33 Key Stories to Find Out What’s Happening in the Finance World Today

1. U.S. Stock Market:

“The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite struggled to remain in record territory Tuesday as investors sifted through mostly upbeat earnings reports amid a drop in oil prices and paid attention to remarks from Federal Reserve speakers. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.10% switched between slight gains and losses, and was last down 1 point at 2,398 with five of the 11 main sectors trading higher, as energy, real estate and materials stocks dragged, offsetting gains in the consumer discretionary and industrial sectors. The benchmark index set a fresh intraday record of 2,403.84 shortly after the open. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.26% rose 17 points, or 0.3%, to 6,119, off its fresh intraday record of 6,133.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.13% which also switched between small gains and losses, was last down 30 points, or 0.1%, at 20,982, a little more than 130 points below its record close set in early March.”

(Market Watch)

“The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite hit new records on Tuesday as earnings season neared its end. The Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent as Apple shares hit a new all-time high. The S&P traded flat as consumer discretionary led advancers and energy lagged. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26 points, or 0.12 percent, to 20,984, with Chevron leading decliners and Nike outperforming. The S&P 500 slipped 1 point, or 0.07 percent, to 2,397, with energy leading seven sectors lower and consumer discretionary leading advancers. The Nasdaq gained 15 points, or 0.25 percent, to trade at 6,117.”

(CNBC)

“U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday as a favorable French election outcome and a robust first-quarter earnings season improved appetite for risk. Futures snapshot at 6:49 a.m. ET: Dow e-minis were up 26 points, or 0.12 percent, with 14,411 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.5 points, or 0.06 percent, with 79,658 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 2.75 points, or 0.05 percent, on volume of 13,735 contracts.”

(Reuters)

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2. U.S. Bond Market:

“In early trading on Tuesday, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up nearly 3 basis points at 2.403 percent, just below a five-year high of 2.405 percent set earlier in the session. The 30-year bond yield was up about 2 basis points at 3.033 percent after touching its highest level since March 31, according to Reuters’ data.”

(Reuters)

“Treasury yields edged up Tuesday to hover near a six week high as geopolitical concerns that had kept a lid on yields were lifted after anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen was defeated in the French Presidential Election runoff. The Treasury yield for the 2-year note TMUBMUSD02Y, +0.31% rose 1.2 basis point to 1.347%. Bond prices move inversely to yields; one basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point. The Treasury yield for the 10-year note TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.61% gained 1.1 basis point to 2.400%, while the 30-year bond, or the long bond,TMUBMUSD30Y, +0.26% added 1 basis point to reach 3.034%.”

(Market Watch)

“For the first time since mid-March, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has climbed above 2.4%. At 9:30 a.m. the benchmark yield was at 2.403%, continuing Monday’s rise in yields that seemed mainly to be about investors recalibrating their portfolios for a Federal Reserve that is not only likely to raise rates a few more times this year, but also start shrinking its balance sheet late in the year.”

(Barron’s)

3. FX Markets:

“The dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, USDJPY, +0.79% buying ¥113.85, up from ¥113.26 late Monday in New York. Europe’s shared currency EURUSD, -0.2563% traded at $1.0888, down from $1.0924 late Monday in New York. The pound GBPUSD, -0.0695% moved lower, trading at $1.2916 from $1.2944.”

(Market Watch)

“The euro was on the retreat on Tuesday (9 May), falling below $1.09 for the first time in almost a week as the rally inspired by Emmanuel Macron’s success in the French presidential elections lost momentum. Aside from gaining against the euro, the dollar was indeed on the front foot against its main rivals, trading 0.69% and 0.59% higher against the yen and the Swiss franc respectively, at ¥114.04 and CHF1.0047. In Britain, meanwhile, the pound slid 0.10% against the dollar, trading at $1.2927, but gained 0.19% against the euro to exchange hands at €1.1866.”

(International Business Times)

4. Commodities:

“Gold futures traded lower on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and as assets perceived as risky traded mostly higher, pointing to waning appetite for the yellow metal. June gold GCM7, -0.59% fell $3.30, or 0.4%, to $1,223.90 an ounce, after settling with a tiny gain on Monday. July silver SIN7, -0.63% meanwhile, was off 6 cents, or 0.3%, at $16.195 an ounce.”

(Market Watch)

“Oil prices fell on Tuesday, surrendering earlier gains, rattled by concern over slowing demand and the rise in U.S. crude output that has shaken investors’ faith in the ability of OPEC to rebalance the market. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 39 cents at $48.95 per barrel by 1400 GMT (10 a.m. ET), off an intraday high of $49.72. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were down 32 cents at $46.11 per barrel, off the day’s high of $46.78.”

(Reuters)

“Crude oil prices were in modest decline before the start of U.S. trading. The price for Brent crude oil was down 0.3 percent about a half hour before the opening bell to $49.19 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, was down 0.28 percent to $46.30 per barrel.”

(UPI.com)

5. Market Movers:

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE:VRX) said it’s making progress selling assets and is bringing in more cash, helping cut debt and allowing it to boost its full-year forecast. The forecast increase is a welcome sign for investors amid declining sales, legal troubles and a still-high debt burden. The drugmaker’s stock gained as much as 19 percent Tuesday — the biggest intraday gain since November — and was up 12 percent to $10.91 at 10:15 a.m. in New York. The shares are still down more than 90 percent since an August 2015 peak.

(Bloomberg)

Concerns on weak car rental prices continue to hang over Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ) (HTZ-15.6%) as shares plunge to a new 52-week low. The company reported that prices in the U.S. fell 3% in Q1. Analysts say that they are feeling exposed by the lack of guidance from Hertz and uncertainty around residual values. The largest Hertz holders are Carl Icahn (35% stake), Gamco (7%), PAR Capital (7%) and Vanguard (6%) per Bloomberg data. Don’t expect that group to be totally quiet.

(Seeking Alpha)

Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) stock was down on Tuesday following news of an investment from private equity firm KKR. The investment into Pandora Media Inc from KKR will be for $150 million. As a result of this investment, Richard Sarnoff, KKR’s Head of Media & Communications Private Equity investing in the Americas, is joining P’s Board of Directors. The investment has KKR buying $150 million worth of new designated Series A convertible preferred shares from Pandora Media Inc. It includes a dividend of 7.5% in cash or 8% if paid in kind, with P getting to chose which way to pay.

(Investor Place)

Endo International plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly adjusted profit, driven by strong demand for its newly launched generic drugs, sending its shares up more than 16 percent. The strong results, particularly in the generics business, allayed investor concerns amid intense political and regulatory scrutiny into the drugmaker for suspected price collusion. Endo, along with many of its peers, is being investigated by U.S. federal regulators for price-fixing of generic drugs. The company warned in November of increasing pressure on its generics business in 2017. The unit accounted for more than half of the company’s revenue in 2016.

(Reuters)

Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares fell 10% on Tuesday after the firm psted a loss almost twixce as large as analysts expected., which last month saw its shares jump handsomely on a partnership agreement with Amazon, said on Tuesday that it lost 13 cents a share on $15.2 million revenue, while analysts had expected it to lose just 7 cents a share, and revenue of $24.9 million. The company, which last month saw its shares jump handsomely on a partnership agreement with Amazon, said on Tuesday that it lost 13 cents a share on $15.2 million revenue, while analysts had expected it to lose just 7 cents a share, and revenue of $24.9 million.

(TheStreet)

Investors and Traders continue to monitor technical levels of shares of Manitowoc Company Inc (NYSE:MTW). A frequently used tool among technical stock analysts is the moving average. Moving averages are considered to be lagging indicators that simply take the average price of a stock over a certain period of time. Moving averages can be very helpful for identifying peaks and troughs. They may also be used to assist the trader figure out proper support and resistance levels for the stock. Currently, the 200-day MA is sitting at 5.49, and the 50-day is 5.85.

(Rives Journal)

Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR) is off 6.5% after the Sohn Conference yesterday featured it as a pick, but not in a positive light. Josh Resnick of Jericho Capital made the company his short pick, foretelling a bankruptcy ahead as the company is pinched by increasing competition and the debt it took on from acquiring wireline operations from Verizon. He’s been short for years, he says — and in just over two years, the stock has gone from over $8 to $1.43 today. The company’s dealing with “monstrous” debt of about $18B, and net debt to EBITDA is headed to a multiple of six next year, from four now. Next up, he predicts: eliminating the dividend and then breaking covenants.

(Seeking Alpha)

Shares of Meet Group Inc (NASDAQ:MEET) MEET 15.85% plunged more than 12 percent on Wednesday in reaction to the company’s first quarter report and an outlook that analysts at Loop Capital Markets described as conservative. Loop Capital’s Blake Harper maintains a Buy rating on Meet Group’s stock with an unchanged $9 price target. The analyst’s bullish stance stems from the company’s release of its new in-app live-streaming video feature could prove to be a catalyst for future user growth, not to mention the potential for revenue growth.

(Benzinga)

Investors may be tracking fundamental and technical data for Nxstage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM). The company has a current Value Composite Score of 76. Using a scale from 0 to 100, a lower score would represent an undervalued company and a higher score would indicate an expensive or overvalued company.  This ranking was developed by James O’Shaughnessy using six different valuation ratios including price to book value, price to sales, EBITDA to EV, price to cash flow, price to earnings, and shareholder yield. Shifting the focus to some ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) numbers, Nxstage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM)’s ROIC is -0.02532. The ROIC 5 year average is -0.115026 and the ROIC Quality ratio is 1.773542. ROIC is a profitability ratio that measures the return that an investment generates for those providing capital.

(Providence Standard)

AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:AFSI) Shares Tumble on Earnings Miss. Shares of AmTrust Financial Services fell sharply to their lowest level in more than four years, after the company fell far short of Wall Street estimates for its first-quarter earnings.

(Fox Business)

Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE) gained 2.15% to $8.31 in the current trading session. The company’s price range for the trading day is $3.85 to $11.70. The company’s market capitalization is $42.83 billion with the total outstanding shares of 3.19 million. The stock has dropped -26.72% from its peak and the consensus price target for the stock is $10.37 a share. Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE) shares has displayed a low EPS growth of -4.90% in last 5 years. Its share price has grown -12.10% in three months and is down -6.34% for the last five trades. The average analysts gave this company a mean recommendation of 2.60.

(WallStreetNews24)

Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO) stock is experiencing unusual volume during today’s trading.  While the stock price moved along with the volume change, shares are touching $77.77.  The day’s total volume of 3843517 this morning is in contrast from the three-month daily average of 396.76K.  When we divide the current volume by the three-month average volume, we get a relative volume of 17.25. Why is this important? Trading volume is a hugely important consideration for any investor.  By watching how many shares are trading hands and looking for any changes in that activity, trading opportunities can be spotted along with a deeper understanding of the reliability of other indicators on the stock.

(The Hiram Herald)

6. Interesting Reads

“Much of the national debate over marijuana concerns keeping it out of children’s hands — and for good reason. There are many indications that weed can impair the developing adolescent brain, and some researchholds that the sooner kids start smoking, the more problems they’ll have down the line. But what does cannabis do to the elderly brain? The question is far less explored, though given the expanding access to marijuana for medical reasons and a noticeable uptick in the number of older marijuana users, scientists have begun to turn their attention toward this age group.”

(Mic.com)

“Injuries related to cotton tip applicators sent more than a quarter of a million children to emergency rooms over about two decades, according to a new study. About 34 children were treated at ERs daily for such injuries between 1990-2010, researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital found. Kris Jatana, M.D., a pediatric otolaryngologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and lead author of the study, said this is the first report that points to the national problem and it might not even show the full scope of the issue.”

(USA Today)

“An ancient species of human, that sparked global headlines when it was discovered two years ago in South Africa, is much younger than originally thought. In a series of papers published in the journal eLife on Friday, a global group of scientists say Homo naledi roamed the grassland of Southern Africa near modern-day Johannesburg between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago.”

(CNN)

“Google currently has two operating systems out in the wild, Android and Chrome. But we keep hearing that a third OS is in the making — one that might replace Android at some point in the future, and maybe even replace Chrome as well. Up until now, we only heard rumors about this third Google OS, but it looks like the first images of Fuchsia OS have leaked, showing the new user interface Google has been working on. Found by Ars Technica and compiled to run on an Android device as an application, Fuchsia OS shows what Google is looking to achieve with the new system. For starters, Google’s Fuchsia is built using Google’s own microkernel called Magenta. Google clearly wants to dump Linux, which is part of both Android and Chrome OS.”

(BGR.com)

“By the end of May, you’ll be able to get your hands on a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus in the US without dealing with a carrier or their preinstalled apps. As of today, you can preorder the two phones exclusively through Best Buy, its retail site or Samsung.com completely unlocked from US carriers. Both are expected to be in store and online on May 31 and can be used on most US and international networks. The phones, which launched in late April, cost $725 for the 5.8-inch S8 and $825 for the 6.2-inch S8 Plus. Samsung is offering financing for the unlocked devices through its site for qualified buyers, the Galaxy S8 for $30.21 per month or $34.38 per month for the S8 Plus. Trade-in programs are available as well through both Best Buy and Samsung.”

(CNET)

“Amazon may have flopped with the Fire Phone, but don’t count it out of the telephony game just yet. Alongside Amazon unveiling its newest Echo device earlier today — the Echo Show with a seven-inch video screen — the company also announced Alexa Calling, free voice calls and messaging services that you use through all Echo devices (not just the Show), as well as users of the Alexa app for smartphones. There is no specific word on when the new feature will actually launch — it’s just “coming soon” according to the Alexa Calling product page. We’ve asked Amazon for more details about this.”

(Tech Crunch)

“In today’s age of personal freedoms, it is hard to believe that there are still 8 countries where religion is illegal. In the last century, we have come a long way when it comes to personal freedoms, including freedom of religion. Throughout human history, persecution based on religious beliefs was a norm, with few exceptions. Rare were the rulers who didn’t feel the need to enforce their religion on its subject and even neighbors, guided by the Latin expression “Cuius regio, eius religio” (Whose realm, his religion). One of them was Indian King Ashoka, who permitted all religions in his realm. The other one was Genghis Khan. Surprisingly, one of the most ruthless rulers in history and creator of the second largest empire mankind has ever seen was very tolerant when it came to religion.”

(Insider Monkey)

“Which are the countries that have the most AIDS cases in the world. It is never easy to write about these things, since researching about them does not simply include basic facts, definitions, and statistics, but also coming across certain personal stories which can be quite hard to read. Similarly as people with cancer and other terminal illnesses, people with AIDS still hopefully wait for the doctors around the world to find a solution and cure for their medical condition. Until now, unfortunately, everything they tried was unsuccessful. Before I go deeper into the issue, I would just like to make sure that everyone understands the difference between HIV and AIDS, since I have noticed that somewhere they are used to describe the same condition, which is definitely not correct.”

(Insider Monkey)

“Imagine riding a motorcycle that’s almost impossible to fall off, or watching a world champion racer eat the dust of an android rider tearing up the track at 200kph. Advances in self-drive tech have so far been the domain of cars, but now their two-wheeled counterparts are coming up on the outside – and fast. Earlier this year Honda unveiled its self-stabilizing concept motorbike. It features a computer that automatically takes control when the bike drops below 3mph.”

(T3.com)

“Snapchat‘s going to infinity, and beyond. The camera now lets you send an endless loop of video, one of four new editing tools found in the messaging app. Although Snapchat used to let you replay snaps after viewing, a looping video option under the timer repeats the snap ad nauseam on the recipient’s end. The same feature also applies to photos. Limitless snaps keeps a photo on your friend’s screen until they tap it away. Then, the snap deletes as usual. Snapchatters can draw with emoji, or use a magic eraser tool that appears to work in a similar way to the clone stamp or healing brush tool in Photoshop. When scrubbing out a selection, the app replaces the blank space with background fill.”

(CNET)