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PFE | Why Actinium Pharmaceutics Stock May Be Even Better Than Celator | Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc NYSE ATNM
If you think that I wrote a presumptuous Actinium Pharmaceuticals headline to simply grab your attention you are mistaken After extensive analysis of the company I hold a firm belief that ATNM has the potential to mimic the dramatic rise of Celator which saw its market cap increase from roughly 50 million dollars in 2016 to 1 5 BILLION dollars the price at which Jazz Pharmaceuticals paid to acquire the company For Celator shareholders this windfall came after the company provided clinical trial results that proved an increase in the survival rates of patients with AML by approximately three months Celator stock went from around 1 60 in March of 2016 to over 30 00 by the end of May
Celator did a great job extending patient survival and additional survival time offers the potential to find a cure and ultimately create higher overall survival rates Thus the spike for Celator was merited At the time Celator focused on building upon the technology for combination therapy utilizing older chemotherapy drugs in new directions via liposomal nanoparticles that were intended to more efficiently target the delivery of the chemotherapeutic agents to the tumors
While ATNM is not tracking the same scientific pathway as Celator the results being demonstrated by the ATNM medical team may be equally impressive in many respects To that end Actinium Pharmaceuticals deserves a closer look by investors as the potential for a Celator type spike is not out of the question At the very least the Celator deal defined the enormous value being given to leaders in the AML space a market of which the company sits at the very core
ATNM may very well be a victim of the decoupling that can occur between share price and a realistic and encompassing valuation Most vulnerable are the companies like Actinium Pharmaceuticals who have built an extraordinary clinical data set but are unfortunately annihilated by investors that are nagged by the constant fear of a continued plan of stock dilution and convertible debt funding
If current and potential ATNM investors are being spooked by either of those two specters its time to exorcise those demons and come to the realization that the company is both financially and clinically sound The 10 million cash raise in October and the lack of convertible debt provisions on the balance sheet should extinguish those investor concerns
Actinium s Clinical AdvantageBefore getting to the Actinium Pharmaceuticals company fundamentals the main interest of many short term investors there needs to be a greater focus in vetting the company s clinical and strategic progress as well as evaluating the overall strategy and current clinical programs at the company From that vantage point ATNM investors should clearly be able to sight the overall leadership position in at least two advanced clinical stage programs that hold enormous potential in treating AML in addition to a host of other targeted indications
As a quick overview ATNM currently has two clinical stage trials Iomab B CD45 and Actimab A CD33 and in addition to this the company is also strategically positioned to capitalize on its Proprietary Alpha Particle Immunotherapy APIT platform The APIT platform is generating reliable data that is demonstrating its potential to deliver multiple cancer drugs and treatments several that may have blockbuster potential In addition to APIT the company has also staked out a leadership position in linking alpha particles to antibody drug conjugates that are intended to generate new therapies for both liquid and solid tumors
To accentuate the potential of the two clinical trials Iomab B is demonstrating the strength to position the company as a leading franchise in the field of bone marrow transplants BMT having the advantage of an expert team of professionals that possess both the vision and knowledge to advance the studies with the intent of creating innovative new therapies and enhancing shareholder value
For its part Actimab A has the potential to become a best in class solution in CD33 applications CD33 is a transmembrane receptor expressed on cells of myeloid lineage a key component within ATNM trial design with an emerging data set that may bring forward both partnership and strategic opportunities for the company
While the previous and quick introduction includes a host of scientific acronyms and jargon that even savvy biotech investors may find difficult to follow the following spelled out explanation of what these ATNM compounds and trials are doing should be much easier to comprehend
Iomab BCD45 is a molecule that is expressed on leukemia cells bone marrow cells and stem cells and is active in targeting CD45 Iomab B works to deliver a powerful radiation shock to the DNA of these CD45 cells eradicating the leukemic cell and enabling a patient to proceed with a bone marrow transplant In simplest terms Iomab B is the starting point intended to increase survival rates but there is much scientific research that has built up the therapy
The significant and driving force behind Iomab B is that is used as an induction and conditioning agent to enable patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia to receive a bone marrow transplant Iomab B has become a possible life saving therapy bringing potential for a BMT where one did not exist before
Iomab B is not a new therapy option The drug was first developed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center a recognized and Nobel prize winning leader in the field of bone marrow transplants Iomab B has been studied in roughly 300 patients in several phase I and phase II clinical trials in cancer centers throughout the United States targeting various forms of leukemia and lymphoma in physician sponsored trials These trials are on going and have demonstrated meaningful and impressive data in the fight against different forms of leukemia
When targeted to CD45 expressing cells Iomab B has resulted in effective induction and conditioning of the cell in preparation for a BMT while being well tolerated and showing minimal patient reported side effects In comparison to chemotherapy and or radiation the option may become a clear choice for patients with potential to become a first line standard of care based on Iomab B s safety and tolerability profile compared to existing methods of BMT preparation
Iomab B Is A Pathway Toward HealthThe best way to look at Iomab B from layman s terms is that it is the most efficient and well tolerated therapy to prepare a patient for a potential life saving BMT procedure By targeting the bad CD45 cells in the bone marrow its radioisotope payload works to deliver a knockout blow to the cells in the marrow essentially eradicating all of the cells in the bone marrow and clearing a space for the newly transplanted cells
Current methods of treatment that include repetitive rounds of chemotherapy come with a host of complications as well as costs The conditioning regimen in the chemotherapy process can take as long as 42 days to prepare a patient for transplant at a cost approaching one million dollars Unfortunately due to the severe toxicity complications and side effects not all patients will survive the regimen and despite the arduous regimen many of the patients will not have responded well enough to the treatment to prepare them to accept a BMT transplant
In contrast Iomab B is showing tremendous efficacy results with 100 of patients responding to the therapy Additionally 100 of the patients responded to cell engraftment by the 28th day of treatment This important and differentiating factor is further demonstrated by the overall survival rate of patients with only a 10 overall rate of survival for chemo patients compared to upwards of 30 survival in data taken from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for Iomab B phase I II trials
The supporting data from both FHCRC and the internally generated company trial data have allowed ATNM to progress to its Pivotal Phase III SIERRA Trial
ATNM SIERRA TrialThe SIERRA trial is a study of Iomab B in elderly relapsed refractory AML As mutually agreed with the FDA the trial design is a single pivotal study with dependence on trial results to indicate direction and is enrolling patients 55 years of age or older with relapsed or refractory AML The study will have a control arm of the physicians choice using conventional standards of care with curative intent The primary endpoint is a durable and complete response after six months 180 days
The trial is designed to efficiently provide distinguishable data sets with 150 patients being randomly assigned into either the Iomab B arm or the control arm of the trial Between day 28 42 of the trial there may be a crossover whereby patients that have not enjoyed a complete response in the control arm may be subsequently treated with Iomab B All patients irrespective of group will be followed through to the 180 day evaluation period for final efficacy data and response measurement
Because the control arm is being addressed with curative intent the comparative analysis will be useful in determining the distinguishing affects of Iomab B over current forms of treatment The evaluation period will also extend 180 days from the start date and evaluate safety tolerability efficacy and other modalities and observations
Taking Iomab B Commercial
Assuming the data is convincing ATNM then has to define its market By all indications the commercial market for Iomab B is compelling With a highly concentrated BMT market whereby the top 30 centers perform over 50 of the AML BMT procedures in the United States Actinium can position themselves to benefit from the current Prospective Payment System whose exempt cancer centers perform over 20 of all AML BMT procedures These PPS centers could be reimbursed immediately if Iomab B is approved increasing the likelihood of its use
Furthermore with the reimbursement issue affably addressed ATNM will also be in a position to benefit commercially from marketing Iomab B independently and will retain full economic rights enabling ATNM to entertain other strategic opportunities
The potential financial benefit to Actinium Pharmaceuticals for an approved Iomab B could be extremely lucrative Transplant activity in the U S alone is estimated to exceed 4 billion by the year 2020 and with Iomab B being studied in several phase II III trials inclusive of the SIERRA trial the opportunities are broad especially when additional therapeutic focus can be made toward MDS ALL NHL HL and MM different forms of leukemia that Iomab B may be able to effectively treat
Iomab B has shown every indication of being a winner in treating and conditioning patients for a BMT The market is craving an alternative to current standards of care and the early data certainly supports the likelihood for a continued profile that exhibits strong safety and efficacy data Investors can also anticipate an update from several near term data and value drivers expected from clinical programs and strategic initiatives These drivers include Phase III trial investigator meeting updates EU Orphan Designation updates the completion of patient enrollment by the end of 2017 periodic data publication and importantly to investors interim trial updates throughout 2017 and full top line data expected in the first half of 2018 Identifying the potential in Iomab B inherent with its clinical successes and near term catalysts offers less than half the story to be told by ATNM And therein lay the safety net for lofty investor prognostications
Actimab A ATNM s second clinical trial holds just as much promise and similar to Iomab B does not appear to be even remotely reflected in the share price
Actimab A And CD33
Actimab A is a treatment for elderly patients that have been newly diagnosed with AML and is a second and equally compelling reason behind the probable near and long term success for ATNM Developed at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Actimab A is a second generation therapy from Actinium Pharmaceuticals HuM195 alpha program that has been studied in almost 90 patients in four clinical trials
Actimab A targets CD33 a molecule that is expressed on 90 of AML cells Actinium 225 the radioisotope used in Actimab A has strong cytotoxicity which has been pointed out by somepundits as a point of vulnerability in its use However ATNM has been keen to demonstrate in explicit terms that even though there is cytotoxins present they travel only a very small distance and has demonstrated the toxicity profile to be benign
This second generation therapy was born through Bismab A a therapy that showed a clear anti leukemic effect and was able to clearly demonstrate increased survival rates among patients However the isotope bismuth 213 was not a commercially viable product due to various reasons But the reason that the term practicing medicine is used to describe the profession is that the facilitators of both procedure and science are always in practice receptive to learning the answers to questions that constantly present themselves
Therefore when Bismab A proved itself to not be a commercially viable option the evolution of the therapy developed into Actimab A by utilizing the commercially viable isotope 225 which has not only shown a clear anti leukemic effect but also supports an excellent safety and tolerability profile As for CD33 it has become a validated target in treating AML and has earned strong interest from major pharmaceutical companies This interest places ATNM in an enviable position to capitalize on their own clinical studies as Actimab A is one of the most advanced programs addressing CD33 and has the potential to be best in class in terms of therapeutic value
While being best in class is a milestone in and of itself ATNM made a strategic addition to the management team by hiring Dr Mark Berger as Chief Medical Officer and plans to leverage upon his expertise to enhance the clinical development capabilities at the company Dr Berger brings to Actinium Pharmaceuticals over 20 years of drug development experience highlighted by the FDA approvals of Mylotarg for AML the only drug approved in AML in almost forty years and Tykerb for breast cancer
Dr Berger s skill and experience are a tremendous asset for the company as they now have a key team member in place that can build a robust clinical development program to execute on the clinical progress of Iomab B Actimab A and future clinical programs
CD33 Interest Invigorated
There is typically little argument when presented with the fact that ATNM is among the leaders in targeting CD33 While Pfizer NYSE PFE at one time had a drug on the market Mylotarg it was so plagued with debilitating issues that it was withdrawn from the market in 2010 Although Pfizer pulled the drug due to issues unrelated to CD33 targeting the issues that arose that demonstrated a link to cytotoxic agents response rates of less than 30 in patients over the age of 60 years old and serious side effects and tolerability issues reported by patients
Actimab A on the other hand is also a CD33 targeting radiomuunotherapy addressing ADC alpha emitters The product is labeled with alpha emitting Actinium 225 offers a higher dose of energy and a focused range of therapeutic value Unlike Pfizer s failed product Actinium s next generation Actimab A has shown significantly less toxicity and a far less degree of adverse side effect in patients ATNM commenced its phase II trial in September of 2016
Actimab A in its own right is far more deserving of investor respect and value than it is currently realizing especially when compared to other pharmaceutical companies in the CD33 target space ATNM has a valuation that is dwarfed by its competitors irregardless of the fact that ATNM is equal to the task of advancing through its phase II and III trials in relative short order
Immunogen for instance has a market cap of roughly 206 million dollars significantly higher than the current valuation of 75 million dollars for ATNM While not necessarily an apples to apples comparison the stark difference in valuation is questionable as Actinium Pharmaceuticals is further ahead in clinical trials than IMGN is targeting New AML and is utilizing the same ADC alpha emitters But markets are rarely efficient when it comes to valuing small and emerging companies While this is a detriment to ATNM now it may play in favor of early adopting investors who can clearly see the value drivers behind the company s platforms
Actimab A Phase II
The current phase II trial for Actimab A has treated 18 patients to date with patient age being 60 years or older Where the phase I trial treated patients with relapsed refractory conditions the phase II trial is targeting newly diagnosed patients The phase II trial is a dose escalating trial using a fractionated dosing regimen compared to the single dose treatment used in the phase I trial
Safety and tolerability showed compelling and positive results with no severe or unexpected reports of unfavorable effects In addition to having a favorable safety and tolerability profile much was learned from the phase I trial which has led to a refined and more responsive approach in the phase II data
The phase II data is showing that the fractionalized dosing of patients led to the hypothesis that peripheral blast burden can have a material impact on patient response The data showed that fractionalized dosing led to corrections in peripheral blasts which have led to higher patient response rates Additionally these response rates appear to be independent of patient population or severity of disease
While the preliminary data from the phase II trial is encouraging there is still work to be done The phase II trial which was initiated in September of 2016 will enroll a total of 53 patients The FDA has agreed to allow the removal of LDAC low dose cytrabine which is expected to generate a more straight forward trial protocol Additionally ATNM will incorporate PB burden thresholds as part of the inclusion criteria with a stipulation that hydroxyurea control of PB is allowed To facilitate the trail in an expeditious and efficient manner ATNM has planned on doubling the number of trial centers and to expand the clinical development team If the trials prove efficacious there is potential to move into a pivotal trial based on reporting positive data to the FDA Of further and welcome interest for investors the open label trail design will allow for one or more interim data analyses and updates
Drivers For 2017
While the science is often difficult to understand the main questions that investors typically sift down to are related to the near term value drivers for a company For ATNM investors quite a few can be expected
On the Iomab B front investors can expect updates and analyses from the phase III SIERRA trial as well as information generated from the phase III SIERRA trial investigator meeting Orphan Designation from the EMA was announced in 2016 to compliment the already announced Orphan Designation from the FDA and the company should be providing regular updates related to continuing enrollment and reports from the Data Monitoring Committee Investors can expect top line data to be released in the second half of 2018 which will highlight data from the expected 150 patients enrolled in the trial
Information from the Actimab A trial is also expected to provide some key insight as to progress of that study Investors can expect interim data in mid 2017 from the recently announced phase II trial as well as to be informed of the developmental pathway for Actimab A after the meeting with the FDA
ATNM has a host of opportunities to leverage from which is expected to lead to additional therapeutic indications and may also target additional clinical programs in 2017 and 2018 with ambitious plans to host four simultaneous clinical programs Based on the position of the current trials ATNM may be in a strong position to attract both partnership and licensing opportunities as well as collaborative and strategic opportunities
As of October 2016 ATNM had roughly 55 7 million shares outstanding and approximately 25 million in cash Liabilities totaled to roughly 3 million dollars with some of that liability related to derivative liabilities Actinium In 2017
Investors that have been watching ATNM stock during the prior year may have not liked what they have seen from a valuation standpoint But from a clinical perspective they should be excited for the future In an investment world driven by short term motive and quick gains investors too often get caught up in a current headline and forget the value in maintaining a disciplined and thought out investment strategy
A company like ATNM deserves time to develop as does any company that is working on developing best in class therapeutic treatments Companies like ATNM are setting the bar for others to follow and while it may take slightly longer than expected once that bar is set it will be tough for competitors to clear ATNM is well funded for the near and intermediate term and is well into the later stages of its clinical trials With the stock trading at a paltry 75 million market cap it is unjustly undervalued in relation to its peers
Just several months ago ATNM traded almost three times higher in price with data that was less compelling than what is being demonstrated today While markets remain inefficient they do ultimately correct and it is likely that the share price may soon catch up with the fundamentals at ATNM
With a full plate of data expected to be released in 2017 and 2018 exclusive of the anticipated additional trials planned by ATNM the current share price may offer a compelling case for investors to take an early position and hold confidence that management will execute on its strategic mission While no stock goes straight up there does come a point when valuations for companies that are demonstrating proof of concept coupled with a strong balance sheet border on becoming ridiculously mispriced Based on all of the action at ATNM supported by strong data and concurrent phase II and phase III trials calling the current pps ridiculously low is an understatement
Finally while it may be premature to call ATNM a potential 30 bagger as was the case for Celator it is not unreasonable to project the potential for ATNM to enjoy a transformational rise in share price as they begin to release more robust data in the next several months In the meantime it may be fair to also infer that just about no value has been given to either Iomab B or Actimab A two clinical trials that clearly deserve far more respect and consideration than they are getting
Disclosure This article reflects my own opinions and unique articulation This article is not intended to offer investing advice guarantee 100 accurate predictions or to be interpreted as providing a personal recommendation What I can guarantee though is accurate research thoughtful analysis and an enthusiasm about any stock that I cover Additional Disclosure I have no position in any stock mentioned but may initiate a long position in ATNM within the next 72 hours
This article was originally featured on |
PFE | The Week Ahead Trump Versus Yellen Round One | A week featuring the Fed Chair s semi annual Congressional testimony and daily speeches by most of her Fed colleagues would normally represent a commanding first choice for the upcoming theme This time is different Yes I know that you are never supposed to say that The first weeks of the Trump Administration have generated daily news on a wide range of topics each of which draws attention
The combination of the two will provide an irresistible topic for the punditry It will be
Trump v Yellen round one
Last Week
Last week the light economic calendar provided mixed news but there was still a rally in stocks
Theme Recap
In my last WTWA I predicted a discussion about whether the current market optimism was justified Despite some breaking news during the week especially about earnings that theme got plenty of attention
The Story in One Chart
I always start my personal review of the week by looking at this great chart of the S P 500 via Jill Mislinski She notes the new high and the overall gain of 0 81 for the week
Doug has a special knack for pulling together all the relevant information His charts save more than a thousand words Read his entire post for several more charts providing long term perspective
The News
Each week I break down events into good and bad Often there is an ugly and on rare occasions something very positive My working definition of good has two components The news must be market friendly and better than expectations I avoid using my personal preferences in evaluating news and you should too
This week s news was again mixed with a tilt to the positive side
The Good
Framing lumber prices strengthen
Jobless claims are so low they are in Scott Grannis discusses the implications with a chart packed review of policy proposals and the labor force
JOLTS signaled a healthy labor market Many try to use JOLTS as a measure of job growth This is unhelpful since there are better measures for that It is an example of writing about what you think people want to hear The data are best interpreted as a measure of the health and structure of the labor market
The quit rate is seen as a measure of health since it reflects those who voluntarily leave jobs expressing confidence in other opportunities There is a nice discussion of JOLTS and several charts from
The Beveridge Curve is the most important interpretation emphasized by Yellen What we really want to know is the tightness of the labor market Here is a noting what is needed for labor market improvement and the general counter clockwise movement after a recession Readers looking for a Silver Bullet Award might want to check out the very lame interpretation at ZH where one of the Tylers only discusses the gap not the trend or slope The most recent update is a month old from the BLS
Corporate earnings I am scoring this as a slight positive I want to discuss it so I put it somewhere The results are mixed Earnings are below expectations revenues are higher and outlook always negative is not as bad as the long term average There is a year over year gain for a second consecutive quarter not seen for two years Brian Gilmartin the leading sectors He also has something you will not find anywhere else an analysis of the Great work
The Bad
Michigan sentiment dipped to 95 7 on the preliminary estimate down a bit from last month s 98 5 and missing expectations This month s report has a special feature that we need to know divided perceptions based upon politics From the
When asked to describe any recent news that they had heard about the economy 30 spontaneously mentioned some favorable aspect of Trump s policies and 29 unfavorably referred to Trump s economic policies Thus a total of nearly six in ten consumers made a positive or negative mention of government policies In the long history of the surveys this total had never reached even half that amount except for five surveys in 2013 and 2014 that were solely dominated by negative references to the debt and fiscal cliff crises Moreover never before have these spontaneous references to economic policies had such a large impact on the Sentiment Index a difference of 37 Index points between those that referred to favorable and unfavorable policies These differences are troublesome the Democrat s Expectations Index is close to its historic low indicating recession and the Republican s Expectations Index is near its historic high indicating expansion While currently distorted by partisanship the best bet is that the gap will narrow to match a more moderate pace of growth Nonetheless it has been long known that negative rather than positive expectations are more influential in determining spending so forecasts of consumer expenditures must take into account a higher likelihood of asymmetric downside risks
High frequency indicators are a touch more negative New Deal Democrat does an I always read it and any serious investor should join me
The Ugly
Scamming 9 11 heroes and NFL concussion victims Pretty low if true Some will go to any lengths to make a buck
The Silver Bullet
I occasionally give the Silver Bullet award to someone who takes up an unpopular or thankless cause doing the real work to demonstrate the facts No award this week Nominations are welcome For inspiration you might test yourself on the misleading visualization techniques described by I see these daily and so do you The most common in financial posts is this one
The Week Ahead
We would all like to know the direction of the market in advance Good luck with that Second best is planning what to look for and how to react That is the purpose of considering possible themes for the week ahead You can make your own predictions in the comments
The Calendar
We have a normal week for economic data
The A List
Housing starts and building permits Th Little change expected in these important leading indicators
Leading indicators F Popular economic gauge expected to remain strong
Retail sales W Little is expected from the January data
Initial jobless claims Th How long can the amazing strength continue
The B List
Industrial production W A small gain is expected in the volatile series
Philly Fed Th Popular report is the first look at February data
PPI T Starting to run a bit hotter That will attract more attention if it continues
CPI W See PPI above
Business inventories W December data affecting Q4 GDP Favorite spin target Voluntary or involuntary build up
Crude inventories Th Recently showing even more impact on oil prices Rightly or wrongly that spills over to stocks
Chair Yellen gives her semi annual Congressional testimony on Tuesday Senate and Wednesday House The presentations are the same and the order alternates If you don t know why then you missed that class in Congressional Government There are also appearances by a host of other Fed Governors and Presidents Questions will probe the state of the economy the new political environment and the likely pace of rate hikes
Earnings reports will remain important Early actions from the Trump Administration have captured the spotlight and will continue to do so
Next Week s Theme
During the campaign Candidate Trump had plenty of criticism for the Fed and for Chair Yellen Since the election he has had much less to say With Fed Gov Daniel Tarullo s resignation the President will now have three openings to fill out of seven Next year he can replace Yellen as Chair Although technically her term continues most resign when replaced as Chair He has the power to change the style background of members and policies
Yellen is testifying before Congress this week on Tuesday and Wednesday While the topic is the state of the economy we should expect some aggressive questioning Will her testimony or answers draw a Presidential tweet which we are calling a T Wop The punditry will find this combination irresistible I expect plenty of media coverage for a clash that will probably be repeated We can think of it as
Trump v Yellen Round One
The basic possibilities are interesting but mostly speculative so far Here is what Trump might do
Trump will support some of the various moves to audit the Fed and reduce its power
Trump will T Wop Yellen this week and remove her at the first opportunity
Trump will resume the Fed criticism and start his process for filling the vacancies
Trump will moderate criticism while Yellen is still at the reins
Trump will seek candidates that have some traditional credentials
Trump will decide to keep Yellen as Chair
Here is what Yellen might do
Make an aggressive statement criticizing some Trump policies
Avoid Trump issues in the statement but provide some frankly critical answers to questions
Announce that she plans to stay on the Fed if replaced as Chair
Suggest that the Fed policy is changing in a way that Trump sought
Make conciliatory remarks about the direction of Trump policy especially economic stimulus
What fun Expect the pundits and their guests to go wild
What does this mean for investors As usual I ll have a few ideas of my own in today s Final Thought
Quant Corner
We follow some regular great sources and the best insights from each week
Risk Analysis
Whether you are a trader or an investor you need to understand risk Think first about your risk Only then should you consider possible rewards I monitor many quantitative reports and highlight the best methods in this weekly update
The Indicator Snapshot
The Featured Sources
Bob Dieli The C Score which is a weekly estimate of his Enhanced Aggregate Spread the most accurate real time recession forecasting method over the last few decades His subscribers get including both an economic overview of the economy and employment see below
Holmes Our cautious and clever watchdog who sniffs out opportunity like a great detective but emphasizes guarding assets
Brian Gilmartin Analysis of for the overall market as well as coverage of many individual companies
Doug Short The World Markets Weekend Update and much more
RecessionAlert Many for both economic and market analysis While we feature his recession analysis Dwaine also has several interesting approaches to asset allocation Try out his new public
Georg Vrba The and much more for an array of interesting methods Georg Bob Dieli s enhanced aggregate spread considering when it might first give a recession signal The most recent update is for the Business Cycle Indicator
that the early commentary is in S P 2018 earnings estimates at 148 Nearly everyone will regard that as too high but others will start citing it This happens even more after the third quarter of each year
that their GDP Now model has been running too hot due to net exports A change might be in the works
How to Use WTWA especially important for new readers
In this series I share my preparation for the coming week I write each post as if I were speaking directly to one of my clients Most readers can just listen in If you are unhappy with your current investment approach we will be happy to talk with you I start with a specific assessment of your personal situation There is no rush Each client is different so I have eight different programs ranging from very conservative bond ladders to very aggressive trading programs A key question
Are you preserving wealth or like most of us do you need to create more wealth
Most of my readers are not clients While I write as if I were speaking personally to one of them my objective is to help everyone I provide several free resources Just write to info at newarc dot com for our current report package We never share your email address with others and send only what you seek Like you we hate spam
Best Advice for the Week Ahead
The right move often depends on your time horizon Are you a trader or an investor
Insight for Traders
We consider both our models and the top sources we follow
Felix and Holmes
We continue with a strongly bullish market forecast All our models are now fully invested The group meets weekly for a discussion they call the In each post I include a trading theme ideas from each of our four technical experts and some rebuttal from a fundamental analyst usually me We try to have fun but there are always fresh ideas Last week there was a great discussion about whether your trading results are skill or luck Do you know And BTW Athena likes Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD
Top Trading Advice
how to measure your trading performance and you must do this
Yes it is a little late but you can join in just as others quit going to the gym Dave Landry has a nice list of ideas Some of these seemed wise but others sounded like the Delphic Oracle What do you think
Trading methods not working Here is an idea When you hear about a hot IPO look for a stock with a similar name Buy it on the confusion greater fool theory It worked for OTC STVI This is not the first such occasion I hope readers can recognize tongue in cheek
Insight for Investors
Investors have a longer time horizon The best moves frequently involve taking advantage of trading volatility
Best of the Week
If I had to pick a single most important source for investors to read this week it would be this post from Seeking Alpha Editor Gil Weinreich He cites of the current retirement risks responding to a Kiplinger article that retirement was now 10 times riskier
Wow This is a great discussion of a topic with widespread significance With all of the scary stories about retirement it is helpful to read something that is calm and analytical
Gil s daily column is a must read for financial advisors and usually valuable for individual investors as well
Stock Ideas
Eddy Elfenbein s best ideas are in his new ETF which is off to a nice start That does not stop him from making valuable commentary on news markets and other stocks Last week he NYSE INGR an intriguing idea
Our trading model Holmes has joined our other models in a weekly market discussion Each one has a different personality and I get to be the human doing fundamental analysis the dip buying Holmes who has been very hot liked Casey s CASY In a big surprise Holmes sold the next morning so I did a rapid update for readers This is very unusual behavior but it is only one of sixteen Holmes positions Holmes is worth watching
Seeking yield
five dividend stocks that should do reasonably well in a market correction These are the kind of stocks where we enhance yield with sales of rapidly decaying near term calls We make four times as much from the call sales as we do from the dividends
does a deep dive on Pfizer NYSE PFE I agree but I see it as another call selling candidate
Portfolio Management
David Merkel provides about rebalancing your portfolio I love it and not just because the featured band is from one of my old schools The band is great and the Tuba March is awesome
Personal Finance
Professional investors and traders have been making Abnormal Returns a daily stop for over ten years If you are a serious investor managing your own account this is a must read Even the more casual long term investor should make time for a weekly trip on Wednesday Tadas always has first rate links for investors in his This week may be the finest entry in a long series I strongly recommend a look at the great links cited Look at all the posts on the fiduciary rule The average investor needs to understand who is selling and who is acting in his interest For retirees or near retirees the is very valuable Most people do not think about the priority of various retirement needs but they should
Thinking about Social Security
has a nice explanation of the tradeoffs in choosing when to start benefits
Watch out for
Trading the VXX a nearly perfectly engineered tool to separate worried investors from their money It is the unfenced swimming pool of ETF ETNs See Paul Kedrosky s
Warnings about value traps Once again one person s value trap is my candidate for selling near term calls There is always a way to profit if you are right about the major stock characteristics
And more on value investing
You need mental toughness Strategies that work very well in the long term will have dry spells
Final Thoughts
Before turning to the Fed I want to comment on a major news theme from last week in line with what we expected Is the Trump Rally running out of steam Some might find this ironic when results remain strong Here is the three part problem
Pundits and investors seeking a simple post election explanation for the stock rally attributed it to Trump policies
Now that some of these policies seem delayed they expect markets to get softer
But what if the rally was a return to earnings fundamentals and the elimination of pre election uncertainty as I suggested last week with some support from Dr Ed
What about the Fed
Once in office Presidents always like low interest rates Trump will probably replace Yellen but with whom If the cabinet provides any precedent we can expect some non Ivy League non economists I have frequently argued that most intelligent people with a reasonable background would be part of a Fed consensus after their appointment
The importance of the issues the venue and the evidence presented by staff all nudge in this direction I once had the chance to suggest this idea to former Dallas Fed President Bob McTeer and he agreed It is easy to draw out a confirming answer in such conversations but we talked at some length and I really wanted to know
Parsing through the possibilities described above I expect to see little change in Fed policy The new President will wind up appointing people with traditional credentials but perhaps with different policy viewpoints He will not reappoint Yellen although people forget that the Fed Chair is often appointed by Presidents of both parties Greenspan and Bernanke are the most recent examples He will not aggressively push for a change in policy In fact some are already claiming that the modest Fed rate increases are anti Trump Yellen will probably not remain after her term as chair unless the new appointees are jarringly different in methods or policy preferences
The Fed news has dramatically different significance for traders and investors
For traders this week will be especially difficult to game Since that community has over emphasized the Fed for the entire rally unable to explain the gains any other way there might be some big fluctuations Since there is little precedent for this we cannot even guess what the content based algorithms will do
For investors it is another opportunity Since the events have little real impact on expected earnings and the economic cycle we can have shopping lists ready My portfolio rebalancing has raised my cash levels It is not fear of a correction but a natural process |
PFE | Investors Are Closely Watching Pfizer Inc | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE has been included in the investors watch list in the Healthcare space which focused on drug manufacturers
The stock remained positive and changed hands at 33 51 up from the previous close of 2 32 in recent sessions As the stock continues to show good signs analysts have taken a closer look at the company s recent data
The pharmaceutical company has been competing well with others in the Healthcare space and continues to offer an integrated factor
The company is currently changing hands with a market capitalization of 203 54 billion suggesting a positive adjustment for revenues that are constantly growing by 7 93 on a quarterly year basis ahead of its recent quarterly report announcement
Meanwhile Pfizer Inc gained 4 62 last month which came in at a relatively strong transaction volume The stock has underperformed the S P 500 by 23 32 which stood there in a less volatile market compared with most of the other stocks on the exchange
Will Pfizer Move Higher
Research firms covering shares of the pharmaceutical company are expecting the stock to change hands between 30 and 52 within the next year The mean consensus price target settled at 37 846
Analysts are expecting the company to post an earnings per share EPS of 0 66 for the current quarter topping the actual earnings of 0 47 which was recently announced for the period ending on December 31 2016
Given the anticipated next release of the company it is expected that investors will closely watch on the company s next earnings report estimated on May 2 2017
The chart below illustrates the price movement of the Pfizer Inc ahead of the anticipated next earnings release
The stock is showing a bullish tone after shares posted four straight gains both in a light and heavy trading volume Additionally the RSI currently stood at 72 3494 which suggest that the overbought level was already reached
ConclusionGiven that market participants are expected to closely watch the company s next earnings release along with the bullish tone the RSI could give a signal for the stock to reach its peak as the overbought level has already been reached
Moreover investors are recommended to close any buy position as shares could decline until the next earnings report |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices AMD Stock Moves 1 21 What You Should Know | In the latest trading session Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD closed at 17 94 marking a 1 21 move from the previous day This change was narrower than the S P 500 s daily loss of 1 58 Meanwhile the Dow lost 1 99 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 1 63
Prior to today s trading shares of the chipmaker had lost 3 04 over the past month This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 2 81 and was narrower than the S P 500 s loss of 6 62 in that time
Investors will be hoping for strength from AMD as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be January 29 2019 In that report analysts expect AMD to post earnings of 0 09 per share This would mark year over year growth of 12 5 Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 1 45 billion down 2 32 from the prior year quarter
Looking at the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of 0 46 per share and revenue of 6 53 billion These totals would mark changes of 170 59 and 22 52 respectively from last year
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AMD These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short term business trends As a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear actionable rating model
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 72 lower within the past month AMD currently has a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Digging into valuation AMD currently has a Forward P E ratio of 39 48 This represents a premium compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 14 47
Investors should also note that AMD has a PEG ratio of 2 82 right now This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate Electronics Semiconductors stocks are on average holding a PEG ratio of 1 23 based on yesterday s closing prices
The Electronics Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 81 which puts it in the top 32 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
To follow AMD in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
PFE | European stocks edge higher in light trade Dax up 0 26 | Investing com European stocks edged higher on Monday as trading volumes were expected to remain light in the absence of any major economic reports to be released from the euro zone while markets continued to eye developments in the Ukraine
During European morning trade the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0 39 France s CAC 40 edged up 0 12 while Germany s DAX rose 0 26
Investors remained cautious as hostilities between Russia and Ukraine continued On Friday U S Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Washington was ready to step up sanctions on Russia
The West is accusing Russia of leading a separatist revolt in eastern Ukraine after it annexed Crimea last month
Financial stocks were mixed as French lenders BNP Paribas BNPP PARIS and Societe Generale SOGN PARIS gained 0 71 and 0 10 while Germany s Deutsche Bank DBKGn XETRA declined 0 56
Among peripheral lenders Intesa Sanpaolo ISP MILAN rose 0 21 and Unicredit CRDI MILAN shed 0 31 in Italy while Spanish banks Banco Santander SAN MADRID and BBVA BBVA MADRID climbed 0 41 and 0 42
Elswhere Bayer BAYGN XETRA surged 4 12 after the German pharmaceutical and chemicals conglomorate said it is exploring a sale of its 10 billion plastics unit to focus on boosting its health business
The news came after the company reported a 12 rise in first quarter profit helped by new medicines and a rebound at its plastics unit
In London FTSE 100 added 0 20 led by Astrazeneca AZN LONDON up 11 99 after Pfizer NYSE PFE confirmed that it is interested in acquiring the U K drugmaker for about 58 8 billion The acquisition would be one of the largest takeovers in the industry s history
Meanwhile financial stocks were mostly lower as HSBC Holdings HSBA LONDON dipped 0 03 and Lloyds Banking LLOY LONDON slipped 0 13 while the Royal Bank of Scotland RBS LONDON tumbled 1 06 Barclays BARC LONDON overperformed on the other hand adding 0 21
In the mining sector stocks were mostly lower Glencore Xstrata GLEN LONDON dropped 0 70 and Bhp Billiton BLT LONDON retreated 0 86 while rival company Rio Tinto RIO LONDON saw shares plummet 1 90
In the U S equity markets pointed to a higher open The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0 14 rise S P 500 futures signaled a 0 16 increase while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0 12 gain
Later in the day the U S was to release private sector data on pending home sales |
AMD | AMD clarifies Spectre vulnerability fix | AMD NASDAQ AMD shares moved aftermarket yesterday following an interview where CEO Lisa Su newly acknowledged the company s products are vulnerable to the Spectre chip flaw Last night the company clarified its vulnerability Spectre comes in two variants Variant 1 and 2 with the latter the harder to fix AMD says Variant 2 was not demonstrated to work on its products Out of caution the company is making microcode updates available to expand its threat containment AMD shares are down 2 6 premarket Previously AMD drops after acknowledging vulnerability to Spectre flaw Jan 11 Now read |
T | U S ambassador to Mexico to resign amid tense bilateral relations | MEXICO CITY Reuters U S Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson will step down from the job in May she said on Thursday joining a growing list of senior State Department officials to resign from the agency during the presidency of Donald Trump Jacobson s decision comes as relations between the two neighboring nations are at a low point thanks to Trump s threats to abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA and force Mexico to pay for a border wall After 31 years of serving the U S government I will leave at the beginning of May in search of new opportunities I leave knowing that the U S Mexico relation is strong and crucial she wrote in a statement on Twitter Together we are stronger Jacobson added that she did not know who would replace her The U S Embassy in Mexico City referred questions about Jacobson s resignation to her Twitter statement Earlier on Thursday Mexican newspaper Reforma reported that Trump plans to nominate former AT T NYSE T Chief Executive Ed Whitacre as the next ambassador to Mexico U S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told his Mexican counterpart Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray in a February 17 phone call that Jacobson had resigned the foreign ministry said in a statement It is exclusively the job of the U S government to reveal publicly who it will name to lead its diplomatic representation in Mexico the foreign ministry statement said thanking Jacobson for her service in Mexico and across the region and wishing her well in future endeavors Appointed by former President Barack Obama Jacobson became ambassador to Mexico in May 2016 after serving as the State Department s Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Many expected Trump to quickly ditch Jacobson due to her links to the Obama administration and her often vocal differences with some of the U S president s declarations such as his proposed border wall Since Trump took office she has increasingly been viewed as a lame duck with Mexican diplomats choosing to channel U S foreign policy through White House advisors and particularly his son in law Jared Kushner Nonetheless Mexican diplomats say she was well regarded Last month the State Department s third ranking official Tom Shannon announced he was stepping down The departures of Shannon Jacobson and William Brownfield the former U S assistant secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs deprive the U S diplomatic service of many of its most experienced Latin American experts during a crucial election year in the region
They are part of a steady stream of senior career diplomats who have left since Trump became president |
T | Start of trial on AT T Time Warner merger may be delayed by one day | WASHINGTON Reuters The start date for the trial over whether wireless and pay TV provider AT T Inc N T can buy Time Warner Inc N T may be delayed by a day to March 20 Judge Richard Leon said on Friday Leon who is on the U S District Court for the District of Columbia said March 19 may be needed to hear final pre trial motions so the trial start may be pushed back The Justice Department s Craig Conrath said he opposed any delay because witnesses traveling to Washington for the trial could be inconvenienced No final decision on any delay was made The Justice Department sued in November to try and stop AT T which owns DirecTV from buying movie and TV show maker Time Warner arguing the deal would mean higher prices for rival cable and online video distributors and for consumers
The 85 billion deal has been followed more closely than most antitrust matters because U S President Donald Trump attacked it while a candidate in 2016 Trump has also criticized Time Warner s CNN news network and in November he reiterated his opposition to the proposed transaction |
T | Mexico regulator approves America Movil separation firm to challenge | MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexico s telecommunications regulator on Monday said it approved a plan to separate part of American Movil s fixed line units into different entities while the company said it will begin the process but plans to challenge the move in court The Federal Telecommunications Institute IFT ordered America Movil controlled by the family of billionaire Carlos Slim to break out part of its Telmex and Telnor units last year ratcheting up antitrust measures against the company America Movil has two years to implement the separation according to an IFT statement on Monday During that time the firm will have to present the regulator with an asset and debt transfer plan The statement detailed that the new fixed line businesses will be required to separate out local network services and have boards of directors independent of America Movil as well as brands that no longer use the names Telmex Telnor or Telcel Telcel is America Movil s flagship mobile services brand American Movil will start the process of separation but also challenge it the company said in a filing with the Mexican stock exchange later on Monday The legal and functional separation plan ordered by the IFT today differs substantially with the plan presented by Telmex and Telnor the company said Regulated prices for services offered by the separated units would be substantially lower than international references the company said adding that its board has decided not to subsidize or finance the operations of the separate entities On Feb 27 the IFT narrowly approved a separation plan with four commissioners in favor and three opposed according to a vote record on the regulator s website America Movil has been in discussions with the regulator for about one year over how to separate out part of its fixed line business which was long the heart of the company before the rise of mobile communications Mexico enacted a landmark telecommunications reform in 2013 2014 to boost competition in the sector attracting investment from AT T Inc NYSE T But America Movil held nearly two thirds of the Mexico s mobile lines in the first quarter of 2017 according to IFT data In a note to investors Signum Research wrote that it saw little immediate impact for America Movil noting the long timeframe the company has to implement the plan Shares of America Movil rose more than 1 4 percent to 17 80 pesos 0 95 on Monday |
T | Planned meeting between U S and North Korea boosts stock market recovery | By Marc Jones LONDON Reuters World share markets regained ground on Tuesday as news that the United States and North Korea will meet for talks next month came on top of hopes that President Donald Trump s political allies would convince him to avoid a global trade war The broadest gauge of global stocks MSCI s All Country World Index was up more than 0 6 percent for a second day and Wall Street looked set for its third rise running as the rebound gathered momentum N EU T It gained pace as North Korea said it was willing to talk to Washington about denuclearization and would suspend its long running nuclear tests while those talks were under way It looks like risk on sentiment is coming back said Saxo Bank s head of FX strategy John Hardy also pointing to weaker safe havens like the Japanese yen and Swiss franc Europe s mood was also supported after Germany reformed its coalition government to end more than five months in political limbo and as the initial unease caused by a hefty election vote for anti establishment parties in Italy ebbed Italian bonds outperformed and shares in Milan bounced almost 1 5 percent having slipped to a six month low after its weekend vote Europe s big three Britain s FTSE Germany s Dax and France s Cac were up 0 5 1 percent too while the euro and pound both climbed as the dollar lost its footing again FRX Over and above the noise about U S protectionism we are getting now we would need to see real evidence it is damaging growth and that is going to take some time said head of global macro strategy at State Street Global Markets Michael Metcalfe We have been here before in 2002 and 2003 with steel tariffs and that wasn t devastating Top U S Republicans including House speaker Paul Ryan urged Trump on Monday not to go ahead with tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminum Even though the president said he would not back down he suggested Canada and Mexico could be exempted if a new NAFTA trade deal was agreed There was speculation that this had been the main motivation behind the plan After Wall Street s S P 500 had put on more than 1 percent Asia s bourses rallied in concert overnight MSCI s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 5 percent snapping five straight days of losses Japan s Nikkei jumped 1 8 percent from a five month low helped too by reassurances from the head of the Bank of Japan that it would not suddenly end stimulus T Korean shares also erased the remainder of the hit they took after Trump s tariff warnings last week The country is seen as being among the most exposed in Asia due to the large amount of steel it exports to the United States Even in the face of such bad news it shows the volume of money in the equity market that is looking for an entry point said JP Morgan Asset Management s chief markets strategist for the UK and Europe Karen Ward RATE EXPECTATIONS The threat of a trade war is not the only source of tension for the world s financial markets As the global economy steams ahead investors have become increasingly concerned that U S inflation which has been subdued since the 2008 financial crisis could finally pick up and lead to fast interest rate hikes The European Central Bank meets this week and looks almost certain later this year to end its three year old 2 5 trillion euro 3 08 trillion stimulus program U S 10 year bond yields reared back up to 2 89 percent ahead of U S trading and euro zone yields followed suit with German Bunds off a five week low at 0 69 percent The ECB is going to be presenting growth forecasts that are likely to be stronger but will be at pains to stress that the move away from monetary easing will be delicately done said Peter Chatwell head of euro rates strategy at Mizuho The euro traded back above 1 2410 having extended its recovery from a seven week low of 1 2154 In Italy where currency traders are keeping an eye on post election developments as none of the three main factions has emerged with enough seats to govern alone the country s President Sergio Mattarella is expected to open formal coalition talks in April Early elections are possible if no coalition accord is found The dollar s swoon helped the Canadian dollar off an eight month low C 1 2995 it had hit on Monday as the latest round of NAFTA renegotiations fanned the trade nerves Canada is most exposed U S tariff threats but its central bank holds a rate meeting on Wednesday and if it keeps the door open to further hikes the currency is likely to be able to resist further notable depreciation Commerzbank DE CBKG said In commodities crude prices held firm underpinned by robust demand forecasts and prospects for informal contacts sought by OPEC with U S shale oil producers at an industry meeting in Houston this week U S West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at 63 03 per barrel up 0 7 percent following a 2 2 percent gain on Monday Bellwether industrial metal copper gained 1 5 percent in easily its biggest jump in almost a month China s government said on Monday it was confident about keeping its growth rate at around 6 5 percent this year and on Tuesday defended a move to hike military spending by the biggest amount in three years |
PFE | Market Update The May Affect | A break up is never easy and that s what the markets are struggling with this morning Theresa May s speech yesterday has shaken the market Although indices have rebounded slightly Cable is moving downwards after enjoying a rally on the back of May s speech
The Asian Market
Asian Markets were lower yesterday after British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that Britain would be leaving the single market
Fears circulating around what Brexit really means for trade caused investors to shy away from Asian markets The Nikkei 225 index lost about 0 6 following May s speech It has now regained some of those losses up 0 2 trading at 18805 The S P 200 was down 0 8 it has rebounded slightly trading upwards 0 9 trading at 2264 50
China s President Xi Jinping opened the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday to promote globalisation Nationalist and populist movements will hurt trade with China The nation is worried about barriers to trade arising from the western world
Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war President Xi Jinping
The UK Market
Cable is down 0 6 this morning trading at 1 23 The pound has lost momentum following May s speech The current trend of GBPUSD is directly related to May s Brexit priorities Repeatedly reminding the market that there will be a global Britain and that the nation is still a part of the European mindset that they remain friends The final Brexit deal made with the European Union will be put to parliament to vote on which eased investor s concerns
FTSE was down 1 as investors fear that a stronger pound could hurt exports The index is recovering slightly trading 0 09 higher at 7153 50
The US Market
Trump s comments that the dollar is overvalued sent USD currency pairs lower yesterday US stocks also suffered from the statement trading lower on Tuesday
During the beginning of the year the dollar was caught in a horizontal trend In the week of Trump s inauguration the dollar could be correcting itself from the gains seen in the fourth quarter of 2016 A decline in bond yields is also a concern for investors The 10 year Treasury prices dropped 2 3 the lowest level in seven weeks
Political news dominated the market overshadowing earning releases so far
Market Watchlist
Big Pharmaceutical companies could be under serious constraint once Donald Trump takes the oval office Eighteen million people in the US could become uninsured in the coming year and premiums could shoot up
Last week congress approved a budget that accelerates the time it takes to repeal the heath care law However with no concrete replacement bill the repeal could be a disaster for millions of healthcare recipients
Watch out for Pfizer NYSE PFE and Perrigo in the next coming weeks
Pfizer
Perrigo |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices AMD Gains But Lags Market What You Should Know | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD closed at 21 34 in the latest trading session marking a 1 38 move from the prior day The stock lagged the S P 500 s daily gain of 2 3 Meanwhile the Dow gained 2 5 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index added 2 95
Prior to today s trading shares of the chipmaker had gained 22 38 over the past month This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 1 65 and the S P 500 s gain of 1 21 in that time
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AMD as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 29 2019 The company is expected to report EPS of 0 09 up 12 5 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 1 45 billion down 1 78 from the prior year quarter
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 0 46 per share and revenue of 6 54 billion which would represent changes of 170 59 and 22 65 respectively from the prior year
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AMD These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short term business trends As such positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company s business and profitability
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near term share price momentum Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month AMD is currently a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
Investors should also note AMD s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 45 6 Its industry sports an average Forward P E of 16 95 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 26 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate The Electronics Semiconductors was holding an average PEG ratio of 1 41 at yesterday s closing price
The Electronics Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 87 putting it in the top 34 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
To follow AMD in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
AMD | AMD Best of 2019 Wait Before You Buy | Summary Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD traded 3 higher on Tuesday morning after a financial analyst identified it as one of the top investment ideas for next year This might be correct however based on its market cycles we believe that patience will pay off in building a position Cowen equity analyst Matthew Ramsay named AMD as one of his top ideas for 2019 He highlighted the change in semiconductor standards from 10 nanometer nodes to 7 nanometers While this will benefit the sector as a whole Ramsay expects AMD to be a first mover This of course came a day after Keybank said that the semiconductor sector was staring into a black hole due to a combination of weak demand and too much supply The Semiconductor Sector ETF SMH is down 8 on the year In analyzing the market cycles for AMD we think it is possible it has peaked for this cycle and is consolidating We believe the stock will transition into a declining phase into February 2019 as this cycle closes Cowen might be right but we think patience will pay off before buying this one For more from Slim or to learn about cycle analysis check out the askSlim Market Week show every Friday on our |
AMD | 4 Stocks To Watch Today ACB NBEV CORT TWTR | Aurora Cannabis Inc TO ACB popped 26 cents or 4 to 6 19 on 8 9 million shares on Tuesday With new progress in Canada in addition to Farm Bill prospects this stock is moving What we re seeing on this chart on an hourly basis is a big down trend a little left shoulder head southern climax right shoulder stopping right at the neckline It s targeting 6 3 4 7 3 4 8 1 4 before it gets into bigger resistance
Benefitfocus Inc NASDAQ BNFT has a very positive chart Look at the long term It s the best we ve seen in 4 1 2 5 years It jumped another 1 58 or 3 to 54 55 on Tuesday Going forward from that and I could see 60
Twitter Inc NYSE TWTR had a good day on Tuesday jumping 2 26 or 7 to 36 72 on nearly 20 million shares It got right up to resistance and backed off I want to point out that there s resistance right in this area at about the 36 zone If you get through that you ll test the gap a big one at 37 1 2 and then we re looking at a gap fill at 41 Targets are 37 1 2 and 41 going forward It s moving across the declining topsline as well
Uxin Ltd NASDAQ UXIN has been on a tear lately 4 days in a row it s been up huge going from under 3 to over 6 doubling On Tuesday it was up 1 76 or 30 to 7 64 on 13 million shares That thrust with huge volume tells me that we are not done yet I m looking for a move to 7 7 1 4 on this one If it pulls back and consolidates in that zone then I m looking for soething better off near 9
Stocks on the long side included Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB Aphria Inc APHA Canopy Growth Corporation CGC New Age Beverages Corporation NBEV Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated CORT Glu Mobile Inc GLUU Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Inc IMMY PolarityTE Inc PTE Twitter Inc TWTR Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD Uxin Limited UXIN
On the short side stocks included Axon Enterprise Inc AAXN Adient plc ADNT American Eagle Outfitters Inc NYSE AEO Daqo New Energy Corp DQ IntriCon Corporation IIN IRadimed Corporation IRMD MGP Ingredients Inc MGPI Polaris Industries Inc PII PVH Corp NYSE PVH Shutterfly Inc SFLY Tailored Brands Inc TLRD and Weight Watchers International Inc WTW
Watch video here |
AMD | AMD announces JD com as Ryzen distributor in China | AMD NASDAQ AMD announces JD com NASDAQ JD as the newest authorized distributor of AMD Ryzen processors in China JD com is China s leading online retailer with the deep expertise required to help drive broader availability of AMD Ryzen processors in China We are excited to be working with JD com to provide Chinese technology consumers with greater access to high performance AMD products says AMD President and Chief Executive Officer Dr Lisa Su CES18 Previously Nvidia rolling out patches for chip security flaw Jan 10 Now read |
T | California appeals court revives U S FTC s case against ATT | By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON Reuters A full panel of a California appeals court ruled on Monday that the Federal Trade Commission may push forward with a lawsuit alleging that AT T Inc NYSE T was deceptive in slowing internet speeds to customers with unlimited plans The FTC sued AT T in 2014 on the grounds that the No 2 U S wireless carrier failed to inform consumers it would slow or throttle the speeds of heavy data users on unlimited plans In some cases data speeds were slowed by nearly 90 percent the FTC said AT T had argued that it was exempt from FTC regulation because it is a common carrier A three member appeals court agreed and the FTC appealed to a full panel of the U S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit That larger court ruled for the agency and revived the lawsuit The lawsuit has been closely watched because critics warned that the prior ruling could leave internet service providers without a U S regulator The Federal Communications Commission in December voted 3 2 to end the net neutrality rules that were designed to ensure a free and open internet and transfer oversight of ISPs to the FTC Today s decision on jurisdiction does not address the merits of the case We are reviewing the opinion and continue to believe we ultimately will prevail AT T spokesman Marty Richter said Both FTC Chair Maureen Ohlhausen and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai praised the decision Ohlhausen called it good news for consumers
It ensures that the FTC can and will continue to play its vital role in safeguarding consumer interests including privacy protection as well as stopping anticompetitive market behavior she said in a statement |
T | Johnson takes aim at Mexico City repeat | By Frank Pingue Reuters Reigning champion Dustin Johnson is favorite to win a fifth World Golf Championship WGC title this week in Mexico City where the world number one will stare down a strong field featuring six of the world s top 10 golfers Johnson s victory last year came during a red hot stretch in which he won three consecutive tournaments including the WGC Match Play event before his run was halted by a freak back injury on the eve of the U S Masters The long hitting American already has three top 10 finishes in four PGA Tour starts this season including a January victory at Kapalua and will tee off at Club de Golf Chapultepec with an eye on gaining some momentum ahead of the April 5 8 Masters Johnson 33 has enjoyed plenty of success at WGC events and first won this tournament in 2015 when it was held at Trump National Doral in Miami His victory here last year earned him the world s number one ranking But for him to defend his title he will have to fight off every top 50 player except for Jason Day Hideki Matsuyama Rory McIlroy Henrik Stenson and Brooks Koepka making it as deep a field as one will find ahead of the Masters Among the other top players in the field this week are world number two Jon Rahm who finished third here a year ago and reigning Player of the Year Justin Thomas fresh from his Sunday triumph at the Honda Open and showing no signs of slowing down Johnson Rahm and Thomas who have been grouped together for the opening two rounds will tee off on Thursday from the 10th tee at 12 51 ET 1751 GMT Phil Mickelson who won the event in 2009 will tee off with plenty of confidence as he has earned top 10 finishes in each of his last three starts including a share of second place at the AT T NYSE T Pebble Beach Pro Am World number five and former champion Justin Rose who won the WGC HSBC Champions event in Shanghai last October returns to action after a four week break The Englishman who came within a whisker of winning the U S Masters last April where he fell in a playoff to Sergio Garcia edged Johnson in Shanghai and is vying to become only the third man in history to claim back to back WGC titles Last year s runner up Briton Tommy Fleetwood is coming off a fourth place finish at the Honda Classic and will be eager to return and seek his first PGA Tour win
Fleetwood has been grouped with Masters champion Sergio Garcia of Spain and Swede Alex Noren |
T | Set top box maker TiVo exploring options could go private | Reuters TiVo Corp O TIVO has started evaluating a wide range of strategic options including the possibility of going private the set top box maker said on Tuesday
The San Jose California based company s shares were up 11 percent at 15 15 in after hours trading
TiVo s stock price is at a level that the company and its board do not believe reflects the true value of the business the company said
The company is also considering options such as acquisitions and merging with leading players and has engaged LionTree Advisors to assist in the evaluation it said
TiVo sells subscriptions directly to customers with its video recorders and also licenses its technology to cable TV operators that rent recorders to subscribers
The announcement comes two months after sources told The Street that multiple buyers have expressed interest in acquiring Tivo
The company has made several executive appointments last year including that of AT T Inc N T executive Enrique Rodriguez as chief executive
On Tuesday TiVo also reported an 88 percent rise in fourth quarter profit to 18 4 million or 15 cents per share as it recorded a tax benefit of 26 6 million due to changes in the U S tax law |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices AMD Gains As Market Dips What You Should Know | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD closed at 19 21 in the latest trading session marking a 0 52 move from the prior day The stock outpaced the S P 500 s daily loss of 1 82 At the same time the Dow lost 2 21 and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 1 7
Prior to today s trading shares of the chipmaker had lost 23 65 over the past month This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 5 96 and the S P 500 s loss of 2 57 in that time
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AMD as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 29 2019 In that report analysts expect AMD to post earnings of 0 09 per share This would mark year over year growth of 12 5 Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of 1 45 billion down 1 78 from the year ago period
AMD s full year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of 0 46 per share and revenue of 6 54 billion These results would represent year over year changes of 170 59 and 22 65 respectively
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AMD These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short term business trends As a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 8 55 lower AMD is holding a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold right now
Digging into valuation AMD currently has a Forward P E ratio of 41 39 This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 15 82
Meanwhile AMD s PEG ratio is currently 2 96 This metric is used similarly to the famous P E ratio but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock s expected earnings growth rate The Electronics Semiconductors industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1 39 as of yesterday s close
The Electronics Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 92 putting it in the top 36 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Be sure to follow all of these stock moving metrics and many more on Zacks com |
AMD | Asian Shares Shrug Off Fed Minutes And Post Solid Gains Led By Nikkei 225 | Investing com Asian shares showed smart gains on Thursday led by Tokyo as global growth prospects brighten views even as the Fed signaled a more hawkish tone in December meeting minutes released overnight
In Japan the Nikkei 225 jumped 2 46 while Australia s S P ASX 200 rose 0 09 In Sydney oil and gas producers mostly notched gains with Santos up 0 28 and Oil Search rising 1 93 as global crude prices gained
In Greater China the Shanghai Composite gained 0 27 and the Hang Seng index edged up 0 22
Minutes of the Fed s December meeting showed officials expect reductions in corporate and personal taxes to provide boosts to consumer and business spending though they remain somewhat unsure of how much impact the recently passed reform effort will have
The Federal Open Market Committee increased their expectations for 2018 GDP growth from 2 1 or about trend since the post financial crisis recovery to 2 5 Most participants indicated that prospective changes in federal tax policy were a factor that led them to boost their projections of real GDP growth over the next couple of years the minutes stated
While generally looking favorably on the rising stock market indexes some officials have expressed concern that keeping policy overly accommodative could inflate bubbles
In light of elevated asset valuations and low financial market volatility a couple of participants expressed concern that the persistence of highly accommodative financial conditions could over time pose risks to financial stability the minutes said
Overnight markets were buoyed by bullish economic data stoking investor expectations for solid economic growth
The S P 500 advanced 0 6 to close at 2 713 06 with tech rising 1 1 The Nasdaq composite jumped 0 8 to 7 065 53 with Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD surging more than 5 The Dow Jones industrial average finished 98 97 points higher at 24 922 68 as it closed in on the 25 000 mark
The Institute for Supply Management ISM index of national factory activity rose to a reading of 59 7 in December from 58 2 in the previous month That beat economists for forecast for reading of 58 2
A reading above 50 indicates growth in manufacturing well below 50 indicates contraction
The Commerce Department said construction spending rose 0 8 to a record of 1 257 trillion in November topping economists forecast for a 0 6 rise |
T | Judge rules against AT T on Trump DOJ contacts in merger case | In a blow to AT T T 1 and its 85B bid for Time Warner NYSE TWX a judge has ruled that the Dept of Justice doesn t have to identify whether there was contact between the Trump White House and Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the deal Time Warner shares have headed into negative ground down 0 2 A pre trial hearing Friday took up the matter and the judge indicated he might rule that same day AT T had hoped to use the contacts to show that the DOJ s opposition to the deal was spurred by President Trump s opposition to Time Warner s CNN news network The government s case against the deal is set to go to trial next month Previously AT T pressing Trump contact issue in Time Warner pre trial hearing Feb 16 2018 Now read |
T | Judge denies AT T access to White House correspondence on Time Warner deal | By Diane Bartz and David Shepardson WASHINGTON Reuters A federal judge on Tuesday denied AT T Inc s N T request to see White House communications that might shed light on whether U S President Donald Trump pressured the Department of Justice to try to block the wireless carrier s purchase of Time Warner Inc N TWX The decision is a potential setback to AT T s plan to argue in an upcoming trial that the Justice Department s decision to oppose the acquisition was politically motivated perhaps spurred on by Trump s public criticism of the deal and his frequent attacks on Time Warner s CNN The trial to decide the fate of the 85 billion deal which the companies agreed to in October 2016 is set to begin on March 19 AT T lawyers said in court on Friday that the Time Warner 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 But Judge Richard Leon was not convinced Defendants have fallen far short of establishing that this enforcement action was selective Leon wrote in a seven page ruling denying AT T s access to the government communications which might have bolstered its case We respect the judge s decision and look forward to the upcoming trial said Dan Petrocelli lead trial attorney for both AT T and Time Warner The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment 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 once again in November saying it would raise prices He has also frequently attacked Time Warner s CNN for what he sees as negative coverage of his campaign and administration The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in November aimed at stopping AT T which owns DirecTV from buying movie and TV show maker Time Warner arguing that the deal would mean higher prices for rival cable and online video distributors and for consumers It is unclear how much the judge s decision will impact the case Antitrust cases are judged legal or illegal depending on whether prices go up or innovation is lost because of a deal In a pre trial hearing last week AT T s Petrocelli derided the government s case as weak saying that their economists had determined the price of AT T s DirecTV could go down and that there could be a small increase to non DirecTV consumers The Justice Department s Craig Conrath disagreed saying the deal would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage
AT T and Time Warner shares both fell slightly |
T | Mexico s Televisa says studying whether to keep divisions together | MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexican broadcaster Televisa said on Wednesday that it was considering whether to keep the company intact or to spin off some divisions as it tries to adapt to a changing media market and shore up advertising Like other media companies Televisa MX TLVACPO Mexico s largest broadcaster by far is grappling with the rise of online streaming services and suffered a steep drop in advertising revenue last year The company is assessing whether to keep its business units together or create separate companies co Chief Executive Alfonso de Angoitia said in a conference call with analysts on Wednesday We are considering all types of scenarios said Angoitia who along with fellow co Chief Executive Bernardo Gomez was promoted to succeed longtime Chief Executive Emilio Azcarraga in January This is basically whether it s good for Televisa but most importantly good to generate value for shareholders to keep all assets under the same umbrella or to create separate public vehicles Angoitia said Televisa was evaluating the approaches taken by U S peers such as telecommunications firm AT T N T which has tried to move into content through an agreement to buy Time Warner N TWX and news and film conglomerate Twenty First Century Fox O FOXA which has sold off significant assets Even though we now live in a world where media and telecommunications continue to converge from the point of view of customers there does not seem to be a consensus among our peers in terms of the right business mix he said Grupo Televisa is also considering spending more on content Angoitia said Shares of Televisa which owns Mexico s popular Las Estrellas network and a sizeable stake in U S Spanish language peer Univision were down 4 66 percent in late morning trading Televisa on Tuesday posted a quarterly net profit down 12 5 percent from a year ago hurt by the declines in advertising The company shifted its advertising clients to a new pricing scheme that went into effect this year intended to help it capitalize on improved ratings Televisa has also said that it will shed assets as it doubles down on content and distribution Last week the company announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its 19 percent stake in Imagina a Spanish media group for 284 million euros 350 million In addition Televisa recently sold Editorial Atlantida an Argentine publishing group to Luis Castro an Argentine businessman according to a person with knowledge of the matter and a statement issued by the union representing Atlantida workers As part of the transaction Castro agreed to assume Atlantida s debt according to the source Castro did not respond to a request for comment Like America Movil MX AMXL the telecommunications firm owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Televisa faces regulatory scrutiny for its high market share in Mexico After a recent Supreme Court decision Mexico s telecommunications regulator may revisit its decision that Televisa has substantial power in the market for pay TV Angoitia said That decision would require Televisa to take steps to boost competition
We believe that one of the probable outcomes will be that the Federal Telecommunications Institute will now determine that we do not have substantial market power said Angoitia noting the company had not been officially notified of the court s decision |
T | Mexico supreme court says competitors can use America Movil s network | MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexico s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Mexican mogul Carlos Slim s America Movil must allow competitors to use its network and infrastructure essentially holding up aspects of the 2014 telecoms reform The court said the obligation imposed by the reform on America Movil Mexico s largest telecommunications firm to lend interconnection services to competitors does not violate its rights Because the constitutional decree itself recognized that there are certain obligations that are imposed on the preponderant economic agent which will expire once there are conditions of real competition in the market it said The case was filed by America Movil s Telmex unit A central pillar of President Enrique Pena Nieto s reform sought to bolster competition by giving other companies free use of Slim s network which grew from the former state monopoly he acquired in the 1990s The policy was later abandoned by the government after the country s Supreme Court ruled in August that America Movil s interconnection rates should be set by the telecommunications regulator not legislators The IFT telecommunications regulator said in November that America Movil would be able to charge rivals 0 028562 peso per minute for calls to its network as of Jan 1 Competitors can charge 0 112799 peso per minute for mobile calls to their networks it said Rival AT T Inc NYSE T calculated that for every peso cent America Movil can charge for interconnection fees the company s competitors in Mexico would collectively pay about 20 million per year America Movil declined to comment
Slim holds about two thirds of mobile phone subscriptions in Mexico |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices AMD Stock Sinks As Market Gains What You Should Know | In the latest trading session Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD closed at 19 90 marking a 1 63 move from the previous day This move lagged the S P 500 s daily gain of 0 56 Meanwhile the Dow gained 0 76 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 0 38
Prior to today s trading shares of the chipmaker had lost 27 18 over the past month This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 8 65 and the S P 500 s loss of 6 76 in that time
Investors will be hoping for strength from AMD as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be January 29 2019 The company is expected to report EPS of 0 09 up 12 5 from the prior year quarter Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of 1 45 billion down 1 78 from the year ago period
AMD s full year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of 0 46 per share and revenue of 6 54 billion These results would represent year over year changes of 170 59 and 22 65 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
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves To benefit from this we have developed the Zacks Rank a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 8 55 lower within the past month AMD is holding a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold right now
Investors should also note AMD s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 43 82 This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 18 13
Investors should also note that AMD has a PEG ratio of 3 13 right now 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 1 51 as of yesterday s close
The Electronics Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 101 putting it in the top 39 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
You can find more information on all of these metrics and much more on Zacks com |
T | AT T T Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates | AT T T came out with quarterly earnings of 0 86 per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 85 per share This compares to earnings of 0 78 per share a year ago These figures are adjusted for non recurring items
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 1 18 A quarter ago it was expected that this telecommunications company would post earnings of 0 93 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 90 delivering a surprise of 3 23
Over the last four quarters the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times
AT T which belongs to the Zacks Wireless National industry posted revenues of 47 99 billion for the quarter ended December 2018 missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0 90 This compares to year ago revenues of 41 68 billion The company has topped consensus revenue estimates just once 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 7 6 since the beginning of the year versus the S P 500 s gain of 5 3
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 88 on 45 52 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and 3 61 on 185 31 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 11 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 |
T | AT T T Trumps Q4 Earnings Estimates Falters On Revenues | AT T Inc NYSE T reported strong fourth quarter 2018 results driven by solid domestic wireless business and accretive WarnerMedia contribution The company expects to continue this healthy growth momentum in 2019 while focusing on reducing its huge debt burden Net IncomeOn a GAAP basis AT T reported net income of 4 858 million or 66 cents per share compared with 19 037 million or 3 08 per share in the year ago quarter The sharp decline despite top line growth was primarily attributable to favorable impact from U S corporate tax reform in the year earlier quarter Adjusted earnings for the quarter increased to 86 cents per share from 78 cents in the year earlier quarter and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny AT T Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
For full year 2018 AT T reported net income of 19 370 million or 2 85 per share compared with 29 450 million or 4 76 per share in 2017 Adjusted earnings for 2018 improved to 3 52 per share from 3 05 in the prior year Quarter DetailsQuarterly consolidated revenues increased 15 2 year over year to 47 993 million primarily due to the accretive Time Warner acquisition The top line however missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 427 million For full year 2018 AT T recorded revenues of 170 756 million compared with 160 546 million in 2017 Operating income for the quarter was 6 160 million compared with 1 281 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition resulting in respective operating income margins of 12 8 and 3 1 During the reported quarter AT T experienced a net increase in total wireless subscribers of 3 8 million to reach 171 3 million in service Postpaid churn was 1 24 compared with 1 11 in the year ago quarter owing to limited promotional activity The company had 147 000 branded net adds both postpaid and prepaid including 467 000 branded smartphones Postpaid phone only average revenue per user decreased 4 1 year over year to 55 35 Segmental PerformanceCommunications Total segment revenues were 37 458 million down 4 2 year over year with decline in the Mobility business Entertainment Group and Business Wireline Despite higher equipment revenues from increased postpaid smartphone sales the Mobility unit was plagued by lower service revenues Revenues from the Entertainment Group were impacted by the new accounting standards of revenue recognition declines in linear TV subscribers and legacy services Decline in legacy products further led to lower revenues in the Business Wireline Segment operating income was 7 639 million compared with 6 864 million in the year ago quarter largely due to continued focus on cost initiatives Operating margin was 20 4 compared with 17 6 in the prior year quarter EBITDA was 12 244 million compared with 11 466 million in the year ago quarter for respective margins of 32 7 and 29 3 WarnerMedia Total segment revenues were 9 232 million with solid performance from all business units Operating income improved to 2 703 million owing to strong gains from Turner and Home Box Office units for corresponding margin of 28 4 EBITDA was 2 762 million for a corresponding margin of 29 9 Latin America Total revenues were 1 843 million down 16 8 year over year due to adverse foreign currency translation EBITDA decreased to 38 million from 279 million in the year ago quarter for respective margins of 2 1 and 12 6 primarily due to foreign exchange Xandr Total revenues were 566 million up 48 6 year over year while operating income improved 15 8 to 381 million for corresponding margin of 67 3 EBITDA was 386 million for a corresponding margin of 68 2 Cash Flow LiquidityAT T generated 43 602 million of cash from operations for full year 2018 compared with 38 010 million in the prior year period Free cash flow at year end 2018 increased 36 year over year to 22 4 billion As of Dec 31 2018 AT T had 5 204 million of cash and cash equivalents with long term debt of 166 250 million compared with respective tallies of 50 498 million and 125 972 million in the prior year period OutlookAT T offered guidance for 2019 and expects adjusted EPS to grow at low single digit Free cash flow is expected to be in the vicinity of 26 billion with net debt to adjusted EBITDA in the 2 5x range Gross capital investment is likely to be approximately 23 billion Moving ForwardWith solid performance from the Wireless business and incremental contribution from WarnerMedia assets AT T is poised to continue its healthy growth momentum The company also remains focused on managing its debt portfolio and is well on track to achieve its set target of 2 5x debt to EBITDA range by year end 2019 AT T is ramping up its FirstNet program and revamping lineup of video products pricing and promotion initiatives At the same time the company remains well poised to benefit from the impending 5G boom We remain impressed with the inherent growth potential of this stock Zacks Rank Stocks to ConsiderAT T currently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Better ranked stocks in the broader industry include United States Cellular Corporation NYSE S ATN International Inc NYSE T and Sprint Corporation NYSE S each carrying a Zacks Rank 2 You can see United States Cellular Corporation delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 340 4 in the trailing four quarters beating estimates in each ATN International has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 146 1 in the trailing four quarters beating estimates thrice Sprint has a long term earnings growth expectation of 19 6 It delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 320 8 in the trailing four quarters beating estimates on each occasion Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2019In addition to the stocks discussed above wouldn t you like to know about our 10 finest buy and holds for the year From more than 4 000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank these 10 were picked by a process that consistently beats the market Even during 2018 while the market dropped 5 2 our Top 10s were up well into double digits And during bullish 2012 2017 they soared far above the market s 126 3 reaching 181 9 This year the portfolio features a player that thrives on volatility an AI comer and a dynamic tech company that helps doctors deliver better patient outcomes at lower costs |
PFE | Pfizer Q1 earnings weaker than expected shares drop 3 | Investing com U S pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings sending its shares lower in pre market trade it said on Tuesday Earlier in the day in its first quarter earnings report Pfizer said adjusted earnings per share came in at USD0 54 below expectations for USD0 55 per share The company s first quarter revenue totaled USD13 5 billion missing expectations for revenue of USD14 billion Pfizer said it expected full year earnings to come in a range between USD2 14 to USD2 24 per shares compared to a previous forecast of USD2 20 to USD2 30 per share Following the release of the report shares in PFE fell 3 in pre market trade The outlook for U S equity markets remained modestly lower The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a loss of 0 1 at the open S P 500 futures pointed to a decline of 0 15 and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a fall of 0 1 |
T | Golf Johnson two shots behind leaders at Pebble Beach | Reuters World number one and twice winner Dustin Johnson birdied five of his first 11 holes to sit two strokes behind the opening round leaders on Thursday at the AT T NYSE T Pebble Beach Pro Am on the Monterey Peninsula in California Johnson competing in his first PGA Tour event since his runaway victory in Kapalua last month carded a five under par 67 at Spyglass Hill which is considered the toughest of the three venues being used for this week s event That left Johnson who mixed six birdies with a bogey in a share of sixth place and two shots behind first round leaders and fellow Americans Kevin Streelman and Beau Hossler Johnson who won the event in 2009 and 2010 was paired with defending champion Jordan Spieth who offset a birdie at the par four third with a bogey two holes later for an even par 72 that left him well behind the co leaders in a tie for 98th World number eight Rory McIlroy 68 and five times major winner Phil Mickelson 69 went off together at Spyglass Hill and while they finished a stroke apart they could not have arrived at their scores in much different fashion Northern Irishman McIlroy was more steady with three birdies and a bogey on both his front and back nine while Mickelson overcame a rough start that included three bogeys and a birdie on his first seven holes with a strong finish in which he birdied five of his final eight holes World number two Jon Rahm playing at Monterey Peninsula capped his round in style with three consecutive birdies for a four under 67 Australian world number 10 Jason Day was also in the mix after carding a three under par 69 at Spyglass Hill The event which features a 54 hole cut before the final round is contested at Pebble Beach is wildly popular given the celebrities that compete alongside some of golf s biggest names
Among the non golf celebrities competing this week are actor Bill Murray Justin Verlander of the World Series champion Houston Astros Canadian ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers |
T | Mexico telecoms regulator says all can participate in spectrum auction | By Julia Love
MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexico s telecommunications regulator IFT said on Thursday that any operator could participate in a spectrum auction this year opening the door for billionaire Carlos Slim s America Movil to bid
This year the regulator will auction 120 MHz of radioelectric spectrum in the 2500 2690 MHz frequency band that can be used for wireless services the IFT said in a statement
In reality nobody no operator is restricted a priori from participating but effectively we have determined spectrum caps Alejandro Navarrete the head of spectrum at the IFT said on local radio He said the caps would be determined by the amount of spectrum the operators already have
The auction has drawn strong interest from operators because it is well suited for broadband 5g mobile networks and the so called Internet of Things said Federico Hernandez Arroyo a partner who specializes in telecommunications at law firm Hogan Lovells
It is considered as the band for the following generation he said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday
Slim s America Movil which has long dominated Mexico s telecommunications market acquired a slice of the desirable spectrum last year purchasing the rights to 60 MHz of the band from Grupo MVS
As the IFT prepared to auction off the rest of the spectrum competitors called for strict limits to be placed on America Movil s participation Arroyo said
A spokeswoman for AT T NYSE T and a spokesman for America Movil declined to comment A spokeswoman for Telefonica MC TEF did not immediately respond to a request for comment |
T | World stocks shrug off bond market angst over inflation | By Marc Jones LONDON Reuters Stocks and commodities steamed higher on Thursday suddenly shrugging off the angst that has burst out in recent weeks over higher global borrowing costs on the back of rising inflation Economists were struggling to explain the shift except for the argument that historically it s not unusual for stocks and bond market borrowing costs to rise in tandem with a rapidly expanding economy Some just blamed the weather and time of year They speculated that Wednesday s strong U S inflation data that many had predicted could reignite the rout was probably distorted while Asian bears may be squaring up positions for Chinese new year Whatever the reason though the animal spirits were back for riskier assets like stocks Big gains for Wall Street N and Asia overnight put MSCI s 47 country world stocks index MIWD00000PUS back in positive territory for the year and Europe s main markets followed with 0 6 1 percent gains EU For me it s a clear indication that inflation is not as big a threat as people made it out to be over the past couple of weeks said Lukas Daalder chief investment officer at Robeco in Rotterdam The trend behind the market is still very strongly pointed upwards he added 2017 was a very momentum driven market and if that s still the case which after yesterday it appears to be then we will probably see new highs before too long Wall Street futures ESc1 N were also pointing higher but just as big a puzzle as the sudden rebound in stocks sentiment was the break down in correlation between rising U S bond yields and dollar U S Treasury yields on benchmark 10 year notes US10YT RR hit a fresh four year high of 2 94 percent which also dragged gap to 0 786 percent German Bunds out to its widest in 10 months US GVD EUR The dollar tumbled though across the board including to a 15 month low against the yen of 106 18 yen as worries about the U S government s finances seemed to set again after a White House led spending splurge and recent corporate tax cuts That also marked a drop of 3 8 percent from its early February peak near 110 50 yen while the euro EUR and pound both climbed back above the 1 25 and 1 40 thresholds FRX The story I hear most frequently from people is it s the re emergence of the twin deficits said RBC Capital Markets head of currency strategy Adam Cole in London of the dollar s persistent weakness There seem to be concerns on the U S fiscal position and what that implies for the current account VOLATILITY DROPS Asia s stocks rally overnight saw Australian shares AXJO climb 1 15 percent and South Korea s KOSPI KS11 added 1 1 percent Japan s Nikkei N225 shrugged off the normal drag of a stronger yen to advance 1 5 percent following three successive down day that had taken it to a four month low T Volatility shriveled back too The VIX index VIX Wall Street s fear gauge and a measure of market volatility fell all the way back to 18 less than half the 50 point peak touched last week The dollar s weakness also lifted emerging markets and commodities though there were a number of idiosyncratic stories in play too After weeks of frenzied speculation the resignation of South Africa s President Jacob Zuma sent the rand to a 2 1 2 year high of 11 66 and put the country s stock market JTOPI on course for its best day in three years In reaction to Zuma s resignation Moody s which is about to make a decision on whether to remove the country last investment grade credit rating said it was focused on the new leadership s response to low growth and implementing reforms Brent crude futures LCOc1 shot up over 1 percent meanwhile to 65 06 per barrel before losing momentum and trudging back to 63 87 O R While the greenback s woes were a big factor the moves came after a surge the previous day triggered by supply data and comments from Saudi Arabia that major oil producers would prefer tighter markets than end supply cuts too early O R Metals copper and gold both shone too
Gold rose to a 10 day top of 1 357 per ounce while copper seen as a sensitive indicator of the health of the global economy was on track for a weekly gain of more than 6 percent GOL MET L |
T | U S seeks to block AT T from citing Trump opposition in merger lawsuit | By Diane Bartz and David Shepardson WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Department of Justice on Friday moved to prevent AT T Inc N T from arguing that politics played a role in the government s decision to stop its merger with Time Warner Inc N T a deal that President Donald Trump had publicly criticized There was no selective enforcement Justice Department lawyer Craig Conrath said at a pre trial hearing The president is unhappy with CNN We don t dispute that But AT T wants to turn that into a get out jail free card for their illegal merger AT T and Time Warner s lawyer Daniel Petrocelli however cited Trump s repeated criticism of the deal as reason to allow the company to argue that the government opposed the deal for political reasons It is seeking records of communications between the White House and Justice Department that describe Trump s views on the merger AT T wants the judge to review any communications found to see if they bolster their contention that the transaction was singled out because of Trump s anger with CNN The documents were requested as preparation for a March 19 trial in which Judge Richard Leon will decide if the 85 billion deal would raise prices The Justice Department sued to stop the deal on the grounds that it is illegal under antitrust law The government has asked Judge Leon to rule that AT T may not cite politics formally known as selective enforcement as a defense and to quash a request for documents to support that defense AT T s Petrocelli defended the request If there is something in those documents it s important for us he said at the hearing at the U S District Court for the District of Columbia Leon said he would rule on Tuesday The deal has been followed more closely than most antitrust matters because Trump attacked it while on the campaign trail in 2016 Trump has also repeatedly criticized Time Warner s CNN news network and in November he reiterated his opposition to the proposed transaction Conrath said the government s lawsuit was not motivated by Trump s irritation with CNN and said it had offered several settlement options that would have allowed AT T to acquire CNN As recently as November Trump stood by his criticism of the proposed transaction Personally I ve always felt that that was a deal that s not a good deal for the country the president said I think your pricing s going to go up I don t think it s a good deal for the country Conrath warned that if the Justice Department were forced to conduct a much broader search for additional documents it could delay the trial until July Leon also said he did not want the case to get sidetracked We have no intention of losing this schedule Petrocelli said Petrocelli said Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes had laid out in extensive detail the company s belief that Trump s improper influence was a factor in a deposition Thursday AT T had taken the unusual step of including the assistant attorney general for antitrust Makan Delrahim on its witness list as it looks to find evidence to support its position that the government was bringing a case because of Trump s anger Conrath offered an affidavit from Delrahim in which he said he had not been instructed or ordered by anyone at the White House or at the Justice Department to bring the lawsuit Merger cases however are judged illegal or legal depending on whether prices go up or innovation is lost because of the deal
Petrocelli derided the government s case as weak saying that their economists had determined the price of AT T s DirecTV could go down and that there could be a small increase to non DirecTV consumers Conrath sharply disagreed saying the deal would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage |
PFE | Pfizer PFE Ibrance Positive In Phase III Breast Cancer Study | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE announced that detailed results of phase III PALOMA 2 study evaluating the combination of its breast cancer drug Ibrance palbociclib and Novartis AG s NYSE NVS Femara letrozole for the treatment of first line ER HER2 metastatic breast cancer were published in The New England Journal of Medicine In the study it was seen that a combination of Ibrance and Femara led to an improvement in progression free survival PFS or the time before tumor growth by more than 10 months compared with Femara plus placebo In other words the study demonstrated median PFS for women treated with Ibrance plus Femara of 24 8 months compared with 14 5 months on the Femara placebo combination arm indicating a 42 reduction in the risk of disease progression PALOMA 2 had enrolled a total of 666 women from 186 global sites in 17 countries We remind investors that this data was presented at the 52nd American Society of Clinical Oncology ASCO Annual Meeting in June On the basis of the phase II PALOMA 1 study Ibrance was approved under accelerated approval in Feb 2015 for use in combination with Femara for the treatment of post menopausal women with estrogen receptor positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative ER HER2 advanced or metastatic breast cancer who did not received previous systemic treatment for their disease Pfizer believes that the PALOMA 2 confirmatory trial has proven the clinical benefit of the combination therapy and should help the company obtain continued approval in the U S in this indication A supplemental New Drug Application to support the conversion of the accelerated approval into a regular approval based on the PALOMA 2 results has been submitted to the FDA Earlier this year the FDA approved a label expansion for Ibrance to include the treatment of hormone receptor positive HR HER2 advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with AstraZeneca plc s NYSE AZN Faslodex in patients whose disease has progressed following endocrine therapy Meanwhile the European Medicines Agency s EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use CHMP has rendered a positive opinion on the approval of Pfizer s marketing authorization for Ibrance for the treatment of women with HR HER2 locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer Presently Ibrance is approved in over 50 countries Ibrance has been off to a strong start having registered sales of 1 5 billion in the second half of 2016 compared with 0 4 million in the year ago period The drug s label and geographical expansion would boost its commercial potential significantly Going forward we expect investor focus to remain on the commercialization and sales ramp up of Ibrance PFIZER INC Price
Zacks Rank Key Picks
Pfizer currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold A better ranked stock in the health care sector is Cambrex Corp NYSE CBM which sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see
Cambrex s earnings estimates increased from 2 46 to 2 55 for 2016 and from 2 91 to 3 06 for 2017 over the last 60 days The company posted a positive earnings surprise in three of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 19 78 Its share price has increased 9 7 year to date
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PFE | Novartis Buys Selexys On Favorable Phase II Data On SelG1 | Swiss drug maker Novartis AG NYSE NVS announced that it has acquired Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation a privately held company specializing in the development of therapeutics for certain hematologic and inflammatory disorders following the receipt of results from the phase II SUSTAIN study on SelG1 for the treatment of patients with sickle cell disease SCD The study evaluated the use of SelG1 an anti P selectin antibody in the reduction of vaso occlusive pain crises in SCD patients Results were presented at the plenary scientific session of the American Society of Hematology As per the terms of the agreement the value of the transaction could reach 665 million including upfront acquisition and milestone payments We remind investors that Novartis had obtained the exclusive right to acquire Selexys and SelG1 in 2012 The acquisition of Selexys represents an important step toward the continued development of SelG1 which will complement and expand Novartis hematology pipeline Considering the lack of FDA approved drugs for SCD there exists significant unmet for new treatment options Meanwhile among other companies GlycoMimetics Inc NASDAQ GLYC is evaluating its pan selectin antagonist rivipansel in a phase III study for the treatment of vaso occlusive crisis in SCD in collaboration with Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE Rivipansel enjoys a Fast Track in the U S and orphan drug status in both the U S and the EU NOVARTIS AG ADR Price
Zacks Rank Key PicksNovartis currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ VNDA is a better ranked stock in the health care sector with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see Vanda s loss estimates narrowed from 68 cents to 56 cents for 2016 over the last 60 days while its earnings estimates increased from 16 cents to 17 cents for 2017 The company posted a positive earnings surprise in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 56 65 The Best Place to Start Your Stock SearchToday you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy stocks absolutely free of charge Since 1988 Zacks Rank 1 stocks have nearly tripled the market with average gains of 26 per year Plus you can access the list of portfolio killing Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sells and other private research |
AMD | AMD Stock Confirms Bearish Reversal | A month and a half ago on September 11th Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD stock was hovering around 30 a share following a spectacular 190 rally in 2018 Optimism was running high but knowing that semiconductors is an extremely cyclical industry we thought it was time to be careful
Of course the stock did not start declining immediately after our warning Two days later it added another 13 to reach 34 14 a share on September 13th It wasn t Friday but that day still brought bad luck to AMD stock investors It marked the beginning of a 30 8 drop culminating on October 19th And if losing almost a third of its market cap in less than 40 days wasn t bad enough the Elliott Wave structure of this pullback suggests more pain lies ahead Take a look
The weakness from 34 14 has formed a textbook five wave impulse pattern labeled 1 2 3 4 5 In addition two sub degrees of trend are visible within wave 3
For those new to Elliott Wave theory impulses develop in the direction of the larger trend Spotting an impulse to the south means that once the corresponding three wave recovery in wave 2 B is over another five wave sequence can be expected Wave 3 C down has the potential to drag AMD stock even lower
But first we should get ready for a corrective rally in wave 2 B to roughly 30 a share The short term positive outlook receives further support by the MACD indicator which shows a bullish divergence between waves 3 and 5 of 1 A
In our opinion wave 2 B is going to give investors a chance to evacuate before the bears drag AMD stock to 20 or lower in the 3 C The fact that other semiconductor companies such as Nvidia and Micron are also retreating after prolonged rallies suggests that maybe the tide is turning for the entire industry
Original post |
T | The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights AT T Frontier Communications Telefonica Windstream And Nokia | For Immediate ReleaseChicago IL January 25 2019 Zacks com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets Stocks recently featured in the blog include AT T Inc NYSE T Frontier Communications Corp NYSE T Telefonica S A NYSE T Windstream Holdings Inc s NASDAQ WIN and Nokia HE NOKIA Corp NYSE NOK Here are highlights from Thursday s Analyst Blog Telecom Stock Outlook T FTR TEF MoreIn the past five trading days telecom stocks mostly traded flat with a downward inclination owing to the continued market uncertainty triggered by a prolonged partial shutdown of the government The downtrend was further caused by a draft executive order initiated by the Trump administration to restrain Chinese state owned telecom firms from operating in the United States on national security concerns The United States is reportedly mulling to seek extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou from Canada before the Jan 30 deadline to proceed with the legal charges This probably added to the sector woes in the past week On the domestic front the Trump administration is reeling under partial shutdown by various federal agencies for an all time record of 33 days and counting In addition to crippling the normal functioning of the government with furloughs and pay freeze the impasse has led to unavailability of adequate funds for the speedy deployment of 5G technologies The shutdown has even hampered FCC s equipment authorization process compounding industry fears that the deadlock could jeopardize the country s edge in the upcoming 5G boom To make matters worse the government is supposedly preparing an executive order that could give sweeping powers to the Commerce Department to review imported products by domestic firms and ban the outright sale of such equipment on grounds of national security interests Industry observers feel that it could ultimately serve as a death bell to some Chinese telecom firms and make it virtually impossible for them to operate in the U S shores if the bill is passed by the President Despite the conundrums both the United States and China have continued with their trade negotiations to seek a long term solution to the trade war The bilateral trade talks between U S Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu is also scheduled later this month However the diplomatic ties continue to be under severe stress as reports emerge that the United States is considering to formally request the extradition of Meng from Canada to pursue a criminal case against her for alleged trade secret theft Some industry experts believe that the strategic move could be a ploy by the Trump administration to seek a hard bargain from China Although the warring countries have maintained that the issue would not deter the trade talks there is no denying of the fact that tense undercurrents have prevailed over both sides Regarding company specific news strategic corporate actions divestments product launches and technology collaborations took the center stage over the past five trading days Recap of the Week s Most Important Stories1 AT T Inc has yet again proved its unconventional out of the box thinking which helped it evolve from a telecom firm to a leading player in the U S communications sector with a public view of its 5G strategy As the first carrier in the industry the company recently unveiled its 5G policy framework that will hinge on three pillars mobile 5G fixed wireless and edge computing The company aims to address the diverse needs of the business through this holistic approach and better serve the surging consumer base At the same time AT T is developing a robust network to enable fiber based connectivity and LTE to work in unison with 5G solutions and services thereby facilitating the radical transformation of business Read more 2 Frontier Communications Corp has sold a portfolio of 100 wireless communication towers primarily in Connecticut New York and California for 80 million The assets were sold to Everest Infrastructure Partners a Pittsburgh PA based investment firm specializing in infrastructure investments The divesture is part of the long term strategy of the company to strengthen its balance sheet as it remains significantly challenged by slow economic recovery in its service territories Moreover Frontier seems to be grappling with the loss of legacy fixed telephony business to wireless and other offerings The persistent decline in access lines continues to tighten local service revenues which accounts for the bulk of Frontier s total revenues Read more 3 Telefonica S A is reportedly considering divesting its non core assets in Central America to reduce debt burden and focus on core businesses in other parts of the world The relatively small business operations in the region include assets in Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Nicaragua and Panama The continued asset sale transactions are aimed to increase liquidity and ease its burgeoning debt pile Telefonica ended third quarter 2018 with cash and cash equivalents of 6 138 million 7 121 2 million and non current financial liabilities of 47 482 million 55 087 9 million In the first nine months of 2018 the company generated free cash flow of 2 957 million down 8 3 year over year Read more 4 Windstream Holdings Inc s business segment Windstream Enterprise Wholesale has announced that it will utilize the existing long haul fiber assets to augment its core network by more than 200 miles in Montreal Quebec Notably this network expansion reinforces Windstream s goal to connect people and empower enterprises with a world of infinite possibilities The network communications and technology solutions provider will offer customers up to 100 Gbps Wavelength Services and 10 Gbps Internet and Ethernet services in Montreal This would enable access to core U S routes interconnecting within the major New York City locations data centers and cable landing stations in Wall Township NJ and Ashburn VA Read more 5 Nokia Corp recently announced that it has been chosen by Telef nica S A as Service Operation Center provider to transform its subsidiary Telef nica UK s customer oriented business approach Per the agreement the Finnish wireless equipment maker will help Telef nica UK to steadily move from a traditional network centric operator to a customer centric one with extensive focus on subscriber experience across the United Kingdom Read more Media ContactZacks Investment Research800 767 3771 ext 9339 Past performance is no guarantee of future results Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment legal accounting or tax advice or a recommendation to buy sell or hold a security No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor It should not be assumed that any investments in securities companies sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking market making or asset management activities of any securities These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks The S P 500 is an unmanaged index Visit for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release |
AMD | Macquarie upgrades AMD | Macquarie upgrades Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD from Underperform to Neutral with an 11 price target Analyst Srini Pajjuri cites expected gains in PC and GPU markets with headwinds in the cyrptocurrency market AMD shares are up 1 75 premarket Now read |
T | AT T merger judge says no big issues in trial preparations | WASHINGTON Reuters The U S judge who will decide if wireless and pay TV provider AT T Inc NYSE T may purchase Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX said on Friday that he saw no big issues in pre trial preparations The Justice Department has said that the 85 billion deal is illegal because AT T once it owned movie and television show maker Time Warner would have the ability and incentive to raise prices that it charges cable satellite and streaming rivals for Time Warner s content AT T disagreed and the case will go to trial on March 19 Judge Richard Leon noted during a short pre trial hearing on Friday that he was pleased to see that no big issues had arisen that he needed to resolve The judge set a further pre trial hearing for Feb 16 He will also meet informally on Feb 12 with small groups of lawyers from both sides to discuss how the trial will proceed The two sides are expected to exchange witness lists with a maximum of 30 witnesses and expert reports on Friday Both sides said they intended to call former Justice Department economists to support their case AT T will call Dennis Carlton from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business while the Justice Department will call Carl Shapiro of the University of California at Berkeley U S President Donald Trump attacked the deal while on the campaign trail in 2016 Trump has also criticized Time Warner s CNN news network and in November reiterated his opposition to the proposed transaction
AT T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told analysts on a conference call this week that he expected the case to be resolved through litigation We remain very confident that we ll complete this merger he said |
T | China s Huawei builds British ties in face of U S cold shoulder | By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT Reuters China s Huawei said on Tuesday it will spend a further 3 billion pounds 4 2 billion on procurement in Britain as the world s largest telecom equipment maker seeks alternatives to the United States where it faces an effective ban Huawei said its chairwoman Sun Yafang made the pledge in a meeting last week with British Prime Minister Theresa May during a trade mission to China which resulted in deals worth more than 9 3 billion pounds Huawei Technologies HWT UL has been deepening ties in Britain over the last decade and the British welcome is in stark contrast to the United States where Huawei has been largely frozen out over thinly veiled national security concerns The procurement deals would include the global risk management and forex trading operations it runs out of London as well as patent licensing fees which Huawei the world s No 3 smartphone maker pays out to British technology firms such as chip designer ARM now part of Japan s Softbank I m delighted to welcome their increased commitment to the UK Britain s International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was quoted as saying in a Huawei statement adding that the deal would be a boost to the British economy which has been hit by Brexit With 90 percent of global growth forecast to come from outside the EU my international economic department is working to ensure Britain continues to benefit from the vast opportunities available as we leave the EU Huawei said the new agreement builds on a 2012 pledge to spend 1 3 billion pounds between 2013 and 2017 which resulted in it actually investing or procuring 2 billion pounds during that five year period It employs 1 500 people in Britain The procurement pledge is distinct from business investments through which Huawei has become a major supplier of broadband gear for telecom operator BT Group LON BT and mobile networks for wireless giant Vodafone Group LON VOD Last month Huawei suffered a new setback in a bid to win new business in the United States when U S lawmakers urged No 2 wireless carrier AT T NYSE T to cut commercial ties with it Earlier in January the carrier had backed off plans to introduce Huawei s flagship Mate 10 Pro into the U S market Five years ago a British parliamentary committee questioned whether Huawei s position as a key supplier of communications networks equipment to BT raised national security issues The issue evaporated after Huawei issued a statement saying it enjoyed the full support both of the government and BT |
T | Dollar slips vs yen as recovery in stocks lose steam | By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO Reuters The dollar slipped against the yen on Wednesday handing back earlier gains as the recovery in share markets lost steam and dampened investor risk appetite The greenback was 0 4 percent lower at 109 155 The currency reached a high of 109 720 yen earlier in the day as regional equities such as Japan s Nikkei soared taking their cue from a late rebound on Wall Street But the dollar drifted lower as the Nikkei which rose as much as 3 4 percent gave back most of its gains on anxiety over more weakness in U S share markets U S stock futures fell during Asian trade stoking such fears T The focus remains on U S stocks which were the source of the latest turbulence in global markets and currencies The recent surge in long term U S bond yields to four year highs had helped trigger the slide in the equity market and while yields have pulled back from those peaks they still remain elevated The 10 year Treasury yield has nudged back ahead of today s auction Depending on how the auction goes U S equities could face renewed pressure said Makoto Noji senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities Global stocks are expected to remain on a nervous footing going forward Noji said Following soft demand for a 26 billion three year sale on Tuesday the U S Treasury will auction 24 billion of 10 year government bonds later on Wednesday The greenback performed slightly better against currencies as investors have sought shelter in the greenback amid the recent rout in global equities which was triggered by a massive decline in Wall Street shares The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was a shade lower at 89 530 after reaching a two week peak of 90 034 overnight The euro edged up 0 1 percent to 1 2391 after slipping to a two week low of 1 2314 the previous day Wall Street shares bounced about 2 percent on Tuesday after suffering the biggest one day sell off in more than six years S P mini futures however were down 1 percent and pointed to a lower open for U S shares later in the day The Australian dollar which tends to suffer during risk aversion was 0 5 percent lower at 0 7868 The pound was flat at 1 3951 after touching a low of 1 3838 overnight its weakest since Jan 19
The Swiss franc a perceived safe haven along with the yen was 0 1 percent higher at 0 9348 franc per dollar after losing 0 45 percent overnight |
T | Senators propose bill to block U S from using Huawei ZTE equipment | WASHINGTON Reuters Two Republican Senators introduced legislation on Wednesday that would block the U S government from buying or leasing telecommunications equipment from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT UL or ZTE Corp citing concern the Chinese companies would use their access to spy on U S officials Huawei is effectively an arm of the Chinese government and it s more than capable of stealing information from U S officials by hacking its devices Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said There are plenty of other companies that can meet our technology needs and we shouldn t make it any easier for China to spy on us he added The companies did not immediately return calls seeking comment In 2012 they were the subject of a U S investigation into whether their equipment provided an opportunity for foreign espionage and threatened critical U S infrastructure something they have consistently denied The bill which Cotton introduced together with Florida Senator Marco Rubio is similar to one introduced in January by two Republican lawmakers in the House Representatives Michael Conaway and Liz Cheney The administration of U S President Donald Trump has taken a harder line on policies initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing s role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire U S strategic industries Earlier this year AT T Inc NYSE T was forced to scrap a plan to offer its customers Huawei handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators sources told Reuters The U S government has also blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions over national security concerns including Ant Financial s proposed purchase of U S money transfer company MoneyGram International The lawmakers are also advising U S companies that if they have ties to Huawei or telecom operator China Mobile it could hamper their ability to do business with the U S government one aide said
The aide requested anonymity to discuss the matter without being authorized to speak publicly |
T | House Democrats ask Sessions for White House documents about AT T deal | WASHINGTON Reuters Four Democrats in the House of Representatives wrote the Justice Department on Thursday to request documents related to its decision to file a lawsuit to stop AT T N T from buying Time Warner N TWX We are deeply concerned by reports of inappropriate interference by the White House said the letter which was signed by Representatives Jerrold Nadler Elijah Cummings David Cicilline and Gerald Connolly U S President Donald Trump attacked the deal while on the campaign trail in 2016 Trump has also criticized Time Warner s CNN news network and in November reiterated his opposition to the proposed transaction
The Justice Department has said that the 85 billion deal is illegal because AT T if it owned movie and television show maker Time Warner would have the ability and incentive to raise prices that it charges cable satellite and streaming rivals for Time Warner s content A trial is set for next month |
AMD | 4 Stocks To Watch Today APTX CRON PRQR VRA | Aptinyx Inc NASDAQ APTX one of our old swings which I had given you in July when it came down at 21 slowly moved up and ran on Wednesday jumping 3 68 or 14 to 29 29 on 212 736 shares traded Look for it to head up to the mid 30 s
Cronos Group Inc NASDAQ CRON had a good day on Wednesday in spite of marijuana stocks having profit taking popping 1 30 or 12 to 12 45 on 83 million shares That s the biggest volume this stock has ever had It might be a blow out and it looks like it is but I think it might get some momentum to carry low volume before it actually peaks out If you see the stock get to 14 15 then maybe it will roll over
ProQR Therapeutics NV NASDAQ PRQR with a special day on Wednesday exploded 9 60 or 121 to 17 55 on 5 9 million shares Late in the day this stock ramped up after the close and did a secondary I think it s one of those secondary s that s going to be absorbed very well and is going to ramp in the 23 25 zone
Vera Bradley Inc NASDAQ VRA where the pop is well over and out and through a resistance zone just like VCEL did On Wednesday it gained 2 11 or 15 to 16 40 on 2 6 million shares The target is eventually going to be up at 20 21
Stocks on the short side included Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD Aptinyx Inc APTX BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc BCRX CareDx Inc CDNA Cardiome Pharma Corp CORV Cronos Group Inc CRON The Habit Restaurants Inc HABT HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc HTGM ProQR Therapeutics NV NASDAQ PRQR Recro Pharm NASDAQ REPH Stitch Fix Inc SFIX TravelCenters of America LLC TA Tilray Inc TLRY Vericel Corporation VCEL and Vera Bradley Inc VRA
Watch video here |
AMD | AMD Stock Is Up 190 In 2018 Be Careful | Our first and so far only article about Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD was published on January 4 2018 when AMD stock was hovering around 11 55 a share Back then the Elliott Wave analysis of AMD s daily chart made us think the cryptocurrency mining boom was going to propel the stock price to a new high above 15 55 giving it at least 35 upside potential A little over 8 months later the stock is up 190 year to date easily beating the S P 500 s 7 6 YTD return Let s see how did that happen
By early January it looked like there was a complete 5 3 wave cycle on the daily price chart of AMD stock A five wave impulse from 1 61 to 15 55 was followed by a three wave A B C flat correction with an ending diagonal in wave C The theory states that once the corrective phase of the cycle is over the trend resumes in the direction of the impulsive sequence So it made sense to stay the course and expect more strength from AMD going forward As the updated chart below shows we were not optimistic enough
AMD stock s surge did not start right away though It turned out wave 2 B was still in progress as a simple A B C zigzag with a triangle in the position of wave B However the fact that investors had to wait a little longer did not change the positive outlook at all The stock fell to a bottom at 9 04 a share on April 4th and has been under bullish jurisdiction ever since
Currently approaching the 30 a share mark Advanced Micro Devices is now attracting the attention of both large and small investors who seem to believe the best is yet to come A brief look at AMD s weekly chart tells a different story
The historical chart of AMD looks more like a cardiogram than a great growth story The industry AMD operates in namely semiconductors is known to be highly cyclical and not in the Elliott Wave sense of the word This means we cannot rely so heavily on the Elliott Wave principle to keep us ahead of the market in the long term The industry simply does not allow the forming of large enough trends Several good business years are followed by roughly the same number of bad years which results in AMD going practically nowhere in the long term
As the weekly chart shows AMD stock is now touching the resistance line drawn through the last two peaks in June 2000 and March 2006 It is hard to tell if AMD is going to reverse from this line or slightly breach it first but if history is any guide at current price levels the stock is carrying more risks than potential
Original post |
AMD | The Week Ahead Quit Fighting The Last War | There is a normal economic calendar featuring four different housing reports With little interest in recent economic or earnings news the punditry has been interested in history For many it is another opportunity to sell fear The pundits might not change focus but investors should have a resolution
Quit fighting the last war
Today s WTWA will touch on a mostly overlooked element of the financial crisis The Final Thought will emphasize what we all should be thinking about
Last Week Recap
In my last edition of WTWA I noted the preponderance of inflation related data and suggested that the week ahead might be an inflation watch The idea was probably OK but the inflation results were tame Instead the punditry found it more interesting to look back ten years on the fall of Lehman and the financial crisis Whatever the current relevance that made for good reading and watching which I might well have guessed would happen Did it have any effect on trading or investing More below on that question
The Story in One Chart
I always start my personal review of the week by looking at a great chart of the S P 500 This week we ll feature the futures chart from Investing com This is an interactive chart if you go to the site which provides many features The static version still shows the overnight moves and provides a tag for each item of news
The market gained 1 01 on the week reversing last week The weekly trading range was about 1 2 still very low I summarize actual and implied volatility each week in our Indicator Snapshot section below Volatility remains well below the long term average
Personal Note
I will be taking a week off beginning next Saturday so there will probably be no WTWA installment for the next two weeks As I have done recently I ll try to do a mini update if there is something really important
Trivia Question
Who owns the Federal Reserve Few know the answer provided at the end of today s post
Noteworthy
Eddy Elfenbein has a fun side project determining the implied strength of NFL teams from the betting markets He sees usefulness in this sort of exercise since these are a close cousin of financial markets I strongly agree Thinking about sports requires the same skills and forces you out of your existing market biases It is a good way to learn about modeling and forecasting strengths and weaknesses
It might also reveal a different set of biases Mrs OldProf is an Eddy fan and follows him on Twitter as do I of course She claims that there must be some error in his power ranking Green Bay is only 7th
The News
Each week I break down events into good and bad For our purposes good has two components The news must be market friendly and better than expectations I avoid using my personal preferences in evaluating news and you should too
When relevant I include expectations E and the prior reading P
The Good
Rail traffic remains strong especially Steven Hansen s economically intuitive portions GEI
JOLTs showed continuing strength David Templeton HORAN notes that job openings and quits are increasing faster than hires and please note these numbers are about to be revised higher
And the Washington Center for Equitable Growth updates the Beveridge Curve also showing the recent strength
PPI was very tame declining 0 1 E 0 2 P 0 0
CPI was in line on the headline number at 0 2 and lower on the core 0 1 E 0 2 P 0 2
High frequency indicators improve New Deal Democrat has the update on this valuable information He divides the indicators into three groups offering conclusions on each This is the fastest method for those needing to take a real pulse of the economy to stay in tune
Initial jobless claims were only 204K another new low
Bullish sentiment declines which is bullish on a contrarian basis Bespoke
US Homeowner equity tops 6 Trillion This is a new record and represents 636 B in tappable equity than at the start of the year Douglas A McIntyre 24 7
Michigan sentiment registered 100 8 E 97 P 96 2 Jill Mislinski has the analysis and the great chart we have come to expect
NFIB small business optimism reached a new high 108 8 P 107 9 David Templeton HORAN provides analysis of the components as well as this chart
The Bad
Sea container movements slow Steven Hansen GEI analyzes both the month to month and year over year weakness Trade war effect
Retail sales gained only 0 1 E 0 4 P 0 7 revised up from 0 5 Bloomberg Post Prime Day
Tariffs more tariffs on China Another 200 B according to late news reports
The Ugly
Robinhood is supposed to be a no commission broker with special appeal to day trading millennials In fact they are collecting ten times as much as other brokers for selling order flow Logan Kane
Update on fake videos I wrote about this in July The story is now getting more traction now recognized as a national security threat TechCrunch To really understand the power play this BuzzFeed News deep fake using former President Obama He has recently said some aggressive things about President Trump but not what is portrayed here
The Week Ahead
We would all like to know the direction of the market in advance Good luck with that Second best is planning what to look for and how to react
The Calendar
We have a normal economic calendar featuring housing news Many will also be interested in the Philly Fed and Leading Indicator reports As in recent weeks we can expect trade war salvos and political news to be more important than earnings and the economy
Briefing com has a good U S economic calendar for the week and many other good features which I monitor each day Here are the main U S releases
Next Week s Theme
There is some economic news but in recent weeks the focus has been elsewhere In normal times we could expect plenty of attention to housing with four relevant reports on the docket Instead expect a grudging turn from the ten year Lehman anniversary to lessons for the future Pundits might not but investors should be asking
How relevant is the financial crisis to the current market What can we do to prepare for the next war
The lessons
The biggest problem in drawing lessons from history is the temptation to fight the last war In 2014 Ben Carlson had a nice post on this topic including suggestions for further reading and the following key section
One of my favorite expressions about the behavior of investors is that we are constantly fighting the last war The representative heuristic causes us to overweight recent events when we make forecasts and extrapolate the latest performance indefinitely into the future
The reason it s so easy to fall prey to this bias is because in the back of our minds it s very easy to think If this same market scenario happens again I will be prepared and I know exactly how to position my portfolio I will not get caught off guard again
Barry Ritholtz notes 10 things that people still get wrong about the crisis Bloomberg
The ten year anniversary of the fall of Lehman and the start of the financial crisis launched a raft of retrospective articles Most were heavy on the author s pet interpretation of what happened and light on useful ideas about the future Some examples
Nothing has changed It could all happen again tomorrow Economics has not advanced in the right ways Larry Summers
Policymakers did well given the circumstances Neil Irwin NYT
Subprime lending has been replaced by fill in the blank Various pundits on MarketWatch
Bank regulation has not improved
No one went to jail so there is no deterrent against a repeat Ritholtz
Debt of all types is massive and so is leverage
These themes were especially popular among those warning current equity investors
An important theme that got little attention was the role of an accounting rule called FAS 157 This new rule changed the valuation method for some bank assets Michael Cannivet s excellent summary notes that this was a ticking time bomb that provided a tipping point for the crisis This chart illustrates the timing
Ken Fisher writes that Lehman was illiquid not insolvent He quotes former FDIC head William Isaac as saying this mushroomed several hundred billion in loan losses into 2 trillion in write downs The accounting rule was eventually modified but the effect on investors was lasting
The widely bandied risks of today s bull market don t compare Investors fight the last war psychologically Markets don t The next bear will likely look more normal starting amid investor euphoria
Robert Pozen Harvard Business Review asks whether it is fair to blame FAS 157 for the crisis He analyzes several myths about this issue noting that part of the problem was poor understanding by banks counterparties and investors on what the rules actually meant
I wrote extensively about this problem as it was happening but I was wrong about this prediction
This is something you have not seen anywhere else In a few weeks you will see it everywhere There is general consensus that the credit default swap market is flawed unregulated and possibly manipulated
No one seems to have noticed that the ABX the Market Index used to shrink the financial balance sheets and drive ratings downgrades consists of only twenty securities all credit default swaps
Connect the dots
Do you think that these CDS s might have been manipulated by those seeking short sale profits on financial firms At some point we will see that the marks used by accountants were not only illiquid securities but possibly manipulated securities If there is ever an SEC investigation we will see some perp walks
You heard it here first
That was a bad guess I continue to believe that there was a market ju jitsu Clever traders attacked the ABX requiring far less capital to drive down the twenty underlying MBS holdings to profit from short positions in banks and the overall market It would make a fine dissertation topic
What has changed
There actually have been several changes including the following
Modification and clarification of the FAS 157 rule
Tighter bank regulation and the addition of stress testing
Reduction of permitted leverage
Increased reporting of swaps
But more could and should be done
In today s Final Thought I ll focus on the next war
Quant Corner
We follow some regular featured sources and the best other quant news from the week
Risk Analysis
I have a rule for my investment clients Think first about your risk Only then should you consider possible rewards I monitor many quantitative reports and highlight the best methods in this weekly update
The Indicator Snapshot
Short term trading conditions continue at highly favorable levels Actual volatility remains very low While many argue that the low VIX level is a sign of complacency it remains higher than realized volatility Those selling volatility and making money The 3 yield is slightly rounded up 3 is still viewed as a battleground on the ten year note
The request for a 2008 version of the Indicator Snapshot was a great idea The problem is that we need more dates The key warnings came in 2006 or 2007 By 2008 the C Score was correctly looking for the cycle trough My plan is a separate article with a couple of past time frames and then a regular link from WTWA
The Featured Sources
Bob Dieli Business cycle analysis via the C Score
Brian Gilmartin All things earnings for the overall market as well as many individual companies
RecessionAlert Strong quantitative indicators for both economic and market analysis
Georg Vrba Business cycle indicator and market timing tools None of Georg s indicators signal recession Here is the latest chart on the Business Cycle Index
Doug Short and Jill Mislinski Regular updating of an array of indicators Great charts and analysis
Guest Commentary
Tom Lawler via Calculated Risk looks at the difficulty in estimating the number of US households It would seem to be so easy but
To be sure there is no shortage of household estimates in addition to the decennial Census counts Census releases four different estimates of the number of US households Unfortunately the estimates not only differ materially but also show different characteristics of households e g by age and often show different growth rates over time
Insight for Traders
Check out our weekly Stock Exchange post We combine links to important posts about trading themes of current interest and ideas from our trading models This week we took note of the widespread discussion of the most recent appearance of the Hindenburg Omen Each time this appears it attracts a new raft of adherents with little discussion of past results We took a deeper look We shared advice by top trading experts and discussed some recent picks from our trading models Our ringleader and editor Blue Harbinger provided fundamental counterpoint for the models who are all of the technical persuasion
We have been getting good results from the models Some of them fit a risk reward profile that is attractive for retirement investors Check out the weekly post including results and write to us at main at newarc dot com if you want more information or a consultation
Insight for Investors
Investors should have a long term horizon They can often exploit trading volatility
Best of the Week
If I had to pick a single most important source for investors to read this week it would be Jack Forehand s Validea The Benefits of the Other Side He takes note of the increasing polarization in society and the spread from politics to other ideas
The belief that there is an absolute right answer and an absolute wrong one is fraught with problems though It leads to not even considering the opinions of others It becomes the enemy of learning And it leads to poor decision making
We all are subject to this We like to point our fingers at others but they are often best pointed in the mirror
He proceeds to consider several historical metrics that should be open to review and subject to challenge
In the end looking at the other side doesn t mean you have to change what you think It doesn t mean you need to ignore the historical evidence that supports what you think What it means is that confirmation bias can be the enemy of good decision making We all want to be right but it is more important to be correct
This is great advice
Stock Ideas
Chuck Carnevale has a great lesson about the importance of considering valuation in companies you love His examples include the two best utilities in America
Brad Thomas identifies 12 moat worthy REITs
Semiconductors and Equipment are at the bottom of sector relative strength Bespoke provides charts but you must answer for yourself whether this is an opportunity I like it
Stone Fox Capital sees Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD at the end of the current growth cycle but still suggests letting it run
Investing Methods
Lawrence Hamtil has an interesting discussion of the factors behind Peter Lynch s storied success a return almost double that of the S P 500 for 13 years He identifies Lynch s flexibility in his charter He had the ability to exploit the best ideas from colleagues running more focused funds
Personal Finance
Seeking Alpha Senior Editor Gil Weinreich s Asset Allocation Daily is consistently both interesting and informative This week I especially liked his discussion of the possible limits of diversification and how best to achieve it His carefully reasoned answer considers several different dimensions of diversification He cites a strong post by Erik Conley asking us to challenge ourselves What investment approach is best not for everyone but for a specific investor He discusses the difficulties of implementing a buy and hold approach He writes Everybody is a Buy Hold investor until their account value starts going down
Abnormal Returns is an important daily source for all of us following investment news His Wednesday Personal Finance Post is especially helpful for individual investors As always there are many great links on various topics I especially liked Ben Carlson s Avoiding a Single Point of Financial Failure It includes for example advice from Charlie Munger There are 3 ways for a smart person to go broke liquor ladies and leverage And the important observation that financial emergencies are just infrequent expenses you can reliably expect to see you just don t know when Read the full post for some other great advice
Watch out for
Some BDCs There are some that are OK says Tim Plaehn but trading at a discount to book value is a somewhat counterintuitive negative There is no path to growth the portfolio leading to a death spiral He provides three examples
Some wide moat stocks What is this A wide moat is supposed to be good Susan Dziubinski Morningstar identifies why valuation matters as well She provides seven examples Phew I don t own any of them Do you
Junk bonds James Picerno explains why it might be time to take some profits
Final Thought
How can we best prepare for upcoming investment challenges How can we fight the next war rather than relive the financial crisis
In an era where tweets and political events dominate the market agenda this seems like a special challenge We need focus With that in mind I will try for simplicity
The most important issue is avoiding a global trade war
How this is achieved does not matter Some see a grand Presidential plan where a bargaining position has been established Others see impulsive positions that must then be walked back or negotiated It does not matter which is correct or whether either is correct As investors we care about the result not the politics A credible sign of real progress could lead to a 4 jump in stocks a real solution might mean as much as 10 There is no way to prepare for a surprise announcement Would you buy the market after a four percent pop I didn t think so
The most recent estimate of the effect on global GDP is about a 1 hit
The estimate of the impact on S P earnings is about 10 a decline of 6 from current levels Some of this is already reflected in the market
There is a danger that the stock market effect of the tax cuts will be completely undone
Here are three simple steps
Get past the hype and understand the economics My colleague Dr Merton D Finkler has an unbiased presentation of the issue showing the effects on US agricultural exporters and Harley Davidson The help to 140K steel workers should be compared to the impact on 6 5M jobs negatively affected
Judge positive progress by news that traditional Republican groups and leaders are carry an effective message Bloomberg
Watch for a decline in business confidence and consumer sentiment David Templeton HORAN
For the moment the delicate balance continues
Our thoughts are with our many friends in Florence affected areas
Are you ready for the challenges ahead Worried about the pitfalls Can t get back into the market Need more income Our no cost portfolio analysis is on hold during my vacation but you can get on the calendar for early October Just email invested in some safe but stodgy stocks so called value traps We generate extra yield from such positions by selling near term calls If you need more income you might want to get our free description of this method For this or a free portfolio analysis just email main at newarc dot com
Trivia Answer
From the Atlanta Fed s Charles Davidson via GEI where John constantly provides items you would otherwise miss
Stop us if you ve heard this one the Fed is owned by a small influential clique of global oligarchs whose aim is to serve powerful financial interests
As Federal Reserve employees we frequently encounter this misconception And we are always eager to dispel it The truth is the Federal Reserve was established to serve the public interest and is not owned by anyone See the full post for a complete explanation of both history and current operation
I m more worried about
Emerging market economies and their debt Good comments from Eddy Elfenbein who also has a great update of his portfolio for owners like me of his CWS ETF and many other followers
I m less worried about
Artificial intelligence effects on jobs Two skeptical views of this problem from Bret Swanson AEI |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices Nears Key Bounce Level | Shares of Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD are almost 10 off their recent highs a full 30 drop As it craters the weak investors go running but the smart traders are looking to buy The key level is 25 20 for a swing trade bounce This may be hit within a day or two |
T | AT T Unveils Industry s First Three Pronged 5G Strategy | AT T Inc NYSE T has yet again proved its unconventional out of the box thinking which helped it evolve from a telecom firm to a leading player in the U S communications sector with a public view of its 5G strategy As the first carrier in the industry the company recently unveiled its 5G policy framework that will hinge on three pillars mobile 5G fixed wireless and edge computing The company aims to address the diverse needs of the business through this holistic approach and better serve the surging consumer base At the same time AT T is developing a robust network to enable fiber based connectivity and LTE to work in unison with 5G solutions and services thereby facilitating the radical transformation of business Mobile 5GIn order to have a seamless transition among Wi Fi LTE and 5G services AT T intends to deploy a standards based nationwide mobile 5G network in early 2020 The company s 5G service entails utilization of millimeter wave spectrum for deployment in dense pockets while in suburban and rural areas it intends to deploy 5G on mid and low band spectrum holdings AT T believes that as the 5G ecosystem evolves customers can experience significant enhancements in coverage speeds and devices The telco giant has already introduced mobile 5G networks in parts of 12 cities Houston Jacksonville Louisville New Orleans San Antonio Atlanta Charlotte Dallas Indianapolis Oklahoma City Raleigh and Waco The company is further planning to bring mobile 5G in certain areas of seven more cities Las Vegas Los Angeles Nashville Orlando San Diego San Francisco and San Jose in the first half of 2019 Fixed WirelessThis strategic pillar aims to bridge the gap between primary and secondary connectivity and lays the foundation for customers to upgrade to 5G services as and when these are available in a particular region AT T Wireless Broadband services offer flexible data options to meet specific needs of a business Building on its leading fiber distribution the company aims to upgrade its broadband offer with multiple speed tiers up to 50Mbps Over the past five years AT T has invested around 145 billion in wireless and wireline networks including capital investments and acquisition of wireless spectrum and operations Currently the company s wireless network covers more than 99 of Americans Its fiber network is one of the nation s largest reportedly connecting more Internet of Things devices compared to any other providers in North America Edge ComputingAT T anticipates gaining a competitive edge over rivals through edge computing services that allows businesses to route application specific traffic to where they need it and where it s most effective whether that s in the cloud the network or on their premises Through its Multi access Edge Compute MEC solution the company offers the flexibility to better manage the data traffic The MEC leverages indigenous software defined network to enable low latency high bandwidth applications for faster access to data processing The company expects edge computing solutions to be widely available in autonomous vehicles drones robotic production lines and autonomous forklifts in the near future Utilizing machine learning techniques and more connected devices this could transform the way data intensive images are transferred across the industry on real time basis Moving ForwardDespite such innovative products and services the stock has lost 18 3 over the past year compared with the s fall of 3 9 With a focused roadmap AT T appears poised to turn the tables in 2019 which is likely to be a decisive year for it Although a healthy dividend yield of 6 6 remains an enticing proposition for investors the company needs to pull up its socks on several counts and stem the losses in case of a volte face If the company can significantly reduce its debt burden plug the subscriber churn generate solid cash flow and improve top line it can expect a turnaround in fortunes AT T presently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Some better ranked stocks in the industry are ATN International Inc NYSE T Sprint Corporation NYSE S and United States Cellular Corporation NYSE S each carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see ATN International surpassed earnings estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters the average positive surprise being 138 1 Sprint has a long term earnings growth expectation of 19 6 It beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters the average surprise being a stellar 320 8 United States Cellular Corporation surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters the average positive surprise being 108 1 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 | AT T T Earnings Expected To Grow What To Know Ahead Of Next Week s Release | The market expects AT T T to deliver a year over year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended December 2018 This widely known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company s earnings picture but a powerful factor that might influence its near term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report which is expected to be released on January 30 On the other hand if they miss the stock may move lower
While management s discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations it s worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This telecommunications company is expected to post quarterly earnings of 0 85 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 9
Revenues are expected to be 48 43 billion up 16 2 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0 09 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 an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts
Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings Whisper
Estimate revisions ahead of a company s earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out 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 version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is subject to change The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier
Thus a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate However the model s predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70 of the time and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and or Zacks Rank of 4 Sell or 5 Strong Sell
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for 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 1 39
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 93 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 90 delivering a surprise of 3 23
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 |
AMD | You Can Bet on Bitcoin Without Coughing Up 10 000 for One Coin | Bloomberg Maybe you don t want to pay 10 000 for bitcoin Or perhaps you re scared that the world s fastest growing currency is an asset bubble
But if the FOMO is real there are other not so obvious ways to bet on cryptocurrencies in the U S stock market
Trusts
With no bitcoin specific exchange traded fund on the market many U S investors have turned to The Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC a private trust that trades over the counter It invests exclusively in the cryptocurrency and derives its value solely from its price but it isn t bitcoin Thomas Lee an uber bitcoin bull who heads research for Fundstrat Global Advisors sees GBTC hitting 2 800 by 2022 from its current price of around 1 550
ETFs
The ARK Web x 0 ETF ARKW is one of the first U S ETFs to have indirect exposure to bitcoin which it gets by having GBTC as its top weighted member at 7 percent The ARK fund also holds Square Inc NYSE SQ which is letting some users buy bitcoin via its Square Cash app and crypto exposed semiconductor bellwethers like Nvidia Corp The fund s up almost 82 percent this year mostly because of GBTC which accounts for almost 22 percent of the gain according to an analysis of Bloomberg data
Semiconductor exchange traded funds are also potential derivative plays on cryptocurrencies With companies like Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD Inc and Nvidia being used to mine ether the second most valuable digital token funds that hold the stocks may be offering indirect crypto exposure Both the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF SOXX and the VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF SMH hold them In fact Nvidia s gains this year are responsible for 7 4 percent of SOXX s returns
Stocks
There are also plenty of crypto related companies that have seen their stocks skyrocket over the past few months Overstock com Inc NASDAQ OSTK has nearly matched bitcoin s return after announcing the launch of a regulated crypto exchange Riot Blockchain Inc RIOT a former maker of diagnostic machinery for the biotech industry now invests in crypto related businesses leading its stock to more than double in the past two weeks Digital Power Corp DPW which is involved with cryptocurrency mining and Marathon Patent MARA which recently said it would issue shares to fund a blockchain deal each surged more than 40 percent today |
AMD | Stocks U S Futures Mixed After Tech Selloff | Investing com U S futures pointed to a slightly lower opening bell on Tuesday as investors moved from tech stocks to retail and banking amid tax reform bill progress
The S P 500 futures rose half a point or 0 03 as of 6 49 AM ET 11 49 AM GMT while Dow futures increased 52 points or 0 21 Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 24 points or 0 39
Senate Republicans narrowly passed a bill in the early hours of Saturday morning with 51 to 49 in favor of the tax overhaul Retailers and banks are seen as benefiting more from the expected corporate tax cuts which lead to a tech selloff on Monday Congress still faces obstacles before the bill can become law and now must create a joint House and Senate bill which will then be sent to President Donald Trump
Movie theatre firm Regal Entertainment Group NYSE RGC was among the biggest movers in pre market trading rising 6 08 after news that Cineworld is buying the firm in a 3 6 billion deal Telecommunications firm Orange SA PA ORAN ADR NYSE ORAN increased 0 77 while social media site Snap Inc NYSE SNAP was up 3 17
Meanwhile Facebook NASDAQ FB slipped 0 62 while semiconductor Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD was down 1 79 and Chinese e commerce site Alibaba NYSE BABA fell 2 42
In economic news markit composite and services PMI come out at 9 45 AM ET 2 45 PM GMT while ISM non manufacturing PMI is released at 10 00 AM ET 3 00 PM GMT
Stocks were mostly down Germany s DAX slumped 74 points or 0 57 while in France the CAC 40 decreased 30 points or 0 57 and in London the FTSE 100 was up seven and half points or 0 10 Meanwhile the pan European Euro Stoxx 50 fell 14 points or 0 39 while Spain s IBEX 35 was down 14 points or 0 14
In commodities gold futures rallied 0 07 to 1 278 60 a troy ounce while crude oil futures was down 0 54 to 57 16 a barrel The U S dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies inched forward 0 02 to 93 07 |
T | Pentair EPS in line beats on revenue | Pentair NYSE PNR Q4 EPS of 0 93 in line Revenue of 1 26B 5 9 Y Y beats by 20M Press ReleaseNow read |
T | AT T 4 as Q4 tops expectations and guidance looks strong | AT T NYSE T is up 3 9 after hours following an easy beat in its Q4 results despite revenues that dipped slightly and the company set solid guidance for the coming year Revenues fell to 41 7B from 41 8B mainly due to declines in legacy wireline services wireless service revenues and domestic video Operating expenses rose to 41 3B from 37 6B chiefly due to a network asset write off and higher wireless equipment costs It posted 4 1M total wireless net adds for the quarter 2 7M in U S driven by connected devices postpaid phones and prepaid and 1 3M in Mexico In the U S it had 329 000 postpaid phone net adds with nearly 700 000 branded smartphones added to base and postpaid phone churn was a Q4 best ever 0 89 The company logged 300 000 total video net adds 161 000 in U S 139 000 in Latin America Revenue by segment Business Solutions 18 39B up 2 Entertainment Group 12 75B down 3 5 Consumer Mobility 8 27B down 1 7 International 2 22B up 16 For 2018 it s guiding to EPS of about 3 50 above consensus for 2 97 free cash flow of about 21B and capex approaching 25B Conference call to come at 4 30 p m ET Press release Now read |
AMD | AMD Zooms Higher After Price Target Hike Cycles Point to Near term Pullback | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD traded nearly 5 higher on Thursday morning after a stock analyst raised its target Rosenblatt Securities raised its price target on AMD from 27 to 30 which is now the highest price of the Wall Street analysts who cover it According to Rosenblatt s Hans Mosesmann this year s top performing chipmaker is doing well in part to an advantage in process manufacturing that competitors do not share The stock is up over 100 year to date compared to the the Market Vectors Semiconductor Index SMH which is up 5 on the year AMD continues to take market share in part due to an unexpected delay in Intel s transition to the 10 nanometer process he explained In particular AMD is making inroads in the Chinese market Mosesmann said he was raising his target Because of our renewed conviction of a multi year double digit growth profile for AMD In analyzing the market cycles for AMD it is clear that the stock is still in the rising phase of the current cycle This has indeed been a fantastic chart pattern but it is now in our resistance zone While we expect pullbacks they should be minor with even higher prices ahead For more from Slim or to learn about cycle analysis check out the askSlim Market Week show every Friday on our |
AMD | Charts AMD And DRN | I wanted to share a couple of charts that have little to do with one another on this record highs are everywhere day
First up is Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD For many months it looked like it was forming a reversal pattern as it had done five prior times in its history Instead it broke above this pattern green tint tested it successfully a couple of times and then zoom a runaway stock A moment of silence please for anyone who had shorted this The Greater Fool Theory is in top gear now
On a very different note real estate continues to be vulnerable The leveraged bullish instrument shown below NYSE DRN broke its long term trendline and did not even muster enough strength to tag the underside of the same Instead it appears to be double topping red horizontal line preparing for a new leg down In other words diminishing real estate equity valuations |
AMD | 4 Stocks To Watch Today AMD CGC COOL VSTM | Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD had a monster fifth wave but I ll have to say that was a blow off fifth wave top on Monday It popped 1 28 or 5 34 to 25 26 on 321 million shares There s some resistance but it doesn t mean it can t extend further I had a 27 dollar target for those who asked me for a swing target Let s see if it holds or not or follows through or not the next target being 30 if it does If not don t be surprised to see it pull back to the 23 4 zone
Canopy Growth Corp TO WEED has been up for seven days and on Monday it was up 1 32 or 3 to 46 32 on 22 5 million shares with a high of 48 19 It did back off my targetand may or may not have been a reversal day Until we see the reversal itself my target is 52 3 if we can get there
PolarityTE Inc NASDAQ COOL has been up six days in a row eight out of the last nine and thirteen out of the last fifteen days I like the way it s acting jumping another 1 41 or 5 23 to 28 37 on 307 676 shares traded on Monday I like the channel it s in I think it might extend The target going forward is 32 1 2 33 if it gets through resistance at 29 20
Verastem Inc NASDAQ VSTM is following through up six days in a row in a nice steady rising pattern popping 28 cents or 3 to 9 66 on 2 6 million shares o Monday I m looking for 10 65 and 12 00 going forward
Stocks on the long side included Aurora Cannabis Inc ACBFF Canopy Growth Corporation CGC Cronos Group Inc CRON Tilray Inc TLRY Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD ArQule Inc ARQL Bilibili Inc BILI Codexis Inc CDXS Cerus Corporation CERS PolarityTE Inc COOL Endocyte Inc ECYT The Habit Restaurants Inc HABT HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc HTGM iQIYI Inc IQ Momo Inc MOMO Neptune Technologies Bioressources Inc NEPT Nutanix Inc NTNX Ricebran Tech NASDAQ RIBT Tandem Diabetes Care Inc TNDM Verastem Inc VSTM 58 com Inc WUBA Yirendai Ltd NYSE YRD and Zuora Inc ZUO |
AMD | Parabolic Moves Highlight FOMO Warm Up Time | AT40 62 2 of stocks are trading above their respective 40 day moving averages DMAs AT200 59 0 of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX 12 2Short term Trading Call neutral
Commentary Money managers may desperately want to wait until after Labor Day to put idle cash to work but the stock market may force more and more hands to rush in earlier and faster FOMO Fear Of Missing Out may be warming up
The S P 500 SPY NYSE SPY is starting to go parabolic with a 0 7 gain the curved the index notably above its upper Bollinger Band BB
With the Fed out of the way the S P 500 ran freely above its upper Bollinger Band BB to another all time high The index has not gapped up like this all year The stretch makes the index look primed to attempt a run up similar to January s and the more other money managers come to that conclusion the more likely FOMO will create a self fulfilling prophecy
Already similar to January s run up is the behavior of AT40 T2108 the percentage of stocks trading above their 40 day moving averages DMAs AT40 is still failing to confirm the index s new found strength AT40 traded as high as 65 4 but faded all the way back to a close at 62 2 The move created a gain for the day under two percentage points During January s run up AT40 essentially churned in place My favorite technical indicator only managed to close in over bought territory above 70 twice and just marginally at that When AT40 fell from the overbought threshold it created a sell warning which I am being more disciplined to respect early I was embarrassingly late in recognizing the strengthening and dangerous sell off from January s top I will be on alert as the S P 500 presumably melts itself higher in the coming days and maybe even weeks
AT40 T2108 is lagging the S P 500 by a widening margin It has yet to surpass the July high much less reach the overbought threshold at 70
For good measure I doubled down on my S P 500 put options which are now incredibly cheap as portfolio protection The volatility index remained steady on the day so there was no opportunity to double down on my ProShares Ultra VIX Short Term Futures UVXY call options at a cheaper price
CHART REVIEWS
Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD AMD is a great stock for today s them of melt ups and parabolic moves
AMD is up 146 year to date The stock s latest breakout has transformed into a classic parabolic pattern Trading volume soared to 324 8M shares an all time record for AMD The 268M shares traded on May 2 2017 post earnings now takes second place AMD fell 24 2 that day Ironically the stock closed at 10 32 which is almost exactly the same as the 10 28 share price it ended 2017 with
AMD gained 5 3 but faded sharply from its all time intraday high of 27 30 After closing three straight days well above its upper BB AMD is due for a rest If the stock closes today s gap it will likely confirm the classic topping pattern of the evening star The record trading volume will then provide the marker of a blow off top With 20 of the float sold short I strongly suspect a many AMD bears rushed to get out today
A bum rush of buyers have pushed their way into Advanced Micro Devices AMD Can the stock continue higher after such heavy volume such extended stretching and such a sharp fade from its intraday all time high
Tilray TLRY TLRY is another great stock for today s theme given cannibis related stocks have become quite the rage
TLRY gapped up today and closed with a 21 8 gain on record volume It fell sharply from its intraday all time high of 58 68 An earnings report tomorrow evening will add further drama to this show with the CEO making a post earnings appearance on CNBC for good measure
The video clip below comes from CNBC s Fast Money featuring Timothy Cannibis King Seymour talking weed stocks I often fail to quite understand Tim s specific trading advice and his commentary on TLRY was similarly hard to tie up neatly the stock is ridiculously expensive but the stock is also potentially in play for a buy out that will be a part of big brand building The upcoming earnings event should make investors cautious the stock could be due for a pullback Yet TLRY has some impressive investors on its board and has critical mass
Tim has been selling upside calls against his TLRY position at the 60 strike the actions speak more clearly than the words The options market no surprise is pricing in about a 29 move from today s close by September 21st Let the fireworks continue
Tilray TLRY is in lift off mode in a parabolic move just ahead of earnings
Above the 40 uses the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40 day moving averages DMAs to assess the technical health of the stock market and to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse Abbreviated as AT40 Above the 40 is an alternative label for T2108 which was created by Worden Learn more about T2108 on my T2108 Resource Page AT200 or T2107 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 200DMAs
Active AT40 T2108 periods Day 131 over 20 Day 100 over 30 Day 95 over 40 Day 8 over 50 Day 2 over 60 overperiod Day 51 under 70
Daily AT40 T2108
Black line AT40 T2108 measured on the right Red line Overbought threshold 70 Blue line Oversold threshold 20
Weekly AT40 T2108
The charts above are my LATEST updates independent of the date of this given AT40 post For my latest AT40 post click here
Be careful out there
Full disclosure long SPY puts long UVXY calls |
AMD | Above The 40 August 31 2018 A MA Pause For FOMO | AT40 57 1 of stocks are trading above their respective 40 day moving averages DMAs
AT200 57 5 of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs
VIX 12 9
Short term Trading Call neutral
Commentary
In my last Above the 40 post I discussed the early signs of a potential run up driven by the fear of missing out FOMO The S P 500 SPY closed two more days at or above its upper Bollinger Band BB The last close was a new all time high The last two days of the month featured some drift back to the bottom of the upper BB channel that looks like a brief rest waiting for the refueling that can come with the end of summertime trading
The S P 500 SPY is in a relatively robust breakout mode
Needless to say the NASDAQ and the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 NASDAQ QQQ are also in fresh run ups
The NASDAQ is ripped higher all week along its upper Bollinger Band BB
The Invesco QQQ Trust gapped higher to start the week and barely stopped from there
The volatility index did NOT cooperate with the week s run up On Thursday the VIX jumped 10 4 and even closed near its high of the day Volatility faders came back the next day and reversed half the gain Still post summer trading will start with a potential resumption of FOMO AND volatility The small spark in volatility is particularly important because the market is now just 4 trading days from officially ending what looks like a very brief period of extremely low volatility ELV I am still refining my understanding of the implications of these periods of ELV
Volatility ended summer trading with a small revival but it spent almost all summer well below the 15 35 pivot
AT40 T2108 the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40 day moving averages DMAs took a hit to close out the week The drop back to 57 is more evidence that my favorite technical indicator is not confirming the market s overall bullishness Underneath there is still enough undertow to seed the next pullback I am keeping the short term trading call at neutral out of deference to price momentum More importantly if the buyers return after this Labor Day weekend there is considerable runway between here and an overbought reading for AT40 above 70 I cannot even think about bearishness until unless AT40 fails at the overbought threshold or falls below it I do not quite have enough evidence to make a bet on a pullback from here to uptrending 50DMA support
The Australian dollar is offering its own version of caution but political turmoil is clouding this usually reliable signal of the market s appetite for risk taking In the wake of political tumult in the country the Aussie plunged against major currencies The weakness took the currency to a new 22 month low against the Japanese yen AUD JPY has now broken down below what was a wide 5 month trading range At the time of writing the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA is within hours of issuing its latest pronouncements on monetary policy This event should either confirm the breakdown or trigger the next bounce off lows for AUD JPY I am getting ready to trade the aftermath after the dust settles a bit
The Australian dollar broke its 2018 low against the Japanese yen AUD JPY is back to flagging red for financial markets
Source TradingView com
The U S dollar index is offering its own separate opinions Last week closed with a bounce after optimism over the end of trade war risks proved premature When President Trump promised on Thursday to follow through on another 200B in tariffs on China it caused enough jitters to send the VIX up and the S P 500 down Still last week s action slightly reduced my bullishness on the dollar given how ready the market appears to sell the dollar on any bit of dollar negative news
The U S dollar index bounced back to recover its 50DMA
Source TradingView com
The bounce in the dollar included a bounce against the Mexican peso The trade setup fading USD MXN against its 200DMA worked out well but only as quick swing trades I am now playing fades with the USD MXN pulling away from its 200DMA as support This trade is more risky but I like the position as a small hedge against my dollar bullishness that will delivery good carry
The U S dollar is starting to pivot around all three of its major moving averages versus the Mexican peso USD MXN is bouncing around its 20 50 and 200DMAs
Source TradingView com
CHART REVIEWS
Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD
I earlier made a case for a blow off top in AMD Sellers ALMOST followed through on the pattern but they only closed Monday s gap up on an intraday basis Wednesday s gap down was immediately met by buyers Buyers subsequently failed to restart upward momentum so AMD is now stuck in a stalemate I positioned for a blow off top but a move back to the upper Bollinger Band will suggest the market s readiness to continue the parabolic march toward infinity
Advanced Micro Devices AMD fought off a blow off top by closing the week flat with Monday s close
Dick s Sporting Goods NYSE DKS
DKS gapped down hard in response to its earnings last week but 200DMA support proved up to the task This rebound makes a bottoming in DKS even more convincing
Dick s Sporting Goods is making an impressive post earnings recovery with a bounce of 200DMA support strong enough to nearly close the post HIBB gap down
Fitbit NYSE FIT
In June FIT caught my attention as a potential catch up play for money managers who do not want to chase the major indices higher As luck would have it FIT peaked out the next day In two months FIT finished reversing its entire breakout The stock is back to struggling and I am looking for salvage value in the call options I accumulated during the reversal
Fitbit failed to hold June s breakout and recently failed to recover through 50DMA resistance
Foot Locker NYSE FL
With 12 of its float sold short FL looked poised to be another retailer with an outsized post earnings surge especially with a 50DMA breakout ahead of the report Instead FL gapped right back down to 200DMA support A grinding recovery off that support seems underway Accordingly I am holding onto a bullish hedged pre earnings position I put on ahead of earnings
Foot Locker NYSE FL failed to hold its 50DMA breakout through earnings but it managed to bounce off 200DMA support
While the first week of September offers the end of summertime trading and the beginning of more normalcy this time also marks the period where I get more distracted with sports Feeding my habit will be live football streamed on Yahoo NASDAQ AABA Sports
Above the 40 uses the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40 day moving averages DMAs to assess the technical health of the stock market and to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse Abbreviated as AT40 Above the 40 is an alternative label for T2108 which was created by Worden Learn more about T2108 on my T2108 Resource Page AT200 or T2107 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 200DMAs
Active AT40 T2108 periods Day 135 over 20 Day 104 over 30 Day 99 over 40 Day 12 over 50 overperiod Day 2 under 60 underperiod Day 55 under 70
Daily AT40 T2108
Black line AT40 T2108 measured on the right
Red line Overbought threshold 70 Blue line Oversold threshold 20
Weekly AT40 T2108 Be careful out there
Full disclosure long SPY puts long UVXY calls long AMD puts long FIT calls long DKS and short call short USD MXY net long U S dollar long FL shares and put and short call spread |
PFE | European stocks add to gains in choppy trade DAX up 0 48 | Investing com European stocks added to gains in choppy trade on Tuesday as markets continued to hope that Spain would request a full scale bailout allowing the European Central Bank to start buying Spanish government bonds During European afternoon trade the EURO STOXX 50 gained 1 11 France s CAC 40 rose 0 80 while Germany s DAX 30 was up 0 48 The financial sector remained in focus after shares of British bank Standard Chartered bank plunged 29 29 in London following steep losses in Asia after the New York State Department of Financial Services threatened to strip its state banking license claiming it was a rogue institution Officials from the DFS said Standard Chartered concealed GBP160 billion in transactions tied to Iran in violation of U S sanctions In Germany shares in the financial sector were lower with shares of German lender Deutsche Bank down 0 16 and Commerzbank shares also losing 0 16 However automakers were leading gains with shares of Volkswagen up 1 09 while BMW and Daimler rallied 1 11 and 1 02 respectively Meanwhile shares of German energy provider RWE surged 1 48 after the company said that it has increased its Polish wind energy portfolio on Monday In France shares of insurer Axa were up 1 38 while lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale were up 0 35 and 1 37 respectively In London the FTSE 100 dipped 0 03 led lower by declines the financial sector Shares of lenders Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0 80 and 1 44 respectively Gains in the commodity sector supported the FTSE with shares of Anglo American surging 2 76 Xstrata jumping 2 32 and BP Plc gaining 2 14 Also Tuesday shares in pharmaceutical company Elan tumbled 12 79 on the Irish Stock Exchange after a partnership with Johnson Johnson and Pfizer to develop an Alzheimer s drug ended following a second failure in a clinical trial In the U S equity markets pointed to a modestly higher open The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0 16 rise S P 500 futures signaled a 0 33 gain while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0 55 increase |
PFE | Euro stocks soar on Spanish bailout hopes DAX up 0 71 | Investing com European stocks closed higher Tuesday as markets speculate that Spain would request a full scale bailout allowing the European Central Bank to start buying Spanish government bonds At the close of European trade the EURO STOXX 50 gained 1 71 France s CAC 40 soared 1 52 while Germany s DAX 30 added 0 71 The financial sector remained in focus after shares of British bank Standard Chartered bank plunged 29 29 in London following steep losses in Asia after the New York State Department of Financial Services threatened to strip its state banking license claiming it was a rogue institution Officials from the DFS said Standard Chartered concealed GBP160 billion in transactions tied to Iran in violation of U S sanctions In Germany shares in the financial sector were lower with shares of German lender Deutsche Bank down 0 16 and Commerzbank shares also losing 0 16 However automakers were leading gains with shares of Volkswagen up 1 09 while BMW and Daimler rallied 1 11 and 1 02 respectively Meanwhile shares of German energy provider RWE surged 1 48 after the company said that it has increased its Polish wind energy portfolio on Monday In France shares of insurer Axa were up 1 38 while lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale were up 0 35 and 1 37 respectively In London the FTSE 100 jumped 0 56 despite declines the financial sector Shares of lenders Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0 80 and 1 44 respectively Gains in the commodity sector supported the FTSE with shares of Anglo American surging 2 76 Xstrata jumping 2 32 and BP Plc gaining 2 14 Also Tuesday shares in pharmaceutical company Elan tumbled 12 79 on the Irish Stock Exchange after a partnership with Johnson Johnson and Pfizer to develop an Alzheimer s drug ended following a second failure in a clinical trial Stocks followed higher in the U S with the Dow up 0 64 the S P 500 higher by 0 80 and the tech heavy Nasdaq moving ahead by 0 95 Wednesday traders are awaiting US non farm productivity New Zealand and Australia Unemployment numbers as well as China s CPI and PPI |
T | Ex USA Gymnastics doctor to be sentenced after week of emotional testimony | By Steve Friess LANSING Mich Reuters A Michigan judge on Wednesday heard from three more victims of former long time USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar ahead of imposing a sentence on the disgraced physician for molesting young female gymnasts Prosecutors have asked for a sentence of 40 to 125 years for Nassar who is already serving a 60 year sentence in federal prison on child pornography convictions More than 160 of Nassar s victims including Olympic gold medalists have spoken at his sentencing hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing since it began on Jan 16 The last victim to testify on Wednesday Rachael Denhollander was the first to come forward publicly with allegations against Nassar She reported him to Michigan State University police in 2016 and told her story to the Indianapolis Star She testified that Nassar began abusing her in 2000 when she was a 15 year old gymnast As we were being sexually violated Larry was sexually aroused by our humiliation Denhollander said Judge Rosemarie Aquilina who has expressed support for the victims told Denhollander she had started the tidal wave You are the bravest person I have ever had in my courtroom the judge said Nassar pleaded guilty in November to seven counts of first degree sex assault in Ingham County and previously apologized in court for his crimes As part of a deal with Michigan authorities he also pleaded guilty to three additional counts in Eaton County and will be sentenced there next week MICHIGAN STATE CONNECTION While Denhollander was one of the seven girls Nassar admitted abusing in Ingham County Aquilina has allowed other victims to speak at his sentencing resulting in emotional and scalding admonishments of Nassar He has sat wearing a dark blue jail jumpsuit through much of the proceedings with his head bowed He seldom has made eye contact with the victims but looked directly at Denhollander during much of her statement Nassar 54 served as the USA Gymnastics physician through four Olympic Games He also was the team physician for the Michigan State University gymnastics and women s crew teams as well as an associate professor at MSU s College of Osteopathic Medicine The National Collegiate Athletic Association said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation into Michigan State s handling of the case In her statement on Wednesday Denhollander criticized the school for failing to adequately investigate complaints against Nassar stretching back years Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles Aly Raisman Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney have gone public in recent months saying they were assaulted by Nassar while undergoing treatment Victims and others have criticized USA Gymnastics for ignoring their complaints and have accused the federation of suppressing their accounts in a bid to avoid bad publicity On Monday three top board members resigned in wake of the scandal and continued criticism following the exit last March of the federation s president and chief executive The fallout also has included several companies announcing they would not continue to sponsor the federation including AT T Inc NYSE T on Tuesday according to media reports
Many victims also have criticized USA Gymnastics with Raisman last week calling it rotten from the inside She also called for an independent investigation of the federation and U S Olympic officials who she said had the power to stop Nassar |
T | Trump security team sees building U S 5G network as option | By Steve Holland and Pete Schroeder WASHINGTON Reuters President Donald Trump s national security team is looking at options to counter the threat of China spying on U S phone calls that include the government building a super fast 5G wireless network a senior administration official said on Sunday The official confirming the gist of a report from Axios com said the option was being debated at a low level in the administration and was six to eight months away from being considered by the president himself The 5G network concept is aimed at addressing what officials see as China s threat to U S cyber security and economic security The Trump administration has taken a harder line on policies initiated by predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing s role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire U S strategic industries This month AT T NYSE T was forced to scrap a plan to offer its customers handsets built by China s Huawei after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators sources told Reuters In 2012 Huawei and ZTE Corp were the subject of a U S investigation into whether their equipment provided an opportunity for foreign espionage and threatened critical U S infrastructure Some members of the House intelligence committee remain troubled by security threats posed by Huawei and ZTE according to a congressional aide Issues raised in a 2012 committee report about the Chinese firms have never subsided the aide said adding that there was newer classified intelligence that recently resurfaced those concerns We want to build a network so the Chinese can t listen to your calls the senior official told Reuters We have to have a secure network that doesn t allow bad actors to get in We also have to ensure the Chinese don t take over the market and put every non 5G network out of business In Beijing on Monday Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China prohibited all forms of hacking but did not specifically address the 5G network security issue We believe that the international community should on the basis of mutual respect and trust strengthen dialogue and cooperation and join hands in addressing the threat of cyber attacks Hua told a regular news briefing Major wireless carriers have spent billions of dollars buying spectrum to launch 5G networks and it is unclear if the U S government would have enough spectrum to build its own 5G network Furthermore Accenture has estimated that wireless operators will invest as much as 275 billion in the United States over seven years as they build out 5G Last year T Mobile US Inc spent 8 billion and Dish Network Corp 6 2 billion to win the bulk of broadcast airwaves spectrum for sale in a government auction An AT T spokesman said they could not comment on something they have not seen and added Thanks to multi billion dollar investments made by American companies the work to launch 5G service in the United States is already well down the road Later this year AT T is set to be the first to launch mobile 5G service in 12 U S locations the spokesman said A Verizon spokesman declined to comment Representatives for Sprint and T Mobile did not immediately respond to requests for comment Another option includes having a 5G network built by a consortium of wireless carriers the U S official said We want to build a secure 5G network and we have to work with industry to figure out the best way to do it the official said speaking on condition of anonymity Axios published documents it said were from a presentation from a National Security Council official If the government built the network it would rent access to carriers Axios said A looming concern laid out in the presentation was China s growing presence in the manufacture and operation of wireless networks A concerted government push could help the U S compete on that front according to the presentation
A 5G network is expected to offer significantly faster speeds more capacity and shorter response times which could be utilized for new technologies ranging from self driving cars to remote surgeries Telecom companies and their suppliers consider it to be a multibillion dollar revenue opportunity |
PFE | Fed s Policy Meeting Starts Today | Members of the Federal Open Market Committee FOMC or The Fed are meeting today and tomorrow to discuss U S policy regarding interest rates With the presidential election one week from today it is highly unlikely the Fed will make a move lest they get caught up in the media circus that has become the 2016 race for the White House
Chances for an interest rate hike of 25 basis points are roughly 70 for next month when the Fed meets again in mid December With strong domestic employment and the global economy gaining traction of late it would seem an optimum time for the first raise since a year ago December
Biggest movers in the early market this morning Gannett has announced it is no longer pursuing the acquisition of TRONC the media business formerly part of The Tribune Company It is unclear whether some agreement will be made to combine services of the two firms but a straight takeover is now off the table GCI shares which had tumbled 50 over the past 6 months are up 8 on this news TRNC on the other hand is down 30 in the pre market
Q3 earnings season continues Pfizer NYSE PFE missed slightly on both top and bottom lines 13 05 billion insoles and 61 cents per share were a touch lower than the 13 1 billion and 62 cents expected Archer Daniels Midland beat bottom line estimates easily 59 cents per share topped the 47 cents expected on 15 83 billion in the quarter which was down from the Zacks consensus estimate of 16 05 billion Kellogg also posted a big beat on earnings 96 cents zoomed past the 87 cents estimated but revenues of 3 25 billion was short the 3 29 billion expected
However with the omnipresent General Election looming little else matters to investors at this point A surprise move by the Fed is the only thing that could shock the market near term Although chances of a Hillary Clinton victory are roughly 3 to 1 right now market participants remain wary of the spectre of a Donald Trump upset which would infuse a big dose of uncertainty into the stock market
Don t take my word for it check out Zacks Executive VP Steve Reitmeister s take on the effects of the election in his latest Profit From the Pros article |
T | AT T T Stock Sinks As Market Gains What You Should Know | In the latest trading session AT T NYSE T closed at 30 56 marking a 0 13 move from the previous day This change lagged the S P 500 s daily gain of 0 22 Elsewhere the Dow gained 0 59 while the tech heavy Nasdaq added 0 16
Heading into today shares of the telecommunications company had gained 2 86 over the past month outpacing the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 0 37 and the S P 500 s gain of 0 49 in that time
Investors will be hoping for strength from T as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be January 30 2019 In that report analysts expect T to post earnings of 0 85 per share This would mark year over year growth of 8 97 Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of 48 42 billion up 16 19 from the year ago period
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors These revisions help to show the ever changing nature of near term business trends As such positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company s business and profitability
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 06 higher within the past month T is holding a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold right now
Looking at its valuation T is holding a Forward P E ratio of 8 48 For comparison its industry has an average Forward P E of 23 28 which means T is trading at a discount to the group
Investors should also note that T has a PEG ratio of 1 34 right now This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate The Wireless National was holding an average PEG ratio of 2 08 at yesterday s closing price
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 74 putting it in the top 29 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Be sure to follow all of these stock moving metrics and many more on Zacks com |
PFE | Euro stocks plunge on Fed words Spanish auction DAX slammed 2 84 | Investing com European shares plunged Wednesday as the Federal Reserve lowered expectations for additional monetary easing and Spain missed its maximum target in a bond sale At the close European trade the EURO STOXX 50 fell 2 46 France s CAC 40 dropped 2 74 while Germany s DAX traded lower by 2 84 Meanwhile in the U K the FTSE 100 gave back 2 30 Igniting the risk off flight yesterday the Federal Reserve revealed in its meeting minutes that it is holding off from increasing monetary easing unless prices climb at a rate slower than its 2 target Meanwhile Spain sold EUR2 6 billion of bonds near the minimum target and borrowing costs increased in its first auction Spain had set a range of EUR2 5 billion to EUR3 5 billion for the sale In additional euro zone news the ECB kept its interest rate unchanged at the record low of 1 Contraction continues in the euro zone with retail sales declining 0 1 and a purchasing managers composite index fell from 49 3 to 49 1 in March weighing on equities However on the bullish front Germany factory orders increased 0 3 but still missed the 1 5 increase forecasted by analysts Volvo gave back 4 8 after a report indicated truck orders were below expectations for North America In addition automakers Peugot and Porsche fell 5 6 and 2 3 respectively on decreased U S auto sales Hikma Pharmaceuticals dropped 3 4 after it was sued by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer for a patent infringement U S stocks are trading lower with the Dow off 1 11 the S P 500 down 1 12 and the Nasdaq slipping 1 72 Traders are awaiting German industrial production The Bank of England s interest rate and statement as well as U S unemployment claims on Thursday |
PFE | European stocks extend losses on debt fears DAX down 2 73 | Investing com European stock markets extended losses on Monday as weak euro zone economic data and signs of a contraction in Chinese manufacturing activity continued to weigh on sentiment During European afternoon trade the EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 2 37 France s CAC 40 plummeted 2 30 while Germany s DAX 30 plunged 2 73 Data showed earlier that manufacturing activity in Germany slowed to the lowest level in almost three years in April adding to concerns over the economic outlook of the euro zone s largest economy A separate report showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone deteriorated in April growing at the slowest pace since June 2009 while service sector activity declined to the lowest level in five months in April Meanwhile markets were also jittery after a preliminary report showed that manufacturing activity in China remained in contraction territory in April for the sixth consecutive month The data overshadowed news on Friday that the Group of 20 leading economies agreed to boost the International Monetary Fund s lending capacity by USD430 billion to help shield the global economy from the debt crisis roiling the euro zone Financial stocks were broadly lower led by Dutch lender ING Group down 7 04 after Holland s Prime Minister Mark Rutte failed to reach an agreement with one of the parties in his coalition over austerity measures France s BNP Paribas and Societe Generale also saw shares drop 4 07 and 4 16 while German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank retreated 4 and 5 26 respectively Deutsche Bank Germany s largest lender was also slated to book an additional charge of as much as EUR400 million euros tied to the sale of Actavis Group hf On the upside Danone gained 2 25 after Nestle SA agreed to buy Pfizer Inc s baby food unit for USD11 9 billion edging out the French company in a contest for a business that gets most of its sales in emerging markets In London commodity heavy FTSE 100 lost 1 75 weighed by strong losses in mining stocks Shares in Rio Tinto plunged 3 53 and Bhp Billiton tumbled 2 97 while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys dropped 2 12 and 3 91 respectively Financial stocks also remained on the downside as U K lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower Barclays saw shares decline 3 38 and the Royal Bank of Scotland slid 3 25 while shares in Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings dropped 2 46 and 2 24 Elsewhere Cable Wireless Worldwide skyrocketed 15 47 after Vodafone the world s largest wireless operator agreed to buy the U K company offering 38 pence a share Vodafone whose shares added 0 76 after the news became the sole bidder after India s Tata Communications Ltd last week failed to agree on a price and decided against making an offer In the U S equity markets pointed to a lower open The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to fall of 0 98 S P 500 futures signaled a 1 04 decline while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0 96 loss Sentiment also came under pressure amid uncertainty over the result of France s presidential election after President Sarkozy performed poorly against challenger Francois Hollande in the first round of the vote Hollande has said he wants to renegotiate the euro zone fiscal pact in order to stimulate growth in the euro zone rather than enforcing strict austerity measures |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices increases board size appoints ex CEO of Micron | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD votes to increase the size of its Board by one to 10 directors
Former Micron CEO Mark Durcan was appointed to fill the new seat as an independent director
AMD shares are down 0 5
Now read |
AMD | Aquantia up 8 in debut after pricing below range | Communications chipmaker Aquantia AQ 7 9 has opened for trading above its IPO price Shares are at 9 71 after pricing last night at 9 which had come out below a marketed range of 10 12 The company offered 6 81M shares in the IPO Now read |
T | Shari Redstone explores adding new CBS directors WSJ | By Jessica Toonkel Reuters Shari Redstone a controlling shareholder of CBS Corp NYSE CBS has discussed adding new directors to the CBS board as she renews her push to merge the company with Viacom Inc The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday Shari Redstone and Sumner Redstone her ailing 94 year old father together control both CBS and Viacom Inc through their privately owned movie theater company National Amusements Inc The Redstones failed in an attempt to merge the two companies in 2016 Shari Redstone who is vice chair of the CBS board has had exploratory conversations with CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves and directors about recombining the companies sources have told Reuters While Moonves is receptive to a combination he has some reservations sources have told Reuters Spokesmen for CBS and Viacom declined to comment CBS is looking to replace several of its directors at its annual shareholders meeting in May and Shari Redstone is gathering names of possible candidates according to The Wall Street Journal Shari Redstone s push to revisit a CBS merger with Viacom has become more pressing in light of Walt Disney Co s planned acquisition of a majority of Twenty First Century Fox Inc s O FOXA assets the sources told Reuters A combined CBS which owns cable networks including Showtime and The Movie Channel as well as the CBS TV Network and CBS TV Studios and Viacom whose businesses include Paramount Pictures Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films would have more negotiating leverage with cable and satellite companies In addition Shari Redstone does not want to wait for the verdict on the U S Department of Justice s lawsuit to block AT T NYSE T Inc s 85 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX which is set to go to trial in March the sources told Reuters The Justice Department is suing to block that deal on the grounds that it is anti competitive If that deal were to fall through it would mean both AT T and Time Warner Inc may look for other companies to combine with sources have said Viacom s new CEO Bob Bakish has improved relations with distributors found financing for Paramount Pictures after Chinese investors dropped out and shuffled programming Even so Viacom s stock is trading around 32 a share below the 35 38 80 range it was trading at when it and CBS explored a merger in late 2016 It is unclear if the valuation and corporate governance issues that caused the deal to fail in 2016 remain Some analysts said they believe the selloff in Viacom along with the consolidation in the media space should prompt CBS to revisit the deal
We think now is as good a time as any to reexamine why we continue to believe this deal is the most logical and appropriate transaction to take place within our media coverage universe MoffettNathanson analysts wrote this week |
T | AT T Time Warner gain as question of trial stay emerges | In the event of a government shutdown now hours away from happening the U S is obligated to ask for a stay in the trial of its case against the buyout of Time Warner NYSE TWX by AT T NYSE T Bloomberg says But the judge in the case says his inclination is to deny a requested stay according to the news service The trial is currently set to begin March 19 The two companies s stocks both moved up during a status conference on the case that was to have started at 3 p m after most of the day in the red T followed the market higher to close 0 2 TWX 0 4 Now read |
PFE | Pfizer PFE To Post Q3 Earnings How Will The Stock React | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE will be reporting third quarter 2016 earnings on Nov 1 before market open Last quarter the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 3 23 The pharma giant has been consistently beating earnings expectations The company s earnings surpassed expectations in each of the last four quarters with an average positive surprise of 11 16 PFIZER INC Price and EPS Surprise
Let s see how things are shaping up for this announcement Factors to ConsiderWhile new products like Eliquis Xalkori Xeljanz and Ibrance as well as older products like Lyrica should contribute to the top line meaningfully the bottom line should be driven by cost savings and share buybacks Ibrance has already earned broad patient and physician acceptance with an encouraging feedback while Eliquis continues to perform well due to market penetration and market share gains in the U S and Japan Meanwhile the Hospira acquisition should continue to be an important growth driver as well with sterile injectables biosimilars and infusion system segments performing well The Anacor acquisition which closed in June should contribute to revenues in the third quarter We note that Pfizer closed the acquisition of Medivation for approximately 14 billion in Sep 2016 However Pfizer will continue to face headwinds in the form of genericization and the expiration of a few co promotion agreements which will continue to hamper top line growth Moreover new product launch expenses and R D investments are expected to hurt profits On the third quarter call investor focus is expected to remain on the company s performance along with the performance of new products and pipeline progress including biosimilars and immuno oncology Earnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively show that Pfizer is likely to beat on earnings this quarter That is because a stock needs to have both a positive and a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold for this to happen That is not the case here as you will see below Zacks ESP The Earnings ESP is 1 59 as the Most Accurate estimate stands at 62 cents while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged higher at 63 cents Please check our that enables you find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises Zacks Rank Pfizer s Zacks Rank 3 increases the predictive power of ESP However we need to have a positive ESP to be confident about an earnings beat We caution against Sell rated stocks Zacks Rank 4 or 5 going into the earnings announcement especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions Stocks to ConsiderSome stocks in the healthcare sector that have both a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank are
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ARIA is expected to release results on Nov 1 The company has an Earnings ESP of 5 26 and a Zacks Rank 1 You can see Shire plc NASDAQ SHPG with an Earnings ESP of 1 26 and a Zacks Rank 2 The company is scheduled to release results on Nov 1 Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ AERI which is slated to report results on Nov 2 The company has an Earnings ESP of 8 57 and a Zacks Rank 3 Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
PFE | ARIAD ARIA Is A Beat In The Cards This Earnings Season | ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ARIA is expected to report third quarter 2016 results on Nov 1 In the last reported quarter the company recorded a positive earnings surprise of 670 Overall ARIAD has posted an average positive earnings surprise of 153 54 in the four trailing quarters Let s see how things are shaping up for third quarter Why a Likely Positive Surprise Our proven model shows that ARIAD is likely to beat earnings because it has the right combination of two key ingredients Zacks ESP The Earnings Surprise Prediction or which represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at 5 26 This is very meaningful and a leading indicator of a likely positive earnings surprise for shares Zacks Rank ARIAD carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Note that stocks with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 and 3 Hold have a significantly higher chance of beating earnings The Sell rated stocks Zacks Rank 4 or 5 on the other hand should never be considered going into an earnings announcement especially when the company is witnessing negative estimate revisions The combination of ARIAD s favorable Zacks Rank and positive ESP makes us reasonably confident of a positive earnings beat this season Please check our that enables you find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises Focus on Iclusig s PerformanceARIAD s revenues are primarily generated by sales of its sole marketed product Iclusig The company expects Iclusig product and royalty revenues of 170 180 million in 2016 Sales should be driven by continued demand new patient additions and launch in additional territories Moreover sequential growth in Iclusig sales should be driven by field team expansion label expansion increasing clinical experience and patient retention programs ARIAD s divestment of its EU operations to Incyte Corporation NASDAQ INCY and out licensing of the drug s rights in the region will allow the company to earn royalties on Iclusig sales in these regions In addition the Japanese approval of Iclusig triggered a milestone payment of 10 million from Otsuka in the third quarter Apart from Iclusig s performance investor s focus should also be on its late stage candidate brigatinib The company has completed the rolling submission of the New Drug Application NDA for brigatinib in the U S for the treatment of patients with metastatic ALK positive ALK non small cell lung cancer NSCLC who are resistant or intolerant to Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Xalkori crizotinib An approval would allow the company to launch the experimental cancer treatment in the U S in 2017 ARIAD PHARMA Price and EPS Surprise
Stocks to ConsiderHere is another health care stock that you may want to consider as our model shows that it also have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ INFI is expected to report quarterly numbers on Nov 3 The company has an Earnings ESP of 5 81 and a Zacks Rank 1 You can see Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
AMD | Technical Top Signal AMD Short | Shares of Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD are signaling a strong short on the daily chart with a reversal and topping tail today The stock is up over 50 since April 2018 This is extreme overbought territory but the topping tail is the key Look for a drop in the stock back to 12 50 in the coming weeks |
T | Hang Up The Phone | Allow me to share a short which even in the face of all this buying looks exciting AT T NYSE T Look at those consistent lower highs
Here s the bigger picture |
T | AT T T Outpaces Stock Market Gains What You Should Know | AT T NYSE T closed the most recent trading day at 30 40 moving 1 from the previous trading session The stock outpaced the S P 500 s daily gain of 0 45 Meanwhile the Dow gained 0 51 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index added 0 42
Heading into today shares of the telecommunications company had lost 0 2 over the past month outpacing the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 0 69 and the S P 500 s loss of 1 64 in that time
T will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release which is expected to be January 30 2019 In that report analysts expect T to post earnings of 0 85 per share This would mark year over year growth of 8 97 Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 48 44 billion up 16 24 from the year ago period
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for T These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short term business trends As such positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company s business and profitability
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Within the past 30 days our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant T is currently a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
Valuation is also important so investors should note that T has a Forward P E ratio of 8 32 right now This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 24 72
Also we should mention that T has a PEG ratio of 1 31 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate T s industry had an average PEG ratio of 2 09 as of yesterday s close
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 71 putting it in the top 28 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Be sure to follow all of these stock moving metrics and many more on Zacks com |
PFE | European stocks tumble after Fed comments DAX down 1 31 | Investing com European stock markets were sharply lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve dampened expectations for further monetary stimulus for the world s largest economy and amid sustained concerns over the economic outlook in the euro zone During European morning trade the EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1 04 France s CAC 40 plummeted 1 02 while Germany s DAX 30 plunged 1 31 The minutes of the Fed s March meeting showed that policymakers will refrain from launching a third round of quantitative easing unless the rate of growth falters or inflation drops below the central bank s 2 targeted rate Meanwhile market sentiment remained under pressure amid concerns that Spain will be the next country to require a bailout mounted ahead of an auction of government debt later in the day Market participants were also looking ahead to the European Central Bank s policy meeting later in the day although the bank was expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 1 The financial sector led losses as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale plunged 2 56 and 2 68 while Germany s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank retreated 1 10 and 2 60 respectively Peripheral lenders were also sharply lower Spain s Banco Santander and BBVA saw shares plummet 2 36 and 2 35 while Italian lenders Unicredit and Intesa Sanpoalo dropped 2 50 and 2 29 Car makers contributed to losses as Daimler shares lost 1 61 while BMW and Volkswagen sunk 1 40 and 1 13 In London FTSE 100 dropped 0 54 as U K lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower while industry data showed that U K house prices rose unexpectedly in March The Royal Bank of Scotland was among the session s top losers with shares declining 2 68 following reports that the lender pulled a USD207 million sale of bonds backed by its own derivative trades in February Shares in Barclays and Lloyds banking tumbled 2 26 and 1 79 respectively Mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton were also on the downside with shares slumping 1 90 and 1 23 while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys retreated 1 86 and 1 77 Elsewhere shares in Hikma lost 0 88 after Glaxo and Pfizer sued the pharmaceutical company for planning to sell an injectable blood clot treatment saying it infringes a patent licensed by Glaxo for argatroban Glaxo also fell 0 42 although the U K s largest drug maker said the latest test results on its experimental drug albiglutide show it helps diabetics and may serve as the backbone for a regulatory filing In the U S equity markets pointed to a lower open The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0 51 S P 500 futures signaled a 0 57 decline while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0 54 loss Later in the day Germany was to release official data on retail sales In the U S a report on non farm employment change was to be published as well as data from the Institute of Supply Management on service sector activity |
PFE | European stocks extend losses on weak data DAX tumbles 1 94 | Investing com European stock markets extended losses on Wednesday as disappointing euro zone economic data and a weak Spanish debt auction added to concerns over a further slowdown in the single currency bloc while investors eyed the European Central Bank s interest rate decision During European afternoon trade the EURO STOXX 50 plummeted 1 36 France s CAC 40 tumbled 1 47 while Germany s DAX 30 plunged 1 94 Market sentiment was hit as the cost of insuring Spain s debt against default climbed earlier after the country auctioned EUR2 59 billon of government bonds short of the maximum targeted amount of EUR3 5 billion On Tuesday Spain s government announced that the country s public debt will rise to a record 79 8 of gross domestic product this year Earlier Wednesday data confirmed that the euro zone service sector contracted for the sixth time in seven months in March increasing the likelihood that the economy has entered a technical recession Financial stocks remained sharply lower led by Dutch lender ING Group down 2 48 France s BNP Paribas and Societe Generale also tumbled 1 79 and 0 78 respectively while German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank declined 1 87 and 1 30 Meanwhile French group Veolia sank 3 40 on reports it may decide today to take sole control of Coriscan ferry services operator Societe Nationale Maritime Corse Mediterranee On the upside Telecom Italia added 0 57 after Chairman Franco Bernabe said in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore that the company may consider a spinoff of its network if it allows a more favorable regulatory framework In London FTSE 100 retreated 1 26 after data showed that U K house prices rose unexpectedly in March while the country s service sector expanded more than forecast U K lenders remained broadly lower with shares in Barclays plummeting 3 37 and the Royal Bank of Scotland tumbling 2 79 while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings declined 1 42 and 0 38 Earlier in the day the Royal Bank of Scotland reportedly pulled a USD207 million sale of bonds backed by its own derivative trades in February Mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton were also on the downside extending earlier losses as shares slumped 3 12 and 2 16 while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys retreated 2 25 and 2 94 respectively Elsewhere shares in Hikma Pharmaceuticals plunged 2 05 after Glaxo and Pfizer sued the company for planning to sell an injectable blood clot treatment saying it infringes a patent licensed by Glaxo for argatroban In the U S equity markets pointed to a sharply lower open The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0 75 S P 500 futures signaled a 0 83 decline while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0 76 loss Also Wednesday a report showed that euro zone retail sales fell by 0 1 in February against expectations for a 0 1 increase and were 2 1 lower year on year Meanwhile official data showed that German factory orders rose 0 3 in February below expectations for a 1 2 increase renewing concerns over the economic outlook for the bloc s largest economy Later in the day the ECB was to release its interest rate decision In the U S a report on non farm employment change was to be published as well as data from the Institute of Supply Management on service sector activity |
T | HBO signs Farrow to produce investigative documentaries | In its latest big deal with rising personalities in the media spectrum HBO NYSE TWX has signed investigative journalist Ronan Farrow to an exclusive three year deal Farrow who has been writing for The New Yorker rose to prominence in the past several months after his contributions to the reporting around sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein including a detailed investigative piece in October He ll be developing a series of investigative documentary specials to document abuses of power HBO says the TV deal will begin later this year but that Farrow will continue reporting for The New Yorker Now read |
T | Exclusive U S lawmakers urge AT T to cut commercial ties with Huawei sources | By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON Reuters U S lawmakers are urging AT T Inc NYSE T the No 2 wireless carrier to cut commercial ties to Chinese phone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and oppose plans by telecom operator China Mobile Ltd to enter the U S market because of national security concerns two congressional aides said The warning comes after the administration of U S President Donald Trump took a harder line on policies initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing s role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire U S strategic industries Earlier this month AT T was forced to scrap a plan to offer its customers Huawei HWT UL handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators sources told Reuters The U S government has also blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions over national security concerns including Ant Financial s proposed purchase of U S money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc The lawmakers are also advising U S firms that if they have ties to Huawei or China Mobile it could hamper their ability to do business with the U S government one aide said requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly One of the commercial ties senators and House members want AT T to cut is its collaboration with Huawei over standards for the high speed next generation 5G network the aides said Another is the use of Huawei handsets by AT T s discount subsidiary Cricket the aides said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday he did not know anything about the details of the commercial cooperation cases but added China hopes other countries would provide a fair operating environment for Chinese firms We hope that China and the United States can work hard together to maintain the healthy and stable development of trade and business ties This accords with the joint interests of both Lu told a daily news briefing in Beijing China Mobile the world s biggest mobile phone operator did not respond to requests for comment AT T declined to comment but said that it had made no decisions on 5G suppliers U S lawmakers who have in the past expressed concerns about the prospect of the deal between AT T and Huawei either declined to comment or were not immediately available Huawei declined to comment but earlier this week told Reuters that it sells its equipment through more than 45 of the world s top 50 carriers and puts the privacy and security of its customers as its top priority National security experts fear that any data from a Huawei device for example about the location of the phone s user would be available to Chinese government intelligence services In 2012 Huawei and ZTE Corp were the subject of a U S investigation into whether their equipment provided an opportunity for foreign espionage and threatened critical U S infrastructure a link that Huawei has consistently denied The next wave of wireless communication has enormous economic and national security implications China s participation in setting the standards and selling the equipment raises many national security issues that demand strict and prompt attention said Michael Wessel a member of the U S China Economic and Security Review Commission which was set up by Congress U S lawmakers do not want China Mobile to be given a license to do business in the United States the congressional aides said China Mobile applied for the license in 2011 and the application is pending before the Federal Communications Commission Huawei and Chinese telecom firms have long struggled to gain a toehold in the U S market partly because of U S government pressure on potential U S partners
Two Republican lawmakers Representatives Michael Conaway and Liz Cheney introduced a bill this week that bars the U S government from using or contracting with Huawei or ZTE Corp a Chinese telecommunications and equipment and systems company |
PFE | 3 Sector ETFs With Revenue Growth Potential | In the ongoing third quarter reporting cycle earnings have the same old moderate flavor of the last few quarters but are on the verge of a turnaround Revenues are displaying better trends after having entered into the growth territory in Q2 As per the report issued on October 12 2016 earnings for the S P 500 are expected to be down 2 9 in Q3 while revenues are likely to rise 1 2
Investors should note that while earnings normally draw maximum attention we would like to emphasize that sales are equally important This is because sales are harder to be influenced in an income statement than earnings A company can land up on decent earnings numbers by adopting cost cutting or some other measures that do not speak for its core strength But it is harder for a company to mold its revenue figure
Both factors make it necessary to look at sectors that are expected to exhibit strong revenue growth this reporting cycle no matters what their earnings growth picture look likes read
Consumer Discretionary
The consumer discretionary sector is projected to register the highest revenue growth of 11 8 in Q3 With the job market strengthening wages rising and energy prices still at lower levels consumers are likely to splurge on leisure and entertainment activities and products
The reading for U S consumer confidence was 104 1 in September higher than the market expectation of 99 0 and August s reading of 101 8 The latest level was the highest Plus according to the seasonal strength for this sector stretches from October 17 to April 12 This trend opens up the opportunity for Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF read
Medical
The medical or health care sector appears the best positioned with a 7 4 revenue growth estimate the third best in the universe of 16 S P sectors categorized by Zacks The rise in mergers and acquisitions higher chances of Clinton winning the presidential election and supporting the Affordable Care Act an aging global population and the sector s non cyclical nature amid uncertainty can go in favor of the sector read
However investors should note that the going has become tough for the sector recently on the price gouging issue Investors can take a look at SPDR S P Health Care Services ETF see here
Retail Wholesale
U S retail sales turned around in Septemberafter a soft August The sentiment was strong in several pockets of the economy in September helping many to feel better about the economic situation Retail Wholesale is projected to register 5 3 revenue growth in Q3
However the upcoming presidential election and rising rate worries may weigh on the apparently optimistic retail outlook for the coming month Thus it will be wiser to pick a quality and trendy product like Amplify Online Retail ETF which may score ahead irrespective of where the sector is heading The reason for this is that there has been a gradual but steady shift toward online retailing lately which gives it a clear edge over brick and mortar retailing
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T | AT T And Los Angeles Introduce ShakeAlertLA For Citizens | In an effort to help improve public safety AT T Inc NYSE T in collaboration with the City of Los Angeles administration introduced ShakeAlertLA a mobile app that alerts residents of Los Angeles County in case of an earthquake Notably this new app is based on seismic data from a West Coast wide network of sensors that detect earthquakes It has been designed to send push notifications to citizens to give them a head start when an earthquake occurs This is seen as a trial run to caution users when seismic activity equal to or greater than magnitude 5 0 is detected by a regional sensor network The app also entails tools for readiness plan equipping citizens with local response information and providing details on support services for recovery efforts It is free and available both in English and Spanish It can be downloaded on iOS and Android smartphones and used on any service provider s network Further the telco giant and Los Angeles are exploring ways to use technology to solve problems such as traffic congestion and public safety for the benefit of community They are looking to deploy Internet of Things solutions across the city AT T aims to ramp up the FirstNet deployment while focusing on 5G to retain its leading position in the market Through public private collaboration smart cities technology can be used to provide better connectivity while narrowing the digital divide However AT T s shares have lost 22 5 compared with decline of 6 6 for the in the past year This can be largely attributed to competitive pressure coupled with steady decline in linear TV subscribers and legacy services hurting the firm s profitability AT T s huge debt burden also acts as a major impediment to bottom line growth It remains to be seen whether such innovative services help the company to script a turnaround in 2019 in its share price performance AT T currently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Better ranked stocks in the industry include T Mobile US Inc NYSE T Sprint Corporation NYSE S and United States Cellular Corporation NYSE S While T Mobile sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Sprint and United States Cellular carry a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see T Mobile has a long term earnings growth expectation of 6 Sprint has a long term earnings growth expectation of 19 6 United States Cellular has a long term earnings growth expectation of 1 The Hottest Tech Mega Trend of AllLast year it generated 8 billion in global revenues By 2020 it s predicted to blast through the roof to 47 billion Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce the world s first trillionaires but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices beats by 0 02 beats on revenue | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD Q3 EPS of 0 10 beats by 0 02 Revenue of 1 64B 25 2 Y Y beats by 130M Shares 4 5 Press ReleaseNow read |
AMD | AMD reports Q3 beats but expects Q Q revenue drop shares down 10 4 | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD shares are down 10 39 aftermarket following Q3 EPS and revenue beats The company expects Q4 revenue to fall between 12 and 18 sequentially but the midpoint would represent a 26 growth on the year or about 1 4B consensus 1 34B
AMD raises its full year revenue growth guidance from the prior forecast of mid to high teens to over 20
Computing and Graphics revenue was up 74 to 819M primarily due to strong Radeon and Ryzen sales Client and GPU ASPs increased significantly on the year Segment operating income was 70M compared to last year s 66M loss
Enterprise Embedded and Semi Custom segment revenue was 824M flat on the year as lower SoC sales were offset by IP and EPYC processor sales Operating income was 84M down from 136M last year primarily due to higher costs
Financials Non GAAP gross margin was up 4 on the year to 35 with Q4 expected flat on the quarter AMD ended the quarter with 879M in cash and equivalents and 1 43B in total debt
Press release
Now read |
T | U S government AT T say pre trial preparation progressing | By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON Reuters Lawyers for the Justice Department and AT T Inc N T said on Friday that preparations have been smooth for a trial to decide if the wireless and pay TV giant may buy movie and TV show maker Time Warner Inc N TWX Things have been moving as they ought to said Justice Department lawyer Craig Conrath in a pre trial status conference The Justice Department sued in November to stop AT T the No 2 U S wireless company from buying Time Warner for 85 billion because of concerns that it could raise prices for rivals and pay TV subscribers and hamper the development of online video Conrath said that the government had held depositions on Thursday and Friday Daniel Petrocelli who represents DirecTV owner AT T as well as Time Warner said that the Justice Department planned 41 depositions Petrocelli said that the government had put 35 potential witnesses on a preliminary list while AT T had 22 Neither man identified the witnesses or people being questioned in depositions The next status hearing was set for Jan 19 Judge Richard Leon of the U S District Court for the District of Columbia will oversee a trial that begins on March 19 and run about 15 days The companies recently extended the termination date for the deal to June 21 The fate of the deal has been widely followed because U S President Donald Trump criticized it on the campaign trail in 2016 and has repeatedly attacked the reporting of Time Warner s CNN news network
Trump recently renewed his opposition to the deal I think your pricing s going to go up I don t think it s a good deal for the country he said in November |
T | Huawei s U S shutout intact as AT T reportedly backs out of deal | AT T NYSE T is backing away from a plan to sell phones made by Chinese handset giant Huawei on the eve of a big announcement of the deal The Wall Street Journal reports The deal that Huawei was set to announce tomorrow would have been its first partnership with a major U S carrier but AT T has changed its mind It s not clear why though a 2012 congressional report raised concerns about state sponsored spying via telecommunications equipment made by Huawei the world s biggest maker of that gear Now read |
T | China s Huawei says flagship smartphone will not be sold by U S carriers | HONG KONG Reuters Huawei Technologies said on Tuesday that its flagship smartphone Mate 10 Pro will be sold in the United States through the open channel and not by U S carriers
We remain committed in this market now and in the future U S customers need a better choice and as a leader in technology and innovation Huawei is prepared to fill this need it said in a statement
An expected partnership with U S carrier AT T NYSE T to distribute Huawei phones in the United States appeared to have fallen through the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday |
T | China says protectionist sentiment rising in U S as deals fall apart | BEIJING Reuters China said on Thursday protectionist sentiment is rising in the United States and criticized Washington for blocking a high profile Chinese takeover of a U S financial firm on security grounds Ant Financial s planned 1 2 billion purchase of transfer firm MoneyGram International Inc O MGI collapsed last week after a U S government panel rejected the deal over national security concerns It was the most high profile Chinese deal to be torpedoed since Donald Trump was elected U S president a year ago on promises to put America first and protect U S jobs from foreign competitors We ve noticed recently that protectionist voices have been rising in the U S Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said in a briefing China was particularly worried about countries using national security concerns as a way to block foreign investment he added Ant Financial is owned by Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd N BABA In another blow to the global ambitions of Chinese firms Huawei Technologies Co s planned deal with U S carrier AT T Inc N T to sell its smartphones in the United States also fell apart because of security concerns people with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday The failed deals come as the U S considers several new tariff moves in the coming weeks including broad restrictions on steel and aluminum imports and punitive actions against China arising from an investigation into Beijing s alleged theft of intellectual property Trade remains foremost in my mind as a risk for China because it s something they can t control said Michael Spencer chief Asia Pacific economist for Deutsche Bank DE DBKGn But my base case is that we will see more trade frictions this year than last but that it s not going to led to a significant decline in real exports from China An editorial in the official China Daily on Thursday blamed the termination of the Huawei AT T deal on political pressure instead of business considerations and said this threatened the kind of win win deals China sought This is not the first time U S politicians have stooped to mudslinging to prevent the entry of Chinese high tech companies into the U S market on the pretext they pose national security threats it said Washington s criticism of China s tightly controlled economy and restrictions on foreign investment rang hollow it added
Its blocking of deals involving Chinese companies in sectors where it has traditionally had an advantage shows its criticisms have more validity if directed at the U S market the editorial said |
PFE | ARIAD ARIA Leukemia Drug Iclusig Gets Approval In Japan | ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ARIA announced that its partner Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd has gained approval from the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency for leukemia drug Iclusig Iclusig is approved for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia CML resistant or intolerant to prior drug treatment and relapsed or treatment resistant Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia Ph ALL The approval has triggered a milestone payment of 10 million to ARIAD from Otsuka under the two companies collaboration agreement In Dec 2014 ARIAD had entered into a collaboration with Otsuka for the commercialization and development of Iclusig in Japan and nine other Asian countries Given that Japan represents huge market opportunity for Iclusig and this marks the drug s first approval in Asia we are positive about the latest development on the regulatory front Otsuka has also filed marketing applications for Iclusig in Korea and Taiwan We note that ARIAD has struck quite a few deals for the development and commercialization of Iclusig in various countries These deals provide the company with a steady stream of funds in the form of upfront milestone and other payments ARIAD has a non dilutive synthetic royalty financing agreement with PDL BioPharma NASDAQ PDLI under which the company could receive up to 200 million as revenue interest in exchange for royalties on net sales of Iclusig Further in Jun 2016 ARIAD divested its European operations and licensed the rights to Iclusig in Europe and other select countries to Incyte Corporation NASDAQ INCY ARIAD is eligible to receive 32 50 of the European net sales going forward Meanwhile ARIAD completed the rolling submission of the new drug application for its most advanced pipeline candidate brigatinib to the FDA last month The company is looking to get brigatinib approved for the treatment of metastatic ALK positive non small cell lung cancer in patients who are resistant or intolerant to Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Xalkori If all goes well on the regulatory front ARIAD could potentially launch brigatinib in 2017 ARIAD PHARMA Price
Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
PFE | Roche Alecensa Wins Second Breakthrough Status In The U S | Roche Holding SIX ROG AG OTC RHHBY announced that its lung cancer drug Alecensa was granted a second breakthrough therapy designation in the U S for the treatment of advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase ALK positive non small cell lung cancer NSCLC in adult patients who have not received prior treatment with an ALK inhibitor This designation is granted by the FDA to expedite the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat serious diseases and provide access to patients as early as possible ROCHE HLDG LTD Price
The designation was based on data from the phase III J ALEX study which demonstrated that Alecensa could reduce the risk of disease worsening or death by 66 in comparison to Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Xalkori crizotinib in patients with ALK positive advanced or recurrent NSCLC who had either not been treated with chemotherapy or had received one prior line of chemotherapy We remind investors that in Jun 2013 the company had received the first breakthrough therapy designation for Alecensa for the treatment of patients with ALK positive NSCLC whose disease progressed on treatment with Xalkori Currently Alecensa is approved in the U S for the treatment of ALK positive metastatic NSCLC patients who have progressed on or are intolerant to Xalkori Meanwhile Alecensa is being evaluated in the phase III ALEX study in comparison to Xalkori as an initial first line treatment for people with advanced ALK positive NSCLC We note that the lung cancer treatment market is highly crowded with drugs like Opdivo Keytruda and Zykadia among others As per information provided by the company lung cancer causes 1 59 million deaths each year globally Roche has a strong presence in the oncology market In particular the company dominates the breast cancer space with strong demand for its HER2 franchise drugs Herceptin Perjeta and Kadcyla The company s efforts to grow its portfolio beyond oncology and foray into new avenues such as multiple sclerosis and asthma are encouraging The company currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Stocks to ConsiderA couple of better ranked stocks in the health care sector include Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ACHN and VIVUS Inc NASDAQ VVUS All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see Achillion has posted a positive earnings surprise in each of the last four quarters with an average beat of 364 79 The company s share price has tanked 22 3 year to date VIVUS has posted a positive earnings surprise thrice in the last four quarters with an average beat of 39 88 The company s share price gained 7 5 year to date Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | GameStop GME Down 16 1 Since Last Earnings Report Can It Rebound | It has been about a month since the last earnings report for GameStop GME Shares have lost about 16 1 in that time frame underperforming the S P 500
Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release or is GameStop due for a breakout 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 GameStop Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates View CutGameStop reported impressive third quarter fiscal 2018 results wherein both top and bottom line exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate and improved year over year However management s trimmed outlook for the fiscal year displeased investors Furthermore this video game retailer is grappling with softness in used games or pre owned software due to the launch of fewer titles decrease in physical software sales muted demand owing to digital access to older titles and fewer promotions offered to customers in the reported quarter GameStop which is holding exploratory talks related to a potential transaction recently entered into a deal to sell Spring Mobile business for 700 million in cash Prime Communications is the buyer of the mobile division which operates and owns 1 289 AT T NYSE T wireless stores Notably the company s decision to divest the Spring Mobile business is part of its comprehensive review process as GameStop is consistently looking for strategic alternatives to boost shareholder value This move will generate immediate cash flows enabling the company to focus on its core businesses of video games and collectibles GameStop plans to use the net proceeds from the sale to lower debt reinvest in core video games and collectibles businesses and fund share repurchases Q3 PerformanceIn the quarter under review adjusted earnings increased 24 1 year over year to 67 cents per share The reported figure also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents after missing the same in the preceding quarter Net sales improved 4 8 up 6 3 on a currency neutral basis year over year to 2 084 4 million Moreover the top line trumped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 041 million marking two consecutive beats Consolidated comparable store sales comps rose 2 1 attributable to a 3 4 increase in the United States and a 0 5 decline internationally The increase in comps was driven by strong software performance in this quarter including several marquee titles that released earlier than expected By sales mix new video game hardware sales were up 12 8 to 349 million while new video game software sales improved 10 9 to 720 7 million Hardware sales were backed by the robust sales of Sony PS4 and Xbox One X Software sales growth can mainly be attributed to a strong slate of titles that was launched during the reported quarter Moreover Video game accessories sales jumped 32 6 to 180 8 million While digital receipts grew 29 5 to 341 6 million digital sales increased 22 to 45 4 million However pre owned and value video game products sales totaled 396 9 million down 13 4 year over year Also Technology Brands sales decreased 11 9 to 171 1 million Nevertheless Collectibles sales rose 11 7 to 154 6 million buoyed by continuous growth in domestic and international collectibles business Gross profit increased by 0 2 to 690 8 million compared with the figure registered last year However gross margin contracted 160 basis points bps to 33 1 SG A expenses increased 0 3 to 566 6 million in the reported quarter While adjusted operating income rose 16 3 to 94 million adjusted operating margin expanded 40 bps to 4 5 Other Financial AspectsGameStop ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of 454 5 million Also it had net receivables of 157 5 million net long term debt of 471 2 million and shareholders equity of 1 565 1 million at quarter end On Nov 27 2018 management declared a quarterly cash dividend of 38 cents per share payable Dec 21 2018 to its shareholders of record as of Dec 11 2018 For fiscal 2018 management lowered its capital expenditure projection to 100 110 million from 110 120 million anticipated earlier GuidanceAlthough GameStop delivered better than expected quarterly results it trimmed the fiscal 2018 guidance For the fiscal year management now envisions earnings per share of 2 55 2 75 down from 3 00 3 35 projected earlier The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2018 earnings is pegged at 3 05 Nevertheless the company continues to expect fiscal 2018 sales decline of 2 6 while comps are expected to remain flat to negative 5
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then
Fresh estimates followed a downward path over the past two months The consensus estimate has shifted 21 11 due to these changes
VGM Scores
Currently GameStop has a strong Growth Score of A though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with a D However the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side putting it in the top quintile for this investment strategy
Overall the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A If you aren t focused on one strategy this score is the one you should be interested in
Outlook
GameStop has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold We expect an in line return from the stock in the next few months |
PFE | US STOCKS Futures off after Chinese trade data scrapped IPO | Chinese export growth slows
Ally Financial IPO delayed
Futures off Dow 33 pts S P 500 2 8 pts Nasdaq 4 25
For up to the minute market news see STXNEWS US
Adds Pfizer price in last paragraph
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK June 10 Reuters Disappointing trade data from
China and the scrapping of a large IPO fed into fears about
market volatility and the economy on Friday sending futures
lower a day after stocks bounced from a six day losing streak
China s export growth slowed in May raising questions over
the outlook for global growth at a time when investors have
been rattled by a barrage of reports showing the U S economy
is slowing down For details see ID nL3E7HA0B2
It indicates there is some slowing in world demand for
Chinese products and that feeds right into the fears that our
economy is slowing said Jack de Gan chief investment officer
at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth New Hampshire
Ally Financial an auto and mortgage lender
majority owned by the U S government delayed a 6 billion
initial public offering troubling investors worried about the
poor performance of financial stocks during the market s recent
decline ID nN09285068
In another negative for U S stocks the euro fell as
worries about the Greek debt crisis eclipsed any support from a
likely euro zone interest rate rise next month Traders have
been trading the correlation between stocks and the dollar
recently
S P 500 futures dipped 2 8 points and were below
fair value a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into
account interest rates dividends and time to expiration on the
contract Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 33
points and Nasdaq 100 futures were off 4 25 points
U S shares ended higher on Thursday for the first time in
over a week though equities closed off session highs as the
mood among investors remained fragile following a 6 percent
drop in the S P 500 from its highs in May
Overseas markets were lackluster European shares on the
FTSEurofirst 300 dipped 0 3 percent in early trade and
were on track for a sixth straight week of losses Japan s
Nikkei ended up 0 5 percent
Crude oil futures fell paring earlier gains after Brent
rose to a five week high of 120 a barrel as Saudi Arabia began
offering more oil to Asian refiners easing worries about
supplies following an inconclusive OPEC meeting
U S drugmaker Pfizer Inc won European regulatory
clearance to acquire Danish medical services company Ferrosan s
consumer healthcare business from Altor 2003 Fund Ltd Pfizer
edged lower by 0 2 percent to 20 70 in premarket trade
ID nBRQ010171
Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe |
PFE | US STOCKS Wall St flat as Greece loan delay rekindles fears | Decision delayed on Greece loans
S P 200 day moving average 1 259 closely eyed strategist
Indexes Dow up 0 2 pct S P Nasdaq flat
For up to the minute market news see STXNEWS US
Updates to mid morning trading
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK June 20 Reuters U S stocks were little
changed on Monday as investors were hesitant to buy riskier
assets after a decision was delayed on emergency loans to
Greece and Moody s said it may downgrade Italy s credit
rating
The market seesawed between modest gains and losses Wall
Street started lower but erased losses as the S P dipped
toward 1 259 its 200 day moving average encouraging buyers A
drop below that level would be the first since September 2010
From a technical point of view the 200 day moving average
is where the market gains support said Jason Ware senior
equity analyst at Albion Financial Group in Salt Lake City
Utah
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 20 02
points or 0 17 percent at 12 024 38 The Standard Poor s
500 Index was down 0 27 points or 0 02 percent at
1 271 23 The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0 85
points or 0 03 percent at 2 615 63
Euro zone finance ministers delayed a decision on extending
12 billion euros 17 billion in emergency loans to Greece
saying Athens would first have to introduce austerity
measures
The ministers expect the money the next tranche in a 110
billion euro bailout by the European Union and the
International Monetary Fund to be paid by mid July Greece
needs the loans by then to avoid a debt default For details
see ID nLDE75I0FM
It blows the confidence out of the market especially when
the expectation was that there will be some kind of support or
help to solve the situation
Adding to concerns Moody s threatened to cut Italy s
credit ratings in the next 90 days on worries that the Greece
crisis may drive interest rates higher and derail Italy s
fragile economic recovery ID nN17266057
In company news the U S Food and Drug Administration
approved a tamper resistant pain drug from Pfizer Inc
and Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc Acura shares jumped 34
percent to 5 18 while Pfizer shares fell 0 7 percent to
20 12 ID nL3E7HK1T0
Reporting by Angela Moon editing by Jeffrey Benkoe |
PFE | European stocks slide on Fed outlook DAX down 0 9 | Investing com European stock markets were broadly lower on Thursday after the Federal Reserve cut its outlook for U S economic growth and gave no indications of further monetary stimulus dampening demand for riskier assets During European morning trade the EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1 2 France s CAC 40 slumped 0 95 while Germany s DAX 30 fell 0 9 The Federal Reserve on Wednesday downgraded its 2011 U S economic growth forecast to a range of 2 7 to 2 9 down from a previous estimate of 3 1 to 3 3 Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke confirmed that the bank was winding up its USD600 billion bond buying program at the end of June and said further easing was unlikely Meanwhile shares in the financial sector were pressured after European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet said late Wednesday that risk signals for financial stability in the euro zone are flashing red and that the debt crisis was threatening to infect European lenders Shares in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank each slumped 1 5 while French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas saw shares fall 1 35 and 1 2 respectively Peripheral euro zone banks also performed poorly with Spain s Banco Santander dropping 2 rival BBVA slumping 2 8 while shares in Italian banking giant Unicredit sank 1 85 European leaders are to hold the first day of a two day economic summit in Brussels later Thursday Meanwhile shares in German pharmaceutical firm Bayer tumbled 5 3 after U S rivals Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb reported a successful trial of their blood thinner drug Bayer is developing its own blood thinner in partnership with Johnson Johnson In London the FTSE 100 fell 0 75 as major U K banks extended sharp losses from the previous session when HSBC downgraded the sector Barclays shares sank 1 9 shares in Lloyds Banking Group tumbled 2 7 while Royal Bank of Scotland saw shares fall 2 4 Commodity linked shares were also lower as metal and oil prices were pressured by a stronger U S dollar Mining giant BHP Billiton declined 1 5 copper producer Xstrata saw shares fall 1 4 while shares in Royal Dutch Shell slipped 1 The outlook for U S equity markets was downbeat The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a loss of 0 2 S P 500 futures shed 0 32 while the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0 3 Later in the day the U S was to publish government data on initial jobless claims as well as official data on new home sales |
PFE | US STOCKS Market up slightly factory orders on tap | Upcoming data to reveal state of economy
Futures Dow up 24 pts S P up 0 2 Nasdaq up 8 5
For up to the minute market news see STXNEWS US
Adds quote updates prices
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK July 5 Reuters U S stock index futures rose
slightly on Tuesday before factory orders data and after stocks
had their best week in two years last week
The Commerce Department releases May factory orders data at
10 a m 1400 GMT Economists in a Reuters survey expect a
rise of 1 0 percent compared with a 1 2 percent drop in the
prior month
Equities have rallied for five straight days rebounding
from a spate of weakness over the last two months Moves to
avert a debt crisis in Europe and surprisingly strong regional
business data helped lift some of the gloom on Wall Street
We do have factory orders The market certainly could be
headed for some sort of a pullback We ve had a strong
performance over the past week and any slight disappointment
would invite some profit taking said Peter Cardillo chief
market economist at Avalon Partners in New York
We are going to begin to see some of the data actually
turn up and pointing to better times ahead in terms of the
economy and certainly negating any new downward trend the
soft patch obviously temporary
S P 500 futures added 0 2 point and were slightly
above fair value a formula that evaluates pricing by taking
into account interest rates dividends and time to expiration
on the contract Dow Jones industrial average futures
gained 24 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 8 5
points
Volume is expected to remain low in the holiday shortened
week which could increase volatility Markets were closed on
Monday for the U S Independence Day holiday
Specialty chemicals maker OM Group Inc is making a
push into Europe with the acquisition of German magnetic
materials maker Vacuumschmelze GmbH Co KG for 993 2 million
ID nL3E7I50NI
Healthy middle aged smokers who take Pfizer s
Chantix or Champix one of the most popular quit smoking drugs
have a higher risk of suffering heart attacks or other serious
heart problems a study found on Monday ID nL6E7I425W
China s Baidu is to partner with Microsoft
for English language search giving the U S software
giant a chance to expand its tiny Web presence in a market
Google has stepped back from The venture will help
the Chinese company s international ambitions
Microsoft shares gained 0 5 percent to 26 15 in premarket
trading and Baidu added 1 percent to 144 72
European shares edged up extending the rises for a seventh
session though strategists were advising caution as weak euro
zone economic data cast fresh doubts on the strength of the
recovery EU
Asian stocks pulled back slightly from a one month high as
some investors took profits from their recent rally
ID nL3E7I502Z
U S stocks started July with a bang on Friday as Wall
Street scored its best week in two years on strong
manufacturing data that eased concerns about slowing growth
ID nN1E7601LI
Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak Editing by Kenneth Barry |
AMD | Digitimes AMD launching new Ryzen processors in February | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD tells motherboard manufacturing partners that it plans to launch a 12nm upgrade version of its Ryzen processors in February 2018 according to Digitimes sources
The company will first release CPUs codenamed Pinnacle 7 with a mid range Pinnacle 5 and budget friendly Pinnacle 3 following in March A low power version will arrive the next month with an enterprise version coming in May
The 400 series chipsets corresponding to the processors will become available in March
GlobalFoundries will produce the Ryzen processors using 12nm low power process technology
AMD shares are up 1 61 premarket
Now read |
T | AT T says all U S states will use its public safety netwowrk | NEW YORK Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T said on Friday that all 50 U S states had decided to participate in the nationwide broadband network it is building for first responders as part of a 6 5 billion government contract In March the U S government awarded a contract to AT T to build the network years after a federal commission recommended setting up such a system following the 9 11 attacks The No 2 U S wireless carrier will receive 20 megahertz of wireless airwaves and success based payments of 6 5 billion over the next five years as part of the project known as FirstNet AT T expects to spend about 40 billion over 25 years to build and maintain the network States had until Thursday to opt out of AT T s network and build their own public safety networks In addition to the states Washington D C Puerto Rico and the U S Virgin Islands also opted for FirstNet AT T said Decisions from the three Pacific territories of American Samoa Guam and Northern Mariana Islands are not due until March 12 2018
Wall Street analysts have said FirstNet is a way for AT T to add to its portfolio of wireless airwaves or spectrum at a time when consumers are using more data on their cell phones The company can use the spectrum it receives from the U S government to provide more network capacity for wireless customers when it is not in use by emergency responders |
T | AT T to launch 5G in U S by late 2018 | Reuters AT T Inc N T the No 2 U S wireless carrier said it would launch fifth generation 5G mobile network service in a dozen cities in the United States by late 2018 after international wireless standards for the network were finalised last month
The 5G technology is expected to provide higher speed and response times than 4G networks used today |
PFE | Regeneron Sanofi Skin Disease Drug Under Priority Review | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ REGN and partner Sanofi NYSE SNY received encouraging news after their biologics license application for experimental skin disease treatment dupilumab was accepted for priority review by the FDA The companies are looking to get dupilumab approved for the treatment of adults with inadequately controlled moderate to severe atopic dermatitis AD
With the FDA granting priority review a response should be out by Mar 29 2017
Per company sources AD affects about 7 8 million adults in the U S and 1 3 of adults across the world Further there are roughly 1 6 million patients in the U S diagnosed with moderate to severe AD that are still living with inadequately controlled disease in spite of being treated
REGENERON PHARM Price Considering the lack of approved systemic treatments in the U S for moderate to severe AD there exists significant unmet need for drugs addressing this serious chronic inflammatory skin disease Approval would be a huge boost and dupilumab could bring in blockbuster sales given the immense commercial potential in the target market
SANOFI AVENTIS Price Apart from AD dupilumab is being evaluated for additional inflammatory indications including asthma phase III nasal polyposis phase II and eosinophilic oesophagitis phase II A phase III study on dupilumab for nasal polyposis is anticipated to start in the first quarter of 2017
We note that Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE is also looking to get its AD treatment crisaborole topical ointment 2 approved for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate AD It is currently under FDA review with a response expected by Jan 7 2017
Meanwhile Regeneron and Sanofi have an importantly regulatory event coming up late next month Oct 30 with the FDA expected to decide on the approval of sarilumab Sarilumab is currently under review in the U S for the treatment of patients with active moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis It is also under review in the EU
While Regeneron is a Zacks Rank 2 Buy stock Sanofi carries a Zacks Rank 4 Sell
A Stock to Consider
A better ranked stock in the health care sector is Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ LGND sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see
For 2016 Ligand witnessed a 12 13 increase in its earnings estimates over the past 60 days The company has also posted an average positive earnings surprise of 36 66 over the last four trailing quarters Its share price has surged nearly 13 year to date
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
PFE | Markets Tumble Ahead Of Tonight s Showdown | U S equities finished the first session of the week lower following a broad based decline overseas as investors await the Presidential debate and after capital concerns swirled around Deutsche Bank Treasuries were higher as new home sales decline and some regional manufacturing data improved and the U S dollar was lower Meanwhile gold was little changed and crude oil prices gained solid ground despite uncertainty ahead of this week s OPEC meeting M A news dominated the equity front
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA declined 167 points 0 9 to 18 095 the S P 500 Index lost 19 points 0 9 to 2 146 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 48 points 0 9 to 5 258 In moderate volume 781 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 1 7 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq WTI crude oil rose 1 45 to 45 93 per barrel wholesale gasoline was 0 03 higher at 1 39 per gallon and the Bloomberg gold spot price inched 0 98 lower to 1 337 64 per ounce Elsewhere the Dollar Index a comparison of the U S dollar to six major world currencies decreased 0 2 to 95 31
CBOE Holdings Inc NASDAQ CBOE CBOE 67 announced an agreement to acquire BATS Global Markets Inc NYSE BATS BATS 30 for 32 50 per share in cash and stock in a transaction valued at about 3 2 billion Under the terms of the deal BATS shareholders will receive 10 00 per share in cash and 0 3201 shares of CBOE Holdings common stock for each share they own CBOE said the deal is expected to strengthen its global position in innovative tradable products and services and achieve meaningful cost and operational efficiencies Shares of both companies were lower
Chemtura Corp NYSE CHMT CHMT 33 announced an agreement to be acquired by German specialty chemicals company Lanxess AG DE LXSG LNXSF 59 for 33 50 per share in cash valued at about 2 1 billion CHMT rallied over 15 while LNXSF also gain solid ground
Dow member Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE 34 saw some pressure after the company announced that after an extensive evaluation its board has determined to not pursue splitting into two companies at this time
New home sales decline to kick off economic week
New home sales decreased 7 6 month over month m m in August to an annual rate of 609 000 but above the Bloomberg forecast of 600 000 units The median home price declined 5 4 year over year to 284 000 The supply of new home inventory rose to 4 6 months at the current sales pace as sales tumbled in the Northeast m m fell in the South and declined in the Midwest while sales in the West grew Compared to last year sales in all regions were sharply higher except in the Northeast New home sales are based on contract signings instead of closings
The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 3 7 for September from August s unrevised 6 2 level with economists forecasting an increase to 3 0 A reading below zero denotes contraction in manufacturing activity
Treasuries finished higher as the yield on the 2 Year note declined 2 basis points bps to 0 73 while the yields on the 10 Year note and the 30 Year bond dropped 4 bps to 1 58 and 2 31 respectively
Tomorrow s will include more manufacturing and housing data in the form of the S P CoreLogic Case Shiller Home Price Index expected to show housing prices in the 20 city composite were 5 1 higher year over year y y but flat on a seasonally adjusted basis month over month m m and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index forecasted to improve to 2 during September from the 11 the month prior with a reading below zero denoting contraction in manufacturing activity As well Markit s preliminary Services PMI Index will be released with economists forecasting a September reading of 51 2 up slightly from August s 51 0 while Consumer Confidence will round out the busy day expected to decline to 99 0 in September from the prior month s 101 1
Europe and Asia mostly lower as oil and U S politics stymie conviction
European equities traded lower with financials falling to lead a broad based decline amid a drop in shares of Deutsche Bank AG DE DBKGn DB 12 as media reports saying the government will not offer any state aid for the German lender fueled capital concerns The German lender is facing speculation that it may need to raise capital in the wake of a record 14 0 billion fine being sought by the U S Department of Justice in relation to DB s alleged practices leading up to the 2008 mortgage crisis DB said that at no point did it ask the government for assistance and a German government spokesperson said there are no grounds for speculation over state funding for the bank Also oil and gas issues saw pressure amid uncertainty regarding if this week s informal OEPC meeting will yield a new production agreement The negative movement for stocks came even as German business confidence rose solidly in September to the highest level since May 2014 The euro gained ground and the British pound was little changed versus the U S dollar while bond yields in the region dipped Also the global markets awaited tonight s first Presidential debate in the U S while European Central Bank President Mario Draghi spoke today reiterating the need for fiscal and structural policies to aid economic growth per Bloomberg
Stocks in Asia finished mostly lower with the global markets pulling back amid focus on tonight s first Presidential debate in the U S along with festering uncertainty regarding the Bank of Japan s monetary policy Moreover volatility in the energy sector also hamstrung conviction as uncertainty ramped up ahead of this week s OPEC meeting Japanese equities declined with the yen showing some strength while mainland Chinese stocks and those traded in Hong Kong dropped Meanwhile India s markets traded lower as did those in South Korea while Australian stocks finished flat |
AMD | AMD Stock Surges On Earnings Beat Strong Revenue Guidance | Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD just released its latest quarterly financial results posting adjusted earnings of 0 11 per share and revenues of 1 65 billion
Currently AMD is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold but that could change based on today s results Shares of the company have lost about 4 over the past month including a 3 7 loss during regular trading hours today
The stock is currently up 7 9 to 10 46 per share in after hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released
Investors should note that AMD s new financial results were reported under a new revenue accounting standard Past results were adjusted to reflect this new standard in the report
AMD
Beat earnings estimates The company posted adjusted earnings of 0 11 per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 09 Investors should note that this consensus projection has trended upward over the duration of the quarter
Beat revenue estimates The company saw revenue figures of 1 65 billion beating our consensus estimate of 1 55 billion Total revenue was up 40 year over year
Computing and Graphics segment revenue was 1 12 billion up 95 year over year Segment operating income was 138 million compared to an operating loss of 21 million a year ago Enterprise Embedded and Semi Custom segment revenue was 532 million down 12 from the prior year period
The first quarter was an outstanding start to 2018 with 40 percent year over year revenue growth said CEO Dr Lisa Su PC gaming and datacenter adoption of our new high performance products continues to accelerate We are excited about our long term roadmaps and focused on delivering sustained revenue growth and profitability
For the second quarter of fiscal 2018 AMD expects revenue to fall in the range of 1 675 billion to 1 775 billion This is higher than our current consensus estimate of 1 58 billion
Here s a graph that looks at AMD s recent earnings performance Advanced Micro Devices Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Advanced Micro Devices is a semiconductor company that develops processors including x86 based microprocessors and graphics processing units GPUs
Check back later for our full analysis on AMD s earnings report
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Investor Alert Breakthroughs Pending
A medical advance is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization Billions of dollars in research have poured into it Companies are already generating substantial revenue and even more wondrous products are in the pipeline
Cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in sight and so are big potential profits for early investors Zacks names 5 stocks to buy now |
AMD | U S Stocks Post Earnings Risings | This is one of those mornings where I ve mentally prepared myself to take it on the chin It s not that the market is up huge as of this moment the S P 500 futures are up one third of a single percentage point It s just that a few of my shorts AMD FB AAP have some big post earnings risings so I ll almost certainly see those stopped out Strong as the NQ rally is up almost a percentage point the trend so far remains down
The same is true for the ES You can see how it is relatively weaker than the chart above since it isn t nearly as close to its descending trendline
Taking a big step back on a daily basis you can also see how the trend for 2018 has been in fits and lurches lower
My biggest worry point is the bonds which have had some really good weakness for a couple of weeks red arrow but look prone to a bounce I m probably going to remain less aggressive in position entries for a little while until the coast is more clear |
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