Category: Stock Market News

Gold futures finished higher Wednesday, then wavered above and below their settlement in electronic trade after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but said a rate hike was likely in the near future. Ahead of the Fed news, gold for December delivery settled at $1,331.40 an ounce Wednesday, up $13.20, or 1%, from Tuesday. It traded at $1,331.90 in electronic trading shortly after the Fed announcement.

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U.S. stocks extended modest gains after the Federal Reserve left key interest rates unchanged and said a rate hike was likely in the near future. The S&P 500 was up 7 points, or 0.3%, to 2,147, with nearly all main sectors trading higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 54 points, or 0.3%, to 18,177. The Nasdaq Composite was up 13 points, or 0.3%, to 5,254.

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Hillary Clinton has a nine-point lead over Donald Trump in the battleground state of New Hampshire, according to a poll released Wednesday. Monmouth University’s poll of likely voters found 47% backing Clinton and 38% supporting Trump. The poll was taken Sept. 17 to 20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9%.

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Shares of Netflix Inc. fell more than 5% midday on Wednesday. A report from data research and analytic firm M Science suggests the streaming giant’s third quarter subscriber growth has been negatively affected by churn, or subscribers canceling their subscriptions, due to price increases and the ungrandfathering of accounts, according to Seeking Alpha. M Sciences expects Netflix to miss third-quarter U.S. subscriber growth estimates when it reports results Oct. 17. The FactSet consensus on subscriber additions is 310,000. Shares of Netflix are down more than 18% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 5% in the year.

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Skechers USA Inc. shares are down 8.6% in Wednesday trading after a Morgan Stanley downgrade to equal-weight from overweight. The bank cut the footwear company’s price target to $25 from $41. Analyst Jay Sole believes consumers are shifting their preferred athletic footwear style to “pure fashion items,” which is making Skechers adjust its merchandise and causing a delay in orders. The result is “slower-than-expected sales growth and SG&A deleverage,” the Morgan Stanley note said. Skechers is also investing in its global infrastructure at a cost that’s higher than Morgan Stanley previously thought. And Sole believes lower-priced inventory and new fashions from brands like Adidas AG are taking share. Taken together, these factors could push a stock to an under-weight rating, Sole says. “However, Skechers has orchestrated many turnarounds and adapted to many shifts in the past and we see no reason it can’t happen again,” he wrote. Skechers shares are down 54.8% for the past year while the S&P 500 Index is up 9.2% for the same period.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged hedge-fund manager Leon Cooperman with insider trading, over his purchase of Atlas Pipeline Partners securities. According to the SEC, Cooperman gained access to nonpublic information from an executive and learned about the sale of a natural gas process facility in Elk City, Oklahoma. When the sale was announced, the stock jumped by 31%, the SEC said, benefiting Omega Advisors. After getting subpoenaed, Cooperman tried to fabricate a story, the SEC added. Atlas Pipeline Partners was subsequently purchased by Targa Resources Partners.

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Shares of Conn’s Inc. rocketed 18% in active morning trade Wednesday, fueled by an upgrade at Stifel Nicolaus, to extend a stunning two-week surge since the durable goods retailer reported fiscal second-quarter results after the Sept. 8 close. On Wednesday, Stifel analyst John Baugh raised his rating to buy from hold and set his stock price at $16, which is 36% above current levels. He said the company’s announcement earlier this month, that it would increase the overall yield of its loan portfolio by 6 to 9 percentage points, could boost earnings per share by more than $2 a share by 2020. “While there may be some offsets of the yield benefit from the changes contemplated in the loan structure…, the potential benefits far exceed the negatives,” Baugh wrote in a note to clients. The stock has now run up 80% since Sept. 8. Prior to the rally, the stock had plunged 77% in the past 12 months, compared with a 14% jump in the S&P over the same time, amid a string of disappointing quarterly results and concerns over the quality of the loans it provides its customers so they can make purchases.

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Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted Wednesday that the over-the-air software update of Autopilot, Tesla’s suite of advanced driver assistance systems, will start rolling out later in the day. Favorite new feature is the vehicles’ always-on temperature controls, which prevent cabins from overheating and injuring pets and people, he said. Tesla has also decided to rely more on radar rather than cameras to improve safety of its system.

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Oil futures extended their earlier gains Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies fell by 6.2 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 16. A 2.8 million-barrel climb was expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a larger drop of 7.5 million barrels, according to sources. The EIA has now reported unexpected supply declines for three weeks in a row. Gasoline supplies also fell by 3.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 2.2 million barrels, according to the EIA. November crude climbed $1.01, or 2.3%, from Tuesday’s settlement to $45.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $44.90 before the data.

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The November presidential election may be on the minds of consumers this holiday shopping season, but it won’t have a negative impact on retail sales, Deloitte said in a Wednesday note. “While attention toward presidential elections may be a temporary distraction in the early part of the holiday shopping season, it should not have a negative impact on sales, and retailers may benefit from a pickup in postelection consumer spending,” said Daniel Bachman, Deloitte’s senior U.S. economist, in a statement. Deloitte projects a 3.6% to 4% rise in holiday retail sales this year, excluding vehicles and gasoline. E-commerce sales are forecast to increase 17% to 19% to reach $96 billion to $98 billion.

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