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PFE | U S executions hit 25 year low as capital punishment wanes study | By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN Texas Reuters The number of U S executions fell to a quarter century low in 2016 as new death sentences plummeted indicating capital punishment is on the decline a study released on Wednesday showed The number of U S executions in 2016 was 20 the lowest since 1991 according to the study from the Death Penalty Information Center which monitors capital punishment While 31 states have the death penalty only five held executions in 2016 Georgia carried out the most at nine while Texas was next at seven it said The number of new death sentences in 2016 is expected to hit 30 a low not seen since the U S Supreme Court declared existing death penalty statutes unconstitutional in 1972 it said That figure is down by more than 90 percent from a recent high of 315 in 1996 Legal battles and a sales ban on execution drugs will likely hold down the number of executions next year while the high costs of death penalty cases is set to keep capital punishment prosecutions down as district attorneys instead seek sentences of life in prison without parole legal experts said America is in the midst of a major climate change concerning capital punishment said Robert Dunham the center s executive director and the report author States have been scrambling to find drugs since European drug makers imposed a sales ban about five years ago due to ethical concerns The problem was exacerbated when pharmaceutical giant Pfizer N PFE imposed a sales ban this year cutting off the last major U S source of the drugs Ohio which has executed 53 inmates since the U S Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 had a U S judge this week delay plans to end its nearly 3 year execution hiatus in 2017 to examine its drug procurement secrecy Capital punishment advocates have said expenses or drug shortages should not be a factor arguing the death penalty is an instrument of justice and must used for those who deserve it Jordan Steiker a University of Texas Law School professor and director of its Capital Punishment Center said states looking to resume executions are going to face stiff legal challenges
We are on a path toward constitutional abolition The length of that path will be dictated by uncertainties concerning the Supreme Court s composition and how much the withering of the death penalty continues he said |
PFE | Artificial leaf copies nature to manufacture medicine | By Ben Hirschler Reuters Dutch scientists have developed an artificial leaf that can act as a mini factory for producing drugs an advance that could allow medicines to be produced anywhere there is sunlight The work taps into the ability of plants to use sunlight to feed themselves through photosynthesis something industrial chemists have struggled to replicate because sunshine usually generates too little energy to fuel chemical reactions The leaf inspired micro factory mimics nature s efficiency at harvesting solar radiation by using new materials called luminescent solar concentrators with very thin channels through which liquid is pumped exposing molecules to sunlight Theoretically you could use this device to make drug compounds with solar energy anywhere you want said lead researcher Timothy Noel at Eindhoven University of Technology By doing away with the need for a power grid it may be possible one day to make malaria drugs in the jungle or even medicines on Mars in some future space colony he believes The device made from silicone rubber can operate even when there is diffuse light which means it will work under cloudy skies However there is still a way to go to scale up the process to make it commercially viable Noel and his colleagues who published their research in the science journal Angewandte Chemie on Wednesday are now trying to improve energy efficiency further and increase output Because the artificial leaf relies on micro channels to bring chemicals into direct contact with sunlight each unit needs to be small but they could be easily linked together to increase production You can make a whole tree with many many different leaves placed in parallel Noel told Reuters These are very cheap things to make so there is a lot of potential He thinks the process could start to become broadly available to chemical engineers within five to 10 years
It is not the first time that scientists have drawn inspiration from plants when considering novel ways to manufacture pharmaceuticals In 2012 the U S Food and Drug Administration approved a drug called Elelyso from Pfizer NYSE PFE and Protalix Biotherapeutics for Gaucher disease a rare genetic condition made with genetically modified carrot cells Other researchers are also cultivating crops that have been specially bred to produce useful medicines and vaccines in their leaves |
T | Businesses Increasingly See Crypto Mining Attacks in Cloud Infrastructures | Cryptocurrency mining is reportedly one of the most observed objectives of hackers attacking businesses cloud infrastructures according to a report by AT T NYSE T Cybersecurity on March 14
The cybersecurity wing of United States telecoms firm AT T stated that organizations of all sizes continue to face major crypto mining attacks despite the ongoing bear market |
T | Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara resigns as AT T probes mistakes | By Kenneth Li Reuters Kevin Tsujihara has resigned as the head of Warner Bros as one of Hollywood s most powerful studios investigates a report that he improperly helped an actress obtain roles at the studio He is the latest in a line of executives to lose their jobs in the media business following accusations of improper conduct or sexual harassment It is in the best interest of WarnerMedia Warner Bros our employees and our partners for Kevin to step down as Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros WarnerMedia Chief Executive John Stankey said in a statement on Monday Tsujihara s departure from the AT T NYSE T Inc owned studio follows a March 6 article in the Hollywood Reporter that said an actress had sought his help in landing roles after they had sex The report included text messages between Tsujihara and the actress that appeared to reveal they had sex Tsujihara has not directly addressed his relationship with the actress whether they had sex nor his involvement in helping her career Kevin acknowledges that his mistakes are inconsistent with the company s leadership expectations and could impact the company s ability to execute going forward Stankey said in his statement Stankey did not specify what mistakes Tsujihara made Only two days before the Hollywood Reporter published its story Tsujihara was given an expanded more powerful role as part of a restructuring of AT T s WarnerMedia It has become clear that my continued leadership could be a distraction and an obstacle to the company s continued success Tsujihara said in an email to employees on Monday which was seen by Reuters The hard work of everyone within our organization is truly admirable and I won t let media attention on my past detract from all the great work the team is doing Tsujihara did not address why he was leaving in the email Earlier this month following the Hollywood Reporter story Tsujihara s attorney said the executive did not have a direct role in the hiring of the actress in any movie AT T is continuing to work with an outside law firm to complete its investigation into the matter Stankey said That would be the third investigation two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters and was sparked by the Hollywood Reporter article which included text messages between the executive the actress and two business partners Tsujihara was cleared in two previous internal investigations related to the matter since late 2017 the sources said The first conducted by Time Warner was initiated at Tsujihara s request the sources said and the second was conducted by AT T
AT T shares rose 0 4 percent and closed at 30 80 |
T | Simple Secrets Anyone Can Use To Reach Early Retirement November 21 2019 | Building sufficient financial resources to retire early may sound like a dream but making that dream come true is not as hard as it may sound The main thing is simply to save more money each month No big deal right Well
The typical rule of thumb given by financial planners is to have a goal of saving up to 20 of total earnings But if you want to retire when you re younger that percentage will probably need to be more like 40 to 50 of your income Of course that s not so simple since a big part of your paycheck goes to day to day necessary expenses So if you want to save that much you need to make some serious lifestyle adjustments It requires making changes but it s doable
A relatively new movement called Financial Independence Retire Early FIRE has been developed around this sacrifice and over save now to retire early concept FIRE followers develop strict savings programs up to 75 of income and make associated sacrifices like living in small apartments walking to work every day restrictive diets and so on This path may be too restrictive for many but the mindset offers some takeaways that might be worth considering
First stick with the fundamentals of long term growth investing Choose a diversified portfolio of stocks with exposure to different styles sizes sectors and regions
You may be able to accelerate your potential retirement earnings by consciously seeking higher returns and also accepting more risk in your investment portfolio But whatever your risk tolerance your portfolio must be diversified to protect against extreme market movements that could jeopardize your early retirement objective You can choose from a number of ways to allocate investments to diversify your portfolio and these should be informed by your individual goals growth and income needs appetite for risk and age
Once you ve begun saving at a higher rate and you have an investment plan put that money to work in your plan as quickly as you can Don t worry about finding the perfect time to invest simply put the money in and keep it in Let compounding work to help you grow your retirement savings at an exponential rate
You may want to look at growth stocks with attributes acceptable for retirement investing like low beta strong earnings estimates positive sales growth and expected future growth
Zacks offers investors useful rankings for lower risk growth stocks for retirement portfolios The following are a few selections that merit a closer look Armada Hoffler Properties AHH AT T T and Southwest Gas SWX Earnings and revenue has seen growth of at least 5 or higher over the last five years with a beta of 1 or lower
Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes
Whether you re planning to retire early or not don t let investing mistakes derail your plans
If you have 500 000 or more to invest and want to learn more click the link to download our free report 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement This report will help you steer clear of the most common mistakes like trying to time the market lack of diversification in your portfolio and many more Get Your FREE Guide Now |
T | Why Is Rogers Communication RCI Up 2 6 Since Last Earnings Report | A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Rogers Communication RCI Shares have added about 2 6 in that time frame underperforming the S P 500
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release or is Rogers Communication due for a pullback Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late let s take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers Rogers Communications Misses on Q3 Earnings RevenuesRogers Communications reported third quarter adjusted earnings of 91 cents per share that missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 Total revenues of 2 84 billion also missed the consensus mark of 2 92 billion Adjusted earnings decreased 1 7 year over year to C 1 19 per share Total revenues decreased 0 4 year over year to C 3 75 billion Notably third quarter 2019 results were reported per IFRS 16 Wireless DetailsWireless 61 9 of total revenues decreased 0 3 from the year ago quarter to C 2 32 billion Service revenues decreased 1 6 to C 1 81 billion attributable to an expanded postpaid subscriber base and a 2 decrease in blended average revenue per user as a result of overage revenues due to faster adoption of Rogers Infinite unlimited data plan launched last quarter Equipment revenues were up 4 5 to C 516 million due to increase in gross postpaid subscribers However this was offset by lower device upgrades by existing users in the reported quarter Monthly blended average revenue per user ARPU was C 56 01 down 2 1 year over year Monthly blended average billing per user ABPU was C 67 2 up 1 5 As of Sep 30 2019 prepaid subscriber base totaled almost 1 48 million a loss of 287K subscribers from the year ago quarter Monthly churn rate was 4 74 compared with 3 48 in the year ago quarter As of Sep 30 2019 postpaid wireless subscriber base totaled roughly 9 36 million up 315K from the year ago quarter Monthly churn rate was 1 2 compared with 1 09 in the year ago quarter Segment operating expense decreased 3 7 from the year ago quarter to C 1 19 billion Adjusted EBITDA increased 3 5 year over year to C 1 14 billion Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 180 basis points bps on a year over year basis to 49 Cable DetailsCable 26 5 of total revenues inched up 1 1 from the year ago quarter to C 994 million The increase was due to higher Internet subscriber base and increased Ignite TV subscriber base Service revenues climbed 1 to C 989 million Internet revenues increased 6 7 year over year due to user shift toward higher GB tiers and increase in subscriber base partially offset by increased promotional activities As of Sep 30 2019 Internet subscriber count was nearly 2 5 million up 102K from the year ago quarter During the quarter Rogers Communications launched Fido Data Overage Protection plan which enables customers to pause and purchase data when they reach their limit Early responses noted 2 60 000 customers on new plans using 14 more data Additionally the company also launched the Ignite Wi Fi Hub app and introduced Wall to Wall Wi Fi pods to manage home Wi Fi networks and enhance Wi Fi connectivity in households The company is set to launch reciprocal roaming arrangement with AT T NYSE T to extend LTE M coverage for IoT customers throughout Canada and the United States Television revenues were up 1 7 year over year due to pricing changes and addition of new Ignite TV subscribers This was offset by decline in subscriber base Rogers Communications lost 17K subscribers on a year over year basis to reach an installed base of almost 1 6 million in the Television segment During the quarter the company added new apps such as Sportsnet NOW and The Zone on Ignite TV Phone revenues plunged 36 4 year over year primarily due to bundled discount pricing and decline in subscriber base Subscriber count was nearly 1 08 million a decline of 37K from the year ago quarter Equipment revenues jumped 25 year over year to C 5 million Segment operating expense increased 0 4 from the year ago quarter to C 495 million Adjusted EBITDA increased 1 8 year over year to C 499 million Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 40 bps on a year over year basis to 50 2 Media DetailsMedia 12 9 of total revenues declined 1 from the year ago quarter to C 483 million The decline in revenues was primarily due to the sale of the company s publishing business and lower Toronto Blue Jays revenues Segment operating expense decreased 14 9 year over year to C 353 million primarily attributed to lower publishing related costs and Toronto Blue Jays player salaries Adjusted EBITDA increased 78 1 year over year to C 130 million Consolidated ResultsOperating costs declined 4 8 from the year ago quarter to C 2 05 billion As a percentage of revenues operating costs contracted 250 bps to 54 5 The company deployed a cooling optimization program across network data centers during the quarter which reduced annual electricity use by 2 gigawatt hours Adjusted EBITDA increased 5 7 from the year ago quarter to C 1 71 billion Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 260 bps to 45 6 Balance Sheet Cash Flow DetailsAs of Sep 30 2019 Rogers Communications had cash and cash equivalents of 262 million compared with 404 million at the end of the previous quarter Cash provided by operating activities increased 0 1 year over year to C 1 3 billion Free cash flow increased 22 3 year over year to C 767 million attributed to higher adjusted EBITDA along with capital efficiencies in cable and decrease in cash income taxes for the reported quarter Rogers Communications paid C 256 million in dividends in the reported quarter The company repurchased shares worth 93 million Rogers Communications ended the third quarter with a debt leverage ratio adjusted net debt adjusted EBITDA of 2 8 up from 2 5 at the end of 2018 Guidance for 2019Revenues are expected to be down 1 to up 1 against the prior guidance of increase in the range of 3 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to increase in the range of 3 compared with the prior guidance of increase in the range of 7 Capital expenditure is expected in the range of C 2 75 2 85 billion compared with the prior guidance of C 2 85 3 05 billion Free cash flow is expected to increase in the range of C 100 200 million compared with the prior guidance of increase in the range of C 200 300 million
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then
It turns out fresh estimates have trended downward during the past month The consensus estimate has shifted 9 43 due to these changes
VGM Scores
Currently Rogers Communication has an average Growth Score of C however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with a B Following the exact same course the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side putting it in the top 40 for this investment strategy
Overall the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B If you aren t focused on one strategy this score is the one you should be interested in
Outlook
Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift It s no surprise Rogers Communication has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell We expect a below average return from the stock in the next few months |
PFE | Britain fines Pfizer record 107 million for huge drug price hike | By Ben Hirschler LONDON Reuters Britain s competition watchdog has fined Pfizer N PFE a record 84 2 million pounds 107 million for its role in ramping up the cost of an epilepsy drug by as much as 2 600 percent The Competition and Markets Authority CMA also fined Flynn Pharma 5 2 million pounds for overcharging for phenytoin sodium capsules following a dramatic price hike in 2012 The CMA s ruling comes amid a growing debate on both sides of the Atlantic about the ethics of price hikes for old off patent medicines that are only made by a few firms and where there is little competition U S drugmaker Turing Pharmaceuticals led at the time by hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli caused outrage last year by raising the U S price of Daraprim an old anti infective drug by more than 5 000 percent to 750 a pill In the case of phenytoin sodium capsules the UK price charged for 100 mg packs of the drug jumped from 2 83 pounds to 67 50 in 2012 before reducing to 54 00 from May 2014 As a result annual spending on the capsules by Britain s National Health Service rose from 2 million pounds in 2012 to about 50 million in 2013 The CMA said UK prices were many times higher than elsewhere in Europe Pfizer used to market the medicine under the brand name Epanutin but sold the rights to Flynn a privately owned British company in September 2012 It was then debranded meaning that it was no longer subject to price regulation and the price soared The companies deliberately exploited the opportunity offered by debranding to hike up the price for a drug which is relied upon by many thousands of patients Philip Marsden chairman of the CMA s case decision group said on Wednesday This is the highest fine the CMA has imposed and it sends out a clear message to the sector that we are determined to crack down on such behavior The previous highest fine of 58 5 million pounds was handed to British Airways L ICAG in 2012 for colluding with rival Virgin Atlantic VA UL on fuel surcharges That was imposed by the CMA s predecessor the Office of Fair Trading Pfizer said it planned to appeal all aspects of the verdict The U S drugmaker said the medicine had been loss making and it was therefore forced to consider whether it could continue supplying it Pfizer added that the price set by Flynn was actually 25 to 40 percent less than the cost of an equivalent tablet form from another supplier Flynn s chief executive David Fakes said punishing his company which also plans to appeal for selling phenytoin capsules for less than phenytoin tablets beggars belief The CMA also ordered both to reduce their prices a move that lawyers said could trigger claims for redress from customers who had been over charged In February it fined GlaxoSmithKline L GSK 37 6 million pounds for striking deals to delay the launch of cheap generic copies of its former blockbuster antidepressant Seroxat The watchdog has four other ongoing investigations into the pharmaceutical sector |
PFE | Exclusive Lonza says in talks to buy Capsugel deal could top 5 billion sources | By Greg Roumeliotis Reuters Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Lonza Group AG S LONN on Monday confirmed it is in advanced talks with private equity firm KKR Co LP N KKR to acquire Capsugel a U S maker of capsule products and other drug delivery systems Sources familiar with the talks told Reuters that a potential transaction would be valued at more than 5 billion Capsugel would fit perfectly with Lonza s strategy and strengthen its position as leading supplier to a number of important healthcare markets Lonza said in a statement A successful acquisition would be value adding and be within Lonza s stated acquisition criteria The deal which Lonza said still may not come to fruition comes as the Swiss drug ingredient maker seeks to boost its life sciences capabilities and produce a wider range of molecules used in active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug delivery It held unsuccessful talks to acquire U S drug delivery technology company Catalent Inc N CTLT earlier this year Discussions between Lonza and KKR could lead to a deal as early this week people familiar with the talks said on Sunday The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential Capsugel and KKR did not immediately respond to requests for comment Based in Morristown New Jersey Capsugel manufacturers empty two piece hard capsules as well as finished dosage forms for drug delivery It serves more than 4 000 corporate customers in over 100 countries Reuters reported in March that KKR was preparing to run a sale process for Capsugel this year and also explore the possibility of an initial public offering of the company as an alternative to an outright sale KKR acquired Capsugel from Pfizer Inc N PFE for 2 4 billion in 2011
Lonza has been expanding its presence in the United States in recent years buying up small biopharmaceutical companies and in 2011 acquiring chemical maker Arch Chemicals for 1 4 billion Lonza has a market capitalization of 9 4 billion Swiss francs 9 25 billion |
T | Democrats probe whether White House interfered in AT T Time Warner merger | By David Shepardson Reuters Two U S House Democrats on Thursday asked the White House and Justice Department to turn over documents that could show whether Republican President Donald Trump sought to intervene in the regulatory review of AT T NYSE T Inc s 85 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX In letters released on Thursday House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Representative David Cicilline who chairs a panel overseeing antitrust issues asked them to turn over records after The New Yorker magazine reported this week that Trump directed then National Economic Council director Gary Cohn to use the Justice Department to block the deal The pair wrote that if accurate Trump s involvement would constitute a grave abuse of power Last week a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling rejecting a Justice Department challenge to the deal filed in November 2017 The White House and Justice Department did not immediately comment AT T declined to comment The letters cited the New Yorker article reporting that Trump called Cohn into the Oval Office along with John Kelly who had just become the chief of staff and said in exasperation to Kelly I ve been telling Cohn to get this lawsuit filed and nothing s happened I ve mentioned it 50 times And nothing s happened I want to make sure it s filed I want that deal blocked Makan Delrahim the head of the Justice Department s antitrust division said in a declaration last year that he had never received orders instructions or directions relating to the AT T Time Warner deal from Trump Justice Department officials or officials from the Executive Office of the President The Justice Department said last week it would not seek further appeals In February 2018 U S District Judge Richard Leon rejected AT T s request to see White House communications that might shed light on whether Trump pressured the Justice Department to try to block the deal AT T lawyers said last year the deal may have been singled out for enforcement citing as evidence statements by Trump as a candidate and as president that the deal was bad for consumers and the country
Trump criticized the deal as a candidate in late 2016 saying it would concentrate too much media power in the hands of one owner and later saying it would raise prices He has also frequently attacked CNN a Time Warner property now owned by AT T for what he sees as negative coverage of his campaign and administration |
T | At Brazil s Petrobras an uphill struggle to vanquish graft | By Tatiana Bautzer and Gram Slattery SAO PAULO RIO DE JANEIRO Reuters Five years after Brazilian prosecutors exposed a long running bribes for contracts racket at state run oil firm Petrobras the company is proclaiming it has cleaned up its act It has run TV spots touting its whistleblower hotline as well as a compliance department created in the wake of Brazil s epic Car Wash corruption scandal which damaged the oil giant helped tip Brazil into recession and landed a former president behind bars In late November citing progress it had made in rooting out graft Petrobras closed down a special committee constituted in 2014 to aid investigations into corruption But interviews with six people with direct knowledge of the company s graft busting efforts including former Chief Compliance Officer Jo o Elek Jr paint a picture of an organization still struggling to root out bad behavior These individuals said Petroleo Brasileiro SA as the firm is formally known has strengthened its internal watchdog processes significantly However Elek and the others cited a series of obstacles that have hampered the firm s attempts to stamp out corruption Among them the people said is an investigations unit which at times has been severely understaffed In addition the people said bureaucratic hurdles for dismissing anyone at the state owned company along with unwillingness by many employees to cooperate with compliance investigators means Petrobras in some cases has left it to law enforcement to gather needed proof of wrongdoing There was great cultural resistance to graft probes said Elek who led the Petrobras compliance department from January 2015 through April 2018 A former AT T Inc NYSE T executive Elek described his departure from Petrobras as amicable and said it was never meant to be a long term post All six people were directly involved in designing or implementing Petrobras compliance programs in recent years Four still work on Petrobras compliance issues In a detailed statement Petrobras vigorously denied that compliance investigators have faced significant internal obstacles It said it has zero tolerance for corruption and that it is committed to immediate interruption of misconduct But the company s ongoing troubles the people said were on full view in December with the bombshell indictments of six former and current Petrobras employees The workers stand accused of taking kickbacks in the latest phase of Car Wash this one centered on irregularities in the company s oil trading division from at least 2011 to 2014 Petrobras was alerted to potential problems in its trading operation since at least 2014 when a whistleblower went public with claims that the energy giant was overpaying for some of its oil purchases The alleged scheme was also cited by two former Petrobras executives and a former senator in subsequent plea deals with prosecutors But Petrobras did not move quickly to investigate suspicious activity identify potential suspects and sideline them the people said Five of the workers indicted in December had already left Petrobras by the time authorities issued their charges The sixth a Houston based trader named Rodrigo Berkowitz was still on the payroll when prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest on Dec 5 Petrobras fired Berkowitz the same day The alleged scheme may have been ongoing through the time of his dismissal police inspector Felipe Pace said at the time TIP OF THE ICEBERG Berkowitz did not respond to multiple requests for comment His lawyer confirmed he had agreed to plead guilty in the United States to conspiracy to commit money laundering Berkowitz is now cooperating with U S authorities investigating the alleged oil trading scheme people familiar with the matter told Reuters Legal representatives for the other five people indicted did not respond to requests for comment Petrobras said one reason the firm could not break up the suspected oil trading racket earlier was that it lacked surveillance resources reserved for authorities such as phone wiretaps and access to bank accounts to follow the money Prosecutors said Berkowitz and the others accepted 31 million in bribes from intermediaries connected to some of the world s largest commodities trading firms including European heavyweights Vitol SA Glencore LON GLEN PLC and Trafigura AG In exchange for the kickbacks the trading companies got oil contracts at advantageous prices defrauding Petrobras in the process authorities said Glencore and Trafigura declined to comment Vitol said it has a zero tolerance policy with respect to bribery and corruption and that it is cooperating with authorities Petrobras has steadfastly portrayed itself as a victim of illegal schemes perpetrated by a few rogue insiders colluding with unscrupulous contractors and greedy politicians It downplayed the significance of the December indictments saying they relate to alleged bribes paid years ago The latest phase does not involve high ranking executives politicians or big construction companies Petrobras said in a statement Brazilian authorities do not share that view Some prosecutors said they are just beginning to unravel what they contend is a complex web of payoffs and players What they know at present is just the tip of the iceberg prosecutor Athayde Ribeiro Costa said during a December press conference 2 000 WHISTLEBLOWER TIPS The Car Wash scandal was a kickback scheme on steroids Suppliers formed a cartel to divvy up work with the state run oil behemoth inflating contract prices to hide their payoffs to Petrobras collaborators and politicians The illicit operation rolled along for at least a decade before Brazilian prosecutors blew the lid off The fallout helped force President Dilma Rousseff from office in 2016 and landed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in jail last year on corruption charges The ongoing investigation by Brazilian authorities has spread to nearly every corner of Petrobras massive operations Elek the former compliance chief said Petrobras has taken meaningful steps to prevent a repeat Supplier vetting has gotten much tougher he said and there is now better tracking of project budgets and spending But transforming Petrobras culture into one that champions transparency will be a long term undertaking according to Elek and the others interviewed Five of the people said the compliance team s inquiries were frequently slow walked by management as well as by rank and file workers For example requests for records that should have taken days to deliver might not arrive for weeks or months they said In addition Elek said powerful unions and internal company committees could sometimes hold up an employee s dismissal when evidence against him or her was not bulletproof which he attributed in part to the bureaucratic structure of state run companies Elek said the modest size of his internal investigations team also hampered some compliance work He said he started with just two subordinates in the investigations unit in 2015 building it to around 40 employees by the time of his departure in 2018 He said he had hoped to recruit as many as 100 people to help tackle the workload in a sprawling company with more than 60 000 employees But Elek said qualified workers were repeatedly blocked by their managers from joining his team At one point in 2017 he estimates his backlog of whistleblower complaints had reached some 2 000 cases Petrobras disputed those staffing numbers in part saying it had hired some 78 people for the investigations team by 2017 a figure that has since grown to 164 employees assisted by more than 180 external advisors TOSSING OUT BAD APPLES In its written responses to questions from Reuters Petrobras emphasized that it has been continually improving and refining its compliance program since Car Wash emerged in 2014 The company also said it took steps late last year to make it easier to punish workers found to be involved in corruption fraud or harassment As part of that push the firm overhauled an internal oversight body that used to report to the CEO Now known as the Discipline Committee the three person group has two independent members including a former federal prosecutor Marcelo Zenkner The committee now reports its punishment actions directly to the board of directors But Petrobras has yet to impose independent oversight of Rafael Mendes the current chief compliance officer who still reports to the chief executive The risks of that structure some lawyers and corporate governance specialists say were illustrated by Elek s first boss at Petrobras Aldemir Bendine The former CEO is now serving an 11 year jail term following his 2018 conviction for pocketing nearly 1 million in bribes from a contractor in the Car Wash scandal Bendine was disdainful of the compliance committee and never attended one of its meetings one person with direct knowledge of the situation said Elek said he had no personal issues with Bendine but that his position as chief compliance officer created natural tension with the former CEO Alberto Toron Bendine s lawyer denied that his client was disdainful of the Petrobras compliance committee Toron said Bendine s conviction related to his activities as CEO of Banco do Brasil SA a post he held before moving to Petrobras A sentencing document however cited accusations from federal prosecutors that Bendine had received the bribes while he was Petrobras CEO after soliciting them at Banco do Brasil Petrobras did not make Mendes available to comment on the matter In a statement the company said the current chain of command functions smoothly It said the chief compliance officer has access to the board whenever needed and can only be fired by a full board vote
It is wrong to say that from the beginning the Petrobras chief compliance officer has encountered resistance the firm said |
T | Signs That Your Trading Will Ruin Your Retirement November 19 2019 | You have a significant retirement portfolio You re an experienced investor You ve done pretty well at picking stocks You probably even own a few of Zacks Top Retirement stock picks like
TriCo TCBK AT T T and American Eagle Outfitters NYSE AEO
If that sounds like you should you actively trade your own retirement assets
It could be a good idea that is if you are one of the very few investors who understands your own risk tolerance and can keep your emotions in check during chaotic market swings However if you re like the rest of us there are likely more prudent ways to reach your retirement investing goals
Active stock trading requires a very different investing approach and risk reward mindset than investing for retirement
How Diversification Differs from Stock Picking
While stock picking can potentially result in outsized returns its outsized concentrated risk can pose significant hazards for retirement investors
A study done by Hendrik Bessembinder of equity markets spanning nine decades revealed that only 4 of the best performing U S stocks produced all the market s increases The rest were flat the gains of the following 38 were offset by the losses of the bottom 58
Those numbers reinforce that even if you are an experienced and talented stock picker your chances of success over a long period are very slim
Is Successful Investing a Mind Game
Investors think they can make rational decisions but research shows that the opposite is often true A recent DALBAR study tracked investors from 1986 to 2015 and found that the average investor substantially underperformed compared to the S P 500 Over 30 years the S P 500 returned 10 35 but the average investor return was just 3 66
It is worth noting that this period included the 1987 crash and enormous bear markets in 2000 and 2008 and the positively trending market of the 1990s as well
An important takeaway of this study is that investors seem to underperform because they try to time volatile markets and irrational emotional responses tend to these investing mistakes
Curiously even experienced traders tend to underperform since they can t resist the emotional urge to make impulsive investment choices They might be overly self assured and miscalculate risk get attached to a price target or perceive a pattern that does not exist This behavioral fallacy over the long term can be disastrous with potential underperformance of a huge number of dollars disrupting your retirement
What It All Means for Retirement Investors
Your retirement portfolio ought to be dealt with a technique of performance over decades not days weeks or quarters Most self coordinated investors will in general miss the mark with regards to long term outcomes
We re not saying you should not trade at all far from it If you enjoy trading perhaps you should put 10 of your investable assets to work in short term investments to seek alpha and outsized returns
But the bulk of your wealth those assets earmarked for retirement should be invested using a more measured conservative risk management approach to generate steady compounded returns so you can safely reach your retirement goals
Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes
Whether you re planning to retire early or not don t let investing mistakes derail your plans
If you have 500 000 or more to invest and want to learn more click the link to download our free report 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement This report will help you steer clear of the most common mistakes like trying to time the market lack of diversification in your portfolio and many more Get Your FREE Guide Now |
PFE | Cohen s SAC Capital in 135 million settlement with Elan investors | By Jonathan Stempel and Nate Raymond NEW YORK Reuters Billionaire Steven A Cohen s former hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors LP will pay 135 million to settle a lawsuit by investors in the drugmaker Elan Corp who said they lost money because of insider trading by one of his portfolio managers The preliminary class action settlement with SAC now known as Point72 Asset Management LP was filed on Wednesday with the federal court in Manhattan and requires approval by U S District Judge John Koeltl It resolves claims over an estimated 275 million of illegal trading gains in Elan and the drugmaker Wyeth by Mathew Martoma who worked at SAC s CR Intrinsic Investors unit based on tips from a Michigan doctor about a 2008 Alzheimer s drug trial We are pleased to have resolved this matter and close the books on this chapter of SAC era litigation Point72 spokesman Mark Herr said in a statement SAC pleaded guilty to fraud in 2013 and paid 1 8 billion in criminal and civil settlements with U S authorities It settled with Wyeth shareholders for 10 million last December Martoma meanwhile is appealing his February 2014 insider trading conviction while he serves a nine year prison term Cohen 60 was not criminally charged but in January accepted a two year ban on managing money for outside investors to end a U S Securities and Exchange Commission civil probe into his supervision of Martoma That ban ends on Jan 1 2018 and no fine was imposed Point72 is based in Stamford Connecticut SAC and Cohen did not admit wrongdoing in settling with the former Elan investors including purchasers of its American depositary receipts and stock options Perrigo Co N PRGO bought Elan in 2013 while Pfizer Inc N PFE bought Wyeth in 2009 Lawyers for the Elan investors plan to seek up to 35 1 million for legal fees and 2 8 million for costs which would be drawn from the 135 million settlement court papers show Cohen can donate leftover settlement funds to charities he chooses with the consent of the Elan investors He is worth 13 billion Forbes magazine said
The case is Kaplan et al v SAC Capital Advisors LP et al U S District Court Southern District of New York No 12 09350 |
AMD | Abu Dhabi s Mubadala eyes debt market weighs SoftBank s Vision Fund 2 CEO | By Stanley Carvalho and Hadeel Al Sayegh ABU DHABI Reuters Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala Investment Co is weighing debt issuance amid attractive market conditions and could invest in oil giant Saudi Aramco s planned share offering its group chief executive said on Thursday Khaldoon Khalifa al Mubarak added the state investor exited its investment in U S chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices O AMD in September after 12 years having made 4 25 billion on its initial investment of 770 million The Gulf has seen a flurry of international debt issuance as governments and companies take advantage of low global rates to attract yield seeking investors and raise debt cheaply I do see opportunities given the pricing debt is very attractive We will certainly be looking at the debt market in the next few months or weeks Mubarak group chief executive and managing director told Reuters in an interview Mubadala would take an investment decision on Aramco s planned initial public offering when it comes our way he added Aramco the world s largest oil firm could announce plans next week to float a 1 2 stake on the kingdom s Tadawul market before a possible international listing launching an initiative that is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman s economic diversification drive Mubarak also said that Mubadala which has assets under management of 229 billion is considering participating in Japanese group SoftBank s Vision Fund 2 but has not made a decision He said the Softbank s Vision Fund 1 in which Mubadala contributed 15 billion has performed well from an investor perspective with very strong returns We have managed our risk very carefully in Vision Fund 1 with preferred securities with 7 yield with a portfolio of 80 companies We will decide on Vision Fund 2 when it is the right time for us His comments came after Reuters reported earlier this month SoftBank Group founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is struggling to raise money for a second massive technology investment fund in the wake of the failed public offering of office rental company WeWork and sliding valuations of other major investments Mubadala is still looking to list Emirates Global Aluminium EGA but cautioned that this is not the best time for an exit from EGA given a correction in aluminium prices
He also said Mubadala has an interest to encourage IPOs in the United Arab Emirates market and it has companies that could be listed locally |
T | HBO Chief Executive Richard Plepler to resign from company | By Sheila Dang and Kenneth Li Reuters HBO Chief Executive Richard Plepler will leave the premium television network owned by U S wireless carrier AT T Inc NYSE T after nearly 28 years at the company Plepler said in a memo to HBO employees on Thursday Turner President David Levy is also expected to resign from the broadcasting company which is also owned by AT T according to a source familiar with the plan AT T unit WarnerMedia which oversees HBO and Turner declined to comment Hard as it is to think about leaving the company I love and the people I love in it it is the right time for me to do so Plepler wrote in the memo seen by Reuters Plepler oversaw many successes at HBO such as hit shows like Game of Thrones and Girls The news comes after AT T won an appeals court decision on Tuesday for its purchase of media company Time Warner which included HBO and the Turner TV networks Many in the industry had expected AT T would begin to restructure the HBO and Turner properties after its second victory over the U S Department of Justice which had sued to stop the merger Former NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt is in talks to take a leadership role at WarnerMedia the source added |
T | AT T plans to revamp CNN s digital arm WSJ | NEW YORK Reuters John Stankey the AT T executive at the helm of WarnerMedia is planning to revamp cable news network CNN s digital operation believing it isn t reaching its potential and requires more investment the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday
The move comes as AT T Inc NYSE T shuffles the executive ranks within its newly acquired WarnerMedia entertainment empire |
AMD | Is AMD s Stock Topping Market Bulls Hope Not | Large cap technology stocks have been bull market leaders pushing the stock market higher into 2020 One of those leaders has been Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD
But investors were not impressed with AMD s financial outlook this week and sent the stock lower
While this isn t good news for stock market bulls at least as of right now
Looking at the monthly chart for AMD we can see that this move lower is coming after testing breakout price resistance at old highs And this turn lower may be contributing to a bearish reversal pattern
Stock bulls are hoping that AMD breaks out here instead of topping
There s plenty of time left for bulls to defend this price reversal and send the stock to new highs But investors need to stay tuned |
AMD | Stocks Jumped And Are Getting Ready To Take Out All Time Highs | Stocks had a strong rally yesterday rising by around 1 5 to 3 298 The market has recovered all the losses from Friday and then some The 3 305 level appears to be a bit of a challenge for the S P 500 but I am guessing that the market continues to push higher back to its all time highs
The index managed to bounce right off the RSI uptrend keeping the long term uptrend in the S P 500 in place
Disney DIS Disney was popping after beating results on both the top and bottom lines and posted better than expected subscribers with 26 5 million for Disney Good for the options guys they seemed to nail it again The stock was at 143 and then again at 137 when they were active The next level of resistance comes around 147 and then at 150
Netflix NFLX
Netflix NASDAQ NFLX had a big day and again I saw more bullish betting in this name while it broke above a significant downtrend
Uber UBER
Meanwhile Uber NYSE UBER continues to see some strength heading into results with the stock approaching resistance around 40 60 I have also been seeing some bullish betting that suggests the stock rises above 41 following results
Roku ROKU
I know people are probably cheering Roku s NASDAQ ROKU move higher yesterday But it isn t time to celebrate yet notice how the stock continues to fail at the downtrend
AMD AMD
Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD is moving higher and appears to be working towards to fill that gap up at 51 |
AMD | 6 Stock Charts To Watch AMD CODX KZR MTBC RAD SPCE | 1 Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD is on the move again The pullback held the trendline 50 day moving average lateral price resistance gap etc and broke out on Monday jumping 2 53 or 5 09 to 52 26 just four cents of the 52 30 high on 61 million shares traded If this gets through 52 85 you could see this stock ramping up towards 58 59
2 Co Diagnostics Inc CODX
Co Diagnostics NASDAQ CODX popped late Jan pulled back popped again formed a wedge and then exploded on Monday gaining 96 cents or 32 to 3 96 after reaching a high of 4 24 on 29 million shares traded If it extends on Tuesday it may very well reach 5 1 2 6 1 4 which are the near term targets
3 Kezar Life Sciences Inc KZR
Kezar Life Sciences NASDAQ KZR which got smacked from the 40 s down to the single digits broke out of a base on Monday and popped 1 29 or 34 58 to 5 02 after reaching a high of 5 20 on 1 1 million shares traded Two weeks ago it popped on big volume pulled back and exploded again If it gets to 5 1 4 as early as Tuesday you may see it run to 6 1 2 or more
4 MTBC Inc MTBC
MTBC NASDAQ MTBC a cloud based healthcare IT solution and service company exploded back in 2017 pulled back exploded and coiled and then consolidated for about a year and a half in the 3 1 4 5 1 2 range It has moved in the last few days exploding across key resistance on Monday gaining 53 cents or 9 to 6 87 before pulling back and closing up 6 41 on 533 670 shares traded I m looking for an extension to the 8 9 range
5 Rite Aid Corporation RAD
Rite Aid Corporation NYSE RAD broke out of a coil a couple days ago and on Monday exploded 66 cents or 5 to 13 75 after reaching a high of 14 50 on 8 6 million shares traded It got right to resistance and backed off If it takes out 14 1 2 18 is my target and beyond
6 Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE
Virgin Galactic Holdings NYSE SPCE is rocketing out of an ascending bull coil up another 1 62 or 8 56 to 20 55 on a high of 20 68 on 15 million shares traded on Monday I think we re going to see 24 and maybe 28 going forward
Stocks on the long side
Amcor AMCR Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD Aptose Biosciences Inc APTO Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc AVDL Coherus BioSciences Inc CHRS Co Diagnostics Inc CODX Cue Biopharma Inc CUE Youdao Inc DAO eGain Corporation EGAN Kezar Life Sciences Inc KZR MTBC Inc MTBC NantKwest Inc NK Invitae Corporation NVTA Rite Aid Corporation RAD Avita Medical Limited RCEL Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE Tandem Diabetes Care Inc TNDM 21Vianet Group Inc VNET XPO Logistics Inc XPO and Zymeworks Inc ZYME |
AMD | Stocks Jump On February 10 As The S P 500 Races Towards 3 400 | Well stocks continue to roll and the leadership in the market appears to be just a handful of companies and as long as these companies remain strong it s hard to imagine the stocks can t continue to rise I think it has become just that simple Microsoft NASDAQ MSFT Apple NASDAQ AAPL Alphabet NASDAQ GOOGL and Amazon NASDAQ AMZN have had great years and they happen to be the four largest companies by market with a valuation of around 5 trillion between them out of a total market value of about 30 trillion
S P 500 SPY
The critical part however came late in yesterday when the S P 500 set a new closing high at 3 351 It is hard to deny that the market finds itself in a favorable position now and can push even higher towards 3 400 Consider that before the coronavirus the RSI on the S P 500 was toppy with a reading in the mid 70s with the S P 500 trading around 3 335 Yesterday we had an RSI at 63 with S P 500 trading at 3 350 I think this sets us up nicely to push the S P 500 on to 3 400 in the coming weeks
ACADIA ACAD
ACADIA NASDAQ ACAD looks like it is finally breaking free of that falling wedge pattern and appears to be trying to clear resistance at 43 35 I think we can see the stock rise to around 45 85 I m still wondering when they are reporting results Last year they didn t post results until February 26 and this pace it is looking like it may be around the same time
AMD AMD
Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD looks strong and I m super impressed at the stock s ability to work higher The stock is likely going back to 53
0 Microsoft MSFT
Oh those options traders they are good aren t they Microsoft NASDAQ MSFT continues to power higher and the stock was up to 189 It was just last week when the stock was 180 that we saw the options traders buying calls and the stock is up 9 since Here if you want to read what you could have read last week I wrote up this free article on Forbes website Microsoft s Massive Stock Gains May Be Far From Over I still think the stock is probably heading to 200
Alphabet GOOGL Alphabet NASDAQ GOOGL had an intense day and it is breaking out too finally clearing 1 500 So much for that post earnings drop Anyway the stock looks like it is on its way towards 1 600
IBM IBM Don t look now but IBM NYSE IBM is testing resistance at 158 and could be heading back to 169 |
AMD | Top Stock Analyst Reports For Merck Philip Morris American Tower | Wednesday February 12 2020
The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team Today s Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks including Merck MRK Philip Morris International PM and American Tower NYSE AMT AMT These research reports have been hand picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today
You can see
Merck s shares have underperformed the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry over the past year 7 9 vs 13 3 The Zacks analyst believes that drugs like Keytruda Lynparza and Bridion have been driving sales Keytruda sales are gaining from continued uptake in lung cancer and increasing usage in other cancer indications
Keytruda has strong growth prospects based on increased utilization recent approvals for new indications and potential additional approvals worldwide Animal health and vaccine products remain core growth drivers
The potential separation into two companies makes strategic sense as the remaining Merck should be able to achieve higher profits than the combined company However generic competition for several drugs and rising competitive pressure mainly on the diabetes franchise will continue to be overhangs on the top line
You can
Shares of Philip Morris have gained 6 5 in the past six months against the Zacks Tobacco industry s rise of 7 8 The Zacks analyst believes that the company continues to battle receding cigarette volumes due to stringent regulations and rising health consciousness
Notably strong pricing aided the company s revenues and adjusted operating income in the fourth quarter of 2019 Results were also aided by cost efficiencies and gains from RRPs which in turn is benefiting from broad based IQOS growth
During the quarter the top line grew and topped the consensus mark Management expects pricing to be a driver in 2020 and remains focused on its RRP investments Cigarette volumes are likely to drop in 2020 wherein international industry volumes are also expected to decline due to hurdles in Indonesia among other factors
You can
American Tower s shares have gained 20 9 over the past three months against the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust industry s rise of 8 6 The Zacks analyst believes that the trend in estimate revisions of 2020 funds from operations FFO per share indicates a favorable outlook for the company
Notably the company is enhancing its macro tower portfolio and focusing on innovation to capture the underlying opportunities Further rise in mobile data usage and higher investments in 4G as well as 5G technology is spurring demand for its telecom towers
This will likely drive the company s leasing activity and organic tenant billings growth in the upcoming period In addition its attempt to increase shareholder value through dividend hikes boost investors confidence in the stock Yet the company has a substantially leveraged balance sheet Such high debt levels might impede cash flow growth
You can
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include T Mobile US NASDAQ TMUS TMUS Allergan NYSE AGN AGN and Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD AMD
Today s Best Stocks from Zacks
Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through 2019 while the S P 500 gained and impressive 53 6 five of our strategies returned 65 8 97 1 118 0 175 7 and even 186 7
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 2019 while the S P averaged 6 0 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 7 per year
Mark VickerySenior Editor
Note Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well regarded expert of aggregate earnings He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly and reports If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article please
Today s Must Read
Newer Drugs Drive Merck s MRK Sales as Competition Soars
Pricing Aids Phillip Morris PM Amid Low Cigarette Volumes
Steady Demand Buoys American Tower AMT Debt Woes Linger
Featured Reports
T Mobile TMUS Rides on Customer Growth 5G Network Merger
Per the Zacks analyst T Mobile is likely to gain from total net customer additions and the green signal for its merger with Sprint in Federal Court
Botox Others Drive Allergan AGN Sales Amid Generic Woes
The Zacks analyst says that Allergan s key products like Botox Viberzi and Vraylar are driving sales as loss of exclusivity hurts some others
AMD Banks on Product Portfolio and Partnership Strength
Per the Zacks analyst Advanced Micro Devices is benefiting from robust adoption of latest EYPC Ryzen and Radeon processors
Cost Cut Efforts Aid Norfolk Southern NYSE NSC Amid Debt Woes
Though concerned about its high debt levels and sluggish overall volumes the Zacks Analyst likes the company s prudent cost management and shareholder friendly measures
Eni E to Ride on Exploration Campaign in Offshore Angola
The Zacks analyst believes Eni s exploration campaign in offshore Angola which led to several new discoveries to boost cash flow
Freight Revenues Aid Canadian Pacific CP High Debt Ails
The Zacks analyst is impressed by the substantial rise in freight revenues accounting for the bulk of its top line
Electronic Focus Aid Interactive Brokers IBKR Costs a Woe
Per the Zacks analyst development of proprietary software and focus on the Electronic Brokerage segment will aid Interactive Brokers Higher costs due to technology upgrades will likely hurt profits
New Upgrades
Acquisitions Aid Revenue Growth at Ensign Group ENSG
Per the Zacks analyst a number of acquisitions of nursing operations and real estate made by the company has expanded its business portfolio which in turn has driven revenue growth
Model N MODN Rides on Expanding Clientele Acquisitions
Per Zacks analyst Model N is benefiting from strong demand of its Revenue Cloud offering Notably integration of Revitas acquisition bolstered customer base in life sciences vertical
Osprey KoVax Buyouts Rejensa Launch Aid Phibro PAHC
The Zacks analyst is optimistic about Phibro s buyouts of Osprey and KoVax which are strongly contributing to the top line Increased adoption of newly launched Rejensa drive top line growth
New Downgrades
Dismal Pizza Hut Same Sores Sales Hurt Yum Brands NYSE YUM
Per the Zacks analyst choppy sales trend at Pizza Hut division and outbreak of coronavirus is likely to hurt the company In fourth quarter 2019 Pizza Hut same store sales declined 2
Higher Costs Lower Prices to Hurt International Paper IP
Per the Zacks Analyst International Paper s results will be impacted by higher annual maintenance outage costs softer prices as well as weaker sales volume
Persistent Declines in Gross Margin Weigh on ABIOMED ABMD
ABIOMED has been witnessing significant drop in gross margin for a couple of quarters now The Zacks Analyst is also apprehensive of a slashed guidance for fiscal 2020
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AMD | Coronavirus Fears Re Emerge Bringing Risk Off Back Into Favor | Thursday Market Open Anyone who went to bed last night thinking the market s coronavirus fears had faded got a rude awakening this morning Stocks fell sharply overseas and U S futures plunged after China reported thousands more cases and a larger death toll
The bad news puts this week s fast paced rally into question as investors wondered if virus concerns might again quiet down the party Wall Street had been enjoying We ve talked about how the virus is going to be an overhang and sadly it still is There s nothing people can do except hunker down and of course watch their health
After fading earlier this week fear meters like bonds gold and volatility came back into favor today The 10 year yield slipped below 1 6 the Cboe Volatility Index VIX jumped above 15 and gold prices are firmer Crude prices edged down toward 51 a barrel A risk off tone seems to be back in town
The travel and leisure sector might be in focus after two days of recovery for many of those stocks For instance yesterday saw gains for retailers whose shares had been beaten down by coronavirus PVH NYSE PVH which owns brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein rose more than 4 Ralph Lauren NYSE RL was another big gainer Cruise line and casino firms also made up ground These stocks could be a good place to watch today for any rapid reaction to the new virus cases in China RL for instance gave back all of its gains overnight
Markets Due For A Step Back
Even before China reported these new virus numbers it seemed possible that the market could be in for a late week reckoning We ve said it before and will say it again Things can t go straight up forever Virus or not a three day weekend is approaching and the last two Fridays saw profit taking as a big feature Maybe these new cases could give some people an excuse to take profit a day early but we ll have to wait and see how big a factor that is All this isn t to downplay the tragic human toll of the illness but only to point out that investors might want to consider some caution as Friday approaches That doesn t mean run for cover but it could be prudent to take special care and consider limiting the size of your trades today and tomorrow until things get a little more settled around what the new virus numbers might mean It s possible we could learn more about how quickly it s spreading over the next few days hopefully by the time U S trading resumes next Tuesday after Monday s President s Day holiday Any word on the pace of new cases is probably going to be sliced and diced pretty thoroughly by then Remember the spread had seemed to be slowing earlier this week The virus was bound to be discussed as China s huge tech firm Alibaba NYSE BABA reported and shares sank this morning despite the company having a solid quarter Earnings and revenue topped Wall Street s consensus views but the CEO said coronavirus is a black swan event that presents near term challenges to the company s business and could have a significant impact on China Those words might have spooked some investors In other company related news Tesla NASDAQ TSLA shares put on the brakes this morning when the company announced a 2 billion public offering of shares Even with today s losses the stock remains dramatically higher than it was a few months ago but anyone getting on this train is probably in for some bumps along the way PepsiCo NASDAQ PEP shares barely budged early Thursday as the company beat analysts earnings and revenue estimates but delivered an outlook that was a little light on the fizz Projected earnings growth for 2020 was lower than analysts had expected
Earnings Roll OnThe earnings beat goes on this afternoon as chipmaker Nvidia NASDAQ NVDA and digital media firm Roku NASDAQ ROKU both report see more on NVDA below
Cisco NASDAQ CSCO managed to inch past analyst expectations for earnings and revenue when it opened the books after yesterday s close but the stock came under major pressure overnight It s been a bit of a head scratcher seeing CSCO up just slightly over the last year even as so many other Information Technology players just keep going up The focus today appears less on CSCO beating analyst estimates and more on its sinking revenue and falling product orders The company cited macroeconomic headwinds
Data also was in the news this morning as weekly jobless claims looked sparkling at a low 205 000 Inflation numbers for January looked unremarkable with a 0 1 headline rise for the consumer price index
Age Old Question Do Current Earnings Support Valuations Another reason to consider taking care and not going all in might be valuations This latest surge pushed the forward price to earnings ratio P E of the S P 500 Index SPX to 19 4 by mid week The 3 5 coronavirus related selloff earlier this month briefly put the P E back down near 18 5 and even that is historically on the high side Now we re back where we were before on valuation making some analysts wonder if prices are justified by underlying fundamentals
The good thing is that the E part of the equation is doing a little better than people thought it might Earnings probably rose about 1 5 last quarter according to research firm CFRA Many analysts had initially expected Q4 results to be in the red The bad news is that even with growth in Q4 full year 2019 earnings growth would be just 1 3 followed by what CFRA projects will be another quarter of 1 3 earnings growth in Q1 Those aren t numbers to write home about
It could get better after that CFRA says but the 6 earnings growth it projects for 2020 doesn t necessarily solve the elevated P E situation Still investors seem to be willing to let valuations hang out a little higher than normal in an environment where inflation and potential rate hikes just don t appear to be in the picture In addition the U S economy continues to be arguably the best one on the block and consumers came out to shop during the holiday season Consumer sentiment data due for release Friday morning loom large as they ll be some of the first to reflect any reaction to the virus
CHART OF THE DAY Eu rosion The euro dropped to its lowest level versus the dollar since May of 2017 Wednesday as indicated by this chart of CME Euro Currency futures 6E Credit Suisse SIX CSGN said this week it s expecting a 10 basis point cut by the European Central Bank in Q2 Meanwhile in two days of congressional testimony the Fed chairman struck an upbeat tone on the US economy which the markets may have interpreted as a greater likelihood it will hold the line on rates this year Data source CME Group NASDAQ CME Chart source The thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade For illustrative purposes only Past performance does not guarantee future results
Chips and China Part Two Earlier this week we talked about why semiconductor companies might be partially immune to coronavirus Problems in the China supply chain could cause chip shortages raising prices for the end product and allowing the chip makers to benefit from higher prices even as they might see volume dip
There s another reason these firms might end up not suffering so much from the illness and that has to do with last year s trade war Over the last two years some chip companies started diversifying their supply chains into countries besides China as they worried about how tariffs might affect their China operations They decided to protect themselves by spreading the wealth so to speak One unintended consequence might be that they now have a chance to get over the virus hump more easily because they don t have as much China exposure If the virus slows production in China they can simply shift some of their output and supply chain into other countries
Nvidia Results Up Next An easy comparison can sure help a company s earnings story That might be the case for NVIDIA NASDAQ NVDA which reports after the close today Revenue is expected to increase for the first time in more than a year MarketWatch reported with sales driven by the data center segment Both Intel NASDAQ INTC and Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD reported strength in data center revenue in their most recent quarters One worry for NVDA is its gaming business which MarketWatch says might see a short term headwind from coronavirus Shares of NVDA have been on a roll lately maybe a sign that investors remember the company has a history of beating Street estimates especially on the bottom line Another point maybe in NVDA s favor is the recent cryptocurrency rally The company s graphics processing unit GPU is used in the cryptocurrency mining process With shares up 73 from a year ago one potential worry with earnings is that you can t rule out the chance of some profit taking after the news
Dollar On a Roll One aspect of U S economic strength is arguably the resilient U S dollar After a brief slide below 97 in January the dollar index climbed above 99 on Wednesday That s the first time it s hit 99 since October and it s not necessarily the best news for multinational companies that have big markets overseas A higher dollar makes dollar denominated products more expensive for foreign buyers
Looking at individual performances yesterday you wouldn t get the sense people are too worried about dollar strength Companies with big overseas exposure like Nike NYSE NKE Apple NASDAQ AAPL and Caterpillar NYSE CAT all rose sharply That made the dollar look like background noise until this morning when PEP said in its earnings release that foreign exchange poses a headwind
Good Trading
TD Ameritrade commentary for educational purposes only Member SIPC Options involve risks and are not suitable for all investors Please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options |
T | Amdocs DOX Q4 Earnings Surpass Revenues Meet Estimates | Amdocs Limited NASDAQ DOX reported decent fourth quarter fiscal 2019 results wherein the bottom line beat estimates and the top line matched the same Quarterly non GAAP earnings per share came in at 1 08 up from 99 cents in the year ago quarter The bottom line also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 07 The figure came within the company s guided range of 1 04 to 1 10 Revenues for the quarter came in at 1 03 billion improving 2 8 year over year The top line also came within the company s guided range of 1 015 billion to 1 055 billion Stability in demand from North America and solid growth in Rest of the World and Europe drove the results Moreover continued flow of new customers strong project execution and solid growth in managed services boosted revenues However a negative impact of nearly 3 million year over year in foreign currency movements was a headwind Amdocs Limited Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Quarter DetailsRegion wise revenues from North America 62 5 of total revenues were 644 2 million up 0 9 from the year ago quarter driven by digital modernization requirements of many of Amdocs communications Pay TV and media customers However delayed merger of T Mobile NYSE T and Sprint NYSE S was a dampener Performance in North America region was driven by stable activity trends at AT T NYSE T and healthy activity levels at many customers in the border region The company extended its managed services agreement with U S Cellular for five years Europe 15 2 recorded revenues of 156 1 million up 3 7 Rest of the World 22 3 generated revenues of 230 million up 7 6 Managed services continued to grow driven by the managed transformation activities with new customers and multi year extension of several pre existing partnerships Moreover strong traction was seen at Amdocs Media Also a new agreement with AT T T Mobile s Metro pre paid and Telkom South Africa were highlights of the quarter Operating MetricsThe company incurred non GAAP operating expenses of 852 3 million up 2 7 from the year ago quarter Non GAAP operating income increased 3 1 to 178 million Balance Sheet Cash FlowDuring the fiscal fourth quarter the company repurchased shares worth 90 million Also its board of directors recently approved the payment of a quarterly dividend of 0 3275 per share The dividend will be paid out in April 2020 Full Fiscal Year HighlightsRevenues for full fiscal 2019 came at 4 1 billion 2 8 higher year over year driven by strong growth across each of its geographical regions Moreover strength in managed services driven by the continued ramp up of managed transformation activities was an upside However a revenue decline of 12 at AT T was a dampener Non GAAP earnings grew 6 9 to 4 31 OutlookFor first quarter fiscal 2020 Amdocs expects revenues in the range of 1 015 1 055 billion assuming approximately 1 million sequential positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations and a full quarter revenue contribution from the TTS Wireless buyout Non GAAP earnings per share in the band of 1 02 to 1 08 are expected for the fiscal first quarter No impact of the acquisition of TTS Wireless on Amdocs non GAAP earnings is expected For fiscal 2020 the company expects revenues to grow 1 5 5 5 year over year with TTS contributing a little more than 1 This guidance takes into account 0 5 year over year negative impact of foreign exchange fluctuations Amdocs expects non GAAP earnings per share growth of 3 7 year over year considering neutral contribution from TTS The company signed a large IT transformation project at Vodafone LON VOD Germany in the ongoing quarter along with another NFV deal with VodafoneZiggo These deals are expected to improve its visibility among large service providers thus attracting more deals Amdocs currently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see 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 |
PFE | Pfizer prices 6B debt offering | Pfizer NYSE PFE prices a 6B debt offering consisting of five tranches 1 00B aggregate principal amount of 1 700 notes due 2019 1 00B aggregate principal amount of 2 200 notes due 2021 1 75B aggregate principal amount of 3 000 notes due 2026 1 00B aggregate principal amount of 4 000 notes due 2036 1 25B aggregate principal amount of 4 125 notes due 2046 Net proceeds will fund the purchase of the company s 6 200 Senior Notes due March 15 2019 Remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes Closing date is November 21 |
PFE | Sanofi GSK expect further price pressure more M A under Trump | By Ben Hirschler
LONDON Reuters Two of Europe s biggest drugmakers warned on Tuesday there would be no let up in pressure on U S medicine prices after last week s presidential election win for Republican Donald Trump which sent pharmaceutical and biotech shares soaring
Mergers and acquisitions M A in the sector meanwhile could get a big boost if Trump pushes through plans for a U S tax holiday on repatriated overseas profits executives said
Both France s Sanofi PA SASY and Britain s GlaxoSmithKline L GSK have recent direct experience of U S pricing pressure with healthcare providers forcing big discounts for their top selling diabetes and respiratory medicines
In the run up to the U S election investors had focused on the threat of price controls posed by Democrat Hillary Clinton yet Trump also advocated a new role for government agencies in negotiating down drug costs
I don t think the pricing debate is over Sanofi Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt told an industry conference
Drugmakers are already having to work much harder to justify U S prices due to the rising power of U S pharmacy benefit managers PBMs which administer drug benefits and negotiate rebates for employers and health plans
The buying power of these middlemen has been brought to bear particularly in areas of medicine where there are several similar treatments to choose from such as insulin injections and inhalers for asthma and chronic lung disease
OVERSEAS CASH
The trend toward big buyers squeezing prices is only going to accelerate as the U S healthcare system struggles to find the resources to pay for new medical interventions GSK CEO Andrew Witty said
It doesn t really matter too much who won the U S election because the direction of travel of the U S marketplace owned not by one stakeholder in the White House but by multiple stakeholders in public and private decision making environments is already set he told the Financial Times meeting
Manufacturers contend that the discounts extracted by PBMs are not always passed on to patients
We are making significant concessions but patients are paying more said Brandicourt who believes legislation may eventually be needed to ensure patients gain from the discounts
Another key question for investors is the potential for a further wave of deal making in the healthcare sector given impetus by Trump s plan to work with Congress to allow U S firms to pay a lower tax rate when bringing back overseas cash
That would add tens of billions of dollars in firepower for pharma and biotech acquisitions with deal hungry Pfizer N PFE alone having more than 80 billion it wants to repatriate
I think there is likely to be quite a lot of M A next year said GSK s head of strategy David Redfern The only thing unclear is how big it gets |
PFE | Roche Bristol Myers cut cancer drug prices to win UK approval | LONDON Reuters Roche and Bristol Myers Squibb on Thursday became the latest drugmakers to cut the price of cancer medicines in order to secure access to Britain s National Health Service The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICE cost watchdog which had rejected Roche s breast cancer treatment Perjeta in May said a price discount now offered by the Swiss firm had helped win it a green light Bristol s leukemia drug Sprycel was also recommended for routine use after the U S company offered a bigger discount Sprycel was previously covered by the Cancer Drugs Fund CDF which was overhauled earlier this year Out of nine CDF treatments that NICE has looked at so far seven have been cleared for general use The remainder are in the process of being reappraised Sensible pricing and in some cases better data is helping to secure access to important cancer medicines as they move out of the old Cancer Drugs Fund said NICE Chief Executive Andrew Dillon Other international drugmakers including Novartis and Pfizer NYSE PFE have also offered increased discounts in recent months The exact size of all these discounts is commercially confidential
Roche s Perjeta is designed for use in combination with chemotherapy and Herceptin before breast cancer surgery while Sprycel is used in certain types of chronic myeloid leukemia |
PFE | Pfizer sues Texas AG over release of Medicaid discounts | Pfizer PFE 0 6 takes exception to the release of Medicaid rebate data to state lawmakers by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission The agency which initially said no acquiesced after the Texas Attorney General determined that the release would not violate state law The state Senate wanted the information as part of their efforts to manage drug costs The company promptly filed a lawsuit requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent any further data disclosures It also wants to be notified of any future requests Pfizer claims that if other large customers were award of the pricing in Texas it would not be able to provide such pricing and rebates to every entity due to their unique differences in size market and particular needs |
PFE | Currency drop hits Egypt s medicine supplies angering public | By Arwa Gaballa and Eric Knecht
CAIRO Reuters Pharmacies across Egypt are running short of medicines some of them life savers as a plunge in the value of the Egyptian pound coupled with strict government price caps has made scores of products unprofitable to produce or import
The shortages include some cancer treatments as well as basic items like insulin tetanus shots and contraceptive pills
Unable to raise prices above levels set by the Health Ministry but now paying roughly twice as much to import drugs or active ingredients pharmaceutical firms say they have been forced to phase out certain medicine to stay in business
We aren t a charity We have expenses and production costs and if a company isn t making profit it will have to halt production said Said Ibrahim factory manager at EIPICO one of Egypt s largest pharmaceutical companies
That brings no comfort to pharmacists and sick Egyptians
Out of insulin for weeks Ali Etman said he was recently forced to turn away eight diabetes patients from his Cairo pharmacy in a single day
Patients who come looking for insulin ask me What am I supposed to do Die and I don t know what to tell them I don t have the drugs they need Etman said
Egypt floated its currency on Nov 3 abandoning a peg of 8 8 pounds to the U S dollar and allowing the currency to roughly halve in value to about 17 50 on Tuesday
The float helped the cash strapped government clinch a 12 billion IMF loan it hopes will unlock investment and revive growth that has been hampered by political uncertainty since the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak
But the medicine shortages are piling pressure on the government of general turned president Abdel Fattah al Sisi who has been at pains to reassure a populace already struggling with double digit inflation and intermittent shortages that they would be shielded from the worst effects of economic reforms
Talk of a looming healthcare crisis has dominated popular evening chatshows with doctors calling in nightly to report rapidly depleting stocks and patients being turned away from hospitals for lack of supplies
The Health Ministry has blamed the problem on panicking Egyptians hoarding medicines and said it would not raise prices
Drug shortages are not new to Egypt More medicines had already begun disappearing from shelves early this year as a severe shortage of dollars in the banks meant pharmaceutical firms could not pay for the necessary imports
Egypt has struggled to earn enough dollars since the 2011 uprising scared off foreign investors and tourists and the central bank drained its reserves defending the currency peg
The Health Ministry set up a Drug Shortages Directorate in 2012 to minimize the impact by suggesting suitable substitutes for missing medicines But the situation has only worsened
EIPICO s vice president told Reuters about 1 600 drugs had gone short in recent months including 35 that have no alternatives and would disappear from the market if price caps were not eased
Distributors are now telling pharmacies nothing imported is available The problem has been going on for a while but has only turned into a crisis in recent weeks Etman said
SITUATION WORSENING
Egypt s drugs market is 40 percent multinational big suppliers include Pfizer NYSE PFE Novartis GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi PA SASY and 60 percent domestic Nearly all of it is in private hands with annual sales worth a total of about 50 billion pounds before the float
Ahmed al Ezaby head of the medicine industry division at Federation of Egyptian Industries said Egypt imports about 600 million in finished medicines per year and 1 8 billion in active ingredients
Officials at multinationals said they were concerned at the worsening situation One industry source said companies were now in talks with Egyptian ministries on the possibility of restoring some prices to pre Nov 3 levels in dollar terms to ensure supplies of the most critical medicines
The multinationals have local factories set up but 15 20 percent of drugs are imported while 80 85 percent are produced locally About 70 percent of all drugs in Egypt are generic and domestic made
A spokesman for Sanofi said the French group was actively engaging local authorities to define a sustainable pricing mechanism
Egypt s supply problems echo those in Venezuela where a lack of dollars has also created drug shortages and left manufacturers nursing big losses
Before the flotation Egypt faced a dollar shortage that saw imported goods ranging from electronic equipment to sugar disappear briefly from shelves in the past year
The central bank rationed supplies via weekly auctions earmarking the little it had for essential items like medicine
Dollar supply is less of an issue since the flotation But the cost of buying the greenback is because companies import active ingredients they need to make generic medicines
The government which already raised prices on a slew of medicines this year is under pressure to keep drugs affordable for tens of millions of poor Egyptians
It has blamed the crisis on hoarding and greed
It s an orchestrated crisis The decision to float the pound was taken and two hours later people began saying we have a crisis and we don t have meds Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mogahed told the Egyptian TV channel Mehwar
It s a way to push for a rise in medicine prices which will not happen
Mogahed did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment
The companies want the government to remove the price caps entirely or re adjust them to ease their losses
The Health Ministry met last week with drug industry leaders to discuss an emergency plan It has offered to subsidize pharmaceutical companies to the tune of 165 million to support imports of life saving drugs that have no viable substitutes including some cancer treatments
Companies said the amount was not nearly enough while rolling out a new subsidy program would take time
There s no way of knowing how long this amount will last because cancer drugs are expensive and it depends on the shortages but the amount is not enough to solve the problem said Adel Abdel Maksoud head of the pharmacy division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce
TWITTER PHARMACY
In the meantime the companies say they have to stop offering the drugs which most cut into their profits Some have already sent back shipments that were ordered before the float but arrived after as selling them at the fixed prices would have created big losses They all say they have to downsize and cut out certain drugs
We re working on a strategy to eliminate any product that s not profitable But companies that depend on unprofitable products will be forced to shut down now given the new currency rate said ITO Pharma s deputy general manager Mohamed Geoushy
More life saving drugs will soon disappear he said
His company is one of only two suppliers of cyclosporine a drug used to prevent organ rejection during transplants It recently stopped importing the drug he said
Pharmacists say patients have no choice but to resort to a black market for once common items like saline and glucose at prices often 10 times higher than the official caps and far beyond the reach of most
On Twitter resourceful Egyptians have set up the hashtag Twitter Pharmacy to swap medicines they cannot find in shops Hospitals are using social media to advertise their needs
Every minister should have sat down with the government after the float and discussed an emergency plan because it s a crisis if patients can t find life saving medicines said Osama Tahoon general manager of medicine producer Julphar Egypt
We can give up sugar or tea but we can t give up medicine |
T | Golf Tiger ready to take on new challenge in Mexico | By Frank Pingue Reuters Tiger Woods will compete in Mexico for the first time at this week s World Golf Championships event and said on Wednesday he was not fretting about the new surroundings or losing sleep over the challenges of playing at a high altitude Woods a seven times winner of the event at six different venues before it was moved to Mexico City in 2017 and renamed the WGC Mexico Championship said being in a solid field is all he needs to get fired up I take a lot of pride in playing well in the biggest events so that being the majors the Players Championship and the World Golf Championships Woods told news conference My record has been pretty good in those events So just because this event has been in different places it s still against the best players in the world and I ve always enjoyed competing against them and trying to beat them and win an event Woods will tee off alongside American compatriot Bryson DeChambeau and Mexico s Abraham Ancer in Thursday s opening round at Club de Golf Chapultepec where Phil Mickelson is the defending champion The strong field features 27 of the top 30 golfers in the world rankings including past champions Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed Woods who has been unable to compete in Mexico because of back issues played nine holes on Tuesday and Wednesday and said he is still trying to deal with the challenge of playing in the high altitude at Chapultepec which is some 7 000 plus feet above sea level and results in golf balls traveling farther The ball was traveling obviously a long way said Woods who qualified for the WGC Mexico Championship by virtue of advancing to last year s Tour Championship which he went on to win for his first PGA Tour triumph in more than five years The most interesting thing is the ball just doesn t curve up here at altitude there s just not enough resistance Shots that I thought I shaped just didn t have any shape to it Woods who will be making his third start of the season after a T20 at the Farmers Insurance Open and T15 at the Genesis Open said that while he is still trying to sort out his playing schedule he feels much better than he did during last year s comeback season from spinal fusion surgery There s really no comparison to last year said Woods I didn t really know what my golf future would be Last year was a bit of a wandering world of how am I going to piece this together how am I going to figure it out what am I going to be capable of By the end of the year I figured it out
Mickelson arrives at the event in top form after collecting his 44th PGA Tour victory two weeks ago at the AT T NYSE T Pebble Beach Pro Am In 2018 Mickelson beat Justin Thomas in a sudden death playoff to end a 96 event PGA Tour winless drought |
T | Jackson estate says HBO film violates non disparagement contract lawsuit | LOS ANGELES Reuters The estate of Michael Jackson filed a lawsuit on Thursday against HBO saying that its documentary about allegations of child sex abuse by the late singer breached a previous agreement by the cable channel not to disparage him The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court said HBO could owe more than 100 million in damages for what the estate called the network s reprehensible disparagement of the Thriller singer in the documentary Documentary Leaving Neverland is due to be broadcast on AT T NYSE T owned HBO on March 3 and 4 after a world premiere at the Sundance film festival last month In the documentary two men who are now in their 30s say they were befriended by Jackson and were sexually abused by him starting from when they were 7 and 10 years old Jackson who died in 2009 was acquitted at a 2005 criminal trial in California on charges of molesting a different 13 year old boy at his Neverland ranch The lawsuit does not seek to prevent the broadcast of the documentary but says it violates a 1992 contract for HBO s broadcast of Jackson s Dangerous world tour in which the network agreed not to disparage him at that time or in the future The estate is seeking to enforce a clause in the 1992 contract saying it entitles the estate to arbitrate the dispute Despite the desperate lengths taken to undermine the film our plans remain unchanged HBO said in a statement on Thursday HBO will move forward with the airing of the two part documentary on March 3rd and 4th This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves The singer s family last month called the documentary and news coverage of the accusations in it a public lynching and said Jackson was 100 percent innocent Howard Weitzman an attorney for the Jackson estate said in a statement on Thursday that HBO could have and should have ensured that Leaving Neverland was properly sourced fact checked and a fair and balanced representation
He said the network had breached its agreement not to disparage Michael Jackson by producing and selling to the public a one sided marathon of unvetted propaganda to shamelessly exploit an innocent man |
PFE | Agios Pharmaceuticals Shares Rise On Buyout Speculation | Shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ AGIO rallied almost 10 on Apr 9 after speculations were rife that the company might be acquired by other big players in the pharma and biotech industry This bullish sentiment around the stock among investors was mainly triggered following Novartis NYSE NVS yesterday s announcement that it has inked a deal to acquire the U S based clinical stage gene therapy company AveXis Inc NASDAQ AVXS Particularly Celgene NASDAQ CELG which already notched up a collaboration agreement with Agios for developing novel therapies utilizing Agios innovative cellular metabolism research platform is being considered a front runner in buying Agios Let us have a look why Celgene or any other big drug biotech company may be interested in Agios Shares of Agios have surged 49 1 in a year s time outperforming the s increase of 11 4 FDA s last year approval of the Agios only marketed drug Idhifa enasidenib and the company s rapid progress on a robust pipeline in the past year accompanied with some study initiations and positive readouts have steadily pushed up its share price In August 2017 the FDA approved Idhifa for treating patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia AML with an isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 IDH2 mutation The drug provides a first ever alternative treatment to patients living with the aforementioned indication in the United States Notably Idhifa also enjoys an Orphan Drug status in the EU for treatment of AML Agios progress with the pipeline has also been quite impressive The company has some interesting candidates in its portfolio including an IDH1 mutant inhibitor AG 120 ivosidenib and a pan IDH mutant inhibitor AG 881 Last June Agios presented positive data from the dose escalation and expansion cohorts of the phase I study evaluating single agent ivosidenib in mutant positive cholangiocarcinoma at the ASCO Ivosidenib is also being evaluated in a phase I expansion cohort for treatment of patients with IDH1m R R AML Data from the study demonstrated durable responses which allowed the company to submit a new drug application to the FDA for ivosidenib late last December In the same month the company also announced positive results from a phase I trial assessing ivosidenib in combination with standard induction chemotherapy or Celgene s Vidaza Azacitadine for treatment of newly diagnosed AML patients not eligible for intensive chemotherapy Presently a phase III AGILE study examining ivosidenib in combination with Vidaza is also underway for the given indication Apart from ivosidenib Agios is conducting phase I programs on AG 881 for treatment of patients with advanced IDH1 or IDH2 mutant positive solid tumors The company has another interesting candidate in its portfolio Its lead rare genetic diseases candidate AG 348 is under evaluation in a phase II study on adult transfusion independent patients with Pyruvate kinase deficiency A consistent progress with these investigational candidates makes Agios one of the most lucrative takeover options for other large players in the drug biotech space at the moment M A activity is expected to be aggressive in the drug biotech sector this year following the new tax law This was evident from Sanofi PA SASY and Celgene already announcing two deals each Also Pfizer NYSE PFE is aggressively on the lookout for a buyer to purchase its Consumer Healthcare unit after British firms Glaxo and Reckitt Benckiser Group pulled out of discussions Moreover this April Japan based Takeda Pharmaceutical announced its intention to acquire Shire plc Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc Price Zacks RankAgios carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see 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 |
T | How Trading Your Own Retirement Can Fleece Your Financial Future November 08 2019 | You have a substantial retirement portfolio You re an accomplished investor You ve done truly well selecting stocks You probably already own a couple of Zacks Top Retirement stock picks like
AT T T Independent Bank IBCP and Lakeland Bancorp LBAI
If that sounds like you should you actively trade your own retirement assets
Perhaps if you re the one in a million investor who can expertly manage risk and maintain unflinching emotional control in volatile markets But for most there may be better strategies to achieve long term retirement investing goals
Active stock trading requires an altogether different investing philosophy and risk reward understanding than building wealth for retirement
Diversification vs Stock Picking
While stock picking can potentially result in outsized returns its outsized concentrated risk can pose significant hazards for retirement investors
A study done by Hendrik Bessembinder of equity markets over nine decades found that just 4 of the best performing U S stocks generated all the market s gains The rest were flat the gains of the next 38 were wiped out by the bottom 58 which lost money
For even the most talented stock pickers the odds for long term success are slim
Is Successful Investing a Mind Game
Investors feel they can make sensible choices however research demonstrates that the opposite is what often happens A DALBAR study analyzed investors from 1986 to 2015 and found that the average investor significantly underperformed compared to the S P 500 Over 30 years the S P 500 produced a return of 10 35 while the average investor return was only 3 66
It is interesting to note that the period covered by this study includes the 1987 crash the 2000 bear market and the Great Recession of 2008 as well as the bull market of the 1990s
This study indicates that one key explanation behind investor underperformance is attempting to time volatile markets and that irrational emotional biases are likely to compound investor botches
Interestingly even savvy traders tend to underperform because they can t help but allow emotions to drive investment decisions They may be overconfident and misjudge risk latch onto a price target or perceive a pattern that isn t there This behavior gap over the long term can be catastrophic with potential underperformance of hundreds of thousands of dollars sabotaging your retirement
The Key Takeaway for Retirement Investors
Your retirement portfolio should be managed with a strategy of performance over decades not days weeks or quarters Most self directed investors tend to fall short when it comes to long term results
We re not saying you should not trade at all far from it If you enjoy trading perhaps you should put 10 of your investable assets to work in short term investments to seek alpha and outsized returns
But the point we re making here is that the money you have set aside for your retirement should be invested using a more conservative long term approach designed to produce reliable returns so you can steadily build assets and achieve your retirement goals
Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes
Whether you re planning to retire early or not don t let investing mistakes derail your plans
If you have 500 000 or more to invest and want to learn more click the link to download our free report 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement This report will help you steer clear of the most common mistakes like trying to time the market lack of diversification in your portfolio and many more Get Your FREE Guide Now |
PFE | Pfizer s Ibrance OK d in Europe for breast cancer | As expected the European Commission approves Pfizer s NYSE PFE IBRANCE palbociclib in combination with an aromatase inhibitor e g AstraZeneca s NYSE AZN Arimidex anastrozole for the treatment of women with hormone receptor positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative HR HER2 locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer The approval also covers the use of IBRANCE in combination with fulvestrant AZN s FASLODEX who have received prior endocrine therapy Palbociclib is an inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinase CDK 4 and 6 downstream signaling pathways which lead to cellular proliferation When combined with an antiestrogen it inhibits the growth of breast cancer by interfering with these pathways and promoting the deterioration of cancer cells senescence The advisory committee CHMP adopted a positive opinion in mid September backing approval |
T | World stocks rally on hopes for U S China trade deal | By David Randall NEW YORK Reuters Signs that the U S and China might reach an agreement in trade talks and news of a tentative deal to avoid another government shutdown in Washington helped push world stock markets and bond yields broadly higher Tuesday Tokyo s Nikkei set the tone with a 2 6 percent rally its best day of the year so far T while the Stoxx 600 index of European shares gained 0 5 percent On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238 95 points or 0 95 percent to 25 292 06 the S P 500 gained 24 75 points or 0 91 percent to 2 734 55 and the Nasdaq Composite added 81 40 points or 1 11 percent to 7 389 30 in early trading MSCI s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0 89 percent U S and Chinese officials expressed hopes that the new round of talks which began in Beijing on Monday would bring them closer to easing their nearly year long trade war Beijing and Washington are trying to hammer out a deal before a March 1 deadline without which U S tariffs on 200 billion worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to increase to 25 percent from 10 percent There will be no winner in a trade war So at some point they will likely strike a deal said Mutsumi Kagawa chief global strategist at Rakuten Securities in Tokyo In Washington U S lawmakers reached a tentative deal on border security funding though aides cautioned that it did not contain the 5 7 billion President Donald Trump wants to build a wall on the Mexican border What investors are taking from this is that the government stays open whether or not Trump signs on the deal is secondary said Peter Cardillo chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York The dollar meanwhile hovered near a two month high after notching its longest winning streak eight days straight in two years The dollar index fell 0 15 percent with the euro up 0 16 percent to 1 1293 The optimism that another government shutdown in the world s largest economy would be averted and trade tensions between the U S and China were easing helped push bond yields higher as investors traded out of safety plays Benchmark 10 year notes last fell 6 32 in price to yield 2 6823 percent from 2 661 percent late on Monday In commodity markets oil prices jumped up as traders weighed support from OPEC led supply restraint and a slowdown in the global economy U S crude 2 6 percent to 53 78 per barrel and Brent gained 2 6 percent to 63 11 |
T | PGA pauses then resets Genesis Open first round | The first round of the 2019 Genesis Open was underway with 30 golfers on the course before weather caused a suspension of play Thursday morning The PGA Tour announced that none of the tournament s first 50 minutes will count with the scores being reset when play resumes at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles Play was suspended until at least 4 p m ET The last time a round was reset on the PGA Tour was the third round of the 2013 Dell Technologies Championship Thursday s first round began on time at 9 40 p m ET with 10 groups starting their rounds before the suspension
Phil Mickelson coming off a win at the AT T NYSE T Pebble Beach Pro Am had an adventurous first hole hitting into three bunkers on the par 4 10th hole before he holed out a shot from the sand to save a par that will no longer count Field Level Media |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices AMD Tops Q4 Earnings And Revenue Estimates | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD came out with quarterly earnings of 0 32 per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 30 per share This compares to earnings of 0 08 per share a year ago These figures are adjusted for non recurring items
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 6 67 A quarter ago it was expected that this chipmaker would post earnings of 0 18 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 18 delivering no surprise
Over the last four quarters the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times
Advanced Micro which belongs to the Zacks Electronics Semiconductors industry posted revenues of 2 13 billion for the quarter ended December 2019 surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1 22 This compares to year ago revenues of 1 42 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
Advanced Micro shares have added about 7 4 since the beginning of the year versus the S P 500 s gain of 0 4
What s Next for Advanced Micro
While Advanced Micro 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 Advanced Micro was mixed While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company s just released earnings report the current status translates into a Zacks Rank 3 Hold for the stock So the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future You can see the complete list of today s Zacks 1 Rank Strong Buy stocks here
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead The current consensus EPS estimate is 0 19 on 1 84 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and 1 10 on 8 58 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 Electronics Semiconductors is currently in the top 9 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 |
PFE | Can Fite Bio awarded patent covering ED candidate | Can Fite BioPharma NYSEMKT CANF receives a Notice of Allowance from the U S Patent and Trademark Office for its patent application covering A3 adenosine receptor A3AR ligands for use in the treatment of erectile dysfunction ED Specifically the patent relates to methods for treating ED with different A3AR ligands including its candidate CF602 CF602 has a similar mechanism of action to Pfizer s NYSE PFE Viagra sildenafil |
T | John Dingell longest serving member of U S Congress dead at 92 | WASHINGTON Reuters John Dingell a gruff Michigan Democrat who entered the U S House of Representatives in 1955 to finish his late father s term and became a legislative heavyweight and longest serving member of Congress died on Thursday He was 92 The former lawmaker s wife Debbie Dingell who was elected to succeed him was with him when he died peacefully at home in Michigan her office said He was a lion of the United States Congress and a loving son father husband grandfather and friend Debbie Dingell s office said He will be remembered for his decades of public service to the people of Southeast Michigan his razor sharp wit and a lifetime of dedication to improving the lives of all who walk this earth The Detroit News reported that he was in hospice care after being diagnosed with prostate cancer which he had decided not to treat Dingell served 59 years in the House before retiring in 2015 because as he said to a Michigan business group at the time he could no longer live up to my own personal standard for serving in Congress Dingell served as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee for 16 years where he pushed major legislation including the breakup of telecommunications firm AT T NYSE T cable deregulation the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act He also played an important role in passing the legislation leading to Medicare the health insurance program for elderly Americans in 1965 and the Affordable Care Act in 2010 popularly known as Obamacare Dingell did not win all of his legislative fights He opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement which was approved in 1993 In his later years as a legislator Dingell navigated Capitol Hill in a motorized scooter bearing a vanity plate emblazoned with the words THE DEAN the title for the longest serving member of the House Well after leaving Congress he remained popular deploying his wit in posts on Twitter HONOR INTEGRITY Three former presidents Bill Clinton George W Bush and Barack Obama expressed their condolences for the long serving lawmaker Hillary and I mourn the passing of John Dingell one of the finest public servants in American history Clinton a Democrat said in a statement For nearly 60 years John represented the people of Michigan with honor integrity great good humor and unequaled ability to get good legislation passed Bush a Republican said he was fortunate to speak to Dingell shortly before he died I thanked him for his service to our country and being an example to those who have followed him into the public arena Bush said in a statement Obama a Democrat lauded Dingell for his steady determined efforts over a long career to bring change John led the charge on so much of the progress we take for granted today Obama said in a statement adding that American lives are better for his lifetime of service Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow wrote in a post on Twitter We have been incredibly lucky to have you and will miss you dearly On Wednesday Dingell s wife said on Twitter that she skipped Tuesday s State of the Union address in Washington to be with him as his health declined
On Wednesday Dingell dictated a tweet for his wife to write I want to thank you all for your incredibly kind words and prayers You re not done with me just yet |
T | Louis Dreyfus vows Veep character true to self until the end | By Lisa Richwine PASADENA Calif Reuters Don t expect Selina Meyer to hold anything back in the upcoming final season of Veep star Julia Louis Dreyfus said on Friday Meyer the self centered and foul mouthed former president and vice president at the center of the Emmy winning HBO comedy will be trying to work her way back into the White House when the show returns on March 31 for seven episodes She is truer to herself as true to herself as she can possibly be by the time this season ends Louis Dreyfus told reporters at a Television Critics Association event I ll leave it for you to determine whether or not it s a good thing A send up of Washington power brokers Veep has aired on AT T NYSE T Inc s HBO since 2012 but the show took a hiatus after Louis Dreyfus began undergoing treatment for breast cancer in late 2017 The former Seinfeld star said last year she was cancer free Producers said they had decided to end the show with the upcoming seventh season before the cancer diagnosis In one clip from a future episode Meyer questions part of the pitch to voters that her staff has prepared for her I m not sure about this part where I say I want to be president for all Americans Meyer says to an aide I mean do I Upcoming scenes also showed Meyer who often insults staff with blunt and off color remarks being confronted with anonymous complaints about her workplace behavior Louis Dreyfus said Meyer is unlikely to change her ways in the show s final episodes I m not sure that evolution is necessarily her game she said I think where our show ends up ultimately is a place I m very happy about and I think it will surprise viewers too she added I think it s the right ending for America joked executive producer and writer Dave Mandel Veep has won the Emmy for best comedy series three times and Louis Dreyfus has earned six consecutive best actress Emmys for the role surpassing the totals of past female comedy icons like Mary Tyler Moore or Lucille Ball Also an executive producer of Veep Louis Dreyfus said the show s writers have had to work harder to push boundaries and generate laughs in the face of the unconventional style of real life U S President Donald Trump that dominates the news
It is now a tad more challenging but we were able to do it Louis Dreyfus said So get ready |
T | RingCentral RNG To Report Q3 Earnings What s In Store | RingCentral NYSE RNG is set to release third quarter 2019 results on Nov 4 For the quarter revenues are anticipated between 220 million and 222 million The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues currently stands at 221 5 million indicating growth of 27 4 from the year ago quarter s reported figure Moreover earnings are expected between 18 cents and 20 cents per share The consensus mark for earnings stayed at 19 cents over the past 30 days in line with the figure reported in the year ago quarter Notably the company s earnings have surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters the average positive surprise being 22 8 In the second quarter RingCentral non GAAP earnings of 21 cents per share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a nickel Revenues of 215 million surpassed the consensus mark of 205 million At the end of second quarter 2019 paid customer accounts were roughly 149 000 The company s dollar based net expansion rate was healthy at 117
Ringcentral Inc Price and EPS Surprise Let s see how things are shaping up for this announcement Factors to WatchRingCentral is a dominant name in the cloud based Unified Communications as a Service UCaaS space The company is benefiting from a continuing shift to the cloud as well as the trend toward convergence in business communications These are expected to have benefited subscription revenues in the to be reported quarter Notably momentum in the mid market and enterprise business defined as Office subscribers that generate 25 000 or more in annual recurring revenues drove the second quarter top line a trend that most likely continued in the third quarter because of an expanding RingCentral Office customer base Moreover a strong partner base that includes the likes of AT T NYSE T Telus and BT is expected to have benefited the top line in the third quarter Further RingCentral s efforts to expand enterprise customer base through direct and channel sales are expected to have aided the top line in the to be reported quarter What Our Model SaysAccording to the Zacks model a company with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold along with a positive has a good chance of beating estimates Although RingCentral has a Zacks Rank 2 its Earnings ESP of 0 00 makes surprise prediction difficult You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they re reported with our Stocks With Favorable CombinationHere are a few stocks you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat BlackLine NASDAQ BL has an Earnings ESP of 21 74 and a Zacks Rank 3 You can see Fastly NYSE FSLY has an Earnings ESP of 1 82 and a Zacks Rank 3 Zillow Group NASDAQ ZG has an Earnings ESP of 5 09 and a Zacks Rank 3 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buys They deem these tickers Most Likely for Early Price Pops Since 1988 the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of 24 5 per year So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention |
PFE | Ex Oppenheimer adviser pleads guilty to U S insider trading charges | By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK Reuters A former investment adviser at an Oppenheimer Holdings Inc unit pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges that he engaged in an insider trading scheme based on information supplied by a childhood friend working at Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE
David Hobson 48 entered his plea in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy and securities fraud charges over conduct that began while he was at Royal Bank of Canada unit RBC Capital Markets and then continued at Oppenheimer Co Inc
Hobson a Providence Rhode Island resident admitted that he executed trades based on inside information supplied by Michael Maciocio a friend at Pfizer who pleaded guilty in May as part of a deal to cooperate with prosecutors
I m sorry for these actions and I apologize to the court and to my family Hobson said in court
Under a plea agreement Hobson agreed to forfeit almost 386 000 and not appeal any prison sentence of 2 1 2 years or less U S District Judge Laura Taylor Swain scheduled his sentencing for March 2
The case was announced in June amid a resurgence of insider trading cases this year in Manhattan where prosecutors have wrestled with a 2014 appellate ruling that limited the scope of insider trading laws
According to prosecutors Hobson and Maciocio engaged in an insider trading scheme from 2008 to 2014 based on information obtained by Maciocio a director of chemical research and development at Pfizer
As part of that job Maciocio at times evaluated Pfizer s capacity to manufacture drugs that other companies Pfizer considered potential acquisition targets or partners were developing authorities said
While Maciocio was not typically given the identity of a company in a potential deal with Hobson s help he performed research to discern its identity the indictment said
After identifying the company Maciocio then passed the information to Hobson his stockbroker who executed trades in accounts belonging to himself Maciocio and clients of Oppenheimer and RBC prosecutors said
Trades by Hobson in the stocks of Medivation Inc Ardea Biosciences Inc and Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc resulted in profits of 180 000 for himself 40 000 for Maciocio and 150 000 for certain of Hobson s clients prosecutors said
The case is U S v Hobson U S District Court Southern District of New York No 16 cr 351 |
PFE | Pfizer Q3 EPS estimate 0 49 on revenues up 7 2 at 13 03 bn | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE Q3 EPS estimated at 0 49 revenues seen up 7 2 yoy at 13 03 bn Global pharmaceutical firm reports Tuesday before the market opens Pfizer in September opted not to split business into two segments Prevenar 13 drug sales seen slowing Lyrica to post single digit growth until patent expires Dividend may be hiked from 0 30 quarter attractive yield of 3 75 Even with P E higher than sector average Pfizer still seen safe investment |
PFE | U S stock index futures up as oil steadies | Investing com U S stock index futures higher on Tuesday as oil steadied but still close to one month lows The Dow futures was up 0 18 at 05 45 ET while the S P 500 futures added 0 24 The tech heavy Nasdaq futures advanced 0 21 U S November rate hike odds very slim ahead of U S elections as FOMC meets Investing com s Fed Rate Monitor Tool shows 73 chance of 25 basis point hike in December Pfizer NYSE PFE Q3 earnings report due out before market opens |
PFE | Pfizer Q3 EPS 0 61 vs estimate 0 62 revenues mostly in line | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE Q3 adjusted diluted EPS 0 61 vs estimate 0 62 year earlier 0 60
Revenues rose 8 from a year earlier to 13 05 bn just short of estimate of 13 06 bn
Pfizer narrows full year EPS guidance range to 2 38 2 43 from 2 38 2 48
Revenues guidance range adjusted to 52 53 bn from 51 53 bn
Pfizer shares up 0 7 at 31 92 in pre market trade |
PFE | Wall St edges lower as FOMC kicks off oil steadies | Investing com U S stocks edged lower early Tuesday as FOMC meeting began and as oil steadied The DJI was down 0 08 at 10 30 ET as the S P 500 shed 0 11 The tech heavy Nasdaq composite was off 0 10 October manufacturing PMI higher than expected as the FOMC meeting began U S Treasury yields higher as upbeat China data eases fears of global slowdown Pfizer NYSE PFE was down 0 43 at 31 57 as Q3 earnings disappoint cholesterol drug scrapped |
T | AT T to cut jobs in weaker business units | By Sheila Dang Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T is cutting some jobs in declining areas of its business while hiring more people in faster growing segments an AT T spokesman said on Monday The layoffs will affect a small portion of the workforce and are consistent with staffing changes AT T has done in the past spokesman Jim Greer told Reuters by telephone He declined to specify how many positions would be cut
AT T is the second largest U S wireless carrier by subscribers Last year it agreed to buy Time Warner for 85 billion and it said in June it plans to achieve annualized cost savings of 1 5 billion over three years |
T | AT T Shares Slip After Missing Q4 Revenue Expectations | Investing com Shares of AT T NYSE T edged lower in premarket trade on Wednesday after the telecommunications and media giant posted lower than expected fourth quarter revenue
Revenue totaled 47 99 billion below forecasts of 48 5 billion
AT T reported earnings per share of 86 cents in line with estimates and also reaffirmed its previous outlook for 2019 which includes expectations of free cash flow in the 26 billion range up from 22 4 billion in 2018
The company won a net 3 8 million new customers at its core North American wireless business in the quarter with 2 8 million in the U S and 1 0 million in Mexico
Our top priority for 2018 and 2019 is reducing our debt and I couldn t be more pleased with how we closed the year said Randall Stephenson AT T chairman and CEO
This momentum will carry us into 2019 allowing us to continue reducing our debt while investing in the business and continuing our strong record for paying dividends he added
AT T had borrowed heavily to pay for the acquisition of Time Warner that it announced in 2017 Its debt load when the merger completed was 180 billion or three times earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization EBITDA The company said it expects that to fall to 150 billon or 2 5 times EBITDA by the end of this year
AT T s stock shed 0 8 in premarket trade to 30 45
AT T 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 analysts 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 |
T | AT T s wireless customer growth slows revenue misses estimates | By Sheila Dang and Akanksha Rana Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T reported slower wireless customer growth and larger declines in its pay TV business than Wall Street expected sending its shares down 4 percent on Wednesday The second largest U S wireless carrier by subscribers has turned its focus to paying down debt after spending 85 billion to buy media company Time Warner It has also pulled back on promotional pricing for phone and television plans sacrificing new customer gains I would say we re ahead of schedule in each of our key priorities said AT T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson during a call with analysts The company s debt was 171 billion at the end of 2018 after paying off some 9 billion since the Time Warner merger closed in June In communications AT T s largest business the carrier gained a net 134 000 phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill falling far short of analysts estimates of 208 000 according to research firm FactSet AT T has 153 million total phone subscribers Churn or the rate of customer defections was 1 percent during the fourth quarter up from 0 89 percent the previous year AT T has had a relatively burdened wireless network which can lead to slower data speeds while smaller rival T Mobile US Inc has been rapidly expanding its network capacity contributing to the higher churn said Jonathan Chaplin an analyst with New Street Research AT T s entertainment segment which includes satellite TV provider DirecTV has been in continuous decline It lost more subscribers during the quarter as viewers shifted to cheaper streaming services just not those owned by AT T DirecTV Now AT T s streaming service lost 267 000 subscribers more than analysts expected which the company blamed on customers leaving once discounted introductory offers ran out DirecTV lost 403 000 satellite TV subscribers more than the estimate of 328 000 customer losses according to research firm FactSet Analysts had been closely watching the entertainment segment s earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization EBITDA after AT T had committed to stabilizing the decline But entertainment EBITDA fell by 15 6 percent during the quarter That illustrated just how steep the climb will be to reach stability said Craig Moffett an analyst with MoffettNathanson in a note AT T s investors may be expecting the company to eventually cut its 7 percent dividend yield shown by AT T s falling stock price over time Moffett said The new WarnerMedia segment which includes Turner and premium TV channel HBO reported quarterly revenue of 9 23 billion beating estimates of 9 05 billion according to IBES data from Refinitiv AT T s total revenue rose 15 2 percent to 47 99 billion but missed analysts estimates of 48 5 billion Net income attributable to AT T fell to 4 86 billion or 66 cents per share from 19 04 billion or 3 08 per share a year earlier when the company had a big one time benefit from the U S tax overhaul Excluding items the company earned 86 cents per share in line with estimates Shares of AT T declined 3 7 percent to 29 56 in afternoon trading |
AMD | Stock Market News For Jan 16 2020 | Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday following the signing of phase one trade deal between the United States and China The much hyped Phase One trade deal was the first tangible sign of de escalation in nearly two year long trade dispute between the two largest trading countries of the world All three major stock indexes finished in the green The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI gained 0 3 to close at 29 030 22 The S P 500 rose 0 2 to close at 3 289 29 Meanwhile the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 9 258 70 advancing 0 1 The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index VIX increased 0 2 to close at 12 42 A total of 7 3 billion shares were traded Wednesday higher than the last 20 session average of 7 billion Advancers outnumbered advancers on the NYSE 1 35 to 1 ratio On Nasdaq a 1 31 to 1 ratio favored advancing issues How Did The Benchmarks Perform The Dow closed in positive territory with 17 components of the 30 stock index closing in the green while 13 ended in red For the first time history the blue chip index closed above the technical barrier of 29 000 The Nasdaq Composite also ended in the positive territory due to strong performance by large cap tech stocks The S P 500 finished in the green The Utilities Select Sector SPDR XLU gained 1 4 Notably eight out of 11 sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green while three finished in the red Phase One Trade DealOn Jan 15 U S President Donald Trump and Chinese vice premier Liu He signed an interim trade deal in the East Room of the White House White House Per the deal China has agreed to purchase 200 billion in U S goods over the next two years in addition to the total amount of China s import from the United States Notably the Asian economic super power procured 186 billion of U S goods and services in 2017 The interim trade deal also addressed intellectual property disputes and force technology transfer along with strong enforcement provisions in financial services and currency issues in addition to tariff rollback and higher agricultural purchase The U S government has decided to delete China from its list of currency manipulators The Trump administration may rollback some the tariffs already imposed on China Although the final trade deal or the Phase two deal is unlikely to happen before the U S presidential election scheduled November 2020 the interim deal will at least cool down tariff war which significantly affected no only these two countries but also the Eurozone and several major emerging markets Following the partial trade deal shares of trade sensitive stocks like Visa Inc NYSE V and Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD plunged 1 9 and 0 7 respectively Both these stocks carry a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Economic DataThe Department of Labor reported that the producer price index PPI or the wholesale inflation rose 0 1 in December lower than the consensus estimate of 0 2 Year over year the PPI rose 1 3 in December The core PPI that strips out food and energy grew 0 1 Year over year the core PPI advanced 1 5 Free Zacks Single Best Stock Set to DoubleToday you are invited to download our latest Special Report that reveals 5 stocks with the most potential to gain 100 or more in 2020 From those 5 Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand picks one to have the most explosive upside of all This pioneering tech ticker had soared to all time highs and then subsided to a price that is irresistible Now a pending acquisition could super charge the company s drive past competitors in the development of true Artificial Intelligence The earlier you get in to this stock the greater your potential gain |
T | AT T T Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates | AT T T came out with quarterly earnings of 0 94 per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 93 per share This compares to earnings of 0 90 per share a year ago These figures are adjusted for non recurring items
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 1 08 A quarter ago it was expected that this telecommunications company would post earnings of 0 89 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 89 delivering no surprise
Over the last four quarters the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times
AT T which belongs to the Zacks Wireless National industry posted revenues of 44 59 billion for the quarter ended September 2019 missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0 88 This compares to year ago revenues of 45 74 billion The company has not been able to beat consensus revenue estimates 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
AT T shares have added about 29 3 since the beginning of the year versus the S P 500 s gain of 20 6
What s Next for AT T
While AT T 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 AT T was mixed While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company s just released earnings report the current status translates into a Zacks Rank 3 Hold for the stock So the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future You can see the complete list of today s Zacks 1 Rank Strong Buy stocks here
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead The current consensus EPS estimate is 0 89 on 47 22 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and 3 56 on 181 99 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank Wireless National is currently in the top 29 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 |
PFE | Pfizer to seek more modern Manhattan headquarters | Reuters Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE the largest U S drugmaker said on Thursday it aims to sell its New York City world headquarters buildings in midtown Manhattan by the end of 2017 and begin moving into more modern Manhattan facilities no sooner than the first half of 2019 This move is being driven by the significant investment that would be required to bring the existing buildings to modern standards Pfizer said in a statement Company spokeswoman Joan Campion added that the company had notified employees of the plans on Wednesday Pfizer s headquarters include two buildings in midtown Manhattan with about 1 million square feet of space Pfizer began occupying the buildings at 235 and 219 East 42nd Street in 1961 A newer complex would have more work space and room for collaboration Campion said Pfizer founded in 1849 in Brooklyn New York said it had not yet chosen the new location A large majority of headquarters based employees will move to the more modern facility Pfizer said Some could be reassigned to other sites in the metropolitan area Pfizer s plans follow its decision in April to abandon its proposed 160 billion purchase of Botox maker Allergan NYSE AGN pa Plc The deal would have moved the company s tax address to Dublin thereby sharply lowering its effective tax rate But Pfizer terminated it after the U S Treasury proposed new regulations that would have removed many of the tax advantages |
PFE | Arizona execution procedures face review in U S court | By Jon Herskovitz Reuters A federal judge in Phoenix will hear arguments this week about resuming executions in Arizona where a 2014 lethal injection that took nearly two hours raised questions about the state s death chamber protocols and the chemicals it uses to kill inmates The case is the latest to raise questions about the drugs used in many states to execute prisoners and it may wind up putting the issue back for review by the U S Supreme Court Arizona last year changed its lethal injection procedures following the troubling 2014 execution of Joseph Wood but lawyers for seven Arizona death row inmates contend new guidelines and drugs will violate U S constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment A major issue at the hearing set for Wednesday in U S district court will be the sedative midazolam a valium like drug critics contend does not achieve the level of unconsciousness required for surgery and is therefore unsuitable for executions The drug was used in Wood s execution along with a narcotic hydromorphone He was seen gasping for air during a nearly two hour procedure where he received 15 rounds of drug injections Lethal injections are supposed to result in death in a matter of minutes Under the new protocols Arizona plans to use midazolam along with a drug that causes paralysis and another that stops the heart A similar combination was used in Oklahoma which had a troubled execution where an inmate was seen twisting on a death chamber gurney Lawyers for the inmates contend the source of the drugs and their purity have been cloaked in secrecy since European makers and U S pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE halted sales of drugs used in executions to prison systems in recent years They also charge that if midazolam is truly effective there would be no need for a paralytic agent which could be used to mask pain The lawyers want executions to put future executions on hold while the court reviews the protocols Officials in Arizona have fought tooth and nail to protect that secrecy which along with the use of an experimental drug combination only serves to increase the risk of more problematic executions said Dale Baich an attorney for the inmates The state contends its protocols correct previous problems and point to a June 2015 U S Supreme Court decision that allowed the use of midazolam in executions I would ask the district court to remember that victims and state governments have rights and interests too including an important interest in the timely enforcement of a sentence and the state s interest to enforce its own laws David Weinzweig argued on behalf of Arizona at a hearing this year |
T | China s Huawei in unprecedented media blitz as it battles heightened scrutiny | By Sijia Jiang HONG KONG Reuters China s Huawei has launched an unprecedented public relations blitz thrusting its low key founder in front of international media as the telecoms firm seeks to ease concern among Western nations bent on shutting it out of their markets The move along with significant personnel change in its 300 strong corporate affairs department comes as the world s largest telecommunications equipment maker battles fear of Chinese authorities accessing its infrastructure for espionage In a 25 minute interview aired late on Sunday his first with state controlled China Central Television CCTV Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT UL Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei shrugged off the global push against his company which has repeatedly denied any state links If you do your product well there is no need to worry about sales It would be stupid on their part if they don t buy the 74 year old said in a one on one adding to three group interviews last week with English Chinese and Japanese media outlets It would be their loss Ren said referring to the United States and other Western countries which have restricted Huawei in their markets Before last week Ren had had no more than 10 interviews across media since founding Huawei in 1987 CCTV said He last met international media at Davos in 2015 My public relations department forced me a smiling Ren told CCTV when asked why he had opened up to the media I must make our clients understand us make our 180 000 employees understand us come together and get through this tough time PERSONAL ATTACK The comments come as Polish authorities earlier this month arrested a Huawei executive on spying allegations fuelling Western suspicion against Huawei on national security grounds While the Chinese national who was immediately sacked by Huawei denied the allegations Huawei is bracing for potential fallout from its biggest Western markets as Germany debates whether to follow the United States and allies such as Australia in restricting Huawei s market access The firm has been shut out of Australia and New Zealand s markets for fifth generation 5G mobile telecoms equipment while the U S President Donald Trump is considering an outright ban on all Huawei equipment with an executive order Huawei is nevertheless seeing fast growth securing 30 contracts to supply 5G equipment and shipping 25 000 5G base stations already up from 25 contracts in December Ren told CCTV A person close to Ren told Reuters that the CEO felt the need to talk to the media after the string of negative events overshadowed the company s business over the past year Among the most high profile events was the arrest in Canada of Ren s daughter Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wenzhou over alleged violations of U S sanctions on Iran With all the attacks over the past year now it got personal when your daughter gets arrested said the person who was not authorized to speak with media and so declined to be identified The arrest was made at the request of the United States and further strained Sino U S at a time when trade friction was already threatening to undermine ties Still with his daughter released on bail and awaiting a U S extradition request Ren in an interview with international media last week described Trump as a great president FIREFIGHTING Ren s media engagement is part of a broader public relations offensive by a firm whose traditional opaqueness results from being in a highly competitive sector and having significant R D programs perhaps lending credence to misperceptions we are too secretive said Chen Lifang president of public affairs Huawei is very concerned about misunderstandings which continue to linger despite our best efforts in recent years Chen told Reuters in a statement Huawei is committed to being even more open and transparent for not only this year but the foreseeable future The firm has expanded its international communications team by 25 percent to 30 people over the past six months as it steps up engagement with foreign media including tours to research labs that had not previously been open to outsiders Among major personnel changes Huawei s president of global media and communications Joy Tan has moved to Washington to run media and government relations operations there while Song Kai former deputy CEO of Huawei U S and former CEO of Huawei France has moved back to headquarters to take over Tan s role Huawei s Washington office has more than halved in size over the past year to low single digit regular staff members with some employees voluntarily leaving the firm as it was pushed out of the market people familiar with the matter said Reuters reported earlier this month that Huawei Canada s vice president of corporate affairs had left the company as scrutiny of the firm deepened Some Huawei employees described the rapid turn in the international environment as beyond their imagination The AT T deal at the start of the year was like the party about to start a member of Huawei s public relations team told Reuters referring to a partnership with U S company AT T Inc N T
And then suddenly the house caught fire the party became firefighting and then the fire spread to more and more places Now we decided we ve just had enough It s time to be proactive and open ourselves up to the world |
PFE | Pfizer Gets FDA Panel Backing For New Indication For Xeljanz | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE announced a positive outcome from FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee GIDAC meeting that discussed the company s supplemental New Drug Application sNDA looking for label expansion of Xeljanz tofacitinib Pfizer is seeking to get Xeljanz approved for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis UC Xeljanz a Janus kinase JAK inhibitor is already approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis and active psoriatic arthritis The supplemental New Drug Application sNDA for Xeljanz is currently under review by the FDA Shares of Pfizer are up 7 2 in the past year compared with a 9 2 increase for the it belongs to The GIDAC gave its vote on two voting questions related to the use of the 10 mg twice daily BID dose beyond the eight week induction period The sNDA included proposed dosing regimen of Xeljanz 10 mg twice daily BID for eight weeks of induction followed by a dose of 5 mg BID for maintenance It also proposed an extension of the use of tofacitinib 10 mg BID from eight to 16 weeks of induction in adult patients who have not achieved adequate therapeutic benefit by Week 8 and also 10 mg BID for maintenance therapy in patients with an inadequate response loss of response or intolerance to TNF blocker therapy The 10 mg BID voted unanimously 15 0 for both the proposals However the Committee voted 8 7 against conducting a post marketing efficacy study comparing a tofacitinib 10 mg BID continuous dosing regimen with a regimen of tofacitinib 10 mg BID induction and 5 mg BID as maintenance in the UC population The recommendations given by the GIDAC are not binding The FDA s decision on whether or not to approve tofacitinib for UC is expected in June 2018 Pfizer Inc Price Zacks Rank Other Stocks to ConsiderPfizer carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Some other top ranked stocks from the same space are Regeneron NASDAQ REGN Ligand Pharmaceuticals NASDAQ LGND and Enanta Pharma NASDAQ ENTA While Regeneron and Ligand sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Enanta Pharma carries a Zacks Rank 2 You can see Regeneron s earnings per share estimates have moved up from 17 13 to 18 65 and from 20 37 to 21 56 for 2018 and 2019 respectively in the last 30 days The company pulled off a positive earnings surprise in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 9 15 Ligand s earnings per share estimates have moved up 3 78 to 4 15 from 4 75 to 5 75 for 2018 and 2019 respectively over the last 30 days The company delivered positive earnings surprises in three of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 24 88 The company s shares have rallied 61 over a year Enanta Pharma delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 373 1 The company s shares surged 184 4 over a year Don t Even Think About Buying Bitcoin Until You Read This The most popular cryptocurrency skyrocketed last year giving some investors the chance to bank 20X returns or even more Those gains however came with serious volatility and risk Bitcoin sank 25 or more 3 times in 2017 Zacks has just released a new Special Report to help readers capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly |
PFE | Basilea Pharmaceutica Strength In Numbers | Basilea Pharmaceutica AG SIX BSLN reported a definable FY17 as a multitude of licensing distribution agreements announced in 2016 17 for launched anti infective drug assets Cresemba isavuconazole and Zevtera ceftobiprole aided reported product sales royalty and milestone income Total revenues grew 54 to CHF101 5m of which CHF16 3m related to product sales and CHF15 0m to royalty income Operating losses declined by 68 to CHF14 1m For 2018 we expect operating losses to reduce further as higher R D costs are offset by growth in total revenues We value Basilea at CHF1 231m
Numerous partnerships aid anti infectives growth
Cresemba is currently available in the US Nordic regions and Europe through partners Astellas Unimedic and Pfizer NYSE PFE respectively We anticipate market share growth in launched territories to be supported by new roll outs over 2018 19 20 depending on whether MAA has been granted or if a regulatory submission is the next step Zevtera will benefit from partner Cardiome launching the product in additional European countries however the significant value driver for Zevtera is the US market the largest market by value for branded hospital antibiotics
To read the entire report Please click on the pdf File Below |
T | AT T T Beats On Q3 Earnings Offers 3 Year Financial View | AT T Inc NYSE T reported relatively tepid third quarter 2019 results with year over year decline in GAAP earnings and revenues due to lower than anticipated performances from legacy wireline services and WarnerMedia businesses The company has offered a three year guidance and financial allocation plan which is expected to drive significant improvement in margins and bottom line growth with sustained investments and debt reduction Net IncomeOn a GAAP basis AT T reported net income of 3 700 million or 50 cents per share compared with 4 718 million or 65 cents per share in the year ago quarter The slump in earnings despite lower operating costs was primarily attributable to lower revenues and merger and integration related expenses Excluding non recurring items adjusted earnings for the quarter were 94 cents per share compared with 90 cents in the year earlier quarter and exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny AT T Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Quarter DetailsQuarterly GAAP operating revenues decreased 2 5 year over year to 44 588 million largely due to lower revenues from legacy wireline services WarnerMedia and domestic video partially offset by growth in strategic and managed business services domestic wireless services and IP broadband The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 006 million Operating income for the quarter was 7 901 million compared with 7 269 million in the prior year quarter owing to lower operating expenses resulting in respective operating income margins of 17 7 and 15 9 Adjusted operating income for the reported quarter was 9 901 million compared with 10 035 million in the year earlier quarter for respective margins of 22 2 and 21 9 During the reported quarter AT T experienced a net increase in total wireless subscribers of 3 7 million to reach 162 3 million in service Postpaid churn was 1 19 compared with 1 16 in the year ago quarter owing to pricing pressures and tablet churn Postpaid phone only average revenue per user ARPU increased 0 6 year over year to 55 89 Segmental PerformanceCommunications Total segment operating revenues were 35 401 million down 1 7 year over year with decline in Business Wireline and Entertainment Group owing to lower legacy voice and data services revenues partially offset by higher wireless service revenues Service revenues from the Mobility unit improved 0 7 year over year to 13 930 million owing to subscriber gains and postpaid phone ARPU growth while equipment revenues were down 3 5 to 3 771 million due to lower upgrades Revenues from the Entertainment Group were down 3 4 to 11 197 million while that from Business Wireline decreased 2 7 to 6 503 million due to lower legacy voice and data services Segment operating income was 8 036 million compared with 8 150 million in the year ago quarter for respective operating margin of 22 7 and 22 6 Segment EBITDA was 12 634 million compared with 12 726 million in the year ago quarter for respective margins of 35 7 and 35 3 WarnerMedia Total segment revenues were 7 846 million down 4 4 year over year primarily driven by lower Warner Bros revenues due to lower contribution from theatrical and television division partially offset by gains at Home Box Office and Turner Operating income was down 1 5 to 2 544 million for corresponding margin of 32 2 Segment EBITDA was 2 697 million for a corresponding margin of 34 1 Latin America Total operating revenues were 1 730 million down 5 6 year over year due to adverse foreign currency translation EBITDA increased to 105 million from 87 million in the year ago quarter for respective margins of 6 1 and 4 7 Xandr Total revenues were 504 million up 13 3 year over year due to AppNexus acquisition while operating income declined 1 8 to 327 million due to higher acquisition and integration costs for corresponding margin of 64 9 EBITDA was 342 million for a corresponding margin of 67 9 Cash Flow LiquidityAT T generated 36 725 million of cash from operations for the first nine months of 2019 compared with 31 522 million in the prior year period Free cash flow at quarter end was 6 200 million compared with 6 473 million in the year ago period As of Sep 30 2019 AT T had 6 588 million of cash and cash equivalents with long term debt of 153 568 million AT T sold 3 5 billion worth of non core assets during the quarter The company is on track to achieve end of year net debt to adjusted EBITDA in the 2 5x range and has reduced debt by about 3 6 billion in the quarter and 12 7 billion year to date Guidance Three Year Capital Allocation PlanManagement has offered healthy guidance for 2020 and expects adjusted earnings in the range of 3 60 to 3 70 per share on revenue growth of 1 2 Free cash flow is expected to be stable at 28 billion with non core asset monetization of 5 10 billion Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to remain steady compared with 2019 levels For the three year period from 2020 to 2022 AT T expects consolidated revenue growth of 1 2 per year Adjusted earnings are expected to be significantly up to 4 50 to 4 80 per share by 2022 with adjusted EBITDA margin of 35 While adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be stable in 2020 it is likely to grow in 2021 and 2022 driven by extensive companywide cost reduction plan WarnerMedia synergies continued Mobility growth and AT T Mexico EBITDA growth Free Cash flow is anticipated to be within 30 billion to 32 billion in 2022 with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 2 0x to 2 25x as 100 debt related to the acquisition of Time Warner assets is likely to be repaid Zacks Rank Stocks to ConsiderAT T currently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Better ranked stocks in the industry include United States Cellular Corporation NYSE USM ATN International Inc NYSE T and T Mobile US Inc NYSE T each carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see United States Cellular Corporation delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 38 3 in the trailing four quarters beating estimates thrice ATN International delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 143 9 in the trailing four quarters T Mobile has long term earnings growth expectation of 12 4 It delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 17 9 in the trailing four quarters beating estimates on each occasion 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 |
PFE | FDA panel recommends dropping serious warning on Pfizer s Chantix | By Natalie Grover Reuters A serious warning on Pfizer Inc s N PFE quit smoking drug should be removed 10 of 19 independent panelists to the U S Food and Drug Administration recommended on Wednesday after reviewing additional trial data on the controversial treatment Pfizer s Chantix was approved about a decade ago but thousands of reports of mental health problems in users led to the FDA imposing the black box warning the most severe available in 2009 On Wednesday four of the 19 panelists voted to update the language in the box warning of neuropsychiatric risks including suicidal thoughts hostility and agitation while five recommended retaining it The 10 who voted in favor of removal stressed that the benefits of quitting smoking far outweighed the potential severe side effects of the drug and that the evidence of causality between Chantix and the side effects was not clear enough to warrant a black box Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States accounting for about 1 of every 5 deaths according to the U S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Pfizer failed a previous attempt to get rid of the boxed warning after the FDA went along with a panel recommendation in 2014 to retain it pending the outcome of the additional study Since then Pfizer has released results from the study that compared either Chantix or GlaxoSmithKline Plc s L GSK Zyban with a placebo or a nicotine patch in patients with and without a history of psychiatric disorders FDA staff on Monday issued a scathing review of how the study was conducted by Pfizer flagging multiple inconsistencies across the 140 sites and multiple countries in which data was collected But when the FDA conducted its own analysis excluding data they deemed unreliable the results appeared to be consistent with Pfizer s conclusion that Chantix does not significantly increase the incidence of such side effects The discussion among panelists on Wednesday ranged from whether certain adverse events were the result of tobacco withdrawal or the drug as well as the trend of a higher number of psychiatric side effects seen in patients with a history of mental illness Patients with psychiatric disorders are far more vulnerable to tobacco addiction and less likely to be prescribed treatments for smoking cessation they noted saying that the exclusion of the boxed warning would go a long way in improving statistics Some panelists who voted to modify the warning or retain it in its present form said they were fearful of setting a dangerous precedent for other drugmakers looking to remove such warnings off of their products or that Pfizer s implementation of trial design left a lot to be desired
The FDA is not obligated to follow the recommendations of its panel but typically does so |
PFE | Pfizer down 1 as global drugs firm opts not to pursue split | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE said Monday it will not split Innovative Health and Essential Health into separate companies Our two distinct businesses will remain separately managed units within Pfizer the firm said in a statement It said by operating two separate units Pfizer already enjoys many of the potential benefits of a split A split was first debated by the giant U S drugs firm as early as 2012 Pfizer shares were down 1 08 at 33 9 in pre market trade at 08 00 ET |
PFE | Wall St lower in early trade ahead of presidential debate | Investing com U S stocks were lower early Monday ahead of the first presidential debate The DJI was off 0 61 at 08 30 ET while the S P 500 lost 0 50 The tech heavy Nasdaq composite shed 0 56 Pfizer NYSE PFE was down 1 58 at 33 72 after opting not to split the company in two Financials were lower as Deutsche Bank DE DBKGn hit record lows benchmark bond yields ease Oil stocks edged higher as crude futures advanced 3 on output freeze hopes |
T | NBA Parker returns to San Antonio for the first time as a Hornet | By Jahmal Corner Reuters Four times NBA champion Tony Parker will return to the site of his past glory on Monday when he visits San Antonio for the first time since departing for Charlotte in the off season When Parker left the Spurs to sign a two year deal with the Hornets this past off season it signaled the official end to an era He came from an organization that s been the best for the past 20 years Charlotte team mate Nicolas Batum told Reuters The way he is his attention to detail makes him special It is certain to be an emotional occasion when Parker takes the court at AT T NYSE T Center once again I won t be surprised if there are tears in my eyes Parker told the San Antonio Express News shortly after signing with the Hornets In Charlotte the 36 year old point guard has found a soft landing spot for his career descent The Hornets offer a young roster ripe for Parker s mentoring a coach in James Borrego who spent seven seasons with Parker as an assistant with the Spurs and a French compatriot in Batum who doubles as a trusted friend and business partner Parker and Batum s shared history dates back to the latter s rise as an up and coming teenage prospect The elder Parker was always just a phone call away offering advice on diet and lifestyle The duo would later team up to earn glory for the French National Team before uniting this year on the NBA front Parker and Batum also share business interests as both are owners of French club ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne and run its basketball operations The two can often be seen watching games together on a mobile phone aboard buses planes and over dinner He knows all the good restaurants in Charlotte said Batum of Parker I didn t have to show him any Parker s influence has been positive on the court for the Hornets 19 23 as well
The team gives the 18th year player occasional rest days and Parker has looked rejuvenated at times while averaging 9 4 points and 3 8 assists off the bench He has four 20 point efforts this year after recording just one a season ago Parker is also helping the team grasp the new concepts of a young head coach Tony understands all of my terminology from our time together Borrego said He s like another coach |
PFE | BioXcel IPO And Its Many Challenges | Machine learning has been used from everything to learning how to play Go to building better chat bots to improving search engines Now a small new biotech company aims to use machine learning to save lives BioXcel Therapeutics a subsidiary of BioXcel Corp has filed for a 69 million IPO In its BioXcel says that it is focused on drug development that utilizes novel artificial intelligence or AI to identify the next wave of medicines across neuroscience and immuno oncology
But while BioXcel wants to portray itself as a bold innovator using AI and machine learning its actual advertised products are a peculiar combination of conservative yet risky BioXcel has a great idea but execution matters more than ideas and there is little reason to think it can pull off such an ambitious dream
BioXcel and BioXcel
The first problem with BioXcel is what it actually is As noted above the company which is going public is called BioXcel Therapeutics BioXcel Therapeutics was split off from BioXcel Corp last year and the parent company owns 93 percent of the subsidiary BioXcel Corp will continue to own the majority of the company after this IPO though the exact percentage is unknown as of this time
BioXcel Therapeutics talks about leveraging a research and development engine called EvolverAI but this engine is owned by BioXcel Corp Rather than doing AI development itself BioXcel Therapeutics exists to develop the drugs found by EvolverAI and BioXcel Corp
It is not like BioXcel Corp is the only biotech company interested in leveraging AI and machine learning points out that medical titans like Pfizer NYSE PFE Roche and GlaxoSmithKline NYSE GSK are using artificial intelligence in novel ways to discover new combinations of drugs find new compounds and link diseases with treatments EvolverAI by contrast works by using millions of data points to discover new potential therapeutic uses for drugs which already exist at which point BioXcel Therapeutics reformulates them
So what are the drugs which EvolverAI discovered and BioXcel Therapeutics is working on The two main ones are called BXCL501 and BXCL701 also known as dexmedetomidine and talabostat respectively Dexmedetomidine is used today under the brand name Precedex as a sedative Talabostat was tested as a potential treatment for lung cancer by the now defunct Point Therapeutics over a decade ago By reformulating them BioXcel believes that dexmedetomidine can fight Alzheimer s and schizophrenia and talabostat can fight pancreatic cancer
Unfortunately these drugs are only in the latter stages of Phase 1 testing with plans to start Phase 2 testing later this year BioXcel hopes that the fact that the drugs have already passed prior levels of testing in the past will help them get past the drug approval process quicker but the reality is that investors will be waiting even by biotech companies longer than normal for these drugs to hit the market
Long Term Viability
Like most biotech IPOs BioXcel s revenue is nonexistent and it in fact reports no revenue whatsoever in 2016 and 2017 Over those two years it decided to its debts and earned a net loss of 2 1 and 4 5 million respectively BioXcel also reported 1 3 million in assets and 2 3 million in liabilities as of December 31 2017
Given these losses raising 69 million may seem to be adequate to keep BioXcel running until its drugs are developed but net losses will exponentially increase as it moves further in the development process Unfortunately BioXcel does not state how long it will be able to keep itself running with the raised IPO proceed though they do concede that we expect that we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in order to complete our clinical trials
But if BioXcel will need substantial additional funding why did they choose now to go public Plenty of other companies biotech or otherwise are staying private because they can continue to secure rounds of funding from private investors BioXcel s decision to eschew said funding and go public very quickly is strange and may have happened because said investors lack confidence in their product
Some Good Plenty Concerning
BioXcel Therapeutics has some things going for it compared to other biotech IPOs Its close relationship with BioXcel Corp means that it is not nearly as dependent on one or two drugs getting past FDA testing especially as BioXcel Corp will likely continue to have it test whatever drugs it discover with EvolverAI A connection to machine learning even it is indirect is also a useful tool to attract investors But it will take longer than normal for its drugs to get through the development pipeline and its disinterest or inability to secure private funding is seriously concerning There are much better pipelines to take advantage of the growing interest in machine learning in the biotech industry Investors may want to pay attention to what BioXcel Therapeutics has to say on the roadshow but should not show any interest in this IPO as it currently stands |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices AMD Stock Moves 0 97 What You Should Know | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD closed the most recent trading day at 46 18 moving 0 97 from the previous trading session This change lagged the S P 500 s daily of 0 Elsewhere the Dow gained 0 08 while the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 0 18
Prior to today s trading shares of the chipmaker had gained 18 32 over the past month This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector s gain of 4 19 and the S P 500 s gain of 3 37 in that time
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AMD as it approaches its next earnings report date On that day AMD is projected to report earnings of 0 30 per share which would represent year over year growth of 275 Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 2 10 billion up 48 09 from the year ago period
AMD s full year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of 0 62 per share and revenue of 6 71 billion These results would represent year over year changes of 34 78 and 3 56 respectively
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AMD Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near 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 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
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 AMD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
In terms of valuation AMD is currently trading at a Forward P E ratio of 75 31 Its industry sports an average Forward P E of 24 26 so we one might conclude that AMD is trading at a premium comparatively
It is also worth noting that AMD currently has a PEG ratio of 3 11 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 Electronics Semiconductors industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2 74 as of yesterday s close
The Electronics Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 30 which puts it in the top 12 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 |
PFE | Wall St lower in early trade as U S hike debate refuelled oil retreats | Investing com U S stocks were lower in early trade as U S rate hike talk re emerged A sharp retreat in oil prices also weighed on the market The DJI was down 0 37 at 09 45 ET while the S P 500 shed 0 30 The tech heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0 12 Medivation was up 19 9 at 80 51 as Pfizer NYSE PFE bid 81 5 per share for the firm |
PFE | U S stocks lower while digesting Fed comments oil slumps 3 | Investing com Market participants opted to sell U S equities on Monday despite the lack of news flow as traders continued to digest comments from Federal Reserve Fed officials and started the countdown to the U S central bank head Janet Yellen s speech on Friday while oil slumped 3 ending a seven day rally
At 15 34GMT or 11 34AM ET the Dow 30 lost 52 points or 0 28 the S P 500 fell 6 points or 0 27 while the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 10 points or 0 20
Fed vice chair Stanley Fischer said on Sunday that the U S economy was close to hitting the central bank s targets for full employment and 2 inflation
Fischer s speech was just the latest piece of hawkish rhetoric from top Fed officials Last week San Francisco Fed president John Williams New York Fed chief William Dudley and Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart all said a September rate hike may be on the table
Yellen will give a speech at the end of the week at the Economic Symposium at Jackson Hole and investors will look for clues on the future path of monetary policy
However according to Investing com s Fed Rate Monitor Tool investors are pricing in just a 15 chance of a rate hike by September up from just 6 at the start of last week
Still the probability of an increase at the December meeting once again surpassed the 50 threshold on Monday
With no major macro data set for release on Monday Fischer s remarks were helping support the dollar against major rivals while causing gold to slump to a two week low
The U S dollar index which measures the greenback s strength against a trade weighted basket of six major currencies edged forward 0 05 at 94 53 at 15 36GMT or 11 36ET while gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 0 27 or 3 65 to 1 342 55
Meanwhile oil snapped a seven session win streak on Monday as reports surfaced that Iraq would increase crude exports by 5 further undermining recent speculation that OPEC could take measures to control output when it meets on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in September
Additionally indications of an ongoing recovery in U S drilling activity also kept prices under pressure According to oilfield services provider Baker Hughes the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U S last week increased by 10 to 406 the eighth consecutive weekly rise and the 11th increase in 12 weeks
U S crude futures slumped 2 99 to 47 64 by 15 38GMT or 11 38AM ET while Brent oil traded down 2 91 to 49 40
In company news Medivation Inc NASDAQ MDVN jumped almost 20 after Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE confirmed a deal to acquire the U S cancer drug company for close to 14 billion
Intersil Corporation NASDAQ ISIL was also up almost 19 on a report that Japan s Renesas Electronics was close to deal to buy the U S chipmaker for 3 billion |
PFE | Pfizer to buy AstraZeneca anti infective unit for 725 mn | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE to buy AstraZeneca ant infective unit for 725 mn Pfizer said Wednesday the deal involves an upfront payment of 550 mn AstraZeneca will receive a deferred payment of 175 mn in January 2019 Also to get up to 250 mn in milestone payments and 600 mn in sales related payments Pfizer on Monday agreed to buy cancer treatment firm Medivation for 14 bn |
PFE | Animal spirits consumers devotion lifts pet care stocks | By Marcus E Howard NEW YORK Reuters Americans attachment to their pets has fostered a 60 billion industry that is producing best in breed stock performance Shares of a clutch of companies that sell pet food develop diagnostic tests for animals and offer veterinary care have far outrun the wider market this year delivering an average total return of nearly 35 percent versus around 8 3 percent for the Standard Poor s 500 SPX Shares of animal health testing company Idexx Laboratories Inc O IDXX for example have skyrocketed more than 50 percent this year while vet clinic operator VCA Inc O WOOF is up 31 percent and pet food maker Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc O BUFF is up 40 percent What you see driving that growth is the humanization of pets and consumers willingness to spend on their pets very heavily said Joe Edelstein an analyst at Stephens Inc Part of that is because pets are part of the family Edelstein follows Blue Buffalo and rival Freshpet Inc O FRPT which is up 25 percent in 2016 Last year U S pet related spending totaled a record 60 3 billion a 3 9 percent increase over the previous year according to the American Pet Products Association According to the U S Bureau of Economic Analysis U S consumers spending on their pets rose 5 percent in inflation adjusted terms last year while overall consumer spending rose 3 2 percent It was the fourth straight year that growth in spending on pet services and products exceeded growth of consumer spending overall Blue Buffalo and Freshpet are representative of the success of pet food the industry s leading source of revenue and are making the most of the trend toward natural locally sourced ingredients We see continued growth of better for them pet food products in both cat and dog said Phil Terpolilli a Wedbush Securities analyst Adoptions in U S dogs continue to grow meaningfully PRICED TO PURR FECTION The surge in the stock prices has lifted price to earnings ratios for the group leaving investors to wonder just how much further the puppies have to run Idexx shares now trade at about 43 times analysts estimates of its earnings for the next 12 months their highest level in about 20 years It is not alone The comparable price to earnings multiple of Heska Corp O HSKA a maker of animal lab testing products is 41 compared with a five year median of 35 VCA s is 22 6 versus a five year median of 16 8 Blue Buffalo and Freshpet which both have fewer than two years on the public market trade at multiples of 31 and 115 respectively Big investors appear to be staying put though A review of the top 20 shareholders in eight companies in the pet market at the end of the second quarter showed that a majority added to or retained their positions in those stocks Only Heska saw more of its top investors pare back positions than add to them although none of the changes were large Its shares are up 30 percent this year We continually look at our names the results and our expectations and as long as we think they warrant the multiple that we ve paid for the stock we re going to be owners said Jarl Ginsberg portfolio manager of the Columbia Small Mid Cap Value Fund that owns shares of VCA the vet clinic chain One company that may catch the eye of investors is Zoetis Inc N ZTS one of the world s largest animal health companies and the weakest performer of the group this year Shares of the company which spun off from Pfizer Inc N PFE in 2013 have gained around 7 percent so far this year But they do not feature the same valuation risks trading at about 24 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months just above the long term median of 22 8 Zoetis is increasing its earnings and revenues well above broader pet healthcare spending trends said investor James Tierney Jr chief investment officer at money manager AB s Concentrated US Growth fund
This is a company that should post 14 percent earnings growth over the 2013 to 2017 time frame he said This is a time period where the broader market meaning the S P has had modest growth if any |
PFE | Clinton spokeswoman defends drug plan after Pfizer comments | NEW YORK Reuters U S Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton s spokeswoman said on Friday Clinton s plan to curb drug spending was not the blow to medical innovation that Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE Chief Executive Ian Read described it as being on Thursday Throughout this campaign Hillary Clinton has called for expanding investments in innovation for healthcare from a cure for Alzheimer s to building on Vice President Biden s Cancer Moonshot initiative campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood said in an emailed statement She s said clearly that our pharmaceutical and biotech industries are great sources of innovation and she wants to support their development of new treatments she said Last week Clinton unveiled a plan to create an oversight panel that would protect consumers from unjustified price hikes on life saving drugs On Thursday while speaking at an investor conference Read said Clinton s plan would be very negative for innovation A Pfizer spokeswoman had no further comment on Friday Drugmakers have been criticized for raising drug prices in the United States where citizens pay the most worldwide for medicines |
T | AT T s Turner cable TV and Xandr ad unit integrate carrier s customer data | By Sheila Dang and Kenneth Li Reuters AT T NYSE T Inc s Turner networks and advertising business Xandr said Tuesday they have begun using the wireless carrier s customer data to help advertisers better reach audiences across Turner brands like CNN and TBS on TV and over digital platforms The high profile collaboration between the advertising division of AT T and its newly acquired WarnerMedia will be closely watched in the industry to see if the telecom company s 85 billion bet on media content will pay off Turner said it has integrated Xandr s viewership data collected from 40 million television set top boxes from AT T s DirecTV and U verse pay TV businesses into its strategy called AudienceNOW which helps brands place ads on related TV shows that their audience might be interested in For example if a marketer wants to reach car enthusiasts Xandr can narrow down audiences that watched the most auto content identify other TV shows they like to watch and serve those viewers an ad across the different TV series Mike Welch senior vice president for corporate strategy and business development at Xandr said in an interview AT T s data also allows Turner and Xandr to show advertisers whether their ads convinced viewers to go to their stores or visit their website AT T s wireless network provides the phone location data to illustrate store visits while its broadband business gives information on website visits Welch said A major reason behind AT T s purchase of media company Time Warner was the desire to exploit customer usage data from AT T s 25 million TV households and an estimated 150 million U S wireless customers by WarnerMedia s networks Advertisers have long sought to use customer data to boost chances of a sale by tailoring advertisements to households based on their interests Turner and Xandr executives said customer data will remain anonymous and will be tracked in aggregate never narrowed down to one particular household Instead the companies can produce a report that compares households that saw an ad and subsequently visited a business versus households that were not served the ad without identifying the customers The holy grail is getting clients off of guaranteeing on traditional audience measurement and taking it a step further and guaranteeing against a business outcome said Donna Speciale president of Turner ad sales in an interview last week The companies also said branded content created by advertisers in partnership with Turner can now be targeted for delivery to specific households among the more than 15 million that have upgraded set top boxes able to receive so called addressable advertising Advertisers can now also use Xandr data to help them place ads on Turner s digital properties like CNN Digital and sports website Bleacher Report |
T | Twitter to stream single player view on NBA games | Twitter TWTR 1 has a new live streaming deal with the NBA with a wrinkle The company is partnering with the basketball league and Turner Sports T 2 3 to stream the second halves of 20 games appearing on TNT but the feed will just have a camera focused on a single player who will be chosen by a Twitter vote That s apparently part of an approach to complement rather than cannibalize the standard TNT TV audience We re taking live content and expanding its footprint says Twitter s content partnership head Kay Madati We re not here to encroach on the rights of our partners Those streams will debut during the Feb 17 NBA All Star Game followed by a schedule of regular season and playoff live streams In more WarnerMedia partnering Twitter will also bring back a Game of Thrones aftershow from Bill Simmons The Ringer and add a Ringer aftershow for season 2 of HBO s Big Little Lies Now read |
T | Signs That Your Trading Will Ruin Your Retirement October 21 2019 | You have a significant retirement portfolio You re an experienced investor You ve done pretty well at picking stocks You probably even own a few of Zacks Top Retirement stock picks like
Independent Bank IBCP AT T T and Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste ASR
If that sounds like you should you actively trade your own retirement assets
Perhaps if you re the one in a million investor who can expertly manage risk and maintain unflinching emotional control in volatile markets But for most there may be better strategies to achieve long term retirement investing goals
Active stock trading requires a very different investing approach and risk reward mindset than investing for retirement
Managing Retirement Investments Stock Picking vs Diversification
While stock picking can potentially result in outsized returns its outsized concentrated risk can pose significant hazards for retirement investors
A study done by Hendrik Bessembinder of equity markets over nine decades found that just 4 of the best performing U S stocks generated all the market s gains The rest were flat the gains of the next 38 were wiped out by the bottom 58 which lost money
For even the most expert stock pickers the chances for long term achievement are thin
Is Successful Investing a Mind Game
Investors feel they can make sensible choices however research demonstrates that the opposite is what often happens A DALBAR study analyzed investors from 1986 to 2015 and found that the average investor significantly underperformed compared to the S P 500 Over 30 years the S P 500 produced a return of 10 35 while the average investor return was only 3 66
It is worth noting that this period included the 1987 crash and enormous bear markets in 2000 and 2008 and the positively trending market of the 1990s as well
This study indicates that one key explanation behind investor underperformance is attempting to time volatile markets and that irrational emotional biases are likely to compound investor botches
Interestingly even savvy traders tend to underperform because they can t help but allow emotions to drive investment decisions They may be overconfident and misjudge risk latch onto a price target or perceive a pattern that isn t there This behavior gap over the long term can be catastrophic with potential underperformance of hundreds of thousands of dollars sabotaging your retirement
The Bottom Line for Retirement Investors
When it comes to managing your assets for retirement you must look at performance over the course of years and decades not weeks or months Because most traders generally tend to focus on the short term they may not have the right mindset to achieve successful long term outcomes
Does that mean you should quit trading Not really One plan is to take 10 of your investable resources and trade to create alpha and look for outsized returns
However the major part of your wealth those assets reserved for retirement ought to be invested utilizing a more careful conservative risk management strategy to produce steady compounded returns so you can securely achieve your retirement objectives
Did you know that one in six people retire a multi millionaire
Read our just released report 7 Things You Can Do Now to Retire a Multi Millionaire This report can help you maintain and increase assets heading into retirement while avoiding costly mistakes Click here for a free report |
T | AT T T Reports Next Week Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth | AT T T is expected to deliver a year over year increase in earnings on lower revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended September 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 October 28 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 telecommunications company is expected to post quarterly earnings of 0 93 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 3 3
Revenues are expected to be 45 08 billion down 1 4 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0 72 lower 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 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 This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model the Zacks Earnings ESP Expected Surprise Prediction
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 AT T
For AT T the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company s earnings prospects This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0 50
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3
So this combination indicates that AT T will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue
Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings So it s worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number
For the last reported quarter it was expected that AT T would post earnings of 0 89 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 89 delivering no surprise
Over the last four quarters the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates two 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
AT T appears a compelling earnings beat candidate However investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release |
PFE | Hedge funds made big changes at drug companies in second quarter filings | By Svea Herbst Bayliss BOSTON Reuters For many prominent hedge fund managers who bet Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE and Allergan NYSE AGN pa Plc would merge to become the world s biggest pharmaceuticals company the second quarter started with a thud that sent many in search of new opportunities John Griffin s Blue Ridge Capital Andreas Halvorsen s Viking Global Investors each slashed their firm s stakes in Allergan by more than half after news broke that Pfizer was walking away from the deal according to so called 13F regulatory filings released on Monday Senator Investment Group and Jana Partners yanked their money from Pfizer The filings which show U S stocks owned by investment managers at the end of the past quarter are backward looking but they do identify by name the managers who moved after fresh regulation scuttled the 160 billion Pfizer Allergan deal As investors mulled alternatives even embattled drug maker Valeant Pharmaceutical International Inc s name emerged as a possible winner amid the wreckage Mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments for example bought 10 million Valeant shares to own 15 5 million at the end of the quarter North Tide Capital put on a new position of 2 5 million shares while Hexavest Inc raised its stake by more than ten fold to 1 8 million shares Allergan s stock price dropped 14 percent suggesting fund managers such as Eric Mindich s Eton Park which sold all of its 1 8 million shares made the right call Viking Global cut its holdings by 60 percent to 1 93 million shares and Blue Ridge cut its stake by 53 percent to 700 000 shares Sachem Head Capital Management reduced its position by 57 percent Not all big investors ran Daniel Loeb s Third Point kept its Allergan investment largely intact at 4 9 million shares while Seth Klarman s Baupost Group raised it by 16 percent to 2 million Carl Icahn took a new position in Allergan buying 3 4 million shares At Pfizer which has been seeking a way to compete better with rivals that pay lower tax rates Jana Partners sold 13 million shares and Senator sold 15 million shares Jason Karp s Tourbillon exited its position and sold 7 million shares But the exits may have been premature since the stock rose 16 percent benefiting managers such as Diamond Hill which increased its stake modestly to 11 6 million Tourbillon also exited all of its 3 4 million shares of Valeant joining long time holders Brave Warrior and Hound Partners which had finally had enough Even though Valeant brought in a new chief executive and a big investor continued to support the stock it dropped 23 percent during the second quarter Hound sold 4 9 million shares while Brave Warrior exited 2 million shares
There were some bright spots on the broader pharmaceutical sector with a number of managers placing new bets on St Jude Medical Inc a manufacturer and distributor of medical devices whose stock surged 42 percent during the quarter Farallon Capital made a new bet with 4 6 million shares while Carlson Capital put on a wager with 2 05 million shares Adage Capital boosted its holding by 227 percent to just under 1 million shares |
PFE | Icahn makes new bet on Allergan in second quarter filing | BOSTON Reuters Carl Icahn the octogenarian investor whose stock investments still create a buzz on Wall Street nearly 50 years after he first got into the business made a new bet on Allergan NYSE AGN pa a new filing shows Icahn who invests his personal fortune estimated by Forbes to be roughly 17 billion largely kept his portfolio unchanged reporting no change on his investments in Cheniere Energy Freeport McMoRan and Herbalife NYSE HLF during the second quarter But he did make one significant addition when he bought 3 4 million shares of drugmaker Allergan valued at 785 7 million Icahn kept his holding in Hertz Global Holdings Inc mostly unchanged but the share count was lower after the company issued a 5 for 1 reverse stock split on the last trading day of the second quarter Icahn like other investors on Monday filed a so called 13 F filing that shows what U S stocks he owned at the end of the second quarter He made smaller adjustments to his biggest holdings including a 2 percent hike in AIG bringing his ownership to 45 6 million shares PayPal Holdings was cut by 10 percent to 33 9 million shares the filing shows Icahn like some other billionaire investors has made big bets on energy companies betting on a recovery that has been spotty so far Allergan s stock price dropped 14 percent during the second quarter after Pfizer NYSE PFE walked away from a planned merger but some investors expect that Allergan will tie up with another company suggesting that the stock price will rebound
Corrects headline first and third paragraphs to show no change in Hertz Global Holdings adds that cut in shares was related to reverse stock split |
PFE | Pfizer is reportedly close to spending 14 billion on cancer drugmaker Medivation | Pfizer NYSE PFE is reportedly close to scooping up cancer drugmaker Medivation for 14 billion The and are reporting that the deal could close as soon as Monday citing people close to the deal A 14 billion deal would value Medivation at more than 80 a share a notable premium to the 52 50 a share offer the pharma giant Sanofi PA SASY had made earlier this year Medivation shares ended trading at 67 16 on Friday Sanofi went public with its 9 3 billion bid for the company in April Medivation had rejected that bid but it wasn t long before it was fielding other offers and analysts were speculating about possible buyers including reports that Pfizer which in after the was in the mix Pfizer declined to comment Medivation did not immediately respond to request for comment The San Francisco based biotech already has one drug on the market to treat prostate cancer And its big appeal comes from an experimental breast cancer treatment called talazoparib It still hasn t been approved for use but the drug also has potential as a treatment of cervical lung and ovarian cancers In a July conference call saying that it has the potential to be best in class among so called PARP inhibitors a new type of medicine that blocks a particular enzyme that s used by our cells to so that tumors can t survive Here s what s in Medivation s pipeline that could make it worth a 14 billion sale Medivation s one drug on market already is called Xtandi or enzalutamide which the company developed with Japan s Astellas It s an oral drug that used to treat is used to treat late stage prostate cancer It was originally approved based on a study that evaluated its ability to increase how long patients survived median overall survival was 18 4 months for those who took Xtandi in the trial compared to 13 6 months median overall survival for those who took a placebo It does cost a list price of 129 000 in the US which has gotten it Medivation is also researching how enzalutamide works in people with other types of prostate breast and liver cancers Medivation also has two other cancer drugs in late stage trials including talazoparib which it acquired The drug is being studied in certain types of breast cancer as well as other kinds of cancers including cervical lung and ovarian Another drug to treat a certain kind of blood pidilizumab is also in a late stage trial The big thing with these drugs is that they re being explore in combination with or treatments that use the immune system to fight off cancer cells Response rates instances in which the cancer stops spreading or shrinks in response to immunotherapy drugs on their own are but researchers hope that cancer immunotherapies combined with other treatments say Medivation s oral drugs could push that response rate way up And immunotherapies are a huge business with setting up funds for companies developing immunotherapies NEXT RELATED |
PFE | Medivation up 21 on reports Pfizer to make 14 bn takeover bid | Investing com Medivation NASDAQ MDVN shares were sharply higher Monday on reports of Pfizer NYSE PFE bid Shares of the U S cancer therapy firm were up 20 9 at 81 20 in pre market trade Pfizer reportedly is set to make an offer of close to 14 bn as early as Monday A bid of that size would represent as 26 premium to Medivation s closing price Friday of 67 16 |
PFE | U S futures lower as markets digest Fed remarks ahead of Yellen | Investing com Wall Street futures pointed to a lower open on Monday as investors weighed weekend comments from the Federal Reserve Fed and looked ahead to a speech by the U S central bank chief Janet Yellen on Friday
The blue chip Dow futures lost 43 points or 0 23 by 10 56AM GMT or 6 56AM ET the S P 500 futures fell 4 points or 0 19 while the tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 9 points or 0 20
Fed vice chair Stanley Fischer said on Sunday that the U S economy was close to hitting the central bank s targets for full employment and 2 inflation
Fischer s speech was just the latest piece of hawkish rhetoric from top Fed officials Last week San Francisco Fed President John Williams New York Fed Chief William Dudley and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart all said a September rate hike may be on the table
Yellen will give a speech at the end of the week at the Economic Symposium at Jackson Hole and was widely expected to show an optimistic outlook on the U S economy that could reinforce these recent comments that the next meeting was in play
However according to Investing com s Fed Rate Monitor Tool investors are pricing in just a 15 chance of a rate hike by September up from just 6 at the start of last week with the probability of an increase not passing the 50 threshold until the February 2017 meeting
With no major macro data set for release on Monday Fischer s remarks were helping push the dollar higher against major rivals on while causing gold to slump to a two week low
The U S dollar index which measures the greenback s strength against a trade weighted basket of six major currencies gained 0 25 to 94 72 by 10 58 AM GMT or 6 58AM ET while gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 0 43 or 5 85 to 1 340 35
Meanwhile oil snapped a seven session win streak on Monday as reports surfaced that Iraq would increase crude exports by 5 further undermining recent speculation that OPEC could take measures to control output when it meets on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in September
Additionally indications of an ongoing recovery in U S drilling activity also kept prices under pressure According to oilfield services provider Baker Hughes the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U S last week increased by 10 to 406 the eighth consecutive weekly rise and the 11th increase in 12 weeks
U S crude futures tumbled 2 79 to 47 74 by 11 00AM GMT or 9 00AM ET while Brent oil slumped 3 20 to 49 25
In company news Medivation Inc NASDAQ MDVN jumped 19 in pre market trade after reports that Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE set to announce a deal to acquire the U S cancer drug company for close to 14 billion |
PFE | U S stock index futures edge lower as U S rate hike talk re emerges | Investing com U S stock index futures edged lower Monday Comments by Fed vice chair Fischer re sparks U S rate hike talk The Dow futures was down 0 15 at 06 15 ET while the S P 500 futures shed 0 14 The tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave up 0 13 U S two year bond yield up 2 16 at 0 762 after high of 0 783 Medivation NASDAQ MDVN up 19 5 on reports Pfizer NYSE PFE may make 14 bn bid for cancer therapy firm |
PFE | Pfizer confirms to buy Medivation for about 14 bn | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE Monday confirmed it is to buy Medivation for about 14 bn Pfizer said it will pay 81 50 a share in cash for the U S pharmaceutical firm Medivation shares were up 19 9 at 80 50 in pre market after closing at 67 16 Friday Pfizer said the acquisition would add 0 05 to its annual diluted EPS The deal will accelerate revenue growth and drive overall earnings Pfizer CEO Ian Read said Medivation s XTANDI cancer treatment generated 2 2 bn in global sales over past four quarters |
T | Telecoms Giant AT T Seeks Patent for Blockchain Enabled Social Media Mapping System | American telecoms giant AT T NYSE T is seeking a patent for a blockchain based social media history map The patent application was published by the U S Patent and Trademark Office USPTO Dec 13
AT T s patent application describes a blockchain powered system that may include a transaction history controller to store subscribers data which may be used for various purposes The file outlines a number of particular cases such as creating and sharing information ideas and career interests through virtual communities and networks |
T | Report Raiders in talks to play at AT T Park in 2019 | With Sunday s game against the Denver Broncos likely the Oakland Raiders final game played at Oakland Coliseum the Raiders home for next season is still up in the air before the franchise moves to Las Vegas in 2020 Currently entangled in a lawsuit filed by the city of Oakland which would seem to remove the option of one more season at the Coliseum the Raiders are reportedly in discussions with the San Francisco Giants about possible playing the 2019 home slate of games at AT T NYSE T Park According to a report Friday by NBC Bay Area s Raj Mathai a team source termed the chances of the Raiders playing in the baseball only stadium a distinct possibility The Raiders home in 2019 remains unclear as they await moving into their new stadium in Las Vegas in 2020 which is still under construction but not close to being ready for play next season Even if the Raiders and MLB s Giants came to an agreement to share AT T Park next season Raiders owner Mark Davis would still need the league and neighboring 49ers to approve the temporary move The Niners play in Santa Clara but Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the team can block any other team playing home games in what is considered the 49ers home market in San Francisco The city of Oakland s federal lawsuit announced earlier this month alleges antitrust violations and breach of contract and names the Raiders the NFL and every other team in the league
While the city does not demand that the Raiders be forced to remain in Oakland the seven count filing in district court does seek restitution in the form of lost revenue remaining debt on renovations to the Oakland Coliseum court costs and fees plus punitive damages Field Level Media |
T | NFL notebook Ravens stick with Harbaugh | Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh will be retained next season and the two sides are working on a contract extension to keep him with the Ravens beyond next season the team announced Friday The news came a month or so after speculation abounded around the NFL that the Ravens would fire Harbaugh after the season despite his career 112 77 record including a 10 5 mark in the playoffs But the installation of rookie Lamar Jackson as the team s starting quarterback has sparked the Ravens 8 6 who have won four of five games since Jackson replaced an injured Joe Flacco They currently occupy the No 6 position in the AFC playoff picture and still have a shot at the AFC North title Injury updates of note for this weekend Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley knee will be a game time decision Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals Gurley did not practice this week and Thursday said he had not tried to run on his knee Backup Justin Davis is questionable though the team signed C J Anderson this week Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler will not play Saturday when they host Baltimore Ekeler recovering from a concussion and neck injury has been a key contributor for the Chargers though starter Melvin Gordon is expected to play after a three game absence Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones is a game time decision for Sunday against the Carolina Panthers because of a hip injury sustained last week against Arizona He was limited in practice Friday for the first time all week and will be evaluated again on Saturday New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr quadriceps will miss a third straight game on Sunday when the team faces the Indianapolis Colts Around the league Speaking with the media for the first time since the suspension of wide receiver Josh Gordon New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Personally I wish Gordon the very best as we all do on this team I have spoken to him at length over the last three months so I don t really have anything at this point to add to that It s a private matter The NFL on Thursday suspended Gordon 27 after he announced plans to step away from football to focus on his mental health Chicago Bears guard Kyle Long returned to practice for the first time since a right foot injury Oct 28 and could play Week 17 if medically cleared He is not eligible to come off injured reserve until Monday The left ankle injury that landed Miami running back Frank Gore on injured reserve will not require surgery or prevent him from trying to return for a 15th NFL season according to ESPN His agent told the Sun Sentinel on Friday that Gore hopes to return to the Dolphins Veteran Dallas Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee says his goal is to be part of this group throughout the playoffs and being able to compete Owner Jerry Jones caused a stir last week when saying publicly that Lee would retain his starting role when ready to return after missing five contests with a hamstring injury Instead rookie first rounder Leighton Vander Esch started while Lee played just seven snaps in his first game back While quarterback Nick Foles tries to guide the Philadelphia Eagles back to the playoffs coach Doug Pederson assured reporters that injured starter Carson Wentz remains the franchise quarterback Wentz remains out with a fractured vertebra that might require three months to fully heal though he has not been placed on injured reserve Addressing continued grilling about his future plans Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told the media If I decide to retire I ll let you guys know New Orleans receiver Dez Bryant says the torn Achilles tendon that ended his 2018 season will not end his career Bryant 30 sustained the injury on the final play of his second practice with the team after agreeing to a one year 600 000 contract with the team in November The Raiders have reached out to the San Francisco Giants about possibly playing their home games at AT T NYSE T Park for the 2019 season The Raiders have no lease for next season and are currently entangled in a lawsuit with the city of Oakland Their new stadium in Las Vegas will not be ready for use until 2020 The Giants have confirmed the Raiders have expressed initial interest
Buffalo signed backup quarterback Matt Barkley to a two year extension through 2020 Barkley has played in one game for the Bills since signing as a free agent on Oct 31 throwing for 232 yards and two touchdowns in a 41 10 rout of the New York Jets on Nov 11 Field Level Media |
T | Cowboys defensive lineman Crawford out of hospital after injuring neck | Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford is out of the hospital and back home the team announced Sunday night after Crawford left the field Sunday with a neck injury Crawford was carted off the field and taken to a hospital after sustaining the injury early in Dallas home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Everything checks out really good We re really pleased with the initial MRIs all the examinations Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said per the team s official website Jones added that Crawford s status for next week is to be determined He s good defensive end Demarcus Lawrence told 105 3 The Fan of Crawford on Sunday afternoon I m going to go check on him I just talked to him Seems well He has me scared scared Thank the Lord that he s alright Crawford was hurt on the second play from scrimmage in a collision with Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen and was down on the AT T NYSE T Stadium turf for several minutes He was seen moving his arms and legs before being strapped to a backboard and carted off the field to an ambulance The team called the injury a neck sprain and quickly ruled out Crawford who gave a thumbs up to the crowd as the cart drove off the field Crawford 29 entered with 5 5 sacks and 12 quarterback hits in 14 games this season his sixth in the NFL since the Cowboys took him in the third round of the 2012 draft out of Boise State He has 22 sacks and 59 quarterback hits in 92 career games 74 starts having missed just three total games
The Cowboys beat the Buccaneers 27 20 to win the NFC East Field Level Media |
T | NFL roundup Brady dominates Pats lock up bye | Tom Brady tossed a season high four touchdowns and became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to complete 6 000 career passes as the New England Patriots clinched at least the No 2 seed by cruising to a 38 3 victory over the visiting New York Jets on Sunday New England 11 5 clinched a bye for the 13th time in the Bill Belichick Brady era since 2001 and the ninth straight season The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders later Sunday to clinch the top seed in the AFC playoffs and lock the Patriots in to the No 2 seed Brady reached his 6 000th career completion on a 5 yard pass to Chris Hogan with 11 40 remaining He joined Drew Brees 6 586 Brett Favre 6 300 and Peyton Manning 6 125 as the only players in NFL history to reach that milestone The Jets 4 12 finished the season by losing nine of their last 10 games and likely will fire coach Todd Bowles with two years remaining on his contract The Jets are 24 40 under Bowles who took over in 2015 following Rex Ryan Texans 20 Jaguars 3 Deshaun Watson capped his second season with a unique statistical accomplishment and host Houston claimed its third AFC South title in four seasons with a victory over woeful Jacksonville becoming the second team to earn a division title after starting a season 0 3 With 234 passing yards plus another 66 yards on the ground with a touchdown Watson is the first quarterback in NFL history to total 4 000 yards 4 165 and at least 25 touchdowns 26 passing while rushing for 500 yards 551 with another five touchdowns on the ground Led by defensive end J J Watt the Texans 11 5 harassed Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles throughout what likely was his last appearance with the Jaguars 5 11 Watt recorded 1 1 2 of the three sacks of Bortles closing his season with 16 Watt and Hall of Fame member Reggie White are the only players in NFL history with four 15 plus sack seasons Cowboys 36 Giants 35 Dak Prescott threw four touchdowns passes and completed a two point conversion to Michael Gallup with 1 12 left to lift Dallas Cowboys past host New York Prescott who threw for 387 yards completed a 32 yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to Cole Beasley on fourth and 15 to set up the two point conversion Originally Beasley was called out of bounds on the field but after review was ruled to have gotten his knee down before his elbows landed out of bounds Though running back Ezekiel Elliott sat out the game Dallas played most of its starters and heads into the postseason having won seven of eight games The Cowboys 10 6 earned the fourth seed in the playoffs and will host Seattle at AT T NYSE T Stadium next weekend The Giants finish the season 5 11 Lions 31 Packers 0 Detroit blasted listless Green Bay ending the season on a positive note and earning back to back victories at Lambeau Field for the first time since the 1990 91 seasons Matthew Stafford throwing passes to the likes of Brandon Powell Andy Jones and T J Jones instead of Kenny Golladay inactive Marvin Jones injured reserve and Golden Tate traded threw for 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns to T J Jones for the Lions 6 10 His counterpart Aaron Rodgers exited following the third series with a concussion A week after rallying three times from two touchdown deficits to beat the New York Jets interim coach Joe Philbin s Packers 6 9 1 showed no fight against the Lions Bills 42 Dolphins 17 Josh Allen passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more as Buffalo defeated Miami in Orchard Park N Y Zay Jones caught two touchdowns from Allen who completed 17 of 26 passes for 224 yards with an interception Allen also ran nine times for 95 yards Buffalo forced four turnovers and enjoyed its highest scoring game of the season The game was the season finale for two teams out of playoff contention Buffalo 6 10 finished 4 3 in its final seven games Miami 7 9 concluded its season on a three game losing streak dropping nine of its final 13 Panthers 33 Saints 14 Undrafted rookie quarterback Kyle Allen threw two touchdowns passes before leaving the game with a fourth quarter shoulder injury as visiting Carolina won in New Orleans With the Saints 13 3 secure in their No 1 seed in the NFC playoffs they rested several starters Drew Brees missed only his third start since coming to the Saints in 2006 He finished the season with an NFL record 74 4 completion percentage 364 of 489 with 3 992 yards 32 touchdowns and just five interceptions Carolina 7 9 scored touchdowns on its first three possessions with Allen driving the Panthers 75 89 and 90 yards mostly against the Saints starting defense to forge a 20 0 lead and it climbed to 30 0 late in the third quarter Falcons 34 Buccaneers 32 Matt Bryant made a 37 yard field goal as time expired to give visiting Atlanta a victory in what turned out to be Dirk Koetter s final game as Tampa Bay s head coach The field goal was Bryant s second of the game after a 49 yarder in the third quarter and gave the Falcons 7 9 a three game winning streak to end the season despite trailing 17 0 late in the first half
The Bucs 5 11 lost eight of their last 10 games including the final four and fell to 19 29 under Koetter whom the team fired shortly after the game Jameis Winston had four touchdown passes for the Bucs including a score with five minutes remaining and was 22 of 35 for 345 yards and an interception Field Level Media |
PFE | Pfizer To Post Upbeat Earnings | Before the market opens on Tuesday American pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE is set to deliver its earnings report for the quarter that ended in December Despite the recent decline in pharmaceutical stocks over the past couple of quarters most analysts are optimistic on the earnings of the company with the stock expected to rise following the earnings report Aside from solid earnings the company is also expected to make an updated on their plans this year
During the third quarter the market saw a steady growth from the company following a jump in the sales of a number of its products including the Prevnar pneumonia vaccine and Ibrance breast cancer treatment Pfizer posted earnings of 67 cents per share on a revenue of 13 17 billion which is 1 higher Net income of the company came in at 47 cents per share to 2 84 billion
Sales of the company from its Ibrance treatment jumped by nearly 60 during the previous quarter to sales of 878 million However this missed most market expectations of the company posting 914 million in sales The company then faced competition from due to the approval of the Kisqali drug from competitor company Novartis
During the third quarter Pfizer was also able to sell more than 1 5 billion worth of the Prevnar drug pushing the shares of the company to trade above 35 per share The boost in the earnings of the company was largely led by the sales of the Prevnar drug
Pfizer stock has gained 11 5 last year and is expected to grow this year despite the slightly weaker operational sales growth
For the fourth quarter the company is expected to post growth in the sales in the number of its drugs and products especially Pfizer is also expected to make an update regarding its psoriatic arthritis treatment Xeljanz which was approved by the FDA last December Sales of the company from Chantix and the Lyrica nerve pain drug is also expected to pick up for the quarter
The company currently has a full year earnings expectations of 2 57 per share on a revenue of 53 billion for the year 2017 Pfizer is included in the number of companies expected to benefit from the U S tax overhaul Pfizer is also expected to make an update on a number of pending programs and drugs |
AMD | AMD CCXI CLVS LK PRQR SWAV Stock Charts To Watch | Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD performed stellar action on Thursday No question about it You can see that this stock which I put a swing on broke out early Nov ran up steadily exploding 3 12 or 7 9 to 42 59 on Thursday with a high of 42 62 on 85 million shares My targets now are 44 and 48 1 2 This stock looks powerful That was a great move on Thursday
ChemoCentryx Inc NASDAQ CCXI exploded a week and a half ago formed a little wedge and now it s moving again It ramped 2 07 or 6 6 to 33 28 with a high of 34 25 on 1 1 million shares If it gets through 37 it can get to the high 40 s
Clovis Oncology Inc NASDAQ CLVS snapped back out across key resistance on Thursday and I put a swing on it It popped 1 71 or 14 59 to 13 43 with a high of 13 53 on 12 5 million shares I think the momentum will carry it back up to 17 maybe even 22
Luckin Coffee NASDAQ LK had a nice reversal on Thursday Wednesday s decline really concerned me but it held the trendline lateral price support and then popped right back to finish up 2 67 or 9 18 to 31 77 reaching a high of 31 92 on 9 million shares At this point I think it s going to extend I m looking for 36 37
ProQR Therapeutics NV NASDAQ PRQR an old swing of ours popped late Nov pulled back tested ran up another 95 cents or 11 reaching 9 75 and then closed just pennies off the high at 9 73 on 385 583 shares traded on Thursday Now it s been up five out of six days with Thursday s action breaking it out through resistance I think this stock may be headed for a quick test of 10 25 35 as early as Friday Then we re looking at 12 and 16 going forward
Shockwave Medical Inc NASDAQ SWAV made a steady channel up as it accelerated higher on Thursday jumping 2 18 or 5 2 to 43 99 with a high of 44 63 on 819 413 shares traded It hasn t reached the top of the channel yet but I suspect it will follow through on Friday to the 45 46 zone
Stocks on the long side included Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc AGIO Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc AMRX Assembly Biosciences Inc ASMB Bausch Health Companies Inc BHC ChemoCentryx Inc CCXI Canopy Growth Corporation CGC Clovis Oncology Inc CLVS Dermira Inc DERM Fulgent Genetics Inc FLGT FormFactor Inc FORM Forty Seven Inc FTSV IVERIC bio Inc ISEE Akerna KERN Eastman Kodak Company KODK Luckin Coffee Inc LK LMP Automotive Holdings Inc LMPX MEDNAX Inc MD Mallinckrodt NYSE MNK Public Limited Company MNK Model N Inc MODN Neoleukin Therapeutics Inc NLTX ProQR Therapeutics N V PRQR comScore Inc SCOR ShockWave Medical Inc SWAV TG Therapeutics Inc TGTX and Exicure Inc XCUR |
AMD | 8 Stocks To Watch ABBV AMD AXSM IMGN INMD MAXR PRQR SEAC | 1 AbbVie NYSE ABBV a swing trade of ours which popped out of a wedge in Oct and we put a swing on it kept running until it met two of my targets near 90 90 41 was the high and then it pulled back for a couple three or four weeks coiled and then last Thursday it broke out of the coil pulled back on Friday and on Monday it came on again jumping 1 59 or 2 to 89 43 reaching up to 90 12 on 6 2 million shares traded The high so far in Nov is 90 40 I m looking for this stock to make it to mid channel to 95 and then about 99 to 101
2 Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD has a really fantastic long term chart with a big fifth wave underway On Monday it jumped 1 20 or 3 to 42 35 with a high of 42 98 on 56 million shares I think the fifth wave could take it all the way up if it accelerates to 53 and then high 60 s
3 Axsome Therapeutics NASDAQ AXSM an old swing of ours on positive findings for depression drug on Monday exploded 33 01 or 70 55 to 79 80 reaching a high of 88 00 on 9 5 million shares It could get to 110 120 in the next few weeks
4 ImmunoGen NASDAQ IMGN which I put a swing on when it popped out in August it pulled back coiled popped again pulled back to retest popped pulled back and retested again and then popped on Monday gaining 31 cents or 8 66 to 3 89 with a high of 4 07 on 4 7 million shares If it gets through 4 23 I think it s headed to 6
5 InMode NASDAQ INMD jumped 2 98 or 8 to 41 82 with a high of 42 20 on 1 6 million shares on Monday but may have completed It s 4 waves up If the angle on ascent holds true and there s any kind of follow through let s say on Tuesday through 43 then 48 and 55 are the next targets We ll see if it gets through 59 60 area before it runs anymore
6 Maxar Technologies NYSE MAXR ran 1 23 or 10 45 closing at the high for the day at 13 00 on 3 2 million shares on Monday It popped on Friday followed through on Monday and is right at resistance It needs a follow through here If it gets one targets are 16 and 19
7 ProQR Therapeutics NASDAQ PRQR one of my old swings that didn t really work well a year or so ago broke down and has been coming down for about a year until it finally reversed in Oct backed and filled tested support broke out and retested and has now been up eight out of the last nine sessions On Monday it closed up 68 cents or 6 92 to 10 51 with a high of 10 98 on 624 080 shares traded Going forward the target is 12 1 2 3 4
8 SeaChange International NASDAQ SEAC popped out of a little wedge or flag on Monday gaining 31 cents or 7 65 closing at 4 36 within pennies of its 4 39 high as the volume picked up to 1 5 million shares traded I think this stock wants to get up to 5 and then 6 1 2
Stocks on the long side included AbbVie Inc NYSE ABBV Abeona Therapeutics Inc ABEO Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc AMRX Ardelyx Inc ARDX Axsome Therapeutics Inc AXSM Fate Therapeutics Inc FATE Horizon Pharma Public Limited Company HZNP ImmunoGen Inc IMGN InMode Ltd INMD Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc IOVA Kodiak Sciences Inc KOD Repro Med Systems Inc KRMD Maxar Technologies Inc MAXR Mirum Pharmaceuticals Inc MIRM NantKwest Inc NK Perion Network Ltd PERI Pfenex Inc PFNX ProQR Therapeutics N V PRQR Renewable Energy Group Inc REGI Sea Limited SE SeaChange International Inc SEAC SMART Global Holdings Inc SGH Veru Inc VERU and Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc ZYNE |
PFE | Spiders and scorpions join fight against superbugs | By Matthew Stock Reuters A British lab is searching for new medicines in the poisonous secretions of some of the world s deadliest creatures addressing the increasingly desperate challenge of finding viable new drugs Over prescription and over use in farming of antibiotics has given rise to so called superbugs multi drug resistant infections that can evade even the medicines designed to kill them Experts have warned since the 1990s that lethal superbugs were on the horizon but few drugmakers have attempted to develop drugs against them Venomtech based in south east England believe help could be found in the unlikeliest of sources the venom of spiders scorpions and snakes that is often fatal to humans Millions of years of evolution has given these creature s venom the ability to target and attack their prey while avoiding the body s defenses Venomtech scientists hope that an injected drug could perform the same function When broken down at the molecular level a tiny droplet of venom contains hundreds of individual components that could eventually be made into new drugs explained Venomtech founder Steven Trim The principle of Venomtech is separating venoms out into their component parts and targeting them to the right disease area Trim told Reuters He added that his drug discovery team was putting the right venom for the right drug target so we maximize the hits and a hit is an interesting peptide that might make it to a drug Around 400 animals are kept at his lab in Kent including about 70 species of tarantula and 30 species of scorpion Many of these kill their prey with venoms that contain hundreds of protein molecules some of which block nerve activity Venomtech keep a number of invertebrates which can be deadly to humans namely the black widow spider and deathstalker scorpion Trim who worked for pharmaceutical company Pfizer NYSE PFE before founding Venomtech stressed that the venom extraction process causes no discernible harm to the creatures We anesthetize the invertebrates just to temporarily put them to sleep it makes it safer for us because if they re immobile they can t bite us But also it s better for the animals as well And using a very tiny electrical stimulation just to contract the muscle and squeeze the gland we get a small amount of venom produced he said The venom extracted from each creature can be measured in micro liters a thousandth of a milliliter Nevertheless this tiny volume holds hundreds of useful molecules The average scorpion will only produce 2 or 3 micro liters So it s a really small amount But in that small amount there s a lot of interesting peptides several hundred different components and several micro grams of protein in there so there s plenty for us to work with Trim said We separate that out in a two phase process called high pressure liquid chromatography And that gives us typically about a hundred fractions per venom and each one of those fractions may contain 1 to 5 individual peptides And it s those individual peptides and proteins that are the real interesting things these are the molecules that convey the biological activity of the venom Working with scientists from nearby Canterbury Christ Church University they ve been screening their venom derived chemical library against different diseases Trim said they ve had some extremely encouraging results Some of them we found can kill bacteria bacteria like E Coli and Staphylococcus so very relevant at the moment where modern medicines are failing And we re also finding venoms that are modifying and killing cancer cells he said adding that Venomtech is now working with pharmaceutical companies to turn their venom discoveries into the next generation of drugs OLUSSCIENCE Reuters US Online Report Science News 20160809T152712 0000 |
AMD | Is Software Starting to Turn | Douglas Busch CMT founder of Chartsmarter is getting nervous about the software industry and recommends a pairs trade to play the current situation He examines the technical setups for both LogMeIn and Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD highlights several different candlestick and chart patterns and points out key levels traders should pay attention to in this interview with Jake Merl Filmed on June 13 2019 |
T | Pederson defends call not to go for 2 | Dallas Cowboys National reports Sunday said the Cowboys had tried to lure tight end turned broadcaster Jason Witten out of the Monday Night Football booth and back to the field at AT T NYSE T Stadium On Monday Witten said he s happy what he s doing and also that the Cowboys just don t need him There s nothing there Witten told The Dallas Morning News Look I m enjoying where I m at Those guys are red hot They don t need to change a thing with the way they re playing and the way that defense is playing They re in good shape and so am I Head coach Jason Garrett denied the report Monday saying There is no truth to that story Witten retired in April to become the MNF analyst following Jon Gruden s return to the NFL New York Giants As the Giants struggled to a 1 7 start this season there were calls for the team to move on from Eli Manning as the starting quarterback and replace him with rookie Kyle Lauletta The resurgent Giants now 5 8 have enjoyed success with Manning the past few weeks but in a blowout victory over Washington on Sunday fans got a glimpse at Lauletta when he replaced Manning He entered the game in the fourth quarter threw an interception and finished the game 0 for 5 passing What did head coach Pat Shurmur think I don t think there was enough there to evaluate how he did Shurmur told reporters Would have liked to see him get a couple more completions and not throw that interception certainly Shurmur added I fielded enough questions regarding Kyle Lauletta that those of you that were interested in seeing him hopefully you got a chance to see what you were looking for Philadelphia Eagles The Eagles are 5 for 5 on two point conversion attempts this season so why did they kick the extra point to tie rather than go for two and a chance at a regulation time win against the Cowboys Sunday night I got a report on this head coach Doug Pederson said in his news conference Monday I can t off the top of my head think of exactly the numbers but everything was in favor of going for one And with Dallas having a minute and 39 seconds I think left with two timeouts it changes When prodded by a reporter to further explain his decision in the 29 23 loss that put his team two games behind Dallas in the NFC East Pederson defended the choice I understand what you re saying he said Again with two timeouts and all four downs and we hadn t really stopped them we can spin this thing a hundred different ways I mean I don t know I still stand by my decision
Washington Redskins Don t tell Josh Johnson now Washington s fourth starting quarterback of the season that nothing good can come from playing video games According to reports Monday just eight days ago he was playing in a charity basketball game in Oakland Calif when the Redskins called him about assuming the backup duties to Mark Sanchez As a 32 year old journeyman quarterback who hadn t been on an NFL roster since 2014 he didn t exactly know all he should about his new team So how did he learn all of their names in a crash course By playing Madden of course Johnson has this week to get to know them even better He ll take the first team reps after outplaying a benched Sanchez in Sunday s 40 16 loss to the Giants Field Level Media |
T | Las Vegas to host 2020 NFL draft | Las Vegas was named as host the 2020 NFL Draft Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the decision on Wednesday The draft which will be the 85th annual will be held April 23 25 The Oakland Raiders are scheduled to begin play in the city in the 2020 season The NFL Draft is one of the most anticipated events of the year and we are excited to take it to Las Vegas Goodell said in a statement from the NFL We look forward to working with the Raiders Las Vegas officials and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to create an unforgettable week long celebration of football for our fans the incoming prospects and partners The league announced the decision from its December meeting in Dallas near the location of AT T NYSE T Stadium in Arlington which becomes the 32nd venue to host the event in April The Raiders are very excited for Las Vegas and are proud to help host the 2020 NFL Draft Raiders owner Mark Davis said Draft related events will take place on and around the Las Vegas Strip The 2018 draft was the highest rated and most watched in history the league said The first NFL draft was held in 1936 in Philadelphia and rotated among U S cities until makings its permanent home in New York City in 1965 In 2015 the draft began rotating among cities again with Chicago hosting the event that year and in 2016 Philadelphia and Arlington Texas followed as hosts
The 2019 NFL Draft will be held April 25 27 in Nashville Tennessee Field Level Media |
PFE | Pfizer PFE Q4 Earnings Sales Top 2018 View Upbeat | Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE is one of the most well known names in the pharmaceutical sector not just for its medicines and vaccines but also for its consumer healthcare products This New York based company is well known for products like Prevnar Lyrica Lipitor and Celebrex among others However like many of its peers PFE is facing generic competition and pricing pressure for several products Other than that lost alliance revenues supply shortages in legacy Hospira products pricing pressure and rising competition are hurting the top line In this scenario investor focus remains on late stage pipeline candidates and their commercial potential and performance of new products apart from the usual top and bottom line numbers The pharma giant has a fairly decent record of earnings surprises The company s earnings surpassed expectations in three of the last four quarters while missing in one resulting in an average positive surprise of 0 79 Pfizer Inc Price and Consensus
Currently PFE has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold but that could definitely change following the company s earnings report which was just released We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just revealed announcement below Earning Beat PFE beat fourth quarter earnings which came in at 62 cents while our consensus called for EPS of 56 cents Earnings rose 32 year over year Revenues Beat Revenues also expectations Pfizer posted revenues of 13 70 billion which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 13 61 billion Revenues rose 1 from the year ago quarter on a reported basis On an operational basis revenues were flat year over year 2018 Guidance Revenues are expected in the range of 53 5 billion to 55 5 billion in 2018 The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 53 72 billion Adjusted earnings per share are expected in the range of 2 90 3 00 which was above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 77 per share Pre Market Trading Shares rose more than 2 in pre market trading Check back later for our full write up on this PFE earnings report later Don t Even Think About Buying Bitcoin Until You Read ThisThe most popular cryptocurrency skyrocketed last year giving some investors the chance to bank 20X returns or even more Those gains however came with serious volatility and risk Bitcoin sank 25 or more 3 times in 2017 Zacks has just released a new Special Report to help readers capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly |
PFE | Stocks slip on Japan fiscal stimulus approval yen rallies | By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK Reuters Wall Street stocks opened lower on Tuesday after weak U S economic data disappointed investors further dragging on global equity prices after the approval of a fiscal stimulus package by Japan s cabinet failed to cheer markets Oil rebounded strongly after having fallen as much as 10 percent in one week but concerns about oversupply lingered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s cabinet approved 13 5 trillion yen 132 billion in fiscal measures on Tuesday The easing moves were perceived as less aggressive than anticipated and the yen rallied to a three week high against the U S dollar There s quite a lot of skepticism in the market as to whether this fiscal package can change anything said Alvin Tan a strategist at Societe Generale PA SOGN Last week the Bank of Japan announced easing steps that disappointed investors who had hoped for more These governments are flailing about looking for something that will get it back on track and certainly public confidence that they have really done enough has been something that has been difficult to achieve said Bruce McCain chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland MSCI s world stocks index which tracks shares in 45 nations was down 0 75 percent Wall Street added to Monday s modest losses after data showed inflation still muted and below the U S Federal Reserve s 2 percent target despite a better than expected rise in consumer spending in June The Dow Jones industrial average fell 111 97 points or 0 61 percent to 18 292 54 the S P 500 lost 16 99 points or 0 78 percent to 2 153 85 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 53 84 points or 1 04 percent to 5 130 36 Dow component Pfizer NYSE PFE was one of the biggest drags on the S P 500 after revenue from its array of branded patent protected medicines disappointed investors European stocks dropped to a three week low dragged down by banks after Commerzbank s shares slid to a record low after the bank warned that its earnings would fall this year Oil rose more than 2 percent in early trading after falling by around 4 a barrel in one week But investors remained concerned about oversupply weighing on prices which subsequently turned lower Brent crude was off 1 percent at 41 72 a barrel while U S crude fell 1 5 percent to 39 48 The U S dollar dropped to a six week low against a basket of currencies pressured by expectations that the Federal Reserve would delay raising interest rates after the recent soft U S economic data The dollar index was down 0 64 percent at 95 096 In bond trading U S Treasury yields surged on the Japanese fiscal stimulus measures dampening demand for U S government debt and sending long dated U S yields to their highest levels in more than a week U S 30 year yields rose the most among U S Treasuries and hit 2 332 percent their highest since July 21 as prices fell more than two full points Benchmark 10 year yields hit a six day high of 1 573 percent
Spot gold prices were up 1 percent to 1 366 35an ounce |
T | Ooma s Q3 beat driven by recurring revenue gains | Ooma NYSE OOMA topped expectations with double digit revenue gains and despite a slightly wider loss as it built recurring revenues Overall GAAP net loss was 3 5M vs a year ago loss of 3 2M Non GAAP net loss was 0 5M vs a year ago loss of 0 4M EBITDA fell to 0 2M from break even a year ago But revenues grew 14 to 32 6M paced by 20 growth in business and residential subscription services Core recurring revenues grew 20 year over year driven by over 50 growth in Ooma Business subscription and services revenue says CEO Eric Stang We progressed well on each of our three key initiatives which are to grow Ooma Office and Ooma Enterprise and add smart security services For Q4 it s guiding to revenue of 33M 33 5M above consensus for 32 9M and non GAAP EPS of 0 04 to 0 06 on the high side of consensus for 0 06 For the full year it sees revenues of 127 5M 128M above consensus for 126 6M and non GAAP EPS of 0 16 to 0 18 above expectations for 0 20
Conference call to come at 5 p m ET
Previously Ooma beats by 0 03 beats on revenue Nov 27 2018 Press release Now read |
T | Oklahoma states playoff case tops Texas | Kyler Murray threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns but it was Oklahoma s defense that helped the No 5 Sooners keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive with a 39 27 win over No 14 Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday at AT T NYSE T Stadium Oklahoma has won four consecutive Big 12 Championships a first for the conference The teams now await their bowl fates Sunday with Oklahoma hoping for a third playoff appearance in four seasons The Sooners will need to move up one spot after avenging their only loss of the year After an Oklahoma turnover with just more than nine minutes remaining gave the Longhorns the ball at their own 7 Sooners cornerback Tre Brown got to Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger in the end zone and bowled him over for the safety to put the Sooners ahead 32 27 The Sooners 12 1 then ran the clock down with a drive that took more than six minutes off the clock capped by Grant Calcaterra s second touchdown catch of the game Oklahoma had allowed 40 or more points in four consecutive games coming in but the Sooners defense came up with several crucial stops including early when Oklahoma s offense struggled to find much of a rhythm Texas led 14 6 early in the second quarter after Ehlinger s second rushing touchdown Oklahoma failed to score a first quarter touchdown for the first time in 25 games and took awhile to get going in the second punting after Ehlinger s score But the Sooners defense held Texas with the help of Amani Bledsoe s third down sack that forced a punt Then Oklahoma s offense came alive with Murray hitting CeeDee Lamb for a 42 yard pass on the first play of the ensuing drive and finding Lamb again five plays later for a 28 yard touchdown Ehlinger threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns who finished with 437 yards of total offense more than 60 yards less than they had in Texas 48 45 win Oct 6 Texas receiver Collin Johnson set a Big 12 championship game record with 177 yards receiving on eight catches
Lamb had six catches for 167 yards and a touchdown for Oklahoma Field Level Media |
T | Top 25 roundup QB change again lifts No 1 Tide past No 4 Georgia | Jalen Hurts came off the bench early in the fourth quarter to replace injured starter Tua Tagovailoa and No 1 Alabama rallied for a 35 28 win over No 4 Georgia on Saturday evening in a thrilling SEC championship game in Atlanta Hurts evened the score at 28 with 5 19 to go in the fourth quarter when he rolled right and fired a dart to Jerry Jeudy for a 10 yard touchdown Next Hurts put Alabama on top with a 15 yard quarterback draw into the end zone with 1 04 remaining Alabama 13 0 all but assured itself the top spot in the College Football Playoff The Crimson Tide locked up their 27th SEC title and fifth since 2012 The comeback stunned Georgia 11 2 which led 28 14 late in the third quarter before giving up 21 unanswered points to its longtime rival Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm finished 25 of 39 for 301 yards and three touchdowns but again suffered a heartbreaking loss to Alabama which overcame a 13 0 deficit behind then backup Tagovailoa in January to top Georgia in last season s national title game No 2 Clemson 42 Pitt 10 Travis Etienne rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers rolled past the Panthers in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Charlotte N C all but assuring a berth in the College Football Playoff for the fourth straight year Etienne a sophomore running back who last week was named ACC Player of the Year rushed for 100 yards or more for a seventh time this season The victory gave Clemson its fourth consecutive ACC title and 18th overall Clemson extended the Atlantic Division s reign in the ACC title game to eight in a row Pitt which was representing the Coastal Division for the first time since joining the ACC in 2013 fell to 7 6 but is bowl eligible for the 10th time in 11 years No 5 Oklahoma 39 No 14 Texas 27 Kyler Murray threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns but the Sooners defense helped keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive with a 39 27 win over the Longhorns in the Big 12 championship game at AT T NYSE T Stadium in Arlington Tex Oklahoma 12 1 has won four consecutive Big 12 championships a first for the conference The teams now await their bowl fates Sunday with Oklahoma hoping for a third playoff appearance in four seasons The Sooners will need to move up one spot after avenging their only loss of the year Sam Ehlinger threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns 9 4 who finished with 437 yards of total offense more than 60 yards less than they had in Texas 48 45 win over Oklahoma on Oct 6 No 6 Ohio State 45 No 21 Northwestern 24 Dwayne Haskins threw for a school record 499 yards and five touchdowns as the Buckeyes held off the Wildcats in the Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis Johnnie Dixon had seven catches for 129 yards and a score and Indianapolis native Terry McLaurin had two touchdown receptions Northwestern QB Clayton Thorson was 26 for 43 for 265 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions Ohio State went into the game knowing No 5 Oklahoma 12 1 had beaten Texas 39 27 in the Big 12 championship reducing the Buckeyes chances to earn a bid to the College Football Playoff No 8 UCF 56 Memphis 41 The Knights overcame a 17 point halftime deficit and extended their win streak to 25 games beating the visiting Tigers in the American Athletic Conference title game in Orlando Fla UCF 12 0 playing its first game without star quarterback McKenzie Milton knee surgery has the longest active win streak in the nation Milton was replaced by redshirt freshman Darriel Mack Jr who lost two fumbles in the first half but finished with four scoring runs and two touchdown passes Mack completed 19 of 27 passes for 348 yards and no interceptions UCF running back Greg McCrae rushed for 206 yards on 24 carries 8 6 average and one touchdown Memphis 8 5 was led by running back Darrell Henderson rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass in the first half No 25 Fresno State 19 No 22 Boise State 16 OT Sophomore running back Ronnie Rivers dashed for the winning 1 yard score in overtime as the Bulldogs edged the Broncos in the Mountain West championship game in heavy snow in Boise Idaho Rivers received an option pitch from senior quarterback Marcus McMaryion and outraced defenders into the right corner to give the Bulldogs 11 2 their third ever Mountain West title Junior running back Alexander Mattison matched his season high of 200 yards on 40 carries for the Broncos 10 3 It is his second straight 200 yard outing and third of his career No 23 Iowa State 27 Drake 24 David Montgomery rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns as the Cyclones edged the Bulldogs in the regular season finale for both schools at Ames Iowa These teams added this game after both of their Sept 1 season openers canceled due to severe weather Montgomery rushed 33 times recorded his sixth 100 yard game of the season and scored two TDs for the third time this season as Iowa State 8 4 won the first meeting between the schools since Drake s 20 17 victory in 1985
Quarterback Brock Purdy finished 15 of 22 for 153 yards for Iowa State Grant Kraemer completed 20 of 29 passes for 221 yards for Drake 7 4 Field Level Media |
T | Options Traders Expect Huge Moves In AT T T Stock | Investors in AT T Inc NYSE T need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately That is because the Oct 11 2019 28 00 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today What is Implied Volatility Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell off However implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy What do the Analysts Think Clearly options traders are pricing in a big move for AT T shares but what is the fundamental picture for the company Currently AT T is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold in the Wireless National industry that ranks in the Top 27 of our Zacks Industry Rank Over the last 60 days no analysts have increased their earnings estimates for the current quarter while two have dropped their estimates The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from 94 cents per share to 93 cents in that period Given the way analysts feel about AT T right now this huge implied volatility could mean there s a trade developing Oftentimes options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay At expiration the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected Looking to Trade Options Check out the simple yet high powered approach that Zacks Executive VP Kevin Matras has used to close recent double and triple digit winners In addition to impressive profit potential these trades can actually reduce your risk |
T | AT T To Divest Assets In Puerto Rico U S Virgin Islands | In order to trim its huge debt profile AT T Inc NYSE T recently communicated plans to sell its wireless and wireline operations in Puerto Rico and the U S Virgin Islands to Liberty Latin America Per the agreement the U S wireless carrier will receive 1 95 billion in cash at close subject to customary closing conditions The transaction is subject to review by the FCC and the Department of Justice The companies expect the deal to be completed within six to nine months The transaction comprises network assets including spectrum real estate and leases It also involves customers including 1 1 million wireless subscribers The move is an outcome of the company s ongoing strategic review of its balance sheet and assets to identify opportunities for monetization Upon closure about 1 300 AT T employees will move to Liberty Latin America AT T will retain FirstNet responsibilities as well as DIRECTV and certain global business customer relationships Among other services post deal closure Liberty Latin America will support AT T s FirstNet build in Puerto Rico and the U S Virgin Islands AT T intends to utilize free cash flow for dividends and continue with monetization initiatives to meet its de leveraging goal The company has already surpassed its monetization goal of net 6 billion to 8 billion in 2019 with a total of 10 billion raised year to date from both asset monetization and working capital initiatives With this deal the total of announced monetization efforts this year is more than 11 billion In September 2019 chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson reiterated that AT T remains confident of its ability to reduce its net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio to the 2 5 range by the end of 2019 In fact the company paid down 9 billion in net debt in the first half of 2019 and has reduced net debt by 18 billion since it closed the Time Warner acquisition Remarkably its progress against this objective gave the company confidence to increase its full year free cash flow target to 28 billion AT T also stated that shareholders should expect that share buybacks will be added to the mix of capital allocation approach in the fourth quarter of 2019 As of Jun 30 2019 AT T had 157 937 million of long term debt It expects wireless service revenue growth to continue in the second half of 2019 Driven by strong execution of operational strategies the stock has added 29 8 compared with the s growth of 14 9 year to date AT T currently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold A few better ranked stocks in the broader industry are PCTEL Inc NASDAQ PCTI Nokia HE NOKIA Corporation NYSE NOK and T Mobile US Inc NYSE T each carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see PCTEL surpassed earnings estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters the average positive surprise being 146 4 Nokia surpassed earnings estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters the average positive surprise being 89 3 T Mobile surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters the average surprise being 17 9 5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was hand picked by a Zacks expert as the 1 favorite stock to gain 100 or more in 2020 Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor |
T | Easy Investing Secrets To An Early Retirement October 11 2019 | Building sufficient financial resources to retire early may sound like a dream but making that dream come true is not as hard as it may sound The main thing is simply to save more money each month No big deal right Well
Usually advisors advise 15 to 20 of total income saved every month as an objective yet in the event that you want to retire earlier you likely need to tighten that number up to 40 or half of your pay Not a discipline easily practiced when you review or consider that a substantial segment of your paycheck goes to basic non negotiable lifestyle needs But if you are willing to make some serious lifestyle adjustments and trade offs it s achievable
A relatively new movement called Financial Independence Retire Early FIRE has been developed around this sacrifice and over save now to retire early concept FIRE followers develop strict savings programs up to 75 of income and make associated sacrifices like living in small apartments walking to work every day restrictive diets and so on This path may be too restrictive for many but the mindset offers some takeaways that might be worth considering
First stick with the fundamentals of long term growth investing Choose a diversified portfolio of stocks with exposure to different styles sizes sectors and regions
You may be able to accelerate your potential retirement earnings by consciously seeking higher returns and also accepting more risk in your investment portfolio But whatever your risk tolerance your portfolio must be diversified to protect against extreme market movements that could jeopardize your early retirement objective You can choose from a number of ways to allocate investments to diversify your portfolio and these should be informed by your individual goals growth and income needs appetite for risk and age
After accelerating your savings and setting up an ongoing plan invest your savings into your portfolio at the earliest opportunity Try not to attempt to time the market Stay put and let the compounding characteristics of the markets do its work to help grow your retirement wealth exponentially over time
Astute investors pick retirement growth stocks with low beta strong earnings estimates positive sales growth and expected future growth
Zacks offers investors useful rankings for lower risk growth stocks for retirement portfolios The following are a few selections that merit a closer look UGI UGI AT T T and Takeda Pharmaceutical TAK Earnings and revenue has seen growth of at least 5 or higher over the last five years with a beta of 1 or lower
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If you have 500 000 or more to invest and want to learn more click the link to download our free report 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement This report will help you steer clear of the most common mistakes like trying to time the market lack of diversification in your portfolio and many more Get Your FREE Guide Now |
PFE | Exclusive Medivation discusses potential sale to Sanofi sources | By Michael Flaherty and Greg Roumeliotis Reuters U S cancer drug company Medivation Inc O MDVN is discussing opening its books to Sanofi SA PA SASY after the French pharmaceutical company sweetened its 9 3 billion acquisition offer people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday The talks come after Medivation rejected Sanofi s 52 50 per share cash offer in April prompting Sanofi to embark on a campaign to convince Medivation shareholders to oust Medivation s board of directors and replace them with its nominees in a so called written consent process Medivation is negotiating the terms of a confidentiality agreement with Sanofi that would allow the two companies to engage in deal negotiations the people said Medivation has already signed confidentiality agreements to discuss a potential sale with other companies including Pfizer Inc N PFE and Celgene Corp O CELG the people added There is no certainty that Medivation will agree to a sale with any party the people cautioned The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential Medivation and Sanofi declined to comment while Pfizer and Celgene did not immediately respond to requests for comment Medivation shares jumped as much as 4 2 percent on the news and were trading up 2 5 percent at 61 62 in afternoon trading in New York Sanofi s new offer whose terms could not be immediately learned came following conversations with Medivation shareholders Last month shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis Co recommended that Medivation s shareholders should not support Sanofi s efforts to replace the company s board members Sanofi wants Medivation which sells a successful prostate cancer drug called Xtandi so Sanofi can expand in the lucrative oncology sector as it seeks new businesses to compensate for flagging diabetes revenues Reuters had reported in May that Medivation had signed confidentiality agreements with some companies including Pfizer
Medivation had previously argued that Sanofi s offer had failed to value fairly the prospects for Xtandi as well as two other products currently in clinical trials Talazoparib for the treatment of breast cancer and Pidilizumab for the treatment of blood cancers |
PFE | Pfizer shares tick up after FDA approves pneumonia vaccine for adult use | Investing com Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE shares ticked up on Tuesday after the U S Food and Drug Administration FDA approved the major pharmaceutical company s pneumonia vaccine for an expanded age indication for adults ages 18 to 49
With the approval from the FDA the vaccine Prevenar 13 became the lone treatment on the market available to patients of all ages Previously the vaccine had already gained regulatory clearance for treatment of pneumococcal disease affecting adults ages 50 or over
The expanded age indication according to Pfizer now more closely aligns the immunization practices for adults 19 or older with the 2012 U S Centers for Disease Control CDC and Prevention s Advisory Committee s guidelines for patients with a number of serious diseases The list ranges from HIV and cancer to other conditions such as cerebral spinal fluid leaks and cochlear implants
This expanded age indication in adults 18 to 49 offers an important public health benefit as appropriate vaccination against S pneumoniae is critical to reducing the risk of pneumococcal disease including in those with immunocompromising conditions said Dr Luis Jodar Chief Medical and Scientific Affairs Officer Pfizer Vaccines
Prevenar 13 was first approved in the European Union in 2009 for use in infants and young adults Currently Prevenar 13 is the most widely used pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the world according to Pfizer and is used in pediatric immunization programs in more than 100 nations worldwide
Shares in Pfizer inched up 0 02 or 0 06 to 36 26 in after hours trading Pfizer closed Tuesday s regular session at 36 24 up 0 09 or 0 25 |
T | Final season of Game of Thrones to premiere in April | LOS ANGELES Reuters HBO s hit Emmy winning drama Game of Thrones will debut its eighth and final season starting in April the network announced in a trailer released online on Tuesday The video featured footage from previous seasons of the costly battles that preceded the coming showdown for control of the fictional kingdom of Westeros The network did not reveal a specific date for the final season s premiere which will run for six episodes Game of Thrones which has won multiple Emmy awards is HBO s biggest hit ever with some 30 million viewers in the United States and an army of devoted fans worldwide The series is based on novels by George R R Martin in a series called A Song of Ice and Fire HBO the premium cable network owned by AT T Inc N T plans to put a large physical and social media marketing effort behind the upcoming season Starting Nov 27 promotions will be spread throughout New York s Grand Central Station and 250 000 Game of Thrones mass transit MetroCards will be issued
Several spinoffs of the series are in the works HBO said in June that it had given a pilot order to a prequel that will take place thousands of years before the events of the current series |
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