Markets Snapshot: 35 Major Stories About The Financial Markets Today

1. U.S. Stock Market:

“U.S. equities held most of their gains on Wednesday as investors digested President Donald Trump’s outline for tax reform, while earnings season continued. The Dow Jones industrial average traded about 40 points higher, with United Technologies contributing the most gains. The 30-stock index was about 1 percent away from its all-time high of 21,169.11, however. The S&P 500 gained about 0.2 percent, with telecommunications leading advancers. The index, however, hovered near a record closing high.”

(CNBC)

“U.S. stocks hovered near record levels on Wednesday ahead of a highly anticipated tax plan, while a flood of quarterly earnings reports kept investors busy. At 10:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 39.58 points, or 0.19 percent, at 21,035.7. The S&P 500 .SPX was up 5.35 points, or 0.22 percent, at 2,393.96 – just seven points away from its record high. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 3.79 points, or 0.06 percent, at 6,029.28, easing from an all-time high of 6,037.21.”

(Reuters)

“U.S. stocks switched between small gains and losses in Wednesday morning trade as investors waited for an announcement from President Donald Trump’s administration’s on taxes. Slight gains, however, were enough to help the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.21% score an intraday high at 6,037.22, but it was most recently trading at break-even levels, a day after the tech-laden index surpassed the psychologically important level of 6,000 for the first time ever. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.36% was up less than a point at 2,389, but hovering near its record of 2,395.96 set March 1. Health-care and consumer-discretionary shares were leading gains, while real estate and energy shares were among the worst performers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.33% inched 24 points, or 0.1%, higher to 21,019, despite disappointing first-quarter earnings from Dow components, Procter & Gamble Co. PG, -1.87% and Boeing Co. BA, -1.38% which fell around 0.8% and 1.2% respectively after each missed on revenue forecasts.”

(Market Watch)

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2. U.S. Bond Market:

“U.S. government debt prices were slightly lower on Wednesday as investors prepared for the release of President Donald Trump‘s tax plan and eyed fresh supply. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to price, rose to 2.343 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.997 percent.”

(CNBC)

“Treasury yields showed little change as investors look ahead to President Donald Trump’s plans for a corporate tax cut which could give a further boost to stocks and other assets perceived as risky and, in turn, curtailing appetite for havens like government bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.11% edged off 0.5 basis point to 2.328%, after earlier pushing above important chart resistance at 2.32%. Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields. Yields for the 2-year note TMUBMUSD02Y, -0.33% held at 1.286%, while yields for the 30-year bond TMUBMUSD30Y, +0.03% fell a 0.5 basis point to 2.984%.”

(Market Watch)

3. FX Markets:

“The dollar gained Wednesday, reaching fresh multiweek highs against the Japanese yen, as investors awaited highly anticipated details from the administration of President Donald Trump on its plans to overhaul the U.S. tax code. Against its Japanese counterpart, one dollar USDJPY, +0.28% traded at ¥111.17, its highest since the end of March, up from ¥111.10 late Tuesday in New York. The euro EURUSD, -0.4393% fell back some 0.3% to $1.0893. The shared currency traded above $1.09 to its strongest level in 5½ months on Tuesday. In other trading, one pound GBPUSD, -0.2181% recently traded at $1.2822 compared to $1.2841 late Tuesday in New York.”

(Market Watch)

“The dollar extended gains against the yen on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed that the Trump administration’s tax plan will include a 15% corporate tax rate. USD/JPY touched highs of 111.73 immediately following the remarks, the most since March 31 and was at 111.48 by 8.53 ET, up 0.36% for the day. The euro was lower against the dollar, with EUR/USD sliding 0.42% to 1.0888 as the single currency pulled back after surging to five-and-a-half month highs on first round French presidential election results.”

(Investing.com)

4. Commodities:

“In oil markets, prices fell as the combination of increased crude supplies in the U.S. and record supplies in the rest of the world cast further doubt over OPEC‘s ability to sufficiently reduce a global overhang. Brent crude traded at around $51.60 a barrel on Wednesday, down 0.96 percent, while U.S. crude was around $49.12 a barrel, down 0.91 percent.”

(CNBC)

“Overall risk appetite has held firm which has limited demand for defensive assets and undermined gold ahead of President Trump’s announcement of his tax plans, although underlying price declines have remained limited. A firmer dollar tone and an increase in US yields undermined demand for gold with a retreat towards support in the $1,260 per ounce area as a generally robust tone in risk appetite also curbed potential defensive demand for precious metals.”

(Economic Calendar)

“Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday ahead of data that will shed light on U.S. crude inventories after an industry report indicated a surprise build in fuel stocks, underscoring the persistence of global oversupply. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, was down 50 cents to $51.60 per barrel at 1350 GMT. Brent is now around 8.5 percent below its April peak. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 40 cents at $49.16 per barrel, heading for its eighth fall in nine sessions.”

(Reuters)

5. Market Movers:

Castle Brands Inc (NYSEMKT:ROX), a producer of whiskey, vodka and other spirits, is exploring a sale and may draw interest from potential buyers including Corona-maker Constellation Brands Inc. and Sazerac Co., according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based company is working with advisers at Perella Weinberg Partners on a potential sale, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Castle Brands may also attract bigger rivals, such as Diageo Plc, the world’s largest distiller, and Pernod Ricard SA, the people said. Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc. may also consider a bid, the people said. Castle Brands had a market value of about $260 million at the close of trading on Tuesday. Castle Brands rose 11 percent to $1.77 in New York trading at 1:33 p.m. after earlier gaining as much as 19 percent, the biggest intraday jump in almost a month.

(Bloomberg)

What happened: Shares of LED lighting company Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) fell as much as 16.1% on Wednesday after reporting fiscal third-quarter earnings. As of 11:25 p.m. EDT, shares were still down 12.8% on the day. So what: Revenue for the quarter was down 7% to $342 million, and net loss was $99 million, or $1.02 per share. Even on a non-GAAP basis, net income was just $749,000, or $0.01 per share — below the $0.04 in earnings analysts expected.

(The Motley Fool)

Akebia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AKBA) shares are flying by 44% in Wednesday’s trading after the company announced an expanded partnership with Otsuka Pharmaceuticals to develop and market its anemia pill Vadadustat. The agreement will cover Europe, China and other territories- extending the original agreement signed last December which only concerned the US. The agreement sees small biotech Akebia receive $208 million from Otsuka which is split into $73 million upfront payment and $135 million in development funding. Akebia can also receive up to $657 million in future milestone payments. If the drug receives approval in these new areas, Tokyo-based Otsuka has agreed to make royalty payments to AKBA of up to 30% on net sales.

(Smarter Analyst)

Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONS) issued an update on its FY17 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.26 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.20. Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONS) opened at 6.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.44. Sonus Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $5.51 and a one year high of $10.00. The firm’s market cap is $331.69 million.

(Baseball News Source)

Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.03. The business earned $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Wyndham Worldwide had a return on equity of 71.67% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) traded up 7.93% during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,552,451 shares. The company’s 50-day moving average is $85.25 and its 200 day moving average is $77.87.

(Transcript Daily)

Investors are on alert as Conn’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN)’s stock is experiencing unusual volume during today’s trading.  While the stock price moved along with the volume change, shares are touching $16.30.  The day’s total volume of 1130491 this morning is in contrast from the three-month daily average of 584.29K. Conn’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN)‘s market cap, the total dollar value of all of their outstanding shares, is 448.59m.  Including today’s unusual volume, Conn’s, Inc.‘s stock is performing at 17.00% on the year.  For the week, the stock is performing 12.98%.  Over the past month the firm’s stock is 78.31%, 33.94% for the last quarter, 50.71% for the past six-months and 4.89% for the last year.

(The Hiram Herald)

Following a strong holiday season, iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) continued to see gains in revenue and net income in the first quarter. For the three months ended April 1, revenue was $168.5 million, compared with $130.8 million for the first quarter of 2016. First quarter revenue included $3 million from its defense and security business divested at the beginning of the second quarter of 2016. Net income for the first quarter of 2017 was $16.4 million, compared with net income of $3.9 million for the first quarter of 2016. Quarterly earnings per share were $0.58, compared with earnings per share of $0.13 in the first quarter of 2016.

(Home World Business)

Shares of Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX) are moving on volatility today 3.89% or $0.53 from the open. The NASDAQ listed company saw a recent bid of 14.15 and 173872 shares have traded hands in the session. Now let’s take a look at how the fundamentals are stacking up for Energizer Resources Inc (ENZR). Fundamental analysis takes into consideration market, industry and stock conditions to help determine if the shares are correctly valued. Energizer Resources Inc currently has a yearly EPS of -0.01. 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.

(Morgan Leader)

Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA) shares are moving today on volatility -4.93% or $-2.67 from the open. The NASDAQ listed company saw a recent bid of 51.46 and 944656 shares have traded hands in the session. Now let’s take a look at how the fundamentals are stacking up for Acacia Communications Inc (ACIA). Fundamental analysis takes into consideration market, industry and stock conditions to help determine if the shares are correctly valued. Acacia Communications Inc currently has a yearly EPS of 3.22. 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.

(Trion Journal)

BofI Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOFI) shares are displaying elevated levels of volatility in today’s session. After a recent check, shares have been spotted at $25.04 showing a change in the session of -4.97%.Based on data provided from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, BofI Holding, Inc. has a current consensus target price of 34.64. The current consensus analyst recommendation is sitting at 1.40 on company shares. Investors will likely be tracking any consensus estimate changes heading into the next earnings period. After a recent spot-check, BofI Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOFI)’s ATR is 0.99. The Average True Range (ATR) is a measure of stock volatility. The Average True Range is an exponential moving average (14-days) of the True Range. The range of a day’s trading is high-low, and True Range expands into yesterday’s close when it lands outside of today’s range.

(Aiken Advocate)

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) reported net income of 641 million euros ($698 million) for the first quarter, up 34% from a year ago, on good results in Europe and improvements in product mix around the world. FCA’s profit before interest and taxes (excluding special items) rose 11% to 1.54 billion euros ($1.67 billion), ahead of the 1.44 billion-euro average estimate among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. FCA’s shares jumped over 4% in early trading after the news was released.

(The Motley Fool)

Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) TWTR, +10.98% would be making close to $25 million on his investment in Twitter Wednesday, after the company’s first-quarter earnings beat, based on FactSet data. Shares of Twitter were soaring 10.4% Wednesday morning. Dorsey is the seventh largest holder of stock in the company and also has options to buy 2 million additional shares at $3.115 that he has not exercised. Twitter Co-Founder Ev Williams, who recently announced plans to sell 30% of his stock in Twitter over the next year, is the second largest holder and would be making $67 million on his investment.

(Market Watch)

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) stock took a dive on Wednesday following the release of its earnings report for its fiscal third quarter of 2017. Revenue reported by Seagate Technology PLC in its fiscal third quarter of 2017 was $2.67 billion. This is up from its revenue of $2.60 billion that was reported during its fiscal third quarter of 2016. However, it came in below analyst’ revenue estimate of $2.71 billion for the quarter. During its fiscal third quarter of 2017, Seagate Technology PLC reported earnings per share of $1.10. This is an increase over its earnings per share of 22 cents reported during the same time last year. It also came in above Wall Street’s earnings per share estimate of $1.07 for its fiscal third quarter of the year.

(Investorplace.com)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The network equipment provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Juniper Networks’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Juniper Networks updated its Q2 guidance to $0.51-0.57 EPS. Shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) traded up 3.96% during trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.88. The company had a trading volume of 7,198,545 shares.

(Transcript Daily)

On Tuesday, Oclaro, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCLR) stock opened its trade at $8.93 and after floating in a range of $8.78 to $9.10, settled at $9.04. The stock gained 1.46% in total of its share price. The stock’s 52-week range is $4.25 – $11.30. OCLR stock’s price is now –20.00% down from its 52-week high and +112.71% up from its 52-week low. Taking a look into the performance of OCLR stock, investor will come to know that the weekly performance for this stock is valued at 4.27%, resulting in a performance for the month at -10.58%. Therefore, the stated figure displays a quarterly performance of -9.51% and year to date performance of 1.01%.

(Journal Finance)

DDR Corp (NYSE:DDR) traded at a yearly high level of $19.92 during the last trading session. The last session’s volume of 9.56 million shares was higher than its average volume of 4.42 million shares. The stock, after opening at $12.22, closed at $12.39 by scoring 1.47%. The total market capitalization remained at $4.54 billion. DDR Corp (NYSE:DDR) have shown a high EPS growth of 7.80% in the last 5 years and has earnings growth of 214.50% yoy. Analysts have a mean recommendation of 2.90 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 -37.80% below its 52-week highs and is down -3.58% for the last five trades.

(WallStreetNews24)

6. Interesting Reads

“Since plastic was invented, figuring out how to get rid of the stuff quickly without further harming the environment has been a puzzle. This week researchers found one unlikely but possible solution: caterpillars. Specifically a type of caterpillar called a Galleria mellonella or “wax worm” which has been found to be able to breakdown common plastic material, according to a study published yesterday in the Current Biology journal. The “wax worms” turn into greater wax moth or honeycomb moth, which often eat honeycombs by breaking down the wax structure.”

(ABC News)

“VANCOUVER — A 2-year-old child in rural Liberia has a fever. It could be malaria, and the only way to get treatment is for her mother to carry her on her back, cross a riverbed by canoe and walk through a forest for at least two days to get to the nearest health care clinic. This was the type of devastating circumstance Dr. Raj Panjabi encountered when he returned to his childhood home of Liberia as a medical student almost 15 years ago. In the country that his family fled when he was just a boy to escape a civil war, Panjabi saw that people were dying from diseases that modern medicine can treat. But in a country of 4 million, there were only 50 doctors, and in the most remote areas of the country access to them was almost nonexistent.”

(The Washington Post)

“AT&T made waves today when it announced plans to launch a “5G Evolution” network in over 20 cities by the end of this year. According to the press release, customers with a Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be able to take advantage of a “5G Evolution” connection at “twice the speeds of [AT&T’s] 4G LTE network.” And yes, what AT&T is referring to as “5G Evolution” may be faster than its current 4G networks, but calling it 5G is a meaningless marketing move designed to confuse customers and make AT&T seem like it has a technological leg up on the cutting edge of wireless technology. It is, plainly speaking, bullshit.”

(The Verge)

“If you’re interested in Nursing, or already specializing in the field, take a look at 10 Most Profitable Business Ideas for Nurses to learn how you can expand your skills and knowledge. I’m a journalist and don’t have much of a science or math sided brain, therefore, majoring in anything in the medical field while in college was out of the question for me. I do have a number of relatives and friends, however, who are in the medical field and specifically in nursing. I have nothing but respect for them after hearing many stories of what they have to endure on a day-to-day basis. It seems to me the job can eventually wear even the strongest minds down after many long hours, overnight and holiday shifts, and a fair share of unruly patients.”

(Insider Monkey)

“A report by a leading research body monitoring the Arctic has found that previous projections of global sea level rise for the end of the century could be too low, thanks in part to the pace of ice loss of Arctic glaciers and the vast ice sheet of Greenland. It’s just the latest in a string of cases in which scientists have published numbers that suggest a grimmer picture than the one presented in 2013 by an influential United Nations body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”

(The Washington Post)

“Dual-cameras are quickly becoming a regular feature on smartphones. Last fall, Apple released the iPhone 7 Plus which notably had not one but two rear cameras. Other phone makers like LG, Huawei, Asus and ZTE also have phones with dual-cameras, and this makes me wonder: Will phone makers stop at two? Just the 2 of us: I rolled my eyes when I first heard about a phone with dual-cameras. It seemed like a gimmick in the same way multi-blade safety razors are: First there was a dual-blade cartridge, then a triple-blade one and then a quad. The company Dorco has a razor called the Pace 6 Plus which has… yes, six blades.”

(CNET)

“Whether you decided to become a professional animator, or need basic animation skills for your business or just for fun, here is the list of 6 easiest free animation software for beginners. But what is animation at the first place? Simply put, computer animation is the process of making moving images through some software. There are 2D and 3D graphic animations. 2D graphics animations are generated with frame-by-frame technique, using separate images and layers. For 3D animation, models are first made, which are then animated through the art of stop motion.”

(Insider Monkey)

“Cloud sharing giant Dropbox announced this week it will shutter document collaboration service Hackpad, which it acquired way back in 2014, next month. Unlike the usual (and inevitable) demise of a promising software startup following a corporate acquisition — ahem Microsoft; on at least two occasions — Dropbox deserves credit for letting Hackpad live on. Not only did it open source the service in 2015, allowing its community to build on top of it, but Hackpad (and its team) is the driving force behind the recently launched Dropbox Paper app.”

(Tech Crunch)

“Living in the middle of nowhere can be tough, but what’s not tough is finding a way to earn some extra money with our list of 10 Most Successful Home Businesses In Rural Areas. I grew up in a semi-rural area of North Carolina, where everyone has a bunch of land and our neighbor had a pasture of cows. It is a nice break from the fast pace of New York City though. On an average day, there are no sirens, honking horns, or loud trains passing by. You are also afforded the ability to take in the fresh air and roam around your yard barefoot. I categorize my hometown as “semi-rural” because we really don’t live that far from any convenient stores like Target, or a major shopping center. It’s no metropolitan area, but we at least don’t have to drive an hour just to get shopping done.”

(Insider Monkey)