TheChek News Flow

>>> After Hours Summary: Live Ventures (LIVE) +43% on FY17 results

After Hours Summary: Live Ventures (LIVE) +43% on FY17 results

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: LIVE +43.3%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: DRAD +6.9% (To sell its Medical Device Sales and Service business unit service contracts for $8 mln), MARK +5.4% (Profiled in Barron's Tech Trader Daily column), HTGM +3.9% (Discloses agreeing to third development plan with Illumina (ILMN))

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: RVLT -7.9%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: EKSO -3.1% (Files with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada a Certificate of Amendment to increase the authorized number of shares of common stock from 71,428,571 shares to 141,428,571 shares

>>> Asian Update

Asia Market Update: Tech and semi names drive Kospi and Taiex higher; USD weaker against majors

***Headlines/Economic Data***

General Trend: Asian markets trade generally higher, despite mixed US equities session on Wednesday

-US dollar generally weaker amid gains in Commodity and Asian currencies

Japan

-Nikkei 225 opened -0.1%; closed -0.6%

-TOPIX Iron/Steel Index +0.6%

-Weakness in the financial sector: Mitsubishi UFJ -1.2%

-Nintendo -0.5%: To delay rollout of larger Switch game cards until 2019 on technical issues , according to US financial press report

-Nintendo: Said to target FY18 Switch sales of more than 20M units, said a Japanese press report [**Note: On Oct 30th, the company guided its current FY18 Switch unit sales at 14M (up from the prior forecast of 10M)]

-Japan Nov Department Store Supermarket Sales y/y: 1.4% v 1.0%e

-Japan Nov Retail Sales m/m: 1.9% v 0.7%e; Retail Trade y/y: 2.2% v 1.0%e

-JAPAN NOV PRELIM INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: 0.6% V 0.5%E; Y/Y: 3.7% V 3.6%E; Manufacturers see Dec production +3.4% m/m, Jan production -4.5% m/m; government raises assessment of industrial production

-Japan Trade Ministry: The rise in industrial production was due to increased output of memory chips, semiconductor equipment and heavy machinery used for construction

-BoJ releases summary of opinions of Dec meeting: When it is expected that economic activity and prices will continue to improve going forward, the situation may occur where the Bank will need to consider whether adjustments in the level of interest rates will be necessary

-Japan Nov Vehicle Production y/y: 0.9% v 6.4% prior

Korea

-Kospi opened +0.1%

-Chipmakers add to gains seen on Wednesday’s session: Samsung +1.8%, Hynix +1%

-Hyundai Motor -2.5%: South Korea Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport orders the co and several foreign automakers to recall ~1M vehicles due to faulty parts - Korean press

-Posco Steel -1.4% (tracked declines in US steelmakers)

-Korean Won (KRW) +0.2% (continues to trade at more than 2-year highs; gaining for 4th straight session)

-SOUTH KOREA JAN BUSINESS MANUFACTURING SURVEY: 82 V 82 PRIOR; NON-MANUFACTURING SURVEY: 78 V 80 PRIOR

-South Korea Nov Cyclical Leading Index Change: -0.1 v -0.3 prior

-South Korea Nov Industrial Production m/m: 0.2% v 1.3%e; y/y: -1.6% v 0.0%e; Revises Oct figures lower

-South Korea Nov Retail Sales m/m: 5.6% v 1.3%e; y/y: 6.5% v 2.5%e

-South Korea and the US to hold Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks in Washington, D.C. on Jan 5th

-Bank of Korea (BoK) annual monetary strategy for 2018: 2018 monetary policy to remain accommodative

-South Korea and the US to hold first talks to amend Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Washington, D.C. on Jan 5th

-(KR) South Korea Financial Regulator (FSC) Vice Chairman: To make guidelines to prevent money laundering via cryptocurrency

Looking ahead: South Korea Dec CPI due for release on Friday

China/Hong Kong

-Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%, Hang Seng +0.3%

-Hang Seng Industrial Goods Index +1.2%, Information Tech +1%, Materials +1%, Financials +0.6%

-Hang Seng Property Index +1%: China govt may keep tight control of the property market; Outbound investment to be more prudent - Chinese press

-Shanghai Composite Consume Staples Index +1.5%: Liquor producer Kweichow Moutai +4.5% (guided FY17 profits +58% y/y, plans to raise prices by 18% on avg in 2018)

-Geely +3.5% (announced agreement to become largest shareholder of Sweden’s Volvo AB)

-Guangzhou Automobile Group: +2% (announced agreement to partner with EV maker NIO)

-Herbal products company BaWang International Group +26% (declined ~31% on Wednesday): Said former CEO Wan is seeking to wind up Fortune Station and it sees no material impact to business

-(CN) China 19th Central Committee to discuss changes to the constitution in January, sparking chatter Xi could have an extended term as President – Xinhua

-(CN) Trump administration plans to unveil a series of trade penalties against China early next year in a move that some describe as “shock and awe” - financial press

-(CN) Analysts expect China IPOs will increase in 2018 from MSCI’s decision to include A-shares in its indexes from June, a move expected to see a range of investors buy A-shares selected for inclusion

-(CN) China Nov Swift Global Payments CNY: 1.75% v 1.46% prior

-(CN) PBoC: Skips OMO operation for 5th straight session; Net drain CNY30B v CNY40B drain prior

-USD/CNY (CN) China PBoC sets yuan reference rate at 6.5412 v 6.5421 prior

-(CN) China to raise price of gasoline and diesel by CNY70/ton, effective Dec 29th

Australia/New Zealand

-ASX 200 opened flat; closed +0.3%

-ASX 200 Financials Index +0.2%; REIT -1.2%, Utilities -0.7%

- DNA.AU Wins Injunction to close Star Paradise; +8%

Looking ahead: Australia Nov Housing and Private Sector Credit data due for release on Friday

Other Asia

-(IN) India 10-year bond yield rises over 8 bps after government confirmed there might be additional borrowing in FY17/18

-(TW) Taiwan’s Taiex gains as Apple suppliers rebound from losses seen earlier in week: Largan Precision +5.5%

-(TW) Taiwan Dollar (TWD) hits more than 3-year high

-Taiwan’s MediaTek: Sees 2018 to have a stable mobile phone market - Taiwan press

-(TH) Thailand Nov Manufacturing Production Index ISIC NSA y/y: 4.2% v 1.8%e; Capacity Utilization: 64.16 v 60.45 prior

- (TH) Thailand Nov Unemployment Rate: 1.1% v 1.3% prior

-(SL) Sri Lanka Central Bank (CBSL) leaves Key Rates unchanged (as expected)

North America

-US equity markets ended mixed: Dow +0.1%, S&P500 +0.1%, Nasdaq 0.0%, Russell 2000 0.0%

-S&P 500 Utilities sector +0.4%; Energy -0.4%

-(US) Fed's Rosengren (hawk, non-voter in 2018): has concerns we may start to see a reach for yield

-(US) White House said to consider Richard Clarida, Lawrence Lindsey for Fed Vice Chairman position; Former Pimco exec Mohamed El-Erian also in consideration - financial press

-(US) TREASURY'S $34B 5-YEAR NOTE AUCTION DRAWS: 2.245%; BID-TO-COVER RATIO: 2.36 V 2.46 PRIOR AND 2.47 OVER THE LAST 12 AUCTIONS (highest yield since Apr 2010)

- (US) Weekly API Oil Inventories: Crude: -6M v -5.2M prior

Looking Ahead: US Dec Chicago PMI data and weekly DOE Crude Inventories due for release on Thursday

Europe

-(UK) EU officials indicate that UK Brexit minister may have been "sidelined"; EU negotiator Barnier has been dealing directly with another UK official - The Times

-(BE) National Bank of Belgium maintains countercyclical capital buffer percentage at zero for Q1'18

-(FR) FRANCE NOV NET CHANGE IN JOBSEEKERS: -29.5K V +8.0K PRIOR

-M&A: Accor Hotels [AC.FR]: Reportedly in discussions with investors on potential AccorInvest stake sale - press

***Levels as of 01:00ET***

- Nikkei225 -0.6%, Hang Seng +0.7%; Shanghai Composite +0.7%; ASX200 +0.3%, Kospi +0.9%

- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.0%; Nasdaq100 +0.1%, Dax +0.0%; FTSE100 +0.2%

- EUR 1.1929-1.1886; JPY 113.35-112.88; AUD 0.7796-0.7765;NZD 0.7089-0.7054

- Feb Gold +0.3% at $1,294/oz; Feb Crude Oil +0.2% at $59.77/brl; Mar Copper +0.4% at $3.29/lb

>>> US Close Dow +0.11% S&P +0.08% Nasdaq +0.04% Russell -0.02%

Closing Summary: Still Waiting on Santa

There was little change in the stock market on Wednesday, which was basically the case throughout the session. The major indices were confined to tight trading ranges, vacillating within close proximity to Tuesday's closing levels.

The lack of conviction was consistent with Tuesday's trading, which was one of the lightest volume days of the year at the NYSE. Volume was a little heavier today at 548 million shares, yet it was still far below "normal" levels as vacation schedules continued to be fuller than trading desks.

That is nothing unusual this time of year, yet it will be noticed nonetheless by veteran market watchers that the Santa Claus rally period, which includes the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year, has been slow to get going.

That period is typically a good period for the stock market. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, it has produced an average gain of 1.5% for the S&P 500 since 1950. Through the first three days of this year's Santa Claus rally period, the S&P 500 has slipped 0.07%.

There is still time for Santa to show, but it is fair to say that it will be a condensed showing if he does.

Today's sector returns were certainly condensed, as there wasn't a single sector that increased, or decreased, more than 0.4%.

The best-performing sectors were real estate (+0.4%) and utilities (+0.4%), which found some support from a big drop in long-term rates. In fact, the Treasury market is where most of today's trading excitement was found.

The yield on the 10-yr note fell six basis points to 2.41% while the yield on the 30-yr bond dropped six basis points to 2.75%. There were gains, though, across the yield curve, but a curve flattening trade prevailed as the 2-yr note yield slipped only two basis points to 1.88%.

There wasn't a telling news item for the strength in the Treasury market. The Consumer Confidence report for December was a bit weaker than expected, yet that wasn't enough to account for the sizable increase in Treasury prices; moreover, the $34 billion 5-year note auction was weak, which wouldn't be a rally factor.

The suspected tailwind was a drop in European bond yields, a likely trigger for an interest-rate differential trade that has tamped down long-term rates all year despite improving economic activity and three rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

It is possible, too, that safe-haven trading was in play going into year end, which will feature another three-day weekend.

Back to the stock market, the energy sector (-0.3%) was the biggest loser today, falling victim to some profit taking that was facilitated by a 0.6% drop in oil prices ($59.64, -$0.33), which hit their highest level since mid-2015 on Tuesday.

The consumer discretionary sector dipped 0.2%, weighed down by weakness in many of the retail stocks. The latter also fell victim to profit taking after staging a big rally in recent weeks. To wit, Macy's (M 25.64, -1.21) declined 4.5% after gaining as much as 56% from its November 7 low.

Reviewing this morning's economic data, which included the Consumer Confidence report for December and the Pending Home Sales Index for November:

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for December dropped to 122.1 (consensus 128.0) from a downwardly revised 128.6 (from 129.5) in November, which marked a 17-year high.
The key takeaway from the report is that consumers had a less optimistic outlook for business and job prospects in coming months, which is a bit surprising given the advertised benefits of tax reform. Overall, though, consumer confidence remains strong.

The Pending Home Sales Index increased 0.2% in November (consensus -0.7%) following an unrevised 3.5% increase in October

Wednesday's will include the weekly initial claims report and the advance reports for international trade in goods and wholesale inventories for November.

Nasdaq Composite: +28.9% YTD

Dow Jones Industrial Average: +25.3% YTD

S&P 500: +19.8% YTD

S&P Midcap 400 Index: +14.8% YTD

Russell 2000: +13.8% YTD

>>> Fed's Rosengren (hawk, non-voter in 2018): has concerns we may start to see

Fed's Rosengren (hawk, non-voter in 2018): has concerns we may start to see a reach for yield

- There are geopolitical risks that are now more severe than they were a couple years ago. On the financial stability front, it’s not just the United States that has had low interest rates—it’s a global phenomenon. I do worry that we may start to see “reach for yield” kinds of behaviors on financial investments that could potentially have broader implications at a time when monetary or fiscal policy can’t react if we get a big negative shock.

- We’re going to have an opportunity over the coming year to think about some of the potential side effects of having low interest rates for a long period of time. How destabilizing is such an environment? Do we see asset bubbles? What is the investment environment being created with monetary policy, and with U.S. fiscal policy? These are the kinds of themes we will be thinking about in the coming year.

Link: https://www.bostonfed.org/news-and-events/news/year-end-with-eric-and-ken.aspx

Fwd:>>> Energous surges 90% on FCC certification for over-the-air, power-at-a-di

WATT US

From: LAURENT CHEKROUN (MAKOR SECURITIES LO) At: 12/27/17 07:49:58

Subject: >>> Energous surges 60% on FCC certification for over-the-air, power-at-a-distan

Energous surges 60% on FCC certification for over-the-air, power-at-a-distance wireless charging

WATT had a market cap just under $200 mln and ~30% of the 15 mln share float is sold short

{WATT US Equity DES<GO>}

Receives industry-first FCC Certification for over-the-air, power-at-a-distance wireless charging; Approval marks major step forward for smart home, IoT and mobile devices Announced Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification of its first-generation WattUp Mid Field transmitter, which sends focused, RF-based power to devices at a distance. As the first FCC certification for power-at-a-distance wireless charging under Part 18 of the FCC's rules, this development represents a new era of wireless charging, and opens up a tremendous opportunity for the electronics industry.

Energous' WattUp Mid Field transmitter underwent rigorous, multi-month testing to verify it met consumer safety and regulatory requirements. As the first Part 18 FCC approved power-at-a-distance wireless charging transmitter, the certification marks a significant milestone for the consumer electronics industry and paves the way for future wireless charging ubiquity for nearly any small electronic device, including smartphones, tablets, fitness trackers, smart watches, earbuds, wireless keyboards and mice, smart speakers and more.

The company's WattUp Mid Field transmitter can deliver power via radio frequency (RF) energy to WattUp-enabled electronic devices at a distance of up to three feet. As the only technology that can do both contact-based and non-contact-based wireless charging, as well as charge multiple devices at once, WattUp is highly scalable and automatically charges devices, as needed, until they are topped off. While older charging technologies allow for only contact-based charging, Energous is the only company to achieve Wireless Charging 2.0 to-date, which is the ability to charge devices both at contact (including fast charging large battery devices such as smartphones and tablets), as well as power-at-a-distance. Similar to WiFi, the WattUp ecosystem ensures interoperability between receivers and transmitters, regardless of the manufacturer, making the entire ecosystem flexible and accessible for consumers and manufacturing partners.

This represents the first time FCC equipment certification has been awarded to any device that charges wirelessly at a distance, and operates under Part 18 of the FCC's rules. The FCC's Part 18 rules permit higher-power operations than are permitted under the Part 15 rules that have been used to approve other at a distance charging devices.

The company will be demonstrating its very latest WattUp technology at CES 2018, the world's largest consumer electronics show, January 9-12.

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down

ELY -1.7% (downgraded to Sell at Compass Point; also increased investment in Top Golf)

Crypto stocks pulling back: NXTD -10%, FTFT -5%

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up

News:

WATT +100% (FCC certification for over-the-air, power-at-a-distance wireless charging)

HTGM +18% (expands existing agreement for translational programs with Merck KGaA)

RCGR +19% (re-domiciled to Delaware, reduced authorized shares to 100 mln)

DPW +% (added co-location to crypto-mining strategy)

Continued momentum:

IPWR +11%

LTBR +7%

Crypto stocks: RCGR +19.23% TEUM +9.29% LFIN +6.58% JTPY +6.56% DPW +6.49% LTEA +5.42% MARA +4.86% GLNNF +4.17% SSC +4.05% SRAX +3.99% OTIV +3.97% GROW +3.82% XNET +3.51% RIOT +2.02% NETE +1.75%

>>> US Early gappers

Gapping up:

WATT +84.3%, TEUM +17.9%, HTGM +17.5%, IPWR +17%, DPW +10.3%, LTEA +7.3%, LFIN +5.11% SSC +2.36% XNET +2.46%, RIOT +2%

Gapping down:

ELY -1.7%, CLLS -1.5%

(BN) Disney Risks Losing One of TV’s Creative Geniuses in Fox Deal

NY Post : DOJ might target Comcast-NBCUniversal merger next

While President Trump’s Department of Justice sues to block AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner, it’s also eyeing a clampdown on Comcast.

Federal law enforcement is weighing an extension of a six-year-old probationary period over Comcast’s merger with NBCUniversal, concerned that the Philadelphia-based cable giant has been playing fast and loose with competition rules, sources told The Post.

Under a 2011 “consent decree” it signed to get its NBCU merger cleared by the Justice Department, Comcast promised it wouldn’t withhold NBC programming from rival cable companies or over-the-top competitors — a truce designed to encourage competition in the cable-TV industry.

The DOJ isn’t currently probing the matter, sources emphasized. But earlier this month, fresh accusations of bad behavior surfaced when smaller cable rival RCN accused Comcast of overcharging it for NBC broadcasts in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC isn’t expected to take action, but insiders say RCN is laying the groundwork for a federal complaint against Comcast before its consent decree expires next fall.

“I don’t think Comcast has heard the end of it” from the Justice Department, Daphna Ziman, president of TV network Cinemoi, said.

Ziman, a longtime advocate for independent programmers, testified against the AT&T-Time Warner merger at a US Senate anti-trust subcommittee hearing. She says US officials have recently voiced lingering concerns about Comcast in private conversations.

“The DOJ feels like [the consent decree] was a big mistake” and now believes it should have sued to block Comcast’s NBCUniversal acquisition altogether, she said.

Some antitrust experts argue that if the feds stop AT&T — which owns pay-TV giant DirecTV — from owning valuable content such as that of Time Warner’s HBO, it should at least keep a tight rein on Comcast so it can’t wrongfully exploit its ownership of NBC.