Tag: stock market

HSN Inc. , operator of the home shopping network, said Monday it has named Rod Little as chief financial officer, effective Jan. 3. Little was previously CFO of Elizabeth Arden Inc. . The executive is replacing Judy Schmeling, who was named president of HSNI division Cornerstone Brands in August 2016. Schmeling is also chief operatiog officer of HSN. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 20% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 8%.

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Shares of Panera Bread Co. were indicated down more than 1% in premarket trade Monday, after the fast casual restaurant chain was downgraded at Wedbush Securities, which cited concerns over valuation. Analyst Nick Setyan cut his rating to neutral, after being at outperform since March 2014. The stock had rocketed 15% since the election to close Friday at $217.16, or just 1.3% below Seytan’s price target of $220. “We continue to believe drivers of sustained [same-store sales] growth outperformance relative to peers exist,” Seytan wrote in a note to clients. “Nevertheless, we caution against the street’s current optimism relative to our 2017 estimates.” He said unless there are further upward revisions to same-store sales and earnings per share, upside in the stock could prove limited. Seytan forecasts fiscal 2016 EPS of $6.71, matching the FactSet consensus, while his 2017 estimate of $7.45 is below the FctSet consensus of $7.69. The stock has rallied 11% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.3%.

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Bank stocks dropped Monday, as weakness in the broader market and declines in Treasury yields prompted a pullback from the recent record run. Among the sector heavyweights, shares of Bank of America Corp. slumped 1.1% in active premarket trade. The stock had rocketed 23% since the election to close Friday at an eight-year high. Elsewhere, Citigroup Inc.’s stock shed 1.3%, shares of Wells Fargo & Co. slid 1% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shares lost 0.7%. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF fell 0.4%, after closing Friday at an 8 1/2-year high. The XLF has run up 12% since the election through Friday, while the Dow has climbed 4.5% to a record high. Dow futures were down over 60 points ahead of the open, while U.S. bond futures gained 0.4%, meaning yields fell. Lower long-term interest rates narrows the spread between what banks earn by funding longer-term loans with shorter-term liabilities.

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International Business Machines Corp. said Monday that online sales for U.S. retailers on Thanksgiving jumped 12% from a year ago, and while Black Friday sales rose 10%. Globally, retailers saw online sales increase 24% on Thanksgiving and 28% on Black Friday. Online sales for the four-day weekend rose 9% for U.S. retailers and 20% globally. IBM expects online Cyber Monday sales to grow in the double-digit percentage range, and projects overall online sales for the November-to-December period rising 14%. “It is clear, online shopping during the US holiday period has become a global phenomenon and more than ever companies are turning to IBM as a trusted technology provider and supporter to help them succeed during this critical period,” said Harriet Green, general manager at IBM Commerce. IBM’s stock has climbed 19% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has gained 7.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 9.9%.

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Barnes & Noble Inc. said it is offering a 15% discount on an entire online order as part of its Cyber Monday promotion. The offer applies to books, as well as toys and games, gift items, music and DVDs and more, the company said in a statement. The book seller is also offering its new 7 inch Nook tablet at $49.99. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 49% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 8%.

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The rough fiscal-stimulus outline offered by President-elect Donald Trump could lift U.S. economic growth to 2.3% in 2017, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday. That’s up from the Paris-based OECD’s projection for 1.9% growth in 2017 sans Trump plans. The OECD projected a growth boost to 3%, from 2.2%, in 2018. Trump pledged to add $1 trillion to U.S. infrastructure but has yet to provide details on how those proposals would be financed. He has also promised corporate and personal income-tax cuts. The OECD now pegs global economic growth at 3.3%, up from 3.2%, in 2017, and lifted its outlook to 3.6%, from 3.3%, for 2018. The OECD said the biggest risk to its outlook hinges on a shift toward protectionism, especially pledged U.S. tariffs on imports from China and Mexico, which could offset the boost from higher government spending and lower taxes. The OECD is the first international economic policy agency to publish an estimate of the likely impact of Trump’s proposals.

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Under pressure from an activist investor, South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics is considering splitting itself into two companies, according to a new report. Based on a report by Seoul Economic Daily, Reuters reported early Monday that Samsung’s board of directors would meet Tuesday and announce a decision. Hedge fund Elliott Management last month proposed the spinoff, Reuters reported, and Samsung said it would respond to the proposal by the end of November.

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Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who reigned over the island nation for nearly a half-century following a communist revolution that culminated in victory in 1959, is dead at the age of 90, according to multiple reports early Saturday. The Miami Herald cited Cuban President Raul Castro, his brother’s successor, as having announced the death.

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Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein officially filed a request for a recount of the vote in Wisconsin on Friday, the state’s elections commission announced less than a half-hour before the deadline for a filing. Stein raised funds to pay for the recount after computer scientists publicly called for the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, to file for the move due to irregularities they claimed to find in the vote totals. Wisconsin announced just ahead of its deadline of 5 p.m. Friday that it had received two recount petitions, from Stein and Reform Party nominee Rocky De La Fuente. “The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,” Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said in a news release Friday. The campaigns will have to pay for the recount, which Haas said would have to be complete by Dec. 13 because of federal rules. “The recount process is very detail-oriented, and this deadline will certainly challenge some counties to finish on time,” Haas said in Friday’s announcement.

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Crude oil futures prices fell Friday ahead of next week’s potential production cut at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.02, or 4.2%, at $45.93 a barrel. Expectations for an output cut have been building, with Saudi Arabia backing a reduction of over 1 million barrels to 32.5 million barrels a day, but uncertainty for broader agreement persists. Even with Friday’s price drop, the contract recorded a 0.5% weekly gain, marking back to back weekly gains.

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