Gary Cohn out of running for Fed chair: report

President Donald Trump does not intend to appoint his economic adviser Gary Cohn to lead the Federal Reserve, according to a report by Bloomberg News. The report is based on three people familiar with the matter. The front-runners for the top central bank job are Fed governor Jerome Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor and current Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

A.O. Smith shares slide 4.8% after Boenning & Scattergood downgrade to neutral

Shares of A.O. Smith Corp. fell 4.4% Wednesday, after Boenning & Scattergood downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform following its 38% gain in the last 12 months. The maker of water and air purification products had another strong quarter with per-share earnings climbing 14% and revenue up 10%, “and the fundamental underpinnings of the story (including consistent growth in both North America and China) are firmly intact,” analyst Ryan Connors wrote in a note. But the stock is now trading at a price/earnings ratio of 25 times his revised (upward) 2018 estimate of revenue growth of 9% and EPS growth of 17%, “a modest premium to the water infrastructure peer group average of 24.2 times,” said Connors. Margins for the company’s rest of the world division, which includes China, where it is expanding to second and third-tier cities, continue to be soft at 40 basis points below the year-earlier period, he wrote. Still, the company is one of the highest-quality names in the water infrastructure space and even in the broader industrial space, he said. Shares have gained 24% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Sears brings back its holiday catalog

Sears Holding Corp. said Wednesday that it has relaunched its Wish Book, a holiday catalog that was last available in 2011. The 120-page book includes holiday decorations, appliances, toys and more. The digital Wish Book is also available online and on the Sears app. Pricing online will shift to ensure customers get the best deal. Sears says its “best members” will receive the book while select Shop Your Way loyalty members will receive an email invitation to pick up a copy at their local Sears store while supplies last. Sears shares are down nearly 5% in Wednesday trading and down more than 49% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 19.3% for the past 12 months.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Congress Votes to Repeal CFPB Rule

Lawmakers have passed repeal legislation to stop a controversial rule that would have allowed borrowers to file class-action lawsuits against financial institutions. The president is expected to sign it.

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that was set to take effect in March would have banned provisions that block borrowers from banding together to bring class-action cases.

The CFPB argued that such cases help hold banks accountable. But banking lobbyists argued that the rule would unleash a flood of class-action lawsuits — raising the cost of credit for consumers.


…read more

From:: Financing

Gold turns higher by the settlement as U.S. dollar weakens

Gold prices turned higher by the settlement on Wednesday to tally a modest gain as the U.S. dollar index traded near the session’s lows. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.1% at 93.644, near the day’s low of 93.608 as gold prices settled, offering support for dollar-denominated prices of the yellow metal. December gold rose 70 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,279 an ounce. Prices on Tuesday lost 0.2% to settle at $1,278.30–their lowest since Oct. 6.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Boeing’s stock suffers 2nd-biggest price drop after ‘dull’ results

Shares of Boeing Co. tumbled $9.77, or 3.7%, in afternoon trade Wednesday, enough to make it the biggest percentage decliner among Dow Jones Industrial Average components, as better-than-expected third-quarter results couldn’t support the recent sharp run up. The percentage decline would be the biggest in 16 months, while the price decline would be the second-biggest in the stock’s history, behind only the $11.43 plunge suffered on Jan. 27, 2016. “After last quarter’s barnstormer, Boeing’s 3Q result is relatively dull,” said analyst Robert Stallard, at Vertical Research Partners. The stock had shot up 9.9% on July 26, after Boeing reported second-quarter earnings that were well above estimates, although revenue came up a bit shy. The stock has been on a tear, soaring 25% over the past three months through Tuesday’s record close of $266. The stock has still run up 64.5% year to date, the best performer this year among Dow components, while the Dow has climbed 17.8%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

MBA Chief Leaving

After leading the Mortgage Bankers Association to financial stability through the post-crisis era, the chief executive officer of the trade group is leaving.

Before taking over MBA in 2011, David H. Stevens was Federal Housing Commissioner for the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration.

Prior to his appointment to run the Federal Housing Administration, Stevens spent time at Freddie Mac, Long & Foster Companies Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.


…read more

From:: Financing

GlaxoSmithKline stock plummets 6% after concerns about dividend risk

GlaxoSmithKline PLC shares plummeted 6% in extremely heavy midday trade Wednesday on concerns that the company’s interest in Pfizer Inc.’s over-the-counter business could put its dividend at risk. After being asked if she could give investors assurances that the potential deal would carry no dividend risk, Chief Executive Emma Walmsley did not exactly give those assurances. “We know the dividend matters to our investors. We intend and we do pay it now as a function of our free cash flow after investing in the necessary priorities to secure long-term growth for the company,” Walmsley said, according to the FactSet transcript of the company’s third-quarter earnings call, adding, “we confirmed our intentions to pay the dividend in 2017 of 80 pence and again in 2018 and then we will be returning to declaring the dividend quarterly and not giving a more specific outlook beyond that.” When Walmsley was again pressed about the potential Pfizer deal, she said it was “too premature and hypothetical.” “For us, even though we believe pricing (mostly in Respiratory) and competitive concerns (Respiratory and HIV) are largely factored into the stock at current levels, investors remain focused on the safety of the dividend,” said Leerink Partners analyst Seamus Fernandez. GlaxoSmithKline shares have dropped 9.5% over the last three months, compared with a 2.9% rise in the S&P 500 .

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Purchases Lead Drop in Mortgage Applications

After making adjustments for the recent holiday, new applications for home loans slowed last week. Out front of the decline were purchase-money mortgage applications.

In the week ended Oct. 20, the Market Composite Index — a measure of retail residential loan application volume — fell a seasonally adjusted 5 percent from a week prior.

But without making any seasonal adjustments, the index jumped 6 percent from the seven-day period that included the Columbus Day holiday.


…read more

From:: Financing

Target adds augmented reality feature on mobile site

Target Corp. said Wednesday that it has added an augmented reality feature called See It In Your Space to its mobile site to help shoppers searching for home items among the 200 in its Project 62 collection. The feature allows customers to use a photo of their living space to test what an item would look like if it were added. Target introduced 360-degree shopping in May, using computer-generated imagery, or CGI, to show what items would look like in a real space. Target shares are down 1.8% in Wednesday trading, and down 14.3% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 14% for 2017 to date.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News