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(Bloomberg) -- The European Union is set to lay out its blueprint to raise nearly $1 trillion of debt over five years as it seeks to fund its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.The bloc is aiming to issue the first debt under its NextGenerationEU stimulus in June and will use a “state of the art” platform to begin selling bonds and bills via a network of primary bank dealers by September, according to a draft of the plan seen by Bloomberg. Almost a third of the 806 billion euros ($962 billion) will be in green bonds, using a framework of rules to be published in early summer.“The Commission will need to execute financing operations up to EUR 150-200 billion per year over the period to end 2026,” the document stated, with an announcement on it due Wednesday. “By June 2021, the Commission will be ready to begin mobilising the funds.”The document highlights the ambition of the EU’s first meaningful entry into bond markets, which will see the total of outstanding bonds closing in on that of Spain’s this decade. It also lays the foundation to challenge U.S. Treasuries in coming years as a haven asset, providing a boost to integration in the region and for its common currency.A One-Day Rival to Treasuries Is Born in Europe’s Pandemic BondsBonds will be issued and regularly sold across a range of maturities from between three and 30 years, while there will also be short-dated bills, according to the document. It highlighted the latter as a quick way to raise money, at least in the initial phase of the program.Investors are likely to be keen. The bloc began selling social bonds tied to the funding of a jobs program last year, and those sales have broken global demand records. The EU will begin to issue debt via auction for the first time, as well as syndications via banks. The new platform will be provided by a national central bank that is already used by one of the “large sovereign issuers,” according to the document.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.
(Bloomberg) -- China just slapped a record antitrust fine on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The company thanked the government and investors breathed a sigh of relief.Alibaba’s American depositary receipts climbed 9.3% on Monday in New York, their biggest jump in almost four years. For Jack Ma, the founder of the e-commerce giant, it meant his fortune increased by $2.3 billion to $52.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.The $2.8 billion fine is less severe than some investors feared and is based on only 4% of the company’s 2019 domestic sales, far less than the maximum 10% allowed under Chinese law. While the internet giant will have to adjust the way it does business, its vice chairman said regulators won’t impose a radical overhaul of its e-commerce strategy and its chief executive officer declared Alibaba ready to move on.“Alibaba would not have achieved our growth without sound government regulation and service, and the critical oversight, tolerance and support from all of our constituencies have been crucial to our development,” the company said in an open letter. “For this, we are full of gratitude and respect.”Ma, who up until last year was China’s richest person, has lost billions since his nation’s regulators began an anti-monopolistic campaign, halting the initial public offering of his Ant Group Co. payments company just two days before it was scheduled to go public. He is now China’s third-richest person after Zhong Shanshan of bottled-water company Nongfu Spring Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Pony Ma.Separately, China’s central bank ordered Ant to become a financial-holding company that will be regulated more like a bank. The move, announced on Monday, will have far-reaching implications for the firm’s growth and its ability to press ahead with an initial public offering. Alibaba shares opened 3.4% higher in Hong Kong on Tuesday.(Updates to include Ant overhaul and stock move in last 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.
Analysts expect higher inflation ahead of U.S. March CPI report despite Fed's wait and see approach.
(Bloomberg) -- Abu Dhabi is accelerating plans to sell shares in some oil and gas businesses as the government seeks to deepen its financial markets and diversify its sources of funding.The state energy company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., is considering initial public offerings of its drilling business and a fertilizer joint venture called Fertiglobe, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The deals could raise more than $1 billion each, according to the people.Petrostates in the Persian Gulf are trying to bolster their economies after they were hit last year by coronavirus lockdowns and the crash in oil prices. They also want to diversify from fossil fuels by using money raised from their oil assets to invest in other industries.Deliberations on the potential listings are ongoing and no final decisions have been made. Adnoc may retain the businesses or look at other ways of monetizing them, the people said.Both Adnoc Drilling and Fertiglobe, a venture with Amsterdam-based OCI NV, are based in Abu Dhabi. OCI confirmed that it and Adnoc are considering an IPO of Fertiglobe. Adnoc declined to comment.$20 Billion DriveIn recent years, international and local funds have invested more than $20 billion in Adnoc assets such as pipelines and property. Last June, the company sold leasing rights over natural-gas pipelines to a consortium including Global Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield Asset Management Inc., in a deal worth $10.1 billion.Still, its sole IPO to date was the listing of its fuel-retailing unit, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. for Distribution PJSC, in 2017.Oil-rich Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and holds most of the country’s crude deposits. The UAE is the third biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.Neighboring Saudi Arabia -- the world’s biggest oil exporter -- has a similar strategy. It raised almost $30 billion from the IPO of state energy firm Saudi Aramco in late 2019. Last week, Aramco announced it was selling leasing rights in pipelines for $12.4 billion to a consortium led by U.S. investor EIG Global Energy Partners LLC.Reuters earlier reported the potential Adnoc IPOs.(Updates with OCI 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.
(Bloomberg) -- Bond traders searching for an opportunity to challenge central banks are starting to look Down Under, where a likely showdown over yield-curve control is set to test the power of policy makers to contain the next wave of reflation bets.The global trading day for bonds begins in earnest in Sydney each morning, giving developments in Australia’s $600 billion sovereign debt market an out-sized impact on sentiment. It was the scene of a dramatic “flash crash” last year when the yield program was announced, illustrating the potential for turmoil.While the Reserve Bank of Australia has largely tamed markets since then, as the economy’s recovery strengthens, wagers against the RBA’s ability to keep yields lower look poised to rise.“If inflation expectations do start to un-anchor, then I think the RBA will be one of the first central banks to be tested by bond traders,” said Shaun Roache, an economist at S&P Global Ratings in Singapore. “The RBA is a canary in the coal mine for central banks as it is ahead in its labor market recovery.”The RBA brought short-sellers quickly to heel when the global bond rout emboldened them to test its grip on yield control in February. After weeks of aggressive positioning by traders, the bank nudged up the cost of speculating on rising rates and the yield on benchmark three-year bonds fell neatly back into line with its 0.1% target.But keeping the market at bay next time may prove more difficult, as vaccination campaigns gather pace in major economies and the U.S. recovery nears an “inflection point,” emboldening traders. Pressure is already apparent in Australia’s three-year swap rate, which is increasing the costs of managing interest-rate risks for corporate borrowers.Read More: BOJ Seeks Only Tweaks to Stay Aligned with Fed, ECBIf yield control fails in Australia, it may fade away as a potential option for other monetary authorities in need of more policy ammunition. Especially because yield control’s record in Japan -- the only other country to officially employ it -- is patchy.Pinning the rate of one key bond maturity has helped the Bank of Japan reduce borrowing costs in general and also allowed it to slow the pace of bond purchases. But it has come at a cost. The nation’s debt market is lambasted as dysfunctional and an economic recovery strong enough to revive inflation looks as far away as ever.Widening GapBeneath the surface, problems are building Down Under too. While the RBA has its thumb on one specific bond line, there is a large gulf between the yield on this security and those maturing slightly later. There’s also a widening gap to rates on the suite of derivatives linked to three-year yields that flow through into borrowing costs for companies and consumers.The three-year swap rate surged through February and March, rising to four times the RBA’s target for three-year bonds amid pressure from higher U.S. yields and a rebounding economy at home.Australia’s bond futures tell a similar story. The yield implied by three-year futures doubled in the two weeks to Feb. 26 and remains elevated, even after retreating from its high point.“Lack of liquidity, a central bank that’s digging its heels in -- all that, for us, means there’s going to be more volatility in Aussie rates,” said Kellie Wood, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Schroders Plc’s Australian unit. “The RBA has succeeded in terms of round one. But we are starting to see cracks,” said Wood, who expects the market to challenge the 0.1% target again.Stephen Miller, an investment consultant at GSFM, an arm of Canada’s CI Financial Corp., agrees that higher yields may arrive in Australia sooner than the RBA thinks. “It will be powerless if the U.S. curve shifts upwards and other rates markets follow,” said Miller.Read More: Debate Over Next Move in Bonds Has Never Been FiercerNot everyone is prepared to bet against the RBA.For Fidelity International’s Anthony Doyle, taking on the RBA may be a recipe for steep losses if past lessons from the European Central Bank and U.S. Federal Reserve are anything to go by.Nine years ago, then ECB President Mario Draghi vowed to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro, leading to quantitative easing and bond purchases that are still in place. The Fed said more than a year ago that it would buy unlimited amounts of Treasuries to keep borrowing costs at rock-bottom levels, and it’s still holding firm.Holding the Cards“I don’t think it’s ever wise to fight anyone that has a printing press,” said Doyle, a cross-asset investment specialist at Fidelity in Sydney. “The RBA as a house holds all the cards. If they want yields lower, they’ll get it.”This caution is shared by JPMorgan Asset Management’s Kerry Craig.For now, the central bank “definitely has enough dry powder,” said Craig, a strategist in Melbourne. But he is concerned that with monetary policy and markets around the world moving in sync, “you can only fight so much if U.S. rates or global rates go higher -- it’s going to drag Australian ones up.”Yet Governor Philip Lowe isn’t doing everything he could to damp doubts over the RBA’s resolve. His reluctance to make an early switch in the yield target to bonds maturing in November 2024, from ones due in April 2024, is fueling debate about how soon the policy could be wound back.Lowe said at the conclusion of the latest board meeting on April 6 that a decision would be made later this year, without being more specific. He also indicated that the RBA expected to maintain “highly supportive monetary conditions” until at least 2024, even though the number of Australians with a job has returned to pre-pandemic levels.“We don’t think they’ll extend yield-curve control” beyond the current April 2024 bond, said Wood, who warned of potential taper tantrums.Lowe’s February win against short sellers, and a slide in yields at home and abroad over recent weeks, has given the RBA space to breathe. But it’s likely only a matter of time before bond traders come back for round two.“Everybody’s watching how this is going to unfold,” said S&P’s Roache. “The RBA may not want this role, but it is taking quite a starring role I think among global central banks.”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.
(Bloomberg) -- Online travel platform Trip.com Group Ltd. has raised about HK$8.5 billion ($1.1 billion) in its Hong Kong second listing after pricing the shares at HK$268 each.The company sold 31.6 million shares in the Hong Kong offering, according to a statement on Tuesday. The price represents a discount of about 2% to Trip.com’s closing price of $35.20 on Monday on the Nasdaq.One of Trip.com’s American depositary shares is equivalent to one ordinary share. The shares are due to start trading in Hong Kong on April 19.Trip.com’s U.S. shares have risen about 4% this year, giving the firm a market capitalization of $21 billion. It is part of a wave of U.S.-listed Chinese companies seeking a trading foothold in Hong Kong which has seen some of the country’s biggest tech giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. raise over $36 billion since late 2019, data compiled by Bloomberg show.The second listings act as a way to hedge against the risk of being kicked off U.S. exchanges as a result of rising Sino-U.S. tensions, as well as to bring in more Asia-based investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will start implementing a law passed last year requiring overseas companies to let American regulators inspect their audits or face delisting.Recent second listings from the likes of Baidu Inc. and Bilibili Inc. fared less well than ones last year as they got caught up in a broader selloff of technology shares as investors rotated into sectors expected to benefit from a recovery of global growth. But tech names have since staged a comeback, with the Nasdaq Composite Index rising from lows hit at the beginning of March.JPMorgan Chase & Co., China International Capital Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are joint sponsors for Trip.com’s listing.(Updates with company confirmation throughout the story.)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.
(Bloomberg) -- Grab Holdings Inc., Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup, is going public in the U.S. through the largest-ever merger with a blank-check company.The Singapore-based startup is set to have a market value of about $39.6 billion after the combination with Altimeter Growth Corp., the special purpose acquisition company of Brad Gerstner’s Altimeter Capital Management, the firms said in a statement Tuesday. Grab is raising more than $4 billion from investors including BlackRock Inc., Fidelity International and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. as part of the biggest U.S. equity offering by a Southeast Asian company.The deal would make the ride-hailing and food-delivery giant the first Southeast Asian tech unicorn to go public through a SPAC and give it funds to expand. Grab is trying to take advantage of a U.S.-led SPAC listing boom even though it’s showing signs of slowing amid increased scrutiny by regulators.“This is definitely one of the best internet companies,” Gerstner said in an interview. “The runway ahead is very long and very wide for Grab if they continue to execute.”The combined entity’s stock will trade on the Nasdaq in the coming months under the ticker GRAB. Altimeter Capital, which orchestrated the initial public offering of Altimeter Growth in September, is putting $750 million into the company, about a fifth of the fresh funds raised.That, together with a three-year lockup period for its sponsor shares, indicates Altimeter’s long-term commitment to the company, Grab Chief Executive Officer Anthony Tan said. Altimeter, which manages $15 billion of assets, has also committed as much as $500 million to a contingent investment to be equal to the total amount of redemptions by Altimeter Growth’s shareholders.“From sovereign wealth funds to mutual funds, it is world-class investors who are investing in us,” Tan said in an interview. “The world is seeing the potential of Southeast Asia and how exciting this region is.”Shares in Altimeter Growth fell 6.5% Tuesday morning in New York, bringing gains for this year to 2.3%. Grab, the market leader in Southeast Asia for so-called super apps for consumer services, expects its addressable market to expand to more than $180 billion by 2025 from $52 billion in 2020. Its total gross merchandise volume last year was $12.5 billion, more than doubling from 2018 even as competition from arch rival Gojek intensified and the coronavirus pandemic restricted people’s movements.The deal marks a remarkable turn for Grab. Under pressure from SoftBank Group Corp. and other investors, the company had been negotiating a possible merger with Indonesia’s Gojek for most of 2020. But the talks ultimately collapsed around December and Gojek began talks with Tokopedia, another local internet giant.Tan and Gerstner, both Harvard Business School graduates, began talking about a deal early this year after being introduced by common friends. Only about three months later, they reached an agreement for the record transaction.Gerstner is no stranger to Southeast Asia, having invested in Singapore-based gaming and e-commerce leader Sea Ltd. The Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed company has emerged as a stock-market sensation since going public in New York in 2017. Among companies valued at $100 billion or more, the stock is the No. 1 Asian performer since the start of last year and trails only Tesla Inc. globally.“The U.S. and China have been big investment markets for 20 years and before Sea, Southeast Asia wasn’t really on many investors’ radar screens,” said Gerstner, who has been following Grab since its 2018 acquisition of the regional business of Uber Technologies Inc., another company he’s backed. “Now you have a second business with a $40 billion market cap which is going to be listed on the Nasdaq. This is a huge moment for global investors realizing the renaissance that’s occurring in Southeast Asia technology market.”Tan founded Grab in his native Malaysia as a taxi-hailing app in 2012 with Hooi Ling Tan, a Harvard classmate. They kicked off operations in Kuala Lumpur as what was then known as MyTeksi, allowing users to book cabs.Grab later relocated to Singapore before expanding as a ride-hailing app from Indonesia to Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Myanmar. With more than $10 billion raised from investors led by SoftBank over eight funding rounds, Grab became Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing provider before expanding into food delivery, digital payments and financial services across eight countries in the region.Working toward profitability, Grab said its mobility-services business is making money in all its markets, while food delivery is in the black in five of six markets. The company said it had about 72% of Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing market, 50% of online food delivery and 23% of digital wallet payments last year. Grab was previously valued at about $16 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said.Among companies participating in the cash injection, a so-called private investment in public equity, or PIPE, are Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte, Janus Henderson Group Plc and Nuveen LLC. The expected market value also reflects the PIPE and SPAC proceeds of $4.5 billion as well as a $2 billion term loan, according to Grab.Evercore Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley advised Grab in the deal.(Updates with shares 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.
(Bloomberg) -- The window for Europe to sell its longest dated debt may be closing faster than countries expect.Demand for Britain’s longest-dated gilt fell to the lowest level since July 2018 at auction on Tuesday, with bids for the bond maturing in 2071 coming in at more than two times the 1 billion pounds ($1.38 billion) on offer. Austria and Spain both saw orderbooks fall for sales of 50-year and 15-year debt respectively.It’s a sign that the region’s bond markets are being hit by a double whammy of heavy supply and fears of a reflationary resurgence, which threatens to erode returns for investors. Nordea Bank Abp warned that the window to sell long-dated tenors is now closing as the economy recovers against a backdrop of an accelerating vaccine rollout. That could put pressure on the European Central Bank to dial back its bond purchase programs.“The odds are stacked against longer-dated supply being taken down well,” said Peter Chatwell, head of multi-asset strategy at Mizuho International Plc. “There is no likely outcome where long end rates are able to sustain a bid.”Around 15% of debt sales in the region during the first quarter had maturities of 25 years or more -- an all-time high, according Nordea -- as countries took advantage of the ECB’s bond-buying program to borrow at near record-low rates. But now, government bond yields have rebounded from all-time lows as investors begin to price an end to the pandemic.“It may become trickier later this year, as the economic recovery materializes and an environment of higher yields may start to look less remote,” Nordea’s chief strategist Jan von Gerich said, adding that the worst of the selling pressure in bonds appears to be over for now.Spain saw orderbooks drop by around 20 billion euros for a six billion euro debt sale, while in Austria, demand for its 50-year sale fell by around one billion euros, even with only 2 billion euros on offer. Its four-year sale did better, garnering above 26.6 billion euros of bids, around six times more than the amount being sold.One overwhelming force keeping a lid on yields is the ECB’s repeated pledge to keep monetary policy accommodative as the region shakes off economic pain from the pandemic. Data scheduled for Friday is expected to show euro-area consumer price inflation jumped to 1.3% last month, the highest in more than a year. Yet that would still be below the central bank’s goal of a reading close to, but below 2%. “I don’t sense a shift in attitude towards duration based on the better economic outlook, not yet at least,” said Antoine Bouvet, senior rates strategist at ING Groep NV. “The lower-for-longer narrative is still widely shared in Europe.”Austrian securities that come due in 2062 yield around 0.66%, up from around 0.10% in December. Fifty-year gilts currently yield around 1.12%, having climbed from less than 0.3% last year. That’s well below a market gauge of expected price rises over the next decade, which hit 3.83% this month, the highest level in more than a decade.(Updates with prices throughout, adds Mizuho comment in fourth 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.
(Bloomberg) -- Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. will drastically revamp its business, bowing to demands from Chinese authorities that want to rein in the country’s fast-growing Internet giants.Ant will now effectively be supervised more like a bank, a move with far-reaching implications for its growth and ability to press ahead with a landmark initial public offering that the government abruptly delayed late last year.The overhaul outlined by regulators and the company on Monday will see Ant transform itself into a financial holding company, with authorities directing the firm to open its payments app to competitors, increase oversight of how that business fuels it crucial consumer lending operations, and ramp up data protections. It will also need to cut the outstanding value of its money-market fund Yu’ebao.The directives come as China’s regulators pledge to curb the “reckless” push of technology firms into finance and crack down on monopolies online. The twin pillars of Ma’s empire -- Ant and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. -- have been at the center of the increased scrutiny, sending a message to the country’s largest corporations and their leaders to fall in line with Beijing’s priorities.Several government agencies, including the People’s Bank of China, and regulators overseeing the banking and securities sectors met with Ant to dictate the changes. The company will plan its growth “within the national strategic context,” and make sure that it shoulders more social responsibility, Ant said in its statement.Regulators have also slapped a record $2.8 billion fine on Alibaba this month after an anti-trust probe found the e-commerce company abused its market dominance.“The darkest hour for Alibaba has passed, but I wouldn’t say so for Ant Group,” said Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at Zhongguancun Internet Finance Institute. “The latest announcement clarified the framework for Ant’s restructuring, but the tone is still harsh and some of the requirements are tougher than expected. I don’t think the overhang is removed for Ant investors at this stage.”While the revamp leaves Ant’s main businesses intact, regulators are making it harder for the firm to exploit synergies that allowed it to direct traffic from its payments service Alipay -- which has a billion users -- to other financial services including wealth management, consumer lending and even on-demand neighborhood services and delivery.Authorities now require Ant to cut off any improper linking of payments with other financial products including its Jiebei and Huabei lending services. Ant said it will fold those units into its consumer finance arm, apply for a license for personal credit reporting, and improve consumer data protection.Ant could add more credit borrowing options on Alipay instead of setting Huabei as the default or preferred option, Thomas Chong, a Hong Kong-based analyst with Jefferies Financial Group Inc., wrote in a report, adding that synergies between Huabei and Yu’ebao could be affected.“Ant’s growth prospects just became a lot more challenging, given it will be much more difficult to capitalize on its scale,” said Mark Tanner, founder of Shanghai-based consultant China Skinny. “These growth challenges, in addition to the wider concerns about the tech sector regulators, makes their IPO value and attractiveness a shadow of what it was.”Ant Chairman Eric Jing promised staff last month that the company would eventually go public. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Francis Chan has estimated the firm’s valuation may drop about 60% from the $280 billion it was pegged at last year given the rule changes being contemplated in areas including payments.Payments FocusChanges to the payments business were among the top priorities regulators outlined, with Ant pledging to return the business “to its origin” by focusing on micro-payments and convenience for users.Earlier this year, China proposed measures to curb market concentration in online payments, which Ant and rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. have transformed with their ubiquitous mobile apps that are used by a combined 1 billion people.The central bank said in draft rules that any non-bank payment company with half of the market in online transactions or two entities with a combined two-thirds share could be subject to antitrust probes.If a monopoly is confirmed, the central bank can suggest that cabinet impose restrictive measures including breaking up the entity by its business type.Mobile payments are only part of what contribute to online transactions, but they have become the most important platform in China, fueling growth in other services.Investors are also awaiting final rules aimed at curbing online consumer lending, which were unveiled late last year.Given all the changes still down the track, an Ant IPO remains “far, far away,” said Zhongguancun Internet Finance Institute’s Dong.“The PBOC statement emphasizes risks and correction, while Ant Group’s statement sounds positive to investors,” Shujin Chen, the Hong Kong-based head of financial research at Jefferies, wrote in a report. “Ant will be the first financial holding company in China, a milestone in fintech regulation. Ant sees a clearer roadmap to restructure, although some details remain unclear.”(Updates with Ant comment in fifth paragraph, analyst comment in tenth)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.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones indexes were set to open lower on Monday after closing at record levels in the previous session, as investors geared up for the start of the earnings season and a key inflation report this week. A pullback in the benchmark 10-year bond yield from 14-month highs in April eased worries about higher borrowing costs, helping richly valued technology stocks gain ground and drive the S&P 500 and the Dow to record levels.
Our call of the day from Bank of America narrows down where investors see the most risk these days. Fingers are pointing at the world's most popular cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin surged to a record high on Tuesday, a day ahead of Coinbase Global’s public stock listing — the latest coming-out party for cryptocurrencies. The price of Bitcoin rose as high as $63,209 before giving back some of those gains, according to Coindesk. This pattern of Bitcoin hitting new highs ahead of a major event is not new.
Bitcoin has picked up a tail wind in the lead up to Coinbase's stock listing on Nasdaq
Roth accounts serve a special tax purpose — they’re funded with after-tax dollars and thus, are distributed tax-free (compared with a traditional account, where the money is contributed and grows tax-free but is taxed at withdrawal). Roth conversions are similar — investors move the money from their traditional accounts into Roth accounts and pay the tax upfront.
‘The Big Move’ is a MarketWatch column looking at the ins and outs of real estate, from navigating the search for a new home to applying for a mortgage. The costs of homeownership are rising quickly across the country, so you’re not alone in feeling burdened.
The full-size luxury EQS sedan will launch on Thursday and could completely change the public perception of Mercedes, Deutsche Bank analysts said.
The investing game is rarely plain sailing. While no doubt investors would like the choices that make up their portfolio to always go up, the reality is more complicated. There are periods when even shares of the world’s most successful companies have been on a downward trajectory for one reason or another. While it’s no fun watching a stock you own drift to the bottom, any savvy investor knows that if the company’s fundamentals are sound to begin with, the pullback is often a gift in disguise. This is where the chance for strong returns really comes into play. “Buy the Dip” is not a cliché without reason. With this in mind, we scoured the TipRanks database and picked out 3 names which have been heading south recently, specifically ones pinpointed by those in the know as representing a buying opportunity. What’s more, all 3 are rated Strong Buys by the analyst consensus and projected to rake in at least 70% of gains over the next 12 months. Here are the details. Flexion Therapeutics (FLXN) Let’s first take a look at Flexion, a pharma company specializing in the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain. The company has two drugs currently in early-stage clinical trials but one which has already been approved by the FDA; Zilretta is an extended-release corticosteroid for the management of osteoarthritis knee pain. The drug was granted regulatory approval in 2017, and Flexion owns the exclusive worldwide rights. FLXN stock has found 2021 hard going and is down by 30% year-to-date. However, the “recent weakness,” says Northland analyst Carl Byrnes has created a “unique buying opportunity.” Like many biopharmas, Flexion’s marketing efforts took a hit during the height of the pandemic last year, as shutdowns and restrictions impacted its operations. However, Byrnes anticipates Zilretta to exhibit “stellar growth in 2021 and beyond.” “We remain highly confident that the demand for ZILRETTA will continue to strengthen, bolstered by product awareness and positive clinical experiences of both patients and HCP, augmented by improvements in HCP interactions and deferral of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgical procedures,” the analyst said. Byrnes expects Zilretta’s 2021 sales to surge by 45% year-over-year to $125 million, and then increase by a further 50% to $187.5 million the following year. That revenue growth will go hand in hand with massive share appreciation; Byrne’s price target is $35, suggesting upside of ~339% over the next 12 months. Needless to say Byrne’s rating is an Outperform (i.e. Buy). (To watch Byrnes’ track record, click here) Barring one lone Hold, all of Byrne’s colleagues agree. With 9 Buys, FLXN stock boasts a Strong Buy consensus rating. While not as optimistic as Byrne’s objective, the $20.22 average price target is still set to yield returns of an impressive 153% within the 12-month time frame. (See FLXN stock analysis on TipRanks) Protara Therapeutics (TARA) Staying in the pharma industry, next up we have Protara. Unlike Flexion, the cancer and rare disease-focused biotech has no therapies approved yet. However, the picture should soon become clear regarding the timing of a BLA (biologics license application) for TARA-002, the company’s investigational cell therapy for a rare pediatric indication - lymphatic malformations (LM). TARA-002 is based on the immunopotentiator OK-432, currently approved as Picibanil in Japan and Taiwan for the treatment of multiple cancer indications as well as LM. Currently, Protara is seeking to get the FDA’s acceptance that TARA-002 is comparable to OK-432. If everything goes according to plan, the company anticipates potential BLA filing in H2:2021 and potential approval in H1:2022. Protara shares have tumbled 40% year-to-date. That said, Guggenheim analyst Etzer Darout believes the stock is significantly undervalued. “We estimate risk-adjusted peak sales of ~$170M (75% PoS) in the US alone (biologics exclusivity to 2034-2035),” the 5-star analyst said. “The company has outlined a ‘no additional study scenario’ that estimates a US launch in 2022 and an ‘additional registration study’ scenario that estimates a 2023 launch and we see current levels as a buying opportunity ahead of regulatory clarity on LM.” Furthermore, Tara is expected to submit an IND (investigational new drug) for a Phase 1 trial for TARA-002 in 2H21 for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Darout notes 80% (~65K) of all newly diagnosed bladder cancer patients suffer from this specific condition including ~45% “that are high grade with high unmet need.” The company also owns IV Choline, a Phase 3-ready asset, for which the FDA has already granted both Orphan Drug Designation and Fast Track Designation for IFALD (intestinal failure-associated liver disease). Based on all of the above, Darout rates TARA a Buy and has a $48 price target for the shares. The implication for investors? Upside of a strong 225%. (To watch Darout’s track record, click here) Overall, with 3 recent Buy ratings under its belt, TARA gets a Strong Buy from the analyst consensus view. The stock is backed by an optimistic average price target, too; at $43.67, the shares are anticipated to appreciate by ~198% in the year ahead. (See TARA stock analysis on TipRanks) Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF) Last but not least is Green Thumb, a leading US cannabis MSO (multi state operator). This Chicago-based company is one of the stalwarts of the rising cannabis sector, boasting the second highest market-cap in the industry and exhibiting impressive growth over the last year. In 2020, revenue increased by 157% from 2019, to reach $556.6 million. That said, despite delivering another excellent quarterly statement in March, and being well-positioned to capitalize on additional states legalizing cannabis, the stock has pulled back recently after the company was hit by a damning Chicago Tribune article. According to Chicago Tribune, the company is being investigated by the fed over "pay to play" payments regarding the procurement of cannabis licenses in Illinois. Countering the claims, GTBIF management said the allegations are unfounded and that there is no factual evidence to support them. Furthermore, the company pointed out it has not even been contacted by the authorities regarding the matter. Who to believe, then? It’s an easy choice, according to Roth Capital’s Scott Fortune. “We believe these tenuous claims create an opportunity to own the best-in-class operator currently off 25% from recent highs,” the 5-atar analyst opined. “In our view, the GTI business and track record of execution is not at risk in terms of the seemingly baseless accusations. We will continue to monitor any new additional incremental evidence potentially surfacing but believe the allegations are unfounded. We believe the upside opportunity remains compelling at these levels.” Going by Fortune’s $45 price target, shares will be changing hands for a 70% premium a year from now. Fortune’s rating remains a Buy. (To watch Fortune’s track record, click here) The negative news has done little to dampen enthusiasm around this stock on Wall Street. The analyst consensus rates GTBIF a Strong Buy, based on a unanimous 12 Buys. The average price target, at $47.71, suggests an upside of 79% over the next 12 months. (See GTBIF stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
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The previously unpublished ED analysis, obtained by Yahoo Finance, reveals how many student loan borrowers would benefit from various levels of forgiveness, specifically borrowers in default.
Yahoo Finance