What Is Happening In Financial Markets Today?

1. US Stock Market:

“U.S. equities advanced slightly on Monday amid geopolitical tensions while investors looked ahead to the start of earnings season. The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 50 points, with Caterpillar contributing the most gains. Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, said trading volumes may be low this week given the Easter holiday on Sunday. “Low volumes tend to skew market moves,” she said. But “I think it would be healthy for the market to finish flat this week given the events in Syria.” The S&P 500 traded 0.3 percent, with energy rising more than 1 percent to lead advancers. Energy stocks received a boost from oil, which rose 1.61 percent to settle at $53.08 per barrel after Libya’s largest oilfield was shut down.”

(CNBC)

“Wall Street stock indexes firmed on Monday as rising oil futures boosted the energy sector and investors placed bets ahead of the U.S. quarterly corporate earnings season. The S&P’s energy sector .SPNY was its biggest driver with a 1.1 percent gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 45.01 points, or 0.22 percent, to 20,701.11, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 6.27 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,361.81 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 13.66 points, or 0.23 percent, to 5,891.47.”

(Reuters)

“U.S. stocks opened marginally higher on Monday as the U.S. redirected an aircraft carrier and several warships toward the Korean peninsula. The S&P 500 indexSPX, +0.31% gained 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,357, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.36% climbed 19 points, or 0.1%, to 20,681. The Nasdaq Composite Index DJIA, +0.36% advanced 9 points, or 0.2%, to 5,887. Among individual market movers, Swift Transportation Co. SWFT, +23.13% rose on reports the trucking company is planning a merger worth $6 billion with Knight Transportation Inc. KNX, +13.46% Okta Inc. OKTA, -2.34% rose after the company’s stock soared in its trading debut Friday.”

(Market Watch)

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2. US Bond Market:

“U.S. government debt prices were lower on Monday as comments over the weekend from U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to retreat from expectations of a campaign to remove Syrian president Bashar Assad. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 2.38 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 3.002 percent. Monday will see Treasury auctions of $72 billion 13-week and 26-week bills, and $24 billion 3-year notes.”

(CNBC)

“The U.S. Treasuries traded flat Monday as investors wait to watch the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech scheduled to be held later in the day. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury traded flat at 2.37 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields stood steady at 2.99 percent while the yield on short-term 2-year note flat at to 1.28 percent.”

(EconoTimes)

3. FX Markets:

“The dollar strengthened on Monday, benefiting from a rush to safety as investors worried about a tightening presidential race in France and simmering geopolitical tensions between the U.S., Syria and North Korea. The greenback EURUSD, -0.0094% traded at its strongest level against the euro in more than a month, with one euro buying $1.0578, compared with $1.0591 late Friday in New York, leaving the buck on track to rise against its European rival for a third straight day. The ICE U.S. Dollar index DXY, -0.01% a measure of the buck’s strength against a basket of rivals, traded up 0.1% at 101.2700. One dollarUSDJPY, +0.16% traded for ¥111.35, compared with ¥111.10 late Friday. One pound GBPUSD, +0.1615% traded at $1.2401, compared with $1.2373 late Friday.”

(Market Watch)

“The dollar is up 0.3 percent against the yen, which was one of the safe-haven assets sought on Friday after the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airbase. The euro is down 0.1 percent at $1.0582 but sterling is up 0.3 percent at $1.2387. Syria and the news a U.S. Navy strike force has been sent close to the Korean peninsula kept limited dollar gains.”

(Thomson Reuters Foundation News)

4. Commodities:

“Oil prices are up. Brent crude is up 24 cents at $55.48 a barrel, though a 12th weekly rise in U.S. drilling activity is capping gains. Gold, another safe haven in favour after the missiles strike, pulled back from a five-month high even on Friday but is marginally higher on the day at $1,254 an ounce.”

(Thomson Reuters Foundation News)

“Spot Gold is trading within narrow range on Monday, supported by 10SMA at $1251, but with limited upside action, holding below strong 200SMA barrier at $1257. Last Friday’s spike to fresh five-month high at $1270 was short-lived, as subsequent pullback brought the price back to $1250 zone, where it found footstep.”

(FX Street)

5. Market Movers:

Shares of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) jumped more than 9.5 percent on Monday after activist investor Jana Partners took a 9 percent stake in the company, a source told CNBC. The news Jana’s position was first reported by Dow Jones. Jana, now the second-largest shareholder of the grocery chain, wants to speed up a turnaround for the company and consider a possible sale. The activist investor has also lined up a slate of potential members to join Whole Food’s board.

(CNBC)

When it rains, it pours for OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OMED). The biotech was down 35% at 1:57 p.m. EDT after announcing a double dose of bad news. So what: The biotech’s phase 2 trial, called YOSEMITE, tested its drug candidate demcizumab in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. It failed to show that demcizumab added to Abraxane and gemcitabine worked better than just the combination of Abraxane and gemcitabine.

(The Motley Fool)

Session activity on Globalstar, Inc. (NYSEMKT:GSAT) shares bumps the stock on today’s most active list. After a recent spot-check, the stock has touched $1.65 which represents a change from the open of -8.33%. Company shares have been seen trading -45.00% off of the 52 week high and 161.90% away from the 52 week low. Narrowing in, the stock is at a distance of -5.71% from the 50 day high and 24.06% off of the 50 day low.Covering sell-side analysts have recently weighed in on shares of Globalstar, Inc. (:GSAT). At the time of writing, the First Call consensus price target for the company is $2.50. The current consensus recommendation provided by covering analysts is 2.00. This recommendation lands on a scale between 1 and 5. Analysts giving shares a rating of 1 or 2 would be indicating a Buy. A rating of 4 or 5 would represent a Sell recommendation. Analysts pegging the company with a rating of 3 would be indicating a Hold recommendation.

(The Hiram Herald)

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF) has been having a set of eventful trading activity and it is clear from an examination of the charts that traders are now fully aware of the company’s key metrics. A deeper exploration of the setup is sure to yield a clearer picture of why CLF is trending in the way it is presently – let’s move right into that. As we move into the full deep dive of the technical chart, it’s quite important to point out that few traders succeed if they ignore the messages presented under technical analysis. CLF’s present state of movement can best be assessed by looking at its current day’s high $8.39 and the corresponding low of $8.06. It is important to note that the current day’s high figures poorly when compared to the trailing 52-week high of $12.37 achieved by CLF on 02/13/17.

(NY Stock News)

The stock of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) hit a new 52-week high and has $116.80 target or 5.00% above today’s $111.24 share price. The 5 months bullish chart indicates low risk for the $277.62B company. The 1-year high was reported on Apr, 10 by Barchart.com. If the $116.80 price target is reached, the company will be worth $13.88B more. About 9.65M shares traded or 12.60% up from the average. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) has risen 11.88% since September 1, 2016 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 3.37% the S&P500.

(Huron Report)

Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE:AVP) is another stock that is grabbing investors attention these days. Its shares have trimmed -38.07% since hitting a peak level of $6.96 on Oct. 25, 2016. Thanks to an increase of almost 1.89% in the past one month, the stock price is now with underperforming -14.48% so far on the year — still in weak zone. In this case, shares are 22.44% higher from $3.52, the worst price in 52 weeks suffered on Jun. 27, 2016, but are collecting gains at -29.58% for the past six months.

(USA Commerce Daily)

The stock of Momo Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:MOMO) hit a new 52-week high and has $40.55 target or 7.00% above today’s $37.90 share price. The 6 months bullish chart indicates low risk for the $7.45B company. The 1-year high was reported on Apr, 10 by Barchart.com. If the $40.55 price target is reached, the company will be worth $521.50M more. About 7.37 million shares traded or 19.64% up from the average. Momo Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:MOMO) has risen 45.54% since September 1, 2016 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 37.03% the S&P500.

(Norman Observer)

Shares in Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) inclined 3.95%, trading current session at $9.48 with a total trading volume of 3.22 million shares. The stock has lost -2.04% in the past month, -28.02% in the previous three months, and -24.13% on an YTD basis. The Company’s shares are trading -7.15% below their 50-day moving average and -1.36% below their 200-day moving average. Moreover, Shares of WLL has an RSI of 49.52. Its sales stood at -7.10% a year on average in the period of last five years. For the same period, its EPS moved at an average growth rate of -26.80%. The company maintains price to book ratio of 0.53.

(WallStreetNews24)

Session activity on SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) stock is placing it on today’s most active list. After a recent spot-check, the stock has touched $6.80 which represents a change from the open of 11.29%. Company shares have been seen trading -69.57% off of the 52 week high and 16.44% away from the 52 week low. Narrowing in, the stock is at a distance of -26.01% from the 50 day high and 16.44% off of the 50 day low.Covering sell-side analysts have recently weighed in on shares of SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR). At the time of writing, the First Call consensus price target for the company is $8.89. The current consensus recommendation provided by covering analysts is 2.80.

(Hiram Herald)

Traders and investors tracking shares of Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYNE) may be examining the company’s FCF or Free Cash Flow. FCF is a measure of a company’s financial health. FCF is calculated by subtracting capital expenditures from operating cash flow. Currently, Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYNE) has an FCF score of . The FCF score is an indicator that is calculated by combining free cash flow stability with free cash flow growth. Typically, a higher FCF score value would indicate high free cash flow growth. The company currently has an FCF quality score of -1.699826. The free quality score helps estimate free cash flow stability.

(The Standard)

National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE:NFG) (NFG -8.5%) plunges after New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation rejected its proposed Northern Access Pipeline between Pennsylvania to western New York. The DEC determined the 97-mile gas supply pipeline posed too big a threat to water quality and wildlife and denied NFG the water quality certificate required to construct the pipeline. CEO Ronald Tanski defends NFG’s “great record with respect to our construction practices” and says the “most troubling aspect of this decision is that the NYS DEC waited literally until the 11th hour to issue this denial,” despite 34 months of discussions and engineering and environmental studies at the agency’s request.

(Seeking Alpha)

Shares of Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) have been moving lower in early trading. At the time of writing, the stock had slid down -6.48% since the open. This downward move has put the stock in the top loser category moving into the second half of the trading period.Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is seeing declines so far in today’s trading session.  Shares are moving -6.48% lower on solid volume. The stock has landed on the top loser list for the day according to Finviz data. Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc.(NYSE:SNOW)‘s stock has performed at 41.74% year to date.  Breaking that down further, it has performed 1.16% for the week, 12.90% for the month, 41.18% over the last quarter, 55.60% for the past half-year and 198.00% for this last year.

(Aiken Advocate)

Shares of Axovant Sciences Ltd (NYSE:AXON) have surged 26% after the biotech hired a new star CEO in the form of Dr. David Hung, M.D., who became the head of the company effective April 7. In his prior job, Dr. Hung was the former founder and CEO of Medivation, which sold to Pfizer for around $14 billion in September of last year. In addition to Dr. Hung, Marion McCourt, the former COO of Medivation, will join as President and Chief Operating Officer. Many traders no doubt hope that Dr. Hung can replicate what he did with Medivation again. Former Axovant CEO Vivek Ramaswamy said, ‘I can think of no one better suited to serve at the helm of Axovant than David Hung.

(Insider Monkey)

Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE:LCI) shares have spiked over 10% on Monday after peer generic drug company Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRX) confirmed that it is currently in discussions with a subsidiary of German healthcare giant Fresenius SE about a potential acquisition of Akorn. In terms of potential take-over price, various Wall Street analysts have different estimates. Randall Stanicky of RBC Capital thinks Akorn shares are relatively fully priced, while Chris Cooper of Jefferies thinks a take-over price of $36-$40 for Akron is reasonable given previous comps. Traders have bid Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE:LCI) higher due to relative valuation as well as improved sentiment.

(Insider Monkey)

Straight Path Communications Inc (NYSEMKT:STRP) was up more than 150% after the company said it has agreed to be acquired by AT&T (T) for $95.63 per share, a 162% premium to Friday’s closing price, in an all-stock merger. The owner of 39 GHz and 28 GHz wireless spectrum licenses said the deal has been approved by the two companies’ boards and marks the conclusion of Straight Path’s review of strategic alternatives. Straight Path shareholders will receive $1.25 billion in AT&T stock and the total value of the deal, including liabilities and amounts to be remitted to the Federal Communications Commission, is $1.6 billion.

(Nasdaq.com)

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTX) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) for a pilot clinical trial to evaluate Cytori Cell Therapy™ in patients with thermal burn injury. Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTX) shares slumped -4.86% to $1.37 on Friday. This trial, named the RELIEF trial, is a continuation of Cytori’s ongoing research and development efforts under its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

(Benchmark Monitor)

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) gained as much as 21% in pre-market trading today after the clinical-stage biotech announced that a second internal review of imetelstat’s ongoing clinical trials for two blood-based malignancies — lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and relapsed or refractory myelofibrosis (MF) — warrants further investigation for both indications.

(The Motley Fool)

News headlines about Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRX) have trended somewhat positive on Monday, Alpha One reports. Alpha One, a subsidiary of Accern, ranks the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than twenty million news and blog sources in real time. Alpha One ranks coverage of companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Akorn earned a news impact score of 0.04 on Alpha One’s scale. Alpha One also assigned news stories about the company an impact score of 75 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is likely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the next several days.

(The Markets Daily)

TherapeuticsMD Inc (NYSEMKT:TXMD) traded at a yearly high level of $9.29 during the last trading session. The last session’s volume of 2.82 million shares was lower than its average volume of 2.83 million shares. The stock, after opening at $8.17, closed at $7.70 by scoring -4.82%. The total market capitalization remained at $1.45 billion. TherapeuticsMD, Inc. (NYSE MKT: TXMD), an innovative women’s healthcare company, recently declared that data on TX-001HR, an investigational bio-identical hormone therapy combination of 17ß-estradiol and progesterone in a single, oral softgel, for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) because of menopause, was presented at ENDO 2017, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Orlando, Florida, April 1-4.

(WallStreetNews24)

Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) share price soared 4.97% or 0.56 points to reach at $11.83 during previous trading session. The stock’s price fluctuated within the range of $11.03 – $12.06 during previous trading session. A total of 9.15M shares exchanged hands, whereas the company’s average trading volume stands at 9.41M shares. Endo International plc (NASDAQ:ENDP) has a market capitalization of $2.64B and most recently 222.96M outstanding shares have been calculated.

(Post Registrar)

eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) is in the spotlight today due to the e-commerce giant agreeing to invest half a billion dollars in cash and exchanging its eBay.in business for an equity stake in Flipkart. In addition, the two e-commerce companies have agreed to jointly pursue cross-border trade opportunities to make eBay’s global inventory accessible to more India consumers, and vice versa with eBay doing the same for Flipkart globally. CEO Devin Wenig said, ‘The combination of eBay’s position as a leading global eCommerce company and Flipkart’s market stature will allow us to accelerate and maximize the opportunity for both companies in India.

(Insider Monkey)

Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is trending after the bank’s board of directors disclosed the findings of the company’s independent investigation into its retail banking sales practices and related matters (Here’s the link to the full 110 report). Wells Fargo’s reputation previously took at hit due to an unauthorized account opening/cross selling scandal, which led to the number of retail accounts opening at the bank to drop sharply. To correct the actions, the bank separated the roles of Chairman and CEO, and clawed back $69 million in compensation from previous CEO John Stumpf and $67 million from executive Carrie Tolstedt. Bulls hope that the claw-backs will help prevent similar types of behavior going forward.

(Insider Monkey)

Traders are keeping a close eye on Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX) after the trucker agreed to merge with Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT) in an all-stock transaction. According to the deal terms, which is expected to close in the third quarter, each Swift share will convert into 0.72 shares of Knight-Swift while each share of Knight Transportation will be exchanged for one Knight-Swift share. Upon deal close, Swift shareholders will own around 54% of the new company while Knight investors will own the rest. According to management, the M&A deal is expected to unlock pre-tax revenue and cost synergies of around $15 million in the second half of 2017, $100 million in 2018 and $150 million in 2019, respectively.

(Insider Monkey)

Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT) shares have blasted higher in the pre-market after it and fellow trucking company, Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX), agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction. According to the deal terms, which have been unanimously approved by each company’s board, each Swift share will convert into 0.72 shares of Knight-Swift while each share of Knight Transportation will be exchanged for one Knight-Swift share. Based on the $30.65 closing price of Knight shares on April 7, 2017, the implied value per share of Swift is $22.07. Upon deal close, Swift shareholders will own around 54% of the new company while Knight shareholders will own the rest. The deal is expected to unlock pre-tax revenue and cost synergies of around $15 million in the second half of 2017, $100 million in 2018 and $150 million in 2019, respectively.

(Insider Monkey)

6. Interesting Reads

“Apple has purportedly pushed back the iPhone 8 release date, after reportedly facing delays with the new flagship smartphone. Fortunately, there is some good news. According to the latest reports, when it does arrive on UK shelves, the iPhone 8 might be cheaper than previously thought. There were a number of reports that suggested the Apple iPhone 8 would cost upwards of $1,000, roughly £800. That would comfortably make it the most expensive iPhone to date.”

(Express.co.uk)

“The next time the cops chase you down for speeding, they could be driving a fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrid. Ford Motor Co., which sells more police vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker, says it will offer a police pursuit version of the hybrid Fusion midsize sedan, in response to requests from cities nationwide. The new car, with its 2-Liter four-cylinder engine and 1.4 kilowatt lithium-ion battery, is expected to get 38 miles per gallon of gas in combined city-highway driving. That’s 20 mpg more than Ford’s current police car, the Taurus police interceptor.”

(Time.com)

“Imagine a fleet of drones, each the size of your palm blooming from a package dropped from an airplane. That’s what’s possible with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s CICADA, a drone not much longer or wider than a pen can do, and hopefully will make a reality via upcoming swarming testing. The CICADA, or Close-In Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft, have pressure, temperature and humidity sensors on board, and consist basically of a circuit board with tiny wings and autopilot controls built-in. It weighs only 65 grams, and drops at around 1,000 feet per minute according to the official specs.”

(Tech Crunch)

“The most profitable Adsense niches will explain a lot about how bloggers and website publishers make a profit for their content. If you’re an avid blog reader or you frequent a lot of news sites, you’ll often find that you’re bombarded with ads or sponsored links all over each page. These ads aren’t random and they’re often either chosen specifically for that site or aggregated based on your search history. Your computer knows all. If you’re like me, however, you have an AdBlocker on and you haven’t seen a full page of ads since maybe 2011 and you prefer it that way.”

(Insider Monkey)

“The most recent results from NASA’s MAVEN Mars orbiter is a case study in why global magnetic fields are crucial to preserving planetary atmospheres and protecting such life-giving environments from the ravages of their parent stars’particle outflows. Like raging Piranha, solar wind particles — composed mostly of protons and electrons — apparently can and do strip many rocky planets of most of their atmospheres.”

(Forbes)

“Walmart has issued a recall on a packaged salad after Florida customers found a decomposing bat inside the box. The two customers ate some of the Organic Marketside Spring Mix salad before the bat was found, officials said. They have been tested for rabies. The company said customers who may have already purchased the pre-packaged greens, which are sold mainly in southern states, should discard it. Walmart also said customers can request a full refund for the product.”

(BBC News)