Category: Stock Market News

Amgen Inc.’s cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha is cost-effective for high-risk patients at a yearly net price of $9,669 or below, according to a new study published in the medical journal JAMA Cardiology. The analysis used data from a trial enrolling patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which can cause a heart attack or stroke, and used rates of those events in a typical population. Repatha’s list price is more than $14,500 a year; that price does not reflect often-substantial discounts. Repatha and other cholesterol-controlling PCSK9 drugs — intended for patients whose cholesterol levels haven’t been reduced sufficiently by lifestyle changes or statins — haven’t sold as well as expected, due to, in part, their high price tags. The new JAMA Cardiology study will likely play a role in price negotiations between health insurers, which have been extremely reluctant to cover drugs like Repatha, pharmacy-benefit managers and Amgen. Amgen shares weren’t active in postmarket trade. Shares have surged 9.7% over the last three months, compared with a 1.9% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Guess Inc. produced nearly twice the profit that it expected in the second quarter, and shares zoomed higher in late trading Wednesday after the results were announced. The clothing retailer reported net income of $15.2 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $573.7 million, up from $545 million in the same quarter a year ago. After adjusting for impairment charges and income tax, the company claimed earnings of 19 cents a share, up from 15 cents a share the year before. Analysts on average expected adjusted earnings of 10 cents a share on sales of $559 million, according to FactSet, and Guess had guided for adjusted profit of 8 cents to 11 cents a share on revenue of $556 million to $567 million. Executives credited the performance to revenue gains in Europe and Asia as well as cost reductions in the supply chain, and increased full-year guidance. After closing with a 0.9% gain at $12.48, Guess shares jumped about 14% to top $14 in late trading.

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The Federal Trade Commission said it’s decided not to pursue an investigation of Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods . In a brief statement, Acting FTC Bureau of Competition Director Bruce Hoffman said the agency examined whether the deal “substantially lessened competition under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, or constituted an unfair method of competition under Section 5 of the FTC Act.”

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Williams-Sonoma Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Wednesday after the upscale housewares retailer topped Wall Street earnings estimates for the quarter. Williams-Sonoma shares surged 6% to $46 after hours. The company reported second-quarter net income of $52.9 million, or 61 cents a share, compared to $51.8 million, or 58 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $1.2 billion from $1.16 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $1.2 billion. For the third quarter, Williams-Sonoma estimates earnings of 80 cents to 87 cents a share on revenue of $1.27 billion to $1.31 billion. Analysts expect 82 cents a share on revenue of $1.28 billion.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average in Wednesday afternoon trade was on pace to mark its longest streak without a gain of at least 1% in more than a decade, according to WSJ Market Data Group. The Dow hasn’t posted a rise of at least 1% since April 25, when it rallied 232 points or 1.1%. If it fails to do so on Wednesday, it would mark 84 trading days without such an advance, the longest since an 102-session streak ended March 2007. The Dow narrowly missed a 1% gain in Tuesday’s nearly 200-point rally–its best one-day gain in four months, but a failure to do so matched the 83-session streak without a 1% climb ended August 2014. Overall, Wall Street stocks were retreating as investors fret that comments made by President Donald Trump at a rally of supporters late Tuesday in Phoenix suggest that he is willing to let a looming government shutdown happen in autumn. In most recent trade, the Dow was off 0.3% at 21,831, the S&P 500 index was off 0.2% at 2,447, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was trading 0.2% lower at 6,287.

–Ken Jimenez contributed to this report

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House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday Congress doesn’t have to choose between shutting down the government and border security, including the wall President Donald Trump wants. Trump threatened Wednesday night to shut the government down if lawmakers don’t approve money for the wall. Ryan told reporters in Oregon that the House has already approved some money for the wall, and also said he expects Congress will need “more time” past Sept. 30 to fund the government.

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McDonald’s Corp. pledged Wednesday to cut down on the use of antibiotics in its chicken supply worldwide in 2018. From January 2018, McDonald’s will stop serving broiler chicken treated with antibiotics defined as important to human medicine in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, South Korea and Japan. It will keep the antibiotic Colistin in its chicken in Europe. By the end of 2019, it will be cut out that antibiotic in its broiler chicken supply in Europe and turn its attention to Australia and Russia. By January 2027, the plan is to eliminate those antibiotics in broiler chicken in the rest of its designated markets. McDonald’s has also been working to cut out the use of key antibiotics in beef, dairy cows, pork and laying hens. Shares of McDonald’s were down less than 1% Wednesday afternoon. Shares of McDonald’s have gained 3% in the past month, while the S&P 500 has lost 1%.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average in Wednesday afternoon trade was on pace to mark its longest streak without a gain of at least 1% in more than a decade, according to WSJ Market Data Group. The Dow hasn’t posted a rise of at least 1% since April 25, when it rallied 232 points or 1.1%. If it fails to do so on Wednesday, it would mark 84 trading days without such an advance, the longest since an 102-session streak ended March 2007. The Dow narrowly missed a 1% gain in Tuesday’s nearly 200-point rally–its best one-day gain in four months, but a failure to do so matched the 83-session streak without a 1% climb ended August 2014. Overall, Wall Street stocks were retreating as investors fret that comments made by President Donald Trump at a rally of supporters late Tuesday in Phoenix suggest that he is willing to let a looming government shutdown happen in autumn. In most recent trade, the Dow was off 0.3% at 21,835, the S&P 500 index was off 0.3% at 2,445, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was trading 0.3% lower at 6,279.

–Ken Jimenez contributed to this report

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Gold prices climbed Wednesday to recoup much of their losses from the previous session. Weakness in the U.S. dollar and losses in the stock market drew investors to the perceived safety of gold as the market awaited clues on any changes to monetary policy from global central bankers at a three-day meeting in Wyoming that begins Thursday. December gold rose $3.70, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,294.70 an ounce after losing roughly 0.4% on Tuesday.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that it had dismissed all charges against Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien G. Grout, two of the traders accused in the loss of more than $6 billion by J.P. Morgan in the London “Whale” case. The dismissal follows a request on July 24 by the U.S. Department of Justice to a judge to dismiss the criminal charges against the two former J.P. Morgan derivatives traders. In the criminal case, prosecutors said they no longer believed testimony from Bruno Iksil, the trader nicknamed “The Whale”, could be relied upon to prosecute “based on a review of recent statements and writings made by Iksil” that were critical of J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

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