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California exodus: Walt Disney Company in talks to move some jobs to Florida

Lower taxes make the Sunshine State more attractive for businesses than many blue states, says Jimmy Patronis, chief financial officer of Florida.

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    The pandemic is costing the government hundreds of billions of pounds. Where will it all come from?

  • 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.

  • Your next stimulus check may be in jeopardy now

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  • Bond Market Is ‘Powder Keg’ That Could Blow Treasury Yield to 2%

    (Bloomberg) -- The Treasury market may be just one spark away from exploding and sending 10-year yields all the way to 2%, suggesting that the rout of 2021 may not yet be over and raising the chances that other assets like emerging-market bonds might also be living on borrowed time.Analysts are now putting the target on Treasury yields around half a percentage point higher than current levels following the rapid, reflation-fueled selloff that took the market by storm last week. Should that happen, it’s not just developed markets that will be left reeling. Developing-market bonds are increasingly at risk as investor concern grows about stretched valuations and the chances of a policy misstep by the Federal Reserve.“The velocity of the moves in U.S. Treasury yields are now intensifying at a time when both hard currency and local emerging-market bonds are more vulnerable to such a move,” said Lisa Chua, a New York-based portfolio manager on the emerging-markets debt team at Man Group Plc’s hedge-fund unit Man GLG.ING Groep NV say investors’ attitude toward holding longer-dated Treasuries has grown cautious, “to put it mildly,” exacerbating the potential for rapid selling on any sign of weakness in the market. They see yields on 10-year Treasuries rising another 50 basis points, joining the likes of BNP Paribas SA who also expect yields at 2% by year-end. That’s sounding the alarm that there is little to stop yields surging higher.Investor jitters were on display again Wednesday, when a bigger-than-expected bond sale plan from the U.K. caused ructions globally. The U.S. 10-year yield jumped to around 1.49%, closing in again the one-year high above 1.60% that they reached last Thursday in the wake of a sloppy seven-year Treasury sale. The rate was around 1.47% Thursday morning in New York.Concern over supply hitting the market is adding to fears inflation is set to accelerate, which could force central banks to begin tightening policy. Then there’s the risk liquidity evaporates to fuel sharper moves.“The bond market has been sitting on a powder keg since last week,” wrote ING strategists led by Padhraic Garvey in a note to clients. “In this context, we do not blame investors for exiting at the first sign of a selloff.”Liquidity in the $21 trillion Treasury market, which underpins the financial system, is under scrutiny following last week’s startling gyrations and weak auction demand. The gap between bid and offer prices for 30-year bonds hit the widest since the panic of March 2020.All eyes will be on an appearance later on Thursday by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to see if he hints at possible action by the central bank to cap recent moves. In comments last week -- before the violent gyrations on Thursday-- he indicated that the Fed sees rising yields as a sign of economic health. But that message could well be shifted.The European Central Bank, meanwhile, has indicated it sees no need for drastic action to curb the rise in longer-term borrowing rates.For ING, the five-year U.S. bond is the key barometer for where rates are going. Mizuho International Plc agrees, having signaled a 0.75% level -- broken a week ago -- as the threshold that could signal a sharp correction in riskier stock and credit markets. Yields were hovering at 0.73% Thursday.Emerging markets though are starting to tell a different story. For bonds there, the crunch point could come with 10-year Treasury yields holding north of 1.5%. For Lisa Chua at Man GLG, that could trigger “major outflows” in both hard-currency and local assets.Not all investors see the path higher for yields. Some, like PGIM Fixed Income’s Robert Tipp, are betting on the Treasury market going the other way and sending rates back down to 1% on the belief that the stimulutive effect from U.S. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion spending package will fade and the economy will slow down to beyond pre-pandemic levels.Right now though, the selling momentum seems hard to shake, with the eagerness of investors to borrow and short 10-year securities creating a rush within the market for repurchase agreements that’s sent rates there deeply negative.BNP strategists see the market pricing in an interest-rate hike from the Fed at the end of 2022, leading them to raise their year-end Treasury forecast to 2%. While they see the Fed sticking with dovish rhetoric, their risk scenario is that doesn’t work and the central bank has to increase the pace of bond purchases beyond the current $120 billion per month.“A break in asset market correlations and collapse in UST market liquidity (all out taper tantrum or “T”) would likely facilitate a Fed response to limit the deterioration in financial conditions,” wrote BNP strategists including Sam Lynton-Brown. While no Fed rate hikes are expected until the end of 2022, “this does not prevent the market from pricing it in.”(Updates throughout.)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.

  • Getting A Third Covid-19 Stimulus Check Just Got Tougher — But You Might Still Influence How Big Yours Is

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  • Exclusive: India merchants almost halt exports to Iran as its rupee reserves fall - officials

    Indian merchants have almost entirely stopped signing new export contracts with Iranian buyers for commodities such as rice, sugar and tea, due to caution about Tehran's dwindling rupee reserves with Indian banks, six industry officials told Reuters. "Exporters are avoiding dealing with Iran since payments are getting delayed for months," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading house. Iran's rupee reserves in India's UCO and IDBI Bank, the two lenders authorised to facilitate rupee trade, have depleted significantly and exporters are not sure whether they would be paid on time for new shipments, the dealer said.

  • EV Battery Maker QuantumScape Is Worth Billions. It May Be Fairly Valued Already.

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  • ARK’s Red-Hot ETF Fell 20% in 12 Days. The Pain for Tech Stocks Might Just Be Beginning.

    Growth investors should watch out. The ETF (ticker: ARKK), actively managed by Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Investment Management, was one of the star performers of 2020. It gained more than 150% by riding stay-at home stars like (TSLA) (TSLA), (ROKU) and (SQ)(SQ) to new heights.

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  • The oil market’s wild pandemic ride is about to take another turn

    The oil industry is no stranger to boom-bust cycles, but the pandemic has been its wildest ride to date, and on March 4 it’s due to take another turn when OPEC meets to consider rolling back production cuts. As the world’s cars and airplanes idled, global oil demand bottomed out in April at levels 16.4% below the previous year, dragging the price into negative territory for the first time. White-knuckling through it all has been OPEC, the 13-member cartel that dictates quotas for most of the world’s biggest oil-producing countries (notably excluding the US).

  • WallStreetBets Eyes Tanger Factory Outlet Centers As A Short Squeeze Target

    Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc (NYSE: SKT) is attracting heightened discussion on r/WallStreetBets, the forum that came to light with the short squeeze in GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) stock earlier in the year. What Happened: The North Carolina-based real estate investment trust which operates factory outlet centers had a comments volume of 600 on WallStreetBets as of press time, as per SwaggyStocks data, and was the top-trending stock in the community in the near-term. Several users were pointing to what they said is a short squeeze opportunity. One forum member claimed he “just had to buy” Tanger stock as Melvin Capital and Citadel are short on it. Tanger shares have soared 76.69% since the year began. In the after-hours trading on Wednesday the company’s shares rose 5.13% to $18.65 after closing 9.24% higher at $17.74. Why It Matters: Tanger is the second most shorted stock after GameStop — attracting short interest or 39.98%, according to High Short Interest Stocks, a website that tracks stocks with short interest over 20%. The company was affected badly by the COVID-19 pandemic as most of the occupants of their outlet centers are non-essential businesses, the Motley Fool reported. However, the company’s fourth-quarter results indicated that it managed to attract customer traffic at 90% of 2019 levels and collect 95% of billed rent in the same period. Some of the positives related to the latest results have been noted by the WallStreetBets participants. Another emerging darling of the Reddit crowd is Rocket Companies Inc (NYSE: RKT), which was the second most discussed firm on the discussion board attracting over 3,700 comments as of press time. The resulting spike in Rocket shares gave Rocket founder Dan Gilbert’s wealth a billion boost on Tuesday before the stock dipped 32.67% on Wednesday. Related Link: GameStop Short-Selling Fame's Melvin Posts 20% Returns For February: Report Photo by Billy Hathorn on Wikimedia See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaWhy Globalstar Stock Spiked 9% In After-Hours TodayGameStop Short-Selling Fame's Melvin Posts 20% Returns For February: Report© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • China’s Top Stock Funds Trashed by $111 Billion Moutai Wipeout

    (Bloomberg) -- The most popular stock trade in China is unraveling, tarnishing the reputations of some of the country’s most successful money managers and undermining the outlook for the world’s second-largest equity market.Until three weeks ago, buying the nation’s beloved liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co. was a surefire way for the $3 trillion mutual fund industry to mint money and attract bumper inflows. The stock soared 30% year-to-date through its Feb. 10 record, after gaining almost 70% in 2020 -- and doubling in the year before that.Many funds, flush with a record amount of cash, didn’t have a choice if they wanted to keep their clients and attract new investors. Buying Moutai was the simplest and most effective way to top rankings -- until it wasn’t. The stock began tumbling after the Lunar New Year break, and kept falling. It’s now down 22% since its peak, including a drop of as much as 6% Thursday, and has lost more than $111 billion in value.One of the most high-profile casualties is E Fund Management Co.’s Zhang Kun, the first in China to oversee 100 billion yuan ($15 billion). Zhang’s E Fund Blue Chip Selected Mixed Fund is down 12% in 10 trading days after returning 95% last year largely due to a big bet on baijiu, the Chinese white spirit. The fund had 9.6% of its assets invested in Moutai as of December. Another fund run by Zhang has lost 23%. Zhang didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.The fund manager has received “verbal abuse” in recent weeks by investors who were previously fans, according to a report Wednesday in China’s state tabloid Global Times. He was known as “Prince Charming” or “Brother Kun” among his investors, who now refer to him on social media as “Kun Gou” or “Kun the dog” -- an offensive term in Chinese.Other copycat money managers will be feeling the pain: recent data showed two-thirds of mutual fund assets were invested in only 100 stocks, while the top 400 stocks lured 93% of total funds. Although China’s onshore market contains more than 4,000 stocks, Moutai is by far the largest with a market value of about $390 billion.Moutai accounts for 27% of the loss in the FTSE China A50 Index of the nation’s largest companies since Feb. 10. When added together with fellow spirit makers Wuliangye Yibin Co. and Luzhou Laojiao Co., the three comprise more than half of the gauge’s decline.Concern had been growing about the stretched valuations of Moutai and its peers, especially as gains accelerated. A gauge tracking consumer staples, including liquor makers, traded at a record 36 times projected 12-month earnings in February.Read how China is warning against ‘entertaining’ investors with fund pitchesTo be sure, the company’s shares have faced plenty of risks in the past. The stock tumbled about 8% in a single day in July after the People’s Daily criticized the high price of the company’s liquor. In 2017, Xinhua News Agency said the stock was rising too fast, triggering a selloff. Back in 2013, the stock plunged when Xi Jinping came to power and clamped down on lavish spending by party cadres.But this time around, authorities have grown increasingly concerned about risks to the financial system posed by excess liquidity. On Tuesday, China’s top banking regulator jolted markets with a warning about the need to reduce leverage amid the rising risk of bubbles globally and in the local property sector. With Moutai being the best-known proxy for liquidity-fueled bets and momentum, fund managers will likely need to find a new strategy to protect their returns.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.

  • Cathie Wood’s ARKK Struggles in Early Trading After 20% Retreat

    (Bloomberg) -- The main fund from Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management slipped in pre-market trading on Thursday, as it struggles to stabilize following a 20% drop from its February peak.The $22.9 billion Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) was down 0.7% as of 8:53 a.m. in New York. The ETF tumbled 6.3% on Wednesday, adding to recent losses as growth stocks such as Pinterest Inc. and Zillow Group Inc. took a beating.The decline on Thursday had been steeper, but ARKK clawed back some of the drop as futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index also erased much of an earlier decline. The underlying gauge lost almost 3% on Wednesday, with traders turning away from tech in favor of so-called value stocks that had underperformed during the pandemic.The rotation, along with higher bond yields that dim the allure of equities, is taking the shine off what had been one of the hottest investments on Wall Street. Since peaking on Feb. 12, ARKK’s price has now dropped by a fifth, the level that commonly defines a bear market.“People are worried the crowded trades will lose their momentum like they did last September” when some of the biggest tech names suffered a bout of selling, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co.Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes have jumped more than 50 basis points in 2021, on track for the largest quarterly increase since 2016. Consequently, it’s growing more difficult to justify sky-high valuations for highly speculative, expensive areas of the stock market.ARKK’s three largest holdings, Tesla Inc., Square Inc. and Roku Inc., have about tripled over the past year. Tesla is up close to 350%, while Square has surged about 200% and Roku is up more than 240%. They all slumped on Wednesday.In fact, all but three stocks held by ARKK fell and three suffered losses exceeding 10% on Wednesday, including Stratasys Ltd., a maker of 3D printers, and Veracyte Inc., which develops molecular tests for oncology.The fund’s tilt toward long-term growth means short-term profitability isn’t a key consideration when stocks are picked. In fact, two-thirds of its current holdings didn’t make a profit in the past year.Inflows to the fund have faltered in the past week, but there’s yet to be a mass exodus. ARKK took in more than $600 million combined in Friday and Monday trading, then lost $150 million in Tuesday’s session, the latest for which data is available.“There is growing unease in the markets and whether higher-risk asset classes can continue to climb,” said Michael Purves, chief executive officer at Tallbacken Capital Advisors. “If sentiment turns, you can see substantial outflows.”(Updates for Thursday’s pre-market moves.)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.

  • Day-Trading Reddit Users Nearly Crashed the Stock Market. Now They’re the Organizing Principle for a New ETF.

    Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy tweeted an elaborately produced “emergency press conference” video to debut the ETF. The stunt was also an uncomfortable reminder that one man’s meta meme may be another’s market manipulator.

  • Buy this dip in Apple, Microsoft and these other tech stocks before they’re out of reach, says analyst

    It’s been a bad week for tech stocks. The Nasdaq tumbled 2.7% on Wednesday and the slide looks set to continue on Thursday. So buy the dip before tech stocks move at least 25% higher this year, says veteran tech analyst Daniel Ives of investment firm Wedbush.

  • Australia Plans to Loosen China’s Grip on Minerals Supply Chain

    (Bloomberg) -- Australia wants to leverage off its position as a top mineral producer by boosting processing and manufacturing, part of a plan to challenge China’s dominance in the supply of products key to the clean-energy transition.The government unveiled a 10-year road map on Thursday that includes A$1.3 billion ($1 billion) of funding to help businesses capitalize on the country’s abundant natural resources and exploit opportunities in a de-carbonizing world. It encourages growth in high-value products like batteries and solar cells, as well as technologies and equipment that make mining safer and more efficient.The Modern Manufacturing Initiative comes as the U.S. and Japan look to cut their dependence on China for minerals that are vital to many manufacturing sectors. Australia is the top exporter of lithium, a key component in batteries, and is also a major source of rare earths. Beijing is reviewing its rare earths policy and there are signs it may ban the export of refining technology to nations or firms that it deems are a threat to state security.See also: Biden’s Hopes for Rare Earth Independence at Least a Decade Away“It’s a sovereign and strategic priority for Australia to ensure that we are hard-wired into this supply chain around the world,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a media briefing following the announcement. It has to be “a supply chain that Australia and our partners can rely on, because these rare earths and critical minerals are what pull together the technology that we will be relying on into the future,” he said.Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. currently sends rare earths from its operations in Australia to Malaysia for processing, but has plans to build a facility close to its Mt. Weld mine in the country’s west. Lynas’ rival Iluka Resources Ltd. is also assessing options to build processing capacity. Energy Renaissance, meanwhile, and other companies are looking to establish a domestic battery manufacturing industry on Australia’s east coast.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.

  • Tesla Is Bleeding Battery EV Market Share To Ford's Mustang Mach-E: Morgan Stanley

    Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is losing market share to Ford Motor Company’s (NYSE: F) Mustang Mach-E in the United States, according to Morgan Stanley, Electrek reported Wednesday. What Happened: The global financial services firm said in its February auto sales report that the Elon Musk-led company’s share of the battery electric vehicle market fell to 69% compared with 81% in the same period a year earlier, according to Electrek. The Ford Mustang Mach-E reportedly made up for nearly 100% of the share loss. The report said that EV sales in the U.S. were up by almost 40%. The report assumed 21,550 Tesla sales in the U.S. and 9,527 BEV sales made up of a pack of manufacturers made up of names such as Ford, Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY), Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (OTC: BMWYY), and General Motors Company (NYSE: GM). Why It Matters: Electrek noted that Tesla does not break down sales unlike many other automakers and registration data are not available per state. Model S and Model X production was also briefly halted in late February and Model 3 production was hit due to a parts shortage issue. Tesla’s market share in the United States is likely to dip below 60% this year and below 50% in 2022, as per Electrek. See Also: Tesla's Share Of European EV Market Reduced To 3.5% On Tuesday, former Tesla board member Steve Westly said the Palo Alto, California-based automaker will not remain “King of the Hill in electric forever.” Westly pointed to heightened competition from traditional automakers and Chinese rivals. Price Action: Tesla shares closed nearly 4.8% lower at $653.20 on Wednesday and gained 0.11% in the after-hours trading. Click here to check out Benzinga’s EV Hub for the latest electric vehicles news. Latest Ratings for TSLA DateFirmActionFromTo Feb 2021Morgan StanleyMaintainsOverweight Feb 2021Piper SandlerMaintainsOverweight Jan 2021Deutsche BankMaintainsBuy View More Analyst Ratings for TSLA View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaHow Lucid's Plans For The Future Differ From Rival TeslaSuch Speed, Much Wow! Dogecoin To Make A Reappearance At NASCAR© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Stellantis CEO says 4th largest carmaker to be disruptive

    Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares on Wednesday said the new car company formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Peugeot would be a “disruptive” force in the industry, and that both sides would provide technologies to achieve the promised 5 billion euros ($6 billion) in cost savings each year. The Italian-American carmaker and the French mass-market automotive company completed their merger on Jan. 16, creating Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest carmaker, despite a pandemic year that saw profits plunge.