Category: Stock Market News

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday granted a license to an entity to serve as a derivative-trading platform for bitcoin and other cybercurrencies like Ethereum’s ether. The CFTC approved New York-based LedgerX to provide clearing services for options and derivatives pegged to the nascent cryptocurrency market–a regulatory approval that could potentially expand trading in bitcoin and other such currencies. According to Reuters, Ledger Holdings, the parent of LedgerX, raised about $11 million in funding from groups including Miami International Holdings Inc. and China’s Huiyin Blockchain Venture Investments to help run its clearing business. About $1.5 million was raised from funders led by Google Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, Reuters reported.
Monday’s CFTC approval comes about four months after the SEC rejected a proposal by twins Tyler and Cameroon Winklevoss for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund. For LedgerX’s part, the startup, which has been seeking a bitcoin derivatives license for years, is expected to begin its operation by offering so-called put and call options, which are contracts that grant the owners the right, but not the obligation to buy and sell an underlying asset at designated price and time. On Monday, a single bitcoin was trading at $2,768, up fractionally on the day.

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Shares of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. fell more than 3% late Monday after the oil and gas exploration and production company reported a larger-than-expected second-quarter loss. Anadarko said it lost $415 million, or 76 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $1.36 a share in the second quarter of 2016. Adjusted for certain items, the company lost $423 million, or 77 cents a share, in the quarter. Revenue reached $2.7 billion in the quarter, compared with $1.92 billion a year ago. Sales Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report an adjusted loss of 36 cents a share on sales of $2.2 billion. Anadarko also cut its investments by $300 million for the full year and adjusted full-year sales-volume guidance to reflect recent asset sales and deferred production connected with the company’s response earlier this year to a fatal home explosion in Colorado linked to one of the company’s wells. “We feel this is a prudent move,” the company said in a statement. Shares ended the regular trading session up 0.3%.

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Shares of Alphabet Inc. were falling 2% after hours Monday after the company reported second-quarter earnings. Alphabet reported net income of $3.5 billion, or $5.01 per share, up from $4.9 billion, or $7 per share, in the year-earlier period, all on a GAAP basis. The FactSet GAAP consensus was for earnings per share of $4.44. Alphabet’s earnings include the impact of a $2.7 billion fine levied by the European Commission. Revenue was $26 billion, up from $21.5 billion in the year-earlier period. The FactSet consensus for total revenue was $25.6 billion. Shares of Alphabet have gained 14% in the past three months, compared with the S&P 500 , which has gained 4%.

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The Dow and the S&P 500 on Monday finished modestly lower, as the market kicked off a busy week of earnings, but the Nasdaq logged another record as technology stocks shook off the broader market’s weakness. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed 0.4% at 6,410, boosted by a continued rally in the highflying technology sector . However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session 0.3% lower at 21,513, while the S&P 500 index wrappeed up Monday trade off 0.1% at 2,469, as gains in the financials sector and tech were more than offset by sharp slumps in telecommunications, utilities, and consumer-discretionary stocks. Moves were mostly cautious as investors await the start of a two-day policy meeting commencing Tuesday of the Federal Reserve and as a barrage of earnings were rolled out. Market participants will look to earnings and the Fed to gauge the health of the market and the pace of expected interest-rate hikes as equities hover around record territory. In corporate news, shares of Hasbro Inc. tumbled after the toy maker posted revenue that fell short of forecasts. Also in the spotlight were shares of WebMD Health Corp. [s :WBMD], which jumped on news that KKR & Co. would take the health-care, information-provider private.

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Shares of Constellation Brands Inc. slid 1.2% Monday, after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral, while shares of Boston Beer Co. Inc. fell 5% after Goldman downgraded that stock tosell, citing concerns about slowing U.S. beer volumes. Nielsen data is signaling a 0.6% decline for the first half, analyst Judy Hong said in a note. “We acknowledge that some of the softness is likely due to higher volatility in the measured channel data, as well as less favorable weather patterns,” Hong wrote. “However, we increasingly see broader secular challenges of 4-P’s (Population, Penetration, Pricing, and Placement) putting pressure on beer volume for the foreseeable future.” . Hong lowered her overall U.S. beer volume forecast for 2017 to 2018 to down 0.7% to down 0.3% versus a previous forecast of flat to up 0.1%. The analyst left shares of Molson Coors Brewing Co. at buy, because “while we see lingering volume risk, undemanding valuation and potential for healthy free cash flow growth warrant a Buy rating with 19% upside, in our view,” said the note. Constellation Brands shares have gained 13% in 2017, while Boston Beer has fallen 24% and Molson Coors has lost 9%. The S&P 500 has gained about 10% in the same period.

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Oil finished higher Monday for the first time in three sessions. Prices got a boost following news that Saudi Arabia has pledged to cut its crude exports starting next month and Nigeria agreed to cap its output once it has climbed to 1.8 million barrels a day, according to The Wall Street Journal. September WTI crude rose 57 cents, or 1.3%, to settle $46.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Alphabet Inc. announced Monday that is has added Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai to its board. In a reorganization two years ago that created the Alphabet umbrella corporation, Google cofounder Larry Page became the CEO of Alphabet and Pichai rose to lead the most important Alphabet asset, Google. Since then, Pichai has become one of the most prominent Alphabet executives in public events and earnings calls, along with Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, and could be the highest paid CEO in the U.S. “Sundar has been doing a great job as Google’s CEO, driving strong growth, partnerships, and tremendous product innovation,” Page said in Monday’s announcement. “I really enjoy working with him and I’m excited that he is joining the Alphabet board.” Alphabet is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the market closes Monday, and shares were bouncing between slight gains and losses in Monday trading.

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CFRA said Monday it is sticking with a hold recommendation on shares of Arconic Inc. , after the spinoff from Alcoa Inc. reported second-quarter earnings. Analyst Matthew Miller said his 12-month price target of $27 implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of 9.0 times his 2017 EBITDA view, a discount to peers that trade at an average forward EV/EBITDA of 9.3 times. The target “is justified by uncertainty regarding the ongoing CEO search and the potential liability from the cladding used on the Grenfell Tower,” Miller wrote in a note. Arconic said earlier it had no control over the aluminum panels used in the exterior of the London tower, that are believed to have ignited during a fire in June that killed at least 80 people. The company had already said it will stop selling the panels for use in high-rise buildings. Miller said he is trimming his 2017 EPS estimate by 3 cents and his 2018 EPS estimate by 5 cents. Shares were down 0.7% in late trade, while the S&P 500 was down 0.1%.

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Gold prices saw a small loss Monday–enough to put an end to their six-session streak of gains. Prices turned lower as U.S. dollar added to earlier strength, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index up 0.2% at 94.03, near the session’s high of 94.12, as gold prices settled. A stronger dollar often pressures prices for gold that’s traded in the greenback. August gold fell 60 cents, or less than 0.1%, at $1,254.30 an ounce.

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The U.K. Serious Fraud Office said Monday it has opened an investigation into “suspected corruption” by mining giant Rio Tinto Plc in the Republic of Guinea. The SFO, which is responsible for dealing with fraud, bribery and corruption, said the investigation is looking into the company, its employees and others associated with it. Rio Tinto’s American Depositary Receipts were down about 1% in New York, but are up about 13% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained about 10%.

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