Stock or options, Nektar needs some understanding and patience now
It hasn’t exactly been a stellar couple of months for shares and options on Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR). The stock, which I hold in my Jubak Picks portfolio, is down 23.1% since it hit a high of $108.44 on March 8. The August 17, 2018 call options with a strike...
Decent retail sales in April point to likely rebound in consumer spending from first quarter weakness
Not great numbers but strong enough. For April it looks like a strong job market and higher take-home pay more than balanced out higher gasoline prices. Gas prices are now at their highest level since 2014. (Typically when gas prices climb, consumers cut back spending...
Putting gold back into the 50 Stocks Portfolio with Randgold Resources
My criteria for adding a gold stock to my long-term 50 Stocks portfolio have been reasonably consistent over the years: I’ve looked for a gold miner that was growing gold production and reducing production costs. Up until my latest revision of this portfolio in...
Amazon targets digital display ad market with new tool
OK, so even remembering that announcing a new technology product isn’t the same as actually putting a working product into the market (as Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC) have proved over the years), but this announcement from Amazon (AMZN) is still a very big...
Consumer sentiment stays strong–with a few worrisome wrinkles
Normally I don’t pay much attention to the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey. The survey questions are just so broad that I’m not sure it’s an indicator of much of anything. But at the moment, I think the survey counts. And...
Israel/Iran exchange of fire near Golan Heights supports oil; worries about Saudi production increase weigh on market
Oil prices are little changed so far today with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate off 0.04% to $71.11 a barrel as of noon New York time and international benchmark Brent down 0.06% to $77.16 a barrel. The exchange of rockets and bombs between Iranian forces in...
Nvidia crushes earnings; stock falls after hours
Okay, if you’re a trader I sort of understand selling Nvidia (NVDA) after today’s earnings report: Sell on the news; How can it get better? How long can the company keep it up? After all, the stock closed today just pennies below it’s all time high....
No surprise: Oil moves higher on day after U.S. pulls out of Iran nuclear deal
Some days you need to search for an explanation for a market move. Other days the explanation hits you over the head. Today crude oil is up, in a strong but orderly move. Two catalysts. First, yesterday President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would pull out of...
SolarEdge Technologies beats on earnings and revenue; raises guidance
SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), a member of my Jubak Picks portfolio, reported first quarter earnings today after the New York markets closed of 87 cents a share, 7 cents a share better than Wall Street projections. Revenue climbed 82.4% year over year (and 10.8% from...
Caterpillar says “Never mind” about “high water mark” comment that spooked stocks so badly on April 24
On April 24 Caterpillar (CAT) reported first quarter earnings before the New York markets opened that easily beat analyst projections. And the company raised its guidance for fiscal 2018 to earnings per share of $10.25-$11.25 from a previous $8.25-$9.25. The stock...
Ignore the short-term oil volatility and continue to hold Pioneer Natural Resources for the long-term story
So much near-term noise. Since Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) reported earnings on May 2–the company beat Wall Street estimates on earnings by 16 cents a share and reported revenue in-line with projections and up 56.5% year over year–there’s been...
Economy adds a middling 164,000 jobs in April
It all depends on your benchmark. There was good news in today’s jobs report for April since the economy added 164,000 jobs, up from a revised 135,000 jobs in March. So yay! The jobs market rebounded from March weakness. And there was bad news in the report...
CEO Elon Musk cost Tesla investors a hunk of cash today
The day started off okay for Tesla (TSLA) and its shareholders. The company announced a big loss of $3.35 a share as it burned through $745 million in cash in the first quarter. Revenue climbed 26% to a record $3.4 billion. Both the loss and the revenue number were...
Fed leaves interest rates unchanged, seems to signal continued gradual interest rate increases for rest of 2018
As expected by the financial markets, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at today’s meeting of the Open Market Committee. As expected the Fed didn’t really clarify its stance on inflation and interest rate increases, acknowledging that...
Merck moves lower in spite of earnings beat
This morning before the New York markets opened Merck (MRK) reported earnings of $1.05 a share, ahead of the $1.00 a share forecast by Wall Street analysts. Earnings were up 19.3% from the first quarter of 2017. Revenue grew 6% to $10 billion. That narrowly missed the...
U.S. Treasury sets borrowing record in first quarter–Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin–What me worry?
In the period from January through March, the U.S. Treasury borrowed $488 billion. That’s a record for the quarter and $47 billion more than the Treasury had earlier estimated. The Treasury finished March with a cash balance of $290 billion, up from an initial...
McDonald’s jumps on earnings beat
McDonald’s reported a solid earnings beat of 12 cents a share ($1.79 vs expectations for $1.67) before the market opened today, April 30. Revenue fell 9.5% year over year to $5.14 billion but that was still ahead of the $4.97 billion Wall Street consensus for...
Positive catalysts are intact for Nektar Therapeutics
Shares of biotech rocket Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) are down 23.25% since they traded at $106.91 on March 21, 2018. I can’t find evidence that the positive catalysts that led me to recommend the stock for my Jubak Picks portfolio and the options for my...
Israel’s Prime Minister announces major statement Monday night on Iranian nuclear program
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he will make a statement at 8 p.m. Tel Aviv time tonight on a “significant development” regarding the Iranian nuclear pact. (As best as I can do the conversions, 8 p.m. in Tel Aviv is 1 p.m. in New York.)...
Adding Merck to my Dividend Portfolio
News out of the imuno-oncology sector of the biotech world has hit stocks in my portfolios such as Incyte (INCY) and Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) hard. But, I’d argue that it has left Keytruda and its owner Merck (MRK) in a measurably stronger position in the...
Time to add China Southern Airlines to my 50 Stocks Portfolio
I’ve been looking to add shares of China Southern Airlines (ZNH) to my long-term 50 Stocks ever since I saw the newest list of the world’s 20 busiest airports from the Airports Council International on April 6. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson...
GDP growth ticks lower but wage gains pick up speed: Market takes possibility of four interest increases from Fed in 2018 more seriously
U.S. GDP grew at an annualized rate of 2.3% in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced before the financial markets opened for trading this morning in New York. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected growth of 2.1%. In the fourth quarter...
Did Intel and Amazon finally break the sell on earnings beat pattern today?
Amazon (AMZN), Intel (INTC), and Microsoft (MSFT) all reported earnings after the close today. All three beat earnings estimates–but this market hasn’t been very generous in rewarding earnings surprises (after Netflix (NFLX)) that is. The key tests here...
Statoil drops after 33% jump in profit falls short of Wall Street hopes
There’s no pleasing the market these days. Shares of Statoil (STO) fell 1.54% to $24.96 today after the company reported first quarter earnings of $4.4 billion, its highest quarterly profit in three years and 33% higher than in the first quarter of 2017. But the...
GOOG gets hit by market profit margin fears even after good earnings
Some times in the financial markets, the numbers aren’t as important as the narrative. I think that was the case with Alphabet (GOOG), Tuesday, April 24. Monday after the market close Alphabet reported first quarter earnings of $9.93. That was a healthy 64 cents...Caterpillar says this is high water mark for the year–and everybody sells everything
Caterpillar (CAT) crystalized the market’s fears in its conference call this morning. After delivering really great results before the market opened–Caterpillar beat Wall Street earnings estimates by 72 cents a share on earnings of $2.82 a share and then...
Kinder Morgan raises dividend by 60%
he earnings results for Kinder Morgan’s (KMI) first quarter were in line; it’s 60% increase in the annual dividend was more aggressive than expected. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest payments, taxes, and depreciation) was $1.90 billion for the...
Oil continues to move higher on Middle East fears
Oil futures in New York settled at their highest since December 2014. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.35% to close at $68.88 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude rose 0.88% to $74.71 a barrel. The gains were unusual in that the U.S. dollar...
Dividend Portfolio member Independent Bank beats on earnings today
Independent Bank (IBCP) reported first quarter earnings of 42 cents a share today. That’s up from 28 cents a share in the first quarter of 2017. Special items added 4 cents a share to earnings. The reduction in the bank’s tax rate thanks to the Tax Cuts...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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