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EBAY | EBay Falls Midday After CEO Steps Down | Investing com Auction and retail site eBay NASDAQ EBAY slipped on Wednesday after CEO Devin Wenig announced he was stepping down from the company due to differences with its revamped board of directors
Wenig said in a tweet that In the past few weeks it became clear that I was not on the same page as my new Board Whenever that happens it s best for everyone to turn that page over
EBay had made changes to its board earlier in the year and is looking to sell some of its business after pressure from hedge funds Elliott Management and Starboard Value
Wenig will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Scott Schenkel on an interim basis
Shares of eBay NASDAQ EBAY were down 1 5 in midday trade |
WFC | SunTrust Banks Q4 2018 Earnings Preview | SunTrust Banks NYSE STI is scheduled to announce Q4 earnings results on Friday January 18th before market open The consensus EPS Estimate is 1 37 25 7 Y Y and the consensus Revenue Estimate is 2 36B 2 2 Y Y Over the last 2 years STI has beaten EPS estimates 100 of the time and has beaten revenue estimates 50 of the time EPS estimates this quarter have seen 5 upward revisions and 9 downward Revenue estimates have seen 1 upward revision and 4 downward Now read |
WFC | The Fed Turning Gold Stocks Into Shooting Stars | The magnificent gold price rally has paused in the 1300 area for the past few weeks Monday was COMEX option expiry day
With that now out of the way gold is already staging more upside action
This is the daily gold chart A bullish upside channel breakout is in play and the consolidation was a flag like pattern
Also note my key 14 7 7 series Stochastics oscillator at the bottom of the chart A buy signal that occurs in the 40 60 area is a momentum oriented signal as opposed to a value oriented signal that occurs in the 0 20 area
These are technical signs of a tremendously healthy market
This is the spectacular long term gold chart
The technical excellence being showcased on the daily gold chart is typical during rallies from the final right shoulder low in this type of enormous inverse H S bull continuation pattern
I ve been almost alone among gold analysts in suggesting that the brief five year decline from 2011 2016 was a typical ho hum correction in a bull market rather than a vicious bear market
There s no question that junior gold stocks experienced a bear market then but they have experienced a myriad of bear markets since the gold bullion bull market began in 1999 2002
Gold bullion bull and bear cycles last a long time Twenty years is a short period of time for a gold bull or bear market and many last a century or longer
I ve predicted that this bull market will last a minimum of a hundred years and more likely two hundred and I stand by that prediction without wavering
Most of the world has been in a deflationary cycle since 1980 That s when global bond yields peaked Gold stocks tend to crash repeatedly in a deflationary cycle along with stock markets
In an inflationary cycle gold stocks rally when stock markets rally and they rally when stock markets fall In August of 2018 I told investors to get ready for a sea change event I predicted global stocks would crash in September October and gold stocks would surge higher as the stock markets crashed
That s exactly what happened then and I ll calmly predict that it s going to keep happening for the next decade of time
Silver bullion s daily chart looks fabulous
There s a double bottom pattern in play with a solid breakout Note how the pullback stopped well above the 15 support zone That s another sign of a very healthy precious metals market
Key bank analysts are tuning into the solid fundamentals picture for silver Supply growth has started to slow more than for any other precious metal John LaForge Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Bank Jan 28 2019
Unlike America China has tremendous wiggle room to stimulate its economy GDP growth can likely be sustained at 4 6 for many years while it s likely to be sub 2 in America for a long time That bodes well for industrial silver demand and Bloomberg analysts predict that demand will rise by 50 over the next 4 5 years
India is in an even stronger position than China and vastly stronger than America GDP growth is almost 8 now It could rise above 10 and it probably needs to to provide jobs for all the young citizens entering the workforce every day
This is the silver stocks ETF chart Global X Silver Miners NYSE SIL is lagging VanEck Vectors Gold Miners NYSE GDX right now and that s technically positive silver tends to lead as intermediate trends end and lag as they begin and accelerate
Goldman s analysts feel the global GDP and earnings decline in play now will hurt silver demand but I think they are underestimating the ability of the Chinese government to stimulate
They are also underestimating the anger of American blue collar workers who were essentially deflated and arguably conned by the central bank with its QE program QE benefitted the banks the stock market and government
Blue collar Americans wanted tax cuts Corporations got a tax cut and the workers got nothing Now they want their own version of QE handouts in the form of wage hikes Those hikes are going to happen as America enters a long period of GDP and corporate earnings stagnation That s phenomenal news for silver stock and bullion investors
This is the GDX daily chart Volume is positive and the month long consolidation appears to be ending A gold positive statement from the Fed tomorrow should move GDX like a shooting star toward my next 23 target price
Written between 4am 7am 5 6 issues per week Emailed at aprox 9am daily
Stewart Thomson is a retired Merrill Lynch broker Stewart writes the Graceland Updates daily between 4am 7am They are sent out around 8am 9am The newsletter is attractively priced and the format is a unique numbered point form Giving clarity of each point and saving valuable reading time
Risks Disclaimers Legal
Stewart Thomson is no longer an investment advisor The information provided by Stewart and Graceland Updates is for general information purposes only Before taking any action on any investment it is imperative that you consult with multiple properly licensed experienced and qualified investment advisors and get numerous opinions before taking any action Your minimum risk on any investment in the world is 100 loss of all your money You may be taking or preparing to take leveraged positions in investments and not know it exposing yourself to unlimited risks This is highly concerning if you are an investor in any derivatives products There is an approx 700 trillion OTC Derivatives Iceberg with a tiny portion written off officially The bottom line
Are You Prepared |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Flat As Market Gains What You Should Know | In the latest trading session Wells Fargo WFC closed at 48 91 marking no change from the previous day This change lagged the S P 500 s 0 09 gain on the day Meanwhile the Dow gained 0 26 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 0 25
Prior to today s trading shares of the biggest U S mortgage lender had gained 5 02 over the past month This has lagged the Finance sector s gain of 8 9 and the S P 500 s gain of 7 92 in that time
WFC will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release which is expected to be April 12 2019 The company is expected to report EPS of 1 09 down 2 68 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 20 88 billion down 4 79 from the prior year quarter
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 4 97 per share and revenue of 85 09 billion which would represent changes of 16 12 and 1 52 respectively from the prior year
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for WFC should also be noted by investors These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short term business trends As such positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company s business and profitability
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Within the past 30 days our consensus EPS projection has moved 3 19 lower WFC currently has a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Investors should also note WFC s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 9 84 This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 10 39
It is also worth noting that WFC currently has a PEG ratio of 0 88 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate Banks Major Regional stocks are on average holding a PEG ratio of 1 23 based on yesterday s closing prices
The Banks Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 181 which puts it in the bottom 30 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Make sure to utilize Zacks Com to follow all of these stock moving metrics and more in the coming trading sessions |
EBAY | This Rare Physical Bitcoin Can Be Yours for 99 000 | A physical bitcoin BTC is selling on eBay NASDAQ EBAY for 99 000 a listing on July 1 shows
The seller claims the collector s must have is a Casascius brass token that was created in 2011 |
EBAY | Physical Bitcoin For Sale on eBay for 99 000 | A physical bitcoin BTC is selling on eBay NASDAQ EBAY for 99 000 a listing on July 1 shows
The seller claims the collector s must have is a Casascius brass token that was created in 2011 |
EBAY | eBay Earnings Beat Revenue Misses In Q2 | Investing com eBay NASDAQ EBAY reported second quarter earnings that beat analysts expectations on Wednesday and revenue that fell short of forecasts
The firm reported earnings per share of 0 68 on revenue of 2 69 Analysts polled by Investing com forecast EPS of 0 62 on revenue of 2 68B That compared to EPS of 0 53 on revenue of 2 64B in the same period a year earlier The company had reported EPS of 0 67 on revenue of 2 64B in the previous quarter
eBay shares gained 3 51 to trade at 40 40 in after hours trade following the report
eBay follows other major Services sector earnings this month
On Wednesday Netflix reported second quarter EPS of 0 6 on revenue of 4 92B compared to forecasts of EPS of 0 56 on revenue of 4 93B
Prologis earnings beat analysts expectations on Monday with second quarter EPS of 0 62 on revenue of 700 69M Investing com analysts expected EPS of 0 38 on revenue of 698 76M
Stay up to date on all of the upcoming earnings reports by visiting Investing com s earnings calendar |
WFC | Asian Stocks Rise Ahead of Brexit Vote Chinese Stocks Gain on Stimulus Hope | Investing com Asian stocks rose in morning trade on Tuesday as investors now turned their focus to the upcoming vote on U K Prime Minister Theresa May s Brexit deal to leave the European Union
China s Shanghai Composite gained 1 while the Shenzhen Component also traded 1 3 higher by 9 11 PM ET 02 11 GMT Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index jumped 1 9
The gain in Chinese stocks came after reports that Beijing vowed tax cuts on a larger scale to help support its slowing economy
On Monday data showed China s exports in December unexpectedly shrank the most in 2 years putting Chinese equities under pressure
There are two macro events that continue to weigh on market perspective Frances Donald head of macroeconomic strategy at Manulife Asset Management said in an interview
The first is where is global growth heading next and weak Chinese trade data would suggest that global growth is certainly not bottomed as of yet And the second issue is the persistence of the U S government shutdown and how that muddies our perspective about what happens next
Meanwhile Japan s Nikkei 225 rose 1 0 and South Korea s KOSPI gained 1 4
Down under Australia s ASX 200 was up 0 6
In other news Brexit returned to focus this week as the U K parliament is expected to vote down Prime Minister Theresa May s Brexit plan While the defeat is widely anticipated by the market it could still trigger a volatile knee jerk market reaction analysts said
We could see knee jerk volatility She could lose by a historic margin This could be a historic loss by the government said Marc Chandler Bannockburn Global Forex chief market strategist
If the government gets crushed then you have a big risk off move said Michael Schumacher director of rate strategy at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC If it s a close defeat you might see equities do okay |
WFC | Marijuana | Every so often DataTrek puts together an excellent update on the rapidly expanding marijuana industry DataTrek s cofounders Jessica Rabe and Nick Colas have access to a wealth of information and they offer it as part of their service I m a regular reader of DataTrek and welcome its arrival each evening at 9 PM Sunday through Thursday DataTrek takes me on a deep dive into the following day s potential market movements Many thanks to Jessica and Nick for permission to share their findings You can learn more about DataTrek s Morning Briefing here datatrekresearch com
Readers may want to note that there is now a marijuana industry ETF The symbol is MJ This new ETF tracks an index of stocks that are likely to benefit from increasing global acceptance of various uses of the cannabis plant Bloomberg The ETF market cap at yearend was about 600 million This is a volatile security that fluctuated in price between the low 20s and the low 40s last year The largest weight in the 40 or so securities is Cronos at about 14 Most not all of the companies are Canadian or American
Also note that federal law in the US still has an impact on the financing structure of the American cannabis business Banks and financial services companies are loath to undertake financings without the federal government action required to protect them from federal prosecution That would require Congress to act and the president to sign such legislation For that reason jurisdictions issuing bonds have not been able to pledge revenue from taxes on the sale of marijuana to secure the bonds However marijuana tax revenue has been directed to capital needs In August 2018 the City of Denver approved a sales tax on marijuana to help fund rental housing through the use of Denver Housing Authority bonds See here Also in 2013 Colorado s Proposition AA directed excise taxes on marijuana for the partial funding of school construction Hat tip Roy Eappen Municipal Securities Research Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities and Cumberland s Patricia Healy
At Cumberland we expect to see municipal bonds secured by marijuana sales tax revenue in the future after the federal laws are modernized Right now Cumberland is watching We do not hold the ETF in our managed accounts at this time Of course that investment decision could change without notice
Datatrek introduced the discussion of marijuana related bonds by asking and answering this question
How does legalizing marijuana disrupt society This is an important question at the moment across a wide variety of US states as they debate how when to make pot legal The best case study is Colorado with 5 years of real world experience on the matter The Colorado Division of Criminal Justice released a comprehensive study on the matter in Q4 2018 and we give the results below on everything from youth and adult usage rates to arrests and marijuana related DUIs
Here is the full Datatrek report which we are reproducing with permission Again let me thank Jessica and Nick for sharing this with our readers
DAILY DISRUPTION FEATURE
By Jessica Rabe
It s been five years since Colorado dispensaries were first allowed to sell recreational marijuana Since it was also the first state to do so Colorado is not only a trailblazer but an important case study as other states follow While much of the legalization debate seems to focus on tax revenue in our travels we hear a lot of concern about the social aspects of legalization
Colorado as first mover knew these social concerns were important when they started down the path to legalization The state even has a bill that mandates the Division of Criminal Justice in the Department of Public Safety to study the impacts of legalization Here s a breakdown of their findings released in Q4 2018 with a link to the full study at the end
1 Arrests Overall marijuana arrests dropped by half from 12 709 in 2012 when legislation passed to 6 153 in 2017 Marijuana possessions the most common reason for all marijuana arrests also declined by half down 54 during that time period There are still ways to get arrested for marijuana possession even though it is legal such as possession with intent to distribute possession consumption in vehicle and possession under age of 21 Moreover adults can only possess one ounce of marijuana or less
This is important because Democratic governors who want to legalize retail marijuana this year including New York New Jersey and Illinois see it as a social justice issue as African Americans are disproportionately hurt by current laws Even though the number of arrests fell by over half for both Whites down 56 and African Americans down 51 in Colorado the marijuana arrest rate for the latter 233 per 100 000 was almost double the former 118 per 100 000 in 2017
2 Traffic safety Citations for marijuana impairment by the Colorado State Patrol remained roughly the same as a percentage of all DUI arrests at between 6 and 8 from 2014 to 2017 Total marijuana citations such as marijuana and alcohol or marijuana and other drugs rose slightly from 12 in 2014 to 15 in 2017 To put this in context there were 719 total marijuana citations out of 4 849 in 2017
Interestingly total DUI citations dropped to 4 849 in 2017 from 5 705 in 2014 while alcohol only citations also fell from 84 of all DUIs in 2014 to 80 in 2017 While marijuana only citations remained relatively steady alcohol only citations retreated
Lastly the latest data on the number of drivers in fatal crashes who tested above the legal limit of marijuana s active ingredient THC shows that it fell to 35 8 of all fatalities in 2017 from 52 13 of all fatalities in 2016
3 Adult usage rates More adults are using marijuana since stores started selling it recreationally in 2014 The numbers 15 5 of adults reported using marijuana in the past 30 days in 2017 compared to 13 6 in 2014 while 7 6 reported daily or near daily use versus 6 0 in 2014
Men have a much higher past 30 day usage rate 19 8 than women 11 2 Those aged 18 to 25 have the highest past 30 day usage rate 29 2 versus other generations including 26 34 year olds 26 4 35 64 year olds 12 5 and those 65 years and older 5 6
4 Youth impacts According to their surveys of middle and high schoolers there was no significant change in past 30 day use of the drug from 2013 19 7 to 2017 19 4 Additionally the rate of past 30 day use among Colorado high school students 19 4 was similar to the national average for high school students 19 8 As for education rates graduation rates have actually risen and dropout rates have fallen since recreational marijuana legalization was passed in 2012 and first sold in stores in 2014
5 Hospitalizations and emergency room visits Both increased in the two years after stores started selling recreational cannabis 2014 2015 Bear in mind the report notes that those reporting to poison control emergency departments or hospitals may feel more comfortable discussing their recent use or abuse of marijuana for purposes of treatment due to the decreased stigma and legal consequences The same goes for the reported increase in use of the drug by adults as well
Bottom line as we continue to highlight a quarter of Americans already live in a state where adult use of marijuana is legal As mentioned the governors of populous states such as New Jersey New York and Illinois want to pass retail sale legal use of the drug through their state legislatures as soon as this year It is only a matter of time before marijuana is legal nationally so understanding its impact on society is important Certain concerns like increased usage rates among teens did not occur in a state where it has been legal and for sale the longest While total marijuana related DUI citations increased alcohol and total DUI citations fell Of course all this data will need further monitoring in Colorado and other states where marijuana is fully legal but it at least helps keep the conversation about this disruptive trend constructive
Source
There was a follow up report by Datatrek in a subsequent edition We have reproduced it below
Over the past five years Colorado s legal marijuana dispensaries have sold 5 78 billion in medical recreational pot with annual sales still growing at a steady clip As a result total state revenue from taxes licenses and fees have risen from 67 6 million in 2014 to 247 4 million in 2017 up 266 The upshot this is why so many Democratic gubernatorial candidates put legalizing recreational marijuana on their platforms during the midterms and why they are trying to pass it through their state legislatures this year All the details below
By Jessica Rabe
If you were a governor with an outsized state budget deficit how would you help narrow that gap A popular solution for many states legalize recreational marijuana That s why an increasing number of Democratic gubernatorial candidates everywhere from New Jersey New York and Florida to Illinois Minnesota and Connecticut included such a proposal on their campaign platforms during their last US elections
Can retail marijuana taxes really make a dent The short answer is yes and Colorado is the best case study given that the state has the longest legalization and therefore taxation track record Here s a breakdown of marijuana sales and tax revenue in Colorado over the past five years
Retail Marijuana Sales Annual marijuana retail sales increased from 303 2 million in 2014 to 1 09 billion in 2017 up 260 The latest data for this year shows retail sales of 1 01 billion through October 2018 Even if sales just match the average of the prior year s November and December sales figure of 92 million 2018 could total 1 19 billion in just recreational cannabis sales alone
We also want to note that retail sales topped 100 million month from June 2018 October 2018 latest available data This shows that sales are not as seasonal as one might think given Colorado s large wintertime tourist industry
Overall from the first recreational sales in January 2014 through October 2018 retail sales totaled 3 84 billion
Total Marijuana Sales Retail and Medical Total marijuana sales rose from 683 5 million to 1 508 billion in 2017 up 121 Total sales were 1 287 billion in 2018 through October with still two months left of data to add Overall medical and retail marijuana sales crossed the 5 billion mark in May 2018 since stores first started selling recreational cannabis That figure is now up to 5 78 billion as of October 2018
Total marijuana sales have surpassed 100 million every month for the past 2 5 years but retail marijuana makes up most of the total sales In October 2018 for example retails sales made up 78 of the total sales print of 129 2 million
Tax Revenue Total revenue from taxes licenses and fees rose from 67 6 million in 2014 to 247 4 million in 2017 up 266 It totaled 244 9 million for last year through November latest available data Overall total revenue from taxes licenses and fees reached 883 9 million from January 2014 through November 2018
The 15 excise tax and 15 sales tax on retail marijuana bring in the most revenue of course In November 2018 for example the retail marijuana sales tax made up 70 of total taxes and fees of 21 6 million for the month while the retail marijuana excise tax accounted for 21 of the total The state sales tax of 2 9 and license and fees made up the balance the state sales tax just applies to medical marijuana and medical marijuana products as of July 2017
You can see a full breakdown of marijuana taxes in Colorado on the government s site here
Where the money goes 90 of the excise tax revenue or the first 40 million whichever is greater goes to the Capital Construction Assistance fund for schools Ten percent of the state s 15 tax on retail marijuana is distributed to local governments while the remaining 90 is allocated to the General Fund 15 6 Marijuana Tax Cash Fund 72 and the Public School Fund 12 6
For example 40 million from marijuana excise tax revenue was given to school capital construction assistance in 2017 while another 27 8 million was distributed to the public school fund You can see all the details here
Lastly given that almost 40 of the licenses for marijuana businesses in Colorado are concentrated in Denver as of May 2018 we want to highlight a few quick 5 year stats from the city
Recreational marijuana sales in Denver totaled 1 04 billion between 2014 and 2017 It was 327 million from January to October 2018 latest available data Total recreational and medical cannabis sales were 2 28 billion from 2014 through October 2018 Total revenue from taxes licenses and fees were 173 1 million from 2014 through October 2018 Some examples of where this money went over those years include 12 8 million towards education 4 million to fix aging parks and recreation centers across the city and 8 million per year to help double Denver s Affordable Housing Fund
You can read more details here on The Denver Channel
Bottom line Colorado is a successful example of a state finding a new lucrative source of revenue by legalizing recreational marijuana Bear in mind that Colorado only has a population of 5 7 million ranking it middle of the road compared to other US states Can you imagine what a boon it would be for the most populous states with even more concentrated cities such as New York No wonder New York Governor Andrew Cuomo flipped in support of the issue last year and is making it a priority for 2019 That and marijuana legalization has majority support from Americans
Taxes from marijuana sales may not close all budget gaps but states can take all they can get We would not be surprised for the next Democratic presidential candidate to include national legalization on his or her platform for 2020
Sources
Many Many thanks to Jessica and Nick for allowing us to share this information with our readers |
WFC | 4 High Yield Mutual Funds To Buy In 2019 | Investors possessing an appetite for risks could find high yield bonds more profitable compared to government bond investments as well as investment grade bonds because of their greater returns These bonds are usually issued by relatively new corporate organizations that seek investments to further their business thus offering more interest than companies that bear higher credit ratings While government bonds are undoubtedly risk free they generate low returns and thus have limited options for capital growth However high yield bonds have scope to generate better returns since the issuer is rated lower than the investment grade However this isn t indicative of the bond s chances to fail and could ultimately generate more profit than investment grade corporate organizations Although high yield bonds are deemed riskier than other bonds these are less volatile than equity markets Therefore such bonds are more stable when compared to stock market investments In addition if the credit standing of the organization that has issued the high yield bond improves the bond may generate an even higher return along with the added security that comes with being an investment grade bond Changes in monetary policy by the way since the 2008 09 economic crisis have made government bonds less preferable than high yield bonds Federal Reserve decreased returns on certain fixed income government bonds lessening their popularity despite being risk free and more stable 4 High Yield Mutual Funds to BuyWe have selected some high yield mutual funds that could be good investment options at present These funds carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank 1 Strong Buy Moreover these funds have encouraging three year returns Additionally the minimum initial investment is within 5 000 We expect these funds to outperform peers in the future Remember the goal of the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is to guide investors to identify potential winners and losers Unlike most of the fund rating systems the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is not just focused on past performance but also on the likely future success of the fund The question here is why should investors consider mutual funds Reduced transaction costs and diversification of portfolio without several commission charges that are associated with stock purchases are primarily why one should be parking money in mutual funds read more American High Income Trust Class 529 A Shares seeks high level of current income in the long term and good capital growth by investing in high yielding and usually lower quality debt securities The fund invests in U S and non U S securities alike This Zacks sector High Yield Bonds product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds CITAXhas an annual expense ratio of 0 77 which is below the category average of 1 01 The fund has three and five year returns of 6 72 and 2 46 respectively Fidelity Focused High Income seeks high income and capital appreciation by investing in preferred stocks income generating debt securities and mostly in lower quality debt securities The fund invests in both domestic and foreign securities This Zacks sector High Yield Bonds product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds FHIFXhas an annual expense ratio of 0 79 which is below the category average of 1 01 The fund has three and five year returns of 4 83 and 2 97 respectively Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Short Term High Yield Bond Fund Class A seeks high income and capital appreciation The fund invests 80 of its net assets in corporate debt securities that are below investment grade This Zacks sector High Yield Bonds product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds SSTHXhas an annual expense ratio of 0 81 which is below the category average of 1 01 The fund has three and five year returns of 2 39 and 1 96 respectively Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund seeks high income and capital appreciation The fund invests mostly in high yielding higher risk corporate bonds The fund invests about 80 of its net assets in corporate bonds that are rated below Baa by Moody s Investors Service Inc This Zacks sector High Yield Bonds product has a history of positive total returns for more than 10 years To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds VWEHXhas an annual expense ratio of 0 23 which is below the category average of 1 01 The fund has three and five year returns of 4 91 and 3 55 respectively Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis as well as top performing mutual funds each week |
EBAY | Warren Buffett charity lunch fetches record 4 57 million winning bid | By Jonathan Stempel Reuters An anonymous bidder has agreed to pay a record 4 567 888 at an annual charity auction to have a private lunch with Warren Buffett the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc NYSE BRKa The winning bid which was submitted during a five day online auction on eBay NASDAQ EBAY that ended Friday night was nearly one third higher than the previous record 3 456 789 bids in both the 2012 and 2016 auctions Proceeds benefit the Glide Foundation a charity in San Francisco s Tenderloin district that serves the poor homeless or those battling substance abuse Buffett 88 has raised about 34 2 million for Glide in 20 annual auctions which began in 2000 and moved to eBay in 2003 His first wife Susan who died in 2004 introduced him to Glide after volunteering for the charity Mr Buffett is thrilled We just spoke with him Glide President Karen Hanrahan told Reuters after the auction ended Mr Buffett is committed to continuing the auction as long as he s able He has been a thought partner in thinking through Glide s future and how to set it up for the next 50 years The winning bidder and up to seven friends can dine at the Smith Wollensky steakhouse in Manhattan with Buffett who says he will discuss anything apart from his next investments This year s auction drew 18 bids from five bidders The top bid would also be enough to buy 15 Class A or 23 137 Class B shares of Omaha Nebraska based Berkshire whose more than 90 businesses include auto insurer Geico and BNSF railroad Past auction winners have included hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital in 2003 and Ted Weschler now one of Buffett s portfolio managers at Berkshire in 2010 and 2011 Glide s budget goes toward providing roughly 2 000 free meals a day shelter HIV and Hepatitis C tests job training and children s daycare and after school programs What it means to us as an organization It s huge Hanrahan said referring to the auction It s going to help many many thousands of people in this city According to Glide these bidders have won its auctions 2000 Pete Budlong 25 000 2001 Jim Halperin and Scott Tilson 20 000 2002 Jim Halperin and Scott Tilson 25 000 2003 David Einhorn Greenlight Capital 250 100 2004 Jason Choo Singapore 202 100 2005 Anonymous 351 100 2006 Yongping Duan California 620 100 2007 Mohnish Pabrai Guy Spier Harina Kapoor 650 100 2008 Zhao Danyang Pure Heart Asset Management China 2 110 100 2009 Courtenay Wolfe Salida Capital Canada 1 680 300 2010 Ted Weschler 2 626 311 2011 Ted Weschler 2 626 411 2012 Anonymous 3 456 789 2013 Anonymous 1 000 100 2014 Andy Chua Singapore 2 166 766 2015 Zhu Ye Dalian Zeus Entertainment Co China 2 345 678 2016 Anonymous 3 456 789 2017 Anonymous 2 679 001 2018 Anonymous 3 300 100
2019 Anonymous 4 567 888 |
EBAY | Tron s Justin Sun Wins eBay Charity Auction in 4 57M Bid to Lunch With Warren Buffett | Tron TRX founder and CEO Justin Sun has won an eBay NASDAQ EBAY charity auction to have lunch with renowned investor and Berkshire Hathaway NYSE BRKa CEO Warren Buffett The news was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on June 3
Sun reportedly bid a record breaking 4 567 888 to win the charity auction which has been held by Warren Buffett for the past 20 years |
EBAY | Hodler s Digest June 3 9 Top Stories Price Movements Quotes and FUD of the Week | Coming every Sunday the Hodler s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week The best and worst quotes adoption and regulation highlights leading coins predictions and much more a week on Cointelegraph in one link
Mt Gox s Karpeles Press Rumors About My Blockchain Plans Are False Mark Karpeles the former CEO of long defunct Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox denied press claims this week that he is returning to blockchain Karpeles said that his activities with Tristan Technologies will not involve the cryptocurrency sector as previously reported and that the firm is not a startup and not related to blockchain In comments to Cointelegraph Karpeles said that he wasn t sure how this got reported wrong and that his main goal is to try to bring back Japan near the top of the IT industry A judge acquitted Karpeles of embezzlement in March and is currently appealing a lesser conviction of data manipulation all in relation to the hack of Mt Gox
SEC Sues Kik for Conducting Allegedly Unregistered 100 Million ICO in 2017Tron s Justin Sun Wins eBay NASDAQ EBAY Charity Auction in 4 57M Bid to Lunch With Warren BuffettLocalBitcoins Confirms Removal of Local Cash TradesReport Facebook NASDAQ FB to Announce Cryptocurrency Project This MonthFUD of the WeekReport Polish Exchange Shuts Down and Disappears With Customers FundsNew Malware Campaign Spreads Trojans Through Clone Crypto Trading WebsiteReport Nearly 10 Million in XRP Stolen in GateHub HackThe Land of the Free Why Decentralization Matters in the Crypto RepublicSatoshi Posers Why So Many Takers for the Bitcoin Crown What Is a Satoshi the Smallest Unit on the Bitcoin Blockchain |
EBAY | UK regulator tells Facebook eBay to tackle sale of fake reviews | By Muvija M and Tanishaa Nadkar Reuters Britain s competition watchdog on Friday told Facebook NASDAQ FB and eBay NASDAQ EBAY to go through their websites and crack down on the sale of fake and misleading online reviews The Competition and Markets Authority CMA said it had found troubling evidence of a growing marketplace for misleading reviews on the two sites The CMA said it had found more than 100 eBay listings offering fake reviews for sale between November and June and identified 26 Facebook groups with people offering to write fake reviews or businesses recruiting people to write them on popular shopping and review sites A Facebook spokeswoman told Reuters the company had removed 24 of the groups and pages flagged by CMA a number of them before the regulator s report We know there is more to do which is why we ve tripled the size of our safety and security team to 30 000 and continue to invest in technology to help proactively prevent abuse of our platform the spokeswoman said EBay said it was working closely with the regulator We have zero tolerance for fake or misleading reviews Listings such as these are strictly against our policy on illegal activity and we will act where our rules are broken an eBay spokesperson told Reuters Earlier this month Facebook announced plans to create 500 new tech jobs in London by the end of the year with many working on systems to detect and remove malicious content fake accounts and harmful behavior The social network has been under scrutiny from regulators around the world over its data sharing practices as well as fake news and hate speech on its networks
Facebook said in March it had removed 137 fake pages groups and Instagram accounts in the United Kingdom for engaging in hate speech and making divisive comments |
EBAY | Facebook Libra Update Regulation Takes Center Stage | Regulators the world over are gearing up to create a framework that could monitor direct and control the way cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Facebook s NASDAQ FB Libra operate Cryptocurrencies have been around for a while but Facebook s June 18 announcement that Libra would hit markets in 2020 has created the urgency
That s because Facebook has a huge network of 2 billion people that could make the kind of difference to economies and governments that can t be dreamed of by other fiat crypto coin systems And Facebook has a spotty history of maintaining users privacy and security
Facebook s David Marcus who joined the company from PayPal NASDAQ PYPL back when it was still a part of eBay NASDAQ EBAY is co creator of Libra and the head of Switzerland based Facebook company responsible for Libra So in that capacity he faced questions from the Senate Banking Committee and the House Committee on Financial Services last week
At the House Committee on Financial Services
Chairwoman Maxine Waters has been sharply critical of Libra since its launch So at the meeting on Wednesday she said that Libra would allow the company to wield immense power that could disrupt governments and central banks
Given the repercussions for people banks and governments all over the world Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney strongly opposed the launch of Libra She suggested that the company at least do a pilot program with a million users overseen by U S financial regulators including the Federal Reserve I don t think you should launch Libra at all At the very least you should agree to do this small pilot program she said
Democratic U S Representative Alma Adams pointed to privacy and security issues for users You expect us to believe that you re going to start collecting financial data and not share it because you promised not to do that she said
There were also concerns regarding consumer protection and prevention of use for illegal activities like money laundering or terrorist financing
Republican U S Representative Ann Wagner mentioned every other concern while saying that the launch seemed hurried I m concerned a 2020 launch date represents deep insensitivities about how Libra could impact U S financial security the global financial system the privacy of people across the globe criminal activity and international human rights
Marcus explained that the company viewed Libra as a payment tool rather than a security or an exchange traded fund an indication that it was not subject to oversight by the SEC The company hasn t spoken to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton yet although representatives have reportedly reached out to others in the organization He said that it could be treated as a commodity under current law While remaining noncommittal about a pilot program he promised to do whatever was necessary to satisfy regulators and get this right
At the Senate Banking Committee
On Tuesday the senate committee had similar concerns and Marcus went about explaining what Libra was how it could change the way people do personal finance etc He also mentioned consumer protections like making mandatory a valid photo ID In addition Marcus tried to push the idea that the U S should take a leading role in developing a new global currency before others did interesting that the company didn t choose the U S as its headquarters though
Others Are Also Concerned
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for one is concerned about national security money laundering and other illicit activities We will not allow digital asset service providers to operate in the shadows Bitcoin is highly volatile and based on thin air Mnuchin said We are concerned about the speculative nature of Bitcoin and will make sure that the U S financial system is protected from fraud
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell thinks the broad adoption of digital currencies like Libra could be risky on multiple counts
President Donald Trump said that Libra and other cryptocurrencies should face banking regulations He also said that the U S regulatory system may not be adequately equipped to handle the broad adoption of the huge digital payment system that Facebook envisaged
The Group of Seven G7 Are Concerned
Much the same concerns were raised at the G7 meeting in Chantilly France Country leaders were also concerned about the safeguards to withstand a run on reserves and users privacy and ownership rights
Benoit Coeure the European Central Bank board member said his G7 working group on stablecoins would work on the matter until the International Monetary Fund s annual meeting in October after which it will hand over the matter to the Financial Stability Board of global financial regulators He also outlined the broad risks
A global stablecoin for retail purposes could provide for faster and cheaper remittances spur competition for payments and thus lower costs and support greater financial inclusion However they give rise to a number of risks related to public policy priorities including anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism consumer and data protection cyber resilience fair competition and tax compliance Market discipline is useful but I wouldn t see it as progress to shift monetary sovereignty from governments to private multinationals
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire of France which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 top world economies told a news conference We cannot accept private companies issuing their own currencies without democratic control He spoke for the ministers and governors to say that stablecoins and other various new products currently being developed including projects with global and potentially systemic footprint such as Libra raise serious regulatory and systemic concerns
The G7 also agreed to tax large tech companies for money they made in a country even if they weren t physically present They agreed to fix a minimum taxation to eliminate competition between themselves for foreign investments France Italy Britain and Spain already have a plan in force that could be replaced with the new tax
What the Market s Saying
Coin Center Executive Director Jerry Brito says that Libra is a company issued asset whereas a true cryptocurrency has decentralized control and wasn t issued by any central authority For instance no company issues bitcoin
Blockchain Association Director Kristin Smith seemed to welcome the publicity Libra brought while remaining wary about Facebook s past It s mixed she said We certainly don t want the whole industry to become associated with some of the issues that Facebook has had as a company in the past
Cryptocurrencies were appreciating after the announcement of Libra but lost some value in the last week as regulators pressed down on Facebook All the major currencies including bitcoin ethereum and ripple responded
Conclusion
A few weeks into the debate and it does look like Facebook has bitten off more than it can chew To convince regulators the world over about the efficacy of broadly adopting a stable coin is going to be neither easy nor cheap
No doubt the idea was innovative and something governments might pursue in the future as the People s Bank of China has apparently said it s doing especially given the growing digitization of services But there doesn t seem to be a good reason they would turn over control to a private multinational company
And then of course there s the question of how Facebook has reacted to its mistakes transgressions in the past None of that inspires a lot of confidence As Senator Sherrod Brown said it is like the toddler with the book of matches Facebook has burned down the house over and over and called every arson a learning experience
That said if the government wants to really block the company it has to come up with some legislation or designate the regulator
Facebook has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Other buy ranked companies include Yirendai NYSE YRD Dropbox NASDAQ DBX and and Healthstream NASDAQ HSTM Or you can see the complete list of today s Zacks 1 Rank Strong Buy stocks here
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Zacks has just released Century of Biology 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of 98 119 and 164 in as little as 1 month The stocks in this report could perform even better |
EBAY | The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Facebook PayPal EBay Dropbox And Healthstream | For Immediate ReleaseChicago IL July 23 2019 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 Facebook NASDAQ FB PayPal NASDAQ PYPL eBay NASDAQ EBAY Dropbox NASDAQ DBX and Healthstream NASDAQ HSTM Here are highlights from Monday s Analyst Blog Facebook Update Libra Regulation and MoreRegulators the world over are gearing up to create a framework that could monitor direct and control the way cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Facebook s Libra operate Cryptocurrencies have been around for a while but Facebook s June 18 announcement that Libra would hit markets in 2020 has created the urgency That s because Facebook has a huge network of 2 billion people that could make the kind of difference to economies and governments that can t be dreamed of by other fiat crypto coin systems And Facebook has a spotty history of maintaining users privacy and security Facebook s David Marcus who joined the company from PayPal back when it was still a part of eBay is co creator of Libra and the head of Switzerland based Facebook company responsible for Libra So in that capacity he faced questions from the Senate Banking Committee and the House Committee on Financial Services last week At the House Committee on Financial ServicesChairwoman Maxine Waters has been sharply critical of Libra since its launch So at the meeting on Wednesday she said that Libra would allow the company to wield immense power that could disrupt governments and central banks Given the repercussions for people banks and governments all over the world Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney strongly opposed the launch of Libra She suggested that the company at least do a pilot program with a million users overseen by U S financial regulators including the Federal Reserve I don t think you should launch Libra at all At the very least you should agree to do this small pilot program she said Democratic U S Representative Alma Adams pointed to privacy and security issues for users You expect us to believe that you re going to start collecting financial data and not share it because you promised not to do that she said There were also concerns regarding consumer protection and prevention of use for illegal activities like money laundering or terrorist financing Republican U S Representative Ann Wagner mentioned every other concern while saying that the launch seemed hurried I m concerned a 2020 launch date represents deep insensitivities about how Libra could impact U S financial security the global financial system the privacy of people across the globe criminal activity and international human rights Marcus explained that the company viewed Libra as a payment tool rather than a security or an exchange traded fund an indication that it was not subject to oversight by the SEC The company hasn t spoken to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton yet although representatives have reportedly reached out to others in the organization He said that it could be treated as a commodity under current law While remaining noncommittal about a pilot program he promised to do whatever was necessary to satisfy regulators and get this right At the Senate Banking CommitteeOn Tuesday the senate committee had similar concerns and Marcus went about explaining what Libra was how it could change the way people do personal finance etc He also mentioned consumer protections like making mandatory a valid photo ID In addition Marcus tried to push the idea that the U S should take a leading role in developing a new global currency before others did interesting that the company didn t choose the U S as its headquarters though Others Are Also ConcernedTreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for one is concerned about national security money laundering and other illicit activities We will not allow digital asset service providers to operate in the shadows Bitcoin is highly volatile and based on thin air Mnuchin said We are concerned about the speculative nature of Bitcoin and will make sure that the U S financial system is protected from fraud Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell thinks the broad adoption of digital currencies like Libra could be risky on multiple counts President Donald Trump said that Libra and other cryptocurrencies should face banking regulations He also said that the U S regulatory system may not be adequately equipped to handle the broad adoption of the huge digital payment system that Facebook envisaged The Group of Seven G7 Are ConcernedMuch the same concerns were raised at the G7 meeting in Chantilly France Country leaders were also concerned about the safeguards to withstand a run on reserves and users privacy and ownership rights Benoit Coeure the European Central Bank board member said his G7 working group on stablecoins would work on the matter until the International Monetary Fund s annual meeting in October after which it will hand over the matter to the Financial Stability Board of global financial regulators He also outlined the broad risks A global stablecoin for retail purposes could provide for faster and cheaper remittances spur competition for payments and thus lower costs and support greater financial inclusion However they give rise to a number of risks related to public policy priorities including anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism consumer and data protection cyber resilience fair competition and tax compliance Market discipline is useful but I wouldn t see it as progress to shift monetary sovereignty from governments to private multinationals Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire of France which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 top world economies told a news conference We cannot accept private companies issuing their own currencies without democratic control He spoke for the ministers and governors to say that stablecoins and other various new products currently being developed including projects with global and potentially systemic footprint such as Libra raise serious regulatory and systemic concerns The G7 also agreed to tax large tech companies for money they made in a country even if they weren t physically present They agreed to fix a minimum taxation to eliminate competition between themselves for foreign investments France Italy Britain and Spain already have a plan in force that could be replaced with the new tax What the Market s SayingCoin Center Executive Director Jerry Brito says that Libra is a company issued asset whereas a true cryptocurrency has decentralized control and wasn t issued by any central authority For instance no company issues bitcoin Blockchain Association Director Kristin Smith seemed to welcome the publicity Libra brought while remaining wary about Facebook s past It s mixed she said We certainly don t want the whole industry to become associated with some of the issues that Facebook has had as a company in the past Cryptocurrencies were appreciating after the announcement of Libra but lost some value in the last week as regulators pressed down on Facebook All the major currencies including bitcoin ethereum and ripple responded ConclusionA few weeks into the debate and it does look like Facebook has bitten off more than it can chew To convince regulators the world over about the efficacy of broadly adopting a stable coin is going to be neither easy nor cheap No doubt the idea was innovative and something governments might pursue in the future as the People s Bank of China has apparently said it s doing especially given the growing digitization of services But there doesn t seem to be a good reason they would turn over control to a private multinational company And then of course there s the question of how Facebook has reacted to its mistakes transgressions in the past None of that inspires a lot of confidence As Senator Sherrod Brown said it is like the toddler with the book of matches Facebook has burned down the house over and over and called every arson a learning experience That said if the government wants to really block the company it has to come up with some legislation or designate the regulator Facebook has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Other buy ranked companies include Dropbox and Healthstream Or you can see the complete list of today s Zacks 1 Rank Strong Buy stocks here Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple Digit Profit PotentialThe biotech sector is projected to surge beyond 775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases They re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases Zacks has just released Century of Biology 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of 98 119 and 164 in as little as 1 month The stocks in this report could perform even better 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 |
EBAY | Are You Looking For A Top Momentum Pick Why EBay EBAY Is A Great Choice | Momentum investing is all about the idea of following a stock s recent trend which can be in either direction In the long context investors will essentially be buying high but hoping to sell even higher And for investors following this methodology taking advantage of trends in a stock s price is key once a stock establishes a course it is more than likely to continue moving in that direction The goal is that once a stock heads down a fixed path it will lead to timely and profitable trades
Even though momentum is a popular stock characteristic it can be tough to define Debate surrounding which are the best and worst metrics to focus on is lengthy but the Zacks Momentum Style Score part of the Zacks Style Scores helps address this issue for us
Below we take a look at eBay EBAY a company that currently holds a Momentum Style Score of A We also talk about price change and earnings estimate revisions two of the main aspects of the Momentum Style Score
It s also important to note that Style Scores work as a complement to the Zacks Rank our stock rating system that has an impressive track record of outperformance EBay currently has a Zacks Rank of 2 Buy Our research shows that stocks rated Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy and 2 Buy and Style Scores of A or B outperform the market over the following one month period
You can see the current list of Zacks 1 Rank Stocks here
Set to Beat the Market
Let s discuss some of the components of the Momentum Style Score for EBAY that show why this e commerce company shows promise as a solid momentum pick
Looking at a stock s short term price activity is a great way to gauge if it has momentum since this can reflect both the current interest in a stock and if buyers or sellers have the upper hand at the moment It s also helpful to compare a security to its industry this can show investors the best companies in a particular area
For EBAY shares are up 0 37 over the past week while the Zacks Internet Commerce industry is down 0 01 over the same time period Shares are looking quite well from a longer time frame too as the monthly price change of 5 15 compares favorably with the industry s 2 23 performance as well
While any stock can see a spike in price it takes a real winner to consistently outperform the market Shares of eBay have increased 5 88 over the past quarter and have gained 22 41 in the last year In comparison the S P 500 has only moved 2 94 and 9 16 respectively
Investors should also take note of EBAY s average 20 day trading volume Volume is a useful item in many ways and the 20 day average establishes a good price to volume baseline a rising stock with above average volume is generally a bullish sign whereas a declining stock on above average volume is typically bearish Right now EBAY is averaging 8 066 888 shares for the last 20 days
Earnings Outlook
The Zacks Momentum Style Score also takes into account trends in estimate revisions in addition to price changes Please note that estimate revision trends remain at the core of Zacks Rank as well A nice path here can help show promise and we have recently been seeing that with EBAY
Over the past two months 15 earnings estimates moved higher compared to none lower for the full year These revisions helped boost EBAY s consensus estimate increasing from 2 69 to 2 74 in the past 60 days Looking at the next fiscal year 13 estimates have moved upwards while there have been 2 downward revisions in the same time period
Bottom Line
Given these factors it shouldn t be surprising that EBAY is a 2 Buy stock and boasts a Momentum Score of A If you re looking for a fresh pick that s set to soar in the near term make sure to keep eBay on your short list |
WFC | Wells Fargo settles SEC lawsuit over Curt Schilling s 38 Studios | Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC agreed to settle a U S Securities and Exchange Commission fraud lawsuit related to a 75 million bond offering for 38 Studios Inc a now bankrupt video game company founded by former All Star major league baseball pitcher Curt Schilling The settlement in principle with the bank s Wells Fargo Securities unit was disclosed in a Jan 10 filing with the federal court in Providence Rhode Island Terms were not disclosed Wells Fargo and the SEC said the partial federal government shutdown is delaying a final settlement and asked a federal judge to put the case on hold Wells Fargo did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment The SEC did not respond to similar requests Wells Fargo was accused of concealing from investors that 38 Studios would face a 25 million shortfall even after the October 2010 bond offering from Rhode Island Commerce Corp a state economic development agency The SEC said 38 Studios received only 50 million from the offering with most of the rest set aside for interest and other payments after claiming to need 75 million to develop a video game code named Copernicus Wells Fargo was also accused of concealing its overall fees related to 38 Studios from investors Peter Cannava Wells Fargo s lead banker on the bond offering remains a defendant in the SEC case and did not object to the delay according to Thursday s filing 38 Studios filed to liquidate in bankruptcy in June 2012 after defaulting on the loan Schilling won 216 games in his 20 year career and helped lead the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox to World Series championships in 2001 and 2004 respectively
He has said 38 Studios demise cost him 50 million The SEC did not charge him in the Wells Fargo case |
EBAY | eBay Earnings Revenue Beat in Q1 | Investing com eBay NASDAQ EBAY reported first quarter earnings that Beat analysts expectations on Tuesday and revenue that topped forecasts
The firm reported earnings per share of 0 67 on revenue of 2 64B Analysts polled by Investing com forecast EPS of 0 63 on revenue of 2 58B That compared to EPS of 0 53 on revenue of 2 58B in the same period a year earlier The company had reported EPS of 0 71 on revenue of 2 88B in the previous quarter
eBay shares gained 5 26 to trade at 38 60 in after hours trade following the report
eBay follows other major Services sector earnings this month
On Tuesday Verizon reported first quarter EPS of 1 2 on revenue of 32 13B compared to forecasts of EPS of 1 17 on revenue of 32 15B
Netflix earnings Beat analysts expectations on April 16 with first quarter EPS of 0 76 on revenue of 4 52B Investing com analysts expected EPS of 0 58 on revenue of 4 5B
Stay up to date on all of the upcoming earnings reports by visiting Investing com s earnings calendar |
EBAY | No eBay Will Not Support Crypto Payments Lists Crypto related Products However | eBay NASDAQ EBAY one of the most well known e commerce platforms has denied rumors that it will support cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment At the time of writing the of the site do not list Bitcoin or any other digital asset
The rumors started circulating after a sign at the Consensus 2019 conference suggested a link between eBay and crypto But the platform explained that the ad referred to cryptocurrency related products being sold on the platform including ASIC miners
eBay specifica |
EBAY | Retail ETFs To Ride On EBay Earnings More Room To Run | Shares of eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY gained about 6 in after hours trading on Jul 17 thanks to both its bottom and top line beats and a raised profit outlook
This e commerce giant s second quarter 2019 earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6 cents Also pro forma earnings of 68 cents improved 28 year over year Further net revenues of 2 687 billion inched up 2 year over year Revenues too surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 674 billion by a whisker on the site benefited revenues
Inside the Upbeat Guidance
eBay lifted its full year profit guidance for 2019 The company now expects full year non GAAP earnings from continuing operations in the 2 70 2 75range from 2 64 2 70 projected during the release of first quarter earnings
This happened despite the cut in revenue growth projections The company now expects net revenues between 10 75 billion and 10 83 billion down from the previous outlook of 10 83 10 93 billion
For the third quarter eBay expects revenues to grow 1 3 on an Fx neutral basis to 2 61 2 66 billion The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third quarter revenues is pegged at 2 679 billion Non GAAP earnings are expected within 62 65 cents while the Zacks Consensus Estimate was 62 cents
ETFs in Focus
The stock sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy at the time of writing While it belongs to a top ranked Zacks industry top 16 its is an unimpressive C Shares of eBay have added about 39 since the beginning of the year compared with the S P 500 Index s rally of 19 1
Though the pressure on revenue growth is palpable in the earnings scorecard investors should also note that the post earnings gains in the stock will spread to some e Bay heavy retail ETFs read
Moreover the basket approach is safer than the single stock picking route as it alleviates the stock specific weakness
Invesco Dynamic Retail ETF TSXV PMR
The 30 stock fund brings eBay into focus at the sixth spot with about 5 05 exposure The fund charges 63 bps in fees The fund has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy read
ProShares Online Retail ETF
The underlying ProShares Online Retail Index is a specialized retail index that tracks retailers who principally sell online or through other non store channels eBay takes the seventh position in the fund The fund charges 58 bps in fees
Global X E commerce ETF
The 39 stock fund seeks to invest in companies positioned to benefit from the increased adoption of e commerce as a distribution model including companies with principal business in operating e commerce platforms and providing e commerce software plus services The fund puts 4 21 weight in e Bay The fund charges 68 bps in fees read
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EBAY | Is EBay EBAY A Great Value Stock Right Now | The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks Nevertheless we know that our readers all have their own perspectives so we are always looking at the latest trends in value growth and momentum to find strong picks
Looking at the history of these trends perhaps none is more beloved than value investing This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large
Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits For example value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the Value category When paired with a high Zacks Rank A grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today
One company value investors might notice is eBay EBAY EBAY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 2 Buy and an A for Value The stock has a Forward P E ratio of 13 81 This compares to its industry s average Forward P E of 40 29 Over the past year EBAY s Forward P E has been as high as 15 52 and as low as 10 08 with a median of 13 24
Investors will also notice that EBAY has a PEG ratio of 1 46 This metric is used similarly to the famous P E ratio but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock s expected earnings growth rate EBAY s industry currently sports an average PEG of 1 86 Within the past year EBAY s PEG has been as high as 1 49 and as low as 1 01 with a median of 1 38
Investors should also recognize that EBAY has a P B ratio of 6 66 The P B is a method of comparing a stock s market value to its book value which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities This stock s P B looks solid versus its industry s average P B of 6 92 EBAY s P B has been as high as 6 75 and as low as 3 63 with a median of 4 81 over the past year
Finally we should also recognize that EBAY has a P CF ratio of 10 85 This data point considers a firm s operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook EBAY s current P CF looks attractive when compared to its industry s average P CF of 32 27 Over the past 52 weeks EBAY s P CF has been as high as 11 07 and as low as 242 33 with a median of 9
These are just a handful of the figures considered in eBay s great Value grade Still they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook and we can clearly see that EBAY is an impressive value stock right now |
WFC | Frontier 7 4 as Wells slashes price target urges Sell | Frontier Communications NYSE FTR is 7 4 lower premarket after a downgrade to Underperform and a slashed price target at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche cut her price target to 1 75 from 5 Shares closed yesterday at 2 72 On a slide they ve declined 61 9 in the past quarter but were having a good week up 17 2 Now read |
WFC | Reuters poll China s yuan to break 7 per dollar in six months FX strategists | By Vivek Mishra BENGALURU Reuters China s yuan is still expected to breach the key 7 per dollar mark within six months as a dimming economic growth outlook is likely to push the central bank toward easier monetary policy this year a Reuters poll found The number of analysts predicting the yuan will weaken to 7 per dollar or beyond at any time during the polling horizon increased in the latest poll from previous months and was the highest since a July 2017 survey Although the yuan fell about 6 percent last year with most losses coming after June when the U S China trade war escalated it still did not crack the 7 per dollar rate The managed currency also known as the renminbi went through wild gyrations last year with the spread between its high and low the widest in almost three decades For the second month running a strong majority of analysts who answered an extra question said the yuan would weaken to 7 per dollar within six months despite a widely held view the Chinese authorities will step in to defend it at that key level That view is largely driven by expectations the Chinese economy will lose further momentum in 2019 amid softening domestic and export demand prompting the central bank to take more steps to reduce the risk of a sharper slowdown However median estimates in the wider Jan 2 8 poll of more than 70 foreign exchange strategists showed the yuan will only weaken about 1 5 percent to 6 95 per dollar by end June from about 6 85 on Tuesday It is then forecast to end the year at 6 89 per dollar Much will also depend on how long it takes China to stabilize its cooling economy and whether Washington and Beijing end their trade war Looking at the Chinese fundamentals the economy is slowing and the central bank is easing monetary policy with a lot of uncertainties over the next steps for the trade dispute between the U S and China said Erik Nelson currency strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC All these point to further weakness in the Chinese currency he added U S Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday the United States and China could reach a trade deal that we can live with as dozens of officials from the world s two largest economies held talks in a bid to end a trade dispute that roiled global markets last year Despite optimism around the talks in Beijing some respondents warned that the U S China relationship remained on shaky ground and that tension could flare up again soon Until the outcome in the latest U S China trade truce proves as substantial as the working level discussions the risk remains for more tariffs on each other s goods If the U S reinstates the decision to lift the tariff rate on 200 billion worth of China s goods to 25 percent from 10 percent the yuan could depreciate to 7 30 per dollar noted Philip Wee currency strategist at DBS Bank Under the worst case scenario U S will impose a 25 percent tariff on the remainder of China s goods This could pressure the yuan to 8 per dollar with negative spill over effects into other Asian currencies But some respondents said the yuan would never break the 7 per dollar threshold not reached since the global financial crisis on expectations that those who manage it will step in to defend it In reality though the Chinese authorities have employed various methods to stem the depreciation as the currency approached that level including resuming FX intervention in September and October after a break of more than 18 months said Khoon Goh head of Asia research at ANZ
Such action shows that there is strong policy commitment to prevent the yuan from weakening too much with 7 being a key red line Analysis by Sujith Pai Polling by Khushboo Mittal and Anisha Sheth Editing by Jacqueline Wong |
WFC | Forex Yuan Aussie Dollar Gain on Trade Talk Hopes | Investing com The Chinese yuan and the Australian dollar gained on Wednesday in Asia following reports that Beijing and Washington may be making progress in resolving their trade dispute
Talks between the two countries were extended for a third day according to various media which added that negotiators made progress on issues including the purchase of U S goods and services
U S President Donald Trump is said to be eager to strike a deal with Beijing in an effort to help Wall Street recoup some of the steep losses suffered in recent months CNBC reported citing people familiar with internal White House deliberations
Talks with China are going very well Trump tweeted on Tuesday
The new round of talks began on Monday as Beijing and Washington hoped to reach an agreement before a March 1 deadline when U S tariffs on some 200 billion in Chinese goods would rise to 25 from 10
The news lifted investor sentiment and pushed the safe haven yen lower The USD JPY pair was up 0 14 to 108 87 by 11 38 PM ET 04 38 GMT
Meanwhile the AUD USD pair traded 0 3 higher to 0 7156 following the news The Australian dollar is widely considered as a proxy for Chinese economic growth as China is the country s biggest importer for its commodities
The USD CNY pair was down 0 2 to 6 8363 The People s Bank of China PBOC set the yuan reference rate at 6 8526 vs Tuesday s fix of 6 8402
Despite today s gain some analysts still expect the yuan to breach the key 7 per dollar mark within six months according to a Reuters poll
Looking at the Chinese fundamentals the economy is slowing and the central bank is easing monetary policy with a lot of uncertainties over the next steps for the trade dispute between the U S and China said Erik Nelson currency strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC
All these point to further weakness in the Chinese currency he added
The Chinese currency lost about 6 in 2018 with escalating China U S trade war cited as a major headwind |
WFC | 4 Trade Ideas For Wells Fargo | Wells Fargo NYSE WFC made a top in August and started to move lower It paused into the end of September and consolidated under its 200 day SMA for 2 months That was followed by another drop this time steeper deeper and faster to a low Christmas Eve Since then though it has been moving higher It got back over its 20 day SMA last week and consolidated after a better than 11 bounce
As it consolidates the Bollinger Bands are tightening often a precursor to a move It also has an RSI pausing at the midline with the MACD rising but not yet positive All are promising for a secondary move higher but never a certainty There is resistance at 48 10 and 50 20 then 51 and 52 before 53 and 55 Support lower comes at 47 and 45 60 before 43 60 Short interest is low under 1 The company reports earnings Tuesday before the open The stock pays a 3 59 dividend and went ex dividend on November 8th
A look at the options for January shows the 45 50 and 52 50 strikes with large open interest on the put side and the largest at 52 50 on the call side February options build open interest from 42 50 to 50 on the put side and are biggest at 47 50 on the call side and tail higher March options show a clear bias higher with open interest on the call side 8 times as large as the put side and almost all above the current price from 47 50 to 55
Wells Fargo Trade Ideas
Buy the stock on a move over 48 10 with a stop at 47
Buy the stock on a move over 48 10 and add a January 47 45 50 Put Spread 42 cents while selling a January 50 Call 23 cents to pay for half of the cost
Buy the January February 50 Call Calendar 40 cents and sell the January 45 Put for 20 cents
Buy the January 48 50 Call Spread 75 cents and sell the January 45 Put 20 cents
Elsewhere
Look for Gold to possibly pause in its uptrend while Crude Oil moves higher with some digestion short term The US Dollar Index looks to drift lower in broad consolidation while US Treasuries pullback in their uptrend The Shanghai Composite looks to continue the downtrend with Emerging Markets possibly putting in a bottom and reversal
Volatility looks to settling back to normal levels clearing the way for equities to show if they have strength Their charts show the equity index ETF s SPY NYSE SPY IWM and QQQ continuing the bounce higher and consolidating the move at the end of the week Use this information as you prepare for the coming week and trade them well
The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer
Original post |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Surpasses Q4 Earnings Estimates | Wells Fargo NYSE WFC came out with quarterly earnings of 1 21 per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 17 per share This compares to earnings of 0 97 per share a year ago These figures are adjusted for non recurring items
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 3 42 A quarter ago it was expected that this biggest U S mortgage lender would post earnings of 1 17 per share when it actually produced earnings of 1 13 delivering a surprise of 3 42
Over the last four quarters the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times
Wells Fargo which belongs to the Zacks Banks Major Regional industry posted revenues of 20 98 billion for the quarter ended December 2018 missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2 74 This compares to year ago revenues of 22 05 billion The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three 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
Wells Fargo shares have added about 5 1 since the beginning of the year versus the S P 500 s gain of 3
What s Next for Wells Fargo
While Wells Fargo has outperformed 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 Wells Fargo was unfavorable 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 4 Sell for the stock So the shares are expected to underperform 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 10 on 20 89 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and 5 01 on 85 45 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 Banks Major Regional is currently in the bottom 19 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 |
EBAY | If you have the green Masters treasure is now a click away | By Steve Keating AUGUSTA Ga Reuters There was a time when getting your hands on Masters merchandise was nearly as difficult and rewarding as winning a Green Jacket There is still only one place in the world to purchase official Masters souvenirs and that is inside Augusta National at their Harrods like merchandise store which is only open during Masters week the 64 cash registers manned by a smiling uniformed staff from dawn to dusk There s just one catch To get in the store means having to first secure a Masters badge one of the most coveted and hardest tickets to land in all of sport For Thursday s opening round asking prices were as high as 7500 on resale sites Yet there is no longer a need to stand in that long line with hundreds of other souvenir hunters as the queue snakes its way through a maze of lanes that would rival any major airport security screening area Now with a cell phone forbidden to spectators at Augusta National and a no price is too high attitude you too can be the owner of a Masters green polo shirt with its iconic yellow silhouette logo and you won t even have to leave your couch A Masters coffee mug dog bowl or crystal glasses are all just a click or two away as enterprising websites skirt Augusta National s monopoly by offering everything you can get inside the merchandise store at hugely inflated prices Sites like and will take your order and have people on site at Augusta National fill it guaranteeing your purchase is official merchandise complete with tags Aaron Behar an owner of describes the operation as a professional shopping service The intensely protective membership at Augusta National may call it something different but for more than 10 years the two have peacefully co exsisted unlike the club s ongoing issues with ticket scalpers and resale sites We are a shopping service and I want to make clear we are in no way affliated with Augusta Natioinal Behar told Reuters We only provide a service and obtain merchandise for personal and corporate clients We do this for a number of tournaments but the Masters is a very exclusive product one you can only get if you are there We are simply a shopping service Not surprisingly there is a considerable mark up attached to muling merchandise out of Augusta National Bahr like most patrons gets his tickets off resale sites and as his costs go up as they have this year so do his prices A golf shirt that cost 95 in the store goes for 230 on the resale shopping sites while 35 T shirts go for 60 and a green coffee mug that sells for 15 inside Augusta will fetch 60 outside the walls While Bahr has turned Masters merchandise resales into a business there are no shortage of freelancers out there looking to cash in on the iconic brand On Kijiji and eBay NASDAQ EBAY you can find everything from Masters golf balls to frosted plastic beer cups retrieved from garbage bins going for 3 99 If you are having a Masters party Goldbelly com will ship the famous Augusta Pimento Cheese sandwich to your door with a two pound pack costing 59 Like everything at Augusta National the club does not discuss money That would be unseemly for one of the world s most exclusive organisations but some golf industry experts estimate the merchandise store generates between 35 45 million in sales Everyone who passes through the Augusta gates must saunter past the store on way to the first tee and few can make the journey without pulling out a credit card While there is a growing secondary market for Masters merchandise the vast majority of purchases are still made by golf fans who simply want a memento of their bucket list achievement Bill Henberson waited 30 years in the Masters lottery for a chance to attend golf s first major and marked the occasion by schlepping home three shirts hats for grandchildren a flag and a puzzle A group of four men said between them they had dropped roughly 2 100 on gifts for kids friends and themselves Of course with the 20 hats they had tucked into their shopping bags there was more than enough gear to go around Another visitor walked away with T shirts hats flags magnets and cups not bothering to look at the final cost
It s the only time my husband doesn t complain about spending Henberson s daughter Jaima noted wryly Additional reporting Amy Tennery Editing by Ian Chadband |
EBAY | Digital banking startup Aspiration seeks new funding round | By David French and Anna Irrera NEW YORK Reuters Aspiration a digital banking startup that allows customers to choose whether to pay fees is embarking on its largest ever fundraising round its chief executive Andrei Cherny told Reuters The Marina Del Rey California based company is seeking upwards of 200 million which would value it at more than 1 billion according to a person familiar with the fundraising plans The final figure will depend on investor interest and will be formally set later the person added Cherny declined to comment on the figure but confirmed the company was in talks with investors for a cash injection that would be larger than anything we ve done before Founded in 2013 by Cherny and Joe Sanberg the company markets itself as an ethical bank offering socially conscious services and investments ones that exclude businesses linked to the fossil fuels or firearms industries It does not charge fees on ATM withdrawals or offer overdrafts It is part of a wave of young companies aiming to compete with traditional financial services providers through more efficient use of technology and better customer experience So called neo banks such as Aspiration and Chime in the United States and N26 and Monzo in Europe also hope to tap into consumer discontent with traditional banks Aspiration which holds a broker dealer license and partners with banks had last raised 47 million from investors including Social Impact Finance Omidyar Network and Allen Co in December 2017 Other backers include actors Orlando Bloom and Leonardo DiCaprio and Capricorn Investment Group the firm founded by eBay NASDAQ EBAY Inc s first president Jeff Skoll In February Aspiration launched a new product called Spend Save Account which offers 2 percent interest on deposits and gives customers extra rewards for spending at socially conscious businesses Accounts are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for up to 250 000 per depositor according to its website The company has more than 1 million customers and is adding around 100 000 users per month Cherny said Aspiration is not yet profitable he added while declining to disclose how much the company had amassed in deposits Cherny said the startup s Pay What is Fair strategy had originally raised skepticism among investors but that sentiment had changed as the company grew and most of its users opted to pay a fee As we are talking to people If anything it s become easier for investors to see what makes Aspiration special he said |
EBAY | Five Surging Strong Buy Stocks To Watch | Remember that part in The Shining where Jack types All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy over and over again onto reams of paper That s pretty much how I felt today Instead rather than that sentence I feel like typing More tariffs and no deal makes Dave an angry elf Another headline from the administration about adding more tariffs against China and guess what Another rough session on Wall Street with stocks coming under serious pressure mid morning Check out Dave s Daily Dive video above where I break down the market action today Each day I Dave Bartosiak of Zacks com dive into the charts pointing out key price action and levels for you to watch But it doesn t stop there because the highlight of today s video which you can see for free by clicking above is when I break down stock charts of a few key names today I ve got five Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy stocks breaking out to new highs The list of stocks I cover today include Casey s General Stores CASY Casey s General Stores Inc together with its subsidiaries operates convenience stores under the Casey s and Casey s General Store names The company s stores offer a selection of food including freshly prepared foods such as pizza donuts and sandwiches beverages tobacco and nicotine products health and beauty aids automotive products and other nonfood items Its stores also provide fuel for sale on a self service basis In addition the company operates two stores under the Tobacco City name primarily selling tobacco and nicotine products two liquor stores and one grocery store Denny s Corp DENN Denny s Corporation through its subsidiary Denny s Inc owns and operates full service restaurant chains under the Denny s brand As of December 26 2018 it operated 1 709 franchised licensed and company restaurants including 1 578 restaurants in the United States and 131 in Canada Puerto Rico Mexico New Zealand the Philippines Honduras Costa Rica the United Arab Emirates Guam the United Kingdom El Salvador and Guatemala eBay EBAY eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY operates commerce platforms connecting various buyers and sellers worldwide The company s Marketplace platforms include its online marketplace at ebay com and the eBay suite of mobile apps and StubHub platforms comprise its online ticket platform at stubhub com and the StubHub mobile apps that connect fans with their favorite sporting events shows and artists as well as enables them to buy and sell tickets Its Classifieds platforms include a collection of brands such as mobile de Kijiji Gumtree Marktplaats eBay Kleinanzeigen and others which offer online classifieds to enable people find whatever they are looking for in their local communities FTI Consulting FCN FTI Consulting Inc provides business advisory services to manage change mitigate risk and resolve disputes worldwide The company s Corporate Finance Restructuring segment provides turnaround and restructuring business transformation interim management valuation and financial advisory transaction dispute advisory and tax services as well as mergers and acquisitions M A and M A integration services Haemonetics HAE Haemonetics Corporation a healthcare company provides hematology products and solutions It operates through Japan EMEA North America Plasma and All Other segments The company offers automated plasma collection devices related disposables and software including NexSys PCS and PCS2 plasmapheresis equipment and related disposables such as plasma collection containers and intravenous solutions as well as integrated information technology platforms for plasma customers to manage their donors operations and supply chain and NexLynk DMS donor management system It also provides automated blood component and manual whole blood collection systems such as MCS brand apheresis equipment to collect specific blood components from the donor disposable whole blood collection and component storage sets SafeTrace Tx and El Dorado Donor donation and blood unit management systems Hemasphere software that provides support for blood drive planning and Donor Doc and e Donor software to enhance the donor recruitment and retention Now See All Our Private Trades While today s Zacks Rank 1 new additions are being shared with the public other trades are hidden from everyone but selected members Would you like to peek behind the curtain and view them Starting today for the next month you can follow all Zacks private buys and sells in real time from value to momentum from stocks under 10 to ETF and option moves from insider trades to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises we ve called them with 80 accuracy You can even look inside portfolios so exclusive that they are normally closed to new investors |
EBAY | eBay Price Action Showing A Bull In Charge | eBay is to release its earnings number on Wednesday after market close By analyzing EBAY s daily chart we can see the price action has made a consolidation move within a small symmetrical triangle since June 20 This may be an interesting move for this stocks but as with symmetrical triangle patterns price may break in either direction
However through Ichimoku cloud analysis this particular stock may well be on the bullish bias On the daily chart both the Chikou line and the cloud shows bullishness and the price currently being supported by the Tenkan Kijun line and respecting the symmetrical triangle line
Looking further back to Feb 12 the price created a rectangle channel shaded area between the 35 40 and 39 40 area up to mid June before breaching the channel line on June 18 This channel line has also created a support price line after the price bounce from the peak of 40 55 on June 20 It then started to make both lower high and higher low
Momentum and oscillator tools all give a normal reading without any sign of divergence with ADX still showing a good momentum
If the analysis validates a bullish bias as per above we can put a buy stop above the the previous high of 40 55 to be conservative or if we wish to be an aggressive trader place a buy stop just above the upper line of the symmetrical triangle Stop loss can be set just below the low of June 25 at 38 90 and a minimum target shall be at least equal to the risk of the trade |
EBAY | EBay EBAY Surpasses Q2 Earnings And Revenue Estimates | EBay EBAY came out with quarterly earnings of 0 68 per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 62 per share This compares to earnings of 0 53 per share a year ago These figures are adjusted for non recurring items
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 9 68 A quarter ago it was expected that this e commerce company would post earnings of 0 63 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 67 delivering a surprise of 6 35
Over the last four quarters the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times
EBay which belongs to the Zacks Internet Commerce industry posted revenues of 2 69 billion for the quarter ended June 2019 surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0 50 This compares to year ago revenues of 2 64 billion The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four 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
EBay shares have added about 42 2 since the beginning of the year versus the S P 500 s gain of 19 8
What s Next for eBay
While eBay has outperformed 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 eBay was favorable 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 1 Strong Buy for the stock So the shares are expected to outperform 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 0 64 on 2 68 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and 2 69 on 10 93 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 Internet Commerce is currently in the top 16 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 |
EBAY | EBAY Options Pop Off Ahead Of Earnings Report | Ahead of earnings tonight online retailer eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY has reversed course after hitting 15 month highs now down 1 at 39 54 The equity was initially surging on a CNBC report that the firm is in the early stages of selling its ticket exchange business StubHub However no confirmed buyers were named
Looking at past earnings reactions EBAY stock moved higher the day after its last three earnings reports including a 5 rally in April A year ago however the stock swung to a 10 1 loss after earnings Over the past two years EBAY has averaged a one day post earnings swing of 5 6 regardless of direction but this time around the options market is pricing in a slightly bigger move at 7 8
Options are flying off the shelves today too with 26 000 calls and 19 000 puts across the tape so far three times what s typically seen at this point The most popular option is the July 40 put with a large chunk of contracts being bought to open New buyers of the put expect EBAY to retreat beneath 40 by the close on Friday when the options expire
Looking at the charts EBAY has had an impressive year up 40 6 year to date In recent weeks however the stock has consolidated its gains with pressure in the 40 40 50 area keeping the equity relatively range bound
Despite this positive price action analysts are split with 12 calling EBAY a buy or better while 12 say hold Should the company report strong earnings tonight a round of upgrades could propel the stock to new heights Likewise the door is wide open for some price target hikes on an earnings beat with the consensus 12 month price target of 40 04 a discount to today s new high of 41 11 |
WFC | Wells Fargo to pay 575 million in settlement with U S states | By Imani Moise NEW YORK Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC will pay 575 million to settle claims made by U S states the latest settlement as the bank works to resolve lingering investigations and legal battles stemming from its sales practices scandal and to remove a punitive asset cap Two years ago Wells Fargo agreed to pay 190 million to settle federal government claims that the bank created phony customer accounts Since then the bank has racked up over 2 billion in penalties as other issues were discovered across most of its business lines Friday s settlement resolves claims by all 50 states and the District of Columbia related to the accounts as well as claims that the bank improperly referred and charged customers for a number of financial products like auto and life insurance Instead of safeguarding its customers Wells Fargo exploited them California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement This is an incredible breach of trust that threatens not only the customer who depended on Wells Fargo but confidence in our banking system The settlement confirmed by Wells Fargo and the offices of various state attorneys general was first reported earlier by Reuters Wells Fargo has been seeking a fresh start after revelations that its employees opened potentially millions of unauthorized accounts tangled the nation s fourth largest bank in fierce investor and regulatory scrutiny for the past two years Over the summer Wells Fargo launched a marketing campaign saying the bank had been re established this year but Wells Fargo continued to attract fresh headlines about the customer abuses of the past The bank has been working to resolve ongoing investigations and legal battles as it tries to gain approval from the Federal Reserve to lift its cap on assets This year the bank has settled claims with the New York attorney general a class of investors and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency but the bank still has a number of probes looming over its bottom line Wells Fargo still faces probes by the U S Securities and Exchange Commission the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor according to its most recent securities filing
This story was refiled to delete the superfluous word Fells in paragraph 2 |
WFC | Democrat Warren takes step to challenge Trump in 2020 | By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON Reuters U S Senator Elizabeth Warren a liberal firebrand who has taken on Wall Street and traded barbs with Donald Trump on Monday became the most prominent Democrat to announce a challenge to the Republican president in 2020 Warren said she had formed an exploratory committee which will allow her to begin raising money to compete in what is expected to be a crowded Democratic primary field before the November 2020 presidential election She said on Twitter she would announce her decision on whether to run early in 2019 Warren 69 a senator from Massachusetts since 2013 became one of Trump s fiercest critics during the 2016 presidential race and they have continued to exchange biting insults during his presidency Trump mockingly refers to her as Pocahontas because of her claim to Native American ancestry Warren has denounced Trump as an insecure money grubber with a platform of racism sexism and xenophobia while Trump has described the former Harvard Law School professor as goofy and a lowlife with a nasty mouth On Monday Warren released a video in which she outlined her vision of a path to opportunity for all Americans and charged that the U S middle class was under attack from corporate interests She later elaborated on the theme in an exchange with reporters outside her Cambridge Massachusetts home America s middle class is getting hollowed out and opportunity for too many of our young people is shrinking she said So I m in this fight all the way Right now Washington works great for the wealthy and the well connected It s just not working for anyone else The Democratic presidential field could eventually include Senators Kamala Harris Cory Booker Kirsten Gillibrand as well as former Vice President Joe Biden Julian Castro President Barack Obama s housing secretary formed an exploratory committee this month Warren welcomed the strong and growing group of Democrats making arguments similar to those she is making saying That s how we build a movement We do it together In searching for a candidate to run against Trump Democrats will grapple with the tension between the party s establishment and progressive wings that flared during the 2016 primary with Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders an independent who ran under the Democratic banner A Warren candidacy can expect opposition from Wall Street In the U S Senate she has been a strong voice on financial issues and a self described defender of the ordinary American against powerful interests RESTRICTING BANKS Following the 2007 2009 global financial crisis Warren emerged as a leading critic of Wall Street and continues to advocate for stiffer regulation and oversight including reinstating a rule that would separate banks retail business from their riskier investment banking activities Warren a member of the Senate Banking Committee has fought the Trump administration s efforts to weaken post crisis financial rules going as far as to attack moderate Democrats who backed a May rewrite of the 2010 Dodd Frank reform law In a September interview marking 10 years since the financial crisis Warren was asked about breaking up big banks Oh yeah she told the New York Times Give me a chance She also has opposed the administration s efforts to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau an agency she helped create and has pressurized the Federal Reserve to take a tough line on scandal hit lender Wells Fargo N WFC Many of Warren s policy positions have focused on economic inequality She recently offered legislation calling on the U S government to manufacture generic drugs to reduce their cost In 2017 she joined other senators in a proposal to extend the federal Medicare health insurance program for seniors to include everyone Warren s 80 percent name recognition does not translate into actual support said University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato said Some Democrats swear by her and love her blunt style while others are put off by her and fear she d lose to Trump he said Warren has a lot of convincing to do adding the same is true of many other Democratic contenders Warren will begin campaigning soon in some of the states with early presidential nominating contests a person familiar with her plans said Trump had not responded several hours after Warren s announcement but Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel dismissed the senator as another extreme far left obstructionist and a total fraud Trump s use of Pocahontas a 17th century Native American woman associated with the British colony in Jamestown Virginia was aimed at drawing attention to a controversy over her heritage raised during Warren s 2012 Senate race Warren in October released a DNA analysis she said supported her assertion that she had Native American lineage Trump s reference has drawn criticism from some Native American groups while others criticized Warren for trying to lay claim to a tribal nation
The story is refiled to fix spelling of Cory Booker s name in paragraph eight |
WFC | DZS completes acquisition of KEYMILE | DASAN Zhone Solutions DZSI 1 1 announced it has completed the acquisition of KEYMILE DZS acquired KEYMILE for 11 78M in cash in exchange for all of the shares of KEYMILE The purchase price was paid with DZS available cash as well as a draw under the Company s revolving credit line with Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Bank and a loan from DASAN Networks Inc Now read |
WFC | Hill Rom Wells Fargo s VC invest in Israel s EarlySense | TEL AVIV Reuters EarlySense an Israeli maker of medical monitoring systems said on Monday it raised 39 million in financing led by medical technology firm Hill Rom and Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Strategic Capital the venture capital arm of Wells Fargo Co
Other new investors include BlueRed Capital Israel Innovation Fund Argos Capital and Hotung Capital Existing investors including Pitango Venture Capital and JK B Venture Capital participated as well
EarlySense has developed a contact free under the mattress sensing platform that provides continuous monitoring for patients
Hill Rom s investment comes on the heels of its launch of a hospital bed with integrated heart and respiratory rate sensing and analytics technology |
EBAY | EBay offers concessions to avert fight with Elliott sources | By Greg Roumeliotis and Liana B Baker Reuters EBay Inc has informed Elliott Management Corp it is willing to explore shedding some of its key assets and give the hedge fund board representation in a bid to avert a proxy contest people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday The U S e commerce company whose shares have dropped 15 percent in the last 12 months has offered to explore options for its StubHub ticket sales business and eBay NASDAQ EBAY Classifieds Group including a sale as Elliott has called for the sources said EBay is also discussing offering board seats to Elliott though no agreement has been reached and negotiations could still fall apart the sources said If a deal is reached it could be announced by March 1 when the deadline to nominate directors to eBay s board expires the sources added Another activist hedge fund in eBay s stock Starboard Value LP is in talks to also drop any threat of a proxy contest but is not discussing any board representation and is not teamed up with Elliott in its efforts according to one of the sources The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential Elliott declined to comment while Starboard and eBay did not respond immediately to a request for comment The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the settlement talks with Elliott Elliott said last month that StubHub on its own could be worth between 3 5 billion and 4 5 billion and eBay Classifieds which has an international footprint could be sold or spun off and worth between 8 billion and 12 billion EBay has a market value of 34 billion EBay this month announced a restructuring plan that will unite geographic regions under a global segment and said that a senior executive Scott Cutler will leave
The online seller has been a target for activist investors before Carl Icahn urged eBay to spin off payments unit PayPal Holdings Inc NASDAQ PYPL in 2014 a move the company followed through on in 2015 |
EBAY | EBay announces review of StubHub Classifieds in deal with activists | By Svea Herbst Bayliss and Sayantani Ghosh Reuters EBay Inc on Friday announced a review of its StubHub and eBay NASDAQ EBAY Classifieds businesses and said it would appoint two new directors to its board as part of an agreement with activist investors to avert a proxy contest The U S e commerce firm will add Jesse Cohn who runs U S hedge fund Elliott Management s U S equity activism practice and Matt Murphy the CEO of Marvell Technology and a nominee of U S hedge fund Starboard Value to its board The hedge funds had been pushing eBay to improve profitability through a wide ranging review While eBay s review does involve exploring options for parts of its portfolio it does not involve considering selling the whole of eBay or its core Marketplace business according to people familiar with the talks EBay will also add a third new independent director later in the year it said The company made its announcement hours before the deadline for investors to nominate directors The company signed cooperation agreements with Elliott and Starboard Value LP under which the two investors have agreed to certain standstill agreement including voting along with management and other provisions with eBay Over the course of the last two months we ve met with a number of shareholders to understand their views eBay Chief Executive Officer Devin Wenig said in a statement adding that the discussions have been constructive Elliott one of Wall Street s busiest and successful activists made a new bet on eBay in the fourth quarter and has been pushing for changes at the company including a sale of its StubHub ticket sales and its classified ads businesses Starboard another prominent activist which has won more board seats through settlements than other hedge funds according to data from Lazard has also been building a stake The company s shares have jumped 32 percent since the start of January but are still off 13 percent over the last 52 weeks Shares in eBay rose 5 percent to 39 in early trading after the news StubHub on its own could be worth between 3 5 billion and 4 5 billion and eBay Classifieds which has an international footprint could be sold or spun off and worth between 8 billion and 12 billion Elliott said last month
Before eBay Wenig had spent 18 years at Thomson Reuters where he led the company s markets unit |
EBAY | Avengers Endgame tickets crush records going for 500 on eBay | LOS ANGELES Reuters Advance ticket sales for Marvel superhero movie Avengers Endgame on Tuesday surpassed the last two Star Wars films and some appeared on resale platforms with asking prices of up to 500 each Fandango and Atom two of the top ticketing websites in the United States said first day advance sales for Disney s Avengers Endgame surpassed the 2015 movie Star Wars The Force Awakens and 2017 s Star Wars The Last Jedi also from Disney They did not give sales figures The new Avengers movie which brings together multiple comic book characters including Iron Man Captain Marvel Black Widow Thor and Ant Man marks the conclusion of 22 Marvel films Fan surveys last year showed it was the most anticipated film of 2019 Avengers Endgame sales have exceeded all expectations and surpassed Star Wars The Force Awakens the previous record holder to become Fandango s top selling title in its first 24 hours of sales and it accomplished that feat in only 6 hours Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis said in a statement Atom said the movie has set a record for its mobile ticketing service selling three times more tickets in the first hour than last year s Avengers Infinity War Avengers Endgame starts its movie theater rollout on April 24 in Australia and China before arriving in the United States on April 25 On eBay NASDAQ EBAY a single ticket for a first day IMAX screening in Hollywood was being offered for 500 Starting bids for other tickets were around 35 each Fans took to social media to complain about websites crashing error codes and long waits to get their tickets Took me 5 hours to get AvengersEndgame tickets tweeted Meghan Keatley It s been hours and they paused the site a fan called Bakuhoe wrote on Twitter Five hours later Bakuhoe tweeted It was fun waiting with y all hope you all get tickets and we can suffer at the diabolical hands of Marvel together Avengers Infinity War was the biggest movie of 2018 grossing 2 04 billion at the worldwide box office
Star Wars The Force Awakens with a global box office of 2 06 billion is the third biggest movie of all time after Avatar and Titanic respectively |
EBAY | EBay EBAY Reports Next Week Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth | EBay EBAY is expected to deliver a year over year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2019 This widely known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company s earnings picture but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near term stock price
The earnings report which is expected to be released on July 17 2019 might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations 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 e commerce company is expected to post quarterly earnings of 0 63 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 17
Revenues are expected to be 2 67 billion up 1 3 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days 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 eBay
For eBay the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3
So this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that eBay will 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 eBay would post earnings of 0 63 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 67 delivering a surprise of 6 35
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
EBay doesn t appear 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 |
WFC | Wells Fargo moves jobs abroad after U S layoffs government says | By Imani Moise Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC has been hiring overseas after pledging to eliminate thousands of jobs according to a Department of Labor investigation The department determined American employees who have been laid off in Wells Fargo s customer account management unit after Sept 28 will be eligible for government aid under the Trade Adjustment Assistance TAA program The program provides weekly income and training to help workers displaced by global trade find new jobs The bank has shifted to a foreign country the supply of a service like or directly competitive with the service supplied by the workers the TAA determination said The document available online did not specify which countries jobs were being moved to or how many people were hired overseas The department s findings were earlier reported by The Charlotte Observer Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wells Fargo the largest bank employer in the United States with roughly 262 000 workers said on Sept 20 it would reduce its total headcount by up to 26 0000 Last month the bank handed out roughly 1 000 60 day notices to employees across the United States and over the summer it laid off 600 employees in its mortgage division The reductions are intended to help the bank reach its goal of reducing costs by 4 billion by 2020 as it tries to increase profit and recover from a series of sales practice scandals while operating under the Federal Reserve s asset cap
Aside from headcount cuts Wells Fargo has pledged to lower costs and become more efficient by reducing its branch count by about 800 by 2020 and by selling noncore businesses |
WFC | Perrigo plunges to nine year lows on news of 1 64B Irish tax dispute | Perrigo PRGO 26 3 plummets as much as 27 to nine year lows following the disclosure of a 1 64B 1 9B bill for back taxes in Ireland The assessment is among the largest in Ireland s history and PRGO says it will pursue all available administrative and judicial avenues as may be necessary or appropriate Given the tax authority makes the rules it seems reasonable to think they may have the upper hand in this argument says Wells Fargo NYSE WFC health care analyst David Maris who cuts his price target for PRGO shares to 46 from 64 Maris questioned why it took so long for PRGO to tell investors when the assessment came at the end of November after talking with company management he says the company was exhausting all options including getting more clarification before making it public Now read |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Earnings Expected To Grow What To Know Ahead Of Next Week s Release | Wells Fargo WFC is expected to deliver a year over year increase in earnings on lower revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended December 2018 This widely known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company s earnings picture but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near term stock price
The earnings report which is expected to be released on January 15 2019 might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations On the other hand if they miss the stock may move lower
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management s discussion of business conditions on the earnings call it s worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This biggest U S mortgage lender is expected to post quarterly earnings of 1 19 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 22 7
Revenues are expected to be 21 54 billion down 2 3 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0 15 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 version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is subject to change 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 Wells Fargo
For Wells Fargo the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3
So this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Wells Fargo will 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 Wells Fargo would post earnings of 1 17 per share when it actually produced earnings of 1 13 delivering a surprise of 3 42
Over the last four quarters the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates just once
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
Wells Fargo doesn t appear 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 |
EBAY | EBay bis up 3 after earnings | EBay NASDAQ EBAY trades higher after sliding past estimates with its Q4 report Q4 gross merchandising volume increased 1 Y Y to 23 2B GMV was up 3 on a currency neutral basis The company says global active buyers rose 4 during the quarter to 179M Non GAAP operating margin fell 60 bps to 29 2 The company generated 1 2B of operating cash flow from continuing operations and 1 1B of free cash flow during the quarter Ebay expects to return approximately 7 0B to shareholders through dividends and repurchases over the next two years with approximately 5 5B to be returned in 2019 Looking ahead eBay sees Q1 revenue of 2 55B to 2 60B vs 2 66B consensus and EPS of 0 62 to 0 64 vs 0 61 consensus EBAY 3 33 AH to 34 80 Previously eBay beats by 0 03 beats on revenue Jan 29 Now read |
EBAY | Japan s one time tech unicorn Mercari warns of more losses | TOKYO Reuters Japanese e commerce start up Mercari which went public last year with great fanfare booked a quarterly loss of 1 1 billion yen 10 million and warned of more losses ahead as it spends heavily to expand in the U S market Mercari s smartphone app which allows people to trade used items online is well known in Japan but has made only a small headway in the U S market where it faces tough competition from established sites such as eBay NASDAQ EBAY and Craigslist Mercari gave no specific forecast but said heavy spending on its overseas expansion could mean bigger losses ahead The company recently abandoned its push in Europe but has not given up in the United States where it has recruited executives from tech companies such as Facebook NASDAQ FB The company said it sold a total of 138 9 billion yen 1 26 billion worth of merchandise in the October December quarter up 50 percent from the same period a year earlier But heavy sending on advertising and new businesses led to an operating loss of 1 1 billion yen in the quarter bigger than its 463 million yen loss a year earlier Mercari shares had surged to a high of 6 000 yen shortly after going public in June in an IPO that raised over 1 billion making it a rare tech unicorn But they have fallen over 60 percent since then closing on Thursday at 2 322 yen apiece
1 109 9200 yen |
EBAY | Ebay Bidders Patience Will Pay Off | For investors continuing to watch eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY stock for a longer term buy and hold further patience is required as the stock continues to remain rangebound The good news of course is once this congestion phase comes to an end then any trend higher is likely to extend for some time an excellent example of Wyckoff s second law of cause and effect In other words the longer the congestion phase lasts the cause then the greater the trend effect should be once it gets underway And more importantly when it does with some excellent support in place below So what is the technical picture for this eBay
The good news for watchers of this stock is the levels to be navigated are all clearly defined on the accumulation and distribution indicator and also on the volume point of control First the price based resistance which is denoted by the red dashed line just below 39 This level has been tested repeatedly from below since the start of the year but has held firm on each occasion Indeed the price action of the last few days is testing this level once more Below we have two very strong price regions acting as platforms of support and denoted with the blue dashed lines One at 35 and the other just above at 35 50 a cluster of strong support in this case Finally in the centre and moving to the volume point of control we have the VPOC itself the fulcrum of price action and the heaviest concentration of volume at 37 30
Last week s widespread up candle was supported with excellent volume and what we are waiting for now is a follow through of this positive sentiment for the stock with a break and hold above the ceiling of resistance Once breached expect to see this stock develop a longer term bullish trend and move firmly away from the VPOC and into light volume extending through to 44 per share where a low volume node awaits
The catalyst for a move higher may well be the next earnings report due on 17th July Last time around EPS of 0 55 surprised the markets and comfortably beat market expectations of 0 51 A repeat may just be enough to drive the stock into the 40 region and beyond with the consensus forecast for the period at 0 49 |
WFC | U S consumer spending strengthening in boost to economy | By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON Reuters U S consumer spending gathered momentum in November as households bought furniture electronics and a range of other goods which could further allay fears of a significant slowdown in the American economy even as the outlook overseas continued to darken The upbeat data from the Commerce Department on Friday bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for a fourth time this year at its Dec 18 19 policy meeting despite moderating inflation and tighter financial market conditions It also stood in stark contrast to reports from China showing a dramatic fall off in retail sales in the world s second largest economy and from Europe where a key measure of business activity expanded at its slowest rate in four years The U S central bank has hiked rates three times this year Today s report shows Fed officials consumers just aren t confident they are also putting their money where the mouths are and buying enough goods to keep the economy humming said Chris Rupkey chief economist at MUFG in New York Retail sales excluding automobiles gasoline building materials and food services surged 0 9 percent last month after an upwardly revised 0 7 percent increase in October These so called core retail sales which correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product were previously reported to have gained 0 3 percent in October Economists polled by Reuters had forecast core retail sales rising 0 4 percent last month November s increase in core retail sales and upward revisions to October s data suggested a brisk pace of consumer spending in the fourth quarter Consumer spending which accounts for more than two thirds of the U S economy increased at a 3 6 percent annualized rate in the July September quarter A sharp sell off on Wall Street and partial inversion of the U S Treasury yield curve had stoked fears of a recession But worries over the economy s health were eased on Thursday after government data showed the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell back to a near 49 year low last week A Reuters poll released on Thursday showed economists now see the risk of recession in the next two years at 40 percent up from 35 percent last month In the wake of the strong core retail sales numbers economists bumped up estimates for fourth quarter gross domestic product growth to as high as a 3 0 percent rate from around a 2 4 percent pace The economy grew at a 3 5 percent pace in the July September period Spending is being boosted by a tightening labor market which is starting to spur faster wage growth lower taxes and moderate inflation It remains strong despite the sharp stock market losses The dollar hit a 19 month peak against a basket of currencies U S Treasury prices rose while stocks on Wall Street fell on fears the global economy was slowing MANUFACTURING SLOWING Consumer spending in the fourth quarter could also get a boost from a surge in demand for utilities in November In a separate report on Friday the Fed said industrial production rebounded 0 6 percent last month after falling 0 2 percent in October Industrial output was driven by a 3 3 percent surge in utilities production as an unseasonably cold November boosted demand for heating Mining production rose 1 7 percent But manufacturing output was unchanged after dipping in October indicating that obstacles remain for the economy despite consumers exuberance We expect to see continued softening in the pace of manufacturing growth in the coming year as both U S and global growth slow and the dollar remains a headwind for exporters said Sarah House a senior economist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities in Charlotte North Carolina Overall retail sales however rose only 0 2 percent in November as cheaper gasoline undercut sales at service stations Gasoline prices have dropped about 40 cents per gallon since October according to the U S Energy Information Administration Oil prices have fallen by a third since the start of October amid concerns about oversupply and cooling global growth Retail sales increased by an upwardly revised 1 1 percent in October They were previously reported to have surged 0 8 percent Sales at service stations tumbled 2 3 percent last month the biggest drop since May 2017 after rising 3 2 percent in October Auto sales gained 0 2 percent after accelerating 1 5 percent in the prior month Sales at building material stores slipped 0 3 percent Receipts at clothing stores dropped 0 2 percent after jumping 1 3 percent in October The drop in clothing sales probably reflects deep discounting by retailers seeking to lure shoppers Online and mail order retail sales surged 2 3 percent the largest gain in a year after increasing 0 8 percent in October
Receipts at furniture stores rebounded 1 2 percent Sales at electronics and appliance stores increased 1 4 percent Spending at hobby musical instrument and book stores increased 0 4 percent But sales at restaurants and bars fell 0 5 percent after rising 0 6 percent in October |
WFC | NBA notebook Revised trade sends Ariza to Wizards two to Suns | The Phoenix Suns traded Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards on Saturday morning for Kelly Oubre Jr and Austin Rivers according to multiple reports The deal capped a confusing series of events that unfolded Friday night when a proposed three team trade fell apart over confusion about whether Dillon Brooks or MarShon Brooks would be included The trade as proposed originally would have sent Ariza from the Suns to the Wizards Oubre from the Wizards to the Memphis Grizzlies and Rivers from the Wizards to the Suns The Grizzlies would have sent Wayne Selden to the Suns The Suns thought the Grizzlies would be sending them Dillon Brooks Grizzlies officials thought it was MarShon Brooks they d be trading The mixup happened because the Suns and Grizzlies didn t talk to each other The Wizards were the conduit of information and the identity of the proper Brooks got lost along the way according to ESPN s Adrian Wojnarowski Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine will miss at least two games with an injured left ankle coach Jim Boylen said LaVine has a sprained deltoid ligament and will undergo further testing Boylen confirmed prior to the Bulls game at the San Antonio Spurs The Bulls finish a three game road trip Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder LaVine who is averaging a team high 23 8 points per game suffered the injury in Thursday s loss to the Orlando Magic in Mexico City Sacramento Kings rookie forward Marvin Bagley III will miss at least 10 days after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee during Friday night s loss to the Golden State Warriors The Kings revealed after the contest that an MRI exam detected the injury Bagley who is averaging 12 7 points and 6 1 rebounds in 26 games off the bench will be re evaluated in 10 to 14 days Bagley was injured in the second quarter after taking a hard fall to the floor He initially stayed in the game before soon motioning to the bench that he needed to be replaced The NBA has fined Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner 15 000 for making an inappropriate gesture toward spectators during Friday night s 113 101 win at Philadelphia The punishment was announced by Kiki VanDeWeghe the league s executive vice president of basketball operations
The incident occurred with 3 21 remaining in the second quarter at the Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Center with video showing Turner flipping his middle finger at a group of 76ers fans as he headed to the bench Field Level Media |
WFC | Wells Fargo Obtains Licence To Expand Luxembourg Business | Wells Fargo Company NYSE WFC is on track to continue performing operations smoothly post Brexit as it recently obtained permission from the financial regulator of Luxembourg for expansion of its asset management business in the country
With this move Wells Fargo will be able to open new branches in Frankfurt and Paris and smoothly serve its existing European Union EU clients Also the company will be able to serve European institutional investors with discretionary portfolio management and investment advisory services
Per the head of International Distribution for Wells Fargo Asset Management Deirdre Flood the strategic move will help Wells Fargo brace itself against the uncertainties surrounding Brexit
He added By strengthening the capabilities of WFAM in Luxembourg along with dedicated WFAM branches in Frankfurt and Paris we are well positioned to deepen relationships with our European client base as well as with investors based in other international markets
In October 2018 Wells Fargo had applied for an investment firm licence to the French regulator which will be held by Wells Fargo Securities Europe S A in Paris Through this branch the company plans to offer a range of capital markets and investment banking services to its European and international customers that require access to the EU
Both this announcements form part of the company s Brexit strategy which is aimed at supporting the capital markets and investment banking needs of its customers in a post Brexit environment
Notably Wells Fargo finally attained the customary final court approval for settlement of the fake accounts scandal related to class action lawsuit that was filed against it by its shareholders in September 2016 The settlement amount of 480 million was approved by both the parties in May 2018
Also shareholders who bought Wells Fargo s common stock in the period between Feb 26 2014 and Sep 20 2016 will be eligible to claim the refund The San Francisco based bank had fully reserved the amount as of Mar 31 2018
Wells Fargo still has a long road ahead in clearing its reputation and convincing the Federal Reserve to pull back the asset cap that was placed in February
The stock has lost 17 9 over the past six months compared with 15 4 decline recorded by the it belongs to
Wells Fargo currently carries a Zacks Rank 4 Sell
Stocks to Consider
Equity Bancshares Inc NASDAQ EQBK has witnessed 2 1 upward estimate revision over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 4 in the past two years It has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy at present You can see
Old Second Bancorp s NASDAQ OSBC estimates have remained stable for current year earnings over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 15 in the past two years It carries a Zacks Rank 2
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Amalgamated Bank s NASDAQ AMAL current year earnings has been revised 2 2 upward over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 14 in the past two years It currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2
Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars
Here s another stock idea to consider Much like petroleum 150 years ago lithium power may soon shake the world creating millionaires and reshaping geo politics Soon electric vehicles EVs may be cheaper than gas guzzlers Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply one company stands out as the 1 stock to buy according to Zacks research It s not the one you think |
WFC | Wells Fargo Ends Sales Scandal Investigation With 50 States | Wells Fargo Company NYSE WFC has finally settled numerous investigations and legal cases it had been involved in since the fake account scandal came into light The bank will be paying about 575 million in order to clear the claims made by 50 states
Earlier in December Wells Fargo received the final court approval for 480 million settlement of the class action lawsuit that was filed by shareholders claiming to be harmed by the bank s false statements about its misdeeds
These claims relate to the revelation of a sales scam wherein the bank s employees allegedly opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive internal sales goals
The news broke in September 2016 post which Wells Fargo was subjected to investigations of several departments and businesses As a result a cap on the company s asset growth has been imposed by the authorities which will remain in place until the bank is able to give a reasonable assurance to stay out of trouble The revelation also led to several layoffs and restructuring of operations
For Wells Fargo 2018 had been a year of settlement wherein it has made considerable efforts to put behind past misdeeds In April it paid 1 billion to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to settle investigations related to mortgage and auto lending practices
In May the District Court for the Northern District of California had approved a 142 million settlement related to the lawsuit filed by the customers wronged by Wells Fargo
Also in August Wells Fargo was slapped with a penalty of 2 09 billion by the U S Department of Justice for actions that the regulator assumed contributed to the 2008 financial crises
In 2018 so far the stock has lost 24 5 compared with 19 3 decline recorded by the it belongs to
Wells Fargo currently carries a Zacks Rank 4 Sell
Stocks to Consider
Equity Bancshares Inc NASDAQ EQBK has witnessed 2 1 upward estimate revision over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 4 in the past two years It has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy at present You can see
Old Second Bancorp s NASDAQ OSBC estimates have remained stable for current year earnings over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 17 in the past two years It carries a Zacks Rank 2
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Amalgamated Bank s NASDAQ AMAL current year earnings has been revised 2 2 upward over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 19 in the past two years It currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2
Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana Ignited by new referendums and legislation this industry is expected to blast from an already robust 6 7 billion to 20 2 billion in 2021 Early investors stand to make a killing but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look |
WFC | A Year For The Books | Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements
Foreign Markets Fair Value and Volume
In Asia 8 out of 11 markets closed higher Shanghai Comp 0 44 Hang Seng 1 34 Nikkei 0 31
In Europe 12 out of 13 markets are trading higher CAC 1 02 DAX UNCH FTSE 0 09
Fair Value S P 0 74 NASDAQ 14 82 Dow 22 79
Total Volume 1 99mil ESH 450 SPH traded in the pit
Today s Economic Calendar
Today s economic calendar includes the Dallas Fed Mfg Survey at 10 30 AM ET
S P 500 Futures 2018 Year End Rebalance Walk Away
Chart courtesy of Chicagostock ES F Holding above 3D pivot range keeping pressure up and forcing buyers to chase Next major level 2550 2580 to test FOMC high of 2592
After trading sideways during the overnight session the S P 500 futures opened Friday s regular trading hours at 2504 25 The first move after the bell was a rally up to an early high of day at 2509 75 before turing lower and selling off down to the morning low of 2472 75 at 9 45 From there the ES bounced going into the midday double topping at 2501 50 and then drifted lower to close out the morning
The afternoon saw a push lower down to 2481 75 and then a sudden reversal higher as strong buy programs came in for the close thrusting the ES up to 2523 00 The reversal eventually failed in the final hour with a selloff down to 2476 75 The benchmark futures contract went on to print 2486 25 on the 3 00 cash close and setted the day at 2487 00 down 8 00 handles or 0 32
ES 2018 End Of The Year Rebalance And Record Low Liquidity
Our View First I want to thank and wish all of you for being part of MTS I really appreciate all the compliments I get from people about the Opening Print I have been writing it so long that I can t remember how long I have been doing it Geez that s not good I know I was writing it from Dubai every night for almost two weeks on one of the trips to the UAE when we were doing Sheikh Mohammed futures and options business I am pretty sure I started writing like 3 or 4 years before that so it s been at least 26 or 27 years Eeeee
I think we all know the retail futures trading industry has been shrinking for years and over the last two months with the ES dropping 2 to 3 a day and rallying over 5 in one day it only adds to the pain Remember these are not and I mean NOT our father markets or charts
Like I said above it gets hard to concentrate on trading when there is so much going on at MTS While I do think I have made some good calls I also made the call for the year end rally a little too early I knew that the odds of a Santa Claus rally increase starting the day after Christmas but I went out two Fridays ago on Twitter and started talking about a big pop coming and I did it after a big 50 handle rally and then watched the ES sell off 75 handles
I can express my frustration with a call like that I knew how the end of the year stats work and I also knew that with a 50 handle rally or even 100 handle rally you re supposed to lean into it I also have to admit that on two days over the last 3 weeks I lost 1 3rd of my years profits The PitBull says it to me all the time that we are outgunned and I have to agree
There were over 500 clearing firms between the CBOT and the CME when I started on the floor today there are 23 and only 3 or 4 that will open a retail futures accounts In most cases the IB s open the accounts because the clearing firm prefers to have a buffer in place A recent report from the NYSE showed that over 83 of the volume is algorithmic or HFT Retail traders have to in essence take on some of the smartest quants and programmers in the world places like Renaissance Technologies LLC or Citadel Im sorry to say this my friends but they don t lose
Renaissance s Medallion fund for example has averaged annual gains of more than 35 since 1990 So the moral of my story is while I may call it well trading it is a whole different game now You have to have extreme patience normal moves could have the Dow down 600 to 800 points or the ES could have a 70 to 80 handle move from high to low While this maybe the new norm it really isn t normal at all In fact regardless of what others may say we have never seen an extended period of such extreme volatility I know some will say the credit crisis or 1987 but we never saw continuous 3 daily drops and over 5 rallies in one day
I usually add my In the end to the bottom of the top part of the Opening Print but today truly is an end the last trading day and last day of 2018 If someone were to ask me to do a very brief overview the first thing would be that it was Trump s stock market rally and failure While I am 100 sure the China trade wars definitely have had a very negative effect on the world s stock markets it s not just China I would add that while I like Trump I also am like many of his supporters I am happy he is looking out for America but I am not happy with turning global friends and trading partners in to enemies
This hard nosed push approach where he doesn t listen to any of his staff members recommendations losing so many key people and just blasting off on his Twitter has gone from amusing to ludacris Owning a media company I know how hard it is to keep up with running a company and trading and the president has a lot more on his hands than I do but my belief Trump has so many issues he causes fruckises or disruptions to push the media away from all his investigations only adds to a longer list of problems Many Trump supports may disagree but to me it feels like he s on the run Shutting down the government to procure the money to build the wall isn t hurting our congressmen or senators its hurting poor families and low paid workers and the president s approval rating
Our view today is a full trading day and Tuesday the ES is closed all day then reopens Tuesday night The first thing is most people are taking time off for the holidays The second thing is it s the last trading day of the year and the year end rebalance According to Wells Fargo NYSE WFC investors and traders are looking for a desperately needed respite from market gyrations may have to deal with yet one more seismic bout of volatility before Dec 31 finally pops up on their calendar dials
According to Wells on the close today the pension funds will rebalance adjust positions between stock and bonds Last week it was advertised that the rebalance was over 120 billion but after last weeks late blast up the number was cut back substantially For every 1 higher the pension funds bought 1 billion in stock thus leaving around 50 to 60 billion to buy My feeling is that while the ES may really off the buying most of it will be paired off I think I am like a lot of folks I think the ES may rally I just don t think it will hold It won t just go up without a few good selloffs As for 2019 I am going to take this one day at a time
Lastly and this is something I have talked about a lot the liquidity in the futures has dropped to a record low in the ES NQ and YM futures The Barclays LON BARC chart above shows how the ES futures bid ask contract size has dropped to a record low meaning there could be a pick up in volatility late when the rebalance starts
Market Vitals Technical Analysis for Monday 12 31 2018
Disclaimer Trading Futures Options on Futures and retail off exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances knowledge and financial resources Any decision to purchase or sell as a result of the opinions expressed in the forum will be the full responsibility of the person s authorizing such transaction s BE ADVISED TO ALWAYS USE PROTECTIVE STOP LOSSES AND ALLOW FOR SLIPPAGE TO MANAGE YOUR TRADE S AS AN INVESTOR COULD LOSE ALL OR MORE THAN THEIR INITIAL INVESTMENT PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS
Original post |
WFC | New Residential What Comes After The 20 Fall | New Residential Investment Corp NYSE NRZ continues to pay attractive big dividends but its share price is down more than 20 from its recent highs After a brief review of how NRZ makes money the big risks it faces and why the business is attractive we provide details on why the share price has fallen over 20 and what might come next We conclude with our views on investing in NRZ
How NRZ Makes Money
NRZ invests in higher yielding residential mortgage related assets that offer steady longer term yields this is how NRZ supports its big dividend as shown in the following graphic
And NRZ uses lower cost debt to fund its investments for example the coupon rate NRZ pays on its outstanding debt generally ranges from 3 5 to 5 6 It s easy to see how NRZ has been generating all that cash to support its big dividend payments i e it earns the spread between the yield on its investments see table above and the cost of its debts
What are the Big Risks
Despite NRZ s powerful income generation it is not without risks The business faces a variety of risks including growing competition from Wells Fargo NYSE WFC for example a deep pocketed growing leader and competitor There is the illiquidity risk since NRZ s assets are relatively illiquid but not publicly traded this could create problems right when the company needs liquidity the most There is the market cycle risk that we will have more to say about when we discuss the MSR market There is the interest rate risk and credit spread risk which according to NRZ s annual report says that a 25 basis point increase in credit spreads would decrease our net book value by approximately 186 4 million
What Are NRZ s Attractive Qualities
Besides NRZ s huge income generation and big dividend payments our previous article also went into detail on New Residential s other attractive qualities including smart management NRZ was an opportunistic pioneer in the post housing crisis MSR space and the company has continued to evolve based on market opportunities The economics work as shown by the fact they re getting paid a lot more on their investments than they re paying on the debt The market is big although conditions are increasingly challenging in the MSR space more on this later There is low competition even though it could grow from big banks in particular There are strong market conditions although they have deteriorated somewhat in recent months There are overwhelming buy recommendations from Wall Street analysts which liked NRZ s business last summer continue to like it now and believe the shares have big upside potential see chart below There is also the big dividend as the share price has sold off the dividend yield has gotten higher
Why is the Share Price Down
1 Everything is down Before getting into the specifics on NRZ keep in mind the overall marker has sold off significantly in recent months The point here is that NRZ s sell off is not necessarily a wild outlier However NRZ has sold off more than the market which is significant considering it pays a big dividend Specifically dividends are often a sign of safety but in NRZ s case it s considered a risk asset for a variety of reasons and the shares have sold off harder than the overall market recently
2 Credit Spreads As mentioned earlier and according to NRZ a 25 basis point increase in credit spreads would decrease our net book value by approximately 186 4 million And here is a look at what s happened to credit spreads recently they ve increased
Curiously NRZ used to include a metric in their quarterly earnings presentation on the more specific non agency spread but it was conspicuously removed from the last one so for some perspective here it is from the prior Q2 presentation
The point is that credit spreads have widened significantly and this will have a big negative impact on NRZ s book value when they next report Also this is one of the big reasons why the shares have sold off the market is anticipating a big decline in book value This will create a variety of challenges ranging from less cushion on their debt ratios the price to book value valuation metric looking less attractive and it makes it increasingly challenging for NRZ to raise capital in the capital markets As a side note NRZ did wisely raise capital by issuing new shares right before the share price fell significantly Specifically the company raised about 433M in gross proceeds after the sale of 25M shares suggesting a price of 17 32 This was a well timed move by management to issue shares when they could still issue them at a higher price
3 MSR Growth is Slowing Specifically the MRS industry is not growing as fast as it was and MSR valuations cannot rise forever For example CEO Michael Nierenberg said on the last call
MSRs can t go up forever So as rates continue to rise they ll go up but at some point they ll stop going up To add a little perspective to that when asked how much room do you think is there for improved valuations on the MSR Nierenberg said the overall mark on the portfolio is a 3 8 multiple I think that could you see 6 and 7 turns or 6 and 7 multiples on the asset
And keep in mind these comments were as of the end of the third quarter when the market and future interest rate expectations were significantly higher This dynamic is important for several reasons First if rates don t rise as fast as previously expected then pre payment speeds may not slow and the value of the MSR book could decline This is a big reason why the value of NRZ has sold off simply put the market perceives the MSR values to be lower which could result in NRZ s book value being marked down net quarter which basically means they have less collateral against which to borrow money and grow the business
Also MSR industry growth opportunities are slowing For example the entire Mortgage Banking Industry will be challenged going forward as mortgage lender profit outlook has fallen for nine straight quarters And according to Nierenberg only 5 of the entire mortgage universe is refinanceable Specifically Nierenberg said
I think that the mortgage banking industry is going to continue to be challenged With a lot of these smaller mortgage banks having to do something around either capital partnership or just figuring out a different path The one slide that we point out that I like that we put in 5 of the entire mortgage universe is refinanceable today based on a 4 90 current coupon rate So if you think about that where is production going to come from how do folks stay in business how do folks manage their expenses it s a very very hard business When it s good it s very good When it s hard it s very very hard
What Comes Next For NRZ
Given the recent sell off for NRZ what comes next We see a variety of paths including being opportunistic continuing to evolve the business and the potential for credit spreads and interest rate expectations to settle down
1 NRZ Stays Opportunistic Considering the recent market wide volatility we suspect NRZ has likely been opportunistically purchasing non agency RMBS at attractive prices For example on the last quarterly call before the sell off when asked about the opportunity to grow the non agency RMBS portfolio CEO Michael Nierenberg explained
I ve been pretty vocal the past couple of quarters the investing environment is not great However to the extent that we see opportunities to acquire these assets where we have a strategic purpose and that strategic purpose is related to our call strategy we ll do so and to the extent market volatility creates a softening in pricing that would be great for us So investment opportunities they are there We re starting to see them rear their head a little bit
Keep in mind this call was to report Q3 but it took place a few weeks after Q3 and into Q4 when the market wide sell off had already started so Nierenberg probably knew the opportunities were growing but he was keeping his cards close to his chest
And being opportunistic pertains not only to buying non agency RMBS but also M A Because NRZ has scale and liquidity especially relative to its peers there could be opportunities to buy distressed smaller players at discounted prices When asked about his appetite for M A on the call Nierenberg said
Our appetite for acquisition assuming that it s accretive for shareholders is always there and we re seeing a lot more opportunity today or a lot more incoming I would say today around the mortgage banking folks as it s just a very challenging time quite frankly for mortgage bankers
He went on to say
we love the way that we re set up We love our portfolios We think that they re very very difficult to replicate and for us to stay due course and continue to add where we can to continue to drive home core earnings and pay our 0 50
2 Evolving Business NRZ has a track record of evolving their business and they could continue to do so as market conditions dictate For example they ve been active in the non qualified mortgage securitization business Specifically when asked about the magnitude of originations going forward Nierenberg explained
What I would say around the non QM business we d like to get to a place where we re issuing a deal a quarter We re in discussions with a number of other mortgage bankers about providing pricing to them to acquire loans to be able to issue more volume Our business not the CNRG business the mortgage business has been talking about non QM for four years or so We are starting to see a little bit more production and we re seeing plenty more issuance of the overall mortgage market
3 Credit Spreads Settle Down As we saw earlier credit spreads have widened This will likely have a negative impact on NRZ s book value and it s one of the big reasons the share price has fallen However what happens when the market settles down and credit spreads narrow We don t know when this will happened but according to NRZ s annual report a 25 basis point decrease in credit spreads would increase our net book value by approximately 190 3 million If the market does settle down and credit spreads narrow will which almost certainly happen at some point we just don t know when then NRZ s share price will likely move higher quickly The recent sell off has been induced by fear of a dire market situation that has not yet materialized people are just afraid that it might NRZ is still generating plenty of income based on its diversified mortgage related investment portfolio they re still paying their big dividend and the shares will likely revert significantly higher when credit spreads come back down
What Does It All Mean for NRZ
Despite the risk off market conditions in recent months the economy remains strong GDP unemployment and consumer confidence are all relatively quite healthy And for perspective here is a look at what happens to NRZ s various assets under current and expected market conditions
From NRZ s perspective the recent volatility is creating more opportunities to invest And for income investors NRZ s share prices have become considerably less expensive
Conclusion
NRZ has built its business by being opportunistic and smart during times of distress This is basically how they became a leader in the MSR space in the years following the housing crisis Our latest bout of market volatility isn t anywhere near as severe as the housing crisis but it does provide opportunities Specifically we ve ranked New Residential 8 in our recent report The More It Falls Top 10 Big Yields Worth Considering because recent market volatility allows NRZ to continue making opportunistic investments and it provides an opportunity for income focused investors to pick up shares at a discounted price We don t know when credit spreads will narrow or how much NRZ s book value will be marked down but we re not trying to bottom tick NRZ pays an attractive big dividend supported by an industry leading business and the overall economy remains strong We believe the risks are outweighed by the attractive qualities of the business and we currently own shares of New Residential within our actively managed prudently diversified long term Income Equity portfolio |
WFC | Is WMFAX A Strong Bond Fund Right Now | On the lookout for a Muni Bonds fund Starting with Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Municipals Bond Fund A WMFAX is one possibility WMFAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 Buy which is based on nine forecasting factors like size cost and past performance
Objective
WMFAX is one of many Muni Bonds funds to choose from Muni Bonds funds invest in debt securities issued by states and local municipalities which are typically used to pay for infrastructure construction schools and other government functions These securities can be backed by taxes revenue bonds but others are known as general obligation and are not necessarily backed by a defined source These bonds are especially attractive because of their inherent tax benefits
History of Fund Manager
Wells Fargo is based in San Francisco CA and is the manager of WMFAX Wells Fargo Municipals Bond Fund A debuted in April of 2005 Since then WMFAX has accumulated assets of about 1 13 billion according to the most recently available information The fund is currently managed by Lyle J Fitterer who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2005
Performance
Obviously what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers WMFAX has a 5 year annualized total return of 4 04 and it sits in the top third among its category peers Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3 year annualized total return of 2 3 which places it in the top third during this time frame
When looking at a fund s performance it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns The lower the standard deviation the less volatility the fund experiences The standard deviation of WMFAX over the past three years is 3 14 compared to the category average of 7 14 The fund s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3 06 compared to the category average of 7 22 This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half decade
Bond Duration
Modified duration is a measure of a given bond s interest rate sensitivity so when judging how fixed income securities will respond in a shifting rate environment it is an excellent figure to look at
For those that believe interest rates will rise this is an important factor to consider WMFAX has a modified duration of 6 34 which suggests that the fund will decline 6 34 for every hundred basis point increase in interest rates
Income
Income is often a big reason for purchasing a fixed income security so it is important to consider the fund s average coupon Average coupon is a look at the average payout by the fund in a given year For example this fund s average coupon of 4 46 means that a 10 000 investment should result in a yearly payout of 446
If you are looking for a strong level of current income a higher coupon is a good choice though it could pose a reinvestment risk these risks can occur if rates are lower in the future when compared to the initial purchase date of the bond
Investors also need to consider risk relative to broad benchmarks as income is only one part of the bond picture WMFAX carries a beta of 0 94 meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities With this in mind it has a positive alpha of 0 64 which measures performance on a risk adjusted basis
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond s rating which is a grade AAA to D given to a bond that indicates its credit quality With this letter scale in mind WMFAX has 36 2 in high quality bonds rated at least AA or higher while 46 46 are of medium quality with ratings of A to BBB The fund has an average quality of A and focuses on high quality securities
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market costs become increasingly important Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart a low cost product will be an outperformer all other things being equal Thus taking a closer look at cost related metrics is vital for investors In terms of fees WMFAX is a load fund It has an expense ratio of 0 79 compared to the category average of 0 86 From a cost perspective WMFAX is actually cheaper than its peers
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of 1 000 and each subsequent investment should be at least 100
Bottom Line
Overall Wells Fargo Municipals Bond Fund A WMFAX has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance average downside risk and lower fees Wells Fargo Municipals Bond Fund A WMFAX looks like a good potential choice for investors right now
For additional information on the Muni Bonds area of the mutual fund world make sure to check out There you can see more about the ranking process and dive even deeper into WMFAX too for additional information If you want to check out our stock reports as well make sure to go to Zacks com to see all of the great tools we have to offer including our time tested Zacks Rank |
EBAY | EBay Soars on Activist Interest Midday | Investing com Shares of eBay jumped sharply in midday trading as stakes from activist investors were revealed
Elliott Management announced a stake of more than 4 in the online retail and auction company while Starboard Value also has a stake of less than 4 according to The Wall Street Journal
EBay NASDAQ EBAY stock gained about 8
Among the corporate moves recommended by Elliott are the sales of ticket broker StubHub and eBay s classified s business
W e appreciate Elliott s recognition of the strength and power of eBay s business and will carefully review and evaluate Elliott s proposals the company said in a statement We look forward to the opportunity to engage with Elliott as we do with all shareholders
The company is set to report earnings on Jan 29 after the bell |
EBAY | Hedge funds push for overhaul at eBay | By Arjun Panchadar and Liana B Baker Reuters Hedge funds Elliott Management and Starboard Value have taken stakes in eBay Inc O EBAY and are pushing for changes including the sale of some of the e commerce company s businesses In a letter to the company s board Elliott asked eBay to hive off its StubHub ticket sales business and eBay Classifieds Group as part of a plan the hedge fund says could double the company s value Starboard has also taken a significant stake in eBay and been pushing for changes including asset sales in the past few months a source familiar with the matter said separately Starboard did not respond to a request for comment Shares of eBay rose as much as 12 percent before trading up 5 7 percent at 32 78 early Tuesday afternoon They had lost a quarter of their value last year Elliott which owns a more than 4 percent stake in eBay said the company s share price could reach 55 63 by 2020 if it implemented the hedge fund s restructuring plan While we believe that execution missteps and unclear focus have impaired value eBay is far from broken and its future should be bright Elliott s Jesse Cohn wrote adding that his mother had built a successful business on eBay by selling jewelry for more than a decade EBay said it would review the proposal and is looking forward to engaging with Elliott The eBay Board and leadership team regularly engage with our shareholders and value their input the company said The online seller has been a target for activist investors before Carl Icahn urged eBay to spin off payments unit PayPal in 2014 a move the company followed through on in 2015 Elliott said StubHub on its own could be worth 3 5 billion to 4 5 billion and eBay Classifieds which has an international footprint could be sold or spun off and worth between 8 billion and 12 billion Elliott also asked for an initial meeting with the board to discuss its concerns and for the board to form an operations committee to execute on an improvement plan DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte said he agreed that restructuring could create more value for shareholders The company has been primed to see activist intervention for some time now Benchmark Co analyst Daniel Kurnos said
The general consensus is that a true cleanup is needed |
EBAY | eBay Earnings Revenue beat in Q4 | Investing com eBay NASDAQ EBAY reported fourth quarter earnings that beat analysts expectations on Tuesday and revenue that topped forecasts
The firm reported earnings per share of 0 71 on revenue of 2 88B Analysts polled by Investing com anticipated EPS of 0 68 on revenue of 2 87B That compared to EPS of 0 59 on revenue of 2 61B in the same period a year earlier The company had reported EPS of 0 56 on revenue of 2 65B in the previous quarter
eBay shares gained 2 55 to trade at 34 55 in after hours trade following the report
eBay follows other major Services sector earnings this month
On Tuesday Verizon reported fourth quarter EPS of 1 12 on revenue of 34 28B compared to forecasts of EPS of 1 09 on revenue of 34 45B
Comcast earnings beat analyst s expectations on January 23 with fourth quarter EPS of 0 64 on revenue of 27 85B Investing com analysts expected EPS of 0 62 on revenue of 27 57B
Stay up to date on all of the upcoming earnings reports by visiting Investing com s earnings calendar |
EBAY | Bidding Continues On EBAY | eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY is another stock which has been trading around the volume point of control for some time and is one where patience is required before jumping in too early and again we have some key volume price analysis lessons on this chart
If we start with the important levels the ceiling of resistance at 38 50 defines the weekly chart for the stock This level has been tested several times this year most recently last week as it capped off a solid week of gains with a wide spread up candle on excellent volume This ceiling of resistance is denoted with the wide red dashed line of the accumulation and distribution indicator which clearly shows the strength of this area The start of the trading week has been seen muted price action but once this level is breached this will then provide an excellent platform of support to a further move higher with volume also falling away on the price axis the further we move away from the VPOC itself With little in the way of defined price resistance then ahead this should provide a clear path for a solid move higher in the longer term
Finally notice within the rallies of 2019 how price action has risen yet volume has been falling and soon after results in a minor correction on weakness These too are classic signals of volume price analysis |
EBAY | Why Is EBay EBAY Down 5 7 Since Last Earnings Report | A month has gone by since the last earnings report for eBay EBAY Shares have lost about 5 7 in that time frame underperforming the S P 500
Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release or is eBay due for a breakout Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late let s take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers eBay Surpasses Earnings and Revenue Estimates in Q1eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY reported first quarter 2019 pro forma earnings of 67 cents surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4 cents The reported figure also improved 26 4 year over year Gross revenues of 2 6 billion increased 6 year over year up 4 on an Fx neutral basis and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 58 billion The company continues to leverage structured data and Artificial Intelligence AI to improve user experience on its platform Notably this aided in the growth of active buyers on its platform in turn driving GMV Robust growth of Advertising and Payment platform drove eBay s top line growth Revenues and GMVIn the first quarter the Marketplace platform accounted for 2 2 billion of revenues up 3 year over year on a reported basis and 4 on an FX Neutral basis Marketplace GMV was 21 6 billion down 4 year over year on a reported basis and 1 on a FX Neutral basis The increase was aided by continual expansion of new user experiences StubHub contributed 1 billion of GMV down 3 on a year over year basis and revenues of 230 million flat from the year ago quarter Classifieds platforms performed pretty well during the quarter contributing 256 million to revenues up 4 year over year and 12 on a FX Neutral basis Total GMV of 22 6million in the first quarter was down 4 year over year on a reported basis and 1 on an Fx neutral basis During the quarter global active buyers customers increased 4 from the year ago period to 180 million Margins and IncomePro forma gross margin in the quarter was 77 3 down 100 basis points bps year over year Adjusted operating expenses of 1 35 billion decreased 0 9 from the prior year quarter As a percentage of sales sales and marketing and product development expenses decreased while general administrative costs increased Non GAAP operating margin was 29 8 in the first quarter up 190 bps year over year Balance Sheet and Cash FloweBay s balance sheet is highly leveraged with a long term debt of 7 7 billion Cash and short term investments balance was 4 4billion at the end of the first quarter versus 4 9 billion in fourth quarter 2018 eBay generated 550 million in cash from operating activities and spent 182 million on capex Free cash flow during the quarter was 368 million and the company repurchased shares worth 1 5 billion In addition it paid 125 million in cash dividends during the first quarter OutlookFor the second quarter of 2019 eBay expects revenues to grow 2 4 on an Fx neutral basis to 2 64 2 69 billion Non GAAP earnings are expected within 61 63 cents GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations are expected in the range of 41 45 cents eBay increased its full year revenue guidance for 2019 The company now expects full year revenues between 10 83 billion and 10 93 billion representing Fx neutral growth of 2 3 Adjusted earnings per share are expected within 2 64 2 70
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then
In the past month investors have witnessed an upward trend in fresh estimates
VGM Scores
At this time eBay has an average Growth Score of C a grade with the same score on the momentum front Following the exact same course the stock was allocated a grade of C on the value side putting it in the middle 20 for this investment strategy
Overall the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C If you aren t focused on one strategy this score is the one you should be interested in
Outlook
Estimates have been trending upward for the stock and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising Notably eBay has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold We expect an in line return from the stock in the next few months |
WFC | Wells Fargo firing around three dozen district managers WSJ | Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC is firing around three dozen district managers for oversight failures related to a sales scandal that came to light in its retail banking unit in 2016 the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency OCC has been briefed on the firings by the bank s senior executives including consumer banking head Mary Mack the WSJ reported citing people familiar with the matter
Wells Fargo did not respond to a request for comment while the OCC was not immediately available |
WFC | Wells Fargo reform plans fail to satisfy Fed after scandals sources | By Patrick Rucker WASHINGTON Reuters The Federal Reserve has rejected Wells Fargo Co s N WFC plans to prevent further consumer abuses and told the scandal plagued lender it needs stronger checks on management according to three people with knowledge of the discussions The concerns raised by the Fed which have not been previously reported are likely to increase the time it takes the central bank to lift an asset cap it imposed on Wells Fargo in February following a string of sales practices scandals The bank must draw up a robust plan to improve its governance and risk management controls before the Fed will lift the cap and in February Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan said the bank was on the fast track to meeting those conditions Both the Fed and Wells Fargo declined to comment on the specifics of the review On Thursday the bank said it was working to satisfy the Fed s concerns and that the process was ongoing We work diligently to address feedback provided the bank said in a statement This is an ongoing iterative process In April Wells Fargo submitted its plan expecting the Fed to sign off on it over the summer but the central bank instead told the country s fourth largest lender to go back to the drawing board the people said The settlement requires Wells Fargo to toughen board oversight repay customers hurt by past abuses and make more than 20 other improvements to its governance risk management and compliance controls It also required the plan to be approved implemented and an independent third party review completed by Sept 30 but the bank has missed this deadline the people said That alone could have triggered further sanctions under the terms of the settlement but the Fed has granted Wells Fargo more time to satisfy the February order the sources said Wells Fargo executives and Fed officials have haggled for months over what controls are needed to make sure the bank can detect problems before they become full blown scandals the people said On Tuesday bank CEO Sloan told CNBC that the bank now expects the cap will be lifted in the first half of 2019 instead of this fall He added that discussions with the Fed regarding the operational and risk compliance aspects of the plan were ongoing I m optimistic that we ll continue to make progress but we need to demonstrate that we re deserving of the asset cap being lifted Sloan said The bank told investors in May that it expected the asset cap to hurt profits by only 100 million Over the past nine months Sloan has met several times with Fed Governor Lael Brainard to try and agree on the specifics of the new plan said two sources Betsy Duke a former Fed governor who now sits on the Wells Fargo board has joined Sloan in those meetings they added Reuters could not ascertain how close the two parties were to an agreement However even if the Fed blesses Wells Fargo s plan before year end the settlement still requires the bank to hire outside firms to perform an independent review of the bank s operations work that is expected to take months
In May Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said removal of the cap would also be put to a vote of the board of governors |
WFC | Employee rights group says Wells Fargo declined planned meeting | By Imani Moise Reuters A union backed bank employee rights group is complaining after Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Co declined to meet with members last week according to a letter sent to Chief Executive Tim Sloan viewed exclusively by Reuters Members of the group Committee for Better Banks CBB were scheduled to meet with Wells Fargo representatives on Wednesday but the meeting was canceled after the two sides could not agree on terms The company said CBB members who were not Wells Fargo employees would not be allowed to attend Wells Fargo is not unionized CBB backed whistleblowers helped reveal the sales practice scandal in 2016 that resulted in hefty fines and penalties for the bank Nick Wiener a CBB organizer said the group was clear about its intention to bring CBB organizers to the meeting from the outset and that the group had received a verbal green light from a representative of Wells Fargo management Wells Fargo said it only committed to an internal meeting with team members who happened to be a part of CBB We value opportunities to engage and meet with our team members said Wells Fargo spokesman Mark Folk We were disappointed that the meeting did not occur and we remain available to meet with the team members in the future CBB said it is critical to have non Wells Fargo CBB members present so that employees could voice their opinions without fear of retaliation Given Wells Fargo s track record of firing and blackballing employees who spoke out against the unethical and fraudulent banking practices they were pressured to perform it s simply unacceptable that your team is placing restrictions on who should attend a meeting said the letter which was sent on Wednesday and signed by Christopher Shelton president of Communications Workers of America which supports CBB The bank has taken several steps aimed at rebuilding the trust of employees customers and investors including eliminating product sales goals for retail workers raising wages and hiring back nearly 2 000 employees who quit or were fired Sloan has also been hosting town halls to hear employee concerns The effort comes as the bank faces investor pressure to cut costs
Wells Fargo the largest bank employer in the United States with roughly 265 000 employees as of October recently announced plans to reduce its workforce by 5 percent to 10 percent |
WFC | China yuan to crack 7 per dollar in six months on weak growth outlook | By Vivek Mishra BENGALURU Reuters China s yuan will breach the 7 per dollar rate within the next six months according to about 60 percent of FX strategists polled by Reuters who also said authorities would continue to exert control over the currency in 2019 Having weakened over 5 percent this year the yuan hit a 2 1 2 month high of 6 8308 on Tuesday after Washington and Beijing agreed last weekend to a 90 day ceasefire in a trade war which has rattled financial markets for months now But uncertainty around any resolution to the trade conflict before that deadline expires has already increased In addition a weak economic growth outlook and more policy easing by the People s Bank of China PBOC will exert pressure on the yuan erasing the 1 percent gains made this week The yuan was forecast to weaken about 1 5 percent to 6 98 per dollar by end May and then gain slightly to 6 95 per dollar in a year according to the poll of 50 foreign exchange strategists taken after the G20 summit that ended Dec 1 It was around 6 88 on Thursday The positive market reaction to a temporary truce could be short lived as the potential for a further escalation remains said Nick Bennenbroek currency strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC the most accurate forecaster for Asian currencies last year according to Thomson Reuters StarMine calculations With growth slowing and more policy easing likely to come from the Chinese authorities it seems likely in our view that the renminbi will continue to weaken for now Seventeen of 28 strategists who answered an additional question said the yuan would breach 7 per dollar within the next six months and four said within a year Only three said more than a year The remaining four respondents said the partially floating currency would never break that threshold not reached since the global financial crisis on expectations the Chinese authorities will always step in to defend it at that key rate I don t think the renminbi will weaken significantly as we are optimistic about a China U S trade deal next year said Serena Zhou China economist at Mizuho Securities who does not expect the yuan to breach 7 per dollar The latest six month consensus for the yuan at 6 98 per dollar will be the weakest expectation for any polling period since a survey in July 2017 Reflecting the divide among forecasters on how the U S China trade war pans out 14 of 37 common contributors from last month revised their forecasts to show a stronger yuan Sixteen downgraded their outlook and seven left it unchanged But the range of forecasts suggests a weaker yuan The most pessimistic call was for it to weaken to 7 85 per dollar in a year the weakest view ever in about eight years of Reuters polls on the yuan and a rate not reached in a dozen years That negative call was driven by worries over increased capital outflows and lower foreign exchange reserves as Chinese authorities are slowly stepping up interventions after the yuan approached the 7 rate But strategists were evenly divided on another hotly debated subject There will be no formal implementation of outright capital controls However if necessary temporary measures which reduce capital flow pressure may be implemented said Maximillian Lin EM Asia strategist at NatWest Markets Unlike other major currencies the PBOC tightly controls the Chinese yuan setting a mid point rate every day from which the renminbi is allowed to only move 2 percent up or down In response to an additional question 15 of 26 respondents said the Chinese authorities will continue to control it next year The remaining 11 said they would allow the renminbi to float freely The PBOC will likely continue intervening in the currency market to keep volatility in check It will likely use both the fixing rate and dollar selling said Amy Yuan Zhuang chief Asia analyst at Nordea However interventions will be less aggressive in order to keep the gunpowder dry for the long haul and to prevent a tightening of liquidity that could rupture the large credit bubble Analysis by Sujith Pai Polling by Khushboo Mittal and Anisha Sheth Editing by Ross Finley and Richard Borsuk |
WFC | Wells Fargo won t be allowed to grow unless problems fixed Fed s Powell | By Patrick Rucker and Imani Moise WASHINGTON NEW YORK Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC must keep a lid on its growth until the bank has hardened its risk management policies to prevent any further abuse of its customers said Jerome Powell chairman of the Federal Reserve In February the Fed ordered Wells Fargo to freeze its balance sheet keeping its assets below 1 95 trillion until it put new checks on senior managers and gave the board new powers to sniff out abuses We do not intend to lift the asset cap until remedies to these issues have been adopted and implemented to our satisfaction Powell wrote in a letter to U S Senator Elizabeth Warren seen by Reuters Wells Fargo has so far failed to satisfy the Fed and the bank is months behind schedule on submitting an acceptable reform plan Reuters reported last week A bank representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Powell s letter Wells Fargo executives have previously said that they expect the cap to be lifted during the first half of next year Warren a Massachusetts Democrat has been a vocal critic of Wells Fargo and its Chief Executive Tim Sloan In October Warren wrote a letter asking the regulator not to remove the asset cap until Sloan is removed charging that Sloan was deeply implicated in the misdeeds of the past Wells Fargo has called Sloan s 30 year tenure at the bank an asset and said he has the full support of its board On Monday Warren faulted the bank for being late with its reform plan and said Sloan must go Wells Fargo is already months behind Warren said in a statement If the Fed is serious about changing the practices at Wells Fargo that have cost customers their homes or cars or credit scores it must insist on new leadership at the bank The Wells Fargo sanctions were rooted in a sales practices scandal that broke open in 2016 when it was reported that employees had opened potentially millions of phony accounts in customers names without their permission In his letter to Warren Powell wrote that what happened inside the bank was outrageous but declined to say whether or not Sloan should continue to lead the bank Since the phony accounts scandal Wells Fargo has said it found abuses in auto insurance small business loans mortgage lending and other business lines Once Wells Fargo has satisfied the terms of the February settlement Powell wrote the Fed board will decide whether or not the bank can grow
The decision about terminating the asset growth restriction imposed on Wells Fargo will be made by a vote of the Board Powell wrote in the Nov 28 letter |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Stock Moves 1 04 What You Should Know | Wells Fargo WFC closed at 46 54 in the latest trading session marking a 1 04 move from the prior day This change was narrower than the S P 500 s 1 91 loss on the day Meanwhile the Dow lost 2 02 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 2 26
Coming into today shares of the biggest U S mortgage lender had lost 10 96 in the past month In that same time the Finance sector lost 5 02 while the S P 500 lost 2 51
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from WFC as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 15 2019 The company is expected to report EPS of 1 19 up 22 68 from the prior year quarter Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of 21 27 billion down 3 53 from the year ago period
Looking at the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of 4 28 per share and revenue of 86 12 billion These totals would mark changes of 4 14 and 2 3 respectively from last year
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for WFC These revisions typically reflect the latest short term business trends which can change frequently With this in mind we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month WFC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
In terms of valuation WFC is currently trading at a Forward P E ratio of 10 98 This represents a premium compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 10 41
Also we should mention that WFC has a PEG ratio of 0 99 This metric is used similarly to the famous P E ratio but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock s expected earnings growth rate The Banks Major Regional industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1 11 as of yesterday s close
The Banks Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99 putting it in the top 39 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Be sure to follow all of these stock moving metrics and many more on Zacks com |
WFC | EUR USD Has The Dollar Put Itself In A Cage | Economic expansion in the United States was strong enough to merit another increase in the federal fund s rate but the precarious position of global financial markets and the slowdown in GDPs in China and the Eurozone make the prospects for the Fed s monetary policy normalizing in 2019 look gloomy The Central Bank faces a flurry of criticism not only from the president and his team but also from retail investors According to a Wells Fargo NYSE WFC survey 61 of them would like the rates to stay the same Only 11 of respondents believe that the American economy is experiencing a boom 50 believe that it is functioning on a solid basis and 39 call this basis shaky When stones are constantly thrown at you you have to react
In anticipation of the last FOMC meeting in 2018 at which according to the derivatives market monetary policy will be tightened another piece of criticism comes from the White House Donald Trump called the Fed s actions devoid of logic While the States live with little or no inflation Paris is on fire and China is on the way down Instead of enjoying the victory the central bank is going to raise the rates Presidential Trade Advisor Peter Navarro has called the Federal Reserve crazy If they say that they will be guided by incoming data and instead plan three acts of monetary restriction in 2019 something is not okay
Likelihood of a Fed rate hike in December
Source Bloomberg
I must admitt that the U S statistics in recent days were mixed The labor market retail sales and consumer spending are strong but the real estate market and the manufacturing industry are experiencing problems and inflation is slowing Let s be objective the Fed with its phrase about further gradual increase in the cost of borrowing has put itself in a cage The markets are used to understanding this phrase as the increase in the federal funds rate once a quarter The language like the FOMC forecasts need to be adjusted which will be perceived as dovish rhetoric and will put pressure on the U S dollar
The weakness of the greenback can be a reason for the growth of interest in the euro which is in a bad enough situation as it is The devaluation and truce in the U S and Chinese trade wars will lend a helping hand to the export oriented economy of the Eurozone and the willingness of Emmanuel Macron and euro skeptics in Italy to make concessions will reduce political risks Rome announced its intention to reduce the budget deficit from 2 4 to 2 of GDP in order not to fall under the punitive hand of the EU If Britain also remains in the European Union then the EUR USD bulls will rush to attack Even more so as they are warned by the median forecast of Bloomberg experts at 1 2 by the end of 2019
The main currency pair continues to consolidate in the range of 1 1265 1 1445 and as I expected as long as its lower limit stands as an impregnable fortress euro fans will find the strength to retaliate Let s wait for the results of the FOMC meeting |
WFC | Short Term Maturities Top US Bond Performances In 2018 | The return of risk off trading in late 2018 has revived demand for the safe haven of bonds but only short term maturities are posting year to date gains based on a set of exchange traded funds covering US fixed income markets
Following a surge of volatility in global markets in recent months short term Treasuries are the top performer for a broad set of US bond ETFs The iShares Short Treasury NASDAQ SHV posted a 1 6 total return so far in 2018 through yesterday s close Dec 18 earning the top spot in the US fixed income horse race this year
In fact all the US bond ETFs with positive year to date results have short term mandates Otherwise fixed income funds targeting the US are in the red for 2018
Year to date losses extend to the broad defined US investment grade fixed income benchmark represented by Vanguard Total Bond Market NYSE BND which has shed 0 7 so far in 2018 red line in chart below
The biggest loser within the US bond universe this year long term corporates of the investment grade variety Vanguard Long Term Corporate Bond NASDAQ VCLT is down 6 4 posting the deepest setback in the fixed income space at the moment
The big question for bond investors is whether the Federal Reserve which is widely expected to raise interest rates today will continue to squeeze monetary policy in 2019
The market s thinking more and more the Fed may be just about done says Michael Schumacher head of rate strategy at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC in New York
Perhaps but some analysts note that the rising federal deficit could be a factor that keeps upward pressure on interest rates next year
I would not be surprised to see 10 year yields pushing to 3 5 or even higher by end of 2019 predicts Tony Bedikian head of global markets for Citizens Bank based in Providence RI
On that basis the performance edge in short term bonds appears set to roll on |
WFC | Wells Fargo Gets Judge s Nod For 480M Sales Scam Settlement | Wells Fargo Company NYSE WFC has finally attained the customary final court approval for settlement of the fake accounts scandal related to class action lawsuit that was filed against the company by its shareholders in September 2016
The settlement amount of 480 million was approved by both the parties in May 2018 Also shareholders who bought Wells Fargo s common stock in the period between Feb 26 2014 and Sep 20 2016 will be eligible to claim the refund Notably the San Francisco based bank had fully reserved the amount as of Mar 31 2018
A Brief Background
The class action lawsuit relates to the revelation of a sales scam wherein the bank s employees allegedly opened millions of unauthorized accounts illegally in order to meet aggressive internal sales goals
The news broke out in September 2016 post which the company was subjected to investigations of several departments and businesses As a result a cap on the company s asset growth has been imposed by the authorities which will remain in place until the bank is able to give a reasonably assurance to stay out of trouble The revelation also led to several layoffs and restructuring of operations
Wells Fargo has also paid a combined penalty of 190 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the Office of Comptroller of the Currency and the City and County of Los Angeles on the matter In addition the amount included 5 million in customer remediation
In May 2018 the District Court for the Northern District of California had approved a 142 million settlement related to the lawsuit filed by the customers wronged by Wells Fargo
Per the above discussed class action lawsuit the investors claims included misappropriation of facts by Wells Fargo related to its cross selling strategy which was not used for the benefit of customers
However the bank tried to designed to fulfill sales quotes or otherwise advance the interests of Wells Fargo or its employees and increase sources of profitability while simultaneously burdening customers with financial products they did not authorize need and or even know about the suit claimed
Therefore this led the company s shares to trade at artificially inflated prices per the suit
Notably Union Investment a European asset management firm was the lead plaintiff in the case appointed by the court
Bottom Line
Though this settlement will help Wells Fargo move past a major hurdle in its growth it will still be left with a long list of ongoing probes that continue to impact the bank s reputation
One of the goals in the company s 2019 priority list is to enhance compliance and operational risk management systems along with timely remediation practices Also Wells Fargo is spending more on technology so as to ensure better data management and cybersecurity These activities along with close supervision of regulatory authorities might help Wells Fargo move past the scandals and make way for growth
Shares of Wells Fargo have lost 16 over the past six months compared with 15 4 decline recorded by the it belongs to
Wells Fargo currently carries a Zacks Rank 4 Sell
Stocks to Consider
1st Constitution Bancorp NASDAQ FCCY has witnessed 8 9 upward estimate revision over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 10 in the past two years It sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy at present You can see
Old Second Bancorp Inc NASDAQ OSBC has witnessed 2 6 upward estimate revision for current year earnings over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 15 in the past two years It carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy at present
Citizens Financial Services Inc s OTC CZFS Zacks Consensus Estimate for current year earnings has remained stable over the past 60 days Also the company s shares have risen nearly 23 in the past two years It currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2
Today s Stocks from Zacks Hottest StrategiesIt s hard to believe even for us at Zacks But while the market gained 21 9 in 2017 our top stock picking screens have returned 115 0 109 3 104 9 98 6 and 67 1 And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon Over the years it has been remarkably consistent From 2000 2017 the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we re willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Gains As Market Dips What You Should Know | In the latest trading session Wells Fargo WFC closed at 46 04 marking a 0 81 move from the previous day This change outpaced the S P 500 s 1 58 loss on the day Meanwhile the Dow lost 1 99 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 1 63
Prior to today s trading shares of the biggest U S mortgage lender had lost 12 89 over the past month This has lagged the Finance sector s loss of 8 61 and the S P 500 s loss of 6 62 in that time
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from WFC as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 15 2019 The company is expected to report EPS of 1 19 up 22 68 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 21 27 billion down 3 53 from the year ago period
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 4 27 per share and revenue of 86 12 billion which would represent changes of 3 89 and 2 3 respectively from the prior year
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for WFC These revisions help to show the ever changing nature of near term business trends With this in mind we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month WFC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 4 Sell
Digging into valuation WFC currently has a Forward P E ratio of 10 69 For comparison its industry has an average Forward P E of 10 which means WFC is trading at a premium to the group
Meanwhile WFC s PEG ratio is currently 0 96 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate The Banks Major Regional industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1 04 as of yesterday s close
The Banks Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 150 which puts it in the bottom 42 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
You can find more information on all of these metrics and much more on Zacks com |
WFC | Is Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth R6 EKJFX A Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now | There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Growth category but where should you start your research Well one fund that might be worth investigating is Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Premier Large Company Growth R6 EKJFX EKJFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 Strong Buy which is based on nine forecasting factors like size cost and past performance
Objective
EKJFX is part of the Large Cap Growth section and this segment boasts an array of other possible options Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U S companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large cap stocks Companies are usually considered to be large cap if their market capitalization is over 10 billion
History of Fund Manager
Wells Fargo is based in San Francisco CA and is the manager of EKJFX Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth R6 debuted in December of 2012 Since then EKJFX has accumulated assets of about 182 41 million according to the most recently available information The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance This fund in particular has delivered a 5 year annualized total return of 9 23 and is in the bottom third among its category peers But if you are looking for a shorter time frame it is also worth looking at its 3 year annualized total return of 9 99 which places it in the bottom third during this time frame
When looking at a fund s performance it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns The lower the standard deviation the less volatility the fund experiences Compared to the category average of 9 04 the standard deviation of EKJFX over the past three years is 14 01 The fund s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 13 01 compared to the category average of 9 18 This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half decade
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment however as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment
Even still the fund has a 5 year beta of 1 12 so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration since it represents a portfolio s performance on a risk adjusted basis relative to a benchmark which in this case is the S P 500 Over the past 5 years the fund has a negative alpha of 2 63 This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better than benchmark returns
Holdings
Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach For this particular fund the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States
The mutual fund currently has 97 96 of its holdings in stocks with an average market capitalization of 239 70 billion The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors Technology Retail Trade Finance Turnover is about 45 48 so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than comparable funds Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market costs become increasingly important Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart a low cost product will be an outperformer all other things being equal Thus taking a closer look at cost related metrics is vital for investors In terms of fees EKJFX is a no load fund It has an expense ratio of 0 71 compared to the category average of 1 10 EKJFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost
While the minimum initial investment for the product is 0 investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment
Bottom Line
Overall Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth R6 EKJFX has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance average downside risk and lower fees this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now
For additional information on the Large Cap Growth area of the mutual fund world make sure to check out There you can see more about the ranking process and dive even deeper into EKJFX too for additional information If you are more of a stock investor make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike |
EBAY | LightInTheBox announces closing of Ezbuy strategic acquisition | LightInTheBox Holding NYSE LITB closed its previously announced strategic acquisition of a 100 equity stake in Ezbuy Holding Co Ltd for 85 55M Mr Jian He Chief Executive Officer of LightInTheBox commented We are thrilled to have closed this significant acquisition of Ezbuy as we begin working to jointly realize major strategic business synergies We hit the ground running and are devoting substantial resource towards enhancing the user experience and improving supply chain management and fulfillment capabilities in order to build our B2C cross border e commerce business out to scale globally Previously LightInTheBox announces board and management changes Nov 16 Now read |
EBAY | Ebay Pops On Strong Earnings | Summary
eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY BDR SA EBAY34 rose by 5 on Wednesday after the company posted earnings that beat Wall Street expectations
As the stock has begun a new market cycle we believe it has plenty more room to run
Ebay EBAY Stock Weekly Chart
The company reported earnings per share of 0 67 and total revenue of 2 64 billion compared to analyst estimates of 0 63 and 2 58 billion For the coming quarter management expects earnings to be between 0 61 0 63 compared to estimates of 0 60
CEO Devin Wenig explained that Our initiatives to create a next generation payment and advertising experience are on track we saw healthy buyer growth and disciplined cost control and we continue to simplify the buying process while remaining focused on seller s success
In reviewing the market cycles for eBay we can see that the stock has now begun the rising phase of its current cycle In fact this is a perfect picture of cycle analysis as the bottom came right on time as have all previous cycle bottoms Our projection is to 46 in the next couple of months |
WFC | Wells Fargo fights to leave customers out of auto payout plan | By Patrick Rucker and Imani Moise WASHINGTON NEW YORK Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC is fighting to shut some customers out of a sweeping plan to compensate around 600 000 drivers it pushed into car insurance they did not need according to court documents and a source familiar with the effort U S regulators fined Wells Fargo 1 billion in April over the insurance program and told the bank to compensate drivers who were harmed Those drivers are also suing Wells Fargo in a federal court in California for more compensation that the bank is willing to pay The faulty insurance program ran from 2002 to 2016 but the bank only intends to compensate drivers forced into policies from 2005 onwards Wells Fargo has told the federal judge overseeing the case Wells Fargo s reluctance to compensate all drivers contradicts its pledge to help every customer who was hurt and that could intensify scrutiny of the scandal plagued bank Lawyers for the drivers have argued that the compensation plan should cover the entire life of the insurance program but the bank is not persuaded according to court documents obtained by Reuters There s no credible reason why you don t go back to the inception of the program Roland Tellis an attorney for the drivers said at an August hearing Tellis did not respond to requests for further comment Tim Sloan Wells Fargo s chief executive told lawmakers last year that the bank was working diligently to make things right for every customer who was harmed But a lawyer for the bank argued at the same court hearing that it has already compromised by allowing payouts from 2005 to 2016 according to the official court transcript Wells Fargo has records from the first three years of the insurance program but those are held in a separate database to the 2005 2016 files the lawyer said He did not explain why the bank did not wish to access the earlier database and the bank declined to elaborate when contacted by Reuters Any driver who believes that he or she was hurt in the insurance program can contact the bank directly and make a claim a spokeswoman for the bank said We invite them to reach out to us with their insurance information Wells Fargo said in a statement to Reuters Tellis and other lawyers want a payout exceeding three times what drivers were charged which could add costs and uncertainty to a scandal that continues to worry investors The final terms of the private litigation could affect the ongoing remediation plan the bank agreed with federal regulators The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB allowed the bank to limit its payout plan to the 2005 2016 time frame in its April settlement with the bank A spokesman for the bureau declined to comment on the scope of the payout plan The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency OCC which had a part in the April fine declined to comment The OCC s settlement did not set a specific time frame for payouts
Over the summer the OCC rejected the bank s plan to repay customers with Joseph Otting head of the OCC telling lawmakers in October that he was not comfortable with the bank s effort |
WFC | NBA roundup Warrors pound Blazers to end skid | Kevin Durant scored 14 of his game high 32 points in a second quarter run away Friday night as the Golden State Warriors snapped a four game losing streak with a 125 97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Oakland Calif Klay Thompson was right behind with 31 points as the Warriors who shot 56 5 percent overall and 53 1 percent on 3 pointers beat the Trail Blazers for the eighth consecutive time at home Durant had a 3 pointer and a three point play among his 14 points in what turned out to be a 35 11 burst that produced a 59 40 lead late in the half The Warriors went on to lead by as many as 22 points in the third period before coasting home Suns 116 Bucks 114 Jamal Crawford connected on a free throw line jumper with 0 8 seconds left to give Phoenix a victory over Milwaukee for their first road win of the season in nine attempts Crawford s clutch basket capped a game ending 8 0 run for the Suns who snapped a three game overall losing streak Devin Booker registered 29 points and seven assists as one of seven Phoenix players in double digits Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 35 points on 14 of 16 shooting and collected 10 rebounds for the Bucks who had a three game winning streak halted Lakers 90 Jazz 83 Brandon Ingram scored 24 points and LeBron James added 22 points and 10 rebounds as Los Angeles defeated visiting Utah to win its third straight game The Lakers led 79 76 with 5 28 to play before grabbing momentum with a 9 3 run over the ensuing four minutes and taking an 88 79 advantage down the stretch A bucket and two free throws from the Jazz s Alec Burks cut the lead to 88 83 Ingram canned a pair of free throws with 19 7 seconds to play to cement the win The Lakers 11 7 have won seven of their past eight outings Pistons 116 Rockets 111 OT Reggie Jackson scored 10 points in overtime Blake Griffin supplied 28 points for the game and host Detroit topped Houston Jackson finished with 22 points and six assists Griffin added nine rebounds and four assists and Andre Drummond powered for 23 points 20 rebounds and five blocks James Harden led the Rockets who had a five game winning streak snapped with 33 points and eight assists Clint Capela had a career high 29 points and 21 rebounds and Chris Paul supplied 20 points and nine assists for Houston Cavaliers 121 76ers 112 Rodney Hood scored 25 points and Tristan Thompson scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as visiting Cleveland defeated Philadelphia Philadelphia went nearly five minutes midway through the fourth period without a field goal and the Cavs took advantage A Jordan Clarkson 27 foot jumper gave the Cavs a double digit lead at 109 97 and Cleveland cruised to its first road win of the season Philadelphia had its four game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time at home this season The Sixers had won 20 straight at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Center dating to last season Thunder 109 Hornets 104 Russell Westbrook narrowly missed a triple double with 30 points 12 rebounds and eight assists and Oklahoma City held on down the stretch for a victory over visiting Charlotte Westbrook hit four free throws in the final 11 2 seconds after the Hornets got within one point on two different occasions The win was the Thunder s 12th in the last 14 games and came after a 28 point win at Golden State on Wednesday night It also gave the Thunder 12 6 a season s sweep over the Hornets after they rallied from a 19 point deficit to win in Charlotte three weeks ago Raptors 125 Wizards 107 Kawhi Leonard had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Toronto pulled away for a victory against visiting Washington for its fourth straight win Five other Raptors scored in double figures led by Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby who finished with 15 points each Toronto owner of the NBA s best record 16 4 shot 49 5 percent including 43 6 percent 17 of 39 from 3 point range Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 20 points John Wall had 11 points and 11 assists but turned the ball over seven times as Washington was unable to build on its stirring come from behind win over the Clippers on Tuesday Clippers 112 Grizzlies 107 OT Montrezl Harrell recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and Danilo Gallinari added 20 as Los Angeles rallied to earn a victory and end visiting Memphis five game winning streak The Clippers trailed by eight points with two minutes remaining in regulation capping their game tying comeback when Gallinari made three free throws with 0 8 seconds remaining after he was fouled by Marc Gasol on a 3 point attempt Gasol had 27 points and 13 rebounds while Mike Conley scored 19 points with 11 assists for the Grizzlies who had just moved atop the Western Conference after a victory at San Antonio on Tuesday Celtics 114 Hawks 96 Aron Baynes led six double figure scorers with 16 points and visiting Boston broke a three game losing streak with a win over Atlanta The loss was the 10th straight for the Hawks 3 16 who have the NBA s worst record and haven t won since Nov 3 The Celtics 10 9 won in Atlanta for the third straight time Baynes was 5 for 7 from the field and added nine rebounds and four assists The Celtics also got double digit scoring from Jayson Tatum 14 Kyrie Irving 13 Terry Rozier 12 Gordon Hayward 11 and Jaylen Brown 10 Marcus Smart had a team high seven assists and three steals Spurs 111 Pacers 100 LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game high 33 points and added 14 rebounds for San Antonio which never trailed in beating host Indiana The Spurs snapped a two game losing streak with just their third win in the last 10 games The Pacers have lost two straight both of which they have played without star Victor Oladipo who is has missed three consecutive contests with a sore right knee The double double was the 11th of the season for Aldridge Rudy Gay also had a double double for the Spurs with 11 points and 12 rebounds DeMar DeRozan 16 points Patty Mills 15 points and Bryn Forbes 13 points also scored at least 10 points apiece for San Antonio Nuggets 112 Magic 87 Trey Lyles scored a season high 22 points off the bench Nikola Jokic finished four points shy of a triple double and host Denver beat Orlando Jamal Murray scored 16 points and Mason Plumlee had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets 12 7 Terrence Ross led the Magic with 18 points and made his first seven shots four from 3 point range before missing Nikola Vucevic had 16 points for Orlando 9 10 Timberwolves 112 Nets 102 Derrick Rose scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter while Karl Anthony Towns shook off early foul trouble and scored 17 of his 21 points in the third as Minnesota picked up its first road win with a victory over Brooklyn Rose led the Wolves in scoring for the fifth time and produced his eighth 20 point game by hitting 11 of 17 shots including 5 of 7 in the fourth Towns made 9 of 18 shots while Taj Gibson added 16 and 11 rebounds Jeff Teague contributed 15 points as the Wolves ended their season opening eight game road losing streak by shooting 47 8 percent Knicks 114 Pelicans 109 New York rallied from a late seven point deficit by scoring 12 consecutive points overtaking visiting New Orleans for the win Emmanuel Mudiay scored 27 points and rookie Allonzo Trier came off the bench to add a season best 25 for the Knicks who trailed 103 96 with 3 58 to go after two free throws by the Pelicans Julius Randle Mudiay got the New York flurry rolling with a 3 pointer and capped it with a hoop with 34 1 seconds left that put the Knicks up five 108 103 The Pelicans got within two on two subsequent occasions But Mudiay made one free throw and Tim Hardaway Jr hit a pair to close out New York s second straight win after six consecutive losses Heat 103 Bulls 96 Josh Richardson scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to lead Miami to a win over host Chicago Justin Holiday led the Bulls with 27 points and 13 rebounds both season highs Zach LaVine added 24 points and a game high nine assists for Chicago which was trying to win two straight games for the first time this season
The Heat who led by as many as 26 points in the second quarter had their advantage cut to just four in the fourth Jabari Parker scored 17 of his 23 points in that fourth as Chicago s offense caught fire But Miami held on and snapped a three game losing streak Field Level Media |
WFC | NBA roundup Warriors pound Blazers to end skid | Kevin Durant scored 14 of his game high 32 points in a second quarter run away Friday night as the Golden State Warriors snapped a four game losing streak with a 125 97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Oakland Calif Klay Thompson was right behind with 31 points as the Warriors who shot 56 5 percent overall and 53 1 percent on 3 pointers beat the Trail Blazers for the eighth consecutive time at home Durant had a 3 pointer and a three point play among his 14 points in what turned out to be a 35 11 burst that produced a 59 40 lead late in the half The Warriors went on to lead by as many as 22 points in the third period before coasting home Suns 116 Bucks 114 Jamal Crawford connected on a free throw line jumper with 0 8 seconds left to give Phoenix a victory over Milwaukee for their first road win of the season in nine attempts Crawford s clutch basket capped a game ending 8 0 run for the Suns who snapped a three game overall losing streak Devin Booker registered 29 points and seven assists as one of seven Phoenix players in double digits Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 35 points on 14 of 16 shooting and collected 10 rebounds for the Bucks who had a three game winning streak halted Lakers 90 Jazz 83 Brandon Ingram scored 24 points and LeBron James added 22 points and 10 rebounds as Los Angeles defeated visiting Utah to win its third straight game The Lakers led 79 76 with 5 28 to play before grabbing momentum with a 9 3 run over the ensuing four minutes and taking an 88 79 advantage down the stretch A bucket and two free throws from the Jazz s Alec Burks cut the lead to 88 83 Ingram canned a pair of free throws with 19 7 seconds to play to cement the win The Lakers 11 7 have won seven of their past eight outings Pistons 116 Rockets 111 OT Reggie Jackson scored 10 points in overtime Blake Griffin supplied 28 points for the game and host Detroit topped Houston Jackson finished with 22 points and six assists Griffin added nine rebounds and four assists and Andre Drummond powered for 23 points 20 rebounds and five blocks James Harden led the Rockets who had a five game winning streak snapped with 33 points and eight assists Clint Capela had a career high 29 points and 21 rebounds and Chris Paul supplied 20 points and nine assists for Houston Cavaliers 121 76ers 112 Rodney Hood scored 25 points and Tristan Thompson scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as visiting Cleveland defeated Philadelphia Philadelphia went nearly five minutes midway through the fourth period without a field goal and the Cavs took advantage A Jordan Clarkson 27 foot jumper gave the Cavs a double digit lead at 109 97 and Cleveland cruised to its first road win of the season Philadelphia had its four game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time at home this season The Sixers had won 20 straight at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Center dating to last season Thunder 109 Hornets 104 Russell Westbrook narrowly missed a triple double with 30 points 12 rebounds and eight assists and Oklahoma City held on down the stretch for a victory over visiting Charlotte Westbrook hit four free throws in the final 11 2 seconds after the Hornets got within one point on two different occasions The win was the Thunder s 12th in the last 14 games and came after a 28 point win at Golden State on Wednesday night It also gave the Thunder 12 6 a season s sweep over the Hornets after they rallied from a 19 point deficit to win in Charlotte three weeks ago Raptors 125 Wizards 107 Kawhi Leonard had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Toronto pulled away for a victory against visiting Washington for its fourth straight win Five other Raptors scored in double figures led by Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby who finished with 15 points each Toronto owner of the NBA s best record 16 4 shot 49 5 percent including 43 6 percent 17 of 39 from 3 point range Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 20 points John Wall had 11 points and 11 assists but turned the ball over seven times as Washington was unable to build on its stirring come from behind win over the Clippers on Tuesday Clippers 112 Grizzlies 107 OT Montrezl Harrell recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and Danilo Gallinari added 20 as Los Angeles rallied to earn a victory and end visiting Memphis five game winning streak The Clippers trailed by eight points with two minutes remaining in regulation capping their game tying comeback when Gallinari made three free throws with 0 8 seconds remaining after he was fouled by Marc Gasol on a 3 point attempt Gasol had 27 points and 13 rebounds while Mike Conley scored 19 points with 11 assists for the Grizzlies who had just moved atop the Western Conference after a victory at San Antonio on Tuesday Celtics 114 Hawks 96 Aron Baynes led six double figure scorers with 16 points and visiting Boston broke a three game losing streak with a win over Atlanta The loss was the 10th straight for the Hawks 3 16 who have the NBA s worst record and haven t won since Nov 3 The Celtics 10 9 won in Atlanta for the third straight time Baynes was 5 for 7 from the field and added nine rebounds and four assists The Celtics also got double digit scoring from Jayson Tatum 14 Kyrie Irving 13 Terry Rozier 12 Gordon Hayward 11 and Jaylen Brown 10 Marcus Smart had a team high seven assists and three steals Spurs 111 Pacers 100 LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game high 33 points and added 14 rebounds for San Antonio which never trailed in beating host Indiana The Spurs snapped a two game losing streak with just their third win in the last 10 games The Pacers have lost two straight both of which they have played without star Victor Oladipo who is has missed three consecutive contests with a sore right knee The double double was the 11th of the season for Aldridge Rudy Gay also had a double double for the Spurs with 11 points and 12 rebounds DeMar DeRozan 16 points Patty Mills 15 points and Bryn Forbes 13 points also scored at least 10 points apiece for San Antonio Nuggets 112 Magic 87 Trey Lyles scored a season high 22 points off the bench Nikola Jokic finished four points shy of a triple double and host Denver beat Orlando Jamal Murray scored 16 points and Mason Plumlee had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets 12 7 Terrence Ross led the Magic with 18 points and made his first seven shots four from 3 point range before missing Nikola Vucevic had 16 points for Orlando 9 10 Timberwolves 112 Nets 102 Derrick Rose scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter while Karl Anthony Towns shook off early foul trouble and scored 17 of his 21 points in the third as Minnesota picked up its first road win with a victory over Brooklyn Rose led the Wolves in scoring for the fifth time and produced his eighth 20 point game by hitting 11 of 17 shots including 5 of 7 in the fourth Towns made 9 of 18 shots while Taj Gibson added 16 and 11 rebounds Jeff Teague contributed 15 points as the Wolves ended their season opening eight game road losing streak by shooting 47 8 percent Knicks 114 Pelicans 109 New York rallied from a late seven point deficit by scoring 12 consecutive points overtaking visiting New Orleans for the win Emmanuel Mudiay scored 27 points and rookie Allonzo Trier came off the bench to add a season best 25 for the Knicks who trailed 103 96 with 3 58 to go after two free throws by the Pelicans Julius Randle Mudiay got the New York flurry rolling with a 3 pointer and capped it with a hoop with 34 1 seconds left that put the Knicks up five 108 103 The Pelicans got within two on two subsequent occasions But Mudiay made one free throw and Tim Hardaway Jr hit a pair to close out New York s second straight win after six consecutive losses Heat 103 Bulls 96 Josh Richardson scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to lead Miami to a win over host Chicago Justin Holiday led the Bulls with 27 points and 13 rebounds both season highs Zach LaVine added 24 points and a game high nine assists for Chicago which was trying to win two straight games for the first time this season The Heat who led by as many as 26 points in the second quarter had their advantage cut to just four in the fourth Jabari Parker scored 17 of his 23 points in that fourth as Chicago s offense caught fire But Miami held on and snapped a three game losing streak Field Level Media |
WFC | U S 2019 housing market outlook on shaky ground Reuters poll | By Hari Kishan and Indradip Ghosh Reuters Growth of U S home prices will slow sharply next year along with economic momentum according to a Reuters poll of property experts who largely said turnover in the housing market has peaked After falling by a third during the financial crisis a decade ago U S house prices have mostly recovered all their losses rising at more than double the rate of inflation and wages over the last five years The poll a survey of 35 property market analysts from Nov 16 to Nov 26 showed U S house price growth is still expected to outpace inflation and pay growth over the next two years but at a sharply lower rate than found in an August survey The S P Case Shiller composite index of U S home prices in 20 metropolitan areas was forecast to rise 3 7 percent in 2019 and 2 8 percent in 2020 down from 4 7 percent and 3 5 percent expected just three months ago The peak in price increases has been reached and with rates rising further and the economy slowing price gains can only decelerate said Joel Naroff chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors In the past housing market activity has contributed significantly to overall economic expansion but there has been a growing disconnect between them this year That lines up with data over the last two quarters showing a slowdown in property market activity even though overall economic growth sped up strongly in part on stimulus from tax cuts passed late last year A majority 17 of 29 analysts who answered an additional question said U S housing market turnover has already peaked That finding coincides with a strong consensus that U S gross domestic product growth has peaked too according to a separate Reuters poll ECILT US With growth of the economy now expected to slow by late next year to about half of the 4 2 percent rate of the second quarter the risk is that the Federal Reserve does not increase interest rates as much as previously expected the separate poll found For now the Fed is expected to raise rates in December the fourth increase this year and three more times in 2019 according to that poll Those expectations have already pushed mortgage rates higher After staying mostly below 5 percent since 2010 the 30 year mortgage rate breached that level last month and is forecast in the latest poll to stay above that level over the next three years In a sign rising rates are hurting demand U S home refinancing requests fell to a near two decade low last week according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association Housing market activity has experienced a marked slowdown since the start of the year as rising mortgage interest rates tax reform and moderating house price expectations have all weighed on housing demand noted Matthew Pointon property economist at Capital Economics There are also fewer houses up for sale Existing home sales which make up about 90 percent of overall sales are forecast to average around an annualized rate of above 5 million units per quarter this year and next well below the 7 million units during the housing market boom in 2005 The latest Reuters poll is the third in a row where analysts cut their existing home sales forecasts The magnitude and speed at which home sales have weakened is surprising following just a three quarter of a percentage point rise in mortgage rates We suspect the problem is a lack of affordable product in the markets where potential home buyers would like to live wrote Mark Vitner senior economist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC in a note to clients A shortage of affordable homes is a clear impediment to the housing market where homebuilding has not kept up pace with demand driven by falling unemployment and improving wages over the last two years More than 85 percent of 27 analysts who answered an additional question said the supply of affordable homes over the next year will stay the same or fall Only four expected an increase When asked to rate affordability of U S homes on a scale of 1 being the cheapest and 10 the most expensive the median response was 7 where it has remained throughout this year but higher than the 6 in polls last year
For other stories from the quarterly housing market polls Polling by Indradip Ghosh and Mumal Rathore Editing by Ross Finley and Steve Orlofsky |
WFC | Ita and StanChart launch blockchain platform for loans in Latin America | By Carolina Mandl SAO PAULO Reuters Banks Ita Unibanco Holding SA and Standard Chartered LON STAN have partnered to develop a blockchain based platform for small syndicated loans both companies said on Monday in a statement This platform is the first to go live in Latin America for so called club loans a kind of syndicated loan with a smaller group of lenders It represents the latest in a series of efforts by banks to take advantage of blockchain a shared digital record of transactions that is maintained by a network of computers rather than a centralized authority The use of blockchain in the banking industry is expected to reduce the risk of fraud in financial transactions as well as cut down complexity and costs the banks said Spain s BBVA MC BBVA said in June it was moving to the testing phase of a project aimed at using blockchain technology on syndicated loans and in April become the first global lender to arrange an end to end corporate loan using blockchain technology Brazil s largest private lender Ita Unibanco raised 100 million with Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Co in a club loan to test the platform Ricardo Nuno Ita s treasury managing director said the banks negotiated all the loan terms through the blockchain based platform but did not transfer the money although he said the platform could do so in the future Nuno who said Ita was also considering using the platform for client loans added that the platform helped the banks cut legal costs and reduced the number of messages exchanged between the parties usually around 2 000 e mails Germana Cruz Standard Chartered s head of financial institutions for Latin America said the bank may use the experiment in Brazil in new deals in Latin America The transaction was executed on a platform called Corda which was developed by R3 a New York based startup focused on developing blockchain technology for the finance industry
In spite of the euphoria around blockchain based technology many financial institutions have set aside blockchain projects for reasons from costs to industry readiness a Reuters report found earlier this year |
WFC | U S 2019 Housing Market Outlook On Shaky Ground | Growth of U S home prices will slow sharply next year along with economic momentum according to a Reuters poll of property experts who largely said turnover in the housing market has peaked
After falling by a third during the financial crisis a decade ago U S house prices have mostly recovered all their losses rising at more than double the rate of inflation and wages over the last five years
The poll a survey of 35 property market analysts from Nov 16 to Nov 26 showed U S house price growth is still expected to outpace inflation and pay growth over the next two years but at a sharply lower rate than found in an August survey
The S P Case Shiller composite index of U S home prices in 20 metropolitan areas was forecast to rise 3 7 percent in 2019 and 2 8 percent in 2020 down from 4 7 percent and 3 5 percent expected just three months ago
The peak in price increases has been reached and with rates rising further and the economy slowing price gains can only decelerate said Joel Naroff chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors
In the past housing market activity has contributed significantly to overall economic expansion but there has been a growing disconnect between them this year
That lines up with data over the last two quarters showing a slowdown in property market activity even though overall economic growth sped up strongly in part on stimulus from tax cuts passed late last year
A majority 17 of 29 analysts who answered an additional question said U S housing market turnover has already peaked
That finding coincides with a strong consensus that U S gross domestic product growth has peaked too according to a separate Reuters poll ECILT US
With growth of the economy now expected to slow by late next year to about half of the 4 2 percent rate of the second quarter the risk is that the Federal Reserve does not increase interest rates as much as previously expected the separate poll found
For now the Fed is expected to raise rates in December the fourth increase this year and three more times in 2019 according to that poll Those expectations have already pushed mortgage rates higher
After staying mostly below 5 percent since 2010 the 30 year mortgage rate breached that level last month and is forecast in the latest poll to stay above that level over the next three years
In a sign rising rates are hurting demand U S home refinancing requests fell to a near two decade low last week according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association
Housing market activity has experienced a marked slowdown since the start of the year as rising mortgage interest rates tax reform and moderating house price expectations have all weighed on housing demand noted Matthew Pointon property economist at Capital Economics
There are also fewer houses up for sale
Existing home sales which make up about 90 percent of overall sales are forecast to average around an annualized rate of above 5 million units per quarter this year and next well below the 7 million units during the housing market boom in 2005
The latest Reuters poll is the third in a row where analysts cut their existing home sales forecasts
The magnitude and speed at which home sales have weakened is surprising following just a three quarter of a percentage point rise in mortgage rates We suspect the problem is a lack of affordable product in the markets where potential home buyers would like to live wrote Mark Vitner senior economist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC in a note to clients
A shortage of affordable homes is a clear impediment to the housing market where homebuilding has not kept up pace with demand driven by falling unemployment and improving wages over the last two years
More than 85 percent of 27 analysts who answered an additional question said the supply of affordable homes over the next year will stay the same or fall Only four expected an increase
When asked to rate affordability of U S homes on a scale of 1 being the cheapest and 10 the most expensive the median response was 7 where it has remained throughout this year but higher than the 6 in polls last year
Original Post |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Stock Moves 1 62 What You Should Know | In the latest trading session Wells Fargo WFC closed at 50 26 marking a 1 62 move from the previous day This change was narrower than the S P 500 s 2 33 loss on the day Meanwhile the Dow lost 2 24 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 3 05
Heading into today shares of the biggest U S mortgage lender had lost 3 89 over the past month lagging the Finance sector s loss of 3 and the S P 500 s loss of 1 93 in that time
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from WFC as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 11 2019 In that report analysts expect WFC to post earnings of 1 19 per share This would mark year over year growth of 22 68 Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 21 27 billion down 3 53 from the year ago period
WFC s full year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of 4 28 per share and revenue of 86 12 billion These results would represent year over year changes of 4 14 and 2 3 respectively
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for WFC should also be noted by investors Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near term business trends With this in mind we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company s business outlook
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Within the past 30 days our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant WFC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Investors should also note WFC s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 11 93 For comparison its industry has an average Forward P E of 10 92 which means WFC is trading at a premium to the group
Also we should mention that WFC has a PEG ratio of 1 07 The PEG ratio is similar to the widely used P E ratio but this metric also takes the company s expected earnings growth rate into account The Banks Major Regional was holding an average PEG ratio of 1 13 at yesterday s closing price
The Banks Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99 which puts it in the top 39 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Be sure to follow all of these stock moving metrics and many more on Zacks com |
EBAY | A month later hurricane trips up Florida Panhandle voters | By Terray Sylvester MEXICO BEACH Fla Reuters Christy Todd said she is a regular voter in Mexico Beach the oceanfront Florida Panhandle community nearly obliterated by Hurricane Michael less than a month ago But she sat out Tuesday s elections There s so much going on I just couldn t make time for it Todd 40 said donning a dust mask as she made her way into the remains of the small house she had rented for the past five years Todd who sells apparel on eBay NASDAQ EBAY said she probably would have voted Republican in Tuesday s elections which will decide if U S President Donald Trump s party maintains control in both houses of Congress But Todd said she did not know where to vote and had no time to find out Having lost most of her roof in the hurricane she has been living out of her car and sleeping at the homes of relatives since the storm struck She is not alone Hurricane Michael the most powerful storm to strike Florida in at least 80 years left thousands of people homeless in the Panhandle a conservative leaning region considered vital to the Republican Party s fortunes in the state this year In two close contests regarded as national political bellwethers Republican Governor Rick Scott was attempting to unseat incumbent Democratic U S Senator Bill Nelson and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum a Democrat faced Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis in the gubernatorial race BOOSTING TURNOUT State and local Republican leaders have gone to great lengths to offset the hurricane s potential impact on turnout especially in hard hit Gulf County and Bay County which includes Mexico Beach Officials opened eight large voting centers in those two counties in place of dozens of precinct by precinct local polling places that were damaged or destroyed in the storm In addition early voting was extended through Monday in Bay County the only jurisdiction in Florida where voters could cast ballots on the eve of the election To overcome chronic internet and telephone outages caused by the storm Republican officials posted thousands of signs around Bay County to alert voters to changes in voting locations and hours said James Waterstradt the party s county chairman Their efforts appeared to have paid off Voter turnout in Bay County was running about 52 percent higher than it was for the last mid term election in 2014 Waterstradt said on Tuesday night Polling stations were kept open for lines of voters who had arrived before the scheduled 7 p m closing time he said In neighboring Gulf County turnout reached 64 percent which Republican state committeeman David Ashbrook said was lower than average for a mid term election there but higher than I expected it to be On the eve of the election he had expressed concern about transportation We have a lot of people in outlying areas whose cars have been crushed who are homeless he had said I M SLEEP DEPRIVED Catina Hill a registered Republican who said she votes in every election cast her ballot despite storm related hardships including scarcities in food water and electricity I came this close to not voting today Hill a 43 year old landlady said as she left a polling site at the United Methodist Church in her hometown of Parker Everything is piling up Hill said she voted for Scott in the Senate race but could not recall which candidate she chose for governor The power s constantly flickering and my kids are scared I m sleep deprived Hill said lamenting she was unable to thoroughly review the candidates and issues before voting Some people took solace in thinking the disaster could dampen turnout among Democrats too I don t think this storm said Oh we re going to tear up Republicans houses and not Democrats said Sissy Karr 44 another loyal Republican who owns 14 rental properties around Panama City and said she too lacked the time to vote It didn t matter if you were a poor person renting a manufactured home or a wealthy doctor with a big home at Bay Point The storm tore your stuff up |
EBAY | Youngevity EPS of 0 46 | Youngevity NASDAQ YGYI Q3 EPS of 0 46 may not be comparable to consensus of 0 08
Revenue of 39 08M 12 0 Y Y misses by 6 85M
Press Release
Now read |
EBAY | LeBron s HS car to drive hard bargain at auction | LeBron James obviously wasn t an ordinary high school senior His car wasn t a run of the mill model either James drove a 2003 Hummer H2 and it is going up for auction on Monday before being sold on Dec 8 So what s the price of the vehicle that LeBron drove while he attended St Vincent St Mary High School in Akron Ohio A piece of his past won t come cheap According to Goldin Auctions president Ken Goldin the car is definitely a six figure piece James mother Gloria took out a 50 000 loan to pay for the car that she gave him for his 18th birthday That led to an investigation by Ohio basketball officials before questions of LeBron s eligibility were cleared Four days after he was cleared though the Ohio High School Athletic Association ruled James ineligible for accepting two throwback jerseys valued at 845 from an urban clothing store in exchange for posing for pictures After taking the state s governing body to court and winning the appeal James led St Vincent St Mary to a third state championship in his four seasons He was the No 1 overall pick right out of high school by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft James installed a custom sound system three TVs and a Sony PlayStation 2 when he had the car undoubtedly increasing its current Kelley Blue Book value of 18 000
Put up for auction on eBay NASDAQ EBAY in December 2013 the Hummer could have been purchased for 64 800 which was the Buy It Now price listed then by Cleveland Autos Direct Online It was sold for an undisclosed amount and went on display at the Greater Cleveland Auction Field Level Media |
EBAY | SIM Swapping Becomes Increasingly Popular in California Police Make It High Priority | On November 7 a security news and investigation blog KrebsOnSecurity published an interview with REACT Task Force a California based law enforcement group dedicated to fighting cybercrime
As per the article members of REACT consider SIM swapping one of its highest priorities in a bid to fight cryptocurrency fraud Here is how fraudsters use 99 cent SIM cards bought off eBay NASDAQ EBAY to steal millions worth of crypto with just one call The attacker bribes or threatens a mobile store employee into assisting in the crime Current and or former mobile store employees intentionally abuse their access to customer data Mobile store employees trick unsuspecting associates at other branches into swapping a victim s existing SIM card with a new one |
EBAY | eBay polishes plans for online second hand luxury watch market | By Silke Koltrowitz ZURICH Reuters Buying a second hand luxury watch on eBay O EBAY should get easier next year as the company gets better at checking that only genuine timepieces are sold on the online platform By the end of 2019 we look to have an entire suite of services available to all luxury watch sellers and buyers on the platform James Hendy in charge of eBay s authentication service for luxury goods told Reuters in a recent interview While new watch sales have grown more slowly the used market has been boosted by younger consumers happy to buy online prompting Cartier owner Richemont S CFR to buy second hand platform Watchfinder co uk Hendy said eBay s transaction volume of second hand luxury watches would exceed 1 billion in 2018 This compares to volumes of around 1 3 billion euros expected at German rival Chrono24 by its co CEO and founder Tim Stracke eBay allowed approved professional sellers like Watchbox to list timepieces on eBay with an authenticity verified tag in September by extending its eBay Authenticate program from handbags to luxury watches And from the first quarter of 2019 eBay will allow consumers to instantly sell their luxury watch on the site adding authentication services to cover all consumer to consumer C2C transactions during the second half of the year Swiss luxury watch brands have long hesitated to sell online and used to look at platforms like eBay or specialized websites Chrono24 or Chronext as a nuisance because watches which retailers find hard to sell often end up online at a discount However eBay is now looking at partnerships with luxury brands as it targets a market estimated to be worth around 17 6 billion euros 20 billion when jewelry is included a recent report by Bain Company said The used market has been boosted by younger consumers happy to shop online prompting watch manufacturers like Richemont or Audemars Piguet to enter the market I believe that in the next few years the primary and secondary market are going to come together Hendy said adding that brands working with eBay would be able to engage with customers directly via its platform 1 0 8748 euros
This story corrects lead to remove reference to auction also removes reference to Watchfinder paragraph 5 |
EBAY | A Cheap Play On An eBay Pause | The purpose of this article is not really to talk about eBay NASDAQ EBAY The truth is I don t really have an opinion about eBay s near term prospects one way or the other The real purpose of this article is to highlight the potential to make an inexpensive play please note how I skillfully avoided the use of the word bet on a given security via the use of options
In Figure 1 we can see that eBay has a had a pretty good run of late In addition if one wanted to one could make an argument that price is at or near a resistance level Finally earnings are due on or around 4 24
Figure 1 Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert
So let s suppose a scenario where a trader felt that there was a decent chance that eBay was going to pause in the current price area and possibly pull back for at least a short period of time This is not an out and out bearish projection so buying a put option may not be the most optimal play
So let s get creative
The Example
The example trade involves
Buying 4 eBay May17 36 puts 0 66
Selling 2 eBay Apr26 36 puts 0 52
Selling 2 eBay Apr 26 35 puts 0 31
The particulars for this trade in Figure 2 and the risk curves in Figure 3
Figure 2 Calendar Spread Courtesy OptionsAnalysis com
Figure 3 Calendar Spread Risk Curves Courtesy OptionsAnalysis com
A few key things to note
The cost and maximum risk on this trade is 98 So we are talking about some really cheap speculation here
If eBay does NOT pause i e if it moves higher a 100 loss of the entire 98 is the most likely outcome
If eBay drifts sideways to slightly lower this trade holds some decent profit potential on a percentage basis
If eBay drops out of the sky this trade can earn roughly 100 return on investment
Summary
So if this type of trade in general and this eBay trade in specific even a good idea That s not for me to say As I intimated above the purpose of this piece is simply to highlight the possibilities But just to round out this particular example the relevant questions in this case are
1 Do you think eBay may temporarily run out of steam and possibly experience a short term pullback
2 Do you have 98 bucks
Disclaimer The data presented herein were obtained from various third party sources While I believe the data to be reliable no representation is made as to and no responsibility warranty or liability is accepted for the accuracy or completeness of such information The information opinions and ideas expressed herein are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute and should not be construed as investment advice an advertisement or offering of investment advisory services or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security |
EBAY | EBay EBAY Earnings Expected To Grow What To Know Ahead Of Next Week s Release | Wall Street expects a year over year increase in earnings on higher revenues when eBay EBAY reports results for the quarter ended March 2019 While this widely known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company s earnings picture a powerful factor that could impact 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 April 23 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 e commerce company is expected to post quarterly earnings of 0 63 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 18 9
Revenues are expected to be 2 58 billion up 0 1 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days 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 the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change
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 eBay
For eBay the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2
So this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that eBay will beat the consensus EPS estimate
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue
While calculating estimates for a company s future earnings analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates 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 eBay would post earnings of 0 68 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 84 delivering a surprise of 23 53
Over the last four quarters the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates three 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
EBay doesn t appear 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 |
WFC | Pound Surges Gilts Slide on Signals of Brexit Breakthrough | Bloomberg The pound surged on signs that the U K is inching closer to an agreement with the European Union on a Brexit divorce deal
The currency climbed to the strongest level since April versus the euro after a report that negotiators have agreed on an Irish border backstop a key sticking point in the talks Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a Cabinet meeting Wednesday to discuss a draft Brexit agreement and a summit with the EU could occur as soon as Nov 25 Gilts declined as conviction grew that the Bank of England will raise interest rates next year
The currency bounced in response to a breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations said Valentin Marinov head of FX research at Credit Agricole PA CAGR SA What remains to be seen is whether the U K Cabinet will agree to the proposed text
The pound rose as much as 1 5 percent to 1 3047 before paring gains and reached 86 56 pence per euro the strongest level since April 18 The yield on the U K 10 year government bond increased nearly seven basis points to 1 52 percent In money markets short sterling implied yields climbed a sign traders may be raising bets on rate increases by the central bank should a Brexit deal be concluded
Even if the Cabinet signs off the agreement would need approval from parliament where May faces a stiff challenge And while the body may approve a withdrawal by March the pound could suffer some whiplash on the way Wells Fargo NYSE WFC currency strategist Erik Nelson and economic analyst Abigail Kinnaman said in a note to clients If that scenario plays out the pound dollar rate could near 1 34 in six months and 1 40 in a year they said
We see potential for a rally around 1 in the pound once a withdrawal deal is finalized by the EU and U K and then another larger rally perhaps 2 3 once that deal is ratified by parliament they wrote referring to that base case scenario The period between the initial deal being reached and the subsequent ratification by parliament will likely be marked by ongoing volatility and uncertainty which could see the pound retrench
In the case of a no deal Brexit outcome Nelson and Kinnaman see the pound falling nearly 8 percent against the dollar and 6 percent against the euro
May doesn t have a majority in parliament and faces opposition from Labour Party lawmakers She also has to appease some of the hard line Brexiteers within her Conservative party
Some were quick to criticize the deal The Democratic Unionist Party s Sammy Wilson said the deal as reported would be voted down and pro Brexit Conservative MP Jacob Rees Mogg said the Cabinet shouldn t support the pact Boris Johnson also said he d vote against the deal though acknowledged that neither side wants a no deal outcome
Earlier Tuesday Irish broadcaster RTE cited an unidentified senior official as saying that the key part of the Withdrawal Agreement had been agreed Still the official said it would be wrong to say that negotiations were concluded Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar declined to comment on the report The Telegraph newspaper also reported that the two sides had agreed on the text of a divorce deal
Adds additional comments from Wells Fargo |
WFC | Wells Fargo plans 1 000 U S job cuts | By Imani Moise Reuters Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Co said on Thursday it notified about 1 000 employees in its Consumer Lending and Payments Virtual Solutions and Innovations groups of plans to eliminate their positions The layoffs are consistent with the bank s previously announced plans to reduce headcount by up to 10 percent by 2020 spokesman Tom Goyda said Wells Fargo the No 4 U S bank by assets had about 262 000 employees as of Sept 30 Most of those affected received 60 day notices but some received pre notices meaning they will get a 60 day notice sometime next year About 900 of the layoffs are in the bank s home lending unit reflecting declines in application volume and the number of customers in default The cuts will be spread across the United States but are concentrated in Des Moines Iowa which is expected to have about 400 reductions and Fort Mill South Carolina which is expected to have 111 cuts We are committed to retaining as many team members as possible and will do everything we can to help them identify other opportunities within Wells Fargo Goyda said Earlier this year the company announced plans to reduce its overall headcount by up to 26 000 over the next three years to reflect changing consumer preferences as more customers use self service technology to do their banking The cuts are intended to help the bank reach its goal of reducing costs by 4 billion by 2020 as it tries to increase profit and recover from a series of scandals while operating under the Federal Reserve s asset cap Over the summer the bank laid off 600 employees in its mortgage division which has faced challenges due to a slowdown in refinancing demand
Aside from headcount reductions Wells Fargo has pledged to lower costs and become more efficient by reducing its branch count by about 800 by 2020 and by selling noncore businesses |
WFC | U S home builder sentiment posts biggest drop in 4 1 2 years | Reuters U S home builder sentiment recorded its steepest one month drop in over 4 1 2 years in November as rising mortgage rates and tight home inventory squeezed the real estate sector the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday The NAHB and Wells Fargo NYSE WFC housing market index fell to 60 points in November which was the lowest level since the 59 recorded in August 2016 That compared with a reading of 68 in October and a consensus reading of 67 among analysts polled by Reuters The index s eight point drop was the biggest monthly decline since a 10 point decrease in February 2014 The index s seasonally adjusted component on current single family home sales decreased to 67 the lowest since August 2016 from 74 in the prior month The seasonally adjusted gauge on expectations of home sales in six months tumbled to 65 in November matching the level last seen in May 2016 It was 75 in October
The barometer on home builders view on prospective buyers declined to 45 the lowest level since July 2016 and below 53 in October |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Outpaces Stock Market Gains What You Should Know | In the latest trading session Wells Fargo WFC closed at 52 82 marking a 1 28 move from the previous day This change outpaced the S P 500 s 1 06 gain on the day Meanwhile the Dow gained 0 83 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index added 1 72
Coming into today shares of the biggest U S mortgage lender had lost 4 24 in the past month In that same time the Finance sector gained 0 25 while the S P 500 lost 2 09
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from WFC as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 11 2019 In that report analysts expect WFC to post earnings of 1 19 per share This would mark year over year growth of 22 68 Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 21 27 billion down 3 53 from the year ago period
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 4 28 per share and revenue of 86 12 billion which would represent changes of 4 14 and 2 3 respectively from the prior year
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for WFC should also be noted by investors These revisions help to show the ever changing nature of near term business trends With this in mind we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company s business outlook
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices To benefit from this we have developed the Zacks Rank a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 19 lower WFC is currently a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
Looking at its valuation WFC is holding a Forward P E ratio of 12 17 This represents a premium compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 11 42
Investors should also note that WFC has a PEG ratio of 1 09 right now This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate The Banks Major Regional industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1 2 as of yesterday s close
The Banks Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 109 which puts it in the top 42 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Be sure to follow all of these stock moving metrics and many more on Zacks com |
WFC | The Outlook For The Global Economy Has Deteriorated | Oil copper and lumber are all telling us the exact same thing and it isn t good news for the global economy When economic activity is booming demand for commodities such as oil copper and lumber goes up and that generally causes prices to rise But when economic activity is slowing down demand for such commodities falls and that generally causes prices to decline In recent weeks we have witnessed a decline in commodity prices unlike anything that we have witnessed in years and many are concerned that this is a very clear indication that hard times are ahead for the global economy
Let s talk about oil first The price of oil peaked in early October but since that time it has fallen more than 25 percent and the IEA is warning of relatively weak demand out of Asia and Europe
The International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that while US demand for oil has been very robust demand in Europe and developed Asian countries continues to be relatively weak The IEA also warned of a slowdown in demand in developing nations such as India Brazil and Argentina caused by high oil prices weak currencies and deteriorating economic activity
The outlook for the global economy has deteriorated the IEA wrote
Meanwhile the price of copper has been declining for quite some time now The price of copper also fell substantially just before the last recession and many analysts are pointing out that Dr Copper is now waving a red flag once again
The message of weakening demand on the oil front was reinforced by the falling price of copper The base metal is often referred to as Dr Copper on its presumed ability to forecast the peaks and troughs of business cycles since it is used in different areas of the economy such as homes factories and electricity generation Copper has served as a leading indicator of both recessions and economic booms
The price of lumber is a third witness that indicates that big trouble is looming
Last month lumber dropped more than 10 percent and that was the biggest monthly drop that we have seen in more than 7 years
In October prices for softwood lumber in the U S dropped 10 3 the largest decline since May 2011 according to the Producer Price Index PPI release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics The producer price index for softwood lumber has fallen 21 2 since setting the cycle and all time high in June
If oil copper and lumber are all telling us the same thing simultaneously don t you think that we should be listening
At this point even Bloomberg is admitting that the global economy is heading toward a generalized slowdown
These developments suggest the synchronized growth that the global economy has enjoyed in recent years is likely to be replaced by a generalized slowdown Just take a look at the data out of Japan and Germany this week which showed the world s third and fourth largest economies contracted in the third quarter
How many signs is it going to take before people start understanding what is happening
Wells Fargo NYSE WFC just notified about 1 000 employees that they will be laid off Job losses are starting to mount and it is likely that we will start to see these sorts of news stories on an almost daily basis now
And as the shaking on Wall Street accelerates we are going to see more financial firms get into trouble In fact we just witnessed the total collapse of OptionSellers com The following comes from a notice that they sent to investors informing them that they lost all their money and that the firm is being liquidated
I am writing to give you an update on the situation here with your account
We have spent the week unwinding our short natural gas call position as expediently as possible
Today which was to be the final day of liquidation the market flared as prices appear to have been caught in a short squeeze
The speed at which it took place is truly beyond anything I have seen in my career It overran our risk control systems and left us at the mercy of the market
In short it was a rogue wave and it overwhelmed us
Unfortunately this has resulted in a catastrophic loss
Our clearing firm FC Stone now requires us to liquidate all positions We hoped to have this done today If not it will be completed tomorrow
Your account could potentially be facing a debit balance as of tomorrow OptionSellers com will be processing fee credits over the course of the coming days to help alleviate debit balances What these will be will be determined after all positions are cleared
This has in effect crippled the firm At this point our brokers at FC Stone have been assisting us in liquidation
Our offices will remain open and we will all still be here to answer your questions and process account closings We will do everything in our power to ease what discomfort we can
I am truly sorry this has happened
I will be updating you again via memo in 24 hours
Regards
OptionSellers com
Those investors are among the first to be completely wiped out but they certainly won t be the last
The ironic thing is that Americans are less concerned about another crisis than they have been at any point since 2008 at a time when they should be more focused on getting prepared than ever
You know that it is really late in the game when even Jim Cramer of CNBC is saying that the U S economy is really slowing down A few of my readers wrote me after that article because they didn t like the fact that I had quoted Jim Cramer But I don t think that they really got my point I was not endorsing Jim Cramer as some sort of financial guru Rather I was pointing out that even mainstream media celebrities that were previously cheerleaders for the economy are now recognizing the reality of what we are facing
Global economic activity is slowing down and things are shifting very rapidly now The weather is already getting very cold the mood of the nation is very dark and it would only take a very small push to send us completely tumbling over the edge |
WFC | Wells Fargo WFC Stock Sinks As Market Gains What You Should Know | In the latest trading session Wells Fargo WFC closed at 52 43 marking a 0 21 move from the previous day This move lagged the S P 500 s daily gain of 0 3 Elsewhere the Dow 0 while the tech heavy Nasdaq added 0 92
Prior to today s trading shares of the biggest U S mortgage lender had gained 4 46 over the past month This has outpaced the Finance sector s loss of 1 08 and the S P 500 s loss of 4 06 in that time
Investors will be hoping for strength from WFC as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be January 11 2019 In that report analysts expect WFC to post earnings of 1 19 per share This would mark year over year growth of 22 68 Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of 21 27 billion down 3 53 from the year ago period
WFC s full year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of 4 28 per share and revenue of 86 12 billion These results would represent year over year changes of 4 14 and 2 3 respectively
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for WFC These revisions help to show the ever changing nature of near term business trends As a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear actionable rating model
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month WFC currently has a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Valuation is also important so investors should note that WFC has a Forward P E ratio of 12 24 right now Its industry sports an average Forward P E of 11 31 so we one might conclude that WFC is trading at a premium comparatively
It is also worth noting that WFC currently has a PEG ratio of 1 1 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate Banks Major Regional stocks are on average holding a PEG ratio of 1 16 based on yesterday s closing prices
The Banks Major Regional industry is part of the Finance sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 89 putting it in the top 35 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
To follow WFC in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
WFC | Gold Prices 2 Opposite Views Same Predicted Result | Gold prices pulled back on Tuesday after climbing early going into the midterm elections The precious metal s price action is drawing the attention of two investment banks which have totally opposite expectations Wells Fargo predicts gold prices will rally in the next few quarters while Macquarie is predicting a pullback However what s interesting is that despite their opposite commentary both firms seem to be expecting roughly the same price in the coming months and it s nowhere near the 10 000 per ounce another gold expert forecasted a couple months ago
Seeking a safe haven in volatility
This week gold has been bouncing around carried along by the midterm elections in the U S After hitting its lowest level in a week on Tuesday gold bounced early on Wednesday Investors sought refuge in so called safe haven investments due to uncertainty stemming from the election results which reversed control of the U S House of Representatives to the Democrats
However John LaForge of Wells Fargo NYSE WFC expects gold prices to rise in the coming quarters even if stocks rise too We caught a brief glimpse of a stock rally paired with the gold rally early on Wednesday as the S P 500 and NASDAQ 100 climbed in premarket trading
Gold prices driven by fear
October was a difficult month for stocks but gold prices enjoyed a positive run also bucking the many other assets which struggled Last month gold climbed 2 while multiple stock market indices plunged into correction territory The bond market also struggled in October on the back of higher interest rates
Gold prices usually run opposite to equity prices and that s exactly what we ve been seeing for most of the last month Data suggests gold gains 1 8 on average during stock market corrections of about 10 in the S P 500 and the deeper the stock market correction the more gold prices rise
LaForge noted that gold prices were driven mostly by investor fear in October October was the most volatile month for stocks since February although studies have shown it s not uncommon for October to be troublesome for equities Nonetheless many investors were spooked by the sudden lurch in volatility so they fled to alleged safe haven assets including gold
One particularly interesting thing about October is the fact that the U S dollar climbed in step with gold prices as both assets climbed 2 Usually the dollar and gold move in opposite directions so October was unusual in this respect
Wells Fargo predicts rally in gold prices
It looks like this latest stock market correction could be over for now so what does that mean for gold LaForge examined the data to see what happens to the precious metal after stock corrections end and he describes its performance as a mixed bag but not necessarily horrible
He explained that gold prices don t necessarily take a plunge after investors stop being afraid of stocks He also said after stock market corrections of 10 or greater gold and stock prices tend to both rally in the months immediately following Typically gold prices peak a few months after the end of the stock market correction and then roll over and LaForge expects them to follow this same pattern through the end of this year and into 2019
However gold prices tend to behave differently after a stock market correction of 20 or greater according to LaForge He said that right after deep corrections end gold prices tend to plunge when stocks start to rally again A few months later though gold usually reverses and moves higher alongside equities
Based on all this data LaForge pegs gold prices between 1 250 and 1 350 per ounce If the precious metal does what he expects it to do it could rise as much as 7 from this week s price or possibly even a bit more
But Macquarie expects gold prices to fall
Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner predicts a different story for gold prices this year however He told Kitco News at the London Bullion Market Association s precious metals conference this week that a lack of upcoming catalysts should hold gold back He pointed to the major gold rally in the early 2000s which he said was driven by extreme demand shifts Central banks shifted to buying gold while investors started buying in via new exchange traded investment vehicles and China began building its gold exchange
Interestingly Turner also pegged gold prices at around 1 300 per ounce but he feels a lack of momentum will serve as a lid on prices
Original post |
WFC | Crazy Market Shift Reveals Cheap 9 5 Dividend | Are you looking for the 1 perfect buy for big upside and huge I m talking 9 5 here dividends
Near the end of this article I ll show you 1 fund that will let you nail down both This opportunity comes from a shift in the market that s been so quiet almost no one has picked up on it except for one group
Enter the Smart Money
You ve probably heard the phrase smart money
It s really just shorthand for active managers like those at the big hedge funds investment banks and other massive institutions who make billion dollar bets based on massive troves of information and experience
Funny thing is the so called smart money has had a lot of egg on its face in the last decade for one reason it hasn t been winning
For instance if we compare the Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Hedge Fund Manager Holdings Index to a low cost index fund like the SPDR S P 500 ETF NYSE SPY we see that the hedge funds have underperformed since 2013 when the Hedge Fund Manager Holdings index was created
Smart Money Wasn t Looking So Smart
But since the start of 2018 the index has been slightly outperforming the S P 500 and it has spent most of the year far ahead
But the Tables Have Turned
There s a simple explanation and understanding it is crucial if you want to protect and grow your nest egg in this jittery market
A Critical Shift No One Is Talking About
Many hedge fund managers use a value investing approach and that strategy has been a loser in the last decade Just compare the Vanguard Value NYSE VTV with the Vanguard Growth NYSE VUG
Managers Go To Strategy Hits the Skids
But that trend has also changed over the last year with value now coming out on top
Cue the Comeback
Therein lies the key to smart money s long term success sticking to a proven strategy like value investing
This is nothing new Active managers were derided in the 2000s for underperforming both the S P 500 and the housing market Some analysts were telling multimillionaires to buy more rental properties instead of investing in actively managed funds
Of course that was a terrible mistake and the families who listened were suddenly no longer multimillionaires in 2009
The Worst Belief You Could Have in Investing
Why would people make such a mistake It has to do with something called recency bias and it s the main reason why a contrarian approach pays off
Recency bias is a tendency to believe that what happened recently tends to be the norm Of course this is the worst belief you could have in investing Never in the history of the United States have two successive recessions happened for the same reason Those who avoided tech in 2001 missed out on massive gains in the next few years those who avoided housing in 2009 Same thing
When it comes to recency bias then your typical investor is at a big disadvantage Throughout 2017 I received few emails from investors worried about a market decline This one chart explains why
What a Great Year
With everyone s portfolios going up no one was worrying about stocks taking a hit which is why the February mini correction horrified so many investors And the panic has risen again with the volatility we ve seen since the start of October
October Drop Sets Up Contrarian Gains
I ran a subscribers only webinar for members of my CEF Insider service at the end of October to explain why now is the time to be buying rather than selling with GDP growth up unemployment low the pace of interest rate hikes likely to slow and corporate profits still hitting records there s no fundamental reason to panic
And get this even after recent losses the market has still soared since the start of 2017
Turmoil Masks Big Gain
I don t know about you but I want to live in a world where 12 annualized returns are disappointing let alone something to panic about
A Strong Contrarian Buy for 9 5 Dividends and Upside
So what s the key takeaway Simple despite the panicky headlines remember that American growth remains strong That s how the smart money sees things now
With that in mind your next step will be to do exactly what these savvy folks are doing buy great investments from the dumb money for a song as they sell in a panic
That s easy to do with CEFs For instance look at the PCM Fund PCM a PIMCO managed bond and bond derivative fund that yields a shocking 9 5 While this fund s underlying portfolio called its net asset value or NAV has posted a 5 1 total return since the start of the year far ahead of the S P 500 s 1 its market price has fallen 6
Price Drops Value Rises Buy Window Opens
Despite the fund s underlying portfolio beating the market the dumb money is selling this thing off like it s a big loser It s not
And since housing is a main focus of PCM through mortgage backed securities it s easy to understand why investors are making this mistake one recency bias error on top of another They re overselling due to the recent market crash which they think will continue since it s the most recent trend Plus they re overselling because they think the next panic will be the same as the last one although that s never how corrections work
17 More Buys for BIG Gains in 2019 and SAFE Dividends Up to 12 9
My CEF Insider service the same one I mentioned earlier boasts a portfolio that s a rich hunting ground for income double digit upside or both
Right now I ve got no fewer than 17 red hot buys ready and waiting for you to snap up as we head into 2019
Dividends are at the beating heart of this 17 fund portfolio as I write it s throwing off an average payout of 8 2 And that s just the average One of these off the radar CEFs pays an astonishing 12 9
That s enough to hand you 12 900 next year in CASH enough to likely beat the market on dividends alone
So why isn t everyone investing in this breakthrough 12 9 yielder
Because most of its dividend comes in the form of a yearly special payout that rolls out like clockwork Trouble is most folks only see its regular payout in their stock screener of choice and sleepwalk right by
A True Hidden Yield
Source Yahoo NASDAQ AABA Finance
And when I say that this fund s yearly special dividend rolls out like clockwork I mean it Check out this amazing dividend history
Your Next Yearly Bonus Check Awaits
Source CEFConnect com
I ll GIVE you the name of this cash machine and the 16 other cash rich buys in my CEF Insider portfolio when you take a zero risk test drive now
That s not all you ll also get an exclusive Special Report that reveals my 5 best CEF buys for 8 dividends and 20 price upside in 2019 This exclusive report is must reading if you want to protect and grow your nest egg and income stream in the critical year ahead
Disclosure Brett Owens and Michael Foster are contrarian income investors who look for undervalued stocks funds across the U S markets Click here to learn how to profit from their strategies in the latest report 7 Great Dividend Growth Stocks for a Secure Retirement |
EBAY | PayPal s Gain Is eBay s Pain Midday Skechers Paints a Pretty Consumer Picture | Investing com It was a tale of have and have nots in midday trading as PayPal s results boosted the company s stock but hit eBay hard
PayPal NASDAQ PYPL rose 8 at 12 10 PM ET 16 10 GMT while eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY sank about 9
Shares of PayPal jumped after the company reported solid earnings after the bell Thursday
The company also provided bullish numbers on its mission to monetize Venmo
But the company also said it is seeing softness in business from eBay and shares of the online commerce and auction site tumbled
Meanwhile the consumer discretionary sector received a boost from a strong earnings report from Skechers USA Inc NYSE SKX which rose 13
The clothing company reported a solid rise in U S comparable sales growth which gave the broader market a little confidence about retail sales The company also touted its strength in its business in China
The S P Consumer Discretionary Sector index was down about 0 2 |
WFC | Japan s 10 Year Yields Now Above Treasuries After Hedging Costs | Bloomberg The recent jump in U S Treasury yields has done little to increase their attractiveness for Japanese investors as dollar hedging costs continue to rise
The hedged yield on 10 year U S debt has even fallen below that of the Japanese equivalent for the first time in a sustained way in a decade Investors now receive a hedged yield of just 0 05 percent from Treasuries compared with 0 13 percent from benchmark Japanese government bonds according to Bloomberg calculations
Although the 10 year Treasury yield has risen about 30 basis points in the last two months versus about a two basis points gain in the equivalent JGB the cost to hedge against movements in the dollar has jumped over 50 basis points
Yen hedged U S Treasury bond yields are now negative Peter Wilson a strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Investment Institute wrote in a recent note The rising cost of currency hedging dollar exposure may reduce overseas investors demand for U S Treasury securities
Global bond investors have been on edge ever since the Bank of Japan said in July it would let yields fluctuate more raising the possibility that the Asian nation s investors would bring home some of the approximately 2 4 trillion they ve parked in fixed income assets overseas Some of Japan s life insurers are already warming to the domestic market according to a series of investment plans released last month |
WFC | Wells Fargo says internal error caused more home foreclosures than expected | Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC said on Tuesday an internal underwriting error had caused it to reject home loan modifications resulting in the bank foreclosing more homes than expected The bank said in a filing with regulators that an expanded review found that 870 customers were incorrectly denied mortgage changes leading to 545 of them losing their homes This comes after the bank in August had for the first time disclosed a calculation error in an internal underwriting software had caused 625 borrowers to be incorrectly denied mortgage loan modifications under a federal assistance program 400 of whom had their homes foreclosed upon We re very sorry that the errors occurred and have assigned a single dedicated point of contact to ensure that each customer is engaged with and assisted individually Tom Goyda a spokesman for the company said in an email The company said the expanded review is still under way and took into account customers who were in the foreclosure process between March 15 2010 and April 30 2018 Goyda said the bank had contacted a substantial majority of the affected customers to provide remediation as well as the option to pursue no cost mediation with an independent mediator The revelations are an additional headache for the San Francisco based bank which is facing numerous regulatory penalties and private lawsuits most of which stem from a sales practices scandal that touched on all of the bank s major business units The bank said the issue stems from a calculation error that overstated attorneys fees that were needed in determining whether a customer qualified for a mortgage loan modification or repayment plan In August the bank said it rectified the calculation errors and had set aside 8 million to compensate borrowers On Tuesday the bank however did not update that figure The bank updated disclosures on issues it discovered in auto lending saying it had increased a compensation figure to 241 million from 212 million earlier related to a practice where it forced customers auto insurance that in some cases resulted in vehicle repossessions The bank has since discontinued that practice |
WFC | Wells Fargo s wealth management head to retire | Reuters Wells Fargo Co s N WFC head of wealth management Jay Welker will retire at the end of March after more than two decades with the San Francisco based bank Welker joined Wells Fargo in 1988 overseeing regional commercial banking offices for the bank in California He was named Wells wealth management head in 2003 according to a memo seen by Reuters
The memo had no details on Welker s successor |
WFC | Regulators warn Wells Fargo over technology oversight WSJ | Reuters Wells Fargo N WFC received a warning from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency OCC in recent weeks related to its technology operations the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter The bank also has failed or isn t expected to meet deadlines on around two dozen technology focused OCC regulatory warnings known as Matters Requiring Attention that have been issued since 2014 or earlier the WSJ reported The warning adds to the bank s list of woes since the sales scandal erupted more than two years ago
Wells Fargo was not immediately available to comment while OCC declined to comment |
WFC | Wells Fargo to combine private bank with ultra rich client business | Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC said on Thursday it is restructuring its wealth and investment management business to combine its two high net worth operations the private bank and Abbot Downing under a new unit leader who it has not yet named As part of the plans the bank will also create a new unit under wealth management for its direct to client products Intuitive Investor and Wells Trade Another new unit will cover lending trust and mergers and acquisitions bank spokeswoman Shea Leordeanu said in an emailed statement
Leaders of the three units who have not yet been named will report to Jon Weiss head of wealth and investment management |
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