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WMB | Closer Look At Williams Partners Distributable Cash Flow As Of 3Q 201 | On October 31 2012 July 23 2012 Williams Partners L P WPZ announced results for 3Q12 that did not meet expectations and were sharply lower than 3Q11 It lowered Distributable Cash Flow DCF guidance for 2012 but increased it for 2013 2014 On October 31 2012 WPZ also disclosed the price 2 36 billion of the previously announced agreement to a acquire an 83 3 interest in the Geismar Olefins Production Facility from Williams Companies Inc WMB and that it would issue WMB 42 8 million units to pay for this acquisition i e virtually an all equity deal WMB is WPZ s general partner and owns a 64 limited partner interest a 2 general partner interest and incentive distribution rights IDRs Following the Geismar acquisition WMB s limited partner interest would increase to 68 70 including the general partner interest Located south of Baton Rouge Louisiana the Geismar facility is a light end NGL cracker with current volumes of 39 000 barrels per day bpd of ethane and 3 000 bpd of propane and annual production of 1 35 billion pounds of ethylene With the benefit of an expansion under way and scheduled for completion by late 2013 the facility s annual ethylene production capacity will grow by 600 million pounds to 1 95 billion pounds Since the owner of the remaining ownership interest in the facility is not participating in the expansion WPZ s overall undivided interest following the expansion will be 88 The Geismar acquisition is expected to bring more certainty to cash flows that are currently exposed to volatile ethane prices by shifting the commodity price exposure to ethylene The transaction reduces WPZ s ethane exposure by 70 in 2013 and fully eliminates it by 2014 when WPZ will effectively be short ethane The downward revision to 2012 DCF guidance follows another much larger downward revision announced on July 23 2012 The recent upward revision to 2013 2014 DCF guidance includes the positive effect of the Geismar drop down 240 million in 2013 and 570 million in 2014 offset by lower expected overall gathering volume growth rates and other factors WPZ s DCF guidance following publication of its 1Q12 2Q12 and 3Q 12 results is detailed in Table 1 below The weak results announced 3Q12 as well as in 2Q12 primarily reflect a sharp decline in prices for natural gas liquids NGL WPZ s Midstream segment provides natural gas gathering and processing services under fee contracts volumetric based keep whole agreements and percent of liquids arrangements Under keep whole and percent of liquid processing contracts see the Midstream segment retains the rights to all or a portion of the NGLs extracted from the producers natural gas stream and recognizes revenues when the extracted NGLs are sold and delivered hence lower NGL prices mean lower revenues as well as lower segment profits and operating income as seen in Table 2 below TTM trailing twelve months Table 2 clearly shows the performance deterioration with respect to 2Q12 3Q12 and also to a lesser extent the TTM period ending 9 30 12 It is likely that 2012 will compare very unfavorably with 2011 results This holds true not just for revenues and operating income but also for DCF The definition of DCF used by WPZ is described in an article titled That article also provides for comparison purposes definitions used by other master limited partnerships Using WPZ s definition DCF for the TTM period ending 9 30 12 was 1 528 million 4 79 per unit down from 1 541 million 5 35 per unit in the TTM period ending 9 30 11 The generic reasons why DCF as reported by the MLP may differ from sustainable DCF are reviewed in an article titled Due to the significant deterioration of performance in the past two quarters I apply the method described there to recent quarterly data not only to the TTM periods even though I find quarterly comparisons to be less meaningful Reported and sustainable DCF numbers for WPZ are outlined in Table 3 below The gaps between reported DCF and sustainable DCF in Table 3 relate mostly to other and are comprised principally of adjustments for earnings from unconsolidated subsidiaries and certain acquisition related adjustments e g management added back to DCF 26 million of Caiman related transaction costs in 2Q12 But overall the TTM differences between reported and sustainable DCF are not huge In deriving 3Q12 reported DCF management added back 54 million of cash consumed by working capital I generally do not add back working capital used but do deduct working capital generated from net cash from operations in deriving sustainable DCF Despite appearing to be inconsistent this makes sense because in order to meet my definition of sustainability the MLP should generate enough capital to cover normal working capital needs On the other hand cash generated by the MLP through the liquidation or reduction of working capital is not a sustainable source and I therefore ignore it Over reasonably lengthy measurement periods working capital generated tends to be offset by needs to invest in working capital I therefore do not add working capital used to net cash provided by operating activities in deriving sustainable DCF Coverage ratios are indicated in Table 4 below The sharply lower coverage ratios reflect the decline in NGL prices and to a lesser extent higher G A expenses as shown in Table 2 While I did not anticipate the decline in NGL prices I did mention in a the risk of lower coverage ratios resulting from the rapid growth in the number of units outstanding as a result of issuing equity to partially finance large acquisitions Indeed this has been a major contributing factor as can be seen in Table 4 The Geismar acquisition closed on November 5 2012 This further increases the number of units outstanding by 42 8 million It is helpful to look at a simplified cash flow statement by netting certain items e g acquisitions against dispositions and by separating cash generation from cash consumption Here is what I see for WPZ Simplified Sources and Uses of Funds Net cash from operations less maintenance capital expenditures less cash related to net income attributable to non partners exceeded distributions by 213 million in the TTM ending 9 30 12 and by 449 million in the comparable prior year period But it fell short of covering distributions in both 2Q12 18 million shortfall and 3Q12 139 million shortfall This is of great concern and is highly unusual for WPZ did not occur in any of the 10 quarters prior to 2Q12 For the past 2 quarters WPZ has been financing distributions through the issuance of equity and debt Yet it is maintaining distribution growth guidance at 8 for 2012 and 9 midpoint per annum for 2013 2014 DCF coverage of distribution is projected by WPZ at the midpoint to be 0 95 1 02 and 1 12 for 2012 2013 and 2014 respectively To recap some of the major developments at WPZ this year The large 2 5 billion and expensive 12 5x 2013 cash flow or more accurately times segment profit plus depreciation and amortization move into the liquids rich Marcellus shale via the Caiman Eastern Midstream acquisition March 2012 Issuance of additional partnership units amounting to 2 6 billion through 9 30 12Increase of 825 million in long term debt Two quarters of poor performance with DCF coverage of 0 83 on a reported basis and 0 66 on a sustainable basis The 2 4 billion Geismar acquisition which is yet to be reflected in terms of additional units outstanding WMB will waive 16 million per quarter of IDRs until the later of Dec 31 2013 or 30 days after the Geismar plant expansion is operational The foregone IDRs will last 5 quarters and total 80 million WMB also agreed to waive IDRs through 2013 on units issued to Caiman and WMB in connection with Caiman Eastern I estimate this will total an additional 80 million Not surprisingly following price per unit has languished and is down 12 year to date from 60 to 52 95 as of 11 6 12 Despite the recent signs of weakness I have been adding to my WPZ position on pullbacks for the following reasons Low natural gas prices are incorporated into the 203 2014 guidance numbers While the Caiman Eastern acquisition will require 1 34 billion in capital expenditures from 2012 2014 management projects segment profit plus depreciation and amortization in 2014 to more than double the 2013 level and exceed 400 million The benefits of the Geismar facility expansion currently under way are projected to be very significant Management estimates segment profit plus depreciation and amortization in 2014 the first year of post expansion operations to total 570 million a modest 4 4 multiple of the purchase price plus the additional 270 million of post closing capital expenditures Management has in the past consistently run significant excess DCF coverage Its decision to significantly dilute unitholders in executing two transformative transactions in conjunction with an adverse NGL pricing environment has turned the excess into a shortfall Unit price has declined significantly and presents a buying opportunity for investors whose faith in management is intact and who are willing to wait until 2014 when results will show whether such faith was justified |
WMB | A Look At Williams Partners Distributable Cash Flow | On February 27 2013 Williams Partners L P WPZ provided its 2012 annual report on Form 10 K Results compared unfavorably to the prior year and even to the most recent guidance In what is becoming an unwelcome routine management again lowered Distributable Cash Flow DCF guidance for 2013 2014 as indicated in Table 1 below In November 2012 WPZ completed the 2 36 billion acquisition of an 83 3 interest in the Geismar Olefins Production Facility from Williams Companies Inc WMB and issued WMB 42 8 million units to pay for this acquisition i e virtually an all equity deal WMB is WPZ s general partner and following the Geismar acquisition owns a 68 limited partner interest a 2 general partner interest and incentive distribution rights IDRs Located south of Baton Rouge Louisiana the Geismar facility is a light end NGL cracker with current volumes of 39 000 barrels per day bpd of ethane and 3 000 bpd of propane and annual production of 1 35 billion pounds of ethylene With the benefit of an expansion under way and scheduled for completion by late 2013 the facility s annual ethylene production capacity will grow by 600 million pounds to 1 95 billion pounds Since the owner of the remaining ownership interest in the facility is not participating in the expansion WPZ s overall undivided interest following the expansion will be 88 The Geismar acquisition is expected to bring more certainty to cash flows that are currently exposed to volatile ethane prices by shifting the commodity price exposure to ethylene The transaction reduces WPZ s ethane exposure by 70 in 2013 and fully eliminates it by 2014 when WPZ will effectively be short ethane The Geismar dropdown contributed 42 million of DCF in the first two months following the acquisition Nov Dec My back of the envelope calculation annualizes to 250 million per annum or 360 million with a 44 capacity expansion This is probably way too rough an estimate but I will closely watch Geismar contributions in future periods because there is a significant gap between my number and management s 2014 estimate of 570 million in segment profit plus depreciation and amortization Ethane exposure contributed significantly to the poor 2012 results The sharp decline in prices down 46 in 4Q12 for natural gas liquids NGL reduced processing margins led to ethane rejection and thus generated lower equity volumes under keep whole agreements and percent of liquids arrangements WPZ s Midstream segment provides natural gas gathering and processing services under fee contracts volumetric based keep whole agreements and percent of liquids arrangements A provides further explanations of these terms and of ethane rejection Under keep whole and percent of liquid processing contracts the Midstream segment retains the rights to all or a portion of the NGLs extracted from the producers natural gas stream these are the equity volumes referred to above It recognizes revenues when the extracted NGLs are sold and delivered Lower NGL prices coupled with lower volumes produce lower revenues as well as sharply lower operating income and net income as seen in Table 2 below I have not analyzed results by segment because beginning November 2012 operations related to the Geismar acquisition manufacture of olefin products were incorporated in what was known as the Midstream segment and revenues began to be broken down differently than they were before into service revenues and product sales Costs and operating expenses also began being categorized differently than they were in the past Furthermore management implemented a new structure effective January 1 2013 that reorganizes the businesses into geographically based operational areas as set forth below in WPZ s Form 10 K for 2012 I expect the new segment reporting format will be reflected in the 1Q13 report The numbers reported by WPZ and appearing in Table 2 have been recast for the Geismar acquisition As a result net income increased by 185 million 133 million and 87 million for the years ended 2012 2011 and 2010 respectively Earnings per unit and DCF were not impacted as pre acquisition earnings and cash flows were allocated to WMB In an article titled I present the definition of DCF used by WPZ and provide a comparison to definitions used by other master limited partnerships MLPs Using WPZ s definition DCF for the trailing twelve month TTM period ending 12 31 12 was 1 489 million 4 35 per unit down from 1 650 in the comparable prior year period 5 68 per unit As always I first attempt to assess how these figures compare with what I call sustainable DCF for these periods and whether distributions were funded by additional debt or issuing additional units The generic reasons why DCF as reported by the MLP may differ from what I call sustainable DCF are reviewed in an article titled Applying the method described there to WPZ results through 12 31 12 generates the comparison outlined in Table 3 below The gap between reported DCF and sustainable DCF shown under other is comprised principally items that management adds back in deriving reported DCF These include acquisition related and reorganization related costs certain reimbursements from WMB and the excess cash flow over earnings from WPZ s equity investments But overall the differences between reported and sustainable DCF are not huge Despite the deterioration in key performance parameters WPZ increased 4Q12 distribution to 0 8275 per unit up 2 5 from 0 8075 in 3Q12 and up 8 5 from 0 7625 in 4Q11 Coverage ratios in Table 4 below are therefore shown based on actual distributions made e g the distribution announced for 3Q12 was actually made in 4Q12 and based on declared distributions e g assuming the distribution declared 4Q12 was made in 4Q12 The sharply lower coverage ratios reflect the decline in NGL prices and to a lesser extent higher G A expenses While I did not anticipate the decline in NGL prices I did mention in a the risk of lower coverage ratios resulting from the rapid growth in the number of units outstanding as a result of issuing equity to partially finance large drop down acquisitions Indeed this has been a major contributing factor as can be seen in Table 2 The number of units outstanding has increased 31 from 4Q11 Management expects coverage ratios will remain negative below 1 in 2013 and to just cover distributions in 2014 see Table 1 The assumptions regarding how many additional limited partner units management expects to issue in 2013 2014 have not been disclosed I am not comfortable with the practice of increasing distributions in the face of declining coverage and believe unitholders would be better off seeing distributions held steady and fewer shares being issued It is helpful to look at a simplified cash flow statement by netting certain items e g acquisitions against dispositions and by separating cash generation from cash consumption Here is what I see for WPZ Net cash from operations less maintenance capital expenditures less cash related to net income attributable to non partners exceeded distributions by 171 million in 2012 and by 745 million in 2011 In 4Q12 the excess was minimal and since these numbers reflect distributions actually made rather than declared I expect a shortfall in the current quarter as was the case in 3Q12 This will indicate that distributions are being funded through the issuance of additional equity Management expects this to continue in 2013 Given that poor operational performance has been coupled with an unrelenting pace of equity issuances 490 million in 1Q12 1 581 million in 2Q12 488 million in 3Q12 and 635 million so far in 1Q13 it is not surprising that the price per unit has languished and is down 18 from 60 on December 30 2011 to 49 10 as of 3 8 13 Table 5 shows there has also been a significant increase in debt WPZ ended 2012 with long term debt at 3 6x EBITDA an increase over the 2 8x multiple at the end of 2011 Although this level does not appear to be excessive it could move higher even absent debt issuances should EBITDA levels continue to decline Planned capital investments for 2013 total 3 4 billion excluding maintenance expenditures virtually all of which will need to be funded through debt and equity issuances There could therefore be additional pressure on unit prices Of the MLPs I follow WPZ has the third largest market capitalization after EPD and KMP Its cost of capital is much higher than that of EPD among other reasons due to WMB s IDRs KMP is also burdened with a higher cost of capital due to its structure I prefer WPZ to KMP because I think it has superior growth opportunities and presents better value at these price levels A comparison of WPZ s yield to that of the other MLPs I follow is presented in Table 6 below Despite the recent signs of weakness I have been adding to my WPZ position on pullbacks and initiated a position in WMB for the following reasons 1 Low natural gas prices are incorporated into the 203 2014 guidance numbers 2 while the Caiman Eastern acquisition will require 1 34 billion in capital expenditures from 2012 2014 management projects segment profit plus depreciation and amortization in 2014 to more than double the 2013 level and exceed 400 million 3 the benefits of the Geismar facility expansion currently under way are projected to be very significant Management estimates segment profit plus depreciation and amortization in 2014 the first year of post expansion operations to total 570 million a modest 4 4 multiple of the purchase price plus the additional 270 million of post closing capital expenditures and 5 between 2012 and 2014 WPZ will have invested 12 billion in growth capital 6 3 billion of which is in the Marcellus and Utica shales Management projects fee based revenues will increase to 77 of business by 2014 from 68 in 2012 Management has in the past consistently run significant excess DCF coverage Its decision to significantly dilute unitholders in executing two transformative transactions in conjunction with an adverse NGL pricing environment has turned the excess into a shortfall Unit price has declined significantly and presents a buying opportunity for investors whose faith in management is intact and who are willing to wait until 2014 when results will show whether such faith was justified But I allocate less to WPZ WMB than to EPD EPB or PAA |
WMB | Closer Look At Boardwalk Pipeline Partners Distributable Cash Flow | On February 20 2013 On October 30 2012 Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP BWP provided its 2012 annual report on Form 10 K Revenues operating income net income and earnings before interest depreciation amortization and income tax expenses EBITDA for 4Q12 2012 and prior periods are summarized in Table 1 Historical amounts for the year ended December 31 2011 have been recast to retroactively reflect the acquisition of Boardwalk HP Storage Company LLC HP Storage As a reminder HP Storage was formed in 4Q11as a joint venture in which the BWP had a 20 stake and Boardwalk Pipelines Holding Corp BPHC BWP s general partner had an 80 stake In December 2011the joint venture paid 545 5 million to acquire seven salt dome natural gas storage caverns in Forrest County Mississippi with 36 3 billion cubic feet Bcf of total storage capacity of which 23 Bcf is working gas capacity HP Storage also operates approximately 105 miles of pipelines that connect its facilities with several major natural gas pipelines and also owns undeveloped land suitable for up to six additional storage caverns one of which is expected to be placed in service in 2013 In February 2012 BWP acquired from its general partner the remaining 80 equity interest in Boardwalk HP Storage Company LLC HP Storage for 285 million The revised 2011 numbers in Table 1 are presented as if the HP Storage acquisition had occurred on 12 1 2011 the acquisition date But they are not significantly different from what was originally reported Operating revenues were revised up by 4 1 million operating income as revised down by 3 5 million and net income was revised up by 3 million In October 2012 BWP acquired PL Midstream LLC renamed Louisiana Midstream from PL Logistics LLC for 620 million in cash Louisiana Midstream provides transportation and storage services for natural gas and natural gas liquids NGLs fractionation services for NGLs and brine supply services for producers and consumers of petrochemicals through two hubs in southern Louisiana the Choctaw Hub in the Mississippi River Corridor area and the Sulphur Hub in the Lake Charles area Assets acquired include 53 2 million barrels of salt dome storage capacity significant brine supply infrastructure and more than 240 miles of pipelines including an extensive ethylene distribution system This acquisition represents a major step for BWP in implementing its strategy to diversify from its core business natural gas pipelines and storage into the midstream energy businesses Net revenues i e after deducting fuel and transportation expenses increased by 66 million in 2012 vs 2011 But the increase was almost entirely driven by 61million of net revenues contributed by HP Storage and Boardwalk Louisiana Midstream in 4Q12 The balance is due to an increase in parking lending PAL and storage revenues reflecting improved market conditions offset by a decrease in retained fuel primarily due to lower natural gas prices Lower natural gas prices translate into lower revenues for fuel retained in kind as payment for transportation services Net revenues increased by 21 million in 4Q12 vs 4Q11 Likewise the increase was entirely driven by 25 million of net revenues contributed by HP Storage and Boardwalk Louisiana Midstream in 4Q12 Net income and EBITDA in 2012 were adversely affected by 15 million of operating expenses associated with the acquisition of HP Storage and Boardwalk Louisiana Midstream Nevertheless net income and EBITDA increased by 89 million and 110 million respectively in 2012 vs 2011 primarily due to the acquisitions of Louisiana Midstream and HP Storage Other major factors driving the 2012 increase in net income were 41 million of impairments and other special charges incurred in 2011 On a pro forma basis assuming the acquisitions had occurred on January 1 2011 2012 revenues would have been 1 241 million down 1 vs 1 254 in 2011 while net income would have been 327 million in 2012 vs 254 million in 2011 but as noted above much of that improvement in net income elates to special charges incurred in 2011 and not repeated in 2012 Management warns that the amount of contracted transportation capacity which will expire in 2013 is greater than in recent years In light of the market conditions discussed above BWP expects that transportation contracts renewed or entered into in 2013 will be at lower rates than expiring contracts Remaining available capacity will be marketed and sold on a short term firm or interruptible basis which will also be at lower rates due to a decrease in basis spreads between locations on the pipelines See for a brief description of what are firm and interruptible transportation services and of PAL Management noted it expects that these circumstances will negatively affect transportation revenues EBITDA and distributable cash flows in 2013 Annual revenues associated with contracts expiring in 2013 total 125 million and management estimates that the combination of lower rates on contract renewals and the remarketing of turn back capacity will result in an annual revenue reduction of approximately 40 million BWP s definition of Distributable Cash Flow DCF and a comparison to definitions used by other master limited partnerships MLPs are described in a Using that definition DCF for 2012 was 500 million 2 60 per unit up from 419 million in 2011 2 42 per unit As always I first attempt to assess how these DCF figures compare with what I call sustainable DCF for these periods and whether distributions were funded by additional debt or issuing additional units Given quarterly fluctuations in revenues working capital needs and other items it makes sense to review TTM numbers rather than quarterly numbers for the purpose of analyzing changes in reported and sustainable distributable cash flows The generic reasons why DCF as reported by the MLP may differ from sustainable DCF are reviewed in an article titled Applying the method described there to BWP results generates the comparison outlined in Table 2 below Under BWP s definition reported DCF always excludes working capital changes whether positive or negative In contrast as detailed in my prior articles I generally do not include working capital generated in the definition of sustainable DCF but I do deduct working capital invested Despite appearing to be inconsistent this makes sense because in order to meet my definition of sustainability the master limited partnerships should on the one hand generate enough capital to cover normal working capital needs On the other hand cash generated from working capital is not a sustainable source and I therefore ignore it Over reasonably lengthy measurement periods working capital generated tends to be offset by needs to invest in working capital I therefore do not add working capital consumed to net cash provided by operating activities in deriving sustainable DCF Cash consumed by working capital accounts for 45 million of the 60 million variance between reported and sustainable DCF in 2011 In 2012 and 2011 the principal components of items in Table 2 grouped under Other are non cash interest expense and proceeds from an insurance settlement received associated with the fire at BWP s Carthage compressor station and a legal settlement I exclude them from the sustainable category Coverage ratios are indicated in Table 3 below Distributions are not really growing 0 5150 per unit in 4Q10 vs 0 5325 in 4Q12 a 3 4 increase in 2 years Despite that coverage ratios are thin Making them more robust will be challenging given that over 32 million units have been issued in 3 separate equity offerings so far in 2012 and that the number of units outstanding now exceeds 218 million up 18 from 185 million at the beginning of the year The simplified cash flow statement in Table 4 below nets certain items e g debt incurred vs repaid separates cash generation from cash consumption and gives a clear picture of how distributions have been funded in the last two years Simplified Sources and Uses of Funds Net cash from operations less maintenance capital expenditures did not cover distributions in 2011 and did so just barely in 2012 But Table 4 does indicate that in 2012 unlike 2011 distributions were not partially financed by issuing debt and or equity Approximately 282 million of the 848 million of equity issuance in 2012 is an adjustment to partners capital This is because the February 2012 drop down acquisition by BWP of the remaining 80 stake in HP Storage previously held by BPHC was accounted for as a transaction between entities under common control Therefore the assets and liabilities of HP Storage were recognized at their carrying amounts at the date of transfer and 281 8 million the carrying amount of the net assets acquired was treated as an adjustment to partners capital In February 2012 BWP issued 9 2 million units at 27 55 per unit receiving net cash proceeds of 250 2 million In an I said I would not be surprised to see additional partnership units being issued later this year Indeed in August BWP issued 11 6 million units at 27 80 per unit generating net proceeds of 318 million and in October 2012 it issued 11 2 million units at 26 99 per unit generating net proceeds of 298 million The most recent equity issuance was in connection with the Louisiana Midstream acquisition In 2012 BWP had projected spending 200 million on growth capital expenditures The actual number was 150 million because 50 million was pushed into the first part of 2013 Consequently the 2013 budget for growth capital expenditures was increased by that amount and is now estimated at 250 million BWP s major expansion projects are summarized below Southeast Market Expansion this 300 million project involves constructing an interconnection between BWP s Gulf South and HP Storage subsidiaries adding additional compression facilities and constructing approximately 70 miles of 24 and 30 pipeline in southeastern Mississippi The project is supported by 10 year firm agreements of primarily electric generation and industrial customers BWP anticipates beginning construction in early 2014 and expected the project to be placed in service by 4Q14 South Texas Eagle Ford Expansion this 180 project involves constructing a 55 mile gathering pipeline and a cryogenic processing plant in south Texas The system will be capable of gathering in excess of 0 3 Bcf per day of liquids rich gas in the Eagle Ford Shale production area and of processing up to 150 million cubic feet MMcf per day of liquids rich gas The project is supported by long term fee based gathering and processing agreements with two customers who have committed to 50 of the plant s processing capacity The plant and new pipeline are expected to be placed in service in April 2013 Natural Gas Salt Dome Storage Project BWP is expanding HP Storage s salt cavern working gas capacity by 5 3 Bcf Injections are scheduled to begin in 2Q13 and the incremental capacity has been fully contracted for the first year that this cavern will be in service Choctaw Brine Supply Expansion Projects these projects will expand Louisiana Midstream s brine supply capabilities The first project developing a one million barrel brine pond was placed into service January 2013 The second project consists of constructing 26 miles of 12 inch pipeline from BWP s facilities to a petrochemical customer s plant This project is supported by a 20 year contract with minimum volume requirements and expansion options and is expected to be completed in 2013 In addition the projects listed above BWP and Williams Companies Inc WMB executed a letter of intent on 3 6 13 to form a joint venture that would develop a pipeline project the Bluegrass Pipeline to transport natural gas liquids from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays to the petrochemical and export complex on the U S Gulf Coast as well as the developing petrochemical market in the Northeast U S This project will require FERC approval and assuming that and other hurdles will be overcome is expected to be placed in service in 2015 BWP is required to maintain a ratio of consolidated debt to EBITDA of no more than 5 1 BWP s total long term debt stood at 3 5 billion as of 12 31 12 a multiple of 4 87x EBITDA for the trailing 12 months on that date This is an improvement over the ratio in 2011 which was in excess of 5x EBITDA BWP s current yield compares favorably with many the other MLPs I follow as seen in Table 5 below There has been minimal distribution growth over the past two years Given uncertainty regarding customer contract renewals and its assessment of current market conditions management decided it would not be prudent to increase distributions I believe this is a sound decision But I remain concerned about the thin coverage ratio and relatively high leverage Despite the enticing yield I still conclude that investors willing to add to their positions should consider other MLPs |
GLW | What s In Store For Corning GLW This Earnings Season | Corning Inc NYSE GLW is set to report second quarter 2016 results on Jul 27 before the market opens Last quarter the company s earnings matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate
Let s see how things are shaping up for this announcement CORNING INC Price and EPS Surprise
Factors to Consider
Corning s first quarter earnings were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate However revenues missed by only a small margin Revenues also dropped 8 2 sequentially and 9 6 year over year
In the first quarter Corning s sales in Display Environmental Specialty Materials and Life Sciences were met or exceeded expectations While strong demand was observed in the Optical Communications segment deployment issues with new manufacturing software interrupted the company s cabling production and posed a problem to fulfilling customer orders This had a substantial effect on the company s revenues
Corning s management is upbeat on the sequential growth that s showing up across its various business verticals Management s capital allocation plans also remain on track
Going into the second quarter Corning expects sequential sales growth in all of its business segments except Environmental which it expects will underperform slightly
Optical Communications The company expects sales to grow more than 20 on a sequential basis It expects moderate decline in LCD glass prices in the second quarter compared with the first quarter as the market conditions are more stable
Environmental Corning expects strong demand in the auto market However given the weak demand for heavy trucks in North America and China which is likely to continue in the coming quarters Corning expects sales to be flat year over year
Speciality Materials Gorilla Glass volume is expected to grow on both sequential and year over year basis Corning expects low single digit growth in this segment compared with the same quarter a year ago
Life Sciences Despite some headwinds due to a weaker euro Corning expects to post single digit growth in this segment on a year over year basis
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Corning will beat estimates this quarter This is because a stock needs to have both a positive and a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold for this to happen That is not the case here as you will see below
Zacks ESP Both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 32 cents Hence the difference is 0 00
Zacks Rank Corning s Zacks Rank 1 when combined with a 0 00 ESP makes surprise prediction difficult
We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank 4 or 5 Sell rated going into the earnings announcement especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions
Stocks to Consider
One can consider the following stocks with a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank instead
Bruker Corp NASDAQ BRKR with an Earnings ESP of 5 26 and a Zacks Rank 1 The company is slated to report second quarter 2016 earnings on Aug 2
Open Text Corp NASDAQ OTEX with an Earnings ESP of 1 10 and a Zacks Rank 1 The company is set to report fourth quarter fiscal 2016 earnings results on Jul 27 2016
LG Display Co Ltd NYSE LPL with an Earnings ESP of 50 00 and a Zacks Rank 2 The company s second quarter 2016 earnings release date is Jul 27 2016 |
GLW | Corning Ventures Into Wearables Unveils Gorilla Glass SR | Cover glass giant Corning Inc NYSE GLW recently took the wraps off Gorilla Glass SR This new version of Gorilla Glass has been designed especially for wearables enabling these to better bear the impact of smacks knocks and scrapes Improved FeaturesBased on results of lab tests Gorilla Glass SR is expected to deliver 70 better damage tolerance and 25 better surface reflection in comparison to similar products available in the market This will drastically reduce visible scratches while boosting optical performance outdoor readability and battery life of the gadgets Project Phire Making Steady ProgressCorning launched Project Phire in 2015 with a view to take scratch resistance technology to the next level leveraging on its leading glass science and fusion manufacturing technology The company continues to launch updated versions of glass products indicating that it is well ahead of its peers Its director of innovation products Scott Forester sounded upbeat on Corning s cutting edge technology which he says is not available with any other company in the same space Corning Leads the Way Corning a pioneer of the glass cover industry started operations 10 years ago and never allowed any other company to take away its leading position Corning Gorilla Glass has been used in over 1 800 product models across 40 major brands totaling 4 5 billion devices worldwide The wearable technology space is fast growing and it seems that Corning is all set to increase its stake in this space Samsung s Gear S3 smartwatch slated to roll out this fall will be the first gadget to feature Gorilla Glass SR CORNING INC Price Zacks Rank and Stocks to ConsiderCurrently Corning has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Some better ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Stamps com Inc NASDAQ STMP Facebook Inc NASDAQ FB and LinkedIn Corporation NYSE LNKD each sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
GLW | Corning Hits 52 Week High Innovative Pipeline Key Catalyst | Shares of Corning Inc NYSE GLW rallied to a new 52 week high of 23 35 eventually closing a tad bit lower at 23 33 on Sep 27 This represents a strong one year return of approximately 44 2 better than the S P 500 s 14 6 over the same period Currently Corning holds a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Notably the stock has a market cap of 24 19 billion Key FactorsCorning is primarily a developer of advanced glass substrates for multiple markets The company s innovative product pipeline is a key catalyst It recently ventured into the wearables market through the introduction of Gorilla Glass SR which is expected to deliver 70 better damage tolerance and 25 better surface reflection in comparison to similar products available in the market The superior features of SR will drastically reduce visible scratches while boosting optical performance outdoor readability and battery life of gadgets Samsung s Gear S3 smartwatch slated to roll out this fall will be the first gadget to feature Gorilla Glass SR CORNING INC Price and Consensus Moreover strong growth prospects for Corning s fiber optic solutions business over the next few years is a major driver We expect growing demand in the optical communications space to augur well for the company in the long run Estimate RevisionsThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2016 has remained steady at 1 41 over the last 60 days However fiscal 2017 estimates increased by a penny to 1 59 over the same time frame Key Sector PicksA better ranked stock in the sector is Acacia Communications NASDAQ ACIA which sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Estimates for 2016 and 2017 have surged by 65 cents 53 3 and 20 cents 9 3 respectively to 1 87 and 2 35 over the last 60 days Investors interested in the same sector may also consider UTStarcom Holdings Corp NASDAQ UTSI Estimates for 2016 narrowed to a loss of 4 cents from a loss of 14 cents over the same time frame The stock sports a Zacks Rank 1 You can see Another favorably placed stock is Harmonic Inc NASDAQ HLIT carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Estimates for 2016 narrowed to a loss of 12 cents from a loss of 20 cents over the last 60 days For 2017 estimates have reversed to earnings 14 cents from a loss of a penny over the same time frame Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
GLW | Corning s Latest Gorilla Glass Displayed At Paris Motor Show | Shares of Corning Incorporated NYSE GLW have been steadily moving higher over the last 12 months The company s stock provided a return of 43 1 compared with the S P 500 s return of 11 1 over the same period The upside can be primarily attributed to seasonal strength in the Optical Communications segment in the last reported quarter Additionally new and pipeline products along with management s recently announced capital allocation plans are the other positives that helped the stock to climb to greater heights Meanwhile the company announced that it will showcase its latest Gorilla Glass for automotive curved display applications at the Paris Motor Show this year Benefits of Using Gorilla Glass in AutomotiveImproved Vehicle Performance In its bid to improve vehicle performance and achieve lower emissions Corning is collaborating with auto industry majors Notably in Apr 2016 Corning along with Ford Motor Co NYSE F conducted a joint study showcasing the advantages of using Gorilla Glass in automotive windshield applications The lighter and tougher alternatives that Corning offers for sunroofs and windows of a car can substantially lower its overall weight leading to better fuel efficiency In Sync with Emission Regulations Compared to the traditional soda lime glass Corning s Gorilla Glass for the automotive industry is 25 thinner and 30 lighter This helps to meet emission regulations better Style Quotient Corning Glass ramps up the look of a car through aesthetic improvements such as a glistening dashboard and other accessories Our TakeTo drive growth Corning is successfully leveraging the automotive market to disrupt the 6 billion square foot auto glazing market In this regard the company announced in Dec 2015 that Ford will use its Gorilla Glass in the iconic Ford GT This is the foremost production vehicle to employ Gorilla Glass for glazing applications like the windshield rear engine cover and acoustic separator More recently Corning announced a joint venture JV with Saint Goban Sekurit to develop manufacture and sell lightweight automotive glazing solutions Per this JV the company will continue to produce and market Gorilla Glass and other glazers retaining 100 ownership of the glass business This venture will allow the company to move forward in the value chain beyond glass to manufacture and sell glazing solutions with a leading producer This also provides a low cost path for Corning to scale up the sales of Gorilla Glass glazing solutions worldwide CORNING INC Price Zacks Rank Key PicksAt present Corning carries a Zacks Rank 4 Sell Some better ranked stocks in the broader technology space are eGain Corporation NASDAQ EGAN and Acacia Communications Inc NASDAQ ACIA sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see Notably estimates for eGain for the current fiscal year have narrowed down from a loss of 25 cents to a loss of 21 cents On the other hand estimates for Acacia for 2016 and 2017 have been revised upward to 2 15 from 1 87 and 2 40 from 2 35 respectively recently Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
VZ | Verizon beats profit estimates as monthly phone subscribers jump | By Angela Moon and Arjun Panchadar Reuters Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ on Thursday beat second quarter profit estimates as the U S mobile carrier added more monthly phone subscribers than expected and stepped up efforts to deploy the next generation 5G network nationwide Shares of the Dow component were up 1 3 at 56 00 at midday after the company said it added a net 245 000 phone subscribers during the quarter Analysts were expecting it to add 163 000 subscribers according to research firm FactSet Analysts pay attention to postpaid customers or those with a recurring bill because they are more valuable to carriers and tend to remain with the company longer than prepaid customers Verizon made history this quarter by becoming the first carrier in the world to launch 5G mobility said Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg We are focused on optimizing our next generation networks and enhancing the customer experience while we head into the second half of the year with great momentum The company s progress with 5G technology he added was going extremely faster than it had with 4G Verizon has focused on deploying 5G nationwide seeking to expand to more than 30 U S cities in 2019 Earlier this week Verizon started servicing parts of Washington Atlanta Detroit and Indianapolis with 5G But while Verizon is leading the charge to test its 5G services industry analysts say the higher speed networks are unlikely to be widely available until the middle of the next decade The earnings announcement came about a week after the U S Justice Department approved a merger between T Mobile USA and Sprint Corp As part of that approval T Mobile agreed to divest Sprint s prepaid businesses including Boost Mobile and other assets to Dish Network Corp to build out a viable fourth carrier in a couple of years Verizon AT T NYSE T T Mobile and Sprint control more than 98 of the U S wireless market and have wireless service revenues of more than 160 billion T Mobile and Sprint together have more than 135 million customers while Verizon and AT T control two thirds of the total U S wireless market Net income attributable to Verizon fell to 3 94 billion or 95 cents per share in the quarter ended June 30 from 4 12 billion or 1 per share a year earlier On an adjusted basis Verizon earned 1 23 per share beating analysts average estimate of 1 20 per share according to IBES data from Refinitiv
Total operating revenue fell 0 4 to 32 1 billion missing expectations of 32 41 billion Revenue from Verizon s media unit alone was 1 8 billion down 2 9 from a year earlier |
VZ | Sprint to launch Chinese made OnePlus 5G smartphone in U S | Reuters Sprint Corp said on Tuesday it would launch a 5G smartphone made by OnePlus becoming the second U S wireless carrier after T Mobile to offer a cellphone made by the Chinese company
Sprint whose 5G service is priced at 80 per month is already offering 5G smartphones from Taiwan s HTC and South Korean mobile makers Samsung Electronics KS 005930 Co Ltd and LG Display
The U S telecommunications company did not disclose when and at what price the OnePlus smartphone will be made available
Sprint 5G is currently available in areas of Atlanta Chicago Dallas Fort Worth Houston and Kansas City and it expects to launch the service in Los Angeles New York Phoenix and Washington D C in the coming weeks
Rivals Verizon Communications NYSE VZ and AT T are also building out 5G next generation wireless network across the U S |
VZ | Verizon to sell Tumblr to WordPress owner | Reuters Verizon Communications Inc N VZ said on Monday it would sell its blogging website Tumblr to Automattic Inc the owner of popular online publishing tool WordPress com
The company did not disclose the terms of the deal
Verizon Media Group formerly called Oath is the digital media umbrella that owns more than 50 brands including HuffPost TechCrunch and Tumblr
Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo NASDAQ AABA for more than 1 billion in 2013 and Verizon acquired it as part of its deal for Yahoo in 2015 |
WMB | Fed Officials Warn Rising Inequality Is Threat to U S Economic Vigor Long Term | Bloomberg Federal Reserve officials offered a damning take on rising inequality in America and the corrosive effects it can have on the economy
Fed Governor Lael Brainard told a conference audience in Washington on Friday that the long term vigor of the U S economy may be at risk as middle class households are squeezed by slow growth in income and wealth and rising costs for housing health care and education
An economy that delivers an increasing share of income gains to high wealth households could result in less growth in consumer demand than one in which the gains are distributed more equally she said
Addressing local bankers at a breakfast event in the Bronx New York Fed President John Williams NYSE WMB sounded a similar note while responding to questions after a speech
Rising inequality is undermining I believe much of what makes our country great in terms of economics he said pointing to a slowdown in business formation and productivity growth over the last few decades There are a lot of dimensions to this but I think our economy really is not reaching its full potential because of these issues he said
Declaring that the Fed s mandate to deliver full employment has served the U S well Brainard said wage growth has begun to pick up after years of slow gains That s especially important for middle class families which don t have many other sources of income
She said though it was concerning that the share of total national income going to wage earners has been in a long term decline
Multiple Challenges
Drawing in part on new data compiled by the Fed Brainard sketched out some of the challenges confronting the middle class
They still have not fully recovered the wealth they lost in the Great Recession At the end of 2018 the average middle income household had wealth of 340 000 while those in the top 10 percent had 4 5 million up 19 percent from before the recession While a big reason for the discrepancy is the surge in the stock market the home equity of the average middle income family is also still below its pre recession peak
One third of middle income adults say they would borrow money sell something or not be able to pay an unexpected 400 expense One fourth said they skipped some kind of medical care in 2018 because of its cost
Nearly three in 10 middle income adults carry a balance on their credit card most or all of the time Some eight in 10 are at least somewhat confident that they could obtain an additional credit card if they applied for it
The share of income spent on rent by middle class renters rose to 25 percent in 2018 from 18 percent in 2007
One bright spot highlighted by Brainard Average Americans may be better prepared for retirement than previously thought That s because of new data that factors in the expected value of defined benefit pension plans
Still with employers shifting away from such plans it s perhaps not surprising that many middle income adults voice concern about their readiness for retirement according to Brainard
In recent years households at the middle of the income distribution have faced a number of challenges Brainard said That raises the question of whether middle class living standards are within reach for middle income Americans in today s economy
It also raises broader questions about America s future
A strong middle class is often seen as a cornerstone of a vibrant economy and beyond that a resilient democracy she said |
WMB | Tariff tumult boosts view that Fed may cut U S rates | By Jason Lange and Ann Saphir MERIDIAN Miss SAN FRANCISCO Reuters U S President Donald Trump s decision to jack up tariffs on goods from China fueled market bets Friday that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this year with one Fed policymaker suggesting he could be receptive if economic data deteriorates Since January the Fed has signaled it expects to leave rates unchanged while it takes stock of competing economic crosswinds including lower than ideal inflation and faster than expected GDP and jobs growth In contrast Trump and other top administration officials have repeatedly urged the Fed to cut interest rates to boost economic growth which is expected to slow this quarter from a 3 2 percent annual pace last quarter as the stimulative effect of last year s tax cuts fade But asked Friday if the new U S tariffs could lead to a rate cut Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic did not rule it out Depending on the severity of the response it could Bostic told reporters It really depends It depends on what businesses decide to do and then it depends on how long the tariffs are in place Fed projections published in March suggest most policymakers expect rates to be on hold through the end of the year Fed Chairman Jerome Powell earlier this month predicted that recent low inflation readings were driven by transitory factors and reiterated his view that there is no pressing need now to either raise or lower rates Inflation readings published Friday suggested price pressures remain muted SHORT TERM BETTING But with the newly imposed 25 tariffs on 200 billion of Chinese goods part of Trump s effort to ratchet up pressure on China for an elusive trade deal traders of short term interest rate futures are back to betting the Fed will cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point by December to counter a slowdown The Fed currently targets short term rates in a range of 2 25 percent to 2 5 percent which by its estimate is neither stimulating nor braking growth Importers are expected to pass on higher duties to consumers leading to steeper prices on a range of goods within a few months time Normally a rise in prices would reduce the chances of a Fed rate cut but in this case a rate increase could become more likely Analysts say price increases from tariffs are likely to be transitory and the Fed will likely ignore them Bart Hobijn an Arizona State University economics professor recently co authored a study with San Francisco Fed researchers that estimated sizable but one time inflationary effects from higher tariffs The bigger impact however could be a hit to consumer spending and a drag on economic growth particularly if trade tensions continue to escalate and the Trump administration follows through on a threat to impose higher tariffs on the remaining 325 billion of Chinese imports Tariffs complicate things dramatically said TD Securities analyst Michael Hanson The Fed he predicted is unlikely to cut rates proactively but would wait to act until there is concrete evidence of a slowdown either in global trade or more directly in spending or hiring at home If that happens he said the Fed may need to respond with a full on rate cutting cycle he said adding that this is not currently his forecast Not all analysts are as worried ASU s Hobijn for instance said he believes that consumers faced with more expensive Chinese goods will simply buy other cheaper goods The magnitude of that substitution is hard to predict but it will partly offset the inflationary and contractionary effects of the tariffs he said New York Fed chief John Williams NYSE WMB speaking Friday also seemed to downplay the tariffs Trade tensions are still an issue he said but the U S economy should still grow about 2 25 in 2019 faster than his estimate of a long run sustainable pace
Atlanta Fed s Bostic seemed less sanguine telling reporters Friday that his first order of business Monday morning will be to review estimates of how tariffs might affect U S GDP growth |
WMB | MLB roundup Verlander Astros stifle Rangers | Justin Verlander allowed one hit over seven strong innings and the Houston Astros belted three solo homers while overcoming an injury to star Jose Altuve to beat the visiting Texas Rangers 3 0 on Friday night for their third consecutive victory Verlander who improved to 6 1 with a 2 51 ERA struck out eight and yielded only Asdrubal Cabrera s single to lead off the fifth inning as the Astros won for the sixth time in seven games It s the third time in Verlander s career that he has allowed just one hit in a start against the Rangers However Houston s latest victory might have come with a price as Altuve exited with left hamstring discomfort in the bottom of the first after beating out an infield hit The team listed him as day to day For the rest of the night the Astros were just fine without Altuve Jake Marisnick clubbed his third homer of the season a deep shot to right center in the third inning In the seventh with two outs and Texas starter Lance Lynn in a nice groove Yuli Gurriel and Robinson Chirinos delivered back to back home runs to pad the Astros advantage Red Sox 14 Mariners 1 Mitch Moreland hit a three run home run and had four RBIs and Eduardo Rodriguez 4 2 pitched seven scoreless innings as Boston moved above 500 for the first time this season with a win over visiting Seattle Rafael Devers went 3 for 5 with a homer and four RBIs and Andrew Benintendi also went deep as the Red Sox won for the ninth time in their past 11 games Boston had been below 500 since March 30 before evening its record Wednesday The Mariners fell below 500 for the first time this season Seattle has dropped 10 of its past 12 Athletics 4 Indians 3 12 innings Matt Chapman homered to lead off the 12th inning as host Oakland beat Cleveland to win for the third time in four games on the heels of losing eight of the previous nine Brad Hand 2 2 entered the game to begin the 12th inning and saw Chapman deposit a 3 2 slider over the wall in left field for his 10th homer of the season The blast was the first walk off homer of Chapman s career Ramon Laureano belted a solo homer and Josh Phegley had an RBI single among his three hits for the Athletics Jake Bauers ripped an RBI double and scored on a double play and Francisco Lindor had a sacrifice fly for the Indians who have lost four of their past six Brewers 7 Cubs 0 Ryan Braun belted a solo homer and Gio Gonzalez 1 0 scattered two hits over 5 2 3 innings and visiting Milwaukee downed Chicago Yasmani Grandal collected two hits and joined Jesus Aguilar with two RBIs for the Cubs The Brewers who have won seven in a row got to Jose Quintana 4 2 who allowed three runs on four hits in 6 2 3 innings Both starting pitchers surrendered just one hit through three scoreless innings before Braun deposited a 1 0 fastball from Quintana over the wall in center field with two outs in the fourth Yankees 4 Rays 3 Gio Urshela hit a go ahead two run bases loaded single in the sixth inning and New York beat Tampa Bay in St Petersburg Fla in the first meeting of the season between the teams The Yankees won for the 17th time in 23 games The Rays dropped to 1 7 in one run games this year New York s Domingo German 7 1 became the first seven game winner in the majors after his five inning outing He allowed three runs on five hits struck out five walked two and threw 84 pitches Twins 6 Tigers 0 Jake Odorizzi allowed just one hit over seven innings and Mitch Garver and Max Kepler homered to lead Minnesota to its fourth straight victory a decision over visiting Detroit in Minneapolis Odorizzi 5 2 the reigning American League Player of the Week after allowing six hits and pitching 13 scoreless innings in wins over the Houston Astros and New York Yankees won his fifth consecutive start Jorge Polanco doubled and drove in three runs and Garver walked three times and scored twice for the Twins who have outscored their opponents 26 1 while winning each of their past four games Mets 11 Marlins 2 Amed Rosario s first career grand slam highlighted an eight run first inning for host New York That was more than enough for Zack Wheeler 3 2 who cruised to victory by allowing two runs over seven innings against Miami The Mets who scored just 15 runs in a 1 5 road trip that ended Wednesday busted out hours after COO Jeff Wilpon reportedly met with first year general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and second year manager Mickey Callaway The 11 runs tied a season high set March 30 The first eight Mets batters reached against Marlins starter Pablo Lopez 2 5 who gave up five singles including an infield RBI hit by Wilson Ramos and two walks including one with the bases loaded to Brandon Nimmo before surrendering Rosario s grand slam Blue Jays 4 White Sox 3 Randal Grichuk hit a three run home run Teoscar Hernandez added a solo blast and Toronto beat visiting Chicago Joe Biagini 2 1 pitched 1 1 3 perfect innings in relief to pick up the win for the Blue Jays who ended a five game losing streak Ken Giles pitched a perfect ninth to earn his ninth save of the season Justin Smoak walked four times for the Blue Jays Tim Anderson hit a solo home run for the White Sox who lost their third straight Chicago starter Dylan Covey 0 2 allowed three hits five walks and four runs in 4 2 3 innings Pirates 2 Cardinals 1 Trevor Williams NYSE WMB allowed only one run over seven innings as visiting Pittsburgh hung on to beat St Louis Starling Marte s single to right field in the eighth made a winner of Williams 2 1 who allowed nine hits but walked only one while striking out five The tiebreaking rally off reliever Andrew Miller 1 2 came after the Cardinals tied the score in the seventh on an infield single by Paul DeJong The hit took St Louis starter Adam Wainwright off the hook for what could have been a tough luck loss The Cardinals had a chance to again tie the score in the eighth They put runners at first and third with no outs against Pirates reliever Kyle Crick who recovered to strike out Dexter Fowler then got Kolten Wong to bounce into a double play Royals 5 Phillies 1 Alex Gordon homered twice and recorded three RBIs to lift host Kansas City past Philadelphia Jorge Soler also hit a home run for the Royals Kansas City starter Homer Bailey 4 3 tossed five plus innings and allowed four hits and one run He struck out four and walked three Bryce Harper reached base safely all four times for the Phillies with a single and three walks Phillies starter Jake Arrieta 4 3 lasted five plus innings and gave up seven hits and four runs while striking out five and walking three Angels 8 Orioles 3 Mike Trout homered and drove in three runs as visiting Los Angeles beat Baltimore Andrelton Simmons and Kole Calhoun each drove in two runs for the Angels Trevor Cahill 2 3 earned the win with six solid innings He did not return after rain stopped play for 1 hour 49 minutes following the sixth inning Dan Straily 1 3 started for Baltimore and struggled once more He gave up six runs on five hits in just 4 1 3 innings Rockies 12 Padres 2 German Marquez 4 2 hit a three run double to help back his solid outing on the mound Ian Desmond had two of his three singles in a seven run fourth inning and Colorado ripped San Diego in Denver Trevor Story homered among his three hits and Charlie Blackmon had two hits and scored three runs for the Rockies Manny Machado had three hits in his first trip to Coors Field since signing with San Diego Franmil Reyes also had three hits for the Padres Braves 2 Diamondbacks 1 Ronald Acuna Jr crushed a two out home run in the eighth inning as Atlanta snapped a four game losing streak with a victory over Arizona in Phoenix Acuna hitting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season drove a 2 0 pitch from reliever Yoan Lopez 0 1 off the batter s eye in center field to break a 1 1 tie Dan Winkler 1 0 pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the win after starter Julio Teheran gave up one run in six innings The Diamondbacks managed only four hits off four Atlanta pitchers including Luke Jackson who recorded his third save Reds 7 Giants 0 Luis Castillo was handed an early four run lead for a second consecutive start and this time he responded with six shutout innings pitching Cincinnati to a victory at San Francisco Nick Senzel lashed a two run triple to highlight a four run second inning which turned out to be more than sufficient offensive support for Castillo 4 1 and three relievers All four runs in the second off Dereck Rodriguez 3 5 came with two outs and were unearned following a botched fly ball by left fielder Tyler Austin Dodgers 5 Nationals 0 Kenta Maeda pitched six innings of one hit ball and Joc Pederson hit a pair of home runs as Los Angeles shut out visiting Washington Maeda walked two and struck out six one night after the Nationals rolled to a 6 0 victory to end Los Angeles 10 game home winning streak David Freese added a two run home run in the seventh inning
Pederson s home run in the first inning was his 14th as his team s first batter of a game The left fielder hit another solo shot in the fifth Field Level Media |
WMB | Motor racing Hamilton fastest in final Spanish GP practice | By Alan Baldwin BARCELONA Reuters Five times world champion Lewis Hamilton lapped fastest for Mercedes in final practice for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with a lap more than half a second faster than the rest The Briton chasing his third win in a row at the Circuit de Catalunya and fourth in total lapped with a best time of one minute 16 568 on an overcast morning Ferrari s Charles Leclerc was 0 531 slower with championship leader Valtteri Bottas third and 0 555 off Hamilton s pace after going off and into the gravel Sebastian Vettel Leclerc s team mate was fourth on the timesheets in 1 17 172 Hamilton is a point behind Bottas who was quickest in both Friday sessions after four successive one two finishes for Mercedes the best ever start to a Formula One season by any team With two wins each the Finn is ahead by virtue of a point for fastest lap in the Australian season opener The U S owned Haas team continued their strong showing in practice with Frenchman Romain Grosjean fifth and team mate Kevin Magnussen sixth Red Bull s Max Verstappen who in 2016 became the youngest Formula One winner at 18 years old at the Spanish circuit was seventh for Red Bull
British rookie George Russell spun his Williams NYSE WMB off and backwards against the tyre wall in the closing seconds |
WMB | Motor racing Bottas beats Hamilton for pole in Spain by massive margin | By Alan Baldwin BARCELONA Reuters Formula One championship leader Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position by a massive margin at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with rivals Ferrari NYSE RACE trailing behind The pole was a third in a row for the re energized and smiling Finn who leads Hamilton by a single point after four of the 21 races and he did it in a track record time of one minute 15 406 seconds That was a hefty 0 634 quicker than Hamilton s best effort dashing the five times world champion s hopes of record extending 85th career pole Sebastian Vettel qualified in third place in 1 16 272 with Red Bull s 2016 Spanish Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen fourth and sandwiched between the Ferraris with Charles Leclerc fifth I really enjoyed that enjoyed the adrenaline rush you get from those laps so I m really pleased said Bottas who had also been fastest in Friday practice and looks a different driver to last year when he failed to win anything The season has started well the way I hoped for and I feel better and better in the car so I look forward to tomorrow added the Finn who will be chasing his third win of the season on Sunday Mercedes have dominated qualifying in Barcelona for the past seven years with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado the last driver from any other team to start from the top slot when he did it with Williams NYSE WMB in 2012 Maldonado s pole was only because Hamilton then with McLaren was excluded and sent to the back of the grid for a fuel irregularity Hamilton said his laps in the final phase of qualifying could have been better with a scrappy first effort kicking up gravel but the upgrades brought by Mercedes to the start of the traditional European part of the campaign were working well The Briton on pole in Spain for the past three years and four times in total as well as winning for Mercedes in 2018 2017 and 2014 said Bottas had done a better job Valtteri did a fantastic job he s been quick all weekend said Hamilton On my side I just didn t put the lap together ultimately it just wasn t a good enough job It s great for the team to have this one two so we ll try and convert that into a one two on Sunday and if I can reverse it I ll be happy ONE TWO RECORD Mercedes have won the first four races one two a record start for any team despite Ferrari setting the pace in pre season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya I think we got everything out of the car in the first run said Vettel In the second run I had to try something different and it didn t work The car doesn t feel bad but obviously we are not quick enough In terms of balance we got it more or less right added the German who said Ferrari were still down on grip through the slower corners Red Bull s Pierre Gasly qualified sixth with the Haas pair of Romain Grosjean yet to score a point this year and Kevin Magnussen seventh and eighth on the grid Toro Rosso s Daniil Kvyat qualified ninth with Renault s Australian Daniel Ricciardo who reversed into him at the previous race in Azerbaijan 10th fastest Ricciardo has a three place grid penalty for that embarrassing error in Baku meaning that McLaren s teenage rookie Lando Norris will take the 10th place instead Carlos Sainz the only Spanish driver in the race now that Fernando Alonso has left Formula One qualified 13th for McLaren but will also move up a place Renault s Nico Hulkenberg failed to get through the first phase after running off the track and breaking his car s front wing
We damaged a new spec front wing so had to change to old spec he said after pitting and returning to the track |
WMB | Bruins blitz Canes for 2 0 lead in East finals | Every contest at TD Garden is more than a home game for Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk It s a family reunion Grzelcyk who grew up in Charlestown Mass and whose father and brother each work at the Bruins home arena scored twice Sunday afternoon as Boston beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6 2 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals to take a 2 0 lead in the best of seven series Grzelcyk s mom was also in attendance Sunday for Mother s Day She s someone I talk to every day and means the world to me Grzelcyk said in a postgame interview on NBC It s a pretty special day for sure After surrendering four unanswered goals in the third period of a 5 2 loss in Game 1 the Hurricanes came out with a physical game Sunday with several big hits in the opening minutes That included Carolina s Micheal Ferland nearly checking Grzelcyk into his own bench That s a game we don t mind playing Grzelcyk said It kind of wakes us up a little bit Jake DeBrusk Connor Clifton David Backes and Danton Heinen also scored for the Bruins who carried over the momentum they gained in the third period on Thursday They scored twice in each period Sunday building a 6 0 lead and running their streak to 10 unanswered goals in the series before Carolina s Justin Williams NYSE WMB scored at 11 17 of the third Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes stealing an outlet pass from Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask and putting the puck into an empty net at 17 32 of the third Rask made 21 saves while Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 19 of 25 shots The Bruins won the first two games at home for the first time in three playoff series this postseason They lost the opener to Toronto in the first round and dropped Game 2 against Columbus in the second round The Bruins showed off their depth and youth Sunday as Grzelcyk DeBrusk and Heinen are all in their second full NHL seasons and Clifton is a rookie Grzelcyk opened the scoring at 15 22 of the first taking a pass from Marcus Johansson and sneaking a shot under Mrazek s right arm that trickled just over the goal line DeBrusk made it 2 0 at 18 32 of the period with a power play goal DeBrusk was stationed at the top of the crease and got three swipes at the puck before putting it into the net The first one was no good Mrazek knows that Carolina coach Rod Brind Amour said There was nothing going on for either team which is what we want to start the game there then that goal is a tough one A penalty leads to a second one and then we get away from what we re trying to do We have zero success that way Brind Amour was asked in a postgame news conference whether he considered pulling Mrazek A lot of other guys deserved to come out if that s how we do it he said We re not letting anybody off the hook Clifton scored his first career NHL goal at 3 46 of the second taking a pass from Johansson and burying it into a nearly empty net Grzelcyk scored a power play goal at 17 56 of the second to give the Bruins a 4 0 lead Boston continued to pile on in the third with Backes and Heinen both scoring in the opening 4 32 of the period Charlie Coyle and Torey Krug each had three assists for the Bruins The Bruins were 2 for 2 on the power play while the Hurricanes were 0 for 4 Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday night at Carolina The Hurricanes are 5 0 at home this postseason outscoring opponents 22 7
The playoffs are a chess match You make adjustments Boston forward Brad Marchand told reporters They ll do that for the next game and we ll do the same Field Level Media |
WMB | Renaissance s Lapsed Academic | Howard Morgan founder of Renaissance Technologies joins Real Vision co founder Grant Williams NYSE WMB to discuss the fortunate start of his career Moving from academics to the technology side of finance Morgan blazed a trail that has transformed the finance industry and the world This video is excerpted from a piece published on Real Vision on March 22 2019 entitled Failure as a Forerunner to Success |
WMB | Motor racing Dutch Grand Prix return set for Zandvoort in 2020 | By Alan Baldwin LONDON Reuters Formula One is set to make the most of Max Verstappen s popularity by announcing on Tuesday the return of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort next season after an absence of 35 years The deal was openly discussed at Sunday s Spanish Grand Prix and confirmed by multiple sources with drivers and team bosses welcoming back an historic circuit I don t preview announcements We ll announce it when we announce it on Tuesday Formula One chairman Chase Carey told the BBC when asked to confirm the news Red Bull driver Verstappen 21 is the most successful Dutch driver ever as well as Formula One s youngest race winner and draws many thousands of orange shirted fans to grands prix around Europe He is third overall in the championship after finishing third at the Circuit de Catalunya with plenty of supporters in attendance I think a Dutch Grand Prix with the popularity of Verstappen is going to be immense I think that s positive for Formula One Red Bull boss Christian Horner told reporters Zandvoort last hosted a grand prix in 1985 after making its first appearance on the calendar in 1952 The race deal is the second after Vietnam negotiated by U S based Liberty Media NASDAQ FWONA since taking over the sport in 2017 and ousting former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone The French Grand Prix at the southern Le Castellet circuit returned in 2018 after a 10 year absence but that deal was done by Ecclestone Vietnam is due to make its debut next year with a street race in Hanoi Zandvoort on the North Sea coast looks likely to have an early May slot when the 2020 calendar is published later in the year and could replace Spain as the start of the traditional European season It s a really narrow track I ve been there only once but it s really challenging on the driving side So I think to put some F1 cars there will be pretty cool and exciting said Verstappen s French team mate Pierre Gasly Williams NYSE WMB driver George Russell said Zandvoort was a favorite I just truly hope we don t get rid of the gravel runoffs in the two high speed corners because that s what makes the circuit so daunting and so incredible to drive said the Briton last year s Formula Two champion The future of Spain s race remains uncertain with the Circuit de Catalunya out of contract at the end of this year |
GLW | Dow Chemical Finishes Dow Corning s Strategic Restructuring | The Dow Chemical Company NYSE DOW successfully completed the restructuring of Dow Corning increasing its 50 stake to 100 in the company s silicone business The business was previously owned equally by Dow Chemical and Corning Inc NYSE GLW Shares of Dow Chemical increased around 0 7 in the trading session on Wednesday closing the day about 0 4 higher at 51 58 Dow Corning s world leading silicone business has been in operation for more than seven decades It accounted for over 4 5 billion revenues in 2015 In first quarter 2016 Dow Corning s sales were 1 32 billion and adjusted income grew 14 year over year to 116 million The company witnessed an increase in sales as well as profits in the silicones business segment despite headwinds from a sluggish international economy Meanwhile Dow Chemical recorded adjusted earnings of 89 cents per share and revenues of 10 7 billion in the first quarter of 2016 Both the top and bottom lines beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the quarter The company provided a positive EPS surprise in the trailing four quarters as well Terms of the Transaction Dow Chemical looks to complete the integration of Dow Corning into its own operations quickly and impeccably Management at both companies have already been working together to ensure the incorporation Dow Corning will now operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Mauro Gregorio Vice President of Dow Chemical will serve as CEO of the restructured Dow Corning Dow Chemical and Corning Inc will continue with the existing equal ownership structure of Hemlock Semiconductor Group Dow Corning was a majority shareholder of the polysilicon producer Rationale Behind the Restructuring Dow Chemical looks to augment growth and tap adjacent markets for the existing structure with this increase in ownership It is confident of enhancing shareholder value and providing high value solutions to customers Dow Corning looks to increase customer satisfaction with Dow Chemical s brand name R D opportunities and powerful innovation Dow Corning which uses advanced technology will be a strategic fit to Dow Chemical s material sciences portfolio The restructuring is expected to provide Dow Chemical s bottom line with an additional 1 billion in synergies at full run rate The company is confident of generating minimum 400 million for the same Additionally Dow Chemical will see an expansion in its Consumer Solutions and Infrastructure Solutions due to high synergies Dow Corning will also complement Dow Chemical s already advanced technology Dow Chemical expects to earn 6x EBITDA post synergies from the transaction The deal brings into focus the 100 benefits that shareholders of Dow Chemical will receive from the 50 acquisition of the silicone business This transaction is expected to be accretive to Dow Chemical s operating EPS cash flows from operations and free cash flow in the first full year after closure The joint company expects to develop new technologies and bring forth innovation for its global customers Dow Chemical currently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Some better ranked companies in the chemical space include Albemarle Corporation NYSE ALB and BASF SE OTC BASFY both sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |
GLW | Corning Invests In Versalume To Collaborate On Fibrance | Corning Incorporated NYSE GLW announced that it has made an investment in Versalume LLC a Silicon Valley start up which will work toward developing smart integrated fiber lighting products and solutions using Corning Fibrance Light Diffusing Fiber The stock was up 1 68 or 32 cents on Tuesday following the announcement and closed at 19 38 What is Fibrance An innovative optical fiber Fibrance has been developed by Corning from a unique glass composition that offers maximum flexibility Therefore it can be bent curved or wrapped around anything under the sun while maintaining uniform bright and beautiful luminosity at all times The Deal in DetailAs per information provided by the company in its press release all commercial development efforts for Fibrance will be taken care of by Versalume Additionally Versalume will be the exclusive distributor of Fibrance as well as offer integrated technology solutions On the other hand Corning will look after the manufacturing of Fibrance given its noteworthy experience and expertise in glass and materials science Moreover the company s representatives will also join Versalume s board of directors We note that currently Corning is manufacturing products that make use of the Fibrance Light Diffusing Fiber and has teamed up with some of the best industrial designers innovators and thought leaders in Silicon Valley and around the globe to explore new commercial opportunities Corning s Area of ExpertiseWith more than 160 years of experience under its belt Corning has carved a niche for itself in the materials science segment and has attained significant expertise in specialty glass ceramics and optical physics Currently the company is developing new products such as glass substrates for high performance displays and LCD applications precision glass for advanced displays emission control products for cars trucks and off road vehicles among others However the company primarily focuses on its Gorilla Glass products catering to the automotive and architectural markets
At present Corning has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Some better ranked stocks in the broader technology space are Arista Networks Inc NYSE ANET Plantronics Inc NYSE PLT and UTStarcom Holdings Corp NASDAQ UTSI each sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy |
VZ | T Mobile beats estimates for phone subscribers | Reuters T Mobile US Inc O TMUS on Thursday beat analysts estimates for second quarter net new phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill boosted by the U S mobile carrier s competitive wireless plans aimed at fending off its bigger rivals The third largest U S mobile carrier said it added a net 710 000 phone subscribers in the three months ended June 30 compared with 686 000 additions a year earlier Analysts were expecting 643 000 new subscribers according to research firm FactSet Postpaid figures are closely watched as customers who opt for the plan pay a recurring monthly bill and are more valuable to carriers that prepaid users T Mobile US is awaiting approval for its 26 5 billion deal to buy smaller rival Sprint Corp N S as it strives for more scale to compete with bigger rivals such as Verizon Communications Inc N VZ and AT T Inc N T The company s net income rose to 939 million or 1 09 per share in the quarter from 782 million or 92 cents a share a year earlier Analysts had expected the company to earn 97 cents per share according to IBES data from Refinitiv
Revenue rose nearly 4 to 10 98 billion falling short of estimates of 11 13 billion |
VZ | U S Justice Department expected to approve Sprint T Mobile deal on Friday | By Diane Bartz and David Shepardson WASHINGTON Reuters T Mobile US NASDAQ TMUS Inc won U S antitrust approval for its 26 billion takeover of rival Sprint Corp the Justice Department said Friday clearing a major hurdle to a deal that merges the nation s third and fourth largest wireless carriers The companies have agreed to divest Sprint s prepaid businesses including Boost Mobile to satellite television firm Dish Network Corp to create a fourth U S wireless carrier The Justice Department indicated the deal would improve competition and the rollout of faster 5G networks by combining weaker players and creating a strong new No 4 in Dish that has unused spectrum which can be activated Critics including some state attorneys general say competition won t increase and prices for mobile phone plans will rise The deal is a clear success for T Mobile Chief Executive Officer John Legere who will be the CEO of the combined company and who pushed back at critics arguing a more concentrated market would lead to higher prices It s a bit dumbfounding to think that we ve decided to go and build this network and go through this merger so that we can become the basic lazy fat dumb and arrogant players that we were born to teach how to behave he told analysts in a conference call Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim head of the Justice Department s antitrust division said the deal would hasten the development of 5G the next generation of wireless Shares of T Mobile which is about 63 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom AG DE DTEGn were up 5 3 at 84 17 Shares of Sprint which is about 84 percent owned by Softbank Group Corp rose 7 1 to 7 97 Dish was up 0 7 at 39 44 But the deal still faces a significant challenge A group of U S state attorneys general including from New York and California have sued to block the merger on antitrust grounds arguing the proposed deal would cost consumers more than 4 5 billion annually New York State Attorney General Letitia James indicated the lawsuit would continue at least in part because of what critics see as Dish s failure to live up to pledges it had made We have serious concerns that cobbling together this new fourth mobile player with the government picking winners and losers will not address the merger s harm to consumers workers and innovation she said The Justice Department backed by five state attorneys general said the deal required the merging companies to sell Virgin Mobile and Sprint s prepaid business and provide Dish with access to 20 000 cell sites and hundreds of retail locations Prepaid wireless phones are generally sought by lower income people who cannot pass a credit check Dish has agreed to acquire spectrum or airwaves that carry data in a deal valued at 3 6 billion from the merged firm and pay 1 4 billion for Sprint s prepaid business that serves about 9 3 million customers Dish will get access to the new T Mobile s network for seven years while it builds its own 5G network T Mobile and Dish are also required to work out a deal where T Mobile can use Dish s unused 600 MHz spectrum and the companies are required to use eSIM which allows consumers to switch easily between carriers a Justice Department official said SKEPTICAL LAWMAKERS T Mobile competes with Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ and AT T Inc N T U S consumers tend to stick with one mobile carrier for years giving companies a steady stream of cash As more people rely on cell phones for social media banking or news and entertainment the lines have blurred between telecom content and cable companies just as so called 5G technology promises to make mobile phones even more powerful Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement on Friday he would soon circulate a formal order supporting the deal The FCC could vote on final approval in August or September officials said The FCC agreed to give Dish more time to use spectrum it previously acquired The company could face up to 2 2 billion in penalties and lose its spectrum licenses if it fails to meet its commitments to build its network according to a letter filed Friday with the FCC Dish must have a 5G network covering at least 70 of the U S population no later than June 14 2023 Dish has spent years stockpiling wireless spectrum and faced a looming March 2020 deadline to build a product using the spectrum in order to fulfill its license requirements Some senior lawmakers remained skeptical about the merger including Senators Mike Lee a Republican and Amy Klobuchar a Democrat the top lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee s antitrust subcommittee Lee said he was hopeful the divestiture would succeed but uneasy about Dish s dual role as a critic of the transaction and a buyer of divested assets
Klobuchar who is running for president reiterated that she had wanted the deal stopped It looked like a bad deal then and it looks like a bad deal today despite the parties promises and this proposed consent decree she said |
WMB | NFL transactions Panthers release S Searcy | The Carolina Panthers released veteran safety Da Norris Searcy on Monday Searcy 30 appeared in only two games during his lone season with Carolina in 2018 and finished the season on injured reserve due to a concussion In 109 career games with the Buffalo Bills 2011 14 Tennessee Titans 2015 17 and Panthers he has recorded 331 tackles eight interceptions and 4 5 sacks The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed former Arizona Cardinals running back Kerwynn Williams NYSE WMB per NFL Media reports Williams who played under new Bucs coach Bruce Arians in Arizona from 2014 17 rushed for 971 yards and four touchdowns in 37 games with the Cardinals The 27 year old was out of the league last season after being released by the Kansas City Chiefs in September He signed a futures deal with the Detroit Lions in January but was cut last week The Los Angeles Rams re signed linebacker Bryce Hager to a one year deal Hager 27 has appeared in all 64 regular season games since the Rams selected him in the seventh round in 2015 Playing mostly on special teams he has 22 career tackles and one fumble recovery The Green Bay Packers released second year running back Lavon Coleman Coleman 24 appeared in one game for the Packers as an undrafted 2018 rookie He rushed for 2 000 yards and 12 TDs in four seasons at the University of Washington 2014 17 The Chicago Bears acquired kicker Eddy Pineiro from the Oakland Raiders ESPN s Adam Schefter reported Oakland will receive a 2021 seventh round pick in return if Pineiro is on Chicago s active roster for at least five games
Pineiro 23 appeared in one preseason game last year and made all three field goal attempts 45 48 and 21 yards and his lone extra point against the Detroit Lions Field Level Media |
WMB | Gold in History World War II | Gold s unique properties cause humans to go to extraordinary lengths to protect and preserve it From the British moving their gold in the face of Nazi Blitzkrieg to the Tiger of Malay Grant Williams NYSE WMB walks through some of the most incredible tales of the yellow metal This video is excerpted from a piece published on Real Vision on February 23 2018 entitled Gold The Story of Man s 6000 Year Obsession Episode 2 Watch more at |
WMB | MLB roundup Cubs stay hot walk off in 11 | Jason Heyward hit a walk off solo home run in the 11th inning to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 3 2 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Wednesday night Heyward drove an outside pitch to the opposite field and the ball landed in the basket atop the ivy covered wall It was Heyward s sixth homer of the season only two shy of his total from all of 2018 The Cubs were buoyed by right hander Kyle Hendricks who held the Marlins to one unearned run in eight innings Hendricks lowered his ERA to 0 62 in four starts this season at Wrigley Field where he has allowed only four runs two earned in 29 innings Carl Edwards Jr 1 1 earned the win in relief for Chicago which won for the ninth time in 10 games Red Sox 2 Orioles 1 12 innings Andrew Benintendi hit a solo homer with two outs in the top of the 12th inning to give visiting Boston a victory over Baltimore in the finale of a three game series Benintendi crushed a 2 1 fastball from Yefry Ramirez 0 1 into the seats in right center and snapped a 1 1 tie The Orioles now have given up a major league high 80 homers this season Ryan Brasier 2 1 earned the victory by pitching the 11th Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr helped the right hander by making a leaping catch at the wall to rob Trey Mancini of a game winning homer Heath Hembree struck out the side in the 12th and picked up his first save Indians 5 White Sox 3 Jose Ramirez belted a two run homer with two outs in the ninth inning as Cleveland beat visiting Chicago Francisco Lindor slapped a one out single in the ninth inning off Jace Fry 1 1 and advanced to second following his second steal of the season Ramirez brought him home after depositing a 3 1 fastball from Kelvin Herrera over the wall in right field for his first walk off homer of his career Ramirez had been 1 for 10 lifetime against Herrera prior to recording his fourth career walk off hit and first since Sept 17 2016 versus Detroit Diamondbacks 3 Rays 2 13 innings Wilmer Flores hit a two out RBI single in the 13th inning as Arizona avoided being swept for the first time this season with a win against Tampa Bay in St Petersburg Fla Arizona starter Robbie Ray threw 5 2 3 scoreless innings allowing four hits striking out 11 and walking three Archie Bradley 2 3 threw three shutout innings of relief before Zack Godley pitched the 13th for his first career save David Peralta had three hits Nick Ahmed and Flores contributed two hits each and Jarrod Dyson scored two runs for Arizona which had lost the first two of the three game series Rangers 9 Pirates 6 Isiah Kiner Falefa doubled in the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning and Rougned Odor added a two run homer to give visiting Texas a win over Pittsburgh The game featured dueling two run homers into the Allegheny River one by Texas Joey Gallo that bounced into the water and Pittsburgh s Josh Bell s shot that got wet on the fly Hunter Pence hit a tying pinch hit grand slam in the eighth for Texas which avoided being swept in the two game series as well as the four game season series after Pittsburgh won both games last week in Arlington Brewers 7 Nationals 3 Right hander Brandon Woodruff allowed just one run in six innings and was backed by three homers as host Milwaukee beat slumping Washington completing a three game sweep The Nationals have lost four straight and 14 of their last 19 games while the Brewers have won nine of their last 12 Woodruff 5 1 fanned nine batters with no walks while throwing 103 pitches Christian Yelich had three hits and smashed his 16th homer in the first a solo shot Eric Thames had an RBI double that may have hit the roof Mariners 10 Yankees 1 Yusei Kikuchi carried a no hitter into the sixth inning and pitched a career high 7 2 3 outstanding innings as visiting Seattle cruised over New York Kikuchi 2 1 allowed a run on three hits and retired 16 straight after opening the game with a walk to DJ LeMahieu He lost his no hitter with one out in the sixth when Mike Tauchman hit a soft bloop double on a 94 mph fastball to short left field over third baseman Ryon Healy s head Mitch Haniger Edwin Encarnacion and Healy homered for Seattle which upped its season total to 74 Healy also doubled three times and collected four hits as Seattle totaled 14 hits Phillies 5 Cardinals 0 Cesar Hernandez homered doubled and drove in three runs to lift visiting Philadelphia past St Louis Nick Williams NYSE WMB added two hits for the Phillies who used a four run fifth inning to win their second in a row to capture the three game series Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff 2 1 pitched a stellar game giving up three hits in eight innings The shutout victory came hours after learning that longtime Phillies chairman David Montgomery died Wednesday morning at the age of 72 Tigers 10 Angels 3 Ronny Rodriguez had three hits and drove in four runs JaCoby Jones hit a two run homer and Detroit rolled past visiting Los Angeles Rodriguez finished a homer shy of the cycle John Hicks had two RBIs and Nicholas Castellanos scored two runs and extended his hitting streak to 11 games Tigers starter Matthew Boyd 4 2 limited the Angels to one run on three hits in six innings He struck out six and walked none Jonathan Lucroy hit a solo homer and an RBI double for the Angels David Fletcher also homered but Shohei Ohtani remained hitless in his second game this season Ohtani who is recovering from Tommy John surgery went 0 for 3 and was hit by a pitch leaving him 0 for 7 overall Twins 9 Blue Jays 1 Jorge Polanco matched his career best with five hits including a two run home run and Kyle Gibson set a career high with 11 strikeouts as visiting Minnesota defeated Toronto C J Cron Jonathan Schoop and Eddie Rosario also hit two run homers for the Twins who swept the three game series after losing three of four to the Blue Jays at Minnesota April 15 18 Cron had four hits and Rosario had three RBIs for the Twins who collected 18 hits one short of their season best The Blue Jays had two hits Padres 3 Mets 2 Hunter Renfroe greeted Mets reliever Tyler Bashlor with a tie breaking homer leading off the seventh and host San Diego defeated New York in the rubber match of a three game series at Petco Park Renfroe hit a high fly into the left field stands on Bashlor s second pitch It was his ninth homer of the season but his fifth in the last 12 games all of which have given the Padres a lead Reliever Gerardo Reyes who was recalled from Triple A El Paso earlier Wednesday had worked San Diego out of a jam in the top of the inning He entered the seventh with Mets on second and third with one out and responded by striking out Tomas Nido and Todd Frazier on six pitches all six swings and misses Giants Rockies PPD Inclement weather washed away the Colorado Rockies scheduled game against the San Francisco Giants in Denver The contest will be made up as part of a day night doubleheader on July 15 when the teams had been scheduled to open a three game series with a night game San Francisco beat Colorado 14 4 on Tuesday and the current series is scheduled to conclude with an afternoon game Thursday Field Level Media |
WMB | Will Smith brings own fun loving Genie to new Aladdin | By Hanna Rantala LONDON Reuters Hollywood star Will Smith was reluctant at first to play Genie in the live action remake of Disney s Aladdin as it meant following in the big footsteps of late comedian Robin Williams NYSE WMB who voiced the character in the 1992 animated film Smith who shot to fame in the 1990s television series The Fresh Prince of Bel Air added a personal touch and some hip hop and rap to portray the energetic CGI enhanced blue Genie who emerges from a lamp in a cave of treasures Speaking to Reuters at the musical film s premiere in London on Thursday the 50 year old actor and rapper said his first reaction about taking on the role was Hell no no way Robin Williams didn t leave much room to improve on the Genie So I looked at it and the first thing for me was that it was going to be live action I thought it could be a little different Smith said Robin Williams took his essentially stand up persona and just infused his stand up persona into the Genie I was like I could just use the extreme version of almost my Fresh Prince persona to be able to infuse that into this wild character I felt I d be able to capture the nostalgia while at the same time being able to make something new The film follows the 1992 movie plot that saw poor street hustler Aladdin fall in love with headstrong Princess Jasmine but director Guy Ritchie said the story needed updating We are half an hour longer and there s just a difference between an animated film and live action he said Somehow you can take broader strokes in the animated movies that you can t afford in live action Jasmine was the principal character that needed evolving and developing That character is played by The 33 and Power Rangers actress Naomi Scott who will also star in the upcoming Charlie s Angels remake Jasmine finds her voice and she goes through a journey to find it I want little girls to see that she said Newcomer Mena Massoud who starred in last year s Tom Clancy s Jack Ryan series plays the title role in the movie Cast members said animals of all kinds and some 1 000 extras were involved in making the musical spectacle which features original songs from the animated film as well as new tunes
Aladdin is the latest live action remake from Disney which has revisited old animated films like The Jungle Book as well as Dumbo and will put out a new version of box office hit The Lion King this summer |
WMB | NBA notebook Warriors Durant done for Rockets series | Kevin Durant is done for the rest of the Western Conference semifinals and head coach Steve Kerr said the Golden State Warriors must grasp the task ahead Replace the best player in the NBA He s been the best player in the NBA in the playoffs He s been phenomenal Kerr said Thursday night confirming Durant is several days or more from being able to play basketball A return could potentially come in the Western Conference finals but the Warriors leading the Houston Rockets 3 2 in the semifinals entering Friday s Game 6 at Houston still need a win without Durant The Warriors also said that after an MRI Durant was diagnosed with a mild right calf strain and will be re evaluated next week Durant s status for the rest of the postseason if Golden State beats the Rockets and heads to the conference finals is up in the air Curry is also dealing with a dislocated finger Tyronn Lue reportedly turned down a three year deal to become head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers leaving the wandering franchise to reset its search for Luke Walton s replacement Lue reportedly had a chance to run the team but considered the Lakers three year 18 million offer a snub after discussing a five year contract Lue coached LeBron James to the NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers Jason Kidd and Juwan Howard interviewed for the job as did Monty Williams NYSE WMB who was named head coach of the Phoenix Suns and ESPN reported three others will visit with the team this week Lionel Hollins Frank Vogel and Mike Woodson ESPN said Vogel would interview on Thursday Seeking more gender diversity in the NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he wants to see women comprise at least half of the league s new referees I m not sure how it was that it remained so male dominated for so long because it s an area of the game where physically certainly there s no benefit of being a man as opposed to a woman when it comes to refereeing Silver said during an appearance at The Economic Club of Washington D C
He pointed out that in the developmental G League two women were among five recent officiating hires and there are three female officials currently working in the NBA Silver also wants to see more equality among the league s coaching staffs Field Level Media |
WMB | Fed s Williams says U S economy strong despite trade tensions | By Trevor Hunnicutt
NEW YORK Reuters The U S economy is strong despite trade tensions and data showing tame inflation pressure are no sign that policymakers are falling short of their goals a top Federal Reserve policymaker said on Friday
We have a strong economy in a good place with no sign of inflation pressures Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams NYSE WMB said at a local business event in New York City s Bronx borough
Interest rates he said are well positioned to keep this going to keep the economy on a strong trajectory
The Fed has kept short term interest rates on hold this year in a 2 25 2 50 range after concerns over U S China trade talks and global growth shook markets late last year Williams who is vice chairman and a permanent voting member of the Fed s policy setting committee said the current policies make sense for now
First quarter U S economic data came in stronger than forecasters initially expected with initial readings showing growth at a 3 2 annual level but difficulty bringing U S China negotiations to a close threaten that trend
The United States early on Friday increased tariffs on 200 billion in Chinese goods to 25 from 10 ratcheting up a 10 month trade war between the world s two largest economies Negotiators from both sides on Friday entered a second day of last ditch talks to try to salvage an agreement
Trade tensions are still an issue said Williams but he said he still expects growth of about 2 25 in 2019
Markets have been on guard for what they see as an increasing possibility that the Fed will have to respond to a weakening economy and tamer inflation pressures than their annual 2 target by cutting rates Williams showed no signs of endorsing that view saying that low inflation readings reflect normal ups and downs of economic data rather than a destructive trend
U S consumer prices rose moderately in April and underlying inflation remained muted Labor Department data showed on Friday
President Donald Trump who has repeatedly criticized the Fed for raising rates last year said on Twitter that Friday s data were further evidence of very low inflation Many economists and policymakers think tariffs could put more pressure on businesses to raise their prices |
VZ | T Mobile Sprint expected to extend deal date sources | Reuters T Mobile US Inc O TMUS and Sprint Corp N S expect to extend a July 29 deadline to complete their 26 billion merger according to two sources close to the deal
The sources declined to say what the new deadline would be
T Mobile and Sprint have agreed to a series of deal concessions including to sell the prepaid brand Boost to gain merger approval but they still need a green light from the U S Department of Justice The department s antitrust staff recommended the agency block the deal
The companies are in talks with Dish to hammer out the Boost sale in order to win over the department
The parties are haggling over restrictions over who can buy the divested assets if they are sold in the future with T Mobile and Deutsche Telekom DE DTEGn seeking to prevent them from going to a cable or technology company the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday
The Justice Department has indicated that it wants the new competitor to be strong enough to compete with the industry giants which would be Verizon Communications Inc N VZ AT T Inc N T and T Mobile if this merger goes through
The Federal Communications Commission s chief has given his blessing to the merger in principle and is expected to circulate a formal order within weeks
In an unusual move state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in June to ask a judge to stop the proposed merger arguing that the deal would cost consumers more than 4 5 billion annually |
WMB | In Tel Aviv Eurovision songfest braces for pro Palestinian boycott protests | By Rami Ayyub Dan Williams NYSE WMB and Stephen Farrell TEL AVIV Reuters As Eurovision Song Contest 2019 banners go up across Tel Aviv behind the glitz of the songfest is the latest manifestation of a bitter row between Israel and an international pro Palestinian boycott movement When Israel was selected last year to host the 2019 Eurovision finals the high profile 42 nation event was identified by the Boycott Divestment Sanctions BDS campaign as a target for its campaign to pressure governments companies performers and academics to isolate Israel Even as Israeli workers erect stages and lighting rigs along Tel Aviv s Mediterranean seafront some fear that the live broadcasts of the May 14 18 event may be used by boycott activists to mount protests in front of millions watching live BDS has called on artists and broadcasters to withdraw from the event arguing that holding it in Tel Aviv amounts to artwashing whitewashing through arts Israel s policies towards Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza The event s local television hosts Israel s public broadcaster Kan said it does not know what to expect But Israeli media reports have raised concerns that activists might try to disrupt the contest from the audience or that a performer may mount a protest on stage The competition semi finals followed by a final will take place at the Expo Tel Aviv convention center with a fan zone with big viewing screens at the beachfront Eurovision Village Security costs are expected to account for 10 percent of the expenditure on the event by Kan A spokeswoman for the broadcaster said she believed the figure was unusually high There is something big here Tzahi Gavrieli head of the Israeli government s anti BDS taskforce within the Strategic Affairs Ministry told Reuters about the event It is a major brand and there is definitely an attempt under way by the other side to take it down BDS which was launched in 2005 and is led by Palestinian campaigners describes itself as a global movement to pressure Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian territories Israel claims that some boycott activists call for the dismantling of Israel itself and the government has mounted a vigorous counter campaign rebutting BDS attacks and accusing some supporters of being anti Semitic or having ties to militant groups such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine BDS leaders reject the Israeli accusations saying that their campaign is a non violent protest movement opposed to all forms of discrimination including anti Semitism They deny having any links to militant groups BOTS AND TROLLS On social media pro Palestinian activists have urged supporters to join us in disrupting Israel s latest PR stunt and to participate in a Week of Action Against Eurovision in Tel Aviv This they said would involve loud visible mass non violent actions and protests Gavrieli s office issued a report on Thursday saying that BDS activists had used 232 fake Twitter accounts including bots and trolls which it says engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior to drum up opposition to the event The BDS dismissed the allegations as propaganda lies intended to cover up Israel s war crimes against Palestinians and decades old system of military occupation This edition of Eurovision will be remembered as a dismal failure for Israel s propaganda machine said Alia Malak of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel a BDS member group A spokesman for Twitter when asked about the accounts in question told Reuters on Thursday that it had suspended a small group of accounts for violating its regular spam rules in line with its commitment to improving healthy conversations on the service The song contest s umbrella organizer the European Broadcasting Union EBU is vetting all lyrics and host narrations a standard practice for Eurovision No participating countries or broadcasters have heeded the BDS calls to pull out of the event Eurovision is promoting the 2019 contest under the slogan Dare to Dream Its website said the motto and artwork of the event symbolize inclusion diversity and unity resonating with the core values of the Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision has the support of the reigning winner Netta Barzilai It was the Israeli singer s victory last year with the song Toy that brought this year s competition to Israel Being on the same stage no matter what your religion is your ethnicity your color from all these countries all these cultures combined together this is a festival of light she said in Jerusalem on Monday BITTER CAMPAIGN Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital More than 400 000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank in settlements that Palestinians and many countries consider to be illegal under the Geneva conventions that bar settling on land captured in war Israel disputes this citing security needs and biblical historical and political connections to the land The Eurovision battle is just the latest in a bitter campaign by both the BDS and the Israeli government to convince an international audience of the justice of their cause The boycott movement claimed victories last year after the New Zealand pop singer Lorde canceled a planned trip to Israel and the Argentina football team with its star player Lionel Messi called off a friendly match against Israel But some artists and organizations have defied boycott calls Madonna will be a guest performer at Eurovision And the online home renting company Airbnb which delisted properties in Israeli settlements in the West Bank in November last month partially backtracked amid legal and political pressure Israel has sought to deport or deny entry to international activists over their alleged support for BDS
An Israeli court last month ordered the deportation of Omar Shakir a U S citizen who is Human Rights Watch s Israel and Palestine director over claims that he supports the movement Shakir has appealed the order to Israel s Supreme Court |
VZ | Telecoms Giant Verizon Seeks Talent for Blockchain Related Positions | A search for blockchain on the career page for telecoms giant Verizon NYSE VZ reveals that the company is actively looking to hire new recruits for blockchain related jobs including five blockchain developers
The Block highlighted the vacancies in a report on July 24 Verizon is apparently interested in creating a distributed network as per the report Additionally the report specifies that a leading engineer at Verizon believes that hiring options are thin right now |
WMB | Serena Williams to return for Italian Open | Serena Williams NYSE WMB will be back in action just after Mother s Day at the Italian Open The tournament director told the Associated Press on Friday that Williams has already reserved her rooms and should be here a few days early for the event Williams hasn t played since she withdrew from the Miami Open in March with a knee injury The 37 year old Williams currently ranked 11th in the world has won the Italian Open four times most recently in 2016 That s also the last time she played in the event This year s Italian Open runs May 13 19 and serves as a clay court warm up for the French Open which begins May 26 Williams has not won a tournament since 2017 when she won the Australian Open Shortly afterward she announced she was pregnant and she took the rest of the year off from competitive tennis While she did not win a tournament in 2018 she did advance to the final of both Wimbledon and the U S Open
She lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open this year Field Level Media |
WMB | Fed s Williams makes case for lower for longer rates | By Trevor Hunnicutt
Reuters A top Federal Reserve policymaker is making the case for changing how the Fed responds to periods of tepid inflation by keeping interest rates lower for longer
New York Fed President John Williams NYSE WMB said in a research paper he co authored and distributed on Friday that policies that raise inflation expectations by keeping interest rates lower for longer after periods of low inflation can keep people s expectations for prices at the right levels and reduce the negative effects of near zero interest rates on the economy
The research which Williams will present at a conference at Stanford University in California on Friday is geared toward a broad Fed policy review of how to get inflation to rise to and remain at its 2 target That review may take many more months to complete
At the same time Fed officials are discussing the more immediate issue of whether a rate cut might eventually be needed to keep prices rising at levels policymakers support The White House has publicly called for the Fed to cut rates to support growth with U S Vice President Mike Pence renewing those calls on Friday
There s no inflation the economy is roaring Pence said in an interview with CNBC This is exactly the time not only to not raise interest rates but we ought to consider cutting them
The Fed s preferred measure of inflation the core personal consumption expenditures PCE price index excluding the volatile food and energy components slowed to an annual rate of 1 6 in March
Some policymakers and analysts think the Fed is better equipped to respond to upward spikes in prices than to persistently low readings That is because rate cuts lose their potency as borrowing costs approach zero Any alternatives to the Fed s current approach could be controversial
Williams paper develops an argument he has made before that people can start to expect central banks to miss their inflation target in periods where rates near zero potentially hurting economic growth over time But by aiming for inflation above the target during good times policymakers eliminate weak inflation expectations and reduce the harm to the economy Williams is vice chairman and a permanent voting member of the Fed s policy setting committee
The issue is not strictly academic The Fed now targets short term rates from 2 25 2 50 and they could easily cut to near zero again in response to the next recession |
WMB | NBA notebook Suns hire 76ers aide Williams as coach | The Phoenix Suns hired Monty Williams NYSE WMB as their new head coach on Friday Williams currently an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers replaces the fired Igor Kokoskov and becomes the Suns seventh head coach in eight years for owner Robert Sarver Williams will join the Suns after the 76ers current postseason run concludes They lead the Toronto Raptors 2 1 in the second round He had also been a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers head coach opening I am thrilled to welcome Monty Williams to the Suns family as our next head coach general manager James Jones said in a statement Monty brings a wealth of NBA experience both as a coach and former player in addition to being a high character individual who will infuse basketball wisdom and life lessons into our locker room Monty is well respected for his coaching pedigree leadership and commitment to the community all of which make him the ideal person to lead our team moving forward Point guard Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers was fined 20 000 and assessed a flagrant 1 foul after elbowing Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry in the groin during the first half of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday night The incident occurred with 8 36 remaining in the first half Lowry fell down along the baseline after boxing out Simmons who threw an elbow that struck the Raptors guard down low and he stayed on the floor appearing to be in pain Simmons headed back down the floor and was not issued a foul on the play He collected 10 points seven rebounds and seven assists in 36 minutes as the 76ers cruised past the Raptors 116 95 to take a 2 1 series lead Simmons is averaging 14 5 points 7 0 rebounds and 6 6 assists per game this postseason The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to offer their vacant head coaching position to Tyronn Lue ESPN reported Not long after the Phoenix Suns announced they had hired Monty Williams as their new head coach ESPN s Adrian Wojnarowski reported via Twitter that the Lakers are proceeding toward an offer to Ty Lue in the coming days Williams was a candidate for the Lakers job Lue coached Lakers forward LeBron James at Cleveland with the Cavaliers winning the title in the 2015 16 season when Lue took over for David Blatt midway through the schedule The Cavaliers were defeated in the NBA Finals each of the next two seasons by the Golden State Warriors with Lue as head coach The Chicago Bulls extended the contract of head coach Jim Boylen The Bulls did not release terms but ESPN reported that Boylen was given a multi year extension He guided the Bulls to a 17 41 record after replacing the fired Fred Hoiberg as coach in December Chicago was 22 60 overall
Jim has a strong vision on where he wants to take this team and he has done a great job establishing the culture that we want this organization to stand for as we continue to progress vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said in a statement He has tremendous passion for developing young talent is a strong communicator and a good fit for this team The organization is confident in the direction that he is taking our players and we are committed to him Field Level Media |
WMB | Women can hack it against the men in F1 says Wilson | By Alan Baldwin HOCKENHEIM Germany Reuters Desir Wilson sees no physical or mental reason why a woman cannot compete in Formula One whatever the men might say and she should know The only woman to win a Formula One race a non championship round of a long defunct British series at Brands Hatch in 1980 the 65 year old South African says those who raise such obstacles are talking rubbish I used to drive for three hours in world endurance championship races in monstrous Porsche 956s and I was capable of doing it she told Reuters at the first race of the all female W Series Wilson s first IndyCar race in Cleveland Ohio in 1983 was 500km on a street course with eight pitstops for fuel and no paddle shifts The cars were brutal I finished 10th in that race and I think seven drivers pulled in and collapsed because of the heat she said Drivers were just passing out and there I was a 120 pound driver but it was all in the mental strength My opinion is that women are actually stronger mentally than men are I think we can push ourselves much further than men can added Wilson It s the individual person what you are made up of what you want in life how hard do you want to fight for it and how serious and focused you are W Series with 18 women racing identical Formula Three cars in a six round championship aims to raise the profile of female racers and help them take on the men further up the single seater ladder One of the ultimate aims is to see a woman compete in Formula One again for the first time since Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976 and Wilson is highly supportive of the concept I think it s a superb idea Because ultimately you re giving these women an opportunity to take part A lot of them wouldn t be racing if it wasn t for this series she said For men who say why should it be an all woman series they haven t had to really go through what women really have had to go through in motorsports So they have no idea I think this series will showcase women more than it ever has before and hopefully that will be a combination of finding some more sponsorship I d love to see somebody there in Formula One in the next few years FIVE WOMEN You can count on the fingers of one hand how many women have entered a world championship Formula One race and Wilson is one of those five While the South African failed to qualify her Williams NYSE WMB for the 1980 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch as did future world champion Keke Rosberg she says the timing sheets told only part of the story She recalled the words of French driver Jacques Laffite unapologetic after forcing her off the track on the way to a front row slot for Ligier who said No expletive woman should be in grands prix When Wilson won the Evening News Trophy at Brands Hatch a circuit that now has a stand named after her she beat four F1 drivers including Chile s Eliseo Salazar and Italian motorcycling great Giacomo Agostini Wilson also drove a Tyrrell in the 1981 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami a race scheduled originally as the first round of the season but then deemed non championship due to F1 politics That designation still rankles There s no doubt that chauvinism and sexism was difficult in my era but we were seen a little bit more as novelty drivers she said Every few years a woman was at least able to attempt to get into Formula One But you still had to qualify and get the super license to be able to race Gender was always an issue I had a couple of sponsors who turned around and said You re in my car because I want you to go and beat those boys she said A lot of the guys were pressured by their girlfriends and wives not to be beaten by a woman Everybody was your friend while you weren t competitive she added But the minute you started winning it was amazing how fewer male friends you had They just disappeared In 1980 Wilson s team in the British based F1 championship ran out of sponsorship and told her they could afford to run only one car and it was going to be that of team mate Kevin Cogan despite her being third in the championship They said Kevin is a man and is going to go to Formula One You re not she explained They said he s going to make it to Formula One But he never did
The story fixes spelling of Cogan in 25th paragraph |
WMB | Chadwick wins inaugural W Series race in British one two | By Alan Baldwin HOCKENHEIM Germany Reuters Britain s Jamie Chadwick stood on top of the podium as the first race winner in the new all female W Series on Saturday with compatriot Alice Powell second at a damp and overcast Hockenheim Spanish teenager Marta Garcia finished a close third The victory completed a dominant two days for the 20 year old one of five Britons in a field of 18 in identical Formula Three cars after setting the pace in Friday practice and starting on pole position I see it as a huge huge moment As a driver it makes no difference but as a person and as a female in motorsport I think it s incredible said Chadwick She was presented with her trophy by South African Desir Wilson who in 1980 made history of her own by beating a field of men to win a non championship British Formula One race at Brands Hatch Powell s second place trophy was handed over by deputy Formula One team principal Claire Williams NYSE WMB Chadwick who last year became the first woman to win a British Formula Three race and in 2015 was the first woman to win a British GT championship did not have it all her own way however She ran wide at the hairpin exit a lapse that allowed compatriot Sarah Moore to take the lead I went down into turn six went to brake what I thought was quite early and nearly ended up in Berlin or somewhere she joked A collision between Finland s Emma Kimilainen who had stalled at the start and Canadian Megan Gilkes then brought out the safety car with Chadwick retaking the lead at the re start I don t want to sound disappointed but I am a bit with how that race went she said I felt I didn t quite manage it as well as I should have done Powell who started in sixth place was taking part in her first single seater race since 2014 with her career stalling due to a lack of funding None of the drivers in W Series have to pay to compete She finished 1 3 seconds behind her compatriot with 18 year old Garcia a mere 0 3 further back If it wasn t for W Series I wouldn t be sat here or back in a race car said Powell It s come under a lot of criticism from people who really didn t understand this concept and that was about opportunity Former F1 racer David Coulthard who is chairman of the W Series advisory board as well as commentating on the race felt the debut had gone well
I m happy with that he said I m just really excited to see it come to fruition this is going to be a close battle as we go to different circuits with more experience |
WMB | One Word Grips the Bond Market Before Crucial Inflation Update | Bloomberg Bond traders will have one word on their minds as they gear up for the latest readings on inflation transitory
That s how Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell characterized the factors behind muted price pressures after last week s policy meeting where officials kept interest rates unchanged Markets whipsawed on his comments with benchmark 10 year Treasury yields bouncing off their lowest levels in a month
This week traders get to see if Powell s right with updates on producer and consumer price indexes Friday s CPI report is expected to show that inflation picked up last month Still the bar will be high when it comes to altering market expectations for the Fed s path according to TD Securities Powell said officials don t see a strong case for moving rates in either direction and futures traders seem to agree They still expect a quarter point cut as the next move but it s not fully priced in until mid 2020
CPI will be quite crucial as Chair Powell hinted at some of the transitory factors weighing down inflation said Gennadiy Goldberg a senior U S rates strategist A stronger inflation report could help push back on some of the pricing for rate cuts this year though I think some doubts will remain since this will be viewed as only one reading
That skepticism was evident Friday Despite a robust U S labor report traders barely changed expectations for when a cut would be fully priced in as they zeroed in on tame earnings growth Yields on 10 year Treasuries ended the week at 2 53 percent after swinging in a 12 basis point weekly range the largest span in over a month
Entrenched View
Schroder Investment Management s Lisa Hornby is of a similar mind when it comes to the resilience of rate cut wagers Though inflation is the most important data we have to look at the portfolio manager says it will take more than one report to sway the market
It will take a lot to move the Fed and therefore market pricing Hornby said The Fed is firmly on hold until a direction comes clear as far as the trajectory of inflation
She anticipates range bound trading but sees scope for higher yields She says she d buy should 10 year yields exceed 2 7 percent in the next few weeks a level last seen in March
Consumer prices excluding food and energy probably rose 0 2 percent in April from the prior month and 2 1 percent on a yearly basis a slightly quicker pace than seen in March according to the median forecasts in a Bloomberg survey Any surprise to the upside could douse yield curve steepening bets according to Goldberg
A firmer inflation print will help yields rebound somewhat but that rebound may be concentrated in the front end of the curve which could lead the curve to flatten further he said
Goldberg said he ll also monitor this week s barrage of Fed speakers for any push back on the view Powell laid out last week More than a half dozen policy makers are scheduled to appear this week including the chairman
What to Watch
Along with PPI CPI Fedspeak and auctions traders are also going to watch the next round of U S China trade talks which are scheduled to start in Washington this week
Here s the economic calendar
May 7 JOLTS job openings consumer credit
May 8 MBA mortgage applications
May 9 Producer price index trade balance jobless claims Bloomberg consumer comfort wholesale trade sales inventories
May 10 CPI real average earnings monthly budget statement
Fedspeak continues apace
May 6 Philadelphia Fed s Patrick Harker
May 7 Dallas Fed s Robert Kaplan in Beijing Vice Chairman Randal Quarles
May 8 Governor Lael Brainard
May 9 Powell gives opening remarks at community development conference where Chicago Fed s Charles Evans will also speak Atlanta Fed s Raphael Bostic
May 10 Brainard Bostic New York Fed s John Williams NYSE WMB
Auctions ahead
May 6 39 billion of 3 month bills 36 billion 6 month bills
May 7 38 billion 3 year notes
May 8 27 billion 10 year notes
May 9 4 8 week bills 19 billion 30 year bonds |
WMB | MLB roundup Braun lifts Brewers over Mets in 18th | Ryan Braun s two run single with one out in the bottom of the 18th inning Saturday night finally capped a marathon game and lifted the host Milwaukee Brewers to a 4 3 win over the New York Mets The Brewers have won the first two games of the three game series from the Mets who took the lead in the top of the 18th on Jeff McNeil s RBI single before falling below 500 16 17 for the first time this season Braun s career high sixth hit ended the longest game for the Brewers since a 10 9 19 inning win over the Chicago White Sox on May 1 1991 It was the Mets longest game since a 3 1 18 inning win over the St Louis Cardinals on July 19 2015 Braun was the only Milwaukee player with multiple hits Saturday His six hit game was the first in the majors since teammate Christian Yelich went 6 for 6 against the Cincinnati Reds last Aug 29 McNeil had three hits while Alonso and Hechavarria had two apiece Red Sox 15 White Sox 2 Xander Bogaerts and Eduardo Nunez hit two run homers and rookie Michael Chavis added a solo shot to highlight a nine run third inning that saw visiting Boston string together 10 consecutive two out hits en route to a blowout over Chicago Chavis also homered in the fifth his third in two games and finished 4 for 6 with three RBIs while Christian Vazquez also went 4 for 5 with a run scored Every Boston starter except Vazquez had at least one RBI as the Red Sox finished with a season high 20 hits Eduardo Rodriguez 3 2 allowed one run on six hits over six innings striking out six Chicago starter Manny Banuelos 2 1 retired the first eight batters he faced before the Red Sox broke loose in the third with 11 consecutive batters reaching base the first 10 on hits Orioles 3 Rays 0 Dwight Smith Jr homered and Dylan Bundy threw 7 1 3 shutout innings as Baltimore defeated visiting Tampa Bay Bundy 1 4 gave the Orioles his best start of the season He gave up just three hits and had four strikeouts and one walk while becoming the first Baltimore starter to make it into the eighth inning this season Due to worries about the weather the Rays made the unusual move of changing starting pitchers just over an hour before the game They were going to go with Ryne Stanek as their opener but instead shifted to Yonny Chirinos 4 1 who went 7 1 3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits Twins 7 Yankees 3 Jake Odorizzi pitched six solid innings and Minnesota hit three homers to halt an eight game regular season road losing streak to New York Odorizzi 4 2 struck out eight and worked around four walks to win his fourth straight start He allowed a leadoff single to DJ LeMahieu in the third a single by Miguel Andujar in the sixth and worked out of a jam in the fourth Mitch Garver hit a two run homer while C J Cron and Nelson Cruz added solo homers as the Twins won in New York for the first time since June 26 2016 Including the playoffs the Twins are 15 51 in the Bronx since 2002 New York left hander J A Happ 1 3 allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2 3 innings Indians 5 Mariners 4 Carlos Santana belted a go ahead two run homer with two outs in the eighth inning as Cleveland beat visiting Seattle Francisco Lindor homered to lead off the third inning and Jake Bauers and Roberto Perez each had a two out RBI single for the Indians who have won five straight against the Mariners this season Former Cleveland slugger Edwin Encarnacion homered to lead off the second inning Daniel Vogelbach followed suit in the fourth and Tim Beckham did the same in the eighth Dylan Moore also went deep for slumping Seattle which has lost six in a row and 15 of its last 20 Nationals 10 Phillies 8 Kurt Suzuki hit a pinch hit three run homer in the eighth inning off Adam Morgan and Victor Robles followed with a solo shot off the lefty as injury plagued Washington battled back to beat Philadelphia in a wild contest The Nationals made three errors but won for just the fifth time in 15 games Washington lost first baseman Matt Adams jammed left shoulder and center fielder Michael A Taylor hand to injuries Morgan 1 1 entered the game having allowed no runs and just five hits in 16 outings this season Jean Segura had three hits and J T Realmuto drove in three runs for the Phillies who had scored five in the seventh to lead 8 5 before the bullpen imploded Braves 9 Marlins 2 Ozzie Albies hit a go ahead grand slam in the sixth inning leading Atlanta to victory over host Miami Albies went 2 for 6 with five RBIs but he wasn t Atlanta s only star Catcher Brian McCann went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr tied his career high with four hits going 4 for 4 and raising his batting average from 270 to 294 Mike Soroka 3 1 earned the win allowing three hits all singles two walks and two runs none earned Marlins reliever Nick Anderson 0 1 took the loss in relief allowing five runs including Albies slam in 1 2 3 innings His ERA rose from 2 08 to 4 91 Astros 14 Angels 2 Houston scored in each of the first six innings and cruised over Los Angeles in Monterrey Mexico its sixth straight win against L A including the final five contests between the two teams last season Of the Astros 14 hits 10 went for extra bases including two home runs by Alex Bregman and one homer each by Michael Brantley George Springer and Yuli Gurriel Brantley also had a double and four RBIs Gurriel had a triple and two RBIs and Bregman had three hits and four RBIs For the first time this season Angels outfielder Mike Trout did not reach base via a hit or walk going 0 for 4 with one strikeout He had reached base in his first 29 games of the season setting a new club record Rangers 8 Blue Jays 5 Isiah Kiner Falefa had a career high four RBIs and Texas evened the three game series against Toronto in Arlington Texas Kiner Falefa delivered a three run triple in the second inning and a run scoring fielder s choice in the third to help the Rangers to an 8 2 lead Nomar Mazara homered and Logan Forsythe drove in two runs for Texas which lost 1 0 in 12 innings in the series opener on Friday night Rowdy Tellez and Billy McKinney each had two hits Eric Sogard had two RBIs and scored twice and Vladimir Guerrero Jr drove in his first major league run for the Blue Jays Dodgers 7 Padres 6 Alex Verdugo drew a bases loaded walk from San Diego closer Kirby Yates with two out in the ninth inning to give visiting Los Angeles Dodgers a one run win Yates 0 2 has been the losing pitcher each of the last two nights after converting 14 straight save opportunities to be named the National League Relief Pitcher of Month for April Ross Stripling 2 2 earned the win for the Dodgers Kenley Jansen picked up his second save in as many nights to give him 12 on the season The game lasted four hours and 12 minutes the longest nine inning game in the history of Petco Park Diamondbacks 9 Rockies 2 Nick Ahmed Carson Kelly and David Peralta clubbed homers as Arizona rolled over Colorado in Denver Right hander Luke Weaver 3 1 gave up one run and three hits over seven innings for the Diamondbacks Weaver struck out eight and walked one while winning his third straight decision Arizona has scored 19 runs while winning the first two games of the series The Diamondbacks have won four straight and nine of their past 11 games while Colorado has dropped five of seven Reds 9 Giants 2 Five Reds players smacked home runs and host Cincinnati didn t let a big lead slip away this time around in an easy win over San Francisco in the second game of a four game series One day after blowing an eight run lead the Reds used home runs by Eugenio Suarez Tucker Barnhart Derek Dietrich Nick Senzel and Yasiel Puig to build a seven run advantage in the rematch which was more than enough for Cincinnati starter Tanner Roark 2 1 and two relievers Puig had three of Cincinnati s nine hits as the Reds continued an offensive dominance over Giants pitching that dates back three years The Reds have won eight of their last nine at home against the Giants scoring 77 runs in those games Duggar had two of San Francisco s five hits Cubs 6 Cardinals 5 Javier Baez hit a go ahead home run in the eighth inning and Chicago rallied to beat visiting St Louis Backup catcher Taylor Davis clubbed a grand slam for his first career home run for Chicago which won its sixth game in a row The Cubs will go for the three game sweep against the Cardinals in the series finale Sunday night Matt Carpenter and pitcher Michael Wacha drove in two runs apiece to lead the Cardinals at the plate Pirates 6 A s 4 Kevin Newman s two run triple and Francisco Cervelli s RBI single produced a three run seventh inning as Pittsburgh rallied past visiting Oakland Josh Bell homered twice for Pittsburgh which has won three of its past four Pittsburgh starter Trevor Williams NYSE WMB allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings with five strikeouts and one walk Michael Feliz 1 0 pitched one scoreless inning Felipe Vazquez pitched the ninth for his ninth save Khris Davis was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored for the A s who have lost seven of eight Oakland starter Chris Bassitt gave up three runs and five hits in five innings with six strikeouts and two walks J B Wendelken 0 1 gave up the three runs in the seventh Royals 15 Tigers 3 Alex Gordon had three hits including a homer and drove in five runs as visiting Kansas City routed Detroit while setting season highs in runs and hits 19 Whit Merrifield homered rookie Kelvin Gutierrez had his first career four hit game Jorge Soler had three hits and two RBIs and Adalberto Mondesi had two hits three RBIs and three runs scored as the Royals evened the series
Jeimer Candelario and Ronny Rodriguez homered for the Tigers whose pitching staff allowed 10 walks in defeat Field Level Media |
WMB | U S may review ties with countries deemed anti Israel envoy | By Dan Williams NYSE WMB JERUSALEM Reuters The United States may review its ties with countries it deems as being anti Israel after what a U S envoy said on Sunday was a shift in policy toward equating anti Zionism with anti Semitism U S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a March speech that anti Zionism opposition to Israel s existence as a homeland for the Jewish people was a form of anti Semitism or hostility toward Jews that was on the rise worldwide and that Washington would fight it relentlessly The State Department s special envoy for monitoring and combating anti Semitism Elan Carr said this U S position could spell reviews of ties with foreign governments or leaders The United States is willing to review its relationship with any country and certainly anti Semitism on the part of a country with whom we have relations is a deep concern he told Reuters during a visit to Israel I will be raising that issue in bilateral meetings that I am undertaking all over the world he said That is something we are going to have frank and candid conversations about behind closed doors Carr declined to cite specific countries or leaders or to elaborate on what actions the Trump administration might take I obviously can t comment on diplomatic tools that we might bring to bear he said Each country is a different diplomatic challenge a different situation number one And number two if I started disclosing what we might do it would be less effective Some U S political analysts say that President Donald Trump and other Republicans hope support for Israel will attract Jewish voters including those disaffected by pro Palestinian voices within progressive Democratic Party circles At the same time critics have credited Trump s confrontational nationalistic rhetoric with encouraging right wing extremists and feeding a surge in activity by American hate groups The administration has flatly rejected that charge
Carr said the administration s equating of anti Zionism with anti Semitism certainly breaks new ground by making clear that something that a lot of us who are involved in the Jewish world and a lot of us who are proponents of a strong U S Israel relationship have known for quite some time and that is that one of the chief flavors of anti Semitism in the world today is the flavor that conceals itself under anti Zionism |
WMB | Fed faces tough sell on inflation framework | By Ann Saphir and Howard Schneider PALO ALTO Calif Reuters Federal Reserve policymakers fear they are ill equipped to battle the next recession under their current inflation targeting approach and this year are well into an effort to vet new strategies for managing interest rates in a world of muted inflation and low borrowing costs But for the U S central bankers and monetary policy experts who converged in Palo Alto Friday to discuss available options the challenge was clear not only will it be difficult to settle on a better framework before the next recession hits figuring out how to explain it to the public so that it actually works will be a major challenge Indeed just to explain their ideas to each other Fed policymakers and academics at the Hoover Institution s annual conference displayed slide after slide crammed with equations lengthy bullet points and nearly indecipherable charts And while most of the PhD economists in the audience presumably understood the theories I think where people disagree is do the assumptions of the model really play out in real life Cleveland Fed Bank President Loretta Mester said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference In other words what will really work When central bankers around the world reached for unconventional tools like bond buying and forward guidance to fight the 2007 2009 financial crisis they thought they were facing once in a lifetime conditions But a decade on from the end of the Great Recession it s clear the Fed is dealing with a new economic norm Neither inflation nor interest rates are expected to rise much even with U S unemployment at a near 50 year low That leaves the central bank with much less leeway to cut interest rates to stimulate the economy than it historically has had So this year with the U S economy on an even keel interest rate policy on pause and an expansion set to reach record length this summer Fed policymakers figure they have a bit of breathing room to figure out how to make policy more effective when the next recession or shock comes along Among the ideas commit to making up for bouts of low inflation with periods of above target inflation target economic output rather than inflation directly and use negative interest rates to force businesses to invest and banks to lend during downturns SHOCK ABSORBERS FOR A NEW WORLD All would their advocates say act as shock absorbers to cushion economic weakness and shorten recessions Each would differ to greater or lesser degrees from the Fed s current approach by which it aims for 2 percent inflation and a loosely defined ideal of full employment And all would depend critically on households businesses and financial markets understanding the framework and reacting accordingly Average inflation targeting is the framework option that has attracted the most support so far The idea New York Fed President John Williams NYSE WMB explained is to aim for inflation to average out at 2 percent over a given period say a year and a half When inflation falls during periods of economic stress the central bank would respond by keeping easy policy in place until inflation rises above 2 percent and stays there for a time If households and businesses know they can count on higher inflation in the future they will borrow and spend more during recessions which would theoretically speed the economy s return to health But for the plan to work spenders will have to believe the Fed really will drive inflation higher in the future By contrast negative rates would stimulate the economy by punishing businesses for not putting money to work in the economy if they just keep their money at the bank they ll end up paying for the privilege For such a regime to be accepted however ordinary people would need to feel sure they wouldn t be punished as well Fed policymakers have largely rejected negative rates but some central banks have tried it and academics like Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff who presented his work at the Hoover conference maintain it is a viable option Not everyone at the conference was sold on the benefits of a new framework not even the Fed policymakers who were presenting some of the ideas The bar for change is high San Francisco Fed chief Mary Daly said It can be costly to make mistakes in this space St Louis Fed chief James Bullard has long advocated a framework known as nominal GDP targeting where the Fed would target a specific level of economic output rather than prices directly But even as he gave a new pitch for the idea he expressed trepidation with such a radical change experimenting with the way the world s biggest central bank does business he said could unleash chaos in global financial markets One of the challenges of selling a new framework is that for the past 10 years central banks globally have failed to deliver on their current 2 percent inflation targets the prevailing international standard To Cleveland Fed s Mester having a set of rules whatever they may be could make policy more effective by making it easier for people to understand the aims and limits of Fed actions And Fed policymakers in Palo Alto seemed keen on exploring new ideas The Fed has half a dozen more events around the framework review planned for the rest of the year
Most in the audience gave the Fed credit for tackling the issue Said Dartmouth College economics professor Andy Levin The Fed needs to find something new |
VZ | What s In Store For Digital Turbine APPS In Q3 Earnings | Digital Turbine NASDAQ APPS is set to release third quarter fiscal 2020 results on Feb 10 For the quarter Digital Turbine expects revenues between 37 million and 38 2 million The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is currently pegged at 37 6 million indicating 23 6 growth from the figure reported in the year ago quarter Moreover the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings stands at 6 cents per share unchanged over the past 30 days and suggests growth of 200 from the figure reported in the year ago quarter The company s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters the average positive surprise being 81 25 Let s see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement Digital Turbine Inc Price and EPS Surprise Factors to ConsiderDigital Turbine is expected to have benefited from strength in its mobile device management platform Ignite which gained significant traction during the third quarter As of Nov 4 2019 more than 325 million devices had Ignite installed compared to 36 million devices reported in the second quarter During the quarter the company focused on adding strategic resources to improve international revenue per device RPD and scale partnerships and infrastructure which is expected to have driven incremental increases in spending by high profile multinational advertising clients such as Pinterest NYSE PINS Twitter and Uber NYSE UBER Notably in the second quarter U S RPD increased 30 year over year reflecting strong demand for the Digital Turbine platform among advertisers Additionally improvement in global RPD indicated by solid demand for the company s ad solutions is expected to have benefited the company in the third quarter Moreover strong contributions from products like SingleTap Folders App Wizard and Notifications are expected to have contributed to the company s top line Digital Turbine continued integration with new demand sources from SingleTap partners like AppsFlyer Branch and Kochava in the to be reported quarter These are well known attribution and analytics companies covering roughly 85 of the global mobile applications market Growth in devices based on SingleTap is expected to have driven more international advertising partners to the platform in the third quarter Further an expanding partner base which includes Pandora Uber Netflix NASDAQ NFLX Twitter Pinterest and others is likely to have enhanced penetration in the third quarter Notably the company intends to expand from 50 to 70 countries with its new partner Samsung KS 005930 by the end of second quarter fiscal 2020 Developments related to this initiative are likely to have boosted the company s growth and credibility among international advertisers and other global OEM partners Also notable partnerships in the United States with the likes of Verizon NYSE VZ and AT T NYSE T are expected to have helped the company pull demand from its media partners and advertising clientele in the United States during the quarter For example during the third quarter Digital Turbine became the official partner to deliver Disney s NYSE DIS Disney on Android devices Notably the company already handles distribution and management of high profile applications such as Facebook NASDAQ FB Netflix and Apple NASDAQ AAPL music for Verizon What Our Model SaysAccording to the Zacks model the combination of two key ingredients a positive and Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold increases the odds of a positive earnings surprise You can see Digital Turbine has an Earnings ESP of 0 00 and a Zacks Rank 3 You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they re reported with our More Stock News This Is Bigger than the iPhone It could become the mother of all technological revolutions Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years creating a 1 7 trillion market Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it If you don t buy now you may kick yourself in 2020 |
VZ | Digital Turbine APPS Q3 Earnings Miss Revenues Rise Y Y | Digital Turbine NASDAQ APPS reported third quarter fiscal 2020 non GAAP earnings of 5 cents per share which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16 7 However the reported figure increased 25 from the year ago quarter Revenues of 36 02 million also missed the consensus mark by 5 2 and fell short of the guided range of 37 million to 38 2 million primarily due to soft device sales at core U S operators in November However the figure increased 18 4 on a year over year basis primarily driven by higher revenue per device RPD from U S based carrier partners and incremental contributions from newer platform products U S RPD increased year over year driven by continued strong demand for the Digital Turbine platform among advertisers including Dynamic Installs and other newer platform products Digital Turbine s mobile device management platform Ignite has gained significant traction As of Nov 4 2019 more than 325 million devices had Ignite installed However shares of the company decreased 4 8 in pre market trading apparently due to soft fourth quarter guidance for revenues which are expected to decline sequentially Digital Turbine Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise International PartnershipsRevenue derived from international partners increased over 150 year over year and represented more than 10 of total revenues in the reported quarter Additionally revenues generated from initial U S partners Verizon NYSE VZ AT T NYSE T Cricket and U S Cellular increased year over year and represented more than 70 of total revenues in the third quarter compared with 85 in the year ago quarter due to a decline in the total combined devices sold Notably at the end of the fiscal third quarter the company s software was installed on more than 7 million unlocked Samsung KS 005930 devices across more than 75 countries Moreover Digital Turbine continued integration with new demand sources from SingleTap partners like AppsFlyer Branch and Kochava Operating DetailsNon GAAP gross margin expanded 320 basis points bps on a year over year basis to 40 1 largely driven by the successful mix of partner and product diversification on the platform On a GAAP basis product development expenses increased 14 6 to 2 8 million attributed to higher development payroll and professional service related expenses in the reported quarter Sales marketing S M expenses increased 43 5 to 2 8 million as a result of increased travel expenses related to the company s continued expansion globally and increased commissions of sales personnel General administrative G A expenses rose 12 5 to 4 3 million attributed to higher employee related and consulting expenses Operating expenses as percentage of revenues expanded 50 bps on a year over year basis to 27 5 Operating income on a GAAP basis was 4 1 million in the reported quarter The company had reported operating income of 3 1 million in the year ago quarter Balance Sheet Cash FlowThe company s cash balance was 33 7 million as of Dec 31 2019 compared with 25 2 million as of Sep 30 As of Dec 31 2019 the company had no debt Cash provided by operating activities totaled 8 4 million in the reported quarter compared with 6 7 million in the previous quarter Non GAAP free cash flow was 7 02 million in the reported quarter compared with 5 7 million in the previously reported quarter GuidanceFor fourth quarter fiscal 2020 Digital Turbine expects revenues between 33 2 million and 34 5 million The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is currently pegged at 32 9 million Non GAAP adjusted EBITDA is expected between 3 5 million and 4 million Zacks Rank Stock to ConsiderCurrently Digital Turbine carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Alteryx NYSE AYX is a better ranked stock in the broader technology sector sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see Alteryx is set to report the quarterly earnings on Feb 13 Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2020In addition to the stocks discussed above would you like to know about our 10 finest buy and hold tickers for the entirety of 2020 Last year s 2019 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as 102 7 Now a brand new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4 000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank Don t miss your chance to get in on these long term buys |
VZ | T Mobile Sprint Merger Lyft Earnings Preview Buy Splunk SPLK Stock Free Lunch | On today s episode of Free Lunch here at Zacks Associate Stock Strategist Ben Rains dives into some of the latest U S economic news and the T Mobile NYSE T and Sprint NYSE S merger The episode also takes a look at some quarterly earnings results and previews what to expect from Lyft NYSE T after the closing bell And we close with why Splunk NYSE S is Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy stock right now
U S stocks climbed again Tuesday after a strong start to the week Monday The theme remains the same as Wall Street shakes off coronavirus fears amid better than expected quarterly earnings results which includes giants such as Apple NASDAQ AAPL and Amazon NASDAQ AMZN
Wall Street will also pay close attention to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell s two days of testimony before Congress that began Tuesday morning
In company related news the merger between T Mobile US NASDAQ TMUS and Sprint is finally going to be approved The deal will create a stronger No 3 player in the wireless market to challenge AT T NYSE T and Verizon NYSE VZ Both stocks jumped on the news
Meanwhile Under Armour NYSE UA stock tumbled over 16 on disappointing revenue guidance as its North American struggles continue
Then after the closing bell Wall Street will turn its attention to Lyft The ride sharing stock is up over 12 in the last week and got a boost after rival Uber NYSE UBER shortened its adjusted profitability timetable last week
The episode then closes with why Splunk and its Data to Everything Platform is a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy at the moment
Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through Q3 2019 while the S P 500 gained 39 6 five of our strategies returned 51 8 57 5 96 9 119 0 and even 158 9 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 Q3 2019 while the S P averaged 5 6 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 1 per year |
VZ | T Mobile And Sprint Deal Approval Shakes The 5G Space | The 26 billion T Mobile NYSE T and Sprint NYSE S deal was finally approved last night on the brink of the 5G revolution This would create a massive combatant to Verizon NYSE VZ and AT T NYSE T who together make up roughly 70 of the wireless subscription market according to statista com The merger is going to change the competitive landscape of the US telecom market
T Mobile s shares are up over 11 following the approved acquisition of Sprint who itself saw a share price appreciation of 70 Sprint s stock has been tumbling since the beginning of 2017 as this company struggles to compete The approved merger appears to have revived Sprint from the dead
T Mobile s acquisition of Sprint has been held up for the last 2 years by regulatory concerns that this merger would be anticompetitive hurting the consumer and inhibiting innovation Sprint s ostensible inability to compete in the evolving telecom landscape was the catalyst for the judge s approval of this deal
Dish s Place in the Deal
The judge had some stipulations on the deal that included setting up Dish Network NASDAQ DISH as a new mobile carrier This stipulation involves selling Dish Sprint s prepaid business comprised of Boost Mobile and Virgin mobile 9 million customers as well as allowing Dish to use Sprints network for 7 years following the deals close Dish Network has been struggling to survive the cord cutting revolution and has been seeing a falling topline and declining profitability
This new revenue driver may bring Dish out of the cable ashes and into the forefront of 5G Dish will have miles to go before they are really considered a legitimate competitor in the space but this gives investors a little more faith in this declining company with its share price jumping over 5 today following the news
Synergies
The judge also required that the new combined company to have 97 5G coverage in the US within the next 3 years which would market a big win for rural America The combined efforts of T Mobile and Sprint will put them at the forefront of 5G efforts making them a competitor to be reckoned with The combined 5G spectrums of these mobile players will give them a sizable increase in access
T Mobile and its eccentric CEO John Legere have illustrated excellent management capabilities as it navigates the incredibly competitive telecom space The company has been able to expand revenues and create shareholder value
I am confident that the synergies between Sprint and T Mobile will be massive with TMUS s capable management team at the helm The 11 boost we see from TMUS the acquiring firm is atypical as the price from the acquiring firm usually declines The markets are excited about this merger and what it will mean for the race to universal 5G
Final Thoughts
This is undoubtedly going to disrupt the telecommunication space Verizon shares fell over 2 on this news and AT T s shares fell marginally These companies now have more to worry about as the new T Mobile may be able to offer the same excellent service at a discounted rate I think that TMUS shares have more room to run once this deal is closed and integration begins to uncover synergies TMUS could make an excellent long term telecom growth play for your portfolio
The deal still has one last hurdle with the approval by the California Public Utility Commission pending but they are well on their well to closing this deal
Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through Q3 2019 while the S P 500 gained 39 6 five of our strategies returned 51 8 57 5 96 9 119 0 and even 158 9 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 Q3 2019 while the S P averaged 5 6 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 1 per year |
VZ | T Mobile Sprint Merger Gets Federal Judge s Nod Stocks Rally | After receiving a green signal on the long pending 26 5 billion merger of the third and fourth largest by subscribers national wireless carriers in Federal Court on Tuesday shares of T Mobile US NASDAQ TMUS Inc NYSE T and Sprint Corporation NYSE S increased 11 78 and 77 50 respectively Deutsche Telekom owned T Mobile and SoftBank Group backed Sprint have added 21 7 and 25 3 in market value on their own compared with 9 9 growth recorded by the over the past six months Repudiating a lawsuit by a group of states to block the combination the ruling clears the path to create a strong rival in 5G wireless services to Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ and AT T Inc NYSE T While Judge Victor Marrero approved the deal without stipulations the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission earlier approved it when the carriers agreed to sell some assets to Dish Network T Mobile s acquisition of Sprint has been held up for the last two years by regulatory concerns Overland Park KS based Sprint s stock has been plummeting since the beginning of 2017 as the company finds it increasingly difficult to survive in aggressive competition The approved merger appears to have rejuvenated Sprint from a state of death Critics argued that the deal would hurt competition in the U S mobile landscape that would get translated into higher prices for consumers On the contrary T Mobile and Sprint advocated the idea that the merger would better prepare the new company New T Mobile to compete with arch rivals and lead to lower prices and faster Internet speeds The companies further said that the consolidation could speed up the rollout of a national 5G network as the deal would combine their spectrum holdings The integration is undeniably going to disrupt the competitive landscape of the U S telecom market Verizon s shares fell 2 57 on this news and AT T s shares slipped 0 44 The frontrunners now have more to worry about as the New T Mobile plans to offer the same services at a discounted rate for three years which include 5G Its 5G network is likely to bring down the cost of delivering a gigabyte of data providing enormous economic incentives for the company to lower prices New T Mobile will compete for consumers at all price points and customers including prepaid and Lifeline will have access to the same 5G network and services With speeds up to five times faster than current LTE in just a few years and reaching as much as 15 times faster by 2024 New T Mobile s 5G network will likely change the way consumers use the Internet New T Mobile s plans to deploy a higher quality and more robust network for rural America and to prioritize more vulnerable urban populations will ensure that all Americans have a meaningful chance to thrive in the 5G economy It will deliver 100 plus Mbps speeds for wireless broadband to 90 of the population and in home service to more than half the country s households by 2024 In the first year New T Mobile is expected to have more than 3 500 full time U S employees than the standalone companies would have had and 11 000 more people by 2024 Moreover plans to build more than 600 new retail locations and five new customer experience centers will create about 12 000 jobs The merger which is expected to be closed as early as Apr 1 remains subject to certain closing conditions including probable additional court proceedings and satisfactory resolution of outstanding business issues among the parties T Mobile continues to invest in building its nationwide 4G LTE network which covers 327 million Americans It also continues to deploy its 600 MHz spectrum which covers 248 million people and is live in 8 900 cities and towns across 49 states and Puerto Rico In December 2019 the company launched America s first nationwide 5G network including prepaid 5G with Metro by T Mobile This covers more than 200 million people and more than 5 000 cities and towns across the United States with 5G The company introduced two new 600 MHz 5G capable superphones the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren and the Samsung KS 005930 Galaxy Note 10 5G T Mobile anticipates offering an industry leading smartphone portfolio built to work on nationwide 5G in 2020 With the New T Mobile it will be able to combine this foundational layer of 5G with Sprint s 2 5 GHz mid band spectrum T Mobile s shares have more room to run once this deal is closed and integration begins to realize synergies T Mobile has a long term earnings growth expectation of 11 The company surpassed earnings estimates in the trailing four quarters the beat being 19 5 on average Both T Mobile and Sprint currently have a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through 2019 while the S P 500 gained and impressive 53 6 five of our strategies returned 65 8 97 1 118 0 175 7 and even 186 7 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 2019 while the S P averaged 6 0 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 7 per year |
VZ | The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights T Mobile Sprint Verizon AT T And Dish Network | For Immediate ReleaseChicago IL February 12 2020 Zacks com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets Stocks recently featured in the blog include T Mobile NYSE T Sprint NYSE S Verizon NYSE VZ AT T NYSE T and Dish Network NASDAQ DISH Here are highlights from Tuesday s Analyst Blog T Mobile Sprint Deal Approval Shakes the 5G SpaceThe 26 billion T Mobile and Sprint deal was finally approved last night on the brink of the 5G revolution This would create a massive combatant to Verizon and AT T who together make up roughly 70 of the wireless subscription market according to statista com The merger is going to change the competitive landscape of the US telecom market T Mobile s shares are up over 11 following the approved acquisition of Sprint who itself saw a share price appreciation of 70 Sprint s stock has been tumbling since the beginning of 2017 as this company struggles to compete The approved merger appears to have revived Sprint from the dead T Mobile s acquisition of Sprint has been held up for the last 2 years by regulatory concerns that this merger would be anticompetitive hurting the consumer and inhibiting innovation Sprint s ostensible inability to compete in the evolving telecom landscape was the catalyst for the judge s approval of this deal Dish s Place in the DealThe judge had some stipulations on the deal that included setting up Dish Network as a new mobile carrier This stipulation involves selling Dish Sprint s prepaid business comprised of Boost Mobile and Virgin mobile 9 million customers as well as allowing Dish to use Sprints network for 7 years following the deals close Dish Network has been struggling to survive the cord cutting revolution and has been seeing a falling topline and declining profitability This new revenue driver may bring Dish out of the cable ashes and into the forefront of 5G Dish will have miles to go before they are really considered a legitimate competitor in the space but this gives investors a little more faith in this declining company with its share price jumping over 5 today following the news SynergiesThe judge also required that the new combined company to have 97 5G coverage in the US within the next 3 years which would market a big win for rural America The combined efforts of T Mobile and Sprint will put them at the forefront of 5G efforts making them a competitor to be reckoned with The combined 5G spectrums of these mobile players will give them a sizable increase in access T Mobile and its eccentric CEO John Legere have illustrated excellent management capabilities as it navigates the incredibly competitive telecom space The company has been able to expand revenues and create shareholder value I am confident that the synergies between Sprint and T Mobile will be massive with TMUS s capable management team at the helm The 11 boost we see from TMUS the acquiring firm is atypical as the price from the acquiring firm usually declines The markets are excited about this merger and what it will mean for the race to universal 5G Final ThoughtsThis is undoubtedly going to disrupt the telecommunication space Verizon shares fell over 2 on this news and AT T s shares fell marginally These companies now have more to worry about as the new T Mobile may be able to offer the same excellent service at a discounted rate I think that TMUS shares have more room to run once this deal is closed and integration begins to uncover synergies TMUS could make an excellent long term telecom growth play for your portfolio The deal still has one last hurdle with the approval by the California Public Utility Commission pending but they are well on their well to closing this deal Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through Q3 2019 while the S P 500 gained 39 6 five of our strategies returned 51 8 57 5 96 9 119 0 and even 158 9 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 Q3 2019 while the S P averaged 5 6 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 1 per year Media ContactZacks Investment Research800 767 3771 ext 9339 Past performance is no guarantee of future results Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment legal accounting or tax advice or a recommendation to buy sell or hold a security No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor It should not be assumed that any investments in securities companies sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking market making or asset management activities of any securities These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks The S P 500 is an unmanaged index Visit for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release |
VZ | Apple AAPL Music Hires Jeff Bronikowski Amid Streaming War | Apple NASDAQ AAPL has hired Warner Music Group executive Jeff Bronikowski as the global head of strategic music initiatives per a recent Reuters Notably Apple Music currently offers more than 60 million songs with world class music experts and tastemakers curating thousands of playlists and daily selections in 115 countriesMusic Streaming Growth Prospects AplentyPer a Statista the music streaming market is expected to generate revenues of 12 4 billion in 2020 The figure is expected to rise to 15 5 billion at a CAGR of 5 7 between 2020 and 2024 Further user penetration in 2020 is expected to be 14 6 and increase up to 6 5 by 2024 Apple Inc Price and Consensus Considering the growth trajectory on Feb 6 Warner Music Group the third largest music company behind Universal Music and Sony Music documentation to go public under the proposed ticker WMG While Spotify NYSE SPOT and Apple Music dominate the music streaming industry the presence of other players like Amazon s NASDAQ AMZN Music services Alphabet NASDAQ GOOGL YouTube Music ByteDance Deezer iHeartMedia Sirius XM NASDAQ SIRI has intensified competition in the rapidly growing music streaming space subscription as well as Ad based Spotify Dominates Music Streaming Space Apple TrailsSpotify is benefiting from premium subscriber growth Its solid focus on the personalization of playlists enhances the music experience for users Moreover robust playlists are helping the company rapidly convert free listeners to paid subscribers In fourth quarter fiscal 2019 the audio streaming company 124 million premium subscribers globally up 29 year over year Notably Spotify is set to purchase sports and lifestyle company The Ringer for 200 million upfront with another 50 million later per a Bloomberg The Ringer will bring to Spotify its industry leading sports and entertainment team podcast catalog and website expanding Spotify s offerings and reach Can Apple Music Overtake Apple is focusing on services such as Apple Music which debuted in 2015 at 9 99 month to bolster its sales with paid monthly and or yearly subscriptions Services 13 8 of sales revenues grew 16 9 from the year ago quarter to 12 72 billion in first quarter fiscal 2020 Apple reported more than 480 million paid subscribers across its Services portfolio up 30 million sequentially and 120 million year over year Third party subscription revenues increased 40 year over year Meanwhile Apple has been gaining steam in the music streaming space with expansion of Apple Music subscriber base In 2019 Apple Music received new time synced lyrics feature which has been used by 50 of listeners on iOS 13 so far Further its availability on Google Play is a major positive Apple Music s availability on Amazon Echo devices is expected to expand the iPhone maker s footprint further in the music streaming space Additionally the company is gaining from its tie up with Verizon NYSE VZ Zacks RankApple currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through 2019 while the S P 500 gained and impressive 53 6 five of our strategies returned 65 8 97 1 118 0 175 7 and even 186 7 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 2019 while the S P averaged 6 0 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 7 per year |
VZ | Senator Rubio targets Huawei over patents | WASHINGTON Reuters U S Senator Marco Rubio filed legislation on Monday that would prevent Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from seeking damages in U S patent courts after the Chinese firm demanded that Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ pay 1 billion to license the rights to patented technology Under the amendment seen by Reuters companies on certain U S government watch lists which would include Huawei would not be allowed to seek relief under U S law with respect to U S patents including bringing legal action over patent infringement On June 12 a person briefed on the matter said Huawei had told Verizon that it should pay licensing fees for more than 230 of the Chinese telecoms equipment maker s patents and in aggregate is seeking more than 1 billion It appeared to be a new strategy in Huawei s ongoing battle with the U S government National security experts worry that back doors in routers switches and other Huawei equipment could allow China to spy on U S communications Huawei has denied that it would help China spy Rubio one of the Republican party s leading foreign policy voices filed the measure as an amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA a massive bill setting policy for spending by the Department of Defense While the measure is several steps from becoming law lawmakers have successfully used the NDAA in past years to crack down on the Chinese firm |
VZ | Four U S states join lawsuit to stop T Mobile Sprint deal | By Jonathan Stempel and Sheila Dang NEW YORK Reuters Four more U S states joined an unusual effort by state attorneys general to stop T Mobile US Inc s acquisition of Sprint Corp a New York official said at a court hearing on Friday Hawaii Massachusetts Minnesota and Nevada will be included in an amended complaint being filed Friday said Beau Buffier chief of the antitrust bureau in the New York attorney general s office Lawyers for the states and the companies also proposed Oct 7 for the start of a trial which could last two to three weeks Sprint was down 5 9 percent around midday on Friday while T Mobile had slipped 2 3 The four states join 10 state attorneys general led by New York and California and including the District of Columbia They filed a lawsuit on June 11 aimed at stopping the purchase by No 3 U S wireless operator T Mobile of No 4 Sprint saying the deal would cost their subscribers more than 4 5 billion annually The attorneys general from all of the states involved are Democrats If the acquisition is completed the number of U S wireless carriers would drop to three from four with Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ and AT T Inc NYSE T leading the pack The Federal Communications Commission has indicated it is prepared to approve the transaction and the Justice Department is expected to weigh in soon U S District Judge Victor Marrero signaled the case could be affected if the U S Department of Justice which is not involved in the lawsuit decides to intervene The elephant not in the room is the Justice Department Marrero said referring to his courtroom Either way it is likely to affect what is on the table Marrero also noted a possible inconsistency in the states complaint He said they maintained that aggressive competition among the four national wireless carriers have resulted in falling prices only to then say the companies ability to signal each other on rates has led to higher prices for consumers George Cary who represents T Mobile told the judge the transaction would benefit competition It is taking two smaller companies putting together complementary resources he said Discussing the prospect that the federal government might intervene Cary said We don t think that what the Justice Department does here is going to affect the pro competitive nature of this deal FCC chairman Ajit Pai on Friday criticized the states lawsuit as misguided arguing it will harm efforts to boost next generation 5G wireless access Make no mistake about it government officials trying to block this transaction are working to stop many upstate New Yorkers and other rural Americans from getting access to fast mobile broadband Pai said in a speech in New York in which he argued that Sprint would not be able to build a 5G network alone If the T Mobile Sprint transaction is approved the combined company will have the capacity to do just that he said
T Mobile which is about 63 owned by Deutsche Telekom AG DE DTEGn has about 80 million customers Sprint which is about 84 owned by Softbank Group Corp has some 55 million customers |
VZ | Huawei shrugs off Verizon patent talks as common business | By Sijia Jiang HONG KONG Reuters Huawei pegged its patent talks with U S carrier Verizon N VZ as common business activity and said such negotiations should not be politicized days after a senator filed legislation to prevent the Chinese firm from seeking damages in U S courts The company has demanded that Verizon pay licensing fees for more than 230 of the telecoms equipment maker s patents and is seeking over 1 billion a person has told Reuters against a background of mounting U S China trade tensions Republican Senator Marco Rubio has described Huawei s demand as baseless and filed the legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA which places a broad ban on the use of U S federal money to buy Huawei products citing national security concerns We simply don t believe Marco Rubio s amendment could be passed as law Huawei s chief legal officer Song Liuping said at the company s Shenzhen headquarters on Thursday Intellectual property IP rights should not be politicized Song said IP is a private property issue and should be free from the competition trade talks and any other allegations that countries have between them Song added that Huawei has been discussing patent licensing with companies in the United States Europe and other parts of the world on a regular basis While the measure proposed by Rubio is several steps from becoming law lawmakers have successfully used the NDAA in the past to crack down on the Chinese firm Huawei the world s biggest telecommunications equipment maker and No 2 smartphone maker denies its products pose a security threat and has sought to fight back in U S courts since Washington put it on an export blacklist last month ROYALTIES It recently sued the U S government over the NDAA The Chinese firm also sued CNEX Labs Inc alleging misappropriation of trade secrets involving a memory control technology by the California semiconductor designer and poaching of employees A U S jury on Wednesday cleared CNEX while awarding the U S firm no damages on its own trade theft claims Analysts have said Huawei may be more inclined to monetize its U S patents now that the market ban and supplier ban imposed by Washington is expected to cost the firm 30 billion in revenue However Song said Huawei has no intention of weaponizing the company s IP rights echoing founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei from earlier this month Huawei which has received over 1 4 billion in licensing revenue since 2015 is against charging exorbitant royalties Song said adding the firm had never been asked by a court to pay damages for malicious IP theft In 2017 a jury found Huawei misappropriated trade secrets from T Mobile O TMUS and ordered it to pay 4 8 million to the U S telco for breaching a handset supply contract between the two companies The jury however did not find Huawei s misappropriation wilful and malicious We are not going to be a company with a major source of revenue from royalties Song said adding that Huawei will remain focused on its core business for its top line Huawei paid more than 6 billion in royalties to legally implement IP of other companies and has been granted 87 805 patents of which 11 152 are U S patents Song said
Huawei has the most 5G standard essential patents in the world according to consultancy IPlytics |
VZ | Zoom Video Jumps Midday on Verizon Partnership | Investing com Zoom Video Communications NASDAQ ZM was higher in midday trade on Thursday after the company announced it was working with Verizon NYSE VZ to expand its communication platform
Zoom gained 5 7 while Verizon inched up 0 2
The partnership will allow all of Verizon s business customers to access Zoom as a cloud service
The addition of Zoom to our collaboration partner portfolio enables our business customers get access to technology that hits both marks ease of use and performance said Shawn Hakl senior vice president of business products for Verizon
Verizon customers will have access to 50 countries using call in numbers and can join in a Zoom meeting from a Verizon phone at no additional cost |
WMB | Raikkonen joins Gasly and Kubica in Baku pitlane start | BAKU Reuters Kimi Raikkonen will start Sunday s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the pitlane along with Red Bull s Pierre Gasly and Williams s Robert Kubica after stewards struck off the Finn s qualifying results The Alfa Romeo driver had been eighth on the provisional starting grid and his demotion means Ferrari s Charles Leclerc who crashed in the second phase of qualifying will move up from ninth Stewards said Raikkonen s front wing had deflected more than the five millimeters allowed when load tested The test is to stop teams from gaining an aerodynamic advantage from flexible parts Gasly also starts in the pitlane after stewards agreed to let him start on condition he do so behind any car that set a time in qualifying The Frenchman was ordered to start from the pitlane after failing to stop to have his car weighed at the end of Friday s second practice His Honda powered car was then found after qualifying to have been in breach of the fuel flow regulations leading to disqualification
Williams NYSE WMB opted to start Kubica from the pitlane so they could make further set up changes after the Pole crashed heavily in the first phase of Saturday s qualifying after setting a time that left him at the back of the grid |
WMB | Mercedes make F1 history with fourth one two in a row | BAKU Reuters Mercedes added another first to the Formula One record books on Sunday as the only team to win the opening four races of a season with a perfect four one two finishes Ferrari NYSE RACE had six successive one twos in 1952 but the second round of that season was officially the Indianapolis 500 which they did not enter Teams in the 1950s also had more entries than today s two cars with Ferrari filling the top four places in the 1952 German Grand Prix Williams NYSE WMB started the 1992 season with three successive one twos and went on to win the first five races that year with Nigel Mansell Mercedes themselves had 12 one twos in the course of the 2015 season but were beaten by Ferrari s Sebastian Vettel in the second race in Malaysia It s amazing that we can break a record in our sixth year trying to push the boundaries and really trying to stay both feet on the ground and not being too self confident said team boss Toto Wolff I m happy for that it s fantastic Five times world champion Lewis Hamilton and team mate Valtteri Bottas both have two wins and two second places each with the latter ahead by one point thanks to the fastest lap set in Australia in March Bottas won in Baku on Sunday denying Hamilton a third successive win after Bahrain and China Valtteri s really clearly stepped up this year and is really happy in the car and really delivering and driving fantastically said Hamilton
So it s going to take some really great performances from both of us to out perform each other |
WMB | Celebrity Crypto Investments A Boost for the Industry but Also a Distraction | Marketing loves celebrities and with good reason They re celebrated people individuals invested with bulk quantities of cultural capital i e public respect goodwill and interest which if tapped correctly by marketing firms can be reflected onto endorsed products This is why they ve already proven important for the cryptocurrency industry which has enlisted the likes of Lionel Messi Floyd Mayweather Jr and Steven Seagal for the purposes of drawing the public s attention toward initial coin offerings ICOs and new cryptocurrencies
But while the above have simply been endorsements offered in return for what we can only presume were million dollar fees there are a number of other celebrities who support and have supported crypto more meaningfully From Ashton Kutcher to Serena Williams NYSE WMB these are individuals who have actually bought crypto or invested in crypto related startups So instead of merely allowing their names and faces to be associated with altcoin X or exchange Y they ve provided an even stronger backing of crypto by actually putting skin in the game |
WMB | Elle Fanning The Favourite director Lanthimos picked for Cannes jury | PARIS Reuters U S actress Elle Fanning French graphic novelist Enki Bilal and the Oscar nominated director of The Favourite Yorgos Lanthimos will be among jury members at the Cannes Film Festival next month organizers said on Monday The world s biggest cinema showcase kicks off on the French Riviera on May 14th with Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez I rritu presiding over the panel that decides on prizes including the top Palme D Or award Split between four men and four women the jury for the festival s 72nd edition will also include Pawel Pawlikowski the Polish filmmaker and screenwriter named best director at Cannes last year for the impossible love story Cold War Maimouna N Diaye who has directed documentaries and acted in films such as Otar Iosseliani s Chasing Butterflies will also sit on the panel alongside two other female directors Kelly Reichardt of the United States whose Wendy and Lucy starring Michelle Williams NYSE WMB was a contender for Cannes Un Certain Regard award in 2008 directed 2016 s Certain Women Italy s Alicia Rohrwacher won best screenplay at Cannes last year for her film Happy as Lazzaro a satirical fable about a peasant family French filmmaker Robin Campillo who took Cannes by storm in 2017 with 120 BPM Beats Per Minute winning the Grand Prix for his movie about an AIDS activist will complete the line up Comic book creator Bilal best known for his Nikopol trilogy of science fiction novels has also directed feature films including 2004 s Immortal organizers said Fanning who started working in movies as a child has starred in several films in competition at Cannes in recent years including The Beguiled by Sofia Coppola in 2017
The May 14 25 festival will kick off with U S director Jim Jarmusch s latest film The Dead Don t Die |
WMB | Kenney sworn in as premier of Canada s oil rich Alberta | By Nia Williams NYSE WMB CALGARY Alberta Reuters United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney was sworn in as the 18th premier of Canada s main crude producing province Alberta on Tuesday and named a cabinet he says will champion the beleaguered energy sector Kenney a former conservative federal cabinet minister won the election with a landslide victory against Rachel Notley s New Democratic Party after promising to reverse years of economic stagnation and decline We will focus relentlessly on creating good jobs growing the economy and building pipelines west east and south to get our products to market and secure full value for our resources and future prosperity Kenney said at the swearing in ceremony in the provincial capital Edmonton Alberta is home to Canada s vast oil sands but has struggled with a lackluster economy since the 2014 15 global oil price crash as well as steep discounts on its crude because of congestion on oil export pipelines Key cabinet appointments include former lawyer Doug Schweitzer as Solicitor General Travis Toews as Finance Minister and Sonya Savage who used to work for pipeline company Enbridge Inc as Energy Minister Kenney has pledged to challenge Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other politicians he says take Alberta s oil and gas industry for granted The Alberta legislature convenes for the first time in May and Kenney has said its first order of business will be scrapping Alberta s carbon tax a move that promises to put the province on a collision course with Ottawa Last year Notley s government imposed temporary oil production cuts to ease a buildup of crude in Alberta storage tanks and boost prices and also signed C 4 billion contracts to start shipping crude by rail
Kenney is expected to keep curtailments in place but has vowed to cancel the rail contracts and the oil industry is watching closely to for his government s next move |
WMB | NFL notebook Chiefs Hill denies accusations in attorney s letter | The attorney for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill sent the NFL a four page letter Thursday a detailed denial of child abuse allegations made against his client In the letter obtained by ESPN attorney N Trey Pettlon accused Hill s fiancee Crystal Espinal of abusing the couple s 3 year old son Espinal secretly recorded a conversation she had with Hill that was broadcast last week by Kansas City station KCTV Pettlon wrote in the letter He Hill categorically denies he has ever punched his son in the chest or anywhere on his body or otherwise touched him in the chest in a mean spirited manner or as a form of discipline The attorney does not deny the audio in question is of Hill and Espinal but does challenge Espinal s assertion on the recording that the child in question is terrified of Hill Pettlon also called a comment Hill made on the recording You need to be terrified of me too b inexcusable All Pro linebacker Derrick Johnson will sign a one day contract with the Chiefs next week then retire 610 Sports Radio reported Now 36 Johnson was the Chiefs first round draft pick No 15 overall in 2005 He played 13 seasons for Kansas City and in 182 games 169 starts he had 1 151 tackles 14 interceptions 27 5 sacks and 40 quarterback hits He played in six games for the Oakland Raiders last season after the Chiefs released him and started in one He had 17 tackles with the Raiders The Raiders released veteran tight end Lee Smith and officially re signed running back Doug Martin Smith 31 had two years remaining on a three year 9 million extension signed last March Considered one of the league s best blocking tight ends he spent the last four years with the Raiders catching 36 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns including three TDs in 2018 Martin s re signing was reported Wednesday He led the Raiders with 172 carries for 723 yards and four scores last season Free agent edge rusher Shane Ray will visit the Seattle Seahawks on Friday NFL Network reported Ray who turns 26 on May 18 remains unsigned after playing out his rookie contract with the Denver Broncos who last spring declined the former first rounder s fifth year option for 2019 Ray had eight sacks and 21 quarterback hits as a rotational rusher in 2016 but he has just two sacks and five QB hits since while battling injuries and missing 13 games Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage became the first of the 2019 first round draft picks to sign his rookie contract Like all first round picks Savage received a four year deal with a fifth year option for 2023 his agent announced The Packers traded up from No 30 to No 21 to take Savage last Thursday swapping first round picks and giving Seattle two fourth round picks in the deal The Maryland product was Green Bay s second first round pick after Rashan Gary at No 12 The Los Angeles Rams waived safety Blake Countess though they have interest in potentially bringing him back according to the team s website NFL Network reports Countess declined to take a pay cut from his 2 million restricted free agent tender leading to his release Los Angeles drafted safeties Taylor Rapp and Nick Scott this weekend Countess 25 has 44 tackles two interceptions and three pass breakups across 37 games four starts in three seasons with the Rams playing primarily special teams The Minnesota Vikings signed eight of their 12 draft picks including second round tight end Irv Smith to four year rookie contracts Others signed are running back Alexander Mattison third round offensive linemen Dru Samia fourth and Oli Udoh sixth linebacker Cameron Smith fifth safety Marcus Epps sixth and wide receivers Dillon Mitchell seventh and Olabisi Johnson seventh Free agent tight end Maxx Williams NYSE WMB will join the Arizona Cardinals he announced on Twitter Williams 25 was a second round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2015 but never emerged as much of a receiving threat finishing his tenure with 63 catches for 497 yards and three touchdowns The New York Jets claimed quarterback Luke Falk off waivers from the Miami Dolphins according to multiple reports Considered a likely mid round pick in 2018 Falk slipped to the Tennessee Titans in Round 6 and was waived during final cuts The Dolphins claimed him and kept him through 2018 before waiving him Wednesday The New England Patriots signed linebacker Shilique Calhoun and defensive lineman Nick Thurman in addition to 10 undrafted rookies
Calhoun 27 was a third round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2016 but has just a half sack and seven QB hits through 26 career games Field Level Media |
GLW | Corning Short Term Catalysts Long Term Value | Those who are familiar with my work know that I like it when investment ideas remind me of prior decisions that have worked out well Corning Inc GLW reminds me of other cyclical stocks that have done well once earnings estimates first start to get revised upward A year ago the street was expecting Corning to earn 2 per share in 2013 Today the consensus expectation for 2013 EPS is 1 43 In early 2011 Corning was trading above 22 It is now below 13 which puts it at 9x 2013 EPS and below book value The company recently increased its dividend yield of close to 3 LCD GlassCorning is involved in several businesses but most of its earnings currently come from LCD glass The LCD glass industry went into oversupply because of two simultaneous events First the weak economy caused demand to be less than expected for LCD TVs computer monitors and laptops Second the industry started a transition to using thinner glass which effectively increased supply The industry is currently half way through this transition The oversupply caused pricing pressure and market share loss for Corning and was the primary reason for the dramatic cut in earnings expectations for the company Corning responded by taking close to a quarter of its own capacity offline Since Corning has about half of the industry s supply that move resulted in a moderation of pricing pressure On the company s Q2 earnings call CFO Jim Flaws stated Our quarter two price declines for LCD glass were indeed much more moderate than the previous two quarters During the question and answer session of the call Flaws also stated I m delighted by the Q3 pricing that we basically have reached agreement with almost all of our customers already With pricing more of a known variable the company appears to be set to beat earnings expectations in the short term for several reasons Corning s Outlook1 Demand has turned out to be better than expected Since Corning s last earnings call there have been many industry data points that imply strengthening business conditions AU Optronics AUO one of Corning s largest customers reported September quarter revenue that was better than expected When AUO initially gave Q3 guidance at the end of July it expected large panel shipments to be flat sequentially from Q2 Actual shipments wound up being up close to 5 sequentially A couple of weeks ago Nippon Electric Glass NEG the number three manufacturer of LCD glass also revised upward its expectations for the September quarter Retail TV Demand from China during its Golden Week Holiday appears to have been better than expected This is important since Corning s CFO specifically highlighted Chinese demand as the biggest risk factor during the Q2 earnings call He stated I feel our biggest risk is our television forecast is China Despite all these positive industry data points consensus estimates for Corning s Q3 have barely changed 2 Currency has gone in Corning s favor Something many people usually miss is that the company prices much of its LCD glass in Japanese Yen The Yen has strengthened versus Q2 The stronger Yen will not only help the company beat short term expectations but it will also give even more confidence to bulls who are looking for continued moderation in pricing pressure 3 The company has become more aggressive with returning capital to shareholders It recently increased its dividend by 20 Corning also bought back close to 2 of its total shares outstanding in Q2 This was at a faster pace than Q1 The Street does not appear to be accurately modeling Corning s share buyback going forward Most expect the company s share count to increase going forward when it should be decreasing People who are bearish on Corning will point out how the stock has recently risen from slightly below 11 to about 13 per share in a couple of months They will affirm that recent data points are already priced in The problem with this point of view is that it is fails to take into account the larger context While the stock has done well recently it has still underperformed massively over the last couple of years A large portion of industry supply has been taken off line and the most painful part of the transition to thin glass is in the rear view mirror At the current valuation the stock is not priced like a company that is expected to beat earnings expectations The price to earnings multiple at 9x can only go up from here and it should go up given the improved certainty around industry pricing and the return to growth Q4 should be the first quarter in a long time when revenue and EPS inflect back to positive year over year growth This is usually a positive for the multiples of cyclical companies Longer term there are several potential positive scenarios for the company I do not necessarily have a strong view about any of these but at the current valuation I think of the stock as a cheap call option Actually it s better than a call option because instead of paying a premium I get paid close to a 3 dividend to wait Positive Scenarios1 Large new business opportunities and diversification should help the stock s price to earnings multiple Corning is an R D company that has regularly reinvented itself over its long history During the dot com bubble it was primarily known as a supplier of fiber optics and it is currently viewed as a manufacturer of LCD glass The company s labs are constantly churning out new technologies It is only a matter of time until one or more of these new products become another big business for the company Furthermore because some of the technologies Corning is working on leverage its existing manufacturing facilities there is the potential that its success leads to better industry supply conditions and pricing for LCD glass The company s effort in glass for solar panels is one example Corning is working on lightweight glass that would protect solar panels but also would make them much more efficient at generating electricity Since the Street is not modeling anything from this new business any success in this area would be a source of earnings upside Moreover since solar glass would be made with LCD glass factories success in solar glass could also lead to upside in pricing for LCD glass Even without a large new explosive business corning s earnings should become more diversified over time as other businesses are expected to grow faster than LCD In an upgrade note published in mid September Goldman Sachs noted that it expects Corning s LCD business to account for 74 of earnings in 2013 down from 96 in 2009 The diversification should lead to less cyclicality and increased predictability over time This in turn should improve the stock s multiple 2 Replacement demand and a housing recovery could drive an upturn in LCD TVs According to the company the average LCD TV is replaced about every 6 5 years This replacement rate implies that a very small amount of current TV demand is for replacement However that will change in a couple of years In 2008 there were about 118 million LCD TV units sold Replacement demand for these units could drive an upturn in overall TV demand in 2014 Furthermore while many expect housing to recover current TV demand expectations assume little to no correlation to housing Therefore any positive correlation could lead to upside I hypothesize that the correlation is higher than people think I personally bought a new TV when I recently moved into a new apartment and I know several other people where this was also the case Since industry supply has been taken off line any significant upside surprise in demand could cause pricing to actually go up for a short period of time This has happened in the past and there is no reason why it can t happen one day again if demand improves 3 Windows 8 could drive an improvement in PC demand While most believe that the PC market is secularly challenged there is an argument that PC demand is also cyclically depressed ahead of the launch of Windows 8 Any significant cyclical improvement could lead to upside to industry demand projections Of course there is also the risk that Christmas demand for TVs and PCs is very weak Retail demand will be the main variable to monitor The Japanese Yen is another variable to keep an eye on As of now channel inventories appear to be in good shape and I feel relatively confident with the stock s risk reward A stock s price is a function of earnings and the multiple applied to its earnings Both the earnings and the multiple are more likely to be revised upward than downward after Corning s Q3 results are reported I am apparently not alone in thinking this A few corporate insiders have bought stock at around this same price over the last several months Please see the associated with this blog I own shares in GLW and may trade in and out of it without posting new information You should consult with a professional where appropriate |
GLW | Investment In Corning Is Profitable | On 9 January 2013 we had bought Corning Incorporated GLW at 12 52 At that time the stock was trading at a price to book ratio of 0 85 stock is trading below book value This means that in the worst case senario of bankruptcy the company s assets will be sold off and the investor will still make a profit If there is no bankruptcy and the company is generating profits the stock should trade more than the book value Even if there is zero growth and cash flows remain flat during the next few years the stock is still undervalued Currently Corning Incorporated GLW is trading at 14 23 This trade is sitting on 13 65 profit |
VZ | Verizon Communications VZ Misses Q4 Earnings Estimates | Verizon Communications VZ came out with quarterly earnings of 1 13 per share missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 15 per share This compares to earnings of 1 12 per share a year ago These figures are adjusted for non recurring items
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 1 74 A quarter ago it was expected that this largest U S cellphone carrier would post earnings of 1 24 per share when it actually produced earnings of 1 25 delivering a surprise of 0 81
Over the last four quarters the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times
Verizon which belongs to the Zacks Wireless National industry posted revenues of 34 78 billion for the quarter ended December 2019 surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0 74 This compares to year ago revenues of 34 28 billion The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters
The sustainability of the stock s immediate price movement based on the recently released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management s commentary on the earnings call
Verizon shares have lost about 3 1 since the beginning of the year versus the S P 500 s gain of 1 3
What s Next for Verizon
While Verizon has underperformed the market so far this year the question that comes to investors minds is what s next for the stock
There are no easy answers to this key question but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company s earnings outlook Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter s but also how these expectations have changed lately
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried and tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions
Ahead of this earnings release the estimate revisions trend for Verizon was mixed While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company s just released earnings report the current status translates into a Zacks Rank 3 Hold for the stock So the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future You can see the complete list of today s Zacks 1 Rank Strong Buy stocks here
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead The current consensus EPS estimate is 1 25 on 32 52 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and 4 95 on 133 67 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank Wireless National is currently in the bottom 23 of the 250 plus Zacks industries Our research shows that the top 50 of the Zacks ranked industries outperform the bottom 50 by a factor of more than 2 to 1 |
VZ | Huawei asks Verizon to pay over 1 billion for over 230 patents source | By David Shepardson WASHINGTON Reuters Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has told Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ that the U S carrier should pay licensing fees for more than 230 of the Chinese telecoms equipment maker s patents and in aggregate is seeking more than 1 billion a person briefed on the matter said on Wednesday Verizon should pay to solve the patent licensing issue a Huawei intellectual property licensing executive wrote in February the Wall Street Journal reported earlier The patents cover network equipment for more than 20 of the company s vendors including major U S tech firms but those vendors would indemnify Verizon the person said Some of those firms have been approached directly by Huawei the person said The patents in question range from core network equipment wireline infrastructure to internet of things technology the Journal reported The licensing fees for the more than 230 patents sought is more than 1 billion the person said Huawei has been battling the U S government for more than a year National security experts worry that back doors in routers switches and other Huawei equipment could allow China to spy on U S communications Huawei has denied that it would help China spy Companies involved including Verizon have notified the U S government and the dispute comes amid a growing feud between China and the United States The licensing fee demand may be more about the geopolitical battle between China and the United States rather than a demand for patent fees Huawei and Verizon representatives met in New York last week to discuss some of the patents at issue and whether Verizon is using equipment from other companies that could infringe on Huawei patents Verizon spokesman Rich Young declined to comment regarding this specific issue because it s a potential legal matter However Young said These issues are larger than just Verizon Given the broader geopolitical context any issue involving Huawei has implications for our entire industry and also raise national and international concerns Huawei and U S wireless carriers T Mobile US Inc and AT T Inc NYSE T did not respond to Reuters requests for comment Sprint Corp declined to comment The United States last month put Huawei on a blacklist that barred it from doing business with U S companies on security grounds without government approval prompting some global tech firms to cut ties with the world s largest telecoms equipment maker Washington is also seeking the extradition of Huawei Chief Financial Executive Meng Wanzhou from Canada after her arrest in Vancouver last December on a U S warrant
China has since upped the pressure on Canada halting Canadian canola imports and in May suspended the permits of two major pork producers |
WMB | 2019 Draft Winners and Losers | Only the first 32 picks are in the books but the winners and losers after Day One of the NFL draft were abundantly obvious Here s a look at the best and worst of the first round Winners Detroit Lions TE T J Hockenson No 8 overall A tight end at No 8 feels rich especially when you consider the last top 10 tight end in the NFL draft was Eric Ebron who disappointed in Detroit after going 10th overall in 2014 Don t fret Lions fans Hockenson is a far more complete and much safer prospect than Ebron but he still has plenty of upside His blocking is well documented he regularly handled defensive ends and often buried linebackers and defensive backs at Iowa but he is also an excellent receiver Hockenson isn t as athletic as Hawkeye teammate Noah Fant but he s a much better route runner showing the nuance to set up defenders and find soft spots in zones He s also far from a slouch as an athlete with the speed to threaten up the seam and the power to bulldoze defenders after the catch Buffalo Bills DT Ed Oliver No 9 overall With plenty of pre draft smoke connecting Oliver to the New York Jets Oakland Raiders New York Giants and even the Atlanta Falcons via a trade up it seemed the Bills wouldn t have a shot at him Instead after surprise picks at Nos 4 and 6 overall Oliver slid right into Buffalo s lap With Kyle Williams NYSE WMB retiring the Bills needed more interior pass rush and Oliver s athleticism will fit very well next to 2017 third round pick Harrison Phillips Oliver isn t nearly as polished as a pass rusher as Aaron Donald was when he came out in 2014 but he has comparable explosiveness for his size and will be a disruptor if not a finisher from Day 1 Washington Redskins QB Dwayne Haskins No 15 overall OLB Montez Sweat No 26 overall Leaks sprung like crazy from Washington over the last few days painting an unflattering picture of an organization in disagreement Reports on Thursday said owner Dan Snyder and team president Bruce Allen loved Haskins while head coach Jay Gruden and some others preferred Daniel Jones But Washington wound up with the better prospect and did so without having to trade up Despite being a redshirt sophomore and one year starter Haskins is far more mentally advanced than most college quarterbacks He ran a pro style offense and read the field very well at Ohio State and he has an excellent arm and the accuracy to hit open receivers at all three levels Haskins should fit well in Gruden s scheme assuming Gruden is there beyond 2019 which is far from certain and he could be afforded the opportunity to sit behind Case Keenum or Colt McCoy Washington s franchise is almost infamous for its instability but this pick could very well bring a long term answer at the game s most important position With a trade back into Round 1 later Thursday night Washington got another dynamite player in Montez Sweat who slid due to reported medical and character concerns I don t love the price Washington paid a 2020 second round pick to jump from No 46 to No 26 but Sweat is extremely explosive and should fit in well opposite Ryan Kerrigan Losers New York Giants QB Daniel Jones No 6 overall DT Dexter Lawrence No 17 overall CB DeAndre Baker No 30 overall Washington s gains were indirectly a result of a division rival s worrisome decisions If you have conviction about a quarterback you should take him at your first opportunity and the Giants did But that doesn t mean they picked the right quarterback Despite his cerebral reputation as a Duke product who has worked with David Cutcliffe and Peyton and Eli Manning Jones needs plenty of work He ran a lot of half field reads and worked primarily short and intermediate with the Blue Devils He also made far too many poor decisions for a player whose arm is just OK This one will look especially rough if Haskins develops into a star and Jones does not The Giants pick at No 17 also raised some eyebrows Lawrence is an excellent run defender but might never be a great pass rusher If he tops out as a solid pocket pusher who gets to QBs now and then he might only play 55 percent of the snaps That s not a great return for the top asset that the trade of Odell Beckham Jr brought back It s also odd that the Giants traded Damon Harrison with the intention of moving Dalvin Tomlinson to nose tackle and then added another nose tackle They also have B J Hill a promising third round pick who had 5 5 sacks as a rookie An edge rusher and Sweat was there for the taking would have made much more sense Getting Baker at No 30 gives the Giants a nice instinctive cover man but they had to give up fourth and fifth round picks to get him Overall that s just too many question marks for a roster that needs a lot of work Oakland Raiders DE Clelin Ferrell No 4 overall RB Josh Jacobs No 24 overall S Johnathan Abram No 27 overall On one hand the Raiders drafted three very good players and filled three holes On the other they made some questionable decisions when it came to value Very few evaluators pegged Ferrell as a top 10 pick and virtually nobody had him going in the top five It s unclear if the Raiders tried to move down to add value while still getting Ferrell but even if they tried and failed there were better ways to get their guy It s possible perhaps probable that Ferrell would have been available closer to the Raiders second pick at No 24 than to their first at No 4 With plenty of draft capital at their disposal they could have worked the draft board and traded up into the mid teens to grab him The player they wound up taking at No 24 Jacobs is an excellent talent and a well rounded back who can block and catch Still there s a convincing argument to be made that it s never worth drafting a running back in the first round given the fungibility and short shelf life at the position It s harder to quibble with Abram who brings tremendous physicality and energy but his selection does appear to be a sign that former first round pick Karl Joseph doesn t have a future with the team With three first round picks including one in the top five the Raiders simply could have gotten more value Houston Texans OT Tytus Howard No 23 overall Perhaps Howard was the top ranked offensive tackle on Houston s board And he might very well develop into an excellent player But this feels like a reach at a position of dire need Jonah Williams was the first tackle off the board at No 11 and the Philadelphia Eagles swooped in to nab Andre Dillard the best pass protector in the draft one pick in front of the Texans Houston could have ensured itself Dillard with a modest trade up or it could have simply taken Jawaan Taylor who some consider a top 10 prospect and was still on the board Instead they opted for a raw small school prospect who might not be ready to start but could be forced into the lineup to protect Deshaun Watson That sounds a lot like current left tackle Juli n Davenport who has not worked out thus far By David DeChant Field Level Media |
WMB | Hamas shifts tactics in bitcoin fundraising highlighting crypto risks research | By Tom Wilson and Dan Williams NYSE WMB LONDON JERUSALEM Reuters The armed wing of Hamas is using increasingly complex methods of raising funds via bitcoin researchers say highlighting the difficulties regulators face in tracking cryptocurrency financing of outfits designated by some as terrorist groups The Gaza based Izz el Deen al Qassam Brigades which is proscribed by the United States and the European Union has been calling on its supporters to donate using the digital currency in a fundraising campaign announced online in late January Originally it asked donors to send bitcoin to a single digital address or wallet However according to research shared with Reuters by leading blockchain analysis firm Elliptic in recent weeks it has changed the mechanism with its website generating a new digital wallet with every transaction This makes it harder for companies around the world to keep tabs on the group s cryptocurrency financing the researchers said A single digital wallet can be red flagged to cryptocurrency exchanges in theory allowing them to prevent funds moving through their systems to that destination But a different wallet for each donation makes this so called tagging far more complicated Elliptic said Between March 26 and April 16 0 6 bitcoin worth around 3 300 was sent to the website created wallets Elliptic s research found All told the four month fundraising campaign has raised around 7 400 the firm said A spokesman for Hamas which has ruled the Palestinian territory of Gaza since 2007 declined to comment on Elliptic s research Such funds are a fraction of the tens of millions of dollars in annual funding that Israel and the United States says Hamas receives from Iran Yet the campaign gives insight into how a proscribed group has gone about bitcoin fundraising They are still in experimentation stage trying it out seeing how much they can raise and whether it works said Elliptic co founder Tom Robinson Iran has not publicly detailed its funding of Hamas though it has not denied its support for the group Hamas has said Tehran is the biggest backer of the al Qassam Brigades London based Elliptic and U S rival Chainalysis are the most prominent blockchain analysis firms and have gained traction as watchdogs cryptocurrency companies and firms such as hedge funds seek tools to track digital coins Backed by investors including Banco Santander s venture capital arm Elliptic s clients include financial firms regulators and law enforcement agencies in Europe and the United States Since 2016 it has won contracts with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Internal Revenue Service and Drug Enforcement Administration according to USAspending gov a database of U S government contracts Examples of cryptocurrency funding campaigns by proscribed groups are rare But the research underscores headaches for companies in the emerging sector in identifying and stamping out exposure to potentially tainted digital coins even as tools for tracking and tracing cryptocurrencies grow more sophisticated Dealing with illegal usage is seen as vital if cryptocurrencies are to grow from niche speculative tokens to assets embraced by the mainstream Most big financial firms have steered clear of bitcoin and its kin with money laundering chief among concerns STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union Others including Britain have proscribed only the al Qassam Brigades Such a designation means that in the United States for instance it is illegal to provide money or training with financial firms in control of related funds obliged to report them to the authorities A two minute video on the al Qassam Brigades website lays out step by step instructions in Arabic on how supporters can avoid the traditional financial system and donate cryptocurrency How to support the Palestinian resistance via Bitcoin it asks With polished graphics and English subtitles it explains how to send bitcoin directly through a money exchange office or via a cryptocurrency exchange Use a public device so that the wallet is not linked to your IP address it says Elliptic uses a database of information linking digital coin addresses to exchanges darkweb marketplaces and proscribed groups to track cryptocurrencies It pinpointed wallets created by the website by tracking patterns in their unique addresses The firm monitored these addresses later identifying multiple transactions that sent funds from the addresses to a major Asia based cryptocurrency exchange Thirteen of the donations were made from a separate exchange also from Asia said Elliptic which declined to give further details of the exchanges It was not clear whether the bitcoin had since been converted to traditional currencies the firm said PATCHY REGULATION Hamas s finances are suffering Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi in 2013 closed hundreds of tunnels under the Gaza Egypt border preventing the smuggling of weapons and goods from cows to cars depriving Hamas of tax income Funding from Iran has also declined following Hamas s condemnation of the killing of Sunni Muslims in Syria s civil war analysts say Bitcoin could provide respite in that cash squeeze It makes it difficult for such funds to be tracked by financial authorities said Lotem Finkelshtein head of threat intelligence at Check Point Technologies a cybersecurity firm in Tel Aviv It s not so simple to link wallets to organizations Israel s Shin Bet intelligence agency defense ministry and military declined to comment Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon who is also a member of the national security cabinet told the website Ynet TV this month he was unaware of the fundraising Regulators and law enforcement agencies have long worried about the potential of digital money relatively anonymous and easily available online to finance terrorism Cryptocurrency regulations vary from country to country The global watchdog for money laundering aware of gaps in rules is due to bring in the first international standards on cryptocurrency oversight by June But with regulation still patchy the risk of exposure to tainted coins has kept most big investors away Even indirect exposure to tainted cryptocurrencies would present problems for financial firms said Kyle Phillips a lawyer at Fieldfisher law firm
There are real issues with establishing the beneficial owners he said |
WMB | Crisis Management | How do you handle client relationships during a financial crisis David Hay CIO of Evergreen Capital talks with Real Vision s Grant Williams NYSE WMB about managing money and clients through the 2008 2009 collapse He discusses the challenges he had in managing clients emotions despite his perceptive call that recession was coming This video is excerpted from a piece published on Real Vision on November 16 2018 Watch more at |
WMB | Russia testing Ukraine s new leader with passport move Lithuania | By Matthias Williams NYSE WMB KIEV Reuters Russia s decision to make it easier for residents of rebel controlled eastern Ukraine to obtain a Russian passport is meant to test Ukraine s new leader and the West should not recognize the documents Lithuania s foreign minister said on Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the order on facilitating passports on Wednesday three days after comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy a political novice won a landslide victory in Ukraine s presidential election Linas Linkevicius whose own country also has strained relations with Moscow told Reuters in an interview that the West should consider imposing new sanctions on Russia This is a blatant violation of international law And basically also a kind of test to the new Ukrainian leadership which is also a usual game Linkevicius said The least we can do is we shouldn t recognize these passports How to do that technically it s another issue to discuss Also we need to look at additional sanctions said Linkevicius whose small Baltic nation is a member of NATO and the European Union Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine s Crimea region and its support for armed separatists battling Kiev s forces in eastern Ukraine Some 13 000 people have been killed in that conflict despite a notional ceasefire signed in Minsk in 2015 Linkevicius who in Kiev on Friday became the first minister of an EU country since Ukraine s election to meet President elect Zelenskiy said they had discussed the passport issue Zelenskiy also raised the possibility of resetting the Minsk ceasefire agreement without giving any concessions to Russia Linkevicius said DANGEROUS CANCER OF GRAFT The minister urged Zelenskiy to deliver on his electoral promise of tackling corruption which he described as the most dangerous cancer facing Ukraine which hopes one day to join the EU Last month Lithuania s own relations with Russia came under renewed strain after a Vilnius court found former Soviet defense minister Dmitry Yazov in absentia guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in a 1991 crackdown against Lithuania s pro independence movement Russia branded the verdict extremely unfriendly and essentially provocative and opened a probe into the judges involved
Linkevicius accused Russia of seeking to politicize the judicial process by trying to take revenge on the judges adding This is lamentable |
WMB | Leclerc blames himself for throwing away Baku pole | BAKU Reuters Charles Leclerc said he was ready to beat himself up after the Ferrari NYSE RACE driver threw away a likely pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday The 21 year old Monegasque locked up and ploughed into the barriers at turn eight during the second phase of an already interrupted qualifying session after he had earlier dominated practice Poland s Robert Kubica had crashed his Williams NYSE WMB at the same tight corner around the walls of Baku s old city in the first phase forcing a 30 minute delay to mend the barriers I am stupid I am stupid said a dejected Leclerc over the team radio before stepping out of the car and returning to the garage Speaking to reporters later he said he deserved what happened I am very sad for what happened but I deserve it I have been stupid as I said on the radio I have calmed down but I still think I have been stupid This doesn t change he said I will push to learn from this and come back stronger and hopefully have a very good race tomorrow added the youngster who will start in ninth place on Sunday on a circuit that has been good to him in the past Pole was possible today and I threw all the potential in the bin Leclerc who took his first career F1 pole in Bahrain in March said he had braked into the corner as he had done previously on the soft tires but he was on the mediums and they locked up That said he was still blaming only himself I don t want to be misunderstood There s no problems with the tires it s just myself he said You can definitely overtake and I will push for that tomorrow But for the next three or four hours I will be just beating myself up
Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas on pole and Lewis Hamilton locked out the front row in qualifying with Leclerc s team mate Sebastian Vettel qualifying in third place |
WMB | Bottas takes Baku pole after Leclerc crashes | By Abhishek Takle BAKU Reuters Valtteri Bottas snatched pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday in an incident packed qualifying session that saw Mercedes lock out the front row and Ferrari NYSE RACE favorite Charles Leclerc crash out The Finn lapped the six km Baku street circuit in one minute 40 495 seconds just 0 059 seconds faster than team mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel the sole Ferrari driver chasing pole after Leclerc crashed out in the second phase of qualifying will line up in third place after his fastest lap was 0 302 seconds off Bottas s pace Hamilton had been fastest after the first flying laps in the third and final phase but Bottas found the extra speed just when it mattered It was a nice feeling getting it done on the last lap said the Finn after the eighth pole position of his career and second in a row The 29 year old also started the previous race in China from the front I managed to hit the sweet spot added the Finn Hamilton s second fastest time gave Mercedes their third front row lockout of the season leaving the German marque well placed to extend their streak of three straight one two finishes in as many races Ferrari have looked incredibly quick said Hamilton who won in Baku last year and leads Bottas by six points in the overall standings This is a massively great result for us We came here we didn t have an upgrade so for us to lock out the front row it puts us in a great position for tomorrow Pace wise we are closer in race trim added the five times champion Ferrari had started the session looking dominant after Leclerc had led every practice session However the Monegasque fired up after being ordered to move over for Vettel in China and denied a maiden Formula One win by engine trouble in Bahrain hit the wall He will still start ninth however RED FLAGS With the session running late after two lengthy red flag delays and with temperatures dropping and no slipstream Vettel was unable to extract the lap time from his Ferrari It was quite tricky the track cooled down it was difficult to find the right balance he said In the end I had a good lap but I had no tow Red Bull s Max Verstappen fastest in the second phase of qualifying was fourth ahead of Racing Point s Sergio Perez the only driver to have stood on the Baku podium more than once Russian Daniil Kvyat was sixth for Toro Rosso ahead of McLaren s Lando Norris Alfa Romeo s Antonio Giovinazzi set the eighth fastest time but the Italian will drop 10 places after being hit with an engine related grid penalty Team mate Kimi Raikkonen will therefore move up to eighth Robert Kubica brought out the first red flag the Pole ploughing his Williams NYSE WMB into the barriers at exactly the same spot as Leclerc in the opening phase That crash was the latest blow on a difficult weekend for struggling Williams with rookie George Russell striking a loose manhole cover in Friday practice and wrecking his car Several other drivers including Vettel and Renault s Nico Hulkenberg clipped the barriers or had close escapes at the same turn eight Bottas was on course for victory in Baku last year when a blown tire three laps from the end handed it to Hamilton instead
No driver has won from pole so far this season while retired champion Nico Rosberg in 2016 is the only driver to have converted pole to victory in Baku |
WMB | Reddick deals with adversity wins Talladega Xfinity race | TALLADEGA Ala Tyler Reddick overcame a pit road speeding penalty and damage to the right side of his No 2 Chevrolet to win Saturday s MoneyLion 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway With the right side of his Richard Childress Racing Chevy heavily taped after a brush with the outside wall Reddick crossed the finish line at the end of a two lap closing dash 127 seconds ahead of runner up Gray Gaulding who drove his No 08 Chevrolet to the first top 10 finish of his career The reigning series champion who moved from JR Motorsports to RCR during the offseason won for the first time this year the first time at Talladega and the fourth time in his career extending his series lead to 32 points over third place finisher Christopher Bell Reddick also won the 100 000 Dash4Cash bonus that goes to the highest finisher among four eligible drivers I tried to take us out of this race so many times and somehow we got back into the mix and got back to the lead said Reddick who blocked for all he was worth on the final two laps after a seven car incident on Lap 109 forced NASCAR to red flag the event for track clean up In fact Reddick had luck on his side too After contact with the wall he was roughly 200 yards from going a lap down when NASCAR called the third caution of the race on Lap 66 for debris in Turn 1 Twenty laps later Reddick escaped contact with Noah Gragson s Chevy without significant damage But it was dodging a Lap 95 wreck involving pole winner Michael Annett Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer that finally gave Reddick the sense that it might be his day As soon as I missed that wreck when the 00 Custer and the 1 Annett got caught up and I somehow missed it and the 23 John Hunter Nemechek did a great job weaving his way out of it too I thought There must be a reason why I wasn t in that wreck Reddick said It was just a lot of fun to work my way back to the front Chase Briscoe finished fourth as he Reddick Bell and Gaulding earned the four qualifying positions for next Saturday s Dash4Cash race at Dover Del Austin Cindric was fifth followed by Nemecheck Justin Haley Josh Williams NYSE WMB Landon Cassill and Chris Cockrum who like Gaulding scored his first career top 10 Gaulding had a run on the backstretch on the final lap but a block from Briscoe slowed his momentum I was kind of the lone ranger out there Gaulding said I think I just had to earn a lot of people s respect I did as much as I could to get beside him Reddick but when the 98 Briscoe came up he kind of blocked my run Man it was so so close Man what a day baby Talladega let s go By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service Special to Field Level Media NASCAR Xfinity Series Race 28th Annual MoneyLion 300 Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Alabama Saturday April 27 2019 1 2 Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 113 2 8 Gray Gaulding Chevrolet 113 3 10 Christopher Bell Toyota 113 4 9 Chase Briscoe Ford 113 5 17 Austin Cindric Ford 113 6 15 John Hunter Nemechek Chevrolet 113 7 5 Justin Haley Chevrolet 113 8 16 Josh Williams Chevrolet 113 9 22 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 113 10 18 Chris Cockrum Chevrolet 113 11 14 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 113 12 33 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 113 13 6 Brett Moffitt i Chevrolet 113 14 28 David Starr Chevrolet 113 15 32 Brandon Brown Chevrolet 113 16 4 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 113 17 26 Matt Mills Toyota 113 18 13 Brandon Jones Toyota 113 19 29 Vinnie Miller Toyota 113 20 35 Max Tullman Toyota 113 21 34 Cody Ware Toyota 113 22 25 BJ McLeod Chevrolet 113 23 31 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 111 24 20 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet 111 25 24 Alex Labbe Chevrolet 111 26 7 Jeffrey Earnhardt Toyota Accident 110 27 30 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet Accident 108 28 11 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet Accident 108 29 19 Timmy Hill Toyota Accident 108 30 3 Ross Chastain Chevrolet Gear Cooler 105 31 1 Michael Annett Chevrolet Accident 95 32 12 Cole Custer Ford Accident 94 33 23 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet Transmisson 86 34 36 Ray Black II Chevrolet Accident 65 35 21 Jeff Green Chevrolet Engine 52 36 37 Chad Finchum Toyota Gear 36 37 27 Joey Gase Toyota Engine 35 Average Speed of Race Winner 126 976 mph Time of Race 2 Hrs 22 Mins 2 Secs Margin of Victory 0 127 Seconds Caution Flags 8 for 34 laps Lead Changes 16 among 10 drivers Lap Leaders M Annett 0 T Reddick 1 6 R Chastain 7 10 T Reddick 11 27 J Allgaier 28 31 N Gragson 32 50 J Allgaier 51 52 J Clements 53 R Chastain 54 56 B Jones 57 M Annett 58 67 D Starr 68 70 C Bell 71 84 J Allgaier 85 91 C Briscoe 92 100 C Bell 101 102 T Reddick 103 113 Leaders Summary Driver Times Lead Laps Led Tyler Reddick 3 times for 34 laps Noah Gragson 1 time for 19 laps Christopher Bell 2 times for 16 laps Justin Allgaier 3 times for 13 laps Michael Annett 1 time for 10 laps Chase Briscoe 1 time for 9 laps Ross Chastain 2 times for 7 laps David Starr 1 time for 3 laps Brandon Jones 1 time for 1 lap Jeremy Clements 1 time for 1 lap
Stage 1 Top Ten 2 10 22 39 08 7 20 11 9 23 Stage 2 Top Ten 9 7 39 98 10 20 19 11 1 2 |
WMB | MLB roundup Padres come up big in 10th | Manuel Margot s bases loaded single keyed a six run 10th inning and the visiting San Diego Padres beat the Washington Nationals 8 3 on Saturday for their fifth consecutive win Ty France singled off Wander Suero 1 3 to open the 10th and Francisco Mejia doubled to right Greg Garcia then flied out to deep left scoring France with the go ahead run After Fernando Tatis Jr and Wil Myers walked to load the bases Washington s Justin Miller entered and hit Manny Machado with a pitch forcing in the fourth San Diego run Margot lined a two run single to left to make it 6 2 Hunter Renfroe added a sacrifice fly and another run scored on center fielder Victor Robles throwing error Luis Perdomo 1 0 struck out the side in the ninth inning for the win Robbie Erlin yielded a run in the bottom of the 10th in a non save situation Astros 4 Indians 3 10 innings Pinch hitter Tony Kemp hit a walk off home run leading off the 10th inning and Houston claimed a victory over visiting Cleveland Kemp drilled a 2 1 slider from Adam Cimber 2 2 sending it 360 feet over the wall in right field The blast made a winner out of Roberto Osuna 2 0 who worked two scoreless innings of relief The Astros will attempt to salvage a series split on Sunday Rockies 9 Braves 5 Charlie Blackmon put Colorado ahead with a two run double in the ninth inning and Trevor Story added insurance with a three run homer as the Rockies rallied for the win at Atlanta Colorado s five run uprising came against A J Minter 0 3 David Dahl doubled and went to third on a one out wild pitch After fanning Raimel Tapia to move the Braves within one out of a win Minter walked pinch hitters Ian Desmond and Drew Butera to load the bases Blackmon then rapped the first pitch he saw to drive in a pair Cubs 9 Diamondbacks 1 David Bote had his first career two home run game along with five RBIs and Anthony Rizzo had a homer and two doubles as visiting Chicago broke Arizona s five game winning streak Bote s three run homer capped a five run third inning off Arizona starter Zack Godley 1 2 and he added a two run homer for a 7 0 lead in the fifth Benches and bullpens cleared and players congregated along the first base line after Matt Koch hit Bote with a pitch in the left shoulder in the seventh inning following a Rizzo homer and a double by Javier Baez No punches were thrown and no one was ejected Phillies 12 Marlins 9 Nick Williams NYSE WMB Andrew McCutchen and Rhys Hoskins homered to lead host Philadelphia to a win over Miami The Phillies have won three of four while the Marlins have lost three of four The Marlins who trailed 10 1 before scoring eight consecutive runs over three innings were led by Curtis Granderson who went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and Jorge Alfaro who slugged a two run homer against his former team Phillies shortstop Jean Segura playing his first game since returning from the injured list after recovering from a hamstring injury was beaned in the second inning There were no immediate updates on the severity of the injury to Segura who was removed from the game immediately after getting hit in the head by a 90 mph fastball from Trevor Richards Rangers 15 Mariners 1 Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor hit three run homers in the opening two innings as Texas snapped a five game losing streak with a rout of host Seattle Joey Gallo also homered for the Rangers a solo shot in the eighth inning Rangers left hander Mike Minor 3 2 allowed one run on three hits in seven innings with one walk and a season high 13 strikeouts Right hander Ariel Jurado pitched the final two innings for the Rangers to cap a three hitter Yankees 6 Giants 4 Gary Sanchez broke open a tight game with his first career grand slam and J A Happ pitched seven shutout innings as visiting New York beat San Francisco in an interleague game The win was New York s fifth in six games at the start of a nine game trip and combined with a 7 3 win in the series opener on Friday night gives the Yankees a shot Sunday at the first sweep in the history of the rivalry with the Giants In the ninth San Francisco got a three run homer from Yangervis Solarte and a solo shot from Erik Kratz before Aroldis Chapman entered The New York closer fanned the only batter he faced Pablo Sandoval for his fifth save Royals 9 Angels 4 Hunter Dozier had a pair of two run triples and Kansas City scored six runs in the third inning en route to a victory over visiting Los Angeles The Royals had a season high 15 hits Dozier posted career highs with four hits and four RBIs He is the first designated hitter with two triples in a game since David Ortiz did it on July 22 2004 Scott Barlow 1 0 pitched 1 1 3 scoreless innings to pick up the win Angels reliever Jaime Barria 2 2 took the loss allowing seven runs on 10 hits in 1 2 3 innings Brewers 8 Mets 6 Christian Yelich hit his major league leading 14th homer and Josh Hader recorded a six out save as Milwaukee recorded a victory at New York The reigning National League MVP gave Milwaukee a 5 1 lead when he parked a full count changeup from Noah Syndergaard 1 3 over the right center field fence Yelich tied the major league record for homers before May 1 He shares the mark with Albert Pujols 2006 and Alex Rodriguez 2007 Ben Gamel preceded Yelich s latest homer with a home run in the fourth as Milwaukee beat the Mets for the second straight night Rays 2 Red Sox 1 Jose Alvarado struck out Jackie Bradley Jr with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning and Tampa Bay hung on for a victory at Boston Alvarado entered the game after Diego Castillo allowed a homer to Mookie Betts to open the inning and issued a one out walk to Xander Bogaerts After a single a strikeout and a walk Alvarado escaped the jam Yandy Diaz hit a solo homer for the Rays in the first inning and Mike Zunino added an RBI single in the fourth Cardinals 6 Reds 3 Marcell Ozuna homered and drove in five runs as host St Louis posted a victory over Cincinnati Harrison Bader had a pinch hit RBI single and Yadier Molina and Paul Goldschmidt extended their hit streaks to 14 and 13 games respectively for the Cardinals who won for the sixth time in seven games Dakota Hudson 2 1 allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 2 3 innings Two relievers bridged the gap to Jordan Hicks who retired the side in order in the ninth to secure his eighth save Jose Peraza and Eugenio Suarez each had an RBI single and Derek Dietrich added a sacrifice fly for the Reds who fell for the third time in nine games Twins 9 Orioles 2 Max Kepler homered twice as Minnesota hit five home runs for the second straight day and defeated Baltimore in Minneapolis The five homers upped Minnesota s total to 21 in five games against the Orioles this season Kepler homered in the seventh and eighth innings and finished with four RBIs while C J Cron Jason Castro and Marwin Gonzalez also went deep Gonzalez Castro and Kepler homered in a four run eighth against Jimmy Yacabonis Castro and Kepler went back to back Minnesota is 5 0 this season against the Orioles and has won 11 straight in the head to head matchup dating to 2018 Blue Jays 7 Athletics 1 Randal Grichuk had three hits and two RBIs Aaron Sanchez pitched five strong innings and Toronto defeated visiting Oakland Brandon Drury also had three hits for the Blue Jays who have won all five games with the A s this season after losing all seven meetings last year Sanchez 3 1 allowed an unearned run two hits and four walks while striking out four Oakland starter Brett Anderson 3 2 allowed six runs in 4 1 3 innings on 10 hits and two walks He struck out two Dodgers 3 Pirates 1 Joc Pederson hit a two run triple and Clayton Kershaw pitched seven strong innings as Los Angeles rallied for a victory over visiting Pittsburgh The Dodgers were held scoreless by Joe Musgrove over the first six innings before starting their rally in the seventh inning on a leadoff single by Max Muncy After an Alex Verdugo single Chris Taylor tied the game 1 1 on a sacrifice fly Austin Barnes singled and one out later Pederson delivered his two run hit to right center field Kershaw 1 0 gave up one run on four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in just his third outing of the year His start to his season was delayed because of shoulder inflammation that cropped up early at spring training Tigers at White Sox ppd
The game was postponed due to projections of a snowstorm The contest will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on July 3 at Guaranteed Rate Field Field Level Media |
VZ | Verizon Communications VZ Earnings Expected To Grow Should You Buy | The market expects Verizon Communications VZ to deliver a year over year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended December 2019 This widely known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company s earnings picture but a powerful factor that might influence its near term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report which is expected to be released on January 30 On the other hand if they miss the stock may move lower
While management s discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations it s worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This largest U S cellphone carrier is expected to post quarterly earnings of 1 15 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 2 7
Revenues are expected to be 34 53 billion up 0 7 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0 97 higher over the last 30 days to the current level This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period
Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts
Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings Whisper
Estimate revisions ahead of a company s earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out Our proprietary surprise prediction model the Zacks Earnings ESP Expected Surprise Prediction has this insight at its core
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier
Thus a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate However the model s predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70 of the time and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and or Zacks Rank of 4 Sell or 5 Strong Sell
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Verizon
For Verizon the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company s earnings prospects This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0 32
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3
So this combination indicates that Verizon will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue
Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings So it s worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number
For the last reported quarter it was expected that Verizon would post earnings of 1 24 per share when it actually produced earnings of 1 25 delivering a surprise of 0 81
Over the last four quarters the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times
Bottom Line
An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors Similarly unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss
That said betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success This is why it s worth checking a company s Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they ve reported
Verizon appears a compelling earnings beat candidate However investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release |
VZ | Verizon Partners With Dignitas To Leverage 5G In Esports | Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ recently announced that it has teamed up with Dignitas to deploy best in class reliable and secured low latency 5G technology for the nation s 5G Gaming Center in Los Angeles The alliance marks the latest endeavor in Verizon s 5G push for player to fan connectivity through real time live streaming gameplay in the studio and on the go Based in Newark NJ Dignitas is a professional esports organization that boasts streamlined infrastructure and player content studios in China Europe Los Angeles and New York City Acquired by NBA s Philadelphia 76ers in 2016 Dignitas is the subsidiary of New Meta Entertainment a digital sports and entertainment company which operates in three primary verticals esports teams investments and content and marketing
Dedicated to esports athletes the organization is best known for its five largest and most popular games Clash Royale Counter Strike Global Offensive League of Legends Super Smash Bros and Rocket League Verizon 5G Gaming Center is a 5 500 square foot training facility located at Verizon s 5G Lab Markedly the 5G lab is an innovative platform wherein the tech giant collaborates with academia startups and established companies to co create 5G concepts and develop avant garde applications and hardware to trial them on pre commercial 5G network It explores various use cases that will benefit from 5G s high Internet speeds and massive bandwidth with ultra low latency networks Per the deal Dignitas 2019 World Championship qualifying team will exclusively practice in the state of the art training facility for the League Championship Series which commenced from Jan 25 in Los Angeles Also serving as an abode for its League of Legends teams the esports company will be responsible for leveraging Verizon s 5G technology for the enhancement of real time analytics fan engagement and player performance thereby offering seamless sporting experiences In 2018 Verizon exhibited multi stream immersive virtual reality experience over 5G for live in stadium game action These experiences show how 5G will provide fans with more engrossing live game experience in stadiums or even at home Verizon is seeking competitive edge in a saturated and price sensitive market which includes major players like AT T Inc NYSE T and T Mobile US Inc NYSE T The company s latest move is directed at upping the ante against rivals This would enable it to promote 5G innovations backed by customer focused planning disciplined engineering and strategic investments The telecom bellwether aims to retain its lead in next gen 5G mobile networks with focus on dynamic spectrum sharing multi access edge computing and fiber connectivity Notably Verizon s 5G Ultra Wideband network hinges on three fundamental drivers to deliver the full potential of this breakthrough technology These are massive spectrum holdings particularly in the millimeter wave bands for faster data transfer end to end deep fiber resources and the ability to deploy large numbers of small cells The network delivers adequate bandwidth and download speed required for applications such as 4K 8K video streaming VR AR mobile workforce industrial IoT among others Verizon has long term earnings growth expectation of 3 3 Driven by healthy momentum in the wireless business the stock has gained 9 4 compared with the s growth of 15 in the past year
Zacks Rank A Key PickVerizon currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold A top ranked stock in the broader industry is Splunk Inc NASDAQ SPLK sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see Splunk exceeded estimates in each of the trailing four quarters the positive earnings surprise being 74 3 on average Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through 2019 while the S P 500 gained an impressive 53 6 five of our strategies returned 65 8 97 1 118 0 175 7 and even 186 7 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 2019 while the S P averaged 6 0 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 7 per year |
VZ | Verizon Rises 3 | Investing com Verizon NYSE VZ rose by 3 01 to trade at 55 99 by 13 57 17 57 GMT on Monday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Verizon shares traded since the start of the session was 10 18M Verizon has traded in a range of 54 56 to 55 99 on the day
The stock has traded at 59 8700 at its highest and 54 2600 at its lowest during the past seven days |
VZ | Three states join AG group probing planned merger of Sprint and T Mobile | WASHINGTON Reuters The attorneys general of Arizona Michigan and Pennsylvania have joined a group of states probing T Mobile s plan to buy rival Sprint for 26 billion which is believed to be nearing the end of a regulatory review The state attorneys general made the filings this week telling the Federal Communications Commission they planned to join a Justice Department probe and need access to documents The deal won FCC support last month FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said on Thursday he planned to circulate a proposed order asking his fellow commissioners to approve the deal in the coming weeks but officials said it might not be finished until early July That said it still needs approval from the Justice Department whose staff has recommended the proposed merger be stopped The final decision on whether to allow two of the four nationwide wireless carriers to merge will be made by the department s political appointees headed by antitrust division chief Makan Delrahim The states late involvement is not unusual and their request for data could suggest they are looking at the impact of the merger on their states including data of customers switching from T Mobile to Sprint and the reverse and to other carriers The state attorneys general may independently seek to sue to stop the proposed transaction although that would be very unusual
T Mobile has a reputation for aggressively seeking to cut prices and improve service to woo customers away from market leaders Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ and AT T Inc NYSE T and antitrust enforcers may want to preserve that dynamic |
WMB | Fed up with status quo Ukrainians may elect comedian in presidential run off | By Matthias Williams NYSE WMB KIEV Reuters Ukrainians vote on Sunday in the second round of an election that could thrust a comedian with no prior political experience into the presidency of a country at war and wanting transformational change Volodymyr Zelenskiy who plays a fictitious president in a popular TV series has led opinion polls against the incumbent Petro Poroshenko whose popularity has been dragged down by patchy efforts to tackle corruption and sliding living standards At stake is the leadership of a country on the frontline of the West s standoff with Russia following the 2014 Maidan street protests and the annexation of Crimea Both candidates have pledged to keep the country on a pro Western course Investors are also seeking reassurances that whoever wins will accelerate reforms that are needed to keep foreign aid flowing and attract much wanted foreign investment Zelenskiy s promise to fight corruption has resonated with Ukrainians who are fed up with politics as usual in a country of 42 million people that remains one of Europe s poorest nearly three decades after winning independence from the Soviet Union His rise comes at a time of political insurgency in many parts of the world from Brexit to the election of U S President Donald Trump and to the 5 Star Movement in Italy which was also driven by a comedian I think the top election issue is frustration with the status quo said Mary O Hagan Ukraine Resident Senior Director of the National Democratic Institute NDI Poroshenko was elected amid high hopes for change after the Maidan protests O Hagan says he inherited a difficult situation in 2014 and implemented many reforms but has not convinced voters that he is serious about tackling corruption I think it is fair to say that public opinion has not regarded the current set up as a sufficient step forward from what there was before to justify the many sacrifices that people have made following the revolution in terms of living standards security loss of life displacement she said Zelenskiy s unorthodox campaign relied heavily on quirky social media posts and comedy gigs instead of traditional rallies and leafletting Poroshenko has sought to portray Zelenskiy as a buffoonish populist whose incompetence would leave Ukraine vulnerable to Russia Ukrainian troops have battled Kremlin backed separatist fighters since 2014 in a conflict in the eastern Donbass region that has killed 13 000 people despite a notional ceasefire A victory for Zelenskiy would be a drastic departure from previous presidential elections in independent Ukraine which were won by experienced politicians including three former prime ministers But he remains something of an unknown quantity and faces scrutiny over his ties to a powerful oligarch who would like to see Poroshenko out of power Just 9 percent of Ukrainians have confidence in their national government the lowest of any electorate in the world according to a Gallup poll published in March |
WMB | Four Olympic Gold Medals Winner Tennis Player Serena Williams Invests in Coinbase | World famous tennis player Serena Jameka Williams NYSE WMB revealed in an Instagram post published on April 17 that in 2014 she launched her investment business Serena Ventures and silently invested in over 30 companies including major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase
According to the official website of Serena Ventures the market cap of the portfolio is over 12 billion and the diversity of the founders of the companies in which the firm invested is 60 The website further notes that the fund is focused on early stage companies encourages collaboration among portfolio companies and expands partnership opportunities |
WMB | Ex caddie Tiger s comeback an incredible story | Steve Williams NYSE WMB who caddied for Tiger Woods for 13 years was as transfixed as any observer when his former employer made a run to his fifth Masters title earlier this month Williams who retired to his native New Zealand in 2017 told ESPN in a story published Monday that he hadn t watched any golf on television since retirement until Woods was making a run on Sunday at Augusta Williams said he tuned in from New Zealand where it was around 5 a m on Monday as the final grouping was reaching the 15th hole Woods went on to birdie that hole and take the outright lead for good while Italy s Francesco Molinari double bogeyed and fell out of contention Given the fact that two years ago he stated that he was unlikely to play competitive golf again or was seriously doubting it he wouldn t just say that in jest Williams told ESPN of Woods who made his return to the tour last year after a fourth back surgery There would have been a lot of truth to it For him to actually come back full cycle to win a major championship it s just an incredible story It s an amazing achievement of pure guts and hard work for him and just a true indication of what he is made of It proves again what an amazing athlete he is It s just an amazing achievement Williams 55 became Woods caddie in 1999 and remained on the bag until Woods fired him in July of 2011 covering a span of 13 of Woods 14 major victories to that point Joe LaCava has caddied for Woods since Williams who had caddied for Adam Scott while Woods was away from the tour joined Scott regularly from 2011 until September of 2017 Scott won the 2013 Masters with Williams After seeing Woods claim the 15th major of his career and his first since 2008 Williams touted how strongly the achievement will impact the sport You look at it from a broader perspective Williams said Here in New Zealand golf is somewhat struggling The number of rounds is down junior numbers are slipping Now that Tiger has come right back there again winning a major championship possibly putting Jack s Nicklaus record of 18 career major wins in play again it just re energizes the game
It s absolutely awesome He s the only guy who can energize the game like that All those kids who were watching had to think it was fantastic And so what he s done is a remarkable achievement It s so positive Field Level Media |
WMB | Fed Seems Resigned to Bubble Risk in Effort to Extend Expansion | Bloomberg Some Federal Reserve policy makers seem resigned to running a heightened risk of asset bubbles and other financial excesses as they seek to keep the economic expansion going
That s one of the messages tucked inside the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee s March 19 20 policy making meeting
A few participants observed that the appropriate path for policy insofar as it implied lower interest rates for longer periods of time could lead to greater financial stability risks according to the minutes published April 10
Chairman Jerome Powell could be one of those officials He s publicly pointed out that the last two expansions ended not in a burst of inflation but in financial froth first a dot com stock market boom then a housing bubble
A willingness by the Fed to court such perils by holding rates down should be good for the economy for a while After all the aim of such a policy would be to sustain growth at a healthy enough clip to meet the Fed s twin goals of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation
But that monetary stance could store up trouble down the road should the financial threats materialize
Easy financial conditions today are good news for downside risks in the short term but they re bad news in the medium term senior International Monetary Fund official Tobias Adrian told a Boston Fed conference last year
In economists parlance here s the Fed s dilemma R star the neutral interest rate that stabilizes the economy when it s meeting the Fed s goals may be so low that it also prompts super risky behavior by investors
Behind the fall in R star an aging population and slower productivity growth that has boosted savings and depressed investment
In an article last August Bloomberg coined the term Fast star for the interest rate that s consistent with ensuring FinAncial STability A rate too far below that level leads to excesses in the financial system A setting much above it stifles risk taking and obliterates the animal spirits that drive economic growth
The trouble is that Fast star may be higher than R star as suggested by the minutes
The Fed has put policy on hold this year after lifting short term rates to 2 25 percent to 2 5 percent in December within the range it considers neutral for the economy The dovish shift helped ignite a huge rally in the stock market with the S P 500 Index up 16 percent in 2019
But it failed to satisfy President Donald Trump who s vociferously complained that the Fed s rate increases have held back the economy and the stock market and who s urged the central bank to open up the monetary spigots to boost both
A couple of policy makers at last month s FOMC meeting said that any financial stability risks arising from low rates could be addressed by counter cyclical macro prudential policy tools and other regulatory and supervisory measures according to the minutes
The problem is that the U S has a limited set of such tools as Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles acknowledged in a March 29 speech in New York
Powell told reporters after the FOMC meeting that the Fed didn t see a high risk of financial instability at this point
He added that the Fed mainly seeks to keep the system safe by requiring big banks to hold a lot of capital and to undergo annual stress tests of their operations
At times last year Fed policy makers sounded open to using higher interest rates to lean against potentially over exuberant financial markets said Jonathan Wright a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a former Fed economist
Case in point New York Fed President John Williams NYSE WMB said in October that the central bank s rate increases would help reduce risk taking in financial markets though he added that was not their principal purpose
Backed Off
Such talk has since faded There doesn t seem to be the same idea of having tighter monetary policy so as to lessen the risk of asset bubbles developing Wright said
Perhaps that s not surprising given the shakeout that occurred in financial markets at the end of last year and Trump s preoccupation with the performance of stock prices
The strong bounce back in markets this year means that financial conditions are still accommodative though not quite as loose as they were before the end 2018 sell off according to the IMF
There are reasons for fearing the economic consequences of very low rates former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said in an April 15 presentation at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington
These include a greater propensity to asset bubbles and incentives to substantially increase leverage the Harvard University professor said |
WMB | Zelenskiy faces battles with Ukraine s hostile parliament | By Matthias Williams NYSE WMB and Pavel Polityuk KIEV Reuters Before Ukraine s new president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was even elected an opposition leader was plotting to curb his powers and make it easier for him to be impeached Andriy Sadovyi head of the Samopomich party the second largest opposition group in parliament announced two days before the vote he was garnering support for a parliamentary bill to weaken the presidency The opening salvo is a measure of the hostility that may be in store for Zelenskiy a 41 year old comedian who beat incumbent president Petro Poroshenko in Sunday s election despite having no prior political experience or representation in parliament Zelenskiy is expected to take office next month His ability to work with parliament known as the Rada will be crucial to meeting the expectations of his voters and passing reforms to keep foreign aid flowing Lawmakers from Samopomich and other parties feel the president has too many powers Let him have responsibility like other political players he cannot stand above the law Oksana Syroyid a Samopomich lawmaker and deputy speaker in parliament told Reuters Zelenskiy s powers will include appointing the head of the state security service the head of the military the general prosecutor the central bank governor and the foreign and defense ministers But parliament must confirm each appointment and although Zelenskiy beat the incumbent decisively in the presidential vote and his party could win the largest number of seats in parliamentary elections in October it is unlikely to win an outright majority opinion polls show This means he would need to ally with at least one other party if he is to get his election pledges enacted and his appointments approved He has not indicated which parties he would be prepared to work with Adding to the hostility is his election promise for a bill to strip lawmakers and himself of immunity from prosecution Volodymyr Ariev a lawmaker from Poroshenko s faction told Reuters it was unlikely that parliament would back that move because lawmakers fret about being prosecuted in political vendettas Zelenskiy also needs lawmakers to pass legislation that matters to the International Monetary Fund Ukraine s most important foreign backer such as a bill to criminalize illegal enrichment by officials Stuart Culverhouse Head of Sovereign and Fixed Income Research at Tellimer said lawmakers might not back that bill until after October This could lead to delays in IMF tranche disbursements under the 3 9 billion assistance program The next one is due in May This could be enough to burst the pre election Zelenskiy market bubble he said Yields have fallen as investors became more comfortable with Zelenskiy and also because another presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko who was hostile to some major reforms was knocked out of the running POLITICAL PARALYSIS Samopomich s Syroyid said her party wants to strip the president of some powers including the right to appoint the chairman of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission NEURC who sets energy tariffs with the government What do the tariffs have to do with the president Today he the president has influence he appoints the chairman of the NEURC Tymoshenko another opposition leader who ran in the election against Zelenskiy has previously also called for the president s powers to be curbed It may be necessary to more clearly define what the president can and cannot do Oleksiy Riabchyn a lawmaker in Tymoshenko s party told Reuters The government is led by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman who was appointed by Poroshenko He is expected to stay in power until the October election If Zelenskiy wins enough seats in parliament he is expected to form a new government This means that until those elections he may struggle to make any significant changes Until the October parliamentary election Mr Zelenskiy s team will need to secure the support of various factions in the current legislature in order to pass policies said Agnese Ortolani an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit This might prove difficult as part of the political elite is likely to attempt to paralyse Mr Zelenskiy s presidency Zelenskiy could try and bring forward the parliamentary election now while his popularity may be at a peak But he would only be able to do that with parliament s blessing If parliament does not support the president s initiatives it will be very hard to explain to Ukraine s voters why not Dmytro Razumkov an adviser to Zelenskiy s campaign told Reuters It s up to lawmakers I hope their political survival instincts will dominate |
WMB | Crypto Wrap Bitcoin Rises After Easter Lull Serena Williams Invests in Coinbase | Investing com Cryptocurrencies have risen over the last seven days as tennis player Serena Williams NYSE WMB announced her investment company has invested in digital platform Coinbase
The four time Olympic gold medal winner announced on Instagram that her investment company Serena Ventures has invested in over 30 companies including Coinbase
Launched in 2014 Serena Ventures invests in companies that embrace diverse leadership individual empowerment creativity and opportunity Williams said via Instagram The company has a market cap of 12 billion according to its website
Cryptocurrencies overall have surged over the last week as interest in the sector grows The industry as a whole was at 185 billion at the time of writing from 173 billion a week earlier
Bitcoin rose 9 7 over the week to 5 524 30 on the Investing com Index Ethereum gained 8 2 to 174 88 and XRP climbed 2 to 0 32588 while Litecoin was up 0 1 to 78 306
Meanwhile South Koreans who invested in digital currencies in 2018 set aside an average of 6 000 with those who already owned virtual coins buying even more according to a survey by the Korea Financial Investors Protection Foundation
The foundation s survey revealed that 7 4 of the 2 500 respondents have bought cryptocurrency Compared to the results of its 2017 survey the average amount invested was up 67 indicating that despite last year s volatility South Koreans are in it for the long term
In other news Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif is set to resume operations just seven months after it lost 60 million in a hack
The exchange said Monday it has signed over its business from former parent company Tech Bureau to the listed Japanese investment firm Fisco Digital Asset Group |
WMB | Mercedes Bottas out for Baku revenge | By Abhishek Takle BAKU Reuters Valtteri Bottas has a score to settle as he heads into Sunday s Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix determined to make up for a lost win and regain the championship lead from Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton The Finn was leading around the streets of Baku last year when a puncture three laps from the end handed victory to Hamilton instead The Briton went on to win 10 more races on his way to a fifth title while Bottas ended the season demoralized and with zero wins The 29 year old has come back from the winter stronger and looking more of a match for his team mate even if Hamilton has returned to the top of the standings after chalking up his second win of the season in China on April 14 For sure I would prefer to still be leading but that s the situation now and if I keep performing well I can turn it around said Bottas who trails Hamilton by six points with 18 races remaining So that s going to be the goal for Baku added the Finn who was on pole in China but dropped behind Hamilton at the start Mercedes head into Sunday s race the fourth since Azerbaijan joined the calendar in 2016 as favorites after three one two finishes the strongest start to a campaign since Williams NYSE WMB in 1992 They have also won two of the three races in Azerbaijan even if it has not been a particularly happy hunting ground for Hamilton Last year s victory was his first podium appearance there MEAGER HAUL Nothing can be taken for granted at a circuit that has served up some thrillers in the past mixing ultra long straights and tight corners with no margin for error Like Bottas Ferrari NYSE RACE will also be hoping to make a statement Already 57 points behind Mercedes in the overall standings the pre season favorites have a meager haul of two third place finishes from the first three races and cannot afford to lose any more ground New recruit Charles Leclerc smarting from being ordered to move over for four times champion Sebastian Vettel in China and denied a maiden Formula One win by engine trouble in Bahrain will be especially fired up The circuit holds a special emotional significance for the Monegasque who won a 2017 Formula Two race from pole position in Baku only days after the death of his father Baku is a demanding track but I can t wait said the 21 year old who also scored his first Formula One points there last year with sixth place for Sauber I simply love it and I ve always performed very well there The unpredictability of the race means there s always a chance for an unexpected podium finisher Since the 2016 race Baku is the only grand prix on the calendar that has seen a driver outside of the top three teams finish on the podium Mexican Sergio Perez with two third places for Force India now Racing Point is the only driver to have stood on the podium more than once in Baku
It s a big show said Max Verstappen who will pounce on any opportunity to snatch a win for Honda powered Red Bull And hopefully this year s race will make for a good story |
WMB | Peace honesty and cheap gas Ukraine s new leader shoulders high expectations | By Margaryta Chornokondratenko and Matthias Williams NYSE WMB KIEV Reuters When the Ukrainian president played by actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy faces a corrupt parliament in his TV comedy he fantasizes about blasting them all away with two submachine guns Now that Zelenskiy has been elected president in real life Margarita Bulava who voted for him hopes he will have a similarly transformative effect on the country s politics One of Zelenskiy s biggest challenges will be meeting the expectations of voters like 28 year old event hostess Bulava who had never voted before last Sunday s presidential election Now she has an ambitious wish list There should be no inflation People like her mother who works in a laundry in Poland should stop needing to move abroad for better paid jobs There should be peace with Russia Wages should be higher and pensioners should be able to afford their heating bills without having to sell flowers in the subway It s a huge plus that he has never been in politics because he is completely from another sphere He sees the situation in the country through the eyes of the people said Bulava But what if the new president fails to deliver It s very scary if really none of this succeeds because expectations are really very big and everyone believes that something really should happen she said after working out at her gym in Kiev A comedian and actor with no prior political experience Zelenskiy 41 beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko by a landslide promising change to a country at war with Russian backed forces and facing some of the worst poverty in Europe In a wildly successful election campaign Zelenskiy remained vague on some key policy questions trading on the image of the honest everyman he plays on TV a schoolteacher who accidentally becomes president after a rant about corruption filmed by one of his students goes viral But his outsider status may hamper his ability to deliver on his promises especially early in his presidency when he has no lawmakers representing his party in parliament And if he disappoints voters early on that could make the problem worse hurting his new party s prospects going into October parliamentary elections that will determine the make up of the cabinet with which he must share power POPULARITY FRAGILE Zelenskiy s vague positions on the campaign trail won him support from a wide array of voters who wanted to see new faces in politics But that makes his popularity fragile said Agnese Ortolani an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit His support could dissipate quickly when it comes to making decisions that could alienate part of his constituency Ortolani said An April survey by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology KIIS highlighted two issues in particular that are high on voters wishlists Thirty nine percent of Ukrainians expect Zelenskiy to cut their heating bills in his first 100 days in charge and 35 percent expect him to act on an election pledge to strip lawmakers of their immunity from prosecution On heating tariffs Zelenskiy is likely to face the same painful choice as his predecessors Raising them will antagonize voters but lowering them risks derailing Ukraine s 3 9 billion aid program from the International Monetary Fund which has demanded Kiev allow gas prices to rise to market levels For now the question is mainly in the hands of the cabinet picked by parliament rather than Zelenskiy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman see sawed on the issue first agreeing to raise tariffs early in his term in 2016 but then stalling on further increases When the need for IMF loans became acute he agreed to raise them last October Zelenskiy called on Wednesday for the government to lower gas prices within days Bonds fell after Zelenskiy s statement If his party wins the parliamentary election and a Zelenskiy picked government takes charge the need for new IMF loans might box him into raising prices again As for stripping lawmakers of their immunity it was the sort of proposal aimed at cleaning out politics that won over voters such as bar owner Oleksiy Kostenyuk In my opinion this will change our parliament radically Those who break the law will go away those who earn money illegally will go away and we will get a new type of politician Kostenyuk said Zelenskiy promised to introduce the necessary legislation but parliament may not play ball Volodymyr Ariev a lawmaker in Poroshenko s faction the largest in the chamber told Reuters he did not expect such a move to succeed because politicians fear being prosecuted in political vendettas Sooner or later political reality will puncture the image of Zelenskiy s straight shooting TV persona Ariev said
We will see the demolition of many dreams of the people who had voted for Zelenskiy and the demolition of his image from the movie |
WMB | Trump Can t Easily Break the Fed | Bloomberg Opinion President Donald Trump keeps attacking the Federal Reserve and has recently moved toward appointing loyalists to the Fed s governing board This has sparked fears that he might gain some control over the world s most powerful central bank getting it to do his bidding rather than what s best for the economy in the long term
Are those fears justified Although my level of concern has risen I m not close to hitting the panic button
The Federal Open Market Committee which sets U S monetary policy is populated overwhelmingly by people who leave politics at the door If Trump managed to win Senate approval for Stephen Moore and another ally and if both proved perfectly loyal they would still have only two of 12 votes on the committee That s insufficient to come close to politicizing the Fed s decisions
The current committee members agree strongly about the appropriate course of monetary policy None has publicly dissented from the group s decisions in the nine meetings such Jerome Powell took over as chairman in February 2018 If the committee were already more fractured adding members who might dissent would be much more problematic
Even then influence within the committee is not just a matter of numbers The members with the most expertise currently Powell Richard Clarida and John Williams NYSE WMB work most closely with the Fed staff set the agenda and hence have by far the most say in the setting of monetary policy Also because federal sunshine rules require meetings of four or more governors to be made public typically only two or three governors confer directly to formulate strategy and tactics prior to formal committee and board meetings Thus those not included in the core group have less influence
In short whoever Trump appoints won t be central to the policy making process unless one of them becomes chairman That s not likely to happen soon as Chairman Powell has said he intends to serve out his term which runs to February 2022
All that said I m not completely sanguine The shift in the quality of potential appointees from Powell and Clarida to Moore and Herman Cain who recently withdrew his candidacy is striking If more positions on the Fed s Board of Governors open up there s still a chance that more appointees with overtly political agendas could undermine the central bank s policy making And if President Trump wins a second term he will have an opportunity to replace Powell with someone more malleable Thus the outcome of the next election could have important consequences for the Fed s long term independence
Personnel aside the president s attacks threaten to undermine confidence in the Fed For one his tendency to blame the Fed for poor economic performance could encourage others to do the same Second particularly at times when the Fed s interest rate decisions are a close call Trump s vocal criticism could lead people to believe that the Fed succumbed to his demands Even if not true such a perception would cast doubt on the Fed s integrity
U S presidents have tended to refrain from criticizing the Fed since 1993 when Robert Rubin then head of President Bill Clinton s National Economic Council recognized that doing so had little benefit It probably wouldn t change the Fed s direction but might shake market confidence in the central bank s independence If markets decided that the Fed had a political agenda for example goosing the economy ahead of elections they would become more volatile and long term borrowing costs would likely rise to offset the risk of higher inflation This cost would far outweigh any potential benefit from influencing the Fed s monetary policy decisions
President Trump has jettisoned such considerations His desire to have the Fed as a scapegoat appears to outweigh his concern about compromising the central bank s independence Ironically the better Powell and his colleagues do their jobs the more they are able to resist Trump and maintain markets confidence in their independence the less the president will pay for his regrettable choice to continually criticize the Fed |
VZ | Cincinnati Bell YouTube TV Boost On Demand Streaming Services | Cincinnati Bell Inc NYSE CBB with its subsidiary Hawaiian Telcom has partnered with YouTube TV an over the top Internet television network to deliver the latter s offerings in Greater Cincinnati and Hawaii The move underscores the telephone company s commitment to reinforce competitive products and services in the regional market while addressing the increasing demand for fiber capacity through cost efficient content platforms Per the deal YouTube TV will provide access to more than 70 cable and broadcast networks such as ESPN FOX CNN NBC and HGTV with unlimited storage capacity uninterrupted streaming and live nationwide and local coverage without any baffling long term contracts Backed by high speed Internet connection the video sharing platform enables the distribution of its subscription based streaming plan with personalized recommendations to six accounts per household with a personal digital video recorder The distribution contract for YouTube TV comes after the service struck a similar deal with Verizon NYSE VZ last year Supported by exceptional fiber density and operational efficiency the agreement will enable YouTube to reach more customers while aiding the cord cutters to conveniently manage multiple bills Primarily targeted at Fioptics TV customers the agreement will accelerate Cincinnati Bell s predominant strategy to create a differentiated and balanced revenue mix by expanding its high bandwidth fiber optic network as customers migrate from legacy services to advanced fiber offerings Cincinnati Bell s efforts to evolve from a legacy copper based telecommunications company to an IT firm with contemporary fiber assets offering seamless network solutions to both consumer and business customers are remarkable Its move to prioritize customer satisfaction followed by the creation of job opportunities augurs well for the region s economic development Notably the company s investment in fiber supports the growing IoT trend which proliferates the usage of broadband connections along with smart home devices Claiming to future proof 50 of its network services Cincinnati Bell is undergoing a drastic transformation to upgrade its network infrastructure to the next gen fiber This will support the burgeoning demand for data and accelerate 5G mobile technology growth However the company continues to experience erosion in high margin local access lines With Digital Subscriber Line and cable modems gaining widespread acceptance customers are deactivating the extra phone lines that were used to access the Internet via dial up modem The shift to wireless services along with aggressive rollout of VoIP and long distance services by Tier 1 competitors in Cincinnati and Dayton has further contributed to access line erosion Also the company is facing competitive threats from local cable operators that aggressively deploy local phone service in addition to television This has already resulted in the loss of major business customers Backed by proper execution of its operational plans the stock has rallied 26 6 against the s decline of 29 3 in the past year Cincinnati Bell currently has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell A couple of better ranked stocks in the industry are Telefonica MC TEF Brasil S A NYSE VIV and Telefonica S A NYSE TEF both carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Telefonica Brasil has a long term earnings expectation of 8 6 Telefonica has a long term earnings growth expectation of 9 2 Free Zacks Single Best Stock Set to DoubleToday you are invited to download our latest Special Report that reveals 5 stocks with the most potential to gain 100 or more in 2020 From those 5 Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand picks one to have the most explosive upside of all This pioneering tech ticker had soared to all time highs and then subsided to a price that is irresistible Now a pending acquisition could super charge the company s drive past competitors in the development of true Artificial Intelligence The earlier you get in to this stock the greater your potential gain |
VZ | The deal between T Mobile and Sprint that forms a 146 billion telecom giant to take on AT T and Verizon is reportedly in jeopardy | Department of Justice staff recommends the merger between and be blocked according to Reuters The deal would join the third and fourth largest US wireless providers making it the No 3 carrier behind Verizon NYSE VZ and AT T NYSE T Watch and trade live The merger between the telecommunications giants T Mobile and Sprint is in jeopardy Department of Justice staff recommends the deal which would to take on Verizon and AT T be blocked according to Still the DOJ is up to a month away from making a final ruling the report said The deal which has been four years in the making and involves T Mobile exchanging 9 75 Sprint shares per unit of T Mobile would join the third and fourth largest US wireless providers giving them a combined 127 million customers That would make it the No 3 carrier behind Verizon and AT T Deutsche Telekom DE DTEGn would own 42 of the combined company while SoftBank which controls 85 of Sprint would own 27 Other investors would hold the remaining 31 T Mobile was down 2 ahead of Wednesday s opening bell while Sprint was lower by 4 Joe Ciolli contributed to this report |
VZ | U S Justice Department staff recommends blocking T Mobile Sprint deal sources say | By Sheila Dang and Diane Bartz WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Justice Department s antitrust division staff has recommended the agency block T Mobile US Inc s 26 billion acquisition of smaller rival Sprint Corp according to two sources familiar with the matter While Justice Department staff balked at the merger the Federal Communications Commission indicated on Monday it had reached an agreement in principle with the companies to allow the deal after the companies agreed to sell Sprint s prepaid brand Boost Mobile The final decision on whether to allow two of the four nationwide wireless carriers to merge now lies with political appointees at the department headed by antitrust division chief Makan Delrahim Sprint shares fell 4 2 at 6 92 while T Mobile dipped nearly 1 at 76 49 The Justice Department which often follows staff recommendations is expected to make a final decision in about a month the sources said Staff at the antitrust division who remain in their jobs even when administrations change have long been skeptical of the proposed merger sources have told Reuters T Mobile has a reputation for aggressively seeking to cut prices and improve service to woo customers away from market leaders Verizon Communications Inc NYSE VZ and AT T Inc NYSE T and staff may want to preserve that dynamic T Mobile and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment One critic of the deal Gene Kimmelman president of Public Knowledge the nonprofit public interest group said top brass in the Justice Department s antitrust division do not generally overrule the staff but they occasionally do I d be extremely surprised if the front office overruled this added Kimmelman a veteran of the Obama Justice Department A second antitrust expert who declined to be identified noted a previous deal during the Trump administration in which staff recommended filing a lawsuit to block the transaction but they were overruled AT T and Verizon each have 34 of the U S wireless market T Mobile has 18 and Sprint has 12 analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson said in a blog post this week Smaller carrier make up the balance In discussions with the FCC T Mobile and Sprint also promised not to terminate a deal that would allow cable operator Altice USA Inc to offer mobile phone service later this year using Sprint s network Altice had urged the FCC to reject the deal because it was concerned it would be stopped from offering the phone service The companies also pledged that the merged company would build a world leading 5G network touted as the next generation of wireless service They promised to give rural Americans robust 5G broadband and enhanced home broadband The FCC and Justice Department almost always agree publicly on merger reviews and experts say they have not had a major review disagreement in four decades Now state attorneys general and public utility commissions will review the deal potentially pushing a closing to the third quarter of this year a Citibank note said
T Mobile which is about 63 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom AG DE DTEGn has about 80 million customers Sprint about 84 percent owned by SoftBank Corp has some 55 million customers |
VZ | Verizon Falls 3 | Investing com Verizon NYSE VZ fell by 3 03 to trade at 55 11 by 09 32 13 32 GMT on Friday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Verizon shares traded since the start of the session was 1 16M Verizon has traded in a range of 54 96 to 55 27 on the day
The stock has traded at 59 8700 at its highest and 54 9900 at its lowest during the past seven days |
XOM | Stocks Wall Street Drifts Lower at Open Virus Delays China Restart | By Geoffrey Smith
Investing com Wall Street edged higher at the opening on Monday reversing earlier losses on continued fears about the impact of the coronavirus on the world economy amidst reports that China s factories were slow to return to work after a lengthy and enforce New Year holiday
By 10 20 AM ET 1520 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 80 points or 0 3 while the S P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both up 0 4 all seemingly content to await congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday and Wednesday before committing to any bigger moves
Uncertainty was the watchword on Monday owing to the difficulty of forming a coherent picture of how quickly China s factories and shops can return to anything like their pre holiday level of activity
Apple NASDAQ AAPL stock for example fell 0 6 amid conflicting reports about the reopening of factories belonging to Hon Hai Precision also known as Foxconn where the bulk of iPhones are made
Reuters reported that Foxconn had reopened factories with staffing levels at around 10 of normal while Bloomberg reported that the company had sent a message to staff on its internal app saying that it couldn t give a date for the resumption of production
Market research firm Trendforce said on Monday it had cut its forecast for iPhone production by about 10 to 41 million handsets for the three months through March The only bright spot for Apple NASDAQ AAPL is that the first quarter of the calendar year is in any case normally the slowest
Tesla NASDAQ TSLA stock leaped 4 9 but was off intraday highs after a highly speculative analysis in Forbes touting a possible takeover by Alphabet NASDAQ GOOGL Additionally initial enthusiasm about the partial reopening of its Shanghai plant gave way to the realization that production and cash flow may take weeks if not months to ramp up fully Reports suggested that the ramp up at Tesla and elsewhere will be delayed by the quarantining of laborers who return from holidays from other parts of the country
Chinese state media on Monday ran an interview with a leading local virologist suggesting that the incubation period for the coronavirus could be as much as 24 days rather than the 14 reported hitherto
Elswhere among individual stocks on Monday struggling mall operator Taubman Centers stock rose 53 after rival Simon Property NYSE SPG offered to buy one third of the Taubman family stake in a deal that values the group at 3 6 billion including debt The deal still needs approval from Taubman s free shareholders
Exxon Mobil NYSE XOM stock dipped back towards a new 10 year low again as U S crude futures tumbled below 50 a barrel again on growing fears that OPEC and its ally Russia aren t acting to stop a new glut forming on world markets as Chinese demand collapses
Stocks also came under pressure from the strengthening dollar which hit its highest level since October against developed market peers including a four month high against the euro
A stronger dollar not only reduces the value of U S companies export earnings it also tends to tighten financing conditions for the world economy as dollar denominated debt becomes more difficult for foreign companies and governments to service |
XOM | Exxon Mobil Stock Falls 3 | Investing com Exxon Mobil NYSE XOM Stock fell by 3 01 to trade at 59 63 by 13 36 18 36 GMT on Monday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Exxon Mobil shares traded since the start of the session was 11 21M Exxon Mobil has traded in a range of 59 63 to 60 52 on the day
The stock has traded at 63 2000 at its highest and 59 6300 at its lowest during the past seven days |
XOM | U S stocks higher at close of trade Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0 60 | Investing com U S stocks were higher after the close on Monday as gains in the Technology Consumer Services and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher
At the close in NYSE the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0 60 while the S P 500 index climbed 0 73 and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1 13
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ MSFT which rose 2 62 or 4 81 points to trade at 188 70 at the close Meanwhile Boeing Co NYSE BA added 2 35 or 7 92 points to end at 344 67 and Cisco Systems Inc NASDAQ CSCO was up 1 88 or 0 90 points to 48 87 in late trade
The worst performers of the session were Exxon Mobil Corp NYSE XOM which fell 1 06 or 0 64 points to trade at 59 96 at the close Walmart Inc NYSE WMT declined 1 03 or 1 20 points to end at 115 25 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated NYSE UNH was down 0 76 or 2 19 points to 287 03
The top performers on the S P 500 were Macerich Company NYSE MAC which rose 11 30 to 26 00 Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD which was up 5 09 to settle at 52 26 and Loews Corp NYSE L which gained 4 81 to close at 55 81
The worst performers were ABIOMED Inc NASDAQ ABMD which was down 6 86 to 174 08 in late trade National Oilwell Varco Inc NYSE NOV which lost 5 38 to settle at 22 88 and Cimarex Energy Co NYSE XEC which was down 5 22 to 40 82 at the close
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were vTv Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ VTVT which rose 52 38 to 3 200 Kezar Life Sciences Inc NASDAQ KZR which was up 34 58 to settle at 5 02 and Co Diagnostics Inc NASDAQ CODX which gained 32 00 to close at 3 960
The worst performers were Valeritas Holdings Inc NASDAQ VLRX which was down 42 91 to 0 3625 in late trade Technical Communications NASDAQ TCCO which lost 33 92 to settle at 3 00 and Benitec Biopharma Ltd ADR NASDAQ BNTC which was down 25 27 to 5 56 at the close
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1634 to 1161 and 85 ended unchanged on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange 1517 rose and 1113 declined while 84 ended unchanged
Shares in Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD rose to all time highs up 5 09 or 2 53 to 52 26 Shares in Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ MSFT rose to all time highs up 2 62 or 4 81 to 188 70 Shares in Exxon Mobil Corp NYSE XOM fell to 5 year lows falling 1 06 or 0 64 to 59 96 Shares in vTv Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ VTVT rose to 52 week highs up 52 38 or 1 100 to 3 200 Shares in Valeritas Holdings Inc NASDAQ VLRX fell to all time lows losing 42 91 or 0 2725 to 0 3625 Shares in Co Diagnostics Inc NASDAQ CODX rose to 52 week highs up 32 00 or 0 960 to 3 960
The CBOE Volatility Index which measures the implied volatility of S P 500 options was down 2 78 to 15 04
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0 14 or 2 15 to 1575 55 a troy ounce Elsewhere in commodities trading Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1 37 or 0 69 to hit 49 63 a barrel while the April Brent oil contract fell 0 02 or 0 01 to trade at 53 41 a barrel
EUR USD was up 0 02 to 1 0912 while USD JPY rose 0 02 to 109 76
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0 18 at 98 745 |
XOM | Is ExxonMobil a Buy | It s barely February and there s no denying that 2020 has been a hard year for energy investors Year to date the energy sector one of the 11 sectors in the S P 500 has fallen 10 compared to the S P 500 s 3 gain For long term ExxonMobil NYSE XOM shareholders the pain has been even worse as Exxon closed below 60 a share on Feb 11 to mark a fresh 9 year low
It is in tough times like these that ExxonMobil shareholders and those interested in the company need to determine if Exxon remains a sound investment
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Commodity prices
Before going further remember that energy stocks are cyclical and respond to changes in commodity prices such as oil and natural gas as well as the byproducts of oil such as the most common plastic in the world polyethylene which is used in plastic wrap plastic bottles grocery bags and much more
Commodity prices are one of the biggest risks for investing in ExxonMobil and that risk has been amplified by recent movements Natural gas prices have hit a 3 5 year low West Texas Intermediate WTI crude oil the commonly quoted benchmark along with Brent recently fell below 50 a barrel a 13 month low
For an integrated oil and gas company such as ExxonMobil the silver lining to low oil and gas prices has historically been downstream in that refining operations become cheaper due to lower input costs Yet Exxon s chemical and refining margins are near the bottom of their 10 year ranges which when compared to 4Q 2018 contributed a negative 1 62 billion difference for refining and a negative 670 million difference for chemicals Lower gas prices represented a negative 680 million difference In fact Exxon s results would have been much worse had it not been for nearly 3 7 billion of income from a Norwegian asset sale that contributed over half of Exxon s upstream income for the quarter
Commodity prices are particularly impactful for Exxon The company prides itself on innovating to be the best oil and gas company in the world whereas competitors such as Royal Dutch Shell NYSE RDS A NYSE RDS B see a future in renewables and according to Bloomberg led supermajors in clean energy investments last year
XOM data by YCharts
Unfortunately there s little hope in the short term that commodity prices will turn toward the upside As a result companies large and small have set their sights on the Permian Basin where they think lower break even costs per barrel can be obtained by fracking the region s vast reserves The Permian has been the go to growth answer for Exxon and Chevron NYSE CVX but that growth is dependent on large acreage holdings and heavy investment Exxon s goal to produce over 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day boed by 2024 and return 10 at 35 oil is a big bet on the profitability of the Permian
Allocating assets to the Permian by diverting from legacy assets as Exxon demonstrated by selling assets in Norway in 4Q 2019 helps fund infrastructure builds necessary for Exxon s expansion of upstream and downstream segments That being said falling oil prices can cripple the bottom line to the point where investment may seem too cavalier Many of the 5 year growth initiatives set by big oil management teams are dependent on steady oil prices around 55 65 per barrel as it had been for most of 2019 Simple math tells us that if a company s average breakeven price across assets is let s say 45 per barrel and oil was 60 then profit margin would decrease by two thirds in a 50 per barrel environment That leaves little profit to spare especially when a good amount goes toward current and future dividend obligations ExxonMobil has grown its dividend for 36 consecutive years In sum 50 oil is a big problem for Exxon because it reduces profits which hinders funding which limits the ability to scale effectively Without scale there will likely be even lower margins for Exxon
Another headwind to short term commodity prices is China s lower demand for oil in response to the coronavirus Just a few weeks after the outbreak of the virus daily Chinese oil demand is already down 20 percent because of dwindling air travel road transportation and manufacturing said a recent New York Times article Since China consumes 13 of every 100 barrels of oil the world produces every oil company is being hit to some extent the article continued
Oil demand has fallen mostly from the transportation industry with airports on lockdown and international commerce running at diminished rates Forecasts for 2020 were originally optimistic predicting another year of record global consumption largely fed by U S production That outlook looks increasingly unlikely
Relevance of oil and gas
Even with the rise of renewables oil and gas still play a vital role in the energy mix of today Going forward though things could change
The general consensus among research firms such as McKinsey Co Wood Mackenzie and IHS Markit is that natural gas in particular will continue to play a vital role in the power generation and industrial sectors although residential and commercial use declines significantly The EIA s 2020 Energy Outlook released in late January predicts that renewables will be the fastest growing source of electricity generation through 2050 McKinsey expects 3 U S natural gas growth per year between 2020 to 2025 1 to 1 4 from 2025 to 2035 and 0 between 2035 to 2040 with almost all growth into 2040 occurring from LNG exports to China India and emerging markets Around 1 billion of the world s population continues to live without electricity and every natural gas power plant or LNG import that s delivered instead of coal is a win for the environment In this way natural gas can make a difference
The switch from coal to natural gas is sweeping the United States thanks to the 45 reduction in CO2 emissions achieved when switching from coal to natural gas combustion Developing countries are also building infrastructure around natural gas As far as oil it dominates the transportation sector in the form of distillates like diesel and jet fuel Plastics are used in everything from household products to clothing Simply put the world still runs on oil and gas its greatest benefit being as an alternative to coal Renewables should increasingly play a pivotal role in the energy mix but they can work together with fossil fuels
In need of a change
Forecasts and the long term relevance aside big oil has cornered itself into an undeniably bleak predicament Several headwinds some of which are self inflicted have converged to produce bleak and borderline terrible financial results It s a blow to the majors and downright existential for smaller companies In Q3 2019 the number of North American Exploration and Production E P cumulative bankruptcy filings since 2015 topped 200 according to Houston based corporate law firm Haynes and Boone
For what it can control the oil and gas industry may need to consider decreasing production to stabilize prices This would also cut spending in the short term In terms of buyers the main market is in developing countries many of which still lack the infrastructure necessary to import and deliver natural gas The fact of the matter is that although US production is on the rise OPEC s spare capacity is at a 10 year high and that doesn t include the millions of barrels of oil lost in places like Venezuela Iran Nigeria and more Simply put the oil and gas industry got too good at producing oil and gas and no one knew when or how to tone it down
The diversified portfolios of the majors will partially insulate them from this potential downturn but there s no doubt that the ripple effects of high supply will permeate throughout the industry
The verdict
XOM Debt To Capital Quarterly data by YCharts
ExxonMobil takes center stage as a company whose troubles are far from over Although the near term looks rough Exxon still plays a crucial role in global industry The company s balance sheet has improved sporting the second lowest debt to capital ratio among supermajors It now yields 5 7 the most in over 10 years Still ExxonMobil is hard to justify as a true value stock in this environment Its competitors most notably Shell and Chevron are also attractive at these prices and in my opinion they have an edge against Exxon over the long term Shell in particular has a huge gas portfolio which could be a safer commodity than oil over the next few decades
Exxon isn t a pretty stock right now Its recent woes are justified by lackluster earnings and a slew of headwinds At this price though it wouldn t be the worst idea to try the classic Foolish principle of buying in thirds It s a good strategy for when a stock comes down in price but you re hesitant to jump in all at once |
XOM | Stocks Wall Street Hits New Records at Open on Virus Hopes | By Geoffrey Smith
Investing com Wall Street raced to new all time highs at the opening on Wednesday driven by growing hopes that the coronavirus now known as Covid 19 could soon peak
However China changed its methodology for counting new cases last week and no longer includes those patients who test positive without showing symptoms Given that the virus incubation period can last up to 24 days also according to official Chinese data that creates a clear risk of under reporting The economic impacts of the virus continue to become more visible with big downward revisions to global oil demand and the increasing use of force majeure clauses by Chinese companies to get out of contractual obligations to buy inputs or deliver finished products
By 10 05 AM ET 1505 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen 199 points or 0 7 while the S P 500 had risen 0 4 Both touched new record highs in the opening minutes of trading after China s authorities published figures showing a sharp fall in new cases of Covid 19 for the second day in a row The Nasdaq Composite was up 0 3
Buying was again concentrated in mega cap stock such as Apple NASDAQ AAPL and Amazon NASDAQ AMZN despite a lack of newsflow out of either company
Among those companies that did generate news on Wednesday Shopify NYSE SHOP rose 13 8 to a new all time high after blowout numbers for its fourth quarter and Molson Coors NYSE TAP rose 5 1 also helped by solid results although nowhere near as solid as Heineken s OTC HEINY the Dutch brewer s ADRs rose 5 9 after its quarterly report
Elsewhere the shorts betting against Bed Bath Beyond s NASDAQ BBBY turnaround were vindicated after the company s same store sales fell short of expectations in December and January CEO Mark Tritton blamed product availability and weaker than expected store visits BB B stock fell 25 reversing all the gains since October
CVS Health NYSE CVS stock ground out another 1 2 increase after reporting above forecast earnings for the fourth quarter which were again supported by the contribution of Aetna the insurer that it bought late in 2018
Elsewhere oil and gas stocks were lifted by a 2 9 rebound in U S crude futures after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its estimate for world oil demand this year by only 230 000 barrels a day The U S government had on Tuesday estimated demand destruction of 300 000 bpd Exxon Mobil NYSE XOM rose 1 4 while Chevron NYSE CVX rose 0 9 and Devon Energy NYSE DVN rose 4 3
The dollar index which tracks the greenback against a basket of six developed market currencies found a bid again rising 0 1 to 98 72 as the euro struggled to defend the 1 0900 level |
XOM | BP boss Looney sets out to reinvent oil giant with zero carbon goal | By Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla LONDON Reuters BP LON BP set one of the oil sector s most ambitious targets for curbing carbon emissions on Wednesday as new chief executive Bernard Looney began the biggest revamp in its 111 year history While investor groups welcomed the 2050 targets set out by Looney which put BP ahead of rivals Royal Dutch Shell L RDSa Total PA TOTF Equinor OL EQNR and all of the U S oil majors environmental campaigners criticized a lack of detail We have got to change and change profoundly because the world is changing fast and so are society s expectations of us Looney said in his first major speech as CEO after earlier highlighting a need to reinvent BP It is aiming to reduce and neutralize the carbon in the oil and gas that we dig out of the ground Looney added BP did not say how it intends to get emissions from its operations and barrels produced to net zero and halve the intensity of emissions by all products it sells including diesel and petrol a measure known as Scope 3 The company has tried and failed to reinvent itself before with a pioneering plan to build a large renewables business in the early 2000s which ended with huge losses One possible way to hit greenhouse gas reduction targets is to buy offset certificates and bet on carbon capture and storage technology which is not yet used on a commercial scale But Charlie Kronick Oil Advisor from Greenpeace UK was skeptical about how BP can deliver How will they reach net zero When will they stop wasting billions on drilling for new oil and gas we can t burn Shares in BP were up 1 3 at 1423 GMT roughly in line with the broader European energy sector index SXEP after the news which confirmed a Reuters report in January RAPID TRANSITION The world s top oil and gas companies are under heavy pressure from investors and climate activists to meet the 2015 Paris climate goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius from pre industrial levels U S groups such as Exxon N XOM Chevron N CVX and ConocoPhillips N COP are far less ambitious with their greenhouse gas reduction targets than their European rivals Stephanie Pfeifer a member of the global Climate Action 100 Steering Committee and CEO of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change welcomed BP s plan Building on the positive engagement with BP investors will continue to look for progress from the company in addressing climate change This includes how it will invest more in non oil and gas businesses she said in a statement BP s absolute net zero carbon target relates to every barrel it produces based on its equity stake in oil and gas fields from the well to the petrol station It does not encompass oil products which BP markets but does not produce itself BP which produced around 2 64 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019 said it would cut emissions to net zero from some 415 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year Near term plans will be published by a September investor day Looney said adding BP is likely to produce fewer barrels by 2050 We welcome BP s recognition of the reality we now live in but 2050 is too late a spokeswoman for climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion said Graphic Oil majors carbon emissions png Anglo Dutch group Shell has set Scope 3 targets based on intensity rather than on absolute reduction terms Intensity based targets measure the amount of greenhouse gas GHG emissions per unit of energy or barrel of oil and gas produced That means that absolute emissions can rise with growing production even if the headline intensity metric falls Scope 3 emissions vastly exceed greenhouse gases caused by the production of crude oil natural gas and refined products including electricity generation typically by a factor of about six among oil majors according to Reuters calculations NEW EXPECTATIONS BP will also set new expectations for relationships with trade organisations and be ready to quit if they are not aligned Last year BP invested around 500 million in low carbon technologies including wind power electric vehicle battery charging systems and solar power firm Lightsource BP That compared to an overall budget of 15 2 billion in 2019 In perhaps its biggest ever corporate shake up BP will dismantle the traditional model of an oil and gas production or upstream unit and a refining trading and marketing or downstream unit to become more integrated and more focused A new production and operations unit which includes oil and gas production as well as refining and chemicals will be led by Gordon Birrell Meanwhile customers and products will be led by Emma Delaney gas and low carbon energy by Dev Sanyal and innovation and engineering by David Eyton
Graphic Going green png |
XOM | Guyana to export its first share of oil in coming days official | GEORGETOWN Reuters Guyana is getting ready to export in the coming days the first cargo of Liza crude entitled to the government as share of the oil produced by a consortium led by energy giant ExxonMobil N XOM the head of the country s Energy Department said on Wednesday The tanker Cap Philippe which is approaching Guyanese waters is expected to load 1 million barrels of the light sweet crude The cargo along with another two to come was sold by Guyana to Royal Dutch Shell L RDSA in a December tender The government of the South American nation which late last year became an oil producer is expected to receive at least five cargoes of crude produced by the Exxon led consortium this year or about 13 700 barrels per day bpd the Energy Department s director Mark Bynoe said in a statement Guyana plans to call oil firms to a competitive process later this month to select the marketing agent that will be in charge of trading the government s share of oil produced The terms of the process have not yet been published Exxon U S Hess Corp N HES and a unit of China s CNOOC Ltd HK 0883 on Dec 20 inaugurated output at their massive 26 800 square kilometer Stabroek block It has since then produced about 52 000 bpd according to the government and it is expected to reach 120 000 bpd by year end Guyana s first ever crude export entitled to Exxon set sail in January bound for the U S Gulf Coast on tanker Yannis P The oil was processed at the energy firm s refining system A second cargo also chartered by Exxon is underway to Panama Bynoe said earlier this week that talks with the Exxon led consortium were expected to be completed in the coming days to reach an agreement on pricing before the first cargo entitled to the government set sail |
XOM | Oil Posts Biggest Gain since Early January on Easing Virus Fears | Bloomberg Oil posted the biggest gain in almost six weeks as signs that the spread of Asia s coronavirus may be slowing boosted investor confidence that crude s sell off has peaked
Futures in New York climbed 2 5 on data from China that showed a drop in suspected coronavirus infections The positive sentiment was largely undeterred by a government report showing U S crude stockpiles posted the largest build since November
Markets are pricing in that we may have hit peak coronavirus fear said Daniel Ghali a commodities strategist at TD Securities Investors that were bearish are thinking they want to start to take their foot off the pedal
Prices have also drawn some support from signals that OPEC and its partners may intervene to shore up the market The coalition slashed its estimate for demand growth in the first quarter by 440 000 barrels a day as the coronavirus hits fuel consumption in China In a meeting with Energy Minister Alexander Novak Russia s key oil producers voiced support for the idea of extending OPEC output cuts into the second quarter but made no final decision
Saudi Arabia has been the strongest advocate for production cuts of an additional 600 000 barrels a day Russia has remained noncommittal saying more time was needed to study the proposal
The Energy Information Administration reported that nationwide crude inventories rose 7 46 million barrels last week more than double the 3 2 million barrel increase forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey The report also showed a surprise gasoline draw of 95 000 barrels
Gasoline futures surged 4 4 the biggest rise increase since September after a fire broke out overnight at Exxon Mobil Corp NYSE XOM s Baton Rouge oil refinery in Louisiana halting production at the fifth biggest fuel making plant in the U S
West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery gained 1 23 to settle at 51 17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange
Brent for April settlement climbed 3 3 to settle at 55 79 a barrel on the ICE NYSE ICE Futures Europe exchange in London putting its premium over WTI at 4 38
The market s structure also showed signs of strengthening with the discount on front month Brent contracts versus the second month narrowing to 12 cents suggesting fears of a supply glut may be easing
Still discounts have held for Brent contracts for the majority of 2020 a pattern known as contango that typically reflects oversupply
We ve seen a lift because in the very near term it s all about the virus says Judith Dwarkin chief economist at RS Energy Group Until we re out of the woods the market will be laser focused on slowing demand growth and if OPEC waits to implement cuts until April it may be too late to deal with the bulge in supply |
XOM | All Eyes on Exxon Chevron After BP Pledges to Be Carbon Neutral | Bloomberg BP LON BP Plc s pledge to zero out all its carbon emissions by 2050 deepens the divide between major European and American oil producers on climate change increasing the pressure for Exxon Mobil Corp NYSE XOM and Chevron Corp NYSE CVX to do more
The U S supermajors have only committed to reducing greenhouse gases from their own operations which typically account for just 10 of fossil fuel pollution BP on Wednesday followed Royal Dutch Shell LON RDSa Plc and Equinor ASA in pledging to offset emissions from the fuels they sell to customers representing about 90 of the total
If we do see capital flowing into BP that may force the U S majors to rethink the speed at which they move on carbon reduction targets said Noah Barrett a Denver based energy analyst at Janus Henderson which manages 356 billion Still he doesn t see Chevron or Exxon adopting a BP like strategy in the near future as they have historically been less aggressive in their shift away from traditional oil and gas
Concerns about global warming are increasingly reshaping investment policies with BlackRock Inc NYSE BLK and State Street Corp NYSE STT becoming the latest high profile investors to demand companies improve environmental social and governance metrics or ESG
Exxon and Chevron the West s number one and three oil producers say it s not up to them to offset emissions from cars factories and other polluters known in the industry as Scope 3 For Exxon such emissions are the result of choices consumers make Chevron says well designed policies and carbon pricing mechanisms are needed
But BP s announcement could be a real tipping point where the norm becomes taking responsibility for customer emissions said Kathy Mulvey a campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists For a company to continue to stick their heads in the sand and refuse to take responsibility for those harmful impacts is not a sustainable business model
Exxon and Chevron do agree with the goals of the Paris Agreement support a carbon tax and are committed to cleaning up emissions from their vast network of wells refineries and pipelines They joined the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative later than their European rivals but are still fully paid up members They even lobbied against U S President Donald Trump s plan to roll back Obama era emission standards
The fundamental difference with European peers however is that neither is reducing commitment to their oil and gas business by chasing the crowd into lower margin renewables such as wind and solar
When asked about potentially following Shell into the power sector Chevron CEO Mike Wirth was clear in an interview with Bloomberg News last year
We don t see distinctive differentiating capabilities that would say wow we can do this better he said And it s inherently lower return than the other things we could invest money in
Chevron is investing in early stage technologies that could help aid carbon capture and energy storage but that s a small fraction of its budget The company helps customers clean up their energy usage by supplying gas for power generation that s cleaner than coal developing biofuels and adding renewable energy sources like wind and geothermal it said in a statement
Exxon CEO Darren Woods says the real answer to climate change will come through technologies that haven t yet been invented The company said in a statement it has invested more than 10 billion over the past 20 years in researching and developing low emissions technologies
The oil giant is working on proprietary technologies that would reduce emissions in areas like aviation heavy duty vehicles and industrial processes We can bring more value in the space where we don t know what the solution is but we need one Woods said in an April interview Exxon has pedigree in this field It invented the lithium ion battery in the 1970s
This approach will likely come under attack at this year s round of shareholder meetings in May Both companies are being asked by Dutch activist investor group Follow This to align their strategies with the Paris Agreement Exxon is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to exclude that proposal from a shareholder vote arguing it seeks to micromanage the company |
WMB | In major shift Trump to allow lawsuits against foreign firms in Cuba | By Matt Spetalnick and Sarah Marsh WASHINGTON HAVANA Reuters The Trump administration will allow lawsuits in U S courts for the first time against foreign companies that use properties confiscated by Communist ruled Cuba since Fidel Castro s revolution six decades ago a senior U S official said on Tuesday The major policy shift which will be announced on Wednesday could expose U S European and Canadian companies to legal action and deal a blow to Cuba s efforts to attract more foreign investment It is also another sign of Washington s efforts to punish Havana over its support for Venezuela s socialist president Nicolas Maduro President Donald Trump s national security adviser John Bolton will explain on Wednesday the administration s decision in a speech in Miami and announce new sanctions on Cuba Venezuela and Nicaragua countries he has branded a troika of tyranny the official said speaking on condition of anonymity It is unclear however whether such property claims will be acceptable in U S courts The European Union has already warned it could lodge a challenge with the World Trade Organization The extraterritorial application of the U S embargo is illegal contrary to international law and I also consider it immoral EU ambassador to Cuba Alberto Navarro said in Havana Trump threatened in January to allow a law that has been suspended since its creation in 1996 permitting Cuban Americans and other U S citizens to sue foreign companies doing business in Cuba over property seized in decades past by the Cuban government Title III of the Helms Burton Act had been fully waived by every president over the past 23 years due to opposition from the international community and fears it could create chaos in the U S court system with a flood of lawsuits The complete lifting of the ban could allow billions of dollars in legal claims to move forward in U S courts and likely antagonize Canada and Europe whose companies have significant business holdings in Cuba It could also affect some U S companies that began investing in the island an old Cold War foe since former President Barack Obama began a process of normalizing relations between the two countries from the end of 2014 The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment But the country s National Assembly meeting over the weekend declared the Helms Burton Act illegitimate unenforceable and without legal effect Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel said in a speech on Saturday that the United States has pushed the precarious relations with our country back to the worst level trying to activate the hateful Helms Burton Law which aims to return us in principle to when we were a slave nation of another empire U S Cuban relations have nosedived since Trump became president in early 2017 A six decade U S economic embargo on Cuba has also remained officially intact LEGALLY UNPRECEDENTED OUTCOME UNKNOWN Trump is going ahead despite protests by Canadian and European leaders to U S counterparts The U S official dismissed the EU s warning of a possible WTO challenge and a cycle of counterclaims in European courts as doomed to fail Among the foreign companies heavily invested in Cuba are Canadian mining firm Sherritt International Corp and Spain s Melia Hotels International SA U S companies including airlines and cruise companies have forged business deals in Cuba since the easing of restrictions under Obama Defending the decision the U S official said allowing lawsuits would cause only a bump in the business world but send a message of U S resolve against Havana In addition to halting any further waivers of Title III the administration will begin full enforcement of Helms Burton s Title IV which requires the denial of U S visas to those involved in trafficking confiscated properties in Cuba Trump s decision followed threats by his top aides in recent weeks to take actions against Cuba to force it to abandon Maduro something Havana has insisted it will not do Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido invoked the constitution in January to assume the interim presidency The United States and most Western countries have backed Guaido as head of state Maduro has denounced Guaido as a U S puppet who is seeking to foment a coup and Maduro is backed by Cuba Russia China and the Venezuela military Trump s toughened stance on Cuba as well as Venezuela has gone down well in the large Cuban American community in south Florida an important voting bloc in a political swing state as he looks toward his re election campaign in 2020 In Bolton s speech on Wednesday he is expected to announce further measures against Cuba The administration is considering a range of options including sanctions against senior Cuban military and intelligence officials over their role in Venezuela and the tightening of limits on U S trade with the island according to two people familiar with the matter Navarro said EU companies had the obligation of not collaborating with U S judgments under Title III and the possibility to make counterclaims This is a fringe policy decision that has not been tested legally said James Williams NYSE WMB president of Engage Cuba a Washington based lobbying group working to normalize relations with Cuba Some 5 913 claims held by U S companies and individuals have been certified by the U S Justice Department and are estimated to be worth roughly 8 billion
Cuban law ties settlement of any claims to U S reparations for damages from Washington s embargo and what it considers other acts of U S aggression Cuban estimates of that damage range from 121 billion to more than 300 billion |
WMB | Right wing party wins power in Canada s oil region attacks Trudeau on environment | By Nia Williams NYSE WMB CALGARY Alberta Reuters A right of center party swept to power in Canada s main oil producing province of Alberta on Tuesday and attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau s efforts to fight climate change raising tension just months ahead of a federal election The United Conservative Party UCP of Jason Kenney which had led in the polls for months crushed the left leaning New Democratic Party NDP government of Rachel Notley amid frustration over the economy and a beleaguered energy industry Kenney s victory means governments in five of the 10 provinces now oppose Trudeau s plans to combat global warming which look set to be a major theme of the October election Both Kenney and Notley blamed Trudeau for a lack of progress on new oil export pipelines saying he was pressing for excessively stringent environmental standards at a time when energy producers were clamoring for more capacity We have in Ottawa a federal government that has made a bad situation much worse it is imposing new laws that will make it impossible to get pipelines approved in the future Kenney told a victory rally in Calgary In an often belligerent campaign Kenney promised to stand up for Albertans against Trudeau and other politicians he said were taking the province and its oil and gas for granted Provisional results showed the UCP had won 63 of the 87 seats in the provincial legislature The NDP ended decades of conservative rule in Alberta when it won a 2015 election but inherited an economy hammered by a global crude price crash Notley introduced a carbon tax to help cut emissions of greenhouse gases a measure Kenney had vowed to scrap He did not repeat the promise during his speech calling the measure a tax grab instead Trudeau this month imposed a price on carbon on four provinces without plans to tackle global warming and made clear he would do the same for Alberta if needed Climate change is real and must be fought Trudeau told a town hall in Cambridge Ontario on Tuesday before the Alberta results were announced In a statement later Trudeau said he and Kenney would work together to take decisive action on climate change while getting our natural resources to market Kenney a 50 year old former federal cabinet minister vowed action on jobs and the economy Both parties support new oil pipelines including the Trans Mountain expansion that will triple the amount of crude reaching the Pacific Coast They also back measures to prop up Alberta s energy industry which struggled last year with record discounts on Canadian crude because of pipeline congestion Not many people who are in the energy industry can say Alberta is in a better place than it was four years ago said Tim Pickering president of Auspice Capital Advisers in Calgary which manages a Canadian crude exchange traded fund
Notley told supporters her government had done a tough and difficult job adding Today Alberta is a better place because of it |
WMB | Hungry for change Ukrainians set to elect comedian as next president | By Matthias Williams NYSE WMB KIEV Reuters Ukrainians fed up with entrenched corruption and hungry for change are likely to elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy a comedian with no previous political experience as their next president in a run off vote on Sunday The 41 year old Zelenskiy who plays a fictitious president in a popular TV series has maintained a strong lead since winning nearly twice as many votes as the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in last month s first round of the election An opinion poll by the KIIS research firm on Tuesday showed Zelenskiy with 72 percent of the vote and Poroshenko with 25 percent Last week a different survey put them on 61 percent and 24 percent respectively Zelenskiy s rise fits a pattern of political insurgency across many parts of the world from the election of President Donald Trump in the United States to Brexit to the Five Star Movement in Italy that was also propelled by a comedian His victory would be a drastic departure from previous presidential elections since Ukraine broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991 which were won by experienced politicians including three former prime ministers At stake is the leadership of a country on the frontline of the West s standoff with Russia following the 2014 Maidan protests that caused Poroshenko s Kremlin backed predecessor to flee into exile and Moscow s annexation of Crimea Poroshenko believes he can close the gap on Zelenskiy and there is an outside chance that at the last moment voters will choose a familiar face rather than a leap into the unknown Zelenskiy has pledged to keep Ukraine on a pro Western course and has assured investors that he would push reforms tackle corruption and keep the economy anchored to an International Monetary Fund loan program But while he has begun releasing a policy agenda he remains something of an unknown quantity and also faces scrutiny over his ties to a powerful oligarch who would like to see Poroshenko out of power The comedian capitalized on a broad rejection of the country s political elites and Mr Poroshenko s widespread unpopularity among the electorate said Agnese Ortolani an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit Mr Zelenskiy s policy platform beyond a focus on anti corruption issues and a broad pro Western agenda remains unclear she said adding Our core forecast is that Mr Zelenskiy will defeat Mr Poroshenko in the second round A 53 year old confectionary magnate Poroshenko has portrayed his opponent as a buffoonish populist unfit to lead a country at war against Kremlin backed separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed 13 000 people That message has resonated with some voters such as Iryna Zaitseva a pensioner who stitches traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts in her retirement I want my country to be represented by a man who is wise smart she said Clowns and buffoons are also needed but in a circus arena Poroshenko secured visa free travel for Ukrainians to European Union countries He implemented some reforms helped establish a national Orthodox Church independent from Moscow and successfully lobbied the West to keep sanctions on Russia But critics say the pace of change has not matched the expectations of the Maidan protests named after a central square in Kiev Poroshenko also did not keep a pledge to end the war in the east within weeks and living standards remain low in Ukraine which has a population of 42 million and is one of Europe s poorest countries Just 9 percent of Ukrainians have confidence in their national government the lowest of any electorate in the world a Gallup poll published in March showed Zelenskiy tapped into this anti establishment mood with an unorthodox campaign packed with jokes comedy gigs and quirky social media posts to millions of online followers His campaign also attracted well known reformers including two former ministers who fell out with Poroshenko Poroshenko has not delivered that justice which Maidan was all about Aivaras Abromavicius a former economy minister who became an adviser to Zelenskiy told Reuters
And my main complaint to President Poroshenko is that he gave the hope that the country can be governed differently and he buried that hope unfortunately |
WMB | What s Worth Saving | Dan Oliver of Myrmikan Capital and Simon Mikhailovich of the Tocqueville Bullion Reserve sit down with Real Vision s Grant Williams NYSE WMB and discuss the process whereby history appears to rhyme Oliver and Mikhailovich provides some historical perspective to explain how we got here and discuss how history might shed light on the problems of tomorrow This video is excerpted from a piece published on Real Vision on August 20 2018 Watch more at |
WMB | Right wing victory in Canada s Alberta may spell trouble for Trudeau | By Nia Williams NYSE WMB Calgary Alberta Reuters A right wing pro energy party won a landslide victory in Canada s main oil producing province of Alberta late on Tuesday signaling momentum may be building against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau months ahead of a federal election in October The United Conservative Party UCP trounced the left leaning New Democratic Party NDP government by tapping into frustration over the economy and a struggling oil and gas industry Alberta is open for business UCP leader Jason Kenney said in a victory speech in Calgary on Tuesday Kenney s supporters many wearing cowboy hats roared when he drove directly into the venue in his blue campaign pickup truck emblazoned with the slogan Alberta Strong Free Kenney who had dominated in polls ahead of the vote promised to defend Albertans against Trudeau and the federal government who he said were taking advantage of the province and its oil and gas The vote comes at a challenging time for Trudeau who has been mired in a relentless scandal over alleged interference in a corporate corruption case that has led to the resignations of two Cabinet members and his top advisor The scandal has cost the prime minister his lead over rival Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer polls show Kenney s victory also appeared to signal a conservative shift in the country ahead of the national vote Alberta is the third major province to have picked a right leaning premier over the past year following Ontario and Quebec Shares of major energy companies climbed in midday trading with the Toronto Stock Exchange energy index up 0 9 percent Suncor Energy was up 1 3 percent at C 44 50 Cenovus Energy surged 2 2 percent to C 13 45 and Canadian Natural was up 2 percent at C 41 35 Results of the vote with the count nearly complete showed the UCP had won 63 out of 87 seats in the provincial legislature The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers welcomed the UCP win and said it would keep pushing for increasing market access and reinforcing the economic importance of industry to Alberta CLEAR MANDATE This is a pretty clear mandate for the UCP Now we have to see if Jason Kenney can live up to his promises especially in reviving the economy said Andy Knight professor of political science at the University of Alberta He s going to face some of the same challenges that Alberta Premier and NDP leader Rachel Notley had Notley s government introduced a carbon tax to help cut emissions of greenhouse gases in 2015 when Trudeau took power a measure Kenney has promised to scrap However such a move by Kenney could be countered by federal government measures Earlier this month Trudeau imposed a carbon tax in four provinces that do not have plans to tackle global warming and has made clear he would do the same for Alberta if needed Kenney has blamed Trudeau for a lack of progress on new oil export pipelines including the Trans Mountain expansion that will triple the amount of crude reaching the Pacific Coast from Alberta s oil sands The federal government bought the project from Kinder Morgan NYSE KMI in August 2018 to ensure it gets built The world needs more Canadian energy Kenney said during his speech as his supporters chanted Build that pipe He also backs measures to prop up Alberta s energy industry which struggled last year with record discounts on Canadian crude because of pipeline congestion
The University of Alberta s Knight cautioned against reading too much into a provincial election however with six months to go before the national vote A lot of things can happen between now and October |
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