Dollar jumps to 10-month high against Turkey’s lira on inflation report

The U.S. dollar soared against the Turkish lira early on Friday, pushed higher after Turkey’s consumer-price inflation for October came in higher than expected. The reading for inflation for the past month grew by 2.1%, compared with the FactSet consensus estimate of 1.7%, bringing CPI to 11.9% on the year, versus 11.3% expected. Turkey’s central bank warned of the potential for higher inflation in October and November due to a rise in commodity prices and exchange-rate fluctuations. The dollar jumped to an intraday high of 3.8660 lira in response, representing its highest level since January. The pair was last changing hands at 3.8496 lira, up 3.7972 lira late Thursday in New York.

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From:: Stock Market News

Bloomin’ Brands shares slip after earnings miss, weak guidance

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. shares fell 1.7% in Friday premarket trading after the restaurant company reported third-quarter earnings that missed estimates and revised its full-year guidance lower. Bloomin’ Brands portfolio of restaurant chains includes Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Net income for the quarter totaled $4.3 million, or 5 cents per share, down from $20.7 million or 18 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was 12 cents, below the 15-cents FactSet consensus. Revenue totaled $948.9 million, down from $1.0 billion last year and ahead of the $948.0 million FactSet estimate. U.S. same-restaurant sales fell 1%, compared with a FactSet consensus for a 2% drop. The company said Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hurt same-restaurant sales by 1% and EPS by 4 cents. Bloomin’ Brands now sees full-year 2017 EPS of $1.09 to $1.14 compared with previous guidance of $1.34 to $1.41, and adjusted EPS of $1.31 to $1.36 compared with prior guidance of $1.40 to $1.47. The FactSet consensus is $1.40. Bloomin’ Brands shares are up 2.1% for the last three months, but down 4.1% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 15.2% for 2017 to date.

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Sotheby’s loss widens, while revenue nearly doubles

Sotheby’s reported Friday a third-quarter net loss that narrowed to $23.5 million, or 45 cents a share, from $54.5 million, or 99 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted losses per share were 78 cents, wider than the FactSet per-share consensus for a loss of 68 cents. Total revenue rose 87% to $171.4 million, as agency commission and fees revenue increased 42% to $72.7 million, inventory sales more than tripled to $81.5 million and finance revenue grew 5% to $5.5 million. The FactSet revenue consensus was $111.2 million. “While the third quarter is seasonally quiet for us, things feel good for our business and the market overall,” said Chief Executive Tad Smith. “All eyes are now on New York and Geneva for the fourth quarter with our flagship sales of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art and Jewelry.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has climbed 28% year to date, while the S&P 500 has rallied 15%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Bitcoin jumps to fresh all-time high above $7,400

Bitcoin on Friday recently traded 6% higher at $7,425, according to CoinDesk data. The cryptocurrency earlier rose as high as $7,450, representing a fresh all-time high. Bitcoin has been adding to its massive year-to-date gain this week thanks in part to exchange operator CME Group’s plans to offer a futures contract based on the digital currency, as well as thanks to a so-called hard fork that is slated to take place this month.

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From:: Stock Market News

Valeant rallies 6.5% premarket after FDA approves Vyzulta drug

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 6.5% in premarket action on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Thursday approved the company’s Vyzulta drug. The drug, a treatment for open angle glaucoma, has been developed by Valeant’s wholly-owned subsidiary Bausch + Lomb and France’s Nicox SA . Shares of Nicox soared 26% in Paris. “We expect to make this new advancement available for those who suffer with glaucoma before the end of the year,” said Joseph C. Papa, Valeant’s chairman and CEO, in a press release.

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From:: Stock Market News

Donald Trump’s Twitter account temporarily deactivated by employee on last day

President Donald Trump’s Twitter Inc. account was deactivated by a Twitter employee on Thursday, the company said. The account @realDonaldTrump was down for 11 minutes and has been restored. While the company at first said the account was “inadvertently deactivated due to human error,” Twitter later suggested that it may have been intentional. “Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review,” the company said in a tweet.

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From:: Stock Market News

Donald Trump’s Twitter account mistakenly deactivated by employee, Twitter says

President Donald Trump’s Twitter Inc. account was mistakenly deactivated by a Twitter employee on Thursday, the company said. The account @realDonaldTrump was down for 11 minutes and has been restored. Further details were not immediately available from a company spokeswoman. “We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again,” the company said in a tweet.

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From:: Stock Market News

Book of Business Expands at Genworth M.I.

The book of business expanded at Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp. In addition, new insurance written was up from three months earlier.

Parent Genworth Financial Inc. said in its third-quarter 2017 earnings report that it earned $286 million from continuing operations before income taxes.

Earnings swung from a $125 million loss during the same three months last year. But income deteriorated from $401 million in the prior three-month period.


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From:: Financing

‘House of Cards’ workers allege sexual harassment, assault by Kevin Spacey: report

New allegations of sexual harassment emerged late Thursday against actor Kevin Spacey, and a former production assistant on the Netflix Inc. series “House of Cards” said Spacey sexually assaulted him, CNN reported. Spacey created a “toxic” work environment though a pattern of “predatory” harassment, eight people who worked on the show told CNN. The production assistant said Spacey touched him in a nonconsensual way while driving, during one of the early seasons of the series. “I was in a state of shock,” he told CNN. “He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there.” Netflix announced Monday that “House of Cards” would end after the upcoming sixth season, and production on that season was halted Wednesday “to review the current situation.” On Sunday, Buzzfeed published a report that Spacey made sexual advances toward fellow actor Anthony Rapp in 1986, when Rapp was just 14. On Monday, Spacey said he did not remember the incident, but apologized and came out publicly as gay. On Wednesday, Spacey’s agent said the actor is seeking unspecified treatment in light of the allegations.

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From:: Stock Market News

ARM Indices Increase as Mortgage Rates Hold

A pair of indices utilized to determine rate changes on some adjustable-rate mortgages both moved higher from a week earlier. Fixed mortgage rates, meanwhile, stayed put.

At 3.94 percent, average fixed rates on 30-year mortgages were no different than one week earlier, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended Nov. 2.

But interest rates on residential loans have worsened significantly from the same-seven days a year ago, when Freddie reported average long-term rates at just 3.54 percent.


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From:: Financing