CWS Market Review – June 14, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 14th, 2022 at 7:37 pm

(This is the free version of CWS Market Review. If you like what you see, then please sign up for the premium newsletter for $20 per month or $200 for the whole year. If you sign up today, you can see our two reports, “Your Handy Guide to Stock Orders” and “How Not to Get Screwed on Your Mortgage.”)

It’s Official. We’re in a Bear Market

Yesterday was a terrible day for Wall Street. The stock market plunged, and it looks like the battle to defeat inflation will be a lot more difficult than many folks had originally anticipated.

On Monday, the S&P 500 lost 3.88% which made it the index’s second-worst day of the last two years. If you’re really into market history, it was the 161st worst day since 1928. In the entire S&P 500 on Monday, only five stocks closed higher.

More importantly, the S&P 500 closed below the 20% drawdown line which is the traditional definition of a bear market. At today’s market close, the S&P 500 is down 22.12% from its all-time high close reached on January 3 of this year.

Today was the lowest close for the stock market in more than 17 months. At one point, the stock market was up 26% during the Biden presidency. Now that’s all gone.

What driving the selling? The answer is easy. It’s the same thing that’s been happening, only more so. Inflation has spooked Wall Street and traders now believe the Federal Reserve needs to keep raising interest rates. To give you an example, since Friday, the yield on the two-year Treasury jumped from 2.83% to 3.45%. The two-year is often seen as a proxy for the market’s opinion for where rates ought to be. The two-year yield is now at a 15-year high.

Again, what we’re seeing is risky stocks getting slammed while more conservative stocks are down but not by nearly as much. On Monday, the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index fell by 2.97% while the S&P 500 High Beta Index dropped by 6.54%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is now down by one-third since November.

What’s really happening is that many stocks are giving back gains they never should have had in the first place. To give you an example, shares of Moderna (MRNA) are now trading at one-quarter of their value in August. Shares of Zoom (ZM) are down more than 80% from their high. Netflix (NFLX) is off by 70% just this year, and we’re not even at July 4!

Everything seemed so easy before that meddling inflation showed up! The bull market that recently ended was one of the fastest on record, and it was the quickest ever to double. Now the bill has come due.

Over four trading days (Wednesday to Monday), the losses got progressively worse. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost 1.1%. Then on Thursday, it fell 2.4% followed by another 2.9% on Friday. Today was the market’s best day of the last week, and that’s still a loss of 0.38%.

I’m pleased to say that our conservative-oriented Buy List keeps chugging along. Since June 1, the S&P 500 is down by 8.92% while our Buy List is off by “just” 7.30%. I know it sounds odd to point out that we’re down but by less, but that’s where a lot of long-term outperformance comes from. Our stocks are generally much higher quality and that protects them during a storm like this. I’ve used this quote before, but it’s a good one from Shelby Cullom Davis: “You make most of your money in a bear market; you just don’t realize it at the time.”

Worst Inflation Since 1981

What spurred the bad news on Friday was another troubling inflation report. There had been some hope that we might see some evidence that inflation had cooled off during May. Well, that didn’t happen. The government said that consumer prices rose by 8.6% in the 12 months ending in May. That’s the highest inflation rate since December 1981.

Digging into the details, the picture is not encouraging. Instead of cooling off, it seems that inflation is getting worse. The monthly rate of inflation increased from 0.3% in April to 1.0% in May. That’s the second-highest monthly rate of the last 10 years.

At that rate of inflation, if you’re paid in dollars at a fixed rate for one year, that means you effectively work one month of the year for free, and that doesn’t include taxes. Inflation is also taking its toll on wages. Last month, inflation-adjusted wages fell by 0.6%.

It’s true that food and energy have been driving much of the inflation, but the core rate also remains stubbornly high. For the 12 months ending in May, the core rate of inflation increased by 6.0% which was higher than expectations. For the month, the core rate increased by 0.6%. To give you an idea of how much things have changed, the core rate of inflation for the 12 months ending in February 2021 was just 1.3%.

Look for the Fed to Hike by 0.75%

The Federal Reserve is meeting again in Washington. The policy statement is due out tomorrow at 2 p.m. Yesterday afternoon, the stock market got another shock when the Wall Street Journal reported that the Fed was considering raising interest rates by 0.75%. I should explain that when the Wall Street Journal reports that the Fed is considering something, you can be pretty sure this is coming from the top.

A string of troubling inflation reports in recent days is likely to lead Federal Reserve officials to consider surprising markets with a larger-than-expected 0.75-percentage-point interest-rate increase at their meeting this week.

Before officials began their premeeting quiet period on June 4, they had signaled they were prepared to raise interest rates by a half percentage point this week and again at their meeting in July. But they also had said their outlook depended on the economy evolving as they expected. Last week’s inflation report from the Labor Department showed a bigger jump in prices in May than officials had anticipated.

The Fed was also shocked by two recent reports showing that consumers are starting to expect higher inflation. This is why inflation is so difficult to fight. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once consumers expect it, they get it.

Before the WSJ scoop, investors had been expecting an increase of 0.5%. In fact, the Fed basically said so. In May, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the Fed was not “actively considering” larger increases. Apparently, that’s all changed. One week ago, the futures market pegged the odds of a 0.75% rate hike at 4%. Now it’s at 94% and a slew of major Wall Street investment houses say they expect to see a 0.75% hike tomorrow. The Fed hasn’t done a 0.75% hike since 1994.

I’m glad to see the Fed finally realize the problem is more acute than they had initially believed. The problem is that the Fed’s main tool is short-term interest rates. That’s a very blunt tool. The Fed thinks it can enact precise fine-tuning with rate hikes. They think they’re using scissors when they’re really using an axe.

I think there’s a very good chance that we’ll see another 0.75% at the Fed’s next meeting in July. That would bring the Fed’s target range to 2.25% to 2.5%. How high will the Fed go? That’s a good question. The place to look is long-term rates. I would guess that the Fed wants to make the yield curve flat, even a little negative. With the 30-year yield at 3.45%, that means the Fed could go as high as 4% within the next six to nine months.

The larger story remains the same. The Fed overreacted to Covid by lowering rates to the floor. That radically changed the math on Wall Street as high-risk stocks became no-brainers. There was a big bull market in everything risk. Not just riskier stocks, but also crypto and NFTs. Higher rates are tripping up all those high-risk, high-volatility sectors. In less than two months, the price for bitcoin has been cut in half. Bitcoin is now down 69% from its peak. Remarkably, this is only its seventh-steepest correction in the last 12 years.

The Low in the Presidential Election Cycle

I’m not much of a fan of historical patterns in the stock market, but I’ll highlight one for you today. The stock market has traditionally reached a low point during midterm years in the presidential election cycle. As it turns out, this is one such year and the midterm elections are less than five months away.

I’ve crunched over 130 years of data on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and found that the low point of the presidential cycle comes on September 30 of the midterm year. Historically, the 15 months prior to September 30 of the midterm have been pretty blah for stocks.

However, after September 30, the stock market has done quite well. From September 30 of the midterm year until July 22 of the pre-election year, the Dow has gained an average of 19.3%. That’s more than half of the market’s entire gain coming in less than 11 months.

Here’s what the average presidential election cycle has looked like:

That’s the average of 125 years of the Dow. I set the chart to start at 100 on January 1 of the post-election year.

My point is not about timing the market. Rather, it’s that there tend to be broad cycles in the stock market. Though we’re in a painful bear market, this too shall pass. In fact, we’re seeing excellent bargains right now.

Last week, we had a very strong earnings report from Science Applications International (SAIC) which is our #2 performing Buy List stock this year. The company beat earnings and raised guidance.

That’s all for now. The stock market will be closed this Monday in honor of Juneteenth. I’ll have more for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review.

– Eddy

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for a premium subscription: $20 per month or $200 for the whole year!

Morning News: June 14, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 14th, 2022 at 7:03 am

Why Gas Prices Are So High

Global Stock Rout Prompts Call for Back-to-Basics Investing

Wall Street’s Favorite Recession Signal Is Back as Curves Invert

The Pandemic Broke the Fed’s Model; This Week May Show How Much

What Happens When Stock Markets Become Bears

Where to Hide in a Bear Market? Soda, Peanut Butter and Tissues

Bitcoin Claws Back From 10% Plunge With Dip Buyers Tiptoeing In

Coinbase CEO Urges Unhappy Workers to Quit, Slams ‘Dumb’ Petition

Pimco Warned US Treasury That Russia Sanctions Will Hit Pensions

Prologis to Buy Duke Realty in $26 Billion Deal, Including Debt

Spirit Airlines in Talks with JetBlue Over $3.4 Billion Improved Offer

Founder Harold Hamm Offers to Take Continental Private in $25 Billion Deal

Elon Musk to Address Twitter Staff for First Time Since Deal

World’s Richest Have Lost $1.4 Trillion in 2022 After Rapid Gains

Disney CEO Bob Chapek Supported Peter Rice. Until He Didn’t.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter.

The S&P 500 Breaks to a New Cycle Low
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 13th, 2022 at 10:32 am

The stock market had another ugly open on Monday morning. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed above its low close from May 19 by 0.07 points. The May 19 figure is the current low close of this cycle. That may end today. The market is looking at its lowest close in 15 months.

The number to watch is 3,837.25. That’s a 20% drawdown from the all-time high close from January 3. The S&P 500 has been as low as 3,769 this morning. The Nasdaq Composite is now down 32% from its high last November.

Morning News: June 13, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 13th, 2022 at 7:05 am

Pandemic, War in Ukraine Create New Challenges for Struggling WTO

How the ‘Energy Shock’ Has Upended the Global Economy

Some European Factories, Long Dependent on Cheap Russian Energy, Are Shutting Down

Biden Plan for EV Chargers on Highways Meets Skepticism in Rural West

Striking Truck Drivers in South Korea Snarl Supply Chains

India’s Economy Is Growing Quickly. Why Can’t It Produce Enough Jobs?

Wall Street’s China Problems Multiply With Warning on Banker Pay

US Bonds Flag Recession Risk With 75 Basis-Point Hike in Play

Fed Tries to Thread the Needle In Forecasting A ‘Softish’ Landing

Higher Unemployment Rate Looms as the Fed Fights Inflation

Crypto Lender Celsius Stops Withdrawals, Fuels Market Slump

Goldman and Morgan Stanley Say Stocks Don’t Fully Reflect Risks

Goldman Sachs Is Being Investigated Over E.S.G. Funds

Google Sidelines Engineer Who Claims Its A.I. Is Sentient

Rebranded McDonald’s Restaurants Are Unveiled in Russia

Some M.B.A.s Are Getting Job Offers Before They Step Onto Campus

Be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Morning News: June 10, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 10th, 2022 at 7:03 am

Business Losses From Russia Top $59 Billion as Sanctions Hit

Food Export Bans in Asia Prompt Fears of More Protectionism

Shanghai Returns to Lockdown for Mass Testing on Covid Fears

Wealthiest Green Entrepreneurs Lose $141 Billion as Market Turns

A Plea From German Brewers: Bring Back Your Empties

Lessons From Henry Ford About Today’s Supply Chain Mess

How Inflation Became a Global Problem

ECB Plans July Rate Increase as Inflation Problem Deepens

How Inflation May Change Where You Put Your Cash

Fed Dot Plot Seen Signaling Rise in Median Rates to 3.1% in 2023

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bridgewater Leaders Imagine Markets in 2052

Global Investment Banking Faces Tougher Times After Blockbuster Year

As Gas Prices Near $5 a Gallon, Record Fuel Costs Upend Businesses, U.S. Economy

Why Apple’s BNPL Just Became a Nightmare for Affirm and Block

A Billion-Dollar Crypto Gaming Startup Promised Riches and Delivered Disaster

3M’s ‘Forever Chemicals’ Crisis Has Come to Europe, and This Time There Could Be Criminal Charges

Disney Fires Peter Rice, Its Top TV Content Executive

Be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Morning News: June 9, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 9th, 2022 at 7:01 am

Global Food Import Bill Set for Record, Taking Toll on Poorest

European Central Bank Prepares for Its First Interest Rate Increase in 11 Years

Recession? Stagflation? British Businesses Wade Through Dire Warnings.

Soaring Oil Prices Force Biden to Engage With Saudis He’d Spurned

White House Struggles to Talk About the ‘Problem From Hell’

Powell’s Opinions on Inflation Matter, Not Biden’s

U.S. Considering Reducing Tariffs on China to Ease Inflation, Yellen Says

SEC’s Revamp of Trading Rules Faces Criticism From Wall Street

Wall Street’s Blank-Check Boom Has Gone Bust

Jump in Mortgage Rates Could Add $100,000 to Housing Costs

The Billionaires Behind a Push to Reinvigorate U.S. Chip-Making

Twitter Said to Agree to Give Elon Musk Access to Stream of Tweets

Target CEO Says Unloading Excess Inventory Is a Necessary Pain

Spirit Airlines Delays Shareholder Vote as It Considers Frontier, JetBlue Offers

China Weighs Reviving Jack Ma’s Ant IPO as Crackdown Eases

Deloitte Explores Splitting Auditing, Consulting Arms, Following Ernst & Young

Get In. We’re Going to Save the Mall

Be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Morning News: June 8, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 8th, 2022 at 7:03 am

Shock of War Threatens Lasting Impact on Global Economy

Global Growth Will Be Choked Amid Inflation and War, World Bank Says

Janet Yellen and World Bank Expect Elevated Inflation to Persist

The Economy May Be Slowing, But Recession Fears Are ‘Overblown’ These Experts Argue

London Asset Hunters Uncover ‘Hundreds’ of Low-Key Russians for Possible Sanctions

Under Biden, China Has Widened Trade Lead In Much of Latin America

Surging Gas Prices Top $5 in 13 States and Counting

Wall Street Regulator to Spell Out Push to Overhaul Stock Trading

Crispin Odey Hedge Fund’s 110% Gain in Five Months Wipes Out Years of Losses

Hedge Fund D1 Borrowed Billions for Hot Bet Now Seen Melting Down

Funding Squeeze at Buy-Now-Pay-Later Pioneer Flashes Industry Warning

JetBlue’s CEO Says Its Offer to Buy Spirit ‘Makes the Most Sense’

Chicken Company Foster Farms Sold to Private Equity Firm

WalMart Expands Transportation Partnerships with Electric, Hydrogen Vehicle Pilots

The Pain After the Gain: Grocery Deliverers Reshuffle After Lockdown Boom

Microsoft’s Augmented-Reality Chief Plans to Leave Company

Be sure to follow me on Twitter.

CWS Market Review – June 7, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 7th, 2022 at 6:22 pm

(This is the free version of CWS Market Review. If you like what you see, then please sign up for the premium newsletter for $20 per month or $200 for the whole year. If you sign up today, you can see our two reports, “Your Handy Guide to Stock Orders” and “How Not to Get Screwed on Your Mortgage.”)

Target Flails Again

The bear market rally already seems to be losing momentum. From the low on May 20 to the high on May 27, the S&P 500 bounced more than 9%. Since then, stocks have mostly flatlined although today was a nice day.

One of the important characteristics of bad markets is that they tend to be over quickly. Even within a bear market, most of the worst damage happens over a brief time. In the current sell-off, the worst damage came over a five-day period. From May 4 to May 11, the S&P 500 lost 8.5%. That’s brutal. Take that off the table (and granted, it’s a lot of overlook), and the current market is hardly noteworthy.

What will happen next? I have no idea, but there still seems to be a lot of distressing news out there. Just look at Target (TGT). The only target worth mentioning is the one that Wall Street apparently has on them.

A few weeks ago, shares of Tar-jay got steamrolled for a 25% loss in one day after the retailer released a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad earnings report. For its fiscal Q1, Target made $2.19 per share. Wall Street had been expecting $3.07 per share.

Yet the company is still having issues. On Tuesday, Target said that it’s going to take a near-term hit to its earnings. The company is going to cancel orders and slash prices on its inventory. If you’re a retailer, the worst thing you can have is a loaded warehouse full of stuff nobody wants. The only way out is to slash prices. That, of course, hits your bottom line. Actually, in this environment, Target can’t even slash prices. They’re only raising them more slowly than their competitors.

Target said that its inventory rose 43% last quarter. That’s very not good. What happened is that during the pandemic, shoppers used their stimmies to get things like electronics, small appliances and outdoor patio furniture. Once you get stuff like that, you’re set for a few years, so now consumers aren’t buying any of those things.

Target desperately wants to clean out its warehouse as soon as it can. That way it can put higher-margin products back on its shelves. One easy way to judge a company’s fiscal health is to look at its operating margin. Or more specifically, the direction of its operating margin. If they’re expanding, that’s usually a good sign. It says the company is managing its inventory and that it has pricing power in the market.

Previously, Target said it had been expecting its operating margin to be around 5.3%. Now the company is expecting operating margin for Q2 of about 2%. That sounds small but for a big company, it’s a massive difference. Target did say it expects to see its operating margin improve to 6% for the latter half of this year. Hmm. We’ll see.

This is a trend we’ve seen at some other retailers. Sales are up but profits are down. Thanks to inflation, shoppers are spending more on less. Combined with that is how Covid has altered consumer spending patterns.

Target isn’t the only retailer under pressure. If you recall, Walmart (WMT) also had a lousy earnings report. For Q1, Walmart made $1.30 per share which missed the Street by 18 cents per share. During the quarter, their inventory ballooned by 30%. Some of it is due to inflation, but it’s also the result of Walmart stocking up on goods to meet demand during the pandemic. Now Walmart says that about 20% of their inventory is stuff it wished it didn’t have.

What’s particularly troubling is for Target to have two such bad announcements coming so closely together. The stock just dropped 25% in one day, and now this? With any sort of damage control, you need to be ahead of the news. If not, then you’re not controlling the damage.

At one point this morning, shares of Target were down 8%. It made back some of that, but it was not a good day for Target shareholders. Walmart and Amazon were also down today. If the big boys in retail are having this much trouble, I hate to think what the smaller players are dealing with.

The Musk/Twitter Saga

I feel like we’re heading to the denouement of the Saga of Elon Musk and Twitter (TWTR). It doesn’t look like any deal is going to happen.

Don’t take my word for it. When in doubt, look at what the market is saying. Twitter’s share price is currently just below $40 per share. The stock would have to jump 35% to reach Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share.

The latest news is that Musk is threatening to walk away from the deal. He’s claiming that Twitter is in “material breach” of the buyout deal.

Musk, or rather his lawyers, said that Twitter is “actively resisting and thwarting” Musk’s attempts to get info on the company.

The issue is that Musk wants to see proof behind Twitter’s claim that bots represent less than 5% of their accounts. I’m afraid this is a bit disingenuous on Musk’s part. Frankly, being concerned about a bot issue at Twitter is like a hockey team complaining that the other team is pushing and checking. Everyone knows Twitter is loaded with bot accounts.

Twitter has used the 5% number for several years. Musk has said the number could be as high as 90%. Twitter said that it intends to close the deal and “enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms.” Yeah, that ain’t gonna happen.

I think it’s clear that Musk wants out of the deal and he’s using this as a convenient excuse. This is speculation on my part, but I suspect that Twitter employed an investment banker to give them an honest assessment of Twitter’s true value, and the answer they provided was very low. As a result, Twitter saw Musk’s offer as a great deal. Bear in mind that Musk has said that “having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”

I think Musk enjoyed the fun of making the Twitter execs and employees nervous. He’s got a 12-digit fortune, so why not have some fun? Plus, he has a valid point that Twitter’s banning policies seem arbitrary.

If both sides take the matter to court, then it may not turn out well for Musk. According to the deal, Twitter is allowed to sue and force the acquisition. That is, assuming Musk’s financing remains in place.

You’ll notice that there tends to be a big difference between what Musk tweets and what his lawyers say in official documents submitted to the SEC.

This deal isn’t going to happen and Twitter shareholders will lose out. On the plus side, a small number of lawyers were very well-paid.

JetBlue Raises Its Offer for Spirit

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the frenzied bidding war between JetBlue (JBLU) and Frontier (ULCC) for Spirit Airlines (SAVE). I always love a good bidding war and this one is still going on. JetBlue refuses to let the deal get away from them.

On Monday, JetBlue sweetened its offer, now offering Spirit shareholders $31.50 per share in cash. That includes $30 for the airline plus $1.50 per share to cover a reverse break-up fee.

Earlier, JetBlue offered $33 per share for a friendly deal. They later offered $30 per share in a hostile deal. JetBlue is really going to the wall for Spirit. The company said it is willing to make “unprecedented divestiture commitments” to close the deal.

On Friday, Spirit shareholders are due to vote on Frontier’s offer. Spirit’s board has unanimously endorsed the Frontier deal. One major sticking point is the anti-trust concerns if Spirit goes with JetBlue. For the time being, Spirit is sticking with Frontier, but that could change.

If it does change, that would be a remarkable victory because it would prove to everyone that shareholders truly run a company, not senior management.

I’m still put off by JetBlue’s behavior. It seems that they’re far too eager to get this deal at any price. My fear is that they see the loss of Spirit as the major threat to their future health. That may not be the case, but they’re sure acting that way.

Amazon Splits 20-for-1

Earlier this week, I got a text alert informing me that shares of Amazon (AMZN) were down by 95%. This news was technically accurate. Amazon’s nominal share price was down by 95%. The algorithm that generated the alert failed to account for the fact that Amazon had split its stock 20-for-1.

I’m not aware of any stock split that large. Maybe it’s a trend. Google will also be splitting its stock by 20-for-1 next month.

I remember that stock splits were popular in the 1990s. It’s an easy press release for your investor relations team. Of course, a stock split does nothing for your stock, but it sounds like it’s good news.

Some companies lean too heavily on stock splits. I remember when Jet Blue split its stock 3-for-2 three times in a few years even though the stock hadn’t done much.

It is curious why companies use stock splits. They wouldn’t do it unless it met some demand from investors. Many years ago, when I worked on the retail side, I was often surprised by how often investors shied away from stocks over $100 per share. I think the sweet spot was around $30 to $50 per share.

In today’s market, we have things like zero commissions and fractional shares, yet there’s still a demand for stock splits. They used to say that it helped liquidity, but that seems like a stretch.

For Amazon, this is their first stock split since the 1990s. In a 15-month period, Amazon split its stock three times for a combined 12-for-1. Add in this week’s split and the shares have grown by 240-fold since the IPO 25 years ago.

When Amazon debuted, it was for $18 per share. In split-adjusted terms, that works out to 7.5 cents per share. That’s enough to turn $3,000 in $50 million. That also includes a period when Amazon dropped by 95% (a real 95% drop, not a phony alert).

Here’s an article I wrote five years ago on the occasion of Amazon’s 20th birthday as a public company.

By the way, Google’s share price is currently around $2,200. If that holds, then it will be around $110 post-split. That means that a stock named for 10^100 will be roughly 10^2. This concludes your nerd fun for the day.

That’s all for now. I’ll have more for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review.

– Eddy

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for a premium subscription: $20 per month or $200 for the whole year!

Morning News: June 7, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 7th, 2022 at 7:02 am

Venezuela’s Capitalist Playground Has $200,000 Ferraris and a Bustling Casino

Biden Invokes Emergency Power in Bid to Resolve Solar Import Dispute

Persistent Inflation Puts Yellen in the Spotlight

Inflation, Political Division Put U.S. in a Pessimistic Mood, Poll Finds

JPM’s Chief Economist, Others Disagree with Dimon’s ‘Hurricane’ Warning

Top Economist Urges China to Seize TSMC If US Ramps Up Sanctions

Robinhood, Rivian Lead Slide in Pandemic-Era IPOs

The Potential Dark Side of a White-Hot Labor Market

Can a Start-Up Make Sustainable Construction the Next Frontier in Eco-Business?

EU Agrees Deal on Common Phone Charger in Blow to Apple

Apple Unveils Installment Pay Plan, CarPlay Update in Push Beyond iPhone

Texas Attorney General Opens Investigation of Twitter Bots

Wells Fargo Announces ‘Pause’ of Policy That Led to Fake Job Interviews

SEC Weighs Sending Retail Stock Orders to Auctions for Execution

Target Shares Fall 9% As It Expects Squeezed Profits from Aggressive Plan to Get Rid of Unwanted Inventory

Kohl’s Enters Exclusive Talks to Be Sold to Vitamin Shoppe Owner

JetBlue Increases Offer for Spirit Airlines as Bidding War Heats Up

Be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Amazon Splits 20-for-1
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 6th, 2022 at 10:05 am

The stock market is up about 1% this morning. Amazon split its stock 20-for-1 and the new share amount goes into effect today. I can’t think of another split that large.

This is Amazon’s first stock split in 23 years. The first three came over a 15-month stretch.

If you bought Amazon at the IPO, you now have 240 times the number of shares. The split-adjusted IPO price was 7.5 cents per share.

Shares of SAIC are up about 6% after its good earnings report.