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PFE | Pfizer investors on alert for more shrinkage clues | Q1 profit seen falling slightly hurt by generics
Investors eager for news of asset sales
Recent share gain tied to hopes of weathering Lipitor hit
By Ransdell Pierson
NEW YORK May 3 Reuters Pfizer Inc is expected
to report slightly lower quarterly earnings on Tuesday but
investors will be more focused on any signs the world s biggest
drugmaker will further shrink itself to weather looming
competition from generic drugs for its Lipitor cholesterol
fighter
We will be listening for commentary around potential
divestitures as well as any color around potential larger
moves such as breaking up its pharmaceuticals business JP
Morgan analyst Chris Schott said on Monday
Many investors fear Pfizer which has bought three of the
largest U S drugmakers over the past decade will be far too
big to deliver strong profit growth once its 10 7
billion a year Lipitor faces cheaper generics in November and
more than a half dozen other Pfizer drugs lose U S patent
protection in the next few years
Wall Street expects Pfizer s new chief executive Ian Read
to eventually sell parts of the company or cut Pfizer to a size
commensurate with its expected narrowing revenue base
In addition to its core pharmaceuticals business Pfizer has
an animal health business nutritional products business and
consumer products that could wind up on the auction block
Three months ago Read delighted investors by vowing to slash
the company s research budget by up to 2 billion to between
6 5 billion and 7 billion eliminating thousands of research
positions
The move allowed Pfizer which turned over the reins to Read
in December after the abrupt departure of Jeffrey Kindler to
stick to its earlier 2012 profit forecast of 2 25 to 2 35 per
share That would reflect some actual growth over earnings of
2 23 per share last year and 2 24 per share expected this year
by Wall Street
Pfizer further endeared itself to investors in early April
by announcing plans to sell its Capsugel unit the world s
largest maker of hard capsules to private equity firm KKR Co
for 2 38 billion The deal will enable Pfizer to make
additional share repurchases this year beyond its previous plans
for 5 billion in buybacks for 2011
Its shares have risen 12 percent since Feb 1 when Read
pointed his axe at the company s R D budget
Schott said Pfizer even more than other drugmakers that
have already reported first quarter results should get an
earnings boost from the weaker dollar
Even so Schott and other Wall Street analysts expect Pfizer
earnings to be slightly below the year ago period hurt by
tumbling sales of drugs already facing competition from
generics They include the antidepressant Effexor acquired
through Pfizer s purchase in 2009 of rival U S drugmaker Wyeth
Editing by Bernard Orr and Matt Driskill |
PFE | RPT UPDATE 2 Pfizer drugs wilt lower margin units shine | Refiling to remove extra word from paragraph 1
Q1 EPS excluding items 60 cents vs 59 cents forecast
Q1 sales narrowly miss Wall Street expectations
Drug sales fall 2 pct hurt by overseas Lipitor generics
Lower margin animal health consumer units shine
Shares fall 1 3 pct premarket
Adds details on product sales investor hopes
NEW YORK May 3 Reuters U S drugmaker Pfizer Inc
reported quarterly results roughly in line with
expectations as falling sales of prescription drugs undermined
strong demand for consumer and animal health products that some
investors want the company to sell off
Sales of Pfizer s core business of prescription drugs fell
2 percent to 14 2 billion Cholesterol fighter Lipitor the
company s biggest product led the downturn as its revenue
tumbled 13 percent to 2 39 billion due to generic competition
in overseas markets
The world s largest drugmaker whose shares fell 1 3
percent in premarket trading said it earned 2 22 billion or
28 cents per share in the first quarter That compared with
2 03 billion or 25 cents per share in the year earlier
period when Pfizer took charges related to its late 2009
purchase of rival U S drugmaker Wyeth
Excluding special items including its Capsugel business
that is being sold and is now considered to be a discontinued
operation Pfizer earned 60 cents per share Analysts on
average expected 59 cents per share according to Thomson
Reuters I B E S
Global company revenue of 16 5 billion was a bit lower
than the year earlier quarter and slightly trailed Wall Street
expectations of 16 63 billion
Revenue would have fallen 2 percentage points if not for
the weaker dollar which boosts the value of overseas sales
and for new products obtained in Pfizer s recent purchase of
specialty drugmaker King Pharmaceuticals
Many investors fear Pfizer which has bought three of the
largest U S drugmakers over the past decade will be far too
big to deliver strong profit growth once Lipitor faces cheaper
U S generics in November and more than a half dozen other
Pfizer drugs lose U S patent protection in the next few
years
Wall Street expects Pfizer s new chief executive Ian Read
will eventually sell off one or more of its non pharmaceutical
businesses or perhaps even its generic drugs operation
By divesting such products which have far lower profit
margins than branded prescriptions drugs the hope is that
newly approved medicines will have a better chance to bolster
overall earnings of the smaller company
Pfizer on Tuesday said it aims in the second half of the
year to complete its ongoing assessment of what businesses it
may sell
Animal health sales jumped 16 percent to 982 million in
the quarter while sales of consumer healthcare products rose
12 percent to 745 million Nutritional product sales rose 3
percent to 470 million
Reporting by Ransdell Pierson and Lewis Krauskopf Editing by
Maureen Bavdek |
PFE | CORRECTED US STOCKS Wall St edges lower on dollar bounce | Corrects to show in 5th paragraph that dollar rise makes
commodities more expensive
Pfizer falls MasterCard rises after earnings reports
Dollar advances drags commodities
Indexes off Dow 0 1 pct S P 0 2 pct Nasdaq 0 2 pct
For up to the minute market news see STXNEWS US
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK May 3 Reuters U S stocks dipped on Tuesday
as a move higher in the dollar pressured commodity prices and
investors weighed the potential for some consolidation in
equities after a recent run up
The dollar edged off three year lows as a buildup of bets
to sell the currency based on loose U S monetary policy ran
out of steam The dollar index measured against a
basket of major currencies was last up 0 3 percent For
details see ID nLDE7421B7
Brent crude fell 1 3 percent to 123 53 a barrel
and U S crude futures shed 1 1 percent to 112 31 The
S P energy index lost 1 2 percent
Gold slipped Tuesday from record highs above 1 570 an
ounce The NYSEArca gold bugs index dipped 1 7 percent
A rise in the greenback saps interest in U S dollar priced
commodities as they become more expensive
Some of the markets were getting a little overdone said
Frank Lesh a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading
LLC in Chicago
Markets gets overbought dollar is oversold yes You ve
got a corrective bounce of the dollar coming it s not a change
in trend by any means
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 10 25
points or 0 08 percent to 12 797 11 The Standard Poor s
500 Index slipped 2 79 points or 0 20 percent to
1 358 43 The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 4 93 points
or 0 17 percent to 2 859 15
Pfizer Inc fell 2 4 percent to 20 52 after the
drugmaker reported lower than expected quarterly revenue
ID nN03286398
MasterCard Inc rose 3 4 percent to 284 62 after the
world s second largest credit card processing network posted a
24 percent jump in quarterly profit ID nN02251522
At 10 a m EST 1400 GMT the Commerce Department releases
March factory orders Economists forecast a 1 9 percent rise
compared with a 0 1 percent drop in February
Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak editing by Jeffrey Benkoe |
AMD | Jefferies cites positive meeting with AMD reiterates Buy | Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis reiterates his 19 price target and Buy rating on Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD after a positive meeting with CEO Lisa Su and SVP Ruth Cotter Lipacis cites positive comments on the ability of the server MPU called EPYC achieving the 40 to 44 gross margin target The analyst expects at minimum gross margins to expand 400 basis points with server share gains of 800 bps by the end of next year CY18 EPS estimate 0 40 0 18 over Street estimate Source StreetInsider Previously Semiconductor revenue totals 101 4B in Q2 AMD and Nvidia lead growths Sept 12 Now read |
T | AT T declares 0 50 dividend | AT T NYSE T declares 0 50 share quarterly dividend 2 increase from prior dividend of 0 49 Forward yield 5 24 Payable Feb 1 for shareholders of record Jan 10 ex div Jan 9 Now read |
T | U S Justice Department AT T settlement talks failed court filing | WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Department of Justice and AT T Inc N T have held unsuccessful settlement talks over the wireless and pay TV company s bid to buy movie and TV show maker Time Warner Inc N TWX the two sides said in a court filing on Friday The Justice Department has sued to stop AT T owner of DirecTV and 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 A trial to decide the matter is set to begin on March 19 and run about 15 days according to the filing The two sides noted in the filing which set out an agreed schedule leading up to the March trial that there had been unsuccessful settlement discussions between the two All parties have engaged in good faith settlement negotiations but despite their efforts have not been able to settle the matter the filing said In an effort to help reach an agreement AT T and Time Warner last month offered to use licensing terms that forbid Time Warner s Turner unit from going dark on any distributor for seven years after the deal closes if they were to reach an impasse in negotiations
In preparation for the trial final fact witness lists will be exchanged by Feb 2 and all pretrial motions should be filed by March 12 according to the court filing |
PFE | FDA AdCom Votes On Pfizer And Spectrum Drugs What Next | Yesterday a couple of drugs came up before FDA advisory panels for review large cap pharma Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Chantix and biotech company Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc s NASDAQ SPPI Qapzola Chantix Qapzola under ReviewData on Pfizer s smoking cessation product Chantix from the EAGLES Evaluating Adverse Events in a Global Smoking Cessation Study study was reviewed by a joint meeting of the FDA s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and Drug Safety Risk Management Advisory Committee The randomized blinded placebo controlled study was conducted by Pfizer in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline plc NYSE GSK and was designed in consultation with the FDA and the European Medicines Agency EMA The safety and efficacy of all three currently approved smoking cessation therapies including Chantix was compared in this study in more than 8 000 smokers with and without a history of psychiatric disorders Pfizer is looking to get the Chantix label updated based on the safety and efficacy outcomes of EAGLES The company has applied for the removal of the boxed warning in Chantix s label while at the same time it has proposed that the Warnings and Precautions section in the label regarding serious neuropsychiatric events occurring in patients attempting to quit smoking should be retained and updated with EAGLES data According to the company such a warning would be enough to inform prescribers of the possibility of the occurrence of such events Meanwhile Spectrum is looking to get Qapzola approved for immediate intravesical instillation post transurethral resection of bladder tumors post TURBT in patients with non muscle invasive bladder cancer NMIBC How Did the Vote Go Pfizer got a favorable response with the advisory committees giving a majority vote in favor of removing the boxed warning regarding serious neuropsychiatric adverse events from the Chantix label
Price
However Spectrum s Qapzola did not fare so well with the FDA s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee ODAC voting that Qapzola did not show substantial evidence of a treatment effect over placebo Shares were down 8 2 on the news
Price
What Next While the FDA is not required to do so it usually follows the advice of its advisory panels So in Chantix s case the agency is likely to decide to remove the boxed warning from the label which should have a positive impact on scrips and product sales Chantix brought in total sales of 671 million last year and 434 million in the first six months of 2016 Chantix s EU trade name Champix EU label has already been updated to include the EAGLES data The black triangle symbol which indicated that additional safety monitoring was required for Champix in the EU was removed as well Meanwhile as far as Spectrum is concerned the vote did not really come as a surprise considering Qapzola failed to meet the primary endpoint in two phase III studies A final decision from the FDA is expected on Dec 11 2016 but right now it looks like chances for gaining approval are low With Spectrum currently conducting a phase III study on Qapzola under the FDA s Special Protocol Assessment SPA program we think the agency will ask the company for additional data before granting final approval Both Pfizer and Spectrum are Zacks Rank 3 Hold stocks You can see Confidential Zacks Best Investment Ideas Would you like to see a hand picked all star selection of investment ideas from the man who heads up Zacks trading and investing services Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | AT T T Stock Moves 1 19 What You Should Know | AT T T closed the most recent trading day at 29 86 moving 1 19 from the previous trading session This change was narrower than the S P 500 s daily loss of 2 08 Elsewhere the Dow lost 2 11 while the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 2 27
Prior to today s trading shares of the telecommunications company had gained 0 33 over the past month This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 1 55 and the S P 500 s loss of 3 6 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 The company is expected to report EPS of 0 85 up 8 97 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 48 44 billion up 16 24 from the year ago period
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 3 52 per share and revenue of 174 05 billion which would represent changes of 15 41 and 8 41 respectively from the prior year
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors 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
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 12 higher 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 59 right now Its industry sports an average Forward P E of 33 22 so we one might conclude that T is trading at a discount comparatively
We can also see that T currently has a PEG ratio of 1 36 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 4 78 as of yesterday s close
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 59 which puts it in the top 23 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
You can find more information on all of these metrics and much more on Zacks com |
PFE | US STOCKS Wall St flat in face of strong resistance | S P 500 seen testing its 2011 high
Pfizer to sell unit to KKR for about 2 4 billion
Dow S P flat Nasdaq down 0 1 pct
Updates to market open updates graphic
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK April 4 Reuters U S stocks were little
changed after a higher open on Monday with the S P 500 facing
levels where selling has clustered in recent sessions
The benchmark hovered near 1 333 a level it has been
unable to close above since mid February That level is double
the 12 year low hit in March 2009 and is not far from 1 344
the S P s 2011 high and its highest since June 2008
I think the market has enough inertia and the retest of
1 344 is in store said Richard Ross global technical
strategist at Auerbach Grayson in New York We re looking for
a marginal new high on the S P 500 setting you up for the next
leg of the advance
If you did have a breakout which failed those false
breakouts often lead to a fast move in the opposite
direction
On Friday the S P recorded its best two week period since
December and the Dow industrials hit its highest intraday
level since June 2008
It wouldn t be unhealthy to see a period of consolidation
in the short term but with this kind of momentum you sometimes
don t get that pause Ross said
The Dow Jones industrial average added just 2 54 points
or 0 02 percent to 12 379 26 The Standard Poor s 500 edged
up 0 05 point to 1 332 46 The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped
3 95 points or 0 14 percent to 2 785 65
The lack of significant economic data on Monday nuclear
and other quake related problems in Japan and unrest in Libya
Syria and other states in the oil rich region could translate
into low volumes in Wall Street Last week was the lowest in
volume so far in 2011
In acquisition news Pfizer Inc rose 0 8 percent to 20 54
after the drugmaker agreed to sell its Capsugel unit the
world s largest maker of hard capsules to private equity firm
KKR Co for nearly 2 4 billion
Reporting by Rodrigo Campos Editing by Kenneth Barry |
PFE | GLOBAL MARKETS World stocks rally on M A oil up on Middle East | M A activity supports global shares
Wall Street opens higher
Euro slips back after hitting multi month highs
Oill hits 2 1 2 year highs on Middle East unrest
Updates with Wall Street open prices changes byline
dateline previously LONDON
By Leah Schnurr and Jeremy Gaunt
NEW YORK LONDON April 4 Reuters Merger and acquisition
activity helped lift global equities on Monday though Wall
Street struggled to maintain gains in early trade
Crude oil prices hit 2 1 2 year highs as the unrest in
Libya continued to unnerve investors
Expectations that the European Central Bank will raise euro
zone interest rates at its meeting on Thursday drove the euro
briefly to an 11 month high against the Japanese yen but later
slipped because expectations of higher rates have already been
priced in
World stocks as measured by MSCI were up
0 6 percent rising to the highest level in more than a month
and up more than 5 percent for the year to date
In the latest acquisition news Pfizer Inc rose 0 8
percent to 20 54 after the drugmaker agreed to sell its
Capsugel unit the world s largest maker of hard capsules to
private equity firm KKR Co for nearly 2 4 billion
And in Europe Belgian chemicals group Solvay
launched a bid for French rival Rhodia driving up
Rhodia s shares 48 percent For details see ID nLDE66P0SY
Vodafone rose after selling its 44 percent stake in
France s second biggest telecom operator SFR to Vivendi
ID nLDE73319N
On Wall Street the broad S P 500 faced levels where
selling has clustered in recent sessions hovering just above
1 333 a level that it has been unable to close above since
mid February
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 11 88
points or 0 10 percent at 12 388 60 The Standard Poor s
500 Index was up 0 91 points or 0 07 percent at
1 333 32 The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1 51
points or 0 05 percent at 2 788 09
On Friday the S P recorded its best two week period since
December and the Dow industrials hit the highest
intraday level since June 2008
European stocks added to three week highs hit Friday with
a 0 2 percent rise for the FTSEurofirst 300 Japan s
Nikkei closed up 0 1 percent
The improving macroeconomic backdrop has been primarily
responsible for the bounce back in equities after tumbling in
March on Japan s disaster and unrest in North Africa and the
Middle East
The economic growth improvement has cemented expectations
that the ECB will raise interest rates Thursday and led to
speculation the U S Federal Reserve may be getting closer to
withdrawing exceptional liquidity ID nLDE7330AC
As the economy turns the corner and gets back on its feet
central bankers are beginning to see inflation as a greater
threat than lack of growth said Jonathan Sudaria dealer at
Capital Spreads
RATES DRIVE EURO
Reflecting expectations of differing rate paths the euro
hit 11 month highs against the yen and touched a five month
peak against the dollar The single currency later slipped back
with expectations of an increase in rates already priced in by
investors
In contrast to the ECB the Bank of Japan is likely to
downgrade its economic assessment at its meeting Wednesday and
may consider finding more ways to help the economy recover from
last month s massive earthquake and devastating tsunami
Key euro priced bank to bank lending rates hit new 21 month
highs Monday boosted by rate hike expectations
ID nLDE7330V9
The euro briefly popped above 120 yen for the
first time since May 2010 and was later at 119 55 yen It hit a
five month high against the dollar of 1 4269 and was later at
1 42138
I think the euro is close to putting in a top now as the
monetary policy divergence story is almost fully priced said
Lee Hardman currency strategist at BTM UFJ
There was little respite for the euro zone periphery s bond
sector with Fitch cutting Portugal s credit ratings by three
notches to BBB minus late Friday one notch above junk and
signaling further downgrades are likely
Traders also said Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero s decision not to seek a third term in 2012
elections would raise questions over Madrid s future commitment
to economic reforms
In commodities markets North Sea Brent crude oil hit a
2 1 2 year high of almost 120 a barrel on Monday as the unrest
in the Middle East and North Africa kept the focus on oil
supplies as economic growth bolstered demand for fuel
The focus remains on headlines out of the Middle East
said Edward Meir senior commodity analyst at brokers MF
Global despite what he called a less than compelling
fundamental backdrop
ICE Brent rose 1 25 to a high of 119 95 a barrel
its highest since August 2008 before slipping back to trade
around 119 70 by 1345 GMT U S crude was up 20 cents
at 108 14 a barrel by 1345 GMT after touching 108 78 earlier
in the session its highest since September 2008
Analysts say the loss of oil from Libya has been more or
less offset by Saudi Arabia while the Japanese crisis should
also reduce oil import demand suggesting there likely is a
statistical surplus in the system right now Meir said
Reporting by Leah Schnurr Additional reporting by Kirsten
Donovan Neal Armstrong Ian Chua and Masayuki Kitano Editing
by Leslie Adler |
PFE | GLOBAL MARKETS World stocks rise on M A oil up on Middle East | M A activity supports global shares
Wall Street edges up but faces resistance
Euro slips back after hitting multi month highs
Brent crude hits 120 a barrel on Middle East unrest
Updates prices adds details
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK April 4 Reuters Merger and acquisition
activity helped buoy global equities on Monday but gains were
kept in check after recent highs while expectations of higher
euro zone interest rates took the euro briefly to an 11 month
high against Japan s yen
Brent crude oil prices rose above 120 a barrel to the
highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and
the global financial crisis in September 2009 driven up on
worries over the unrest in Libya and the Middle East and
potential supply threats
On Wall Street the broad S P 500 edged higher as it
faced levels where selling has clustered in recent sessions It
was hovering just above 1 333 a level that it has been unable
to close above since mid February
The S P recorded its best two week period since December on
Friday and the Dow industrials hit its highest intraday
level since June 2008
It wouldn t be unhealthy to see a period of consolidation
in the short term but with this kind of momentum you sometimes
don t get that pause said Richard Ross global technical
strategist at Auerbach Grayson in New York
The Dow Jones industrial average added 15 18 points
or 0 12 percent to 12 391 90 The Standard Poor s 500 Index
edged up 0 81 points or 0 06 percent at 1 333 22 The
Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1 51 points or 0 05
percent to 2 791 11
World stocks as measured by MSCI were up
0 3 percent hovering around a one month high and up nearly 5
percent for the year to date European shares rose to a
three week closing high
Positive sentiment is coming from mergers We will see
more mergers and acquisitions and it is one of the reasons why
the stock market is still trading at these higher levels a
London based equity trader said
In the latest acquisition news Pfizer Inc rose
nearly 1 percent to 20 57 after the drugmaker agreed to sell
its Capsugel unit the world s largest maker of hard capsules
to private equity firm KKR Co for nearly 2 4
billion Pfizer shares rose 0 8 percent to 20 55 For details
see ID nN04165993
In Europe Belgian chemicals group Solvay launched
a bid for French rival Rhodia driving up Rhodia s
shares 48 percent ID nLDE66P0SY
Vodafone gave back earlier gains to close lower
after selling its 44 percent stake in France s second biggest
telecom operator SFR to Vivendi ID nLDE73319N
The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up up 0 1 percent at
1 142 84 points the highest close since March 9 Japan s
Nikkei also closed up 0 1 percent
The improving macroeconomic backdrop has been primarily
responsible for the bounce back in equities after tumbling in
March on Japan s disaster and unrest in North Africa and the
Middle East
RATES DRIVE EURO
The economic growth improvement has cemented expectations
that the ECB will raise interest rates Thursday and led to
speculation the U S Federal Reserve may be getting closer to
withdrawing exceptional liquidity ID nLDE7330AC
As the economy turns the corner and gets back on its feet
central bankers are beginning to see inflation as a greater
threat than lack of growth said Jonathan Sudaria dealer at
Capital Spreads
A top Federal Reserve official said on Monday that U S
inflation is likely to remain low for now but policymakers
will keep a close eye on potentially self fulfilling consumer
expectations for higher prices ID nN04244409
Reflecting expectations of differing rate paths the euro
hit an 11 month high against the yen and touched a five month
peak against the dollar The single currency later slipped back
with expectations of an increase in rates already priced in by
investors
In contrast to the ECB the Bank of Japan is likely to
downgrade its economic assessment at its meeting Wednesday and
may consider finding more ways to help the economy recover from
last month s massive earthquake and devastating tsunami
The euro briefly popped above 120 yen for the
first time since May 2010 and was later at 119 55 yen It hit a
five month high against the dollar of 1 4269 and was later at
1 42138
In commodities markets North Sea Brent crude oil rose to
120 a barrel
The focus remains on headlines out of the Middle East
said Edward Meir senior commodity analyst at brokers MF
Global despite what he called a less than compelling
fundamental backdrop
ICE Brent was most recently trading up 1 61 at
120 31 U S crude rose 45 cents to 108 39 a barrel
after touching 108 78 earlier in the session its highest
since September 2008
Analysts say the loss of oil from Libya has been more or
less offset by Saudi Arabia while the Japanese crisis should
also reduce oil import demand suggesting there likely is a
statistical surplus in the system right now Meir said
Reporting by Leah Schnurr Additional reporting by Rodrigo
Campos in New York Christopher Johnson in London Editing by
Leslie Adler |
PFE | US STOCKS Market flat earnings could pierce resistance | Profit news next week could prove catalyst
S P 500 seen testing its 2011 high
Pfizer to sell unit to KKR for about 2 4 billion
Dow up 0 2 pct S P up 0 1 pct Nasdaq up 0 1 pct
Updates to midday
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK April 4 Reuters The S P 500 met tough
resistance on Monday with the next major catalyst that could
push stocks higher not expected until quarterly earnings
reports start to arrive next week
Investors were cautious against a backdrop of geopolitical
risks that have weighed on equities for months
The benchmark S P 500 hovered near 1 333 which it has not
closed above since mid February The level is double the
12 year low hit in March 2009 and not far from 1 344 the S P s
highest since June 2008
Bruce Zaro chief technical strategist at Delta Global
Asset Management in Boston said earnings season would likely
push the S P 500 to 1 400 by mid May as stocks come off the
seasonally strong November April period
If we make a successful break from here I think you ve
got the 1 400 range and I think that s probably likely during
the final seasonally favorable push he said
On Friday the S P recorded its best two week period since
December and the Dow industrials hit their highest intraday
level since June 2008 Encouraging jobs data during the week
helped cement hopes of a labor market recovery points or 0 17
percent to 12 397 65 The Standard Poor s 500 Index rose
1 04 points or 0 08 percent to 1 333 45 The Nasdaq Composite
Index added 2 77 points or 0 10 percent to 2 792 37
The lack of significant economic data on Monday nuclear
and other quake related problems in Japan and unrest in Libya
Syria and other countries in the oil rich region of North
Africa and the Middle East could translate into low volume on
Wall Street By midday the volume was the lowest so far this
year and followed the lowest weekly volume of 2011 last week
Brent crude extended gains to a 2 1 2 year peak above 120
a barrel on concerns over Libya s conflict Middle East unrest
and potential supply threats Investors are concerned that a
spike in oil could choke off a consumer recovery
Richard Ross global technical strategist at Auerbach
Grayson in New York said the S P 500 could retake its yearly
high this week
I think the market has enough inertia and the retest of
1 344 is in store he said We re looking for a marginal new
high on the S P 500 setting you up for the next leg of the
advance
Japanese investment bank Nomura maintained a neutral view
on semiconductor stocks citing weakened demand peak gross
margins and higher capital spending in the sector
The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 1 percent and has
lost 2 9 percent over the past four days
Pfizer Inc rose 0 8 percent to 20 55 after the drugmaker
agreed to sell its Capsugel unit the world s largest maker of
hard capsules to private equity firm KKR Co for nearly 2 4
billion
Shares of defense contractor General Dynamics dropped 5 7
percent to 73 after on of its Gulfstream Aerospace jets
crashed on a test flight killing four
Southwest Airlines Co shares dropped 2 percent to 12 41
after about 70 flights were canceled for safety inspections A
Southwest jet made an emergency landing with a hole in the
cabin on Friday
Reporting by Edward Krudy Editing by Kenneth Barry |
PFE | GLOBAL MARKETS Oil up on Middle East equities helped by MA | M A activity supports global shares
Wall Street edges down as S P hits resistance
Euro slips back after hitting multi month highs
Brent crude hits 120 a barrel on Middle East unrest
Rewrites updates prices adds details quotes
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK April 4 Reuters Merger and acquisition
activity helped global equities eke out mild gains on Monday
while oil rose to 2 1 2 year highs on worries geopolitical
risks will hit supply
The M A cheer did little for Wall Street with the broad S P
500 little changed as it encountered levels where
selling has clustered in recent sessions
Expectations of higher euro zone interest rates took the
euro briefly to an 11 month high against Japan s yen but the
currency eased back with expectations of an increase already
priced in
Brent crude oil prices rose above 120 a barrel to the
highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and
the global financial crisis in September 2008 U S crude was
choppy after rising to 108 78 the highest intraday price
since September 2008
Libya s continuing conflict and unrest in Yemen could pose
threats to supply in the Middle East while investors expect
demand for oil could grow on signs of improvement in the U S
economy
Brent is up on Libya Yemen unrest and the Nigerian
election said Phil Flynn analyst at PFGBest Research in
Chicago
U S crude is hesitant because there is still worry that
the Federal Reserve might be nearing a rate hike or tighter
policy which would lower liquidity and demand and strengthen
the dollar he added
World stocks as measured by MSCI were up
0 2 percent hovering around a one month high and up nearly 5
percent for the year to date European shares rose to a
three week closing high
Positive sentiment is coming from mergers We will see
more mergers and acquisitions and it is one of the reasons why
the stock market is still trading at these higher levels a
London based equity trader said
In Europe Belgian chemicals group Solvay launched
a bid for French rival Rhodia driving up Rhodia s
shares 48 percent ID nLDE66P0SY
Vodafone gave back earlier gains to close lower
after selling its 44 percent stake in France s second biggest
telecom operator SFR to Vivendi ID nLDE73319N
The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 0 04 percent at
1 142 84 points the highest close since March 9 Japan s
Nikkei also closed up 0 1 percent
On Wall Street Pfizer Inc rose 0 5 percent to
20 48 after the drugmaker agreed to sell its Capsugel unit
the world s largest maker of hard capsules to private equity
firm KKR Co for nearly 2 4 billion For details see
ID nN04165993
But the S P was slightly lower in the early afternoon
hovering just under 1 333 a level that it has been unable to
close above since mid February
The S P recorded its best two week period since December on
Friday and the Dow industrials hit its highest intraday
level since June 2008
If we make a successful break from here I think you ve
got the 1 400 range and I think that s probably likely during
the final seasonally favorable push said Bruce Zaro chief
technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in
Boston
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 2 04 points
or 0 02 percent to 12 374 68 The Standard Poor s 500 Index
slipped 3 04 points or 0 23 percent to 1 329 37 The
Nasdaq Composite Index was off 10 40 points or 0 37
percent to 2 779 20
RATES DRIVE EURO
Economic improvement has cemented expectations that the ECB
will raise interest rates Thursday and led to speculation the
U S Federal Reserve may be getting closer to withdrawing
exceptional liquidity ID nLDE7330AC
A top Federal Reserve official said on Monday that U S
inflation is likely to remain low for now but policymakers
will keep a close eye on potentially self fulfilling consumer
expectations for higher prices ID nN04244409
Reflecting expectations of differing rate paths the euro
hit an 11 month high against the yen and touched a five month
peak against the dollar The euro later slipped back
The euro briefly popped above 120 yen for the
first time since May 2010 and was later at 119 50 yen It hit a
five month high against the dollar of 1 4269 and was later at
1 4223
In commodities ICE Brent was up 1 50 at 120 20 a
barrel U S crude rose 16 cents to 108 08 a barrel
Reporting by Leah Schnurr Additional reporting by Edward
Krudy and Robert Gibbons in New York Atul Prakash in London
Editing by Kenneth Barry |
PFE | REFILE US STOCKS Wall St struggles to break through resistance | Refiles to fix typo in paragraph 9 to read strategist
Profit news next week could prove catalyst
S P 500 seen testing its 2011 high
Pfizer to sell unit to KKR for about 2 4 billion
Dow up 0 1 pct S P off 0 1 pct Nasdaq down 0 2 pct
For up to the minute market news see STXNEWS US
Updates to afternoon trade changes byline
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK April 4 Reuters The S P 500 struggled to
break above its high for the year on Monday as investors
awaited the coming earnings season that begins next week to
assess the strength of the stock market
Investors were also on the lookout for the expected
increase in euro zone interest rates this week
The benchmark S P 500 hovered slightly below 1 333 which
it has not closed above since mid February The level is
double the 12 year low hit in March 2009 and not far from
1 344 the S P s highest since June 2008
Bruce Zaro chief technical strategist at Delta Global
Asset Management in Boston said earnings season would likely
push the S P 500 to 1 400 by mid May as stocks come off the
seasonally strong November April period
If we make a successful break from here I think you ve
got the 1 400 range and I think that s probably likely during
the final seasonally favorable push he said
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 12 22
points or 0 10 percent at 12 388 94 The Standard Poor s
500 Index was down 1 35 points or 0 10 percent at
1 331 06 The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 6 22
points or 0 22 percent at 2 783 38
On Friday the S P recorded its best two week period since
December and the Dow industrials hit their highest
intraday level since June 2008 Encouraging jobs data during
the week helped cement hopes of a labor market recovery
S P 500 faces resistance
The European Central Bank at its policy meeting on
Thursday is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points from a
record low in reaction to rising inflationary pressures in the
euro zone Two more 25 basis point rate hikes are factored in
by year end
With the ECB on Thursday expected to raise interest rates
and the minutes from the March FOMC meeting out tomorrow where
maybe we ll get some color on the exit strategy debate the
question this all brings is what will the impact be of higher
interest rates on still overleveraged economies said Peter
Boockvar equity strategist at Miller Tabak Co in New York
The lack of significant economic data on Monday nuclear
and other quake related problems in Japan and unrest in Libya
Syria and other countries in the oil rich region of North
Africa and the Middle East could translate into low volume on
Wall Street By the afternoon the volume was the lowest so
far this year and followed the lowest weekly volume of 2011
last week
Brent crude extended gains to a 2 1 2 year peak above 120
a barrel on concerns about Libya s conflict Middle East
unrest and potential supply threats U S crude oil futures
settled at 108 47 a barrel up 53 cents for the highest
close since September 2008 Investors are concerned that a
spike in oil could choke off a consumer recovery
Japanese investment bank Nomura maintained a neutral view
on semiconductor stocks citing weakened demand peak gross
margins and higher capital spending in the sector
The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 1 2
percent and has lost 2 9 percent over the past four days
Pfizer Inc rose 0 5 percent to 20 48 after the
drugmaker agreed to sell its Capsugel unit the world s
largest maker of hard capsules to private equity firm KKR
Co for nearly 2 4 billion
Shares of defense contractor General Dynamics
dropped 5 4 percent to 73 23 after one of its Gulfstream
Aerospace jets crashed on a test flight killing four
Southwest Airlines Co shares dropped 2 2 percent
to 12 39 after about 70 flights were canceled for safety
inspections A Southwest jet made an emergency landing with a
hole in the cabin on Friday ID nN04246437
Reporting by Angela Moon Editing by Jan Paschal |
PFE | US STOCKS S P ends flat fails to break through resistance | Trading volume ends at lowest of the year
Earnings news next week could prove catalyst
S P 500 seen testing its 2011 high
Dow up 0 2 pct S P and Nasdaq end flat
Updates to close
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK April 4 Reuters The S P 500 met tough
resistance on Monday failing to break a level that has held
since mid February even as a spate of deals and underlying
strength in the economy spurred optimism
But caution ahead of earnings season held volume to its
lowest level this year and suggested the recent rally may be
fading
The benchmark S P 500 hovered slightly below 1 333 which
it has not closed above since mid February The level is
double the 12 year low hit in March 2009 and not far from
1 344 the S P s highest since June 2008
Volume has dried up here as investors and traders are
sitting on their positions to see what happens in the
upcoming earnings season said Tim Ghriskey chief investment
officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford New York
Larry McMillan president of McMillan Analysis Corp said
the market is due for a short term correction as technical
indicators suggest the market is overbought
Overall the picture is still bullish but the market is
acting tired because it s overbought With the month end
bullish influences winding down there could be a short lived
pullback at hand he said in a note
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23 31 points or
0 19 percent to end at 12 400 03 The Standard Poor s 500
Index was up just 0 46 of a point or 0 03 percent at
1 332 87 The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0 41 points or
0 01 percent at 2 789 19
On Friday the S P recorded its best two week period since
December and the Dow industrials hit their highest intraday
level since June 2008 Encouraging jobs data during the week
helped cement hopes of a labor market recovery
About 5 84 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange NYSE Amex and Nasdaq the lowest of the year and
below last year s estimated daily average of 8 47 billion
Investors were also on the lookout for the expected
increase in euro zone interest rates this week
The European Central Bank at its policy meeting on
Thursday is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points from a
record low in reaction to rising inflationary pressures in the
euro zone Two more 25 basis point rate hikes are factored in
by year end
Japanese investment bank Nomura maintained a neutral view
on semiconductor stocks citing weakened demand peak gross
margins and higher capital spending in the sector
The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 0 9 percent It
has lost 2 9 percent over the past four days
Pfizer Inc rose 0 8 percent to 20 54 after the drugmaker
agreed to sell its Capsugel unit the world s largest maker of
hard capsules to private equity firm KKR Co for nearly 2 4
billion
Shares of defense contractor General Dynamics dropped 5 2
percent to 73 37 after one of its Gulfstream Aerospace jets
crashed on a test flight killing four
Southwest Airlines Co shares dropped 1 7 percent to 12 46
after about 70 flights were canceled for safety inspections A
Southwest jet made an emergency landing with a hole in the
cabin on Friday
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
1 602 to 1 344 while on the Nasdaq advancers beat decliners
by 1 387 to 1 230
Reporting by Angela Moon Additional reporting by Doris
Frankel Editing by Jan Paschal |
PFE | US STOCKS S P closes flat fails to break through resistance | Texas Instruments to buy National Semi for 6 5 bln
Trading volume ends at lowest of the year
Earnings news next week could prove catalyst
S P 500 seen testing its 2011 high
Dow up 0 2 pct S P and Nasdaq end flat
For up to the minute market news see STXNEWS US
Updates with Texas Instruments National Semi deal latest
volume
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK April 4 Reuters The S P 500 met tough
resistance on Monday failing to break a level that has held
since mid February and ending flat even as a spate of deals
and underlying strength in the economy spurred optimism
But caution ahead of earnings season held volume to its
lowest level this year and suggested the recent rally may be
fading
The benchmark S P 500 hovered slightly below 1 333 which
it has not closed above since mid February The level is
double the 12 year low hit in March 2009 and not far from
1 344 the S P s highest since June 2008
Volume has dried up here as investors and traders are
sitting on their positions to see what happens in the
upcoming earnings season said Tim Ghriskey chief investment
officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford New York
Larry McMillan president of McMillan Analysis Corp said
the market is due for a short term correction as technical
indicators suggest the market is overbought
Overall the picture is still bullish but the market is
acting tired because it s overbought With the month end
bullish influences winding down there could be a short lived
pullback at hand he said in a note
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23 31 points
or 0 19 percent to end at 12 400 03 The Standard Poor s
500 Index was up just 0 46 of a point or 0 03 percent
at 1 332 87 The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0 41
of a point or 0 01 percent at 2 789 19
On Friday the S P recorded its best two week period since
December and the Dow industrials hit their highest intraday
level since June 2008 Encouraging jobs data during the week
helped cement hopes of a labor market recovery
S P 500 faces resistance
About 5 94 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange NYSE Amex and Nasdaq the lowest of the year and
below last year s estimated daily average of 8 47 billion
DANCE OF THE CHIPMAKERS
After the bell Texas Instruments Inc said it
plans to buy smaller rival National Semiconductor for
about 6 5 billion in one of the microchip industry s largest
deals in years ID nN04281619
Following the announcement Texas Instruments stock fell
1 8 percent to 33 50 in extended trade while National
Semiconductor s shares surged 73 4 percent to 24 39
During the regular session the Philadelphia semiconductor
index fell 0 9 percent It has lost 2 9 percent over
the past four days
Japanese investment bank Nomura maintained a neutral view
on semiconductor stocks citing weakened demand peak gross
margins and higher capital spending in the sector
Investors were also on the lookout for an expected
increase in euro zone interest rates this week
The European Central Bank at its policy meeting on
Thursday is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points from a
record low in reaction to rising inflationary pressures in the
euro zone Two more 25 basis point rate hikes are factored in
by year end
Pfizer Inc rose 0 8 percent to 20 54 after the
drugmaker agreed to sell its Capsugel unit the world s
largest maker of hard capsules to private equity firm KKR
Co for nearly 2 4 billion
Shares of defense contractor General Dynamics
dropped 5 2 percent to 73 37 after one of its Gulfstream
Aerospace jets crashed on a test flight killing four
Southwest Airlines Co shares dropped 1 7 percent
to 12 46 after about 70 flights were canceled for safety
inspections A Southwest jet made an emergency landing with a
hole in the cabin on Friday ID nN04246437
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
1 602 to 1 344 while on the Nasdaq advancers beat decliners
by 1 387 to 1 230
Reporting by Angela Moon Additional reporting by Doris
Frankel Editing by Jan Paschal |
AMD | AMD releases two models of anticipated Ryzen Threadripper processors | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD launches two models of its anticipated Ryzen Threadripper desktop processors
The 16 core 32 thread 1950X model clocks at 3 4 GHz 4 GHz and retails for 999
The12 core 24 thread 1920X model clocks at 3 5 GHz 4 GHz and retails for 799
The 8 core 16 thread 1900X model clocks at 3 8 GHz 4 GHz will hit stores August 31 for 549
In comparison the 1950X costs 1K less than Intel s 18 core 36 thread Core i9 7980XE
AMD shares are down 2 42
Now read |
AMD | AMD announces commercial launch of Radeon graphics cards | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD announces the commercial launch of its Radeon RX Vega graphics cards at global e tail outlets The Radeon RX Vega 64 air cooled cards retail for 499 Limited edition Radeon Packs also available with the Black Pack containing the Radeon RX Vega 64 for 599 and the Aqua Pack featuring the Radeon RX Vega 64 Liquid Cooled Edition for 699 The Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics cards will launch on August 28 for 399 Press release AMD shares are up 4 58 Previously AMD releases two models of anticipated Ryzen Threadripper processors Aug 10 |
AMD | AMD s EPYC gets two new customers announced projects from Lenovo Sugon | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD announces Tencent and JD com as new EPYC datacenter customers during the China EPYC Technology Summit Long term AMD partner Sugon announced plans to develop a nine product line of new EPYC based products across workstation rack blade and super rack systems for high performance computing cloud computing large data analysts and deep learning applications Lenovo announces plans to work with AMD and Hyperscale customers to develop and deploy single socket and dust socket EPYC based servers AMD shares are up 1 97 Previously AMD shares 1 41 after BofAML optimism Aug 15 Now read |
AMD | GPU roundup AMD low on supply Nvidia delays ship date | Digitimes reports that the retail channel has a tight supply of Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD Radeon RX Vega series graphics cards which were released earlier this month The supply issues track back to an insufficient supply due to packaging yield rates AMD says the company is working with its partners to address the demand and resulting supply issues with restocks coming soon Competitor Nvidia has pushed back mass shipments of its Volta based GPUs from the end of this year to 1Q18 In related news Asus unveils its B250 Mining Expert cryptocurrency mining motherboard that can support 19 GPUs The cryptocurrency mining boom has driven up GPU prices and shares with AMD up 68 in the past year and Nvidia up nearly 167 AMD shares are up 0 88 premarket Nvidia shares are up 0 56 premarket Now read |
AMD | AMD launching budget friendly Ryzen Threadripper 1900X | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD announces a new Ryzen Threadripper 1900X processor with a budget price of 549 according to TechRadar The 8 core 16 thread 1900x clocks at 3 8GHz or turbo clocks at 4 0GHz with an XFR boost to 4 2GHz The pricing is in the ballpark of the 8 core 16 thread Ryzen 7 1800X which retails for 499 but well below the 799 12 core 24 thread Threadripper 1920X or 999 16 core 32 thread Threadripper 1950X AMD shares are up 2 68 Previously AMD and Baidu announce data center collaboration Aug 28 Now read |
PFE | ARIAD Finishes Rolling NDA For Lung Cancer Drug Brigatinib | ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ARIA announced the completion of the rolling submission of the new drug application NDA for its experimental ALK inhibitor brigatinib to the FDA ARIAD is looking to get brigatinib approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic ALK positive ALK non small cell lung cancer NSCLC in patients who are resistant or intolerant to Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Xalkori
ARIAD is seeking accelerated approval for brigatinib from the FDA and has requested a priority review of the application which could shorten the review period from the standard 12 months to just 8 months
We note that brigatinib enjoys Breakthrough Therapy status in the U S for the treatment of patients with ALK NSCLC whose tumors are resistant to Xalkori Brigatinib also has Orphan Drug status in the U S for the treatment of ALK NSCLC
The regulatory application included data from its phase I II and pivotal phase II ALTA studies on brigatinib With a median follow up of 8 3 months data demonstrated that 54 of patients when treated with a 180 mg regimen with a seven day lead in at 90 mg witnessed an investigator assessed confirmed objective response the primary endpoint of the study In addition median progression free survival exceeded one year 12 9 months in this arm
ARIAD plans to submit a marketing authorization application for brigatinib to the European Medicines Agency in early 2017 ARIAD PHARMA Price
Meanwhile the company has initiated a first line phase III study ALTA1L comparing the efficacy and safety of brigatinib to Xalkori in patients with locally advanced or metastatic ALK NSCLC who have not previously been treated with an ALK inhibitor
We are encouraged by the company s progress with brigatinib Currently ARIAD has only one marketed product in its kitty leukemia drug Iclusig If brigatinib is finally approved it could become a two product commercial company by early 2017
ARIAD is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock A couple of better ranked stocks in the health care sector are ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ANIP and Geron Corporation NASDAQ GERN Both the stocks sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
PFE | Pfizer s Lung Cancer Drug Xalkori Label Expanded In The EU | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE announced that its lung cancer drug Xalkori has been approved for an additional indication by the European Commission EC The EC has approved Xalkori for the treatment of adult patients with advanced NSCLC whose tumors are ROS1 positiveWe note that Xalkori is already approved in the EU for the first line treatment of adults with anaplastic lymphoma kinase ALK positive advanced NSCLC and for the treatment of adults with previously treated ALK positive advanced NSCLC It is also approved in the U S for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC in patients whose tumors are ALK positive In March this year the drug received approval in the U S for expanded use in metastatic NSCLC in patients whose tumors are ROS1 positive PFIZER INC Price
With the latest approval in the EU Xalkori can now be used to treat patients with either ALK positive or ROS1 positive advanced NSCLC in both the EU and U S The EC approval was based on a positive opinion issued by European Medicine s Agency s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use CHMP backed by positive efficacy and safety data from a multicenter phase I study Pfizer posted worldwide Xalkori sales of 275 million in the first half of 2016 up 20 from the year ago figure The expanded indication of the drug should drive sales further NSCLC is a difficult to treat disease accounting for about 85 of lung cancer cases At present the lung cancer treatment market is highly crowded with drugs like Opdivo Keytruda Alecensa Zykadia and Taxotere among others Currently Pfizer carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Some better ranked stocks in the healthcare sector include Actelion Ltd OTC ALIOF Geron Corporation NASDAQ GERN and ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ANIP All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 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 | Stocks That Excel At Reversing | I believe stocks have personalities just like people do I am drawn to stocks that have exhibited a clear tendency to fall hard when they form a clean top A favorite of mine these days is Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD Its past instances of tops followed by big drops is a marvel to behold
Here s a bonus chart for Kronos Worldwide NYSE KRO along the same line of thinking
A few hours have passed since my last post Since that time the NQ and ES rocketed higher erasing much of their losses That s exactly why I said I wasn t dancing a jig since we must break those 2 9 lows to be in the clear |
AMD | Here s Where I m Shorting AMD | In Wednesday s post I praised AMD s ability to fall hard after a topping pattern Recent strength in AMD has opened up a window of opportunity and I m shorting it with a a stop at 10 64 |
PFE | U S stocks rise on health care reform Dow Jones up 0 37 | Investing com U S stock markets turned positive on Monday as drugmakers gained after the House of Representatives approved a far reaching overhaul of the U S healthcare system During early U S trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0 37 the S P 500 index rose 0 28 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0 46 Pharmaceutical companies which are expected to gain from the healthcare legislation were among the top performers with Merck gaining 2 58 and Pfizer rising 1 1 Earlier in the day House Democrats approved the health care reform voting over Republican opposition to provide tens of millions of uninsured Americans with medical coverage Meanwhile stock markets in Europe pared losses but were still in negative territory France s CAC 40 was down 0 46 Germany s DAX slipped 0 36 Britain s FTSE 100 was down 0 52 and the EURO STOXX 50 shed 0 74 Later Monday U S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was set to speak about financial reforms to a Washington based think tank the American Enterprise Institute |
PFE | European stocks advance ahead of Fed meeting DAX up 0 27 | Investing com European stocks posted modest gains on Tuesday as gains in the commodity sector offset losses in the financial sector while U S futures indexes pointed to a higher open on Wall Street During European morning trade the EURO STOXX 50 was up 0 10 France s CAC 40 rose 0 11 while Germany s DAX gained 0 27 Shares in Spain s second largest lender BBVA tumbled 2 20 after the company announced it would pay approximately EUR 4 2 billion for a 24 7 stake in Turkey s second largest bank Turkiye Garanti Bankasi Elsewhere within the sector lenders were mixed with shares in Italy s largest financial service provider Unicredit jumping 1 27 shares in Deutsche Bank gained 0 63 while Spanish lender Banco Santander saw shares fall 1 25 In London the commodity heavy FTSE 100 gained 0 79 after shares in the world s third largest oil and gas company British Petroleum gained 2 03 after adjusted net profit rose 18 to USD 5 5 billion beating analyst expectations The company said third quarter net profit fell 67 to USD 1 79 billion due largely to costs related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Elsewhere in the commodity sector shares in the world s fourth largest copper producer Xstrata soared 1 55 mining giants BHP Billiton jumped 1 26 while silver producer Fresnillo saw shares rise 1 83 as a weaker U S dollar lifted crude oil and metal prices In earnings news shares in German retailer Metro jumped 1 40 after the company reported higher than expected third quarter net profit The retail giant also raised its full year profit outlook citing higher sales and cost cuts The outlook for U S equity markets meanwhile was upbeat ahead of earnings reports from MasterCard and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a gain of 0 20 S P 500 futures pointed to an increase of 0 30 and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a rise of 0 33 Later in the day Federal Reserve policy makers were set to start their 2 day November policy meeting which was widely expected to result in the unveiling of fresh monetary easing |
PFE | U S stocks jump on earnings optimism Dow Jones up 0 53 | Investing com U S stocks were broadly higher after the open on Tuesday as a string of upbeat corporate earnings results boosted sentiment and as markets shrugged off concerns over political turmoil in the Middle East During early U S trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0 53 the S P 500 index jumped 0 82 while the Nasdaq Composite index surged 1 03 Shares in pharmaceutical giant Pfizer added 3 02 after it reported fourth quarter profit jumped by 73 to USD2 89 billion compared to USD767 million a year earlier The company said that revenue in the quarter rose to USD17 6 billion beating market expectations for revenue of USD16 99 billion The world s largest corn processor Archer Daniels Midland saw shares rally 7 11 after it said that fiscal second quarter earnings jumped by 30 to USD729 million Sales in the quarter rose by 24 to USD20 93 billion as rising grain prices and robust global demand bolstered results Meanwhile printer manufacturer Lexmark saw shares jump 9 15 after it posted a 31 increase in fourth quarter profit rising to USD87 6 million helped by strong sales of laser printers Elsewhere shares in the world s largest Chinese search engine Baidu leaped 6 78 after it reported fourth quarter revenue soared by 94 to USD370 9 million The internet search giant said that it increased its market share in China after rival Google curtailed its operations following a fallout with Beijing over censorship Also Tuesday shares in the world s largest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs Biogen Idec climbed 3 04 after it said that revenue in the fourth quarter rose by 8 to USD1 22 billion The biotechnology firm lifted its full year earnings outlook However shares in Orexigen Therapeutics plunged 71 35 after the U S Food and Drug Administration said it would not consider approving the company s new diet drug unless an additional study was conducted Across the Atlantic European stock markets posted sharp gains The EURO STOXX 50 surged 1 37 France s CAC 40 jumped 1 21 Germany s DAX gained 1 15 while Britain s FTSE 100 rallied 1 36 Later in the day the Institute of Supply Management was to publish data on U S manufacturing growth |
AMD | AMD shares 6 8 after Q2 beat Computing and Graphics growth | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD reports Q2 earnings with EPS and revenue beats Computing and Graphics segment sales up 51 on the year to 659M and 24 sequentially Client and GPU ASPs were both up on the year and operating income returns to the green with 7M compared to last year s 81M loss Improvements were due to pricing and product mix Enterprise Embedded and Semi Custom segment sales down 5 to 563 due to lower semi custom SoC sales Operating income dropped from last year s 84M to 42M due to lower sales and higher R D investments in datacenters Other segment also had an operating loss increase from 11M last year to 24M due to stock based compensation charges and a 7M restructuring credit AMD ended the quarter with 844M in cash and equivalents Q3 guidance revenue up 20 to 26 sequentially with the midpoint at about 15 year over year which would put the actual number around 1 5B compared to the 1 39B consensus Press release AMD shares are up 6 8 aftermarket Previously Advanced Micro Devices beats by 0 02 beats on revenue July 25 Now read |
AMD | Chipmaker AMD forecasts current quarter revenue above estimates | Reuters Advanced Micro Devices Inc O AMD forecast current quarter revenue above analysts estimates and raised its full year expectations betting on robust demand for its graphics chips and its new Ryzen processors for PCs
The company s shares rose 8 2 percent to 15 27 in extended trading on Tuesday
AMD said it now expected annual revenue to increase by a mid to high teens percentage compared with its previous forecast of low double digit percentage revenue growth
The chipmaker also said it expected current quarter revenue to increase about 23 percent from the second quarter which represents a mid point of about 1 50 billion plus or minus 3 percent
Analysts on average were expecting 1 39 billion according to Thomson Reuters I B E S
Sales in AMD s unit that makes processors such as the Polaris chips used in PCs rose 51 5 percent to 659 million in the second quarter
The company reported a net loss of 16 million or 2 cents per share in the three months ended July 1 compared with a profit of 69 million or 8 cents per share a year earlier
The year ago quarter included a 150 million pre tax gain related to its ATMP assembly test mark and pack joint venture transaction
Excluding items the company earned 2 cents per share
Analysts on average had expected the company to breakeven on a per share basis
Revenue rose 19 percent to 1 22 billion ahead of analysts average estimate of 1 16 billion |
AMD | Premarket Gainers as of 9 05 am | TTPH 23 on positive late stage data on antibiotic eravacycline IRBT 18 on Q2 result ETRM 18 AMD 8 on Q2 result X 7 on Q2 result OCUL 7 on positive analyst action HMNY 6 on the launch of Zone Intelligence Now read |
T | DirecTV Now crosses 1M subscriber mark in a year | Streaming video service DirecTV Now has now surpassed 1M subscribers just a few days after its one year anniversary AT T NYSE T says It s planning to offer new features that are currently in beta testing AT T says including a cloud DVR to record shows 4K video added capacity for more than 35 000 titles individual profiles and more With DirecTV Now folded into its overall subscriber numbers the streaming service is helping to slow an overall loss in subscribers losses of 390 000 linear TV subs last quarter were helped by 300 000 gains in DirecTV Now AT T is down 0 2 premarket Now read |
T | U S urges judge to reject AT T Time Warner court date proposal | WASHINGTON Reuters The U S government on Tuesday urged a federal judge to reject the February court date sought by AT T N T and Time Warner N TWX in a dispute over the firms proposed merger arguing the companies are rushing to meet an April 22 closing deadline for their 85 4 billion deal The U S Justice Department last month sued to block AT T s planned acquisition of Time Warner saying the combination could raise prices for rivals and pay TV subscribers while hampering the development of online video AT T CEO Randall Stephenson had called the companies requested court date of Feb 20 a reasonable ask The government had requested that proceedings start on May 7
AT T will have to pay Time Warner 500 million if the merger is not consummated by April 22 |
T | U S judge sets March trial for AT T Time Warner merger case | By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON Reuters The judge who will oversee the U S Justice Department s bid to stop wireless and pay TV company AT T Corp N T from buying media company Time Warner Inc N TWX on Thursday set March 19 as the trial date Judge Richard Leon at the U S District Court for the District of Columbia set the date in a pre trial hearing AT T asked the court to hear the case beginning Feb 20 The government was pressing for May 7
AT T and Time Warner announced their 85 billion deal in October 2016 and the Justice Department sued last month to block the it arguing that the transaction could raise prices for rivals and pay TV subscribers and hamper the development of online video |
T | Highlights of Friday s NBA games | The Sports Xchange Highlights of National Basketball Association games on Friday Pacers 106 Cavaliers 102 Victor Oladipo scored 33 points to help the Indiana Pacers top the Cleveland Cavaliers 106 102 snapping their league leading 13 game winning streak The Pacers made 15 3 point shots Oladipo made 6 of 13 treys Myles Turner added 15 points for Indiana LeBron James paced the Cavaliers with 29 points on 12 of 22 shooting and also had 10 rebounds and eight assists Kevin Love added 20 points and J R Smith 15 for the Cavs The Pacers shot 44 2 percent 38 of 86 overall while the Cavs were at 43 percent 37 of 86 Warriors 102 Pistons 98 Kevin Durant had a season high 36 points to go with 10 rebounds seven assists and five blocks and Golden State won its sixth straight Durant came up a few assists shy of a second consecutive triple double after a 35 point 11 rebound 10 assist performance at Charlotte on Wednesday The Warriors became the 11th team in league history to sweep a six game road trip The last team to achieve that feat was the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2008 09 season Golden State was playing its second straight game with two time MVP Stephen Curry who will miss at least two weeks with a right ankle sprain Avery Bradley s 25 points led the Pistons who have lost five straight Nuggets 103 Magic 89 Reserve Kenneth Faried scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in leading Denver over Orlando Will Barton had 19 points and six rebounds and Emmanuel Mudiay had 18 points The Nuggets snapped a four game losing streak The Magic lost forward Aaron Gordon the team s leading scorer in the second half with a concussion which stemmed from a first half collision with Denver s Gary Harris Harris and Malik Beasley each had 12 points Wilson Chandler had 11 points Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 21 points and 17 rebounds Jonathon Simmons scored 21 points Bulls 119 Hornets 111 OT Lauri Markkanen scored 24 points and Chicago snapped a 10 game losing streak with an overtime win over Charlotte Hornets Markkanen scored five points in the extra session and his 3 pointer with 2 08 remaining made it 113 108 and was probably the key basket of the game The Bulls had not won since beating the Hornets in Chicago on Nov 17 Kris Dunn had 20 points and 12 assists for the Bulls Robin Lopez finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Justin Holiday scored 17 Markkanen also had 12 rebounds Kings 116 Pelicans 109 OT Zach Randolph scored 35 points including a back to back 3 pointers to open overtime to lift Sacramento over New Orleans The Kings trailed 100 91 with 3 31 left in regulation but they ran off eight consecutive points to close within 100 99 with 1 06 left Buddy Hield made a 3 pointer and a layup in that stretch A dunk by DeMarcus Cousins with 49 5 seconds left put New Orleans up 102 99 but Hield who scored 18 points tied the game with a 3 pointer from the right wing with 34 8 seconds remaining Jrue Holiday missed in the lane for New Orleans and Randolph missed a baseline jumper on the final two possessions sending it to overtime Raptors 116 Grizzlies 107 DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points as Toronto rallied to defeat Memphis for its fifth straight Serge Ibaka scored 21 points and Kyle Lowry finished with 16 points eight assists six rebounds and two steals for the Raptors DeRozan added seven rebounds and six assists Tyreke Evans led the Grizzlies with 27 points Marc Gasol finished with 20 points seven rebounds and four assists Chandler Parsons had 15 points four rebounds and two blocks off the bench Bucks 109 Mavericks 102 Khris Middleton scored 31 points Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 27 and Eric Bledsoe added 24 as Milwaukee fought off Dallas Middleton made five 3 pointers including two in the fourth quarter while the Bucks big three combined to make 24 of 54 shots from the floor Wes Matthews led Dallas with 29 points and had five of Dallas 10 3 pointers but the Mavericks had no answer for Middleton or Bledsoe as the duo combined for 27 points in the fourth quarter Spurs 105 Celtcis 102 OT Manu Ginobili canned a 26 foot 3 pointer with 5 seconds to play to lift the San Antonio Spurs to a 105 102 victory over the Boston Celtics in a game between two of the NBA s heavyweights at AT T NYSE T Center The game was tied at 102 after a basket by the Spurs LaMarcus Aldridge with 1 32 to play Two Kyrie Irving misses on 3 pointers an Aldridge turnover and a miss on a 3 by San Antonio s Rudy Gay that Ginobili gobbled up on the baseline with 25 8 seconds to play set the stage for Ginobili to drill his game winner After two timeouts Irving had a good look for the tying basket from the baseline but his trey went halfway down and out and was corralled by the Spurs as the final buzzer sounded
Aldridge scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Spurs 18 8 while Pau Gasol hit for 14 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio Gay added 15 points and Tony Parker and Ginobili tallied 11 each for the Spurs who have won three straight and seven of their past eight games Irving led the Celtics with 36 points while Jason Tatum added 20 points Jaylen Brown scored 15 and Terry Rozier racked up 13 points for the Celtics 22 5 who had a four game winning streak snapped |
PFE | Market Fence Sitting Persists | Last week s uncertainty has carried over to this week as U S equities finished mixed and near the unchanged mark amid evident caution ahead of the start to the Federal Reserve s annual symposium in Jackson Hole Wyoming this week which culminates with Friday s speech by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen
A pullback in crude oil prices from last week s rally also fostered some negative sentiment while some M A news gave the healthcare sector a boost Treasuries finished higher and the U S dollar was flat while gold was lower
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA decreased 23 points 0 1 to 18 529 the S P 500 Index shed 1 point 0 1 to close at 2 183 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 6 points 0 1 to 5 245 In lighter volume 693 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 1 5 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq
WTI crude oil fell 1 70 to 47 41 per barrel wholesale gasoline lost 0 03 to 1 48 per gallon and the Bloomberg gold spot price declined 3 03 to 1 338 44 per ounce Elsewhere the Dollar Index a comparison of the U S dollar to six major world currencies was nearly unchanged at 94 55
Dow member NYSE PFE 35 announced an agreement to acquire oncology bio pharmaceutical company NASDAQ MDVN 80 for 81 50 per share in cash for a total enterprise value of about 14 0 billion
PFE said the deal is expected to be immnew ediately accretive to its earnings upon closing and it does not expect it to impact its current 2016 guidance PFE was modestly lower while shares of MDVN rallied nearly 20
Domestic economic docket dormant but Fed gathering set to command attention
Treasuries were higher amid a dormant economic calendar as the yield on the 2 year note dipped 1 basis point bp to 0 74 the yield on the 10 year note declined 4 basis points bps to 1 54 and the 30 year bond rate fell 5 bps to 2 24
Fed policy focus and accompanying volatility is likely to begin to ramp back up this week with the U S economic calendar yielding key data on the housing sector in the form of tomorrow s new home sales with economists expecting a 2 0 month over month decline during July to an annual rate of 580 000 units as well as Wednesday s release of existing home sales
As well some manufacturing data may also likely garner some attention with Thursday s durable goods orders report in focus as well as two reports tomorrow Markit s Manufacturing PMI Index forecasted to tick lower to 52 7 during July from the 52 9 posted in June with a reading above 50 denoting expansion in activity as well as the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index
However the highlight of the week will likely be the Fed s highly anticipated annual monetary policy symposium in Jackson Hole Wyoming which will culminate with Friday s speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen
A period of peace has reigned in the market over the past month but the lull in volatility likely won t last However we do believe the secular bull market has further to run The third quarter is shaping up to improve on lackluster first half U S economic results but weak corporate confidence remains an impediment to stronger growth Fed uncertainty is likely to heat up heading toward the September Federal Open Market Committee FOMC meeting
Europe and Asia mixed on commodity weakness and Fed focus
European equities finished mixed with basic materials and oil gas issues seeing pressure as commodity prices fell led by crude oil prices amid lingering supply speculation The U S dollar gained modest ground as Fed rate hike expectations continued to resurface following comments over the weekend from Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer that the Central Bank was close to reaching its targets for full employment and 2 0 inflation
The euro dipped compared to the greenback while bond yields in the region moved to the downside However the British pound was higher versus the dollar continuing its recent rebound from a sell off that followed the Bank of England s BoE decision earlier this month to cut its benchmark interest rate further and boost its asset purchases
The BoE s decision was aimed at bolstering the economy on the heels the late June vote by the U K to leave the European Union known as Brexit The pound has also found support from last week s July economic data that showed retail sales easily topped forecasts jobless claims unexpectedly declined and consumer price inflation surprisingly rose
Stocks in Asia finished mixed with the global markets continuing to focus on the divergent monetary policy landscape following comments over the weekend by U S Fed Vice Chair Fischer and ahead of this week s annual Fed policy gathering
Also Bank of Japan BoJ Governor Kuroda hinted at further stimulus measures while uncertainty regarding more policy action in China persisted The yen weakened versus the U S dollar though crude oil prices gave back some of a recent run
Japanese equities as well as those traded in Hong Kong advanced while mainland Chinese fell Meanwhile securities traded in Australia South Korea and India all saw declines for the session
Tomorrow s international economic calendar will be dominated by the Markit Manufacturing PMI from around the globe as well as trade data from the U K |
PFE | Pfizer To Buy Medivation For 14B Boost Cancer Franchise revised | Putting rumors to rest Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE and Medivation Inc NASDAQ MDVN announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Medivation for 81 50 per share in cash or a total enterprise value of about 14 billion The acquisition slated to close in the third or fourth quarter is expected to be immediately accretive to Pfizer s earnings earnings is expected to be boosted by about 5 cents in the first full year after close with additional accretion and growth expected thereafter Pfizer does not expect the deal to affect its guidance for 2016 Xtandi a BlockbusterWith this acquisition Pfizer will add Medivation s prostate cancer treatment Xtandi to its portfolio Xtandi generated global sales of about 2 2 billion in the last four quarters as recorded by Medivation s partner Astellas Pharma Inc Xtandi is currently being evaluated in several studies including a couple of late stage studies in non metastatic prostate cancer and another phase III study in hormone sensitive prostate cancer It is also in mid stage development for the treatment of advanced breast cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma Moreover Medivation s pipeline candidate talazoparib an orally available PARP inhibitor represents significant upside potential PARP inhibitors are currently being considered to be the next major class of therapeutics in oncology Interest in this area has increased considerably following the announcement of impressive late stage data on another company s PARP inhibitor niraparib in Jun 2016 Top line results from Medivation s first talazoparib registrational study EMBRACA in germline BRCA mutated breast cancer are expected in the first half of 2017 According to Medivation the addressable patient population for talazoparib in the U S and Europe is about 760k including 10k for the EMBRACA population while the addressable market opportunity is more than 30 billion Pfizer will also add pidilizumab to its pipeline with this acquisition Pidilizumab is an immuno oncology IO asset which is being developed for diffuse large B cell lymphoma and other hematologic malignancies and which could be combined with IO therapies in Pfizer s portfolio Our TakeThe Medivation acquisition will strengthen Pfizer s cancer franchise which currently consists of products like Ibrance and Sutent Pfizer is also working on strengthening its immune oncology pipeline and the Medivation acquisition will be a good strategic fit for the company The acquisition goes to show the increasing interest in cancer which remains the second leading cause of death in the U S and a Top 10 killer worldwide We note that Medivation was a part of acquisition talks for quite a while with the company first receiving an offer from French drugmaker Sanofi NYSE SNY Sanofi had initially approached Medivation with an offer of 52 50 in cash which was rejected by the company and came back with a sweetened bid of 58 00 per share in cash plus a Contingent Value Right CVR for talazoparib sales representing a potential payment in 2022 of up to 3 00 per share Pfizer s offer price of 81 50 represents a huge premium to Sanofi s last offer MEDIVATION INC Price Pfizer is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock Actelion Ltd OTC ALIOF is a better ranked stock in the health care sector with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake The original article issued on August 22 2016 should no longer be relied upon |
PFE | Middle Of A Market Slow Down Period | You know you re in the middle of a market slow down period when before the bell news focuses on the 2016 Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole WY when Fed Chair Janet Yellen doesn t speak publicly until Friday and nobody expects the Fed to hike interest rates in September anyway In fact most analysts don t expect a rate hike until after the General Election in November
Actually many analysts now think an incremental interest rate hike of 0 25 0 50 won t happen until December or sometime in early 2017 If there is any drama to wring out of this it may be in noting how tricky the balancing act toward raising rates essentially is if they raise rates too quickly they run the risk of quashing the slow but steady economic policy Wait too long to raise and the FOMC fails to keep enough dry powder to counteract any macroeconomic downturn that may occur
In Q2 earnings news La Z Boy posted worse than expected numbers ahead of today s market on a fiscal Q4 revenue miss Lower foot traffic in stores and worsening product demand led to the miss Shares of LZB are down 15 before regular Wednesday trading
Pfizer s M A pursuits continue as European pharma company AstraZeneca has agreed to sell part of its antibiotics business in a deal that may be worth 1 5 billion depending on the success of the drugs This follows the Monday announcement of Pfizer s 14 billion buyout of cancer focused biopharma company Medivation
Tesla confirms it will bring to market a battery upgrade for its Model S that will enhance acceleration from 0 60 mph in an astounding 2 5 seconds It will also run 315 miles on a single charge allowing for a straight drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco the first such claim by an electric car maker
This is part of founder and CEO Elon Musk s push to bring the world s fastest car to market The battery upgrade aptly named Ludicrous P100D will not be coming soon according to Musk but will happen long term See what I mean about a slow news day
Markets are in modestly positive territory again this morning following a barely positive regular trading session Tuesday S P 500 futures are 1 Dow 4 and Nasdaq 3 I hope everyone not on the trading floor is enjoying their vacation |
PFE | Pfizer To Acquire Rights To AstraZeneca s Antibiotics Business | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the rights to AstraZeneca plc s NYSE AZN late stage small molecule anti infectives business primarily in the ex U S markets The transaction will give Pfizer the rights to Zavicefta which gained approval in the EU in Jun 2016 for complicated urinary tract infections cUTI complicated intra abdominal infections cIAI hospital acquired pneumonia ventilator associated pneumonia HAP VAP and for the treatment of aerobic gram negative infections in adult patients with limited treatment options The portfolio also includes marketed agents Merrem Meronem and Zinforo and pipeline candidates ATM AVI and CXL Under the terms of the agreement AstraZeneca will receive an upfront payment of 550 million from Pfizer upon the closing of the transaction Pfizer will also make a deferred payment of 175 million in Jan 2019 Moreover AstraZeneca is eligible to receive up to 250 million in milestone payments and up to 600 million in sales related payments from Pfizer In addition AstraZeneca will earn tiered royalties on sales of Zavicefta and ATM AVI in certain markets The transaction is slated to close in the fourth quarter of 2016 PFIZER INC Price
We note that acquiring the rights to AstraZeneca s antibiotics business will help Pfizer focus on infectious diseases and gain expertise in this space It will also help the company expand patient access and enhance the global capability of its anti infectives portfolio However Pfizer said that the transaction will not impact its financial guidance for 2016 AstraZeneca on the other hand will now be able to concentrate on its three main therapeutic areas respiratory autoimmunity cardiovascular metabolic diseases and oncology backed by a strong portfolio of established products and a deep pipeline Currently both Pfizer and AstraZeneca carry a Zacks Rank 3 Hold A couple of better ranked stocks in the health care sector include Actelion Ltd OTC ALIOF and ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ ANIP Both the stocks sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |
PFE | Fed Jackson Hole Meeting What Will Friday Bring | Fed Chair Janet Yellen is set to speak at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday and there have been ripples of uncertainty in the market There had been very light trading on the S P500 and DJ30 earlier this week on the run in to the speech But with the NASDAQ100 and S P500 closing near record highs yesterday due to a housing boost and 14 billion buyout of Biotech by Pfizer NYSE PFE on Monday the markets are gripped and waiting for what s to come
With Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer speaking last weekend and suggesting the idea that the Fed is close to raising rates along with New York Fed President William Dudley saying the Fed could hike in September these main members of the Fed could be trying to take the sting out of the market if Yellen does mention a hike
Does it seem likely to be mentioned on Friday
With Job growth on the rise but monetary policy not being as effective as hoped it seems unlikely that rate hikes would do anything but hinder the growth already achieved and possibly be a step in the wrong direction
The Fed chair discussions at this symposium in other years have provided key signals in terms of interest rates but with 2016 being a very significant year in American politics does Yellen really want the Fed to get dragged into the scare mongering tactics of what is surely going to be a vicious presidential race one week before the first debate Probably not With consensus being that the Fed will get a rate hike done this year it would make December a far better candidate
The discussion topic of this year s symposium is titled Designing Resilient Monetary Policy Frameworks for the Future the feeling here is longer term issues will be the topics on the table rather than next month s interest rates release |
T | AT T T Outpaces Stock Market Gains What You Should Know | AT T T closed the most recent trading day at 30 44 moving 1 64 from the previous trading session The stock outpaced the S P 500 s daily gain of 0 33 At the same time the Dow added 0 44 and the tech heavy Nasdaq gained 0 01
Coming into today shares of the telecommunications company had gained 1 05 in the past month In that same time the Computer and Technology sector lost 1 56 while the S P 500 gained 0 89
Investors will be hoping for strength from T as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be January 30 2019 The company is expected to report EPS of 0 84 up 7 69 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 48 47 billion up 16 29 from the prior year quarter
Looking at the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of 3 50 per share and revenue of 174 97 billion These totals would mark changes of 14 75 and 8 98 respectively from last year
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 a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near term share price momentum 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 ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Within the past 30 days our consensus EPS projection has moved 0 13 higher T currently has a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Investors should also note T s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 8 55 This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 34 67
It is also worth noting that T currently has a PEG ratio of 1 65 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 T s industry had an average PEG ratio of 4 35 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 47 putting it in the top 18 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 T in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
AMD | Barclays downgrades AMD shares down 3 4 premarket | Barclays LON BARC downgrades Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD from Equal Weight to Underweight with a 9 price target
Analyst Blayne Curtis doesn t think AMD s products can achieve enough traction to merit the stock s current valuation
Curtis sees limited upsides following the launch of AMD s Epyc or Intel s Purley
Analyst reiterates guidance FY17 EPS at 0 08 and FY18 EPS at 0 33
Source StreetInsider
AMD shares are down 3 41 premarket
Now read |
T | AT T CEO says blackout ban shows company willing to settle DOJ fight | By Anjali Athavaley Reuters AT T Inc s N T proposed seven year ban on programming blackouts to distributors of some Time Warner Inc N TWX content shows that the company is willing to offer concessions to close its 85 4 billion bid for the programmer AT T s chief executive officer said on Wednesday The U S Department of Justice last week sued AT T to block its planned acquisition of Time Warner saying the combination could raise prices for rivals and pay TV subscribers while hampering the development of online video We re prepared to make concessions AT T s CEO Randall Stephenson said at an Economic Club of New York luncheon What we put in the filing is a concession U S District Court Judge Richard Leon in Washington D C who is overseeing hear the case filed by the Justice Department on Wednesday set the first pre trial hearing for Dec 7 AT T and Time Warner said in a filing on Tuesday that Time Warner s Turner unit had offered its distributors licensing terms that forbid Turner from going dark on any distributor for seven years after the deal closes if they were to reach an impasse in negotiations Blackouts are considered to be a negotiating tool in carriage disputes between distributors and programmers Sources told Reuters earlier this month that the Justice Department had demanded significant asset sales in order to approve the deal and that it asked AT T to sell either CNN parent Turner or AT T s DirecTV business Craig Moffett an analyst at MoffettNathanson said in a research note on Wednesday that AT T s offer to ban blackouts made it reasonably likely that the deal would be approved He said it would be hard for the Justice Department to argue that such a commitment did not address its concern that AT T would raise the rates it charges for Time Warner content to rival pay TV companies By agreeing to forgo the option of going dark AT T has effectively agreed to abandon what would otherwise be their only real source of leverage in a negotiation Moffett wrote Shares of AT T closed up 3 0 percent to 36 48 on Wednesday while Time Warner shares rose 1 5 percent to 90 92 Stephenson also said at the Economic Club lunch that AT T s requested trial date of Feb 20 was a reasonable ask The government requested that the trial start on May 7 according to court filings
AT T said in a separate filing with the U S Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that it would extend the termination date of the Time Warner deal to April 22 |
T | Prescott shakes off injury as Cowboys rout Redskins | The Sports Xchange Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott shook off a first half hand injury as he and running back Alfred Morris powered the Cowboys to a 38 14 victory over the Washington Redskins at AT T NYSE T Stadium on Thursday Prescott passed for 102 yards and two touchdowns including a 13 yard scoring pass to Dez Bryant early in the fourth quarter that gave Dallas a 17 point advantage Morris rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown all but 38 yards coming in the second half He successfully moved the chains for Dallas 6 6 which had lacked a consistent running game since Ezekiel Elliott began serving a six game suspension for violating the NFL s personal conduct policy four games ago Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 26 of 37 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns However he was intercepted twice and fumbled once part of the Redskins 5 7 losing the turnover battle 4 0 Morris ran one yard for a touchdown with 4 55 left in the fourth quarter sealing the win for Dallas Cowboys running back Rod Smith added a one yard scoring run with 2 37 left Prescott went to the locker room during the second quarter to have a hand injury examined but he returned to the game by the end of the first half The Cowboys scored the game s first 17 points and held a 17 7 lead at halftime The Dallas defense and special teams created a pair of turnovers in the first quarter but the Cowboys offense failed to take advantage of either one The Cowboys finally gained their initial first down on the final play of the first quarter Prescott scrambled away from pressure and then ran 13 yards to convert a third and five from the Dallas 46 Prescott then capped the 11 play 59 yard scoring march when he hit tight end Jason Witten with an eight yard touchdown pass to put Dallas 7 0 up with 10 43 left in the second quarter Dallas eventually converted a turnover into points when DeMarcus Lawrence sacked Cousins separating the Washington quarterback from the ball Maliek Collins recovered for the Cowboys at the Redskins 19 yard line Dallas third takeaway of the first half set up a Dan Bailey field goal from 24 yards that put the Cowboys ahead 10 0
Ryan Switzer put the exclamation point on an eventful first half for the Dallas special teams units when he returned a punt 83 yards for a score Switzer s touchdown put the Cowboys in front 17 0 with 3 46 left in the second quarter Washington answered before halftime as Cousins led a nine play 75 yard touchdown drive Cousins hit wide receiver Ryan Grant with a 20 yard pass for the score with just over a minutes remaining before halftime |
PFE | Mergers Acquisitions In Headlines | Futures are down again ahead of the market open this morning following a Friday that was awash in red until climbing toward unched in the closing minutes of the trading week The S P 500 is currently at 4 points the Dow reads 50 and the Nasdaq is currently at 8 These numbers have fluctuated a bit but have remained negative ahead of the bell
Mergers and acquisitions M A are taking headlines in this sleepy market period a couple weeks prior to the Labor Day holiday and we re seeing big gains among smaller companies ready to be purchased by much bigger fish
California based Intersil has agreed to be bought by Japan s Renesas for 3 billion and the semiconductor maker is up nearly 28 in today s pre market Sources say they expect this deal to close by the end of August
Chinese state owned ChemChina s pursuit of major agribusiness firm Syngenta has cleared a regulatory hurdle in China and this panel clearance looks to be green lighting the massive 43 billion buyout of the Swiss company Syngenta ADRs are up roughly 10 5 at this hour
Pfizer NYSE PFE is putting forth 14 billion to take over biopharma company Medivation representing 81 50 per share for the company specializing in cancer treatments Pfizer expects 5 cents per share in synergies from this deal as of the first year of business
Everything else looks to be taking a break right now European markets were down overnight gold prices wallow at two week lows even WTI and Brent oil prices while up over the past few weeks overall remain below 50 per barrel this morning We ve got some housing data on the calendar later this week along with Fed Chair Janet Yellen s Jackson Hole speech this Friday but not much expected to push the needle in either direction |
PFE | Bernie Sanders Just Called Out Pfizer And Medivation On Twitter | After much speculation Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE announced today that it will acquire Medivation Inc NASDAQ MDVN in a deal worth about 14 billion The acquisition is slated to close in the third or fourth quarter and early predictions suggest that it could boost Pfizer s earnings by up to five cents in the first full year after finalization
Also Read
Deals like this make a lot of people happy Pfizer investors will be pleased that the company has boosted its cancer treatment portfolio and added earnings potential while Medivation investors will be pleased with their big payday
Nevertheless big blockbuster mergers aren t loved by everyone One of the biggest critics to emerge shortly after Pfizer and Medivation announced the deal was none other than former Democratic presidential candidate and current U S Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders
The official Bernie Sanders Twitter account used the announcement as an opportunity to remind its followers about the current state of the pharmaceutical market
Today Pfizer announced they are buying Xtandi a prostate cancer drug that costs Americans 129 000 4 times more than in other countries Bernie Sanders SenSanders A life saving drug does no good if the people who need it cannot afford that drug Bernie Sanders SenSanders My message to Pfizer and the entire pharmaceutical industry is clear The era of charging unconscionable prices must end Bernie Sanders SenSanders Sanders specifically calls out Medivation s Xtandi drug a prostate cancer treatment that is the clear prize for Pfizer in this deal Xtandi generated global sales of about 2 2 billion in the last four quarters and the drug is currently being evaluated in several studies to further expand its treatment possibilities
Sanders tweets remind us of the difficult debate that surrounds business ethics especially in the medical sector As investors it s easy to forget that smart business moves can oftentimes make necessary treatments that much more difficult for sick patients to afford
While Sanders is not necessarily criticizing today s merger he is using the news as an opportunity to further advocate for reform in the pharmaceutical industry Xtandi will now be in the hands of Pfizer and Pfizer alone will be responsible for its pricing and availability
If anything Sanders is trying to show us the human element of a deal like this As we look towards profits revenues and share prices Sanders reminds us of the importance that these drugs have for the patients who depend on them
If any reform is to come it s in the best interest of everyone to ensure a pharmaceutical industry that can create value for its investors while continuing to provide the best care for its patients |
PFE | Pfizer Medivation Close To Signing 14B Acquisition Deal | According to a Financial Times article Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE and Medivation Inc NASDAQ MDVN are close to signing a deal under which Pfizer will acquire Medivation for more than 80 per share approximately 14 billion Medivation has been a part of acquisition talks for quite a while with the company first receiving an offer from French drugmaker Sanofi NYSE SNY Sanofi had initially approached Medivation with an offer of 52 50 in cash which was rejected by the company Last month Medivation announced that it is open to acquisition talks and entered into confidentiality agreements with several firms that had expressed an interest in exploring a potential transaction The company also confirmed that it had rejected a sweetened bid from Sanofi under which Sanofi offered 58 00 per share in cash plus a Contingent Value Right CVR for talazoparib sales representing a potential payment in 2022 of up to 3 00 per share Pfizer s rumored offer of more than 80 per share represents a huge premium compared to Sanofi s last offer Medivation s shares are up 42 3 so far in 2016
MEDIVATION INC Price Why Medivation Medivation is a biopharma company that is focused on cancer treatments The company currently has one marketed product prostate cancer treatment Xtandi Xtandi a blockbuster drug has the potential to be approved for several additional indications as well as patient populations Moreover pipeline candidate talazoparib an orally available PARP inhibitor represents significant upside potential PARP inhibitors are currently being considered to be the next major class of therapeutics in oncology Interest in this area has increased considerably following the announcement of impressive late stage data on another company s PARP inhibitor niraparib in Jun 2016 Top line results from Medivation s first talazoparib registrational study EMBRACA in germline BRCA mutated breast cancer are expected in the first half of 2017 According to Medivation the addressable patient population for talazoparib in the U S and Europe is about 760k including 10k for the EMBRACA population while the addressable market opportunity is more than 30 billion The Medivation acquisition if it goes through will strengthen Pfizer s cancer franchise which currently consists of products like Ibrance Xarelto and Sutent Pfizer is also working on strengthening its immune oncology pipeline and the Medivation acquisition would be a good strategic fit for the company Pfizer is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock while Medivation is a Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sell stock Actelion Ltd OTC ALIOF is a better ranked stock in the health care sector with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy
PFIZER INC Price |
PFE | Pfizer Medivation Close To Signing 14B Acquisition Deal revised | According to a Financial Times article Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE and Medivation Inc are close to signing a deal under which Pfizer will acquire Medivation for more than 80 per share approximately 14 billion
Medivation has been a part of acquisition talks for quite a while with the company first receiving an offer from French drugmaker Sanofi PA SASY Sanofi had initially approached Medivation with an offer of 52 50 in cash which was rejected by the company
Last month Medivation announced that it is open to acquisition talks and entered into confidentiality agreements with several firms that had expressed an interest in exploring a potential transaction The company also confirmed that it had rejected a sweetened bid from Sanofi under which Sanofi offered 58 00 per share in cash plus a Contingent Value Right CVR for talazoparib sales representing a potential payment in 2022 of up to 3 00 per share
Pfizer s rumored offer of more than 80 per share represents a huge premium compared to Sanofi s last offer Medivation s shares are up 42 3 so far in 2016
Why Medivation
Medivation is a biopharma company that is focused on cancer treatments The company currently has one marketed product prostate cancer treatment Xtandi Xtandi a blockbuster drug has the potential to be approved for several additional indications as well as patient populations
Moreover pipeline candidate talazoparib an orally available PARP inhibitor represents significant upside potential PARP inhibitors are currently being considered to be the next major class of therapeutics in oncology Interest in this area has increased considerably following the announcement of impressive late stage data on another company s PARP inhibitor niraparib in Jun 2016 Top line results from Medivation s first talazoparib registrational study EMBRACA in germline BRCA mutated breast cancer are expected in the first half of 2017
According to Medivation the addressable patient population for talazoparib in the U S and Europe is about 760k including 10k for the EMBRACA population while the addressable market opportunity is more than 30 billion
The Medivation acquisition if it goes through will strengthen Pfizer s cancer franchise which currently consists of products like Ibrance and Sutent Pfizer is also working on strengthening its immune oncology pipeline and the Medivation acquisition would be a good strategic fit for the company
Pfizer is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock while Medivation is a Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sell stock Actelion Ltd is a better ranked stock in the health care sector with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake The original article issued earlier today August 22 2016 should no longer be relied upon |
PFE | Pfizer PFE Bought Medivation MDVN But Is It A Good Deal | Today Pfizer NYSE PFE that it will be acquiring Medivation Inc NASDAQ MDVN in an all cash offer for 81 50 per share This comes out to a transaction value of approximately 14 billion Shares were trading for about 67 per share before the deal was announced and since then MDVN stock has shot up by about 20
Pfizer doesn t expect the transaction to impact its fiscal 2016 guidance Pfizer CEO Ian Read is especially bullish on the purchase saying that The proposed acquisition of Medivation is expected to immediately accelerate revenue growth and drive overall earnings growth potential for Pfizer Pfizer expects to achieve high long term growth from its oncology pipeline and by adding Medivation PFE hopes to boost this portfolio of drugs which treats tumors
Medivation wouldn t be fetching a high price tag if it weren t for its drug called XTANDI enzalutamide XTANDI is an androgen receptor inhibitor that blocks steps in the androgen receptor signaling pathway inside tumor cells The hormone therapy has an avid following in the US and over the past four quarters the drug has generated 2 2 billion in worldwide sales
The drug was approved by the FDA in 2012 and it was made for the purpose of treating advanced metastatic prostate cancer XTANDI has treated 64 000 men in America and the product stands to see immense sales growth if it gains FDA approval for treating other types of cancer Medivation and Astellas Pharma Inc OTC ALPMY entered an agreement in 2009 to jointly develop and commercialize XTANDI and the companies are conducting two phase 3 studies in non metastatic prostate cancer as well as a phase 3 study in hormone sensitive prostate cancer Additionally there are phase 2 studies being conducted for treating advanced breast cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma
Pfizer believes that the addition of XTANDI will give it a well rounded oncology portfolio Pfizer s drug IBRANCE treats metastatic breast cancer so Medivation s product should fit in well and help Pfizer to have products that effectively treat two of the top cancers in annual incidence in the US after lung cancer The cancers impact millions of people and there are 300 000 and 180 000 new cases expected this year and respectively According to XTANDI has a 51 share in the novel hormone therapy market and it is on track to becoming the fourth largest oncology drug by 2021
There is more to Medivation than XTANDI though The company also has a promising drug candidate known as Talazoparib The product is in phase 3 studies for treating BRCA mutated breast cancer and it has the potential to be a highly potent PARP inhibitor that could be effective for treating several other types of tumors as well
Bottom Line
It should be noted that Sanofi NYSE SNY offered to buy Medivation for 52 50 per share in April Pfizer s offer is about 55 higher than the bid Sanofi put up so it is clear that the company has strong faith in the value of XTANDI to be used for treating multiple types of cancer So far the trials for treating other types of cancer such as breast cancer pre and post metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma have progressed into mid and later stage trials so there is strong potential for XTANDI to become an effective form of treatment for various types of tumors
The high price tag is a gamble but if XTANDI gets FDA approval for treating other forms of cancer it will gain increased traction in the oncology market This will mean a lot for Pfizer and it could result in the company becoming one of the premier leaders in oncology Right now PFE stock is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
The Zacks Rank is a truly marvelous trading tool Our ranking system has beaten the S P 500 yielding an average return of 25 per year for the last 29 years Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |
PFE | Market Update 22 08 2016 | This promises to be an interesting week again with some key data coming out mainly later in the week We will start on Tuesday and Wednesday with important German data to start off with but the main action will be on Friday with GDP data out of the UK and the US as well as a speech by FED Chair Yellen We can expect a lot of positioning ahead of this especially on the backdrop of recent comments from several FED members
Currencies
EUR USD is moving down due to the bullish comments coming out of the US from different members of the FED who are saying that they could and possibly should raise the interest rate sooner rather than later Some are saying that the rate could rise at least once more this year We will also be looking at the German data this week which as always is important as the German economy is the growth engine of the Eurozone
USD JPY is moving up after comments from BOJ Governor Kuroda that the BOJ might expand stimulus at its meeting next month and perhaps even cut the interest rate further This is in addition to the general correction we are currently seeing in the USD after having seen some severe weakening last week
GBP USD even though the data out of the UK was better than expected last week we see the GBP almost unchanged now as we are heading down once move This comes due to the strengthening of the USD but also due to reports that the UK might enact article 50 early next year which will start the process for the UK to leave the EU
USD CAD moved up on Friday not because oil dropped but rather because of some weak data out of Canada We see that this is currently continuing as the USD is gaining in strength and also oil is dropping a bit
Indices
Dollar Index as always when gauging the state of the USD the best way to do this is to look at the Dollar Index We can clearly see that the USD is strengthening again and is trading more or less back at the levels pre FOMC meeting minutes We can expect more moves in the USD as we get GDP data at the end of the week and the anticipated speech by Yellen at the Jackson Hole Symposium
S P 500 the stronger USD and also the prospects of a rate cut are causing the S P to move down We shouldn t forget that we have seen an impressive rally over the last few weeks starting at the end of June so there is bound to be some profit taking as well as we are still trading near record highs
Commodities
Gold has dropped in recent days as we keep getting more comments that the FED could raise the interest rate already next month something again stated over the weekend as the job and inflation targets are close to being reached We are trading at the lowest level in nearly 2 weeks around the support of the 1332 level
Oil is moving down after having risen over 4 50 last week While there are not many people who believe that anything will come out of the discussion next month on a production freeze one can still see how much influence pure expectation can have on the market Even if an agreement will be reached at which levels As Saudi Arabia and also other countries are producing at near record levels the actual effect on curbing the oversupply will be limited We saw on Friday that the number of active rigs keeps on increasing something that also signals that production in the US will be increasing further as well The stronger USD is also helping oil to move lower this morning
Stocks
Pfizer NYSE PFE is reportedly close to acquiring Medivation for an estimated 14 billion The company previously rejected an offer by Sanofi PA SASY which was around 9 billion |
T | AT T T Fox Networks Conclude Multi Year Deal Renewal | AT T Inc NYSE T recently announced that it has completed the renewal of a multi year deal with Fox Networks Group for distribution of most of the latter s programming across AT T s video platforms The deal involves retransmission agreement for Fox TV stations in 17 cities as well as 22 Fox owned regional sports networks Notably it also covers channels like FS1 FS2 FX FXX FXM Nat Geo Wild along with the Fox Soccer Plus pay per view service among others As a matter of fact the multi year deal will ensure the availability of Fox Networks programming across AT T s DirecTV DIRECTNOW and U Verse video platforms This will enable the company to offer more choice as well as greater value to customers Existing Business ScenarioAT T is ramping up its FirstNet program and revamping its lineup of video products pricing and promotion initiatives Also the company remains well poised to benefit from the 5G era introducing 5G mobile in parts of 12 cities by the year end With assets like HBO CNN and TNT AT T s acquisition of Time Warner has created new kinds of online videos and opened up avenues for targeted advertisements to counter its peers Moreover with strength in the Wireless business and incremental contribution from WarnerMedia assets the company is poised to continue its healthy growth momentum However in the past three months this Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock has lost 8 5 against 0 9 growth recorded by the Also the company s wireline division is struggling with persistent losses in access lines as a result of competitive pressure from voice over Internet protocol service providers and aggressive triple play voice data video offerings by the cable companies Key PicksSome better ranked stocks in the industry are United States Cellular Corporation NYSE USM Gogo Inc NASDAQ GOGO and Telenav Inc NYSE T While United States Cellular sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Gogo and Telenav carry a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see United States Cellular surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters the average positive earnings surprise being 108 11 Gogo outpaced estimates thrice in the preceding four quarters the average earnings surprise being 25 87 Telenav surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters the average positive earnings surprise being 12 03 Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana Ignited by new referendums and legislation this industry is expected to blast from an already robust 6 7 billion to 20 2 billion in 2021 Early investors stand to make a killing but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look |
PFE | RPT FEATURE To the victors the spoils a post Lehman scorecard | With Lehman deals Barclays and Nomura progress
Barclays confident it can top bank league tables
Nomura gains more nuanced cultural walls remain
By Clara Ferreira Marques and Michael Flaherty
LONDON HONG KONG Sept 11 Reuters For Barclays and
Nomura the collapse of Lehman Brothers was the opportunity of
the lifetime a chance to grab a seat at banking s top table
as Wall Street s giants fell
A year after their high speed takeovers Britain s Barclays
is confident it is on course to fulfil long held ambitions now
it has a foothold in U S equity and mergers and acquisitions
markets and Lehman has already boosted its bottom line
But Japan s Nomura a conservative brokerage which went for
Lehman in its own bid to become an international investment
bank is still hobbled by a lack of scale in the United States
and insiders say lingering cultural differences are a burden
We knew we were crossing a line and we would never be able
to go back Barclays Capital President Jerry del Missier told
Reuters speaking of frenzied negotiations as departing staff
carried boxes of belongings across news broadcasts
Speed was critical for both banks not least to retain the
talent and customer connections in the businesses they bought
Having failed to buy all of Lehman Barclays days later
acquired its core U S broker dealer out of Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection Nomura bought European and Asian assets
the following week
A week after Barclays acquisition in the throes of the
worst market turbulence in decades it had named its top team
Nomura integrated the new structure in 70 days much faster
than the 100 it had targeted
We wanted to send a powerful message to the marketplace
that we were going to get the Lehman businesses up and running
Del Missier said in an interview We had clients to worry
about our own risk positions we needed to manage and the
environment was incredibly volatile
Nomura declined to comment for this article
LUCRATIVE OPPORTUNITY
The core of Lehman Brothers has allowed Barclays to go from
a respected debt shop to a comprehensive investment bank adding
stock underwriting and M A advisory to the business in a swoop
Lehman s U S equities business was key to that deal U S
distribution channels are the largest and critical for anyone
selling and underwriting stocks
It has proved a lucrative opportunity helping to double
pre tax profit from Barclays investment banking business in the
first six months
With Lehman you had a ship that had been sailing along very
well and one particular thing torpedoed it said analyst Mike
Trippitt at Oriel Securities The rest of the business in the
U S was still buzzing what Barclays got was a business in
which 80 percent was pretty vibrant
Challenges for Barclays include the huge technological
weight of rolling out a single equities platform across the
globe and the task of climbing up the ranks of investment
banking league tables as more banks fight over fewer deals
Since the deal Barclays has taken the number 2 spot in debt
capital markets tables up one place but it is still below
Lehman s old positions in both global M A and equity capital
markets according to Thomson Reuters data
CULTURE CLASH
Success has been more measured for Nomura While areas such
as its Japanese franchise M A advisory and convertible bonds
have shown strength the bank suffered early on from costs
associated with the Lehman deal
Looking back at Nomura s financial results for the first
quarter they only managed to show some fruit out of Lehman
acquisition Credit Suisse analyst Azuma Ohno said To me it
seems they showed they were able to get a fairly good numbers in
a good financial environment but it was not extremely good
Asia s stock market soared in the first months of the year
with shares in China alone ahead more than 80 percent in early
August
The Japanese bank quickly ran into a challenge that had
little to do with speed or execution Taking on a risk loving
American brokerage proved a tall task
While steps such as Western style contracts have been taken
to improve the cultural differences issues still pop up
The U S press has relished stories of traders singing
company songs or of lessons on serving tea in the Japanese
tradition while rumours of Lehman only parties have done the
rounds in Nomura Asia
There are still internal divisions that just won t go away
It s an us vs them mentality and it s a shame according to a
legacy Nomura banker who did not want to be identified because
he was not authorised to speak to the media about the deal
Sharing client networks is an ongoing problem he said
PEOPLE POWER
To keep Lehman bankers through the upheaval Nomura offered
many of them one and two year guarantees based on their 2007
compensation The full payout of last year s bonus was due on
Sept 1 prompting speculation that another round of Lehman
departures is soon to follow
Nomura has defended the timing of its purchase and has shown
it is still willing to hire even before the markets recovered
Nomura which jumped to 4 400 employees in Europe from 1 500
after the acquisition of Lehman s businesses has hired 521
people in Europe since January including eight number
one ranked research teams
The fascinating thing is that 18 months ago no one from
Goldman or Merrill wanted to work at Nomura an ex Lehman
executive said referring to the old school Japanese image Now
they see the opportunity to build something
Still Lehman bankers have felt under represented at the top
of Nomura s management structure a feeling that intensified
when Lehman s former Asia Pacific CEO Jesse Bhattal said this
summer he would step down from his chairman role at year end
Progress is emerging though Nomura s first quarter this
year the three months to the end of June reversed a
year and a half of decline and teams have cooperated
The capital markets team and sales division have worked
well with convertibles in terms of distribution That s actually
been an astonishing success said the legacy Nomura banker
In a number of parts we re well positioned We seem to be
missing the boat with some of our businesses I d say overall
it s still a work in progress
Even if the deal for Barclays was a more rounded success
it too still has work to do not least to grow in Asia and
Europe and realise its ambition of taking a top spot in equities
and M A league tables
Its role as adviser to Pfizer on its 68 billion takeover of
Wyeth has helped but Barclays is number 11 in the global M A
tables below Lehman s old number 9 spot
We are still not up and running in Europe and Asia and
especially in Europe that will have an impact on global league
tables del Missier said I am confident you will start to see
the results come through pretty quickly
Editing by Douwe Miedema and Sara Ledwith
For a multimedia timeline on the year since the collapse of
Lehman Brothers |
PFE | FEATURE To the victors the spoils post Lehman scorecard | Corrects paragraph 11 to show Nomura declined an interview
request
With Lehman deals Barclays and Nomura progress
Barclays confident it can top bank league tables
Nomura gains more nuanced cultural walls remain
By Clara Ferreira Marques and Michael Flaherty
LONDON HONG KONG Sept 11 Reuters For Barclays and
Nomura the collapse of Lehman Brothers was the opportunity of
a lifetime a chance to grab a seat at banking s top table as
Wall Street s giants fell
A year after their high speed takeovers Britain s Barclays
is confident it is on course to fulfil long held ambitions now
it has a foothold in U S equity and mergers and acquisitions
markets and Lehman has already boosted its bottom line
But Japan s Nomura a conservative brokerage which went for
Lehman in its own bid to become an international investment
bank is still hobbled by a lack of scale in the United States
and insiders say lingering cultural differences are a burden
We knew we were crossing a line and we would never be able
to go back Barclays Capital President Jerry del Missier told
Reuters speaking of frenzied negotiations as departing staff
carried boxes of belongings across news broadcasts
Speed was critical for both banks not least to retain the
talent and customer connections in the businesses they bought
Having failed to buy all of Lehman Barclays days later
acquired its core U S broker dealer out of Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection Nomura bought European and Asian assets
the following week
A week after Barclays acquisition in the throes of the
worst market turbulence in decades it had named its top team
Nomura integrated the new structure in 70 days much
faster than the 100 it had targeted
We wanted to send a powerful message to the marketplace
that we were going to get the Lehman businesses up and
running Del Missier said in an interview
We had clients to worry about our own risk positions we
needed to manage and the environment was incredibly
volatile
Nomura declined a Reuters request for an interview
LUCRATIVE OPPORTUNITY
The core of Lehman Brothers has allowed Barclays to go from
a respected debt shop to a comprehensive investment bank
adding stock underwriting and M A advisory to the business in a
swoop
Lehman s U S equities business was key to that deal
U S distribution channels are the largest and critical for
anyone selling and underwriting stocks
It has proved a lucrative opportunity helping to double
pre tax profit from Barclays investment banking business in the
first six months
With Lehman you had a ship that had been sailing along
very well and one particular thing torpedoed it said analyst
Mike Trippitt at Oriel Securities
The rest of the business in the U S was still buzzing
what Barclays got was a business in which 80 percent was pretty
vibrant
Challenges for Barclays include the huge technological
weight of rolling out a single equities platform across the
globe and the task of climbing up the ranks of investment
banking league tables as more banks fight over fewer deals
Since the deal Barclays has taken the number 2 spot in debt
capital markets tables up one place but it is still below
Lehman s old positions in both global M A and equity capital
markets according to Thomson Reuters data
CULTURE CLASH
Success has been more measured for Nomura While areas such
as its Japanese franchise M A advisory and convertible bonds
have shown strength the bank suffered early on from costs
associated with the Lehman deal
Looking back at Nomura s financial results for the first
quarter they only managed to show some fruit out of Lehman
acquisition Credit Suisse analyst Azuma Ohno said To me it
seems they showed they were able to get a fairly good numbers
in a good financial environment but it was not extremely
good
Asia s stock market soared in the first months of the year
with shares in China alone ahead more than 80 percent in early
August
The Japanese bank quickly ran into a challenge that had
little to do with speed or execution Taking on a risk loving
American brokerage proved a tall task
While steps such as Western style contracts have been taken
to improve the cultural differences issues still pop up
The U S press has relished stories of traders singing
company songs or of lessons on serving tea in the Japanese
tradition while rumours of Lehman only parties have done the
rounds in Nomura Asia
There are still internal divisions that just won t go
away It s an us vs them mentality and it s a shame
according to a legacy Nomura banker who did not want to be
identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media
about the deal
Sharing client networks is an ongoing problem he said
PEOPLE POWER
To keep Lehman bankers through the upheaval Nomura offered
many of them one and two year guarantees based on their 2007
compensation The full payout of last year s bonus was due on
Sept 1 prompting speculation that another round of Lehman
departures is soon to follow
Nomura has defended the timing of its purchase and has
shown it is still willing to hire even before the markets
recovered
Nomura which jumped to 4 400 employees in Europe from
1 500 after the acquisition of Lehman s businesses has hired
521 people in Europe since January including eight number
one ranked research teams
The fascinating thing is that 18 months ago no one from
Goldman or Merrill wanted to work at Nomura an ex Lehman
executive said referring to the old school Japanese image
Now they see the opportunity to build something
Still Lehman bankers have felt under represented at the
top of Nomura s management structure a feeling that
intensified when Lehman s former Asia Pacific CEO Jesse Bhattal
said this summer he would step down from his chairman role at
year end
Progress is emerging though Nomura s first quarter this
year the three months to the end of June reversed a
year and a half of decline and teams have cooperated
The capital markets team and sales division have worked
well with convertibles in terms of distribution That s
actually been an astonishing success said the legacy Nomura
banker
In a number of parts we re well positioned We seem to be
missing the boat with some of our businesses I d say overall
it s still a work in progress
Even if the deal for Barclays was a more rounded success
it too still has work to do not least to grow in Asia and
Europe and realise its ambition of taking a top spot in
equities and M A league tables
Its role as adviser to Pfizer on its 68 billion takeover
of Wyeth has helped but Barclays is number 11 in the global
M A tables below Lehman s old number 9 spot
We are still not up and running in Europe and Asia and
especially in Europe that will have an impact on global league
tables del Missier said I am confident you will start to
see the results come through pretty quickly
Editing by Douwe Miedema and Sara Ledwith
For a multimedia timeline on the year since the collapse of
Lehman Brothers |
PFE | UPDATE 1 EXCLUSIVE Sanofi sees sales boost from H1N1 vaccine | CEO sees H1N1 vaccine boosting sales this year and next
expects to file H1N1 vaccine for EMEA clearance end Oct
needs to grow U S research but nothing big in the works
looking to appoint over the counter drugs head
share down 1 47 percent
adds details and quotes
By Caroline Jacobs
PARIS Sept 24 Reuters Sanofi Aventis expects
its H1N1 vaccine that targets the swine flu virus to boost to
its revenues this year and next the head of the French
drugmaker told Reuters in an interview
There s going to be a significant revenue opportunity both
this year and next year Chris Viehbacher said on Thursday
It s a nice short term boost for sales and cash flow
Sanofi Pasteur the vaccine division of Sanofi Aventis
earlier this month won an additional order from the U S health
department for its H1N1 vaccines taking the total to 75 3
million doses
Sanofi Aventis expects to submit its H1N1 vaccine with the
European Medicines Agency EMEA by the end of October and
Viehbacher expected approval to take up to six weeks
Viehbacher who took the helm in December 2008 said the
company had no plans to alter it strategy of making acquisitions
of up to 15 billion euros 22 09 billion in market value while
preferring to avoid big takeveovers
I m not going to change a strategy that has been
successful he said
I still remain skeptical about big mergers he added
Sanofi has several blockbuster drugs such as blood thinner
Plavix and cancer treatment Taxotere
Sanofi has a market capitalisation of some 100 billion
which makes it sixth in the world after Johnson Johnson
Roche Novartis Pfizer and
GlaxoSmithKline the former employer of Viehbacher
AIDS VACCINE
Viehbacher was speaking ahead of an expert presentation on a
the clinical results of an experimental AIDS vaccine made from
two older versions which showed made major progress in finding
an effective way to combat the illness ID nLO53122
Sanofi s pipeline of drugs in development has become leaner
following a rejig that left it with only the most promising
candidates after Viehbacher put a halt to others
Partnerships should help expand the pipeline again with a
focus on the United States the world s biggest drugmarket
I think we are underrepresented in research in the U S
Viehbacher said Today you want to be able to capture the best
science everywhere I d certainly like to strengthen our
presence there he said adding nothing major is cooking
Sanofi earlier this year bought U S biotech company BiPar
whose candidate drug BSI 201 which seeks to treat cancers
including breast and ovarian is seen as a potential
blockbuster
Rather than cost savings Sanofi s takeover strategy focuses
on boosting its revenues as the company is facing a number of
patent expiries on several of its top selling drugs making it
vulnerable to cheaper copies made by generic drugmakers
NO MEGA MERGER
Instead of mega mergers and a focus solely on finding the
next multi billion euro blockbuster drug Sanofi seeks to grow
its business by expanding its existing platforms like vaccines
generics and over the counter drugs which can be bought without
a prescription
It is aiming to turn its OTC business which includes
Sanofi s best selling drug in France Doliprane paracetamol into
a division with a head of its own who should be able to double
sales in next five years from 1 3 billion euros in 2008
We are in the process of trying to nominate someone
Viehbacher said
In a first move to expand its widespread OTC business
Sanofi last year bought Australia s Symbion which also makes
vitamin supplements
Sanofi shares were down 1 47 percent at 50 11 euros at 1430
GMT after a 12 percent rise sofar this year
For fundamental data about this company please double click
on
For a Geneva story on WHO saying drug firms can make H1N1
vaccines for half the planet see ID nLO127713 |
T | Trump calls for boycott of television network CNN tweet | WASHINGTON Reuters U S President Donald Trump urged a boycott of CNN on Wednesday ramping up his fight against the television network as his administration fights AT T NYSE T Inc s deal to buy CNN s owner Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX Trump has criticized the proposed deal which the Justice Department has sued to stop Legal experts have said the president s attacks on CNN could hobble his administration s case The president who regularly assails mainstream media has long criticized CNN calling the network fake news and saying he no longer watches it while lauding rival Fox News His call for a boycott appeared to be a step up in his attacks Great and we should boycott Fake News CNN Dealing with them is a total waste of time Trump wrote in a Twitter post Trump was responding to a post by his spokeswoman Sarah Sanders who in her own post on Tuesday night praised reports that CNN would not attend an annual holiday party held at the White House for news media It was not immediately clear if Trump in his post was calling for a wider boycott against CNN or one by White House staff Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Representatives for CNN also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump s tweet on Wednesday A CNN spokesperson told Politico that it would not attend the party in light of the President s continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN but would send a reporting crew to cover the event Politico reported on Tuesday The network and its journalists have repeatedly defended CNN s work against previous presidential attacks
The Department of Justice s challenge is unusual move given that pay TV and wireless company AT T does not directly compete with TV show maker Time Warner The department has said the lawsuit is a law enforcement decision not a political one |
T | Fox s Lachlan Murdoch says company would never buy CNN | By Jessica Toonkel Reuters Twenty First Century Fox would never be interested in buying CNN Fox Executive Chair Lachlan Murdoch said on Wednesday at a conference organized by the news website Business Insider in New York Last week the U S Department of Justice filed suit to block AT T s planned 85 4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc N TWX the parent of CNN because of antitrust concerns about the merged company owning too much content and distribution Before the suit Justice Department staff had recommended AT T NYSE T sell either its DirecTV unit or Time Warner s Turner Broadcasting unit which includes CNN to win antitrust approval sources have told Reuters Earlier this month Reuters first reported that Rupert Murdoch who shares the title of executive chair of Fox telephoned AT T CEO Randall Stephenson twice to discuss CNN during the past six months We wouldn t be allowed to buy CNN and we would never be interested in buying CNN Lachlan Murdoch Rupert s oldest son said at the Business Insider conference Fox owns Fox News and while there is no law against a company owning two cable networks a deal could raise antitrust concerns Stephenson has said he has no intention of selling CNN to gain approval of the acquisition of Time Warner Lachlan Murdoch declined to comment on reports that Fox has been approached by a number of suitors including Walt Disney Co for a sizeable piece of its business adding that he feels strongly about the company s standing as a standalone company
He did acknowledge the challenges facing media companies today noting as the pace of cable subscribers declines in the United States increased international revenue and having a direct to consumer offering is increasingly important |
PFE | M A Boosts Intersil Syngenta And Medivation In Pre Market | Monday August 22 2016Futures are down again ahead of the market open this morning following a Friday that was awash in red until climbing toward unched in the closing minutes of the trading week The S P 500 is currently at 4 points the Dow reads 50 and the Nasdaq is currently at 8 These numbers have fluctuated a bit but have remained negative ahead of the bell Mergers and acquisitions M A are taking headlines in this sleepy market period a couple weeks prior to the Labor Day holiday and we re seeing big gains among smaller companies ready to be purchased by much bigger fish California based Intersil NASDAQ ISIL has agreed to be bought by Japan s Renesas for 3 billion and the semiconductor maker is up nearly 28 in today s pre market Sources say they expect this deal to close by the end of August Chinese state owned ChemChina s pursuit of major agribusiness firm Syngenta NYSE SYT has cleared a regulatory hurdle in China and this panel clearance looks to be green lighting the massive 43 billion buyout of the Swiss company Syngenta ADRs are up roughly 10 5 at this hour Pfizer NYSE PFE is putting forth 14 billion to take over biopharma company Medivation NASDAQ MDVN representing 81 50 per share for the company specializing in cancer treatments Pfizer expects 5 cents per share in synergies from this deal as of the first year of business Everything else looks to be taking a break right now European markets were down overnight gold prices wallow at two week lows even WTI and Brent oil prices while up over the past few weeks overall remain below 50 per barrel this morning We ve got some housing data on the calendar later this week along with Fed Chair Janet Yellen s Jackson Hole speech this Friday but not much expected to push the needle in either direction Mark VickerySenior Editor |
T | AT T T Gains As Market Dips What You Should Know | AT T T closed the most recent trading day at 30 78 moving 0 29 from the previous trading session The stock outpaced the S P 500 s daily loss of 1 97 Meanwhile the Dow lost 2 32 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 2 78
Heading into today shares of the telecommunications company had lost 3 34 over the past month outpacing the Computer and Technology sector s loss of 4 96 and lagging the S P 500 s loss of 3 33 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 84 per share This would mark year over year growth of 7 69 Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 48 54 billion up 16 48 from the year ago period
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 3 51 per share and revenue of 175 11 billion which would represent changes of 15 08 and 9 07 respectively from the prior year
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
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear actionable rating model
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 16 lower T is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Looking at its valuation T is holding a Forward P E ratio of 8 73 For comparison its industry has an average Forward P E of 33 21 which means T is trading at a discount to the group
Investors should also note that T has a PEG ratio of 2 45 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 Wireless National was holding an average PEG ratio of 2 5 at yesterday s closing price
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 55 which puts it in the top 21 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
Make sure to utilize Zacks Com to follow all of these stock moving metrics and more in the coming trading sessions |
PFE | ANALYSIS India s ailing drugmakers may seek foreign cure | More tie ups likely between global Indian pharma firms
Pfizer Merck Sanofi may be on lookout for deals
India s Cipla Aurobindo seen as potential targets
Global firms seen benefitting from low costs in India
Indian firms to gain expertise avoid legal battles
By Pratish Narayanan
MUMBAI Aug 6 Reuters For Indian generic drugmakers
struggling with cut throat competition regulatory hurdles and
expensive legal battles a tie up with a global pharmaceutical
giant may be just what the doctor ordered
The world s biggest drugmakers have been on an acquisition
spree over the past year and are eyeing Indian firms to gain
access to emerging markets and cheap production as well as to
retake some of the business they ve lost to inexpensive copycat
versions of their blockbuster drugs
Global heavyweight Pfizer is seen as the most likely suitor
of Indian rivals as it looks to replace revenue lost from the
lapse of key patents while Merck and Sanofi Aventis may also
seek to shake hands with Indian producers analysts said
Indian drug companies for their part are grappling with
regulatory crackdowns that have made it harder to sell their
products in the key U S market making a deal with a bigger
and better funded global rival look increasingly attractive
Indian generic drug makers including Ranbaxy Dr Reddy s and
Matrix Laboratories have all linked up with global players over
the past year More deals are expected
The foreign companies can limit research expenses as the
cost of developing a product in India is lower than probably
anywhere else in the world said R K Gupta managing director
of Taurus Mutual Fund in New Delhi
While the Indian firm will get access to world class
facilities and need not handle legal issues once the drug is
developed
Analysts say India s Cipla with its vast range of
products including anti cancer and anti diabetic drugs and a
market value of 4 5 billion is attractive to foreign buyers
They add that smaller firms Aurobindo Pharma Orchid
Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals and Dishman Pharmaceuticals could
also be eyed by overseas firms
When foreign companies look at India they consider two
things the low cost of development and the chance to expand in
emerging markets said Sarabjit Kour Nangra a healthcare
analyst at Angel Broking in Mumbai
Cipla s valuations are expensive but the company has a
strong asset base
The company s shares trade at more than 20 times forward
earnings compared with a 17 5 multiple for India s benchmark
BSE index
Rivals Sun Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma trade at 17 9 times
and 7 3 times expected earnings respectively Ranbaxy and Sun
the two biggest Indian drug makers by sales and market cap
respectively are the two worst performers in India s roaring
main index this year with gains of less than 10 percent
India currently represents 6 billion of the 550 billion
global pharmaceutical industry and its share is increasing at
10 percent a year according to consultancy KPMG
It is forecast that Indian companies will likely take
around 30 percent of the global generics market from around 22
percent now KPMG said
EMERGING MARKET FOCUS
Drug sales in emerging markets are expected to grow by
mid teens percentage rates through 2013 against low
single digits for mature markets according to IMS Health the
leading tracker of prescription drug data
Pfizer may pursue further links in India as it faces sales
declines in coming years from patent expirations including for
blockbuster cholesterol treatment Lipitor
The company wants to add 3 billion in annual sales from
developing markets by 2012 and recently signed a deal with
India s Aurobindo Pharma under which Pfizer will gain rights to
about 60 products in more than 70 emerging markets
Other global firms such as Merck and Sanofi Aventis may
also seek deals with Indian firms as efforts to control health
care costs in countries including the United States push global
drugmakers to find cheaper alternatives to branded drugs
In June Dr Reddy s signed a licensing deal with the UK s
GlaxoSmithKline and No 3 generics maker Mylan Inc announced a
partnership with India s Biocon
FDA TROUBLE
Developing nations account for just 6 percent of worldwide
trade in medicines the World Health Organization estimates By
offering generic drugs that are a cheaper alternative to
branded drugs from big global firms Indian companies have an
oppportunity to increase their share of this trade say
analysts
But the U S Food and Drug Administration has recently been
finding fault with Indian firms manufacturing procedures A
tie up with one of the bigger players would help them acquire
the know how to better maintain quality standards
The FDA has been going no no no no to so many drugs
from Indian firms said Alex Mathew head of research at
Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services
A tie up with foreign players will not only give financial
stability but access to technological upgradation that can
prevent more disapproval
In late June U S authorities seized drugs made by the
U S unit of India s Sun Pharma for manufacturing standards
violations Last year the FDA found 15 deficiencies at Indian
firm Lupin s manufacturing plant in central India
Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo s 4 2 billion takeover
in 2008 of Ranbaxy India s top drugmaker by sales
demonstrates the possibilities but also the potential pitfalls
that global players face when linking up with Indian rivals
Ranbaxy shares plummeted late last year after a U S ban on
some of its products The FDA in February said Ranbaxy had sold
misbranded or adulterated drugs in the United States its
largest market further hurting the company s market value
But analysts say Ranbaxy has been helped since being taken
over by Daiichi which replaced Ranbaxy head Malvinder Singh
with its own executive in a bid to resolve problems
Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York Editing
by Tony Munroe and Dhara Ranasinghe |
PFE | Forest to sell Nycomed s lung drug Daxas in U S | Forest gets exclusive rights to smoker s lung drug in U S
Forest to pay 100 million upfront more as milestones
reached
Daxas would be first pill to treat COPD
By Quentin Webb
LONDON Aug 10 Reuters Nycomed the private Swiss drug
company picked Forest Laboratories Inc as a U S partner for
Daxas its experimental treatment for smoker s lung receiving
100 million upfront in return
Forest will have exclusive rights to develop make and
commercialise Daxas in the United States utilising its
2 700 strong sales force
Forest also agreed to pay further significant milestones
and royalties for the drug which Nycomed recently submitted to
European and U S regulators for approval Nycomed said in a
statement on Monday
Daxas is the first tablet based treatment for chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease COPD the world s
fifth biggest cause of death in 2002 according to the World
Health Organisation WHO
The drug could compete with GlaxoSmithKline s Advair and
Spiriva marketed by Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim in the
multibillion dollar a year worldwide COPD market
Nycomed whose biggest owners are private equity firms
Nordic Capital and Credit Suisse s DLJ unit aims to use junk
bonds and fresh equity from its owners to fund a planned buyout
of Solvay s drugs unit people familiar with the matter told
Reuters recently
Editing by Ben Hirschler |
PFE | UPDATE 2 Forest to sell Nycomed s lung drug Daxas in U S | Forest gets exclusive rights to smoker s lung drug in U S
Forest to pay 100 million upfront up to 500 million
more later
Daxas would be first pill to treat COPD
Nycomed expects U S European Daxas registration next yr
Adds CEO comment on IPO pantoprazole no comment on Solvay
By Quentin Webb
LONDON Aug 10 Reuters Forest Laboratories Inc the U S
specialty drugmaker whose biggest drug Lexapro is soon to lose
patent protection paid 100 million upfront for U S rights to
Nycomed s promising smoker s lung drug Daxas
Nycomed will also receive up to 500 million in further
payments based on regulatory approvals and commercialisation
milestones Chief Executive Hakan Bjorklund told Reuters in a
telephone interview on Monday
The privately owned Swiss drug company which is working
towards a multi billion dollar flotation also stands to receive
royalties that will be standard for a product of this size and
development stage he added
Forest will have exclusive rights to develop make and
commercialise Daxas in the United States utilising its
2 700 strong sales force
Forest is expected to lose patent protection on Lexapro the
blockbuster antidepressant that is its top selling drug in
early 2012 It sells Lexapro in conjunction with Danish
drugmaker Lundbeck
Nycomed has recently submitted Daxas to European and U S
regulators for approval and Bjorklund said it hopes for
registration in both jurisdictions next year
Daxas is the first tablet based treatment for chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease COPD the world s
fifth biggest cause of death in 2002 according to the World
Health Organisation WHO
BLOCKBUSTER POTENTIAL
The drug could compete with GlaxoSmithKline s Advair and
Spiriva marketed by Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim in the
multibillion dollar worldwide COPD market
Bjorklund said Daxas had blockbuster potential meaning
it could ultimately top 1 billion in annual sales
He said Nycomed picked Forest from a handful of partnership
candidates based partly on its big sales force and its track
record of partnering to develop drugs
Nycomed whose biggest owners are private equity firms
Nordic Capital and Credit Suisse s DLJ unit aims to use junk
bonds and fresh equity from its owners to fund a planned buyout
of Solvay s drugs unit people familiar with the matter told
Reuters recently
Bjorklund declined to comment on Solvay He said the Daxas
agreement did not immediately affect Nycomed s plans for an
initial public offering IPO
I don t think it has any immediate bearing on when and how
we would do a public listing he said But of course it s a
step in the right direction it strengthens the company and
it s proof that not only we but other people see a lot of value
in Daxas
He added that sales of pantoprazole the heartburn treatment
that is Nycomed s best selling drug were holding up somewhat
better than expected months after it lost patent protection in
Europe
Editing by Ben Hirschler and Gilbert Kreijger |
T | AT T CEO hints that Trump s CNN antipathy could be behind DOJ lawsuit | AT T NYSE T s CEO Randall Stephenson blasted the US Department of Justice over an impending lawsuit
The department is fighting to block a merger between AT T and Time Warner
Stephenson said the company will not sell off CNN to satisfy the department
AT T s CEO blasted the US Department of Justice following news that the agency will sue to block the company s 84 5 billion takeover of Time Warner
In a press conference in New York on Monday Randall Stephenson said he was surprised to be here and that the lawsuit was unprecedented and defies logic
He also balked at the proposal reportedly floated by DOJ antitrust officials that the company should sell Turner Broadcasting the group of channels that includes CNN to receive approval for the deal
There s been a lot of reporting and speculation whether this is all about CNN Stephenson said Frankly I don t know But nobody should be surprised the question keeps coming up because we ve witnessed such an abrupt change in the application of anti trust law
We cannot and we will not be party to any agreement that would give even the perception of compromising the first amendment protection of the press So any agreement that results in us forfeiting control of CNN whether directly or indirectly is a nonstarter
President Donald Trump has frequently blasted CNN throughout his presidential campaign and presidency |
T | Trump says AT T plan to buy Time Warner not a good deal | By Diane Bartz Reuters U S President Donald Trump on Tuesday stood by his criticism of pay TV and wireless company AT T s deal to buy movie and TV show maker Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX which the Justice Department has sued to stop I m not going to get involved in litigation but personally I ve always felt that that was a deal that s not a good deal for the country the president said on the lawn of the White House as he left for Florida I think your pricing s going to go up I don t think it s a good deal for the country The case will be more closely watched than other merger challenges because Trump has been a vocal critic of Time Warner s CNN and opposed AT T s purchase of Time Warner on the campaign trail last year saying it would concentrate too much power in AT T s hands Until Tuesday he had not repeated that criticism The U S Department of Justice on Monday sued AT T NYSE T arguing that it would use Time Warner s content to force rival pay TV companies to pay hundreds of millions of dollars more per year for Time Warner s networks AT T has vowed to defend the 85 4 billion deal The Department of Justice s move to block it was foolish because the deal posed no threat to consumers the wireless carrier s trial lawyer Dan Petrocelli told CNBC on Tuesday We want to go to court as soon as possible Petrocelli told CNBC saying the burden of proof was on the government AT T will ask the court for an expedited trial next week a source familiar with case said The case has been assigned to Judge Richard Leon a senior judge on the District of Columbia District Court who was appointed by President George W Bush in 2002 Time Warner shares went higher when Leon s assignment was announced as investors bet the judge would be more likely to allow the deal to proceed Republican appointed judges are generally but not always more business friendly than those appointed by Democrats Shares of Time Warner were up 1 9 percent at 89 41 in late afternoon trading on Tuesday signaling that investors believe the deal has a better chance of being approved AT T was down less than 1 percent to trade at 34 37 The merger challenge is unusual since the two companies do not compete directly
The Justice Department has not successfully litigated to stop a vertical deal where the merging companies are not direct competitors as is the case with AT T and Time Warner since the 1970s when it prevented Ford Motor NYSE F Co from buying assets from spark plug maker Autolite |
T | U S prosecutors charge Iranian in Game of Thrones hack | By Jim Finkle Reuters U S prosecutors have charged an Iranian national with hacking into cable TV network HBO and stealing episodes and plot summaries for unaired programs including Game of Thrones then threatening to release the data unless he was paid 6 million Behzad Mesri also known as Skote Vahshat was charged with the hack in a sealed indictment that was released on Tuesday by the U S Attorney s office in Manhattan Acting U S Attorney Joon Kim said at a news conference that Mesri was in Iran He said Mesri would face consequences even though U S authorities could not immediately arrest him He will never be able to travel outside of Iran without fear of being arrested and brought here Kim said Kim described Mesri as an experienced and sophisticated hacker who has been wreaking havoc on computer systems around the world for some time Prosecutors said Mesri had worked on behalf of Iran s military to attack military systems nuclear software systems and Israeli infrastructure They also alleged that he helped an Iranian hacking group Turk Black Hat Security Team deface hundreds of websites in the United States and other countries The cyber attack surfaced over the summer as HBO was running a new season of Game of Thrones and as the cable network s parent Time Warner Inc N TWX sought regulatory approval to sell itself to AT T Inc N T in an 85 4 billion deal announced in October 2016 The indictment charged Mesri with hacking into HBO from May to August and stealing unaired episodes of programs such as Ballers Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Deuce Mesri also stole scripts and plot summaries for Game of Thrones according to the indictment It said he obtained credentials that HBO employees use to access the network then used those accounts to steal data from the company s servers from May to August of this year He demanded up to 6 million in extortion emails to HBO staff to keep the data secret some of which ended with photos of Night King a menacing zombie villain from Game of Thrones according to the indictment Reuters was unable to reach Mesri for comment Prosecutors charged Mesri with computer fraud wire fraud extortion and identity theft
HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson declined to comment on the indictment and on whether the company s investigation into the breach was complete or how much the incident had cost the cable network |
T | DirecTV settles environmental claims for 9 5M | DirecTV NYSE T has agreed to a 9 5M settlement with the California attorney general s office to resolve waste dumping claims The pay TV firm s facilities were charged with mismanaging unlawfully ridding itself of large volumes of hazardous waste DirecTV will pay more than 8 9M in penalties costs and projects intended to further environmental protection along with more than 580 000 in spending over the next five years to enhance compliance at the facilities Now read |
AMD | AMD Up On Earnings Here s My Short Price | Shares of Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD jumped higher on earnings Wednesday which was no surprise as the stock s chart indicated a move higher to the master level gap fill of 14 25 However once this level is achieved AMD becomes a strong short swing trade for a drop back to 12 perhaps far lower Remember gaps are made to be filled and this one was a no brainer With Advanced Micro Devices trading at 13 50 there is still more upside but limited to the gap fill at 14 25 For those looking to short be patient for the trade level |
T | AT T T Gains But Lags Market What You Should Know | AT T T closed at 30 63 in the latest trading session marking a 0 36 move from the prior day This change lagged the S P 500 s 0 56 gain on the day Elsewhere the Dow gained 0 76 while the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 0 38
Coming into today shares of the telecommunications company had lost 10 55 in the past month In that same time the Computer and Technology sector lost 8 65 while the S P 500 lost 6 76
Investors will be hoping for strength from T as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be January 30 2019 On that day T is projected to report earnings of 0 84 per share which would represent year over year growth of 7 69 Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 48 28 billion up 15 86 from the prior year quarter
Looking at the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of 3 51 per share and revenue of 174 72 billion These totals would mark changes of 15 08 and 8 83 respectively from last year
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short term business trends As such positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company s business and profitability
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices 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 ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Within the past 30 days our consensus EPS projection has moved 0 38 lower T is currently a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
In terms of valuation T is currently trading at a Forward P E ratio of 8 69 For comparison its industry has an average Forward P E of 50 45 which means T is trading at a discount to the group
Investors should also note that T has a PEG ratio of 2 44 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 Wireless National stocks are on average holding a PEG ratio of 2 46 based on yesterday s closing prices
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 42 putting it in the top 16 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 | MasTec s MTZ Strong Backlog To Boost Long Term Growth | MasTec Inc NYSE MTZ is riding high on project awards across multiple segments strategic acquisitions along with robust performance of the Power Generation and Industrial segment Moreover the company s strength in backlog along with strong pipeline business in the Oil Gas segment bode well for its future prospects Catalysts Driving GrowthA significant number of contract wins is a major growth driver for MasTec As of Sep 30 2018 the company achieved a record 18 month backlog of 7 8 billion up 56 2 from a year ago This marks its fourth consecutive quarter of record total backlog On the basis on this the company projects 2018 annual revenues to be at a record level of 6 9 billion Additionally strong project pipeline is driving the company s top line in the Power Generation and Industrial segment Hence the segment s revenues margins and backlog are all projected to grow specifically large industry awards are expected to increase leading to a much improved environment in 2018 and beyond Notably it increased its 2018 adjusted EBITDA and EPS expectation to 719 million and 3 76 million respectively from prior expectation of 708 million and 3 67 million The recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also added to the positives The company is likely to experience a greater cash tax benefit going forward due to the acceleration of tax deductions on capital expenditures Moreover acquisitions are highly accretive to MasTec The company completed three acquisitions in 2017 Also it acquired a leasing company of Oil Gas specialty pipeline equipment This will provide it with a competitive advantage during the current multi year cycle of significant Oil Gas pipeline project activity which is anticipated to continue at record levels Also the wireless and wireline business has a significant potential given the fact that substantial investments are expected in wireless infrastructure related to the densification associated with 5G deployment Also AT T NYSE T won a contract from FirstNet which is a nationwide public safety wireless network Both 5G and FirstNet will be catalysts for MasTec s revenues Fiber expansion continues to be growth driver in its wireline markets MasTec which shares space in the industry with EMCOR Group Inc NYSE EME Dycom Industries Inc NYSE DY and North American Construction Group Ltd TO NOA recorded strong third quarter earnings and revenues Despite facing regulatory and hurricane flooding disruptions the company posted 62 2 higher adjusted earnings on a year over year basis along with 1 1 growth in revenues Moreover adjusted EBITDA margin surged 220 basis points from a year ago Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars Here s another stock idea to consider Much like petroleum 150 years ago lithium power may soon shake the world creating millionaires and reshaping geo politics Soon electric vehicles EVs may be cheaper than gas guzzlers Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply one company stands out as the 1 stock to buy according to Zacks research It s not the one you think |
PFE | UPDATE 3 Irish strike halts construction projects brewing | 10 500 striking electricians to call for all out picket
Major union says it would be in favour of joining them
Production hit at Diageo s Guinness brewery in Dublin
Pickets at power plants output unaffected
Adds fresh comments on impact
By Ashley Beston
DUBLIN July 6 Reuters A union representing thousands of
striking electricians in Ireland said on Monday it would call
for an all out picket of over 200 construction sites escalating
a dispute that also hit the output of Ireland s favourite beer
Our members have sent a very clear signal to the employers
by their actions this morning that they will not be rolling over
and meekly accepting cutbacks to bail out developers and
speculators said Eamon Devoy general secretary designate of
the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union TEEU
We will now be seeking to consolidate the support we are
already receiving from other workers through an application for
an all out picket he said in a statement
About 10 500 contractors are taking part in the indefinite
strike the first major industrial action since Ireland went
into recession last year Pickets have been set up at building
sites at Dublin Airport and at companies such as Intel Pfizer
and Microsoft
A court granted an injunction against TEEU to stop picketing
the St James s Gate brewery owned by Diageo one of the world s
biggest alcoholic drinks groups where a strike by third party
contractors severely affected Guinness production
Because of the delicate yeast based brewing process even a
relatively short stoppage could potentially affect output of
Ireland s favourite stout for weeks the company said
SIPTU one of Ireland s biggest unions with 200 000 members
has said it would support an all out strike and if umbrella
group ICTU which represents most unions in Ireland agrees to
the electricians request that could close most of the affected
construction projects
ICTU will need to ballot its members before making a final
decision which could take at least until next week
Employers group IBEC said the strike could force
manufacturers to lay off workers with some already put on
protective notice in anticipation of further disruption
The dispute centres around wage increases of about 11
percent the electricians say they are owed for a number of
years A contractor currently earns 21 49 euros 30 per hour
Employers have said they cannot afford to give them more
money and instead are looking for a wage cut of 10 percent
No one could survive on what they are offering us said
Pat Mooney as he picketed outside Dublin s Lansdowne Road
Stadium which is being redeveloped
Our members are determined to see this through otherwise
we might as well throw our tool boxes in the river Liffey
There were pickets at power stations but electricity
generation was not affected by the strike
NOT A GOOD TIME
From factory floors to corporate suites wages and salaries
have been falling in Ireland as businesses adjust to plummeting
demand and try to claw back competitiveness lost during the boom
years of the Celtic Tiger economy
I d love to know who s advising the guys that it s a good
time to look for an 11 percent pay increase said Joe Byrne a
Dublin shopkeeper I m not denying or debating that they re
entitled to it but it s not a good time
Employers have been able to push through wages cuts of 10
percent or more in Ireland as unemployment balloons
The government has put the country on a five year austerity
diet after a debt fuelled property boom turned Ireland from
economic star to one of the industrialised world s worst
performers
Prime Minister Brian Cowen has vowed to get the budget
deficit under an EU limit of three percent of gross domestic
product by 2013 from a targeted 10 75 percent this year
He is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund
and others to cut public sector pay in the budget in December
Cowen a former finance minister has said he was committed
to taking tough action
But his junior coalition partner the Green Party and
members of his own party may baulk at further pain after
cutbacks tax hikes and the imposition of a pension levy
prompted 100 000 people to take to the streets in February
Reporting by Carmel Crimmins and Andras Gergely Editing by
Sophie Hares |
PFE | EU actively pursuing some drugmakers official says | EU actively pursuing a number of individual cases
No conclusions at this stage
Kroes report to step up scrutiny of generics deals
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS July 7 Reuters EU regulators are probing some
drug firms over suspected anti competitive practices that
include deals with makers of cheap generics to delay medicines
market entry a European Commission official said on Tuesday
European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes will
say in a report on the pharmaceutical industry on Wednesday that
we are actively pursuing a number of individual cases the
official who has seen the 600 page document said
The report will say that there are no final conclusions at
this stage to those cases being pursued the official said
adding that the document did not identify any companies
Kroes tasked with ensuring fair play across the 27 country
European Union will present the final report of her
investigation at 0930 GMT
In its preliminary report last November the EU s executive
arm estimated that delays in getting generics on the market had
cost healthcare providers 3 billion euros 4 2 billion based
on a sample of medicines that lost patent protection in 17 EU
states between 2000 and 2007
The European Commission s final report will pave the way for
increased regulatory scrutiny of settlement agreements in which
brand name companies pay generics makers for not competing with
them or set restrictions on competition the official said
It will look at this on a case by case basis to see if
there is enough evidence that merits further scrutiny the
official said
Kroes kicked off her investigation in January 2008 with a
series of raids on makers of brand name drugs including
AstraZeneca GlaxoSmithKline Pfizer Merck and Sanofi Aventis
There were also raids on generic drugmakers suspected of
colluding to delay the entry of their products sometimes in
exchange for payments from originator companies
Such settlement agreements have also come under fire in the
United States where the Federal Trade Commission estimated last
month that they were costing consumers 3 5 billion a year
Legislation pending in the U S Congress would ban such
deals
Drugmakers blame most of the delays on regulatory and other
bureaucratic issues rather than deliberate action by companies
Editing by Dale Hudson |
PFE | Irish unions ask members to back all out picket | Unions to urge members to join all out picket
Talks to be held on Wednesday to resolve dispute
DUBLIN July 7 Reuters The union representing striking
Irish electricians said on Tuesday that other affiliates of the
Irish Congress of Trade Unions had agreed to hold ballots and
ask their members to support them with an all out picket
Employers hope talks with unions on Wednesday will help end
the strike they fear could cripple industries already weakened
by one of the deepest recessions across the developed world
But the union representing the 10 500 contractors taking
part in the indefinite strike over wages the first major
industrial action since Ireland went into recession last year
remained defiant
Our pickets have already made an enormous impact on the
electrical contracting and construction sectors and this will be
multiplied many times over once the all out pickets are put in
place the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union TEEU
said
The dispute centres around wage increases of about 11
percent the electricians say they are owed for a number of
years
Employers have said they cannot afford to give them more
money and instead are looking for a wage cut of 10 percent
At a time when Ireland is struggling to repair damage to its
investor image from twin banking and fiscal crises the strike
has hit hundreds of construction sites and hurt production at
Irish units of companies such as Intel Pfizer Microsoft and
Cadbury
Output has been curtailed in many places as workers not
directly involved in the pay dispute did not cross the
electricians picket lines
A court is expected to decide on Wednesday whether to extend
a temporary injunction against TEEU to stop picketing Dublin s
St James s Gate brewery where Diageo makes Ireland s trademark
Guinness stout for the Irish and British markets
SIPTU one of Ireland s largest unions with 200 000 members
said it would complete its ballot by the end of next week
As by far the largest union in construction our involvement
in the dispute will see a serious escalation it said
Reporting by Andras Gergely Editing by Matthew Jones |
PFE | UPDATE 2 Glaxo Q2 beats consensus sees flu vaccine boost | Revenues 6 747 bln stg compared with expected 6 674 bln
Pre exceptionals EPS 31p compared with expected 29 8p
Sees improving performance continuing in second half
Says has swine flu vaccine contracts for 195 mln doses
Shares reverse losses now flat
Adds details background comment updated shares
By Ben Deighton
LONDON July 22 Reuters GlaxoSmithKline the world s
second biggest drugmaker beat expectations with its
second quarter earnings on Wednesday and said momentum in the
second half would pick up on the back of flu vaccine sales
Glaxo said growing sales of new products and its portfolio
of flu products should help drive its improving performance into
the second half of the year as the heavy impact of generic
competition to its formerly patented drugs begins to abate
Shares in Glaxo which had been down 1 percent ahead of the
earnings statement recovered to stand flat by 1156 GMT The DJ
Stoxx European health care index was up 0 5 percent
WestLB analyst Simon Mather said that at first glance the
results were broadly in line with what he expected but he
pointed out that there were lower than expected restructuring
costs and there was more of a boost from currency effects than
he had first thought
Healthcare companies have proven relatively resilient to the
recession as it is typically one of the last areas where
consumers cut spending
Glaxo s figures follow upbeat results from U S rivals Merck
Co Schering Plough and Eli Lilly The world s biggest
drugmaker Pfizer s earnings also just beat forecasts
But pharmaceuticals shares have begun to underperform as
cyclical sectors benefit from the first signs of a possible
recovery
Roche Bristol Myers Squibb and Wyeth are all due to report
on Thursday
WEAKER POUND
Glaxo has gained substantially from the pound s decline
because it sells the vast majority of its products abroad
However it still faces heavy generic competition for key
drugs having lost patent protection on a raft of central
nervous system medicines including Lamictal Imitrex Wellbutrin
XL and Paxil CR
Pretax pre restructuring profit in the second quarter was
2 25 billion pounds 3 7 billion equivalent to earnings per
share before major restructuring charges of 31 pence up 14
percent on sales up 15 percent at 6 747 billion
Analysts had forecast Glaxo EPS of 29 8 pence and sales of
just under 6 7 billion pounds according to a Reuters poll
The company said it had received H1N1 vaccine contracts for
195 million doses and that it was in talks with over 50
governments of both developing and developed countries in
relation to swine flu vaccine It said some of the talks were at
a very advanced stage
I therefore expect further significant orders Chief
Executive Andrew Witty said in a statement Shipments are
expected in the second half of 2009 and early 2010
Writing by Sam Cage editing by Will Waterman
1 6103 Pound |
AMD | Longbow Research initiates AMD shares up nearly 2 | Longbow initiates Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD with a Neutral rating AMD current analyst standings include 5 Buy 5 Outperform 16 Hold 2 Underperform and 2 Sell Median price target 12 50 AMD shares are up 1 98 Now read |
T | Highlights of Friday s NBA games | The Sports Xchange Highlights of Friday s National Basketball Association games Spurs 104 Thunder 101 LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points the final two on a crucial basket in the last minute as the San Antonio Spurs roared back from a ragged beginning to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104 101 at the AT T NYSE T Center After trailing by as many as six points in the fourth quarter Oklahoma City pulled to within 100 99 on a free throw by Paul George with 45 seconds to play On the ensuing possession Aldridge scored on a putback to push San Antonio s lead to 102 99 before the Thunder s Carmelo Anthony canned a jumper with his right foot on the three point line with five seconds remaining to cut the lead to 102 101 Pau Gasol then hit two free throws with two seconds to play and after a time out Oklahoma City s Russell Westbrook had to settle for a contested wild shot at the buzzer that didn t even hit the rim Cavaliers 118 Clippers 113 OT LeBron James scored 19 of his 39 points in the second half and overtime to lead Cleveland over Los Angeles Kevin Love added 25 points and Dwyane Wade scored 23 points with a season high 11 rebounds for the Cavs who did not lead until overtime and trailed by as many as 15 The Clippers have lost seven straight Blake Griffin led them with 23 points but shot 8 for 25 Kings 86 Trail Blazers 82 Willie Cauley Stein set a season high with 22 points the last one a free throw with 3 4 seconds remaining that lifted Sacramento over Portland Cauley Stein relegated to coming off the bench for the first time this season scored 13 in the second half and had two key put backs in the fourth quarter Sacramento won its third straight at home and snapped a three game losing streak Timberwolves 111 Mavericks 87 Jimmy Butler scored 21 and Andrew Wiggins added 19 points to lead a balanced attack and Minnesota rallied from a 14 point deficit to rout Dallas The Timberwolves had six players score in double figures including all five starters Karl Anthony Towns 15 points and 11 rebounds Jeff Teague 15 points and 10 assists and Taj Gibson 10 points and 11 rebounds each notched double doubles Bulls 123 Hornets 120 Justin Holiday scored 27 points Kris Dunn had 22 and Lauri Markkanen hit a pair of free throws with 2 6 seconds remaining as Chicago beat Charlotte Denzel Valentine scored 18 points to go along with 16 from Markkanen Jerian Grant and Bobby Portis each finished with 10 points for the Bulls 3 10 Kemba Walker scored 47 points for Charlotte which lost its sixth straight Nets 118 Jazz 107 Spencer Dinwiddie compiled a career high 25 points and eight assists as Brooklyn beat Utah Dinwiddie made his third start of the season in place of D Angelo Russell who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery earlier in the day With Russell watching the game on television from his Manhattan hospital room Dinwiddie hit 9 of 14 shots 6 of 10 three pointers and grabbed five rebounds in 31 minutes Allen Crabbe added 18 points DeMarre Carroll contributed 17 and Trevor Booker chipped in 14 Raptors 107 Knicks 84 Kyle Lowry scored 22 points and added 10 assists and eight rebounds as Toronto defeated New York DeMar DeRozan also scored 22 points and added seven assists and six rebounds for the Raptors who have won three games in a row The Raptors led by as many as 22 points early in the third quarter and carried a 14 point lead into the fourth quarter Heat 91 Wizards 88 Hassan Whiteside had 22 points and 16 rebounds as Miami fended off a frenzied comeback attempt by Washington Otto Porter s two free throws with 11 3 seconds remaining pulled the Wizards within 89 88 After Miami s James Johnson hit one of two free throws with 5 8 seconds left Bradley Beal missed a potential game tying jumper with 2 6 seconds showing Beal scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half Pacers 107 Pistons 100 Victor Oladipo scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help Indiana rally from a 22 point third quarter deficit Indiana scored the first seven points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 58 54 but fell behind 78 56 The Pacers went on a run of trim the deficit to 10 points after three quarters Indiana narrowed the deficit to 92 91 on Lance Stephenson s three pointer with 5 43 left Domantas Sabonis hit two free throws to give the Pacers a 93 92 lead After a basket by Stephenson Tobias Harris sank a thee pointer to make it 95 95 Nuggets 146 Pelicans 114 Jamal Murray scored 31 points Gary Harris returned from missing two games with a sore right shoulder to score a season high 22 and the Denver Nuggets routed the New Orleans Pelicans 146 114 Paul Millsap had 20 points six rebounds and seven assists Nikola Jokic had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Emmanuel Mudiay scored 19 for Denver 9 6 The 146 points were a season high for Denver and the most the Pelicans have allowed the season The Nuggets hit 62 9 percent from the field a game after Toronto shot 59 2 percent against New Orleans Suns 122 Lakers 113 Devin Booker scored 22 of his 33 points in the first half and the Phoenix Suns held on to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 122 113 at Staples Center Alex Len had 17 points and 18 rebounds off the bench Tyler Ulis had 14 points and seven assists and T J Warren had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Suns 6 11
Kyle Kuzma scored 28 of his season high 30 points in the second half for the Lakers 6 10 Brook Lopez had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Brandon Ingram 17 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles which beat the Suns in Phoenix twice this season |
T | Time Warner 1 DOJ said ready to announce merger lawsuit | Time Warner NYSE TWX shares are taking a sudden dip down 1 on word that an impending antitrust announcement involves news of a Justice Dept lawsuit to stop a takeover by AT T T 0 8 The DOJ will brief the media this afternoon on some antitrust news a person familiar with the announcement tells Bloomberg it s about the 85B T TWX deal Developing story Now read |
PFE | Pfizer Publishes Final Data From Atopic Dermatitis Studies | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE announced findings from two pivotal phase III studies AD 301 and AD 302 on non steroidal topical anti inflammatory phosphodiesterase 4 PDE 4 inhibitor crisaborole topical ointment 2 Crisaborole is being developed for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis AD Detailed data from the studies revealed that crisaborole achieved statistical significance on both primary and secondary endpoints in the treatment of AD in children aged two years and above and adults compared to vehicle ointment alone Adverse events related to the treatment were infrequent mild to moderate in severity and similar to vehicle ointment These findings were published in the online issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology We note that crisaborole was added to Pfizer s portfolio following its acquisition of Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc in Jun 2016 PFIZER INC Price Crisaborole is currently under review in the U S for the treatment of mild to moderate AD A response from the FDA is expected by Jan 7 2017 According to information provided by the company in its press release AD affects about 18 25 million people in the U S including 8 18 of infants and children In the U S about 80 90 of all AD patients have mild or moderate disease Since no new therapies have been approved for AD in the last 15 years crisaborole could gain market share quite rapidly on commercialization Meanwhile Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ REGN and Sanofi NYSE SNY are also looking to get their candidate dupilumab approved for the treatment of adult patients with inadequately controlled moderate to severe AD A regulatory application in the U S is planned for the third quarter of 2016 Dupilumab enjoys Breakthrough Therapy status in the U S for the treatment of AD Pfizer currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Another favorably placed stock in the health care sector is GW Pharmaceuticals plc NASDAQ GWPH sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |
PFE | Ultragenyx RARE Reports Positive Phase III RhGUS Data | Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc NASDAQ RARE announced positive top line data from a pivotal phase III study on recombinant human beta glucuronidase rhGUS for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis 7 MPS 7 also known as Sly syndrome The study assessed the safety and efficacy of rhGUS in patients n 12 aged 5 35 years Data demonstrated a rapid and sustained reduction of 64 8 from baseline in urinary GAG dermatan sulfate excretion after 24 weeks of treatment thereby meeting the primary endpoint It also provided evidence of clinical improvement Treatment emergent adverse events were generally mild to moderate in severity Results from the study are being presented at the International Symposium on MPS and Related Diseases Ultragenyx intends to meet regulatory authorities in both the U S and the EU to discuss plans to submit regulatory filings in the first half of 2017 ULTRAGENYX PHAR Price We note that MPS 7 represents an underserved market with no approved therapies presently available A potential approval and successful commercialization of rhGUS will thus be a major boost for the company Drugs currently approved for the treatment of other MPS disorders include Aldurazyme Elaprase Vimizim and Naglazyme Meanwhile Ultragenyx continues to progress on its pipeline Currently the company is evaluating aceneuramic acid extended release Ace ER in a pivotal phase III study for the treatment of patients with GNE myopathy Results are expected in 2017 Moreover the company has filled a marketing application for Ace ER in the EU based on phase II results for the treatment of adult patients with GNE myopathy A response from the European Medicines Agency s EMA Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products for Human Use CHMP is expected in the second half of 2016 We expect investor focus to remain on further pipeline updates from the company Currently Ultragenyx carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Some better ranked stocks in the health care sector include Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ MACK Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE and Innoviva Inc NASDAQ INVA Each of these stock sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |
PFE | Pfizer A Buy It Was Over 4 Months Ago | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE stock closed last week at new multi year highs near 36 71 dollars a share breaching the previous top of 36 43 Such breakouts could deceive most people to think that just because a stock is obviously in an uptrend it is a good time to buy it But in the market environment obvious things lead to the biggest mistakes So is Pfizer a buy now Well it was in March when we published Pfizer Obeys the Elliott Wave Rules The next chart shows what the was saying about Pfizer over four months ago
As visible we were expecting the resumption of the uptrend because the weakness from 36 43 seemed to be a three wave A B C correction and as the theory states once a correction is over the larger trend resumes This chart was all an Elliott Wave analyst needed to identify Pfizer as a buy in March when it was trading below 30 00 The next one though is showing a completely different outlook
Pfizer began recovering almost immediately and took the previous extremes out in a swift fashion It was a good call but what to expect from now on First a little relabeling seems appropriate motivated by two other techniques which often go hand in hand with the Wave Principle The first one is channeling which says that usually develop between the parallel lines of a trend channel As you can see the entire rally since 2009 fits into one while the sub waves of wave III form another The second thing supporting the above shown count is the ratios between the waves Wave III equals almost exactly 261 8 the length of wave I while the decline between 36 43 and 28 24 retraces 38 2 of wave III which makes it a plausible wave IV According to this scenario the current advance to 37 17 is supposed to be wave V If this count is correct a major three wave pullback should be expected from now on because every impulse is followed by a three wave correction in the opposite direction Now let s take a look at wave V from up close in order to determine what is left of it
Wave V could already be seen as a complete impulsive wave In addition the MACD indicator is showing the typical bearish divergence between waves 3 5 of 3 and 5 It definitely does not look good for Pfizer stock right now So if the recent bullish breakout make you feel optimistic and willing to buy it our opinion is you should be very careful because now might be the worst possible moment to join the bulls Buying Pfizer No thank you |
AMD | Five Reasons To Buy AMD AMD Ahead Of Earnings | On Tuesday January 30th Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD will release its fourth quarter earnings results after the bell The company is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold and have a Value Growth and Momentum score of C
Dave will look at AMD s past earnings take a look at what is currently going on with the company and give us his thoughts on their upcoming earnings announcement
Furthermore Dave will uncover some potential options trades for investors looking to make a play on AMD ahead of earnings
AMD in Focus
Advanced Micro Devices Inc is a world class company with the innovation execution and vision to grow our leadership position in the industry Today s world class companies share three essential characteristics First they deliver innovative products and technologies that customers want Second they have established a proven track record of fast efficient manufacturing execution And third they have a bold vision of where to take their business and often their industry Over the course of AMD s three decades in business silicon and software have become the steel and plastic of the worldwide digital economy Technology companies have become global pacesetters making technical advances at a prodigious rate always driving the industry to deliver more and more faster and faster AMD s dedication to customer centric innovation and competitive spirit is an unbroken thread running from our early days in the integrated circuit business through an ever broadening product portfolio
AMD is expected to report earnings at 0 05 per share according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate Last quarter they beat earnings expectations by 25 They reported earnings at 0 10per share beating their estimate of 0 08 They have an average earnings surprise of 31 67 over the last 4 quarters
How should investors play AMD ahead of their earnings report For insights on the best options trades then tune in at 11 00am CST tomorrow to see David s thoughts
Investor Alert Breakthroughs PendingA 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 | Advanced Micro AMD Stock Slips Despite Q4 Earnings Beat | Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD just released its fourth quarter fiscal 2017 financial results posting earnings of 8 cents per share and revenues of 1 48 billion Currently AMD is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold and is down 5 3 to 12 20 per share in trading shortly after its earnings report was released
The chip maker
Beat earnings estimates AMD reported non GAAP diluted earnings of 8 cents per share surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 5 cents per share Net income was 88 million
Beat revenue estimates The company saw revenue figures of 1 48 billion just topping our consensus estimate of 1 4 billion and increasing 34 year over year growth thanks to strong sales of its Radeon and Ryzen processors
Gross margin came to 35 up 3 percentage points year over year but flat on a sequential basis
AMD s computing and graphics segment revenue was 958 million growing 60 year over year and 17 sequentially
For the first quarter of fiscal 2018 the company expects revenue to be roughly 1 55 billion plus or minus 50 million which represents an increase of 32 This anticipated growth is primarily driven by the strength of AMD s new Ryzen GPU and EPYC products
We are even more excited about 2018 as we launch our next wave of high performance products and continue to position AMD as one of the premier long term growth companies in the technology industry said Dr Lisa Su AMD president and CEO
Here s a graph that looks at Advanced Micro Devices price consensus and EPS surprise Advanced Micro Devices Inc Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Advanced Micro Devices is a world class company with the innovation execution and vision to grow our leadership position in the industry Over the course of AMD s three decades in business silicon and software have become the steel and plastic of the worldwide digital economy Technology companies have become global pacesetters making technical advances at a prodigious rate always driving the industry to deliver more and more faster and faster AMD s dedication to customer centric innovation and competitive spirit is an unbroken thread running from our early days in the integrated circuit business through an ever broadening product portfolio
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PFE | Drug industry expects final EU probe report July 8 | Preliminary report blasted firms for blocking generics
Industry hopes for some softening in final version
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON June 17 Reuters The European Commission looks
set to deliver its final verdict on competition or lack of it
in the pharmaceutical sector on July 8 the industry s trade
organisation said on Wednesday
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes blasted drugmakers
last November when preliminary results of her inquiry concluded
they were delaying or blocking the entry of cheaper generic
medicines
Thomas Cueni who heads a European Federation of
Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations taskforce on the
issue told Reuters he hoped for a reassessment in the latest
version but acknowledged a radical re write was unlikely
The preliminary report was 420 odd pages it might be up
to 600 pages now I would be surprised if it was totally
rewritten he said
The Commission the European Union s executive arm said
last year that delays in getting generics to market had cost
healthcare providers about 3 billion euros 4 2 billion
between 2000 and 2007
But drugmakers argue most of the delays were down to
regulatory and other bureaucratic issues rather than deliberate
action by companies and Cueni is hoping there will be greater
recognition of this in the final version of the report
There could also be a couple of positive recommendations he
added such as backing for a common European patent applicable
in all EU countries and the introduction of a specialised
patent litigation system
Kroes kicked off her sector investigation in January 2008
with a series of raids on makers of brand name drugs including
AstraZeneca GlaxoSmithKline Pfizer Merck and Sanofi Aventis
There were also raids on generic drugmakers suspected of
colluding to limit the entry of generics sometimes in exchange
for payments from originator companies
The Commission s findings could open the door to action
against individual companies with the potential for large fines
down the road
Editing by Rupert Winchester |
PFE | UPDATE 1 NicOx shares slump on possible delay to key drug | naproxcinod talks may not conclude until H1 2010
NicOx shares close down 7 4 percent
Adds details updates to close
PARIS June 18 Reuters Shares in NicOx slumped on
Thursday after the French biotech firm said talks to seal a
partnership to bring anti inflammatory drug naproxcinod to
market may not reach a conclusion until the first half of 2010
Shares in NicOx closed down 7 4 percent at 8 88 euros
compared to a 1 percent rise in France s CAC 40 index
Some of NicOx s potential partners prefer to wait until they
see the drug s guidelines which are being negotiated with
health authorities before signing a commercial partnership with
NicOx a spokesman said
The main question is whether the U S Food and Drug
Administration will let NicOx state on the label that the drug
is less likely to increase arterial pressure than other
competing medicines the spokesman said
Negotiations over the medicine s guidelines will take place
during the first half of 2010 he added
He confirmed that NicOx is likely to clinch two or three
partnerships depending on the geographical zone adding that
partners will include global regional and specialised
pharmaceutical firms
The submission for marketing approval will still be sent to
the FDA this summer as expected the spokesman said adding that
a proposal will be sent to European health authorities two to
three months after the United States
NicOx has high hopes for naproxcinod which took 10 years to
develop at a cost of around 100 million euros 139 6 million
It would be its first marketed drug and the only branded rival
to Pfizer s Celebrex which made 2 5 billion in sales last
year
1 7165 Euro
Reporting by Juliette Rouillon and Sophie Taylor editing by
Elaine Hardcastle |
PFE | INTERVIEW Rigel s oral arthritis drug as good as Pfizer s COO | Says rheumatoid arthritis drug comparable to Pfizer s
Sees multi billion dollar potential for drug
Sees partnering on drug by second half of 2010
Has enough cash until then
Says will not pursue psoriasis drug without partner By
Vidya L Nathan BANGALORE June 25 Reuters Rigel
Pharmaceuticals Inc s experimental oral treatment for
rheumatoid arthritis would hold its own against a rival drug in
development at Pfizer and has the potential to be a
multi billion dollar business a top company official said
The efficacy between the two products is about the same We
have a little bit more efficacy in some areas than they do but
it is basically very similar The two products are comparable
Chief Operating Officer Raul Rodriguez told Reuters in a
telephone interview
Rigel s drug R788 is currently being studied in mid stage
trials the results of which are expected mid July Pfizer
Inc s comparable drug is in late stage studies
Rigel s Rodriguez sees the oral compounds being developed
by the two as having an edge over competitors injections as
people generally prefer having an oral pill than having to
undergo injections
Existing injectable treatments for the condition include
Abbott Laboratories s Humira Johnson Johnson and
Schering Plough s Remicade and Amgen and Wyeth s Enbrel
If we are able to come in before the injectable drugs
during treatment that gives us a very big market and even if
we share it with Pfizer it still means that R788 has
multi billion dollar potential Rodriguez said
However R788 future also rests upon the clinical stage
development company finding a licensing partner to fund the
large late stage trials required for the drug
Rigel s compound works by blocking white blood cells in
tissues from signaling the body defenses into attacking the
disease area and causing swelling and inflammation
Rodriguez said Rigel is also looking to find a partner who is
also interested in the compound s potential benefits in cancer
for which it is currently being studied in mid stage studies
with funding from the National Institutes of Health
In February Rigel had halted partnership talks on the drug
until after results of the mid stage studies were out so as to
get a better deal
CASH NO BAR
The South San Francisco California based company which
has about 134 5 million cash had also let go of about 20
percent of its employees and cut some of its pipeline products
in oncology and virology to conserve resources
Rodriguez said Rigel now has enough cash to last through
the first half of 2010 by which time it expects to have found
a partner for R788
Our burn would drop dramatically going forward because we
do not have any clinical trials ongoing in the third quarter
fourth quarter or early next year
Rodriguez also said the company would not be pursue any
further trials of its early stage experimental psoriasis drug
as it was no longer interested in the dermatological
indication but added that it was open to partnering on it
Clinical trials of the remaining compounds in the company s
pipeline an inhaled asthma product and a cancer drug are
being funded by existing partners
And so that current cash number is sufficient to take us
through the middle of next year the COO said
Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore Editing by Anthony
Kurian |
PFE | EU regulator extends review of Pfizer Wyeth deal | BRUSSELS June 30 Reuters European Union antitrust
authorities on Tuesday extended the deadline for their review of
U S drugmaker Pfizer s 68 billion plan to take over rival
Wyeth
The European Commission extended the review deadline to July
20 from July 6 to consider remedies offered to address
competition concerns a daily list of planned mergers being
scrutinised by the EU executive said
Double click on the newslinks below for the relevant topics
For stories on competition issues
For stories on state aid M As
Reporting by Bate Felix editing by Dale Hudson |
PFE | UPDATE 1 Pfizer offers EU remedies over planned Wyeth buy | EU Commission extends review deadline by 10 working days
Remedies offered regulator gives no further details
Pfizer had said it may have to shed some assets
Adds background
BRUSSELS June 30 Reuters U S drugmaker Pfizer has
offered remedies aimed at tackling concerns that its 68 billion
planned takeover of rival Wyeth may be anti competitive the
European Commission said on Tuesday
The Commission which polices competition in the 27 country
European Union said in a daily list of planned mergers under
scrutiny that it had extended the deadline for its review of the
deal to July 20 from July 6
It gave no further details
Parties in mergers often offer to divest some sectors or
activities to address concerns that their transaction could
infringe EU competition rules
A Pfizer executive was quoted in March as saying that the
company may have to shed some of its animal health business so
that it can gain antitrust clearance
Pfizer said in April that it had received a request for
additional information from the U S Federal Trade Commission
regarding the proposed acquisition of Wyeth
The company said it still expected to close the deal by the
end of the third quarter or during the fourth quarter of this
year
Reporting by Bate Felix editing by Dale Hudson |
PFE | UPDATE 5 J J buys 1 bln Elan stake gains Alzheimer s RD | J J buys 18 4 pct stake in Elan for 1 bln
U S group takes over interest in Alzheimer s program
Relationship with Wyeth to continue
Elan shares rise 8 6 pct J J falls 1 9 pct
Adds J J analyst comments updates share prices
By Toni Clarke
BOSTON July 2 Reuters Johnson Johnson has
agreed to pay 1 billion for an 18 4 percent stake in Irish
drugmaker Elan Corp and will acquire a major stake in
Elan s portfolio of experimental drugs to treat Alzheimer s
disease
The transaction announced on Thursday will among other
things give J J a 25 percent interest in a closely watched
Alzheimer s drug called bapineuzumab which Elan is developing
in a 50 50 partnership with Wyeth Wyeth is being acquired by
Pfizer Inc
The agreement caps a lengthy battle between Elan and some
of its largest shareholders who had called on Elan to shake up
its board streamline operations and tighten what they
considered lax corporate governance
Last month the company agreed to nominate two dissidents
to its board including Jack Schuler a shareholder who
publicly called for the resignation of Elan s chief executive
Kelly Martin
As a potential board member Schuler declined to discuss
the J J transaction but another of Elan s previous critics
welcomed it
We are encouraged by this deal said Matt Strobeck
partner at Westfield Capital Management Co which holds 18 8
million Elan shares Now not only is the balance sheet
strengthened but we believe the board has been dramatically
improved
Elan said it plans to use the new funds to cut its debt by
70 percent to about 400 million Moody s Investors Service
said it has placed Elan s ratings under review for a possible
upgrade
The transaction is expected to have a very favorable
impact on Elan s capital structure and liquidity profile said
Moody s Senior Vice President Michael Levesque
On the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday Elan
closed up 8 6 percent at 7 60 and J J fell 1 9 percent to
55 98
For New Brunswick New Jersey based J J the deal
represents a leap into a therapeutic area in which it has only
a limited presence
J J sells Reminyl which is in the same class of medicines
as Pfizer Inc s best selling Aricept treatment for Alzheimer s
disease But the drugs which block an enzyme called
acetylcholinesterase only slightly improve cognition and for a
very brief period
Combined U S sales of all Alzheimer s drugs rose to 3 4
billion last year according to market research firm IMS
Health but analysts believe revenue could explode if new
medicines can appreciably slow damage to the brain and memory
J J has a much better chance to make bapineuzumab
successful than Elan because it has the resources to conduct
trials and distribute it said David Katz of asset manager
Matrix Asset Advisors And from a patient perspective to have
J J involved is a good thing
But the bet on bapineuzumab is risky
Some analysts have all but written the drug off after a
mid stage trial showed that while it helped some patients with
a certain genetic profile it raised the risk of potentially
serious side effects in the brain
For J J which sells an array of products ranging from
Band Aids to arthritis drug Remicade the potential warrants
the risk
The fact that this drug may have potential to delay
disease progression we believe is significant said company
spokesman Srikant Ramaswami
Elan and Wyeth remain committed to the drug which is
Elan s most advanced product But under the transaction with
J J Elan will receive 25 percent of any profit instead of the
50 percent it would have received previously
That is because J J and Elan plan to form a new company
which will be 50 1 percent owned by J J and 49 9 percent owned
by Elan J J will contribute an initial 500 million to the
venture Elan will contribute its Alzheimer s immunotherapy
program
Elan loses control of one of its babies but they have a
stake in it once it gets to market so they will get their due
returns for the work they have put in said Ian Hunter an
analyst with Dublin based Goodbody Stockbrokers
Elan said the new entity will be governed by a seven person
board Five members will come from J J
As many as 5 million Americans are believed to have
Alzheimer s disease a progressive neurological condition
associated with aging
The deal adds to Elan s complicated series of partnerships
Its main product is the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri which
it markets together with U S biotechnology company Biogen Idec
Inc
Elan said it has no intention of selling any part of
Tysabri Naomi Aoki a spokeswoman for Biogen said J J s entry
will make no difference to its partnership with Elan
J J said the transaction would dilute its adjusted earnings
in 2009 by between 2 and 3 cents a share
Elan said it will update its financial guidance on its next
earnings call but it expects to be profitable on a pretax
basis by the end of 2010
Reporting by Toni Clarke Additional reporting by Ben
Hirschler Carmel Crimmins Lewis Krauskopf Ransdell Pierson
and Jessica Hall Editing by Maureen Bavdek Richard Chang Tim
Dobbyn |
AMD | Premarket Losers as of 9 10 am | BEBE 20 on latest reads on mall traffic BZUN 16 on Q1 earnings CNCE 10 on FDA placing clinical study of CTP 543 on hold PLUG 9 AMD 8 after analyst day presentations AEO 6 on Q1 earnings LND 6 Now read |
T | Washington state AG s office confirms Justice Department circulating AT T Time Warner complaint | WASHINGTON Reuters Washington state attorney general s office acknowledged on Wednesday that it was reviewing a draft complaint being circulated by the U S Justice Department regarding AT T s N T plan to buy Time Warner N TWX confirming that the Justice Department has drawn up a complaint A spokeswoman for the state attorney general s office said that the complaint was being reviewed The spokeswoman said that Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has not yet decided whether to join a potential U S Justice Department effort to block the deal
The U S Justice Department has approached 18 state attorneys general to try to win their support for an antitrust lawsuit to block pay TV and wireless powerhouse AT T Inc s T N 85 4 billion deal to buy media and entertainment company Time Warner Inc TWX N a person briefed on the matter said on Wednesday |
T | AT T reports some U S customers unable to make wireless calls | Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T on Wednesday said that some U S customers were not able to make wireless calls but that restarting their cellphones would fix the issue DownDetector com which monitors outages said customers across the country reported outages including in Houston New York and San Francisco AT T which also owns satellite television service DirecTV told customers on Twitter that it had no estimate when service would be restored and technicians were working to fix the problem According to DownDetector com customers reported more than 6 000 incidents by 6 p m EST 2300 GMT out of which 44 percent found problems with the internet service while 31 percent faced issues with the phones |
T | Mexico bristles at U S proposal that would benefit AT T in NAFTA | By Julia Love and David Lawder
MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexico shot down a proposal by the United States to include provisions in the North America Free Trade Agreement that would benefit AT T Inc N T Mexico s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Wednesday
AT T which is North American asked its government to reflect its interests in the negotiation Guajardo said in an interview on local radio without specifying the details of the U S proposal You cannot have an agreement that gives a tailor s cut a perfect handiwork to a specific company
AT T and the U S Trade Representative s office declined to comment
During the last round of talks in Virginia the United States proposed incorporating Mexico s landmark telecommunications reform into a NAFTA provision that would apply only to Mexico four sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters
Mexico s 2013 14 telecommunications reform aimed to break up the dominance of America Movil MX AMXL the telecommunications firm owned by billionaire Carlos Slim which emerged from a state monopoly in the 1990s
Negotiators are still working to make sure the reform is included in the agreement Guajardo said
What we said is that we cannot accept a specific annex he said We can reflect conceptually the commitments that are reflected in the law which for us is very important to consolidate
Beckoned by the reform AT T entered the Mexican market in 2014 spending 4 4 billion to buy Mexico s No 3 and No 4 carriers
But the market was plunged into uncertainty in August when the Mexico Supreme Court ruled America Movil should not be barred by law from charging its rivals for calls to its network weakening a key pillar of the reform
The turmoil has spilled over into NAFTA negotiations Guajardo said
What has kept us from closing he telecoms chapter is that it was contaminated a little bit by this debate over the zero rate he said
The telecommunications reform which sharply lowered prices for consumers is one of Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto s signature accomplishments But throughout the negotiations Mexico has consistently rejected proposals that isolate the nation trade experts say
What s surprising about the telecommunications proposal is that there is the principle that we are negotiating as three countries said Mexico Senator Gerardo Flores who was briefed on the proposal
And suddenly the United States puts on the table a proposal that demands commitments specifically from Mexico which converts the negotiation into a bilateral negotiation
Mexico has been enthusiastic about enshrining a 2014 energy reform in NAFTA but also with the condition that the language applies to all three countries in the pact said Duncan Wood director of the Wilson Center s Mexico Institute
Mexico doesn t want to be singled out in any way he said You set a precedent where side deals with individual countries can be made |
PFE | Dovish Indeed | DOW 78 17 918SPX 11 2099NAS 36 485910 Y 02 1 38 OIL 1 27 47 87GOLD 7 00 1364 20SILVER 14 20 16
The Federal Reserve released the minutes of the June FOMC meeting When the central bank met in mid June an abysmal May jobs report just 38 000 new jobs in May had just startled markets and the upcoming British referendum on European Union membership loomed large an event that certainly had the Fed worried
But beyond that what was the Fed thinking Were they confident of a recovery and chomping at the bit to hike rates or were they more concerned that the economy was still too fragile for higher rates
Turns out the Fed was mixed Some of the policymakers thought the weak jobs report was an aberration others thought the lower rate of payroll gains could instead be indicative of a broader slowdown in growth of economic activity Even though retail sales were strong in April and May a few participants expressed caution
Some officials thought business investment could pick up particularly given the greater optimism businesses had expressed including in the Fed s Beige Book Yet some participants mentioned that the sluggishness in business investment could portend a broader economic slowdown
There were similar mixed interpretations on inflation In the end the doves prevailed The decision to leave rates unchanged was unanimous The June minutes contained no reference to the timing of any future rate rises Dovish indeed
Stronger demand for imports boosted the U S trade deficit by 10 in May but the rebound in consumer spending suggests the economy regained momentum after a slow start to the year
The nation s trade gap climbed 41 1 billion a three month high from a revised 37 4 billion in April Imports increased 1 6 in May to a seasonally adjusted 223 5 billion Exports meanwhile slipped 0 2 to 182 4 billion
Exports have been weak because of a strong dollar that makes American products more expensive as well as slower growth around the world The U S exported fewer autos airplanes and computer accessories in May
The Institute for Supply Management s service sector index jumped to 56 5 in June a much stronger reading than expected The forward looking new orders component jumped 5 7 points to 59 9 and the production index rose to 59 5 Employment increased 3 0 points to 52 7 signaling expansion The ISM says the report shows a strong rebound in economic activity
The pound sterling dropped to a fresh 31 year trough overnight sliding as far as 1 2796 to record a more than 14 loss in value since last month s referendum The 10 year US Treasury note yield hit a new record low of 1 32 in overnight trade not so much an indication of US strength but of global weakness
The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1 7 with all but the defensive utilities sector losing ground Among banks Switzerland s Credit Suisse Group SIX CSGN and German lenders Deutsche Bank DE DBKGn and Commerzbank DE CBKG posted their lowest share price closes on record
Henderson Global Investors Columbia Threadneedle Investments and Canada Life suspended trading in at least 7 4 billion of property funds taking the number of U K firms curbing redemption to six in the wake of Britain s shock decision to leave the European Union
Investors pulled money from real estate funds in the lead up to the vote depleting cash levels as industry commentators warned that London office values could fall by as much as 20 percent within three years of the country leaving the EU
Standard Life Investments LON SL was the first money manager to halt withdrawals on Monday followed by Aviva Investors LON AV and M G Investments These are open end funds It is kind of like a run on a bank but it is a mutual fund and it is not as liquid as many investors had hoped
Deutsche Boerse DE DB1Gn has signaled the company to be created from its planned merger with the London Stock Exchange LON LSE may be headquartered outside of the U K following Britain s EU vote A referendum committee involving representatives of both partners will assess all regulatory and commercial goals aimed at getting the transaction approved
Paris is sending letters to British executives German politicians have paid for billboards in London to promote Berlin Dublin is planning an advertising campaign and Milan wants to be home to Europe s bank regulator Not 2 weeks after the Brexit vote and cities across the Eurozone are trying to steal away British jobs and lay claim as the new financial hub
In London s financial district on Tuesday a truck was spotted carrying a billboard with the words Dear start ups Keep calm and move to Berlin French and German politicians have sparred over whether Frankfurt or Paris should take over London s euro clearing business
And once again they miss the point instead of trying to poach the UK s financial interests they should try to think about how they can build a union that is better than what they have and so good that people will want more of it
Stock in struggling Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena OTC BMDPY bounced back after the country s financial market regulator temporarily banned short selling in the bank s shares The intervention comes after shares in the troubled lender fell by nearly 20 in yesterday s session
Gold prices extended recent gains to strike a fresh two year high and is now challenging 1400 per ounce Silver prices topped 20 an ounce a nearly two year high gaining over 10 just in the handful of trading days since the Brexit vote
Analysts at UBS say gold has now entered a new phase and is the go to investment for the remainder of 2016 They raised their annual forecast to an average of 1 280 an ounce up from 1 225 an ounce
Copper inventories are piling up Copper inventories at the London Metals Exchange approved warehouses rose 10 525 tons The jump in inventory made for the biggest copper stockpile in nearly a month
US cancer drug company Medivation NASDAQ MDVN has agreed to open its books and provide confidential information to French pharmaceutical company Sanofi PA SASY as part of exploring a sale that would be open to other bidders
Similar agreements have been signed with Pfizer NYSE PFE and Celgene NASDAQ CELG which have also expressed interest in an acquisition As part of negotiations Sanofi agreed to drop efforts to have Medivation shareholders replace the board after its 9 3 billion offer for the company was rejected in April
Sanofi has also formed a partnership with the US Army to expand R D of an experimental Zika vaccine that has shown promise in early laboratory studies and is among a few candidates expected to be tested on humans in the coming months Researchers and companies are racing to get a vaccine to market as quickly as possible though they caution it is likely to take three years or more before that happens
Barcelona s Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi was sentenced on Wednesday to 21 months in prison and fined 2 2 million after being found guilty of three counts of tax fraud although it is unlikely he will serve time Another penalty he will miss Spanish law is such that any sentence under two years for a non violent crime rarely requires a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time
The court also found Messi s father guilty sentencing him to 21 months and fining him 1 5 million euros Messi and his father were accused of defrauding the Spanish government of 4 2 million euros in taxes between 2007 and 2009 They allegedly evaded taxes on income from Messi s image rights by using a web of shell companies which were revealed in the Panama Papers expose this spring
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation PBGC is now saying the government is on track to run out of money to prop up the troubled Teamsters Central States Pension Fund in 2024 roughly the same time the fund itself is expected to go bankrupt
Without congressional action the confluence of those two events could leave Central States pensioners collecting pennies on the dollars they invested in their retirements Central States the largest of the country s troubled pension plans negotiated between single unions and multiple employers has been operating at deficits of 2 billion a year recently
The PBGC which guarantees a minimum benefit to pensioners expects to spend the better part of 15 billion assisting Central States in the next decade But the projected rate of assistance to Central States and other ailing pension plans will wipe out the government s multi employer assistance funds by 2024 Should Central States fail and the PBGC emergency fund run dry all of Central States 407 000 participants could see their payments cut almost to nothing
The scramble to solve the problem has not been as urgent as the pressure to stop the cuts Central States proposed under the Multi employer Pension Reform Act of 2014 MPRA That fight involved rallies by angry pensioners some of whom faced benefit cuts of 40 to 70 percent The Government Accountability Office said it would investigate investment decisions made by Wall Street firms hired by Central States Pension Fund trustees |
PFE | Puma PBYI Stock Up Phase II Data On Neratinib Published | Puma Biotechnology Inc NYSE PBYI announced that positive results from a randomized phase II study I SPY 2 Investigation of Serial Studies to Predict Your Therapeutic Response with Imaging And moLecular Analysis 2 on neratinib for the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer were published in the New England Journal of Medicine The company s shares were up 5 5 on the news
The study a collaborative effort among academic investigators was conducted in women with newly diagnosed stage 2 or higher tumor size at least 2 5 cm breast cancer to evaluate whether adding investigational drugs to standard chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting is better than standard chemotherapy The primary endpoint of the study was pathological complete response pCR in the breast and the lymph nodes at the time of surgery
Results showed that treatment with the neratinib containing regimen neratinib plus paclitaxel followed by Adriamycin and Cytoxan in HER2 positive patients including those who were either hormone receptor positive or negative resulted in an estimated pCR rate of 39 4 compared with the control arm of 22 8 On the safety front the most frequently observed severe adverse event in the study was diarrhea PUMA BIOTECHNLG Price We are encouraged by the phase II study results Per the company s press release the I SPY 2 data represents the first clinical data on neratinib in the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer and recommends that the combination of paclitaxel plus neratinib holds potent activity for the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer and a subset of patients with HER2 negative breast cancer
Puma Biotech expects to report data from its ongoing studies on the candidate through 2016
We remind investors that Puma Biotech had announced last month that it has submitted a regulatory application in the EU seeking approval for neratinib The company is looking to get neratinib approved for the extended adjuvant treatment of HER2 positive early stage breast cancer that has previously been treated with Roche Holding SIX ROG AG s OTC RHHBY Herceptin trastuzumab based adjuvant therapy
Meanwhile Puma Biotech also plans to seek FDA approval for neratinib shortly
Given that Puma Biotech has no approved product in its portfolio at the moment and neratinib is its lead pipeline candidate we expect investor focus to remain on updates pertaining to its development
Puma Biotech is a Zacks Rank 4 Sell stock A couple of better ranked stocks in the health care sector are Innoviva Inc NASDAQ INVA and Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE While Innoviva sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Pfizer carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy |
T | Earn 40K In Dividends On 500K My 8 Step Plan To 8 Yields | Even with the 10 year Treasury rallying of late it still pays just 2 9 Put a million bucks in T Bills and you re banking 29 000 per year Barely above poverty levels
Hence the appeal of closed end funds CEFs which often pay 8 or better That s the difference between a paltry minimum wage income of 29 000 on a million saved or a respectable 80 000 annually
And if you re smart about your CEF purchases you can even buy them at discounts and snare some price upside to boot
Here s why CEFs unlike their ETF and mutual fund cousins have fixed pools of shares Meanwhile their prices trade up and down like stocks which means these funds can sometimes trade at a discount to the value of their underlying assets
And even though stocks at large are expensive today this rising rate ironically environment has income seekers scared of CEFs Many of my readers have actually asked me if they should bail on our high paying vehicles The financial media is in their heads and they re concerned that their funds are suddenly going to drop in price
Please don t toss yourself into poverty by following this misguided herd
With the markets in flux we should review the principles of successful CEF investing They are more nuanced than classic stock picking because we re analyzing managers strategies and holdings versus simple businesses models After all for lazy investors it s easier to count on dividends via AT T Inc NYSE T declining subscriptions than it is to determine how much income for payouts Cohen and Steers Infrastructure Closed Fund NYSE UTF has
The answer Plenty UTF not only pays 8 today but the fund has raised its payout four of the last five years
Step 1 Be Careful With Price Charts
Pimco Dyn I NYSE PDI has been a great performer since its inception almost five years ago but it s price chart understates its brilliance
Looks Like Pedestrian 33 Gains
Until You Add the Payouts Back for 192
Make sure the chart you re reading includes dividends paid so that it reflects total returns
Step 2 Demand Alpha
Past performance can be an educational indicator about the quality of the management team and its strategy PDI has had the benefit of the brightest bond minds on the planet calling the shots from Bond King Bill Gross to current superstar Dan Ivascyn and it delivered 192 total returns over the last six years with most of these coming in the form of cash payouts
Meanwhile Alpine Global Dynamic Dividend Closed Fund NYSE AGD has delivered the worst of all worlds to dividend investors It crashed harder than the broader markets in 2008 then provided almost no rebound as stocks themselves bounced back
Dynamic dividends Not here this dog is still down 18 over the last eleven years
More Downside None of the Upside
Don t be fooled by the siren song of its fat 7 6 current yield Which brings me to our next point
Step 3 Check Every Yield s Back Story
Some funds pay big distributions that look great but they re not sustainable However they continue to attract new sucker investors because they are able to fund their payouts they just happen to shed their net asset value NAV at a similar pace
For example here are three more dogs that have grinded sideways or worse over the last three years even when accounting for dividends paid as the S P 500 has soared
Big Yields But Lackluster Returns
Step 4 Know What s Funding Your Distributions
A closed end fund can pay you from some combination of
Investment income
Capital gains and or
Return of capital
Of the three investment income is preferable because it s usually the most reliable Many CEFs pay monthly distributions so it s best if they match up their payouts with steady income streams themselves
Capital gains from rising bond or stock prices can further boost distributions But they are at risk of disappearing if the markets turn unfavorably
Finally everyone assumes return of capital is bad because it s simply shipping your money back to you But as my colleague the CEF professor Michael Foster recently wrote it s often very good for investors
What s more if the fund trades at a sizeable discount this can actually be a savvy way to kick start the closing of a discount window More on this shortly
Step 5 Don t Be Cheap About Fees
Most investors are conditioned by their experience with mutual funds and ETFs to search out the lowest fees almost to a fault This makes sense for investment vehicles that are roughly going to perform in line with the broader market Lowering your costs minimizes drag
Closed ends are a different investment animal though On the whole there are many more dogs than gems It s an absolute necessity to find a great manager with a solid track record Great managers tend to be expensive of course but they re well worth it
The stated yields you see quoted by the way are always net of fees Your account will never be debited for the fees from any fund you own They are simply paid by the fund itself from its NAV
Step 6 Ignore Short Term Interest Rates
Many funds are selling at bargain prices today thanks to the headline worry that higher rates hurt CEFs But that s just not true
Libor is tied closely to the Fed funds rate And the last time the Fed hiked its rate significantly CEFs did just fine
In June 2004 Fed chair Alan Greenspan began boosting rates from then historic lows Over a two year period he increased the federal funds rate from 1 to 5 25 An earthquake
How d CEFs perform Three prominent funds all outperformed the market during Greenspan s aforementioned run
Higher Rates No Problem for Top CEFs 2004 06
Regular readers will recognize the Greenspan example quite well because I ve been using it repeatedly to drive this point home And I m glad to share another data point our own profits from this rate hike cycle
The chart below illustrates three of my CEF recommendations rolling higher in lockstep with the Fed funds rate and that rate is the orange line stair stepping from the lower left to the upper right
This Rate Hike Cycle Our CEFs Have Rolled Higher
Once again the best CEFs are gaining value in the face of rate rises
Step 7 Demand a Discount
One aspect of the CEF structure lends itself perfectly to contrary minded investing fixed pools of shares
Mutual funds issue more shares whenever they want But closed ends have a fixed share count with their funds trading like stocks As a result from time to time a fund will fall out of favor and find its shares trading at a discount to its NAV
This is basically free money because these underlying assets are constantly marked to market If a fund trades at a 10 discount management could theoretically liquidate the fund and cash out everyone at 1 10 on the dollar immediately Or it can buy back its own shares to close the discount window and boost the share price
A discount is a great start but do make sure that management has a plan to close that window
Step 8 When Possible Buy Along Insiders
It s rare to see any fixed income manager put his or her own money on the line at all unfortunately According to a recent Barron s article nearly half of all closed end funds have no insider ownership whatsoever
Why would we want to own any of them if the managers don t
The 3 Best Closed End Funds to Bankroll Your Retirement
Closed end funds are a cornerstone of my 8 no withdrawal retirement strategy which lets retirees rely entirely on dividend income and leave their principal 100 intact
Well that s not exactly right
Their principal is more than 100 intact thanks to price gains like these Which means principal is actually 110 intact after year 1 and so on
To do this I seek out closed end funds that
Pay 8 or better
Have well funded distributions
Trade at meaningful discounts to their NAV
And know how to make their shareholders money
And I talk to management because online research isn t enough I also track insider buying to make sure these guys have real skin in the game
Today I like three blue chip closed end funds as best income buys And wait til you see their yields These slam dunk income plays pay 8 7 8 9 and even 10 1 dividends
Plus they trade at 10 to 15 discounts to their net asset value NAV today Which means they re perfect for your retirement portfolio because your downside risk is minimal Even if the market takes a tumble these top notch funds will simply trade flat and we ll still collect those fat dividends
If you re an investor who strives to live off dividends alone while slowly but safely increasing the value of your nest egg these are the ideal holdings for you Click here and I ll explain more about my no withdrawal approach plus I ll share the names tickers and buy prices of my 3 favorite closed end funds for 8 7 8 9 and 10 1 yields
Disclosure Brett Owens and Michael Foster are contrarian income investors who look for undervalued stocks funds across the U S markets Click here to learn how to profit from their strategies in the latest report 7 Great Dividend Growth Stocks for a Secure Retirement
European Markets Bracing Up for Possible New US Tariffs on Another 267 Billion Wo |
T | AT T Constant High Dividend And Potential Growth | One of my favourite dividends paying stock which also turns out to be undervalued at the moment is AT T NYSE T
AT T is the world s largest telecommunications company the second largest provider of mobile telephone services and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the U S The company evolved from the Bell Telephone Company which was founded by Alexander Graham Bell the inventor of the first practical telephone
In July the firm completed the acquisition of Time Warner thereby bringing together global media and entertainment leadership with AT Ts strength in technology Although the acquisition was approved by the court government attorneys have appealed against this on the basis that such agreement would harm competition and consumers The federal judge has already rejected the first appeal and I don t think the decision can be reversed now
The combined firms posted nearly 192 billion in sales last year and are worth roughly 282 billion on the stock market That would have made it the seventh biggest American company by revenue last year and it will have the thirteenth biggest market valuation see bar chart below
Let s have a look at some fundamental numbers now Dividend 6 PE ratio of 6x lower than industry peers of 15xPositive free cash flow and on the riseRevenues on the risePositive net incomeIf we look at the price this has been hovering at the area of 31 35 region for a number of years with the exception being 2016 when it reached a high of 43 which retraced back over time
What this tells us here is that the stock can be considered quite a boring investment with prices finding a strong support for years now and thus we don t expect a huge level of volatility
Should the price remain in the same area we expect a very good return with dividends level of 6 which most probably would rise once cash injection from the TimeWarner deal start working out
The stock is also in my opinion undervalued and hence it provides a further opportunity for a total return growth dividend investment in a well established firm that continues to generate good revenues and profits
Original article here |
PFE | INTERVIEW UPDATE 1 O Shaughnessy AM close to U S sales deal | Former Bear Stearns manager to seek sales tie up in Europe
Plans to launch new global market neutral hedge fund in H1
Weighing prospect of three year hedge fund lock ups
Adds details
By Claire Milhench
LONDON Dec 5 Reuters United States based quantitative
investment firm O Shaughnessy Asset Management OSAM said it is
close to a deal with a very large mutual fund distributor in
the U S as part of a global push to build its sales platform
Jim O Shaughnessy chairman and CEO of OSAM told Reuters
the agreement will be announced in January after which he will
spend more time in Europe looking for a similar partner
O Shaughnessy is also seeking a sales partner in Australia
and possibly Asia If it ends up being just Australia then we
would try to find a strong Japanese or Chinese bank for Asia
OSAM already has an deal with Royal Bank of Canada which
owns 11 percent of OSAM to sub advise a suite of mutual funds
O Shaughnessy said the top priority was institutional
investors but he also wanted to reach retail investors in a way
that was not prohibitively expensive That means partnering
with distributors who are looking for talent on the alpha
generation side he said
The firm which managed 7 5 billion as of September 30
across a range of strategies was formed when O Shaughnessy and
his team left Bear Stearns Asset Management in 2007 OSAM uses
quantitative analysis to pick stocks and seeks to generate
alpha returns above the average market return
HEDGE FUND PLANS
The firm is also planning to launch a second hedge fund in
the first or second quarter next year he told Reuters at the
CFA Institute s European conference this week The first the
O Shaughnessy Pari Passu fund launched on September 26 this
year and invests across asset classes with a net long strategy
Acknowledging that it hadn t been the easiest time to
launch O Shaughnessy said he was exploring the option of three
year lock ups What we have seen this year is that investors
however sophisticated are their own worst enemy We want
rational partners who truly understand our process
The 2009 launch will be a global market neutral fund
investing almost exclusively in equities he added We are
trying to develop a robust package of businesses so our hedge
funds won t use more than two or three times leverage which may
put us with the lower volatility crowd But that might be of
interest after what s happened he said
Quant investing has attracted heavy criticism in the last 12
months after performing poorly through the August and November
2007 sell offs and again in January 2008 But O Shaughnessy
argued that this confused leverage with quant strategies
The quants were using too much leverage over too short a
time span the optimisers they employed moved all the quants to
the same names and then levered those names he said We
don t use optimisers
He conceded that this has been an awful year for OSAM but
insisted he would be sticking to his strategy Times like this
can rattle us as people but they do nothing to our stock
selection methodology he said
OSAM s Value Opportunities Fund is down 27 42 percent in the
10 months to end October The Russell 3000 Value benchmark is
down 32 25 percent in the same period
O Shaughnessy s model is currently pushing him to overweight
healthcare stocks such as Pfizer and hold certain consumer
discretionary stocks That may sound surprising but we are
talking about the deep discount retailers like Costco and
Wal Mart
He remains underweight on energy and IT in most portfolios
saying that these are either too richly valued don t have
enough momentum or don t pay a high enough dividend yield |
PFE | Pfizer eyes deals to raise emerging mkts presence | By John Irish
DUBAI June 14 Reuters Pfizer Inc the world s largest
drugmaker is looking to conclude deals in emerging markets over
coming months to raise its share of a market worth an estimated
80 billion an executive said on Sunday
Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning their
attention to developing nations as they face tougher conditions
in more mature markets
The drugmaker struck a 68 billion deal in January to
acquire U S rival Wyeth to help shore up profits and in May
signed licensing agreements with two Indian based companies
including Aurobindo Pharma Ltd as it seeks new growth
opportunities in generics and emerging markets
We will have other elements in the next few months
Pfizer s emerging market business unit president Jean Michel
Halfon told Reuters when asked if the firm was eyeing new
acquisitions
We see opportunities coming from the financial crisis
opportunities to build partnerships in emerging markets
Halfon declined to give further details
Pfizer is seeking to add 3 billion in annual sales by 2012
in developing markets and is targeting China Brazil Mexico
Russia Turkey India and to a lesser extent the Middle East to
help lift its 4 percent market share Halfon said
We start in position number three in emerging markets and
we want to be number one
The emerging markets pie could increase to 120 billion by
2012 with China providing the greatest growth prospects Halfon
said
The group saw 28 percent growth in sales in the world s most
populous nation in the first quarter he said
Pfizer which posted 48 billion in revenue last year faces
severe sales declines in the coming years from patent
expirations to its own products including its blockbuster
Lipitor cholesterol treatment
It has responded with the purchase of Wyeth which Halfon
said the firm was looking to complete somewhere in the fourth
quarter and the restructuring of its operating model around
separate units including generic drugs and emerging markets
We are in a very competitive environment and need to make
decisions very fast in this area so an example of what we re
doing is managing the acquisition of Wyeth It will add
significant revenues to our organisation in emerging markets by
adding footprint in vaccines biological medicine
Halfon said he expected growth in the Middle East of about
10 12 percent over the next five years as opportunities arise
from sustained economic activity in the world s largest oil
exporting region
editing by John Stonestreet |
PFE | Boehringer Vitae ink 242 mln Alzheimer s deal | 42 mln upfront 200 mln pre commercial milestones
Collaboration covers beta secretase inhibitors
LONDON June 15 Reuters Germany s Boehringer Ingelheim
has signed a deal worth up to 242 million with U S biotech
company Vitae Pharmaceuticals to research and develop new
Alzheimer s drugs the companies said on Monday
Vitae will get 42 million upfront consisting of cash an
equity investment and near term research funding and will
also be eligible for 200 million in pre commercial milestone
payments depending on the progress of products in development
Vitae may receive additional commercial performance payments
and royalties from Boehringer on potential future sales
The partners both of which are unlisted will be working to
develop drugs that inhibit beta secretase an enzyme responsible
for the build up of sticky deposits or plaques in the brain
The formation of these plaques is thought to play a key role
in the development of Alzheimer s disease and several companies
are working on beta secretase inhibitors to tackle the
degenerative disorder
Alzheimer s is a hot area for pharmaceutical research since
the incidence of the brain disease is rising rapidly as people
live longer But developing effective treatments has proved
notoriously difficult
Existing drugs such as Aricept from Pfizer and Eisai can
ease symptoms but do not stop the disease
Reporting by Ben Hirschler editing by Simon Jessop |
AMD | AMD 7 4 as in line Q1 fails to wow investors | AMD is 7 4 lower postmarket after merely tagging up with Street consensus with its Q1 revenues and profit though it s guiding for sequential improvement in sales Net operating loss declined to 29M from a year ago loss of 68M net loss overall narrowed to 73M from a year ago loss of 109M On a non GAAP basis operating loss fell to 6M from 55M and net loss to 38M from 96M Strong demand for Ryzen CPUs as well as the company s graphics processors drove an 18 increase in revenue says CEO Lisa Su Revenue by segment Computing and Graphics 593M up 28 9 Enterprise Embedded and Semi custom 391M up 5 1 For Q2 it sees a 14 20 increase in revenues from Q1 at the midpoint that would be 12 gains Y Y Conference call to come at 5 p m ET Press Release Now read AMD Ryzen Doesn t Quite Live Up To The Hype |
AMD | AMD s revenue rises 18 3 percent but margin forecast disappoints | Reuters Advanced Micro Devices Inc O AMD reported an 18 3 percent jump in quarterly revenue largely in line with analysts estimates but the chipmaker s second quarter gross margins forecast raised some concerns The company s shares which had gained more than 20 percent this year were down 10 2 percent at 12 23 in after market trading on Monday AMD said it expected adjusted gross margins to be about 33 percent in the current quarter compared with 34 percent in the first quarter Semiconductor companies and particularly one that s trying to turn around and become profitable trades on gross margin and I think there s concern Stifel analyst Kevin Cassidy said I think that s the hang up that these new products should be ramping production and they re not as profitable as the Street was expecting AMD launched a few of its Ryzen range of desktop processors in the first quarter and plans to unveil its Naples chips targeting the server market in the second quarter The Ryzen chips helped boost the company s revenue in the first quarter ended April 1 All of the feedback that we ve gotten so far from both our customers and from end users has been very strong Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su said during an earnings call responding to a question on the launch However total revenue was weighed down by its business that mainly supplies graphics cards used in gaming consoles such as the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 Revenue in the business rose 5 percent to 391 million but came in below analysts average estimate of 442 1 million according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet AMD also forecast low double digit percentage revenue growth for the full year Revenue rose to 984 million in the first quarter from 832 million a year earlier AMD s net loss narrowed to 73 million or 8 cents per share from 109 million or 14 cents per share Excluding items the company lost 4 cents per share in line with analysts average estimate
AMD s shares which joined the broader S P 500 index SPX in March had risen more than four fold last year |
AMD | Premarket Losers as of 9 05 am | CGI 45 on announcing prior financial reports unreliable SNSS 18 on withdrawing leukemia drug marketing application HLIT 17 on Q1 earnings miss AMD 12 on Q1 earnings MTBC 13 AEZS 11 CLNT 7 LL 6 on Q1 earnings Now read Lumber Liquidators A Decent Recovery Is Already Priced In |
Subsets and Splits