37 Fresh Stories Summarizing What’s Going On in the Finance World Today

1. U.S. Stock Market:

“U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday, as investors digested a wave of mostly upbeat corporate results, a day after the White House released an outline of President Trump’s eagerly awaited tax plan. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.08% was up 3 points, or 0.1%, to 2,390, with seven of the 11 main sectors trading higher. However, a sharp drop in oil prices weighed on energy shares, limiting gains for the index. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.25% set an intraday high in early trade, after gaining 22 points, or 0.4%, to 6,041.6.”

(Market Watch)

“U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range Thursday, within striking distance of all-time highs, ahead of major tech company earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 struggled to hold opening gains, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed about a third of a percent to a fresh intraday record in early trade.”

(CNBC)

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2. U.S. Bond Market:

“U.S. government debt prices were higher on Thursday morning as investors eyed several pieces of data. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was lower at around 2.3071 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also lower at 2.9634 percent. Yields move inversely to prices. On the data front on Thursday, initial jobless claims, durable goods and advance economic indicators are set to come out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Pending home sales and housing vacancies are due at 10:00 a.m.”

(CNBC)

“The U.S. Treasuries gained ahead of the country’s Q1 gross domestic product (GDP), scheduled to be released on April 28. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell nearly 1 basis points to 2.30 pct, the super-long 30-year bond yields slumped 1 basis point to 2.96 pct while the yield on short-term 2-year note also traded close to 1 basis point higher at 1.27 pct.”

(EconoTimes)

3. FX Markets:

“On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 111.40 yen compared to the 111.06 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0918 compared to yesterday’s $1.0904.”

(RTT News)

“The euro retraced gains on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said there isn’t enough evidence to change the ECB’s inflation outlook. EUR/USD was down 0.22% to 1.0880 by 09.22 ET, after rising as high as 1.0933 earlier. The euro pared back gains against the yen, with EUR/JPY last at 121.06, off an earlier high of 121.89. The single currency fell to the day’s lows against sterling, with EUR/GBP falling 0.65% to 0.8433.”

(Investing.com)

“The pound’s gains against the dollar and the euro also weighed on the FTSE. Sterling rose 0.38% to US$1.2897 and 0.42% to €1.1832.”

(Proactive Investors)

4. Commodities:

“U.S. crude oil prices fell below $49 a barrel on Thursday amid deteriorating gasoline prices and a higher dollar in the wake of European Central Bank’s latest interest rate decision. Benchmark Brent and U.S. crude futures both fell about 2 percent in early morning trade, extending losses to fall below their 50-day moving averages. Both contracts have fallen in six of the last eight sessions, with only moderate gains on positive days. “

(CNBC)

“While the European Central Bank is committed to its bond-purchase program at least to the end of the year, the euro and in turn gold prices saw a brief spike Thursday as the central bank appears to be more optimistic about the economy. Gold saw some modest renewed buying interest after the euro spiked higher, but the momentum didn’t last with June Comex gold futures last trading at $1,265.20 an ounce, relatively unchanged on the day and near a two-week low. EUR/USD has not been able to hold onto its gains, with prices falling back to session lows. The currency pair last traded at $1.088, down 0.2% on the day.”

(Kitco News)

“Silver closed at $17.49 yesterday after $17.63 at New York’s close Tuesday. Silver is falling much faster than gold. As the silver price primarily reflects the U.S. silver market their price is certainly pointing downwards. If gold does not follow you can be sure that there will be a strong bounce soon. But of gold does break down, the silver price may well not fall as far.”

(Gold Seek)

5. Market Movers:

Shares of American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) dropped more than 8 percent on Thursday after the company said it had offered a mid-contract pay increase for pilots and flight attendants. American said that the move, which overshadowed the carrier’s solid quarterly earnings, will increase its salary and benefits expense by approximately $230 million for 2017 and $350 million for 2018 and 2019. Flight attendants and pilots at American ratified new five-year agreements in late 2014 and early 2015. Under the new proposal, announced on Wednesday, they will now receive on average 5 percent to 8 percent increases in hourly pay, respectively, in an adjustment to match rival carriers.

(Reuters)

Although Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA) posted its first-ever loss Thursday, it was not nearly as bad as some had feared, sending shares up more than 10 percent at one point. Here’s what the company reported vs. what the Street was expecting: EPS: A loss of 1 cent vs. estimated loss of 4 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue: $1.12 billion vs. $1.11 billion, analysts said. Under Armour said it swung to a net loss of $2.3 million, or a penny per share, for the first quarter, from a profit of $19.2 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. It said sales climbed nearly 7 percent to $1.12 billion from $1.05 billion a year earlier, boosted by increases in wholesale and direct-to-consumer revenues.

(CNBC)

Nokia Oyj (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) NOK 5.12% shares are trading higher by $0.27 (4.9 percent) at $5.63 in Thursday’s session. Investors seem to be satisfied with its Q1 report that revealed Q1 EPS of €0.03 that was flat year-over-year, and adjusted sales €5.4B vs. €5.6B last year. Nokia’s higher opening tick of $5.70 stands as the high for the session. The retreat from that high has found support ahead of the top of Wednesday’s range ($5.44) at $5.59.

(Benzinga)

Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) PYPL, +7.59% stock topped record highs in after-hours trading Wednesday after the online-payments company beat earnings expectations and announced a $5 billion stock-repurchase plan. The company reported first-quarter net income of $384 million, or 32 cents a share, on revenue of $2.98 billion. After adjustments for stock-based compensation and other factors, PayPal claimed adjusted profit of 44 cents a share. Analysts on average expected PayPal to report adjusted earnings of 41 cents a share on revenue of $2.94 billion, according to FactSet.

(Market Watch)

Online food delivery company GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB) reported a 78 percent rise in quarterly profit as its efforts to attract new diners paid off. Net income attributable to stockholders rose to $17.7 million, or 20 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $9.9 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier. The company forecast revenue of $153 million-$161 million for the current quarter. Analysts were expecting revenue of $158 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. GrubHub’s shares rose 11.6 percent to $39.1 in premarket trading on Thursday.

(Reuters)

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 22,693 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 671% compared to the typical volume of 2,944 call options. In other news, EVP Arthur R. Block sold 7,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.47, for a total value of $264,275.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,360,160.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

(Transcript Daily)

EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) is off to an incredibly strong start to the trading session today, and for good reason. The company reported earnings for the first quarter, beating expectations and exciting investors. As a result, the stock went on a path toward the sky, prompting our partners at Trade Ideas to alert us to the gains. At the moment (10:27), EXAS is trading at $29.04 per share after a gain of $5.25 per share or 22.04% thus far today.

(CNA Finance)

Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNCR) shares are plunging more than 45 percent following the multiple negative news affecting the stock. The company issued preliminary results, which is as good as a warning that it would below their guided range, and the exit of CEO and CFO. As if that is not enough, shares are also downgraded by different brokerages. Synchronoss Technologies released its preliminary results indicating that its revenue would be $13 – $14 million lower than its previous outlook of $173 – $178 million. Similarly, its operating margins are predicted to be 8 – 10 percent that is lower than the previously revealed forecast.

(Stock Market Daily)

In Technology sector, shares of Medical Transcription Billing Corp (NASDAQ:MTBC) were valued at $1.22 and moved 179.18% as of a recent closing trade. A total volume of 7.35 million shares were traded versus to average volume of 0.14 million shares. Medical Transcription Billing, Corp. (MTBC) shares have been seen trading -8.27% off its 52 week- peak value and changed 320.69% from its 52 week-bottom price value. The “percentage off the 52-week high or low” refers to when a stock current price is relative to where it has traded over the last 52 weeks. This gives investors an idea of how much the security has moved in the last year and whether it is trading near the top, middle or bottom of the range.

(WallStreetMorning)

Shares of Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) are making a strong comeback as they have jumped 48.3% since bottoming out at $41.53 on Apr. 28, 2016. Thanks to a rise of almost 5.75% in the past five days, the stock price is now down -0.06% so far on the year — still in weak territory. In this case, shares are down -3.07% from $62.24 , the 52-week high touched on Dec. 28, 2016, and are keeping their losses at 31.18% for the past 12 months.

(USA Commerce Daily)

What happened: Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) are getting battered today in response to a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss, announced after the market closed yesterday. Shares of the genetic analysis technology company have fallen 22.5% as of 11:26 a.m. EDT during Thursday’s session. So what: Wall Street was expecting Pacific Biosciences to report a net loss in line with the first quarter of last year, or $0.23 per share. Instead, the company reported a loss of $0.26 per share, inciting today’s market beatdown.

(The Motley Fool)

What happened: Shares of semiconductor substrate manufacturer AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) jumped on Thursday after the company reported positive first-quarter results. AXT beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings, producing double-digit year-over-year revenue growth. At 12:19 p.m. EDT, the stock was up about 10.1%. So what: AXT reported first-quarter revenue of $20.6 million, up 10.2% year over year and about $2 million higher than the average analyst estimate. Little information was given on what drove the increase, but CEO Morris Young stated that it was a “busy and productive quarter,” with “encouraging progress in the adoption of several emerging technologies.”

(Madison.com)

China Commercial Credit Inc (NASDAQ:CCCR) stock price ended its day with loss -9.34% and finalized at the price of $1.65. During its last trading session, Stock traded with the total exchanged volume of 0.93 million shares. The average volume stands around 0.29 million shares. The average numbers of shares are traded in a security per day, during the recent 3-month period. The stock has relative volume of 3.39. Relative volume is ratio between current volume and 3-month average value, intraday adjusted. China Commercial Credit, Inc. (CCCR) is a part of Financial sector and belongs to Credit Services industry.

(Hot Stocks Point)

Ultra Clean Holdings (NASDAQ:UCTT) traded up 11.54% during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,306,111 shares. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $642.07 million, a PE ratio of 65.10 and a beta of 1.26. Ultra Clean Holdings has a 52 week low of $5.01 and a 52 week high of $20.14.

(The Markets Daily)

Seaspan Co. (NYSE:SSW) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. The business earned $201.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.09 million. Seaspan had a negative net margin of 7.28% and a positive return on equity of 10.38%. Seaspan’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Seaspan (NYSE:SSW) traded up 9.30% during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.17. 1,571,028 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged.

(Transcript Daily)

Shares of Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:OPTT) is moving on volatility today -29.21% or $-0.59 rom the open. The NASDAQ listed company saw a recent bid of 1.43 on 7164385 volume. Now let’s take a look at how the fundamentals are stacking up for Ocean Power Technologies Inc (OPTT). Fundamental analysis takes into consideration market, industry and stock conditions to help determine if the shares are correctly valued. Ocean Power Technologies Inc currently has a yearly EPS of -1.10. This number is derived from the total net income divided by shares outstanding. In other words, EPS reveals how profitable a company is on a share owner basis.

(Concord Register)

The stock of CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) is a huge mover today! About 2.89M shares traded or 305.90% up from the average. CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) has declined 14.30% since September 20, 2016 and is downtrending. It has underperformed by 25.87% the S&P500.The move comes after 5 months negative chart setup for the $189.34 million company. It was reported on Apr, 27 by Barchart.com. We have $6.47 PT which if reached, will make NYSE:CRR worth $15.15 million less.

(WhatsOnThorold)

6. Interesting Reads

“The Google Pixel and its predecessor, the Nexus 6P, are two of the best mobile cameras we have today, owing to Google’s algorithmic wizardry behind the scenes. I’ve been endlessly impressed with the low-light performance of the Pixel since its release, but it turns out there’s still a vast amount of untapped potential just waiting to be unlocked. Florian Kainz, a software engineer at Google Daydream who previously worked at Industrial Light & Magic for many years, has posted some experimentation he has done with the 6P and Pixel cameras, focusing on nighttime photography.”

(The Verge)

“Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are attracted to pregnant women twice as much as they are to non-pregnant women. Mosquitoes may be less attracted to people with different types of bacteria on their skin. People who like to drink are more attractive to mosquitoes than those who are sober. Getting sweaty will increase the likelihood you are bit by a mosquito due to the lactic acid buildup. Mosquitoes are attracted to people with type O blood.”

(Sioux City Journal)

“A newfound alien world is quite Earth-like in some ways, but you wouldn’t want to live there. The exoplanet, known as OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, is about as massive as Earth and orbits its star at about the same distance Earth circles the sun. But OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb’s parent star is tiny and dim, meaning the alien planet is likely far too cold to host life, its discoverers said. OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is not in Earth’s neck of the cosmic woods; the alien world lies nearly 13,000 light-years away. The astronomers spotted it using a technique called gravitational microlensing, which involves watching what happens when a massive body passes in front of a star.”

(Space.com)

“If you really want a nice challenge, you should take a look at these hardest words to spell for 6th graders. I won my school’s spelling bee in seventh grade, so I know a thing or two about how to spell some words. My winning word was “caffeine,” which is something I am highly familiar with, so it’s funny that they didn’t even throw a challenge at me. I honestly didn’t even know the spelling bee was happening or to prepare for it, so I just kind of got up there and somehow did better than everyone else. I ended up having to go to the district spelling bee, where I didn’t win, but it was fine because the whole process was annoying and lame anyway.”

(Insider Monkey)

“Years ago, if someone told you that they were buying a camera for their bedroom, you’d imagine they were planning something naughty. But times have changed, and Amazon believes that you’ll spend $200 on a camera that’s both an extension of your smart home and the ultimate fashion accessory. The Echo Look is designed to help you look your best every morning, guiding and improving your style every time it’s used. But what it represents, and what Amazon gets out of it, could be a much bigger deal for the future of fashion.”

(Engadget.com)

“Facebook Lite is beginning to look more and more like its big brother. The social networking giant today introduced new features from the original Facebook app to Facebook Lite, according to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. These include India-specific camera effects and the Reactions feature. The plans were originally announced at A Place to Connect, an event Facebook held yesterday. India is one of Facebook’s biggest markets, but much of the country still has to make do with slower network connections. In order to bring a faster and more reliable experience to users in India and other countries with slower mobile networks, Facebook launched a Lite version of its original app in 2015.”

(CNET.com)

“Are you tired of working for someone else and ready to start a business? Then read our list of 7 easy low cost franchise opportunities under $10,000. Are you fed up with working for a company that doesn’t put a value on your abilities and doesn’t appreciate you for who you are? Many of us are. That’s why the majority of people dream of having their own businesses that will allow them to take control and improve their lives significantly. The main question is how and where to find the right opportunity for you and your idea. What business should I start? Where to find the money to sponsor the investment? What franchises should I consider? How can I be certain that the business will be a success? -You can’t. But what you can do is prepare for every possible obstacle that you will come across while establishing your position in the business world.”

(Insider Monkey)

“Mobile applications saw a record number of downloads and revenue in the first quarter of the year, according to a new report from app store analytics firm App Annie out this morning. Across both iOS and Android, downloads grew by 15 percent year-over-year to reach nearly 25 billion worldwide – a figure that includes only new downloads, and not re-installs or downloads from prior quarters.”

(Tech Crunch)

“Nintendo’s back in the game. The Nintendo Switch posted impressive out-of-the-gate sales, and could potentially outsell the life-to-date numbers of its predecessor within its first year. The Kyoto-based game giant, in announcing its Fiscal 2016 earnings, said the Switch has sold 2.74 million hardware units worldwide since its launch. That’s 20 percent of the lifetime sales of the Wii U. Put another way: Nintendo Switch, in one month, sold more hardware than the Wii U did in its first year.”

(CNBC)

“If Apple is forced to delay the launch of the next-generation of the iPhone, what is it going to do in September? While it could skip the traditional annual get-together, or announce the presumptively titled iPhone 8 and hope that ‘coming soon’ will be enough to keep eager buyers engaged, I think that it has a second option. One that is being developed in full view of the geekerati while we focus on the high-end game-changing tenth-anniversary smartphone. The iPhone 7S is going to be Apple’s safety net.”

(Forbes)