>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: FUL -6.9%, WOR -3.6%, ACN -2%

Select fan favorites trading lower with weakness in US futures: FB -1.1%, AMZN -0.9%, AAPL -0.9%, TSLA -0.9%, TWTR -0.9%, NFLX -0.8%

Select financial related names showing weakness: HSBC -1.7%, GS -1.1%, C -1%, ING -0.9%, BAC -0.9%, JPM -0.7%, DB -0.7%

Select metals/mining stocks trading lower: MT -2.1%, VALE -2%, FCX -1.2%, BHP -1.2%, X -0.5%

Select oil/gas related names showing early weakness: PKD -4.1%, PBR -3.2%, BHI -1.4%, BP -1.2%, RDS.A -0.5%

Other news: WGBS -7.7% (co filed amended S-1 containing info on previously announced $34.5 mln mixed securities offering), VNDA -3.2% (announces that a Fanapt patent is now listed in the FDA's Orange Book), JOY -2.2% (in sympathy with CAT), ALV -2.1% (still checking), BABA -1.3% (cont weakness), DORM -1.1% (appoints Mathias Barton as CEO, succeeding Steven Berman, who will assumed the role of Executive Chairman), SBRA -1.1% (reports an update on the tenant of the Forest Park Medical Center-Frisco hospital), DE -1% (in sympathy with CAT)

Analyst comments: CAT -3.1% (initiated with a Sell at Axiom Capital; tgt $28
)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance: SCS +4.9%

Other news: ARWR +36.6% (reports peak reduction in HBsAg of up to 99% after a single dose with Hepatitis B candidate ARC-520), CNAT +23.9% (announces top-line results from multicenter Phase 2 Portal Hypertension clinical trial in patients with liver cirrhosis), KERX +17.1% (announces the European Commission has approved Fexeric), PHMD +16% (still checking), XCO+9% (to hold a special meeting of shareholder on November 16; among proposals, shareholders will vote to authorize the Board to commence a reverse split), AMRS +8.3% (Total S.A. (TOT) discloses a 41.4% stake, raised from August 6's stake of 33.98%), ACI +8.3% (announces additional extension of private debt exchange offers and support agreement), SNCR +4.9% (reiterated that it has a multi-year contract in place with Verizon Wireless (VZ), focused primarily on the company's Personal Cloud offering and related services; no change in the agreement between Synchronoss and Verizon), MPLX +4.9% (co's Pipe Line unit amended its existing Patoka, Illinois tank farm Storage Services Agreement with Marathon Petroleum (MPC) to increase the shell capacity), ABGB +4.3% (to convene Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting to approve a capital increase of at least EUR 650 mln; Chairman Felipe Benjumea steps down), ALIM +3.5% (announces ILUVIEN Study Results), BSQR +1.0% (entered into a two-year, $12 million credit agreement)

Analyst comments: N/
A

(SG) A.Edwards Has Buzz Lightyear joined the Fed? “To minus infinity and bey

Has Buzz Lightyear joined the Fed? “To minus infinity and beyond”!

A week ahead of the Fed’s last meeting I enjoyed afternoon tea with my fellow strategist Bob Janjuah of Nomura (aka Bob the Bear). When we occasionally meet up, we lie back and look up for a bit of clear blue sky thinking – okay, I know it’s London and the sky is usually overcast, but that sort of fits in with our bear view of the world! Among other things we wondered why no-one else entertains the possibility that rates might bottom at minus 5% Fed Funds in the coming downturn.

The next US recession will probably arrive a lot sooner than most investors expect and will likely see more desperate monetary experimentation from the Fed. Bob and I thought that this time we would see deeply negative interest rates in the US (and Europe). Sweden has led the way, dipping their toe below the water line with their current -0.35% policy rates but there will be more, much more along these lines. For if -0.35% is possible, why not - 3.5% or less? It goes without saying that deeply negative interest rates would be accompanied by a massively expanded QE4 in the US. The last seven years of exploding central bank balance sheets will seem like Bundesbank monetary austerity compared to what is to come.

FT : Magners’ maker C&C held talks with Carlsberg to buy UK division


The Irish maker of Magners cider has held talks with Carlsberg, the world’s fourth-largest brewer by volume, about a deal to acquire its UK business as recently as last month.
The discussions between C&C Group and Carlsberg took place over the summer, with advisers working with both companies, according to people familiar with the matter. However, the talks stopped towards the end of August and it is unclear whether they will be restarted, these people said.

C&C has been searching for deals that will help it expand outside its main markets of Ireland and Scotland, which account for more than 80 per cent of its profits, according to analysts. The company was rebuffed last year by tavern-chain operator Spirit Pub, which eventually agreed to be acquired by its larger rival Greene King in a £774m deal.
Carlsberg has a 14 per cent market share in the UK and operates its own distribution network for a portfolio brands, including the fast-growing cider Somersby. But the company has had a torrid time in Russia, where its big bet to become the country’s largest brewer with 40 per cent of the market, turned sour after a rise in taxation and a weaker economy due to falling oil prices and the fallout from Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
This has put pressure on the company’s finances and Cees ’t Hart, the former head of a Dutch dairy company who took over at Carlsberg in June, said last month that the brewer had a “heightened sense of urgency” over cutting costs.
The resignation in June of Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, who had led the business for seven years, and his replacement by Mr ’t Hart is thought to have been a factor in the discussions being put on hold.
The talks come against the backdrop of further consolidation in the brewing sector. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, is exploring a takeover of the industry number two SABMiller, in a deal that would create a company responsible for one in three beers produced globally.
Despite its troubles, Carlsberg shares have risen 6.5 per cent since the start of the year, outpacing both AB InBev and SABMiller, giving the company a market value of DKr78.7bn ($11.8bn). C&C shares have fallen 3.5 per cent, giving it a market capitalisation of €1.19bn
After several years of exceptionally strong growth in the cider sector, boosted by fruit-flavoured variants, sales have ground to a halt. Cider sales in supermarkets fell 0.6 per cent in the year to the end of March 2015, according to Kantar Worldpanel. But total UK cider sales amount to £735m, up strongly compared with £279m in 2007.
C&C and Carlsberg declined to comment.