Day: December 21, 2016

Stocks look bubbly

Can we realistically expect more of the same, or are we likely to see a correction? If so, how bad might it be? A look at the most-recent five-year period compared to the history of five-year periods stretching back decades provides some perspective. The S&P 500 has earned an annualized return of 15.28% over the past five years, through December 20, 2016.

Oil Seen at $100 by End 2018 in Lottery Ticket Options Trade

Call it a pre-Christmas lottery ticket, but someone in the oil market has been busy making a bold bet, buying contracts that will be profitable if oil surges again to $100 a barrel. The $100 December 2018 call option — a contract that gives the right to buy Dec. 2018 futures at $100 per barrel — was the most traded contract on Tuesday across the whole ICE Brent market, the latest sign of resurgent optimism in oil.

Whole Foods accused of cheating workers out of bonuses in class-action lawsuit

One current and one former employee of a D.C. Whole Foods store filed a federal class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the grocery chain, alleging that the company cheated them out of bonuses. Last week, Whole Foods said that nine managers at stores in Maryland, Virginia and the District were fired for gaming the chain’s “gainsharing” program , which awards bonuses to employees whose departments come in under budget.

Apple’s Search for Better iPhone Screens Leads to Japan’s Rice Fields

Apple Inc.’s quest to adopt advanced displays for its next-generation iPhone hinges on a single supplier in the Japanese countryside. Canon Tokki Corp., surrounded by rice fields in the city of Mitsuke in Niigata prefecture, has a near monopoly on the machines capable of making screens with organic light-emitting diodes, which enable sharp, vibrant displays that use less energy.

Trump Summons Contractors, Officers to Mar-a-Lago Over Spending

The two largest U.S. defense contractors said Wednesday they would seek to control their costs after President-elect Donald Trump summoned them and a bevy of top Pentagon officials to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss military spending. “We’re trying to get costs down, costs,” Trump told reporters in brief remarks outside the resort after the officers departed.

Credit Suisse Said Planning About 900 Swiss Job Cuts Next Year

Credit Suisse Group AG is accelerating job cuts in its home market to lift profitability as it gears up for a partial sale of the Swiss division, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The bank plans to eliminate about 900 positions in Switzerland next year, possibly enabling it to achieve — perhaps even surpass — its target a year earlier than expected, said the people, who declined to be named as they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter.

Paschi Falls as Buyers Said to Balk, Making State Aid Likely

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA will probably fail to lure sufficient demand for a 5 billion-euro capital raise, said people with knowledge of the matter, making a state rescue likely. No anchor investor has shown interest in the recapitalization so far, the Siena-based company said in a statement late Wednesday after a board meeting.

China’s Uber for Trucks Huochebang Said to Raise $115 Million

Truck Alliance Inc., an Uber-type service for trucks known in China as Huochebang, raised about $115 million in a financing round that valued the startup at $1 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter. The two-year-old company backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Hillhouse Capital secured the capital in a round led by new investors International Finance Corp. and All-Stars Investment Ltd., the people said.

Alibaba Again Named – Notorious Market’ in Blow to Overseas Push

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has again been labeled a haven for knockoffs with an embarrassing return to a U.S. blacklist for fakes just four years after getting its name removed. The U.S. Office of the Trade Representative on Wednesday restored Alibaba’s Taobao to its lineup of “Notorious Markets,” citing an unacceptably high level of reported counterfeiting and piracy.

Oracle Petitions FCC To Reconsider Broadband Privacy Rules

Software corporation Oracle is asking the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider the sweeping broadband privacy rules passed earlier this year. Oracle, which spent years unsuccessfully attempting to prove that Google’s Android code infringes copyright, says the FCC’s recent order on privacy will give Google an unfair advantage against Internet service providers.

Micron’s Stock Surges After Profit, Sales Beat Expectations

Shares of Micron Technology Inc. ran up 7.4% in after-hours trade Wednesday, after the memory chip maker reported its first quarterly profit in a year, that beat expectations. Earnings for the quarter to Dec. 1 were $180 million, or 16 cents a share, down from $206 million, or 19 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Clinton Ends Up With 2.9 Million More Votes Than Trump

Hillary Clinton received the most votes of any losing presidential candidate in U.S. history, according to the final and certified election results announced late Wednesday. Clinton ended up with 65,844,954 votes compared to Donald Trump’s 62,979,879 , beating the president-elect by 2.9 million votes.

Bed Bath & Beyond Drops After Disappointing Earnings, Forecast

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. shares fell more than 5% in late trading Wednesday after the retail chain announced earnings and a forecast that came in lower than expectations. The company said it had net income of $126.4 million, or 85 cents a share, on sales of $2.96 billion in its fiscal third quarter, reflecting a stark decline in profit from $1.09 a share in the same period a year before.

Clamping soars for unpaid car tax

The number of drivers whose cars have been clamped because they’ve failed to pay vehicle tax has soared by 80% since the paper tax disc was scrapped two years ago. Some drivers say they forgot to renew because they don’t have a disc in the windscreen to remind them.

A Surprise ETF can Keep Soaring

Some other single-country emerging markets exchange traded funds have delivered more jaw-dropping performances this year, but the iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF undoubtedly impresses with a year-to-date gain of almost 19%.

Some Caution is Warranted With Homebuilder ETFs

The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF and the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF , the two largest exchange traded funds focusing on homebuilders and related fare, are up an average of 3% this year. Even with those tepid gains, some traders believe homebuilder equities could be vulnerable to some near-term downside.

Oil Slips As EIA Report Shows Larger-than-expected Climb In Inventories

Oil futures trade modestly lower Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic-crude supplies climbed, but inventories of gasoline and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, declined in the week ended Dec. 16. Crude supplies rose 2.2 million barrels. That was contrary to the 2.3-million-barrel fall expected by analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal.

InvenSense’s Stock Soars To Lead NYSE Gainers After TDK Merger Deal

InvenSense Inc.’s stock soared 17% toward a 16-month high in morning trade Wednesday, enough to be the top gainer on the NYSE, after the sensor platform maker agreed to be acquired by Japan’s TDK Corp. in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. Under terms of the deal, TDK will pay $13 for each InvenSense share, a 20% premium to Tuesday’s closing price of $10.84.

Holiday Rush: FedEx Says Deliveries Running on Schedule

In this Jan. 5, 2016 photo, a FedEx truck drives past the skyline in San Francisco. Two giants, the U.S. government and FedEx, are set to do battle in a federal court over the explosive claim that the shipping company knowingly delivered illegal … prescription drugs such as Ambien from pill mills to dealers and addicts, some of whom fatally overdosed.

Boeing Stock Upgraded: What You Need to Know

Are you looking to invest in the booming aerospace and defense industry ? Then boy, does Seaport Global Securities ever have a deal for you! This morning, analysts at Seaport initiated coverage of three big names in the aerospace sector. Topping the banker’s list of picksis Boeing , which Seaport says is a buy at today’s price of just $158 and change.

FINRA Fines Wells, Others $14M for Records’ Changeable Format

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said it fined several Wells Fargo & Co businesses, RBC Capital Markets, LPL Financial and others a combined $14.4 million on Wednesday for record-keeping problems that may have allowed company and customer documents to be altered. The securities industry’s self-regulator found that the firms failed to keep hundreds of millions of electronic documents in a “write once, read many” format, which would have made it impossible to alter or destroy records after they were written.

Oil Seen at $100 by End 2018 in Lottery Ticket Options Trade

Call it a pre-Christmas lottery ticket, but someone in the oil market has been busy making a bold bet, buying contracts that will be profitable if oil surges again to $100 a barrel. The $100 December 2018 call option — a contract that gives the right to buy Dec. 2018 futures at $100 per barrel — was the most traded contract on Tuesday across the whole ICE Brent market, the latest sign of resurgent optimism in oil.

Maker of Spectacles for Dior Expands Into Smart Glasses

Safilo Group SpA, the eyewear company that makes frames for Dior, Fendi and Hugo Boss, is looking to succeed in a high-tech category where even Google has struggled: smart glasses. The Italian company is debuting a set of Internet-connected spectacles next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Apple Tax Fight Looks More Difficult After EU Court Ruling

Apple Inc. and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA may face a tough battle in disputes over European Union demands for back taxes after the bloc’s top court partly backed regulators’ attempt to force Spanish firms to repay millions of euros in tax breaks. In a ruling that could ultimately add impetus to the region’s clampdown on special tax treatment for selected companies, judges at the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said a lower tribunal should re-examine a Spanish system that gave tax breaks to companies, including Banco Santander SA, for the acquisition of stakes in foreign firms.

Net Neutrality or Level Playing Field

It was announced on Dec. 15 that the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission , Thomas Wheeler, would be stepping down as of Jan. 20, 2017. Wheeler has been the lead arbitrator and backer of a concept called “net neutrality.”

Reverse Mortgage Line of Credit Could Fund Long-Term Care

There’s a 70% chance that people over 65 will need some kind of long-term care, including services such as home care, assisted living and skilled nursing, according to government statistics . There are lots of ways to pay for long-term care services, including Medicare, Medicaid, traditional health insurance, long-term care insurance , life insurance and annuities.

Ahead of the Bell: US home sales

The National Association of Realtors reports on November sales of existing U.S. homes Wednesday at 10 a.m. Eastern. SALES PULLBACK: Economists surveyed by the data firm FactSet predict that sales of existing home retreated 1.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 million.