Boeing reaches deal to build new Air Force One, says Trump negotiated ‘good deal’

Boeing Co. will build the “next generation” of Air Force One, a “flying White House at outstanding value to taxpayers,” the company said in a tweet Tuesday. President Trump negotiated “a good deal on behalf of the American people,” Boeing said. Shares of Boeing have rallied more than 140% since December 2016, when Trump threatened to cancel an order for new Air Force One planes saying on Twitter that costs were “out of control.” The deal this week would be for two planes at $3.9 billion, according to news reports. The original deal was for around $5 billion. Shares of Boeing have gained 105% in the past 12 months, compared with 17% for the S&P 500 index and 23% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Shares rose as much as $369.15 on Tuesday, and were on track for a record close. Boeing last month reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

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Emerging-market ETFs tumble as U.S. dollar spikes

Exchange-traded funds tracking emerging-market equities slumped on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar spiked during Federal Reserve head Jerome Powell’s first congressional testimony. The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF sank 2.1% and was on track for its biggest one-day percentage decline since Feb. 8. Separately, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF was down 2.2% while the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF lost 2.1%. All three were on track for a day of higher-than-average trading volume. The move lower coincided with an advance by the U.S. dollar index , which rose 0.6% and touched its highest level since Jan. 18 as Powell testified. The new chairman dodged the question of whether the central bank would raise interest rates more than the projected three times, however, he said his outlook for the economy had strengthened. Emerging-market stocks often have an inverse correlation with the U.S. dollar because many borrow in the greenback, and have higher costs of paying that back as it strengthens. Over the past 12 months, the Vanguard ETF is up 23.4% while the dollar index is down more than 10%. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% while the S&P 500 was off 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.6%.

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Dollar index touches 5 1/2-week high during Powell testimony

The dollar index rallied to its strongest level since Jan. 18 on Wednesday, as new Federal Reserve head Jerome Powell gave his first congressional testimony. Powell said the U.S. economy was strong with little risk of recession at the moment and modest risk in the financial sector. The new chairman dodged the question of whether the central bank would raise interest rates more than the projected three times, however saying that his outlook for the economy had strengthened. He also spoke out in favor of the effectiveness of quantitative easing in response to a question about a paper by Wall Street analysts criticizing the lose monetary policy approach. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index touched an session high of 90.50, and was last up 0.6% at 90.370, reflecting strength across the board. The buck’s major rival, the euro , slipped 0.6% to $1.2241, while the British pound bought $1.3880, down 0.6%. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose 0.6% to ¥107.53.

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Treasury yields jump after Powell highlights strengthening economic outlook

Treasury yields rose sharply during Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony after he said the economic outlook had strengthened since December. The 10-year note yield shot up 5.1 basis points to 2.910%, according to Tradeweb data. The 2-year yield climbed 4.4 basis points to 2.274%. The 30-year rate rose 2.6 basis points to 3.180%. Analysts have construed his comments as hawkish and may be be pricing in a higher chance of the central bank implementing four rate hikes from a consensus of three hikes this year.

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Apple stock trading above record high for first time since Jan. 18

Apple Inc. shares are on track for a record close Tuesday for the first time since hitting their Jan. 18 high. The stock is up 0.7% in Tuesday trading. “With Apple shares hitting all-time highs today and having a significant snap back from the dark lows we witnessed post December results/March guidance, we believe the Street is now starting to fully appreciate the massive iPhone upgrade opportunity on the horizon for FY18 with three new smart phones slated for release,” GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives wrote Tuesday. He refers to the idea that Apple will debut a large-screen OLED iPhone, an enhanced version of the iPhone X, and a more affordable version of the iPhone X during its next smartphone launch, as has been reported by Bloomberg. Amazon.com Inc. shares returned to record levels on Feb. 15, while Microsoft Corp shares did yesterday. Alphabet Inc. stock is about 4% below its record high while Facebook Inc. stock is about 5% below its high. Apple shares are up 32% over the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 23%.

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Fitbit stock on track to close at record low, but Oppenheimer analyst remains bullish

Fitbit Inc. shares are down 12% in midday trading and on track to close at a record low after the company reported weaker-than-expected results late Monday, but Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz reiterated his optimism. Though sales of the new Ionic smartwatch fell short of the company’s own expectations, Uerkwitz saw some positive signs in Fitbit’s earnings report. The company reported 9% growth in active users during the year and said that 37% of activations came from repeat customers. “With reactivations, cash being essentially flat, and recent digital health acquisitions, we remain ever the optimists,” Uerkwitz wrote. He has an outperform rating on shares and an $8 target price. Fitbit shares have fallen 14% over the last 12 months, as of Monday’s close, while the S&P 500 Index is up 17%.

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Trump plans 2020 run, names campaign manager, according to Drudge Report

President Donald Trump will name Brad Parscale, who ran digital operations for Trump’s 2016 campaign, campaign manager for his 2020 presidential run, according to the Drudge Report. The Drudge story said Trump will announce he’s running for a second term, but does not say when an announcement will come. The White House has previously said Trump will “absolutely” seek re-election in 2020.

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Splunk shares fall after announcement of Phantom Cyper Corporation acquisition

Splunk Inc. said Tuesday that it would acquire security firm Phantom Cyber Corporation for about $350 million in cash and stock. “Phantom’s employees and technology significantly expand and strengthen Splunk’s vision for the security nerve center and for business revolution through IT,” Splunk CEO Doug Merritt said in a release. Phantom specializes in Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), and Splunk says that the combination of its technology and Phantom’s will help reduce staffing and speed up incident response time. The company said the equity part of the deal will result in “less than one percent total dilution” for its shareholders. Mizuho analyst Abhey Lamba wrote Tuesday that the deal “aligns with product strategy.” Splunk shares are down 1% in Tuesday morning trading but up 50% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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Retail stocks jump after Macy’s and Dillard’s earnings announcements

Retail stocks are rallying across the sector in early Tuesday trading after Macy’s Inc. and Dillard’s Inc. reported earnings that beat expectations. Macy’s and Dillard’s are leading the charge, up nearly 12% and more than 15% respectively. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. is getting a boost as well, up 11.3%. Kohl’s Corp. is up 2.5%, and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. is up 2.7%. Nordstrom Inc. shares have also risen, up nearly 2%. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is up 12.1% for the last three months, outpacing the S&P 500 index is up 7% for the period.

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Mallinckrodt’s stock soars to pace NYSE gainers after profit and revenue beat

Shares of Mallinckrodt PLC soared 24% in early trade Tuesday, enough to make them the biggest gainer on the NYSE, after the specialty drug maker beat profit and revenue expectations. The company swung to net income of $1.61 billion, or $17.41 a share, from a loss of $153.2 million, or $1.45 a share, in the same period a year ago, helped by a $1.5 billion benefit from the recent tax legislation. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.01, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.68. Revenue fell to $792.3 million from $829.9 million, but was above the FactSet consensus of $768.4 million. Specialty generics sales fell 8.0% to $195.8 million, while specialty brands sales rose 3.5% to $582.2 million. For 2018, the company expects adjusted EPS of $6.00 to $6.50, below expectations of $7.14, but expects revenue to rise 3% to 6%, while the FactSet consensus of $3.19 billion implies a 0.9% decline. The stock, which closed at a record low earlier this month, has tumbled 63% over the past 12 months, while the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has gained 1.9% and the S&P 500 has climbed 24%.

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