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Chipotle: Positive Comps and Results in 2020

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    (Bloomberg) -- European equities were little changed as investors rotated into cyclicals and out of defensive shares, while some U.K. firms and sectors rose following the country’s budget.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed up less than 0.1%, as gains for carmakers and travel shares offset declines in utilities and health-care shares. The FTSE 100 rallied 0.9% after Britain’s spring budget. U.K. homebuilders climbed after the government confirmed support measures, while Diageo Plc advanced as a planned increase in alcohol duties was canceled in the announcement.Equities in Europe have had a bumpy start to 2021, with a vaccination-driven rally peaking in mid-February. Since then, spiking yields in U.S. treasuries and German bunds have damped investors’ appetite for stocks, particularly weighing on so-called bond-proxy haven sectors.“Markets are transitioning to a more robust and mature phase of the recovery trade,” according to Barclays Plc strategists led by Emmanuel Cau. They expect European stocks to continue to catch up with U.S. peers, because cheaper value shares and non-U.S. equities stand to benefit from rising growth and inflation expectations.Automotive stocks accounted for most of the day’s top performers, buoyed by overall cyclical strength, while UBS Group AG analyst upgrades additionally boosted Renault SA and Continental AG. British insurer Hiscox Ltd. trailed the pack, having scrapped its dividend amid worse-than-expected gross written premiums.You want more news on this market? Click here for a curated First Word channel of actionable news from Bloomberg and select sources. It can be customized to your preferences by clicking into Actions on the toolbar or hitting the HELP key for assistance.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • New York Blasts Crypto Market as ‘High-Risk’ and ‘Unstable’

    (Bloomberg) -- New York’s top law enforcement officer issued a scathing statement on the cryptocurrency market, warning consumers about its susceptibility to “speculative bubbles” and abuse by criminals.“Cryptocurrencies are high-risk, unstable investments that could result in devastating losses just as quickly as they can provide gains,” Attorney General Letitia James said Monday in an investor alert.It’s the strongest language James, who has taken several recent enforcement actions in the sector, has used to describe the rapidly evolving industry. Her warning comes after Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, quadrupled last year and has been hitting new highs this year.“The recent dramatic run-up in price of virtual currencies (especially bitcoin) promises the lure of unrealistic returns and has opened the door for con artists and cheats,” James said.Read More: Bitcoin Jumps as Citi Expresses Optimism, Risk Assets ReboundBut Eric Turner, director of research at Messari, said the attorney general was overstating the concerns. Messari provides research on the cryptoeconomy to investors, regulators and the public, according to its website.James’s statements will “scare people” instead of “genuinely educating them about cryptoassets,” Turner said. He pointed to Goldman Sachs Inc.’s reopening of its crypto desk and other large institutions rolling out tools like trading and custody as evidence that James wasn’t on the right track.“The fact is crypto is becoming a multitrillion-dollar space and creating high-paying jobs around the world,” Turner said. “If New York continues to treat the industry with unreasonable hostility you’ll see all of this opportunity pass the state by.”All of the world’s cryptocurrencies have a $1.47 trillion market cap now.James said trading in virtual assets exposes investors to increased chances of market manipulation as well as conflicts of interest among trading platform operators.“Many operators of virtual currency trading platforms are themselves heavily invested in virtual currencies, and trade on their own platforms without oversight,” she said.She warned investors that cryptocurrencies can be difficult to cash out of and offered limited protection from fraud.“Virtual currency trading platforms operate from various places around the world, many of which are inaccessible to American law enforcement,” she said.Wild SwingsJames highlighted the volatility of the currencies, which she said are “easy to create” and spread.“Their underlying value is highly subjective and unpredictable,” she said. “As a result, prices can swing wildly upward and crash without warning or any change in the real economy.”James, a Democrat, issued a separate warning to brokers, dealers, salespeople and investment advisers that they could face “both civil and criminal liability” if they fail to register with the state when doing business with virtual currencies.The dual warning to investors and the industry is an effort at “leveling the playing field” amid examples of industry participants taking unnecessary risks with investors’ money, she said.Crypto exchange Bitfinex reached a settlement with James last month over allegations that it hid the loss of commingled client and corporate funds and lied about reserves. Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the officials who control Bitfinex and the affiliated stablecoin Tether agreed to pay $18.5 million and provide the state with quarterly reports on the composition of Tether’s reserves for the next two years. The companies will end all trading activity with New Yorkers.Read More: Bitfinex Settles New York Probe Into Tether, Hiding Losses“All investors should proceed with extreme caution when investing in virtual currencies,” James said. “We will not hesitate to take action against anyone who violates the law.”(Updates with researcher’s comment in fifth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Exxon touts growing dividends, cutting spending as climate challenges loom for Big Oil

    Exxon Mobil Corp on Wednesday unveiled plans to grow dividends and curb spending with projections that were less bold than previous years after the top U.S. oil and gas producer posted a historic annual loss for 2020. Investor pressure has mounted for Exxon to cut costs, improve financial returns and better prepare for the energy transition to lower-carbon fuels. At its investor day presentation, the company reaffirmed plans to keep project spending between $16 billion and $19 billion in 2021, and between $20 billion and $25 billion a year through 2025.

  • Rocket Companies Short Squeeze Gives $25B Single-Day Boost To Dan Gilbert's Wealth

    Rocket Companies Inc (NYSE: RKT) founder Dan Gilbert’s wealth got a $25 billion booster on Tuesday as the holding company gets the attention of retail investors on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, according to Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. What Happened: Gilbert, Age 59, has moved up 19 spots to No. 16 on the index that tracks 500 of the world’s richest. A large chunk of Gilbert’s fortune, 93% to be precise, is comprised of his stake in Rocket, reported Bloomberg. See also: How to Buy Rocket Companies (RKT) Stock Why It Matters: The one-day jump in Gilbert’s wealth is the largest so far in the year, noted Bloomberg. As of press time, Detroit-based Rocket Companies with subsidiaries such as Rocket Mortgage and Quicken Loans was the most discussed company on WallStreetBets, according to SwaggyStocks data. WallStreetBets investors previously carried out short squeezes in the stocks of GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME), AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC), Nokia Oyj (NYSE: NOK), BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE: BB), and others. Rocket reported 162% revenue growth and 350% growth in net income for the fourth quarter, which beat analyst estimates. The company’s shares have shot up since last Friday. S3 Partners data indicates the Rocket has currently $1.2 billion in short interest — making it one of the most shorted stocks in the market. Price Action: Rocket shares traded nearly 8.2% lower at $38.20 in after-hours trading on Tuesday after shooting up almost 71.2% in the regular session. Photo by Steve Jennings on Wikimedia See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaRocket Companies Overtakes GameStop, Palantir As WallStreetBets' Top Interest© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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  • A $21 Trillion Treasuries Mystery Is Bedeviling Global Markets

    (Bloomberg) -- Bond traders have been saying for years that liquidity is there in the world’s biggest bond market, except when you really need it.Last week’s startling gyrations in U.S. Treasury yields may offer fresh backing for that mantra, and prompt another bout of soul-searching in a $21 trillion market that forms the bedrock of global finance. While stocks are prone to sudden swings, such episodes are supposed to be few and far between in a government-debt market that sets the benchmark risk-free rate for much of the world.Yet jarring moves occur periodically in Treasuries, forming a bit of a mystery as no two events have been the same. Some point to heightened bank regulations in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Scrutiny over liquidity shortfalls intensified in October 2014 when a 12-minute crash and rebound in yields happened with no apparent trigger. Panic selling during the pandemic-fueled chaos a year ago, exacerbated when hedge funds’ leveraged wagers blew up, brought the issue to the fore again.And then came last week, when the gap between bid and offer prices for 30-year bonds hit the widest since the panic of March 2020.The latest events “are a stark reminder what happens when liquidity suddenly vanishes in the deepest, largest bond market,” said Ben Emons, managing director of global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors.At issue is whether this vast market is more vulnerable to sudden bouts of turbulence thanks to measures that have made it more difficult for banks to hold Treasuries. Some analysts say the tumult last week was magnified by questions over whether the Federal Reserve will extend an easing of bank capital requirements, which is set to end March 31. Put in place early on in the pandemic, the measure is seen as making it easier for banks to add Treasuries to their balance sheets.The 2014 episode triggered a deep dive into the market structure, and regulators have pushed through some changes -- such as increased transparency -- and speculation has grown that more steps to bolster the market’s structure may be ahead.“While the scale and speed of flows associated with the COVID shock are likely pretty far out in the tail of the probability distribution, the crisis highlighted vulnerabilities in the critically important Treasury market that warrant careful analysis,” Fed Governor Lael Brainard said Monday in prepared remarks to the Institute of International Bankers.There are plenty of potential culprits in last week’s bond-market tumble -- which has since mostly reversed -- from improving economic readings to more technical drivers. Ultra-loose Fed policy and the prospect of fresh U.S. fiscal stimulus have investors betting on quicker growth and inflation. Add to that a wave of convexity hedgers, and unwinding by big trend-following investors -- such as commodity trading advisers.Based on Bloomberg’s U.S. Government Securities Liquidity Index, a gauge of how far yields are deviating from a fair-value model, liquidity conditions worsened recently, though it was nothing like what was seen in March.For Zoltan Pozsar, a strategist at Credit Suisse, the action began in Asia with bond investors reacting to perceived hawkish signs from the central banks of Australia and New Zealand. That sentiment then carried over into the U.S. as carry trades and other levered positions in the bond market were wiped out. A disastrous auction of seven-year notes on Thursday added fuel to the unraveling.Last week’s drama “brings to mind other notable episodes in recent years in which a deterioration in the Treasury market microstructure was primarily to blame,” JPMorgan & Chase Co. strategist Henry St John wrote in a note with colleagues.One key gauge of Treasury liquidity -- market depth, or the ability to trade without substantially moving prices -- plunged in March 2020 to levels not seen since the 2008 crisis, according to data compiled by JPMorgan. That severe degree of liquidity shortfall didn’t resurface last week.The bond-market rout only briefly took a toll on share prices last week, with equities surging to start this week, following a sharp retreat in Treasury yields amid month-end buying.The Fed cut rates to nearly zero in March 2020, launched a raft of emergency lending facilities and ramped up bond buying to ensure low borrowing costs and smooth market functioning. That breakdown in functioning has sparked calls for change from regulators and market participants alike.GLOBAL INSIGHT: Recovery? Yes. Tantrum? No. Yield Driver ModelFor now, Treasuries have settled down. Pozsar notes that the jump in yields has provided an opportunity for some value investors to swoop in and pick up extra yield, effectively helping offset the impact of the leveraged investors who scrambled for the exits last week.“Some levered players were shaken out of their positions,” Pozsar said in a forthcoming episode of Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast. “It’s not comfortable -- especially if you’re on the wrong side of the trade -- but I don’t think that we should be going down a path where we should redesign the Treasury market.”Why Liquidity Is a Simple Idea But Hard to Nail Down: QuickTake(Updates with details on Bloomberg’s liquidity index in 10th paragraph, and a chart)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • 13 years after investing in an obscure Chinese automaker, Warren Buffett’s BYD bet is paying off big

    A $232 million investment has ballooned into a $5.9 billion stake.

  • Monthly stimulus checks may be on the way for families later this year

    A bill in Congress would give families up to $300 a month per child starting this summer.

  • Staff at some major U.S. firms to keep masks on in Texas even as state lifts mandate

    Japanese carmaker Toyota, which has its U.S. headquarters and a factory in Texas, said it was looking into the move by Governor Greg Abbott to roll back the mask mandate, and it doesn't contemplate any immediate changes. "The early read is – no change for us," Toyota spokesman Scott Vazin said.

  • Is Bitcoin Useless?

    Bitcoin passed its tenth anniversary of the release of its whitepaper, first introducing it to the world, in 2018. But assessments of the cryptocurrency's impact in the last decade or so have mostly been negative. Is bitcoin useless?

  • ASML extends sales deal with Chinese chipmaker SMIC to end of 2021

    ASML Holding NV has extended a deal to sell chip manufacturing equipment to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China's largest chipmaker, until the end of this year, the Dutch company said in a statement on Wednesday. ASML made the statement after SMIC on Wednesday disclosed a volume purchase agreement under which it has already spent $1.2 billion with the toolmaker. In a clarifying statement issued several hours later, ASML said the agreement began in 2018 and was slated to expire at the end of 2020, but the two companies agreed in February to extend the deal to the end of this year.

  • Tesla Former Board Member Says Elon Musk Company Won't Remain 'King Of The Hill In Electric Forever'

    A former board member of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) said Tuesday that the company is unlikely to remain the “king of the hill” in electric vehicles forever, CNBC reported. What Happened: Steve Westly said on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” that he had been bullish on the Elon Musk-led automaker for the last 10 years and it’s “hard to imagine an auto company executing better than Tesla has.” Westly pointed to the company’s latest earnings release in January where it said it had a “multi-year horizon” and expected to achieve 50% average annual growth in vehicle deliveries. See also: How to Invest in Tesla Stock “No one else in the auto world is doing that. Having said that, Tesla is not going to be king of the hill in electric forever,” said Westly. Why It Matters: The venture capitalist noted that there have been large-scale commitments on EVs from legacy automakers such as General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) and Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY). “Tesla is not just getting hit from the high end,” said Westly on the availability of EVs from Volkswagen marques such as Audi and Porsche. Tesla also faces increased competition from Chinese EV rivals, which have more affordable offerings. The analyst noted increased competition in Europe where according to him the company was “No. 1, they’re now No. 4.” See Also: Tesla's Share Of European EV Market Reduced To 3.5% “They’re getting competition from all sectors. They’re going to have to double down to compete.” Tesla’s plans to make a more affordable $25,000 vehicle have left Chinese rivals such as Xpeng Inc (NYSE: XPEV), Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO), and others unfazed. In January, a two-door $4,500 EV made by Wuling — a joint venture of GM and state-owned SAIC Motor — outsold Tesla’s Model 3 in China by nearly two-to-one. Price Action: Tesla shares closed 4.45% lower at $686.44 on Tuesday and gained 0.34% in the after-hours session. Click here to check out Benzinga’s EV Hub for the latest electric vehicles news. See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaNio Says Chip Shortage Will Hit EV Production In Q2Such Popularity, Much Wow! Dogecoin Now Available At 1,800 ATMs Across US© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Intel Told to Pay $2.18 Billion After Losing Patent Trial

    (Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp. was told to pay VLSI Technology LLC $2.18 billion by a federal jury in Texas after losing a patent-infringement trial over technology related to chip-making, one of the largest patent-damages award in U.S. history. Intel pledged to appeal.Intel infringed two patents owned by closely held VLSI, the jury in Waco, Texas, said Tuesday. The jury found $1.5 billion for infringement of one patent and $675 million for infringement of the second. The jury rejected Intel’s denial of infringing either of the patents and its argument that one patent was invalid because it claimed to cover work done by Intel engineers.The patents had been owned by Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors Inc., which would get a cut of any damage award, Intel lawyer William Lee of WilmerHale told jurors in closing arguments Monday. VLSI, founded four years ago, has no products and its only potential revenue is this lawsuit, he said.VLSI “took two patents off the shelf that hadn’t been used for 10 years and said, ‘We’d like $2 billion,”’ Lee told the jury. The “outrageous” demand by VLSI “would tax the true innovators.”He had argued that VLSI was entitled to no more than $2.2 million.“Intel strongly disagrees with today’s jury verdict,” the company said in a statement. “We intend to appeal and are confident that we will prevail.”Intel fell 2.6% to $61.24 in New York trading. The stock is up 23% since the beginning of the year.One of the patents was originally issued in 2012 to Freescale Semiconductor Inc. and the other in 2010 to SigmaTel Inc. Freescale bought SigmaTel and was in turn bought by NXP in 2015. The two patents in this case were transferred to VLSI in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Law.VLSI lawyer Morgan Chu of Irell & Manella said the patents cover inventions that increase the power and speed of processors, a key issue for competition.‘Willful Blindness’Federal law doesn’t require someone to know of a patent to be found to have infringed it, and Intel purposely didn’t look to see if it was using someone else’s inventions, he said. He accused the Santa Clara, California-based company of “willful blindness.”The jury said there was no willful infringement. A finding otherwise would have enabled District Court Judge Alan Albright to increase the award even further, to up to three times the amount set by the jury.“We are very pleased that the jury recognized the value of the innovations as reflected in the patents and are extremely happy with the jury verdict,” Michael Stolarski, chief executive of VLSI, said in an e-mailed statement.Officials with NXP couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.The damage request isn’t so high when the billions of chips sold by Intel are taken into account, Chu said. Intel paid MicroUnity Systems Engineering Corp. $300 million 2005 and in 2011 paid Nvidia Corp. $1.5 billion even though a settlement in that case involved a cross license of technology, he said.“Operating companies are going to be disturbed by not only the size of the award but also the damages theory,” said Michael Tomasulo, a Winston Strawn lawyer who attended the trial. “They more or less seemed to have bought the entire VLSI case.”The damage award is about half of Intel’s fourth-quarter profit. The company has dominated the $400 billion chip industry for most of the past 30 years, though it’s struggling to maintain that position.The verdict is smaller than the $2.5 billion verdict won by Merck & Co. over a hepatitis C treatment. It was later thrown out. Last year, Cisco Systems Inc. was told by a federal judge in Virginia to pay $1.9 billion to a small cybersecurity companies that accused it of copying a feature to steal away government contracts. Cisco has asked the judge for a new trial.The case is among the few in-person patent trials in recent months, with many courts pressing pause amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was delayed a week because of the winter storm that wreaked havoc across much of Texas.Intel had sought to postpone the case because of the pandemic, but was rejected by Albright, a former patent litigator and magistrate who was sworn in as a federal judge in 2018 and has quickly turned his courtroom into one of the most popular for patent owners to file suit.The case is VLSI Technology LLC v. Intel Corp., 21-57, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Waco).(Updates with VLSI comment in 12th paragraph. An earlier version corrected the spelling of law firm name in eighth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Rocket shares soar more than 70% as analysts eye 'GameStop-esque' short squeeze

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