Wondering What’s Going On in the Financial Markets Today? Check Out These 36 Stories!

1. U.S. Stock Market:

 

“U.S. stocks wavered on Wednesday as investors digested a batch of weak corporate earnings and President Donald Trump’s dismissal of his FBI chief. At 1:59 p.m. (1759 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 0.16 percent to 20,942.13 points while the S&P 500 .SPX had gained or 0.06 percent to 2,398.44. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.12 percent, to 6,127.98.”

(Reuters)

 

“U.S. stocks struggled for direction Wednesday after the stunning firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey stoked questions about President Donald Trump’s ability to build enough consensus in Washington to implement market-friendly polices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.24%  fell 54 points, or 0.3%, to 20,922, as Disney shares contributed about 20 points of that decline. Losses on the average widened after Boeing Co. BA, -1.81%  shares contributed about another 24 points of decline following reports it was halting flights of its 737 MAX jets to inspect engine problems. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.08%  was up 1 point, or less than 0.1%, to 2,398, with six out of 11 sectors trading higher led by the energy sector. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.12%  rose 6 points, or 0.1%, to 6,127.”

(Market Watch)

 

“Equities pulled back slightly on Wednesday as investors digested President Donald Trump‘s firing of FBI Director James Comey. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite slipped from record levels reached Tuesday as they fell 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. The Dow Jones industrial average also traded lower, falling about 45 points with Disney contributing the most losses. The media giant’s stock was on track for its biggest one-day decline since June after reporting weaker-than-expected quarterly sales.”

(CNBC)

 

 

2. U.S. Bond Market:

“U.S. Treasury yields reduced their earlier fall on Wednesday as data showed import and export prices in April rose more than analysts’ forecasts, supporting the view domestic inflation is approaching the Federal Reserve’s 2-percent goal. Benchmark 10-year government note yields were down over 2 basis points at 2.383 percent, which was below the five-week high of 2.416 percent set on Tuesday, according to Reuters’ data.”

(Reuters)

“The U.S. Treasuries jumped Wednesday as investors look forward to the 10-year note auction, due to be held late in the day. Also, the country’s consumer price inflation for the month of April, scheduled to be released on May 12 will provide further direction to the debt market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury slumped 3 basis points to 2.37 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields also plunged 3 basis points to 3.01 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note also traded 1-1/2 basis points lower at 1.34 percent by 12:00GMT.”

(EconoTimes)

 

“US. equity futures traded down and Treasury market headed higher after the news broke late Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was down 3 basis points 2.37% as of 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday.”

(Barron’s)

 

3. FX Markets:

 

“The U.S. dollar traded lower against some rivals on Wednesday, which some analysts attributed in part to President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The dollar recovered some ground against the Japanese yen USDJPY, -0.09% after dropping to ¥113.63 in earlier trading. The pair last traded at ¥113.91, against ¥113.87 late Tuesday. The bulk of the dollar’s weakness was concentrated in the British pound and euro crosses. The pound GBPUSD, +0.0618% moved higher to $1.2953 from $1.2935 late Tuesday, while the euro EURUSD, +0.0368% rose to $1.0882 from $1.0872.”

(Market Watch)

 

“The dollar fell 0.1 percent against a basket of major currencies after slipping on the view that political uncertainty could derail Trump’s tax reform plans. The yen, often sought in times of market uncertainty, was last 0.2 percent higher at 113.79 to the dollar. The euro was flat at $1.0868. The safe-haven Swiss franc also rose against the euro and dollar.”

(Reuters)

 

“The dollar slid on Wednesday while the perceived safe-haven yen gained after US President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey in a move that shocked Washington and piqued investors’ aversion to risk. The dollar dipped 0.2 percent against its Japanese counterpart to 113.74 yen, below its overnight high of 114.325, which was its highest since March 15, 2017. The euro slipped 0.1 percent against the yen to 123.60, moving away from Monday’s one-year high of 124.58.”

(Global Times)

 

4. Commodities:

 

“Gold prices are firmer in early U.S. trading Wednesday, on a corrective bounce from recent selling pressure that drove prices to a seven-week low Tuesday. The key “outside markets” are in a bullish daily posture for the precious metals markets, as the U.S. dollar index is weaker and crude oil prices are higher. June Comex gold was last up $6.10 an ounce at $1,222.30. July Comex silver was last up $0.153 at $16.22 an ounce.”

(Kitco News)

“Oil rose Wednesday as industry data showed a bigger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude stocks in the latest week. U.S. crude was up 42 cents, or 0.92%, at $46.30 at 08:00 ET. Brent crude added 42 cents, or 0.86%, to $49.15. The American Petroleum Institute Tuesday reported a fall of 5.789 million barrels in crude inventories. The Energy Information Administration inventories report is due out later Wednesday.”

(Investing.com)

“A potential border-adjusted tax in the U.S. would send the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil skyrocketing, making it around 30% more expensive than oil elsewhere, said Goldman Sachs’ chief commodity strategist Jeff Currie. ”If they did a border-adjustment tax, it would blow out WTI,” Currie said at the Platts Crude Oil Summit in London on Wednesday. “WTI CLM7, +1.53% would trade somewhere around $15 above BrentLCON7, +1.46% which is why it would be really difficult to pass it. Because essentially, all else equal, U.S. oil prices would pop and that turns into a pop in the U.S. gasoline prices.”

(Market Watch)

5. Market Movers:

“Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is having an incredibly strong day in the market today, and for good reason. There’s a rumor that a new product will be made available relatively soon. Of course, this is leading to excitement among investors, sending the stock upward. As is normally the case, our partners at Trade Ideas were the first to alert us to the gains. At the moment (10:07), AMD is trading at $10.60 per share after a gain of $0.42 per share or 4.13% thus far today.”

(CNA Finance)

“Commenting on Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP)’s YELP 18.66% first-quarter results, Credit Suisse said the company struggled in the first quarter and that the stock is likely to be range bound until it proves it can execute. Analysts Paul Beiber and Vikram Kesavabhotla noted the company’s first quarter revenues of $197.3 million and EBITDA of $29.3 million compares to the consensus estimates, which called for revenues of $198.4 million and EBITDA of $27.1 million. Among the other metrics, the analysts noted that advertiser additions totaled 5,200, mobile engagement accelerated, commentary on Request a Quote, or RaQ, was positive and advertiser traction continued.”

(Benzinga)

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) delivered for shareholders – and delivered a surprise for the tech industry. The company, in its first quarter earnings, posted 48% year-over-year revenue growth and beat EPS estimates (85 cents vs. 67 cents expected). GAAP income was $507 million, up 144%. After AMD’s (NASDAQ:AMD) lackluster report, some thought Nvidia wouldn’t be able to impress. Those observers were wrong. Nvidia’s stock skyrocketed during after-hours trading once earnings were released. Not much movement for the stock this morning. And shares are off their 52-week high.

(Seeking Alpha)

Medical Transcription Billing Corp (NASDAQ:MTBC) shares hit a new 52-week high of $3.84 on Wednesday morning after the company released its financial results for the first quarter and restated guidance for the current fiscal year. The healthcare information technology company posted revenue of $8.2 million for the first quarter, up 61 percent from the same quarter last year. The surge in revenue was mainly driven by the acquisition of MediGain.

(The Ripon Advance)

Opko Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) retreated its position after shares change of -10.09% on Wednesday and it traded at $6.77. The 52-week high of the share price is -44.12% and 52-week low of the share price is -4.50%. Opko Health Inc. (OPK) declared on Tuesday that a loss of $31 million in its first quarter.On a per-share basis, the Miami-based company said it had a loss of 6 cents.The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 5 cents per share.The holding company with investments in pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies posted revenue of $296.1 million in the period, also missing Street forecasts. (Investingbizz)

Shares in Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRY) were soaring in early Wednesday trading, even though the company announced a bigger loss and smaller third-quarter revenues compared with last year. That’s because the Boulder biotech announced “positive” results from a study of its drug targeting unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The study results “represents a potential important addition to the … treatment landscape for patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma,” said Ron Squarer, CEO, in a statement.

(Denver Business Journal)

The beauty products maker reported adjusted quarterly profit of 15 cents per share, two cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat forecasts. Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) saw improvement in its luxury products division, although professional beauty was flat and consumer beauty sales declined.

(CNBC)

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) stock is still on the rise following the announcement of its deal with One Drop. Corporation announced last Thursday that it had signed a deal with One Drop to be included in its service. One Drop is a subscription service that offers unlimited blood glucose testing supplies and around-the-clock live support from diabetes experts. The deal between MannKind Corporation and One Drop includes the former’s Afrezza in the latter’s service. Afrezza is a rapid-acting insulin that has been developed by MNKD. Rather than being administered through injection, it comes in the form of an inhaler.

(Investor Place)

It looks like Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) had an excellent day at the stock market, with its price going up by 4.70%, to 9.8. This is a change of 2.73% from open which creates a gap of 1.92%. The total volume of shares traded was 7426282 which puts the relative volume at 1.5 for the day. This is great news for the sector. The stock went public on 08/10/2000 and has an average volume of 22168.13. The weekly volatility is at 3.23% while the monthly volatility rests at 3.13%. In terms of performance, the stock has had a mixed year so far with the performance for the year at 37.04%. The performance this quarter is at -7.14% while the weekly performance is at 3.08%.

(The News Journal)

Proteon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PRTO) gained 23.26% to $1.66 in the current trading session. The company’s price range for the trading day is $1.65 to $1.95. The company’s market capitalization is $27.91 Million with the total outstanding shares of 16.77 million. The stock has dropped -85.59% from its peak and the consensus price target for the stock is $3.75 a share. Proteon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PRTO) Its share price has grown -33.33% in three months and is down -11.86% for the last five trades. The average analysts gave this company a mean recommendation of 2.90.

(WallStreetNews24)

Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PIRS) might have only pushed one novel asset into the clinic, but that has not prevented it attracting a lot of big-name partners. Last week Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) joined Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY), Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), Daiichi Sankyo (OTCPK:DSKYF) (OTCPK:DSNKY) and Servier in signing on the dotted line, this time for a deal over novel respiratory agents. The Boston biotech is developing a novel class of recombinant lipocalins, and the $56m that Astra committed up front for a preclinical program is a substantial bet on the platform’s potential. The deal follows two other major transactions this year, and Pieris’ Chief Executive Stephen Yoder, tells EP Vantage that the company is mulling partnering another candidate, this time in immuno-oncology.

(Seeking Alpha)

Shares of Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) are moving on volatility today 17.26% or $1.07 from the open. The NASDAQ listed company saw a recent bid of 7.27 and 4128760 shares have traded hands in the session. Now let’s take a look at how the fundamentals are stacking up for Living Cell Technologies Ltd (LVCLF). Fundamental analysis takes into consideration market, industry and stock conditions to help determine if the shares are correctly valued. Living Cell Technologies Ltd currently has a yearly EPS of -0.01. This number is derived from the total net income divided by shares outstanding. In other words, EPS reveals how profitable a company is on a share owner basis.

(Union Trade Journal)

What happened: Shares of video game giant Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) jumped as much as 15% in trading Wednesday after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. As of 12:51 p.m. EDT, the stock was up 14.3%. So what: Revenue was up 16.7% in the quarter to $1.53 billion and net income fell 37% to $566 million, or $1.81 per share. The decline was largely attributable to an income tax credit in last year’s quarter.

(Madison.com)

Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE:VSI) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.20. Vitamin Shoppe had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $316.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Vitamin Shoppe updated its FY17 guidance to $1.50-1.75 EPS. Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE:VSI) traded down 28.026% on Wednesday, hitting $13.675. The stock had a trading volume of 1,575,539 shares.

(The Cerbat Gem)

6. Interesting Reads

 

“Last week, a key event occurred in the history of personal computing. It marks the beginning of the death of the operating system that we recognize today as Microsoft Windows. This euthanizing of Windows has been planned for at least five years, and Microsoft knows that it is necessary for the company’s software business and for the PC industry to evolve and stay healthy. In order for the Windows brand and Microsoft’s software business to live, Windows — as it exists today — must die.”

(ZDNet)

“Despite conventional wisdom that suggests women are better than men at facial recognition, Penn State psychologists found no difference between men and women in their ability to recognize faces and categorize facial expressions. In the study, the researchers used behavioral tests, as well as neuroimaging, to investigate whether there is an influence of biological sex on facial recognition, according to Suzy Scherf, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience.”

(Science Daily)

“If you can’t afford a Tesla in your garage, you could still put Tesla on your roof. Orders open today for Tesla’s Solar Roof, the company’s founder and CEO Elon Musk has announced. The tiles will collect energy from the sun to power your home. Orders will open first for the black glass style, with a choice of smooth or textured surfaces. Tesla’s Tuscan and French Slate options will follow in about six months. Musk had previously said that orders would begin in April. In replies to today’s announcement on Twitter, Musk said that delivery and installation would begin to other countries next year, including the UK and Australia.”

(CNET)

“A new, nonsurgical weight-loss procedure — which involves inserting a tube down a patient’s throat and suturing the stomach — is safe and effective, a new study finds. During the procedure, which is called endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, doctors insert a long tube down a patient’s esophagus to the stomach. Then, they sew “pleats” into the stomach, which makes it resemble an accordion. The procedure reduces the volume of the stomach, so that patients feel fuller faster and therefore eat less, said lead study author Dr. Reem Sharaiha, an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.”

(Fox News)

“Taking even over-the-counter doses of common painkillers known as NSAIDs — nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack in a new study. The likelihood of experiencing a heart attack was calculated to increase by an average of 20% to 50%, compared with someone not taking the drugs, regardless of the dosage and amount of time the medications are taken. The findings are observational and based on an association, however, with the drugs not proved to be a direct cause of heart attack.”

(CNN)

“A new day, and a new set of iPhone 8 renders are here to gawk at. This time around it’s not a concept that a designer created based on rumors. Instead, we’re looking at high-quality 3D renders that were created using leaked factory CAD images of the OLED iPhone. We’re looking at an iPhone 8 concept that bears all the markings we’ve come to expect from Apple’s special edition iPhone. The phone has an almost zero-bezel display design, with glass covering both its front and rear. In the middle, there’s a metal frame supposedly made of stainless steel, curved in an Apple Watch-like fashion.”

(BGR.com)

“There’s a reason why booze, medicine and marijuana aren’t in vending machines in the US. Besides the whole matter of age authentication, there’s also the need to make sure people aren’t getting too much of it. That’s why a responsible bartender would cut off bumbling drunks, and why most pharmacies limit cough syrup sales to make sure people aren’t abusing them. American Green Machine is trying to create a smart vending machine that can get around the need for human scrutiny. It works by using a biometric sensor that can identify unique veins within the finger to verify that a person has an account set up with the company.”

(CNET)

“We all probably dream about having a job that brings a lot of money, and that is one of the first things on our minds after a job interview or after we get an opportunity to start working. Some of the people will refuse the job if they are not satisfied with the salary, while some other will be forced to accept anything if they are desperately searching for something to do. However, the biggest mistake is constantly searching for an ideal job that pays well, while forgetting to work on ourselves, improve our skill or learn something new. I don’t think that simply having a degree will bring you the best job in the world, but if you learn an additional language, attend various courses and expand your knowledge on certain topics, this will make you an ideal employee that anyone would hire.”

(Insider Monkey)

“You may be about to have a date with the most handsome guy you have ever seen and you are wondering what the best drinks to order at a bar for a woman. Or perhaps you are meeting your friends somewhere cool and who knows you may run into your future Love – so you really need to be elegant, sexy and attractive. That’s all right – you intend to put on your favorite charming clothes, have a decent make-up and dive into a pleasant night – but what should you order when you are there? Now we would like to give some easy tips what to drink at a bar even if you are just hanging around with your old friends from the university!”

(Insider Monkey)

“It is always good to have a preventive first aid kit when going hiking or spending time in nature or countryside, and here we present the 10 best snake bite antivenom kits on Amazon and Walmart. Snake bites do not always involve envenomation, and those are so-called “dry bites”. But, in a lot of cases snakes do inflict a certain amount of venom when biting. According to the World Health Organization, there are around 5 million snake bites annually, half of those being envenomings. Of those, there are around 100,000 deaths occurring and around 300,000 amputations needed to be done. Of that figure, most envenomations happen in Africa (around 1 million), and most deaths occur in India (around 11,000).”

(Insider Monkey)