Category: Stock Market News

Famed billionaire investor David Tepper’s Appaloosa LP hedge fund reduced its exposure to stocks by one third in the latest quarter, to $3.80 billion as of June 30 from $5.66 billion on March 31, according to regulatory filings filed late Friday. During the second quarter, the stakes of companies he sold off entirely included the 1.6 million shares of Facebook Inc. , the 7.0 million shares of Bank of America Corp. , the 2.5 million shares of Pfizer Inc. , the 945,000 shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. , the 8.6 million shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. and the 1.3 million shares of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. that he owned as of March 31. The S&P 500 index rose 1.9% during the second quarter, and has gained 4.1% since then.

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Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund Trian Fund Management LP made few changes in the second quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday. Trian eliminated its small stake in Tiffany & Co. and 11-million-share stake in Legg Mason Inc. , while adding slightly to its stake in Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and trimming slightly its position in DuPont .

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Dan Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point LLC dumped a host of positions to pick up tech picks, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday. Third Point added new positions of 3 million shares of Activision Blizzard Inc. and 3.8 million shares of Facebook Inc. . At the same time, Third Point cut its position in Alphabet Inc. , while eliminating positions in Amgen Inc. , Broadcom Ltd. , Kraft Heinz Co. , Time Warner Cable , 21st Century Fox Inc. and VMware Inc. .

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U.S. stocks ended mostly lower Friday, but still eked out small weekly gains, as weakness in shares of mining and chemical companies, along with a rise in active oil rigs, blunted an advance in the energy sector and rising oil prices. Still the Nasdaq closed at an all-time high, one session after all three benchmarks posted record closes on the same day for the first time since 1999. The S&P 500 index ended down 1.8 points, or 0.1%, at 2,183.99, weighed by sharp declines in Alcoa Inc. and Nucor Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. , followed by a 0.4% loss in the telecom sector. Three of the index’s 10 sectors ended in positive territory, with energy leading the gains, up 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 37.53 points, or 0.2%, to 18,575.9, pulled down by a 1.9% drop in DuPont and a 0.9% drop in IBM Corp. but buoyed by a 1.3% gain in Exxon Mobil Corp. . Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 4.5 points, or 0.1%, at 5,232.89, an all-time closing high.

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Gold futures settled with a loss on Friday, after spending much of the session trading higher following disappointing economic data from the U.S. and China. Prices lost about 0.09% for the week, which marks the fourth weekly loss in five. Gold for December delivery lost $6.80, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,343.20 an ounce.

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Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of News Corp. , named Friday a new team to run Fox News, a division of 21st Century Fox Inc. , after former CEO Roger Ailes resigned last month amid allegations of sexual harassment. Fox Television Stations Chief Executive Jack Abernathy and Senior Executive Vice President Bill Shine were named co-presidents of Fox News Channel and Box Business Network, effective immediately. Fox News Chief Financial Officer Mark Kranz will retire, after 19 years at the network. Suzanne Scott was named executive vice president of programming for Fox News, and Jay Wallace was named EVP of news editorial. 21st Century Fox’s stock, which slipped 0.4% in afternoon trade, has dropped 4.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%. MarketWatch is owned by Dow Jones, a unit of News Corp.

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Oil futures pared their gains Friday after data from Baker Hughes showed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose for a seventh straight week. The U.S. oil-rig count climbed by 15 to 396 as of Friday. The active U.S. oil-rig count also increased by 17 to 481. September crude was at $44.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 61 cents, or 1.4%, from Thursday’s settlement. It traded at $44.34 before the data.

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U.S. stocks opened slightly lower Friday as investors grappled with weaker-than-expected retail sales data and an unexpected drop in wholesale prices. The main indexes retreated from record levels set a day earlier, when all three main benchmarks closed at all-time highs. The main indexes were on track to finish the week roughly where they started. The S&P 500 index opened 4 points, or 0.2%, lower at 2,181. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 37 points, or 0.2%, to 18,576. Meanwhile the Nasdaq Composite Index began the session off 12 points, or 0.2%, at 5,215.

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Nordson Corp. said Friday that it will increase its quarterly dividend by 12.5% to 27 cents a share from 24 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable Sept. 6 to shareholders of record on Aug. 23. Based on Thursday’s closing price for the adhesives company’s stock of $91.29, the new dividend implies an annualized dividend yield of 1.18%, compared with the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.1%. Nordson’s shares, which were still inactive in premarket trade, have soared 42% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.9%.

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Shares of Ocean Rig UDW Inc. were nearly halved in premarket trade Friday, after the oil services company said it would continue to explore reorganization strategies that could include bankruptcy given the continuation of “extremely negative” market conditions. The company said late Thursday that oil companies continue to reduce their offshore budgets, the floater rig market is expected to become even more oversupplied than it already is, and a recovery may not occur for several years. “In the recent period, we have been approached by several of our debt holders who have in certain cases also retained legal counsel and financial advisors,” the company said in a statement. “We continue to explore and consider alternatives, which may include a possible reorganization under US bankruptcy laws or another jurisdiction, so that we can ride out this very difficult cycle with feasible prospects for strong, long-term success.” The stock plunged 47% ahead of the open. It had rallied 33% year to date through Thursday, while the VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF had climbed 7.8% and the S&P 500 had gained 6.9%.

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