praise by--"
BECKY QUICK: "By category--"
WARREN BUFFETT: "Criticize by category, praise by name," yeah. But--
JOE KERNEN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I-- guess I can't get you to just slam GE--
WARREN BUFFETT: --I-- have not read-- I-- have not read their 10-K--
JOE KERNEN: --or Immelt or anything, huh--
WARREN BUFFETT: No, no. No, you'll never get me-- you'll never get me to do that. no--
JOE KERNEN: What a mess though right
WARREN BUFFETT: And-- -- I haven't seen their 10-K yet. I mean-- I wanna get their 10-K as soon as I can. And-- it may be-- it's probably out just about now. And that's the documents you have to read.
JOE KERNEN: A lotta stuff, its up about 50% from the lows, I guess--
WARREN BUFFETT: And givin' you some clues about--
JOE KERNEN: --more, huh?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah--
JOE KERNEN: More than that, yeah?
WARREN BUFFETT: But it's-- - you know, it's—selling -- the equity's selling for about $100 billion. And-- then they have-- they actually have a preferred issue that's $5 billion or $6 billion. Most people don't even know about that. And then they have-- they had-- you know, something over $100 billion of debt. I'm consolidating GE Capital, but I think that's the way to look at it. And they've got-- they've got a couple of very good businesses. So-- but-- they were-- they were overleveraged and they've gotta reduce the leverage, and-- clearly they're doing it.
JOE KERNEN: I mean, you could write a check for that--
BECKY QUICK: Warren, there's a question that comes in f--
JOE KERNEN: --Warren. You could write a check for that, Warren, if you really liked it.
WARREN BUFFETT: That-- that's true.
JOE KERNEN: It's true that you could, but you won't be. Okay. I'll-- just-- paraphrase
BECKY QUICK: There's a question that came in from a viewer-- and I ask this because we're talking about GE and it's one of many companies that's looking at unfunded pension liabilities, potentially down the road. This is T54 control room, Brian Bannon writes in, "How do you see the unfunded pension liabilities across the United States affecting our economy over the next ten years?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, if you're talking about the corporate sector-- the unfunded liabilities have been working their way down because all the new companies don't go for defined benefit plans. So you've got-- you know, if you take the four or five largest companies in the United States they don't-- they don't have defined benefit plans. We have bought a number of older companies. So we have-- we have a fair number of companies with defined benefit plans. We wouldn't start any defined benefit plans. But that-- it's not a huge problem in corporate America. I mean, you have a Sears in the pension benefit guarantee, court gets involved. But-- and there'll be others. But-- - it's way less of a problem than it was ten years ago or 20 years ago. In the public sector, you know, it's a disaster. And-- you know, some of the-- it's interesting to me when they talk about these relocation problems, you know, and New York and Amazon, all that sort of thing, you know-- I-- if I were relocating into some state that had a huge unfunded pension plan I'm walking into liabilities. 'Cause I mean, who knows whether they're gonna get it from the corporate income tax or my employees-- you know, with personal income taxes or what. But that-- that liability isn't gonna-- you can't ship it offshore or anything like that. And those are big numbers, really big numbers. And they may come--you can delay a long time. I mean, they-- you're getting pushed maybe somewhat. But the politicians are the ones that really haven't attacked it in a good many states. And when you see what they would have to do-- I say to myself, "Why do I wanna build a plant there that has to sit there for 30 or 40 years?" 'Cause I'll be here for the life of the pension-- plan-- and they will come after corporations, they'll come after individuals. They-- just-- they're gonna have to raise a lotta money.
BECKY QUICK: I mean, when you say that the states that come to mind, having not looked at those statistics in a while, would be Illinois and New Jersey at the top of the list.
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, as I say I praise by name and-- criticize by category.
BECKY QUICK: Well, let's talk about the decision of Amazon to say, "Forget it," to a second headquarters in New York City. We were with Charlie Munger on that day. This was-- February 14, just-- a week and a half ago. We were with Charlie Munger the day that announcement came out, and Charlie had some pretty-- firm comments on it. He said he thinks it's crazy that states like California and others are basically driving the rich people out. What do you think about it?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I-- heard Charlie on that, and as he says They-- don't have kids. They don't--" and-- a good many of 'em are charitable, they tend to get the things that are around them. And they don't use the services-- nearly as much relative to their taxes that they pay as the average person. And they-- so they use the hospitals. No, I obviously-- well, a state like Florida which has no income tax attracts a lotta rich people, you know? And--- in Texas-- you know, when people - relocate there, the fact that-- that-- there's no income tax-- is a real factor. And-- I don't know about those two states specifically, but I have a feeling that their retirement plans are in pretty good shape compared to the old industrial states. You get legacy liabilities when you move in. Nebraska's in very good shape-- that-- for a long time-- that we've really been against the state having any debt. Now we're all about leasing some.
BECKY QUICK: Well-- you-- what we're talking about is state versus state. You're now talking about some new taxation plans that are being-- recommended in Congress, or by specific senators or congressmen-- that are similar to some of those policies that we've seen in the states. I mean, if you just run through it-- Elizabeth Warren with her wealth tax, and anybody over $50 million. AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with her plan to tax anything above $10 million at 70% rate. Bernie Sanders with his estate tax going up to 77%. If those policies are enacted on a national basis do you see that same sort of trading off where people would potentially leave the United States? What do you think about these plans?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, that's an interesting question. I would say this: If tomorrow everybody in the world had a chance to make a one-time change in where they lived, two billion families all over the world, only time they're gonna get the chance to make the change, but they will get transported free to any country they wanna go their family, and have citizenship. What do you think's gonna happen tomorrow?
BECKY QUICK: A lot of people coming to the United States.
WARREN BUFFETT: A lot of people are going to come to the United States. Very few people are going to leave. North Korea might have a small decrease in population. I mean, the point is, I mean, this is an incredible country. And it's true that right now we're raising $3.3 trillion and spending probably $4.3. We're about to have a debt – a deficit of about $1 trillion in a very good year in the cycle. I mean, year of prosperity, and that's 5% of GDP, and that's probably more than – you could actually take a 2% to 3% deficit and not have the ratio of debt to GDP growth. Five in prosper shares, we're out of whack on that. So we, you know, you can cut spending, you can raise taxes. But I would say that the wealthy are definitely undertaxed relative to the general population.
BECKY QUICK: But your answer to that – that was almost a dodge of the question. I mean, if these policies drive out the wealthy people, sure. If you got your choice of where to go, everybody would want to come to the United States. But would the wealthy people do that if we changed our tax structure?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I think most of the people that have – the rich people, Mark Rich being one of them. I mean, they leave because they – in this case, I mean, he's leaving before the feds pick him up. And I don't think if you offered most of the rich people – if they were sane anyway – and you said "If you stay we're going to take half your net worth, and if you leave, you can take it all with you," and you're 88 years old like me, am I going to leave the United States? You know, I could move – South Dakota has no state income tax, Wyoming has no state income – so we've got two states that border Nebraska. Nebraska has a 7 and a fraction percent state income tax. If Iowa, which is right across the river, had no income – I wouldn't move. I mean, now, I think people want to come here. I think if you made that offer I made the United States, there'd be more people come to the United States than anyplace else. And they would come if the deficit was $1 trillion or $1.2 trillion. I mean, this is the land of opportunity.
BECKY QUICK: But do you think they're good policies? Do you think they're good tax policies?
JOE KERNEN: Warren, you're making a decision to leave all your money to the private sector in terms of charities. And because you think – I assume you think – maybe it'd be better spent there than by the government. Isn't it possible that it's just not the right idea to just – what's already a bloated, you know, what some people would think, a bloated entity – address the spending side of things. Or else maybe you ought to reconsider if you think the government is so good at spending money, why leave it all in the private sector? Go ahead and give it all to the government and let them do it. You seem to have an idea that it's better treated if you do it philanthropically.
WARREN BUFFETT: I've got about four choices, Joe. I mean, let's say I have $80 billion. A) I could spend it all, you know? But even to spend it all, I would have to sell Berkshire stock. So I would incur taxes of, you know, $20 billion or so in spending. So the government would then get 20 if I wanted to spend it all I could – I don't know what in the world I'd spend it on. I can give it all to my wife and then there's no tax. I could give four million people $20,000 each and there'd be no – well, there'd be no tax on it as long as I give make gifts to separate people up to $20,000 I can do it, and there's no tax. One thing you could do, the estate tax is the wealth tax. I mean, in theory you get taxed on wealth on the estate. Now, you're allowed to give to charity 50% cash, 30% appreciated stocks and have it deductible from your income. They let you essentially deduct all the gifts of wealth at death. So you could have a limitation that you could only give 50% to philanthropy and treat it the same way actually as if you're giving away from income during your life. There's a lot of things you can do with the tax law. I mean, the tax – and I think that one way or another, when the forms for a hundred have gone from $93 billion to $2.7 trillion since 1982, the market system, as it gets more specialized, will give more and more to the top people. If we were back in 1800 and we were all working on farms, you'd probably be worth a little more than I am because you'd work harder and be stronger. But the top person working on a farm would be worth one and a half to maybe two times what the bottom person was. But as we get more and more specialized, the guy that's the best in knocking out some other guy that weighs 200 pounds is, you know, is worth $30 million a fight. Now, he's worth $30 million a fight because somebody invented television and Cablevision. As we get more specialized, the rich will get even richer. And the question is: how do you take care of the guy who's a wonderful citizen and father, you know, may have died at Normandy or something, but he just doesn't have market skills? And I think the earned income tax credit's the best way to address that question. And that means probably some more taxes – it should mean some more taxes for guys like me, and however you come at it I'm fine with.
BECKY QUICK: Okay. We'll continue this conversation. Obviously inequality's a big issue and it's something that's already roiling politics in Washington at this point.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah.
BECKY QUICK: We can talk more about that in just a little bit, but Joe, we'll send it back to you because I think we need to take a break, too.
JOE KERNEN: We do. All right, coming up thanks, Becky. A recap of this morning's market headlines, including GE's deal with Danaher. It's a big one. Plus much more from Warren Buffett. Stay tuned, you're watching "Squawk Box" on CNBC.
JOE KERNEN: Breaking news out of GE, which we told you about earlier. The company's selling its biopharma business to Danaher for $21.4 billion, $21 billion of that in cash. GE says it's going to use the proceeds to reduce leverage and strengthen its balance sheet. Expects the deal to close during the fourth quarter of this year. There you can see Danaher is sharply higher on the news as well. On adjusted earnings it will add to Danaher's results, $0.45 to $0.50 in the first full year, although on a reported basis it will cut EPS by $1.15 to $1.20. GE will still have a go forward health care business of $17 billion-- because some of the-- the health care portfolio of GE isn't going. Pharmaceutical Diagnostics will remain-- with-- with GE. Danaher's going to borrow some-- issue some debt, use cash on hand-- to make-- the acquisition, which-- is part of Culp's—strategy to reduce debt, strengthen the balance sheet, and reduce the leverage of General Electric, which is now up almost 12% on the news. And remember, it was down, I think it broke under 7 briefly in its most recent tough sliding that we saw at the end of last year. But-- so if you base-- 7% as the low you're all the way back to almost 12%. So big move if you were able to buy GE right at the lows. In a major deal-- in the drug sector, Roche is buying Spark Therapeutics for $4.3 billion, about 140-- $114 a share for Spark. That was 122% premium, the Friday closing price. Spark working on treatment for hemophilia and Huntington's Disease. Already has one drug on the market to-- treat a rare genetic condition-- that causes blindness. When we return much more from Warren Buffett and Becky Quick in Omaha. We will be right back after a quick break.
BECKY QUICK: Welcome back to a special edition of Squawk Box. We are live with Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Nebraska. And Warren, thanks again for your time this morning. We've talked about a lot of things so far, but we have not gotten your take on the economy to this point. There was just a Federal Reserve report out on Friday that suggested that GDP for 2018 is probably going to come in slightly below 3%. What do you think the economy is doing right now, just based on your businesses, based on the receipts you see, the companies that you track that you have major purch-- major shares in?
WARREN BUFFETT: Right now-- just based on the monthly statements I get, and some cases I get other data in between, but, overall things are a little better. I mean, the rate of-- the rate of improvement has tapered, but it certainly hasn't flattened. Now, that could change next month. And—and home construction, has been disappointing. But most of our businesses-- I've seen other figures on retail that are strong and-- you know, including Walmart's. But I would say our retail figures in January were not strong. But January's a peculiar month. That can be affected a lot by weather, although any retailer will always blame things on the weather. I-- no, right now things look fine.
BECKY QUICK: When you say it's-- it's a little better that's relative to when? What's your comparison period?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I'm-- I'm saying that if it developed as I see in January and February for the whole year, I think we would probably beat our $24.8 billion, but that would depend on insurance profits because it could swing either way, they are--
BECKY QUICK: Of your operating profit that you just reported?
WARREN BUFFETT: The operating, yeah. Yeah. So -- business looks-- looks decent. It's not galloping ahead, and the tariffs having a little effect at 10%. If they went to 25% they would change things quite a bit. And I do see some more inflationary things. But, no, I don't see anything to be alarmed about at present. But incidentally--
BECKY QUICK: What inflationary signals --
WARREN BUFFETT: --if you told me GDP would be down this year we'd still be doing the same things, pretty much.
BECKY QUICK: What inflationary signs do you see at this point?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, we just-- as I get the reports from the companies they say, 'These raw material costs are going up.' And, now oil being down helps us. I mean, that's the basis for a lot of raw material costs. But overall, there's more cost pressure.
BECKY QUICK: You mentioned that housing has been weaker. Home building, that you've seen that.
WARREN BUFFETT: Home building.
BECKY QUICK: Why do you think that is?
WARREN BUFFETT: It's puzzling because, you know, before 2008, you know, we were running higher-- well-- I mean, the one obvious answer-- you expect-- you expect household formations to go way down in a recession, and we had a bad one. But, you had this big trend-- from home ownership to renting so that, you know, that's probably changed by five percentage points. Well, five percentage points, when you talk about 125 million households, or six million houses are people that are living in rental units rather than houses. So that configuration has really changed. And I would've thought it would've turned back as people got the jobs back and all of that. But-- single family construction is really-- I think it's been quite weak compared to what you would expect after ten years of recovery and with the stock market, you know, quadrupling from the lows and unemployment at 3.7%. People are just making different choices.
BECKY QUICK: Jay Powell, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is set to testify before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Based on what you've said about the weakness in housing, based on some of the downturn that you saw, did you think he made the right move by signaling a much more dovish take last quarter?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. I don't second-guess him at all. I think he's a terrific choice for Federal Reserve Chairman. He actually was at the Treasury in 1991 when Solomon was in trouble, and I saw him make a lotta very good decisions for the United States government. He is a smart man and he's-- he's very levelheaded, and he-- but he understands both business and economics, and I don't think you could have a better chairman. So-- I will never second-guess him.
BECKY QUICK: I know you don't make a lot of investing decisions based on what the Federal Reserve chief or anybody else is saying, but what would you be interested in hearing from him this week? What-- what might-- what might you be listening for?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I read what he says but it doesn't affect anything we do. It just doesn't. I mean, it doesn't affect it in investments or in, you know, the amount of money we're going to spend on the railroad this year, in energy or anything. We're plowing ahead always. We always spend more than our appreciation. And we know the country is going to make lots of progress over time and we don't think we're smart enough to jump in and out as to when the time is.
BECKY QUICK: A couple of questions that came in from viewers when it comes to the economy. One is-- T19 control room, Rashad Khan asking: "Do you think the ten-year yields are likely to rise from current levels in the long-run?" I don't know what the long-run is.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. Well, I'm amazed that ten years into a recovery, or nine years into the recovery, ten years from the panic-- I'm amazed that rates worldwide are what they are. This is not classical economics to have trillions and trillions of dollars still at negative interest rates with the world doing really very, very well. I don't know-- you know, I don't understand it. I don't think the economists really understand it. I mean-- they got to explain it somehow. But the real question for stock investors are-- are these rates more or less a new normal? And people who thought the Japanese rates in 1990 couldn't possibly stay where they were, you know, that turned out to be suicide for the people that shorted Japanese bonds and so on. We live in a world that wasn't described in classical economics.
BECKY QUICK: Do you think it's because of the experimentation) by central banks around the globe?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I think the central banks did what they had to do after 2008 and 2009. In fact, I think Europe was a little late doing it. But when Draghi finally said, 'We'll do whatever it takes,' the only one that can say that is central banks. And I think central banks behaved very well post the recession.
BECKY QUICK: You've mentioned twice this morning how we could potentially be in a situation like Japan where these interest rates stay at these incredibly low levels. Will it work out better for us than it has for Japan?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, the answer is I just don't know. But Japan also has a declining population and no energy resources. And, we're a different case than Japan.
BECKY QUICK: We're here at the Nebraska Furniture Mart today. And I know that you've talked a little bit before we came on the show this morning just about Rose Blumkin, who founded the Nebraska Furniture Mart. You bring up immigration so I thought maybe now would be a good time to talk about that. She came here from in 1917.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. She came over here on a boat from Yokohama and she landed in Seattle. And I've got the manifest of the boat in here, and I've got her entry papers. And she-- and-- she couldn't speak a word of English. The Red Cross got her to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where her husband was. She spent two years there, couldn't pick up the language there. So they decided to come to Omaha where there were some Russian Jews and they would feel at least they had-- a home of sorts. And she sold used clothing and did various things, had four children. And 15 or so years later she'd saved $2,500, and you're in what was-- became the largest home furnishing store in the country, except we now have a larger one in Texas. But in the 50-somethingth largest market she took $2,500 and turned it into the largest home furnishing store. And the punchline is that she couldn't read or write. And I've got a contract here that we signed. This is what I came out with. I typed this up in 1983, August 30--
BECKY QUICK: Is that two pages?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, it's-- it's really just one page. I mean, this is a signature page here. And that's her signature at the top, and as you can see it's just a scrawl. And we did not get an audit, we did not look at the property records to see-- I just said, "Mrs. B, do you owe any money?" And she says, "No." And that was it. You know, and we--
BECKY QUICK: How much did you pay?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, at that time we bought-- we rearranged things within the family some. So we in effect bought 80% at a value of $60 million-- on 100% basis. But we had-- but we just-- we shook hands and-- I felt like I had the Bank of England on the other side. And then she went on to work until she was 103. If any of my managers are out there listening that's sort of a yardstick we use now on retirement. And was a marvelous, marvelous woman. And when-- never went to school a day in her life. And when the family sat down for dinner they sang God Bless America before eating. Yeah. It-- you know, it's an incredible story.
BECKY QUICK: Warren, in the annual letter this year you write about the American tailwind. What--
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, as I pointed out in there, I-- on this March 11 in a couple weeks it'll be 77 years since I bought my first stock, and I paid $114.75 for three shares of Cities Service Preferred. But if you had bought-- if you'd been a pension fund and you put $1 million into the S&P 500 at that time and reinvested it during my investing lifetime, that-- that $1 million would've turned into $5.3 billion. You would've gotten-- for every dollar you put in you've gotten over $5,000 without ever reading a headline, an annual report. You didn't have to know accounting, you just had to believe in America. And you didn't have to pick the right stock, you just picked America. And if that isn't a tailwind-- it's more like a hurricane. I mean, it is-- American business has done incredibly well, and America's done incredibly well. And-- you know, I go back and I point out that there were two 77-year periods before that, and that takes us back to George Washington getting inaugurated. And there wasn't anything here then. And now you have $108 trillion of household wealth in the United States. You know, we've got something that works, and that framework-- wasn't that we were working harder, wasn't that we were smarter, but we had a framework that unleashed human potential. And just think of that, three 77-year periods, one of which I experienced. And you couldn't help but-- all you had to do was believe in America and-- you got very, very-- we didn't have to read the newspapers-- nothing. You didn't have to pick a stock.
BECKY QUICK: That worked the last 77 years, but there's a question that came in, T29. This is from Scott Baker. "With so many people in the S&P index funds is it still market neutral and the best investment vehicle for most people?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, I think it's the best investment-- because most people don't know how to pick stocks. And-- most of the time I don't know how to pick stocks. I mean, it's-- it is not an easy game. And by definition people are going to do average. I mean, if you take everybody in aggregate, and if half of 'em are paying big fees and jumping around and paying brokerage commissions, the other half have to do better. And-- no, it is-- as I've told people in-- and my widow will I've instructed-- the trustee to put 90% in an S&P 500 index fund and 10% in governments, just so that-- just for a feeling of security. But-- there's been no better bet than America. There's been nothing like it.
BECKY QUICK: There's one question that came in from-- this is F20, Ahmad Abu Rasheed, who said, "Would a strong and sustained shift to the left in fiscal and economic policy rip away at American business tailwinds moving forward?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, well, my dad thought, you know, communism was coming in the '30s and, you know, he was very anti Roosevelt. All my life I've been hearing half the country say that the other-- the person favored by the other half wins, things are gonna go to hell. And so I pointed out in my discussion, I've lived under 15 presidents; 14 of 'em I've invested under. I didn't invest under Hoover, I was a little young then. But seven were Republicans, seven were Democrats. I mean, it-- after this last election in-- in 2016 my-- most of my friends were for Hillary and they thought, "You know, sell stocks. You know, dig a cave, do whatever it might be." And I told 'em they're crazy. You know, it-- you do not wanna have a political view in investing. And most people put it through a political prism, they just can't keep their politics out of it. They can keep their religion out of it but politics, they just have to look through those glasses. And if you d-- if you've done that, if you've been a staunch Republican or a staunch Democrat through these 77 years you'd a missed out on a lotta the party.
BECKY QUICK: What about now when the parties are-- kind of in flux? Donald Trump was not a typical Republican, and Bernie Sanders now looks like he's leading the way in some of these polls, he wasn't even a Democrat until recently. He's a socialist his whole life who just caucused with the Democrats.
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, he was-- interesting candidate in 2016 because I would-- you know, he came close, and I would say that 90% of the people who voted him hadn't heard of him two years earlier. That's really unusual. It's given hope to a whole lot of other people who are entering this time. When you look at what Sanders did, when you look at what Trump did-- a lotta people look in the mirror now and say, "Wow, you know, that could be me." So Sanders, the big appeal I think he had was he came-- he had unusual authenticity. I mean, they all wanna seem authentic, and they are authentic in a certain way. But they do move around as the polls come in and their advisors come in. You had the feeling when you listened to Bernie that he was saying exactly what he believed. You can agree with him or not, but that's a very appealing--characteristic in a candidate. It may not be enough to carry anybody to victory, but it is an-- it makes people notice you. They-- really do know, to some extent, whether you believe what you're saying when you're out there on the stump. And-- Bernie really-- he really did hate billionaires and the campaign financing. I mean, he was talking authentically, and he's still talking authentic-- I- mean, I'll absolutely give him that.
BECKY QUICK: Do you agree with his policies, or his proposed policies--
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I agree with certain things that make him mad. I don't like the campaign finance laws, and I also think that the inequality gap has widened and will continue to widen-- unless something is done about it. But I also believe that the most-- important single thing is to have more golden eggs to distribute around-- so I don't wanna do anything to the goose that lays the golden eggs. And we've had the goose that lays more and more golden eggs over the years, unbelievable in this country. So we've got something that works in terms of the market system, in terms of turning out lots of goods and services people want. The question is, what happens to the person who's a decent citizen, doesn't have market skills? And we can solve that. A rich family can handle if they've got six children and one of 'em isn't as good in the market, is just good in every other personal quality. They take care of him. And we've got $60,000 of GDP per capita in the United States. That's six times what it was when I was born in real terms. So we can take care of people and we should. But we shouldn't screw up the market system.
BECKY QUICK: Well-- Bernie looks mild compared to some of the candidates who are running to the left of him.
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, that's-- have people seen it or-- I would work for him.
BECKY QUICK: There-- there's somebody who wrote in-- this is T13, Ted Waller. This is probably based off a play, off of-- some conversations we've had with Jamie Dimon. But he says, "Do you still consider yourself a Democrat?" If you look at--
WARREN BUFFETT: I'm not a card-carrying Democrat, but I never have been. I've voted for a fair number of Republicans, I've given money to Republicans. I-- am not-- Bob Strauss called me one time because he wanted me to handle finances in Nebraska. He said, his first question, "Warren, are you a card-carrying Democrat?" I said, "No, I'm not, Bob." I-- mean, I don't think either side has an edge in virtue or anything of the sort. I mean, I think that they have different views on things and I think that-- that by the time they get in politics they sorta stake out their positions, although they move 'em in a period like this when they think it may help to be further left. You see people that-- that sort of-- had a new vision all of a sudden-- because they saw how it worked for Bernie. But no, I will vote for more Democrats than in the last 30 years I've voted for more Democrats than I've voted for Republicans. I was president of the Young Republican in 1948 at the University of Pennsylvania. I ran for delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1960. The only office I've ever run for.
BECKY QUICK: When we were just out with Charlie Munger he said he didn't think much of too many politicians, but he did like what Mike Bloomberg did in the city of New York. What do you think about Bloomberg as a potential candidate, and what do you think about Howard Schultz potentially running as a third-party candidate?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, I-- won't answer you on most questions, but I'll answer you on political-- I would-- if-- Mike Bloomberg announced tomorrow that he was a candidate-- I would say I'm for him. And-- I think he would be-- I think he would be-- a very good president. And-- I mean, he and I disagree on some things, but I think that-- he knows how to run things, I think that he's got the right goals for America, he understands people, he understands the market system, and he understands the problems of people that don't-- that fall into the markets. And I-- he-- you know, I-- would have no trouble-- being for him. I-- Howard Schultz-- if he-- well, he-- well, he says he's gonna run as an Independent. And if he ran as an Independent he-- I think he would take votes away from any Democrat, including-- Bloomberg if he were running. So I think it would be-- a real mistake for him to run. And that-- I-- think generally third-party candidates, they're gonna hurt one side or the other. And they're more likely to hurt the side that they actually favor because they're closer to that view, and so they pull more people away that--- would otherwise, you know, go to the second-best with that view. So I-- hope no third-party candidate runs that pulls any significant amount of votes. I mean, there'll always be-- a couple people that file. But I think the third-party candidates are-- can thwart actually the will of the people.
BECKY QUICK: All right, we're up against the top of the hour. When we come back, though, we will have Warren Buffett answering more of your questions. We're also gonna get through a lotta the changes in the Berkshire Hathaway equity portfolio. A lot of changes that were just announced and we'll talk through some of those too. In the meantime, take a look at the futures this morning. Things are up across the board. Dow futures up by about 137 points after it looks like the tariff deadline is put off. S&P futures up by about 12, the NASDAQ up by 41. And we will be right back with this special edition of Squawk Box.
BECKY QUICK: All right, let's get back to our special guest, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffet, who's sitting down with us after just coming out with his annual letter to shareholders and, last week, just filing the 13F that showed what positions you've been moving around in the stock market as of December 31st. And Warren, there were a lot of questions that were raised by that. And I just want to run through some of the holdings, some of the changes, that were registered and get your take on why. First off, Apple. You trimmed 3 million shares to 249.5 million shares of Apple. And that caught a lot of people by surprise. They were wondering if you were selling.
WARREN BUFFETT: No. The one other fellow in the office, one of the two, had about 6 million or 7 million shares. He had it before I did. And he works with a limited amount of money, $13 billion, roughly. So if he wants to buy something, he needs to sell something. I want to buy something, I've got cash around to do it. So he sold about 3 million shares, I believe, cut it in half, roughly, to buy something else. And I didn't. I've never sold a share.
BECKY QUICK: So this was not even a conversation you had with him, I take it. This is either Todd or Ted, you're not going to say who.
WARREN BUFFETT: It's his business. It's his business, yeah. I mean, they do not check with me. I sometimes order at the end – well, I do. At the end of the month, I look and see how their portfolio compares to the month before and see what they've done.
BECKY QUICK: This generated a lot of questions from viewers, and let's go to one, T14. Jedi Markets wrote in, "If you loved it," meaning Apple, "undervalued at $200-plus and a $1 trillion valuation, why would you sell any this past quarter?" You've answered it already. You didn't sell it.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. And incidentally, I've never paid $200 for any stock in Apple, anyway.
BECKY QUICK: What'd you start buying, at $160 or something? Was that—
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, no, I think—
BECKY QUICK: Or average, the average—
WARREN BUFFETT: The average cost is about $141 or something like that.
BECKY QUICK: Okay. There was a question that also came in from Rick Saffaraz. This is T90. He said, "Do you plan on adding to your Apple position throughout 2019?" And I just want to also bring up a tweet from Jim Cramer. He tweeted, back on February 5th, "Doesn't Apple trade like Berkshire is back buying?" I spoke with Cramer about it. And he said, "Look. I don't know anything. It's just, all of a sudden, the stock's really picking up. It's almost as if…" So are you interested at lower levels?
WARREN BUFFETT: Look, I'm always interested in lower levels in a number of stocks we own. There's some where we really can't go over 10%. And generally, I don't like to go over 10%. Because it complicates life quite a bit. With banks, it actually throws us into the bank holding company you know. There are stocks that I would buy that we own nine-and-a-fraction percent, and I actually may be selling a little bit, because they're repurchasing their shares. And I don't want to drift over 10%. But Apple I don't see myself selling. Every – the lower it goes, the better I like it, obviously.
BECKY QUICK: I mean Apple is not one of those 10% stocks. Don't you own about 5% of the shares?
WARREN BUFFETT: About 5%.
BECKY QUICK: So is this a situation where you have been buying, since it became so much lower at the end of December?
WARREN BUFFETT: It's been back to where – it may have briefly, very briefly, got there. But if it were cheaper, we'd be buying it. We aren't buying it.
BECKY QUICK: There was another question that came in. This is T91, from Umar Zubair, who said, "Apple decelerated share repurchases from around $20 billion in the third quarter to around $8 billion in the fourth quarter, just when the stock price went down by about 30%. In fact, Apple repurchased zero shares in December of 2018, when the stock hit a 52-week low. What are your thoughts on Apple's repurchase deceleration?"
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, Apple has said, publically, that their – and they've repeated it – that their goal is to reach what they call a cash-neutral position, where their debt is roughly equal to the cash. I think that would take $130 billion or so to get there. But of course, they could make some acquisitions. On the other hand, they're earning a lot more than their dividends. So that number goes up. Mentally, I say to myself, we're very likely – and a lot of things could change this with them. And the lower the price goes, the better it gets. But they should be at 4 billion shares, probably, in maybe three years. And so our five percent would become something over six percent at that point. And I like that prospect. And then we might buy some ourselves. Who knows? It depends on the price. But they will buy a lot more stock, if it's cheaper than if it's higher. And you know, it's just simple math. We're better off, if, in the next three years, Apple is cheaper.
BECKY QUICK: You loaded up on financials in the fourth quarter. You added to your stake some JP Morgan, Bank of America, Bank of New York, PNC, and U.S. Bancorp. And six of your top-ten holdings, I believe, are banks, at this point. Why so much emphasis on the financials?
WARREN BUFFETT: They're very good investments at sensible prices, based on my thinking. And they're cheaper than other businesses that are also good businesses by some margin. And a couple of those we own nine-and-a-fraction percent of. And I don't like to go to 9.9%. Because that means the next quarter, maybe, I have to sell some. So I—
BECKY QUICK: Because they buy back.
WARREN BUFFETT: I try to leave myself a year, two years of repurchases. But Bank of America's been particularly aggressive on buying in stock. Brian Moynihan has done such a good job running that company, since he took over. I mean, he was the most-underestimated bank executive in the country. And he is everything he said he would do. He's done it, and he's beat it. And he sets tougher targets all the time for himself. And he's been smart about repurchasing shares.
BECKY QUICK: JP Morgan is a relatively new stake. You had 35 million in the third quarter and that was a new stake. You raised it to 50 million – or 50.1 million shares, I should say, in the fourth quarter. Is that your purchase?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah.
BECKY QUICK: Because for a long time, you held it in your own portfolio. Why now?
WARREN BUFFETT: I've still got a little bit. But that goes back years and years and years, yeah.
BECKY QUICK: So why JP Morgan now?
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, the better question is, why we were so dumb about not buying it earlier? And the answer, I was dumb not buying it earlier. But it's a very well-managed bank. And banks are – you can find a bank like JP Morgan and Ernst, maybe 15%, maybe 17%, even, on net tangible equity. A business that earns 15% or 16% or 17% on net tangible equity, that's incredible in a world of 3% bonds. I mean, just imagine that you had a deposit account with JP Morgan that they made a mistake and they gave you 15% on it. And they couldn't redeem it. What would you sell that account for? You wouldn't sell it for 100 cents on the dollar. You wouldn't sell it for 200 cents on the dollar. You wouldn't even sell it for 300 cents on the dollar. You have an FDIC-guaranteed instrument that would now be at 300 cents on the dollar. If it was 15% on equity, you'd be earning 5% on it, which is way better than treasuries. Now, if on top of that, your deposit allows you to let your interest compound to some extent, now, that instrument becomes even worth way more. Because if you have an instrument that could compound at 15% for ten years and use the added capital, that's worth way more than three times tangible equity at current interest rates, way more. So you know, a lot of things can happen that change that equation around. And the banks, like all other American – almost all other American business – got a big plus last year with the new tax bill. I mean, corporations benefitted a lot, including Berkshire, and including the banks. That can be taken away, you know? So but on the other hand, the FDIC, now, has gotten a reply. There were special FDIC charges on the big banks. They ended here, recently. Because the FDIC has $100 billion in it now. That money has all come from the banks. The U.S. government has not put any money in the FDIC. People think that you know, that somehow, the FDIC is financed by the government. It's guaranteed by the government. But the FDIC was started in, I think, January 1, 1934. And I think, one time, it borrowed temporarily. But it doesn't have a dime of government money in it. That money – and now, they've got $100 billion in there. And the banks are much better off. Because that fund takes care of the bank here and there that goes broke. Incidentally, last year, was no bank in the United States, no FDIC bank, went broke. That's the first time in a long time.
BECKY QUICK: Let me slip in one more question, before we take a break. Oracle. That was a stake that you suddenly popped up in the third quarter, that Berkshire had $2.1 million – $2.1 billion of Oracle shares at the end of the third quarter. It went to zero at the end of the fourth quarter, which it's really unusual to see a technology company creep into the Berkshire holdings like that. And it's even more unusual to see it flushed out so quickly. Was that you?
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. And Larry Ellison's done a fantastic job with Oracle. I mean I've followed it from the standpoint of reading about it. But I felt like I didn't understand the business. Then, after I started buying it, I felt I still didn't understand the business. I actually changed my mind in terms of understanding and not in terms of evaluating it. I think, I mean, Oracle is a great business. But I don't think, particularly after my experience with IBM, I don't think I understand exactly where the cloud is going. You know, I've been amazed at what Amazon has done there. And now Microsoft is doing it as well. So I don't know where that game is going.
BECKY QUICK: That leads us to F4, which is a question from a viewer named Mark Hall, who said, "With IBM bouncing back, how do you feel about getting out?"
WARREN BUFFETT: I'm glad – we got out at a lot higher prices than this.
BECKY QUICK: And then finally –
WARREN BUFFETT: But I'm not knocking what they're – you know? But the whole market's come back. And the market's at a high. And that doesn't mean – I don't mean it's at a high, and then it's going down, subsequently. I mean that it's just higher than it's been you know, for well, really, ever. I mean, when we met here ten years ago, the Dow – the S&P was at 666 and within a day or two of when we got together. And you know, and people thought America was washed up. And you know, they were afraid of America. And what's happened? Quadruple in ten years. How many quadruples do you get in your life?
BECKY QUICK: Right. Okay, we're going to take a quick break right now. Joe, we'll send it over to you.
JOE KERNEN: All right. Thank you. Coming up much more from the oracle, Warren Buffet and this big ass Warren Buffet show we got. As we head to break, though, here's President Trump, tweeting this morning, "Oil prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax. Take it easy. The world cannot take a price hike. Fragile!" He also tweeted about Spike Lee, believe it or not and some Spike's comments yesterday. Checking crude prices, we're going to see a 2.5% drop this morning. That's pretty funny, pretty interesting, after the president tweeted. Anyway, down 2.5% on WTI. "Squawk Box" will be right back.
JOE KERNEN: Welcome back to Squawk Box. Futures continue to trade up triple digits, 140 now on the Dow Jones. The S&P will be back above 2,800, if it were to close where it is right now. Indicated premarket up 12. NASDAQ indicated up 41. Coming up, we have much more from our special guest, Warren Buffett. We'll talk about some of Berkshire's biggest holdings right after the break, so don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.
BECKY QUICK: Welcome back, everybody. We have a special guest today, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett. We've spent a lot of time this morning talking about the annual report, the economy, the markets, some of the individual stocks that you've been buying and selling. But Warren, what we haven't spent much time talking about, and we've mentioned it briefly, was just this idea of what happened with Amazon and looking for a second headquarters-- in choosing New York, initially, and then saying, 'Forget about it,' once they saw the backlash that came up. You're a company that has never really shopped around for deals like that. What do you think of companies that do get special deals from states?
JOE KERNEN: Well, I have actually helped Nebraska a few times, when the governor or somebody's asked me to call a company. And everybody does it. I mean, say-- it-- it's just -- I mean, it is a competitive game, on locations. But it-- it can be a little irritating, in a sense, when you're already here, and you're employing thousands of people, and they want to give special incentives to somebody who is and-- and which they haven't give you-- to be -- and in some cases, to be your competitor. I mean, it-- you know, Amazon's going to compete plenty in New York, regardless. But I mean, Amazon's-- it's going to affect, negatively, the business of many, many, many companies in every state, including New York. As Jeff Bezos says, you know, 'Your gross margin is my oppor | 2019-02-25T00:00:00 |
126 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/04/housing-supply-surges-in-northern-virginia.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | Housing supply surges in northern Virginia | "We only had a 1.64 month supply of homes in January 2014. This led to a lot of multiple contract situations which drove up prices, and by the time many spring sellers put their homes on the market it appears that the prices weren't able to hold, which led to higher days on market and increased inventory," said Edward Berenbaum, a Realtor in Alexandria, Virginia.
The problem, ironically, was too few listings at the beginning of the year.
A big jump in listings brought more potential buyers out to northern Virginia's housing market this summer and fall. The traffic, however, did not translate into a similar jump in sales, and homes are now sitting on the market far longer than they did just one year ago.
Inventory in October was 40 percent higher compared with a year ago, according to the northern Virginia Association of Realtors, which covers sales activity for Fairfax and Arlington counties as well as the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church. All are considered suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Days on the market rose to 53 from 35, during the same time period, and closed sales fell 6 percent.
Read MoreThe halo effect of Cleveland's comeback on housing
What is likely driving more sellers to the market is the return of both home equity and consumer confidence. Northern Virginia was hit hard during the housing crash, and home prices fell dramatically, leaving thousands of borrowers underwater on their mortgages and stuck in place. With prices higher today, and rising, more movement is possible.
"Most people take a year or so to get mentally and physically ready to put their home on the market, so I think it was the price levels in 2013 that drove the sellers to list this year," added Berenbaum.
Read MoreSan Francisco housing: Time for a correction?
The median price of a northern Virginia home increased 2.2 percent in October from a year ago, according to the NVAR. They rose over 6 percent in both 2012 and 2013. The expectation is for a price flattening this year and into 2015, but should help pull both sellers and buyers back into the market. | 2014-12-04T00:00:00 |
127 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/02/hearing-loss-drug-breakthroughs-attract-big-pharma-venture-capital.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | Breakthrough drugs offer hope for the 360 million people with hearing loss | Maybe you sat too close to those ginormous stage speakers at a Jefferson Airplane concert back in the day. Or your earbuds have been turned up way too loud for far too long. Or you're just growin' old.
Those are among the various reasons why tens of millions of people — including 15 percent of the adult population in the United States — experience hearing loss, now a public health epidemic.
Hearing aids and cochlear implants that amplify sounds are traditional, if limited, solutions, but now breakthrough medical remedies are in the works. Currently, several biotechnology companies are developing novel drug therapies that promise to actually repair inner-ear damage and restore normal hearing.
As with many of the human body's systems, from eyesight to libido, hearing naturally declines with age. But ever since the industrial revolution and the rise of clanky machines, the volume of everyday life has reached cacophonous proportions and contributed to hearing loss — and not just with old folks.
According to statistics compiled by the National Institutes of Health, about three out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. One in eight Americans (30 million) age 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears. Close to 38 million Americans age 18 and over report some trouble hearing. Worldwide, hearing loss afflicts 360 million people.
There are existing drugs for effectively treating middle-ear infections, "but nothing that works on the cochlea," said Paula Cobb, executive vice president of corporate development at Decibel Therapeutics, a Boston-based start-up launched in 2015 with $52 million in venture capital from biotech investment firm Third Rock Ventures and SR One, the VC arm of pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline .
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Cobb was referring to the very small spiral tube encased within the inner ear, which contains the nerve endings that transmit sound vibrations from the middle ear to the auditory nerve. "It's a poorly understood organ in the middle of one of the hardest bones in the body," Cobb said. Noise-induced damage to the nearly 15,000 tiny hair cells and neurons in the cochlea or to the auditory nerve is by far the leading cause of what's known as sensorineural hearing loss.
In order to develop drugs to accurately target either the auditory nerve or hair cells, Decibel's researchers delve into the anatomy of the inner ear, down to the cellular level. "If you don't do the fundamental work to understand what you're trying to achieve and actually getting the drug in there, it's shooting in the dark in terms of doing clinical development," Cobb said.
In late November, Decibel entered into a partnership with Regeneron, a biotech drug developer in Tarrytown, New York. Besides accessing Regeneron 's robust research tools, particularly in genetics, Decibel also will benefit from its financial support. Decibel, however, retains worldwide development and commercialization rights to any products discovered in the collaboration and will pay Regeneron tiered royalties based on net sales. | 2018-01-02T00:00:00 |
128 | https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/02/cramer-remix-oils-next-victim.html | ARE | Alexandria Real Estate Equities | Cramer Remix: Oil's next victim | watch now
The market turned ugly this week, as Jim Cramer saw the same elements that wreaked havoc in the past return. Once again, the strong dollar and lower oil have managed to sink stocks. "Perception always trumps reality, at least initially. Sooner or later, though, we will settle into a fact-based situation where we can try to make money off of what is actually happening, not the bogus nightmare scenarios that are so easily traced out," the "Mad Money" host said. Crude has now declined more than 20 percent from its recent highs. Cramer found it remarkable how much investors didn't care when oil plunged to $40 a barrel from $50. The entire market still moved higher as it happened. However, when oil dipped below $40 a barrel last Friday, black gold once again coupled with the averages and took stocks down. This is because of a growing belief that auto companies, which reported weak sales on Tuesday, are signaling a slowdown and the weak oil market signals the same thing, Cramer said. Where does that leave stocks? If the market is once again tied to the price of oil, Cramer expects the banks to fall next if oil continues to plummet. While he doesn't think this is a real concern, he still wants investors to be prepared if it happens.
Education Images | UIG | Getty Images
Cramer spoke with Carley Garner, a technician and commodities expert who is the co-founder of DeCarley Trading, author of "Higher Probability Commodity Trading" and Cramer's colleague at RealMoney.com. Garner found that the sell-off in oil has occurred in an orderly fashion so far, which is why the stock market ignored it and didn't fall along with it at first. However, as crude heads lower, she expects the weak-handed bulls to get washed out, crush oil and send the stock market even lower. "Once the smart money gets wiped out ... Garner thinks oil can start rallying again, which would be a welcome sign for this market," Cramer said. First, Garner said investors should brace themselves for more damage. In her experience, bottoms in oil tend to be very dramatic and painful as weak-handed bulls are flushed out. Unfortunately, she said the market hasn't seen a real washout yet. She expects oil to fall to $38.50 or even $32.50 a barrel if things get worse. She thinks it is more likely that oil will push its floor of support at $34.50 a barrel, and if it holds, then crude will rebound.
Cramer also had a memo for investors. When CEOs of major companies says the environment has become tougher, they really mean it. No, it is not just small-talk. Last week Ford Motor CEO Mark Fields acknowledged the auto industry faced a difficult environment. Ford's monthly sales numbers were released on Tuesday and indicated a 3 percent drop, even though the consensus expected only a 0.5 percent decline. As a result, Ford's stock plunged more than 4 percent. "This, to me, is where I find the obvious nature of investing so unnerving," he said.
| 2016-08-02T00:00:00 |
129 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/25/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-after-hours-meta-whr-mat.html | ALGN | Align Technology | Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Meta, Whirlpool, Mattel, Endeavor and more | Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading. ServiceNow — The workflow company jumped 4.6% in after-hours trading on better-than-expected results from its third-quarter earnings report. ServiceNow posted $2.92 per share in earnings, excluding items, higher than the $2.56 in earnings per share expected from analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. ServiceNow also posted $2.29 billion in revenue, which also surpassed analysts' expectations. IBM — The cloud and business services company's shares added 1.4% following IBM's third-quarter earnings report . IBM posted $2.20 in adjusted earnings per share, which was 7 cents higher than analysts' estimates, according to LSEG. Revenue for the quarterly period came out at $14.75 billion, also slightly higher than analysts' forecast of $14.73 billion. Meta — The Facebook parent company added 2.6% after posting a beat on earnings and revenue estimates for the third quarter. Meta posted revenue of $34.15 billion and earnings of $4.39 per share. Analysts polled by LSEG called for $33.56 billion in revenue and $3.63 in earnings per share. Align Technology — Shares of the medical device company plunged more than 22% after the closing bell. Align issued weak fourth-quarter revenue guidance, and CEO Joe Hogan noted in a statement that third-quarter results reflect lower-than-expected demand, as well as a tougher macro environment compared to the first half of the year. Align posted $2.14 in adjusted earnings per share and revenue of $960 million, missing estimates from analysts polled by LSEG. Mattel — The toymaker surprised analysts with better-than-expected earnings and profit — and also lifted its full-year earnings guidance — but saw its stock price tumble 7%. Mattel posted $1.08 per share in adjusted earnings, while analysts polled by LSEG called for 86 cents in earnings per share. Revenue came at $1.92 billion, while analysts forecast $1.84 billion . Whirlpool — The home appliance company dropped 5% after Whirlpool trimmed its earnings guidance for the full year. The company is now calling for $16 in earnings per share, compared to its earlier forecast for $16 to $18 per share. Whirlpool beat on earnings and revenue for the third quarter. Endeavor Group Holdings — Shares of the talent agency and sports company popped 24% in extended trading. Ari Emanuel, CEO of the company, said in a news release that Endeavor would evaluate strategic alternatives . The release also said Endeavor is not considering the sale of its interest in TKO Group Holdings, the merged company that includes the WWE and UFC. — CNBC's Darla Mercado and Mike Calia contributed reporting. | 2023-10-25T00:00:00 |
130 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/01/elon-musk-in-the-uk-for-ai-summit-heres-whos-goingf.html | ALGN | Align Technology | Elon Musk is in the UK for a pivotal summit on AI — here's who's going | In this article MSFT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT
X CEO Elon Musk leaves a U.S. Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 2023. Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
The U.K. kicks off its landmark artificial intelligence summit on Wednesday, with political leaders and bosses of top AI firms gathering to hash out international agreement on how to address safe and responsible development of the rapidly advancing technology. The two-day summit, which takes place on Nov. 1-2 at Bletchley Park, the iconic home of Britain's World War II codebreakers, hosts government officials and companies from around the world, including the U.S. and China, two superpowers in the race to develop cutting-edge AI technologies. It is Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's chance to make a statement to the world on the U.K.'s role in the global conversation surrounding AI, and how the technology should be regulated. Ever since the introduction of Microsoft -backed OpenAI's ChatGPT, the race toward the regulation of AI globally has intensified.
Here's who's going
Major names in the technology and political world will be there. They range from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose private jet landed in the U.K. late Tuesday, to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. Musk is attending on behalf of his AI startup xAI. You can watch the biggest talks and speeches from the summit live here. Here are the biggest names in tech and politics set to visit on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the full list of attendees and CNBC reporting: Tesla and xAI CEO Elon Musk
Microsoft President Brad Smith
Google Deepmind CEO Demis Hassabis
Meta AI chief Yann LeCun and President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg
Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Anthropic CEO Dario AmodeiRE
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
Arm CEO Rene Haas
IBM Senior Vice President Dario Gil
Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustaffson
Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff
Samsung Chief Technology Officer Cheun Kyung-whoon
Palantir CEO Alex Karp Executives from South Korean electronics giant Sony and Chinese technology Alibaba and Tencent are also expected in attendance.
Who won't be there?
Several leaders have declined to attend the summit and are instead sending representatives.
French President Emmanuel Macron. Chesnot | Getty Images News | Getty Images
They include: U.S. President Joe Biden
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
French President Emmanuel Macron
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz When asked whether Sunak feels snubbed by his international counterparts, his spokesperson told reporters Monday, "No, not at all."
What the summit seeks to address
The main objective of the U.K. AI summit is to find some level of international coordination when it comes to agreeing some principles on the ethical and responsible development of AI models. The summit is squarely focused on so-called "frontier AI" models — in other words, the advanced large language models, or LLMs, like those developed by companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. It will look to address two key categories of risk when it comes to AI: misuse and loss of control. Misuse risks involve a bad actor being aided by new AI capabilities. For example, a cybercriminal could use AI to develop a new type of malware that cannot be detected by security researchers, or be used to help state actors develop dangerous bioweapons. Loss of control risks refer to a situation in which the AI that humans create could be turned against them. This could "emerge from advanced systems that we would seek to be aligned with our values and intentions," the government said.
Will it succeed?
Sunak is walking a tightrope, as he seeks to boost investment from large tech firms in the U.K., while also convincing civil society groups that he is paying enough attention to the labor displacement risks posed by AI. Of particular concern is the potential for the technology to replace — or undermine — human intelligence. Ahead of the summit, more than 100 organizations, including the Trades Union Congress, Connected by Data and Open Rights Group signed a letter to the PM warning that the summit is a "closed door event" that is dominated by Big Tech firms and has "squeezed out" small businesses and artists.
watch now | 2023-11-01T00:00:00 |
131 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/100187350 | ALGN | Align Technology | Movers roundup: Vivus, Align Technology | Among the stock activity stories for Thursday, Oct. 18, from AP Business News:
_ Shares of Vivus Inc. fell after an analyst said Wall Street may be over-estimating gains from initial sales of the drug developer's obesity treatment Qsymia.
_ Shares of Align Technology Inc. fell as the maker of the Invisalign clear braces system offered soft outlooks for its third and fourth quarters.
_ Shares of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. climbed after the company said a Food and Drug Administration panel recommended that its cholesterol disorder drug lomitapide be approved. | 2012-10-18T00:00:00 |
132 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/20/tech-experts-react-to-a-chaotic-weekend-for-openai-and-microsoft.html | ALGN | Align Technology | 'Damage control': Tech industry reacts to a chaotic weekend for OpenAI and Microsoft | The past few days have been chaotic for the AI industry, with technology experts weighing what this could mean for the nascent sector and some of its key players.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT which launched artificial intelligence into the mainstream late last year, said Friday that it was removing its CEO Sam Altman and making its technology chief Mira Murati interim chief executive in his place.
But before the weekend was even over, OpenAI appeared to change course, announcing that former Twitch chief Emmett Shear would take over from Altman instead, at least on a temporary basis.
Ilya Sutskever, one of the OpenAI board members who was involved in Altman's ousting, said he "deeply" regretted his role in the board's actions. Sutskever "never intended to harm OpenAI" and would work to "reunite the company," he said in a social media post Monday.
Meanwhile, Altman himself has already found a fresh role leading a new advanced AI research team at Microsoft, where he will be joined by former OpenAI Board Chair Greg Brockman and several other employees.
But Altman's move could simply be a case of "damage control" for Microsoft, according to Richard Windsor, founder of digital research company Radio Free Mobile. This is linked to Microsoft's immense investments in OpenAI, he said Monday on CNBC's "Street Signs Europe."
Microsoft did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the statement.
Microsoft began investing in OpenAI as early as 2019, initially with around $1 billion. That figure has ballooned since to an amount reported to be closer to $13 billion. Microsoft has also integrated OpenAI's technologies in products like search engine Bing and various other software.
"A large amount of that value is tied up in the founders and in the engineers that are inside the company," Windsor said.
Rishi Jaluria, managing director for software equity research at RBC Capital Markets, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Monday that Altman aligns with Microsoft's AI vision.
"The vison that Sam Altman has is kind of the vision Microsoft wants," including commercializing and "having responsible AI but not handcuffing AI," he said.
Meanwhile, other tech experts have been backing Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's swift move to hire Altman in-house. | 2023-11-20T00:00:00 |
133 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/30/buy-this-dental-stock-that-can-rally-more-than-20percent-hsbc-says.html | ALGN | Align Technology | Buy this dental stock that can rally more than 20%, HSBC says | HSBC thinks there's a big market share opportunity for Invisalign maker Align Technology due to strong brand awareness despite increasing competition. Analyst Sidharth Sahoo initiated the stock with a buy rating. His $450 price target suggests 22% upside from where shares closed Tuesday. The stock has already popped more than 74% year to date. "We like Align's exposure to the higher growth orthodontic case starts market, which it estimates will grow at a 15-20% [compound annual growth rate]. We think Align can continue to grow its market share from c.10% of c.21m annual orthodontic case starts currently," Sahoo said in a Wednesday note. He continued, "Its strong brand presence along with the significant growth opportunity to gain share amongst teens and expand the market for digital orthodontics, especially among adults, looks attractive to us." Since dental procedures are mostly an out-of-pocket expense, consumer confidence is a key factor when valuing the sector. The analyst noted that the overall dental market is underpenetrated, with an addressable size of about $20 billion and a solid growth profile. Increasing digital adoption by customers has helped Align during the Covid-19 pandemic, and further applications will help it expand its consumer base. Aging demographics and consumer spending patterns are additional drivers of growth in the mid- to long term, Sahoo noted. Shares added 2.5% Wednesday before the bell. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. | 2023-08-30T00:00:00 |
134 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/21/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-after-hours-tesla-peloton.html | ALGN | Align Technology | Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Tesla, Peloton, Align & more | Check out the companies making headlines after hours Wednesday.
Tesla — The electric car maker's stock popped 3% after Tesla reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations at 76 cents per share and $8.77 billion, respectively. The profit results represent Tesla's fifth consecutive quarter of positive earnings, the result of a record 139,300 delivered vehicles in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Chipotle Mexican Grill — The burrito chain saw its stock drop more than 5% in after-hours trading after the company said a shift to delivery orders ballooned costs and led to reduced drink sales in the third quarter. Chipotle topped profit expectations with per-share earnings of $3.76, but its net income fell to $80.2 million from $98.6 million in the year-ago period.
Las Vegas Sands — Shares of Las Vegas Sands rose about 5% in after-hours trading after the casino operator posted a smaller-than-expected loss for the third quarter and revenues larger than Wall Street's consensus estimate. It reported a third-quarter loss of 67 cents per share on revenues of $586 million. Analysts had expected a loss per share of 73 cents on revenues of $579 million.
Align Technology — Shares of Align, the company that owns Invisalign teeth aligners, soared more than 20% after the bell thanks to better-than-expected shipments of its clear aligners in the third quarter. Align reported a profit of $2.25 per share, far exceeding consensus estimates of less than $1.
Peloton — Shares of the exercise equipment company shed 3% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. While Goldman analyst Heath Terry said he's still optimistic in Peloton in the longer term, he advised clients to steer clear of the richly-valued equity over the next few months as investors have already pushed its price up more than 330% in 2020.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world. | 2020-10-21T00:00:00 |
135 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/14/ethereum-co-founder-on-sec-crypto-crackdown-clear-heads-will-prevail.html | ALGN | Align Technology | Ethereum co-founder says 'clear heads will prevail' in the SEC's legal battles with crypto firms | The co-founder of Ethereum, Joseph Lubin, said "clear heads will prevail" as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continues to dispute with crypto firms in court over whether crypto tokens are considered securities.
"I anticipate that, with previous technologies like the internet, the web and cryptography, clear heads will prevail," Lubin told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Thursday.
"America will see that decentralized protocols, blockchain, cryptocurrency are aligned with the philosophies of the U.S. And I think much of the rest of the world will follow suit," said Lubin, who is also the CEO of blockchain technology company ConsenSys.
Crypto firms such as Binance, Coinbase and Ripple are fighting lawsuits with the SEC, which has accused them of law violations.
The SEC sued Ripple and its co-founders in 2020 of violating securities laws by selling its native cryptocurrency XRP without first registering it with the SEC. Meanwhile, the SEC accused Coinbase of operating an unregistered exchange and broker in June. In the same month, Binance was charged for several securities law violations. | 2023-09-14T00:00:00 |
136 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/15/joel-greenblatt-says-he-likes-booking-thinks-align-is-too-expensive.html | ALGN | Align Technology | Value investor Joel Greenblatt says he likes Booking Holdings, thinks Align is too expensive | Value investor and Gotham Funds co-chief investment officer Joel Greenblatt told CNBC that he likes online travel company Booking Holdings and remains short medical device maker Align Technology .
The longtime value investor said that while concerns over competition from Google and Airbnb are reasonable, Booking's cheaper price and solid growth in earnings and sales are enough to make a compelling investment idea.
"This is a network type of business where you're getting it at a 40% discount to the S&P," Greenblatt said on "The Exchange" on Monday. "It's an asset-light, cash flow machine. It's in a very good business, it's essentially in a duopoly with Expedia."
Greenblatt added that the company — which operates sites including Booking.com, OpenTable and Kayak — has been active in buying back its outstanding equity, repurchasing about 8% in 2018. Booking generates more than half of its sales outside the U.S.
Shares of Booking Holdings, though up nearly 7% in 2019, are still underperforming the broader stock market over a slew of timelines. Its stock is down more than 11% over the last 12 months versus the S&P 500's 9% gain. Expedia, on the other hand, is up 16.5% over the last year.
The founder of Gotham Capital famously had annual returns of 40 percent from 1985 to 2005 and authored New York Times best-seller "The Little Book That Still Beats the Market."
On the other hand, Greenblatt doubled down on his short thesis on Invisalign company, Align. He argued that while the business itself isn't problematic, the current price people have to pay for the stock appears lofty given recent patent expiration.
"A lot of their patents started coming off in 2017, there's a lot of competition coming into the business. And at 50% discounts to the cost of their stuff," he said. "So really not a good — I mean, it's a great business, but there's not a good case at this valuation level to be excited about it."
The stock is up more than 11% over the last 12 months. Greenblatt said that the stock is current trading at more than 100 times free cash flow, giving it one of the highest valuations in the S&P 500. | 2019-04-15T00:00:00 |
137 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/27/align-technology-2017-top-performer-on-sp-500.html | ALGN | Align Technology | The best-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year was the company behind Invisalign clear braces | Invisalign clear aligners have been used by millions of patients for orthodontic treatment.
It wasn't a big five tech firm, a retailer that accepts bitcoin payments, or a studio releasing a new "Star Wars" movie. The top-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year was , the company behind Invisalign "clear braces." Based in San Jose, California, Align has been slowly and steadily replacing metal braces with its removable Invisalign inserts over the years. The clear aligners are custom-made for patients using 3-D imaging software and the company's SmartTrack plastics. Align's stock price has increased about 125 percent over the past year, opening at $98.71 on Dec. 27, 2016, and at $223.22 on Wednesday. DataTrek Research co-founder Nick Colas said: "It seems to be the perfect product story for the selfie generation. Who wants crooked teeth in an Instagram post?"
watch now
Besides the demand of a selfie-ready generation, what drove investors to Align? Orthodontists' increasing confidence in the company's technology was a key metric for Jeffrey D. Johnson, a senior research analyst in the medical technology group at Robert W. Baird & Co. He upgraded Align to a buy rating early this year when he noticed orthodontists increasingly chose Invisalign over metal braces. "We've seen a maturation of Invisalign's clear aligners over the past decade," he said. "They went from a product that was passable for some patients but not good for all back in 2011, to a product that by mid-2016, had orthodontists saying 'I can use this technology in most cases.'" Johnson's own teenage daughter has begun using Invisalign, he said, and he feels grateful she can remove the dental inserts before her potentially injurious soccer games, or for that matter pizza dinners. DataTrek's Colas noted that Align's stock got a 10 percent bump when it was added to the Nasdaq 100 in October. "That shows the importance of already strong performers being added to major market indices," he wrote in an email to CNBC. The company is not without challengers. Align clashed over patents with 3Shape, Clear Correct and Your Smile Direct this year. And recently, some of Align's patents expired. Start-ups such as Candid and Smile Direct Club have cropped up to compete in the U.S. market as well. They let patients skip the orthodontist visit, sending a "kit" to customers at home, which they can use to make a model of their teeth. Customers send the models back to the companies, and an orthodontist in the back office takes a look to determine if their issues can be addressed with their brand of plastic aligners.
It seems to be the perfect product story for the selfie generation. Who wants crooked teeth in an Instagram post? Nick Colas co-founder, DataTrek Research | 2017-12-27T00:00:00 |
138 | https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/06/prague-institute-of-crypto-anarchy-plotting-to-bring-down-the-dollar-.html | ALGN | Align Technology | Inside Prague's Institute of Crypto Anarchy — where they're plotting to bring down the dollar | Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards ETHPrague 2023 was held at Paralelní Polis in the Czech Republic. Pavel Sinagl
PRAGUE — In 2007, a group of Czech guerrilla artists scaled a transmitter tower belonging to the country's national television station and hacked into a live webcam of the Krkonoše mountain range typically used during the weather segment. In the midst of a live broadcast on June 17 of that year, the rebel collective — dubbed Ztohoven — faked a nuclear bomb detonation. Viewers watched as a camera shot panning across the landscape flashed white and revealed a mushroom cloud in the distance, reminiscent of a war-era newsreel threatening Armageddon. The stunt was a signature move for the consortium of Bohemian subversives, one among many disruptive pranks over the course of decades designed to provoke onlookers and foster a sense of resistance and revolt against prescribed societal norms. Ztohoven has since added the banner of crypto anarchy to its mantle, embracing the hackers and provocateurs who helped mobilize the movement since its inception. Today, that union of minds finds refuge in Prague in a retrofitted factory building called Paralelní Polis, or "parallel world." The name pays homage to Czech philosopher and dissident, Václav Benda, who coined the phrase in the 1970s as a way to describe an emerging underground counterculture quietly subverting the ruling communist regime. Ztohoven's parallel world offers a different kind of anarchy. The space functions as a living example of how the world could look — a crucible for decentralized and defiant technologies designed to operate beyond the reach of governments, laws, and central banks. It's a place where cryptography replaces control, cryptocurrency supplants fiat, and controversial concepts aren't just discussed, but are lived ideologies binding people together. For more than two years, Dan Ligocký has been working from Polis three to five days a week. Ligocký, who is an event producer with deep ties to the ethereum community, tells CNBC that the space has served as a catalyst for innovation and the exploration of decentralized technologies. "Its commitment to privacy, freedom, and self-sovereignty aligns with the core principles of the Web3 movement," continued Ligocký. "We're here to support the ecosystem and are open to collaborating with anyone whose ethos aligns with ours." Indeed, the vast factory-turned-forum pulses with the collective energy of digital rights activists, privacy-obsessed cypherpunks, and crypto-faithful ideologues. Its diverse denizens ranging from transient visitors like the Czech prince William Lobkowicz, to ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Polis is a place where technology, philosophy, and activism converge.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin speaks at ETHPrague 2023 Photo: Pavel Sinagl
A tale of two castles
The Czech Republic's den of crypto anarchy sits in the heart of Holešovice — a district bound by the left bank of the Vltava River to the east and Letná Hill to the west. The neighborhood was once the epicenter of industrial Prague, synonymous with slaughterhouses and steam mills, but today is home to art galleries and ateliers. At the opposite end of the city in a district called Hradčany — about three-and-a-half miles south-west of Polis — is a 750,000 square foot castle complex that appears frozen in a Renaissance-era alternate dimension. Its imposing Gothic spires loom over the Czech capital — a vestige of a time when inherited nobility meant something quite different to the people of Prague.
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Private dinner held with coders and crypto enthusiasts at the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague MacKenzie Sigalos | CNBC
Once the seat of Bohemian kings and Holy Roman emperors, Czech presidents now occupy the castle complex — a sprawling mass of palaces, churches, towers, hidden passageways, and gardens. Two young nobles, William and Ileana Lobkowicz, sometimes hold crypto-centric events there. Neither live at the palace, but they use the stately halls and manors once inhabited by their ancestors for industry working groups on digital assets. A multi-day annual conference called Non-Fungible Castle is their banner event, and the siblings have also spent the last few years tinkering with using NFTs as a way to fund restoration projects — an ambition that appears to have faded during the bear market as NFT sales and prices plummet. This summer, however, the Lobkowicz family expanded their crypto outreach efforts by hosting some of the most established coders in the ethereum ecosystem for a one-day working session. The workshops were followed by a private tour of the castle and a multi-course gala dinner in the Imperial Hall at Lobkowicz Palace — an event where the conversation effortlessly shifted from Europe's groundbreaking new crypto law to the convergence of generative AI and blockchain tech.
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Private dinner held with coders and crypto enthusiasts at the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague MacKenzie Sigalos | CNBC
The easiest way to get to the palace from Polis is to walk three minutes to the Maniny station, where Tram 25 stops every ten minutes before sweeping passengers up the hill to Prašný Most, which borders the castle grounds. The intricate web of trolley rails traces Prague's cobblestoned streets, a pattern of steel tracks etched into the old-world urban landscape, while the stoic steel and glass trams serve as a moving tableau of life in Prague. Although only 25 minutes apart, the two locations represent the split personality of the Czech people. One side is the storybook Prague most people associate with the city — soaring towers, grand chandeliers, and original frescoes. The other is the secret Bohemian underground that has spent decades thwarting authoritarian regimes. For centuries, the Czech capital has been caught between historic powers with a bent toward world domination, which has helped the populace develop a thick skin and the knowhow to fight back against the world's biggest villains.
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Private dinner held with coders and crypto enthusiasts at the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague MacKenzie Sigalos | CNBC
"Czechs are naturally skeptical of authority, a result of the tough 20th century during which Czechs experienced monarchy, Nazi occupation, and communist rule," said Josef Tětek, a crypto economist and bitcoin analyst at hardware wallet provider, Trezor. "A prime example of this skepticism is the fact that the Czech Republic never adopted the euro, even though it has been a member of the European Union since 2004," Tětek added. Call it the ultimate anti-fairytale. In this story, the main character isn't a prince in a high castle, but a decentralized collective of shadowy coders and hackers living in pockets across Prague who sometimes converge on Polis to swap trade secrets and sound a call to action. The dark stucco of Polis' Prague headquarters is an outlier among the ornate, brightly-colored buildings that tower over it. The interior of this deceptively nondescript structure is a honeycomb of winding, labyrinthine corridors and castle-like passageways that stretch endlessly higher and deeper into its fortress-like belly.
ETHPrague 2023 was held at Paralelní Polis in the Czech Republic Pavel Sinagl
The 'parallel world' concept is sticky. Franchises of Polis have sprung up in Vienna, Barcelona, and two Slovak cities — a testament to the enduring allure of anarchy. The Vienna branch goes so far as to self-describe as a living example of how "the Paralelní Polis cryptoliberation virus is spreading." These hubs share certain physical features — there are co-working tables for hire, conference halls for hackathons and blockchain-specific meet-ups, as well as spaces dedicated to experimental tech, where you can dabble with 3D printing and laser cuts. In addition to hosting regular bitcoin and ethereum meetups, the Bratislava chapter also holds sessions dedicated to biohacking — or augmenting the human body with tech custom-engineered to create a new breed of superhumans. On the other side of Slovakia, in Košice, the Polis offers formal lectures and technical support, where locals can drop by for impromptu consultations on how blockchain and cryptocurrencies can support their business. Another common fixture across these chapters is the so-called Institute of Cryptoanarchy, a sort of sub-franchise that provides free educational resources and classes to people keen to learn more about the unregulated internet, as well as the anonymous tools — blockchain-based virtual currencies and anti-spyware encryption protocols — that can help power a decentralized economy.
ETHPrague 2023 was held at Paralelní Polis in the Czech Republic Pavel Sinagl
The crypto schooling helps with spurring adoption and enlisting more troops to the cause. Today's enemy is a little different than the communist and Nazi occupiers of the 20th century. Instead of a military-powered regime, these coders see their rival as a more insidious villain. The Austrian hub characterizes the threat not as a "distant dictatorial world," but as the way current governments attempt to control the flow of information. "States and their security agencies globally control access to information and use the protection of intellectual property as an excuse to apply total censorship to control the available resources," reads part of the mission statement on their website.
Crypto fans descend on Prague
As the U.S. crypto scene is imploding and companies dealing in digital assets face growing scrutiny from regulators, much of the developer community has flocked to international tech hubs like the Czech Republic to seek like-minded coders with a view to stick it to the man — or to at least steer clear of the establishment. One reason why Prague has become the center of gravity for the industry has to do with its roots in the Austrian school of economics, a concept born out of 19th-century Vienna that remains quite popular in the Czech Republic today. Carl Menger and Friedrich Hayek helped birth this particular brand of classical economic liberalism — not to be confused with the American concept of political liberalism. It holds independent individuals acting in their best economic self-interest is the optimal way to run a society and create a thriving economy, rather than centralized control or the heavy hand of state intervention.
ETHPrague 2023 was held at Paralelní Polis in the Czech Republic Pavel Sinagl
"Adherents of this school of thought have been writing articles and books on bitcoin for the Czech audience since 2016," Tětek told CNBC, who went on to note some of the natural synergies between bitcoin believers and economists schooled in Austrian economics. "The Austrian school is very compatible with bitcoin adoption," he said. "A central aspect is the call for a separation of money and state." Adherents of both worlds do not think the Federal Reserve can rescue the economy. Tětek added that bitcoin as an alternative independent monetary instrument thrives in this environment. It helps that Prague has a long track record of drawing the sector's top talent. The Czech capital is home to the world's first hardware wallet and the first bitcoin mining pool. Bitcoin is accepted in Alza, one of the largest retail chains in the country, as well as in hundreds of other smaller businesses. The city also plays host to major international conferences drawing thousands to Bohemia each year. "Overall, the bitcoin community in the Czech Republic is very strong, especially when measured per-capita," said Tětek. "There are around 10 million Czech speakers. The most popular Czech bitcoin YouTuber boasts 90k subscribers, while the annual Czech-only bitcoin conference called Chaincamp attracts around 2000 visitors, even during the bear market."
ETHPrague 2023 was held at Paralelní Polis in the Czech Republic Pavel Sinagl
"Czechs are natural-born tinkerers; the early bitcoin projects such as Trezor and General Bytes emerged in the Prague hacker scene," said Tětek, who has a background in Austrian economics and political philosophy. General Bytes is one of the larger bitcoin and crypto ATM manufacturers, which also provides software for Bitcoin ATM operators. This summer, ETHPrague and BTCPrague held major summits in the capital over the same one-week window. The ethereum event organizers rented out space from Polis, while the bitcoiners descended on Prague's jumbo-sized expo center at the outskirts of town. BTCPrague talked a big game on event stats — 100+ speakers across four stages, 100+ companies and open-source projects at the expo, and 10,000+ attendees from all across Europe and beyond. While the venue was sprawling and packed on its first day, CNBC cannot independently confirm attendance numbers. Some of the most notable names in the bitcoin ecosystem were there, including Microstrategy's Michael Saylor, suspected Satoshi cryptographer and cypherpunk Adam Back, and best-selling economist and author Saifedean Ammous.
BTCPrague 2023 was held at the expo hall in the outskirts of the Czech capital CNBC
Ancillary events complementing the dual crypto conferences took place across the city. One was hosted in the private dining room of a steakhouse in Old Town where the merits of bitcoin — and its imminent threats — were debated until midnight. One point in contention: Whether Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler is a closeted bitcoin maximalist, given it is the one digital asset that he has explicitly omitted from his concerted campaign to police and dismantle the ecosystem. Meanwhile, ethereum enthusiasts descended on a modern houseboat in Holešovice for a beer tasting by the Czech Craft brewery Václav, where the Czech classic 12° Pils Vaclav and the buttery IPA 17° Sexy Hafanana were both on tap. Another side event took place one morning at Trezor's office, a modest space in the SatoshiLabs building located in a remote, residential suburb two miles north-east of Polis. The session included some of Prague's top bitcoin founders — Matěj Žák, the CEO of Trezor; Jan Čapek, co-founder of Braiins, which proclaims to be the first company to introduce the concept of bitcoin mining pools; Christoph Kassas of General Bytes; and prominent Bitcoin YouTuber Jakub Vejmola. The discussion was more of a lecture-style format, with each of the leaders talking about current expansion efforts during the bear market. The Braiins team also spoke about how they are bracing for imminent regulation in the space. The team described a protocol in development now that would make it so that pools are not capable of choosing the transactions that comprise each block — that way, they would avoid being blamed for violating any impending rules from the U.S. Treasury restricting the exchange of cryptocurrency. "This extension to the protocol is essentially managed so that miners can choose their own work templates being approved by the pool, but then basically, the pool as a legal entity is out of the game, in terms of not being responsible for selecting the transaction," explained Čapek. A look around the room revealed an audience of a couple dozen people, filled with some of today's most influential bitcoiners, including technologist and software engineer Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk and co-founder of bitcoin security provider Casa, as well as the popular podcast hosts Stephan Livera and hedge fund manager-turned-bitcoiner Robert Breedlove. Across town at Polis, Duct Tape Production put on ETHPrague with the support of sponsors like the Ethereum Foundation.
ETHPrague 2023 was held at Paralelní Polis in the Czech Republic Pavel Sinagl
The multi-day conference drew in the most influential thinkers in the space — including Buterin, one of the most prominent coders on the planet, and Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave and Lens. Programming consisted of a mix of lectures and panels on everything from MiCA and self-regulation within decentralized finance, to the nuances of layer two protocols being built on top of ethereum. These working sessions brought together technologists, lawyers, and politicians from across the continent to discuss next steps for the industry. "I was genuinely surprised at how helpful and friendly the participants were, how much altruism and reciprocity could be felt in their views and presentations, and the fact that they are close to the 'build homes, not empires' vision," said Ondrej Polak, executive director of the newly-founded Czech Blockchain Association, who also describes himself as a practicing technology optimist and AI advocate.
ETHPrague 2023 was held at Paralelní Polis in the Czech Republic Pavel Sinagl
Ligocky had a similar reaction to ETHPrague, saying it reaffirmed his belief that "the future of the internet is being reshaped by a vibrant global community of visionaries, developers, and entrepreneurs." "The sense of community and shared purpose was truly inspiring, as we collectively strive to unlock the limitless possibilities that lie ahead in this decentralized frontier," continued Ligocky. "ETHPrague is just the beginning," he said, adding that they're working on more events across Europe for teams that share the same vision. | 2023-08-06T00:00:00 |
139 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/33741038 | LNT | Alliant Energy | Week Ahead: Stocks Search for Catalyst in Quiet Week | Stocks shook off a two-week losing streak in the past week, with the Dow gaining 3.2 percent to 10,023. The S&P 500 was up 3.2 percent to 1069. The dollar was weaker against a basket of currencies and down 0.9 percent against the euro to a level of $1.4845 per euro. Oil was up 0.8 percent for the week to $77.65, but gold was the standout, finishing the week at a record $1095.10 per troy ounce, a gain of 5.3 per cent.
Traders say they expect intra-day volatility to continue, but the stock market is calmer than it was at the start of the week. For one, Wednesday's Fed statement reassured investors that the Fed would hold rates at extreme lows for some time, maintaining a positive environment for equities for now. They also point to the market's ability Friday to make small gains after the October employment report showed a surprise jump in unemployment to 10.2 percent.
"I think we're going higher," said Andrew Burkly, technical strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. "We took our rating down a couple of weeks ago, and said we think we'd see between 1130 and 1040 (on the S&P 500). We tested the low end of that banner at 1040 and we're on our way back up."
Burkly and other analysts said the market is hyper sensitive to economic news. "The big battle right now is that people are just concerned about how sustainable the recovery is going to be," he said. "...Trading is definitely going to be pretty volatile. It's a pretty wide range we're using. I think we're going to sees that back and forth a couple times over the next couple of months."
PNC's Bill Stone said he remains "cautiously optimistic," but he agrees its the data that will drive the market for now as investors search for signs the recovery is sound. "What are the markets watching for? ... Indications the consumer might be coming back, and the second one is jobs."
"We still believe as this "less down is the new up" employment trend continues, we will finally see positive employment growth in the first quarter of next year. This should support our case for the sustained economic recovery and stock prices," he said in a quick note after Friday's jobs report.
Raymond James chief investment strategist Jeffrey Saut said he was hoping the market would have pulled back further to provide a buying opportunity. "I do think we're going to be higher. I do think earnings are going to keep coming in better than most people think, and the carrot before the horse for underinvested portfolio managers is going to be those earnings," he said. Saut has a target of 1200 to 1250 on the S&P, the level it was at before Lehman failed in September, 2008.
Saut said one of his favorite indicators is showing a positive trend for stocks. "The number of stocks above their 50-day moving average went from 90 percent in September to 32 percent. Even without having any big correction, you have corrected some of the excesses," he said. | 2009-11-06T00:00:00 |
140 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/18455980 | LNT | Alliant Energy | Ahold Agrees to Sell U.S. Foodservice Unit for $7.1 Billion | Royal Ahold, the Netherlands-based operator of Giant, Stop & Shop and other grocery chains, said Wednesday it agreed to sell distributor U.S. Foodservice to a consortium of private-equity firms for $7.1 billion.
The sale cuts ties between Ahold and the subsidiary whose accounting scandal caused it to overstate earnings by around $1 billion from 1999 through 2002, pushing it to the brink of bankruptcy. Ahold has gradually returned to firm financial footing by refinancing and selling assets.
Several U.S. Foodservice managers were convicted of fraud in the scandal, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused 30 more people of signing false audit statements.
Ahold said the transaction with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund VII LP and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is expected to close in the second half of 2007, pending customary conditions, including antitrust clearance and shareholder approval.
Ahold's board is asking shareholders to approve the sale at a special meeting scheduled for June 19.
"I am extremely pleased to be able to announce that we have reached this important milestone for U.S. Foodservice, for Ahold and for our shareholders. We have focused on restructuring U.S. Foodservice, strengthening its capabilities and restoring profitability," said President and Chief Executive Anders Moberg.
U.S. Foodservice, the second-largest food distributor in the United States, distributes bulk food to cafeterias in schools, prisons and hospitals. It reported 2006 net sales of $19.2 billion, Ahold said. Sales in the fourth quarter were up 5.1%, and operating profit was $81 million, back in the black after a year of restructuring.
Flurry of Buyouts
The purchase of U.S. Foodservice is the latest in a flurry of buyouts by private-equity firms in the past year, including the $45 billion takeover of energy provider TXU by TPG and the $25 billion purchase of Sallie May by J.C. Flowers & Co. and three other investors.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, founded in 1978, has a long history in food distribution. It acquired United Kingdom-based distributor Brakes Group in 2002 and controlled another U.S. distributor, Alliant Exchange, for six years before selling it to Ahold in 2001.
CDR bought Lawn care and pest control provider ServiceMaster in March and partnered with Carlyle Group and other investors to buy rental-car giant Hertz in December.
Officials with CDR and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said they planned no major changes in the operation of U.S. Foodservice or its executive structure.
"We and our partners at CD&R look forward to working with the company's management team, which has done an excellent job of refocusing the business in recent years, to continue executing the strategic initiatives in place," KKR member Michael Calbert said in a statement.
Said Robert Aiken, president of Columbia, Md.-based U.S. Foodservice: "We are pleased to be partnering with two outstanding firms - two of the oldest private-equity firms in the business - which have a great understanding of our industry, from both a financial and operating standpoint."
Ahold, which holds its annual meeting Thursday, is one of the world's largest grocery retailers and a leading supermarker retailer in the U.S. Its shares that trade in the U.S. rose 92 cents, or 7.2%, to $13.65 Wednesday. | 2007-05-03T00:00:00 |
141 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/20359398 | LNT | Alliant Energy | Fast Money Fall Forecast: What To Watch | The credit concerns aren’t going away, Guy Adami says, but he thinks the market will have “priced it out” by the fall.
October is traditionally a big month of financial upheaval, Jeff Macke says. In the long run, the market will be fine but “brace yourself [for] a bumpy fall,” he says. Guy Adami thinks global strength will lift the U.S. economy and “take us through.” Watch for the credit story to become much larger on a global scale, Tim Seymour says. WHAT TO WATCH: BACK-TO-SCHOOL:
What’s Your Retail Trade As Kids and College Students Return To School? The back-to-school season is the second biggest cycle for retail after Christmas. The consumer isn’t looking that great, says Jeff Macke, but there are still trades in this crucial time period. He would buy McDonald’s (MCD) long term on the dips and Dillard’s (DDS), which he thinks has been way too high for too long and is now coming down to levels where investors can start adding it as another long term play. Fall doesn’t just mean back-to-school. It’s also means football. Pete Najarian thinks Under Armour (UA) is a buy on the football season and he also likes Electronic Arts (ERTS) for its rich video game pipeline.
WHAT TO WATCH: DRUG STOCKS:
Should You Expect Biotech Shares to Make a Comeback This Fall? When it comes to biotech, autumn is huge because that’s when the lion’s share of the conferences are held. For two decades, according to The Wall Street Journal, most biotech returns have occurred in the autumn months. The conferences produce news – and news is where stock price action lives. There are four major conferences this fall: the European Society of Cardiology, the American Neurological Association, the American Association for the Study of Liver Seases and the American College of Rheumatology. Biotech and Big Pharma companies also have a slew of drugs they anticipate releasing in the coming months: Merck (MRK) has Isentress, an AIDS drug; Novartis (NVS) has Prexige, a pain medicine; Biogen (BIIB) has Tysabri for Crohn’s Disease; Pfizer (PFE) has Lyrica for pain; and Genentech (DNA) has Herceptin for breast cancer. Of all these potential plays, Pete Najarian thinks Biogen stands out as “long and strong” in part because it managed to weather the recent market volatility.
WHAT TO WATCH: OIL & ENERGY:
What Are Your Best Oil and Energy Trades Heading Into Autumn? Tim Seymour doesn’t think the supply & demand cycle has changed much, and oil will likely continue to trade on supply disruptions like hurricanes. Oil is also a fiscal trade on a weak dollar, he says. Don’t forget about coal, Pete Najarian says – and by extension, the railroads. “Coal is not dead yet.”
WHAT TO WATCH: DEFENSE:
What’s Your Defense Trade Ahead of Much-Anticipated Iraq War Update This Fall? Regardless of what happens in the Iraq War or who occupies the White House next fall, defense spending isn’t going anywhere, Guy Adami says. His picks in the sector are Lockheed Martin (LMT), General Dynamics (GD), L – 3 Communications (LLL) and, his old favorite, Boeing (BA). Jeff Macke recommends another long-term favorite, Alliant Tech (ATK). Pete Najarian thinks investors could get long Titanium Metals (TIE), which is involved in all the sectors of the defense complex.
WHAT TO WATCH: THE WORLD:
Which Global Market Catalysts and Events Should You Be Watching This Fall? The big thing to watch is the Fed meeting on Sept. 18. Guy Adami strongly believes the Fed will cut. It’s an “easy call,” he says. And when that happens, the U.S. dollar will drop and gold will spike. A Fed cut isn’t a sure thing, Jeff Macke says. Fed futures don’t mean anything and the Fed is showing us that it has more tools than just a rate cut at its disposal. Tim Seymour will be watching a less-hyped event: the Argentinean elections in October. Argentina is a country with a terrible credit story, he says, and its political calendar will be somewhat of a litmus test to see how investors come back into emerging markets.
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Got something to say? Send us an e-mail at [email protected] and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap! Prefer to keep it between us? You can still send questions and comments to [email protected].
Trader disclosure: On the date of taping, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders: Seymour Owns (AAPL), (TWX), (INTC), Is Short (MS); Macke Owns (EMC), (INTC), (ATVI), (DIS); NBC Universal is the Parent Company of CNBC | 2007-08-27T00:00:00 |
142 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/19835696 | ALL | Allstate | Allstate Revenue Rises, but Earnings Miss Expectations | But Allstate, the No. 2 writer of auto policies in the U.S. (after mutually-owned State Farm), posted quarterly revenue that beat Wall Street views: $9.455 billion versus the $9.005 billion that analysts had predicted.
In an interview with CNBC, Thomas J. Wilson, president and chief executive officer of Allstate, maintained that “We had a great quarter."
He explained, "We give analysts our expectations of what our combined ratio is, a measure of profitability that excludes catastrophes and prior year reserve releases. On that basis, we had the most successful quarter we’ve had in a long time, right at the top end of our expectations.”
"Our average prices are flat from last year and that’s pretty much what you see in the industry," the CEO said. "…Our average price is flat this year vs. last year.”
Wilson reassured investors who may be concerned with Allstate's exposure to low rated bonds, particularly in the subprime mortgage market. He said the firm has a mere “$5 billion invested in that segment, out of about $122 billion" total investments.
"Of that $5 billion, over 93% of it is in the top two credit quality sectors, and so we’re in very good shape in that segment. We don’t expect it to have any impact in any meaningful way on our portfolio." | 2007-07-18T00:00:00 |
143 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/43969643 | ALL | Allstate | What's On: AllState, Humana, Loews and the Debt Ceiling | Here's what's up on Monday's Squawk on the Street:
--We're kicking off another week full of corporate results. On the docket: AllState, Humana and Loews. Jim Cramer, the Mad Money man, will be all over it.
--We'll also look at the state of retail real estate as numbers from Boston Properties come out.
--Then of course the latest on the debt ceiling debate. We have quite a roster of Republicans and Democrats lined up and ready to go.
Today's Street Poll asks if you think the United States needs a balanced budget amendment? Share your opinion.
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Squawk on the Street comes to you live from the New York Stock Exchange each weekday morning at 9 a.m. ET. | 2011-08-01T00:00:00 |
144 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/40148578 | ALL | Allstate | BRIEF-RESEARCH ALERT-UBS removes short term buy rating on Allstate | Nov 12 (Reuters) - Allstate Corp: * UBS removes short term buy rating on Allstate Corp For a summary of rating and price target changes on S&P 500 companies: Reuters 3000Xtra users, double-click Reuters Station users, click .1568 Reuters Plus users search on RCH/US For a summary of rating and price target changes on non-S&P 500 companies: Reuters 3000Xtra users, double-click Reuters Station users, click .2102 Reuters Plus users search on RCH/US2 For a summary of rating and price target changes on Canadian companies: Reuters 3000Xtra users, double-click Reuters Station users, click .4899 Reuters Plus users search on RCH/CA (Bangalore Equities Newsdesk +91 80 4135 5800; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. | 2010-11-11T00:00:00 |
145 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/21365478 | ALL | Allstate | Stocks On The Move: Callaway Golf, Allstate... | Logitech (LOGI) popped 23%.The world's largest computer mouse maker double-clicked its way higher, after profits beat estimates thanks to sales of other peripherals like keyboards and speakers. – (We didn’t have enough time get to this "pop" on the show, but I thought you’d like to read about it, anyway.)
DROP & POP (stocks that slid lower and jumped higher)
American Standard (ASD) dropped 3%, but then recovered. The air conditioning manufacturer cut its 2007 forecast, and blamed the weak housing market. Shares dropped 3% at the open, but rallied back to positive territory by the close. – Karen Finerman thought the valuation was still cheap.
DROP (stocks that slid lower)
Allstate (ALL) dropped 4%. The largest public home and auto insurer suffered a 16% drop in revenue, because they took less-risky bets in hurricane and earthquake prone states. Guy Adami said at $50 he finds this stock compelling.
The China ETF (FXI) dropped 3%. The rollercoaster ride in the Chinese markets continued. Pete Najarian said he thinks the FXI will keep bouncing around.
(We didn't have enought time to get to any of the "drops" listed below this point, but I thought you might like to read about them anyway.)
Hershey (HSY) dropped 3%. Shares of the chocolate king melted after higher milk prices and lost market share to Mars hurt profits and forced them to lower forecasts.
E*Trade (ETFC) dropped 8%. The online broker’s subprime exposure caused the company to report an unexpected loss.
Washington Mutual (WM) dropped 8%. An analysts rating cut took its toll on the nation’s largest savings and loan.
SAP (SAP) dropped 3%. The world's largest maker of business-management software fell after 3rd quarter revenue slid due to lower sales in the Americas.
______________________________________________________
Got something to say? Send us an e-mail at [email protected] and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap! Prefer to keep it between us? You can still send questions and comments to [email protected].
Trader disclosure: On Oct 18, 2007, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Macke Owns (INTC); Najarian Owns ( C), (GOOG)(CY); Najarian Owns (SNDK) Options; Finerman Owns (C), (GS); Finerman's Firm And Finerman Own (ASD), (KALU); Finerman's Firm Owns (NYX), (MSFT), (LTD), (BIIB), (BEAS), (COP), (TGT), (VMSI), (WMT); Finerman's Firm Owns S&P 500 Index Puts; Finerman's Firm Owns Russell 2000 Index Puts | 2007-10-18T00:00:00 |
146 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/18140640 | ALL | Allstate | Jury Levies $2.8 Million in Damages Against Allstate in Katrina Case | Allstate Insurance must pay a Louisiana man who lost his home to Hurricane Katrina more than $2.8 million in damages and penalties, a federal jury decided Monday in a case that hinged largely on whether it was Katrina's winds or storm surge that wiped out his house.
The jury found that Allstate did not pay Robert Weiss enough money to cover wind damage to his home. The verdict includes a $1.5 million penalty for the company's failure to pay damages quickly enough.
Allstate's lawyer argued in closing arguments that the winds that hit Weiss' home were not strong enough to do the damage. She said Weiss already had received more than $400,000 in insurance payments -- including $350,000 in federal flood insurance.
"Have you really seen any proof that the damages were in the million dollar range?" Judy Barrasso asked the jury.
The lawyer for Weiss, whose home was northeast of New Orleans on the north shoreof Lake Pontchartrain, told the jury in closing arguments that Weiss' house was too high above sea level to have been destroyed by Katrina's storm surge. | 2007-04-16T00:00:00 |
147 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/21709078 | ALL | Allstate | Stocks On The Move This Week: Allstate, Monsanto | Allstate (ALL) popped 4%. An upgrade from Citigroup and analysts increased the insurance giant's target price to $66 a share. – Guy Adami likes ALL but says stop out at $50.
Monsanto (MON) popped 3.5%. The herbicide maker said it will double its profit to at least 8-billion over the next five years with the launch of new biotech crops. – Pete Najarian thinks MON is a buy.
Larry Hagman. Yes, Dallas oil tycoon JR Ewing is going green! Hagman (aka Major Nelson) is running his 25,000 square foot California home solely on solar energy. Check it out on High Net Worth on Sunday at 8:30pm ET.
Drops: (stocks that slid lower)
Clearwire (CLWR) dropped 38%. Shares plunged after Sprint Nextel canceled a deal to jointly construct the "Wimax" network touted as the fastest mobile network in the US. – Pete Najarian thinks CLWR is a takeover target.
NASDAQ (NDAQ) dropped 10%. The tech heavy index dropped 10% after private equity firm Hellman & Friedman sold off 23.5 million shares valued at nearly $2 billion. – Karen Finerman recommends sticking with this stock.
Washington Mutual (WM) dropped 11%. The nation's largest savings and loan, fell the most in 20 years after New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced he was investigating a "pattern of collusion'' on mortgage appraisals linked to the company. Washington mutual has lost more than $25 billion in market value this year.
Fannie Mae (FNM) dropped 6%. The lender finally reported all of its delinquent 2007 results to reveal a big Q3 loss, much like many of its mortgage-exposed brethren. The shortfall totaled $1.52 billion. – Tim Seymour thinks it’s a tough story that likely won’t get better.
Whirlpool (WHR) dropped 4%. Whirlpool dropped 4% on the week after Barrons said the company may not be insulated from the housing mess. – Guy Adami thinks the company is getting cheap on valuation.
DROP & POP (stocks that slid lower and jumped higher)
AIG (AIG) dropped 13% on the week but popped 3% on Friday. The insurance company warned in the conference call Thursday that revenue in some parts of the company, such as the mortgage insurance unit, would probably not improve next year. But then shares popped Friday...up more than 3% - Karen Finerman doesn’t know what to make of it.
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Got something to say? Send us an e-mail at [email protected] and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap! Prefer to keep it between us? You can still send questions and comments to [email protected].
Trader disclosure: On Nov. 9, 2007, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Najarian Owns (C) Options, (CSCO) Options, (GOOG) Options, (GS) Options, (XLF) Options (YHOO) Options; Finerman's Firm And Finerman Own (GS), (HD), (KALU); Finerman's Firm Owns (WMT), (BEAS), (KSS); Finerman's Firm Is Short (LEH), (MBI), (SPY), (IYR), (IJR), (IWM); Finerman's Firm Owns (BIIB) Options; Finerman's Firm Owns (MSFT) Options; Finerman's Firm Owns Russell 2000 Puts; Finerman's Firm Owns S&P 500 Puts; Seygem Asset Management Owns (AAPL), (CSCO), (EEM), (F), (GLD), (MER), (SBUX), (X), (YHOO), (MSFT),Gazprom | 2007-11-09T00:00:00 |
148 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/21350004 | ALL | Allstate | Allstate Profit Falls 15.5% Due to Catastrophe Losses | Allstate, one of the first major insurers to report third-quarter earnings, said operating net, which analysts use to measure performance, was $893 million, or $1.54 a share.
That fell short of analysts' average expectation of $1.69 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
It was also down from the year-ago quarter, when the Northbrook, Illinois-based company, the second-largest writer of auto policies in the United States, earned $1.19 billion, or $1.88 a share, in operating net. | 2007-10-17T00:00:00 |
149 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/18199709 | ALL | Allstate | Allstate Cutting Exposure to Policies in Florida | Allstate Chief Financial Officer Dan Hale said the insurer continues to reduce its exposure to homeowner policies in Florida following the effort by the state to reduce premium costs.
Hale said in a conference call with investors on Thursday that the insurer had notified 200,000 policyholders that Allstate would no longer be providing coverage.
Allstate has filed for an average rate decrease of 14% in homeowner policies following a directive by the state requiring all home insurers to cut their premiums. | 2007-04-19T00:00:00 |
150 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/18598281 | ALL | Allstate | Allstate to Stop Selling New Homeowners' Insurance in California | Allstate, the largest publicly traded home and car insurer in the United States, said on Thursday it would no longer offer new homeowner and landlord coverage in California.
Allstate said it would still provide homeowner's coverage to existing property insurance customers in California and Allstate agents would help customers obtain coverage from a third party.
The insurer said it took the latest of a series of cutbacks in its nationwide homeowners coverage in order to "responsibly manage" its exposure in "catastrophe-prone" California. | 2007-05-10T00:00:00 |
151 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/43970386 | ALL | Allstate | Stocks to Watch: Loews, RadioShack, Allstate and More... | Stocks opened sharply higher Monday, after top U.S. lawmakers sealed a deal to raise the debt ceiling one day ahead of a deadline for a potential default.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared at the open after closing sharply lower last week. The blue-chip index gained for the first day in seven.
Here are six stocks that are on the move:
Exelon
The utility company was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS. The firm also raised the price target to $50 from $45.
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Loews
The property and casualty insurance firm reported a lower than expected second quarter profit. The company, run by the billionaire Tisch family, says it was hit by higher catastrophe losses and lower income from its biggest holding CNA Financial.
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RadioShack
The electronics retailer was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs.
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Deckers Outdoor
The footwear company hit a 52-week high Friday.
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Allstate
The largest listed U.S. home and auto insurer reported a second quarter loss as it saw its catastrophe losses increase nearly 270 percent.
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Anheuser-Busch InBev
The brewer was upgraded to buy from hold at Royal Bank of Scotland.
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Get the latest stock picks on the CNBC Stock Blog. | 2011-08-01T00:00:00 |
152 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/20/alphabet-ceo-sundar-pichai-gets-raise-120m-in-stock-grants-and-more.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | New Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai gets a salary bump and at least $120 million in stock | Sundar Pichai will make $2 million in salary and up to several hundred million dollars in stock grants in his new position at CEO of Alphabet , the board announced on Friday.
Pichai, who had been the CEO of Alphabet's main subsidiary Google since 2015, clinched the promotion to the helm of the parent company earlier this month when Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down. Page had been CEO of Alphabet and Brin served as president, a position that is now eliminated.
Pichai will not receive any additional voting rights with his new shares, leaving Page and Brin in control of the board.
Pichai's new salary will take effect Jan. 1, with his stock units divided between time and performance-based equity. Of his $120 million in time-based stock units, one-twelfth will vest on March 25, 2020, with another twelfth vesting each quarter to follow that he continues to be employed by the company.
The performance-based stock unit award will be divided into two equal parts with a target value of $45 million each. He could be granted between 0% and 200% of the shares in each part, depending on the total shareholder return for Alphabet relative to S&P 100 companies between 2020 and 2021 and between 2020 and 2022, respectively. The actual value of the grants will vary depending on the stock price at the time.
As Google CEO, Pichai made $650,000 in annual base pay, and previously shirked additional shares of the company, according to a May report from Bloomberg. Pichai turned down additional restricted stock units in 2018 because he already felt he was generously paid, a person familiar with the decision told Bloomberg, though it's unclear how much he turned down.
As CEO of Alphabet, Pichai will be the public face of the company as it continues to face challenges in the new year. Google faces an antitrust probe from 50 attorneys general across U.S. states and territories as well as a reported probe by the Justice Department. Lawmakers have signaled they will keep an eye on Google and other tech companies that have come under scrutiny their engagement in China as well as its privacy and data-tracking policies.
WATCH: How Yandex is beating Google in Russia | 2019-12-20T00:00:00 |
153 | https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/05/alphabet-backed-oscar-health-files-for-ipo-as-telehealth-market-booms-.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Alphabet-backed Oscar Health files for IPO as telehealth market booms | Oscar Health, a health insurance start-up backed by Google parent Alphabet , filed for an initial public offering on Friday, looking to cash in on the surge in demand for digital health services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The New York-based company, which has about 529,000 users, enables scheduling physician visits, checking lab results, emergency virtual appointments and prescription refill through its mobile app or online platform.
Oscar Health was founded in 2012 by Mario Schlosser, Kevin Nazemi, who is no longer a part of the company, and Josh Kushner, brother of former U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The Covid-19 pandemic has supercharged the telemedicine market and more companies are looking to expand their scale and offerings as healthcare moves to the virtual realm.
Oscar Health's stock market launch comes as U.S. capital markets are poised for another banner year, with January's IPO haul totaling $33.9 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
The digital insurance startup said it would list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OSCR.
The company's other investors include venture capital firm General Catalyst Group, Fidelity Investments parent FMR LLC, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, investment firm Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures. | 2021-02-05T00:00:00 |
154 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/alphabet-shares-drop-as-justice-department-reportedly-prepares-for-google-antitrust-probe.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Alphabet shares tank 6% as Justice Department reportedly prepares for Google antitrust probe | Alphabet shares tanked on Monday after a report said the Justice Department is readying an antitrust investigation against Google.
Shares dropped 6.1% on Monday.
The probe would look into Google's search practices and other businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Citing sources, the report said third-party critics of Google have been in contact with the department on the matter. It was not clear whether the company had been contacted by DOJ.
Alphabet declined to comment. An investigation could also bring trouble to investors, Evercore ISI analyst Kevin Rippey said in a note Monday.
"The investigation comes at a time when the stock's bull case is challenged by concerns of an abrupt revenue slowdown last quarter," Rippey wrote. "GOOGL has successfully navigated an antitrust investigation before (2011-2013), and emerged unscathed after a two year inquiry, as the FTC voted 5-0 not to pursue further action. That said, Android and the Play Store have not been pressure tested in a precedent US-led investigation, adding to the complexity of assessing the spectrum of outcomes."
"While precedent suggests that Google enjoys broad discretion over the direction of search results, the questions arising from an investigation will challenge the possibility of multiple expansion," added Rippey, who also trimmed his price target on Alphabet to $1,200 per share from $1,250.
Alphabet's Class A shares closed at $1,038.74 on Monday.
The news comes as public debate on whether big technology companies should be broken up. Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a March post that she wants to name regulators to undo "anti-competitive mergers." Such mergers include Google's deals with smaller companies like Nest and Waze.
"It is hard to quantify implications without further information but this could serve as an overhang on Alphabet shares for some time," Stifel analyst Scott Devitt said in a note.
Antitrust concerns spilled over into other major tech companies. Facebook shares dropped 7.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported the Federal Trade Commission can look into the social media company's business practice and how they impact competition.
Amazon shares also slid more than 4%.
—CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. | 2019-06-03T00:00:00 |
155 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/03/analyst-calls-of-the-day-tesla-alphabet-united-technologies-more.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Here are the biggest analyst calls of the day: Tesla, Alphabet, United Technologies & more | Deutsche raised its price target on Alphabet citing more confidence surrounding Google Cloud.
"We think the shares currently discount limited value for Google Cloud given it is losing money, and capitalizing Google Cloud Platform at 15x revenue and G-Suite at 5x revenue on 2022, we see the overall Google Cloud business worth $225B today, just shy of $325/share, up from the $205/ share we used in our August note on mega-cap SOTP valuations. .. .In light of our more confident outlook around Google Cloud, we increase our 12-month target price on Google's shares to $1,600 (up from $1,475 previously), on slightly higher estimates and rolling out target price multiples to a blend of 2020 and 2021 metrics." | 2019-10-03T00:00:00 |
156 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/alphabet-could-take-out-all-time-highs-earnings-says-top-technician.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Alphabet could take out its all-time highs after earnings, says top technical analyst | The biggest earnings week in tech is upon us, with names like Alphabet , Apple and Facebook gearing up to report quarterly numbers.
It has been a year to remember for the sector, with the XLK Technology ETF that tracks the space up nearly 35%. That's almost double the gains of the broader markets, and when Alphabet reports Monday afternoon, those gains could get even bigger. according to one top technical analyst.
"This is one of the few big, big, super-cap names left, and I would say this is going to be one of the good ones, rather than one of the poor ones," Cornerstone Macro's Carter Worth said Friday on CNBC's "Options Action."
Worth sees a bullish pattern developing over the last 12 months in Alphabet. | 2019-10-28T00:00:00 |
157 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/alphabet-secret-meeting-to-discuss-logistics-fedex-and-jdcom-there.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Google parent company Alphabet held a secret 'logistics summit' last week with reps from FedEx and other shipping companies | Walgreens will be the first retailer in the U.S. to test an on-demand drone delivery service with Wing in Christiansburg, Virginia next month.
Alphabet held a closed-door meeting with internal executives and external retailers last week to discuss potential investments and strategies in the logistics sector.
The event, which was held in Silicon Valley, was called the Alphabet Advanced Logistics Summit and hosted by Alphabet's research and development unit, "X," and its recently spun out infrastructure company Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, the company confirmed to CNBC. The objective was to explore potential business models and investment opportunities in the e-commerce space with a focus in logistics and fulfillment, according to three people who attended and photos viewed by CNBC.
"We frequently bring together stakeholders from across various industries to exchange ideas and brainstorm ways that technology can deliver innovative solutions in areas like logistics," a company spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed response.
The majority of attendees were from Alphabet, which had several teams present, according to the people, who asked for anonymity when discussing the confidential meeting. It also included representatives from external companies including FedEx , JD.com , Deliv, Flexe and a former Walmart SVP, said one of the people who attended.
The discussions come as the company tries to expand its digital shopping reach amid retail giants such as Amazon and Alibaba , both of which have invested significantly in retail, technology and logistics. Alphabet invested $550 million in China's second-largest online shopping service, JD.com, last year and began selling some of its goods in March.
It also comes a few months after Sidewalk Labs spun out a separate entity in August called Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, which is still backed by Alphabet and Sidewalk Labs. SIP focuses on owning, acquiring and investing in technology-enabled infrastructure, particularly in urban areas. Sidewalk Labs is known for working on a high-profile and controversial new urban smart city on the waterfront of Toronto, for which it released the master plan in June. That plan also included an underground "logistics hub." | 2019-10-28T00:00:00 |
158 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/google-parent-alphabet-is-in-talks-to-buy-smartwatch-maker-fitbit-reuters-reports.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Google parent Alphabet makes offer to buy Fitbit, sending stock soaring | The stock resumed trading and ended the day up 30.5%, adding more than $330 million to its market cap to bring it to around $1.5 billion. Fitbit shares are now up more than 12% for 2019.
Google parent company Alphabet made an offer to acquire Fitbit , a source familiar with the matter told CNBC Monday. Reuters first reported that Alphabet made the offer to buy Fitbit. Fitbit's stock was halted after skyrocketing more than 18%.
The deal would make Alphabet a player in the wearable fitness tracking space, competing against the likes of Apple , which recently released a new version of its popular smartwatch. Google licenses its Wear operating system to companies such as Fossil but does not currently make its own smartwatch.
Google has described its hardware strategy as "ambient computing," meaning users should be able to access its services wherever they are. Buying Fitbit could be a play to make Google services a greater part of customers' lives and measure up to Apple in the health and fitness space. Google hired former Geisinger Health CEO David Feinberg last year to consolidate its health-care strategy. The company announced several new hardware products earlier in October, including the new Pixel 4 smartphone.
For Fitbit, support from Alphabet could grant a much-needed boost for the company, which has seen Apple take over about half of the global smartwatch market in 2018 in terms of units shipped, according to Strategy Analytics. In its July earnings release, Fitbit lowered its guidance for the year, citing weaker-than-expected sales of its new lightweight watch.
Fitbit declined to comment. Alphabet did not respond to requests for comment. Alphabet's CFO declined to comment on the potential Fitbit acquisition in an interview following Alphabet's earnings report Monday afternoon.
--CNBC's Josh Lipton contributed to this report.
WATCH: Alphabet misses on earnings | 2019-10-28T00:00:00 |
159 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/28/analysts-predict-alphabets-earnings-report.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Here's what every major analyst expects from Alphabet's earnings report after the bell | Alphabet will pick up where it left off after July's stellar second quarter earnings report if Wall Street analysts are to be believed. The company reports its third-quarter earnings after the bell on Monday and analysts told clients this week they expect the momentum to continue. While regulation clouds may linger, analysts are looking to Google Cloud, Google Search, YouTube, and revenue growth to keep things going. Alphabet shares are up over 4% this month. Here's what every major analyst expects from Alphabet's earnings report: "Against a backdrop of recent positive mean reversion in the stock price, we see GOOG's upcoming earnings report as a continuation of last quarter and our industry conversations continue to point to positive momentum," UBS analyst Eric Sheridan said. "GOOG's key advertising products, mobile search & YouTube, are demonstrating innovative products and driving solid pricing dynamics in 2H'19. Second, Google's cloud computing division appears to be building momentum," he said. Even though the company may have some swirling headwinds, the company is still a great investment for shareholders according to Guggenheim. "Despite regulatory uncertainty, Alphabet continues to be viewed as a relatively safe, affordable way to invest in multi-year growth of technology and connectivity monetization by global businesses and consumers," the analyst said. "We continue to see significant opportunity for the company at the intersection of video and targeted advertising as Alphabet is the industry leader in serving consumers across screens and activities." At the end of the day, Google Cloud may be the key driver for the company going forward. "All in, we continue to view Alphabet as one of the best-positioned digital ad companies and see non-advertising revenue streams like Google Cloud becoming a more central part of the thesis over time," Goldman Sachs analysts said. Bank of America- Buy rating "Google had much improved 2Q results, but stock appreciation has been limited by ongoing concerns on the economy, margin pressure and regulatory risks. Catalysts for stock valuation include: 1) traction for Google's new ad formats that include shopping ads and ads in Discover, 2) more visibility on YouTube business which seems to have strong traction and could see OTT ad shift benefit, & 3) evidence of continued traction in the Cloud business (2020 could be Google's year of the cloud)." RBC- Outperform rating "Based on intra-quarter data points and our model sensitivity analysis, we believe Street estimates for Q3 are reasonable, with equal chance of downside vs. upside variance on the top line, but a greater chance of upside on the bottom line, given the H1 modest slowdown in headcount ads and in capex spend." J.P. Morgan - Overweight rating "We believe investor sentiment around GOOGL has improved notably over the past few months on the heels of better 2Q earnings—including accelerating growth, increased disclosure, & a bigger buyback—and shift from high growth to safer, more value oriented names. We project 19.6% Google Properties FXHN revenue growth in 3Q, but our conversations suggest investors likely expect acceleration from the 20.5% of 2Q." SunTrust- Buy rating "We're positive on GOOGL into 3Q earnings as conversations with marketers support robust Search and YouTube dynamics throughout the quarter, with strong positioning into the holidays. Our bottom line estimates reflect a flatish TAC but increased level of investments to support growth initiatives. We view the ~$9.2B in fines from the EU as the beginning rather than the end of what's coming regulatory-wise; that said, we don't anticipate a material impact on operations from regulation short-term." BMO- Market perform rating "We continue to expect deceleration in 4Q19, as we don't see new ad load (more Promoted Pins on Maps, Discovery feed, YouTube masthead on TV app, etc.) providing enough upside to offset law of large numbers. We also remain Market Perform as we believe Street margins remain too high (likely due to mix, rather than investments) and continued regulatory scrutiny, particularly in the U.S., which could continue to weigh on the multiple near-term." Guggenheim- Buy rating "Despite regulatory uncertainty, Alphabet continues to be viewed as a relatively safe, affordable way to invest in multi-year growth of technology and connectivity monetization by global businesses and consumers. Confidence in the company's advertising and cloud growth potential continue to underpin the bull case while regulatory uncertainty and maturing search growth (including competition from Amazon) are the primary concerns. We continue to see significant opportunity for the company at the intersection of video and targeted advertising as Alphabet is the industry leader in serving consumers across screens and activities." Credit Suisse - Outperform rating "After the product-driven changes and gyrations to 1H19 results, we are looking forward to more straightforward reports for 2H19. While we may be tempted to believe that some of the new products Google announced at Marketing Live recently will exert an influence on ad budgets, we continue to believe it is the ongoing release of products from years past that are driving the strong growth of search and YouTube today." UBS- Buy rating "Against a backdrop of recent positive mean reversion in the stock price, we see GOOG's upcoming earnings report as a continuation of last quarter and our industry conversations continue to point to +ve momentum. First, GOOG's key advertising products, mobile search (especially local/Maps) & YouTube, are demonstrating innovative products and driving solid pricing dynamics in 2H'19. Second, Google's cloud computing division appears to be building momentum as investments in management, sales talent, product innovation and pricing all seem to be driving a very solid operating dynamic." Goldman Sachs - Buy rating "Based on our investor conversations, we believe the market continues to expect steady growth rates on a constant currency basis in 3Q, with potential for modest acceleration in 4Q as the company benefits from some of the newly announced ad products like shoppable ad units and universal cart features. All in, we continue to view Alphabet as one of the best-positioned digital ad companies and see non-advertising revenue streams like Google Cloud becoming a more central part of the thesis over time." Susquehanna- Positive rating "We remain positive on the secular ad growth story driven by mobile search and YouTube combined with generally better expense management and a more shareholder-friendly capital allocation approach. Overall, our 3Q checks point to steady growth with the possibility of a slight acceleration in sites revenue growth. For search, most of the larger checks are seeing steady-to-slight acceleration in growth. For YouTube, our checks largely saw stable budget trends in 3Q and did not call out noticeable impacts from GOOGL's platform safety changes."
Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during signing ceremony committing Google to help expand information technology education at El Centro College in Dallas, Texas, October 3, 2019. Brandon Wade | Reuters | 2019-10-28T00:00:00 |
160 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/13/jim-cramer-is-skeptical-of-google-parent-alphabet-march-toward-1-trillion.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Alphabet is marching toward the $1 trillion club, but Jim Cramer is skeptical of the move | Alphabet is close to joining one of the most elusive clubs on Wall Street, but CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday that he is skeptical of the progress.
Shares in Alphabet, the tech giant that owns Google, rose almost $10 to an all-time closing high of $1,440.03, pulling within 1% of reaching $1 trillion of market capitalization.
"Now, I don't like this move. It's based on nothing fundamental, just the momentum that we see in so many tech names," the "Mad Money" host said.
Alphabet was worth about $992.7 billion as of Monday's close, a couple of slots away from being the most valuable company on Wall Street.
Alphabet stock climbed more than 28% in 2019, shy of the 35% gain that the Nasdaq Composite it trades on made in the year. The stock has had just two down days thus far in 2020 and has advanced a total of 7.64% since the start of the year, which beats the tech-heavy Nasdaq's nearly 3.4% gain.
Three other tech behemoths have crossed the $1 trillion mark, including Microsoft , Apple and Amazon , though the latter now holds a market cap of $937.7 billion. Apple captures nearly $1.4 trillion of market value, while Microsoft holds $1.2 trillion, according to FactSet.
Facebook , the runner-up to all of the aforementioned companies, is worth almost $633 billion. No other company is valued above $500 billion by the market.
While these companies all hold high valuations of varying levels, they all share a common denominator in Cramer's eyes: the fundamentals. Cramer worries they'll have a tough time justifying their recent gains when they report quarterly performances in coming weeks.
He fears their stocks could recede if they do not report substantially higher-than-expected numbers.
"We're witnessing the same thing in the two other stocks in the trillion-dollar club, and that's Microsoft and Apple, which means their stocks may not be able to withstand any earnings results short of a super beat, not just 'better than expected' by a couple of pennies. I don't know if that's even possible," Cramer said. "Hey, by the way, Facebook's in the same boat." | 2020-01-13T00:00:00 |
161 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/03/larry-page-steps-down-as-ceo-of-alphabet.html | GOOGL | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | Larry Page steps down as CEO of Alphabet, Sundar Pichai to take over | Google has been forced to back off of certain projects have pushback from employees. In 2018, Google's cloud chief at the time said the company would not renew its contract with the Department of Defense after it was set to expire in March 2019. The decision followed a petition signed by thousands of employees urging Pichai to keep Google out of the "business of war." Google employees have also urged the company to back off its plans to build a censored search engine for China after The Intercept reported on the plans cryptically called Project Dragonfly.
More recently, a group of former Google employees known as the "Thanksgiving Four" have claimed their pre-holiday dismissal amounted to retaliation for their attempts to organize workers. The former employees have promised to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming unfair labor practices. Google denies any retaliation and has insisted the workers were let go for sharing confidential documents and breaching security.
Here is the full letter from Page and Brin:
Our very first founders' letter in our 2004 S-1 began:
"Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one. Throughout Google's evolution as a privately held company, we have managed Google differently. We have also emphasized an atmosphere of creativity and challenge, which has helped us provide unbiased, accurate and free access to information for those who rely on us around the world."
We believe those central tenets are still true today. The company is not conventional and continues to make ambitious bets on new technology, especially with our Alphabet structure. Creativity and challenge remain as ever-present as before, if not more so, and are increasingly applied to a variety of fields such as machine learning, energy efficiency and transportation. Nonetheless, Google's core service—providing unbiased, accurate, and free access to information—remains at the heart of the company.
However, since we wrote our first founders' letter, the company has evolved and matured. Within Google, there are all the popular consumer services that followed Search, such as Maps, Photos, and YouTube; a global ecosystem of devices powered by our Android and Chrome platforms, including our own Made by Google devices; Google Cloud, including GCP and G Suite; and of course a base of fundamental technologies around machine learning, cloud computing, and software engineering. It's an honor that billions of people have chosen to make these products central to their lives—this is a trust and responsibility that Google will always work to live up to.
And structurally, the company evolved into Alphabet in 2015. As we said in the Alphabet founding letter in 2015:
"Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence."
Since we wrote that, hundreds of Phoenix residents are now being driven around in Waymo cars—many without drivers! Wing became the first drone company to make commercial deliveries to consumers in the U.S. And Verily and Calico are doing important work, through a number of great partnerships with other healthcare companies. Some of our "Other Bets" have their own boards with independent members, and outside investors.
Those are just a few examples of technology companies that we have formed within Alphabet, in addition to investment subsidiaries GV and Capital G, which have supported hundreds more. Together with all of Google's services, this forms a colorful tapestry of bets in technology across a range of industries—all with the goal of helping people and tackling major challenges.
Our second founders' letter began:
"Google was born in 1998. If it were a person, it would have started elementary school late last summer (around August 19), and today it would have just about finished the first grade."
Today, in 2019, if the company was a person, it would be a young adult of 21 and it would be time to leave the roost. While it has been a tremendous privilege to be deeply involved in the day-to-day management of the company for so long, we believe it's time to assume the role of proud parents—offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!
With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it's the natural time to simplify our management structure. We've never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there's a better way to run the company. And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet's investment in our portfolio of Other Bets. We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders. In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we're passionate about!
Sundar brings humility and a deep passion for technology to our users, partners and our employees every day. He's worked closely with us for 15 years, through the formation of Alphabet, as CEO of Google, and a member of the Alphabet Board of Directors. He shares our confidence in the value of the Alphabet structure, and the ability it provides us to tackle big challenges through technology. There is no one that we have relied on more since Alphabet was founded, and no better person to lead Google and Alphabet into the future.
We are deeply humbled to have seen a small research project develop into a source of knowledge and empowerment for billions—a bet we made as two Stanford students that led to a multitude of other technology bets. We could not have imagined, back in 1998 when we moved our servers from a dorm room to a garage, the journey that would follow. | 2019-12-03T00:00:00 |
162 | https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/20/facebook-stock-could-fall-following-alphabets-drop-technical-analyst.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Facebook stock could fall following Alphabet’s drop: Technical analyst | Shares of Google parent company Alphabet have fallen nearly 4 percent in the past week, and according to one technical analyst, another hot tech stock could be next to slide.
"In a world where things are bought and sold and rotation is the issue, not so much valuation, this is a little bit of a spread that maybe suggests Facebook is going to go the way of Microsoft and Google," Cornerstone Macro technical analyst Carter Worth said Friday on CNBC's "Options Action."
Looking at comparison charts, Worth noted that while Facebook might be the better performing stock, recently it's started to stall just as Microsoft and Google have.
Facebook stock closed at $113 on Friday, and Worth predicts it will drop to $108. "With a little luck, a little bit lower," he said.
Indeed, he believes that a drop to $98 would be reasonable, since even at that price, Facebook would remain within the bullish trend channel.
When it comes to Alphabet, Mike Khouw of Optimize Advisors says the real issue is that Alphabet is losing many of the quasi-monopolies it has in some businesses.
A Citigroup report released last week makes this same point: "Alphabet faces significant competition in nearly every aspect of their business, including competition from other general purpose and vertical search engines, social networks, other forms of advertising."
While Citi maintained its buy rating on the stock, the report took a good chunk out of Alphabet shares on Friday.
"Alphabet is under a great deal of pressure, because investors think they had the monopoly essentially and that monopoly is steadily being eroded by the likes of Facebook," Khouw said Friday on "Options Action." | 2016-06-20T00:00:00 |
163 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/27/traders-discuss-if-amazon-and-alphabet-shares-are-affordable.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Traders discuss if Amazon and Alphabet shares are affordable | As Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet shares continue their climb to all-time highs on Thursday, the "Fast Money" traders discussed whether these stocks too expensive.
Amazon shares traded above $950 in after-hours trading after the company reported an earnings beat after the bell.
Alphabet shares traded around $929 in extended trading, after the company beat analyst expectations as well.
Trader Tim Seymour said Alphabet's stock price is where it should be because of the company's large size. He said the Google-parent is recording impressive numbers across its business metrics and its core search business continues to improve.
Trader Dan Nathan said he likes Alphabet, because of the tech names massive growth and its significant investments in itself, which shows confidence its own business.
Trader David Seaburg said Alphabet is worth the high price as well. He also said Amazon and Facebook as other companies to buy into in the technology space, possible as alternatives. He said he favors Amazon over the Alphabet because of its European antitrust issues and he likes Amazon's platform and its investment strategy.
Disclosures:
Tim Seymour is long ABX, AAPL, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, C, CLF, CVX, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWN, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD, MOS, MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, SQ,T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: EEM, SPY, XRT;
Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EEM, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, TCEHY, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM
Carter Worth: No disclosures.
"Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT. Diamond Offshore: an employee of Cowen and Company, LLC serves on the Board of Directors of Diamond Offshore"
Dan Nathan is long GE, SPY May put spread, XLV long June put, XLI long June put spread, XRT long June put | 2017-04-27T00:00:00 |
164 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/22/alphabet-earnings-735-per-share-vs-expected-eps-of-721.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Google parent Alphabet tops earnings estimates | watch now
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Alphabet , the successor to and new parent company of Google, reported Google's pre-reorganization third-quarter earnings and revenue results on Thursday. The company beat on both the top and bottom lines with earnings of $7.35 per share on revenue of $18.68 billion. Analysts had expected Alphabet to report earnings of about $7.21 per share on $18.53 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters. Alphabet also announced that its board had authorized a repurchase of up to $5,099,019,513.59 in Class C capital stock (5.099019514 is the square root of 26 — the number of letters in the alphabet). Those shares, trading under the ticker GOOG, rose more than 11 percent in after-hours trade. Class A shares in the company, meanwhile, jumped more than 9 percent in after-hours trading after the results were announced. With a current all-time high of $713.33, Alphabet shares above $740 would easily beat that record.
Chart source: Google results. "Our Q3 results show the strength of Google's business, particularly in mobile search. With six products now having more than 1 billion users globally, we're excited about the opportunities ahead of Google, and across Alphabet," Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet and Google, said in the company's results announcement.
The company said it saw aggregate paid clicks grow 23 percent year-over-year — analysts had only expected 18.6 percent growth, according to StreetAccount. Aggregate cost-per-click, meanwhile, fell 11 percent year-over-year while Wall Street had estimated an 8 percent decrease. Celebrating the growth of his unit's businesses, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that those technologies are "just beginning to scratch the surface." He offered a vision for the future wherein Google remains a "place of incredible creativity and innovation that uses our unique technical expertise to tackle big problems and create that future." One such future plan includes Google's cloud strategy, which Pichai said is a "growing area where we see great opportunity." He said the company is seeing "tremendous" momentum in new customer adoption for that business. But even in the present, Google is already topping expectations. "We turned in a strong performance in the third quarter, not withstanding continue meaningful currency headwinds," Porat said during the company's earnings call. "The key highlight this quarter was the substantial growth of our mobile search revenue, complimented by ongoing strong contributions from YouTube and our programmatic business." In fact, search traffic on mobile phones has already surpassed desktop traffic worldwide, Pichai said. When asked about ad-blockers affecting Google's advertising revenues, Pichai said that those programs are "not a new phenomenon" but users are largely "okay with the contract" of seeing ads — as long as the experience works well. Those currency "headwinds" from a strong U.S. dollar, she said, amounted to a $1.6 billion negative impact on revenues — $1.3 billion after the benefit of the company's hedging program. In fact, on a constant-currency basis, total revenue for the quarter grew 21 percent year-over-year (instead of the 13 percent reported). | 2015-10-22T00:00:00 |
165 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/19/gm-tops-new-gender-equality-ranking-at-americas-largest-companies.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | GM, Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson earn top scores in new study of corporate gender equality | The company has looked at the average pay women receive at different levels — from the factory floor to the C-suite —and has reached pay parity both in terms of paying men and women in comparable positions equally, and also when it comes to the average salaries of men and women at the company. Van Maasdijk calls the company's efforts "exceptional."
General Motors was awarded a B+ and received the top score of 71 percent. The automaker, which recently appointed CFO Dhivya Suryadevara to join CEO Mary Barra in the C-suite, is the only company with a pay gap between men and women of less than 3 percent.
Equileap is a non-profit that tracks corporate gender equality. It published a global gender equality report and ranking in October, but this is the first time the organization has looked specifically at America's biggest companies by focusing on the S&P 100. The report was commissioned by the Tara Health Foundation and funded by The Educational Foundation of America and The Grove Foundation.
For investors and consumers looking for companies working to close the gender gap, the new ranking provides some guidance, Equileap CEO and co-founder Diana van Maasdijk tells CNBC Make It . "I hope that they will use this information to make the right choices [about] the companies that they should be looking at."
General Motors , Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson were awarded top marks across 19 criteria, including gender balance in the workforce (senior management and the board), as well as pay equity, parental leave and non-discriminatory hiring practices.
You can't fix what you don't measure — so the saying goes — and a new study by Equileap crunches the numbers on gender equality at America's biggest companies .
GM is one of four firms in the index with a gender-balanced board (the others are Starbucks, Wells Fargo and ConocoPhillips). It also scored top marks for offering employees flexible options in terms of when and where they work, something studies suggest more companies should consider to help end the disparity between men and women at work.
Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson each scored 68 percent, earning a B+ grade. At both companies, women are well represented in in the C-suite — Bank of America has five women on its leadership team while J&J has three — and in senior management.
"That's important, because that's where we see if there's a glass ceiling or not," says van Maasdijk. "Bank of America is doing quite well when you look at the senior managers, and that is one of the areas where we don't see enough transparency."
Both firms have outlined a strategy to close the gender pay gap and offer paid parental leave. The study found that U.S. companies, in general, are offering less paid maternity leave than the global International Labor Organization standard of 14 weeks, but more paid parental leave to fathers than the standard two weeks.
"We are looking for companies that are offering paid parental leave to both mothers and fathers," says van Maasdijk. "Many of the companies that are reaching the top of our ranking are doing just that."
Bank of of America and Johnson & Johnson each offer flex-time and work from home options, have implemented policies to promote gender equality and offer options for out of network maternal healthcare. Johnson & Johnson, in particular, extends a comprehensive health care package to employees working less than 20 hours a week.
"That is unusual and it's extremely important because in the U.S. there are more than 30 million part-time employees. Most of them are women, so you want these women also to have access to health care," says van Maasdijk.
Equileap studied two additional criteria for a separate ranking: Health coverage for all employees, including those who work part-time, and access to family planning services and maternal healthcare. Americans are reliant on employers for those benefits, which are seen as essential to achieving gender equality in the workplace, so the health plan employers offered was given a 20 percent weight.
Factoring in employees health options, the top score of 68 percent was achieved by Citigroup, followed closely by General Motors, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, and JPMorgan Chase. The lack of gender equality on Wall Street has been an area of intense scrutiny, and the finance world has taken note, says van Maasdijk.
"This has been a sector that has been under fire for a long time for being an old boys network," she says. "I think that that critique from society has worked, and that many of these companies are putting the right policies in place and being transparent."
Citigroup's health plan offers a few rare provisions, according to van Maasdijk, including unconditional abortion and contraceptive coverage for men. It also stands out for offering above average parental leave benefits, as well as options for out of network maternal healthcare. The bank is one of seven companies in the S&P 100 group studied which is a signatory of the Women Empowerment Principles of the United Nations, a pact among businesses across the globe to take action to empower women.
The best companies for women when it comes to both health plans and parental leave may well be in Silicon Valley. The tech sector as a whole offers the best health care plans and parental leave, the study found.
In fact, four of the six companies that offer the highest levels of paid parental leave (at least 20 weeks for primary carers) are in tech: Nvidia, IBM, Intel and Microsoft. The other two are Alphabet and American Express. As a group, the tech sector scores well across the board, but one thing that helped boost its scores is that most tech companies now have anti-sexual harassment policies in place, the so-called "#MeToo effect."
At the bottom of the combined gender equity and healthcare list was Berkshire Hathaway, closely followed by Costco and 21st Century Fox. This is because they either do not have the right policies in place to achieve gender parity or because they are not being transparent about their data.
"If the company is not publishing and is not being transparent about this, they could very well be doing fine but they will end at the bottom of the ranking," says van Maasdijk. "They need to be transparent with that data they need to be more gender balanced and have the right policies in place to create a culture of inclusion."
Equileap's researchers found that 71 percent of companies have sexual harassment prevention policies, but singled out 21st Century Fox and Ford for triggering "alarm bells."
In November 2017, 21st Century Fox reached a $90 million settlement of shareholder claims associated with a sexual harassment scandal at Fox News Channel, and in May 2018 paid $10 million to settle multiple cases alleging gender and race discrimination by current and former employees. In August 2017, Ford — which has fielded several allegations of sexual harassment over the past decades — reached a $10 million settlement for sexual and racial harassment at two Chicago plants.
"The first thing that I hope is that every CEO on that list will look at their grades and will talk to their execs and ask them, 'Why are we getting this grade, what do we need to to improve?" says van Maasdijk.
She says there is room for improvement across the board. The average score was 45 percent (grade C-) — well below the average 53 percent (grade C+) scored by companies ranked in Equileap's Global Gender Equality Report and Ranking of the world's 200 largest companies.
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Don't miss: Alexis Ohanian: Men shouldn't need to make more money than their partner to feel confident | 2019-02-19T00:00:00 |
166 | https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/28/amazon-or-alphabet-traders-debate-which-is-the-better-buy.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Amazon or Alphabet? Traders debate which is the better buy | The "Fast Money" traders debated which stock is the better growth investment between Amazon and Alphabet .
Both companies posted strong earnings reports on Thursday. Amazon's adjusted earnings beat expectations by 67 cents, while Alphabet's beat by 38 cents.
Trader Dan Nathan said that even though Amazon is pressuring traditional retailers, he sees most of the value of the company as being based on potential margin growth and speed of expansion of Amazon Web Services. Nathan said that what worries him is that Alphabet , IBM and Microsoft are all competing for market share in the same space.
Trader Tim Seymour said that Alphabet still "has a long way to go." He said that the company is more diversified than most people realize.
"It's not just YouTube. These guys have their entire web business. They have the entire search business. These are cash cows," Seymour said, adding that this is the better stock to own between Alphabet and Amazon because of its valuation.
Trader David Seaburg agreed and said Alphabet is the better buy over Amazon on a near-term, relative value basis.
Trader Steve Grasso said Facebook might be a better stock for investors looking for growth. | 2016-07-28T00:00:00 |
167 | https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/18/alphabet-shares-hit-all-time-high-as-pixel-phones-land-some-positive-reviews.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Alphabet shares hit all-time high as Pixel phones land some positive reviews | Members of the media examine Google's Pixel phone during an event to introduce Google hardware products on October 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet jumped nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, after many outlets gave generally positive reviews for the company's upcoming smartphone, the "Pixel."
With the pop, both Alphabet's Class A and Class C shares closed at all-time highs, at $821.49 and $795.26, respectively. The 1.82 percent rise for Class A shares marked their best day since July 29.
The reviews gave consumers and investors a peek at Google's first line of in-house designed smartphones, which made a splash when they were unveiled earlier this month at an event. With the largest Android maker, Samsung , still recuperating from problems with their Galaxy Note 7 catching fire, Google's Pixel could be a compelling competitor against Apple's iPhone 7 and an alternative for Android loyalists.
While some reviewers were disappointed with the photo quality and battery life, many raved about the camera and artificial intelligence software installed on the smartphone.
Walt Mossberg from The Verge boasted that "the Pixel is easily the best Android phone I've ever tested."
The Pixel will be available for consumers in-store and shipped out by Thursday.
— Anita Balakrishnan contributed to this report | 2016-10-18T00:00:00 |
168 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/28/traders-discuss-alphabets-stock-after-youtube-tv-announcement.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Traders discuss Alphabet's stock after YouTube TV announcement | After YouTube announced a live and on-demand television subscription, called "YouTube TV," the "Fast Money" traders said Google parent and YouTube owner Alphabet is the stock to trade.
The new video service will cost $35 for a family plan of six accounts with up to 40 sports and entertainment networks and access to original content from YouTube Red.
Trader Dan Nathan said he likes Google's accelerated revenue growth because it will know how to monetize the service better than companies like Netflix who have seen growth in the streaming arena. Nathan said Alphabet could also buy Twitter in order to push out more of their content and bring audiences to their platform.
Trader Tim Seymour said he likes Alphabet because of the growing ad industry. Seymour said YouTube's 1 billion viewing hours per day and better tools for advertisers will make the subscription service more attractive to reach broad audiences.
The $35 price tag for YouTubeTV stops trader Steve Grasso from jumping on the stock. He likes Amazon and Netflix in the space. Grasso said the price is too high for consumers who want a combination of video streaming services or subscribe to the YouTube service in addition to cable. | 2017-02-28T00:00:00 |
169 | https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/18/alphabet-breaks-out-to-an-all-time-high-chart-analysts-see-more-gains-ahead.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Alphabet breaks out to an all-time high: Chart analysts see more gains ahead | Shares of Google-parent Alphabet move steadily higher Tuesday, breaking out to an all-time high. The move had analysts who study charts for a living buzzing. Source: FactSet This is "a textbook breakout from a well-defined range, with the stock making new 52-week highs and all-time highs," said Carter Worth, chief market technician at Cornerstone Macro, in an email. "A 'measured move' for the breakout implies a target price of $855+/-." Carter sent along this chart illustrating the breakout: Source: Cornerstone Macro "We want to be aggressively long GOOG if we're above $790 with a target of $870. This represents the 161.8 percent extension of this 12-month consolidation," added J.C. Parets of Eagle Bay Capital. "Also remember this is one of the largest components of the strongest sector in America, technology. With this breakout, Alphabet is continuing a long-term uptrend that began in 2008. Source: Cornerstone Macro "Long-term [this is] about as orderly and established an uptrend as exists in all markets," said Worth. "What's not to like. Stay long, be long." This was a purely technical move as there was no apparent news out on the stock, other than some solid reviews for the new Google Pixel phone. Alphabet reports earnings Oct. 27.
Shares of Google-parent Alphabet move steadily higher Tuesday, breaking out to an all-time high.
The move had analysts who study charts for a living buzzing. | 2016-10-18T00:00:00 |
170 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/10/4-google-trades-on-alphabet-announcement.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | 4 Google trades on Alphabet announcement | While it may not change the company's fundamentals, Google 's operating structure changes will help investors better understand its businesses, CNBC "Fast Money" traders said Monday.
The Internet and technology giant announced Monday it would create a new company, Alphabet, which will count Google as a subsidiary. Core Internet businesses will operate under Google, which will be led by Sundar Pichai.
Read MoreGoogle to become part of new company, Alphabet
Alphabet will become the company's publicly traded entity starting in the fourth quarter and will break out Google unit earnings in quarterly results. All shares will convert into Alphabet stock, with the two classes continuing to trade under the tickers GOOGL and GOOG.
"I think we'll get a clearer picture and a better multiple because of that," said trader Karen Finerman, who owns Google stock. | 2015-08-10T00:00:00 |
171 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/11/why-investors-like-googles-alphabet-news-analyst.html | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. (Class C) | Why investors like Google's Alphabet news | Google 's fundamental business and portfolio of moonshot projects will remain the same when it changes its name to Alphabet, but investors are rallying around the prospect of getting a more detailed view of the tech giant's business and how it makes money, analysts said Tuesday.
Shares of Google Class C stock were up more than 4 percent Tuesday morning, a day after the company announced it would overhaul its operating structure and undergo the name change.
Read MoreGoogle to become part of new company, Alphabet
Markets are responding to the prospect of greater balance-sheet accountability and the chance that Alphabet will spend slightly less money on speculative endeavors, Tigress Financial Feinseth Partners CIO Ivan Feinseth said before the start of trading Tuesday.
"They'll report line items for advertising revenue, search revenue, YouTube revenue. So you'll be able to have more granularity in their different business lines to see where the real growth is and where the real drivers are," Feinseth told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Investors are essentially saying they want greater transparency into capital spending, he added. That sentiment is already reflected in shareholder approval following Google's latest earnings report under new Chief Financial Officer and former Morgan Stanley executive Ruth Porat, he said.
Nomura senior analyst Anthony DiClemente said the bullishness among investors was not simply a matter of over-rewarding Google for sharing information it had previously obscured. Instead, the positive sentiment is part of a broader theme of capital management Porat.
Read MoreCramer Remix: Google's reorg anything but cosmetic
That theme encompasses greater care for resource allocation, keeping a lid on headcount and improving margins, he told "Squawk Box."
Google announced Monday it would restructure its business as a collection of companies under the banner of Alphabet. The largest subsidiary under the new company name will be the core Google search and advertising business.
Android, Maps, and YouTube will also remain under the umbrella of Google. | 2015-08-11T00:00:00 |
172 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/21/sec-reportedly-probing-altrias-juul-investment.html | MO | Altria | SEC reportedly probing Altria's Juul investment | The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into Altria's investment in e-cigarette start-up Juul Labs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Regulators are examining whether the tobacco company sufficiently disclosed to shareholders the risks when it invested $12.8 billion for a 35% stake in Juul in 2018, sources told the Journal. Altria's stake valued the start-up at $38 billion.
Altria took a $4.1 billion impairment charge for its investment in Juul in January. The company said the charge reflects the growing legal charges against Juul and the expectation that the number of lawsuits will only increase. Juul is being sued by multiple states for its role in promoting vaping among teens and children. | 2020-02-21T00:00:00 |
173 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/07/altria-closes-e-cigarette-brands-as-it-eyes-juul-awaits-iqos-decision.html | MO | Altria | Altria shutters its e-cigarette brands as it eyes Juul, awaits iQOS decision | Getty Images
Tobacco giant Altria is giving up on its existing e-cigarette brands as it eyes the best-selling brand, Juul. Altria on Friday said it would discontinue its MarkTen and Green Smoke products, along with Verve oral nicotine products. It said was based on the products' financial performance and the regulatory process that would require Altria to file any updates with the Food and Drug Administration before bringing them to market. The company expects to write down the assets with a one-time, pretax charge of about $200 million in the fourth quarter. Instead, Altria said it will "refocus its resources on more compelling reduced-risk tobacco product opportunities," referring to tobacco products that are thought to be less harmful than smoking conventional cigarettes. Already, the company has inked an agreement with Philip Morris International to commercialize its heated tobacco product, iQOS, in the U.S. if the FDA clears it. Now, Altria is considering taking a significant minority stake in e-cigarette company Juul, people familiar with the matter have told CNBC. It, along with a deal announced Friday to buy a stake in Canadian cannabinoid company Cronos , are signs of the tough choices Altria is having to make to compete. "We remain committed to being the leader in providing adult smokers innovative alternative products that reduce risk, including e-vapor," Altria CEO Howard Willard said in a statement. "We do not see a path to leadership with these particular products and believe that now is the time to refocus our resources."
Altria makes the best-selling cigarette, Marlboro. Altogether, its cigarette brands represent half of the market, according to IRI data included in the company's third-quarter earnings release. Its e-cigarettes haven't fared as well. In the four-week period ended Nov. 17, Altria captured just 4 percent of the e-cigarette market, according to Nielsen data compiled by Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog. In the same period, Juul captured 75 percent of the market. Juul's sales have skyrocketed 941 percent over the past year, according to Nielsen. The company's success has driven nearly 64 percent of the total category's $2.84 billion in sales over the past year. For Altria, an investment in Juul would give it something it has struggled with: volume growth.
Since 2009, Altria's revenue has grown 9 percent, to $25.58 billion from $23.56 billion. But Altria's U.S. cigarette volume has nearly halved — to 116.6 billion units in 2017 from 211.9 billion units in 2000. And Altria currently makes the bulk of its money selling cigarettes. Of the $25.58 billion in total revenue the company generated last year, $22.64 billion — or 89 percent — came from its smokeable products business segment, which contains cigarettes and cigars. On average, Altria's cigarette volume decreases 3 percent every year, according to a review of the company's financial statements. The company has managed to offset these declines through price increases. However, the declines have started accelerating, worrying some analysts and investors they may be unsustainable. Shares of Altria are down about 24 percent this year. In the first nine months of this year, Altria's cigarette shipment volume fell 6.3 percent. On a call with Wall Street analysts in October, Altria CEO Howard Willard attributed at least part of the trend to more smokers giving up conventional cigarettes and switching to e-cigarettes. Right now, when smokers ditch Marlboro for Juul, Altria loses out. That will change if Altria owns a portion of Juul. Plus, Juul pods may be more profitable than conventional cigarettes because they typically aren't taxed and don't have to pay costs associated with the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), a deal negotiated in 1998 between tobacco manufacturers and state attorneys general that ended a wave of ongoing lawsuits. An average pack of cigarettes in the U.S. cost consumers $6.60, according to a research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Lavery. State and local excise taxes on that pack typically equal $1.75, he wrote, while costs associated with the MSA total 75 cents. Manufacturers' operating profit usually comes out to $1.26, Lavery said. Juul doesn't pay the approximately $2.50 in MSA costs and taxes that Altria pays. So far, 10 states have adopted e-cigarette taxes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. A pack of four Juul nicotine pods costs $15.99, or about $4 per pod, on the company's online shop. The amount of nicotine in each pod is equivalent to one pack of cigarettes. So while it's unclear how much money Juul makes on each pod since the company is private, Juul appears to have an advantage. Pressure has mounted on Juul, with regulators demanding the company fix "epidemic" levels of minors using the company's products. However, Altria is used to navigating regulation and litigation. And it may decide the risks are worth taking. Altria on Friday also announced it would invest $1.8 billion to buy a 45 percent stake in Cronos. As an investor, Altria said it will provide Cronos with its expertise in regulatory affairs, regulatory science, compliance, government affairs and brand management. If Altria also invests in Juul, it's likely the company could provide the same services. Altria is also awaiting a decision from the FDA on Philip Morris International's new heated tobacco product, iQOS. The device heats tobacco instead of burning it, with the idea that it gives smokers the nicotine they want while preventing combustion, the chemical process responsible for producing toxins in cigarettes. PMI already sells iQOS in 46 markets overseas. PMI has two separate applications into the FDA: one that would simply allow it to sell iQOS in the U.S. and one that would allow it to market the product as less harmful than smoking conventional cigarettes. The company has said it expects a decision by the end of the year. If the FDA clears the product, Altria will sell it in the U.S. Altria declined CNBC's request for comment. —CNBC's Lauren Hirsch contributed to this report WATCH: How Juul made vaping cool and became a $15 billion e-cigarette giant | 2018-12-07T00:00:00 |
174 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/07/altria-to-invest-1point8-billion-in-cannabis-company-cronos-group.html | MO | Altria | Altria to invest $1.8 billion in cannabis company Cronos Group, exits some e-cig brands | Altria Group said Friday it has agreed to buy a 45 percent stake in leading cannabinoid company Cronos Group for about $1.8 billion, a sign of the new world in which the tobacco company must compete.
Altria is also weighing an investment in e-cigarette company Juul, CNBC has reported. Those talks could be completed by year-end, a person familiar with the situation tells CNBC.
Sales of cigarettes have slowed and its customers have either turned to other recreational products — like cannabis and e-cigarettes — or are threatening to do so. Those industries, though, are in need of expertise to navigate regulatory hurdles and capital to invest in their company.
"The proceeds from Altria's investment will enable us to more quickly expand our global infrastructure and distribution footprint, while also increasing investments in R&D and brands that resonate with our consumer," Cronos CEO Mike Gorenstein said in a statement.
It also helps "make sure we're getting in front of regulators," Gorenstein told CNBC on Friday.
Talks between Cronos and Altria have been ongoing for more than a month, people familiar with the situation told CNBC. Altria is one of several parties with which Cronos considered partnering, they added.
Altria's expertise with vaping products appealed to Cronos, which sees opportunity customizing vaporizers for cannabis, Gorenstein said.
As part of the deal, Altria has a warrant that would allow it to increase its stake in Cronos to about 55 percent at a price of $19 per share. It allows Cronos the flexibility to take investments from other companies such as, for example, a big food company.
Cronos is headquartered in Toronto, where cannabis has been nationally legal since October. It has no U.S. operations, where the industry remains illegal at a federal level but legal in 33 states and the District of Columbia.
Altria, meantime, sells the vast amount of its tobacco in the U.S. Its established U.S. presence should, therefore, serve to benefit Cronos, when or if cannabis is legalized federally. Altria does have an affiliate, National Smokeless Tobacco Company, that operates in Canada.
The deal is the latest in a flurry of conversations that have taken place across the consumer industry, where the threat of cannabis growth looms large over established, growth-starved industries spanning tobacco, soda and beer. No longer known just for its smoked product, cannabis has evolved to offer products for health, wellness, sleep and socializing.
With so much still uncertain, including who the industry winners will be, companies are still moving cautiously. For several, this includes stakes rather than initial full acquisitions. Corona parent Constellation Brands recently increased its investment in Canopy Growth with a 9.9 percent stake.
The "most important aspect of growth is going to be innovation and R&D," Gorenstein said.
As part of the agreement, Altria will be able to name four directors to Cronos board, including one independent director. These additions will boost the size of Cronos' board to seven from five directors.
Altria also announced plans to discontinue its MarkTen and Green Smoke e-cigarette products and its Verve oral nicotine, citing the financial performance of these products combined with heightened regulatory restrictions for its decision.
Altria said it plans to refocus its resources on more compelling reduced-risk tobacco product opportunities.
In connection with these steps, Altria expects to record a one-time pretax charge of about $200 million in the fourth quarter. Most of the charge will be a noncash asset impairment charge and will be excluded from the company's adjusted earnings.
In midday trading Friday, Cronos shares were up 22 percent on the news, while Altria shares gained 1.1 percent.
—CNBC's Angelica Lavito contributed to this article
WATCH: Six experts on the cannabis craze | 2018-12-07T00:00:00 |
175 | https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/20/juul-cronos-investments-could-diversify-altria-beyond-cigarettes.html | MO | Altria | Altria looks to a future beyond cigarettes but investors aren't cheering its $15 billion bet | Juul products are displayed at a smoke shop in New York, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. Seth Wenig | AP
It's getting harder to be a cigarette company. Altria knows that. Altria shelled out $14.6 billion to take large stakes in companies outside its traditional hold in cigarettes over the past two weeks — a 45 percent share of cannabis company Cronos and 35 percent stake in e-cigarette maker Juul. The latter, which valued Juul at $38 billion, prohibits Altria from taking a controlling interest for at least six years. Juul made it clear from the beginning that a full sale was never on the table, a person familiar tells CNBC. The two deals — and terms that Altria was willing to accept — highlight the corner the company is in. Altria's core business, selling cigarettes, is shrinking faster than expected. Smokers are dying, quitting or switching to e-cigarettes — and not the ones Altria makes. The company shuttered its MarkTen and Green Smoke brands earlier this month, citing financial performance and tightening regulations. Juul and Altria courted each other for 14 months, people familiar with the negotiations said. In that time, Altria watched Juul's sales grow to about $1.5 billion annually. "We've been modeling [Juul's] financials for quite some time, and modeling their expected growth path," Altria CEO Howard Willard said Thursday on a call with investors and the media. "And I have to tell you what continually happened was they exceeded our optimistic growth projections." Both deals have the potential to transform Altria's business, or at least give it the kind of growth it's unlikely to see in its existing cigarette business. "These investments complement our very strong core tobacco businesses and provide exciting opportunities for future growth," Willard said. But it's hardly won investors over. Altria's stock hit a 52-week low Thursday after announcing the deal. Shares fell another 3 percent Friday, setting a new floor of $48.75, and bringing the stock down 31 percent this year. It's market value sits at $91.5 billion.
Trouble in the U.S.
Selling cigarettes has been a shrinking business for decades, but Altria has been able to manage. Since 2009, Altria's revenue has grown 9 percent, to $25.58 billion from $23.56 billion. But Altria's U.S. cigarette volume has nearly halved — to 116.6 billion units in 2017 from 211.9 billion units in 2000. And Altria currently makes the bulk of its money selling cigarettes. Of the $25.58 billion in total revenue the company generated last year, $22.64 billion — or 89 percent — came from its smokeable products business segment, which contains cigarettes and cigars.
Since Altria operates largely in the United States, it can't rely on other markets for growth as sales in the U.S. slump. That puts Altria in a tougher spot than peers like British American Tobacco , Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco . It also makes Juul and Cronos' intended international growth all the more attractive to it. Juul is available in eight markets overseas, including Canada and the U.K., with plans for even more international expansion to countries like Indonesia and other Asian markets, where smoking rates are high. Juul has "significant opportunities for further growth, both domestically and in international markets," Willard told analysts Thursday morning. Meantime, he noted the company believes the global cannabis sector is poised for "rapid growth." Over the past 17 years, Altria's U.S. cigarette volume has decreased 3 percent every year, according to a review of the company's financial statements. The company has managed to offset these declines through price increases. However, the declines have started accelerating, worrying some analysts and investors that this strategy may be unsustainable. Altria has been adding new tobacco products to its portfolio, including its 2007 acquisition of cigar marker John Middleton and its 2008 acquisition of smokeless tobacco manufacturer UST. It also signed a deal with Philip Morris International to sell its heated tobacco product, IQOS, in the U.S. should the Food and Drug Administration allow it to be sold here.The companies are still awaiting a decision from the agency. Altria on Thursday reiterated its support for the product, saying its investment in Juul doesn't change any of its plans around IQOS. PMI has pitched IQOS as something that is more likely to appeal to adult smokers who enjoy cigarettes and aren't interested in fruity e-cigarette flavors. "We're excited about what we believe will be the most compelling offering for adult tobacco consumers and investors with ownership or exposure to the leading brands in each of our categories, including Marlboro, Black & Mild, Copenhagen, Juul, and IQOS," Willard said.
Converting smokers
Juul has captured 75 percent of the e-cigarette market since entering it in 2015, according to Nielsen. Its sleek devices deliver more potent nicotine hits than most other e-cigarettes on the market. Linked with Altria, it's poised to grow even faster. Altria's top-selling Marlboro cigarettes command prime shelf space in stores. The company will now yield a portion of this coveted placement to Juul pods. It is throwing behind it its marketing and distribution might. "[Juul's] unit economics today are attractive, and we expect our strong distribution infrastructure to help accelerate their financial performance," Willard said.
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Even if some Juul's growth comes at the expense of Altria's cigarette sales, it will still serve to support its bottom line. Juul pods are more profitable than cigarettes, because they aren't subject to the same taxes or costs associated with the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), a deal negotiated in 1998 between tobacco manufacturers and state attorneys general to stop a wave of ongoing lawsuits. But some of Juul's U.S. growth — critics would say too much — has come from teens. Juul has attracted the younger generation with its fruity flavors and sleek appearance. Those sales have prompted scrutiny from regulators, who have said there is an "epidemic" of youth e-cigarette use. Altria maintains that with its investment in Juul, it gives the e-cigarette maker access to a team of regulatory experts that will make sure it abides by FDA standards. "There certainly may be some disruption here as Juul works to address with the rest of the industry and with the FDA huge usage of the product, but we do expect there to be continuing long-term growth of the e-vapor category," Willard said.
Cannabis poised to take off
Altria decided to bet on cannabis as it started researching investment opportunities, Willard said Thursday. In the nine U.S. states and the District of Columbia where recreational and medical cannabis is legal, the total addressable market could reach $22 billion by 2030, Cowen analyst Vivien Azer estimated. When including Michigan, which recently legalized recreational cannabis, and four states that may soon pass similar laws, that total could reach $33.7 billion, Azer estimated. "As we got engaged in really understanding the investment opportunity investing — understanding the potential future growth rate and assessing the likelihood that the U.S. market may become federally legal, we became quite convinced that this was an attractive global opportunity that had rapid growth potential," Willard said.
watch now | 2018-12-20T00:00:00 |
176 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/25/altria-ceo-says-vaping-industry-is-at-pivotal-moment-as-it-fends-off-public-backlash.html | MO | Altria | Altria CEO says vaping industry is at 'pivotal moment' as it fends off an onslaught of public backlash | Altria Group signage is displayed on a monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
The vaping industry is at a critical juncture right now as e-cigarette companies face an onslaught of regulatory and public backlash amid a deadly outbreak of a vaping lung illness and soaring rates of teen use, Howard Willard, CEO of tobacco giant Altria , said Wednesday.
Federal, state and local health officials in the U.S. have started banning flavored e-cigarettes as hundreds of people across the country fall ill to the vaping lung disease, which has killed at least nine patients in recent weeks.
U.S. health officials have warned consumers to stay away from all vaping products, both nicotine and THC, until they can figure out what's making people sick.
The "flurry of alarming media headlines about lung illnesses and vaping" have sewn confusion in the public over the health risks of tobacco, he said in a speech Wednesday at the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum in Washington, D.C. He urged other tobacco manufacturers to help educate the public.
"From the confusion about the role of nicotine, to the misinformation regarding the relative risks of different products, you have a role to play in helping tobacco consumers make informed decisions," he said in his prepared remarks. He said the next steps the industry takes "are critically important."
Altria invested $12.8 billion for a 35% stake in vaping giant Juul late last year, placing a huge bet on the vaping company.
"This is a pivotal moment for the industry and strong leadership and action are urgently needed," Willard said. "Because we must acknowledge that a key component of harm reduction — vaping — is at an inflection point."
Earlier Wednesday, Juul announced CEO Kevin Burns was stepping down and would be succeeded by former Altria executive K.C. Crosthwaite.
"I've worked closely with K.C. at Altria for many years and am confident in his leadership and integrity and that he will help Juul urgently confront and reduce underage vaping," Willard said. | 2019-09-25T00:00:00 |
177 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/25/josh-brown-i-hope-tobacco-giant-altrias-stock-goes-to-zero.html | MO | Altria | Josh Brown: I hope tobacco giant Altria's stock 'goes to zero' | Money manager and popular blogger Josh Brown told CNBC on Wednesday that he "hopes" tobacco giant Altria 's stock eventually "goes to zero."
"It's a moral position. I'm not predicting" the shares fall to zero, the CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management said during an appearance on "Closing Bell."
"And I would tell anyone watching this [that] they should pay zero attention to anything to do with earnings, revenue, chief growth manager or whatever disgusting term they give the person who is going to run a company that sells poison to children."
Altria did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Brown's remarks.
Shares of Altria closed down nearly half a percent Wednesday, at around $40 per share. Earlier in the day, the company announced it had ended merger talks with Philip Morris International that would have created a $200 billion global behemoth.
Altria's investment in vaping in e-cigarette company Juul has soured as regulators look to ban its popular fruit-flavored pods from the market. Regulatory scrutiny has intensified amid an outbreak of a deadly lung disease linked to vaping that has sickened at least 530 people and killed 11.
When asked whether it should be treated like alcohol and oil companies, Brown said, "I don't think it's the same at all."
"We don't need this. Shut it down. It's enough," Brown, who is also a CNBC contributor, said later on vaping. He added people who want to quit smoking can go back to the patch and gum.
"There is no investment case to be made for companies that will not be a part of the portfolios of the future. People are not investing money into companies like this," Brown said.
He suggested that investors currently in tobacco stocks can own an index instead. "You can own anything other than this."
"These are the types of stocks that are getting kicked out of portfolios, millions of people's portfolio's at a time," Brown added. "It's not about the business, the execution, none of that is the point of what I'm saying. What I'm suggesting is you can own the index and you can X out stocks like this."
Disclaimer | 2019-09-25T00:00:00 |
178 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/03/cramer-altrias-non-tobacco-moves-makes-it-a-compelling-stock-to-buy.html | MO | Altria | Cramer: Altria's non-tobacco moves makes it a compelling stock to buy | The tobacco sector has soared in recent months even as smoking rates continue to decline and vaping becomes more popular, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday.
He gave his thoughts about the stocks of Altria and Philip Morris International , which spun off from Altria more than a decade ago.
"If I had to choose between these big tobacco titans, I'd pick Altria here as the company's taking aggressive action to offset the secular decline in smoking," the "Mad Money" host said.
The stocks of Altria and Philip Morris both plunged more than 45 percent between mid-2017 and January as electronic cigarettes such as Juul grew more popular, Cramer said. The stocks have since recovered about 35 percent of their value, which he said was a remarkable move.
Investors that frown upon owning tobacco stocks, as Cramer does, should continue to make other investments, he said. Still, Cramer said he thinks Altria's stock is more compelling.
Altria has been aggressive in transforming itself, Cramer said, spending $1.8 billion for a 45 percent stake in Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group and $12.8 billion for a 35 percent stake in Juul Labs.
"[The former] gives Altria some badly-needed growth in a brand new market that has a lot in common with the cigarette business, but doesn't kill as many people, that I know of," he said. "Juul bills itself as a safer alternative to regular cigarettes ... It's also much more effective at helping people quit smoking than Nicorette gum or the patch."
Juul has a bad reputation for underage use, but Cramer noted that the company has made efforts to decrease access to kids and suggested that it gets FDA approval for the electronic cigarette as a prescription to help smokers quit.
Philip Morris, he said, has focused too much on its own e-cigarette brand iQOS to win over vape users, but Juul is expanding overseas and could make it hard to compete with.
Additionally, the resignation of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who has a tough stance on tobacco and vaping, cut headwinds for Altria, Cramer said. The White House could replace the outgoing official with a more-friendly one, he added. | 2019-04-03T00:00:00 |
179 | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/08/juuls-marketing-deal-with-altria-come-under-senators-scrutiny.html | MO | Altria | Nearly a dozen Democratic senators to investigate Juul's marketing practices, deal with Altria | Nearly a dozen Democratic senators sent a scathing letter to Juul on Monday asking the company to answer questions about its marketing practices and deal with Marlboro maker Altria .
Eleven Democratic senators — including Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden and Richard Blumenthal — said they will investigate Juul's marketing practices. They will also look into Juul's sale of a 35 percent stake in itself to tobacco giant Altria and whether Juul is violating regulations or commitments it made to the Food and Drug Administration.
Juul has defended its decision to take money from Altria as a way to reach more smokers. Altria's Marlboro is the nation's best-selling cigarette brand. The idea is that Altria can help Juul switch more adult smokers from Marlboro to Juul. E-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes, though they may pose their own long-term health risks, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has concluded.
"While JUUL has promised to address youth vaping through its modest voluntary efforts, by accepting $12.8 billion from Altria—a tobacco giant with such a disturbing record of deceptive marketing to hook children onto cigarettes —JUUL has lost what little remaining credibility the company had when it claimed to care about the public health," the senators wrote.
For more on investing in health care innovation, click here to join CNBC at our Healthy Returns Summit in New York City on May 21.
Public health officials blame Juul for a spike in teen vaping. Critics point to past marketing materials that use bright colors and attractive young models as evidence the company intentionally targeted young people, a claim Juul vehemently denies.
A Juul spokesman said in a statement that the company welcomes "the opportunity to share information" about its efforts to stop teens from using its products and getting them in the hands of adults.
"We agree that companies such as ours must step up with meaningful measures to limit access and appeal of vapor products to young people," he said. "That's exactly what we've done, and we will do more to combat teen use to save the harm-reduction opportunity for the 34 million adult smokers in the United States."
Over the past year, Juul has taken a number of actions to try to stop kids from using its products, including removing its fruity flavored e-cigarettes from store shelves. Still, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb accused Juul and Altria of reneging on its promises when they struck a deal in December.
Now, the two companies must also answer to Congress.
"The corporate marriage between two companies that have been the most prolific at marketing highly addictive nicotine products to children is alarming from a public health standpoint and demonstrates, yet again, that JUUL is more interested in padding its profit margins than protecting our nation's health," the senators wrote.
The Juul spokesman said in the statement that "the Altria investment will help us switch adult smokers off of combustible cigarettes by helping us get our product in their hands." Altria spokesman Steve Callahan said its stake in Juul represents "a significant investment" toward the goal of achieving tobacco harm reduction.
"We understand that the future harm reduction potential of products like these is threatened by youth usage of e-vapor products. Both Altria and JUUL are committed to being part of the solution to the youth vaping problem," Callahan said, noting the companies' efforts to raise the minimum tobacco buying age to 21.
Read the senators' full letter to Juul: | 2019-04-08T00:00:00 |
180 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/28/altria-says-ceo-will-not-get-annual-incentive-due-to-juul-investment.html | MO | Altria | Altria says CEO will not get annual incentive due to Juul investment | Juul brand vaping pens are seen for sale in a shop in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., February 6, 2019.
Altria Chief Executive Officer Howard Willard will not receive an annual incentive award as a result of the Marlboro maker's souring minority investment in e-cigarette company Juul Labs, a regulatory filing showed on Friday.
"The Compensation Committee considered the significant impact that Altria's 2018 minority investment in JUUL Labs, Inc. has had on shareholder value. As a result...Willard should not receive an award under the Annual Incentive Plan for 2019," the company said.
Altria valued its 35% stake in Juul at $4.2 billion as of the end of 2019, down from $12.8 billion in December 2018.
The company also said Willard's base salary in 2020 would not increase from $1.25 million. | 2020-02-28T00:00:00 |
181 | https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-verizon-coca-cola-altria-dupont-ups-more.html | MO | Altria | Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Verizon, Coca-Cola, Altria, DuPont, UPS & more | Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Coca-Cola (KO) – The beverage giant matched estimates with quarterly earnings of 44 cents per share, with revenue above Street forecasts. Coca-Cola also said it had its largest market share gain – as measured by value – in nearly a decade.
Verizon (VZ) – Verizon missed estimates by a penny a share, with quarterly profit of $1.13 per share. Revenue beat forecasts, however, and Verizon saw 852,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions during the quarter.
Altria (MO) – The tobacco producer reported in-line adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share, but revenue came in below estimates. Altria took a fourth-quarter impairment charge of $4.1 billion related to its investment in e-cigarette maker Juul.
DuPont (DD) – The life sciences company matched estimates with quarterly earnings of 95 cents per share. Revenue came in below estimates, however, and its earnings outlook for 2020 below consensus. The company said full-year results will be negatively impacted by nylon pricing declines, among other factors.
Blackstone (BX) – Blackstone reported distributable earnings of 72 cents per share, 5 cents a share above estimates. The private-equity firm said its assets under management increased 21% during 2019 to a record $571 billion.
Eli Lilly (LLY) – The drugmaker beat estimates by 21 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $1.73 per share. Revenue also came in above forecasts, driven by stronger sales of newer products introduced over the past five years.
Hershey (HSY) – The chocolate maker reported quarterly earnings of $1.28 per share, 4 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also topped estimates and the company gave an upbeat 2020 forecast, helped by price increases and investments in new products.
United Parcel Service (UPS) – UPS matched estimates with quarterly profit of $2.11 per share, but the package delivery company's revenue missed forecasts.
Tesla (TSLA) – Tesla reported quarterly earnings of $2.14 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72. Revenue also beat projections and the company said full-year 2020 deliveries should exceed 500,000.
Facebook (FB) – Facebook beat estimates by 3 cents a share, with quarterly profit of $2.56 per share. The company beat on the top line as well. The stock is under pressure, however, on concerns about profit margins and a sharp rise in expenses.
Microsoft (MSFT) – Microsoft earned $1.51 per share for its latest quarter, topping estimates by 19 cents a share. Revenue also beat forecasts, boosted by continued growth in its cloud business.
Align Technology (ALGN) – Align is expecting a $35 million hit to revenue due to virus-related business disruptions in China. That news is weighing on the stock, even though the maker of the Invisalign teeth straightening system beat Wall Street forecasts on the top and bottom lines for its latest quarter.
Mondelez (MDLZ) – Mondelez came in a penny a share ahead of analysts' forecasts, with quarterly earnings of 61 cents per share. The maker of Oreo cookies and other snacks also saw revenue beat estimates, however Mondelez said it expects current-quarter revenue to take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak.
PayPal (PYPL) – PayPal reported quarterly profit of 86 cents per share, 3 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was slightly above forecasts, however the payment service gave a weaker-than-expected outlook for the current quarter and the full year.
Unilever (UL) – Unilever is beginning a strategic review of its tea business, which includes the Lipton and PG Tips brands. The consumer products company decided on the review as sales of traditional black tea slow in favor of herbal tea.
Lyft (LYFT) – Lyft cut 90 jobs, about 1.6% of its workforce, impacting the ride-hailing company's sales and marketing departments. | 2020-01-30T00:00:00 |
182 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/03/wednesdays-stocks-to-buy-include-tesla-eaton-hologic-sofi-ups.html | AMZN | Amazon | Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, UPS, Tyson, Disney, SoFi & more | Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday: Needham initiates SoFi at buy Needham says the financial company has the "right mix of growth and profits." "We are initiating coverage of SoFi Technologies (SOFI) with a BUY rating and a $10 price target." Baird initiates Informatica at overweight Baird said the software company has an attractive valuation. "From its foundation as a legacy data integration leader prior to 2015, INFA has emerged as a leader in cloud data management, and we believe should be positioned to help organizations prepare their data for generative AI use cases." Piper Sandler initiates Ecolab at overweight Piper said the water treatment company has upside. "We are initiating coverage of Ecolab Inc. ( ECL) with an OW rating and a 12-month PT of $260." KBW initiates Robinhood at market perform KBW initiated the brokerage stock and says its valuation is full right now. "Weighing Robinhood's Compelling New Product Roadmap Against a Now More Demanding Stock Price / Valuation." Citi upgrades Hologic to buy from neutral Citi said in its upgrade of Hologic that the diagnostic company is on a "significant" recovery trajectory. "We view the current FY24 outlook as conservative, which should be viewed positively by investors, in our opinion, as it is not reliant on a significant market recovery in the second half of the year." DA Davidson initiates Zeta Global at buy DA says the software company is misunderstood. "We believe ZETA i s currently trading at an unwarranted discount to other sales and marketing peers given revenue model and value proposition misconceptions." Goldman Sachs initiates Carlisle Companies at buy Goldman said it's bullish on shares of the building materials maker. "We believe Carlisle is well positioned to benefit from the macro, industry and company-specific dynamics over the next several years, contributing to above average growth relative to global peers and our building products coverage." Raymond James upgrades Jones Lang LaSalle to strong buy from outperform Raymond James says it's getting bullish on shares of the real estate management company. "We are upgrading Jones Lang LaSalle to Strong Buy from Outperform to reflect what we view to be an attractive valuation and robust momentum within its property and facilities management businesses." Deutsche Bank adds a catalyst call buy on Eaton Deutsche said it sees a short term buy idea on the stock as electrical orders rise. "We realize that ETN outperformed the group materially in 2023 and this has continued YTD." Raymond James upgrades Fluence to outperform from market perform Raymond James said it sees "margin upside" for the energy storage company. "Upgrading Fluence Energy (FLNC) from Market Perform to Outperform, following substantial multiple compression, and with room to post margin upside surprises as services and software revenue ramps up." KBW reiterates Coinbase as market perform KBW raised its price target on Coinbase to $230 per share from $160. "As a result of higher revenue and Adjusted EBITDA estimates, we are raising our price target to $230 from $160 previously, and maintaining our MP rating." Wells Fargo reiterates Meta as overweight Wells lowered its price target on Meta to $600 per share from $609, but says ad growth checks look strong. "Believe market increasingly looking to the next product cycle catalyst (like Reels in '23) to drive future ad growth outperformance vs. industry." Wells Fargo downgrades Wolfspeed to equal weight from overweight Wells downgraded the stock due to weaker demand for silicon carbide products. "The pure exposure WOLF has to the SiC [silicon carbide] mkt & the lack of profitability also make WOLF unique in this downgrade call." Wells Fargo reiterates Alphabet as equal weight Wells lowered its price target on Alphabet to $141 per share from $144. "All eyes on search performance in a pivotal quarter for the forward growth and search ad share narrative. Argus downgrades PepsiCo to hold from buy Argus downgraded PepsiCo due to concern about price hikes. "Downgrading to HOLD. Price hikes are likely to cause revenue growth to slow as consumers choose dining out over meals at home." JPMorgan downgrades Ally Financial to underweight from neutral JPMorgan said it sees too many headwinds for the financial services company. " ALLY – Downgrade to UW (from N) as valuation run-up limits further upside and headwinds persist (although lessening)." Citi adds a positive catalyst watch on Tyson Foods Citi said it's bullish on Tyson heading into earnings in May. "We think an EPS beat and guidance boost are likely when the company reports fiscal 2Q24 (March) results in early May, aided by a favorable industry environment, especially for its chicken and pork processing businesses." Redburn Atlantic Equities upgrades UPS to buy from neutral Redburn said it sees margins improving for UPS. "We upgrade to Buy and, due to upgrading our FY25 EPS and using a higher multiple to reflect improving sentiment and margins, we increase our PT to $180." Barclays reiterates Amazon as overweight Barclays says it's sticking with its overweight rating on the stock. "The Amazon story continues to be one of: 1) GMV [gross merchandise value] share gains across most geos and categories, owing to the prime member growth and flywheel and a higher mix of nondiscretionary; 2) improving cost-to-serve." Guggenheim reiterates Disney as buy Guggenheim raised its price target on the stock to $140 per share from $125. " Disney hosts its annual shareholder meeting today with the results of the well-covered proxy battle for board seats likely to be revealed by early afternoon." Deutsche Bank reiterates Tesla as buy Deutsche lowered its price target on the stock to $189 per share from $200 but says it's sticking with the stock. "Yesterday's relatively moderate negative reaction to Tesla's considerable Q1 deliveries miss, may, in our view, reflect investors' increased understanding of the near-term challenges for the company as it wrestles with EV slowdown and competition against its aging vehicle lineup, before the arrival of its next-gen platform." B Riley initiates Booking Holdings as buy B Riley says it's bullish on shares of the travel website. "We are initiating coverage of Booking Holdings, Inc . with a Buy rating and a 12-month price target of $4,400 per share." Gordon Haskett downgrades Costco to accumulate from buy Gordon Haskett downgraded several retailers on Wednesday and says it's "waving a yellow flag" on the rally. "Ranking Our Coverage Universe; Downgrading = FIVE, COST, DLTR, & LOW; Waving a Yellow Flag Post YTD Rally." Northland upgrades WisdomTree to outperform from market perform Northland says it sees growth accelerating for the financial services company. "We believe WT's growth is accelerating as higher fee funds take center stage and optionality exists with WT Prime and tokenization." | 2024-04-03T00:00:00 |
183 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/the-fcc-is-investigating-amazon-over-the-alleged-marketing-and-sale-of-outlawed-products.html | AMZN | Amazon | The FCC is investigating Amazon over the alleged marketing and sale of outlawed products | The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it is investigating Amazon and other retailers for the alleged marketing and selling of unlawful electronic devices, including radio frequency jammers.
The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it is investigating Amazon and other retailers for the alleged marketing and selling of unlawful electronic devices, including radio frequency jammers.
The FCC does not always disclose ongoing investigations. It did so in a statement to NBC News after the news organization reported that some retailers and drone technology companies were marketing jammers online, despite FCC warnings that jammers are illegal.
"We have several ongoing investigations into retailers, including Amazon, for potential violations of Commission rules related to the marketing and sale of equipment without proper FCC authorization," FCC spokesperson Jonathan Uriarte said in the statement. He said he had no further details to share immediately.
NBC News reported earlier Wednesday that a variety of companies were marketing signal jammers online. They included Amazon third-party sellers, separate online stores based in China and small domestic companies that specialize in drone-related equipment.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday regarding the FCC's statement about its investigations.
Jammers have many possible uses, including to keep away unwelcome drones, disable security cameras and block Wi-Fi networks.
But they can also interfere with emergency communications, normal phone use and critical infrastructure such as airport navigation systems, according to the FCC and outside experts. The FCC says the manufacture, importation, sale or offer for sale of jamming equipment violates the Communications Act of 1934. Not even local police are allowed to use them.
NBC News found nine independent sellers on Amazon recently offering "jammer" devices for sale. All nine product listings disappeared from Amazon within two days after NBC News contacted the Seattle-based retailer. Amazon confirmed in an email earlier this month that its policies prohibit jamming devices and said it continuously monitors its marketplace to prevent third-party sellers from listing banned products.
Amazon did not offer an explanation for how the nine sellers got past the company's monitoring. | 2024-03-21T00:00:00 |
184 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/ford-falls-amazon-advances-pharmacy-pursuits-and-disney-board-member-speaks-our-takes-the-news.html | AMZN | Amazon | Ford falls, Amazon advances pharmacy pursuits and Disney board member speaks – our takes the news | Ford Motor kept its 2024 guidance unchanged Tuesday. Meanwhile, Amazon 's pharmacy efforts added another wrinkle and Disney 's newest board member weighed in on the proxy fight underway at the entertainment giant. Here's a closer look at these headlines and our takes on each. F YTD mountain F stock performance year-to-date. The news: Ford CFO John Lawler on Tuesday reiterated the company's 2024 operating guidance at the Bank of America Securities Auto Summit. Ford still expects to earn between $10 billion and $12 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT; generate adjusted free cash flow between $6 billion and $7 billion; and spend between $8 billion and $9.5 billion on capital expenditures — just as the company offered in early February alongside its 2023 fourth quarter results earlier this month. Club take: Shares of Ford were hit hard Tuesday, falling 3.6%, even though rival General Motors advanced 1% in the session. The divergence in stock performance was not great to see. At the time Ford first issued its guidance, we perceived it as upbeat. The fact it was reiterated Tuesday suggests management's efforts to cut about $2 billion in costs are on track, and its scaled-back EV investments and intensified focused on hybrids are going as planned. Indeed, Ford's February sales figures showed plenty of momentum in the hybrid market. Ford got back on track with its February earnings report, but going forward we still need to see consistency in profits, cash flows and quality control, while managing losses in its electric vehicle division. Following Ford's fourth-quarter earnings print, we raised our price target on Ford shares to $15 from $13. "It's time for Ford to break out," Jim Cramer said in Monday's Homestretch. Investors are set to get another update on Ford's business strength April 24, when the automaker reports its 2024 first quarter numbers after the close. AMZN YTD mountain AMZN stock performance year-to-date. The news: Amazon on Tuesday launched same-day delivery of prescription medication for customers in New York City and the greater Los Angeles area. The service — offered through Amazon Pharmacy launched in 2020 — is part of the company's efforts to provide "the fastest and most convenient service for the home delivery of prescriptions," said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a press release. Medications for flu, diabetes and other common conditions are available through the service, Amazon said. To help offer the swift delivery, Amazon said it is leveraging artificial intelligence "to help pharmacists fill prescriptions quickly and accurately." The e-commerce giant plans to expand same-day medicine delivery to more than a dozen cities by year-end. The service has been available to customers in Seattle, Miami, Indianapolis, Phoenix and Austin, Texas. Club take: Amazon's expansion of same-day delivery of prescription medication is another sign of the company's focus on innovating in health care. And we're always encouraged by efforts to boost the value of a Prime subscription. Financially, Tuesday's announcement is not really a needle mover. Nevertheless, the ability to offer same-day delivery for prescriptions spotlights Amazon's logistics and delivery prowess. For its traditional e-commerce business, the company has wisely streamlined its fulfilment network to reduce delivery times and overall cost of delivery, helping it make more money. In general, we feel good about our Amazon position, particularly in light of its relationship with Nvidia on AI, as Jim detailed in his Sunday column . DIS YTD mountain DIS stock performance year-to-date. The news: The newest member of Disney's board, Morgan Stanley Executive Chairman James Gorman, offered his perspective on the entertainment company's proxy fight in an interview with CNBC. "A lot of this fight seems to be looking backwards. I'm more interested and why I joined the board in looking forwards," Gorman said. His comments come ahead of Disney's annual meeting, set for April 3, where Trian Partner's Nelson Peltz is seeking a board seat along with former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. When pressed with Disney's stock underperformance against the broader market and its competitors in recent years, Gorman's justification was the "period of major disruption in this industry" from linear to streaming while navigating through the challenging post-pandemic environment. With CEO Bog Iger back at the helm, the company is "turning that around. Its evidenced by the performance in the stock," Gorman explained. Shares of Disney are up nearly 33% year to date, but the stock has dramatically underperformed the S & P 500 over a five-year period. In that time frame, its cumulative total return is 9.7% compared with 100.2% for the S & P 500, according to FactSet. Club take: We've been supporting Peltz in his push to have two seats on Disney's board. We believe Peltz will be critical in creating shareholder value and reviving losses in Disney's underperforming businesses given his governance experience at consumer companies over the years such as Procter & Gamble , Wendy's , Heinz , and Unilever . In our minds, the pressure Peltz has been putting on Disney through this proxy battle has already helped motivate management and contributed to the stock's strong performance lately. Shares of Disney made a new 52-week high Tuesday and closed at just under $120 apiece. As discussed on Monday's Morning Meeting, we would consider trimming our position if we weren't restricted, given the stock's year-to-date gains. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long F, AMZN, DIS. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Ford CEO Jim Farley poses for a photo before announcing at a press conference that Ford Motor Company will be partnering with the world's largest battery company, China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology, to create an electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, on Feb. 13, 2023, in Romulus, Michigan. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images | 2024-03-26T00:00:00 |
185 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/amazon-gets-boost-from-72percent-pop-in-ai-company-astera-labs-ipo.html | AMZN | Amazon | Amazon gets boost from 72% pop in AI company Astera Labs' IPO | In this photo illustration, Astera Labs logo is seen on a smartphone and on a pc screen.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy loves to talk about how much his company is benefiting from the artificial intelligence boom. On Wednesday, Amazon got an AI boost in a different way.
Shares of Astera Labs , which sells data center connectivity chips to cloud and AI infrastructure companies, soared 72% in their Nasdaq debut, closing at $62.03. That gives Astera a market cap of close to $9.5 billion.
Astera's IPO plays into Wall Street's thirst for all things AI. Founded in 2017 by former Texas Instruments executives, Astera counts Nvidia , AMD , and Intel among its customers. It's also selling heavily to Amazon.
The company got a major vote of confidence in 2022, when it struck a deal with Amazon that gave the tech giant warrants allowing it to buy up to 1.5 million shares of Astera's stock at $20.34 apiece. The following year, the agreement was amended, giving Amazon a warrant to buy more than 830,000 additional shares. As of the end of last year, Amazon controlled 232,608 shares, according to a securities filing.
Based on Wednesday's closing price, Amazon's shares and warrants are worth a total of almost $144 million.
But in order for Amazon to vest the rest of its shares and fully benefit from the price pop, it must purchase up to $650 million worth of Astera's products in the coming years, according to the agreement. That's a lot of money for Astera, which recorded total sales last year of $115.8 million, up from $79.9 million in 2022.
The three types of products Amazon has agreed to buy are are all designed to address "critical bottlenecks in AI infrastructure," according to Astera's IPO prospectus.
Astera is joining the public markets as investors eagerly await social media company Reddit's planned New York Stock Exchange debut Thursday. The tech IPO market has been largely dormant since late 2021, with Arm Holdings , Instacart and Klaviyo among the very few that have held offerings over that stretch.
WATCH: Reddit nears IPO | 2024-03-20T00:00:00 |
186 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/amazon-eq-card-game-seller-use-these-simple-steps-to-make-more-money.html | AMZN | Amazon | 42-year-old Amazon seller whose side hustle brings in $143,000 a month: Use these 3 simple steps to make more money | Jenny Woo's four streams of income have taught her a few important lessons: how to start side hustles, sustain them and make them more lucrative.
Woo is a 42-year-old ex-corporate consultant and Montessori school administrative director who lectures at the University of California, Irvine, runs an online emotional intelligence course and freelances as a business consultant.
She also has a side hustle called Mind Brain Emotion where creates emotional intelligence-focused card games — 11 of them so far, on topics ranging from relationship skills to job interviews — and sells them on Amazon. The games brought in $1.71 million in revenue last year, or an average of $142,700 per month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
The side hustle's success is due, at least partially, to a three-step process Woo followed, she says: Keep testing your idea after you've launched it, use the feedback to inform your next project and repeat the cycle.
DON'T MISS: The ultimate guide to earning passive income online
Woo's first game was meant to help teachers and kids learn the basics of emotional intelligence, so she spent three months testing it in local schools before listing it on Amazon, she says. Once sales started coming in, she kept researching and testing the game — but instead of updating it, she used the feedback to create new versions for different topics and audiences.
"Iteration is key," says Woo. "For those who are risk-averse or perfectionistic, they may worry, 'What if I make a mistake? What if I become irrelevant?' Don't be afraid to reinvent yourself." | 2024-03-21T00:00:00 |
187 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/01/mondays-stocks-with-upside-like-nvidia.html | AMZN | Amazon | Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Tesla, Delta, Skechers, Apple, Disney, Micron, Citi, Amazon & more | Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Monday: Jefferies reiterates Microsoft as buy Jefferies raised its price target on the stock to $550 per share from $465 and said it's an "AI winner." "We believe that MSFT is the key beneficiary of Gen AI, poised to benefit from both infrastructure (Azure OpenAI) and app angles (series of Copilots) opportunities, capturing the most of this transformational opportunity." Goldman Sachs initiates Cameco as buy Goldman said it's bullish on shares of the nuclear fuel supplier. "We are initiating coverage on CCJ /CCO.TO with a Buy rating and US$55/C$74 price targets, implying ~30% upside from current levels." Barclays initiates Crocs, Skechers, On Holding and Deckers at overweight Barclays said it's bullish on several footwear companies. "We are expanding our footwear coverage, initiating on CROX , DECK , ONON , and SKX all at Overweight, supported by our market analysis, inventory framework, and our proprietary 1,000+ U.S. consumer survey." Barclays downgrades J.B. Hunt and Werner to equal weight from overweight and C.H. Robinson to underweight from equal weight Barclays downgraded several shippers on Monday due to "volume challenges." "Weak bid season results will likely result in volume challenges for J.B. Hunt , softer margins for Werner and growth headwinds for C.H. Robinson. " Morgan Stanley initiates Compass Pathways at overweight Morgan Stanley said in its initiation of Compass that it's bullish on shares of the mental health biopharma company. "Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) represents an area of significant unmet need." Morgan Stanley reiterates Taiwan Semiconductor as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating on shares of TSM. "We reiterate our OW rating into the 1Q24 print, as the margin erosion should be temporary, while AI semi growth is structural." Morgan Stanley reiterates Delta as a top pick Morgan Stanley said Delta's push into "premium" will reward investors. "We are raising our price target on DAL from $77 to $85 and our bull case valuation from $90 to $110, driven by higher out-year earnings and implied P/E multiple at the high end of DAL's historical range of 8-10x P/E." Bank of America reiterates Nvidia and Broadcom as buy Bank of America said Nvidia and Broadcom are still top ideas at the firm. "The adoption of accelerated/AI servers is a generational shift with NVDA and AVGO the leaders and our top two picks." Wells Fargo reiterates Amazon as overweight Wells said it's bullish on the e-commerce platform and web services provider in the second quarter. "We reiterate our Overweight rating and Signature pick, while also adding AMZN to the Q2'24 Tactical Ideas List. Increase PT to $217, from $211, based on 30x updated 2026E EPS." Bank of America reiterates Micron as buy Bank of America said it sees further share gains for Micron. "We raise MU's PO to $144 from $120 on higher 2.8x CY25E P/B vs. 2.2x prior, though inline with 0.8x-3x historical range." Wells Fargo upgrades Devon Energy to overweight from equal weight Wells said the hydrocarbon energy business has an "attractive valuation." "In contrast to our original thesis in which DVN's premium valuation kept us on the sidelines, we now believe the stock offers an attractive entry point across most valuation metrics." Loop reiterates Apple as hold Loop cut its price target on the stock to $170 per share from $185. "The stock isn't expensive' per se… but not screaming cheap either. It's tough to discern if valuation is friend or foe currently, given AAPL is trading more in the middle of its recent trading range but with fundamentals softer." Evercore ISI initiates Bloom Energy as outperform Evercore said the energy company is a "differentiated pure-play hydrogen equipment manufacturer." " Bloom Energy is executing on an aggressive multi-year growth strategy to aid global decarbonization and deploy hydrogen solutions at scale to capitalize on the rapidly evolving energy mix." Wells Fargo downgrades Bill.com to underweight from equal weight Wells said in its downgrade of the financial software company that Bill is a "bull case on borrowed time." "While near-term trends have stabilized, we believe the Street is complacent around future expectations, and see estimates more likely to move lower than higher in the months ahead." Bank of America reiterates Disney as buy Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $145 per share from $130. "We anticipate DIS' F2Q to reflect a continuation of the strong underlying momentum reported in F1Q." Wells Fargo reiterates Tesla as underweight Wells added Tesla to its tactical ideas list as an underweight. "We see moderating delivery growth driven by lower demand & diminished return on price cuts. We estimate auto gross margin ex credits fall by ~130bps y/y given likelihood of more price cuts & lower volumes." Bank of America upgrades Healthpeak Properties to buy from underperform Bank of America said the real estate investment trust has an "attractive yield," lifting its price target by 39%. "We are upgrading DOC to a Buy from Underperform and raising our PO to $25 from $18." Bank of America upgrades TransUnion to neutral from underperform Bank of America said the lending environment has held up better than expected. "We upgrade TRU to Neutral from Underperform. We are more positive amid a steadying consumer lending environment and opportunities for sales upside in the 2024 guidance across international, insurance and mortgage." Oppenheimer reiterates Sweetgreen as a top pick The firm doubled its price target on the restaurant stock to $34 per share from $17. "SG remain[s] one of our 'top picks' with an increased price target to $34. Baird downgrades Fifth Third Bancorp to neutral from outperform Baird downgraded the Cincinnati-based regional bank mainly on valuation. "Fresh valuation look post sabbatical — recent strength resulting in more balanced risk/ reward, stepping aside on FITB." Goldman Sachs adds Royal Caribbean and Citi to conviction list Goldman said Royal Caribbean and Citi are now on the firm's list of top picks. "We add Citigroup Inc . (C), Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd . (RCL), SLB (SLB) and TPG Inc. (TPG) to the Americas Conviction List, while removing Blue Owl Capital (OWL), TE Connectivity Ltd. (TEL), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Cintas (CTAS)." Citi downgrades Oxford Industries to sell from neutral Citi said in its downgrade of Oxford that the owner of brands such as Tommy Bahama is seeing too much margin pressure. "We lower our rating from Neutral to Sell. 4Q results were at the low end of guidance and 1Q has gotten off to a tough start." Morgan Stanley reiterates Planet Fitness as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating on the fitness company. "We are bullish PLNT with boycott concerns overblown and a robust near-term catalyst path with potential to drive positive revisions and/or a multiple re-rating." | 2024-04-01T00:00:00 |
188 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/18/youtuber-mrbeast-teams-up-with-amazons-mgm-studios-for-new-series.html | AMZN | Amazon | YouTuber MrBeast teams up with Amazon's MGM Studios for 'biggest reality competition series ever' | Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast on the internet, on Monday announced a new reality competition show in collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios, aiming to further blur the lines between YouTube and traditional television.
The new series, "Beast Games," is billed as "the biggest reality competition series ever" and will feature 1,000 contestants competing for a $5 million cash prize.
Donaldson is the most-followed individual creator on YouTube, with more than 389 million subscribers across all of his channels, and is the fourth most-followed creator on TikTok. His large-scale productions on YouTube compare to those of a professional TV operation, with an extensive crew, highly developed sets and big cash prizes. Donaldson's past videos range from trapping himself in solitary confinement for seven days, attempting to destroy a Lamborghini with a train and running his own version of Squid Game.
Donaldson said in an interview on "The Colin and Samir Show" podcast that his videos on YouTube can cost between $4 million and $5 million each, and the new show will have an even bigger budget. News outlet Puck estimated the deal between Donaldson and Amazon to be about $100 million.
"It's like our normal videos, but just 20 times better," Donaldson said on the podcast. "Money's not a constraint on the show. And so I can also just do anything, which is like a lot more freeing than you would think and so mind-blowing."
Donaldson said that working with a streaming service allows him to break free of the algorithms and values that perform better on YouTube like thumbnails, video length and title. However, MrBeast videos can net between 300 million and 500 million views each, and there are only 80 million active Amazon Prime Video households in the U.S., per Amazon.
"Beast Games" is not the first time a creator has made content for a streaming service, and the news is part of a trend of creators expanding their content beyond social media platforms in order to diversify revenue. YouTube group "Sidemen" released a Netflix documentary earlier this year, for instance, and the family of TikToker Charli D'Amelio just aired the third season of their reality show on Hulu.
"We're reinventing everything," Donaldson said on the podcast. "This will probably be six-plus hours of content, where my normal videos are 20 minutes long. The character building, the storytelling, will be out of this world compared to our normal videos." | 2024-03-18T00:00:00 |
189 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/amazon-big-spring-sale-should-boost-sales-and-lift-profit-margins.html | AMZN | Amazon | Amazon's 'Big Spring Sale' should help boost sales and increase profit margins | Amazon 's first spring sale event should help the online retailer get a jump on its rivals for the season and boost revenue for the first quarter. The " Big Spring Sale ," which starts Wednesday and runs through March 25, is expected to "drive stronger growth and defend its [Amazon's] competitive position," analysts at JMP Securities wrote in a note to clients. Bank of America estimates it could provide some upside to revenue for the quarter ending March 31, with incremental gross merchandise volume of $1 billion to $2 billion. Zev Fima, an analyst at the Investing Club, says a sales event on its own isn't a reason to buy the stock. "But we agree that any increase in volume is going to help margins because fixed costs are going to be spread out over more units, therefore increasing operating leverage," he said. The inaugural event, which is not restricted to Prime members, will feature daily deals for all customers, with spring fashion, fitness products, and outdoor furniture among the categories that will be discounted. Prime members, who pay $139 per year, or $14.99 a month, in the U.S., will enjoy exclusive access to special deals. Fima said the sale is likely to add more Prime subscriptions, which include free, fast shipping, video streaming, and access to Prime Day deals. Despite scheduling the event during a slower retail period, Bank of America said it could be a move to get ahead of the competition for selling spring products. The firm said Amazon is interested in increasing its share in the home goods category. Amazon assured customers can "shop confidently" and rely on the company's swift delivery service during the sales event. This spring sale mirrors the two-day Prime Big Deal Days event Amazon hosted in October 2023 to kick off the holiday shopping season. This spring event comes during an uncertain economic environment. Retail sales had a modest 0.6% growth in February after falling 1.1% in January. The lower-than-expected increase shows consumers have become more cautious with their spending. Adjusted for seasonal variation, spending at health and personal care stores dipped 0.3% for the month, while shopping at clothing stores dropped roughly 0.5%. To be sure, consumers have some wiggle room for discretionary purchases and spending on experiences. Electronics purchases and spending at restaurants and bars rose 1.5% and 0.4%, respectively, from January to February. However, it's worth noting that retail sales are not adjusted for inflation , which increased 0.4% in February. Increases in both energy and shelter costs accounted for more than 60% of the monthly increase in the consumer price index for all items, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With this uncertain economic environment, Amazon said it will be offering up to 50% off select items including beauty products, electronics, apparel, and home products. A key factor for Amazon's success will be the company's regionalization strategy , which has not only increased shipping speed while driving costs down but has also led to market share gains. Amazon last year reached the fastest delivery speeds ever globally, with more than seven billion units arriving either the same day they were ordered or the next day. Management plans to get even faster in 2024 as it prioritizes efficiency in its fulfillment network while utilizing artificial intelligence to better predict which fulfillment center items should be placed according to customer demand. Amazon management said it will further reduce costs, allowing it to reinvest in speed improvements, lower prices, and improve profitability. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AMZN. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. | 2024-03-20T00:00:00 |
190 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/amazon-plans-spring-sale-for-march-20-to-25-not-limited-to-prime.html | AMZN | Amazon | Amazon plans 'Big Spring Sale' that's not just for Prime members starting March 20 | Packages move along a conveyor at an Amazon fulfillment center on Cyber Monday in Robbinsville, New Jersey, on Nov. 29, 2021.
Amazon will host a spring sale next week with discounts on seasonal items, and this one is not restricted to Prime members.
Amazon said Thursday that the event, which it's calling the "Big Spring Sale," will run for six days starting March 20, in North America. Unlike the Prime Day discount bonanza typically held in the summer, next week's event will be open to shoppers who don't pay for a Prime membership. The subscription program costs $139 per year, or $14.99 a month, in the U.S., and perks include free, speedy shipping; video streaming; and access to exclusive Prime Day deals.
Spring fashion, fitness products, outdoor furniture, Amazon-branded devices and other "warm weather essentials" are among the categories that will be discounted, Amazon said. It's the first time Amazon has held such an event in the first quarter.
In recent years, Amazon has added shopping events, including a "Prime Big Deal Days" in the fall, a 48-hour "Pet Day" and a beauty-focused sale ahead of the holiday shopping season.
The company is launching its spring event as shoppers, grappling with high inflation, remain hungry for discounts. Inflation has receded from its 40-year highs in mid-2022, but it remains above the Federal Reserve's 2% goal. Consumer prices rose more than expected last month, increasing 3.2% in February from a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday.
Amazon also faces rising competition from low-cost retailers Temu and Shein, which have been on an ad-spending blitz to attract American shoppers. Shein mostly offers deeply discounted apparel and accessories. Temu is akin to an online flea market and has seen its popularity boom due to its rock-bottom prices and a gamified shopping experience. | 2024-03-14T00:00:00 |
191 | https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/amazon-and-other-retailers-hit-by-refund-fraud-costing-them-billions.html | AMZN | Amazon | Refund fraud schemes promoted on TikTok, Telegram are costing Amazon and other retailers billions of dollars | In this article AMZN Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT
A UPS seasonal worker delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York on Nov. 27, 2023. Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Just before midnight on May 4, 2023, police were called to an Amazon warehouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to investigate a reported theft. They were met by a loss prevention employee, who directed them to a warehouse worker named Noah Page, the suspected culprit, according to a police report of the incident that was obtained by CNBC. When confronted by police, according to the report, Page admitted that he'd marked a customer's order in Amazon's internal system as returned even though the products were never actually sent back to the company. Page received $3,500 for his part in the scheme, the report said. Page didn't know the customer but had chosen to call him "Ralph," the report said. Ralph, it turned out, was part of a group named Rekk, an expansive refund fraud organization that targeted major retailers and recruited company employees by promising them a cut of the profits, Amazon alleged in a lawsuit. Refund fraud, which involves tricking retailers into refunding a customer for a purchase without an item being physically returned, has become so pervasive that groups now market their services on Reddit, TikTok and Telegram. Type in "refund method" — or "r3fund," to skirt content moderators — on TikTok and videos will pop up of users showing off piles of cash, sneakers and iPhones. One video has the caption, "me after realizing you can get a refund on any Rick Owens if the 'package never came,'" referring to the minimalist fashion brand. The clip shows a hand endlessly tossing shoes to the ground. Fraud groups are taking advantage of retailers' lenient return policies, experts told CNBC, which often include unlimited free returns and sometimes even a preference that customers keep the items. It's ballooned into a massive problem for retailers, costing them more than $101 billion last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. The figure includes multiple forms of fraud, such as sending back clothing after it's been worn, known as "wardrobing," and returning shoplifted merchandise, the survey said. In December, Amazon filed a lawsuit against Page and 47 other people across the globe with alleged ties to Rekk, accusing them of conspiring to steal millions of dollars worth of products in a refund fraud operation. Amazon described these services as "illegitimate 'businesses'" that look to "exploit the refund process for their own financial gain to the detriment of honest consumers and retailers who must bear the brunt of increased costs, decreased inventory, and service disruption that impacts genuine customers." Amazon also suffered more than $700,000 in losses at the hands of another alleged fraud ring in which 10 people were indicted last year, according to documents from a suit filed in 2023.
Robots transport goods to the employees in warehouse at Amazon fulfillment center in Eastvale on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. the Riverside Press-enterprise | Medianews Group | Getty Images
An Amazon spokesperson said the company is addressing the issue "head on" through specialized teams and machine learning tools that detect and prevent refund fraud. Amazon says its work with law enforcement has led to arrests, the dismantling of organized retail crime groups and civil lawsuits. "We continue to make progress in identifying and stopping fraud before it happens, as well as dismantling the groups that attempt to damage the integrity of our store and the stores of retailers across the retail industry," the spokesperson said in a statement. Here's how it works: A shopper buys a product online and sends the order information to a group such as Rekk, which then poses as the customer in requesting a refund. Amazon refunds the money to the customer, who then pays the fraud group usually between 15% and 30% of the refund amount, often via PayPal or with bitcoin . That means the customer ends up buying the product for what amounts to a huge discount. The fraud group then pays the conspiring employee at the retailer, typically a certain amount for a batch of packages the employee scans as returned. Retailers and law enforcement agencies are catching onto the trend. In September, a 25-year-old man in Michigan, Sajed Al-Maarej, was arrested and charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud after he allegedly ran a return fraud service called Simple Refunds that targeted more than 50 retailers. The following month, 10 men were indicted in Oklahoma, and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly operating a refund fraud service named Artemis Refund Group. And a 24-year-old U.K. man was convicted of fraud in December after running the KeptSecrets refund service, which targeted retailers including Amazon, Walmart and Wayfair , according to court documents. Following the Rekk scheme, Page was arrested when police showed up at the Chattanooga warehouse in May, and he was charged with theft of property worth more than $60,000. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November to three years of probation, as well as ordered to pay Amazon $5,000. Page didn't respond to requests for comment.
A thriving refund fraud market
For every refund fraud service shut down by law enforcement, swarms of similar groups remain open for business. CNBC viewed several active refund fraud services on encrypted messaging app Telegram, each with thousands of followers. Updates are posted almost daily of new stores on their services, or new retailers that have been successfully targeted. Amazon and Apple are frequently hit, along with Nike, eBay, Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren. Some groups even offer their services for DoorDash and Uber Eats orders, claiming users can "eat for free." The groups are highly organized and run like businesses, providing customer service, cataloging orders and creating fake shipping labels. Some sell how-to guides.
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards A Google form from an active refund fraud service explaining which stores it targets and how much it charges customers. Source: Google
Fraudsters employ multiple strategies. A common one is to claim a package never arrived so that the retailer issues a refund. According to Amazon's lawsuit, a Rekk user received a full refund for two MacBook Air laptops after filing a police report falsely claiming the products never arrived. Mail-in fraud involves a user filling out a company's return form, but instead of sending back the purchased product, users will mail an empty box or a package filled with junk. In the case of Simple Refunds, Al-Maarej, the man who allegedly operated the group, sent an unnamed retailer "an envelope filled with plastic toy frogs" instead of the tools he claimed he was returning, prosecutors said. Al-Maarej also recruited employees at UPS and the U.S. Postal Service who either manipulated a package's tracking history or input false "return to sender" notices to fool the retailer into thinking an item couldn't be delivered or that it was sent to the wrong address, according to court documents. Chris Black, an attorney for Al-Maarej, declined to comment. Amazon said its own internal investigation identified Al-Maarej's scheme and contributed to the eventual indictment. The company didn't respond to questions specifically about how it monitors and handles bribery of its employees by ORC and refund fraud groups. Rekk allegedly used bribes, offering Amazon staffers thousands of dollars a day to approve customer returns for products that were never sent back. In a text message last year to Page, a Rekk representative said they'd been working with two other Amazon employees for about two months and offered them $4,000 for 30 orders marked as returned, according to court documents. "They usually do 30 scans per day per shift," the Rekk user wrote. "Sometimes they choose to do more. So at least 12k a week." According to the complaint, Rekk also recruited one of Page's colleagues at CHA1, Amazon's name for the Chattanooga facility. Between February 2023 and May 2023, the CHA1 employee allegedly approved product returns for 76 orders at Rekk's request, causing Amazon to refund over $100,000 to customers, and netting $3,500 from the scheme.
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards A refund fraud service claims to have access to Amazon insiders in a Telegram post. Source: Telegram
Amazon said it has tried to address the bribery problem. In its lawsuit against Rekk, the company said it has an internal customer protection and enforcement team made up of attorneys, former prosecutors, and analysts investigating organized crime schemes such as refund fraud. The company has also reportedly fired employees who were allegedly bribed to leak confidential data on third-party sellers. Cyril Noel-Tagoe, a cybersecurity expert who has studied refund fraud extensively, said the economic incentive for low-wage workers to get involved with these schemes creates a perpetual challenge for retailers. "If you're offering an employee much more than they're getting paid, then it's quite hard to combat that," Noel-Tagoe, who works as a principal security researcher at bot detection software company Netacea, told CNBC.
'All you need is a phone'
Those on the lookout for moneymaking opportunities will find no shortage of promotional videos across social media. For a fee, you can learn how to play the game. One TikTok video on the topic shows bags of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Apple products and reads, "[Point of view]: You mastered the art of r3funding and started to teach others." TikTok clips often serve as advertisements for a user's Telegram channel that's linked in the bio of their account. Similar tactics are used on Reddit. In the "Illegal Life Pro Tips" forum on Reddit, which is no longer active but counts 1.1 million members, refund scammers shared their tips and tricks. In recent days, Reddit banned an offshoot of that subreddit, called "illegallifeprotips2," saying it violates the site's rules "against transactions involving prohibited goods or services." Users quickly resurfaced on a new subreddit, "ELegalLifeProTips." After CNBC flagged "ELegalLifeProTips," Reddit took down the subreddit for violating its ban evasion policy. In the past, such illicit behavior ran rampant on the dark web and required VPNs and a special browser, said Brittany Allen, a trust and safety architect at fraud detection software company Sift. These days the perpetrators regularly discuss their activities openly on forums and in messaging apps, which Allen described as the "democratization of fraud." "You don't need to be that specialist that can figure out how to find these deep web groups," Allen said. "All you need is to have a phone that can go to Reddit, or a TikTok account you're already on, and you'll potentially be exposed to fraud that doesn't take as much uplift to participate in." Remi Vaughn, a spokesperson for Telegram, told CNBC in an email that the company moderates "harmful content" on its platform, including posts that promote fraud. "Moderators use a combination of proactive moderation on public parts of the platform and accept user reports in order to remove content which breaches Telegram's terms," Vaughn added. A Reddit spokesperson said it uses a combination of automated tooling and human moderators to enforce its content policies, which prohibit users from soliciting or facilitating any transaction that involves fraudulent services. After CNBC provided TikTok with examples of videos about refund fraud, the company said it removed them for violating its community guidelines. It said it also blocked hashtags that were used to promote refund fraud. The use of mainstream apps in these schemes has made it easier for investigators to do their work. Noel-Tagoe referenced a case in which a retailer was able to track down an individual whose email address was in an Instagram post. Allen said she's been able to identify fraudsters through "vouches," or screenshots of successful fraudulent returns. Some of the images show order numbers, store pickup locations or cart items, according to Allen, all useful intel for retailers investigating return fraud. David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, said an increasing number of companies are "tightening up their return policies" in response to customer abuse and fraudulent activity. Delivery workers, for example, are encouraged to photograph a package once it reaches its destination, and retailers are looking more closely for suspicious behavior in analyzing returns. "There are some retailers that monitor the number of returns you make in-store, and if you return too much too frequently, they might put you on pause," Johnston said. "We're starting to see more of that now on the e-commerce side." WATCH: The 'shopping journey will drastically look different' | 2024-03-14T00:00:00 |
192 | https://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/19/wall-street-poised-for-inflation-figures.html | AEE | Ameren | Dow futures fall 100 points as oil slide weighs | U.S. stock index futures indicated a lower open on Friday as low oil prices weighed.
U.S. crude oil futures for March delivery traded 3.5 percent lower below $30 a barrel as of 8:57 a.m. ET. Dow futures were off by about 100 points.
Traders also eyed CPI which showed a 0.3 percent rise ex-food and energy in January. The headline figure was unchanged from the previous month. Year-over-year, the core CPI advanced 2.2 percent, the largest rise since June 2012, Reuters said.
Treasury yields edged higher, with the 2-year yield at 0.75 percent and the 10-year yield at 1.78 percent.
The U.S. dollar held mildly higher against major currencies, with the euro at $1.107 and the yen at 113.00 yen against the greenback.
Earlier, U.S. futures indicated a slightly higher open, before erasing gains.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said Friday that policy will likely need to remain accommodative "for some time" given slow growth abroad, the strong dollar, more restrictive financial conditions and the hard-hit energy sector, Reuters reported. Mester also said Inflation will remain "lower for longer" than previously thought, although the U.S. economy will "work through" market volatility and soft economic data. | 2016-02-19T00:00:00 |
193 | https://www.cnbc.com/2011/06/08/20-Stocks-With-the-Potential-to-Drop.html | AEE | Ameren | 20 Stocks With the Potential to Drop | It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or down? To answer this question, the street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation. After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. With data from Thomson Reuters, CNBC.com took a look at
It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or down?
To answer this question, the street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation.
After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. With data from Thomson Reuters, CNBC.com took a look at which stocks in the S&P 500 have average consensus estimates farthest below their stock prices.
According to the latest data, only 10 stocks, or about 2 percent of the index constituents, are expected to go down in value by 4 percent or more. And only 13 companies are trading within 1 percent of their respective price target estimates. The prices and analyst estimates presented here are as of the market close on June 8, 2011.
So, which stocks are analysts expecting to have the biggest pops? Click ahead to find out!
By Giovanny Moreano & Paul Toscano
Posted June 8 2011 | 2011-06-08T00:00:00 |
194 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/45526215 | AEE | Ameren | Dec. 2: Unusual Volume Leaders | N/A | 2011-12-02T00:00:00 |
195 | https://www.cnbc.com/2012/03/21/20-Stocks-With-the-Potential-to-Drop.html | AEE | Ameren | 20 Stocks With the Potential to Drop | 20 Stocks with the Potential to Drop
It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or down? The street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation. After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. With data from Thomson Reuters, CNBC.com grouped stocks in the S&P 500 with aver Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba | AFP Creative | Getty Images
It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or down?
The street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation.
After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. With data from Thomson Reuters, CNBC.com grouped stocks in the S&P 500 with average consensus estimates farthest below their stock prices.
In the S&P 500, the average short interest (as a % of float) stands at 3.68, while some companies included in this list have short interest as high as 34.56. The prices and analysts’ estimates presented here are as of the market close on March 21, 2012.
So, which stocks are analysts expecting to have the biggest drops? Click ahead to find out!
By Giovanny Moreano& Paul Toscano
Posted 21 March 2012
20. Cerner Corp (CERN)
Potential to Drop: -0.42% Mean Price Target: $75.94 Closing Price (3/21): $76.26 Short interest (as % of float): 7.77 Number of Analysts: 16 High Estimate: $85 Low Estimate: $45 Photo: Cerner
Potential to Drop: -0.47%
Mean Price Target: $75.94
Closing Price (3/21): $76.30
Short interest (as % of float): 7.77
Number of Analysts: 16
High Estimate: $85
Low Estimate: $45
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19. Zions Bancorp (ZION)
Potential to Drop: -1.42% Mean Price Target: $21.89 Closing Price (3/21): $22.20 Short interest (as % of float): 9.71 Number of Analysts: 27 High Estimate: $27 Low Estimate: $13 Photo: Tom Smart | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -0.82%
Mean Price Target: $21.89
Closing Price (3/21): $22.07
Short interest (as % of float): 9.71
Number of Analysts: 27
High Estimate: $27
Low Estimate: $13
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18. Autonation (AN)
Potential to Drop: -1.85% Mean Price Target: $34.50 Closing Price (3/21): $35.15 Short interest (as % of float): 16.64 Number of Analysts: 9 High Estimate: $41 Low Estimate: $29 Photo: Autonation
Potential to Drop: -2.46%
Mean Price Target: $34.50
Closing Price (3/21): $35.37
Short interest (as % of float): 16.64
Number of Analysts: 9
High Estimate: $41
Low Estimate: $29
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17. Whirlpool Corp (WHR)
Potential to Drop: -2.70% Mean Price Target: $75.33 Closing Price (3/21): $77.42 Short interest (as % of float): 9.17 Number of Analysts: 3 High Estimate: $85 Low Estimate: $60 Photo: Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -2.83%
Mean Price Target: $75.33
Closing Price (3/21): $77.52
Short interest (as % of float): 9.17
Number of Analysts: 3
High Estimate: $85
Low Estimate: $60
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16. Gap (GPS)
Potential to Drop: -3.88% Mean Price Target: $25.12 Closing Price (3/21): $26.13 Short interest (as % of float): 7.50 Number of Analysts: 22 High Estimate: $35 Low Estimate: $18 Photo: Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -3.61%
Mean Price Target: $25.12
Closing Price (3/21): $26.06
Short interest (as % of float): 7.50
Number of Analysts: 22
High Estimate: $35
Low Estimate: $18
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15. Lennar Corp (LEN)
Potential to Drop: -3.47% Mean Price Target: $25.51 Closing Price (3/21): $26.43 Short interest (as % of float): 18.50 Number of Analysts: 18 High Estimate: $32 Low Estimate: $20 Photo: Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -4.17%
Mean Price Target: $25.51
Closing Price (3/21): $26.62
Short interest (as % of float): 18.50
Number of Analysts: 18
High Estimate: $32
Low Estimate: $20
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14. PulteGroup (PHM)
Potential to Drop: -3.13% Mean Price Target: $8.92 Closing Price (3/21): $9.21 Short interest (as % of float): 10.69 Number of Analysts: 16 High Estimate: $14 Low Estimate: $7 Photo: Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -5.01%
Mean Price Target: $8.92
Closing Price (3/21): $9.39
Short interest (as % of float): 10.69
Number of Analysts: 16
High Estimate: $14
Low Estimate: $7
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13. Diamond Offshore (DO)
Potential to Drop: -5.72% Mean Price Target: $66.87 Closing Price (3/21): $70.93 Short interest (as % of float): 14.74 Number of Analysts: 30 High Estimate: $81 Low Estimate: $52 Photo: AP
Potential to Drop: -5.18%
Mean Price Target: $66.87
Closing Price (3/21): $70.52
Short interest (as % of float): 14.74
Number of Analysts: 30
High Estimate: $81
Low Estimate: $52
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12. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)
Potential to Drop: -5.64% Mean Price Target: $389.60 Closing Price (3/21): $412.87 Short interest (as % of float): 7.71 Number of Analysts: 20 High Estimate: $450 Low Estimate: $277 Photo: Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -6.37%
Mean Price Target: $389.60
Closing Price (3/21): $416.11
Short interest (as % of float): 7.71
Number of Analysts: 20
High Estimate: $450
Low Estimate: $277
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11. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Potential to Drop: -6.67% Mean Price Target: $7.52 Closing Price (3/21): $8.06 Short interest (as % of float): 10.46 Number of Analysts: 27 High Estimate: $12 Low Estimate: $4 Photo: Norbert Millauer | AFP | Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -6.47%
Mean Price Target: $7.52
Closing Price (3/21): $8.04
Short interest (as % of float): 10.46
Number of Analysts: 27
High Estimate: $12
Low Estimate: $4
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10. Computer Sciences Corp (CSC)
Potential to Drop: -7.81% Mean Price Target: $28.09 Closing Price (3/21): $30.47 Short interest (as % of float): 5.45 Number of Analysts: 11 High Estimate: $34 Low Estimate: $19 Photo: csc.com
Potential to Drop: -8.98%
Mean Price Target: $28.09
Closing Price (3/21): $30.86
Short interest (as % of float): 5.45
Number of Analysts: 11
High Estimate: $34
Low Estimate: $19
Get CSC Real-Time Quote
9. Fastenal (FAST)
Potential to Drop: -7.30% Mean Price Target: $49 Closing Price (3/21): $52.86 Short interest (as % of float): 6.86 Number of Analysts: 6 High Estimate: $55 Low Estimate: $36 Photo: Fastenal
Potential to Drop: -9.14%
Mean Price Target: $49
Closing Price (3/21): $53.93
Short interest (as % of float): 6.86
Number of Analysts: 6
High Estimate: $55
Low Estimate: $36
Get FAST Real-Time Quote
8. Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF)
Potential to Drop: -11.43% Mean Price Target: $35.19 Closing Price (3/21): $31.17 Short interest (as % of float): 5.65 Number of Analysts: 6 High Estimate: $34 Low Estimate: $27 Photo: cinfin.com
Potential to Drop: -11.20%
Mean Price Target: $31.17
Closing Price (3/21): $35.10
Short interest (as % of float): 5.65
Number of Analysts: 6
High Estimate: $34
Low Estimate: $27
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7. ETRADE Financial (ETFC)
Potential to Drop: -11.73% Mean Price Target: $9.94 Closing Price (3/21): $11.26 Short interest (as % of float): 2.9 Number of Analysts: 11 High Estimate: $11 Low Estimate: $8 Photo: Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -11.73%
Mean Price Target: $9.94
Closing Price (3/21): $11.26
Short interest (as % of float): 2.9
Number of Analysts: 11
High Estimate: $11
Low Estimate: $8
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6. TripAdvisor (TRIP)
Potential to Drop: -13.99% Mean Price Target: $29.32 Closing Price (3/21): $34.09 Short interest (as % of float): 8.66 Number of Analysts: 14 High Estimate: $36 Low Estimate: $21 Photo: tripadvisor.com
Potential to Drop: -13.18%
Mean Price Target: $29.32
Closing Price (3/21): $33.77
Short interest (as % of float): 8.66
Number of Analysts: 14
High Estimate: $36
Low Estimate: $21
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5. Masco Corp (MAS)
Potential to Drop: -14.36% Mean Price Target: $11.66 Closing Price (3/21): $13.61 Short interest (as % of float): 5.51 Number of Analysts: 8 High Estimate: $16 Low Estimate: $7 Photo: deltafaucet.com
Potential to Drop: -17.30%
Mean Price Target: $11.66
Closing Price (3/21): $14.10
Short interest (as % of float): 5.51
Number of Analysts: 8
High Estimate: $16
Low Estimate: $7
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4. Netflix (NFLX)
Potential to Drop: -16.64% Mean Price Target: $95.88 Closing Price (3/21): $115.02 Short interest (as % of float): 20.04 Number of Analysts: 24 High Estimate: $140 Low Estimate: $45 Photo: Ryan Anson | AFP | Getty Images
Potential to Drop: -20.17%
Mean Price Target: $95.88
Closing Price (3/21): $120.10
Short interest (as % of float): 20.04
Number of Analysts: 24
High Estimate: $140
Low Estimate: $45
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3. Federated Investors Inc. (FII)
Potential to Drop: -22.43% Mean Price Target: $17.86 Closing Price (3/21): $23.03 Short interest (as % of float): 18.35 Number of Analysts: 11 High Estimate: $20 Low Estimate: $16 Photo: federatedinvestors.com
Potential to Drop: -23.02%
Mean Price Target: $17.86
Closing Price (3/21): $23.20
Short interest (as % of float): 18.35
Number of Analysts: 11
High Estimate: $20
Low Estimate: $16
Get FII Real-Time Quote
2. Washington Post Co (WPO)
Potential to Drop: -30.03% Mean Price Target: $275 Closing Price (3/21): $393.05 Short interest (as % of float): 13.39 Number of Analysts: 1 High Estimate: $275 Low Estimate: $275 Photo: washingtonpost.com
Potential to Drop: -29.11%
Mean Price Target: $275
Closing Price (3/21): $387.94
Short interest (as % of float): 13.39
Number of Analysts: 1
High Estimate: $275
Low Estimate: $275
Get WPO Real-Time Quote
1. Sears Holdings (SHLD)
Potential to Drop: -74.69% Mean Price Target: $20.25 Closing Price (3/21): $80 Short interest (as % of float): 34.56 Number of Analysts: 4 High Estimate: $29 Low Estimate: $7 Photo: Getty Images | 2012-03-21T00:00:00 |
196 | https://www.cnbc.com/2010/11/30/20-Stocks-With-the-Potential-to-Drop.html | AEE | Ameren | 20 Stocks With the Potential to Drop | It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or will it go down? To answer this question, the street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation. After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. From the entire S&P 500, which stocks are an
It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or will it go down? To answer this question, the street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation.
After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. From the entire S&P 500, which stocks are analysts expecting to have the biggest drops? With data from ThomsonReuters, we took a look at which stocks have mean consensus estimates farthest below their stock prices (as of market close on 11/30/10).
So, which stocks do analysts on average predict will have the biggest drop? Click ahead to find out!
By Ariel Nelson & Paul Toscano Posted 30 Nov 2010 | 2010-11-30T00:00:00 |
197 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/41721822 | AEE | Ameren | Feb. 22: Unusual Volume Leaders | What follows is a look at stocks in the S&P 500 displaying unusual volume on today's trading session.
Trading volume on VF Corp is up over 240 percent of its 10-day average, after the company's earnings topped analysts' forecasts.
>> 61% of S&P 500 Reached a New 52-Week High Thus Far in 2011
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bythenumbers.cnbc.com | 2011-02-22T00:00:00 |
198 | https://www.cnbc.com/id/43325181 | AEE | Ameren | '20 Stocks To Drop' Underperforms S&P By 11% | Each quarter near the end of the earnings season, CNBC's Analytics team publishes a list of 20 stocks in the S&P 500 trading at the greatest premiums or discounts to their analysts’ consensus target prices.
Since our last “20 Stocks with the Potential to Drop” list was published on November 30, 2010, 14 companies underperformed the S&P 500 index, which is up nearly nine percent over the same period.
Note that two companies within the list were acquired: Massey Energy and King Pharamaceuticals (This was also the case from the list published on September 22, 2010, in which Novell was bought out).
Of the remaining stocks, nine are either flat or down, with Monster Worldwide taking the first spot, down 41 percent, followed by American International Group , with a loss of 34 percent.
At the current levels, only 12 companies or about two percent of the S&P 500 components are expected to drop in price four percent or more, according to analysts' estimates compiled by CNBC. Could this be a sign of an overly optimistic market?
Here is a look at how the entire group performed since it was published, and make sure to be on lookout for the new list, which will be available on cnbc.comthis afternoon.
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bythenumbers.cnbc.com | 2011-06-08T00:00:00 |
199 | https://www.cnbc.com/2010/06/17/20-Stocks-With-the-Potential-to-Drop---Q2-2010.html | AEE | Ameren | 20 Stocks With the Potential to Drop - Q2 2010 | It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or will it go down? To answer this question, the street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation. After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. From the entire S&P 500, which stocks are an
This story has been updated, for the most recent post, click here.
It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or will it go down? To answer this question, the street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation.
After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed. From the entire S&P 500, which stocks are analysts expecting to have the biggest drops? With data from ThomsonReuters, we took a look at which stocks have mean consensus estimates farthest below their stock prices (as of market close on 6/17/10).
So, which stocks do analysts on average predict will have the biggest drop? Click ahead to find out!
By Ariel Nelson & Paul Toscano Posted 17 June 2010 | 2010-06-17T00:00:00 |
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