Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Shares of Fortress Investment Group rose 22% late Tuesday after Japanese telecommunications and internet company SoftBank Group Corp. was said to be near a deal to buy Fortress for more than $3 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. Fortress shares ended the regular trading day up nearly 7%.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
Paul Singer’s Elliott Management disclosed new stakes in Dell Technologies, and Alcoa Corp. in the fourth quarter, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing. Between the third and fourth quarters, Singer’s fund acquired 7.1 million shares of Dell worth $392 million. That paired with the purchase of Dell call options, which confer an owner the right but not the obligation to buy shares at a set price, representing 2.8 million shares or $154 million, according to file-tracking firm WhaleWisdom.com. The fund picked up 10.2 million shares of Alcoa worth $287 million, and 3 million shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. valued at $168 million, as of Dec. 31. Meanwhile, Elliott reduced call options tied to biopharmaceutical company Allergan , cutting those holdings by the equivalent of 1.1 million shares, or $210 million, as of Dec. 31. It made no change to its direct exposure to Allergan’s stock, retaining a 2.7 million shares worth about $574 million. Large investors are required to reveal their long equity holdings at the end of each quarter in public filings.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
Paul Singer’s Elliott Management disclosed new stakes in Dell Technologies, and Alcoa Corp. in the fourth quarter, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing. Between the third and fourth quarters, Singer’s fund acquired 7.1 million shares of Dell worth $392 million. That paired with the purchase of Dell call options, which confer an owner the right but not the obligation to buy shares at a set price, representing 2.8 million shares or $154 million, according to file-tracking firm WhaleWisdom.com. The fund picked up 10.2 million shares of Alcoa worth $287 million, and 3 million shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. valued at $168 million, as of Dec. 31. Meanwhile, Elliott reduced call options tied to biopharmaceutical company Allergan , cutting those holdings by the equivalent of 1.1 million shares, or $210 million, as of Dec. 31. It made no change to its direct exposure to Allergan’s stock, retaining a 2.7 million shares worth about $574 million. Large investors are required to reveal their long equity holdings at the end of each quarter in public filings.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
There were no major surprises in activist hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman’s fourth-quarter filing on Tuesday, which showed his Pershing Square Capital boosted its stake in burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill and pared its holdings of Valeant Pharmaceuticals . As previously disclosed, Ackman bought more than 2.3 million shares of Chipotle in the fourth quarter, the filing showed, bringing his stake to 2.882 million shares, or 9.96% of the company, as of Dec. 31. Pershing Square and Chipotle reached a settlement in December that gave the fund two seats on restaurant chain’s board. Ackman had also disclosed in December that Pershing Square had cut its stake in Valeant by nearly 3.5 million shares to help generate a loss for tax purposes.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
Shares of Merck & Co. gave up their regular session gains after hours Tuesday when the drugmaker said it was halting a study of an Alzheimer’s drug because it did not appear to be working. Merck shares fell 1.5% to $64.69 after hours, following a 1.4% gain in the regular session. Merck said it stopped a clinical study of the drug verubecestat because a data monitoring committee said there was “virtually no chance of finding a positive clinical effect” for the drug under the study protocol. A different study of the drug for Alzheimer’s, however, will continue, Merck said.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed charges in Florida on Tuesday against Carlos Javier Ramirez, Gold Chasers, Inc., and Royal Leisure International, Inc., for allegedly misappropriating approximately $3.95 million of their customers’ funds, and paying Ponzi scheme profits to some customers in connection with the purported purchase of physical gold. Phony invoices and account statements were allegedly issued to some customers in an attempt to conceal the fraud. According to the complaint, the defendants allegedly fraudulently offered contracts to sell gold to at least 20 customers who reside in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and abroad, marketing one of their schemes through their website, www.mygolddesk.com. They allegedly promised to sell customers gold at a discount, based on the claim that the gold was purchased directly from mines in Central and South America. The CFTC seeks restitution to defrauded customers, the return of ill-gotten gains, fines, and permanent registration and trading bans.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
George Soros’s hedge fund Soros Fund Management made a lot of changes to his portfolio in the fourth quarter, dumping positions in many companies and initiating positions in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Pandora Media Inc. . Soros decreased positions in Abbott Labs , Amazon.com Inc. , eBay Inc. , Netflix Inc. , and VMware Inc. . Soros also dumped positions in Activision Blizzard Inc. , Amgen Inc. , Barrick Gold Corp. , Coca-Cola Co. and Nvidia Corp. .
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.
From:: Stock Market News
LendingClub Corp. shares fell 8% late Tuesday after the online lending platform reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and its operating revenue declined in the quarter. LendingClub said it lost $32.3 million, or 8 cents a share, in the quarter, versus gains of $5 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, LendingClub said it lost 2 cents a share, versus a gain of 5 cents a share a year ago. Net operating revenue was $129 million, down 4% from a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected losses of a penny a share on sales of $132 million. Loan originations dropped to $2 billion, from 2.6 billion a year ago. LendingClub predicted 2017 net sales between $565 million and $595 million, and a yearly loss between $84 million and $69 million.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
PayPal Holdings Inc. plans to buy Canadian cloud-based payment processing firm TIO Networks Corp. for $2.56 a share in a deal valued at $233 million, PayPal said late Tuesday. The price represents a premium of 25.2% over TIO’s 90-day volume-weighted average price as of Monday. The San Jose, Calif.-based company plans to finance the purchase with cash on its balance sheets and its 2017 outlook won’t be impacted by the transaction. PayPal shares were off 0.4% after hours.
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.
From:: Stock Market News
Cigna Corp. disclosed in filing Tuesday that it has terminated the merger deal with Anthem Inc. , six days after a court ruling to enjoin the proposed merger, and about 19 months after the $48 billion merger was announced. Cigna said has filed suit against Anthem, seeking a $1.85 billion reverse termination fee and more than $13 billion in additional damages, which includes the amount of premium Cigna shareholders did not realize. Cigna said it decided to terminate the deal after a district court found that the merger would decrease competition and choices for consumers. Cigna’s decision marked the second big healthcare merger that was terminated Tuesday, after Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. agreed to end their $34 billion merger, also after 19 months. Cigna said Tuesday that it while it was “disappointed” in the merger’s failure, it was moving ahead by expanding its stock repurchase program to a total of $3.7 billion. The company said its 2017 outlook for adjusted earnings growth will get a boost from the “significant” capital available for deployment. Cigna’s stock was up 0.4% in afternoon trade, while Anthem shares slipped 0.2%. Over the past 12 months, Cigna’s stock has gained 12%, Anthem shares have rallied 34% and the S&P 500 has gained 25%.
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.
From:: Stock Market News