Month: January 2017

California clears hurdle for cancer warning label on Roundup

California can require Monsanto to label its popular weed-killer Roundup as a possible cancer threat despite an insistence from the chemical giant that it poses no risk to people, a judge tentatively ruled Friday. Monsanto had sued the nation’s leading agricultural state, saying California officials illegally based their decision for carrying the warnings on an international health organization based in France.

California clears hurdle for cancer warning label on Roundup

California can require Monsanto to label its popular weed-killer Roundup as a possible cancer threat despite an insistence from the chemical giant that it poses no risk to people, a judge tentatively ruled Friday. Monsanto had sued the nation’s leading agricultural state, saying California officials illegally based their decision for carrying the warnings on an international health organization based in France.

Stock Market Under Pressure After Weak Data, Earnings

U.S. stocks Friday morning were trading slightly lower as investors weighed disappointing fourth-quarter data on domestic economic growth and a spate of earnings, including disappointing results from Dow component Chevron. Still, the main indexes were on track to book weekly profits during a period marked by the Dow surpassing the psychologically important level of 20,000.

Raytheon Earnings: Here’s the 1 Number That Matters Most

We laid out the expectations for Thursday’s earnings report for you earlier this week. According to Wall Street’s best guesses , Raytheon was supposed to report earning $2.2 billion in profit on $24.4 billion in revenue, and generate even more cash profit than it was allowed to report as “net income” under GAAP — $2.5 billion in positive free cash flow, to be precise.

Pound ETF Still Faces Hurdles as Brexit Course Continues

After ranking as one of last year’s worst-performing developed market currency exchange traded funds, the CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust has cobbled together some modest upside to start 2017. However, the British pound still faces multiple challenges as Great Britain sets out on its Brexit course.

Northrop Grumman Crushed It on Earnings — Then Sold Off

Heading into earnings day on Thursday, I noted that Northrop Grumman had already come a long way toward meeting Wall Street’s targets for fiscal 2016, having already made three-quarters of the revenue it was supposed to collect and 81% of the profits it was supposed to earn. Nevertheless, the company was issuing cautious guidance of its own for the year, which seemed to imply there was a risk Northrop would fail to deliver.

Iridium Communications Stock Roars Higher

While initial investor exuberance over potential Trump-fueled spending that could benefit the company may have gotten the party started, the real reason for the rise in share prices is more likely that the company’s new satellite array is finally launching. Iridium’s stock is up roughly 11% over the past six months or so.

Better Buy: Baidu, Inc. vs. Facebook

The divergent fortunes of Facebook and Baidu shares over the past year only reinforce their apparent differences. However, though their core businesses today touch different areas of the global technology market, Facebook and Baidu are united in their ongoing efforts to shape some of technology’s most important future growth markets.

Serena vs Venus: a Williams Sibling Rivalry Worth $116M

Serena and Venus Williams’ match this Saturday in the 2017 Australian Open final is not your average sibling rivalry – it is also a clash of two of the tennis world’s most lucrative brands. For Venus, 36, the match in Melbourne marks an opportunity to score an upset victory in a long-running duel.

Ghost of 1990s Is Haunting Dollar and Slowing Further Gains

A new dynamic entered the $5.1 trillion currency market in recent days, as the dollar failed to keep pace with a rise in U.S. Treasury yields. One reason: traders are increasingly aware of the example of the period in the Clinton administration when a widening yield advantage didn’t work in the dollar’s favor, says Shusuke Yamada, chief Japan currency and equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo.

Honeywell Misses 4Q Earnings Estimates, Maintains 2017 Guidance

Honeywell misses earnings estimates for the fourth quarter but holds its 2017 guidance in place in what will be one of the final presentations for outgoing CEO Dave Cote. Honeywell International missed earnings estimates for the final three months of the year but held its 2017 guidance in place in what will be one of the final presentations for outgoing CEO Dave Cote.

A Trump Tariff on North American Auto Trade Could Kill Jobs, Not Increase Them

Could President Donald Trump’s initiative to increase automotive manufacturing in the U.S. actually kill more jobs than it creates? By raising tariffs as high as 35% in a bid to force production to the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, the U.S. would increase costs, force new investment in plants and dampen sales by General Motors , Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles . The CEOs of the three automakers met with the president for breakfast on Tuesday.

Voter fraud

A woman who was arrested after voting twice for Donald Trump – and in the process becoming a flash point in the voter fraud debate – is incompetent to stand trial, her attorney said in a motion filed in Iowa court. Terri Lynn Rote, 56, was accused in late October of casting two ballots in the general election: an early-voting ballot at the Polk County Election Office and another at a county satellite voting location, according to police records.

Trader’s Daily Notebook: What If This Isn’t a Bull Trap?

Thursday’s regular-session E-Mini S&P 500 futures auction turned out to be a pretty quiet event, with fewer than 1 million contracts changing hands over an anemic seven-handle range. However, for those not keeping detailed notes, the contract still managed to close above its upper Bollinger band for the second day in a row.

Tesco merges with Booker in $4.7 billion deal

Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, has agreed to buy food wholesaler Booker Group for 3.7 billion pounds , as it seeks to boost growth by supplying products to rivals such as convenience stores and independent retailers. Tesco says it will pay the equivalent of 205.3 pence in cash and stock for each Booker share, 12 percent more than the closing price on Jan. 26. CEO Dave Lewis says the merger will “enhance Tesco’s growth prospects by creating the U.K.’s leading food business with combined expertise in retail, wholesale, supply chain and digital.”

Restaurant Brands to launch Tim Hortons in Mexico

Restaurant Brands International Inc said it would launch its coffee and doughnut chain, Tim Hortons, in Mexico as a part of its expansion plans. The company said it would form a master franchise joint venture with a group of investors, whom they did not name, to launch the brand.

Oil Heads for Second Weekly Gain as OPEC Continues Output Cuts

Oil headed for a second weekly increase as OPEC and other producing nations maintained they would achieve their target of cutting production to reduce bloated global inventories and stabilize the market. Front-month futures in New York are up 2.3 percent for the week, set for the biggest advance since Dec. 2. OPEC and other producers are due to reach the 1.8 million-barrel-a-day reduction target next month, Algeria’s Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa said Thursday.

BT Ceo Says Company Was Deceived by a Few Employees in Italy

BT Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Gavin Patterson sought to distance himself from an accounting scandal in Italy that’s rocked the U.K. phone company, pointing the blame squarely on a few rogue employees and removing the head of European operations under whose watch the activities occurred. “It was a very sophisticated manipulation of the profitability of the business,” Patterson said on a conference call Friday.

Sumitomo Mitsui Hiring Barclays Private Bankers as Ties End

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will hire about 20 private bankers from Barclays Plc in Japan as the two companies end a six-year alliance and the U.K. bank scales back its wealth-management business in the country. The bankers will join the lender’s brokerage unit in April, said Kouichi Shibata, a spokesman for SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. in Tokyo.

UBS Clients Pull $15 Billion in Quarter as Margins Decline

UBS Group AG said clients pulled a net 15.2 billion francs in the final three months of last year, and margins at its wealth management business declined for a third straight quarter, even as rising stock markets and higher interest rates in the U.S. lifted earnings. The bank fell as much as 3.6 percent in Zurich trading, pulling other wealth managers lower, after saying all of its money management units saw net redemptions last quarter.

To Toll or Not to Toll Is Question for Trump Infrastructure Plan

The Brent Spence Bridge between Ohio and Kentucky carries twice as much traffic as it was built to handle — it’s 54 years old and functionally obsolete. But an effort to replace the span on one of America’s busiest trucking routes has languished for years — even after governors from both states agreed on a $2.5 billion plan about five years ago.

LVMH Hits All-time High After Booking Record Earnings

LVMH shares hit an all-time high Friday after the luxury goods company renewed its sales and profit record, defying the tough business climate hitting the overall industry. Shares in the Paris-based owner of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior brands advanced 1.2% to 192.8 by 10:15 GMT, hitting an all-time high after enjoying a rally of 57% for the last 12 months.