Tag: stock market

Oil futures extended its losses into a second session Tuesday, sending prices to their lowest finish in almost three weeks. “The long side of the oil trade has become extremely crowded recently on OPEC compliance bets,” said Tyler Richey, co-editor of The 7:00’s Report. March West Texas Intermediate crude fell 84 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $52.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest finish since Jan. 19, according to FactSet data.

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Shares of K12 Inc. rallied 1% in afternoon trade Tuesday, after Vice President Pence broke a tie to confirm Betsy DeVos as the next Secretary of Education. “While somewhat of a controversial choice, we believe this appointment will be positive for the private sector (for-profit) education sector, specifically in the K-12 segment where Ms. Devos has been a strong proponent of school reform, particularly charter schools,” Analyst Jeffrey Silber at BMO Capital Markets wrote in a note to clients. “This could be a positive for K12 Inc., which helps to manage virtual charter schools.” K12’s stock has lost 8.1% since closing at a 2 1/2-year high of $20.19 on Jan. 30, but was still up 66% since the election. Among shares of other for-profit education companies, Career Education Corp.’s slipped 0.8% Tuesday but has climbed 32% since the election; DeVry Education Group Inc.’s shed 2% on Tuesday but has run up 38% since the election; and Capella Education Co.’s dropped 1.1% Tuesday, but has rallied 12% since the election. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was little changed Tuesday, but has gained 7.2% since the election.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its forecast on crude production and prices for this year, according to the agency’s latest Short-term Energy Outlook report released Tuesday. The EIA forecast U.S. crude production at an average 9 million barrels per day in 2017, up from an estimated 8.9 million in 2016. It sees 2018 output climbing to 9.5 million barrels a day. It forecast West Texas Intermediate crude at an average $53.46 a barrel this year, up from the previous forecast for $52.50 and Brent crude at $54.54 this year, up from $53.50. “Global oil supply and demand is now expected to be largely in balance during 2017 as the gradual increase in world oil inventories that has occurred over the last few years comes to an end,” said Howard Gruenspecht, acting EIA administrator, in a statement. March West Texas Intermediate crude continued to trade lower, down $1.04, or 2%, at $51.97 a barrel. April Brent fell 87 cents, or 1.6%, to $54.85 a barrel.

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The U.K.’s minister for Brexit David Jones on Tuesday promised that members of parliament will get a vote on the final deal to leave the European Union, before it is put forward to the European parliament. Making the concession during a debate about Article 50, Jones said both the House of Lords and the House of Commons will get a vote on the Brexit arrangements. “First of all we intend that the vote will cover not only the withdrawal arrangements but also the future relationship with the European Union,” Jones said during the debate, according to U.K. media reports. “Furthermore, I can confirm that the government will bring forward a motion on the final agreement to be approved by both Houses of Parliament before it is concluded, and we expect and intend that this happen before the European parliament debates and votes on the final agreement,” he added.

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U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, as the three main benchmarks advanced toward fresh records after a series of earnings reports. The S&P 500 index climbed three points, or 0.2%, to 2,296. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65 points, or 0.3%, to 20,116. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11 points, or 0.2%, to 5,673, touching an intraday record. Among individual stocks, Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. tumbled after the apparel seller’s third-quarter revenue and fourth-quarter guidance both fell short of expectations. General Motors Co. after the company blamed currency exchange headwinds for a sharp drop in its fourth-quarter net income. Gap Inc. rose after it said late Monday that it expects to top profit targets for 2017.

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Twitter Inc. announced the rollout of three tools Tuesday to combat abuse on the platform. Twitter has added tools that will identify people who have been suspended from Twitter and stop them from creating fake accounts, remove offensive and blocked or muted tweets from search results and minimizing by size and identifying abusive or “low quality” tweets in conversations. Twitter has come under frequent criticism for not combating abuse on the platform. Shares of Twitter were up 1% Tuesday morning. Shares of Twitter have lost less 0.5% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.9%.

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Perrigo Co. said early Tuesday that it has filed for Food and Drug Administration approval for a generic version of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s Onexton acne gel. Valeant filed a lawsuit claiming patent infringement last week, Perrigo said. Onexton sales for 12 months through December 2016 totaled about $139 million, Perrigo said. Perrigo shares have dropped 7.0% over the last three months and Valeant shares have dropped 23.7%, compared with a 7.6% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Nielsen Holdings took a step Tuesday toward better TV audience measurement in the digital age. Nielsen said its digital measurement in the TV ratings received accreditation by the Media Rating Council. This measurement method accounts for traditional linear TV viewing that occurs on desktop and mobile devices. Nielsen launched the method in 2015 and it is currently used by Walt Disney Co.’s ABC and Freeform, as well as CBS Corp. and Univision. It’s the first method looking at programming viewed on computers and mobile devices to garner accreditation from the Media Rating Council. “We’ve seen undeniable changes in content consumption behavior and, more than ever, ensuring we have measurement capabilities in the industry to adequately capture audience digital and linear viewing is critical,” Jed Meyer, executive vice president of corporate research at Univision said in a statement. “Nielsen’s MRC accreditation reaffirms the importance of transparent and accountable TV ratings for digital, especially as companies like Univision serve our respective audiences whenever and wherever they choose.” Nielsen is still working to receive accreditation for other measurements that make up its Total Audience method, but this accreditation gives additional confidence to advertisers and networks when determining the reach and effectiveness of content.

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FXCM Inc.’s stock plunged 32% in premarket trade Tuesday toward a record low, after the currency broker was banned from operating in the U.S. after an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found FXCM was effectively taking positions opposite its retail customers. The stock was on track to open at $4.00, below its previous record low close of $5.30 on Dec. 11, 2015. As part of FXCM’s settlement with the CFTC, the company will sell its U.S. customer accounts, which had generated about $48 million in revenue in 2016, to Gain Capital Holdings Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Kyle Voigt said he believed this “forced sale” was a positive for Gain’s stock, as it would likely significantly add to earnings in the first year. Gain’s stock shot up 5.9% in light premarket trade, putting it on track to open at the highest level since Dec. 31, 2015.

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Pharmaceutical company Perrigo Co. Plc said Tuesday it has reached agreement with activist investor Starboard LP to add five new independent directors to its board. Starboard owns about 6.7% of Dublin-based Perrigo’s shares. Under the terms of the deal, Jeffrey Smith, Starboard’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Bradley Alford and Jeffrey Kindler have been appointed to the Perrigo Board, effective immediately. The investor will recommend two additional independent directors at a later date. Current directors, Herman Morris, Shlomo Yanai, Michael Jandernoa, and Gary Kunkle will step down from the Board effective immediately.The board will have 10 members until the appointment of another director. At that point, Ellen Hoffing will step down to make way for a final Starboard candidate. Perrigo shares rose 1.7% premarket but are down 47% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 22%.

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