- S&P 5003,000.63+0.37%
- Dow 3027,043.65+0.15%
- Nasdaq8,153.56+0.36%
- Russell 20001,535.73+0.70%
- Crude Oil53.42+0.11%
- Gold1,494.70+0.05%
- Silver17.53+0.59%
- EUR/USD1.1121+0.4115%
- 10-Yr Bond1.7570+0.51%
- Vix13.82+1.02%
- GBP/USD1.2856+0.2880%
- USD/JPY108.6220-0.0892%
- BTC-USD8,083.77+0.51%
- FTSE 1007,204.17+0.51%
- Nikkei 22522,451.86-0.09%
- MarketWatch
Dow flat despite losses in shares of IBM, Intel
Shares of IBM and Intel are posting losses Thursday morning, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading essentially flat. The Dow (DJIA) was most recently trading 3 points, or 0.0%, lower, as shares of IBM (IBM) and Intel (INTC) are contributing -24% of the index's intraday losses. IBM's shares have dropped $8.99 (6.3%) while those of Intel are off $0.76, or 1.4%, combining for an approximately 66-point drag on the Dow.
- Barrons.com
Union Pacific Stock Rises Despite Drop in Freight Volume. Investors See Good News Ahead.
Earnings fell in (UNP)'s third quarter, as sharp drops in freight volume overwhelmed the railroad's efficiency improvements. A Barron'scover story last month warned railroad investors against placing too much faith in the cost savings from the industry's embrace of “precision scheduled railroading,” as railroads struggle with volume drops and tough competition from truckers. “Trucks are pretty darn loose right now,” said the railroad's chief financial officer, Rob Knight, on a Thursday morning conference call.
- MarketWatch
Roche says outlook is improving as revenue grows
Roche Holding AG raised its guidance on Wednesday after reporting that sales rose 9.5% in the period from January to September. The Swiss drugmaker (CH:ROG) said it now expects high-single-digit sales growth at constant exchange rates in 2019, with core earnings per share increasing in line with sales. Previously, the company had guided for mid-to-high-single-digit growth at constant exchange rates.
- Yahoo Money
Medicare 2020: 4 major changes you should know about
Pulling up last year's information: If you want to compare this year's drug list with last year's, you must switch between the old plan finder and this year's – a major inconvenience. That means if you want to make sure last year's drug list is covered under this year's plan, you must access the old plan finder first. Caregiver access: If you're a caregiver who needs access to your senior's saved medical information on the old system, you need to first fill out an authorization form.
- MarketWatch
Chinese education company Youdao to offer 5.6 million ADSs in IPO, priced at $15 to $18 each
Chinese education company Youdao Inc. (dao) set terms for its planned initial public offering on Tuesday, saying in a regulatory filing that it expects to offer 5.6 million American Depositary Shares priced at $15 to $18 each. The company has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "DAO." Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, CICC and HSBC are underwriters on the deal. "For over a decade, Youdao has developed and used technologies to provide learning content, applications and solutions to users of all ages," the company says in its IPO documents.
- Barrons.com
4 Biotech Stocks That Are Set to Rally, Analyst Says
The clouds may be clearing for biopharma, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Geoff Meacham, who issued Buy ratings on four major names in the sector in a sweeping note out on Wednesday. Despite the sector's weakness in the second half of the year, Meacham noted that the health-care policy changes in Washington that have been weighing on biopharma are looking increasingly unlikely to materialize. Meacham issued Buy ratings on (BMY) (ticker: BMY), (LLY) (LLY), (VRTX) (VRTX), and (BMRN) (BMRN).
- Bloomberg
Ericsson’s CEO Sees Dramatic Acceleration of Demand for 5G Technology
Borje Ekholm, chief executive officer at Ericsson, discusses the 5G market, Huawei, earnings and guidance for 2020. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.
- Reuters
Shares of Turkey's Halkbank plunge after U.S. charges
Shares of Turkey's Halkbank plunged as much 7% on Wednesday, despite a ban on short selling, after U.S. prosecutors charged the state-owned lender with taking part in a multibillion-dollar scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. The announcement from U.S. prosecutors came a day after Washington imposed sanctions on Turkish officials, hiked tariffs and halted trade talks in an effort to persuade Ankara to stop its incursion against the Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria. The U.S. indictment published Tuesday alleges Turkey's second-largest state bank conducted fraud, money laundering, and other sanctions offences.
- MarketWatch
I’m nervous about putting my retirement savings in the stock market: Are indexed annuities a good substitute?
Are indexed annuities a good substitute for stocks? Sam A.: Sam, I do not view Equity Indexed Annuities (EIAs) or other “indexed-linked” products as a good substitute for stocks. EIAs are regulated as fixed insurance products and not considered an investment in the securities markets.
- Bloomberg
A Guy on Reddit Turns $766 Into $107,758 on Two Options Trades
The sub-Reddit WallStreetBets, with the tagline “Like 4chan found a Bloomberg terminal,” is rarely any of those things. The forum's 600,000 members dub satirical options-trade commentary over scenes from TV shows like “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and rant about a loss that caused a member to get their “face ripped off.” Toss in a smidge of casual racism and a whiff of locker-room misogyny, and WallStreetBets is a window into the back rooms of a seedy stock-market casino with no Burry to be found. The chat does have Eddie Choi, however.
- Barrons.com
GM Has a Deal With the UAW to End the Strike. Here Are the Highlights.
The United Auto Workers and (GM) struck a preliminary tentative agreement Wednesday which could end the five week strike—the longest GM stoppage since 1970. Full details of the agreement won't be made public until union leadership agrees on the pact and sends the contract to membership for ratification. A source briefed on the agreement, however, told Barron's some of the things General Motors (ticker: GM) and the UAW agreed to.
- Bloomberg
Health Insurers May Have Bottomed as Investors Tire of Politics
UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s solid third-quarter earnings on Tuesday sparked the sector's biggest rally in a decade as it helped ease concerns about rising medical costs. Also roiled by fears of a single-payer system, health insurers appear to have found their footing as investors turned more optimistic about the industry's business outlook, according to BMO analyst Matthew Borsch. Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary debate will serve as a key test for investors' renewed optimism.
- Financial Times
Huge wage rises signal new phase in central Europe’s transformation
Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the countries of central Europe are eager to move to a new phase in their remarkable transformation from communist basket cases to vibrant market economies fully integrated in to European business supply chains. Poland's conservative prime minister last week said he wanted to “close the chapter” of cheap labour and low wages that has turbocharged the Polish economy, and fed the Germany industrial powerhouse, since the country joined the EU in 2004. Speaking just days before Sunday's general election, Mateusz Morawiecki promised to raise the country's minimum wage by an extraordinary 78 per cent by 2023.
- Bloomberg
High-Yield Munis Outperform as Credit Spreads Narrow
Christopher Brigati, managing director and head of municipals at Advisors Asset Management, discusses the impact of tightening credit spreads on municipal bond investing. He speaks with Bloomberg's Taylor Riggs in this week's "Muni Moment" on "Bloomberg Markets."
- Yahoo Finance
Steve Schwarzman: Billionaires got rich by doing more than just 'watching TV'
Billionaire private equity tycoon Stephen A. Schwarzman, the CEO of The Blackstone Group (BX), recently made a case for why villanizing the ultra-wealthy is short-sighted. As rivals for the 2020 Democratic nomination squared off on stage Tuesday night, it put their policy dispositions on full display. At Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit in New York last week, the wealthy investor said those policies would result in an exodus of businesses from the U.S., and deter future entrepreneurs from starting new ventures of their own.
- American City Business Journals
Skechers escalates legal dispute with Nike with 'bully' ads
Before it's even formally responded to a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Nike, Skechers has taken the unusual step of running an advertisement in the New York Times in which it accuses Nike of being a "bully." The companies are engaged in several lawsuits in which Nike claims Skechers is inappropriately selling shoes that infringe on Nike's intellectual property. Skechers has until Dec. 2 to file a legal response to Nike's claims.
- MarketWatch
Bank of America declares ‘the end of the 60-40’ standard portfolio
Investors have long been told that the ideal portfolio should carry 60% of its holdings in equities and 40% in bonds, a mix that provides greater exposure to historically superior stock returns, while also granting the diversification benefits and lower risk of fixed-income investments. But in a research note published by Bank of America Securities titled “The End of 60/40,” portfolio strategists Derek Harris and Jared Woodard argue that “there are good reasons to reconsider the role of bonds in your portfolio,” and to allocate a greater share toward equities.
- MarketWatch
Nio’s stock leans on ‘bullish engulfing’ stock price chart pattern to stop further weakness
Shares of Nio Inc. sank Wednesday, after a report that discussions over a potential large new funding deal had been halted, with investors now leaning on a “bullish engulfing” stock price chart pattern to halt further declines to fresh record lows. The National Business Daily (NBD) reported Tuesday that the China-based electric car maker was in talks with Wuxing District of Huzhou City in eastern China regarding an investment of over 5 billion renminbi, or more than $704.9 million at current exchange rates. According to 36Kr.com, as translated by Google Translate, Nio Chief Executive Bin Li said Tuesday there was not much to disclose, but that Weilai, the Chinese name for Nio that means Blue Sky Coming, was in contact with many local governments.
- InvestorPlace
Why Ford Stock Is Set to Rise After 2020 Product Unveiling
Sure, sales in China plunged in the third quarter, but investors are counting on other positive catalysts ahead. Investor interest in Ford stock waned by late summer, undermining the analysts who collectively have an average price target of $10.50. On Oct. 11, Ford said sales in China fell 30.3% to 131,060 vehicles.
- Bloomberg
Netflix Gains as Analysts' Praise Mitigates Threat of Rivals
But the in-line report will likely draw mixed reviews, says Raymond James, adding that bulls will argue that Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings left room for upside while “bears will focus on two straight misses of U.S. paid net adds and point to softer” fourth-quarter guidance. Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen says “in some ways Netflix has defied the naysayers” with this print. However “it will be hard for Netflix to grow much more in the U.S., and we suspect pricing power is limited,” he said, downgrading the stock to neutral from outperform.
- Barrons.com
Teva Stock Is Jumping After Reports It May Trade Generic Drugs for an Opioid Settlement
In the days before the start of a key opioid trial in Ohio, negotiations appear to be at full throttle, and major news outlets are reporting wildly divergent figures for how much Teva (ticker: TEVA) has offered to pay. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the Israeli company had offered a group of state attorneys general $15 billion in generic drugs to settle the lawsuits. Bloomberg said Teva would give away the drugs over 10 years.
- MarketWatch
AMC Theatres launches streaming service in latest blow to Netflix
In the latest blow to Netflix Inc., AMC Theatres, the biggest cinema chain in the world, said Tuesday it is launching a streaming service that will allow members of its loyalty program to rent or buy films and watch them at home, the first such offering from a cinema operator. The 20 million-plus U.S. households that have signed up to the company's AMC Stubs program will be able to access about 2,000 films from every major studio, starting Tuesday. Later in the year the service is slated to be expanded to include films from AMC Networks' (AMCX)IFC Films and RLJE Films.
- MarketWatch
UPDATE: Cronos shares surge roughly 33% in after hours
It was not immediately clear why the stock surged in the extended session but two block trades totaling roughly 1.2 million shares crossed at 5:09 p.m. Eastern time at a price of $8.40 a share. Previously other cannabis companies' stocks, such as CannTrust Holdings Inc. (ctst)(ca:trst) have notched double-digit gains because an exchange traded fund has re-balanced its portfolio after significant changes to the market price. Cronos Group stock closed up roughly 1% to $8.40 during the regular session.
- MarketWatch
Nokia's stock surges on heavy volume, after Ericsson's upbeat results and Brexit deal
Shares of Nokia Corp. (nok) shot 3.9% on heavy premarket volume Thursday, in the wake upbeat results from fellow Nordic networking company Ericsson (eric) and optimism in European stocks after a Brexit deal was announced. Trading volume in Nokia's stock topped 1.1 million shares, making it the second-most actively traded ahead of the open. Ericsson's stock surged 6.6% toward a 3-month high after the company reported a surprise third-quarter loss but revenue that beat expectations, according to FactSet data.
- Bloomberg
Tata Looks for Jaguar Land Rover Partners, But Rules Out Sale
Tata Motors bought the maker of the Jaguar XE sedan and Land Rover Discovery sport utility vehicle from Ford Motor Co. in 2008. After turning it into a cash cow with booming sales in countries like Russia and China, JLR waned to such an extent that it's had to launch a 2.5 billion-pound ($3.2 billion) savings program and slash thousands of jobs worldwide. Losses at Tata's automotive business have mounted with a slump in India's car market, as well as trouble overseas, including an economic slowdown in China, where auto sales are sliding, and uncertainty over Brexit.
