>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

  • RAVN +4.4%, IQV +4.3%, (also announces cancellation of secondary public offering and concurrent repurchase of common stock) DE +0.8%, TARO +0.6%

M&A news:

  • PYPL +1.3% (acquiring Swedish payment firm iZettle)

Other news:

  • CERN +7.2% (contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs that has a ceiling of $10 bln over 10 years)
  • AFSI +6.1% (Carl Icahn (owns 9.4% stake) sends letter to the Board against going private transaction at $13.50/share)
  • VYGR +3% (announces new data presentations at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy)
  • CNHI +2% (in sympathy with DE)
  • WBAI +1.5% (enters into cooperation agreement with the Hunan Provincial Sports Bureau Sports Lottery Administration Center to develop physical sales channels)
  • KKR +1.3% (announced the sale of Mehiläinen)
  • VRX +1.2% (priced its previously announced offering of $750M aggregate principal amount of 8.50% unsecured senior notes due 2027; proceeds are refinancing term loans and repaying other debt)
  • CBS +1.2% (declares pro rata dividend of 0.5687 shares of Class A common stock)

>>> AvtoVAZ: Renault, Rostec preparing to buy out minority shareholders (transla

AvtoVAZ: Renault, Rostec preparing to buy out minority shareholders (translated)
18 MAY 2018
French automotive group Renault [EPA:RNO ] and Russian state corporation Rostec are preparing to buy out Russian automaker AvtoVAZ ’s [MCX:AVAZ] minority shareholders via their joint venture Alliance Rostec Auto BV, Vedomosti and Kommersant reported.
The Russian newspapers cited Sergey Skvortsov, Chairman of the AvtoVAZ Board of Directors.
Alliance Rostec Auto BV – which owns a controlling stake in AvtoVAZ – will next week submit documents to Russia's Central Bank in relation to a voluntary offer to AvtoVAZ’s minority shareholders, Skvortsov stated.
The offer to minority shareholders may be announced in May, Kommersant reported.
The offer price, which is determined by law, will be based on a six-month trading average, Vedomosti reported citing Skvortsov.
Experts estimated the cost of buying out minority shareholders at RUB 22.7bn (USD 365.2m) based on the average weighted price of AvtoVAZ for the past six months, according to the reports. Approximately RUB 15.5bn will be spent to acquire a stake from Renaissance Securities (Cyprus), which is AvtoVAZ's largest minority shareholder with an about 11.5% stake, the items added, citing a VTB Capital analyst.
Alliance Rostec Auto increased its stake in AvtoVAZ to 83.5% stake in Spring, according to Vedomosti.
The recapitalization of AvtoVAZ will be completed in October 2018, the papers further said.
Skvortsov also stated that the Rostec/Renault JV will be preserved, and the co-owners of the joint venture do not plan to own AvtoVAZ directly, the papers reported.
AvtoVAZ posted RUB 225.6bn revenue and RUB 9.7bn loss in 2017 under IFRS, according to Kommersant, citing the company's records.
AvtoVAZ has a market cap of RUB 147.45bn (USD 2.37bn).
Link to original source (Vedomosti report behind paywall)
Link to original source (Kommersant)

>>> Soc. Gen (GLE FP) Proposes share buyback of up to 5% of share capital at max

Proposes share buyback of up to 5% of share capital at max price of €75/shr

As at 14 May 2018, without taking into account the shares already held, a theoretical maximum number of 40,395,886 shares could be purchased. Given the number of securities already held at this date and the possibility to hold an amount of shares representing up to 10% of the share capital, the Company could purchase up to 40,395,886 shares. The maximum purchase price would be set at EUR 75 per share, i.e. a potential maximum amount allocated to the programme of EUR 3,029,691,450.

>>> US After Hours Summary: AMAT down approx. 5% and JWN down approx.


After Hours Summary: AMAT down approx. 5% and JWN down approx. 7% after earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: AFSI +7.2% (Carl Icahn [owns 9.4% stake] sends letter to the Board against going private transaction at $13.50/share), BOOT -3.7% (stock offering by selling shareholders), VVV +0.2% (acquires Great Canadian Oil Change which operates 73 quick-lube stores in five Canadian Provinces), PYPL +0.7% (acquiring Swedish payment firm iZettle), BP +0.2% (Bloomberg reports company may swap Alaskan assets for Conoco's North Sea assets)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: AMAT -5.2%, JWN -6.7%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: VRX -0.2% (Valeant Pharma priced its previously announced offering of $750M aggregate principal amount of 8.50% unsecured senior notes due 2027; proceeds are refinancing term loans and repaying other debt)

>>> US Close Dow -0,22% S&P -0,09% Nasdaq -0,21% Russell +0,55%

Closing Market Summary: Quiet Session Ends With Slim Losses

Stocks wandered between positive and negative territory on Thursday, eventually settling the session a tick lower. The S&P 500 shed 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% apiece. Conversely, the small-cap Russell 2000 advanced 0.6%, closing at a new record high for the second day in a row.

Investors kept an eye on the Treasury market, where yields continued to hover at multi-year highs. The benchmark 10-yr yield, for instance, ticked up to 3.11% from 3.10% to finish at its highest level since July 2011. A rise in Treasury yields, which offer a "risk free" return, has lured some buyers away from the equity market this week, putting Wall Street's May rally on hold.

U.S.-China trade relations were also in focus on Thursday after President Trump said he's doubtful that the two nations will reach a trade agreement. The two countries are on the brink of imposing tens of billions of dollars worth of tariffs against one another, but are currently engaged in talks with hopes of avoiding that scenario.

In corporate news, CBS (CBS 51.61, -2.22) shares dropped 4.1% after a judge ruled against the company in its attempt to break free from its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, who is attempting to force a CBS-Viacom (VIAB 28.16, -0.11) merger. The Redstone family controls both CBS and Viacom through its holding company, National Amusements.

Meanwhile, on the earnings front, shares of Walmart (WMT 84.49, -1.64) lost 1.9% after the world's largest retailer reported above-consensus earnings and revenues for the first quarter, but missed estimates for same-store sales. Similarly, shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO 43.46, -1.70) dropped 3.8% despite the company reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.

Energy shares were strong on Thursday, pushing the S&P 500's energy sector higher by 1.3%, even though crude prices spent the bulk of the day giving back an overnight gain of more than 1.0%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures eventually settled higher by 0.1% at $71.48 per barrel. Still, that marks the commodity's best close in three-and-a-half years.

Most of the other S&P groups finished in negative territory, with the rate-sensitive utilities space (-0.9%) closing at the back of the pack. The top-weighted technology sector also lagged, losing 0.5%, due in part to Cisco's sizable slide, but also due to broad weakness. Tech giants like Apple (AAPL 186.99, -1.19) and Microsoft (MSFT 96.18, -0.97) lost 0.6% and 1.0%, respectively.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data, which included weekly Initial Claims, the Philadelphia Fed Index for May, and the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index for April:

  • The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 222,000, while the consensus expected a reading of 216,000. Today's tally was above the unrevised prior week count of 211,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.707 million from a revised count of 1.794 million (from 1.790 million).
    • The key takeaway from the initial claims report is that it covers the period in which the survey for the May employment report was conducted. The continued low level of initial claims, then, should continue to feed expectations for another solid increase in nonfarm payrolls.
  • The Philadelphia Fed Survey for May rose to 34.4 (consensus 20.0) from an unrevised 23.2 in April.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that the Prices Received Index -- a reflection of manufacturers' own prices -- increased seven points to 36.4, which is the highest reading since February 1989.
  • The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index increased 0.4% in April (consensus +0.4%), and the March increase was revised to 0.4% from 0.3%.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that the strength among the leading indicators remains very widespread.

Investors will not receive any economic data on Friday.

  • Nasdaq Composite +6.9% YTD
  • Russell 2000 +5.8% YTD
  • S&P 500 +1.7% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average UNCH YTD