Tag: stock market

Father’s Day spending is expected to reach a record $14.3 billion this year, the National Retail Federation said Tuesday. That is the highest level in the 13-year history of the organization’s survey. Still, that’s well below the $21.4 billion spent this year on Mother’s Day. On average, shoppers will spend $125.92 for the holiday, up from $115.57 last year. The NRF survey found that 22% will spend on experiences such as a concert or sporting event. Consumers plan to spend $3.1 billion on outings, which also includes dining out. Spending on clothing and gift cards will be just under $2 billion. Father’s Day is Sunday, June 19.

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Shares of PulteGroup Inc. shot up 4.5% in afternoon trade Tuesday, after CNBC reported, citing sources, that hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. has taken a stake in the homebuilder. The stock, which was up 2% just before CNBC’s report, was on track for the highest close since Dec. 1, 2015. Elliott’s new stake is larger than 4% but under 5%, CNBC reported. In the latest filing of its holdings, the hedge fund of billionaire Paul Singer didn’t own any Pulte shares as of March 31. The stock has not run up 9.1% year to date, while both the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF and the S&P 500 have gained 3.7%.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – President Barack Obama is not ready to endorse Hillary Clinton “at this point” even though the Associated Press has concluded from a survey of superdelegates that she has enough to support to clinch the nomination, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday. “There is at least one superdelegate, the one who works in the Oval Office, who is not prepared to make a public declaration of his endorsement at this point, but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated,” Earnest said at the daily briefing. Obama does not expect to “see, or meet, or appear” with Clinton during a trip to New York on Wednesday, where he will hold two fundraisers and tape an appearance on the Tonight Show.

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Colin Bristow pulled an aboutface on ProNAi Therapeutics Inc. , swinging to its lowest underperform rating from its higher buy rating, after the company suspended development of its lead cancer drug following disappointing trial results. Bristow slashed his stock price target to $2, which was 3.3% below current levels, from $35. He had been at buy on ProNAi since he started covering the stock on Aug. 10, 2015, about a month after the company went public at an initial-public-offering price of $17; BofA Merrill Lynch was a lead underwriter of the IPO. Bristow wrote in a note to clients that although the company said it will review the trial data andearrd for either.” The stock inched up 0.2% in midday trade to $2.07, after plummeting 68% on Monday.

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Amazon.com Inc.’s stock price target was boosted on Tuesday to $930 from $780 by analyst Jason Helfstein at Oppenheimer, following what he said were “very bullish” checks suggesting the Amazon Web Services business is even more efficient than he projected. Helfstein’s new target, which is 28% above the current share price, is now the second highest among the 44 analysts surveyed by FactSet; the highest is Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner’s $1,000 target. “Following very bullish checks, we believe AWS’ competitive advantages in procuring, designing and architecting datacenters and compute/storage resources are driving even higher profitability and lower capital intensity than previously expected,” Helfstein wrote in a note to clients. He said he believes Amazon’s ecommerce business will continue to benefit from growth in consumer packaged goods and apparel categories. The stock, which slipped 0.4% in midday trade, has climbed 7.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.6%.

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Apple Inc. filed Tuesday for the sale of 30-year bonds in Taiwan, to be denominated in U.S. dollars. Taiwan is where a number of Apple suppliers, including Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. , are headquartered. Apple’s stock rose 0.8% in morning trade. It was still down 5.5% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 3.2%. Apple sold the bonds, with a yield of 4.15%, to raise between $1 billion and $1.2 billion, according to a Reuters report, which citing people familiar with the deal.

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Pandora Media Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to launch a new visual advertising experience, with the beta beginning this summer. The internet and mobile radio company, which boasts 80 million monthly active users, hopes more native, mobile ad formats will give marketers a more impactful and effective way to reach listeners, while also giving users more control over the ads they see. The new visual ads will play within the square space usually occupied by album art and can be dismissed by swiping or tapping, according to a news release. The company said the number of listeners who engaged with advertisers’ landing page for more than 30 seconds doubled during the pilot phase of the new ad offering. The visual ads will support Interactive Advertising Bureau standards. Express Inc. and the Lexus Dealer Association are partners for the beta and Pandora will make the ad offering available to all advertisers later this year.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s stock was the most active trading on U.S. exchanges Tuesday, as it plunged as much as 22% intraday to the lowest level since August 2010 before recovering slightly, after the drug maker slashed its earnings outlook for the year. Volume hit 52 million shares within the first hour of the regular session, compared with the full-day average over the past 30 days of 32.7 million shares, according to FactSet. The stock has lost 16% since March 21, which is when the company announced that billionaire activist investor Bill Ackman had joined its board of directors. The latest filings indicate Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management owned 21.6 million Valeant shares as of March 31; with the stock down 8.2% since then, Ackman has lost nearly $47 million on his investment in a little over two months.

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Under Armour Inc. said Tuesday that it launched its first mobile shopping app, UA Shop, which is built on the Under Armour Connected Fitness platform. The app draws information from the user’s workout history, purchase history, and other data to make shopping recommendations. The app has Apple Pay , customer reviews, and other features. UA Shop is launching with the new Under Armour Account, which creates a single user profile for all Under Armour apps. Under Armour shares are up 0.2% in Tuesday trading, but down 11.4% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 3.5% for the year to date.

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U.S. stocks opened modestly higher Tuesday, extending Monday’s gains as Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s comments on Monday signaled a tentative plan to end accommodative monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53 points, or 0.3%, to 17,975, the S&P 500 index tacked on 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,112, while the Nasdaq Composite Index opened little-changed at 4,969. Shortly before the opening bell, government data showed productivity of businesses and workers fell in the first quarter but by less than initially reported. Shares of Apple , up 0.9%, led early gains in blue-chip shares, while Ralph Lauren Corp.’s stock sank nearly 8% in early trade after the retailer announced a restructuring plan.

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