Category: Stock Market News

Data from Baker Hughes Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 15 to 566 rigs this week. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also rose by 18 to 712, according to Baker Hughes. March West Texas Intermediate crude was down 96 cents, or 1.6%, at $52.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange from Thursday’s settlement. It traded at $52.85 before the rig data.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — New Defense Secretary James Mattis has ordered a review into the F-35 program that President Donald Trump has criticized. Mattis said the review will “determine opportunities to significantly reduce the cost of the F-35 program while meeting requirements.” The review also will look into the extent that an advanced Super Hornet can be made to provide a competitive, cost effective fighter aircraft alternatives. Lockheed is the lead contractor on the F-35, and Boeing is the lead on the F-18.

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The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto held an hour-long phone call on Friday. Nieto canceled a visit with Trump over the latter’s insistence that Mexico will pay for an increased barrier on the southern border.

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Shares of Jagged Peak Energy Inc. fell sharply on their first day of trading Friday, after the Permian Basin crude producer priced its initial public offering below its range. Jagged Peak sold 31.6 million shares at $15 a pop late Thursday to raise $474 million. The expected price range was $16 to $18 a share. Shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “JAG”. The company is planning to use the proceeds of the IPO to repay debt and fund part of its 2017 capital program. Citigroup, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Goldman, Sachs & Co., RBC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Securities were joint book-runners for the deal. Shares were last trading down 6.4% at $14.04.

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Sotheby’s said Friday that its annual Americana Week auction generated $19.4 million in sales, the most since 2007 when it set a record of $29.1 million. The more than 1,000 lots included in this year’s auction had an 80.4% sell-through rate. Sotheby’s shares are down 1.8% in Friday trading, but up 77.5% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 21.8% for the past 12 months.

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Two footwear companies, Crocs Inc. and Steven Madden Ltd. , would be victims of the “Wall Tax,” according to Buckingham Research Group analysts. On Thursday, President Trump suggested a 20% tax on Mexican imports to pay for a border wall, but the White House has said it’s only one option. Buckingham analysts reviewed the latest Crocs 10-K, which shows about 11% of its goods are manufactured in factories in Mexico and Italy. They conclude that about 5% of the Mexico-produced goods come to the U.S., which would impact earnings per share by 5 cents before offsets. Steven Madden sources leather boots from third-party manufacturers in Mexico, about 8% to 10% of its total production volume. About 6% of these goods are likely imported to the U.S. Analysts estimate that about 70% of the company’s cost of goods sold are product costs. So the “Wall Tax” would total about $7.4 million and hurt EPS by 12 cents before offsets. Buckingham rates both Crocs and Steven Madden shares neutral. Crocs has a price target of $8.50 while Steven Madden has a price target of $34. Crocs shares are down 17.6% for the past year, and Steven Madden shares are up 10.5% for the period. The S&P 500 index is up 22% for the last 12 months.

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U.S. stocks opened flat on Friday, as the market’s recent uptrend was seen as intact despite a weak read on economic growth, as well as some disappointing corporate results. The U.S. economy slowed in the fourth quarter, according to the latest GDP data, coming in at a 1.9% growth rate, which was below expectations. Separately, both Chevron Corp and Google parent Alphabet fell after their results missed expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 8.3 points to 20,093, essentially flat on the day. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, or 1.3 point, to 2,298. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 10.5 points, or 0.2%, to 5,664.

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Novan Inc. shares were halted in pre-market trade Friday before the company said two phase 3 clinical trials for its topical acne treatment had different results, with one showing statistical significance for all three co-primary endpoints but another showing significance on only one. Chief Executive Officer Nathan Stasko said the company was “pleased” with the successful trial but “disappointed with the discordant results” of the other trial. The company hasn’t yet received the full data set but will provide an update on the acne drug program after more analysis, he said. Cash on hand should fund operations through the end of 2017, with capital allocation depending on the complete analysis of the latest results and other data, the company said. Novan shares have sunk 10.5% over the last three months, compared with a 7.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Three hedge funds learned of Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of drugmaker Actelion Ltd. by tracking Johnson & Johnson’s corporate jet, Bloomberg reports. The $30 billion deal, which sent Swiss biotech Actelion shares surging, was announced Thursday, following weeks of on-again, off-again negotiations. The hedge funds — Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, Eton Park Capital Management and Elliott Management Corp. — had stakes valued at $766 million, almost $500 million and $200 million respectively, Bloomberg reports. Johnson & Johnson’s corporate jet landed in Switzerland in mid-January for the first time in three months or more, Bloomberg said. Johnson & Johnson shares have declined 3.3% over the last three months, and Actelion shares have risen 88.3%, compared with a 7.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Chevron Corp. shares fell 3% in premarket trade Friday, after the company missed profit and revenue estimates for the fourth quarter. The first oil major to report earnings for the fourth quarter said it had net income of $415 million, or 22 cents a share, in the quarter, after a loss of $588 million, or 31 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $31.497 billion from $29.247 billion. The FactSet consensus was for earnings of 64 cents a share and revenue of $36.964 billion. “Our 2016 earnings reflect the low oil and gas prices we saw during the year,” said CEO John Watson. The company cut capital and operating costs by $14 billion in 2016, leaving it in good share to improve earnings and cash flow in 2017, he said. Shares have gained 40% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 22%.

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