Category: Stock Market News

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of Justice, and Dutch and Swedish law enforcement officials settled charges Thursday against Sweden-based telecommunications provider Telia Company AB [s:tlsny] alleging the company paid bribes to government officials to win business in Uzbekistan. Telia entered the Uzbek telecommunications market by allegedly offering and paying at least $330 million in bribes to a shell company controlled by an Uzbek government official who was a family member of the President of Uzbekistan. The payments were disguised as payments for lobbying and consulting services that never actually occurred. The official was in a position to exert significant influence over other Uzbek officials. Telia Company’s subsidiary in Uzbekistan, Coscom LLC, has entered a guilty plea with the DOJ. Telia cooperated in the investigation according to a statement by Marie Ehrling, the Telia board’s chairwoman, and received an aggregate discount of 25% off of the bottom of the otherwise-applicable U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range.

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Shares of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. soared 8.2% in afternoon trade Thursday, enough to make them the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 , after the oil and gas company said it plans to buy back $1 billion worth of its stock over the next 3 1/2 months. The stock, on track to close at three-month high, was also headed for the biggest one-day percentage gain since Nov. 30, 2016. The company said late Wednesday that set a $2.5 billion stock repurchase program, that extends through the end of 2018. At Wednesday’s closing price of $44.81, the program represents about 10% of the shares outstanding. Chief Executive Al Walker said the initial target is to buy $1 billion worth of shares before the end of the year. Filings show Anadarko repurchased a total of $36.65 million worth of its stock during the first two quarters of 2017. The stock has rallied 6.9% over the past three months, but was still down 30.5% year to date. In comparison, the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has lost 11.2% this year, while the S&P 500 has gained 11.9%.

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Nvidia Inc. announced that it is releasing a new configuration of its Shield TV for $179 Thursday that will match the price for Apple Inc.’s new 4K HDR TV product announced last week. Nvidia shares are down 3.7% to $178.97 in afternoon trading. The new configuration will include essentially the same hardware that plays 4K HDR video and 16GB of storage, but will include a remote not a video game controller, according to Nvidia. The new Shield TV is available for pre-order Thursday and won’t begin shipping until Oct. 18. The announcement comes amid the first reviews for the new Apple TV Thursday and some critics have noted issues with the new gadget. Nvidia stock is up 70% thus far this year, as the S&P 500 index up 10%.

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Gold prices settled below $1,300 an ounce on Thursday, suffering from their largest one-day percentage decline since early July, after the U.S. Federal Reserve suggested that an interest-rate hike was likely before the end of the year. December gold fell $21.60, or 1.6%, to settle at $1,294.80 an ounce. That was the lowest finish since Aug. 24, according to FactSet data.

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Halloween shopping for costumes, candy, decorations, and more is forecast to reach $9.1 billion this year, up 8.3% from last year’s record $8.4 billion, according to survey data from the National Retail Federation. Consumers are expected to spend an average $86.13, up from $82.93 last year. Shoppers plan to spend $3.4 billion on costumes and $2.7 billion on both candy and decorations. The top costume for children is expected to be a superhero; witch will be the top choice for adults; and pumpkin costumes will be tops for pets. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 8.2% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 12% for the period.

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President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s issued an executive order to cut off revenue North Korea uses to fund development of “the deadliest weapons known to humankind.” Speaking at the United Nations, Trump said the order strengthens the U.S. Treasury’s ability to target individuals or entities that conduct trade in goods, services or technology with North Korea. He also said China’s central bank has told that country’s banks not to do business with North Korea.

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A measure of fear on Wall Street was hovering around its lowest level in its history, even as President Donald Trump unfurled executive orders to cut off funding to rogue nation North Korea. The CBOE Volatility Index , or VIX, was down 1.5% at 9.63 in most recent trade, putting it on track for its 9th lowest level since 1993 when the gauge of volatility and market fear was created, according to FactSet data. The VIX, also known as the fear gauge, measures options bets on the S&P 500 index 30 days in the future, and is viewed as a measure of market expectations for a fall because equity prices tend to fall faster than they climb. U.S. stocks were muted, holding a modest decline on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 44 points, or 0.2%, at 22,373, the S&P 500 index was trading 0.2% lower at 2,504, while the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 0.3% at 6,434. Trump announced his executive orders following a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. As a part of order the People’s Bank of China has been told to stop doing business with North Korea. Stock reaction was muted following Trump’s news conference Thursday afternoon. The measures to curb North Korea’s antagonism in the Korean Peninsula come as Pyongyang has fired a number of ballistic missile tests in Japanese airspace in recent weeks, and has tested of a thermonuclear bomb.

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Luxembourg-based zinc producer VM Holding S.A. filed Thursday for an initial public offering of stock, which it expects to list on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company did not provide the number of shares it plans to offer, but said it plans to raise up to $100 million, which is likely a placeholder amount. VM (Votorantim Metais) expects its shares to trade under the ticker symbol “NEXA.” In 2016, VM produced 416,869 tonnes of zinc, 41,551 tonnes of copper nad 59,181 tonnes of lead contained in concentrates, as well as 8.3 million ounces of silver and 27,893 ounces of gold. The company had a net profit of $110.5 million in 2016, on revenue of $1.91 billion.

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Analysts at Morgan Stanley on Thursday raised their price target on General Motors Co. stock, saying the car maker “has an opportunity to unlock hidden strategic value.” The analysts set their target to $43, from $40, representing a 10% upside from Thursday prices. They rate the stock their equivalent of buy, and moved it to their No. 3 pick in autos, making GM their highest-ranked U.S. auto maker. GM is likely to host an investor day before the end of the year, where it would explain key strategic priorities, and the analysts expect it to focus on value, a strategy for shared autonomy, and the company’s long-term goals in China, they said in a note. “We see GM moving in the direction of (Fiat Chrysler) and Sergio Marchionne’s philosophy of taking action to unlock value and opening up to partnerships with external firms on applied AI in mobility,” they said. GM shares gained 0.2% and are up nearly 12% so far this year, mirroring the S&P 500 Index’s gains in the same period.

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Target Corp. said Thursday that its Target Restock offering is expanding to eight new markets: Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, St. Louis, San Francisco, and the Washington D.C./Baltimore area. Target Restock offers next-day delivery for essential items like baby products and cleaning supplies for about $5 per box. The service is now live in 10 markets, and will add San Francisco in mid-October. Target announced the pilot for the program in June in Minneapolis. It was expanded to Denver and Dallas in August. Target shares are down 1.5% in Thursday trading, and is down 19.2% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 12% for 2017 so date.

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From:: Stock Market News