Today the market is cutting risk ahead of possible G7 turmoil
Yesterday the story was that the market rallied on belief/hope that the leaders of the Group of 7 economies due to meet on Friday and Saturday of this week would not allow trade tensions to escalate into a full born trade war. Today it looks like investors and traders...
Nektar’s 40% drop yesterday was an extreme over-reaction: What I’m doing now
It’s never good to turn in disappointing results in a drug trial–as Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) did over the weekend–but to whack 40% off the stock price on this news is an extreme over-reaction. To justify a 40% drop you have to assume 1) that the...
FDA delivers less than half a loaf to INCY and LLY in approving Olumiant
Today the U.S. Food & Drug Administration did finally approve Baricitinib, now known as Olumiant, for the treatment of moderately-to-severely active rheumatoid arthritis. But the approval carries more restrictions than expected. The FDA approved only the 2...
U.S. economy adds 223,000 jobs in May; odds of June interest rate increase bounce back
The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in May, well ahead of the 190,000 gain expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com Revised figures for April showed the economy adding slightly fewer jobs, a revised 159,000 new jobs versus an initial 164,000. The official...
So much for the China tariff truce
Just a week after U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin declared a “truce” in President Donald Trump’s tariff war with China, today the White House has announced that it plans to put a 25% tariff on $50 billion in Chinese exports to the United...
Here we go again on the euro: The bad news is that Italy’s financial crisis is political
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down as much at 505 points today–before rallying to a loss of “just” 391 points or 1.6%–on fears that a crisis in Italy could once again put the entire EuroZone project in danger. Italian stocks were down...
Book keeping changes: Statoil (STO) changes its name and ticker to Equinor (EQNR)
A change in the name and ticker of portfolio holding Statoil (STO). The explanation offered by the company is that it wanted to remove “oil” from its name to better reflect the company’s increasing emphasis on other forms of energy including wind...
Financial markets have a case of “trade jitters” today
It’s actually amazing to me that U.S. stock markets weren’t down more today given all the uncertainty regarding trade relations between United States and China, between the United States and its NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico, and between the United...
10-year Treasury yields hit 3.1%; is the bond rout accelerating?
Not so long ago global cash seeking safety and liquidity was keeping the yield on the 10-year Treasury at 2.95% in spite of the huge budget deficit resulting from the December Tax Cuts & Jobs Act and the flood of bond sales by the U.S. Treasury and the prospect...
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...
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...
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...
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. Â 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Tech wrecks U.S. stock market again today
After a week when plunging prices for chip makers made it hard for the U.S. indexes to make much headway, even after earnings beats from companies such as Netflix (NFLX), today the software and advertising technology stocks joined in the rout. That sent the Standard...
Netflix modest earnings beat and big positive after-hours reaction good news for earnings season market
Netflix (NFLX) shares were down 1.24% during the day as investors and traders seemed to be positioning themselves for an earnings miss. (Netflix doesn’t have a record of turning in earning surprises–probably because Wall Street is so positive on the stock....
Was today’s market rally on hopes of avoiding a China/U.S. trade war justified? Here’s the state of what we know
Global financial markets rallied today on a speech by China’s President Xi Jinping at a regional economic meeting that seemed to pull China and the United States back from the cliff and a potential global trade war. Xi promised to open up China’s economy,...
No fade today after market takes off on positive China “feeling”
The market didn’t reverse or fade today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index hit 2656 by 10:30 and then, despite a dip that took 20 points off the index around 12:30 and a lot of up and downs that ultimately went nowhere, managed to close at 2656...
Monday was not the quiet day it seemed for U.S. stocks–and the intraday collapse wasn’t a good sign
On the surface, nothing much happened in U.S. stocks today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index closed up 0.33% for the day. Ho hum. But intraday the S&P 500 showed an entirely different story. After opening at 2617–up from Friday’s close...
President Trump ends that tariff calm
Just as financial markets were starting to believe that all the bluster about imposing new provocative tariffs on Chinese imports might indeed be just a negotiating ploy as administration officials loudly proclaimed over the last to days, last night President Donald...
Back to normal today? And a reminder of what normal is
With all available officials on deck today in Beijing and Washington to talk down fears of a trade war and to talk up prospects for trade talks, the U.S. financial markets have returned to “normal.” And what is “normal” right now? A 0.47% gain...
Stocks rally as markets decide trade talks will head off trade war
The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index finished up 1.16% today, closing at 2644.69, as traders and investors decided that the tariff measures targeting China that the Trump administration announced last night and the retaliatory measures announced by China...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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