Category: Stock Market News

Twitter Inc.’s stock is on track for yet another record closing low on Thursday, as it ignored broad market and technology-sector rally to head toward a ninth straight loss. That would match the longest losing stretch in the social-media service’s shares since they went public on Nov. 7, 2013; it lost a total of 10% during a nine-session losing streak ending May 23, 2014. The stock, which has yet to post a gain in 2016 and has hit record lows every day since Jan. 5, has lost 21% during the current losing streak. It was down 2.1% in midday trade — it was down as much as 7.5% at its intraday low — and worth just a quarter of what it was at its Dec. 26, 2013, record close of $73.31. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was up 1% on Thursday, and SPDR Technology ETF climbed 1.2%. J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated his overweight rating on Twitter, and his stock price target of $46, which is more than double the current price. “We believe Twitter is fundamentally changing the way people communicate and consume information, and the company is in the early stages of monetization, with considerable runway ahead,” Anmuth wrote in a note to clients.

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Natural-gas futures lost more ground on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity declined by 168 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 8. Analysts polled by Platts had expected a decline of between 176 billion cubic feet and 180 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 3.475 trillion cubic feet, up 587 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 474 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. February natural gas was at $2.177 per million British thermal units, down 9.2 cents, or 4.1%. Prices traded $2.224 before the supply data.

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Restaurant chain Denny’s Corp. has committed to serving cage-free eggs in all of its restaurants by 2026. Denny’s serves 400 million eggs each year in dishes like the Grand Slam meal, the company said in a release. Denny’s has been upgrading in its menu as part of an effort to offer more premium ingredients and flavors, including wild-caught and sustainable salmon, seven-grain bread, and gluten-free English muffins. Denny’s joins a long list of company’s that have switched to cage-free eggs, including Taco Bell, which is part of Yum Brands , Starbucks Corp. , and McDonald’s Corp. . Denny’s shares are down 2.2% in morning trading and 17.8% for the past 12 months. The S&P is down 6.2% for the past year.

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Chick-fil-A said it will have its first organic menu item starting Jan. 18, the Honest Kids’ Appley Ever After juice drink. The item will be available in restaurants nationwide as a beverage option for the Kid’s Meal at no extra charge. Low-fat regular and chocolate milk alonog with fresh-squeezed lemonade are already on the menu. The company announced last week that it would be adding a new Superfood Side option to the menu, made of broccolini and kale, also on Jan. 18.

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U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, rebounding somewhat from their biggest losses in three months. Crude oil prices -one trigger for Wall Street’s sharp selloff-attempted to stabilize. The S&P 500 opened 6 points, or 0.3%, higher at 1,896. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 75 points, or 0.5%, to 16,224. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the day up 21 points, or 0.5%, at 4,546.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – An unrelenting decline in crude-oil prices suggests it will take longer than expected for headline inflation to return to the U.S. central bank’s 2% annual target, said St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on Thursday. When they raised interest rates in December, Fed officials said they are reasonably confident that inflation will return to target over the “medium term,” an unspecified time period. “This argument still holds, but it now appears that this process will take longer than previously thought,” Bullard said in a speech to the Economic Club of Memphis. Bullard said he is also worried by the recent decline in market-based inflation expectations measures as these are a determinant of actual inflation. Bullard, who strongly favored the December rate hike, is a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year.

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Brown-Forman Corp. said Thursday it has agreed to sell its Southern Comfort and Tuaca brands to Sazerac for $543.5 million. Chief Executive Paul Varga said the deal “reflects the company’s evolving portfolio strategy and a continuation of its efforts to focus resources on its highest strategic priorities.” Brown-Forman is expecting to book a one-time gain on the deal of about $475 million in fiscal 2016. The deal is expected to close by March 1. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 3% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has lost 7.5%.

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MGM Resorts International said Thursday that it has chosen James C. Stewart, formerly an executive at Greenhill & Co., to be chief executive of MGM Growth Properties LLC, a real estate trust the company plans to take public. James Stewart, along with a new chief financial officer, Andy H. Chien, also from Greenhill & Co., will head up the offering for MGM Growth Properties, which is made up of ten “premier” real estate properties and more than 24,000 hotel rooms. “As we continue our path toward the creation of MGP, the knowledge and expertise that James and Andy bring will be invaluable in positioning MGP as a leading real estate investment trust,” Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, said in the press release.

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BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.’s stock fell 2.5% in premarket trade Thursday, after the biotechnology company said the Food and Drug Administration would not be approving its new drug application (NDA) for its muscular dystrophy treatment Kyndrisa. The FDA said in its “complete response” letter to the NDA that the standard substantial evidence of effectiveness has not been met. BioMarin said it will work with the FDA to determine the next steps it needs to take. The stock has tumbled 19% over the past three months, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has lost 7.1% and the S&P 500 has slipped 5.2%.

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Bank stocks were broadly bouncing in premarket trade Thursday, after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The SPDR Financial ETF rose 0.5%, after closing Wednesday at the lowest level since May 15, 2014. J.P. Morgan Chase’s stock, which closed Wednesday at an 11-month low, climbed 1.9% ahead of Thursday’s open. Among the shares of the XLF’s other more heavily-weighted components seeing early activity, Bank of America Corp.’s rose 1.1%, Citigroup Inc.’s gained 0.7% and Wells Fargo & Co.’s advanced 0.7%.

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