After Hours Summary: INTT +26%, ABTL +5% higher following earnings/guidance... FNSR -17% and weighing on optical names after missing quarterly estimates/issuing downside guidanceAfter Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: INTT +25.5% (thinly traded), COGT +8.2%, MYRG +7.4% (ticking higher), CDXS +5.4% (light volume), ABTL +5.2%
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: CRIS +6.2% (continued strength), SKLN +3.2% (light volume, schedules call to provide business update and discuss recent/upcoming milestones for March 15 at 4:30pm ET)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: FNSR -17.4%, SMSI -16.4% (very thinly traded), ZUMZ -14.3%, XTNT -13.6%, RGSE -11.8%, SGRY -11.7%, MED -7.8%, BVX -7% (very thinly traded), EYES -6.5%, CARA -5.7%, ULTA -4.8%, LOCO -4.4%, ROKA -2.5%, FRPT -1%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: MEET -9.5% (commences common stock offering), ARE -3.3% (commences an underwritten public offering of 6,100,000 shares of common stock; updates guidance in connection with offering), ALR -3.2% (attributed to unfavorable court hearing), OOMA -1.1% (to offer 2,861,290 shares of common stock in secondary offering by certain stakeholders)
Optical names are lower following Finisar (FNSR) earnings/guidance: FN -3.4%, OCLR -3%, AAOI -3%, LITE -1.9%
https://global.handelsblatt.com/companies-markets/report-chinese-competitor-to-join-battle-for-stada-722866Carl Ferdinand Oetker, speaking in an interview, couldn’t confirm reports that China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharma was planning to make a move on Stada, but said he wouldn’t rule out a bid by a strategic investor.If the latest reports are to be believed, then the race to acquire Stada is starting to heat up.The Chinese drugmaker Shanghai Fosun Pharma plans to enter the fray and make a bid for the Hesse-based drugmaker, sources told Reuters news agency. A bid from China would create a three-way competition for the mid-cap drugmaker, setting Stada up for a bidding war.But Stada’s supervisory board chairman, Carl Ferdinand Oetker, couldn’t confirm to Handelsblatt on Thursday that Fosun intended to make an offer, though he also wouldn’t rule out a bid by a strategic investor.“I’ve have also only read about it up until now,” Mr. Oetker told Handelsblatt. “We’ll see whether or not there will be other bidders. It can never be ruled out that a strategic investor comes at the end of such a process and makes an interesting offer. That’s also happened with finance investors.”Two sources had told Reuters that Fosun Pharma is in discussions with the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, headquartered in Luxembourg, to make a joint offer for Stada. Fosun could, however, decide to go at it alone in the end, the sources said.A spokeswoman, talking to Reuters, had said Fosun has nothing to make public at this time.
Closing Market Summary: Energy Shakes Off Crude Oil's Decline to Lead Stocks Higher on ThursdayThe bulls and the bears slugged it out on Thursday until the energy sector (+0.6%) gave the bulls a slight edge in the final stretch. The S&P 500 finished with a slim 0.1% gain while the Nasdaq and the Dow closed flat. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 underperformed, posting a loss of 0.4%.
Crude oil followed up its 5.3% Wednesday plunge with another disappointing performance on Thursday as investors continued to digest yesterday's bearish EIA reading. The energy component closed its trading day 2.1% lower at $49.24/bbl, but regained a good portion of that loss in electronic trade. The energy sector appreciated the belated effort, leading the late afternoon rally and finishing near the top of the day's leaderboard after holding the bottom spot for much of Thursday's action.
One of the reasons energy stocks rebounded so sharply in the afternoon session is that few people expected it given the continued drop in oil prices. The weakness in crude oil likely spurred some participants to short the energy stocks, so when they started to exhibit relative strength, weak-handed short sellers likely got nervous, covered their positions, and effectively aided in the sector's recovery effort.
Outside of the energy world, the European Central Bank (ECB) captured investors' attention for a while this morning with its latest policy decision to leave rates unchanged. More notably, the ECB raised its 2017 GDP forecast to 1.8% from 1.7%, but did not suggest an impending reduction to stimulus. This gave a boost to the euro, helping the currency climb 0.4% against the dollar to 1.0587.
Back in the U.S., the health care sector (+0.6%) finished with the energy group at the top of the day's leaderboard. Similarly, the financial (+0.3%), consumer staples (+0.2%), and telecom services (+0.4%) sectors also outperformed the broader market.
The financial sector held the top spot on the day's leaderboard going into afternoon action, but comments from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer were met with some backtracking in bank stocks. During today's press briefing, Mr. Spicer said that President Donald Trump remains committed to restoring the Glass-Steagall Act.
On the flip side, the lightly-weighted real estate group (-1.3%) finished at the bottom of the sector standings while the industrials (-0.5%) and materials (-0.4%) groups also finished solidly lower.
The consumer discretionary space (unch) closed just below the broader market as retailers pushed the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 41.83, -0.54) lower by 1.3%. Despite its small market cap, Tailored Brands (TLRD 15.84, -7.53), the parent company of Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, contributed to the bearish sentiment among retailers after the company missed top and bottom line estimates and issued downbeat guidance. TLRD shares sank 32.2%.
In the Treasury market, U.S. sovereign debt finished Thursday's session lower as investors eyed tomorrow's Employment Situation Report, which is regarded as the last potential barrier to a March rate hike. The benchmark 10-yr yield finished four basis points higher at 2.60%.
Today's economic data included February Export/Import Prices and Initial Claims:
- Import prices excluding oil rose 0.3% in February after ticking down 0.1% in January (revised from -0.2%). Export prices excluding agriculture increased 0.3% in February after rising 0.2% in January (revised from +0.1%).
- The key takeaway from the report is that it won't alter the market's newfound belief that the Fed is likely to raise the target range for the fed funds rate at its March meeting since there are evident signs of increasing inflation in the year-over-year readings for both import and export prices.
- The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 243,000 while the consensus expected a reading of 240,000. Today's tally was above the unrevised prior week count of 223,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 2.058 million from the revised count of 2.064 million (from 2.066 million).
- Despite the jump in initial claims, which was not influenced by any special factors, the key takeaway from the report is that there was no discernible change in the long-term trend in initial claims, which held below 300,000 for the 105th straight week.
Tomorrow's economic data will include the Employment Situation Report for February (consensus 188,000), which will be released tomorrow at 8:30 ET while the February Treasury Budget will follow at 14:00 ET.
- Nasdaq Composite +8.5% YTD
- S&P 500 +5.6% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average +5.5% YTD
- Russell 2000 +0.2% YTD
Who remembers Orange County 1994? Prepare for another bond rout.
Make no mistake. Unlike most in the markets, I remain a secular bond bull and do not think this 35 year long bull bond market is over. I believe the US Fed has created another massive credit bubble that will, when it bursts, lay the global economy very low indeed. Combine this with the problems of a Chinese economy dependent on increasingly ineffective injections of credit to produce increasingly pedestrian GDP growth and you have a right global mess. The 2007/8 Global Financial Crisis will look like a soft-landing when the Fed blows this sucker sky high. The seeds for that debacle have already been sown with the Fed having presided over one of the biggest corporate credit bubbles in US history. All that is needed now is for the Fed to sprinkle life-giving rate hikes onto these, as yet dormant, seeds of destruction. Accelerated Fed rate hikes will cause tremors in the Treasury bond markets, forcing rates up, most especially in the 2 year – just like 1994. But as yet another central bank-inspired global recession unfolds, I believe US 10y bond yields will ultimately converge with Japanese and European yields well below zero – in other words, buy 10y bonds on weakness!
Trump Committed to Restoring Glass-Steagall: Spicer
President Trump is committed to restoring Glass-Steagall protections that separate commercial and investment banking, White House spokesman Sean Spicer says.
- NOTE: Bringing back Glass-Steagall Act separation was included in 2016 GOP platform and backed by Trump
- Law was set up after the 1929 stock market crash helped trigger the Great Depression; it was repealed in 1999 under former President Bill Clinton
The Glass–Steagall legislation describes four provisions of the U.S. Banking Act of 1933 separating commercial and investment banking. The article 1933 Banking Act describes the entire law, including the legislative history of the provisions covered here.
(The common name comes from the names of the Congressional sponsors, Senator Carter Glass and Representative Henry B. Steagall. A separate 1932 law described in the article Glass–Steagall Act of 1932, had the same sponsors, and is also referred to as the Glass–Steagall Act).
The separation of commercial and investment banking prevented securities firms and investment banks from taking deposits, and commercial Federal Reserve member banks from:
- dealing in non-governmental securities for customers
- investing in non-investment grade securities for themselves
- underwriting or distributing non-governmental securities
- affiliating (or sharing employees) with companies involved in such activities
RTRS - NOVO NORDISK'S CEO SAYS ANY ACQUISITIONS LIKELY TO BE "LOW SINGLE-DIGIT BILLIONS OF DOLLARS"
--> GBT rumored yesterday low single billions working for GBT
Bernard Arnault Unveils Plans for Second Paris Cultural Venue
The luxury magnate announced the plan alongside French President François Hollande, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and architect Frank Gehry.
PARIS — Paris is gaining another major cultural institution, courtesy of Bernard Arnault.
The luxury magnate was joined on Wednesday by French President François Hollande, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and architect Frank Gehry at a press conference unveiling the creation of the venue, to be called La Maison LVMH/Arts–Talents–Patrimoine, near the Fondation Louis Vuitton.
Dedicated to artists, live performances and the applied arts, it will be located in the Bois de Boulogne in the former Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires, which has been closed since 2005.
Gehry has been charged with renovating the building, originally designed by French architect Jean Dubuisson, a student of Le Corbusier and winner of the Prix de Rome for architecture.
“Paris is about to gain a new cultural hub, and this is good news for the mayor of Paris and for France, because it considerably boosts our country’s attractiveness,” said Hollande.
“This is an extraordinary asset for our city,” echoed Hidalgo. “This building was falling into disrepair and of course, it made no sense to let that happen.” The city of Paris owns the property, but renovations had been delayed due to the complexity and high costs of the endeavor.
The building currently spans 162,000 square feet on eight levels. After its renovation, it will house a concert hall with a capacity of 2,000 to 4,000 people, as well as exhibitions of very large art works; a second room for smaller events or exhibitions; artist workshops; an academy of fine arts and craftsmanship, and a top-floor restaurant with panoramic views of Paris.
Arnault said it would provide a platform for exchanges between artists, craftspeople and the apprentices enrolled in the Institut des Métiers d’Excellence, a vocational training program the group launched in 2014 to guarantee the transmission of skills and promote careers in traditional craftsmanship among young generations.
“The idea is to create a melting pot of creativity and experience with the dual aim of benefiting those apprentices and preserving this artisanal know-how, which is a national treasure and at the root of the success of the LVMH group and its 70 brands,” said Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Declining to disclose the estimated cost of the project, Arnault said construction was scheduled to begin in September and should be completed within two years. Hollande said the state would contribute 10 million euros, or $10.5 million, toward the renovation, including the removal of asbestos.
“I just hope it will take less time than the foundation and that we will run into fewer problems,” Arnault said, noting that the Louis Vuitton Foundation took a decade to complete because of regulatory hurdles and attempts by neighborhood and conservation associations to block its construction.
Since it opened in 2014, the foundation has exceeded forecasts for visitor numbers, with a record 1.2 million people taking in a recent exhibition of 130 major works from the collection of one of the greatest art patrons of the early 2oth century, Sergei Shchukin.
Arnault’s new project comes less than a year after his arch-rival François Pinault revealed he would showcase part of his vast art collection at the Bourse de Commerce in central Paris. The 150,000-square-foot building is scheduled to open at the end of 2018.
Gehry has enlisted Thomas Dubuisson, the grandson of the original architect, to work on the renovation, which will be respectful of the initial design.
“I think the foundation building has its own character, and to use any of the ideas of that on this new building would be denigrating to both buildings, so it’s much better that it stands on its own. It has its own history, its own life, its own future — and it’s a good partner with the foundation,” he said.
“I don’t think it was appropriate to mess with it. It just wouldn’t occur to me to do that,” Gehry added.
The Paris municipal council will examine on March 27 a proposal to grant LVMH a 50-year concession for the building. LVMH will pay the city an annual fee of 150,000 euros, or $158,000, and a variable fee of between 2 percent and 10 percent of revenues.
The project must also be approved by the French Environment Ministry committee on heritage sites. Subject to these approvals, the venue is expected to open in 2020.
Arnault said it was too early to say what sort of concerts and exhibitions the institution will host, though he made a couple of intriguing suggestions.
“I was in Australia 15 days ago looking at a company that we’ve taken a stake in that makes boots crafted out of a single piece of leather,” he revealed. “So perhaps we could invite those craftspeople to France for six months to share their know-how with French craftspeople, because this is a very successful firm in Australia that we are going to try to develop a little bit everywhere.”
Arnault was referring to Adelaide-based heritage outfitter R.M. Williams, in which he owns a stake via L Catterton, the private equity firm formed from the merger of LVMH’s investment arm L Capital and Catterton.
Arnault also suggested the venue could host cutting-edge technologies, such as the connected suitcase that Louis Vuitton is working on. “We are open to everything,” he said.