NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is likely growing at a 2.97 percent annualized pace in the second quarter, little changed from the 2.96 percent rate calculated a week earlier, the New York Federal Reserve's Nowcast model showed on Friday.This week's data on import, producer and consumer prices led to virtual no change on the regional central bank's model to estimate the gross domestic produc...Read More
A long call spread could be one possible way to trade the Chinese tech stockChinese internet stock Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) was upgraded to "market perform" from "underperform" and saw its price target hiked to $305 from $240 at Bernstein. The brokerage firm projected 20% growth for the company following a recent string of divestitures -- including the sale of its food delivery firm to Alibaba's (B...Read More
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks posted slight gains on Friday as a rise in healthcare shares ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech on drug pricing more than made up for losses in Symantec and Nvidia.The president is expected to renew his focus on controlling prescription drug prices in a highly anticipated speech at 2:00 p.m. ET.“It’s relatively quiet in terms of drivers today. Trump&...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.1/HEY, BIG SPENDERS?The recent U.S. tax changes are estimated to have reduced annual personal taxes by $115.5 billion. That means more money in the pockets of consumers, who drive two-thirds of the economy. Now that the personal income tax...Read More
(Kitco News) - Gold prices have lost their modest early gains in late-morning actionFriday. Generally weaker prices across the raw commodity futures spectrum areprompting a bit of selling interest in the precious metals markets. A lack offresh, bullish fundamental news for the gold and silver traders is also addingsome downside pressure. Junegold was last down $1.40 an ounce at $1,321.00. By Jim W...Read More
(Kitco News) - WallStreet and Main Street are both heavily bullish on the near-term direction ofgold prices, based on the Kitco News weekly gold survey.Thetraders and analysts who take part in the Wall Street poll cite mostlytechnical-chart factors - in particular, gold’s ability to hold around the200-day moving average and the psychologically important $1,300-an-ounce levelduring a recent p...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Electoral Commission imposed a record-matching 70,000 pound fine on Friday on one of the main groups that campaigned for Brexit, and said police might have to investigate possible criminal offenses because of unreported campaign spending.The Leave.EU campaign said it would challenge the finding that it had breached a spending limit by failing to declare at least...Read More
Stocks in our "Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology" category have struggled in 2018President Donald Trump is expected to announce a plan to lower drug prices today, which should puthealthcare sector in focus on Wall Street. This group has struggled in 2018, illustrated by a recent email sent out by Schaeffer's Quantitative Analyst Chris Prybal showing the extreme underperformance of the 20 names tha...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet 10 major automakers at the White House on Friday to discuss the fate of landmark fuel efficiency standards and a looming confrontation with California and other major states.A draft proposal circulated by the U.S. Transportation Department would freeze requirements at 2020 levels through 2026, but the administration is not expected to fo...Read More
Joshua Roberts/BloombergSt. Louis Fed President James Bullard After a difficult decade, workers now have the same leverage as employers, and the Federal Reserve shouldn't undercut them, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday. "This is an appropriate situation that the Fed should not disturb," Bullard said in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Springfield, Mo. In a press conference...Read More
• Builds on this week’s rebound from 200-DMA amid a follow-through USD weakness. • Retracing US bond yields/reviving safe-haven demand provide an additional boost. After an initial dip to $1318 area, gold regained positive traction and has now risen to its highest level in over two-weeks. A combination of supportive factors helped the prec...Read More
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s central bank will maintain its neutral monetary policy and keep liquidity and credit growth largely steady while keeping the yuan currency basically stable, it said on Friday.The central bank’s surprising cut in reserve requirement ratios (RRR) on April 17 and growing fears of a trade war with the United States have fanned market expectations of lo...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - British regulators and Barclays (BARC.L) have fined the bank’s Chief Executive Jes Staley a combined 1.1 million pounds ($1.5 million) after he tried to identify a whistleblower who sent letters criticizing an employee of the bank.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority said on Friday they had together fined Sta...Read More
Concerns raised by an ex-employee initiated the probeShares of Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) are down 32.4% to trade at $19.72, fresh off a 23-month low of $18.85. The Norton antivirus software parent said its financial results and guidance could be adjusted pending an internal audit initiated by concerns flagged from a former employee -- though no further details were given. And while the co...Read More
LONDON (Reuters) - After the financial crisis rocked the framework of monetary policy, rate setters took to giving “forward guidance” to steady the ship, but the recent experience of British and Japanese central banks suggests it doesn’t guarantee a smooth journey.Just a few weeks ago markets and economists were convinced the Bank of England was all set to hike interest rates on...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday that there will be a trilateral NAFTA meeting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time with his U.S. and Canadian counterparts, even as he warned against rushing a new deal.“I have to make very clear (that) the quality of the agreement and the balance of the agreement has to be maintained. So we are not going to sacrifice...Read More
The numbers: The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was unchanged at 98.8 in the early May reading. What happened: While overall sentiment was unchanged, there was some movement within the Michigan index. Consumers' views of the current situation slipped 1.6 points, while the expectations component gained 1.1 points. Economists had forecast a reading of 99. More important was a...Read More
Mr. Jim Payne reportsDYNACERT OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF HYDRAGENTECHNOLOGY IN MIDDLE EASTDynaCERT Inc. has provided an update. Middle East Following the global launch of DynaCERT new HydraGEN products at the TruckWorld trade show in Toronto (please see press release of April 20, 2018), DynaCERT is fostering its global recognition in carbon emission reduction technology with its launch of HydraGEN in Dub...Read More
Breaking down a low-risk/high-reward version of the long strangleVolatility can be a serious headache for a stock trader. Fortunately, the beauty of options is that there are severalstrategies that allow traders to capitalize off wild price swings. The long guts strategy, or the in-the-money strangle, is one such strategy: it allows bullish or bearish speculators to maintain a directional bias and...Read More
(Reuters) - Wall Street indexes opened little changed on Friday as losses in Symantec and Nvidia offset gains in healthcare and telecom sectors.The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 19.11 points, or 0.08 percent, at the open to 24,758.64. The S&P 500 .SPX opened lower by 0.37 points, or 0.01 percent, at 2,722.70. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 11.01 points, or 0.15 percent, to 7...Read More