Morning News: March 16, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 16th, 2018 at 7:04 am

China Is Stepping Up Its Efforts To Draw Tech Giants Like Alibaba And Baidu Back Home

On Bleak Day, Pipeline Operators Say Tax Policy Is No Big Deal

Fiduciary Rule Dealt Blow by Circuit Court Ruling

Former Qualcomm Chairman Explores Long-Shot Bid for U.S. Chip Maker

Behind the Breakneck Unraveling of Toys ‘R’ Us

Theranos and the Problem With Booming Biotech Funding

Bear Stearns Lives On Inside JPMorgan

Walmart Whistle-Blower Claims Cheating in Race With Amazon

Nike Investigates Workplace Complaints, Says No. 2 Executive Resigns

Here’s What Elizabeth Warren Thinks About Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan’s Pay Raise

Siberian Gold Rush Ensues After $368 Billion in Bars Tumble From Plane

Hong Kong Billionaire Li Ka-shing to Retire as Chairman of His Empire in May

Jeff Carter: City Mouse, Country Mouse

Ben Carlson: Some Perspective on Investing Advice

Mark Hines: Are You Trading The Energy Sell-Off?

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Morning News: March 15, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 15th, 2018 at 7:12 am

Senate Passes Rollback of Banking Rules Enacted After Financial Crisis

Toys R Us to Close All 800 of Its U.S. Stores

U.S. Fires a Warning Shot at Silicon Valley With Theranos Case

Balancing Act: Chip Giant Qualcomm Caught Between Washington and Beijing

Going Dutch: Unilever Picks Rotterdam Over London for Headquarters

Lyft Partners With Magna To Turbocharge Race For Robot Car Mobility Service

Disney Overhaul Sets Stage for Succession Race

iHeartMedia Files for Bankruptcy, Reaches Restructuring Agreement in Principle

Walmart Patents Hint at Future Where Its Drones Tend the Farms

Trump Picks CNBC’s Larry Kudlow as Top Economic Advisor

Equifax CIO Put ‘2 and 2 Together’ Then Sold Stock, SEC Says

Time for Pharma to Play Defense With Deals

Lawrence Hamtil: Capex Darlings and the Myth of Long-Termism

Cullen Roche: Three Things I Think I Think V. 1,204

Howard Lindzon: Technicals and Chart Art

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Cognizant’s $300M Accelerated Repurchase
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 14th, 2018 at 10:08 am

This morning, Cognizant Technology (CTSH) said it’s buying back $300 million worth of shares in an accelerated share repurchase plan. This is part of their plan to return $3.4 billion to shareholders.

Under the terms of the ASR agreement, approximately 3.04 million of the shares to be repurchased will be received by Cognizant on March 14, 2018. The final number of shares to be repurchased will be based on the volume-weighted average stock price of Cognizant’s Class A common stock less a discount and subject to potential adjustments pursuant to the terms of the ASR agreement. Final settlement of the transaction under the ASR agreement is anticipated to occur during the second quarter of 2018. Cognizant will fund the ASR program on March 14, 2018 from cash on hand and its existing credit facility.

Morning News: March 14, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 14th, 2018 at 7:04 am

Draghi Promises to Avoid Surprises as ECB Tiptoes to QE End

As Merkel Begins New Term, Compromises Could Undo Economic Boom

EU’s Trade Chief Questions Rationale of Trump Steel Measures

Oil Halts Decline as Tillerson’s Departure Boosts Iran Risks

Broadcom Ends Bid for Qualcomm

Qualcomm Outspent Broadcom About 100 to 1 in Lobbying

How Amazon Became Corporate America’s Nightmare

Google to Ban Ads for Cryptocurrencies

Walmart to Offer Home Delivery of Groceries in 100 Cities

Dick’s Is Tumbling, and Its Woes Have Nothing to Do With Guns

China Sells Stake in Blackstone as Deal Turns Sour

Adidas Sales Growth Picks Up on China Strength, Retro Trend

Ycharts Adds Crypto For Free

Michael Batnick: The Flash Correction & Animal Spirits: Goodnight Moon

Ben Carlson: Does Economic Volatility Affect Stock Market Volatility?

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February CPI +0.2%
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 13th, 2018 at 11:40 am

This morning, the government reported that the CPI rose by 0.2% last month. Splitting out the decimals, it was up 0.15005%. Thank you for rounding.

The core rate last month was +0.18176%.

In the last year, headline CPI was up 2.26012%. The core rate was up 1.85712%.

Here’s the real Fed funds rate based off core inflation. We’re getting close to 0%.

Morning News: March 13, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 13th, 2018 at 7:05 am

Trade Conflicts Threaten Global Growth, Says OECD

Central Banks Are Looking for New Ways to Meet Inflation Targets

China Merges Bank, Insurance Regulators to Tackle Risk

Saudi Aramco International Listing Looks Increasingly Difficult

Trade Wars Can Be a Game of Chicken. Sometimes, Literally.

Havens Just Aren’t Safe Anymore, Goldman Says

How China’s Huawei Killed $117 Billion Broadcom Deal

Dropbox I.P.O. Could Value Company at More Than $7 Billion

Say Hello to Cora, the New Flying Taxi From a Secretive Startup Funded by Google’s Larry Page

VW Secures $25 Billion Battery Supplies in Electric-Car Surge

Why Did Shares of Tesla Move 5% Higher Today?

New Boeing Jet to Accelerate Services Shake-Up

Roger Nusbaum: The Bull Market Turns Nine!

Michael Batnick: The Race to A Trillion

Jeff Carter: 18 Best Practices for Angel Groups

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Bloomberg Today
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 12th, 2018 at 5:28 pm

Morning News: March 12, 2018
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 12th, 2018 at 7:06 am

U.S. Oil Export Surge Means OPEC’s Output Cuts May Be Doomed

The Fed Must Teach Markets a Lesson on Inflation

No One’s Sure Who Qualifies for This $415 Billion Tax Deduction

Dow’s Liveris Finally Blows Out

Why Intel Is So Wary of a Broadcom-Qualcomm Merger

Toys R Us Still Sells Lots of Toys. Here’s Why It’s Going Under.

South Korea Kicks Off Due Diligence on GM’s South Korean Unit

EON-Innogy Energy Deal Could Spark Regulatory Power Struggle

Dropbox Aims to Raise as Much as $648 Million in U.S. IPO

A Heartland Company Leads the Media Race

Singapore-Based Broadcom to Redomicile to U.S. by April 3

Buffett’s March Madness Offer: $1M a Year For Life For Perfect Bracket

Cullen Roche: Passive Investors Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Votes

Howard Lindzon: March 9, 2009 ….Be Grateful and The Birth of National BTFD Day.

Ben Carlson: Making it Look Easy is Hard Work

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All-Time High for the Nasdaq
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 10th, 2018 at 2:10 pm

The Nasdaq Composite has rallied for six days in a row and closed Friday at an all-time high.

On January 26, the Nasdaq closed at 7,505.77. Yesterday, exactly six weeks later, the index closed at 7,560.81.

If you’re into market turning points, this has been a big time of year for them:

March 9, 2009 low close
March 10, 2000 Nasdaq high close
March 11, 2003 low close

Does anyone remember when shares of AFLAC plunged after a critical article? I do. It happened on January 12. The stock lost 7.4% in one day.

I’m pleased to report that AFLAC has made back all of its lost ground. On Friday, the stock came within three pennies of a new all-time high. Friday’s close was one penny below the close from January 11.

February NFP = +313,000
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on March 9th, 2018 at 10:25 am

The U.S. economy added 313,000 net new jobs last month. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%.

This was the greatest number of jobs added since July 2016. There were also positive revisions to December and January.

Today’s report also had the highest jobs-to-population ratio since January 2009.

Construction firms added 61,000 workers, the biggest increase in nearly 11 years for the sector. Hiring also picked up at retailers, manufacturers and local governments, including schools. All levels of government added 26,000 workers, also the best gain since July 2016.

Better hiring was supported by Americans entering the workforce in larger numbers. The share of Americans participating in the labor force rose by 0.3 percentage point to 63.0% in February.

U.S. employers have added to payrolls for 89 straight months, extending the longest continuous jobs expansion on record.

The labor force participation rate for workers 25-54 is 82.8%. That’s the highest in several years.