Ardelyx jumps more than 60% after positive study results

Ardelyx Inc. shares soared more than 60% in after-hours trading Wednesday, after the company reported positive results for a study of a proposed drug. Ardelyx said a second Phase 3 study of tenapanor, a drug targeting irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, reached its primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints, and was well-tolerated by patients. “These results are a game-changer for patients with IBS-C, their treating physicians and for Ardelyx as a company,” Ardelyx Chief Executive Mike Raab said in the announcement. The same drug previously failed in a study aimed at using it for kidney disease. Ardelyx shares topped $8.50 in late trading after closing at $5.40.

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From:: Stock Market News

Snap stock surges 11.4% in best trading day since IPO

Snap Inc. enjoyed its best day of trading Wednesday since its March 2 debut in the public market, rising 11.4% to $15.98. The company has struggled since the stock soared to a record $27.09 in the days following the initial public offering, and has plunged 22.8% in the past six months. The S&P 500 index has risen 8.4% in the past six months. In a research note sent to clients Wednesday, Credit Suisse raised its price target to $20 from $17, citing an increase in its North American daily active user estimates.

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From:: Stock Market News

Committed to Excellence

By Susanne Dwyer

Lloyd_Doug

In the following interview, Doug Loyd, broker/owner of Florida Executive Realty, a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE), in Tampa, Fla., discusses the advantages of the LeadingRE network, charitable initiatives, training and more.

Region Served: The Greater Tampa Bay area
Years in Real Estate: 37
Number of Offices: 5
Number of Agents: 170
Best Tip for Dealing With Difficult Clients: Difficult clients may be nervous about the price, process, pace and outcome, so offer objective information that’s correct and timely, as well as a calming voice.
Best Tip for Running a Successful Meeting: Treat them as regularly scheduled teaching and training opportunities.
Key to Staying Profitable: Maintain a serious, ongoing focus aimed at raising revenue or lowering expenses.

Florida Executive Realty recently established a non-profit foundation. What was the motivation behind this decision?
We’ve been honoring staff members involved in charitable or humanitarian endeavors with a Humanitarian of the Year award at an annual company event for years. Those good works inspired us to establish the Florida Executive Realty HOPE Foundation in 2015, with agents we previously honored serving as directors. We selected four local non-profits and directed donations of $25,000 in our second year from agent contributions and matching company dollars. This year’s goal is $40,000, with the possible addition of a fifth beneficiary.

Your company has initiated something called S.E.A.L. training. What is that all about?
Our company is fully committed to excellence first and numerical growth as it naturally follows, so our teaching, training and coaching programs need to be robust enough to develop the former and effectively support the latter. As we updated, upgraded and expanded those efforts, we branded the overall initiative S.E.A.L. (Service, Education, Advocacy and Leadership) training, which is consistently developing better trained, more productive agents—and strong, positive feedback on post-closing surveys.

Why is your new homes division so important to your overall mission?
Our new homes division started in 2014 with the acquisition of a local niche brokerage focused only on new construction. By establishing this standalone division, we developed even greater cooperation with local and national builders and opened greater lines of communication between our senior managers and our featured builders. This division serves as a liaison between agents and clients, an educational resource for agents, and a relationship-builder at the on-site level. The program was honored as the “Rainmaker Lead Generation Program of the Year” in 2016 at the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® conference and continues to generate additional sales, marketing and profit opportunities.

What brought you to affiliate with LeadingRE?
We joined LeadingRE (then RELO) in 1998, and the affiliation stands as a significant milestone for our company, with benefits far exceeding expectations. Our attendance at both regional and national LeadingRE events has raised our company’s profile, helped us keep abreast of industry changes, and been key to establishing personal and professional friendships across the country.

For more information, please visit www.leadingre.com.

For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.

The post Committed to Excellence appeared first on RISMedia.

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From:: Real Estate News

GE’s stock tumbles to 4-year low; suffers worst 4-day stretch in 22 months

General Electric Co.’s stock slumped 1.5% in afternoon trade Wednesday, toward the lowest close in over four years, and to extend its losing streak to four sessions. The stock has tumbled 6.2% during its losing streak, the worst four-day stretch since it lost 7.0% during the four days ending Jan. 11, 2016. The losses accelerated this week after the company announced after Friday’s closing bell that its chief financial officer and two other vice chairs were leaving the company, and on Monday that it elected activist investor Trian Fund Management’s chief investment officer to its board. On Wednesday, analyst C. Stephen Tusa at J.P. Morgan, the most bearish of the 20 analysts surveyed by FactSet who are covering GE, cut his price target to $20, which is 13% below current levels, from $22, while reiterating his sell rating. “In our view, an activist heightens the risk that GE tries for a quick fix, like it has done in the past,” Tusa wrote. GE’s stock, on track to close at the lowest level since July 3, 2013, has plunged 27% year to date, while the Dow has gained 16%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Ralph Lauren shares slide 2% as Miller Tabak downgrades to sell

Shares of Ralph Lauren Corp. slid about 2% Wednesday, after Miller Tabak downgraded the stock to sell from hold and said demand for its brands among luxury shoppers appears to be fading. The investment firm said its indicator of demand peaked at 14% in July and is now flat and headed lower, and it expects the stock to follow suit. “The last time our indicator started downward the stock dropped from $109 in December 2016 to $75 in February 2017 (and then further to $65 when they missed the next quarter),” Miller Tabak wrote in a note. The stock is not expensive, trading at 16 times expectations for calendar year 2018, but if fundamentals decline, that may not matter, said the note. Analysts have tweaked forecasts upward after an earnings beat last quarter. “We’ll continue to look to see if our fundamental demand indicator changes. If it does, we’ll likely change our mind on our rating,” said the note. Ralph Lauren shares have fallen 5% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Chicago area’s soft-drink tax repealed by county board

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Cook County in Illinois, which comprises Chicago and many of its inner suburbs, has repealed its four-month-old tax on sugary soft drinks, known locally as the pop tax. The county board’s president, Toni Preckwinkle, had vigorously defended the penny-per-ounce tax, which had been forecast to raise $200 million annually, on both public-health and fiscal grounds, backed by an advertising push from Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor. Opponents of the tax included retailers and the American Beverage Association. The repeal vote was 15-2, the Chicago Tribune reported, adding that it would cease being collected on Dec. 1.

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From:: Stock Market News

Marketplace Home Lender Hiring Dozens in PA

Dozens of technology employees are expected to be hired in Pennsylvania by a mortgage marketplace lender that has closed more than $1.7 billion in home loans.

Late last year, LendingHome reported that it had exceeded $1 billion in mortgage production since it opened for business in October 2013.

On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based residential lender reported that its life-to-date single-family loan originations have surpassed $1.75 billion.


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From:: Financing

U.S. stocks little changed after Fed minutes

U.S. stock-market indexes remained little changed on Wednesday after the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting. Whether or not to raise interest rates again this year, given the slowdown in inflation, has been hotly debated by Fed officials since the Sept. 20 meeting. The S&P 500 was up by 1 point at 2,552. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 5 points at 6,593. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 15 points at 22,845. The yield on the 2-year Treasury bond, which is the most sensitive to interest rates, moved slightly higher, trading at 1.528%, while the ICE U.S. dollar index edged lower to trade at 93.02

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.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gold takes back some lost ground after Fed meeting minutes

Gold prices finished lower Wednesday, pressured by growing expectations for a December interest-rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Waiting for inflation to hit the central bank’s 2% target before further interest rate hikes would be a mistake, said Kansas City Fed President Esther George on Wednesday. Gold prices, however, edged higher in electronic trading after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting showed that “several” officials want more confidence about higher inflation before supporting another rate increase. In electronic trading, December gold was at $1,290.70 an ounce, after settling with a loss of $4.90, or 0.4%, at $1,288.90 an ounce.

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.

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From:: Stock Market News

Criminal Charges Dropped Against Bank But Not Execs

Criminal charges against a bank that took money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program have been dropped. But former executives still stand accused.

Delaware-based Wilmington Trust Corp. was a recipient of $330 million from TARP’s Capital Purchase Program administered by the Department of the Treasury.

But at the time it applied for TARP funds, the government claims Wilmington had $300 million in unpaid loans to insolvent developers that it failed to disclose.


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From:: Financing