Wall Street set to open lower as oil prices drop

Wall Street

Wall Street looked set for a lower open on Monday as oil prices dropped the most in four weeks and dollar strengthened on bets of an interest rate hike in the coming months.

With the earnings season coming to an end, investor focus will shift to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Friday at the annual central bankers' meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

"The markets will start to get a little bit nervous about what's going to be said, what kind of indications will be given about a September hike," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York.

The case for an imminent rate hike was strengthened by Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer's comments that the U.S. economy was close to hitting job and inflation targets.

New York Fed president and permanent voting member William Dudley said last week that a hike as soon as next month was possible.

The dollar index (DXY) rose for the second day, after five straight sessions of losses, on prospects of a rate hike in the coming months.

Traders have priced in a 12 percent chance of a rate hike for September and a 39.1 percent chance for December, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Oil prices fell nearly 3 percent on Monday as China ramped up exports of refined products, U.S. producers added rigs for an eighth consecutive week, and prospects emerged for increased exports from Iraq and Nigeria. [O/R]

Wall Street closed lower on Friday, with the major indexes barely making any gains for the week, as investors weighed prospects of a rate hike.

Dow e-minis (1YMc1) were down 34 points, or 0.18 percent, at 8:31 a.m. ET on Monday, with 19,703 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis (ESc1) were down 3.25 points, or 0.15 percent, with 180,941 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis (NQc1) were down 6.25 points, or 0.13 percent, on volume of 25,152 contracts.

Medivation (O:MDVN) shares jumped 19.8 percent to $80.43 premarket after agreeing to be bought by Pfizer (N:PFE) for $14 billion. Pfizer's shares were marginally lower at $34.75.

Syngenta's U.S.-listed shares (N:SYT) jumped 11.3 percent after a U.S. national security panel cleared ChemChina's $43 billion takeover of the Swiss pesticides and seeds group.

Valeant's U.S.-listed shares (N:VRX) rose 3.4 percent to $29.73 after the Canadian drugmaker named a new chief financial officer.

Chipmaker Intersil (O:ISIL) jumped 28 percent $20 after a source told Reuters that Japan's Renesas was in the final stages of negotiations to acquire the company for about $2.99 billion.

Source by Reuters

From the Olympics to Wall Street: The athletes who become brokers

Wall Street

Emily Samuelson competed at the highest level as an ice dancer over the course of her 15-year career, retiring after skating in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. But like many Olympians, she never earned enough to cover her expenses.

Her parents spent $50,000 a year on her sport, an investment she tried to pay back by giving them three-quarters of her winnings. She saved and invested the rest.

Samuelson, 26, knew that many Olympic friends struggled with money, and she saw an opportunity for a career after skating. She's now among a number of Olympians working in wealth management at big banks, which hope that the cachet of their athletic careers impresses prospective clients. UBS Wealth Management Americas, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley all employ several retired Olympic athletes.

"I got addicted to saving, (and) I started investing at 14," said Samuelson, now a financial adviser for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Michigan. "Good, honest direction is lacking in the Olympic sphere when it comes to finances."

Cheri Lytle, Merrill Lynch's head of advisor strategy and development, said Olympians like Samuelson are also appealing for their youth and work ethic.

Brokerages have hired thousands of trainees in recent years to build up a next generation of advisers, but about half drop out, according to media reports. Olympians are team-oriented and competitive people who have already achieved success in another career, often before 30.

Samuelson and two other Olympians told Reuters they liked Wall Street's competitive, eat-what-you-kill culture, along with paychecks that are bigger and more stable than their sports careers could offer.

After winning a silver medal in Taekwondo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Mark Lopez's training partner suggested he looked to Wall Street for his next career.

"I can't kick forever," Lopez recalled telling himself before he joined UBS AG as a financial advisor in Houston in 2011.

Samuelson said her Olympic career has opened doors for her with prospective clients, who became more interested in talking after learning of her athletic background. Lopez also sees the promotional value of his athletic success: In his picture on the UBS website, he's holding his silver medal.

Lopez, 34, counts his brother Steve and sister Diana, both Olympic medalists, among his clients. While he would be happy to work with more Olympians, realistically, he knows that few meet the Swiss bank's high net worth targets.

The U.S. Olympic Committee provides all Olympians with health insurance, but the stipend each athlete is paid depends on the sport and can vary from about $6,000 to tens of thousands per year.

Even celebrity Olympians, who net lucrative sponsorships and professional contracts, often fail to plan for the future.

"The average athlete has a 15- to 20-year career with a 60-year retirement," Jordan Waxman, a Barron's listed financial adviser at HighTower HSW, who works primarily with athletes with $30 million or more, including Olympians.

Waxman said his clients are laser-focused on the next game, not so much on retirement, budgeting or how to avoid being "prey for fly-by-night investment ideas."

David Emma, a professional hockey player who played in the 1992 Olympics, said he lost 80 percent of his savings in the tech bubble because his financial adviser invested the majority of his portfolio in the technology sector.

The loss decimated the nest egg Emma had saved over his decade-long career, and it drove him to pursue a career in wealth management, first at Merrill Lynch and later at HighTower.

Emma currently advises 35 professional hockey, golf and tennis athletes, including several Olympians.

"The less in the dark you are, the better," Emma said. "These guys enjoy the opportunity to be empowered, to be involved in the markets and investment decisions."

Source by Reuters

Wall Street opens flat; Fed minutes awaited

Stock market

U.S. stocks opened little changed on Wednesday as investors held off from making big bets ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) was down 9.96 points, or 0.05 percent, at 18,542.06, the S&P 500 (SPX) was down 0.43 points, or 0.02 percent, at 2,177.72 and the Nasdaq Composite index (IXIC) was up 1.51 points, or 0.03 percent, at 5,228.62.

Source by Reuters

Stocks at record highs as materials shares surge

Wall Street

 U.S. stock indexes climbed to all-time highs on Monday, building on their record-setting rallies of the past few weeks, as raw materials stocks surged.

The S&P 500 materials index (SPLRCM) rose 1.06 percent to a one-month high, with all its components in the black, as the dollar index (DXY) fell for the second straight day.

Better-than-expected corporate earnings in the latest quarter, coupled with expectations that the Federal Reserve would continue to keep rates low, have stoked appetite for U.S. equities.

Since July, the S&P 500 index has notched 13 record intraday highs, including on Monday.

The CBOE volatility index (VIX) also called Wall Street's "fear gauge" edged up slightly, but remained near year-lows suggesting the markets were in a risk-on mode.

"Our sense is that we're still in this Goldilocks period where it's a sweet spot for equities and that will not change probably until the next rate hike," said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners.

The Federal Reserve releases on Wednesday the minutes of its July meeting that could provide clues on its plans to raise rates and its view on the health of the economy.

Still, traders are largely skeptical of a rate hike in the near term, with U.S. inflation below the Fed's 2 percent target and as central banks worldwide unleash stimulus programs to support their economies.

The odds of a hike in September stand at 12 percent, rising to about 38 percent for December, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.

At 12:26 p.m. ET (1626 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up 82.73 points, or 0.45 percent, at 18,659.2.

The S&P 500 (SPX) was up 9.69 points, or 0.44 percent, at 2,193.74.

The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) was up 36.42 points, or 0.7 percent, at 5,269.32.

Post Properties (N:PPS) hit a record high after the company agreed to be bought by Mid-America Apartment Communities (N:MAA) for about $3.88 billion. Mid-America's shares fell 5.8 percent.

Xylem (N:XYL) rose 3.6 percent after the water technology company said it would buy Sensus USA for about $1.7 billion in cash.

"The fact that any company would make a multi-billion dollar deal today also speaks of confidence in the U.S. market," Bailey said.

Apple (O:AAPL) rose 1.1 percent to $109.34 and gave the biggest boost to the S&P and the Nasdaq, while the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index (SOX) touched a 16-year high.

Twitter (N:TWTR) rose 6.2 percent to an eight-month high after the New York Times reported the company was in talks to bring its app to the Apple TV platform.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,110 to 792. On the Nasdaq, 1,998 issues rose and 782 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 33 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 130 new highs and 24 new lows.

Source by Reuters

Ex-Wall Street banker says he did not give insider tips to father

Wall Street

A former Wall Street investment banker proclaimed on Thursday that he was innocent of insider trading charges, testifying that he never tipped his father off to inside information about healthcare mergers.

Sean Stewart, an ex-banker at Perella Weinberg Partners and JPMorgan Chase & Co (N:JPM), took the stand in his own defense and told jurors in federal court in Manhattan that he had a great relationship with his father but never intended to help him profit through insider trading.

"I never gave my father information so he could trade on it," Stewart testified.

Stewart's trial began last week, and he testified shortly after prosecutors rested in presenting evidence against him.

Stewart, 35, was charged in May 2015 alongside his father, Robert Stewart, an accountant. Prosecutors say Robert Stewart and a friend made $1.16 million trading on tips about five healthcare deals provided by his son from 2011 to 2014.

The case has resulted in guilty pleas by Robert Stewart, 61, and his friend, Richard Cunniffe, 62, who, according to prosecutors, secretly recorded the elder Stewart saying his son criticized him for not trading on a tip.

Lawyers for Sean Stewart contend their client was unaware of the insider trading scheme. They contend the banker's father betrayed his son to execute trades based on company names his son mentioned while discussing his work.

The trial stems from one of several insider trading cases pursued by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office, which has charged 107 people since 2009.

The trial is the office's first since it suffered a major setback in 2014 when an appellate court limited the scope of insider trading laws, causing charges against 14 people to be dropped or dismissed.

The case is U.S. v. Stewart, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00287.

Source by Reuters

U.S. stocks flat looking past BoE stimulus and ahead to nonfarm payrolls

Stock market

Wall Street

Wall Street saw choppy trade, remaining mostly flat on Thursday, as if unconvinced by gains in Europe on the back of the Bank of England’s (BoE) decision to shoot a wave of stimulus into the British economy in an attempt to head off the doldrums caused by the decision to leave the European Union.

At 15:34GMT, or 11:34AM ET, the Dow 30 gave up 8 points, or 0.04%, the S&P 500 inched up 1 point, or 0.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 6 points or 0.11%.

Though the BoE cut rates to a new record low for the first time in more than seven years in a widely expected move, the British monetary authority followed through with a package of other measures designed to head off a recession in the U.K. economy.

London’s FTSE 100 surged 1.5% on the news as the rest of Europe followed with solid gains and the pound sank more than 1% against the dollar.

Yet, U.S. equities were unmoved as investors appeared to be preparing for the publication stateside on Friday of the Employment Report for July.

On Thursday’s economic calendar, the labor market continued to firm despite a slight, unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims.

In the meantime, factory orders gave a “positive” surprise as they fell in June less than had been expected.

In company news, investors received mixed results in what would be one of the last big blasts in the second quarter earnings season.

Among major movers, Square (NYSE:SQ) soared more than 13% after it reported a 41.5% jump in revenue and diminishing losses after Wednesday's closing bell, as more large merchants make sales using the mobile payments firm’s technology.

Godaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY) surged almost 12% after the seller of web addresses posted a narrower quarterly loss on a revenue jump.

Shares of Jack In The Box Inc (NASDAQ:JACK) spiked more than 10% following its earnings beat.

On the downside, TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) plunged close to 9% after the company's second-quarter earnings miss, as hotel revenue fell.

Time Inc (NYSE:TIME) tumbled close to 6% on a revenue miss.

AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) shed more than 4% after missing on profit.

Earnings would continue to be under the microscope after Thursday’s close with Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN), LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), Motorola (NYSE:MSI), Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC), El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LOCO), Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE:LGF), Zillow Group Inc (NASDAQ:Z),Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), and Weight Watchers (NYSE:WTW) among the companies set to report.

Meanwhile, oil wavered between losses and gains on Thursday with West Texas managing to break back through $41 in U.S. midday trade.

That came after a 3% surge on Wednesday when data showed that gasoline supplies in the U.S. fell sharply last week, offsetting a surprise build in crude stockpiles.
U.S. crude futures traded up 1.42% to $41.41 by 15:36GMT, or 11:36AM ET, while Brent oil gained 0.86% to $43.47.

Source by Investing.com

Wall Street edges up on energy, financials

Wall Street, Investing

Wall Street edged higher on Wednesday after a sharp rise in oil prices boosted energy shares, while encouraging data on the labor market helped financial stocks.

U.S. oil prices jumped more than 3 percent to $40.84 a barrel, rising for the first time in six days, after a larger-than-expected gasoline draw offset a surprise build in U.S. crude stockpiles. WTI crude had fallen below $40 for the first time since April earlier in the week.

The S&P energy index was up 1 percent as the best performing of the 10 major S&P groups.

"If (oil) does break $40 and goes to $35, the energy stocks are going to get clocked once again," said Ken Polcari, Director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York.

"If it holds here at $40 then people may breathe a sigh a relief and say the worst is over."

Data showed the U.S. private sector added 179,000 jobs in July, beating estimates of 170,000. The report comes ahead of the more comprehensive national payrolls report on Friday.

If the labor market is able to build on its recent strength, it could make the case for the Federal Reserve to raise benchmark U.S. interest rates later this year.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said on Wednesday that one rate hike may be appropriate this year, despite his worry that inflation is still undershooting the U.S. central bank's 2 percent target.

The possibility of a rate hike this year helped support financial stocks, along with a 7.2 percent jump in American International Group after the largest commercial insurer in the United States and Canada reported an operating profit that beat analysts' estimate.

The S&P financial sector rose 0.8 percent.

Healthcare shares were lower, weighed down by a 3.5 percent drop in Biogen. Reuters reported the company has not received any formal expressions of interest from potential acquirers a day after buyout reports sent the stock up more than 9 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.94 points, or 0.02 percent, to 18,317.71, the S&P 500  gained 1.47 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,158.5 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.72 points, or 0.19 percent, to 5,147.45.

Tesla and Twenty-First Century Fox are scheduled to report after the bell.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.66-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.56-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 35 new lows.

Source by Reuters

Wall Street slips as car sales dent economic hopes

Stock market, Wall Street

Stocks fell Tuesday on Wall Street, with each of the major indexes notching their largest daily percentage loss in about a month as economic data and weaker-than-expected auto sales spurred growth concerns.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 90.74 points, or 0.49 percent, to 18,313.77, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 13.81 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,157.03 and the Nasdaq Composite.IXIC dropped 46.46 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,137.73.

Source by Reuters

Wall St. mixed as tech titans tee up quarterly reports

Stock market

Wall Street, Investing

Wall Street was mixed on Thursday as investors fretted about disappointing earnings from Ford and awaited quarterly scorecards from technology heavyweights Alphabet (O:GOOGL) and Amazon.com.

It was the 10th session of range-bound trading following a sharp rally in late June and early July that hit record highs and has left the S&P 500 up 6 percent for the year.

Amazon.com (O:AMZN) rose 1.5 percent as investors anticipated its quarterly results after the bell, with Google parent-company Alphabet also due to report.

"Tech has been pretty much the strongest sector over the last month. Momentum players are focusing to buy on pullbacks," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors in San Antonio. "With Amazon, if it's a good beat we will be off to the races because it's already pushing up to 52-week highs."

Earlier, Ford reported weak China sales and declared that the U.S. auto industry's long recovery was at an end, triggering a 8.6-percent fall in its shares. The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 index.

The carmaker's dismal forecast rattled the wider automobile market, with shares of General Motors (N:GM) falling 3.2 percent and Fiat Chrysler (N:FCAU) 4.6 percent.

Apple (O:AAPL) rose 1 percent, giving the S&P 500 its biggest lift.

A report by the U.S. Labor Department showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose more than expected to 266,000 for the week ended July 22.

At 2:40 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) was down 0.11 percent at 18,451.04 points and the S&P 500 (SPX) had risen 0.12 percent to 2,169.26.

The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) added 0.24 percent to 5,152.36.

Seven of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the consumer staples sector (SPLRCS) up 0.4 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.11-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.13-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 107 new highs and 24 new lows.

Source Investing.com

Wall Sreet dragged down by weak data, Ford results

Stock market

 Wall Street, Investing

The S&P 500 index and the Dow edged lower on Thursday as investors fretted about weak economic data and disappointing earnings from Ford.

The carmaker reported weak China sales and declared that the U.S. auto industry's long recovery was at an end, triggering a 9.6 percent fall in its shares. The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 index.

Ford's dismal forecast rattled the automobile market, with shares of General Motors (N:GM) falling 4 percent and Fiat Chrysler (N:FCAU) 6 percent.

A report by the U.S. Labor Department showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose more than expected to 266,000 for the week ended July 22.

Energy shares took a hit after oil prices fell 2 percent. Exxon (N:XOM) and Chevron(N:CVX) dropped more than 1 percent.

However, gains in Amazon.com (O:AMZN), ahead of its results on Thursday, helped the Nasdaq limit losses.

Strong economic data had put Wall Street on a record-setting run in the past weeks, with the S&P 500 breaking its all-time high six times in 13 days.

"When you've got a one-way market, which we've had for several weeks, it is bound to consolidate or rest a bit," said David Donabedian, chief investment officer of Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management.

"You also have some negative earnings reports and oil prices are back on people's mind as it approaches the $40 level."

At 12:38 p.m. ET (1638 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was down 74.71 points, or 0.4 percent, at 18,397.46.

The S&P 500 index (SPX) was down 4.28 points, or 0.2 percent, at 2,162.3.

The Nasdaq Composite index (IXIC) was down 2.58 points, or 0.05 percent, at 5,137.23.

Eight of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the telecom services index (SPLRCL) falling the most. Consumer staples (SPLRCS) and utilities (SPLRCU) indexes were flat.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,538 to 1,298. On the Nasdaq, 1,639 issues fell and 1,096 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 90 new highs and 22 new lows.

Source Investing.com