>>> Bitcoin Bloodbath As Mexican Peso Surges After Central Bank Intervention

Bitcoin Bloodbath As Mexican Peso Surges After Central Bank Intervention

Following yesterday's 'panic' among mexican officials that Trump has considerably more leverage than the elites believed, the peso is soaring suddenly this morning as Banxico intervention took place. At the same time, following comments from official reserachers in China on capital controls and crackdown on 'virtual' outflows, Bitcoin is getting hammered - biggest drop in 2 years.
Initially it was speculation but now Bloomberg confirms a comment from the central bank:
  • *BANXICO IS INTERVENING IN THE MARKET, CENTRAL BANK GARCIA SAYS

Something just snapped...

This is the biggest drop in Bitcoin in 2 years and biggest rise in the peso since 11/15.

    >>> Macy's: Color on guidance cut (35.84)

    -->M down 10% at 5 month low just above the 32 level premarket.
    Macy's: Color on guidance cut
    • Deutsche Bank downgrades to Hold
    • TAG lowers tgt to $38 from $42. While all of these incremental initiatives are encouraging, comparable store sales are now expected to decline for the third year in a row, as the co is now planning 2017 to be relatively consistent with the November/December trend. Collectively, they believe these factors create low visibility on the trajectory of earnings, especially given the uncertainty around the timing and ultimate impact of real estate activities.
    • RBC Capital Mkts lowers their M tgt to $35 from $43. M's holiday update is particularly disappointing, as easier Q4 compares with opportunity to return to topline momentum and significant margin recapture were the reason to own the department store group, despite the secular bear case. Although M's ongoing real estate and cost rationalization initiatives provide some downside support, they are now more concerned about its core business (FY17 guidance suggest no improvement).
    • Stifel believes that the pattern of strong sales during highly promotional holiday periods (Thanksgiving week and Christmas week) offset by weakness during the interim period was particularly strong this year, as customers shopped smart, which contributed to margin pressure. Also pressuring results are the trends that they have been observing for the past year, including a shift in spending away from apparel due to priorities changing and demographics shifting as well as the cannibalization of e-commerce; $39 tgt.
    • Goldman tgt to $39 from $44
    • Jefferies tgt to $35 from $40
      • Dept store peers: KSS -15% (also warned), JWN -7%, DDS -4%, JCP -1.5%

    >>> US Early premarket gappers

    Early premarket gappers

    Gapping up: SYN +31.5%, CTIC +27.7%, GNCA +21.1%, ARNA +7.3%, ALXN +4.6%, RT +3.7%, AUY +3.3%, AG +3%, SGYP+2.1%, NVDA +2.1%, GDX +1.9%, NEM +1.8%, ABX +1.8%, GG +1.7%, YNDX +1.5%, SDRL +1.4%, AZN +1.2%, RIG +1.1%,HAL +1.1%, COST +1.1%, NVS +1%, ACHC +0.9%, NVO +0.9%, GLD +0.9%, AR +0.7%, AMD +0.6%

    Gapping down: AEZS -34.2%, KSS -15.4%, HRTX -11.6%, M -10.3%, MG -8.8%, HLX -7.6%, KNOP -6.8%, LB -6.4%, JWN-5.7%, JCP -5.5%, CATO -5.4%, OREX -5.3%, MC -4%, DDS -3.9%, SHLD -3.4%, LOXO -3.2%, PUK -2.5%, RIO -2.3%, KRC-2.2%, UAL -1.9%, FOSL -1.8%, CS -1.8%, BKE -1.7%, SONC -1.5%, MYL -1.3%, X -1.3%, HPP -1%, SYT -1%, BHP -0.6%, ABT -0.5%

    >>> Monsanto beats by $0.22, beats on revs; reaffirms guidance FY17 EPS in-line;

    --> +0.45% Pre Open 15k shares traded
    Monsanto beats by $0.22, beats on revs; reaffirms guidance FY17 EPS in-line; MON is being acquired by Bayer
    • Reports Q1 (Nov) earnings of $0.21 per share, driven by strength in the company's South American business, $0.22 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.01); revenues rose 19.4% year/year to $2.65 bln vs the $2.3 bln Capital IQ Consensus
      • Co reaffirms guidance for FY17 (Aug), sees EPS of 4.50-4.90 vs. $4.72 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate
    • Net sales for the Seeds and Genomics segment in the first three months of fiscal 2017 were $1.8 billion. This included a greater than 25 percent increase in planted corn acres in Argentina and more than a 10% increase in corn acres planted in Brazil accompanied by double-digit price increases in corn germplasm in local currency in both countries
    • In the U.S., demand for year-one hybrids remains strong and the early read on the order book supports the company's intention to grow genetic share. The company continues to build on the momentum of Intacta RR2 PRO soybeans in South America as it remains on track to reach a target of 45 to 55 million acres in fiscal year 2017
    • In the U.S., demand for Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans remains strong and the company is well-supplied for more than 15 million acres of the product. With the EPA approval for in-crop use of dicamba in-hand, the company has received nearly two-thirds of the necessary state approvals for both soybeans and cotton, and expects to have the rest before planting
    • The company has provided extensive, ongoing customer training and expects customers will have an outstanding experience with the Roundup Ready Xtend crop system. Cotton had a strong start in the first quarter with increased acres in Australia

    FT : UK services sector defies fears of Brexit slowdown

    UK services sector defies fears of Brexit slowdown
    PMI report shows fastest growth since July 2015 but input costs rising

    Britain’s dominant service sector grew at the fastest rate in nearly a year and a half, according to the Iatest survey of purchasing managers published on Thursday.

    The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index for services rose for the third month in a row to 56.2 in December from 55.2 in November. This is the fastest expansion since July 2015.
    Employment in the sector increased at the same pace in November, the highest rate of growth in seven months. Confidence in the economic outlook for the next 12 months also improved among the purchasing managers surveyed.
    “A buoyant service sector adds to signs that the UK economy continues to defy widely-held expectations of a Brexit-driven slowdown,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.
    The services PMI follows surveys of manufacturing and construction earlier this week which found those sectors were also growing rapidly.
    The ‘all sector’ PMI rose to 56.4 in December from 55.1 in November, its highest level in over a year.
    All three surveys found input prices for businesses were rising rapidly — Thursday’s services report showed input inflation at its highest level for more than five years.
    Respondents to the three surveys have listed a cheaper pound as well as higher commodity prices as reasons for the inflation. Purchasing managers working in the services sector also mentioned higher labour costs.

    REcode.net : Amazon is opening a bookstore in the middle of Manhattan

    Amazon is opening a bookstore in the middle of Manhattan
    The brick-and-mortar shop will be located inside The Shops at Columbus Circle.

    Amazon’s push into physical retail is hitting New York City this year.

    The mammoth online retailer is opening a brick-and-mortar bookstore inside Manhattan’s Time Warner Center at some point in 2017, a spokesperson said. The store will join retailers such as J. Crew, Diesel and Microsoft inside the Shops at Columbus Circle, an indoor mall that also features high-end restaurants. Defunct bookstore chain Borders once operated a location in the same mall.

    The Amazon shop is among the company’s first handful of physical bookstores and its only one to date in New York. Amazon opened its first “Amazon Books” location in late 2015 in Seattle and has since opened two more on the West Coast. Amazon also plans to open bookstores in Chicago and the Boston area this year.

    Amazon’s existing bookstores feature a curated selection of Amazon best-sellers and books that, for the most part, have customer ratings of at least four out of five stars. Perhaps more importantly, the bookstores also showcase Amazon’s gadgets, giving shoppers the chance to try out devices such as the popular Echo voice-controlled speakers before buying them.

    To some bookstore owners and the people who love them, the Amazon initiative must seem like some cruel joke — Amazon, the bookstore slayer transformed into Amazon, the bookstore owner.

    But Amazon’s appetite for retail experimentation extends beyond Amazon Books shops. Amazon recently unveiled a Seattle convenience store, called Amazon Go, with no checkout and no cashiers. The company is only planning at least one grocery store.

    The new retail projects are being overseen by Steve Kessel, a longtime Amazonian who led the first Kindle team and is tight with CEO Jeff Bezos. The head of Amazon Books, Jennifer Cast, reports to Kessel.

    The Wall Street Journal first reported the news of Amazon’s New York bookstore plans.

    (MS) CGG Veritas - 1st Take: Trading Update a Modest Negative

    CGG Veritas - 1st Take: Trading Update a Modest Negative

    We see CGG's trading update as a modest negative. The company highlighted that it 'intends to commence discussions'
    with its stakeholders to restructure, but we would have expected these talks to have begun already after the
    comments in November.

    Restructuring discussions about to commence: CGG said that it intends to start discussions with all of its stakeholders to restructure. The company said in November that it would address its capital structure in January 2017, thus we
    would have expected discussions to have started already. See our 4Q results note Further Changes to Capital Structure Signaled. Stay UW for more details.

    Net debt in line and covenant waiver: End-2016 net debt of $2.3bn is broadly in line with consensus at $2.2bn for year end and is in line with guidance of net debt <$2.4bn. CGG has been given a covenant waiver relating to its leverage ratio and coverage ratio.

    Multi-client sales light: Muti-client sales of $135m are below MSe of $153m for 4Q, due to lower late sales. Pre-funding in 4Q was in line with guidance of >80% for the full year.

    Stay Underweight: We stay Underweight CGG, and would highlight that it is highly financially geared, with equity making up only 12% of the enterprise value. Thus, there is a large range of future outcomes for the stock price.

    TechCrunch : Uber drivers deemed to be employees by Swiss insurance provider

    Uber has suffered another setback to its operational model in Europe after a Swiss insurance agency ruled that Uber drivers are employees, not freelance contractors as the company claims — meaning it must pay social security contributions.

    This follows a similar ruling by a UK employment tribunal in October which found that the two Uber drivers bringing the claim were employees, not contractors.

    Swiss broadcaster SRF says the Suva agency made its decision on the status of Uber drivers in the market on account of their inability to set price or payment type, and because they are threatened with consequences from Uber if they do not fulfill its requirements.

    The Suva described its decision on the classification as a “clear conclusion”. The public sector insurer is involved in determining whether workers are freelance or not as a provider of compulsory on-the-job accident insurance which is required for certain high risk professions.

    At the time of writing Uber had not responded to a request for comment but the company’s general manager in the market, Rasoul Jalali, told SRF it intends to appeal. “In Switzerland, courts still have to decide the ultimate verdict,” he said.

    Uber’s appeal process might be superseded by the country’s Federal Council which, according to the SRF, is due to submit a report on digital services soon that’s set to make it clear whether new rules will be created for technology service providers.

    Uber is also appealing the UK tribunal ruling — despite the latter dubbing its characterization of the relationship between it and its drivers as “a pure fiction”. That ruling sets a precedent for other Uber drivers in the UK to bring employment classification challenges against the ride-hailing platform giant.

    As well as various challenges at the national level, Uber is also defending its business model in front of Europe’s top court, the ECJ, which is also set to rule this year on whether the tech giant is a transportation service or a digital platform. The case was referred to the court after a legal challenge in Spain.

    Any ruling by the ECJ which deems Uber a transportation provider would have huge ramifications for its business across the region as it would be required to comply with national regulations of the 28 EU Member States.