>>> US Research Calls I


Research Calls I

  • Upgrades:
    • B&G Foods (BGS) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Sandler; tgt lowered to $23
    • NetApp (NTAP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank; tgt lowered to $84
    • Nokia (NOK) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
    • PBF Energy (PBF) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt $57
    • Tractor Supply (TSCO) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities; tgt raised to $260
    • U.S. Silica (SLCA) upgraded to Outperform from In-line at Evercore ISI; tgt $20
  • Downgrades:
    • AeroClean Technologies (AERC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at The Benchmark Company
    • AstraZeneca (AZN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS
    • Best Buy (BBY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Securities
    • Chemours (CC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Securities; tgt lowered to $44
    • Coinbase Global (COIN) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan; tgt lowered to $68
    • Envista (NVST) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird; tgt lowered to $46
    • Henry Schein (HSIC) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird; tgt lowered to $88
    • Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank; tgt lowered to $16
    • Huntsman (HUN) downgraded to Underperform from Buy at BofA Securities; tgt lowered to $34
    • Legacy Housing (LEGH) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley Securities; tgt $16
    • Netflix (NFLX) downgraded to Sell from Hold at The Benchmark Company; tgt $157
    • Omnicom (OMC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Edward Jones
  • Others:
    • Ashford (AINC) initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer; tgt $28
    • Chesapeake Energy (CHK) initiated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse; tgt $115
    • Coherus BioSciences (CHRS) initiated with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $7
    • Horizon Pharma (HZNP) initiated with a Buy at UBS; tgt $139
    • Intra-Cellular Therapies (ITCI) initiated with a Buy at UBS; tgt $75
    • Jazz Pharma (JAZZ) initiated with a Buy at UBS; tgt $194
    • Marathon Petroleum (MPC) initiated with an Outperform at BMO Capital Markets; tgt $135
    • Phillips 66 (PSX) initiated with an Outperform at BMO Capital Markets; tgt $132
    • Royalty Pharma (RPRX) resumed with a Buy at UBS; tgt $47
    • Teva Pharma (TEVA) resumed with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $10
    • Valero Energy (VLO) initiated with a Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets; tgt $155
    • Viad Corp initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer; tgt $42
    • Viatris (VTRS) initiated with a Sell at UBS; tgt $9

>>> US Early premarket gappers


Early premarket gappers

  • Gapping up:
    • EYE +13.2%, ORCL +12.9%, WULF +7.5%, HYZN +7.2%, BRZE +7.2%, OSG +6.8%, MOR +6.5%, ICFI +5%, GAN +3.3%, LICY +1.8%, BECN +1.5%, COTY +1.1%, UNVR +1%, RMD +1%
  • Gapping down:
    • OM -21.6%, RDBX -8.8%, XPER -8.3%, MNTS -3.9%, FOA -2.6%, GRPN -2%, ZYXI -0.7%, INCY -0.7%

FT : Record cost of diesel fuel courses through US economy

Record cost of diesel fuel courses through US economy
Truckers, farmers and even oil drillers feel the pain after price rises 75% in a year

Americans are feeling the pain of petrol inflation every time they pull up to the pump. But a supersized surge in the cost of diesel is adding to economically damaging price rises just about everywhere else.

The national average price of diesel hit a fresh peak of $5.72 a gallon this week, up 75 per cent over the past year, according to data released on Monday by the US Energy Information Administration. It is one of the sharpest fuel cost increases on record. The national average price of petrol, which cracked $5 a gallon on Saturday, has risen about 60 per cent over the same time.

The surge in the price of diesel, a workhorse fuel, is coursing through the US economy, helping to push price increases in the world’s largest economy to 40-year highs. US government data on Friday showed the inflation rate in May accelerated to 8.6 per cent compared with the previous year, the highest level since 1981.

“Big parts of the economy run on diesel, from agriculture to manufacturing, and thus the surge in diesel prices is driving up prices broadly,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, who says diesel prices account for about a fifth of the rise in consumer inflation.

The nation’s fleet of truck drivers is at the frontline, with small and big trucking companies saying they are passing hefty fuel surcharges on to their customers to try to offset the sudden rise in costs.

“It’s devastating really to everybody . . . because it’s so inflationary,” David Owen, president of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, said of the sharp rise in diesel prices.

“Fuel surcharges are being implemented across the board.”


Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share Bart Plaskoff, president of Summit Trucking in Dallas, Texas, said he was paying $70,000 more a week on fuel than he was at the beginning of the year and was telling his truckers to limit idling time and to try to fill up in states with lower taxes to save money.

Even accounting for fuel surcharges, he warned that some truckers could struggle to survive the high costs, which could pull trucks off the road and further drive up transportation costs.

High fuel prices “could impact the industry as a whole long after fuel prices stabilise. Truckers are the backbone of the American economy. Without them you have no groceries, gas, baby formula, prescriptions, furniture, or even your Amazon package,” said Plaskoff.

Because they are less likely to be able to negotiate rates or receive fuel discounts, small trucking companies are those hit hardest by high diesel prices. According to the American Trucking Associations, 97 per cent of trucking companies run 20 trucks or fewer.

Retailers, in turn, say they are passing higher costs from trucking and other transport on to their customers to preserve profit margins.

“There’s higher transportation costs across the whole supply chain whether it’s ocean freight or trucking or the price of fuel,” Bob Nelson, a senior vice-president at Costco, one of America’s largest retailers, told Wall Street analysts last month. “Eventually, those costs make their way into your sale price.”

Target said it would have to pay an extra $1bn on freight and transportation costs this year than it had expected at the start of the year, citing it as one of the main drivers of slumping profitability.

High diesel costs are also being felt on farms across the country, pushing up the price of food at supermarkets and restaurants.

“All of our equipment runs on diesel . . . Fuel costs are just killing us,” said Don Cameron, general manager at Terranova Ranch, a farming operation in California, where diesel prices are nearing $7 a gallon, far higher than the national average. Cameron also serves as president of the state’s Board of Food and Agriculture.

Cameron’s farm, which employs 65 people full-time and far more during harvest season, grows crops such as fresh produce and almonds that go to large restaurant chains and food processors. He said he had to negotiate price increases of 25 per cent for some of his crops this year, and another 25 per cent increase next year was not “out of the question”.

There is little sign of relief in the coming months with diesel prices continuing to surge, complicating the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tamp down inflation and posing political problems for President Joe Biden, who has seen his approval rating dragged down by persistently high inflation.

Crude oil prices, the main driver of the cost of diesel, continue to rise because of tight supplies. The world’s oil refiners, after a wave of shutdowns as the pandemic inflicted heavy financial losses on the sector, are struggling to keep up with stronger than expected post-pandemic fuel demand.

US oil producers themselves rely on diesel to fuel trucks that ferry workers, equipment and materials such as water and fracking sand to remote oilfields, and to operate powerful drilling and fracking machinery. A single well can require tens of thousands of gallons of diesel before it starts producing oil.

The cost for producers, however, is at least partly offset by higher prices for crude. Goldman Sachs says that it expects Brent crude prices to average $135 a barrel through the rest of the year, higher than the current price of about $122 a barrel.

Rob Sladek, owner of JCS Family Farms in Iowa, said his added fuel expense was piling economic pain on top of the already rocketing costs of fertiliser and other agricultural inputs.

“It’s like asking, ‘Which tooth on the chainsaw killed you?’ It’s just one of the many,” he said.

FT : Fewer than one in 10 men in UK likely to reach retirement in good health

Fewer than one in 10 men in UK likely to reach retirement in good health
IPPR report shows strong link between economic deprivation and levels of illness

Fewer than one in 10 men, and only 16 per cent of women, in the UK are likely to be good health by the time they reach retirement, according to new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research a think-tank.

Most people’s “healthy life expectancy” falls short of the state pension age, which is currently 66 and will rise to 67 by 2028, according to a report produced in partnership with Future Health, a policy consultancy.

The research, published on Tuesday, drew a strong link between high levels of illness and a weakened economy, highlighting a geographical divide in which people living in the wealthiest local authorities are more likely to have a healthy life expectancy that exceeds their pension age than those born in areas with high levels of deprivation, such as Blackpool and Nottingham.

Chris Thomas, IPPR principal research fellow, said it was “shocking that so many people don’t even make it to retirement age before the effects of ill health start to take a toll on their lives”. “The fact that it is the poorest that are likely to suffer ill health earlier shows that this is preventable,” he added.

The Northern Health Science Alliance, which represents the region’s health and life sciences sectors, said the findings demonstrated “a causal relationship between poor health and wealth”.

According to the study, health inequality could explain as much as a third of the productivity gap between the north of England and the rest of the country. The north and Midlands both had worse health and lower levels of productivity than the south east, London, and east of England, it found.

Calling for more emphasis to be placed on disease prevention and better care for those who have already developed chronic conditions, the report highlights evidence from the Journal of Medical Economics showing that if best practice in the management of Type II Diabetes was deployed it could create workplace productivity benefits worth £1,500 per person.

The report said that while money alone will not deliver the needed transformation, health expenditure should be seen as an investment rather than simply a cost to the public purse.

It suggested that such a move may challenge traditional thinking in the Treasury which it described as “a department with both the power and the inclination to focus on short-term cost containment”.

Meanwhile, life sciences innovation should be focused on tackling health disparities between different parts of the country, the researchers said.

They said the NHS should start setting ambitious health inequality targets for different illnesses and expand the use of community diagnostic hubs and primary care facilities.

Richard Sloggett, founder of Future Health and former adviser to Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, said the coronavirus pandemic had shown health was the country’s “most important personal and national asset”.

He added that political and health leaders needed to set a new direction to establish “a higher quality and more equitable health system”, including making health as a strategic national investment priority.

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 14th of June 2022 V2(+)

>>> Up
* Alior Raised to Buy at Citi
* Avanza Rated New Underweight at Barclays; PT 195 kronor
* Aviva Raised to Buy at Investec; PT 445 pence (+)
* Close Brothers Raised to Outperform at RBC; PT 1,300 pence
* Deutsche Boerse Raised to Buy at M.M. Warburg; PT 175 euros (+)
* *ENAGAS RAISED TO HOLD VS SELL AT BERENBERG, PT EU22
* Go-Ahead PT Raised to 1,770 pence from 1,350 pence at Liberum
* Hannover Re Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 173 euros
* Millennium Raised to Neutral at Citi; PT 5.10 zloty (+)
* Nokia Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 6.50 euros
* Rathbones Group Raised to Buy at Liberum; PT 2,320 pence
* RWE Raised to Add at AlphaValue/Baader
* Santander Bank Polska Raised to Buy at Citi
* Wizz Air Raised to Hold at HSBC; PT 2,200 pence
* Wizz Air Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 3,300 pence

>>> Down
* Adidas Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 200 euros
* Apple PT Cut to $175 from $200 at Deutsche Bank
* AstraZeneca Cut to Neutral at UBS; PT 10,100 pence (+)
* Diploma Cut to Add at Peel Hunt; PT 3,850 pence
* Fabege Cut to Underweight at Barclays; PT 130 kronor
* HP Enterprise Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; PT $16
* Michelin Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 110 euros
* Omnicom Cut to Hold at Edward Jones
* Phoenix Group Cut to Hold at Investec; PT 630 pence
* Scor Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 27 euros
* Swiss Re Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 90 Swiss francs

>>> Initiation
* Nordnet Rated New Overweight at Barclays; PT 180 kronor
* ReNeuron Rated New Buy at Liberum; PT 80 pence
* YouGov Rated New Buy at Liberum; PT 1,500 pence

>>> Call
* Aviva to Buy at Investec on Attractive Entry Point, Phoenix Cut (+)
* Bellway Update Shows ‘Reassuring’ Trading, Citi Says (+)
* More Cautious on IT Hardware, HP Enterprise Cut: Deutsche Bank (+)
* Current Bearish Momentum Could Continue, Says Citi’s Montagu (+)
* Close Brothers Raised at RBC on Defensive Qualities, Valuation
* Enagas Raised to Hold at Berenberg on Hydrogen Development
* Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman Sees 50% Recession Risk
* Nokia’s Better Fundamentals Underappreciated, Citi Raises to Buy
* Rathbones Raised to Buy With Growth Outlook Undervalued: Liberum
* JPMorgan Economists Now See Fed Hiking 75 Basis Points This Week
* Wacker Chemie Update Shows Continued Momentum: Morgan Stanley
* Wizz Air Upgraded to Buy at Berenberg on Long-Term Potential