Category: Stock Market News

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn “willfully and knowingly” made false statements, according to a lawsuit by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. According to reports, Flynn will plead guilty. According to the lawsuit, Flynn falsely stated to the FBI that he didn’t ask the Russian ambassador to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions the U.S. had imposed against the country, and that he didn’t recall the ambassador subsequently telling him Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions. Flynn also was charged with falsely stating he didn’t ask the Russian ambassador to delay the vote on or defeat a pending United Nations Security Council resolution and that the ambassador subsequently never described Russia’s response.

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. said Friday total U.S. vehicle sales in November declined 4% from a year ago to 154,919 units, as declines in Jeep, Dodge and Ram truck sales offset a increase in Chrysler sales. Jeep sales fell 2% to 66,001 units, as drops in Patriot and Renegade model sales outweighed increases in Compass, Wrangler and Cherokee sales. Dodge sales dropped 15%, as declines in Charger, Journey and Dart sales offset increases in Caravan and Durango sales, while Ram sales fell 5% as weakness in ProMaster Van sales offset strength in ProMaster City sales. Meanwhile, Fiat sales fell 28% to 1,733 units, while Alfa Romeo sales surged to 1,440 units from 23 unit. Fiat Chrysler’s stock ticked up 0.3% in premarket trade. The stock has soared 88% year to date through Thursday, while shares of rival General Motors Co. have climbed 24% and the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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The best way to avoid a possible inversion of the bond market yield curve would be for the Federal Reserve to be cautious about raising the policy rate during 2018, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday in a speech in Little Rock, Ark. The yield curve has gotten considerably flatter under Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s tenure. Bullard said the yield curve is on track to invert in late 2018 if the Fed stays on the pace of rate hikes suggested in the latest dot plot and longer-term Treasury yields remain near the average since 2012. Bullard said he thought the current positive slope in the yield curve is about right and suggests the current policy rate “is also about right.”

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Sen. Ron Johnson, one of half a dozen holdouts, will vote for the Senate Republican tax package after securing more favorable treatment for “pass-through” entities that pay taxes through the returns of individual owner, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an aide.

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Shares of Macy’s Inc. rose 0.8% in premarket trade Friday, after the department store chain said it plans to hire an additional 7,000 seasonal employees for its Macy’s stores during the holiday season, following what it said was a “great start” to the season. Macy’s had previously said it would hire 80,000 seasonal workers, which was down from 83,000 a year ago. “Due to the strong traffic in our stores, we are adding associates in our stores across the country to ensure that customers continue to receive the high level of service they have come to expect from us,” said Chief Stores Officer John Harper. “We are excited to be further expanding our seasonal workforce.” Macy’s stock has tumbled 34% year to date through Thursday, but had climbed 11% over the past three months. In comparison, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has rallied 10% over the past three months and the S&P 500 has gained 6.9%.

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Blank-check company Regalwood Global Energy Ltd. priced its initial public offering at $10 a share late Thursday, selling 30 million units to raise $300 million. The shares are expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange later Friday under the ticker symbol “RWGEU.” Citigroup and J.P. Morgan were lead underwriters on the deal.

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Ulta Beauty Inc. shares slid 5% in premarket trade Friday, after the specialty cosmetics retailer reported third-quarter per-share earnings that surpassed Wall Street expectations but same-store sales growth slowed and the fourth-quarter outlook was mixed. J.P. Morgan analysts said they expect the stock to suffer only minor pressure given the quarterly beat, the outlook for “relatively improved” merchandise margin performance in the fourth quarter and re-commitment to 20% plus growth in 2018. “This will likely stave off what could have been a tough day for the stock given the 110-bp decline in gross margin,” they wrote in a note. “That been said, the uncertainty on gross margin and what we view as a lost opportunity to lower the sales bar could leave the stock in the show me camp until we get clarity on 4Q and gross margin in 1H18.” J.P. Morgan rates the stock overweight. Raymond James analyst Joseph Altobello reiterated his market perform rating on the stock. “While valuation appears somewhat attractive given the stock’s pronounced pullback in recent months, we believe the recent slowdown in comps (with another tough compare coming in 4Q) and ongoing margin pressures, coupled with investor concerns over heightened competitive activity within the beauty retail space is likely to limit meaningful upside and exacerbate volatility in the shares in the near-term,” he wrote in a note. Shares are down 13% in 2017 through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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Hamburger chain Wendy’s Co. said Friday it is partnering with DoorDash to offer customers door-to-door delivery. “Rolling out delivery has quickly progressed, along with demand for convenience and delivery trends,” said Liz Geraghty, vice president of customer activation, in a statement. DoorDash will use thermal bags to keep food hot or cold. The two companies completed a pilot program earlier this year in Columbus, Ohio and Dallas, Texas, across 135 restaurants. Wendy’s shares were slightly higher premarket, and have gained 10% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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Amazon.com Inc. had its stock price target raised above $1,300 by yet another Wall Street analyst, bringing the total to 16, or 34%, of the 47 analysts surveyed by FactSet. Oppenheimer’s Jason Helfstein raised his target to $1,330 from $1,165, while reiterating his outperform rating, citing a more upbeat outlook for the e-commerce giant’s cloud business, Amazon Web Services, following this week’s AWS re:Invent conference. “Conversations with ASW users highlighted continued strong demand, with expertise/app porting acting as the bottleneck,” Helfstein wrote in a note to clients. “AWS’ dominance in serverless, global databases and [artificial intelligence] is creating unique new services in an accelerated basis, driving unpredictable services/growth.” Helfstein’s target was above the FactSet average target of $1,274.26, which is 8.3% above Thursday’s closing price of $1,176.75. The stock slipped 0.4% in premarket trade Friday, amid a broad market selloff, but has soared 57% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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Financial services firm Cowen Inc. said Friday it has appointed Jeffrey Solomon as its next chief executive, effective Dec. 27. Solomon, who is currently president of the firm, is replacing Peter Cohen, who has been CEO since 2009 and was founder of its predecessor firm, Ramius Capital. Cohen will remain chairman. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have fallen 4% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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