The economy could shock all the bears in 2020

BlackRock global chief investment strategist Mike Pyle tells Yahoo Finance he thinks the U.S. economy will likely strengthen going into the new year. His reasons are solid, and frankly refreshing amidst all the doom and gloom forecasts permeating markets as trade conditions with China continue to be tepid at best. Clearly to put the cautions out there, risks have risen.

Nearly 200 Houston-area delivery jobs cut after Amazon reportedly cancels contracts

San Diego, California-based Letter Ride LLC is cutting 423 jobs across Texas, including 197 based in the Houston area, according to a letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission. ProPublica and BuzzFeed News report that the job cuts come after Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. Nasdaq: AMZN) abruptly canceled contracts with Letter Ride and other major delivery firms.

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.

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  German plan would allow Huawei to supply its 5G network, against wishes of U.S.

  MarketWatch
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  Huawei Isn't Trying to Dominate Telecom Market With 5G, CTO Paul Scanlan Says

  Bloomberg

SoftBank Said to Plan $5 Billion Rescue Financing for WeWork

The funds will come directly from SoftBank, rather than its Vision Fund, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the talks are private. SoftBank, which already owns about one-third of WeWork, would not amass a majority of voting rights, though its stake would increase, the person said. WeWork, reeling in the past few weeks since parent We Co. scrapped its initial public offering, and in danger of running out of cash as early as next month, has been pursuing a pair of rescue plans to shore up its finances -- one from SoftBank, its largest shareholder, and another from JPMorgan Chase & Co. that would include a $5 billion debt package.

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  Adam Neumann mixed spiritual group with company

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Exclusive: WeWork owner creates committee to decide on financing lifeline

  Reuters

The best advice for investors who are scared of Elizabeth Warren

It's not reflected in the stock market yet, but make no mistake about it — Wall Street is growing worried about what a Senator Elizabeth Warren presidency would mean to stocks and the health of Corporate America. “We would advise investors to be cautious against two dimensions when thinking about elections and their portfolios today.

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  Campaign: Warren's call to exit Mideast means combat troops

  Associated Press
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  Democratic debate: Who won and who lost the latest 2020 election showdown?

  The Independent

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.

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  Democrats' Medicare-for-all plan to reportedly cost $32T over 10 years

  FOX News Videos
• 3 Reasons to Consider Making Changes During Medicare Open Enrollment

  Kiplinger

If Intuitive Surgical Is Going to Move, It Will Be Immediately Post-Earnings

Intuitive Surgical isn't the volatile name around earnings it once was. As the robotics sector of medicine begins to mature, Intuitive Surgical finds itself as one of the old guard these days. Over the past two-plus years, the stock has only closed with a post-earnings move above 4.5% two times.

Bankrate: Nearly half of US isn't prepared for a recession as economic clouds gather

Whether the U.S. economy is headed for a recession is anyone's guess, but a new survey by Bankrate suggests many consumers won't be ready if it happens. The news isn't all bleak, as some are taking modest steps to shore up their finances in case of a downturn. Bankrate found that nearly half (44%) of U.S. consumers are choosing to spend less money, while 33% are saving more for emergencies and 31% are paying down credit card debt.

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  Two-thirds of households preparing for recession, even as U.S. economy continues to grow

  MarketWatch
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  Nearly half of the U.S. isn't prepared for recession: Study

  Yahoo Finance Video

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."

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  Muni Sales Set to Surge Most Since 2017, Extending Supply Boom

  Bloomberg
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  7 Tax-Free Investments to Consider for Your Portfolio

  SmartAsset

Teva Breaks Out Amid Hopes of Global Opioid Settlement

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (TEVA) shares rose more than 5% after Gabelli upgraded the stock to Buy days before the beginning of a key opioid trial in Ohio. Analyst Kevin Kendra is optimistic about reports that Teva proposed giving away $15 billion worth of drugs to settle its opioid litigation. The analyst believes that the negative impact on EBITDA could be as low as $250 million per year, although using free product could disrupt the generic drug industry since it's "hard to compete against free drugs."

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  Jury seated in opioid case, but settlement talks go on

  Associated Press
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  UPDATE 3-Three drug distributors in talks to settle opioid litigation for $18 bln -WSJ

  Reuters

UAW deal with GM to end strike includes pay raises, but three plants would close

The United Auto Workers union wrung higher pay and better coverage for temporary workers from General Motors Co as part of its tentative deal to end a month-long U.S. strike, but the deal would also allow the automaker to move forward with closing three plants, the union said on Thursday. The highlights of the agreement were released by the UAW after the union's national council, representing GM plants across the United States, reviewed the terms of the four-year deal. GM shares were down 1.1% at $36.25 on Thursday afternoon, after a modest rally on Wednesday following the UAW's announcement it had reached a tentative contract deal.

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  UPDATE 7-UAW, GM leaders have a deal to end strike, now workers will decide

  Reuters
• 
  After Boeing, GM Strike Disrupts Trump’s MAGA Plans

  Market Realist

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.

This Biotech Stock Doubled In Two Days On A Potential Hepatitis Cure

Shares of Assembly Biosciences rocketed for a second day Thursday — and have nearly doubled since Tuesday's close — on excitement surrounding the biotech company's potential hepatitis B treatment. Over the course of 24 weeks, a combination using Assembly's drug and a standard hepatitis B treatment significantly lowered the amount of virus found in patients' blood. "After these data, investors are more likely to believe Assembly's medicine has the potential to eradicate cccDNA (viral reserves in the liver), and thus cure the hepatitis B virus infection entirely, which would be a multibillion dollar market opportunity," he said in a report to clients.

Boeing 737 Max Return Thrown Into Further Doubt After Latest Delays

Southwest Airlines canceled Boeing 737 Max flights until Feb. 8, later than any U.S. airline, after Air Canada Wednesday pulled the troubled jet from its schedules through Feb. 14. Boeing stock was roughly flat in early trading. On Monday, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said it does not anticipate the 737 Max returning to the skies until February at the earliest.

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  Boeing CEO says 'fully supportive' of board's move to split jobs: memo

  Reuters
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  Southwest Airlines again pushes back MAX return date

  AFP Relax News

One year on, Canada’s legal cannabis market is down but not out

Canadian cannabis companies should be celebrating the first anniversary of legalized marijuana on Thursday, but the party atmosphere has been tainted by a sharp three-month selloff that has seen many companies surrender half their value or more. Concerns about a lack of profit in the sector have sparked a massive re-rating of risk that appeared to peak last week after a revenue warning from Hexo Corp. (HEXO)(CA:HEXO) that reminded investors that the much-hoped for returns that sent stocks to record levels earlier this year were not materializing. The Canadian market is still grappling with a severe shortage of retail outlets that has hampered the development of the legal pot market and allowed the black market to remain dominant, according to analysts and investors.

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  UPDATE 2-As 'Cannabis 2.0' kicks off in Canada, industry strangled by limited retail outlets

  Reuters
• 
  YIELD GROWTH Signs Letter of Intent with Apothecary Botanicals to Manufacture and Distribute Yield's New Line of Cannabis-Infused Topicals, Jack n Jane, in Canada

  Newsfile

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.

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  Bernie Sanders' health remains under microscope as he returns to debate stage after heart attack

  FOX News Videos
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  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to endorse Bernie Sanders for president

  The Guardian

What a Brexit deal would mean for U.S. stocks and global investors

A tentative agreement that would see the U.K. finally leave the European Union after more than three years of acrimonious wrangling gave U.S. stock-index futures a modest pop early Thursday. As Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser to Allianz, put it on Twitter, the initial move higher by U.S. stock-index futures is “consistent with the view that investors are looking for policy progress to offset weakening global fundamentals, and growing central bank ineffectiveness” to be offset by progress on trade and fiscal policy.

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  Stock Market Rally Continues On New Brexit Deal; Netflix Jumps, But IBM Tumbles

  Investor's Business Daily
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  Britain Reaches Tentative Brexit Deal With E.U., Needs Parliamentary Approval

  National Review

The Long Decline in AbbVie Is Over

In his "No-Huddle Offense" segment of Mad Money Wednesday night, Jim Cramer said that as the market is slaughtering the high-growth stocks, those with dividends are coming back into fashion. Cramer said Wall Street is only now waking up to just how transformative Allergan will be to AbbVie, and now's the time to take advantage as the combined company will have both growth and an excellent dividend yield. In this daily bar chart of ABBV, below, we can see that prices have declined the past 12 months but now ABBV is testing the declining 200-day moving average line and the slope of the 50-day moving average line is positive.

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  Here is Why Growth Investors Should Buy AbbVie (ABBV) Now

  Zacks
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  Allergan (AGN) Shareholders Approve Acquisition by AbbVie

  Zacks

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.

Here’s how high the pound could go as U.K. and EU strike Brexit deal

The pound continued its upward surge on Thursday after a Brexit deal was agreed between the U.K. and the EU, but the currency could soar even higher. Sterling (GBPUSD)  rose towards $1.29 after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed a deal had been struck, which has since been confirmed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Analysts said the pound could soar above $1.30 and even to $1.35 if the deal is approved by the U.K. Parliament, which is expected to vote on the matter over the weekend.

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  Brexit deal: Details of Boris Johnson's agreement reveal why furious DUP is set to defeat it

  The Independent
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  Pound Traders Turn Cautious as Rally Stalls on Brexit Deal Risk

  Bloomberg