33 Fresh Stories To Inform You About The Financial Markets Today

1. U.S. Stock Market:

“U.S. stocks rallied Monday, with major indexes advancing more than 1% in a broad rally after a strong showing by centrist Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election, which averted fears of a euroskeptic-only runoff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.14% jumped 222 points, or 1.1%, to 20,770, led by more than 3% gains in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM, +3.92%  and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +3.17%   The S&P 500 SPX, +1.17% added 25 points, or 1.1%, to 2,373, with nine of the index’s 11 sectors trading higher, led by a 2.3% gain in financials, it’s biggest one-day pop since March 1. The biggest laggard on the session was real estate, which lost 1.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.32% was up 71 points, or 1.2%, at 5,981, after reaching an all-time high of 5,983.43 earlier in the session.”

(Market Watch)

“U.S. stocks surged on Monday, tracking a relief rally that swept through European and Asian stock markets, after Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election. At 12:35 p.m. ET (1635 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 212.67 points, or 1.04 percent, at 20,760.43 and the S&P 500 .SPX was up 22.95 points, or 0.98 percent, at 2,371.64. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 65.98 points, or 1.12 percent, at 5,976.50, easing from an all-time high of 5,983.42.”

(Reuters)

“Investors also look ahead to tax reform news from Trump this week. U.S. stocks rose 1% on Monday, with major indexes advancing in a broad rally after a strong showing by centrist Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election, which averted fears of a euroskeptic-only runoff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 204 points, or 1%, to 20,752. The S&P 500 added 24 points to 2,373, a gain of 1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 65.5 points to 5,976, a gain of 1.1%. The Nasdaq hit an all-time high of 5,980.49 in early trading.”

(Fox Business)

Phongphan/Shutterstock.com

2. U.S. Bond Market:

“U.S. government debt prices were lower on Monday as investors digested the results from the first round of the French election. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 2.305 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.948 percent.”

(CNBC)

“The U.S. Treasuries suffered ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member Neel Kashkari’s speech, scheduled to be held later in the day. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury jumped nearly 7 basis points to 2.30 pct, the super-long 30-year bond yields climbed nearly 6 basis points to 2.95 pct while the yield on short-term 2-year note traded over 6-1/2 basis points higher at 1.25 pct.”

(EconoTimes)

3. FX Markets:

“The euro touched five-month highs Monday after the first round of the French presidential election. The euro touched five-month highs at $1.09. It was up 1.03% at $1.0838 at 03:00 ET. The euro’s strength pushed the dollar index down 0.51% to 99.15 after dipping below 99. The dollar was up 0.94% 110.13 yen ahead of BoJ policy meeting on Thursday. The pound was off 0.37% at $1.2778 as investors look to the U.K. general election on June 8.”

(Investing.com)

“Euro zone stocks headed for their best day in almost two years on Monday and the euro briefly vaulted to five-month peaks, after the market’s favoured candidate won the first round of the French election, reducing the risk of another Brexit-like shock. The euro jumped in relief, and was last up 1.3 percent at $1.0873, having been as far as $1.0940, the highest since early November just after Donald Trump’s U.S. election win. The safe-haven yen slipped across the board with the euro surging as much 2.4 percent to 119.77 yen while the U.S. dollar gained 1 percent to 110.10 yen.”

(Reuters)

4. Commodities:

“In oil markets, Brent crude traded at around $52 a barrel on Monday, up 0.1 percent, while U.S. crude was around $49.61 a barrel, near the flatline. Oil prices pared some of their losses from the previous trading week as investors anticipate OPEC to extend a pledge to cut output through to the end of 2017.”

(CNBC)

“Gold prices are solidly lower in early U.S. trading Monday, as the safe-haven asset is getting hit hard by rallying risk assets that include world stock markets and the Euro currency. June Comex gold was last down $19.10 an ounce at $1,270.00. May Comex silver was last down $0.091 at $17.765 an ounce.”

(Kitco News)

“Oil prices recovered ground on Monday with market conditions boosted by improved risk appetite, but there were further concerns surrounding the risk of fresh selling pressure on any significant rally. Crude prices came under significant selling pressure in US trading on Friday with WTI initially dipping to below the $50.00 p/b level which triggered a fresh round of sell stops and pushed prices to lows below $49.30 around the European close.”

(Economic Calendar)

5. Market Movers:

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) said April 24 that it has agreed to buy FelCor Lodging Trust Inc. (NYSE: FCH) in an all-stock transaction that values FelCor at approximately $1.2 billion. The merger is expected to create the third-largest public lodging REIT. RLJ said the transaction will create a combined company with a pro-forma market capitalization of about $4.2 billion and a total enterprise value of $7 billion. The merged company will have ownership interests in 160 hotels.

(Reit.com)

Sorrento Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRNE) CEO Henry Ji acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $2.00 per share, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 139,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,552. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

(The Markets Daily)

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) shares are displaying elevated levels of volatility in today’s session. After a recent check, shares have been spotted at $1.42 showing a change in the session of -8.39%.Based on data provided from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, DryShips Inc. has a current consensus target price of 16800.00. The current consensus analyst recommendation is sitting at 3.00 on company shares. Investors will likely be tracking any consensus estimate changes heading into the next earnings period. After a recent spot-check, DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS)’s ATR is 0.29. The Average True Range (ATR) is a measure of stock volatility.

(Aiken Advocate)

Delta Technology Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:DELT) stock price escalated 7.90% to finalize at $1.91 throughout previous buying and selling session. A total of 4.15 million shares exchanged at hands and its average trading volume is standing at 0.43 million shares. Important factors to focus when evaluating a stock’s present and future value are the 52 week price high and low levels. Shares of Delta Technology Holdings Limited (DELT) are trading -39.17% downward from the 52-week high mark and 344.19% above from the fifty two-week low mark. Taking a glance at past performance, we will examine different up or down moving trends about DELT.

(WSNews4Investors)

Currently the shares of Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) has a trading volume of 6.39 Million shares, with an average trading volume of 1460 shares – with shares dropping to a 52 week low of $1.12, and the company’s shares hitting a 52 week high of $ 23.60. Looking at the current price of the stock and the 52 week high and low, it suggests that the stock is likely to go Up in the future. Another critical number in evaluating a stock is P/E or the price to earnings ratio. The TTM operating margin is -80.4%. The return on invested capital at -8.4%, which is good, compared to its peers.

(Free Observer)

Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (NYSE:HLX) is currently trading with the volume of 4.05 Million. The Stock opened today’s session at $7.04 and currently the price is hovering at $6.32 by showing decrease of -10.93 percent. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. has 1 year price target of $11.19. The stock gained a consensus recommendation of 1.86 on Zacks Investment Research where the scale runs from 1 to 5, 1 representing Strong buy and 5 showing Strong Sell.  The company reported its last quarter on 12/31/2016.

(Top Chronicle)

Rocket Fuel Inc. (NASDAQ:FUEL) stock is experiencing unusual volume during today’s trading.  While the stock price moved along with the volume change, shares are touching $4.92.  The day’s total volume of 1560160 this morning is in contrast from the three-month daily average of 789.96K.  When we divide the current volume by the three-month average volume, we get a relative volume of 3.50. 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)

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTT) announced that a PB3 PowerBuoy was deployed off the coast of Kozu-shima Island in Japan as part of its first lease agreement with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding (“MES”). Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTT) shares ticked up 0.77% to $1.83 on Friday. The PB3 was shipped to Japan in February and arrived in Tokyo on March, 18th, 2017. Upon standard customs processing, the PB3 was transported to Kozu-shima Island where it was staged dockside, and where standard pre-deployment functional checks and preparations were carried out.

(Benchmark Monitor)

C R Bard Inc (NYSE:BCR) announced Sunday that it has agreed to be acquired by Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) for $317.00 per share in cash and stock, approximately $24 billion. C.R. Bard also reported first quarter EPS of $2.87, which surpassed the consensus estimate of $2.65. C.R. Bard has gapped open dramatically higher Monday morning and is now up 50.84 at $303.91 with volume at a 3-month high. The stock has soared to a new high for the year.

(RTT News)

On Friday, Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc (NYSE:SC) stock opened its trade at $13.04 and after floating in a range of $12.61 to $13.06, settled at $12.75. The stock lost -2.30% in total of its share price. The stock’s 52-week range is $9.48 – $15.47. Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA), parent company of Santander Bank, N.A., declared recently that its Board of Directors declared a dividend on SHUSA’s Preferred Stock. A dividend payment of $0.45625 per share is payable on May 15, 2017 to holders of record on May 1, 2017 for SHUSA’s Series C Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (NYSE:SOVPRC).

(Journal Finance)

Shares of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) opened at 22.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.81 and a 200-day moving average of $21.67. Bank of America Corp has a 12 month low of $12.05 and a 12 month high of $25.80. Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. Bank of America Corp had a net margin of 18.10% and a return on equity of 6.85%.

(The Markets Daily)

FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated (NYSE:FCH) reached 33.37% versus a 1-year low price of $5.68. The stock was last seen -0.68% lower, reaching at $7.32 on Friday, April 21, 2017. At recent session, the prices were hovering between $7.28 and $7.36. This company shares are 9.29% off its target price of $8 and the current market capitalization stands at $1.01B. The recent change has given its price a -0.51% deficit over SMA 50 and -19.16% deficit over its 52-week high. The stock witnessed -0.39% declines, -2.37% declines and 14.95% gains for the 1-month, 3-month and 6-month period, respectively. To measure price-variation, we found FCH’s volatility during a week at 1.94% and during a month it has been found around 1.77%.

(Post Analyst)

On Friday, Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) gained 0.11% to $9.01. The share price is trading in a range of $8.91 – 9.05. The stock exchanged hands with 24.61 million shares contrast to its average daily volume of 24.58 million shares. Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) have shown a low EPS growth of -22.30% in the last 5 years and has earnings growth of 106.80% yoy. Analysts have a mean recommendation of 2.60 on this stock (A rating of less than 2 means buy, “hold” within the 3 range, “sell” within the 4 range, and “strong sell” within the 5 range). The stock appeared -28.26% below its 52-week highs and is down -2.70 % for the last five trades.

(Journal Finance)

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) share price plunged -0.33% or -0.06 points to reach at $18.15 during previous trading session. The stock’s price fluctuated within the range of $17.91 – $18.35 during previous trading session. A total of 13.16M shares exchanged hands, whereas the company’s average trading volume stands at 11.88M shares. KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) has a market capitalization of $19.57B and most recently 1.08B outstanding shares have been calculated.

(Post Registrar)

Noble Corporation Ordinary Shares (UK) (NYSE:NE), a stock from Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration Industry, has a value of $5.29 per share, noted a price change of -0.38% in recent trade close. The P/S ratio is 0.56. It has a dividend yield of 1.51%. The performance for one month is at -8.79% and the performance for half year is -9.88%. The performance for recent week is -5.37% and the performance for three months is at -28.61%. The performance for Year to Date (YTD) is -10.64%. Its monthly volatility value of 4.68% and volatility for the week is valued at 4.38%.

(Street Updates)

Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGSE) provided a business update following its presentation at the 29th Annual Roth Conference on March 15, 2017. A copy of the presentation is available on the company’s website. “I feel good about the progress we are making since we presented our strategy for top line revenue growth at the Roth conference,” said Dennis Lacey, CEO of RGS Energy. “Our vision remains to grow top line revenue by growing the size of our sales organizations, and supporting them with training and cost effective marketing leads.” On 21 April 2017, Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGSE) shares moved to $1.10 after starting the day at $1.44. Analyst’s mean target price for RGSE is $79.80 while analysts mean recommendation is 3.00.

(Benchmark Monitor)

Medical products maker C.R. Bard (BCR) spiked 20% after medical supplies leader Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE:BDX) announced it would take control of Bard in a deal valued at $24 billion. Becton projected the deal would add high single-digit accretion to its earnings per share within three years of the closing. Becton Dickinson shares slumped 3% at the open, as Standard & Poor’s placed the company on credit watch negative, due to the financial impact of the acquisition.

(Investor’s Business Daily)

6. Interesting Reads

“It’s a refrain that many youngsters know by heart: Don’t drink too much soda. The popular thinking has always been that it’s not the healthiest of beverages, and a new study is lending credence to what many grew up hearing. According to research done by the Boston University School of Medicine, there appears to be a link between diet soda and an increased chance of stroke and dementia, leaving those who drink diet soda daily almost three times as likely to fall victim to one of the two maladies.”

(Sentinel & Enterprise)

Nearly 15 years after her first space launch, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson has now spent more time off-planet than any other American, at more than 534 days. Whitson, 57, is a biochemist who has twice commanded the International Space Station. “It is one of those rides that you hope never ends,” Whitson tweeted last night. “I am so grateful for all those who helped me on each of my missions!” Her current ride will last for at least another five months, due to an extension of Whitson’s mission that’s projected to leave her with more than 650 days in space, NASA says.

(NPR.org)

“It may not have a clever name, but Mercedes-Benz’s home energy storage solution looks primed to bring some competition to Tesla’s Powerwall in certain markets. After being announced in 2015, the Mercedes-Benz energy storage unit is ready for deliveries in the UK, and it should be on sale in the US some time this year, as well. Like Tesla’s Powerwall, Mercedes-Benz’s batteries can be used to provide power to supplement traditional grid use.”

(CNET)

“The Galaxy S8 is probably the best Android smartphone you can buy right now. It’s got a fantastic all-screen design and offers a variety of exciting features. Also impressive is the fact that the phone isn’t as expensive as we’d have expected it to be. Unsurprisingly, however, Samsung is already developing its next Galaxy S model. A new report from Korea makes the first mention of the Galaxy S9’s Qualcomm processor. Quoting Aju Business Daily, The Investor says that Samsung and Qualcomm has already started work on a new mobile chip for the Galaxy S9. The chip is likely to be called Snapdragon 845 and should be manufactured by Samsung or TSMC when development is complete.”

(BGR.com)

“Mums and dads, step away from your phones. It turns out that as much as parents worry about their children’s internet use, children worry about their parents’ habits. Thirty-six percent of children between 11 and 18 have asked their parents to stop checking their mobile devices, according to a survey of 2,000 students and 3,000 parents carried out by nonprofit Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, a professional association for teachers. Of those children, 46 percent said their requests were ignored and 44 percent said their parents’ internet use upset them.”

(CNET)

“With the vacation season only a couple of months ahead, you might be interested to know what are the 10 best airlines to fly international economy. As we have entered the age of shared economy, lodging has become more accessible, so has the local transportation, and the transportation probably has one of the largest shares of the overall cost of a vacation. According to Hopper, a company that operates a mobile app that provides flight booking services and suggestions when to buy plane tickets, the average plane ticket from the US to international destinations ranges between $420 (to Mexico and Central America) to $880 (to Russia). At the same time, flights to Europe have become cheaper this year (by 16% to $741) due to lower fuel prices and a decline in demand due to the turmoil in the region.”

(Insider Monkey)