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WMB | Kerber stays on course in Melbourne after win over Giorgi | By Rozanna Latiff
MELBOURNE Reuters A string of upsets has left the Australian Open women s draw without several of the pre tournament favorites but while that may have eased Angelique Kerber s path to a potential second Melbourne crown the German is taking nothing for granted
Kerber beat Italian Camila Giorgi 6 2 6 7 4 6 3 on Saturday to move on to the fourth round where she will meet Russia s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who sent second seed Karolina Pliskova spinning out of the tournament
Sixth seed Belinda Bencic also exited in the third round on Saturday falling to the same fate as former world number ones and Australian Open champions Naomi Osaka Serena Williams NYSE WMB and Caroline Wozniacki
Three times Grand Slam champion Kerber who won the Melbourne Park title in 2016 said she was only keeping an eye on who her next opponent was
I m not looking too far ahead to be honest I m just focusing on my matches on my opponents and on me Kerber told reporters
You never know You have to be ready for every single round You have always surprises during Grand Slams
Kerber seeded 17th survived a grinding encounter against 102nd ranked Giorgi to make the fourth round for the fifth straight year
She was barely troubled in the first set as the erratic Giorgi served up eight double faults and 20 unforced errors
However Giorgi cut out the misfires and dialed in her groundstrokes in the second set striking a forehand winner in the tie break to level the match
The third set was a closely fought affair as the pair traded breaks midway but the Italian was unable to keep up with Kerber who secured a second break to go up 5 3 before serving out the victory
I m happy to be in the second week I m trying to staying focused trying to keep going and playing from round to round better tennis said Kerber
And it s good to win a match like today which was really close |
WMB | Bencic bandwagon shudders to a halt in Kontaveit rout | By Nick Mulvenney
MELBOURNE Reuters Sixth seed Belinda Bencic s hopes of exploiting a string of upsets at the Australian Open lasted exactly 49 minutes on Saturday just long enough for a ruthless Anett Kontaveit to administer a 6 0 6 1 third round thrashing at Melbourne Park
Bencic had been on a good run of form after years of battling injury toppling defending champion Naomi Osaka to reach the semi finals of the U S Open last year and earning her highest seeding at a Grand Slam for Melbourne Park
Kontaveit was supposed to play the Swiss in the third round at Flushing Meadows only to withdraw with a viral illness that cut short her 2019 season and sent the Estonian hurtling down the rankings to number 31 in the world
On Saturday s evidence Bencic would never have made it to the encounter with Osaka that revitalized her career as the powerful Estonian simply blew her off the court at the Margaret Court Arena
She played a great match Really solid I think I was a little bit overwhelmed said Bencic 22
There is not much you can do You can just try and fight Obviously it didn t work out for me today I didn t feel my best on the court but she was playing really well
I was trying to hang in there trying to fight
Kontaveit hit 21 winners in the short contest and Bencic made 18 unforced errors including the wild swipe of a forehand return that sent her opponent into a fourth round meeting with Polish teenager Iga Swiatek
Didn t work out well for me today Bencic added But I m really happy for her because last time we were supposed to play something bad happened to her
With the last three champions Osaka Caroline Wosniaki and Serena Williams NYSE WMB knocked out on Friday and second seed Karolina Pliskova upset on Saturday the women s draw at Melbourne Park is wide open
It s the same at every Grand Slam There are upsets and I think it s normal because it s tennis and tennis is very unpredictable said Bencic
I don t really care so much now who is going to win |
C | Technical Analysis EUR USD GBP USD USD JPY and USD CAD | EUR USDEuropean Union banks must raise 114 7 billion Euros 152 8 billion in fresh capital as part of measures introduced to respond to the euro area s sovereign debt crisis German banks need to raise an additional 13 1 billion Euros Italian banks 15 4 billion Euros and Spanish lenders 26 2 billion Euros in core tier 1 capital the European Banking Authority in London said The capital shortfalls include 15 3 billion Euros for Spain s Banco Santander SA and 7 97 billion Euros for Italy s UniCredit SpA European leaders are demanding the region s banks bolster capital to withstand write downs after they agreed to take losses on Greek bonds The EBA estimated two months ago that the region s financial institutions needed 106 billion Euros to increase their core Tier 1 capital to a target of 9 percent of risk weighted assets by mid 2012 after marking their sovereign bonds to match market prices It looks as if the banks are running just to stand still said Matthew Czepliewicz a banking analyst at Collins Stewart in London The backdrop has worsened therefore banks in the interim have decided to lower their sovereign holdings and some have raised equity so they ve reacted and yet the aggregate number hasn t changed much The Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index fell 3 1 percent to 72 45 in London Banks received financial support today from the European Central Bank which coupled an interest rate cut with a pledge to offer unlimited cash for three years in an effort to help banks avoid a liquidity crisis GBP USDBank of England officials maintained their current round of stimulus as European officials hold a summit on the debt turmoil that Governor Mervyn King says is beyond his control The Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep the target for bond purchases at 275 billion pounds 432 billion as predicted by all 39 economists in a Bloomberg News survey It increased the target by 75 billion pounds in October and expects those purchases to be completed in February King said last month there s little point in fine tuning policy as officials watch to see how events play out The European Central Bank cut interest rates today and euro area leaders will start a two day summit whose outcome could determine if any of the region s members can keep a top credit rating with Standard Poor s While King is holding fire on more stimulus he introduced a new sterling liquidity measure this week to help banks weather any further escalation of a crisis that s crimping demand and pushing up funding costs It appears the MPC is content to wait until February before committing to further asset purchases said David Tinsley an economist at BNP Paribas SA in London However there is some residual risk that they could go for more in January should market tensions escalate and the MPC considered some immediate monetary policy signal would be useful The Bank of England also left its benchmark interest rate at a record low 0 5 percent today as forecast by all 52 economists in a Bloomberg survey USD JPYJapanese securities watchdogs are seeking to punish Citigroup Inc for attempted manipulation of the Tokyo interbank offered rate Nikkei reported citing unidentified sources Regulators are examining whether employees at a Japanese unit of Citigroup the third biggest U S lender by assets pushed banks to submit interest rates that would ensure that Tibor moved to the brokerage s advantage Nikkei said The rate is calculated by compiling quotes submitted by major banks The nation s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission is urging the Financial Services Agency to penalize the Citigroup Global Markets Japan unit Nikkei said Danielle Romero Apsilos a spokeswoman for New York based Citigroup declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg News There was no answer to a call to a phone number listed on the commission s website after normal business hours Citigroup is part of a global investigation by regulators into whether some of the world s biggest banks manipulated the interest rates at which they borrowed from each other The U S Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission may be investigating whether banks colluded to artificially reduce the London interbank offered rate or Libor a person with knowledge of the inquiry said in March USD CADCanada s dollar fell for the first time in four days on concern a lack of resolution for Europe s debt crisis will slow global growth sapping demand for higher yielding assets The loonie as Canada s dollar is also known dropped from the highest level in a month against its U S counterpart and fell against most of the other major currencies after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi damped speculation that more purchases of euro area bonds are imminent Canada s 10 year note yield fell to a record low of 1 979 percent as investors sought a refuge The realization gripped the market than it terms of liquidity the central banks was there but would do very little further in terms of funding or bond purchases that has weighed on risk assets as well as the Canadian dollar said Stewart Hall senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto The market is looking for some signs of a credible fence to cordon off the crisis and it didn t get a heck of a lot from the ECB Canada s currency depreciated 1 3 percent to C 1 0232 per U S dollar 5 p m in Toronto One Canadian dollar buys 97 78 U S cents The loonie earlier touched C 1 0052 the strongest level since Nov 1 Yields on 10 year notes fell to a record low 1 979 percent dropping as much as eight basis points or 0 08 percentage point The price of the 3 25 percent securities maturing in June 2021 increased 57 cents to C 110 81 |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Monday Markets Wavered | Markets wavered and then fell as export growth in China fell to its lowest levels since 2009 and investor optimism over the latest European accord faded History repeats itself as markets celebrated the conclusion of another EU summit before once again being hit by the reality of the ongoing crisis Moody s Investor Service announced that last week s EU summit has failed to deliver decisive policy measures to address the debt crisis and placed the credit rating of all European Union members on review Fitch joined the chorus of criticism by saying that the summit does little to ease pressure China s ex ports rose 13 8 year on year compared to 15 9 growth in October The EUR went into free fall to touch 2 month lows at 1 3162 The USD and the JPY strengthened against most of their trading peers as investors rushed to safe haven assets overnight as concerns escalate over the manageability of the European debt crisis In a worrying sign yields for one year Italian bonds sold at 5 95 at a bond auction overnight and yields remained persistently high even with speculation that the ECB had pur chased some of the nation s debt Italy has EUR 53 billion in bonds maturing in the first quarter and this amount represents a staggering 30 of the entire region s maturing bonds for that period The impact of the latest round of risk aversion has most adversely affected the risk currencies The Brazilian Real plunged more that 2 5 while the Australian dollar lost more than 1 5 cents to trade as low as 1 0052 USDJPY opens the morning at 77 90 Despite US economic data that continues to outperform expectations the European debt crisis continues to dominate inves tor sentiment in the equity markets Global markets plunged overnight as European bourses bore the brunt of the sell off The DAX lost 3 36 to 5 785 while the FTSE fell 1 83 to 5 428 US equities fell with the S P closing 1 49 lower to 1 236 The biggest losers among the 10 industry groups on the S P 500 were commodity and financial firms Morgan Stan ley and Citigroup both fell more than 5 Commodities plunged as investor confidence in the latest Euro accord faded WTI Crude oil plummeted almost 2 at one stage and opens the Asian session below 98 00 Precious metals were punished with gold losing almost 50 to 1 669 while silver has lost 3 to 31 28 Soft commodities continue to fall after the recent reports of rising stockpiles and global sup plies while copper was sold heavily losing almost 3 The CRB index down 3 57 points to 302 86 GOLD was hit hard in offshore trade as we saw global markets crumble on the back of negative com ments out of Moody s and Fitch which suggested that even though the EU Summit had some positive out comes it had not done enough to avert a slowdown and potential debt downgrades Copper prices were sold off and the Euro and the UD both fell on the news which saw equities decline and gold suffered as investors moved to cash rather than precious metals on the night Gold finished US trade weaker by 2 75 at 1 668 IT was a bad day in Asia yesterday and an even worse night last night for precious metals prices as negative com ments and a broad sell off left only one way for prices to go We may see further weakness from here and we are definitely not out of the woods just yet as we remain near the nights lows but we do remain above major MT sup port towards 1 585 1 600 and as long as this holds the bigger picture tend is in place Having said this we have broken ST support and a break below 1 657 which was last nights low and we are headed lower for sure so we are sidelined for now waiting for a bottom but a break lower and we will get short intra day only Only a break back above 1 700 confirms a bottom and intra day a break through resistance at 1 675 should trigger further gains back to 1 was smashed during the Euro pean and US sessions as two of the major rat ings agencies warned that the EU summit failed to do enough for the outlook not to be negative and once the Moody s release during the Lon don session started the momentum there wasn t much to stop it The first break below 1 0155 started a wave of momentum selling and with liquidity being lower than normal there wasn t much to stop the slide However the break has been stopped in its tracks by the support we saw on the charts at 1 0050 and as we close the book on the US day the pair remains stuck be tween 1 0050 and 1 0075 NAB Business confi dence is due this morning and with the market looking on edge for a continued decline and if business starts to suffer and the outlook for employment worsens the outlook for the AUD will not be good We are watching the 1 0050 level with interest and whilst we don t expect any major moves ahead of the Xmas break a move below parity looks more than likely |
C | Stocks Rise Again on Euro Optimism | Stocks rose again on Euro optimism though it was touch and go all week as the Dow Jones gained 1 4 to close at 12184 The Dow is now up 5 2 for the year but the S P 500 and Nasdaq are still down both 0 2
U S Treasury Yields
6 mo 0 04 2 yr 0 22 10 yr 2 06 30 yr 3 11 Yields rose and fell based on news out of Europe Any optimism there led to rates rising on U S Treasuries Pessimism led to the opposite At week s end there was more optimism than pessimism Brits are concerned that Bank of England Gov Sir Mervyn King is too gloomy as in he is relentlessly downbeat such as in his recent musings that these were extraordinarily serious times and an exceptionally threatening environment In another speech King said the banking system is in full blown systemic crisis and lenders should cut bonuses slash dividends and bolster their defenses He might be right but as one banker told the London Times he couldn t imagine Ben Bernanke using such a tone According to a poll in Sweden less than 10 percent of the people there support a switch to the euro a record low Sweden once had a serious financial crisis of its own but has lowered its debt to GDP radio to just 36 percent and will post a budget surplus in 2011 Germany s debt to GDP is going to be over 81 percent this year Sweden s 10 and 30 year bond deals are below those of Germany s According to ComScore online sales surged 15 percent in November over year ago levels I know I recently bought a lot of cookies online for the first time ever but then you should have seen these pictures of the buttercream ones that I was drooling over Citigroup is eliminating 4 500 jobs and taking a 400 million charge in the fourth quarter as a result McGraw Hill is cutting 550 jobs in its education division as resources are redirected from traditional textbook businesses to digital products and education services according to the company BP accused Halliburton of destroying damaging evidence relating to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil well blast and spill BP is claiming oil field services giant Halliburton intentionally destroyed test results of its cement product used at the Macondo well Randy Babbitt was forced to resign from the FAA after being arrested for drunk driving in Fairfax Virginia Most of us are just wondering how Babbitt could wait 36 hours to tell his boss Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood who learned of it through a police news release The parent of Massey Energy Alpha Natural Resources agreed to pay 209 million in restitution and civil and criminal penalties for the roles of Massey in the mine explosion last year that claimed 29 lives in West Virginia 46 5 million goes to the families of the victims and those injured in the blast But many family members are still incensed that criminal charges haven t been filed as yet against Massey executives 18 of them have refused to be interviewed by federal investigators In this respect the case is similar to some of the Wall Street scandals In what could be a significant development for the first time the EPA linked chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing for natural gas to contaminated water supplies in this case in a remote Wyoming valley The EPA admits that the conditions in the Pavillion field were different from standard fracturing sites in that the gas wells were far shallower than in many other areas India s government was all set to embrace opening up its retail market to global chains such as Wal Mart and Tesco but just as in some U S locales the government got an earful from critics and small businessmen fearful they would be wiped out and so India s leadership has opted to suspend the plan The U S Postal Service said it planned to eliminate next day delivery for first class mail as it shuts half of its 487 processing centers nationwide which will also result in the elimination of 28 000 jobs It will be the first reduction in delivery standards in 40 years The USPS is looking to save 3 billion a year by 2015 having lost 27 percent of its first class volume the last three years according to postmaster general Patrick Donahoe Gee did you know 60 percent of bills are paid online these days I refuse to do so So remember how I ve said from time to time this year that I was hearing how strong the corn and wheat harvests were in places like Russia and Ukraine got this info largely confirmed by readers from the region This week corn futures hit their lowest levels of the year with Europe picking up key export business in Asia Wall Street Journal Japan typically buys U S corn but Eastern and Central European countries have harvested a bumper crop and their prices for delivery to East Asia are currently cheaper than U S prices Australia is also doing well as their drought was broken another topic I addressed earlier in the year It was all part of my CRB Index calculation that we d finish down on the year after being way up early on And with three weeks to go the CRB is at 306 43 after closing 12 31 10 at 332 80 Hedge fund king John Paulson has lost 46 percent this year on one of his largest funds through November Friday s USA TODAY has a huge cover story on how states have been expanding pensions once reserved for police and firemen to tens of thousands of other workers such as dispatchers park rangers and even lifeguards all of which will add heavily to the current 70 billion that taxpayers owe state retirement funds each year The pensions were designed for those putting their lives on the line but in Illinois for example where highway maintenance workers earn up to 148 000 a year with overtime early enhanced retirement can pay a 75 000 a year pension at age 50 after 25 years on the job That adds up to 2 2 million if the retiree lives to age 80 1 2 million more than if the person had been in the state s regular retirement plan Thirteen local unions ratified a contract with the A P supermarket chain now in bankruptcy I selfishly note this as I shop at a nice A P in town It seems the workers accepted a five year wage freeze Now that s a sign of the times All other costs keep rising of course But at least the new contract protects for the time being not only their jobs but their health and pension benefits Hot times comin up in New Orleans Over the next 18 months the Big Easy is host to college football s national championship game in January the 2012 NCAA Final Four and SEC men s basketball tournaments the 2013 women s Final Four and the 2013 Super Bowl Plus the Port of New Orleans is welcoming a fleet of tall ships and military vessels in April as part of the bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812 You know I m embarrassed to say I know virtually nothing of this conflict I hear they ve opened a new museum at Ft McHenry in Baltimore so gotta check it out and combine it with some Orioles baseball and Babe Ruth s museum And then some soft shell crabs and some beer and Anyway where was I Oh yes New Orleans The point being the city is going to be reaping lots and lots of tourist dollars The January BCS football game plus the men s Final Four alone are expected to generate millions in needed tax revenues for starters Actually in the first half of 2011 tourism was up 7 7 over 2010 with visitors spending a total of 3 1 billion during those six months USA TODAY Then there is Las Vegas In an AP story the average home price in Vegas fell to 118 213 last month down from 329 720 just four years ago But passenger counts at McCarran International Airport were up 4 5 percent over year ago levels and the unemployment rate is dropping At CityCenter an upscale retail hotel and casino resort on the Strip sales are up 27 percent at Crystal s the city s largest upscale retail center Yet the casinos statewide took in 53 8 million less in September than a year ago Talk about a mixed picture All kinds of buzz about Ryan Seacrest replacing Matt Lauer on Today when Lauer s contract ends late 2012 Lauer looking to depart While Seacrest has no current news gravitas I wouldn t have a problem with him though I thought CNBC s Carl Quintanilla would have been a good choice Boing U K drugmaker Futura Medical Plc has come up with a condom that contains a dose of Futura s Zanifil gel inside the tip or Viagra in a condom as the story I read put it Now discuss amongst yourselves unless you re in Europe where the European Commission would have to clear your talking points before you start conversing with your friend or family member |
C | Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories Upbeat Economic Data Lifts US MarketsEquitiesSelling pressure hit Asian markets as rising interest rates in Italy and Spain triggered nervous selling The Nikkei dropped 7 to 8542 the Kospi declined 9 and the ASX 200 skidded 4 Hong Kong s Hang Seng fell 8 while the Shanghai Composite bucked the downtrend closing up fractionally European markets closed lower in a volatile session as a spike in French interest rates hurt financial shares The CAC40 slumped 1 9 as BNP Paribas and Societe Generale both tumbled more than 5 The DAX declined 9 and the FTSE closed down fractionally recovering from a sizable loss earlier in the day Italy s new prime minister Mario Monti succeeded in forming a government helping stocks pare their early losses Afternoon Rally Helps FTSE Pare LossesIn the US stocks gained led by the Nasdaq which rallied 1 1 The Dow closed up 17 points to 12096 and the S P 500 rose 5 to 1258 CurrenciesThe Dollar advanced for a second day The Euro fell 6 to 1 3535 the Pound declined 5 to 1 5814 and the Swiss Franc slumped 8 to 1 0924 The Canadian Dollar fell 4 to 1 0212 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 06 Economic OutlookTuesday s economic data projected a healthy outlook for the US economy Retails sales rose by 6 more than forecast and the Empire State manufacturing survey unexpectedly climbed snapping a 5 month losing streak PPI unexpectedly fell thanks to a drop in commodity prices European Debt Fears Hit EquitiesEquitiesAsian markets ended lower as investors focused on debt troubles in Europe China s markets led the declines as the Shanghai Composite shed 2 5 and the Hang Seng skidded 2 following a report from the IMF that China s banks face systemic risks The Nikkei fell 9 to 8463 while Olympus shares surged 15 amid growing expectations that the company will not be delisted The Kospi dropped 1 6 and the ASX 200 slid 9 In Europe news that the ECB was buying bonds helped stabilize the markets The major indexes closed mixed with the CAC40 up 7 while the DAX slipped 2 and the FTSE eased 1 Despite the ECB s efforts Italian 10 year notes settled above the 7 Heavy selling hit US stocks in the last hour of the day as investors were spooked by a report from Fitch which discusses US bank exposure to European debt The Dow dropped 191 points to 11906 and the S P 500 and Nasdaq both fell 1 7 CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar tumbled 1 1 to 1 0081 as risk aversion hit the market The Euro and Pound both lost 5 to 1 3463 and 1 5730 respectively and the Canadia n Dollar eased 3 to 1 0236 Economic OutlookWednesday s reports were upbeat suggesting the economic recovery is picking up The housing market index jumped to 20 from 17 its highest level in 18 months Industrial production rose 7 more than forecast CPI data showed a drop of 1 in prices but core CPI which excludes food and energy rose 1 Stocks Tumble as European Bond Yields SurgeEquitiesAsian markets closed mixed as the major indexes pared early losses The Nikkei rose 2 to 8480 the Kospi rallied 1 1 and the ASX 200 ticked up 3 China s markets closed lower as the Shanghai Composite eased 2 and the Hang Seng dropped 8 weighed down by real estate companies European markets sank as rising bond prices reinforced fears of contagion The CAC40 tumbled 1 8 the DAX fell 1 1 and the FTSE slumped 1 6 Spanish bond prices continued to drop pushing yields on 10 year Spanish notes up to 6 975 in a government auction with a weak bid to cover ratio of 1 54 CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar fell below the 1 000 parity level closing down 8 to 9997 and the Yen rose 1 to settle below 77 at 76 98 The Canadian Dollar skidded 5 to 1 0289 The Euro closed up fractionally surrendering early gains and the Pound gained 2 to 1 5754 Economic OutlookThursday s economic data was mostly positive Weekly jobless claims dropped to their lowest level in 7 weeks at 388K better than forecast Building permits were higher than expected while housing starts were in line with analyst expectations On a weaker note the Philly Fed manufacturing index unexpectedly dropped to 3 6 from 8 7 Asian and European Equities Drop US ends MixedEquitiesAsian markets skidded on Friday as Europe s debt troubles remained in focus The Nikkei fell 1 2 to 8375 the Kospi sank 2 and the ASX 200 slumped 1 9 China s Shanghai Composite dropped 1 9 and Hong Kong s Hang Seng declined 1 7 European markets continued to drop Comments by German s chancellor Merkel that the ECB cannot pretend to have powers they don t have cast doubt on plans for the ECB to lend money to the IMF to purchase sovereign bonds The ECB cannot buy bonds directly The FTSE fell 1 1 the CAC40 dropped 4 and the DAX closed down 9 FTSE slumps more than 1 In the US the Dow gained 26 points to 11796 while the Nasdaq fell 6 and the S P 500 closed flat CurrenciesThe Dollar traded modestly lower against the major currencies The Euro rose 4 to 1 3524 the Pound advanced 3 and the Australian Dollar ticked up 1 to 1 0010 The Swiss Franc gained 5 to 1 0908 Economic OutlookLeading indicators gained by 9 last month beating analyst forecasts |
JPM | Madoff trustee recoups nearly 500 million more for customers | By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK Reuters Former customers of Bernard Madoff may soon recover an additional 496 8 million as a result of a settlement with two feeder funds that was announced on Monday by the trustee liquidating the swindler s firm
The settlement with the Herald Fund SPC and Primeo Fund both based in the Cayman Islands is one of the largest obtained by the trustee Irving Picard since the failure of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC in December 2008
If approved by U S Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein in Manhattan the payout would push the sum recovered by the trustee for Madoff customers above 10 3 billion
That equals about 59 percent of the estimated 17 5 billion of principal they lost in Madoff s decades long Ponzi scheme A hearing has been scheduled for Dec 17 Nearly 6 billion has been distributed so far
By any measure the settlement terms are highly advantageous not only to BLMIS direct customers with allowed claims but also potentially to the indirect investors in the Herald Fund Oren Warshavsky a lawyer who negotiated the settlement for Picard said in a statement
The accord resolves Picard s lawsuits against Herald and Primeo to recoup sums they withdrew from Madoff s firm in the six years before that firm collapsed
Herald will receive a 1 64 billion claim in the Madoff firm s liquidation entitling it to catch up payments from four prior distributions that Picard made to customers
Out of these payments the first 496 8 million will go to other Madoff customers Herald will then share in future recoveries obtained by the trustee The Herald and Primeo funds are both also in liquidation
Picard has filed more than 1 000 lawsuits against feeder funds that sent customer money to Madoff and net winners who took out more from Madoff s firm than they put in
His largest settlement is a 7 2 billion accord with the estate of Jeffry Picower a Florida investor who died in 2009 Picard also recouped 325 million from JPMorgan Chase Co once Madoff s main bank
A separate 4 05 billion fund overseen by former U S Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Richard Breeden will also pay customers and third parties who lost money
Breeden said he has received 63 553 claims covering an alleged 76 65 billion of losses
Madoff 76 is serving a 150 year prison term
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by David Ingram |
BMY | Bristol Myers Squibb BMY Stock Sinks As Market Gains What You Should Know | Bristol Myers Squibb BMY closed at 47 99 in the latest trading session marking a 0 87 move from the prior day This change lagged the S P 500 s daily gain of 0 97 At the same time the Dow added 1 09 and the tech heavy Nasdaq gained 1 08
Coming into today shares of the biopharmaceutical company had lost 7 93 in the past month In that same time the Medical sector lost 4 78 while the S P 500 lost 3 04
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from BMY as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 24 2019 On that day BMY is projected to report earnings of 0 84 per share which would represent year over year growth of 23 53 Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 5 99 billion up 9 85 from the prior year quarter
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for BMY should also be noted by investors These revisions help to show the ever changing nature of near term business trends As a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 28 higher BMY is currently a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
Looking at its valuation BMY is holding a Forward P E ratio of 11 63 Its industry sports an average Forward P E of 14 4 so we one might conclude that BMY is trading at a discount comparatively
Meanwhile BMY s PEG ratio is currently 1 3 The PEG ratio is similar to the widely used P E ratio but this metric also takes the company s expected earnings growth rate into account BMY s industry had an average PEG ratio of 1 86 as of yesterday s close
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 109 which puts it in the top 43 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
To follow BMY in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
BMY | Bristol Myers Squibb BMY Stock Moves 0 04 What You Should Know | Bristol Myers Squibb NYSE BMY closed at 47 97 in the latest trading session marking a 0 04 move from the prior day This change was narrower than the S P 500 s daily loss of 0 53 Meanwhile the Dow lost 0 36 and the Nasdaq a tech heavy index lost 0 94
Coming into today shares of the biopharmaceutical company had lost 10 53 in the past month In that same time the Medical sector lost 3 96 while the S P 500 lost 1 47
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from BMY as it approaches its next earnings report date This is expected to be January 24 2019 In that report analysts expect BMY to post earnings of 0 84 per share This would mark year over year growth of 23 53 Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 5 99 billion up 9 85 from the year ago period
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for BMY These revisions typically reflect the latest short term business trends which can change frequently As a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
Ranging from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell the Zacks Rank system has a proven outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks returning an average of 25 annually since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1 11 lower within the past month BMY is currently a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
Investors should also note BMY s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 11 66 This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 14 51
Meanwhile BMY s PEG ratio is currently 1 31 This metric is used similarly to the famous P E ratio but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock s expected earnings growth rate The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 1 92 at yesterday s closing price
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 49 which puts it in the top 20 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
To follow BMY in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
C | RPT GLOBAL MARKETS Stocks slip on banking concerns dollar gains | Refiles to fix typo in headline
U S stocks slump as fear of more bank failures grows
Dollar rises versus yen after strong U S factory data
Oil slips below 69 a barrel on equities strong dollar
Bonds fall after U S ISM data boosts recovery hopes
Updates with U S markets activity changes byline dateline
previous LONDON
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK Sept 1 Reuters U S stocks fell sharply on
Tuesday as growing concerns about the U S banking system and
over whether a recent rally in equity markets is warranted
drove investors to the relative safety of bonds and the
dollar
Oil prices fell as the economic concerns outweighed
surprisingly bullish U S data the manufacturing sector grew
in August for the first time in 19 months while pending home
sales hits a two year high in July For more see
ID nN01376541
Government bond prices on both sides of the Atlantic rose
as falling stocks enhanced the allure of lower risk safe haven
debt despite the fresh evidence supporting the view of a global
economic recovery ID nN01488059 ID nL1726052
There are new concerns about the health of the banking
system the number of bank failures that continues to grow by
the day said Peter Kenny managing director at Knight Equity
Markets in Jersey City New Jersey
A sharp drop in bank stocks in late morning trading pulled
the Dow industrials and the broad Standard Poor s 500
Index down 2 percent on fears of balance sheet trouble
in the U S financial sector
The KBW bank index slipped 4 6 percent with shares
of Citigroup off 7 2 percent at 4 64 among top drags
Three more U S banks failed last Friday bringing the
total to 84 so far this year as the banking industry grapples
with deteriorating loans on their books Only 25 U S banks
failed last year while three failed in all of 2007
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp reported last week that
its deposit insurance fund fell 20 percent to 10 4 billion at
the end of the second quarter Worries about the FDIC s access
to capital was also weighing on the market Kenny said
At 1 20 p m 1720 GMT the Dow Jones industrial average
was down 185 91 points or 1 96 percent at 9 310 37
The Standard Poor s 500 Index was down 21 34 points
or 2 09 percent at 999 28 The Nasdaq Composite Index
was down 41 11 points or 2 05 percent at 1 967 95
European equities closed sharply lower after mixed economic
data led lower by banks and commodity stocks ID nL1126558
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares
ended down 1 8 percent at 954 15
Net lending to Britons in July fell at its sharpest pace
since records began in 1993 even as the number of mortgages
approved rose to its highest since April 2008 Bank of England
figures showed ID nL1139336
The market is still overall concerned about the
sustainability of the recovery said Orlando Green interest
rate strategist at Calyon adding that government measures such
as the cash for clunkers may have boosted the result
There are still doubts whether the economy can stand up by
itself away from these government initiatives
U S crude oil for October delivery fell 1 21 to
68 75 per barrel while London Brent crude dropped
1 13 to 68 52
The dollar extended gains versus the euro to hit session
highs on Tuesday as sharp losses in the U S stock market
boosted the greenback s safe haven appeal
The euro fell as low as 1 4221 and was last down 0 7
percent 1 4235
Copper prices slipped as investors worried about the pace
of economic recovery in China but they trimmed losses after
the release of bullish U S manufacturing data ID nL1592159
The benchmark 10 year U S Treasury note was up
12 32 in price to yield 3 36 percent
September Bund futures settled at 122 61 down 2
ticks from Monday but it later traded up 23 ticks at 122 84
A rebound in Chinese stocks after Monday s sell off
helped lift Asian shares The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks
traded outside Japan rose nearly 1 percent
while Japan s Nikkei closed up 0 4 percent
Reporting by Rodrigo Campos Edward Krudy Wanfeng Zhou
Rebekah Kebede and Burton Frierson in New York and Atul
Prakash Ian Chua and Michael Taylor in London Writing by
Herbert Lash Editing by James Dalgleish |
C | US STOCKS Bank shares slide pushing Wall St down 2 percent | Financials drag market lower volatility spikes
U S manufacturing returns to growth in August
Dow drops 1 6 pct S P off 1 7 pct Nasdaq off 1 7 pct
Updates to early afternoon
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK Sept 1 Reuters Investors dumped U S stocks
on Tuesday spooked by uncertainty over the health of
financial companies and concerns that the explosive rally
since March may have run ahead of economic reality
Benchmark indexes rose in late morning trading but sharply
reversed course due to fears of a revival of trouble in the
financial sector The KBW bank index dropped 4 percent Among
the top drags were shares of JPMorgan Chase Co down 2 2
percent at 42 49 and Citigroup down 5 8 percent at 4 71
Positive manufacturing and housing data inspired only a
brief rally which investors used as an opportunity to sell
The Institute for Supply Management showed U S
manufacturing expanded in August for the first time since
January 2008 The National Association of Realtors said
pending home sales rose in July to the highest level since
June 2007
Along with the good news there were also some notes of
caution said Kim Caughey senior equity research analyst at
Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh
The home tax credit initiative is coming to an end in
November and I think the Realtors association understands
this is pulling forward sales and that demand for homes is
going to dry up
An 8 000 tax credit available for first time home buyers
expires before Dec 1
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 153 94 points or
1 62 percent to 9 342 34 The Standard Poor s 500 Index
lost 17 61 points or 1 73 percent to 1 003 01 The Nasdaq
Composite Index fell 33 87 points or 1 69 percent to
1 975 19
Caughey said banks assets are based on home prices and
bets that housing prices could resume their fall may be
hurting financial shares
The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX Wall Street s favorite
barometer of investor fear shot up 9 1 percent to 28 38 as
investors use options to take out protection against further
declines in stocks
Editing by Jan Paschal |
C | US STOCKS Wall St tumbles on financial woes S P off 2 pct | Concerns over banks sink stocks volatility spikes
Citi off 6 6 pct AIG down almost 17 pct
U S manufacturing returns to growth in August
Dow off 1 8 pct S P off 1 9 pct Nasdaq off 1 7 pct
For up to the minute market news click STXNEWS US
Updates to late afternoon changes byline
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK Sept 1 Reuters U S stocks fell on Tuesday
as uncertainty over financial companies health prompted a
sell off while concerns mounted about the validity of a rally
that has driven stocks up nearly 50 percent from March
Benchmark indexes bounced in morning trading on
encouraging data but sharply reversed course before midday
due to fears of a revival of trouble in the financial sector
The KBW bank index dropped 4 3 percent Among the
top drags were shares of JPMorgan Chase Co down 2 7
percent at 42 31 and Citigroup down 6 6 percent at
4 67
Troubled insurer American International Group
tumbled 16 9 percent to 37 68
The problems in financials are nowhere near over They
have been masked for awhile sort of hidden away by government
stimulus said Keith Springer president of Capital Financial
Advisory Services in Sacramento California
People are coming to a realization as they grow more
cautious that additional government help is not available
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 165 73
points or 1 75 percent to 9 330 55 The Standard Poor s
500 Index fell 19 47 points or 1 91 percent to
1 001 15 The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 34 25
points or 1 70 percent to 1 974 81
Positive manufacturing and housing data inspired only a
brief rally which investors used as an opportunity to sell
The Institute for Supply Management showed U S
manufacturing expanded in August for the first time since
January 2008 For details see ID nN01376541
The National Association of Realtors said pending home
sales rose in July to the highest level since June 2007
Along with the good news there were also some notes of
caution said Kim Caughey senior equity research analyst at
Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh
The home tax credit initiative is coming to an end in
November and I think the Realtors association understands
this is pulling forward sales and that demand for homes is
going to dry up
An 8 000 tax credit available for first time home buyers
expires before Dec 1
On the Nasdaq Apple Inc fell 1 3 percent to
166 02 and ebay Inc slipped 2 1 percent to 21 68
The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX Wall Street s
favorite barometer of investor fear shot up 9 7 percent to
28 54 as investors use options to take out protection against
further declines in stocks
Editing by Jan Paschal |
C | US STOCKS Wall St slides on anxiety over banks health | Concerns over banks sink stocks volatility spikes
Anxiety offset 1st growth in manufacturing since Jan 08
Dow off 2 pct S P off 2 2 pct Nasdaq off 2 pct
Updates to close
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK Sept 1 Reuters U S stocks fell for a third
straight day on Tuesday spooked by uncertainty over the
health of banks and concerns that the explosive rally since
March may have run ahead of economic reality
September lived up to its reputation as being the worst
month for stocks as elevated anxiety pushed the three major
indexes down 2 percent for the day and drove the S P 500 below
the psychologically important threshold of 1 000 Skepticism
that stocks can add to a nearly 50 percent rally over the last
six months prevailed in the market
The wall of worry that the market is trying to climb has
gotten higher into September said Michael James senior
trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles
People started selling into good macro news since a few
days ago and that was accelerated today by a couple banks
today he said adding that growing anxiety was creating
major weakness in the market
The KBW bank index dropped 5 8 percent Among the top
drags were shares of JPMorgan Chase Co down 4 1 percent at
41 67 and Citigroup down 9 2 percent at 4 54
After a brief period of optimism in early trading
investors largely played down the first sign of growth in
manufacturing in a year and a half and the highest level of
pending home sales since June 2007
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 185 68 points or
1 96 percent to close at 9 310 60 The Standard Poor s 500
Index fell 22 58 points or 2 21 percent to 998 04 The
Nasdaq Composite Index slid 40 17 points or 2 00 percent to
1 968 89
Fears of a revival of balance sheet troubles in the
financial sector led to a sharp rise in the CBOE Volatility
Index or VIX Known as Wall Street s favorite barometer of
investor fear the VIX shot up 12 1 percent to 29 15 as
investors used options to take out protection against further
declines in stocks
Solid evidence that the economy was pulling out of the
worst recession in 70 years came from the Institute for Supply
Management s August manufacturing index which grew for the
first time in 19 months partially driven by the government s
cash for clunkers program
The same scheme saw U S auto sales booming in August but
U S stocks ignored the sales data sending Ford Motor Co down
4 7 percent to 7 24 despite a 17 percent rise in its monthly
sales
Shares of Internet auction house eBay Inc dropped 2 1
percent to 21 68 after the company announced its plan to sell
a majority stake in its online phone unit Skype for 1 9
billion to private investors
Volume was heavy unusual for the last week of August
on the New York Stock Exchange where 1 63 billion shares
changed hands above last year s estimated daily average of
1 49 billion
On the Nasdaq about 2 76 billion shares traded above
last year s daily average of 2 28 billion
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of 5 to 1 On the Nasdaq about seven stocks fell for
every two that rose
Editing by Jan Paschal |
C | US STOCKS Wall St falls 2 pct on anxiety over banks health | Concerns over banks sink stocks volatility spikes
Anxiety offset 1st growth in manufacturing since Jan 08
Dow off 2 pct S P off 2 2 pct Nasdaq off 2 pct
For up to the minute market news click STXNEWS US
Adds context in paragraph 2 on stock indexes percentage
losses worst since mid August
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK Sept 1 Reuters U S stocks fell for a third
straight day on Tuesday spooked by uncertainty over the
health of financials and concerns that the explosive rally
since March may have run ahead of economic reality
September began living up to its reputation as the worst
month for stocks as elevated anxiety pushed the three major
indexes down 2 percent for the day their worst percentage
losses since Aug 17
Skepticism that stocks can add to a nearly 50 percent
rally over the last six months prevailed in the market
sending the S P 500 below the psychologically important
threshold of 1 000
The wall of worry that the market is trying to climb has
gotten higher into September said Michael James senior
trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles
People started selling into good macro news since a few
days ago and that was accelerated today by a couple banks
today he said adding that growing anxiety was creating
major weakness in the market
The KBW bank index dropped 5 8 percent Among the
top drags were shares of JPMorgan Chase Co down 4 1
percent at 41 67 and Citigroup down 9 2 percent at
4 54
After a brief period of optimism in early trading
investors largely played down the first sign of growth in
manufacturing in a year and a half and the highest level of
pending home sales since June 2007 For analysis see
ID nN01183316
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 185 68
points or 1 96 percent to close at 9 310 60 The Standard
Poor s 500 Index fell 22 58 points or 2 21 percent to
998 04 The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 40 17 points
or 2 00 percent to 1 968 89
FEAR FACTOR RETURNS
Fears of a revival of balance sheet troubles in the
financial sector led to a sharp rise in the CBOE Volatility
Index or VIX Known as Wall Street s favorite barometer
of investor fear the VIX shot up 12 1 percent to 29 15 the
highest level since early July as investors used options to
take out protection against further declines in stocks
Solid evidence that the economy was pulling out of the
worst recession in 70 years came from the Institute for Supply
Management s August manufacturing index which grew for the
first time in 19 months partially driven by the government s
cash for clunkers program
The same scheme saw U S auto sales booming in August but
U S stocks ignored the sales data sending Ford Motor Co
down 4 7 percent to 7 24 despite a 17 percent rise in
its monthly sales ID nN01376541
Shares of Internet auction house eBay Inc dropped
2 1 percent to 21 68 after the company announced its plan to
sell a majority stake in its online phone unit Skype for 1 9
billion to private investors ID nN01483742
Volume was heavy unusual for the last week of August
on the New York Stock Exchange where 1 63 billion shares
changed hands above last year s estimated daily average of
1 49 billion
On the Nasdaq about 2 76 billion shares traded above
last year s daily average of 2 28 billion
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of 5 to 1 On the Nasdaq about seven stocks fell for
every two that rose
Editing by Jan Paschal |
C | UPDATE 2 Lloyds not canvassing on cash call top investor | Top 15 investor says Lloyds not canvassing on rights issue
Lloyds declines to comment
Adds details background updates shares
LONDON Sept 2 Reuters Britain s Lloyds Banking Group
has not canvassed major investors over a potential rights issue
to reduce dependence on a government backed insurance scheme for
bad loans a top 15 shareholder said
Britain s Guardian newspaper said on Wednesday that
important City shareholders would support a plan by the bank
to raise 10 billion pounds 16 32 billion but investors said
they would not immediately back a rights issue
Lloyds has not been in contact with any of the major
shareholders I am sure Lloyds are thinking about it but there
hasn t been any contact the investor who requested anonymity
due to the sensitivity of the issue told Reuters on Wednesday
A source close to the situation said separately that Lloyds
which raised 4 billion pounds 6 5 billion from shareholders
earlier this year was not in active talks with its investors to
prepare a fresh cash call
Lloyds 43 percent owned by the UK government agreed
earlier this year to include 260 billion pounds of risky assets
in the UK s Asset Protection Scheme but signs of an improving
economy and optimism over its first half earnings have prompted
questions over its participation
Industry sources told Reuters last month that Lloyds was
gauging the appetite for a rights issue of as much as 20 billion
pounds to allow it to reduce reliance on the government and
avoid 15 6 billion pounds of fees to take part in the scheme
But the bank has met with lukewarm support
Even a 10 billion pound cash call would be the second
largest in Europe this year after HSBC s 19 billion capital
raising and would prove a tough test for the market
I think they ve got a way to go before they build up
credibility again I don t think they are in a position to come
to the market anytime soon one top 20 investor said
The top 15 shareholder added There are few hedge funds
stirring it up
We have to be to clear as to why they are doing it We have
to see the benefits relative to the APS which we don t know
yet the shareholder said
Lloyds declined to comment
Analysts say they do not expect a major decision from the
bank before its new chairman former Citigroup chairman Win
Bischoff takes the helm on Sept 15
Shares in the bank closed down 6 2 percent on Wednesday at
99 4 pence after a weak trading day across the financial sector
well below the 120p a share average paid by the government
for its stake in the bank
Lloyds became Britain s largest retail bank this year after
buying HBOS in a government engineered takeover to prevent its
heavily leveraged rival from succumbing to the credit crunch
Weeks later the combined bank surrendered a 43 percent
stake to the British state in return for a cash injection
1 0 6183 pounds
For a DEALTALK on Lloyds click on
Reporting by Raji Menon and Clara Ferreira Marques Editing
by Paul Hoskins and David Cowell |
C | ANALYSIS German spending drive running out of road | Cash for clunkers subsidy scheme exhausted
Jobless seen rising hitting household budgets and morale
Inflation seen ticking up eroding disposable income gains
By Paul Carrel
BERLIN Sept 2 Reuters Surprising resilience in German
consumer spending will probably fade in the next few months as
households revert to type saving rather than shopping and
leaving the economy to rely on other sources of growth
Firmer household spending helped to pull Europe s largest
economy out of recession in the second quarter and a rise in
retail sales in August showed that Germans are still allowing
themselves a freer rein at the shops
But the spending rise has been driven by factors that appeal
to Germans thrifty nature stability in consumer prices and a
cash for clunkers vehicle scrappage scheme which has tapped
into national passions for cars and bargains
A government backed shortened work hours facility has also
kept a lid on unemployment buoying consumer morale Now these
support factors are fading just as the economy starts to grow
One off effects contributed to firmer private consumption
in the first half of the year but the car subsidy scheme is
running out and unemployment is rising said Peter Hohlfeld
economic analyst at the Hans Boeckler Stiftung a think tank
We expect that from the third or fourth quarter at the
latest private consumption rates will turn negative meaning it
will lend no more drive to gross domestic product GDP growth
Few people doubt that private consumption will come under
pressure although confidence is growing that Germany s export
motor could fire up again prompting some to forecast a robust
economic upswing in 2010
PRICE SENSITIVE
German private consumption grew 0 7 percent in the first
half of 2009 compared with the last six months of 2008
according to Alexander Koch an economist at UniCredit By
contrast euro zone consumption was down 0 7 percent
The Federal Statistics Office said last week that without
the cash for clunkers scheme which offers consumers 2 500
euros towards the purchase of a new car if they scrap one which
is at least nine years old private consumption would have
declined in the first half by 1 percent compared with the
previous year
Up to 2 million consumers were eligible for the car plan but
the government agency responsible said on Wednesday morning that
the 5 billion euro subsidy had now been exhausted
The rush to tap the car bonus plan highlights Germans eye
for a bargain
Past experience also shows how sensitive they are to price
changes Retail sales slumped 6 3 percent on the month in
January 2007 when the government raised value added tax VAT by
three percentage points
Germans have enjoyed a benign price environment this year
which has helped to lift spending On top of the car subsidy
inflation has been tame and even turned negative in July
Household budgets have also been boosted by wage rises
agreed last year that are above inflation Reinhard Bispinck
also an analyst at the Hans Boeckler Stiftung said pay gains in
the first half of 2009 were running at an annualised 3 percent
But Bispinck said employers use of shortened working hours
was eating into many workers take home pay This means that
not all the three percent is fully reflected in wages and
demand he added
JOBLESS RECOVERY
Citigroup economist Juergen Michels expected German
inflation to rise to 0 5 1 0 percent by end of this year
eroding households real disposable income
I think we ll see a further contraction in employment he
added Therefore wage income is likely on an aggregate level
to contract and that is negative news for consumption
The Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday the number of
people in work fell by 34 000 on the month in July Economists
widely expect headline unemployment to rise well above 4 million
next year after edging up to 3 472 million in August
The shortened working hours facility lasts for up to 24
months but economists expect its impact to start running out
later this year as many firms cannot afford to keep on workers
The expectations for unemployment to rise mean Germans
savings rate could rise even further after reaching 12 8 percent
of disposable income in the first half of 2009 a 16 year high
In the second quarter of this year the savings rate was
10 5 percent The lowest rate since German reunification in 1990
was 8 9 percent in the third quarter of 2000
There is still upside potential said Hohlfeld
Weaker consumer spending and rising unemployment do not
preclude a sustained economic recovery in Germany
The economy returned to growth in the second quarter despite
a massive drop in inventories and economists expect restocking
by firms to support a recovery
Business sentiment also rose strongly last month to its
highest level in nearly a year boosting expectations that
Germany will lead a recovery in the euro zone as its exports
pick up
The government that takes office after a federal election on
Sept 27 could also try to wean Germans off their savings habit
Finding a way to lower the savings rate and to open
consumers wallets will be one of the main challenges for the
new government said Carsten Brzeski at ING Financial Markets |
WMB | Get the party started Chiefs and 49ers headed to Miami for 54th Super Bowl | By Steve Keating Reuters The NFL will cap its centennial season with a compelling Super Bowl featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers that will highlight a clash of styles and two dynamic young quarterbacks poised to lead the league into its next hundred years Back in Miami for a record 11th time the National Football League is planning a week long party of the century with something for everyone including a championship game on Feb 2 between the throwback 49ers and high octane Chiefs The 49ers coached by Kyle Shanahan who turned just 40 in December play a run first hard hitting style that was more in vogue when Jim Brown and Gayle Sayers were blasting through defenses back in the 60s The Chiefs coached by 61 year old Andy Reid are explosive and creative with a play book that looks like it was lifted from a video game Fired up fired up to go Miami I need to go on a diet so I can fit into my clothes Reid told reporters They don t care about the score he said of his team they just bring it and that s paid off for us the last couple of weeks How the 49ers and Chiefs reached the 54th Super Bowl is a contrast of style and philosophy In two playoff contests San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo 28 completed just 17 of 27 passes for 191 yards During one stretch of Sunday s NFC championship game against the Green Bay Packers Garoppolo went 90 minutes without throwing a single pass Instead the Niners leaned on a top ranked defense and the running of Raheem Mostert who rumbled for 220 yards second most in NFL playoff history and four touchdowns to brush aside the Packers 37 20 Earlier on Sunday the Chiefs were tackling another run first outfit in the Tennessee Titans led by Derrick Henry the NFL s leading rusher Henry had steamrolled over Tom Brady and the defending champion New England Patriots and the top seed Baltimore Ravens on the way to the AFC title game The Titans ground game however was no match for the Chiefs explosive quick strike offence led by 24 year old phenom quarterback Patrick Mahomes who threw for nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in a 35 24 win to send Kansas City back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years A week earlier in the division playoffs against Houston Mahomes tossed five touchdowns including four in the second quarter as the Chiefs erased a 24 0 deficit and wiped out the Texans 51 31 With the help of a speedy receiving corps of Tyreek Hill Sammy Watkins Mecole Hardman and running back Damien Williams NYSE WMB that looks like it could contend for a 4x100 meter relay Olympic gold medal Mahomes has thrown for 608 yards and eight touchdowns in two postseason contests So there lies the storyline that will dominate the two week buildup to the big game and it is an intriguing one that will be dissected discussed and debated ad nauseam by experts and bar stool pundits alike Can the 49ers do what the Titans could not do against Kansas City and run the ball with enough effectiveness to keep pace with a Chiefs attack that has become known as the Legion of Zoom
And can the Chiefs protect Mahomes from the NFL s top pass rush long enough to give their young quarterback time to find cracks in a ferocious San Francisco defense that has been rock solid |
WMB | Australian Open order of play on Wednesday | MELBOURNE Reuters Order of play on the main showcourts on the third day of the Australian Open on Wednesday play begins at 0000 GMT prefix number denotes seeding
ROD LAVER ARENA
Paula Badosa Spain v 7 Petra Kvitova Czech Republic
1 Ash Barty Australia v Polona Hercog Slovenia
Tatsuma Ito Japan v 2 Novak Djokovic Serbia
Not before 0800 GMT
Tamara Zidansek Slovenia v 8 Serena Williams NYSE WMB U S
Filip Krajinovic Serbia v 3 Roger Federer Switzerland
MARGARET COURT ARENA
3 Naomi Osaka Japan v Zheng Saisai China
Caroline Wozniacki Denmark v 23 Dayana Yastremska Ukraine
Tommy Paul U S v 18 Grigor Dimitrov Bulgaria
Not before 0800 GMT
Jordan Thompson Australia v 12 Fabio Fognini Italy
10 Madison Keys U S v Arantxa Rus Netherlands
MELBOURNE ARENA
Julia Goerges Germany v 13 Petra Martic Croatia
Not before 0150 GMT
Coco Gauff U S v Sorana Cirstea Romania
6 Stefanos Tsitsipas Greece v Philipp Kohlschreiber Germany
31 Hubert Hurkacz Poland v John Millman Australia |
WMB | Holder Osaka faces Zheng before possible meeting with Gauff | MELBOURNE Reuters World number four Naomi Osaka will continue her Australian Open title defense with a clash against China s Zheng Saisai while Roger Federer and men s champion Novak Djokovic are also in second round action on Wednesday
Victory for third seed Osaka will open up the possibility of a third round showdown with teenager Coco Gauff who sent fellow American Venus Williams NYSE WMB packing The 15 year old faces Romania s Sorana Cirstea next
Federer who looked in ominous form in his 6 3 6 2 6 2 win over American Steve Johnson takes on Serbia s Filip Krajinovic in the evening session on Rod Laver Arena while Djokovic will meet unheralded Japanese Tatsuma Ito
The defending champion was forced to work hard by Germany s Jan Lennard Struff in his opening round match before he sealed a 7 6 5 6 2 2 6 6 1 victory
Serena Williams fresh from lifting the Auckland Classic title and dismissing Anastasia Potapova 6 0 6 3 in her first match takes on Slovenia s Tamara Zidansek
Women s top seed Ash Barty will resume her quest to become the first homegrown winner of an Australian Open singles title since 1978 when she plays Polona Hercog in her first career meeting with the Slovenian
Double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova faces Spain s Paula Badosa while Caroline Wozniacki who announced she will retire at the end of the tournament meets Dayana Yastremska |
WMB | Chanel walks models through a tranquil cloister garden in Paris | PARIS Reuters Chanel on Tuesday transported guests from the bling of fashion week to a herb filled cloister garden where models showed off demure looks in black white and grey in a nod to founder Coco Chanel s early years in a nunnery
The designer who started her clothing label in 1910 spent several years at the Aubazine abbey in the south west of France as a teenager after her mother died She learned to sew at Aubazine which was run by nuns as an orphanage
The nuns black and white habits two recurring colours in Chanel s repertoire and present in the looks on the runway at Paris Grand Palais exhibition hall on Tuesday are said to have inspired the young designer
The French label is one of the big names presenting one of a kind creations as part of Haute Couture Week in Paris
Chanel s current creative chief Virginie Viard who succeeded Karl Lagerfeld after his death last year paraded a series of buttoned up looks in sync with the decor as models wound their way around a fountain in the aromatic garden
Some styles in the Spring Summer 2020 collection echoed schoolgirl uniforms including patent leather black shoes worn with little white ankle socks
Model Gigi Hadid showed off an especially austere black outfit with a white collar
G Dragon leader of the South Korean Big Bang boy band French actress Eva Green and U S singer Pharrell Williams NYSE WMB were among celebrity guests attending the show
Gerard and Alain Wertheimer the elusive co owners of Chanel also attended |
WMB | NHL roundup Vatrano s hat trick lifts Panthers | Frank Vatrano tallied his second career hat trick and the Florida Panthers held on for a 4 3 win over the host Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night
Evgenii Dadonov also scored for Florida which won its sixth game in a row The hat trick for Vatrano was his first since Dec 18 2015 when he was a rookie with the Boston Bruins
The victory capped an emotional evening for Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville who won three Stanley Cup championships with the Blackhawks before he was fired early last season Quenneville received a standing ovation and video tribute in his first return to Chicago as an opposing coach
Kirby Dach Drake Caggiula and Patrick Kane each scored for Chicago whose five game winning streak ended Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves to earn his second win in as many nights Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner allowed four goals on 26 shots
Bruins 3 Golden Knights 2
David Krejci scored the game winning goal midway through the third period and also had an assist and Jaroslav Halak finished with 27 saves as Boston rallied for a victory over visiting Vegas
Jeremy Lauzon recalled earlier Tuesday from Providence of the AHL and Jake DeBrusk also scored goals for Boston which improved to 17 2 9 at home and increased its Atlantic Division lead to eight points over the Tampa Bay Lightning heading into the All Star break
Mark Stone and Nicolas Hague scored goals for Vegas which lost for the sixth time in its past seven games 1 5 1 Nate Schmidt added two assists and Marc Andre Fleury finished with 34 saves while allowing at least three goals for the seventh time in his past eight starts
Hurricanes 4 Jets 1
Justin Williams NYSE WMB produced two goals in just his second game since returning from an abbreviated retirement as Carolina defeated Winnipeg in Raleigh N C
Williams a former team captain scored in the first and third periods The right winger had provided the winning tally in a shootout in his first game back Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes
Patrik Laine scored in the first period for Winnipeg cutting his team s deficit to 2 1 Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek made 16 saves while Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots
Islanders 4 Rangers 2
Josh Bailey collected a power play goal and two assists for a career high three points as the visiting Islanders snapped a three game losing streak at the expense of their New York City rival
Bailey scored the first of two Islanders power play goals in the final 6 25 of the first period then had the primary assist on tallies by Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson Anders Lee scored in the second period for the Islanders and Thomas Greiss stopped a season high 40 shots and improved to 5 0 1 in his career against the Rangers
Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider scored in a span of 1 47 during a four minute power play in the third period for the Rangers Alexandar Georgiev started for the third straight time against the Islanders and allowed four goals on 18 shots after stopping 70 of 74 in the Rangers two wins last week
Flyers 3 Penguins 0
James van Riemsdyk Jake Voracek and Justin Braun each scored a goal and host Philadelphia won its final game before the All Star break blanking Pittsburgh
The Flyers improved to 17 4 4 at home while winning for the fourth time in five games Philadelphia goaltender Brian Elliott made 19 saves on his way to his first shutout of the season and the 39th of his career
Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots for the Penguins who had been one of the hottest teams in the league with six wins in their previous seven games
Field Level Media |
WMB | Gauff books repeat showdown with Osaka after three set thriller | By Rozanna Latiff MELBOURNE Reuters Teenage sensation Coco Gauff survived a three set thriller against Sorana Cirstea at the Australian Open on Wednesday to book a third round showdown with defending champion Naomi Osaka for the second Grand Slam in a row The 15 year old American has quickly become a crowd favorite in her debut appearance at the tournament and drew on that support to haul herself back into the match after going a set down rallying for a 4 6 6 3 7 5 victory over the Romanian You really made me believe Gauff told fans at Melbourne Arena Gauff the youngest player in the draw will next face Japan s Osaka who defeated her 6 3 6 0 in the third round of last year s U S Open That encounter ended with Osaka drawing praise for allowing an emotional Gauff to thank her home fans in a post match interview Yeah it was definitely a good moment I think for both of us especially me Gauff told reporters But I think more just for the people watching the little girls and little boys who can kind of see what sportsmanship is really When it s all said and done we still look at each other with respect and the same Gauff expects to be less nervous against Osaka this time around as she looks to make the fourth round at a major for the second time after her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon last year We re both familiar with each other s games She plays really aggressive This time coming in I m going to be more aggressive she said Gauff who beat seven time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams NYSE WMB in the first round found herself playing catch up against the composed and experienced Cirstea as she struggled with errors off her forehand But after taking the first set Cirstea failed to maintain her standards in the second allowing Gauff to capture an early break and force the match to a decider The final set was a gripping evenly matched affair as Gauff battled from a break down to get back on serve at 2 3
Backed by cheers of Let s go Coco Gauff then broke Cirstea before serving out to clinch the match in two hours and seven minutes |
WMB | Serena into third round in Melbourne after testy win over Slovenian | MELBOURNE Reuters Serena Williams NYSE WMB overcame an erratic performance at the Australian Open on Wednesday to beat Slovenian Tamara Zidansek 6 2 6 3 and advance to the third round The 38 year old American who is bidding for a record 24th Grand Slam singles title was hardly troubled in the first set as she broke Zidansek twice to wrap up the opener in just over half an hour But the 70th ranked Zidansek put up an impressive defense in the second set saving seven break points as an increasingly frustrated Williams racked up more than a dozen unforced errors
Zidansek however could not keep up the resistance and Williams clinched the victory with a cross court forehand winner to set up a meeting with China s Wang Qiang |
WMB | Utah bans LGBTQ conversion therapy for children | By Rich McKay
Reuters Utah has became the 19th U S state to ban conversion therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity in lesbian gay transsexual bisexual and queer children
The ban in the Republican dominated state which took effect on Wednesday exempts members of the clergy lay pastors and spiritual counselors not licensed by the state from the ban
Despite those limits this is still a big victory in a very conservative state said Mathew Shurka 31 of Long Island New York
He describes himself as a survivor of such therapy and is co founder of Born Perfect a nonprofit group pushing for conversion therapy bans across the United States
Conversion therapy involves a variety of psychological and spiritual practices aimed at changing sexual orientation and gender identity in the belief that homosexuality and transgender identity are mental illnesses
The American Psychological Association has called the treatment harmful to young people The American Medical Association has said that conversion therapy does not work and can trigger depression post traumatic stress disorder and suicide attempts
Virginia s state senate approved a ban on Tuesday and the bill is now being sent to the Democratic controlled House of Delegates where it is expected to pass said Shannon Minter a San Francisco gay activist working with Born Perfect
In Utah the ban takes the form of a regulation Craig Hall a Republican state representative championed legislation that would have banned the therapy but it failed to pass last year
He credited support from the influential Mormon Church to which 62 percent of Utah s 3 1 million residents belong for the governor s decision to enact the new regulation The church opposes same sex marriage and its doctrine teaches that same sex relationships are sinful
Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints the Mormon Church s formal name had previously opposed the legislation because it did not explicitly exempt clergy
We worked very closely with them on the new language Hall said
The administrative rule has the same effect as law and it governs all licensed therapists and doctors he said
A church representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment Hall noted that the state does not license pastors and ministers
Utah Governor Gary Herbert a Republican had no comment on the issue on Wednesday said spokeswoman Brook Scheffler
In a press release in November Herbert said the rule change was needed to end the harmful practice of conversion therapy on minors
The stories of youth who have endured these so called therapies are heart rending and I m grateful that we have found a way forward that will ban conversion therapy forever in our state he said
Troy Williams NYSE WMB executive director of the activist group Equality Utah said that while the rule does not affect unlicensed counselors he hopes it sends a message
There are a lot of therapists and life coaches still out there who run these camps and they re dangerous Williams said But hopefully with Utah taking a strong stand this will get the word out |
WMB | NFL notebook Giants QB Manning set to retire | New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is retiring after 16 NFL seasons the team announced Wednesday
Manning will hold a press conference on Friday The 39 year old said after the regular season that he planned to discuss his future with his family before making a decision
A four time Pro Bowler Manning led the 10 6 Giants from a wild card berth to a famous upset of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII following the 2007 season winning MVP honors Four years later he managed the feat a second time also against the Patriots
Manning wraps up his career with a 117 117 record as a starter having completed 60 3 percent of his passes for 57 023 yards 366 touchdowns and 244 interceptions with a passer rating of 84 1
Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier told reporters that he fully expects veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to be back with the team in 2020
Fitzpatrick indicated after the regular season ended that he plans to keep playing but would think over all options before deciding
The 37 year old is under contract for 8 million in 2020 with 4 million of that guaranteed after he hit 2 5 million in performance escalators in 2019 The journeyman played in 15 games and made 13 starts for the Dolphins his eighth NFL team this season throwing for 3 529 yards 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions
With help from Nevada governor Steve Sisolak the formerly Oakland Raiders announced their official name change to become the Las Vegas Raiders at the site of their new home
I do hereby proclaim January 22 2020 as the day to celebrate the renaming of the Las Vegas Raiders Sisolak said from Allegiant Stadium before the team unveiled a banner with the new name
Several players past and present were on hand for the announcement and they took turns on stage to help hammer a stake holding a sign that read Las Vegas Raiders est 2020 The group included quarterback Derek Carr and former Super Bowl winning quarterback Jim Plunkett
Free agent to be safety Devin McCourty is not planning to retire this offseason but it s unclear if he will remain with the Patriots in 2020
McCourty s agent Andy Simms told ESPN that McCourty wants to play and that retirement is not an option
The 32 year old suggested last January before Super Bowl LIII that he could consider retiring if the Patriots won the title which they did against the Los Angeles Rams But he returned for the 2019 season and now plans to play at least one more season
Former Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden has accepted the offensive coordinator position with the Jacksonville Jaguars
Two other former NFL head coaches Ben McAdoo and Scott Linehan also interviewed for the job
Gruden 52 becomes Jacksonville s third offensive coordinator since 2018 The team and John DeFilippo parted ways earlier this month DeFilippo since has been hired as quarterbacks coach of the Chicago Bears
The Green Bay Packers will bring back defensive coordinator Mike Pettine in 2020 ESPN reported several hours after head coach Matt LaFleur was noncommittal about Pettine s future
During a season ending press conference LaFleur was asked about Pettine s status and said he was still working through everything right now According to ESPN LaFleur met with Pettine after the media session and the two plan to move forward
Pettine whom LaFleur retained from Mike McCarthy s staff when he took over as head coach last January will return for his third year with the Packers who finished 18th in total defense 352 6 yards per game and ninth in scoring defense 19 6 points per game this season
Houston Texans safety Justin Reid confirmed that he played through a torn labrum in his shoulder throughout the 2019 season and will undergo offseason surgery
Reid wrote on Twitter that he hurt the shoulder before the season and doubted at times that he could play all year
He started 15 regular season games and two playoff games despite the injury missing one regular season contest because of a concussion He made 78 tackles in the regular season with two interceptions and a fumble recovery
Free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown locked himself in his house and was avoiding police attempts to contact him amid an investigation into an alleged battery incident according to the Hollywood Florida Police Department
According to USA Today public information officer Christian Lata said police have tried to reach Brown but have been unsuccessful
Brown 31 is a suspect in an alleged incident involving a moving truck and its driver
Patriots cornerback Joejuan Williams NYSE WMB was arrested in Cumberland County Tenn on Jan 17 and faces drug possession charges according to television station WTVF
According to the report he faces charges for speeding possession of a controlled substance possession of legend drugs without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia
Field Level Media |
C | ISM Manufacturing An Appetiser Before Nonfarm Tomorrow | What a day yesterday Not only did China lower its reserve requirements by 50 basis points but soon after a sextet of major central banks boost risk appetite even more by announcing a cut in the overnight swap rate by 50bps to OIS 50bps and the swap lines were extended to February 2013 as well Looking ahead it will be difficult to rival yesterday s display of fireworks but we do have ISM Manufacturing coming up today as an appetiser before the big one tomorrow Nonfarm Payrolls ISM Manufacturing to show accelerating activity The recent string of better than expected regional Fed surveys which followed some horrible readings in August and September has seen analysts crank up the opmitisism a notch This is evident in the Citigroup US Surprise Index which has risen to 61 8 from a low of 117 2 in early June and also in today s ISM Manufactuing report for November which consensus expects will show a slight improvement to 51 8 from 50 8 in October Among the regional surveys to show gains last month we have Empire Manufacturing Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook and the Chicago PMI while the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index was flat Combining the last three they have recovered to the point of matching the ISM Manufacturing Index and do suggest some room for an upside surprise in today s report In addition to ISM Manufacturing we get jobless claims where the crucial point is if the below 400k trend continues consensus seems to think so Before the US data we have a stream of European PMIs out with the UK version out shortly while the revised French German and Eurozone PMIs where largely unchanged from the initial estimates In the Asian session the Chinese PMI dropped to 49 from 50 4 while the unofficial HSBC version fell to 47 7 |
C | Markets Quiet in Anticipation of Friday s US Non Farm Payrolls Release | Risk assets saw a slow drift lower overnight as traders square positions ahead of Friday s critical data releases These will come in the form of the US Non Farm Payrolls and Unemployment rate and other macro reports this week have led analysts to revise their estimates higher with the consensus now expecting a rise of 125 000 new jobs for the month of November In the Euro area German Chancellor Merkel will also receive some attention as she makes comments defining the role and authority in the ECB in solving the Eurozone debt crisis The main story in equity markets yesterday was the initiation of government lawsuits against JP Morgan and Citigroup stemming from unfair foreclosure practices and this led the financial sector of the S P 500 lower This story was balanced however by the positive US ISM manufacturing figure that came in for November The major stock indices were mixed but showed little change from the previous session on major declines in volatility relative to what was seen at the beginning of this week European markets are showing increases in the futures markets and we will see some macro releases before the US open These will be seen with the Eurozone PPI and Swiss Retail Sales so with these on schedule we could see some choppy trading into the New York session which is when we could very well seen an explosive end to the week The balance of the evidence so far is suggestive of a very strong Non Farm Payrolls number as the ADP employment report released on Wednesday showed that the private sector added 206 000 jobs for the month and the Weekly Jobless Claims have recently fallen to the lower end of its 3 month range If these forecasts do prove to be accurate indications of the government payrolls release we should see some follow through on the holiday spending rally that was seen at the beginning of the week Expectations however are starting to reach lofty levels so an upside surprise might be more difficult to achieve than a disappointment Most of the major stock indices in all regions have broken significant psychological levels in the past few weeks so if we can expected these elevated levels to be maintained into the close of the year we will need to the data that is supportive of these rallies With this in mind today s figures will be viewed as vital for risk sentiment for the remainder of this year The AUD USD is consolidating within a broad symmetrical triangle on the daily charts and we are also seeing prices stall at key Fibonacci resistance at 1 0330 Sell entries can be initiated at these levels but any break to the topside should see some significant follow through Keep stops tight into the end of this week The FTSE continues its strong rally and prices are now approaching major long term trendline and historical resistance at the 5630 level A break here will send prices at least to a test of resistance at 5750 before any renewed selling can be expected A trendline break will suggest that a medium term bottom is in place at 5070 |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
BMY | Bristol Myers To Acquire Celgene Healthcare ETFs In Focus | The healthcare space is witnessing a wave of mergers and acquisitions which could change the landscape of the healthcare business After a series of consolidation between health insurers and pharmacy benefits managers last year biotech companies have been taking over the pharmaceutical sector as they have become attractive targets for big firms after their valuations declined in the recent months This is especially true as Bristol Myers Squibb NYSE BMY agreed to acquire Celgene Corp NASDAQ CELG for 74 billion in cash and stock deal The proposed deal came as both the companies are struggling in a crowded 123 billion cancer market now one of the biggest pharmaceutical sectors for innovative treatments read Bristol Myers Squibb s immuno oncology drug Opdivo which accounts for roughly a quarter of its sales has struggled to keep up with Merck s Keytruda Meanwhile Celgene has endured high profile clinical failures and is looking for a follow up for its blockbuster blood cancer therapy Revlimid which will start being phased out in 2022
Inside the DealPer the terms of the deal Celgene investors would receive one Bristol Myers share and 50 in cash for each Celgene holding as well as a contingent value right of 9 if three treatments in development achieve timely approvals These are the high profile multiple sclerosis drug ozanimod lymphoma treatment liso cel by Dec 31 2020 and a CAR T therapy for multiple myeloma known as bb2121 from a partnership with bluebird bio NASDAQ BLUE by March 31 2021 The deal values Celgene at 102 43 each a 53 7 premium to Jan 2 closing price and would combine two of the world s largest cancer drug businesses in the biggest pharmaceutical deal ever The combined company will be 69 owned by Bristol Myers and will create a specialty biopharma company focused on treatments for cancer inflammatory and immunologic diseases as well as cardiovascular disease It will have a portfolio of nine drugs with more than 1 billion in annual sales The transaction would result in total cost savings of 2 5 billion by 2022 with 55 coming from cuts in sales general and administrative expenses 35 through reduction in research development spending and 10 from manufacturing As a result Bristol Myers expects the deal to add more than 40 to its earnings in the first year after closing Further with more than 45 billion of expected free cash flow generation over the first three full years post closing the combined company is committed to maintain strong investment grade credit ratings while continuing its dividend policy for the benefit of Bristol Myers Squibb and Celgene shareholders read The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019 and is subject to approval of shareholders of both companies and anti trust regulatory sanctions Apart from the acquisition Bristol Myers provided preliminary 2019 earnings guidance It expects to achieve per share earnings of 3 75 3 85 for 2019 excluding any benefits from its takeover of Celgene Adjusted EPS is expected in the range of 4 10 to 4 20 Market ImpactFollowing the announcement of the deal shares of Celgene climbed 20 7 to close the day and crushed its average volume as nearly 79 3 million shares moved hands compared with 6 6 million on average Meanwhile shares of Bristol Myers dropped 13 3 see The news has put the spotlight on a number of healthcare ETFs especially biotech and pharma which could be the best ways for investors to tap the opportunity arising from the BMY CELG deal Investors should keep a close eye on the movement of these ETFs over the coming weeks iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF This fund provides exposure to 224 firms by tracking the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index with Celgene taking the fourth spot at 6 7 IBB is the most popular fund is the biotech space with AUM of 7 5 billion Expense ratio comes in at 0 47 IBB has a Zacks ETF Rank 2 Buy with a High risk outlook read VanEck Vectors Biotech ETF LON BBH This fund offers exposure to 25 large biotechnology corporations by tracking the MVIS US Listed Biotech 25 Index Here Celgene is the third firm accounting for 6 1 share BBH has amassed 372 3 million in its asset base and charges 35 basis points bps in fees per year It has a Zacks ETF Rank 2 with a High risk outlook iShares U S Pharmaceuticals ETF This ETF provides exposure to 47 pharma stocks by tracking the Dow Jones U S Select Pharmaceuticals Index Bristol Myers occupies the fifth position in the basket with 6 8 allocation The product has 366 5 million in AUM and charges 43 bps in fees and expenses It has a Zacks ETF Rank 2 with a High risk outlook iShares Evolved U S Innovative Healthcare ETF This actively managed ETF employs data science techniques to identify companies with exposure to the innovative healthcare sector Holding 203 stocks in its basket BMY takes the ninth spot at 4 3 while CELG occupies the 11th position with 3 7 exposure The product has accumulated 4 7 million in its asset base since its inception in March last year and charges 18 bps in annual fees Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF WA PJP This ETF targets the pharma corner of the broad healthcare sector and follows the Dynamic Pharmaceuticals Intellidex Index It holds 30 stocks in its basket with BMY and CELG accounts for nearly 3 of assets The product has AUM of about 465 5 million and charges 57 bps in fees and expenses It has a Zacks ETF Rank 2 with a High risk outlook Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis as well as top performing ETFs each week |
C | US STOCKS Wall St slides on China equities and financials | China shares fall 6 7 pct
Financial shares lower
Commodities slide oil down 3 pct
Indexes off S P 1 pct Dow 1 3 Nasdaq 1 4
For up to the minute market news click STXNEWS US
Updates to mid morning
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK Aug 31 Reuters U S stocks fell on Monday
after Chinese equities dropped sharply and commodities fell on
concerns that asset prices have run ahead of the economic
realities
Financial shares also pulled back after a recent rally
with American International Group Inc falling 9 5
percent after Barron s said the stock was overpriced and also
recommended investors take profits in Citigroup Inc
which dropped 5 percent For more see ID nN30408356 and
ID nN30412469
Weighing on sentiment the Shanghai Composite Index
dived 6 7 percent to a three month closing low and recorded its
second biggest monthly loss in 15 years on worries that
corporate earnings failed to justify stock valuations
ID nHKG349309
The slide hurt commodity prices with oil down more than 3
percent
Investors in the United States felt it was important for
China to help lead the path to economic recovery said Bruce
Bittles chief investment strategist at Robert W Baird Co in
Nashville If their markets are going to misbehave it opens
the question of whether they are going to see a recovery
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 96 36
points or 1 01 percent at 9 447 84 The Standard Poor s 500
Index was down 12 82 points or 1 25 percent at
1 016 11 The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 27 66
points or 1 36 percent at 2 001 11
A regional report that showed manufacturing in the U S
Midwest was on the cusp of expansion did little to boost
sentiment with all three major indexes falling more than 1
percent by mid morning
The Institute for Supply Management Chicago said on Monday
its index of Midwest business activity rose in August to 50 0
from 43 4 in July
Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr Editing by Padraic
Cassidy |
C | UPDATE 2 German jobless falls before election | Joblessness falls unexpectedly in Aug for second month
Retail sales rise in July after two months of falls
Manufacturing PMI shows sector close to growth in Aug
By Holger Hansen and Brian Rohan
BERLIN Sept 1 Reuters German unemployment fell in
August thanks to a government work scheme and retail sales rose
after two months of decline but economists expect both measures
to weaken soon after a federal election later this month
The unemployment data the last to be released before the
Sept 27 vote could lend support to Chancellor Angela
Merkel s conservatives even though most economists expect
joblessness to surge in the months after the election
The feared collapse in the labour market didn t happen But
it will certainly hit in the autumn said economist Ralph
Solveen from Commerzbank
Unemployment fell by 1 000 in seasonally adjusted terms in
August the second consecutive monthly decrease but the Federal
Labour Office said the decline was driven by the one off effect
of government measures to prevent mass layoffs
If the effects of the shortened working hours scheme were
stripped out unemployment would have risen by around 25 000
Employers have been increasing their use of the programme
which subsidises workers pay and benefits when they are shifted
from regular to shorter working hours
A Labour Office official told Reuters employers had
registered 1 43 million employees for the scheme by the end of
June a rise of 300 000 from the previous quarter
Economists say however a spike in unemployment is looming as
firms find it too expensive to keep staff even with the
government help
The strength of the labour market will be put to the test
in the coming weeks when the first wave of short time work
arrangements will reach their sell by date said Carsten
Brzeski from ING Financial Markets
CLOUDED OUTLOOK
Germany emerged from its worst post war recession in the
second quarter of 2009 and rises in key measures of investor
and business confidence have boosted confidence the momentum can
continue into the third quarter
In a fresh positive sign for the economy a survey on
Tuesday showed Germany s industrial sector came close to
returning to growth in August on firmer output and new orders
nLAG003700
Retail sales figures released on Tuesday for July showed
consumer spending was lending modest support to the economy But
the positive news came with a caveat as the sector will be
vulnerable in the coming months to any labour market fallout
Retail sales rose 0 7 percent on the month slightly above
expectations after two months of sharp declines Economists
described the outlook as weak
Given rising unemployment and weakening support from low
prices the outlook for private consumption is clouded and we
will see further falls said Juergen Michels from Citigroup
Despite the prospect of layoffs Merkel s conservatives head
to the federal election with a wide lead over other parties in
opinion polls ID nLR119298
Merkel s predecessor Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder was
forced to call an early election in 2005 in part because of a
surge in unemployment which hit support for his government
Schroeder narrowly lost the election
Headline unemployment unadjusted for seasonal swings rose
to 3 472 million in August its lowest level heading into a
federal election since reunification in 1990
Merkel acknowledged joblessness would rise
We know that unemployment will rise in the future but we
don t know by how much The message today is a good one she
told Bayerische Rundfunk radio on Tuesday
Additional reporting by Sarah Marsh Paul Carrel Noah Barkin |
WMB | Top 25 roundup No 11 Louisville upsets No 3 Duke | David Johnson scored 19 points as No 11 Louisville withstood a charge from third ranked Duke and pulled out a 79 73 road victory Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham N C
The Cardinals 15 3 6 1 ACC saw all of their 15 point first half lead vanish before they turned it on again The Blue Devils 15 3 5 2 lost for the second time in a week after Tuesday night s setback at Clemson marked the end of a nine game winning streak
Duke trailed 73 70 and then had four consecutive possessions without scoring Louisville s Malik Williams NYSE WMB made both ends of a one and one at the 16 second mark and then dunked off a turnover to seal it
Johnson a freshman guard who hadn t played more than 20 minutes in any game after missing the first four games while recovering from a shoulder injury made 7 of 8 first half shots from the field
No 1 Gonzaga 92 BYU 69
Killian Tillie recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs beat the Cougars in Spokane Wash to set a West Coast Conference record with their 33rd consecutive regular season conference win
Corey Kispert added 19 points and Joel Ayayi chipped in with 14 points six rebounds six assists and four steals for the Bulldogs 20 1 6 0 WCC The win might have been costly however as leading scorer Filip Petrusev left the game with 15 03 to go after turning his right ankle while trying to block a shot along the baseline
TJ Haws led the Cougars 14 6 3 2 with 17 points Jake Toolson added 16 points for BYU The Cougars played without leading scorer and rebounder Yoeli Childs who was out with a finger injury
No 2 Baylor 75 Oklahoma State 68
Jared Butler and Freddie Gillespie each scored 17 points as the Bears extended their winning streak to 14 games with a come from behind win over the Cowboys
Devonte Bandoo added 16 points for the Bears 15 1 5 0 Big 12 who trailed by 10 with 12 minutes left Bandoo made two straight 3 pointers to turn a 61 60 deficit into a 66 61 lead
Cameron McGriff and Isaac Likekele paced the Cowboys 9 8 0 5 with 16 points each while Thomas Dziagwa and Lindy Waters III hit for 14 apiece Oklahoma State has lost five straight and six of its past seven
Florida 69 No 4 Auburn 47
Freshman Omar Payne had his first career double double with 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Gators routed the visiting Tigers in Gainesville Fla
Kerry Blackshear Jr added 11 points and 16 rebounds for Florida 12 5 4 1 SEC which shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded Auburn 44 29 Danjel Purifoy scored 10 points to lead the Tigers 15 2 3 2 who dropped their second straight game
After Samir Doughty s consecutive 3 pointers pulled Auburn within 49 43 with 8 40 to go the Gators went on a 20 1 surge that finished with two 3 pointers from Keyontae Johnson and one from Blackshear
DePaul 79 No 5 Butler 66
Paul Reed had 23 points and nine rebounds and Jalen Coleman Lands added 20 points to steer the host Blue Demons to an upset of the Bulldogs in Chicago
DePaul 13 5 1 4 Big East never trailed and led by as many as 21 in the second half while forcing 17 turnovers and going 10 for 17 from long range Reed finished 8 for 9 from the field and 5 for 5 from the free throw line
Butler 15 3 3 2 lost its second straight game this week after rising to the No 5 ranking and saw its winning streak against DePaul snapped at 11 games Kamar Baldwin had 16 points to pace Butler which shot 41 5 percent compared to 48 9 percent for the Blue Demons
No 6 Kansas 66 Texas 57
Devon Dotson scored 21 points and Udoka Azubuike added 17 as the Jayhawks did just enough of the right things at the right times to run past the Longhorns in their Big 12 Conference matchup in Austin Texas
Marcus Garrett added 13 points for Kansas 14 3 4 1 Big 12 which won its second straight game after a rare home loss to Baylor on Jan 11 The Jayhawks owned a 40 30 advantage in points in the paint and outrebounded Texas 40 29
Jericho Sims scored a career high 20 points for Texas 12 5 2 3 with Matt Coleman adding 10 points The Longhorns had a two game win streak snapped
No 7 San Diego State 68 Nevada 55
Yanni Wetzell posted a double double with 17 points and 16 rebounds and the Aztecs rallied from a halftime deficit to down the visiting Wolf Pack
The Aztecs 19 0 8 0 Mountain West held Nevada to just 20 second half points and went on a 17 0 run during a seven minute span The dominant stretch erased a 35 33 halftime deficit and moved San Diego State one win from matching the best start in program history
Nevada 11 8 4 3 built its first half lead behind Jalen Harris who scored 16 of his 19 points before intermission A field goal drought of more than 11 minutes doomed the Wolf Pack to their worst scoring output since recording just 42 points against BYU on Dec 10
No 8 Oregon 64 Washington 61 OT
Payton Pritchard made a fall away 3 pointer from 25 feet with 3 4 seconds remaining in overtime as the Ducks overcame a 16 point second half deficit to defeat the Huskies in Seattle
Pritchard scored 22 points with six of his seven field goals coming from behind the 3 point arc and freshman forward Chandler Lawson recorded his first career double double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Ducks 15 4 4 2 Pac 12
Freshman forward Isaiah Stewart led Washington 12 7 2 4 with game high totals of 25 points 19 rebounds and five blocked shots Freshman guard Marcus Tsohonis added 14 points for the Huskies
No 9 Florida State 83 Miami 79 OT
Sophomore guard Devin Vassell scored a career high 23 points and backcourt mate M J Walker scored 19 after going scoreless in the first half as the visiting Seminoles survived the Hurricanes in overtime in a matchup of in state rivals in Coral Gables Fla
Vassell hit two free throws with 6 4 seconds left in the extra period to seal the ninth straight win for Florida State 16 2 6 1 ACC which rallied from a nine point deficit over the final five minutes of regulation
Guard Chris Lykes led Miami 10 7 2 5 with 24 points but also committed six turnovers including one in the closing seconds of regulation that gave Florida State the opportunity to tie
No 10 Kentucky 73 Arkansas 66
Nick Richards led the Wildcats with 17 points and added nine rebounds helping them overcome the ejection of head coach John Calipari in the second half to beat the Razorbacks in Fayetteville Ark
Calipari disputed a foul call with 8 19 to play in the game and continued to argue before being sent to the visiting locker room Kentucky 13 4 overall 4 1 SEC down 47 44 after Mason Jones two free throws responded with a 17 2 run to take control of the game for good
After Jimmy Whitt Jr s jumper with 7 14 to play gave the Razorbacks a 49 46 edge Arkansas 14 3 3 2 went scoreless for almost five minutes Jones led the Razorbacks with 19 points Whitt added 14 and Isaiah Joe had 13 points
Kansas State 84 No 12 West Virginia 68
Junior guard Cartier Diarra tied his career best with 25 points and freshman DaJuan Gordon set a career high with 15 points as the Wildcats beat the Mountaineers in Manhattan Kan
Xavier Sneed scored 16 for Kansas State 8 9 1 4 Big 12 West Virginia 14 3 3 2 was led by Miles McBride and Chase Harler with 11 points each Gabe Osabuohien added 10 points
The Wildcats scored the first two baskets of the second half to extend the lead to 21 points They eventually led by 24 But the Mountaineers used a 15 0 run to cut the lead to 57 49 and they eventually closed to 60 54 before K State put away the game with a 9 0 run
No 14 Villanova 61 Connecticut 55
Jermaine Samuels scored a game high 19 points including a pair of critical buckets in the final three minutes as the Wildcats rallied to subdue the Huskies in a non conference game in Philadelphia
Samuels put Villanova 14 3 ahead to stay on a three point play with 2 59 left in the game then applied the back breaker when he drained a 3 pointer from the top of the key with 31 2 seconds remaining that made it 57 53
Collin Gillespie added 12 for Villanova which made just 38 8 percent of its shots but went 11 of 23 from the 3 point line and earned a 23 4 advantage in points off turnovers Freshman Jeremiah Robinson Earl chipped in 11 points including four key foul shots in the final 20 seconds to seal the outcome
Houston 65 No 16 Wichita State 54
Fabian White Jr had 14 points and DeJon Jarreau finished with 12 to help the Cougars past the cold shooting Shockers at Wichita Kan
Marcus Sasser and Quentin Grimes each added 10 points for Houston 14 4 4 1 AAC Wichita State 15 3 3 2 went without a field goal in a 13 27 stretch and made only 30 4 percent of its shots overall The loss snapped the Shockers 14 game winning streak at home
Tyson Etienne led the Shockers with 10 points on 2 of 5 shooting Jamarius Burton had nine points making 2 of 9 from the field No Wichita State player made more than three shots from the field
No 17 Maryland 57 Purdue 50
Jalen Smith had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Terrapins built a big lead and then had to hang on to beat the visiting Boilermakers in College Park Md
The Terrapins 14 4 4 3 Big Ten never trailed and snapped a two game skid Freshman Donta Scott chipped in a career high 13 points and Aaron Wiggins added 12 Nojel Eastern had 14 points for Purdue 10 8 3 4
The Boilermakers sliced an 18 point deficit to 53 50 with 3 53 to play on three free throws from Sasha Stefanovic but couldn t get closer unable to muster a field goal in the final six minutes and scoring just those three free throws over that span
No 18 Seton Hall 82 St John s 79
Myles Powell scored 29 points and Quincy McKnight added 20 as the Pirates recovered from a 14 point second half deficit and rallied past the Red Storm in New York City
Powell was 11 of 20 from the field including 3 of 5 from 3 point range while passing the 2 000 point mark for his career with a layup in the opening minute of the second half Romaro Gill scored 14 points with 13 rebounds and six blocked shots as the Pirates 14 4 6 0 Big East extended their winning streak to eight games
Mustapha Heron scored 18 points for the St John s 12 7 1 5 which pulled within 78 77 with 20 seconds remaining but two free throws from Myles Cale put the Pirates on top 80 77 Marcellus Earlington made it 80 79 on a jumper with 8 5 seconds left Two McKnight free throws sealed the victory
Arizona 75 No 20 Colorado 54
Freshman post player Zeke Nnaji recorded his seventh double double as the Wildcats used balanced scoring and dominant rebounding to beat the Buffaloes in Tucson Ariz
Josh Green and Dylan Smith each scored 13 points for Arizona 13 5 3 2 Pac 12 which won its first game in four tries against a ranked team Nnaji had 12 points and a game high 12 rebounds including seven off the offensive glass to match Colorado s team total
The Buffaloes 14 4 3 2 fell behind early because of 32 percent first half shooting and never made a serious run They were led by McKinley Wright IV who scored 15 points D Shawn Schwartz contributed 12 points and Tyler Bey added nine
Penn State 90 No 21 Ohio State 76
Lamar Stevens had 24 points as the Nittany Lions broke a three game losing streak by beating the slumping Buckeyes at University Park Pa
Stevens shot 7 of 12 from the floor and hit all eight free throws Myreon Jones had 20 points and Seth Lundy added 12 for Penn State 13 5 3 4 Big Ten which shot 53 7 percent from the field
Duane Washington Jr who along with Luther Muhammad returned from a one game team suspension had 20 points and Kaleb Wesson scored 19 for Ohio State 12 6 2 5 which has lost six of its past nine games
No 23 Texas Tech 72 Iowa State 52
Kyler Edwards poured in 22 points that included a 5 for 6 showing on 3 pointers to help the Red Raiders to an easy victory over visiting the Cyclones in Lubbock Texas
Davide Moretti added 17 points for Texas Tech 12 5 3 2 Big 12 which won its second straight game Terrence Shannon Jr returned after missing the past two games with a back injury and scored 11 points hitting all four of his shots from the floor for the Red Raiders
Tyrese Haliburton led the Cyclones with 13 points and Jacobson added 10 Iowa State 8 9 1 4 fell for the second straight outing and for the fifth time in its past six games
No 24 Illinois 75 Northwestern 71
Trent Frazier scored 16 points Ayo Dosunmu had 15 points and six assists and the host Illini held on to beat the Wildcats in Champaign Ill
Giorgi Bezhanishvili added 13 points on 6 for 9 shooting for Illinois 13 5 5 2 Big Ten which won its fourth game in a row The Fighting Illini who are ranked for the first time since 2014 eclipsed their win total from all of last season
Robbie Beran scored a career high 17 points to lead Northwestern 6 11 1 6 Miller Kopp finished with 16 points for the Wildcats who have lost seven of their last eight games
No 25 Creighton 78 Providence 74
Ty Shon Alexander scored 24 points and Marcus Zegarowski hit a 3 pointer in the closing seconds as the host Bluejays rallied for a Big East Conference victory over the Friars in Omaha Neb
Mitch Ballock scored 17 points and Denzel Mahoney added 14 as the Bluejays 14 5 3 3 rebounded from a defeat at Georgetown on Wednesday to win their second home conference game in three tries
David Duke scored a career high 36 points for the Friars 11 8 4 2 who lost on the road in conference play for the first time this season Creighton held Providence leading scorer Alpha Diallo to eight points
Field Level Media |
WMB | NBA roundup LeBron D lead Lakers by Rockets | LeBron James produced his 31st double double Kyle Kuzma chipped in 23 points and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers turned a third quarter defensive clinic into a 124 115 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday
The Lakers delivered an efficient offensive display without their leading scorer Anthony Davis by following James lead James paired a team high 31 points with a game high 12 assists to steward the Lakers Their defensive might turned the tide in the third which they won 32 17
JaVale McGee and former Rockets center Dwight Howard recorded three blocks each while Danny Green had four steals The Lakers posted 13 steals and nine blocks while limiting the Rockets to 12 for 37 shooting from behind the arc
Russell Westbrook 35 points nine rebounds seven assists and James Harden 34 points seven assists paced the Rockets who have dropped three straight and four of five Houston committed 20 turnovers
Phoenix Suns 123 Boston Celtics 119
Devin Booker scored 39 points and fell an assist shy of his first career triple double as visiting Phoenix held off undermanned Boston
Booker added 10 rebounds Deandre Ayton had 26 points and 15 boards and Mikal Bridges scored a career high 26 as the Suns won for the fourth time in their last five Dario Saric scored 13 with 11 rebounds and five assists
Marcus Smart scored a career high 37 points on a team record setting 11 3 pointers but the Celtics fell for the sixth time in their last eight Jayson Tatum scored 26 with 10 rebounds and Gordon Hayward had 22 points seven boards and seven assists Boston played without starters Kemba Walker left knee and Jaylen Brown thumb sprain
Los Angeles Clippers 133 New Orleans Pelicans 130
Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points and Lou Williams NYSE WMB had 32 as visiting Los Angeles defeated New Orleans in Leonard s fifth consecutive game with more than 30 points in the absence of second leading scorer Paul George
Despite being with George because of a hamstring injury the Clippers had plenty of help Montrezl Harrell added 24 points and Landry Shamet scored 11 The Clippers outscored New Orleans 31 20 in the fourth quarter
Derrick Favors 10 for 10 from floor had 22 points and 11 rebounds Brandon Ingram scored 21 JJ Redick tallied 19 while Lonzo Ball had a triple double with 18 points 11 assists and 10 rebounds for New Orleans
Oklahoma City Thunder 119 Portland Trail Blazers 106
Chris Paul tied his season high with 30 points to lift Oklahoma City to a win over visiting Portland Paul was 11 of 15 from the floor in the game and added seven assists
Portland was without guard CJ McCollum who suffered a sprained left ankle Friday The Blazers bench was further depleted before the game when swingman Kent Bazemore and forward Anthony Tolliver were reportedly traded to the Sacramento Kings According to ESPN Portland will receive Trevor Ariza Wendell Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan in the deal
Rookie Darius Bazley starting at forward in Danilo Gallinari s absence rest had a career best 13 rebounds for the Thunder Shai Gilgeous Alexander scored 22 points Dennis Schroder added 15 all in the final 15 minutes
Toronto Raptors 122 Minnesota Timberwolves 112
Fred VanVleet scored 29 points in his return from a hamstring injury and Kyle Lowry added 28 points as visiting Toronto used a third quarter charge to earn a victory over Minnesota
Norman Powell scored 20 points and Pascal Siakam added 14 as the Raptors continued to get their regulars back on the court Powell and Siakam returned from injury last weekend Marc Gasol returned Friday VanVleet was the latest to see the court again after missing the last five games
Jarrett Culver scored 26 points and Robert Covington added 22 as the Timberwolves lost their fifth consecutive game Karl Anthony Towns scored 12 for Minnesota in his second game back from a 15 game absence because of a sore knee Andrew Wiggins had a triple double in the defeat scoring 18 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists
Milwaukee Bucks 117 Brooklyn Nets 97
Giannis Antetokounmpo encountered little difficulty collecting 29 points and 12 rebounds as Milwaukee led most of the way and cruised to a victory over Brooklyn in New York
Antetokounmpo posted his 37th double double while also tying his career high with eight turnovers including four offensive fouls The star forward made 12 of 20 shots and hit two 3 pointers as the Bucks pushed their winning streak to six games and beat the Nets for the 16th time in the past 19 meetings
Khris Middleton added 20 points as the Bucks led for the final 40 33 shot 50 6 percent 45 of 89 and led by as many as 25 points Former Nets center Brook Lopez contributed 12 points while Donte DiVincenzo and Wesley Matthews finished with 11 points apiece
Philadelphia 76ers 90 New York Knicks 87
Tobias Harris drained a go ahead 3 pointer with 28 2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as Philadelphia won at New York
Ben Simmons scored 21 points to reach the 20 point plateau in a career best fourth straight contest for the 76ers who snapped a six game road losing skid and improved to 8 14 away from the City of Brotherly Love
Josh Richardson scored 18 points and Furkan Korkmaz added 17 one night after he erupted for a career best totals in points 24 and 3 pointers six in the 76ers 100 89 victory over Chicago
Utah Jazz 123 Sacramento Kings 101
Bojan Bogdanovic made six 3 pointers and scored 30 points to help Utah roll over Sacramento at Salt Lake City
Rudy Gobert recorded a season high 28 points on 9 of 11 shooting and also had 15 rebounds and three blocked shots Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points as the Jazz won for the 16th time in their past 18 games
De Aaron Fox recorded 21 points and eight assists for the Kings who have lost four straight games and 13 of their past 16 Marvin Bagley III scored 17 points and Buddy Hield added 14
Detroit Pistons 136 Atlanta Hawks 103
Derrick Rose scored 10 of his 27 points in the first quarter to set the tone and visiting Detroit shot 59 3 percent from the field in a rout of Atlanta
Rose making only his third start was 12 for 17 from the field and added nine assists It was his eighth straight game of 20 plus points Rose was one of six Detroit players who scored in double figures He was joined by Svi Mykhailiuk with a career high 25 Markieff Morris with 22 Andre Drummond with 16 Langston Galloway with 14 and Christian Wood with 10
The Hawks got 20 points from John Collins 19 from De Andre Hunter and 16 points and seven assists from Trae Young Newly acquired Jeff Teague had 15 points and seven assists in his first game back with the team
Golden State Warriors 109 Orlando Magic 95
D Angelo Russell scored 26 points as Golden State snapped a 10 game losing streak with a victory over Orlando in San Francisco
Rookie Jordan Poole scored a career high 21 points and Eric Paschall added 20 and nine rebounds for the short handed Warriors who recorded their first victory since winning four in a row from Dec 20 27
Markelle Fultz scored 10 of his 23 points in the final 4 1 2 minutes of the second quarter and finished 10 of 14 from the floor for the Magic who failed to take advantage of a 13 0 run to start the game Nikola Vucevic collected 13 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando which last won in the Bay Area on Dec 3 2012
Chicago Bulls 118 Cleveland Cavaliers 116
Zach LaVine scored 21 of his game high 42 points in the fourth quarter and Lauri Markkanen had 17 points as host Chicago rallied past Cleveland
Chicago trailed by as many as 19 points in the third quarter before opening the fourth on a 16 2 run to draw within 104 103 LaVine who notched his third game of at least 40 points this season banked in a pullup jumper with 4 38 to go to give Chicago a 108 107 lead and set off a see saw finish
Cleveland lost for the fourth straight game to conclude a six game road trip at 2 4 Both teams were playing the second legs of back to backs Kevin Love scored 29 points to lead five Cavaliers in double figures
Field Level Media |
WMB | Serena sweeps past teenager Potapova in Melbourne | MELBOURNE Reuters Seven times Australian Open champion Serena Williams NYSE WMB looked in ominous form as she opened her 19th campaign at Melbourne Park with a 6 0 6 3 trouncing of Anastasia Potapova on Monday
American Williams 38 arrived at the year s first Grand Slam having won her first WTA title in three years and made short work of the out gunned Russian teenager on Rod Laver Arena
A clean crosscourt winner gave the eighth seed the first set in under 20 minutes and although former Wimbledon junior champion Potapova made her fight harder in the second the match was wrapped up inside an hour
Williams will play Slovenia s Tamara Zidansek or South Korean wildcard Han Na lae in the second round as she continues her quest to match Margaret Court s record career tally of 24 Grand Slam singles titles |
WMB | 49ers and Chiefs to clash in Super Bowl after conference wins | Reuters Raheem Mostert rushed for four touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers beat Green Bay 37 20 to book a spot in the Super Bowl where they will face Kansas City who advanced to the NFL championship game for the first time in 50 seasons with a 35 24 win over Tennessee on Sunday Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was instrumental in their victory in the American Football Conference championship game breaking the Titans backs with a dazzling 27 yard first half touchdown run as the Chiefs overcame a 10 0 deficit Mahomes who also threw three touchdown passes gave the Chiefs their first lead at 21 17 with the tackle breaking run with 11 seconds left in the opening half They went on to dominate the second half chalking up their eight consecutive win to earn a berth in Feb 2 Super Bowl to be played in Miami Kansas City has not been to the title game since January 1970 when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23 7 in the fourth Super Bowl It s amazing It really is Mahomes said To be here to be a part of Chiefs Kingdom and to be able to do it here at Arrowhead these people deserve it And we re not done yet We are going to get it the Super Bowl title Tennessee the surprise package of the playoffs with a sixth seed scored the game s first 10 points on a field goal and Derrick Henry s four yard run But the Chiefs as they had in overcoming the Houston Texans 24 0 advantage last weekend rallied behind their quarterback Mahomes toss to wide receiver Tyreek Hill on a jet sweep brought the Chiefs within 10 7 before Tennessee scored on a one yard pass from Ryan Tannehill to massive tackle Dennis Kelly The Chiefs rolled for the next 28 points Hill caught 20 yard pass from Mahomes and the quarterback added his key touchdown run tiptoeing along the sidelines at times When they are getting double teamed and there are only three men rushing and our line are blocking it gives me room where I can run Mahomes said Damien Williams NYSE WMB then rushed into the end zone on a three run and Mahomes threw his third touchdown of the game on a 60 yard play to Sammy Watkins Tennessee finally showed signs of life on Tannehill s 22 yard pass to Anthony Firkser with four minutes left but it was too late for the Titans In the National Football Conference championship game in San Francisco the 49ers relied on the running game to build a 27 0 lead and took a 34 7 lead into the fourth quarter Mostert became the first NFL player with four rushing touchdowns in a conference championship game as he scored on runs of 36 nine 18 and 22 yards running for 220 yards in total Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers who had 326 yards passing but was intercepted twice and lost a fumble rallied the Packers to within 34 20 as they scored twice to open the fourth
But Robbie Gould s third field goal for San Francisco ended the scoring |
WMB | NHL roundup Penguins come from three down to beat Bruins | Bryan Rust s tiebreaking goal in the third period capped the Pittsburgh Penguins comeback from an early three goal deficit Sunday to give them a 4 3 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins
At 12 35 of the third period Rust from 12 feet converted a pass from behind the net from Evgeni Malkin who picked up his 50th point on the assist
Dominik Simon Teddy Blueger and Jack Johnson also scored and Sidney Crosby had two assists for Pittsburgh which picked up its NHL leading 18th home win while playing in front of the 600th consecutive home sellout including playoffs Penguins goaltender Matt Murray made 34 saves
David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist and Patrice Bergeron and Anders Bjork also scored all in the first period for the Bruins who have lost three of four The lone victory in the stretch was a 4 1 decision against the Penguins on Thursday at home Goalie Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves for Boston
Hurricanes 2 Islanders 1 SO
Justin Williams NYSE WMB made a storybook return to the lineup by scoring in the eighth round of the shootout to give Carolina a victory against visiting New York
Williams the former team captain was making his season debut The 38 year old signed 11 days earlier as a free agent ending an abbreviated retirement that began last summer after he helped the Hurricanes reach the Eastern Conference finals
Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen also produced in the shootout for the Hurricanes while New York s Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier were good for the Islanders
Blackhawks 5 Jets 2
Patrick Kane recorded a late assist for his 1 000th career point helping Chicago to a season high fifth consecutive victory with a win over visiting Winnipeg
Kane in his 13th season became the 90th player in NHL history to reach the milestone It came when he dished a pass from behind the net to Ryan Carpenter who delivered the puck across the slot to Brandon Saad for a goal with 5 46 left in the game to give Chicago a 4 2 lead
With the assist Kane extended his point streak to 10 games four goals 11 assists for the Blackhawks who also got a goal and assist each from Alex Nylander and defenseman Erik Gustafsson David Kampf also scored Dominik Kubalik added an empty netter and Robin Lehner made 36 saves for his third straight win as Chicago won for the 11th time in 15 games to draw even on points 54 with Winnipeg
Blue Jackets 2 Rangers 1
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his second goal of the game with 27 seconds remaining as visiting Columbus rallied for a victory over New York at Madison Square NYSE SQ Garden
The Blue Jackets tied a season high with their fifth straight win thanks to Bjorkstrand who returned after missing nearly a month due to a back injury Bjorkstrand recorded his seventh career two goal game as the Blue Jackets also posted their sixth victory when trailing after two periods
Bjorkstrand s clutch third period goals helped Matiss Kivlenieks win his NHL debut Kivlenieks made 31 saves including 14 in the final 20 minutes His best save of the night occurred about midway through the second when he slid across the crease to make a stick save on former Blue Jacket Artemi Panarin
Field Level Media |
WMB | Wozniacki battles mixed emotions in first round win at Australian Open | By Rozanna Latiff
MELBOURNE Reuters Caroline Wozniacki battled mixed emotions as she stepped on court at the Australian Open on Monday to begin the final tournament of her career but the former world No 1 kept her composure to deliver a 6 1 6 3 first round win over Kristie Ahn
The Dane s speedy footwork and trademark defensive skills were on full display as she breezed through the first set in just 24 minutes on Melbourne Arena
She faced a tougher time in the second set after a marathon first game on Ahn s serve which saw the 92nd ranked American save eight break points before Wozniacki finally prevailed
She went on to hold the next two games and never seemed in danger of losing even when Ahn managed to claw a break back in the fourth game
Ahn facing three match points at 5 3 down saved one but hit a double fault on the second securing the victory for Wozniacki after an hour and 25 minutes
It s always tricky There s a lot of just emotions but I tried to keep them in check and I thought I did that very well today the 29 year old who won her only Grand Slam trophy in 2018 at Melbourne Park told reporters
Wozniacki will next face the winner of the match between 21st ranked Dayana Yastremska and Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan
Wozniacki who has earned some 35 million in prize money is credited with putting Denmark on the tennis map after reaching the number one ranking for the first time in 2010
Reflecting on her achievements Wozniacki said she hoped to inspire the next generation of Danish players noting that she herself had no peers while she was climbing up the ranks
I do think that having someone there before you would probably have been a little easier because it would have showed the way and that it s possible
I always believed in myself and I always believed that there are no limits to what you can achieve no matter where you re from
Seven times Australian Open champion Serena Williams NYSE WMB described Wozniacki s retirement as a great loss to women s tennis and credited the Dane with making the locker room a friendlier place
She s a great personality and a great spirit Williams said
She carried that on the court and off the court |
WMB | Gauff completes double eclipse of Venus at Australian Open | By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE Reuters Coco Gauff shone on her Australian Open debut on Monday as she knocked Venus Williams NYSE WMB out of the first round in a repeat of her stunning victory over the seven times Grand Slam champion in the Wimbledon opener last year The 15 year old American sensation 24 years Williams junior and the youngest player in the draw eased to a 7 6 5 6 3 win in the clash of generations at Margaret Court Arena her first main draw appearance as a direct Grand Slam qualifier I definitely was a lot more confident this time Gauff who beat Williams 6 4 6 4 at Wimbledon as a qualifier told reporters I think I was used to playing on big courts so the crowd I guess the size of the crowd didn t startle me as much as last time Gauff was born the year after Williams lost the 2003 Australian Open final to younger sister Serena She grew up idolizing the Williams sisters who have shared 30 Grand Slam trophies between them But Gauff is determined to plot her own path to greatness and all respect was put aside as she broke Venus in the opening game and marched to a 5 3 lead in the first set Williams ranked world number 55 and in the twilight of her career summoned her two decades of experience at Melbourne Park to break back and force a tiebreak In a point for point battle the 39 year old fought gamely to share the support of the terraces but she ended up gifting the set to her schoolgirl opponent when she struck an overhead smash into the net Gauff duly pounced breaking Williams in the second game of the second set to roar to a 3 0 lead showcasing her court speed and formidable power for a player of her age Pounding down four first serves in succession Gauff wrapped up the match in style with a drop shot She played well like I said Williams told reporters Just played very focused and put a lot of balls in the court That s what you have to do She ll play well the rest of the event She clearly wants it works very hard is extremely mature for her age I think the sky s the limit for her Gauff who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third at the U S Open has already been tipped for Grand Slam trophies Anybody who doesn t think she s going to win a Grand Slam has to have their head examined 18 times Grand Slam title winner Chris Evert said pre tournament She s got it all and she s going to cause some upsets for sure this tournament the Australian Open I predict Gauff will face Romanian Sorana Cirstea who earlier beat Barbora Strycova 6 2 7 6 5 for a place in the third round Gauff underlined her maturity with thoughtful confident answers during her post match media conference but also gave a reminder that she is still only a teenager admitting she spends too much time on the popular video sharing app TikTok
I procrastinate a lot on that app she said I have to do homework I m still procrastinating on that |
WMB | Motor racing Good call F1 rookie Latifi takes race number from area code | LONDON Reuters Canadian Formula One rookie Nicholas Latifi has made the call and will race with the number six on his car in a nod to the telephone area code of his home city Toronto
Latifi this season s sole rookie driver explained his choice on Twitter in a video posted by his Williams NYSE WMB team on Monday
I decided to choose number six So the reason I chose this is because I m from Toronto and Toronto is known as The Six basically because if you re from there your area code for your phone number is either 416 or 647 he said
It s a bit silly but that kind of stuck so I decided to choose that
The number previously belonged to 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg who retired from Formula One days after his title success with Mercedes
A driver keeps his number throughout his F1 career but they become available again two entire seasons after they were last used
The new season starts in Australia on March 15 |
WMB | Porzingis close as Mavs get set to face Clippers | After missing 10 games with right knee soreness Kristaps Porzingis could return Tuesday when the Dallas Mavericks host the Los Angeles Clippers
The way I m feeling I don t see why there should be any hurdles said Porzingis after participating in a full practice Sunday according to the Dallas Morning News But you never know so I m just putting in the work making sure the knee is strong the leg is strong
The 7 foot 3 Porzingis averaged 17 3 points 9 4 rebounds and 2 1 blocks before being sidelined
We have Monday and then we ll see where we are for Tuesday but Sunday was good said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle according to the team s website He was out there the whole time he competed We did some live stuff which he was in so good stuff
The Mavericks who were 6 4 during Porzingis absence have now won four consecutive games the latest a 120 112 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday Luka Doncic converted a career high eight 3 pointers and scored 35 points with eight rebounds and seven assists for Dallas Doncic is one triple double shy of tying Jason Kidd s career club mark of 21
Doncic took 12 3 point attempts and hit 11 of 23 shots from the floor He has averaged 28 9 points 9 7 rebounds and nine assists per game He was third in the league in scoring and assists through Sunday s games
Tim Hardaway Jr had 29 points while Seth Curry added 16 off the bench for the Mavericks against the Blazers
Kawhi Leonard topped 30 or more points for the fifth straight game scoring 39 to lift the Clippers over the host New Orleans Pelicans 133 130 on Saturday Leonard who is averaging 36 points per game in the past five contests also had six boards six assists and five steals
Making shots It s simple as that Making shots said Leonard told reporters afterward after making 15 of 28 attempts My teammates are being more aggressive being assertive and that s it
Lou Williams NYSE WMB whose 3 pointer with 31 6 seconds remaining was the difference contributed 32 points and Montrezl Harrell scored 24 off the bench for the Clippers winners of three straight and five of their last six The Clippers prevailed by rallying in the second half after allowing the Pelicans to tie a franchise record with 80 points in the first half
Paul George missed his fifth consecutive game with a strained left hamstring George isn t expected to return against the Mavericks but Clippers coach Doc Rivers hopes the six time All Star forward can play before the end of the current five game road swing that began in New Orleans
He s coming along Rivers said according to the Los Angeles Times Hopefully at some point he ll rejoin us on the trip but right now we just felt it d be better for him to stay back and just keep getting treatment
The Clippers captured a 114 99 decision on Nov 26 at Dallas Leonard scored 28 points and George finished with 26 and a career best six steals Doncic managed 22 points on 4 of 14 shooting eight rebounds and six assists He committed seven turnovers
Field Level Media |
WMB | Fan throws object at LeBron s son during game | A fan was reportedly ejected after throwing what appeared to be a small piece of trash at the son of LeBron James during a high school basketball game on Monday
Bronny James Sierra Canyon Calif High School team was in Springfield Mass to play Paul VI Catholic Va High With three minutes left in the third quarter and James standing at the scorer s table preparing to inbound the ball a small wrapper or piece of trash flew from the crowd and hit James in the back
According to Yahoo NASDAQ AABA Sports Krysten Peek the game was stopped and security called to remove the fan Multiple videos posted to social media showed an arm from the second row throw the object Another angle clearly shows the object hit James Both the official standing with the ball and James immediately looked down at the object and the official called over security
One video shows a security or police officer come to the scorer s table and look in the crowd though no video has been posted showing the fan being removed
According to Peek 4 000 people were in attendance in the small gym and 40 officers were stationed both in the gym and the surrounding area
Another reason for the increased security was the presence of LeBron James who was in the area with the Los Angeles Lakers in Boston to play the Celtics later Monday
LeBron James replied to a video showing the object being thrown at Bronny tweeting in part Hating has no age limit
Though the fan s face could not be seen it appeared they could have been a minor
You d be surprised by all the stuff Bronny has to go through teammate Ziaire Williams NYSE WMB told Yahoo Sports after the game It s not fair but he doesn t let it faze him at all I m learning how to be more like that from him and he s younger than me
Field Level Media OLUSSPORT Reuters US Online Report Sports News 20200121T011813 0000 |
C | Daily Report European Majors Weaken on Bunch of Bad News | Euro extends recent slide against dollar and takes other European majors down as more bad news came out of Europe Portugal s credit rating was downgraded by Fitch yesterday from BBB to BB with a negative outlook i e into junk status Fitch said the country s sovereign credit profile is no longer consistent with an investment grade rating due to large fiscal imbalances high indebtedness across all sectors and adverse macroeconomic outlook In response to the downgrade Barclays Capital will cut Portugal government debts from its Euro Treasury Index While Citigroup will keep it in its European Government Bonds and World Government Bonds indices it noted that another one notch downgrade from S P will take Portugal out of the index Talking about downgrades Moody s also lowered Hungary s foreign and local currency bond rating by one notch from Baa3 to Ba1 also at junk level as there are uncertainties on the government s ability to meet its target of fiscal consolidation and debt reduction While there is still no sign that the European debt crisis is going to end any time soon Germany Chancellor Merkel continued to express her strong opposition to Eurobonds after meeting with French President Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Monti There were speculations that Germany will soften its stance on the issue after the poor bond auctions but it s seems there is no change in their position yet Merkel reiterated her opinion that the eurobonds are not needed and not appropriate Meanwhile she also ruled out the expansion of ECB s role in fighting the debt crisis Instead Merkel will make a join proposal with France in modifying the European treaties to entranche tougher fiscal discipline within Eurozone The plan will be submitted in the December 9 EU summit Though a bit of a better news is that China s sovereign wealth fund the China Investment Corp may give indirect support to Europe The fund s executive vice president Jesse Wand said that it will look at investment opportunities in Europe during the process of helping companies or countries in Europe to recover Meanwhile he also said that the Chinese government is studying which way and through which products to support Eurozone Data released from Japan today saw national CPI fell 0 1 yoy in November the first drop since January While the BoJ projected CPI to gain turn positive again in the year starting April some economists expect CPI to stay negative for as long as two years Japan Finance Minister Azumi reiterated that he s cautiously watching yen s movements A focus today will be on Italy s auction of EUR 8b bills |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | EFSF Outlined On To Ezone Flash CPI | EFSF leverage framework outlined German unemployment falls by more than expected UK Gfk consumer confidence slides again Expecting Eurozone flash Nov CPI More downgrades overnight as S P downgrades US banks US ADP expected as well as Canada Q3 GDP Eurogroup ministers unveiled their plan for leveraging the EFSF without much detail with respect to how much it would be leveraged and on the extent of IMF involvement would have in respect of the part of the CIF tranche Both Rehn and Junckers were deliberately evasive on that point Estimates of the total leverage range from between 250bn and 600bn as EU ministers start the second day of their meeting Up to now the EFSF shall insure 20 30 of sovereign bonds and will be able to leverage resources up to EUR 250bn starting early 2012 German November unemployment falls by 20k vs exp 8k unemployment rate at 6 9 vs exp 7 0 Italy October unemployment rose to 8 5 from 8 3 UK November Gfk consumer confidence came in at 31 from 32 Yesterdays Autumn Statement made pretty grim reading and Fitch certainly thought so warning on the sustainability of the UK outlook given the current growth dynamics Due at 10 GMT Eurozone Nov flash CPI expected to remain at 3 0 A lower than exp figure would escalate expectations for more ECB easing and potentially unsterlilised purchases Sentiment could well suffer a setback today after S P downgraded a number of major US banks including Citigroup BOA and Goldman long term credit ratings on concerns about exposure to European debt This afternoon we the precursor to the latest US payrolls report with November ADP numbers while soon after we have Canadian Q3 GDP numbers |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
JPM | Fed inspector general NY Fed stumbled in handling of JPMorgan London Whale | WASHINGTON Reuters The Federal Reserve s inspector general arm found several flaws in the way the New York Fed handled J P Morgan s huge credit derivative losses in 2012 including limited resources and competing priorities
J P Morgan N JPM incurred around 2 billion in losses due to a complex trading strategy involving credit derivatives in Europe that year in a case that became known as the London Whale
The Fed s Office of Inspector General said in a report released on Tuesday that among the flaws in the New York Fed s handling of the issue was limited resources and an over reliance on certain personnel
The report also said that New York Fed examiners identified London Whale risks as early as 2008 but did not conduct planned follow up examinations
Reporting by Michael Flaherty Editing by Chizu Nomiyama |
JPM | U S national security prosecutors shift focus from spies to cyber | By Aruna Viswanatha WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Justice Department is restructuring its national security prosecution team to deal with cyber attacks and the threat of sensitive technology ending up in the wrong hands as American business and government agencies face more intrusions The revamp led by Assistant Attorney General John Carlin also marks a recognition that national security threats have broadened and become more technologically savvy since the 9 11 attacks against the United States As part of the shift the Justice Department has created a new position in the senior ranks of its national security division to focus on cyber security and recruited an experienced prosecutor Luke Dembosky to fill the position The agency is also renaming its counter espionage section to reflect its expanding work on cases involving violations of export control laws Carlin confirmed in an interview Such laws prohibit the export without appropriate licenses of products or machinery that could be used in weapons or other defense programs or goods or services to countries sanctioned by the U S government We need to develop the capability and bandwidth to deal with what we can see as an evolving threat said Carlin who was confirmed to his post in April As Carlin builds his team he has also recruited a new deputy Mary McCord from the U S Attorney s office in Washington The result according to experts could be an uptick in the number of national security related cases brought in federal court a shift in focus from the National Security Division s prior mandate to investigate for intelligence gathering purposes and only prosecute a subset of cases This is not just a reshuffling of the deck said former national security cyber crime prosecutor Nicholas Oldham who is now in private practice On the export control front the government has also been increasingly setting its sights on more significant cases a top official in the Export Enforcement Coordination Center said in an interview One of the things I look for is are we going after low picking fruit or are we going after more significant violators said Thomas Trotto deputy director of the center which is part of the Department of Homeland Security CYBER THREATS The changes come amid reports that hackers in Russia and elsewhere are targeting everyone from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union to JPMorgan Chase Co N JPM and other financial institutions The counter espionage section which deals less with on the ground spies than it used to will now be called the Counter Intelligence and Export Controls Section A network of terrorism prosecutors around the country called the Anti Terrorism Advisory Council or ATAC will also be renamed the National Security ATAC network to make clear its broader responsibilities Carlin said In 2012 Carlin helped create a similar network of national security cyber specialists in each U S Attorney s office around the country That was the first of his efforts to start building cyber expertise within the group of prosecutors that had access to national security intelligence information In the first public case to come out of the effort the agency charged five Chinese military officers in May accusing them of hacking into U S nuclear metal and solar companies to steal trade secrets The move ratcheted up tensions between the two countries This prosecution raises the risk that other countries are going to go after our employees it s a risky strategy but a bold one said Amy Jeffress a former national security prosecutor who is now in private practices at Arnold Porter While the Chinese officers are not expected to be extradited to face charges in the United States Carlin said his team is busy with similar cases that would likely be litigated in court I think you will more regularly see the use of the criminal justice system We are now actively investigating a variety of nation state cases Not all but some will result in prosecutions he said
In addition to Dembosky who was coordinating litigation within the criminal division s computer crime section and will serve as one of four deputy assistant attorney generals Carlin has also brought on board others with cyber expertise He expects to bring in several more cyber lawyers soon His chief of staff Anita Singh also spent time as a prosecutor in the computer crime section Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha Editing by Karey Van Hall and Andre Grenon |
JPM | New York financial regulator pushes banks to plug gaps in cybersecurity | Reuters Following the massive cyber attack on the biggest U S bank JPMorgan Chase Co N JPM disclosed in August and other financial institutions government authorities in United States are pushing financial institutions and brokerage houses to close glaring gaps in cybersecurity In a letter sent to many banks on Tuesday the New York State Department of Financial Services superintendent Benjamin Lawsky expressed concern about the level of insight financial institutions have into the sufficiency of cybersecurity controls of their third party service providers The New York State s top financial regulator has requested banks to disclose any policies and procedures governing relationships with third party service providers according to a copy of the letter obtained by Reuters Lawsky said that banks must provide any due diligence processes used to evaluate the adequacy of security procedures of third party service providers He has asked financial institutions to outline all methods of protection used to safeguard sensitive data that is sent to received from or accessible to vendors It is abundantly clear that in many respects a firm s level of cybersecurity is only as good as the cybersecurity of its vendors Lawsky said in the letter Names addresses phone numbers and email addresses of the holders of some 83 million households and small business accounts were exposed when computer systems at JPMorgan Chase Co were recently compromised by hackers making it one of the biggest data breaches in history Yet the bank has said there is no evidence that account numbers passwords user IDs birth dates or Social Security numbers had been stolen Last month Lawsky noted at a Bloomberg Markets event at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan that while there s a role for policy makers and legislators to address the issue the public sector also may be able to prod the private sector to take steps to better handle the risk We need to think about ways to incentivize the market participants to do more to protect themselves from attacks Lawsky said A series of prominent cyber attacks this year has underscored how vulnerable much data has become In September Home Depot revealed some 56 million payment cards were likely compromised in a cyber attack at its stores dwarfing another recent high profile attack at retailer Target Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and Ankit Ajmera in Bangalore Editing by Bernard Orr |
JPM | JPMorgan says justice department probing forex business | Reuters JPMorgan Chase Co N JPM said the U S Justice Department was conducting a criminal investigation into its foreign exchange business
The largest U S bank also raised the top end of its loss estimates for legal proceedings in excess of reserves established to 5 9 billion from 4 6 billion
The investigation focuses on its spot foreign exchange trading activities and controls related to those the bank said in a regulatory filing
The bank said it was cooperating with the investigations and was in talks with the justice department and civil enforcement authorities but that there was no assurance that such discussions will result in settlements
Reporting by Anil D Silva in Bangalore Editing by Joyjeet Das |
BMY | Immunomedics Enters Into Supply Deal For Breast Cancer Drug | Clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Immunomedics Inc NASDAQ IMMU announced a strategic manufacturing partnership with Johnson Matthey LON JMAT
Both the companies have expanded their long term master supply agreement whereby Johnson Matthey will continue to scale the manufacturing of CL2A SN 38 the drug linker that is a key component of Immunomedics lead antibody drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan
Sacituzumab govitecan is currently under priority review by the FDA for accelerated approval as a treatment for patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer mTNBC Sacituzumab govitecan has also been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation in the United States for the treatment of patients with mTNBC
The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed
Share price of Immunomedics has decreased 3 6 year to date narrower than the s decline of 25 6
Immunomedics is gearing up for the launch of its lead candidate assuming a tentative approval In May 2018 Immunomedics submitted a Biologics License Application BLA to the FDA for sacituzumab govitecan for the treatment of patients with mTNBC who have received at least two prior therapies for metastatic disease The BLA was accepted for filing and granted Priority Review with a PDUFA target action date of Jan 18 2019
Moreover the company has entered into collaborations with AstraZeneca NYSE AZN and Clovis Oncology NASDAQ CLVS to evaluate sacituzumab govitecan in earlier lines of therapy for mTNBC and advanced urothelial cancer UC in combination with checkpoint and PARP inhibitors respectively
In June 2018 Immunomedics entered into a clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm MedImmune to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of AstraZeneca s Imfinzi a human monoclonal antibody directed against PD L1 and sacituzumab govitecan as a treatment for patients with triple negative breast cancer and UC
Zacks Rank Stock to Consider
Immunomedics currently carries a Zacks Rank 4 Sell A better ranked stock in the healthcare sector is Bristol Myers Squibb Company NYSE BMY which sports a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see
Bristol Myers earnings per share estimates have increased from 3 84 to 3 87 for 2018 and 4 03 to 4 14 for 2019 over the past 60 days The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters with average of 11 99
Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana Ignited by new referendums and legislation this industry is expected to blast from an already robust 6 7 billion to 20 2 billion in 2021 Early investors stand to make a killing but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look |
BMY | Novartis NVS Benefits From New Drugs Key Acquisitions | Shares of Novartis AG NYSE NVS have gained 14 1 in the past six months compared with the s growth of 10 3 The company s efforts to turnaround its business in 2018 has been impressive given the loss of exclusivity for key drugs The company made acquisitions to develop its pipeline in other promising areas Novartis restructured its business in 2018 and plans to focus on becoming a core drug focused company powered by data and digital technologies Novartis has one of the largest and diverse portfolios in oncology with drugs like Afinitor Exjade Jakavi Zykadia Tasigna Jadenu and Kisqali The company is striving to bring new therapies to the market like CAR T therapy and Kymriah in the oncology space The company recently acquired erstwhile Endocyte to expand expertise in radiopharmaceuticals and transformational therapeutic platforms The acquisition will add 177Lu PSMA 617 a potential first in class radioligand therapy to Novartis diverse portfolio The therapy is in phase III development for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer mCRPC and will complement the robust Advanced Accelerator Applications radiogland therapy pipeline We remind investors that Novartis earlier acquired Advanced Accelerator Applications and added Luthathera to its portfolio Earlier this year the company acquired gene therapy company AveXis Inc The European Commission EC recently approved Luxturna a one time gene therapy for the treatment of patients suffering from vision loss due to a genetic mutation in both copies of the RPE65gene and who have enough viable retinal cells Luxturna was developed and is commercialized in the United States by Spark Therapeutics NASDAQ ONCE Novartis and Spark Therapeutics entered into a licensing and supply agreement in January 2018 for the development registration and commercialization rights to Luxturna in markets outside the United States Per the agreement Novartis can commercialize Luxturna in the EU EEA The company already owns exclusive rights to development registration and commercialization of the gene therapy in all other countries outside the United States and Spark Therapeutics will supply it to Novartis Approval of new drugs and label expansion of existing drugs has also boosted performance The strong performance of Cosentyx and Entresto continues to boost performance Meanwhile Novartis intends to spin off Alcon into a separately traded standalone company to grow as a medicines company solely and focus better on its legacy drug business The spin off is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019 Earlier Novartis divested its stake in the OTC joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline NYSE GSK for 13 billion Sandoz the generic arm of Novartis continues to advance its portfolio of biosimilars and generics The division has eight approved biosimilars in its portfolio including five in the past eighteen months We expect strong performance of new drugs and approval of innovative therapies to boost business for the company in 2019 Zacks Rank Another Key Pick
Novartis currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Another well placed stock in the healthcare sector is Bristol Myers Squibb Company NYSE BMY which sports the same rank as Novartis You can see Bristol Myers delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters with average of 11 99 Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana Ignited by new referendums and legislation this industry is expected to blast from an already robust 6 7 billion to 20 2 billion in 2021 Early investors stand to make a killing but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look |
BMY | Heron Gains On Priority Review Designation For Pain Drug | Shares of Heron Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ HRTX rose 9 22 on Dec 31 after the company announced that the FDA has accepted the new drug application NDA for experimental candidate HTX 011 which was submitted to the agency on Oct 30 2018 The FDA also granted the NDA a Priority Review designation Notably the company s shares gained 37 2 in 2018 while the declined 20 4 Priority Review designation is given to drugs which upon approval would result in significant improvements in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment or prevention of serious medical conditions Meanwhile the FDA had indicated that it is currently not planning to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss this application and the agency has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act goal date of Apr 30 2019 The candidate which utilizes Heron s proprietary Biochronomer drug delivery technology is a long acting extended release formulation of the local anesthetic bupivacaine in a fixed dose combination with the anti inflammatory meloxicam It is being evaluated for the management of postoperative pain The candidate is designed to address both postoperative pain and inflammation in a single administration at the surgical site The NDA is supported by data from five phase II clinical trials and two phase III clinical trials that included more than 1 000 patients undergoing five different surgical procedures We remind investors that the FDA had earlier granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to HTX 011 based on the results of phase II studies and two completed phase III studies These studies showed that HTX 011 produced significant reductions in both pain intensity and the need for opioids through 72 hours post surgery compared to placebo and bupivacaine solution which is the standard of care The candidate was also granted Fast Track designation by the FDA in the fourth quarter of 2017 The results of various studies showed that HTX 011 was more effective in reducing pain than placebo or bupivacaine alone in five diverse surgical models hernia repair abdominoplasty bunionectomy total knee arthroplasty and breast augmentation A tentative approval will be a significant boost for the company There is a great need for safe effective and non addictive options that can decrease opioid exposure given the current epidemic of opioid abuse that has put companies like Endo International NASDAQ ENDP and Mallinckrodt NYSE MNK among others under the scanner Zacks Rank Stock to Consider
Heron currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold A better ranked stock in the healthcare sector is Bristol Myers Squibb Company NYSE BMY which carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Bristol Myers earnings per share estimates have increased from 4 03 to 4 14 for 2019 over the past 60 days The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters the average being 11 99 The Hottest Tech Mega Trend of AllLast year it generated 8 billion in global revenues By 2020 it s predicted to blast through the roof to 47 billion Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce the world s first trillionaires but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early |
WMB | Wozniacki to head into retirement loved but legacy unsure | MELBOURNE Reuters Caroline Wozniacki will fittingly take her final bow over the next fortnight at Melbourne Park the scene of her only Grand Slam victory in a career that earned her praise for her tenacity and approachable character but also saw her acquire detractors
The 29 year old said last month that the Australian Open would be her final tournament ending a 14 year professional career that delivered 30 singles titles 71 weeks as the world number one and elevated Danish tennis to the global stage
Wozniacki only revealed in late 2018 that she had been battling with rheumatoid arthritis a painful autoimmune disease that affects the joints and produces fatigue but made it clear last month that her illness had nothing to do with her decision
Instead she was keen to move on with her life after getting married to former basketball player David Lee a two time NBA All Star last June
In recent months I ve realised that there is a lot more in life that I d like to accomplish off the court Wozniacki wrote on Instagram in making the announcement
Injuries to her knees ankles back calf and shoulder in recent years however may have made the decision to hang up her racket a little easier
She also made just one final last year and dropped to 38th in the world her lowest year end ranking since 2007
Coached by her father Piotr from age seven she played her first WTA event just weeks after her 15th birthday earning the first 1 260 of her 35 2 million in prize money in a first round loss to Switzerland s Patty Schnyder in Cincinnati
After bouncing between the WTA and lower level tours she came of age in 2008 when she won her first senior titles and finished the year ranked 12th
She made her first Grand Slam final in 2009 losing to Belgium s Kim Clijsters at the U S Open before she became the first Dane to reach the number one ranking in 2010
That rise caused some controversy with Wozniacki like Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic before her reaching the pinnacle of the rankings without having won a Grand Slam singles
The ranking system itself was pilloried and she was criticized for playing too many tournaments that affected her play at Grand Slams while her tenure also coincided with serious injuries to all time great Serena Williams NYSE WMB
Wozniacki politely batted the criticism away although her father was more pointed
Caroline is in tennis history Piotr Wozniacki told the New York Times in 2012 It takes only one Grand Slam and Caroline is a legend
Her 2018 victory on a sweltering Rod Laver Arena over Romania s Simona Halep another player to reach the top ranking before winning her first Grand Slam should help in debates over her legacy
It at least stopped the question she suspected she had been asked 100 000 times
It s really nice not to have to answer the no Grand Slam question ever again she told reporters
In three weeks she will not need to answer any more tennis questions At all |
WMB | Rejuvenated Osaka looking to retain Melbourne title | By Jack Tarrant
TOKYO Reuters Japan s Naomi Osaka heads to Melbourne looking to defend her Australian Open title following a tumultuous 2019 which saw her reach world number one change coach twice and become the second highest paid female athlete on the planet
Osaka s victory over Petra Kvitova in Melbourne last year earned her a second consecutive Grand Slam title following her success at the 2018 U S Open but she quickly found herself struggling to cope with the pressure of being world No 1
Osaka split with coach Sascha Bajin shortly after her win over Kvitova and in August said she hadn t had fun playing tennis since Melbourne
That same month business magazine Forbes placed her second to only rival Serena Williams NYSE WMB in the list of highest paid female athletes over the previous year
Following disappointing performances at the remaining Grand Slams Osaka regained some form towards the end of last season picking up titles at the Pan Pacific Open and China Open
In December she moved onto her third coach of the year Belgian Wim Fissette and comes into the first Grand Slam of 2020 ranked third in the world and with a new outlook on life
I just feel like I m experiencing so many things in my life and and I m trying to take it all into perspective that these are things that I ve never thought I was going to be able to do Osaka said before this month s Brisbane International
After withdrawing from last year s WTA Finals with a shoulder injury Osaka was able to take an extended holiday going to the Turks and Caicos Islands with her sister Mari
While rest and relaxation would have been her top priority in the Caribbean the trip saw her suffer a near death experience while paddleboarding with her sister
After relinquishing her U S citizenship when she turned 22 last October Japan does not permit dual citizenship for adults Osaka confirmed she would be representing the hosts at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
With two Grand Slam titles to her name Osaka will hope to add Olympic gold to her trophy cabinet this year and perhaps start to think about joining Serena Williams and Steffi Graf as the only female players to win all four majors and the Olympics
Before that however she must use the Australian Open to prove the difficulties of last season are all behind her and show that she means business in 2020 |
WMB | W Series links up with Formula One in the Americas | By Alan Baldwin
LONDON Reuters The all female W Series will be part of the Formula One support program in its second season with new races at the U S and Mexican Grands Prix in October organizers announced on Thursday
The W Series conceived as a platform to help women gain experience to help them climb up the motorsport ladder and compete with the men started last year with six races at European circuits
Those behind it have made no secret of their global ambitions however
The races at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas and Mexico City s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez expand the second season to eight rounds with the other six accompanying the DTM German Touring Car championship
In just one year W Series has contributed significantly to increasing interest in the topic of diversity and inclusion in motorsport Ross Brawn Formula One s managing director for motorsport said in a statement
We are convinced that our sport must offer equal opportunities for men and women to compete together added the Briton
It is no coincidence that improving the diversity of the F1 grid by supporting and promoting driver talent from under represented backgrounds is one of our strategic objectives
Formula One has not had a female racer line up on the starting grid since 1976
W Series chief executive Catherine Bond Muir said she was thrilled her championship would be a part of the two weekends
I m particularly pleased that W Series will now stage races outside Europe and the USA and Mexico are of course both very important new territories for us she said
The American races will be on successive Saturdays when Formula One qualifying is the main draw The two grands prix have been Formula One title deciders for four of the last five years
Both circuits have also been keen to show greater inclusivity in a male dominated sport and have space on support programs without the usual junior series
The fact that W Series will be even bigger and even better in 2020 than it was in 2019 will make the return on investment for our future sponsor partners better and bigger too said Bond Muir
The 2019 title with a prize of 500 000 was won by Britain s Jamie Chadwick who is also a development driver for the Williams NYSE WMB Formula One team
Former F1 racer David Coulthard who competed in 246 grands prix between 1994 and 2008 is the chairman of the W Series advisory board
It the agreement demonstrates very clearly the extent to which W Series has quickly been widely accepted as part of the international motorsport calendar said the Scot |
WMB | Premarket London Pearson Revenue Flat CFO Departs Whitbread Sales Dip | Investing com Here is a summary from the most important regulatory news releases from the London Stock Exchange ahead of the UK market open on Thursday 16 January Please refresh for updates for UK market news from the LSE s RNS on individual UK shares from FTSE 100 FTSE 250 and FTSE All Share
Primark owners Associated British Foods LON ABF said revenue for the 16 weeks to Jan 4 was up 4 on the previous year and its outlook remained unchanged
Thanks to three new stores in Europe and an expansion in existing stores sales for the final quarter were up 4 5 for the group s Primark business Primark intends to open its first stores in several eastarn European countries in 2020
Revenues from ABF s sugar business increased by 7 in 2019 due to an increase in sugar prices and better quality beet crop
Recruitment specialist Hays LON HAYS said it expects first half operating profit to fall around 20 to 100 million pounds due to difficult trading conditions in key markets
Revenue for its fiscal second quarter ending in December fell 4 on the year on a like for like basis as French strikes Australian bushfires and the U K general election and uncertainty over the direction of Brexit all weighed on hiring
Net fees from Germany also fell 9 on the year as increased client cost controls and reduced overall business confidence across multiple sectors
Overall we expect near term macro conditions to remain difficult CEO Alastair Cox said
Publishers Pearson LON PSON said growth for 2019 was flat as a result of a drop in its U S business It also said CFO Coram Williams NYSE WMB is to leave the company for a comparable role in Europe Williams will be succeeded by Deputy Chief Financial Officer Sally Johnson who has been with the company since 2000
Revenue in U S educational courseware which makes up almost a quarter of the business fell by almost 12 The company saw modest growth in digital revenue but a continued decline in print
A 350 million pounds share buyback will begin on Thursday as a result of revenue from selling its 675 million pound stake in Penguin Random House Pearson also made annual savings of 335 million pounds in 2019
Growth excluding U S educational coursework was up 4
C C Group the company behind cider brands Magners and Bulmers as well as Tennent s beer said its chief executive Stephen Glancey is to retire He ll step down with immediate effect and will leave the company at the end of February
The company has not yet begun a search for his successor
C C reassured that trading through the year end had been in line with its expectations and that it still expects per share earnings growth of over 10 for the full fiscal year
Premier Inn owner Whitbread LON WTB said sales growth increased 1 in the third quarter thanks to growth in Germany and its wider brand which includes Beefeater and Brewers Fayre
The group expects in line results for the current fiscal year
The company cited Brexit uncertainty as reason for a drop in U K like for like sales which fell by 1 3 It has a cautious outlook for hotel demand in 2020
C C Group BS CCRl the company behind cider brands Magners and Bulmers as well as Tennent s beer said its chief executive Stephen Glancey is to retire He ll step down with immediate effect and will leave the company at the end of February
The company has not yet begun a search for his successor
C C reassured that trading through the year end had been in line with its expectations and that it still expects per share earnings growth of over 10 for the full fiscal year |
WMB | Djokovic faces Struff Barty takes on Tsurenko at Australian Open | By Nick Mulvenney MELBOURNE Reuters Top seed and world number one Ash Barty s bid to end the host nation s long wait for a homegrown Australian Open champion will begin against Ukraine s Lesia Tsurenko when the year s first Grand Slam gets under way next week Men s champion Novak Djokovic will begin his quest for an eighth Australian Open title against Jan Lennard Struff while the man he beat in last year s final Rafa Nadal will take the top seeding into a contest against Bolivian Hugo Dellien Serena Williams NYSE WMB arrived in Australia with confidence high after a title win in the warm up tournament in Auckland as she looks to finally match Margaret Court s record of 24 Grand Slam titles The 38 year old eighth seed begins her bid for an eighth Melbourne Park crown with a first round tie against Russian Anastasia Potapova The players already in Melbourne awoke on Thursday to skies clear of obvious signs of the bushfire smoke that choked the city on Tuesday and Wednesday and disrupted qualifying The draw which took place in the evening in the arena named in honor of Australian Court threw up an intriguing clash for Serena s 39 year old sister Venus who will face fellow American Coco Gauff Gauff 15 exploded onto the tennis map at Wimbledon last year when as a qualifier she beat twice Australian Open champion Venus on her main draw Grand Slam debut Japan s Naomi Osaka has enjoyed an even more stratospheric rise over the last couple of seasons and won her second Grand Slam crown in Australia last year The 22 year old will start her title defense against Czech Marie Bouzkova although she may not know it yet after vacating the stadium court before the draw was revealed I don t even like seeing who I m first playing until the day before the match the third seed said before making a hasty exit YOUNG GUNS Another former champion Maria Sharapova needed a wild card to get into the tournament and could present quite a challenge for 19th seed Donna Vekic Djokovic won a record seventh Melbourne Park crown last year to extend a still unbroken three year dominance of the Grand Slam titles by the trio of the Serbian Nadal and Roger Federer With Djokovic and Nadal now in their 30s and Federer who will open his quest for a 21st major title with a first round match against Steve Johnson heading towards his 40s all eyes are on the young guns who might break their grip Daniil Medvedev is playing great tennis he s definitely in that small group of players who are getting closer to a Grand Slam title Djokovic said Alongside him is Dominic Thiem who is knocking on the door and Stefanos Tsitsipas who won a big tournament at the ATP World Finals We are hoping this is not going to be the year they make the breakthrough but it s inevitable and that it makes it exciting Russian fourth seed Medvedev faces the toughest challenge of the trio in the first round against American Frances Tiafoe who reached the Australian Open quarter finals last year Austrian Thiem seeded fifth plays France s Adrian Mannarino while Greek sixth seed Tsitsipas takes on Italian Salvatore Caruso Nick Kyrgios looms as a tricky potential hurdle in Nadal and Thiem s quarter of the draw but most Australian hopes of success will rest on the shoulders of Barty who is out to end the 42 year wait since Chris O Neill won the title at Kooyong in 1978 The Australian Open runs from Jan 20 to Feb 2 |
WMB | Barty eyes home party as Serena continues chase | By Sudipto Ganguly
MELBOURNE Reuters Ash Barty faces the double burden of being world number one and the focus of an expectant host nation as she seeks to win the Australian Open amid challenges from record chasing Serena Williams NYSE WMB and a host of other Grand Slam winners
The 23 year old Queenslander Barty spectacularly climbed to the top of the women s rankings in 2019 and will start her Melbourne Park campaign next week having won her maiden Grand Slam at the French Open and the WTA Finals in Shenzhen
Her successes saw her become the first Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley to gain the world number one accolade and also raised hopes that she could end the country s 42 year wait for a home winner in Melbourne
She will be the cynosure of the sports loving nation and the local media when the year s first Grand Slam kicks off on Monday but going by what happened in the recent past handling the pressure could prove arduous for Barty
In November leading Australia s charge to win the Fed Cup against France in Perth she suffered an upset loss to Kristina Mladenovic which ended her team s hopes of winning the trophy for the first time in 45 years
Yet Barty who regained her number one spot in September after holding it for seven weeks following her Roland Garros triumph says she is ready for the next daunting chapter
Having a number next to your name doesn t guarantee anything It doesn t guarantee wins You still have to go out there do the work put all those kind of runs on the board I suppose and work from there the former cricketer told reporters in Adelaide this week
All you can do is try and do your best every single match
Japan s Naomi Osaka knows all about the struggles of coping with the pressure of being world number one but she will defend her crown having rediscovered her confidence
Osaka started 2019 by lifting her second straight Grand Slam title in Melbourne following her success at the 2018 U S Open but subsequently suffered early exits at the French Open and Wimbledon
The 22 year old who appointed her third coach of the year in Belgian Wim Fissette in December also disappointed in the defense of her U S Open title
Yet Osaka regained some end of season form with the Pan Pacific Open and China Open titles and after having dropped to number four is back to third in the world behind Karolina Pliskova
Williams who has for years thrived under the pressure of expectation that faces Barty has won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles in Melbourne but faces a different test in the twilight of her illustrious career
She was eight weeks pregnant when winning in Melbourne in 2017 but similar success in Slams has proved elusive since she returned to the circuit as the mother of baby Olympia
She has lost four finals in her quest for a 24th Grand Slam singles title to equal Margaret Court s all time record but last week enjoyed her first WTA singles title in almost three years at the Auckland Classic
It s pretty satisfying to get a win in a final Williams told reporters That was really important for me
I want to build on it Obviously it is a step towards the next goal in Melbourne
While Melbourne will miss the U S Open winner Bianca Andreescu of Canada who pulled out with a knee injury there will be plenty of others who have tasted major success before in what looks a wide open field
Last year s finalist Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep are equipped to add to their multiple majors while the 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki will aim to bow out from the sport on the highest note
Angelique Kerber Sloane Stephens Garbine Muguruza Jelena Ostapenko Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova are the other Grand Slam winners who are outside the top 16 seeds |
WMB | Adecco Group appoints Pearson s Williams as CFO | BERLIN LONDON Reuters Swiss staffing firm Adecco Group S ADEN on Friday said Pearson Plc s L PSON Coram Williams NYSE WMB would take over as chief financial officer from mid 2020
Williams has been CFO since 2015 at Pearson whose shares have plunged nearly 50 since early 2019
At Adecco Group he will succeed Hans Ploos van Amstel who is leaving in June after almost five years
I am looking forward to building on the great work of Hans to further advance the group s transformation harness the significant opportunities ahead to drive profitable growth and deliver clear value for stakeholders Williams said in a statement
Adecco wished Ploos van Amstel well saying he had helped improve the company s cost structure adjust its portfolio and roll out digital offerings
Williams departure from Pearson was announced on Thursday alongside a profit warning that sent its shares to their lowest level in more than a decade
It comes a month after CEO John Fallon said he would retire this year
The British education group has been caught off guard by the speed of the switch from physical textbooks to digital products resulting in a string of profit warnings
Williams will be succeeded at Pearson by his deputy Sally Johnson Pearson said |
WMB | Lloyd Rapinoe anchor U S Olympic qualifying roster | By Amy Tennery Reuters The U S women s soccer team unveiled a 20 strong roster headlined by Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe for the Olympic qualifying tournament on Friday as the four time World Cup winners aim to reach their seventh consecutive Games Team co captain Lloyd will feature in her fourth consecutive Olympic qualifying event later this month alongside national team mainstays Rapinoe winner of the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at last year s World Cup Tobin Heath and Becky Sauerbrunn Absent from the list is Alex Morgan who is pregnant The striker who scored six goals in last year s World Cup has previously said she hopes to play at the Tokyo Olympics even though the Games take place just three months after she is due to give birth to her first child in April We have a balanced roster with versatile players and of course they have a lot of experience in important games said head coach Vlatko Andonovski This is a team that understands that you have to be aggressive and unpredictable in how you create scoring chances but also knows how to be smart on defence at the same time Andonovski heaped praise on Lloyd telling reporters she brought a mix of experience and high performance to the team Her mentality in training was absolutely incredible it was a true example of what a pro competing for a national team is supposed to look like Andonovski said She was first on the field last off the field and she performed at her best every minute she spent on the field Andonovski said there was no reason should the 37 year old should not start matches if she maintained her high standards after serving as a super sub at the last World Cup under former head coach Jill Ellis MISSING OUT Twenty one year olds Tierna Davidson and Mallory Pugh two of the World Cup roster s youngest players did not make the cut with the former still feeling the sting of an ankle injury and the latter struggling with consistency Andonovski said It was competitive and she did well But there were other players that I believed performed better than Mal Pugh he said She has a big future I m pretty sure if she keeps on developing going forward she will be on this roster Two players who made the cut forward Lynn Williams NYSE WMB and midfielder Andi Sullivan were not on the 2019 World Cup roster Williams who plays for North Carolina Courage scored 12 goals last season making her the second top scorer in the National Women s Soccer League in 2019 While 20 players were named to the qualifying tournament squad only 18 will be allowed to compete in Tokyo should the United States qualify for the Olympics Hosts Japan and World Cup finalists the Netherlands have already booked a spot at the Summer Games with Britain Sweden Brazil and New Zealand also qualifying
The U S will play their first match in the 2020 Concacaf Women s Olympic Qualifying tournament against Haiti on Jan 28 |
WMB | More seasoned less fearless Osaka set for Australian Open defense | By Sudipto Ganguly
MELBOURNE Reuters Naomi Osaka has learned to appreciate her victories more after enduring the toughest year of her fledging career and the Japanese world number three says mentally she is in a better place to launch her Australian Open title defense
Osaka started 2019 by winning her second straight Grand Slam title in Melbourne following her success at the 2018 U S Open but suffered early exits at Roland Garros and Wimbledon
The 22 year old also lost her top ranking before disappointing in her U S Open title defense
I feel in a better head space though compared to where I was after I lost Brisbane last year Osaka told reporters referring to her semi final defeat to Lesia Tsurenko in the Brisbane International a warm up event for Melbourne Park
But honestly last year was the toughest year of my life so I would hope it gets better
Osaka regained some confidence towards the end of the season by claiming the Pan Pacific Open and China Open titles
Her path in Melbourne could bring a third round meeting with seven times Grand Slam winner Venus Williams NYSE WMB or rising American Coco Gauff who play each other on Monday while 2017 U S Open champion Sloane Stephens awaits as a possible fourth round opponent
For me now I do feel like I m a bit more seasoned even though I m still relatively young per se said Osaka who takes on Czech Marie Bouzkova in her opening round at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday
But I think every year I get more comfortable on the tour so hopefully that somewhat translates into my matches Last year I feel like I was young I was just this young kid that was going out
My goal was to win and I wasn t going to let anything stop me I feel like now I appreciate more every single win because I know what it took to get it I think maybe last year I was a little bit more fearless
In December Osaka named her third coach of the year in Belgian Wim Fissette who guided Kim Clijsters to three Grand Slam titles and who has also worked with major winners Simona Halep Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber
Asked what she expected from the partnership with Fissette Osaka said Just knowledge I think he s had a lot of experience with previous players
I feel like it s been working out well even though we ve played one tournament together |
WMB | Hurricanes hope to snap 3 game skid as Isles visit | It s a matter of regrouping in a variety of ways for the Carolina Hurricanes as they suffered losses of various degrees during the past week
Most notable is the broken leg suffered by all star defenseman Dougie Hamilton meaning they re without their most productive blue liner and a team leader
There hasn t been much time to absorb the impact of that situation for the Hurricanes who take on the New York Islanders on Sunday in Raleigh N C
The Hurricanes have lost three games in a row though they managed to pull out a team point with Friday night s overtime game against the Anaheim Ducks
The Islanders lost 6 4 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon unable to hold a three goal lead in a home game This is a challenging stretch for New York
We can t look back we have to look forward all the time Islanders coach Barry Trotz said It s a tough stretch a lot of divisional stuff and a lot of points on the line
The Hurricanes could receive a boost if right winger Justin Williams NYSE WMB 38 makes his season debut
The team reported late Saturday afternoon that he s in line to be in the lineup Sunday
Hamilton suffered the injury Thursday night at Columbus The next day he underwent surgery When he missed Friday s game it ended a string of 255 consecutive games played a mark that was the 13th longest active streak in the NHL
Anytime he s out we re going to miss him Obviously the power play Dougie makes that a heckuva lot better said Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin who will replace Hamilton as Carolina s representative in the upcoming All Star Weekend We have the pieces
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind Amour said the team needs to find the right combinations because Hamilton will be out of the lineup indefinitely
That s a huge part of our team missing Brind Amour said He s arguably our No 1 guy on everything plays every situation and we count on him quite a bit All teams go through this at some point and we ll see how we respond
Brind Amour said there might be mixing and matching with defensive pairings until he sees something that appears to click Slavin and Brett Pesce could be tagged to take some of the roles previously held by Hamilton
There are a lot of options to try going forward Brind Amour said
Carolina defenseman Joel Edmundson notched his 12th point of the season with an assist Friday night That s one more point than he had in 64 games last season with the St Louis Blues
The Islanders will be playing their fifth game in a seven day stretch They re 1 3 0 so far in that stretch in what has been a ragged month New York has been outscored 12 6 in three January road games
Special teams have been problematic for the Islanders at times
We re going to look at some things and re assess it as we always do Trotz said
The Hurricanes won 5 2 on Oct 11 at home in the only previous matchup of the season
Carolina has a sense of urgency as well
These last two games before break we ve got to find a way to get four points here Slavin said
The Hurricanes have gone four consecutive games without scoring more than two goals
I think everyone is squeezing it a little bit Jordan Staal said of the pressure offensively We have to just go out and grind and get to the net and do the simple things We have to get back to our game It hasn t been there in a while
Field Level Media |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Stress Testing and Transparency | The Federal Reserve s announcement this week to enter into another round of stress tests on 31 of the largest banks in this country with at least 50 billion in assets sets the stage for more discussion regarding the vulnerability of the banking system However these tests do not provide regulators or the public with full transparency into the relative risk of a bank against its peers because these exercises do not provide consistent measurement across risk types since each firm is allowed to use their own models and internal assumptions to generate the stress test results The tests impose a set of severe macroeconomic scenarios on the banks as part of a comprehensive capital assessment and their results will be published adding a measure of transparency to the process However what may not seem obvious from the Fed s announcement is that each of these 31 banks maintains their own set of proprietary models and assumptions that drive the results of these stress tests At the Bretton Woods Committee meeting in September Vikram Pandit Citigroup s CEO highlighted this point and suggested an alternative approach to analyzing bank risks His suggestion was to create a benchmark portfolio and have each institution run their models for credit market and interest rate risk against this portfolio Asking banks to run the same stress scenario on their own portfolios using their own measurement of risk clouds the capital assessment process by making it nearly impossible to determine whether an institution s risk profile is more or less conservative than another due to their holdings or their modeled views Prior to joining academia I spent untold hours at some of the largest financial institutions overseeing evaluating and developing such risk models To better understand this issue consider one such model prominently featured at banks namely their loan loss reserve assessment process Beyond differences in analytic techniques used to measure credit risk embedded in their portfolios GAAP accounting actually does not stipulate key assumptions regarding the loss confirmation period over which banks would record and hold losses At some banks this has varied considerably from 6 months to as many as 24 or even 48 months Each quarter we would try to benchmark our loan loss reserve to nonperforming assets ratio to our industry peers which was a somewhat futile task since controlling for both portfolio composition and models was impossible The best we could ever say was we were in the ballpark with other firms of like size and comparable asset composition But we never truly knew whether we were well out of line with the rest of the industry or not Regulators face much the same prospect with the latest round of stress tests Now the regulatory community has put greater pressure on banks to raise reserves since the financial crisis however there remains considerable flexibility in the underlying assumptions and techniques used to measure risk And this represents just one type of model of many used to measure credit market and interest rate risk across a variety of asset and liability types Going forward the Fed and other regulators should consider augmenting their stress test activities with capabilities that control for differences in models Right now the tests are not unlike a physician asking patients to use their own home monitoring devices for measuring their blood pressure The results will certainly vary from what the doctor s sphygmomanometer displays not only due to an individual s physiology i e a bank s portfolio for this discussion but importantly will be driven by the type of monitor used and how it is used i e bank models and assumptions Mr Pandit is on to something here and while the regulators are on the right track to conduct periodic assessments of bank capital they need to advance the effort to include more robust calibration of risk models used in such activities |
JPM | Mass Mutual sues JP Morgan over smart retirement trademark | By Andrew Chung
Reuters Unable to reach a compromise with JPMorgan Chase Co N JPM over the use of the term smart in relation to its lucrative retirement savings products major life insurance provider MassMutual is taking the banking company to court
MassMutual said discussions on Friday over its RetireSmart brand and the bank s SmartRetirement trademark had failed prompting it to immediately file a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court
The insurer is asking for a declaration that it is not infringing on JPMorgan s trademark
MassMutual formally known as Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co is owned by policyholders and manages 147 billion in assets in its retirement business It has used the brand RetireSmart for its mutual fund and retirement planning services for eight years the lawsuit said The company also has a website under the same mark
JPMorgan first told MassMutual it was infringing the bank s trademark last May The two sides engaged in discussions over the summer according to the court filing and a coexistence agreement was drafted but it ultimately failed
Finally in a telephone conversation on Friday Dan Serrao a managing director at the bank told MassMutual s corporate vice president Todd Picken that they were at an impasse
The suit by MassMutual demands the cancellation of JPMorgan s trademark because many individuals and companies use the terms smart and retirement in connection with helping people save for their post work years The company also argued there should be no trademark on a term that was merely descriptive
We are confident in our position MassMutual spokesman David Potter said
Representatives for JPMorgan did not immediately return a request for comment
The case is Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co v JPMorgan Chase Co in the U S District Court for the District of Massachusetts No 14 cv 30183
Reporting By Andrew Chung Editing by Ted Botha and Andre Grenon |
JPM | Exclusive EU to fine JPMorgan UBS Credit Suisse over Swiss franc Libor rigging | By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS Reuters European Union antitrust regulators are set to fine JPMorgan N JPM UBS VX UBSN and Credit Suisse VX CSGN collectively over 115 million for rigging Swiss franc Libor benchmark interest rates a person familiar with the matter told Reuters Royal Bank of Scotland L RBS alerted the European Commission to the wrongdoing and so would not be penalized for its own role in the cartel the source said on Tuesday JPMorgan will receive the biggest fine at just over 70 million euros 89 million the person said Details are likely to be released following an agreement on the fines by the European Commission at its weekly meeting currently under way
The EU penalty follows a record collective fine of 1 7 billion euros on six financial institutions in December for manipulating LIBOR rates in London as well as the euro benchmark interest rate Euribor Editing by Alastair Macdonald |
BMY | Bristol Myers Squibb BMY Stock Moves 0 65 What You Should Know | Bristol Myers Squibb BMY closed the most recent trading day at 50 06 moving 0 65 from the previous trading session This change was narrower than the S P 500 s 1 58 loss on the day At the same time the Dow lost 1 99 and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 1 63
Coming into today shares of the biopharmaceutical company had lost 5 28 in the past month In that same time the Medical sector lost 6 39 while the S P 500 lost 6 62
Investors will be hoping for strength from BMY as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be January 24 2019 In that report analysts expect BMY to post earnings of 0 84 per share This would mark year over year growth of 23 53 Meanwhile the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of 5 99 billion up 9 85 from the year ago period
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 3 87 per share and revenue of 22 58 billion which would represent changes of 28 57 and 8 68 respectively from the prior year
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for BMY These revisions typically reflect the latest short term business trends which can change frequently With this in mind we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company s business outlook
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant BMY currently has a Zacks Rank of 1 Strong Buy
Valuation is also important so investors should note that BMY has a Forward P E ratio of 13 02 right now For comparison its industry has an average Forward P E of 14 01 which means BMY is trading at a discount to the group
Investors should also note that BMY has a PEG ratio of 1 41 right now This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are on average holding a PEG ratio of 1 85 based on yesterday s closing prices
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 63 which puts it in the top 25 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Make sure to utilize Zacks Com to follow all of these stock moving metrics and more in the coming trading sessions |
C | Japan s Nikkei seen soft after rally election eyed | TOKYO Aug 25 Reuters Japan s Nikkei average is likely to
take a breather on Tuesday weighed down by exporters such as
Canon Inc that led a rally the previous day while trade may be
cautious ahead of U S economic data and the election
Market analysts say many expect Japan s opposition Democratic
Party to win the Aug 30 election but investors remain hesitant
about actively taking positions before they see the results
The market will likely start the day under pressure after
sharp gains yesterday on short covering and U S stocks also
ended mixed said Kazuhiro Takahashi general manager at Daiwa
Securities SMBC
Trade could be also slow as investors want to wait and see
economic data such as Case Shiller home price indexes
Nikkei futures traded in Chicago closed at 10 610 on Monday
up 0 6 percent from the Osaka close
Market participants expect the benchmark Nikkei to move
between 10 400 and 10 650 on Tuesday It jumped 3 4 percent the
previous day to end at 10 581 05 erasing a 3 4 percent decline
it posted last week
U S stocks ended the day barely changed on Monday as
investors took a break from a four day rally that lifted major
indexes to 10 month highs
Wall St ends flat investors pause after 4 day rally
Dollar edges up ahead of U S consumer data
Bonds rise on bargain hunting growth worries
Gold retreats on dollar rise currencies in focus
Oil prices touch 10 month high on economic hopes
STOCKS TO WATCH
Japan Airlines Corp
Japan Airlines is considering unloading low margin
international flights catering to vacationers in order to slash
operational costs and shrink its work force the Nikkei business
daily said
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Japan s third largest bank
said it will issue preferred securities as it looks to refinance
340 billion yen 3 6 billion of similar securities redeemed
earlier this year
Separately Nikko Cordial a Japanese broker set to be sold
by Citigroup Inc said it would set up a wholesale trading
division as it reorganises for its acquisition by Sumitomo Mitsui
Financial Group
Mizuho Financial Group
Mizuho Financial Group Japan s second largest bank by
assets said it would issue 72 5 billion yen 767 4 million in
preferred securities bringing its planned issuance to more than
originally announced
Reporting by Aiko Hayashi Editing by Edwina Gibbs |
C | US STOCKS Futures up on Bernanke news housing data eyed | NEW YORK Aug 25 Reuters U S stock index futures were
slightly higher on Tuesday on news that Ben Bernanke will be
renominated as chairman of the Federal Reserve and ahead of key
consumer confidence and housing data
U S President Barack Obama will renominate Ben Bernanke
for a second term as chairman of the Fed on Tuesday a senior
administration official said
The renomination is being viewed as a positive by U S
markets said Peter Cardillo chief market economist at Avalon
Partners in New York
S P 500 futures rose 1 6 points and were above fair
value a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates dividends and time to expiration on the
contract Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 17 points
while Nasdaq 100 futures added 2 points
Investors will be watching the S P Case Shiller U S Home
Price Index for June to be released at 9 a m EDT and the
FHFA House Price Index for June and consumer confidence for
August both due at 10 a m
Cisco Systems Inc said it won a deal to supply edge
routers to Telstra Corp Australia s biggest phone company and
that it was boosting the capacity of the routers to help
customers more easily handle web video traffic
Citigroup Inc has substantially boosted offers for
mortgage modification this month after the U S government
asked banks to speed the process and help prevent foreclosures
the bank s top mortgage executive said
The White House and U S Congress will issue separate
budget estimates Tuesday that could slow President Obama s
domestic policy proposals as he faces increased skepticism
among lawmakers
On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average edged higher
by 3 32 points or 0 03 percent to end at 9 509 28 But the
Standard Poor s 500 Index inched down just 0 56 of a point
or 0 05 percent to 1 025 57 and the Nasdaq Composite Index
shed 2 92 points or 0 14 percent to 2 017 98 |
C | US STOCKS Bernanke news lifts futures consumer data eyed | Obama to renominate Bernanke as Fed chairman
Home prices consumer confidence data eyed
Adds quote byline
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK Aug 25 Reuters U S stock index futures were
higher on Tuesday on news that Ben Bernanke will be renominated
as chairman of the Federal Reserve and ahead of key consumer
confidence and housing data
U S President Barack Obama will renominate Ben Bernanke
for a second term as chairman of the Fed on Tuesday a senior
administration official said For details see
ID nLP233065
Bernanke s renomination is boosting the market as many of
his decisions during the global meltdown were viewed as wise
and were well received by investors according to Peter
Cardillo chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New
York
Cardillo said any good news out of the housing market will
help investor mood but the most important data is consumer
confidence If we see a slightly better number and improvement
in the mood of the consumer I think the market probably will
extend the rally he said
S P 500 futures rose 3 2 points and were above fair
value a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates dividends and time to expiration on the
contract Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 31
points while Nasdaq 100 futures added 2 points
The S P Case Shiller U S home price index for June is due
at 9 a m EDT 1300 GMT and the FHFA House Price Index for
June and consumer confidence for August are both due at 10 a m
1400 GMT
In company news Cisco Systems Inc said it won a
deal to supply edge routers to Telstra Corp
Australia s biggest phone company ID nN24161186
Citigroup Inc s top mortgage executive said the
company has substantially boosted offers to modify mortgages
this month after the U S government asked banks to speed the
process and help prevent foreclosures ID nN24155130
Lowe s Cos Inc the No 2 U S home improvement
chain is making its first foray outside North America through
a joint venture with Woolworths Ltd Australia s
largest retailer ID nN24423133
The White House and U S Congress will issue separate
budget estimates Tuesday that are expected to show the
government will spend a record 1 6 trillion more than it
collects this year and nearly double its outstanding debt over
the next 10 years ID nN24172560
U S stocks were flat on Monday after four sessions of
gains that took the S P 500 to a 10 month high
On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average edged
higher by 3 32 points or 0 03 percent to end at 9 509 28 But
the Standard Poor s 500 Index inched down just 0 56 of
a point or 0 05 percent to 1 025 57 and the Nasdaq Composite
Index shed 2 92 points or 0 14 percent to 2 017 98 |
C | US STOCKS Bernanke news lifts futures consumer data eyed | Obama to renominate Bernanke as Fed chairman
Home prices consumer confidence data eyed
Adds quote byline
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK Aug 25 Reuters U S stock index futures were
higher on Tuesday on news that Ben Bernanke will be renominated
as chairman of the Federal Reserve and ahead of key consumer
confidence and housing data
U S President Barack Obama will renominate Ben Bernanke
for a second term as chairman of the Fed on Tuesday a senior
administration official said
Bernanke s renomination is boosting the market as many of
his decisions during the global meltdown were viewed as wise
and were well received by investors according to Peter
Cardillo chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New
York
Cardillo said any good news out of the housing market will
help investor mood but the most important data is consumer
confidence If we see a slightly better number and improvement
in the mood of the consumer I think the market probably will
extend the rally he said
S P 500 futures rose 3 2 points and were above fair value
a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates dividends and time to expiration on the
contract Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 31 points
while Nasdaq 100 futures added 2 points
The S P Case Shiller U S home price index for June is due
at 9 a m EDT and the FHFA House Price Index for June and
consumer confidence for August are both due at 10 a m
In company news Cisco Systems Inc said it won a deal to
supply edge routers to Telstra Corp Australia s biggest phone
company
Citigroup Inc s top mortgage executive said the company has
substantially boosted offers to modify mortgages this month
after the U S government asked banks to speed the process and
help prevent foreclosures
Lowe s Cos Inc the No 2 U S home improvement chain is
making its first foray outside North America through a joint
venture with Woolworths Ltd Australia s largest retailer
The White House and U S Congress will issue separate
budget estimates Tuesday that are expected to show the
government will spend a record 1 6 trillion more than it
collects this year and nearly double its outstanding debt over
the next 10 years
U S stocks were flat on Monday after four sessions of
gains that took the S P 500 to a 10 month high
On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average edged higher by
3 32 points or 0 03 percent to end at 9 509 28 But the
Standard Poor s 500 Index inched down just 0 56 of a point
or 0 05 percent to 1 025 57 and the Nasdaq Composite Index
shed 2 92 points or 0 14 percent to 2 017 98 |
C | Energy stocks weigh on European shares US data eyed | FTSEurofirst 300 index down 0 4 percent
Oil gas producers drop Tullow Oil posts profit drop
Focus on U S macroeconomic data
For up to the minute stocks news click on
By Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT Aug 26 Reuters European shares fell by midday
on Wednesday snapping a four session winning streak and
shrugging off better than expected German economic data with
oil and gas stocks leading the losers
By 1030 GMT the pan European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top
shares was down 0 4 percent at 974 65 points having been up at
982 07 points earlier
The index is up 17 percent this year after falling 45
percent in 2008 and has jumped 51 percent since it reached a
record low in March
The past has shown that German macroeconomic data sometimes
do not have the necessary clout to massively inspire markets
said Joerg Rahn chief investment officer at wealth management
company Marcard Stein Co
The business climate index of Germany s Ifo a Munich based
think tank rose to 90 5 from an upwardly revised 87 4 in July
The Ifo figures did not have a momentum effect despite
them being very good But one also has to acknowledge that the
markets are moving on high levels and that people may be
following the strategy of selling on good news Rahn said
Oil and gas stocks took most points off the index and the DJ
STOXX European Oil Gas Index was 1 4 percent lower
UK based oil explorer Tullow Oil lost 4 percent after it
said interim profits dropped 83 percent on lower oil prices and
production
BG Group BP Royal Dutch Shell and Total were all 0 8 to
1 4 percent lower
MINERS DOWN
Miners were lower too with the DJ STOXX European Basic
Resources Index as the biggest sectoral decliner down 1 9
percent
Copper miner Antofagasta fell 4 2 percent after it posted
lower than expected earnings per share in the first half and
warned prices were likely to remain volatile in the second half
All numbers are well down on 2008 because of copper price
trend but if today s copper price is maintained for a few
months 2H09 will be well up on 1H09 Citigroup wrote in a
note
BHP Billiton Xstrata and Rio Tinto were down 1 2 to 3 6
percent
Among other individual movers French bank Natixis soared 32
percent after BPCE formed from the merger this year of Caisse
d Epargne and Banque Populaire said it will guarantee roughly
35 billion euros worth of toxic assets at the investment bank
Alcatel Lucent surged 15 7 percent as traders cited market
talk of a possible bid from a Chinese manufacturer of telecom
gear and a rating upgrade by Natixis
A spokeswoman for the Franco American firm declined to
comment on the share price move Spokespeople for ZTE and Huawei
said they had not heard of any bid for Alcatel Lucent
Heineken the world s third largest brewer gained 7 2
percent after the company reported a better than expected rise
in first half operating profit driven by cost savings
Later on some top down data for the United States
might be setting the tone Heino Ruland strategist at Ruland
Research wrote in a note to clients
The U S Commerce Department is to release July durable
goods orders at 1230 GMT while investors also await new home
sales data for July due at 1400 GMT Economists in a Reuters
survey forecast a total of 390 000 annualized units compared
with 384 000 in June
Across Europe the FTSE 100 index was down 0 2 percent
Germany s DAX was 0 4 percent lower and France s CAC 40 was down
0 2 percent
Additional reporting Joanne Frearson and Jon Hopkins in
London editing by Karen Foster |
C | EARNINGS POLL Eurobank H1 net profit seen down 61 pct | Results due Aug 27 after 1430 GMT
H1 net profit seen down 61 percent to 169 5 million euros
Q2 profit seen up 9 5 percent q q to 88 6 million euros
ATHENS Aug 26 Reuters EFG Eurobank Greece s
second largest bank is seen reporting a 61 percent fall in
first half net profit on higher loan loss provisions and lower
volumes at home and in the Balkans
The group also present in Romania Turkey Bulgaria
Serbia Poland and Ukraine is expected to show improved
performance in the second quarter with earnings rising 9 5
percent quarter on quarter on stronger trading income and net
interest margins
Analysts polled by Reuters expect the bank to post
first half net profit of 169 5 million euros 242 million on
average with forecasts ranging from 162 to 182 million
An economic downturn at home and the Balkans where Greek
banks expanded for growth weighed on volumes while a deposit
war to attract funds squeezed net interest margins in the first
quarter Competition for deposits eased in the second quarter
We expect Eurobank to deliver a decent set of numbers
given the challenging environment UBS said in a note We
expect revenues to be 8 percent higher on the quarter driven by
net interest income and fees Improved trading income of 76
million euros from Greek government bonds should also provide
some support
Eurobank shares are up 89 percent since the start of the
year outperforming the Greek stock market s 40 percent gain
They trade 17 times estimated 2009 earnings versus a multiple of
18 for European peers according to Reuters Estimates
Following is a summary of analyst forecasts
H1 Net profit H1 NII Q2 Net profit
in euro million
Average 169 5 1 140 88 6
Median 169 0 1 120 88 0
Highest 181 9 1 210 100 9
Lowest 162 0 1 120 81 0
No of forecasts 7 8 8
H1 Q2 2008 438 0 1 156 221 0
Forecasts by Citigroup Chevreux HSBC UBS Kappa
Securities Piraeus Securities Proton Bank Investment Bank of
Greece
Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas Editing by Rupert Winchester |
WMB | NBA roundup Gilgeous Alexander notches historic triple double | Shai Gilgeous Alexander produced his first career triple double finishing with 20 points 20 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117 104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night in Minneapolis
Gilgeous Alexander the Thunder s second year guard hadn t pulled down more than 10 rebounds in any of his first 121 career games At age 21 and 185 days he is the youngest player ever with 20 points 20 rebounds and 10 assists in a game topping a mark held by Maurice Stokes since 1956 and he is the youngest with a 20 rebound triple double breaking a mark set by Shaquille O Neal in 1993
Danilo Gallinari led Oklahoma City with a season high 30 points The Thunder posted their 12th win in 15 games while the Timberwolves fell for the third time in four games
Rookie center Naz Reid scored a season high 20 points off the bench to lead the Timberwolves Minnesota s Robert Covington added 18 points
Los Angeles Lakers 128 Cleveland Cavaliers 99
Avery Bradley ignited a third quarter run with a 3 pointer as host Los Angeles after trailing the entire first half blew past Cleveland for its ninth straight win
LeBron James scored a game high 31 points while Dwight Howard recorded 21 points and 15 rebounds off the bench as the Lakers snapped Cleveland s two game winning streak
Kevin Love 21 points 11 rebounds and Tristan Thompson 17 points 10 rebounds had double doubles for the Cavaliers who had opened a six game trip with victories at Detroit and Denver
Boston Celtics 113 Chicago Bulls 101
Jayson Tatum scored 21 points and Jaylen Brown chipped in 19 to lead host Boston past Chicago for its second straight victory following a three game losing streak
Chicago sputtered to its seventh loss in eight games despite a game high 30 points from Zach LaVine Thaddeus Young scored 17 points for Chicago while Tomas Satoransky 12 and Daniel Gafford 10 also produced double figure totals
Enes Kanter 15 points Kemba Walker 14 Marcus Smart 12 and Grant Williams NYSE WMB 11 posted double figure scoring totals for the Celtics Kanter grabbed a game high nine rebounds
Orlando Magic 114 Sacramento Kings 112
Nikola Vucevic scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Aaron Gordon added 19 points including a three point play with 1 1 seconds remaining as Orlando pulled out a victory at Sacramento
Evan Fournier scored 25 points and Markelle Fultz added 16 as the Magic earned the victory in a game between teams struggling with injuries Gordon calf and D J Augustin knee each played after missing Orlando s Friday loss at Phoenix
Nemanja Bjelica scored a career high 34 points and De Aaron Fox added 31 for the Kings
New Orleans Pelicans 117 Detroit Pistons 110 OT
Little used Jahlil Okafor had 25 points 14 rebounds five assists and three blocks as short handed New Orleans handed host Detroit its third straight loss
The Pelicans were missing three starters including leading scorer and power forward Brandon Ingram right knee soreness Derrick Favors right hamstring strain and Jrue Holiday left elbow contusion were also sidelined Detroit has been playing without three of its projected starters in recent weeks
Nicolo Melli had 20 points and Lonzo Ball supplied 17 points 12 rebounds and nine assists but also committed seven turnovers for New Orleans Derrick Rose led Detroit with 23 points and eight assists while Christian Wood supplied 18 points and nine rebounds
Indiana Pacers 101 Philadelphia 76ers 95
Malcolm Brogdon scored 21 points in his return from a sore back and strep throat as Indiana posted a victory over Philadelphia in Indianapolis
T J Warren also tallied 21 points and Domantas Sabonis collected 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers who improved to 16 5 at home this season Myles Turner and Justin Holiday each had 14 points for Indiana which overcame an 11 point deficit in the third quarter to post its third win in the past four games
Philadelphia s Ben Simmons scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half and finished with 14 rebounds for the game Eastern Conference Player of the Week Josh Richardson scored 17 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for the 76ers who have lost six of eight overall and six in a row on the road
Portland Trail Blazers 115 Charlotte Hornets 112
Damian Lillard recorded 30 points and nine assists as Portland posted a victory over visiting Charlotte
CJ McCollum added 27 points and Carmelo Anthony notched 17 as the Trail Blazers won for just the third time in the past 11 games Anthony Tolliver came off the bench to score 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting while also collecting 11 rebounds
Devonte Graham made eight 3 pointers and had 27 points and 10 assists for the Hornets who have lost five straight games and 11 of their past 13 Terry Rozier registered 25 points and seven rebounds P J Washington added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte which lost its 12th straight game in Portland since last winning there on March 29 2008
Field Level Media |
WMB | American teen Gauff aiming for magical time at Australian Open | MELBOURNE Reuters A little magic may help Coco Gauff go a long way in next week s Australian Open main draw with the American teenager entering her first Grand Slam tournament solely on her own merits
Gauff arrived in Melbourne on Monday after playing in Auckland with a world ranking of 66 and eligible for the main draw at Melbourne Park
Her only other appearance at Melbourne was in the junior tournament in 2018
I m really excited said Gauff who was involved in a promotional event on Tuesday with actors from the Melbourne production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which is based on J K Rowling s fantasy books about a boy wizard
This is my first slam getting into the main draw without getting a wildcard or qualifying
I haven t been back in Melbourne since I was 13 when I played juniors so I m really excited to play on the big stage
The 15 year old put her first foot on the big stage last year when she stunned the tennis world by advancing out of qualifying to beat seven times Grand Slam winner Venus Williams NYSE WMB in the first round at Wimbledon
Eventual champion Simona Halep however ended Gauff s dream run in the fourth round
Based on that performance Gauff received a wildcard into the U S Open where she advanced to the third round and then won her first WTA Tour title in Austria beating 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final
The American is the youngest player with direct entry into the main draw at Melbourne Park
Organizers hoped to tap into the appeal of teenagers like Gauff and compatriot Amanda Anisimova by naming the second Monday of the tournament on Jan 27 as Harry Potter day to try and attract families and younger fans
This is a first for the Australian Open AO s Richard Heaselgrave said in announcing the promotion which will encourage families and children to dress as Harry Potter characters on the day
The Australian Open runs from Jan 20 to Feb 2 |
WMB | NY Fed s Williams does not comment on U S economic policy outlook in London | Reuters New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams NYSE WMB did not comment on the U S economic or monetary policy outlook on Tuesday in remarks prepared for the London School of Economics and Political Science |
WMB | Air Force agents raid military landlord s Oklahoma office seize computers | By M B Pell
Reuters Air Force investigators raided the Oklahoma City offices of a major military landlord Tuesday morning seizing computers and other material in what the company said was part of an investigation into asbestos contamination
The landlord Balfour Beatty Communities has been the focus of Reuters reports describing how it falsified maintenance records at several bases allowing the company to collect millions in incentive bonus payments while military families awaited repairs One of the bases Reuters described was Tinker Air Force in Oklahoma the subject of Tuesday s raid
Linda Card chief of public affairs for the Air Office of Special Investigations confirmed the raid took place in cooperation with other federal agencies but said she had no further details to share
In a statement Balfour Beatty said the federal action was related to a subpoena issued by the Environmental Protection Agency
The investigation is connected to the matter of asbestos flooring removal that was reported in September 2019 When that event occurred BBC promptly and voluntarily reported the incident to the local Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality it said The company will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation
At Tinker Reuters in June documented how one family was left for months with deteriorating asbestos flooring even as Balfour Beatty s maintenance records said incorrectly that the problem had been quickly fixed
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations have been investigating allegations of fraud at Tinker and two other Air Force bases where the company is landlord John Henderson the Air Force assistant secretary for installations told Reuters last year They are Travis in California and Fairchild in Washington State Air Force agents are investigating additional fraud allegations at Mountain Home in Idaho and Lackland in Texas
Balfour Beatty said it has hired an outside lawyer and auditor to examine the allegations
Balfour Beatty Communities based in Malvern Pennsylvania runs the military housing unit of Balfour Beatty plc a London based infrastructure company with annual revenue of 10 7 billion The company earns 33 million in annual profit on its military housing operations Balfour Beatty Communities President Chris Williams NYSE WMB told Congress in February The company operates 43 000 housing units at 55 Army Navy and Air Force bases across the United States |
WMB | NBA roundup Giannis Bucks crush Knicks for third time | Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points in just 21 minutes Tuesday night for the host Milwaukee Bucks who concluded their season long dominance of the New York Knicks by cruising to a 128 102 victory
The Bucks swept the three game season series from the Knicks and never trailed in outscoring New York by total of 91 points 383 292 The Bucks have won four in a row overall and nine of 10 while the Knicks have lost six of seven
Antetokounmpo who also had nine rebounds and four assists is just the second player this season to score at least 30 points while playing fewer than 22 minutes Paul George had 37 points in 20 minutes for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Atlanta Hawks on Nov 16
Khris Middleton scored 17 points while Ersan Ilyasova had 14 points off the bench for the Bucks Julius Randle 25 points 15 rebounds had a double double for the Knicks RJ Barrett scored 22 points and Bobby Portis had 20 points
Los Angeles Clippers 128 Cleveland Cavaliers 103
Kawhi Leonard scored a season high 43 points and Los Angeles pounded visiting Cleveland
Clippers forward Paul George missed his third consecutive game due to a strained left hamstring but Leonard more than made up for his absence Leonard connected on 14 of 22 shots from the floor and 6 of 10 3 point tries in 29 minutes
Lou Williams NYSE WMB had 24 points on 10 of 13 shooting and Ivica Zubac added 12 points 10 rebounds and four blocks for Los Angeles Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers with 25 points and Cedi Osman scored 21
Utah Jazz 118 Brooklyn Nets 107
Joe Ingles tied a career high with 27 points as Utah pushed its winning streak to a season high 10 games in a victory over Brooklyn in New York
Ingles hit 10 of 14 shots and made 6 of 8 3 point attempts He tied a career high for field goals and nearly matched a career best for 3 pointers Donovan Mitchell scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter after sitting out Sunday s game in Washington due to an illness Mitchell shot 8 for 19 and scored 14 of Utah s final 16 points
Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 32 points on 12 of 19 shooting while handing out 11 assists but the Nets were unable to win a third straight game despite shooting 50 percent Spencer Dinwiddie added 17 points for Brooklyn
Memphis Grizzlies 121 Houston Rockets 110
Ja Morant paired 26 points with eight assists and took over down the stretch as host Memphis extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Houston
Dillon Brooks added 24 points on 6 for 10 shooting from 3 point range while Jonas Valanciunas and Jaren Jackson Jr scored 19 and 15 points respectively
James Harden scored a game high 41 points but shot just 13 of 37 overall and missed 14 of 19 3 point attempts Houston played without guard Russell Westbrook rest with his replacement Ben McLemore producing 14 points on 5 of 12 shooting
Dallas Mavericks 124 Golden State Warriors 97
Stanford product Dwight Powell celebrated his Bay Area homecoming with a game high 21 points in San Francisco leading Dallas to a third straight blowout of Golden State
Luka Doncic totaled 20 points in just 27 minutes for the Mavericks who were able to spread out the minutes among 13 players on the first night of a back to back set Dallas which has won two in a row visits Sacramento on Wednesday night
Rookies Jordan Poole and Eric Paschall had 17 and 16 points respectively to lead Golden State which lost its fourth straight at home and ninth straight overall
Atlanta Hawks 123 Phoenix Suns 110
Trae Young scored 36 points and Kevin Huerter flirted with a triple double as Atlanta ended its four game losing streak with a double digit victory over visiting Phoenix
Young scored 23 in the second half and posted his 20th game with at least 30 points this season Huerter was 8 for 14 from the floor and scored 23 points He set career highs with 15 rebounds and eight assists
Phoenix was led by Devin Booker who scored 39 points the eighth time in the last 10 game he s scored 30 plus and grabbed seven rebounds But Booker was ejected with 1 35 remaining after a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct
Field Level Media |
WMB | Top 25 roundup Clemson ends No 3 Duke s 9 game run | Aamir Simms scored a career high 25 points and Clemson recovered in the final few minutes to knock off No 3 Duke 79 72 as fans stormed the court in Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday night in Clemson S C
Tevin Mack added 22 points and John Newman III had 14 points for the Tigers who have won three consecutive games including their first ever win at North Carolina on Saturday
Clemson 9 7 3 3 ACC halted Duke s nine game winning streak The Blue Devils 15 2 5 1 were led by Vernon Carey Jr s 20 points Tre Jones 17 points and Cassius Stanley s 14 points
Simms one of the heroes in Saturday s win over the Tar Heels shot 10 for 15 from the field Mack a transfer from Alabama made 10 of 14 shots from the floor Each pulled down nine rebounds while Simms contributed five assists
No 6 Kansas 66 Oklahoma 52
Isaiah Moss scored 20 points to lead the Jayhawks to a win over the Sooners in Norman Okla
The Jayhawks were able to pull off the victory without Devon Dotson hip pointer the Big 12 s leading scorer at 18 0 points per game Moss making his first start of the season in Dotson s place hit a career high tying six 3 pointers to help make up for the absence
The game was tight most of the way before the Jayhawks 13 3 3 1 Big 12 took control with a 15 2 run beginning with 7 37 left Kansas Marcus Garrett finished with 15 points five rebounds and five assists Oklahoma 11 5 2 2 saw its top three scorers Kristian Doolittle Austin Reaves and Brady Manek shoot a combined 10 for 43 from the field while contributing 27 total points
No 7 San Diego State 64 Fresno State 55
Malachi Flynn scored 22 points and the Aztecs pulled within two wins of matching the best start in program history with a defeat of the host Bulldogs
San Diego State 18 0 7 0 Mountain West remained one of only two undefeated teams in the nation along with 2019 national semifinalist Auburn The Aztecs are chasing the 2010 11 team which began its season 20 0
Orlando Robinson led Fresno State 5 12 1 5 with 18 points New Williams NYSE WMB added 15 points and Jordan Campbell followed with 11 For San Diego State Yanni Wetzell followed Flynn with 17 points and Matt Mitchell added 10 points
No 11 Louisville 73 Pittsburgh 68 OT
The Cardinals made seven of 10 free throws in overtime to escape with a win over the host Panthers The Cardinals 14 3 5 1 ACC won despite trailing for nearly all of regulation and shooting just 38 3 percent from the field while being outrebounded for just the third time this season
David Johnson finished with 11 points while Jordan Nwora had 14 points on 5 of 13 shooting after going scoreless the first 15 40 of the game Dwyane Sutton added 13 points and nine rebounds for Louisville
Pitt 11 6 2 4 which shot 37 5 percent from the floor got 24 points from Trey McGowens but that came on 22 shot attempts Xavier Johnson and Justin Champagnie each scored 11 points for the Panthers and Champagnie had 11 rebounds
No 12 West Virginia 81 TCU 49
Derek Culver dominated the lane with 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the Mountaineers power past the Horned Frogs in Morgantown W Va
The Mountaineers 14 2 3 1 Big 12 constantly pushed the ball inside to Culver who went 6 for 7 from the floor and Oscar Tshiebwe 4 of 6 on field goals and TCU had no answer West Virginia outscored the Horned Frogs 36 10 in the paint outrebounded TCU 38 24 and had 14 second chance points to just three for the visitors
RJ Nembhard led TCU with 14 points with eight of those coming from the free throw line Desmond Bane added 13 points for the Horned Frogs 12 4 3 1 who came into play with four straight wins and were off to their best start in conference play since going 14 0 when playing in the WAC during the 1997 98 season
No 13 Dayton 79 VCU 65
Obi Toppin scored 24 points and the Flyers rode a 22 0 run in the second half to defeat the visiting Rams Dayton 15 2 4 0 Atlantic 10 won its sixth straight
The big story for the Flyers was Toppin being healthy enough to play The redshirt sophomore who last week was named to the Wooden Award midseason watch list injured his ankle in Saturday s game against Massachusetts and his status was in doubt
Jalen Crutcher finished with 20 points after carrying the Flyers offense in the first half before Toppin took over De Riante Jenkins and Nah Shon Hyland each scored 16 points to lead the Rams 12 5 2 2
No 14 Villanova 79 DePaul 75 OT
Collin Gillespie scored 21 points Saddiq Bey added 18 and the Wildcats held off the visiting Demon Deacons in overtime It was Villanova s 19th straight win over DePaul
Jermaine Samuels contributed 15 points and Jeremiah Robinson Earl had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats 13 3 4 1 Big East Villanova posted its third win in a row
Moore led DePaul 12 5 0 4 with a season high 29 points while Paul Reed added 18 points and 15 rebounds for his 12th double double Jaylen Butz had 16 points
Wisconsin 56 No 17 Maryland 54
Brad Davison drained a game winning 3 point bucket with 11 seconds left to give the Badgers an upset win against the Terrapins in Madison Wis
Davison stole the ball on a Maryland inbounds play with 12 4 seconds left giving Wisconsin 11 6 4 2 Big Ten a chance for the victory Anthony Cowan Jr and Eric Ayala both missed a 3 point attempt in the closing seconds as Maryland fell to 0 3 in Big Ten road games
Nate Reuvers scored a team high 17 points for the Badgers and Davison and Micah Potter added 14 points each Jalen Smith scored a game high 18 points for Maryland 13 4 3 3 Cowan delivered 16 points and Aaron Wiggins added 13
No 21 Ohio State 80 Nebraska 68
CJ Walker scored a game high 18 points Kaleb Wesson added 13 points and 14 rebounds and D J Carlton finished with 13 points to lead a balanced effort as the Buckeyes earned a victory over the Cornhuskers in Columbus Ohio
The Buckeyes 12 5 2 4 Big Ten had six players finish in double figures to end a four game overall losing streak and a three game conference losing skid
The Cornhuskers 7 10 2 4 had a strong second half but could not recover from a slow first half in which they shot 31 4 percent from the field and committed nine turnovers
No 23 Texas Tech 77 Kansas State 63
Sophomore Kyler Edwards scored a career high 24 points as the Red Raiders defeated the Wildcats in Manhattan Kan Texas Tech 11 5 2 2 Big 12 held a 31 23 rebounding advantage including 14 6 on the offensive boards leading to a 16 6 advantage in second chance points
Kansas State 7 9 0 4 which is last in scoring in the Big 12 was held below 64 points for the sixth time in seven games and all six were losses
Edwards was joined in double figures by Davide Moretti 14 points and Jahmi us Ramsey and Kevin McCullar 10 points each for Texas Tech Kansas State was led by Cartier Diarra with 19 points Xavier Sneed added 14 and Montavious Murphy had 11
Field Level Media |
WMB | Former champion Kerber suffers back injury ahead of Australian Open | MELBOURNE Reuters Former Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber suffered a back injury days before the year s first Grand Slam with the German forced to retire at the Adelaide International warmup on Wednesday
The former world number one had a medical time out for a trainer to work on her lower back before she conceded her second round match trailing 6 3 2 0 against Dayana Yastremska at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre
Kerber who upset Serena Williams NYSE WMB to win the 2016 title at Melbourne Park lost in the first round of the Brisbane International earlier this month
The 19 year old Yastremska will meet Donna Vekic in the quarter finals after the Croatian beat Greek Maria Sakkari 2 6 7 5 6 1 in their earlier match |
WMB | Federer Nadal kick in 170 000 for Australian bushfire relief | MELBOURNE Reuters Tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal pledged A 250 000 172 000 towards the Australian bushfire relief efforts at a charity event on Wednesday in the leadup to the Australian Open
World number one Nadal made the announcement at Melbourne Park s Rod Laver Arena during the Rally for Relief event where top players including Serena Williams NYSE WMB and Australian Open defending champion Novak Djokovic led fundraising efforts
Hopefully that will keep inspiring the people to support this terrible disaster that we re going through and helps to recover all the things that we need Nadal said on court after an exhibition match
Australia is experiencing one of its worst bushfire seasons on record with fires burning for months and killing 28 people destroying more than 2 500 homes and razing forests and farmland the size of Bulgaria
Smoke from bushfires blanketed Melbourne in a thick gray haze on Wednesday before a clearing rain storm disrupting the Australian Open s qualifying matches for a second successive day
The ATP on Sunday pledged 500 000 to the WWF Australian Wildlife and Nature Recovery Fund as part of the bushfire relief efforts
A number of players have made individual pledges including American Williams who said she would donate all her prize money from winning a tournament in Auckland on Sunday
Australian Nick Kyrgios has pledged A 200 for every ace he hits this month
The Australian Open the first Grand Slam of the year starts in Melbourne on Monday |
WMB | Serena Williams returns to U S Fed Cup team | Reuters Serena Williams NYSE WMB will return to the United States Fed Cup team for a qualifying event against Latvia next month the United States Tennis Association said on Wednesday The 23 times Grand Slam winner who will begin her quest to match Margaret Court s record of 24 singles titles at the Australian Open next week last played for the U S in February 2018 following the birth of her daughter Williams presence in Everett Washington for the Feb 7 8 tie will be a huge boost for the U S with the 38 year old having posted a perfect mark of 13 0 in singles play and 3 2 in doubles in Fed Cup competition since 1999 The winner advances to the 2020 Fed Cup Finals from April 14 19 in Budapest
The U S squad can feature as many as five players and the final nominations must be made by Jan 28 |
WMB | New decade begins with Serena still chasing Court | By Steve Keating
Reuters As the calendar flipped to 2020 Serena Williams NYSE WMB was once again being feted this time as sportswoman of the decade in the United States
She was an obvious choice having started 2010 with a blast by winning the Australian Open for a fifth time before going on to pile up 11 more grand slam singles titles before the decade was done
Yet that decade did not end with a bang for the great Williams but rather a slow fade She did not coast into the 2020s so much as trudge there through a barren patch of nearly three years
With motherhood having given her fresh perspective and priorities in her late thirties she had not won a singles title of any description since 2017 while her quest to match Margaret Court s record of 24 Grand Slams had stalled on 23
So the Australian Open the first Grand Slam of a new decade had looked ready to usher in a new era for women s tennis until the 38 year old American turned back the clock with a win on Sunday by triumphing at the ASB Classic in New Zealand
Normally a victory by the greatest women s player of her generation and perhaps all time at one of the WTA Tour s lesser stops against a middling field might not have been expected to generate too much excitement
But this result even caught the attention of the U S president Donald Trump who offered his congratulations on Twitter for another big win
It s pretty satisfying just to get a win in the final Williams told reporters following her 6 3 6 4 win over compatriot Jessica Pegula in the Auckland final That was really important for me and I just want to build on it
It s just a step towards the next goal
That goal is a singular one that has grown into a quest to match and surpass Court s record
Australia has provided a happy hunting ground for Williams with seven of her 23 major titles coming at Melbourne Park including her last in 2017 when she beat sister Venus in the final and later announced she was pregnant
But Grand Slam success has proven elusive since the birth of daughter Alexis Olympia
Four times twice at Wimbledon 2018 2019 and U S Open 2018 2019 Williams has come agonizingly close to that 24th Slam only to fall at the final hurdle
I m not necessarily chasing a record said Williams following her straight set loss to Canadian Bianca Andreescu in last year s U S Open final I m just trying to win Grand Slams
Since having a child and returning to the WTA Tour Williams s focus has been split between raising a family and work
Striking that balance between private life and career has been a challenge
Williams has tried a limited schedule but her play lacked sharpness She then played more but by the time she reached the end of a two week Grand Slam grind had run out of gas and ideas
In four Grand Slam finals since that 2017 Australian Open win she has failed to take even a single set exposing serious cracks in Williams s aura of invincibility
Her presence is not as intimidating her power not as threatening She no longer relies on speed and athleticism to get to balls but on experience and guile
One thing that has remained intact however is the old Williams self belief As she says herself You have to be your biggest cheerleader |
C | Spanish And Belgian Yield Spreads To Germany Widen To Record | The market is making minced meat of directional traders as EUR USD reverses direction almost daily The EU debt crisis burns on despite this weekend s developments as Spain seems to be the new focus No real surprises over the weekend relative to expectations as the Italian lower house approved the new budget measures as expected and as Berlusconi took his leave with the new technocrat Monti taking his place Any sense of calm didn t last for very long as the euro fell out of bed today This was after a bizarre sharp USD sell off and equity market rally unfolding on Friday That action unfolded as the US bond market was closed for Veteran s day Friday and today s strong bond market snapback rally and reversal back to USD strength suggested there wasn t any real conviction in Friday s move though any chartist is having a hard time finding conviction in any move of late considering the number of reversals we seen We await a close either back below 1 3600 or above 1 3800 for attempting to get the next bit of visibility The upside is a very tough argument but there is so much downside fear in the market already that the pair seems to be stuck in limbo for the moment EU debt spreads wider againThe Italian 5 year bond auction went off relatively well though the yield was over 6 and the amount was a paltry EUR 3 billion Spreads against bunds widened back out some 20 bps Italy will have to auction off some EUR 200 billion in debt in 2012 as the two Monti s new Prime Minister Monti and Finance Minister Tremonti certainly have their work cut out for them More worrisome the spreads on Spanish and Belgian bonds widened to new record levels for the cycle today Interest rate spreadsIf we have a glance over at our interest rate spreads the USD is finding far less support than spreads would suggest it should an on going divergence that requires a good explanation very soon if it continues much longer Below we show the spread between 2 yr AUD and USD swaps and AUDUSD Likewise the spread between EUR and USD swaps has dropped to a new low for the cycle as well Shouldn t these spreads and the negative implications for carry trades matter more than we are seeing at present Chart AUD USD vs 2 year swap spreadsLooking ahead Evans the doveTomorrow we will have a speech from President Evans of the Chicago Fed who will give a speech on the Discussion of the Fed s Dual Mandate Responsibilities Evans has been a clear and consistent dove among the voting FOMC members though he loses his voting status at the end of this year He gave two very aggressive speeches on the need for the Fed to act further in September and October of this year to bring down unemployment according to the Fed s dual mandate without worrying about inflation to a degree He also dissented from the last FOMC monetary policy statement There were no specifics in that statement other than that he favoured additional policy accommodation at this time We ll see more details next week with the release of the minutes of that meeting Mr Evans will also appear on CNBC tomorrow which suggests he is doing his utmost to generate positive PR for his views an interesting move The key policy initiative buzzword that Mr Evans has also mentioned favourably in his speeches is NGDP nominal GDP targeting which would represent a whole new league of money printing The prospects for a Fed move toward an NGDP policy may be one of the reasons behind the continued positive sentiment in equity markets and the inability of the USD to get consistent upside tracking on the negative EU news flow Odds and endsRemember that we have Spanish elections this coming weekend and a Spanish 10 year bond auction is set for this Thursday after Spanish spreads have gone to record wide levels today Tomorrow is the busiest day of the week on the US data calendar with the Oct PPI Oct Advance Retail Sales and Nov Empire Manufacturing on tap The data surprises out of the US have pushed Citigroup s Economic Surprise Index to its highest level since April How much longer will the positive data surprises continue Economic Data HighlightsSwitzerland Producer and Import Prices out at 0 2 MoM and 1 8 YoY vs 0 3 1 9 expected respectively and vs 2 0 YoY in Sep Euro Zone Sep Industrial Production out at 2 0 MoM and 2 2 YoY vs 2 3 3 5 expected respectively and vs 6 0 YoY in Aug |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | Daily Analysis Italian Debt Fears Send Western Markets Lower | EquitiesNew leaders were appointed in Italy and Greece over the weekend lifting Asian stocks The Nikkei climbed 1 1 to 8604 the Kospi jumped 2 1 while the ASX 200 ticked up 2 China s markets rallied strongly as the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng both gained 1 9 The mood shifted in Europe pushing the major indexes lower The CAC40 dropped 1 3 the DAX sank 1 2 and the FTSE slipped 5 Debt fears were stoked by an auction of 5 year Italian bonds which yielded a record high 6 2 up nearly 1 from last month Credit Suisse was placed under review by Moody s sending the shares down 3 4 US markets ended lower with financials leading the declines The Dow fell 75 points to 12079 the S P 500 lost 1 and the Nasdaq shed 8 S P 500 Drops 1 Salesforce com closed up 2 8 after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy In earnings news JC Penney shares dropped 2 8 after reporting a loss and a weak outlook Lowe s shares gained 1 7 after beating analyst forecasts and lifting its outlook CurrenciesEuropean currencies retreated against the Dollar The Pound fell 1 to 1 5910 the Euro shed 9 to 1 3626 and the Swiss Franc declined 7 to 1 1020 The Australian Dollar dropped 8 while the Yen inched up 1 to 77 11 Economic OutlookTuesday s reports will include PPI retails sales the Empire State manufacturing survey and business inventories |
C | The Coming European Superstate That Germany Plans To Cram Down The Throats Of The Rest Of Europe | A lot of people were puzzled about what German Chancellor Angela Merkel meant when she recently stated that the ultimate solution to the financial crisis in the EU would mean more Europe not less Europe Well now we are finding out A leaked internal German government memo entitled The Future of the EU Required Integration Policy Improvements for the Creation of a Stability Union actually proposes the creation of a European Monetary Fund which would be given the power to run the economies of troubled European nations This stability union would be quickly followed by the creation of a full fledged political union Essentially this leaked memo proposes the creation of a European Superstate which will be crammed down the throats of the rest of Europe whether they like it or not National sovereignty would be a thing of the past and European bureaucrats would run everything Of course this will never be accepted by the people of Europe until they feel the bitter pain of the coming financial collapse but we are starting to see that there is already a clear plan for what the Germans wish to implement in the aftermath of the coming crisis A lot of people have just assumed that if there is a massive financial collapse in Europe and the euro crashes that it will mean that end of the euro and potentially the breakup of the EU But that is not what the Germans have planned at all An article in the Telegraph has posted details about the leaked internal German government memo mentioned above It really is startling to see that a full fledged political union in Europe is being discussed at the highest levels of the German government The six page memo by the German foreign office argues that Europe s economic powerhouses should be able to intervene in how beleaguered eurozone countries are run The confidential blueprint sets out Germany s plan to tackle the eurozone debt crisis by creating a stability union that will be immediately followed by moves on the way towards a political union It will prompt fears that Germany s euro crisis plans could result in a European super state with spending and tax plans set in Brussels Can you imagine what Europe would look like under such a plan National sovereignty would be a thing of the past Another article in the Telegraph says that the leaked memo proposes that immediately a European Monetary Fund should be set up that would have the power to take over and run the economies of European nations that get into too much debt But according to the memo this would just be an intermediate step toward a full political union The six page German foreign ministry paper sets out plans for the creation of a European Monetary Fund with a transfer of sovereignty away from member states The fund will have the power to take ailing countries into receivership and run their economies Even more controversially the document entitled The future of the EU required integration policy improvements for the creation of a Stability Union declares that the treaty changes are a first stage in which the EU will develop into a political union The debate on the way towards a political union must begin as soon as the course toward stability union is charted it concludes As the crisis in Europe has gotten worse the Germans have become more aggressive about throwing their weight around At this point German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the most important politician in Europe and she has been taking the lead in responding to this financial crisis As I have written about previously there have been persistent rumors that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been secretly plotting to create a new eurozone that will fundamentally change the way that Europe is run For example the following is from an article that recently came out in the Telegraph France is drawing up plans to create a breakaway organisation of eurozone countries with its own treaty parliament and headquarters a move that could significantly undermine the existing European Union That same article also talked about the goals that France and Germany are hoping to achieve through all of this France and Germany are understood to want to strengthen the union between eurozone countries with new taxes and legal measures to stop nations borrowing and spending too much in future Of course it is important to note that there is no way that the people of Europe are going to go for any of this right now But after feeling the pain of a massive financial collapse for a while will they change their minds What is clear is that the status quo is not going to last much longer Something has got to change Unfortunately Germany and France seem determined to push the rest of Europe in the direction of creating a European Superstate If you want to get a really good idea of what is happening in Europe right now just check out this video of a recent speech by Nigel Farage on the floor of the European Parliament on November 16th 2011 Trust me it is worth the couple of minutes that it takes to watch it But before fundamental structural changes take place in Europe we are going to see an absolutely crippling financial collapse first With each passing day there are more signs that things are rapidly unraveling The following are just a few of the noteworthy news items from Europe that have come out over the past week In Italy there were violent clashes between protesters and police after Mario Monti unveiled his new austerity program To get an idea of how crazy things are getting over in Italy just check out this video Just like what happened when austerity was implemented in Greece it looks like Italy is now headed down the road toward a major recession Industrial orders in Italy for the month of September declined by 8 5 percent That is really really bad news The EFSF has already been forced to buy up huge numbers of its own bonds That essentially means that the EFSF is already a bad joke Dozens of big banks all over Europe have been downgraded in recent weeks Even German banks are getting downgraded now The other day Moody s downgraded the ratings of 10 major German banks An increasing number of people that work in the financial world are starting to get really freaked out about everything that is going on The following is what Mark Mobius head of the emerging markets desk at Templeton Asset Management had to say recently There is definitely going to be another financial crisis around the corner because we haven t solved any of the things that caused the previous crisis Willem Buiter the chief economist of Citigroup believes that if something is not done quickly there will be a financial collapse in Europe in very short order Time is running out fast I think we have maybe a few months it could be weeks it could be days before there is a material risk of a fundamentally unnecessary default by a country like Spain or Italy which would be a financial catastrophe dragging the European banking system and North America with it So they have to act now Ann Barnhardt of Barnhardt Capital Management actually shut down her entire firm because she could no longer guarantee that the money her clients were putting into the futures and options markets would be safe Posted below are extended excerpts from the open letter that she recently released to the public Normally I would not post such extended excerpts but in this case I believe that they are warranted What Barnhardt has written should be a huge wake up call for all of us It is refreshing and a bit frightening to get an honest assessment of the corruption in the financial world from someone that has made a good living in that world The following is how she began her letter It is with regret and unflinching moral certainty that I announce that Barnhardt Capital Management has ceased operations After six years of operating as an independent introducing brokerage and eight years of employment as a broker before that I found myself this morning for the first time since I was 20 years old watching the futures and options markets open not as a participant but as a mere spectator The reason for my decision to pull the plug was excruciatingly simple I could no longer tell my clients that their monies and positions were safe in the futures and options markets because they are not And this goes not just for my clients but for every futures and options account in the United States The entire system has been utterly destroyed by the MF Global collapse Given this sad reality I could not in good conscience take one more step as a commodity broker soliciting trades that I knew were unsafe or holding funds that I knew to be in jeopardy So how did the MF Global collapse wreck the system Barnhardt went on to explain this The futures markets are very highly leveraged and thus require an exceptionally firm base upon which to function That base was the sacrosanct segregation of customer funds from clearing firm capital with additional emergency financial backing provided by the exchanges themselves Up until a few weeks ago that base existed and had worked flawlessly Firms came and went with some imploding in spectacular fashion Whenever a firm failure happened the customer funds were intact and the exchanges would step in to backstop everything and keep customers 100 liquid even as their clearing firm collapsed and was quickly replaced by another firm within the system Everything changed just a few short weeks ago A firm led by a crony of the Obama regime stole all of the non margined cash held by customers of his firm Let s not sugar coat this or make this crime seem complex and abstract by drowning ourselves in six dollar words and uber technical jargon Jon Corzine STOLE the customer cash at MF Global Knowing Jon Corzine and knowing the abject lawlessness and contempt for humanity of the Marxist Obama regime and its cronies this is not really a surprise What was a surprise was the reaction of the exchanges and regulators Their reaction has been to take a bad situation and make it orders of magnitude worse Specifically they froze customers out of their accounts WHILE THE MARKETS CONTINUED TO TRADE refusing to even allow them to liquidate This is unfathomable The risk exposure precedent that has been set is completely intolerable and has destroyed the entire industry paradigm No informed person can continue to engage these markets and no moral person can continue to broker or facilitate customer engagement in what is now a massive game of Russian Roulette Even more frightening Barnhardt says that the MF Global collapse is just the tip of the iceberg and that more collapses like this are about to happen I have learned over the last week that MF Global is almost certainly the mere tip of the iceberg There is massive industry wide exposure to European sovereign junk debt While other firms may not be as heavily leveraged as Corzine had MFG leveraged and it is now thought that MFG s leverage may have been in excess of 100 1 they are still suicidally leveraged and will likely stand massive unmeetable collateral calls in the coming days and weeks as Europe inevitably collapses I now suspect that the reason the Chicago Mercantile Exchange did not immediately step in to backstop the MFG implosion was because they knew and know that if they backstopped MFG they would then be expected to backstop all of the other firms in the system when the failures began to cascade and there simply isn t that much money in the entire system In short the problem is a SYSTEMIC problem not merely isolated to one firm So what does Barnhardt say that we should all do She is actually recommending that everyone should completely abandon the futures and options markets And so to the very unpleasant crux of the matter The futures and options markets are no longer viable It is my recommendation that ALL customers withdraw from all of the markets as soon as possible so that they have the best chance of protecting themselves and their equity The system is no longer functioning with integrity and is suicidally risk laden The rule of law is non existent instead replaced with godless criminal political cronyism Remember a few weeks ago I warned you all that a massive derivatives crisis is coming Anyone that plays around with derivatives at this point is playing with fire Barnhardt says that she will never reopen her firm until Barack Obama is removed from office and fundamental reforms to the financial system have been implemented Finally I will not under any circumstance consider reforming and re opening Barnhardt Capital Management or any other iteration of a brokerage business until Barack Obama has been removed from office AND the government of the United States has been sufficiently reformed and repopulated so as to engender my total and complete confidence in the government its adherence to and enforcement of the rule of law and in its competent and just regulatory oversight of any commodities markets that may reform So long as the government remains criminal it would serve no purpose whatsoever to attempt to rebuild the futures industry or my firm because in a lawless environment the same thievery and fraud would simply happen again and the criminals would go unpunished sheltered by the criminal oligarchy We are on the verge of a financial crisis that could potentially be just as bad or even worse than the financial crisis of 2008 Right now 2012 is shaping up as a very very bad year As I have written about previously when European leaders proposed that private Greek bondholders should take a 50 haircut they massively undermined faith in the European financial system Now panic and fear are in the air and it is unlikely that financial markets will be calmed any time soon Already there are early signs of the kind of massive credit crunch that almost brought about the end of the world in financial markets back in 2008 For example a CNBC article that was posted on Friday reported that the flow of credit in Europe is seriously drying up Fear over European banks exposure to risky government debt stalked markets and harried bank executives on Friday as unsecured lending between banks evaporated and the cost of secured loans rose And as a recent article posted on Zero Hedge discussed a similar thing is starting to happen in the United States The entire dollar funding market is now at levels not seen since the Lehman collapse and is effectively frozen Only this time it is much much worse as never before has the global central bank cadre been assumed and implied to be backstopping the global liquidity cascade Ex out the implied backstop by the monetary authorities and liquidity is now locked up more than ever in the history of capital markets So what should we do about this We should take action and get prepared for what is coming Unfortunately an increasing number of Americans seem to be checking out instead According to a recent Gallup poll alcohol consumption in the United States has hit a 25 year high More than one out of every ten Americans over the age of 12 is on prescription antidepressants and most American families spend endless hours staring at the television in an attempt to escape the pain and the frustration that they constantly feel Hopefully by working together we can help more Americans and more Europeans as well to wake up to get off their couches and to take action in a positive way Time is running out and the economic crisis is rapidly getting worse |
JPM | JP Morgan posts Q3 adjusted EPS of 1 36 vs 1 39 estimate | Investing com JP Morgan Chase NYSE JPM the largest U S bank reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings and revenue ahead of Tuesday s opening bell
JP Morgan said adjusted earnings per share came in at 1 36 in the third quarter below expectations for adjusted earnings of 1 39 per share and compared to a loss of 0 17 cents in the same period a year earlier
Net income totaled 5 57 billion compared with a loss of 380 million in the year earlier period
The bank s revenue totaled 24 25 billion in the three months ended September 30 missing estimates for revenue of 24 43 billion and up from 23 1 billion in the same quarter last year
According to the report third quarter results were affected by a 1 billion or 0 26 cents per share write off for legal expenses
Commenting on the results Jamie Dimon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said Our businesses continue to perform well Our Card business delivered double digit sales volume growth and Mortgage Banking continues to reposition the business and manage through cyclical lows
Dimon continued While challenges remain in the global economic recovery the U S economy is an exception showing signs of steady improvement
Traders will now turn their attention to the bank s conference call due to start at 8 30 a m Eastern Time
Following the release of the report shares in JPM shed 0 6 in pre market trade
Meanwhile the outlook for U S equity markets was steady The Dow 30 futures indicated a loss of 0 1 the S P 500 pointed to a gain of 0 1 while the tech heavy NASDAQ 100 indicated a rise of 0 1 |
BMY | BMY Vs AZN Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now | Investors with an interest in Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks have likely encountered both Bristol Myers Squibb BMY and Astrazeneca LON AZN But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now We ll need to take a closer look
There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits
Right now Bristol Myers Squibb is sporting a Zacks Rank of 1 Strong Buy while Astrazeneca has a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates so investors should rest assured that BMY has an improving earnings outlook But this is only part of the picture for value investors
Value investors are also interested in a number of tried and true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels
The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics including the popular P E ratio P S ratio earnings yield cash flow per share and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors
BMY currently has a forward P E ratio of 13 15 while AZN has a forward P E of 22 90 We also note that BMY has a PEG ratio of 1 42 This popular metric is similar to the widely known P E ratio with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company s expected earnings growth rate AZN currently has a PEG ratio of 2 20
Another notable valuation metric for BMY is its P B ratio of 6 04 The P B ratio pits a stock s market value against its book value which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities For comparison AZN has a P B of 7 18
These metrics and several others help BMY earn a Value grade of B while AZN has been given a Value grade of C
BMY is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model And based on the above valuation metrics we feel that BMY is likely the superior value option right now |
C | Nikkei up 1 8 pct helped by China rebound resources | Shanghai boosts Japan stocks still in corrective phase
Oil price surge buoys recovery hopes oil stocks gain
Truckmakers Akebono Brake jump on brokerage upgrades
Eyes on Japan s Aug 30 election
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO Aug 20 Reuters Japan s Nikkei average climbed 1 8
percent on Thursday to bounce back from a three week closing low
with investors encouraged by a rebound in Chinese shares and
gains in resource shares after crude oil surged
Truckmakers shares climbed after a brokerage upgrade with
Isuzu Motors adding 5 4 percent and trading houses gained on
strong metals prices
Investors took heart after the Shanghai Composite Index
jumped more than 3 percent after falling to its lowest close in
two months on Wednesday That drop had led the Nikkei to book its
lowest close since late July
Despite Thursday s bounce however analysts said the market
is ripe for a correction after the Nikkei s gains of more than 40
percent from its March lows with some saying investors had
likely used the drop in Chinese stocks as an excuse to lock in
profits
Sentiment is still fragile as both Japanese and U S stocks
are in a natural corrective phase said Mitsushige Akino chief
fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management
Investors also lack trading factors to push the market much
higher after having factored in the outlook for an economic
recovery and that s why they tend to focus on anything that can
be seen as a selling signal
In moderate trade the benchmark Nikkei rose 179 41 points to
10 383 41 while the broader Topix gained 1 6 percent to 958 59
Chinese shares had slid 4 3 percent on Wednesday as nervous
investors pulled out on worries that a 20 percent slide in just
two weeks would deepen further
Most in the market said they felt Japan s dip this week was
probably still within the range of a natural fluctuation with
support set to hold around 10 100 roughly where the 25 day
moving average comes in
Investors in Chinese stocks are also taking profits partly
due to concerns about a tighter policy after they had rallied
sharply already Akino said
Along with Chinese stocks Japan s general election on Aug
30 is another big focus market players said
Opinion polls show the opposition Democratic Party well ahead
of the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party LDP in the
Aug 30 race for the lower house of parliament raising the
prospect that the business friendly LDP will lose power for only
the second time in its 54 year history
The Asahi newspaper said on Thursday that the Democrats could
win about 300 of the 480 seats though things could shift in the
final days of the race
Until Japan s election is over stocks may find it hard to
move The market just wants a decision fast but if the LDP won
it d be quite a surprise and stocks would probably tumble said
Koichi Ogawa chief fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments
ENERGY AUTOMAKERS JUMP
Energy shares powered higher after oil s surge on Wednesday
when U S government data showed a steep drop in crude imports
and inventories though crude steadied on Thursday
The surprising drop in stockpiles lifted Wall Street on views
it could suggest an improving demand outlook and economy but
analysts said higher prices were a two edged sword
While higher oil prices reflect rising demand and a healthier
economy they also raise costs and can discourage consumer
spending
Oil and gas field developer Inpex gained 2 9 percent to
721 000 yen while distributor Nippon Oil rose 1 9 percent to 531
yen
Trading houses rose on both the oil gains and a recovery in
metals prices with Marubeni climbing 2 8 percent to 474 yen and
Itochu Corp adding 2 2 percent to 665 yen
Isuzu and Hino Motors shot up after Nikko Citigroup upgraded
them to hold from sell saying truckmakers earnings could
turn around in the second half of the business year on better
overseas demand than the companies had originally foreseen
Isuzu climbed to 197 yen and Hino Motors advanced 5 1 percent
to 391 yen
Shares of auto parts maker Akebono Brake Industry soared 15 4
percent to 748 yen after Daiwa Institute of Research lifted its
rating to Neutral from Bearish saying the likelihood of
returning to the black in the financial year to March 2010 has
increased partly due to deeper cost cuts
Unicharm Corp the top Asian manufacturer of diapers and
sanitary goods climbed 3 4 percent to 8 180 yen after the Nikkei
business daily reported the company would enter the U S diaper
market through a joint venture with Swedish peer Svenska
Cellulosa AB
Some 2 1 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange s
first section roughly in line with last week s daily average
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by nearly 5 to 1
Additional reporting by Elaine Lies Editing by Michael Watson |
C | Commods banks pull FTSE 1 4 pct higher | Oils miners gain on improved demand hopes
Banks insurers rally as risk appetite returns
By Jon Hopkins
LONDON Aug 20 Reuters Britain s leading share index
gained 1 4 percent as stocks enjoyed a broad based recovery on
Thursday with heavyweight oils and miners in demand as raw
material prices rose while financials also rallied
By the close the FTSE 100 was 66 91 points higher at
4 756 58 having reversed earlier losses to close slightly
higher on Wednesday
The UK benchmark has gained 37 percent since hitting a floor
in early March and is up 6 8 percent so far this year However
volumes on the index have been low on average in August the
height of the holiday season
The market seems to be kind of defying belief at the
moment There definitely seems to be support with the dips
reasonably shallow and a definite desire for investors to move
in said Tim Whithead strategist at stockbrokers Redmayne
Bentley
However one wonders with cyclical stocks driving the
advance and traditional defensives being left behind if there
was something to spook the market whether this could be turned
on its head
Oil majors were the blue chip index s top gainers with
crude holding above 72 a barrel after industry data on Thursday
showed a steep drop in U S oil imports and stocks
BP Royal Dutch Shell BG Group and Cairn Energy added 1 4
to 2 9 percent
Miners also joined in the rally on hopes for increased
demand for metals Angtofagasta Xstrata Lonmin Anglo American
Vedanta Resources and Kazakhmys were up from 2 4 to 5 3
percent
Rio Tinto the world s second largest miner added 1 0
percent after posting a record drop in first half profit in
line with market forecasts and saying it was confident about
the future after a tough 18 months
Banks also rose helped by sentiment from the successful
placement of the Swiss government s stake in UBS Barclays
Lloyds Banking Group Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC took on
0 4 to 3 9 percent
Insurers moved higher as equity valuations rose with
Prudential Standard Life RSA Insurance and Friends Provident
up 2 5 to 4 5 percent
U S STOCKS HIGHER
U S blue chips were modestly higher by London s close up
0 3 percent as investors digested a mixed bag of data
U S initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week but
investors took heart from news the Philly Fed business activity
index turned positive in August breaking a 10 month run of
contractions and beating even the most optimistic forecasts
Domestic macro data was also mixed on Thursday with British
retail sales up twice as much as expected in July while
government borrowing reached a record deficit last month
UK retail sales posted another decent rise in July but the
dire public finance figures which underline the need for tax
rises spending cuts suggest that this resilience will
eventually fade said Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics
Among the minority blue chip fallers broker comment had the
most impact on Thursday
Real estate stocks suffered as Credit Suisse cut its stance
on the sector to market weight from overweight
Land Securities tagged a short term trading sell by
Deutsche Bank shed 1 1 percent and British Land lost 0 6
percent
AstraZeneca fell 0 5 percent as Citigroup cut its stance to
hold from buy on doubts about the firm s ability to offset
looming patent losses with new drugs
Diageo lost 0 3 percent after both ING and Evolution
downgraded their ratings for the drinks group
Among the mid caps bus operators suffered after the Office
of Fair Trading referred the local bus market excluding London
to the Competition Commission for further investigation
Stagecoach and Arriva suffered the most down 4 4 and 2 1
percent respectively
Editing by John Stonestreet |
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