Tag: stock market

Gold prices ended higher for a ninth consecutive session Wednesday, buoyed by recent weakness in the dollar and safe haven demand fed by protests in Iran. After futures prices settled, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed a sharp divide over the central bank’s own forecast of three interest-rate hikes this year. In electronic trading, February gold was at $1,311.80 an ounce, after settling with a gain of $2.40, or 0.2%, at $1,318.50, the highest finish for a most-active futures contract since Sept. 15, according to FactSet data.

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U.S. stocks on Wednesday retained their grip on solid afternoon gains, even as President Donald Trump said his former strategist Steve Bannon “lost his mind.” Trump was reacting to to recent comments by Bannon, who referred to a reported meeting with the president’s son and Russian officials “treasonous and unpatriotic”. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 50 points, or 0.2%, at 24,874, the S&P 500 index was trading 0.5% higher above the psychologically significant level above 2,700, most recently at 2,709, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was 0.7% higher at 7,057. All three main indexes were in record territory, with a gauge of small-cap stocks the Russell 2000 index and the Dow Jones Transportation Average both trading near their own records, highlighting a sustained and broad climb to new heights for assets perceived as risky, in the early days of trade in 2018. Trump in emailed comments said Bannon had “nothing to do with me or my presidency.” Bannon is cited in a forthcoming book by Michael Wolff.” Trump has said Bannon “doesn’t represent” his “base–he’s only in it for himself.”

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Biotech AveXis Inc. could benefit, if indirectly, from payment arrangements set up by rival Spark Therapeutics Inc. for its $850,000-a-patient gene therapy Luxturna, RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said on Wednesday. AveXis, which is developing its AVXS-101 gene therapy as a one-time treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, saw shares decline 3.6% in heavy Wednesday trade. AVXS-101, if approved, could cost as much as $2 million per treatment, Abrahams said. The payment schemes set up by Spark, intended to make Luxturna’s record-setting pricetag more palatable to health care payers, “helps set the stage for AVXS’s ‘101 and other gene therapies,” Abrahams said. “We note this strategy is in distinct contrast to what had taken place with other one-time treatments as in HCV, and believe that this more proactive approach is more likely to ensure the buy-in of key constituents (rather than generate a backlash).” Positive results from a phase 1 trial of AVXS-101 were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in November, and Abrahams said that the Food and Drug Administration might consider accelerated approval. Abrahams also raised his price target for AveXis from $97 to $99 on Wednesday, citing the success of Biogen’s spinal muscular atrophy therapy Spinraza, among other factors. AveXis shares have surged 8.4% over the last three months, compared with a 6.9% rise in the S&P 500 and a 9.6% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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President Donald Trump said Wednesday his former strategist Steve Bannon “lost his mind” after being fired and “has nothing to do with me or my presidency.” Bannon is cited in a forthcoming book by Michael Wolff as saying a meeting between Trump’s son Donald Jr. and a group of Russians was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.” In a statement, Trump said Bannon “doesn’t represent my base–he’s only in it for himself.”

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Shares of Riot Blockchain Inc. Wednesday afternoon were trading nearly 11% lower, even as bitcoin prices tilted slightly higher at around $15,000. Riot Blockchain started life as diagnostic machinery biotech stock Biopix Inc., before pivoting to cryptocurrencies and changing its name. The company aims to support blockchain technologies, which underlie digital currencies, such as bitcoin . Over the past week, Riot’s shares are down 12.4% so far this week as bitcoin prices have stalled since the digital currency hit a mid-December peak near $20,000. For Riot’s part, the company still boasts a 66% gain over the past 30 days and a 208% return over the past three months, according to FactSet data. Comparatively, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed about 0.7% on Wednesday, 2.7% over the past week, and about 10% over the past three months. Meanwhile bitcoin futures traded on the CME Group Inc. for January were up 1.7% at 15,105, while those for the Cboe Global Markets Inc. for the same month rose 0.6% at $15,150.

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SunTrust Robinson Humphrey revised McDonald’s Corp.’s price target down to $187, reversing an earlier note that moved the price target to $205 from $178. “[W]e overestimated the impact of tax reform on McDonald’s tax rate, by mistakenly holding the foreign tax rate steady,” SunTrust analysts say in the revision. “We now estimate the foreign tax differential to be +3.3% vs. -4.5% prior, which increases our ’18/’19 tax rate estimate to 26.1% vs. 18.3% prior, down from 32.6% in ’17.” Other price target moves in the earlier note include Wendy’s Co. to $22 from $17, Shake Shack Inc. to $60 from $50, and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. to $363 from $355. McDonald’s shares are up 44% for the last year while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 25% for the period.

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SunTrust Robinson Humphrey revised McDonald’s Corp.’s price target down to $187, reversing an earlier note that moved the price target to $205 from $178. “[W]e overestimated the impact of tax reform on McDonald’s tax rate, by mistakenly holding the foreign tax rate steady,” SunTrust analysts say in the revision. “We now estimate the foreign tax differential to be +3.3% vs. -4.5% prior, which increases our ’18/’19 tax rate estimate to 26.1% vs. 18.3% prior, down from 32.6% in ’17.” Other price target moves in the earlier note include Wendy’s Co. to $22 from $17, Shake Shack Inc. to $60 from $50, and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. to $363 from $355. McDonald’s shares are up 44% for the last year while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 25% for the period.

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Verizon Communications Inc. said on Wednesday that it has signed a new partnership with A&E Networks to give Verizon customers free access to stream content from A&E, including from Lifetime, the History channel and Viceland. A&E is co-owned by Walt Disney Co. , Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal and Hearst Communications. This deal follows a similar Verizon announcement last month that the company had entered a deal with the National Football League to stream games beginning in January. Verizon will provide its customers with A&E content across its media brands, including Yahoo and AOL. The deal also gives Verizon first rights to content from A&E’s in-house branded content agency 45th & Dean. “This partnership expansion is yet another example of how we’re fueling our new Oath media brands,” said Brian Angiolet, Verizon’s chief media and content officer, in a statement. Shares of Verizon were down nearly 2% during intraday trade on Wednesday and have declined close to 4% in the trailing 12-month period. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up 20% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up almost 25%.

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Netflix Inc. on Wednesday confirmed that it has ordered a sequel to it’s Dec. 22 fantasy cop ride along original film “Bright.” The sequel will again star Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, and David Ayer will write and direct it. Netflix said that “Bright,” which was widely panned by critics and has a 28% Rotten Tomatoes score, was the company’s highest viewed original film ever on the service in its first week, and one of the platform’s biggest original productions (including sequels, series and additional seasons). The company also said “Bright” is the top movie on Netflix in every country the service is in, with more people overseas watching it than are watching it domestically. The film, costing a reported $90 million to produce, garnered 11 million viewers in its first three days, according to Nielsen measurements, which MarketWatch calculated would be equal to about a $95 million Friday-to-Sunday opening weekend at the box office. Netflix didn’t provide a release date for the “Bright” sequel. Shares of Netflix have gained 59% in the trailing 12-month period, while the S&P 500 index is up 20% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 25%.

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ANGI Homeservices Inc. shares rose 5.3% in Wednesday trading after the company was upgraded to buy from neutral at MKM Partners due to the opportunity in the home services sector. ANGI Homeservices’ portfolio includes Angie’s List, HomeAdvisor and HomeStars. “The home services sector is one of the largest opportunities still relatively untouched by internet platforms and we think that a digital marketplace will become a primary source of business origination over time,” wrote analyst Rob Sanderson in a note. “If management can deliver on its post-merger targets, we think the company could be worth $13 billion to $16 billion by 2022, a 2.3X to 2.8X increase from current valuation.” The merger with HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List took place in September. ANGI shares up nearly 48% for the last 12 months while the S&P 500 index has rise nearly 20% for the period.

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