Morning News: October 8, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 8th, 2020 at 7:04 am

Pandemic Exposes Holes in Sweden’s Generous Social Welfare State

Investors Eye Discounted U.S. Healthcare Sector As Biden’s Lead In Polls Grows

Anxious for a Lifeline, the U.S. Economy Is Left to Sink or Swim

Ant Group’s $35 Billion IPO Unlikely To Be Hurt By Possible U.S. Curbs, Analysts Say

A New Kind of Fund That Is Stingier With Information

How To Use Your Heart and Head to Hack Your Personal Finance

American Technology Is Used to Censor the Web From Algeria to Uzbekistan

Facebook Widens Ban on Political Ads as Alarm Rises Over Election

Wait, Wall Street Is Pro-Biden Now?

JPMorgan Pledges Billions in Spending to Fix Racial Wealth Gap

Here’s the Real Cost of Stock Splits that Buffett Knows and Apple and Tesla Ignored

Dutch Firm’s Shareholders Vote Yes to Grubhub Buy, No To CEO’s Pay

The CDC Is Playing a Game of Chicken With Cruise Lines

Smaller Hams, Downsized Desserts: Sam’s Club Adds Petite Packs As Americans Plan Smaller Holiday Gatherings During Pandemic

Ben Carlson: Animal Spirits: Living Through History

Joshua Brown: Less Tweets, More Checks

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Market U-Turns on Stimulus Hopes
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 7th, 2020 at 2:49 pm

The stock market is up nicely today. The market got dinged yesterday afternoon after President Trump withdrew from any negotiations regarding a fiscal stimulus. In an apparent U-turn, the president today Tweeted support for stimulus.

Trump urged Congress to approve airline payroll support, saying that money and aid for small business could be paid for with unused funds from the previous stimulus. Trump also pushed for another round of $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans.

The market is quite pleased. The Dow has been up as much as 550 points today. The small-cap Russell 2000 is up close to 3%. (The index is tilted towards cyclicals.) Growth and Value are up nearly the same. RPM International is up about 3%. The company reported good earnings this morning.

The Fed released the minutes of its last meeting this afternoon. In it, the Fed showed concern that the economy is slowing down and that will get worse without any stimulus.

The Fed’s minutes are a study in indefinite pronouns (many, some, a few). Today’s minutes said, “Many participants noted that their economic outlook assumed additional fiscal support and that if future fiscal support was significantly smaller or arrived significantly later than they expected, the pace of the recovery could be slower than anticipated.”

RPM International Earns $1.41 per Share
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 7th, 2020 at 9:31 am

This morning, RPM International (RPM) reported Q1 earnings of $1.41 per share. The consensus on Wall Street was for $1.19 per share. For last year’s Q1, RPM made 95 cents per share. Sales increased 9.1% to a first-quarter record $1.61 billion.

Adjusted EBIT increased 39.8% to $269.2 million. Cash from operations doubled to a record $318 million.

RPM isn’t providing earnings guidance for this fiscal year but it expects sales growth “in the low- to mid-single digits with strong leverage to the bottom line for more than 20% adjusted EBIT growth.”

The stock is up about 2% in early trading.

Morning News: October 7, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 7th, 2020 at 7:00 am

Venezuela, Once An Oil Giant, Reaches the End of An Era

Trump Abruptly Ends Stimulus Talks After Fed Chair Urges Economic Support

Trump Urges Congress To Provide $25 Billion Bailout For U.S. Airlines

End this Recession Now!

House Lawmakers Condemn Big Tech’s ‘Monopoly Power’ and Urge Their Breakups

Who Pays For The Toilet Paper? The Big Questions Of The Work-From-Home Era

Oaktree Deal Crushed a Leveraged Loan and Exposed Market’s Woes

Google And Oracle’s Decade-Long Copyright Battle Reaches Supreme Court

Whole Foods Is Left Behind in Amazon’s Pandemic-Fueled Boom

Teen Spending Drops to Record Low Amid COVID-19 Crisis

‘Great Polarization’ May Be Next for World’s Rich, UBS Says

Nick Maggiulli: The 3 Ways Tax Loss Harvesting Can Save You Money

Ben Carlson: How Comfortable Are You Holding Stocks For 30 Years?

Michael Batnick: New WAYT!

Howard Lindzon: The Reboot Of The Us Economy Will Be Built Around Small Business. The Small Business Reboot Will Be Built On Technology

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Trump Calls Off Stimulus Before the Election
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 6th, 2020 at 3:07 pm

President Trump has called off on any stimulus before the election.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has told his administration’s negotiators to end coronavirus stimulus talks with Democrats until after the Nov. 3 election.

The declaration, if the White House follows through on it, would halt an ongoing push to send trillions of dollars more in relief to Americans as the outbreak rampages through the U.S. and the economy struggles to recover from virus-related shutdowns.

“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

You can probably tell when traders got the news.

Eagle Bank Jumps
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 6th, 2020 at 12:12 pm

I say this very hesitantly but shares of Eagle Bank (EGBN) have bounced recently. Or more accurately, they’re off a very depressed low.

I feel like a baseball player in the dugout not wanting to mention a no-hitter.

The bank just said it will release its earnings on October 22. That should make it one of the first Buy List stocks to report this earnings season.

The consensus of the five analysts who follow Eagle expect Q3 earnings of 81 cents per share. The bank earned $1.07 per share for last year’s Q3.

Morning News: October 6, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 6th, 2020 at 7:05 am

Half A Billion Travelers Show China’s Economy Moving Past Covid

Top China Critic Becomes Its Defender

Britain Is Getting Ready for Its Space Race

The World’s Biggest Oil Trader Wants to Buy Your Used Car

A Curveball Isn’t an Existential Threat

Let’s Bring Treasury’s Financial Crimes Arm Into the 21st Century

House Panel to Seek Breakup of Tech Giants, GOP Member Says

Big Tech Was Their Enemy, Until Partisanship Fractured the Battle Plans

Regeneron CEO Says Trump’s Use Of Drug Cocktail Puts It In ‘Tough’ Spot

Why Is The United States Trying To Put Huawei Out Of Business?

Cybersecurity Pioneer McAfee Arrested for U.S. Tax Evasion

Johnson & Johnson Settles Baby Powder Lawsuits For $100M

Ben Carlson: The Reach For Yield: Is It Really Worth It?

Howard Lindzon: Momentum Monday – Give Me A Shot of Dexamethasone and Stimulus Please and Put It On The Next Generation

Joshua Brown: Asymmetry, This Is What IPO Nirvana Actually Looks Like & Whatever Comes After Trump and Biden Will Be Worse

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Highest Close in a Month
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 5th, 2020 at 4:41 pm

Stocks opened higher today and gained throughout the day. The S&P 500 closed at its highest level in a month.

Energy and Tech led the way while Staples and REITS were up the least. In the last eight sessions, the S&P 500 has gained 5.3%.

The media is ascribing today’s rally to good news on the president’s health and optimism for a stimulus package.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Monday there was still potential to reach an agreement with U.S. lawmakers on more coronavirus relief and that Trump was committed to getting the deal done.

“The stimulus deal is still sitting there, and there’s still communication going on … It looks increasingly like something’s going to get done,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group in Minneapolis.

Stocks Rebound on President’s Health
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 5th, 2020 at 11:55 am

The stock market is up this morning on news of President Trump’s improved health and hopes for a stimulus bill. The S&P 500 has been up as much as 1.5% today.

Sadly, the president’s health can be a concern for the stock market. In 1955, the market plunged on news of President Eisenhower’s heart attack. That was the single-worst day for the market between the Fall of France in 1940 and the 1987 Crash — a span of 47 years.

This morning’s ISM Services report showed an increase to 57.8. This is good news. Whenever the number is above 50, it means the sector is improving.

The cyclical sectors are leading the charge today. Energy, Materials and Finance are up the most. Shares of Cinemark, a former Buy List stock, are down 18% today.

Morning News: October 5, 2020
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 5th, 2020 at 7:06 am

A Portrait of a Market in India Run Solely By Women

U.S. Stimulus Prospects Buoy Strategists Wary of Trump Prognosis

A Gold Standard Would Be Great But It Would Not Shrink Budget Deficits

Cineworld Brings Down Curtain On U.S., UK Theatres; 45,000 Jobs Hit

What Are Fractional Shares? A Guide to the Cheapest Way to Buy Stock

The Pandemic Depression Is Over. The Pandemic Recession Has Just Begun.

Rhetoric and Reality With Exxon, BP, and the Future of Fossil Fuels

Microsoft to Build Hub for Cloud Services in Greece

Exxon’s Plan for Surging Carbon Emissions Revealed in Leaked Documents

The Short Tenure and Abrupt Ouster of Banking’s Sole Black C.E.O.

Jeff Miller: Weighing the Week Ahead: Should Investors Change Course Because of the POTUS Diagnosis?

Ben Carlson: The U.S. Real Estate Market in Charts

Joshua Brown: Barry Interviews Dave Portnoy

Michael Batnick: Animal Spirits: A Random Talk

Howard Lindzon: Alpaca Founnder Yoshi Yokokawa Joins Me On ‘Panic With Friends’ To Explain Their Commission Free Stock Trading API

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