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Thailand s economy expanded in the final quarter of 2021 helped by growth in exports private consumption and government spending Gross domestic product rose 19 from a year earlier compared with a 02 decline in the previous quarter the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council said Monday The reading was better than the median forecast of a 04 rise in a Wall Street Journal poll of five economists Fourth quarter GDP rose 18 from the previous quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis Stronger exports and easing pandemic related restrictions helped the economy although tourism remained weak economists say The government said it expects the economy to grow 35 to 45 in 2022 following a 16 expansion last year Private consumption which makes up about half of the Thai economy rose 03 in the fourth quarter from a year earlier Exports of goods increased 166 exports of services rose 305 and imports of goods and services gained 166 the data showed Earlier this month eds Feb 9 the Thai central bank left its policy rate unchanged at 050 citing the economy s fragile and uneven recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic

Wall Street s main indexes fell in choppy trading on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve s last meeting struck a hawkish note pushing down shares of big technology companies and buoying economy sensitive cyclical sectors At 1051 ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI was down 022 at 363279 The SP 500 SPX was up 003 at 470187 and the Nasdaq Composite IXICwas up 014 at 15121725 BUZZ Alterity jumps on US patent for compounds targeting brain disorders BUZZ MGM Resorts to benefit from accelerating trends in Las Vegas Credit Suisse BUZZ Dick s Sporting Goods up after co raises FY profit forecast Bed Bath Beyond Inc BBBYO up 87 Vocera Communications Inc VCRAN up 265 Stryker Corp VCRAN up 265 BUZZ ADT falls as RBC steps to the sidelines Helen of Troy Ltd HELEO up 19 JDcom Inc up 45 Alibaba Group Holdings Inc up 48 Baidu Inc up 38 Weibo Corp up 66 BUZZ China ADRs weather global tech selloff Alibaba JDcom lead charge BUZZ Kearny Financial dips as Piper Sandler downgrades to neutral

If history is any guide there may be good fortune ahead for shares of Coupang NYSECPNG A so called golden cross has formed on its chart and not surprisingly this could be bullish for the stockWhat To Know Many traders use moving average crossover systems to make their decisionsWhen a shorter term average price crosses above a longer term average price it could mean the stock is trending higher If the short term average price crosses below the long term average price it means the trend is lowerWhy It s Important The 50 day and the 200 day simple moving averages are commonly used The golden cross occurs when the 50 day crosses above the 200 day This could mean the long term trend is changingThat just happened with Coupang which is trading around 1784 at publication time Remember Seasoned investors don t blindly trade Golden CrossesInstead they use it as a signal to start looking for long positions based on other factors like price levels and company fundamentals eventsFor seasoned investors this is just a sign that it might be time to start considering possible long positions TABLE Also consider this overview of Coupang analyst ratings Do you use the Golden Cross signal in your trading or investing Share this article with a friend if you found it helpfulThis article was generated by Benzinga s automated content engine and reviewed by an editor

WASHINGTON March 9 Reuters Russia and Belarus are edging close to default given the massive sanctions imposed against their economies by the United States and its allies over the war in Ukraine the World Bank s chief economist Carmen Reinhart told Reuters The specter of Russia defaulting on 40 billion of external bonds its first major such default since the years following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution has loomed large over markets since a raft of sanctions and countermeasures by Moscow have largely cut the country out of global financial markets Both Russia and Belarus are in square default territory Reinhart said in an interview They re not rated by the agencies as a selective default yet but mighty close Fitch on Tuesday downgraded Russia s sovereign rating by six notches further into junk territory to C from B saying a default is imminent as sanctions and trade restrictions have undermined its willingness to service debt read more Reinhart said financial sector repercussions had been limited thus far but risks could emerge if European financial institutions were more exposed to Russian debt than assumed Around half of Russia s sovereign hard currency bonds are held by foreign investors and Moscow must make 107 million in coupon payments on two bonds on March 16 Russian corporates have just under 100 billion in international bonds outstanding read more Foreign banks have exposure of just over 121 billion to Russia with much of that concentrated in European lenders according to data from the Bank of International Settlements I worry about what I do not see Reinhart said Financial institutions are well capitalized but balance sheets are often opaque There is the issue of Russian private sector defaults One cannot be complacent read more China also rapidly expanded its lending to Russia after its 2014 annexation of Crimea she said Analysts say Ukraine will also need debt relief this year given its massive war related outlays and a heavy debt burden of 947 billion at the end of 2021 although the country has vowed to service its debt on time and in full read more Reinhart said it was reasonable to expect Ukraine to seek cash flow relief and expressed confidence that creditors would be receptive given the current situation Ukraine could also miss an upcoming coupon payment at least during the grace period without its credit rating suffering she said Ukraine has and will have open doors given its very difficult financial situation she said You’re not declared in default as long as you’re still within the grace period” Ukraine s sovereign debt includes 16 billion owed to Paris Club creditors and 49 billion to non Paris Club creditors most of which is held by China according to debt experts Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington Additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London Editing by Matthew Lewis

Earlier this week macro strategistMike McGlonewarned investorsthat cryptos which areoutperforming other assets could plummet if deflation sets in In a tweet on Wednesday McGlonesaid he remainscautious about crypto assets amid a worsening economic climate The strategist wrote that a deflationary bust may be gainingfuel as seen in plunging commodities and bank deposits He added that crypto assets couldface downward risks if the broadstock market falls Cryptos Could Be the Next Assets to Drop in Deflation Dominoes It s been a year of rebounds for just about everything that fell in 2022 with cryptos tops among high beta performers but a deflationary bust may be gaining fuel as seen in plunging commodities and bank deposits pictwittercomH871jqA5xc— Mike McGlone mikemcglone11 May 3 2023 “Bitcoin born of the 2008 financial crisis is facing its first US recession and if the broad stock market follows banks cryptos are likely to ebb with the tide” McGlone wrote Also ReadHere s Why This Analyst Says A 10T Market Cap For Bitcoin Can Happen Bitcoin Holding 30000 Ceiling May Help Fuel Gold Above 2000 Crypto enthusiasts who refer to gold as boomer rocks may fall by the wayside vs the metal as the US leans into a recession Optimism that there will be a soft landing and that the worst is over… pictwittercomKn3LiEzSlG— Mike McGlone mikemcglone11 May 4 2023 “The up and coming 247 traded leading indicators revolutionary technologies and assets –BitcoinCRYPTO BTC andEthereumCRYPTO ETH – may be running into a wall of resistance at the key round number levels of 30000 and 2000” he added At the time of writing Bitcoin was trading at 28611 three percent down in the last seven days Meanwhile CoinShares chief strategy officer Meltem Demirors said earlier this week that the US banking crisis was the leading cause behind Bitcoin’s price action in recent months In aninterviewwith Bloomberg Television Demirors said there weretwo catalysts that have givenBitcoin a boostFirst investors are regaining an appetite for risk and second they areanticipating next year’s halving event in April when miners’ rewards are cut in half she said Now ReadAnalyst Who Predicted May 2021 Crypto Crash Now Says Bitcoin Set To Surge To This Price By 2024 Photo Shutterstock

Manufacturing activity in the New York State shrunk in October for the third straight month a sign of persisting headwinds for the factory sector amid slowing demand data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed Monday The Empire State Manufacturing Survey s general business conditions index decreased to minus 91 in October from minus 15 in September This is below the minus 5 consensus forecast from economists polled by The Wall Street Journal The indicator which is based on a survey of manufacturing firms in the New York area signals factory activity fell at a sharper pace compared with the previous month as the reading came in further below zero Around 32 of firms polled said business conditions worsened in October higher than the 23 which said conditions improved the New York Fed said Demand for goods stalled in October according to the survey The new orders index was unchanged at 37 signaling a slight increase in new orders while the shipments index fell to minus 03 from 196 suggesting shipments were little changed The index for number of employees fell to 77 from 97 the prior month in a sign that firms in the area continued to expand their workforce though only slightly Supply chain bottlenecks continued to ease over the month The unfilled order index rose to minus 37 in October from minus 75 the prior month but remained negative and suggested that unfilled orders declined The delivery times index fell to minus 09 from 19 a month earlier signaling that vendor lead times were broadly unchanged Inflation pressures at factory gates edged up again in October after several months of declines the data showed The prices paid index rose to 486 from 396 a month earlier while the prices received index decreased only slightly to 229 from 236 Manufacturers in the area don t expect business conditions to improve over the next six months with the index for future business conditions dropping to minus 18 in October from 82 in September The indexes for future new orders and shipments remained depressed though employment is expected to continue to increase Delivery times are expected to shorten and increases in capital spending are planned for the months ahead the New York Fed said

Carlsberg AS on Thursday posted a forecast beating rise in first quarter revenue after seeing strong growth in most markets The Copenhagen based brewer said it achieved strong growth in western Europe while Asia had a good start to the year Volumes were slightly down in central and eastern Europe but excluding Ukraine the company delivered good volume growth it said The Copenhagen based brewer generated revenue of 1494 billion Danish kroner 213 billion for the quarter against DKK1426 billion expected in a FactSet poll and compared with DKK118 billion in a year earlier First quarter volumes rose to 279 million hectoliters from 257 million a year earlier missing a FactSet forecast of 314 million hectoliters Carlsberg has previously said it will completely exit Russia a business that represented around 10 of group sales while its three breweries in Ukraine are currently closed Looking at business performance the first quarter saw only limited impact from the war said Chief Executive Cees t Hart The company said that it will on Thursday launch its second quarterly share buyback program amounting to DKK1 billion Carlsberg reiterated guidance provided last week but now assumes a positive currency effect of around DKK350 million for 2022 from DKK400 million previously

Yum China Holdings Inc reported a slight gain in revenue and a better than expected profit in the fourth quarter even as pandemic related factors continued to hurt business The Shanghai restaurant and fast food chain operator reported net profit of 475 million up from 151 million for the quarter ended for the fourth quarter The company posted per share earnings of 110 compared with earnings of 35 cents a share in the year ago period Adjusted per share earnings were three cents Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted per share earnings of 20 cents Revenue totaled 229 billion compared with 226 billion in the prior year period Analysts polled by FactSet expected 236 billion Revenue was down 2 excluding foreign currency translation The increase in net profit was primarily due to higher operating profit which was boosted by a noncash gain of 618 million from the re measurement of the company s previously held equity interest in Hangzhou KFC The company said fluid Covid 19 related conditions caused volatility in fourth quarter operations It said the business was negatively affected by waves of the Delta variant spreading to nearly all provinces in China and more stringent public health measures as case counts grew

Stocks in Europe are seen opening higher after closing lower Friday In Asia stock benchmarks were mostly lower the dollar weakened Treasury yields were mixed oil rose and gold edged lower European stocks look poised to push higher at the open today after declining Friday following much stronger than expected US jobs data which increases the prospect of further hefty rate rises by the Fed The data left investors with a mixed picture A key pillar of the economy remains strong which should be good news for markets But strong data means the rate increases that have sent stock and bond prices lower this year aren t likely to go away anytime soon Friday s jobs report is the exact opposite of a slowing economy said Thomas Tzitzouris head of fixed income research at Strategas This report means it s going to be very difficult to support the view of rate cuts happening anytime before the end of next year The monthly employment report however is a lagging indicator And investors and policy makers still have lots of data to sift through between now and the Fed s September policy meeting The next reading of the US consumer price index will be released Wednesday Friday s extremely strong jobs data suggests that many businesses are not allowing recession fears to stand in the way of hiring said Ryan Belanger managing principal and founder at Claro Advisors The jury is out on whether this robust pace of hiring can continue as many large and small companies have recently taken steps to slow hiring or even layoff existing employees Belanger said he thinks the inflation data on Wednesday will weigh more heavily on the Fed than the jobs report as fighting inflation is the Fed s top focus The dollar edged lower in Asia today after rising Friday following a strong jobs report The reaction to a shockingly impressive payroll report was a surge in Treasury yields that bolstered the dollar said Oanda s Edward Moya King dollar is here to stay as the debate for higher Fed rate increases will likely be supported by the next round of inflation data The euro defended parity against the dollar but it will be hard for that to last as the interest rate differential will continue to widen more to the greenback s favor and as the global economic slowdown will lead to more safe haven flows Moya said Treasury yields were mixed early Moday after jumping sharply Friday on the July jobs report That stoked expectations the Fed will continue to aggressively raise rates to contain inflation However the spread in yields between shorter term and longer term bonds widened further deepening what s known as a yield curve inversion Surging natural gas prices freight rates and a stronger US dollar have boosted the cost of transporting Brent crude oil from the ground into retail pumps Goldman said While Goldman still expects Brent to trade at a wide discount to retail fuel prices prices could soon rise to 110bbl 125bbl on short supply The price of the precious metal may come under pressure after strong payrolls data on Friday ANZ said That could give rise to fears that the Fed may persist with its aggressive rate hike cycle ANZ said Aluminum pushed a tad higher supported by prospects of supply reductions prompted by rising energy shortages Sentiment seems more positive in the base metals sector ANZ said Meanwhile commodities giant Glencore warned last week that Europe s energy crisis poses a substantial threat to supply ANZ said The company noted that its smelters in the region are barely turning a profit given that aluminum is the most energy intensive metal added ANZ Chinese iron ore futures advanced in a likely technical rebound after prices fell in the latter half of last week though further gains may be capped China s steel demand is facing significant headwinds from the property sector where mortgage boycotts threaten to derail property construction further CBA said With presold apartments an important funding source for property developers mortgage boycotts threaten to amplify the risk that projects under construction remain uncompleted CBA added WASHINGTON The Senate passed a bill spending hundreds of billions of dollars on climate and healthcare programs while raising taxes on large profitable companies as Democrats unified around elements of President Biden s agenda after a year of frustrated efforts to advance a broader package The legislation which passed the Senate 51 50 on Sunday with a tiebreaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris offers tax incentives for reducing carbon emissions seeks to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of some prescription drugs allots roughly 80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service and extends subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act A Federal Reserve official said the US central bank could follow two consecutive 075 percentage point rate rises this summer with a third such increase at its meeting next month Fed governor Michelle Bowman said she strongly supported the Fed s 075 percentage point rate increase last month and similarly sized increases should be on the table until we see inflation declining in a consistent meaningful and lasting way HONG KONG China s export machine remained surprisingly resilient in July following a strong bounceback from the spring s harsh Covid 19 restrictions defying again predictions of softening global demand for Chinese made goods Chinese shipments to the rest of the world rose to 3329 billion in July China s General Administration of Customs said Sunday an 18 increase compared with a year earlier The reading beat a median forecast of 156 growth among economists polled by The Wall Street Journal July s year over year growth rate represents an acceleration from the 179 pace in June Iran US Close In on Nuclear Deal Text but Hurdles Remain Negotiations between Iran and the US on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal are close to completion the European Union s senior negotiator at the talks said Sunday evening but it remained unclear whether Tehran will accept the final deal The text of an agreement could be closed in coming hours said the EU s Enrique Mora the coordinator of the talks However Iran must still decide whether to set aside its demand that the nuclear deal can only be revived if a multiyear United Nations atomic agency probe into its nuclear program is closed Investors Brace for More Market Volatility as Earnings Estimates Slump Corporate earnings expectations are falling That means the stock market is again at risk of appearing expensive even after this year s tumble Wall Street often uses the ratio of a company s share price to its earnings as a gauge for whether a stock appears cheap or overpriced By that metric the market as a whole had been especially pricey for much of the past two years when easy monetary policy propelled major stock indexes to dozens of new highs United Parcel Service Inc is nearing a deal to acquire Italy s Bomi Group according to people familiar with the matter as the transportation giant looks to bolster its medical product distribution business The deal worth several hundred million dollars could be finalized as soon as Monday assuming the talks don t break down at the last minute the people said ZAPORIZHZHIA Ukraine Explosions shook Europe s largest nuclear plant over the weekend prompting fears that the war could unleash a nuclear catastrophe Located in the Russian occupied city of Enerhodar along the Dnipro river which divides the Russian and Ukrainian forces in the area the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is now perilously close to the front lines of the fighting ADELAIDE Australia Oz Minerals Ltd on Monday rejected a nonbinding takeover proposal from BHP Group Ltd that values the Australian copper and gold mining company at almost 84 billion Australian dollars US58 billion calling the approach highly opportunistic following a fall in copper prices Adelaide based Oz Minerals said it received on Friday the unsolicited and conditional proposal from the world s largest mining company by market value to acquire its shares for A2500 each Its stock last traded at A1892 a share Ben Jerry s to Take On Owner in Court Hearing Over Israeli Business A request by Ben Jerry s to block parent company Unilever PLC s sale of the ice cream brand s Israeli business is set to be heard by a New York court Monday in what lawyers say is a first of its kind case At the heart of the case is what powers Ben Jerry s independent board a unique corporate governance arrangement Unilever granted when buying the brand has in practice

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on Lam Research NASDAQLRCXAnd retail traders should knowWe noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at BenzingaWhether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with LRCX it often means somebody knows something is about to happenSo how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 16 uncommon options trades for Lam ResearchThis isn t normalThe overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 56 bullish and 43 bearishOut of all of the special options we uncovered 12 are puts for a total amount of 815365 and 4 are calls for a total amount of 288700What s The Price TargetTaking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 2500 to 5400 for Lam Research over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest DevelopmentLooking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stockThis data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Lam Research s options for a given strike priceBelow we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Lam Research s whale activity within a strike price range from 2500 to 5400 in the last 30 days Lam Research Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted SymbolPUTCALLTrade TypeSentimentExp DateStrike PriceTotal Trade PriceOpen InterestVolume LRCXPUTTRADEBULLISH011924380002441K29K25 LRCXPUTTRADENEUTRAL061623540001097K485 LRCXCALLSWEEPBEARISH102122270001051K00 LRCXCALLTRADEBEARISH10212227000988K040 LRCXPUTTRADEBULLISH01192448000840K3855 Where Is Lam Research Standing Right Now With a volume of 808047 the price of LRCX is up 253 at 32291 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversoldNext earnings are expected to be released in 2 days What The Experts Say On Lam Research B of A Securities has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Lam Research which currently sits at a price target of 460 Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal Weight rating on Lam Research which currently sits at a price target of 410 Deutsche Bank has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Lam Research which currently sits at a price target of 400 Goldman Sachs has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Lam Research which currently sits at a price target of 434 Berenberg has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Lam Research which currently sits at a price target of 470 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closelyIf you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Lam Research Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Peloton Interactive PTON And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with PTON it often means somebody knows something is about to happen So how do we know what this whale just did The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 36 bullish and 63 bearish Out of all of the special options we uncovered 7 are puts for a total amount of 531633 and 4 are calls for a total amount of 142244 Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 25 to 350 for Peloton Interactive over the last 3 months In terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Peloton Interactive options trades today is 192362 with a total volume of 658700 In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Peloton Interactive s big money trades within a strike price range of 25 to 350 over the last 30 days Peloton Interactive Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Where Is Peloton Interactive Standing Right Now With a volume of 3369460 the price of PTON is down 762 at 117 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 6 days What The Experts Say On Peloton Interactive Oppenheimer downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of 20 Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Peloton Interactive which currently sits at a price target of 13 Piper Sandler downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of 12 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Peloton Interactive Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Schlumberger NVNYSESLB NYSESLB reporteda second quarter FY23revenue increase of 196 year over year to 810 billion missing the consensus of 822 billion Revenue by Division Digital Integration 947 million 1 YY Reservoir Performance 164 billion 23 YY Well Construction 336 billion 25 YY and Production Systems 231 billion 22 YY Adjusted EPS increased 44 YY to 072 beating theconsensus of 071 Adjusted EBITDA was 196 billion for the quarter an increase of 28 YY and margin expanded 163 bps to 242 The pretax segment operating margin expanded by 240 bps for the quarter to 195 Operating cash flow for the six months ended June 30 2023 totaled 194 billion compared to 539 million a year ago Free cash flow was 721 million Also ReadSLB Bags Contract For Petrobras Digital Transformation “Our focus on the quality of our revenue continues to drive margins and during the second quarter we received numerous multiyear contract awards This is bolstering our outlook for long term growth that will outlast near term commodity price volatility and it is reinforcing our belief in the breadth resilience and durability of the upcycle” commented CEO Olivier Le Peuch During the quarter SLB repurchased 45 million shares at an average price of 4733 per share for a total purchase price of 213 million DividendSLB s Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of 025 per share payable on October 12 2023 to stockholders of record on September 6 2023 The company reiterated its capital investment forecast for FY23 to be 25 26 billion versus 23 billion in 2022 “We continue to see positive upstream investment momentum in the international and offshore markets” added CEO Olivier Le Peuch Price ActionSLB shares are trading lower by 257 at 5579 premarket on Friday

Several banks are reportedly working on a digital wallet that links with debit and credit cards to compete with Apple Pay and PayPal According to the Wall Street Journal the digital wallet would be operated by Early Warning Services a joint venture from several banks that also runs Zelle The major banks involved include Wells Fargo JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America according to the report The new wallet would initially be launched with Visa and Mastercard already on board according to the report The move could be seen as an effort to slow Apple s push into consumer banking as the tech giant already offers a branded credit card and is exploring other products for their famously loyal customer base Shares of PayPal which has digital payments as its core business slipped about 15 in premarket trading The report follows a mixed earnings season for big banks with several CEOs including Bank of America s Brian Moynihan warning that the US was likely to see a mild recession Bank stocks have struggled over the past year even as interest rates have risen as fears of a recession and a slower investment banking environment have offset gains in net interest income

Dogecoin CRYPTO DOGE spin offFloki Inu CRYPTO FLOKI is trading lower by some 2313 to 000002163 Friday morning The move lower in the meme crypto comes amid broader weakness in the cryptocurrency space after crypto exchange giantKrakenhasagreed to suspend its cryptocurrency stakingoperations to settle charges with theUS Securities and Exchange Commission What Else The SEC states that Kraken must immediately discontinue its crypto staking as a service platform for US customers and pay a 30 million penalty to settle its charges of offering unregistered securities Our Benzinga team reported late Thursday that the settlement was reportedly approved during a private meeting of the SEC s Commissioners on Thursday with a public announcement to follow The decision to discontinue staking services for US customers was later confirmed by the SEC Kraken offered a range of staking services including a crypto lending product that promised yields of up to 24Read More Weakness in several meme cryptos may be due to a sympathy move lower with apex crypto Bitcoin and second largest market cap crypto Ethereum over the past 24 hours and in potential reaction toRobinhood Markets Incfourth quarterearnings in which it reported a 24 decrease in crypto transaction based revenues According to data fromBenzinga Pro Floki Inu has a 52 week high of 00000048 and a 52 week low of0000048

Morningstar Chief US Markets Strategist David Sekera believes the massive sell off in Big Tech this year could now be overdone The broader tech sector has borne the brunt of a market rotation out of growth stocks and into value names this year as monetary tightening became more apparent The Nasdaq Composite is down 28 year to date putting the tech heavy index firmly in bear market territory FAANG stocks too are trading at deep discounts Sekera told CNBC Pro Talks on Wednesday One FAANG stock in particular Meta has become so cheap investors can buy it at a large margin of safety he said Identifying a margin of safety is a classic value investing strategy and one of Warren Buffett s cornerstone principles that looks for stocks with an intrinsic value that is well above their market valuation Value focused investors like Buffett believe it is a key factor to consider when assessing the risk and return potential of a company particularly during periods of extreme market volatility And it has led Sekera to argue that now could be the time to look at FAANG stocks once again Margin of safety stock Sekera noted that both Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta are trading at very deep discounts to their long term valuations He estimated that Alphabet is trading at a 35 discount to Morningstar s fair value on the stock while Meta trades at under half of its fair value Alphabet s stock is down more than 20 this year and trades at a PE ratio of 183x Meanwhile more than half of Meta s market capitalization has been wiped out this year and the stock is now trading at a price to earnings ratio of just 126x the lowest among its peers according to FactSet data Around 80 of analysts covering the stock give it a buy rating It s always hard to know exactly when the market will catch back up to where we think that intrinsic valuation is … But at this point you know we think you can buy that stock at such a large margin of safety investors would be well positioned in that name Sekera said of Meta He said the company is set to benefit from the long term structural growth in digital advertising despite some negative publicity this year Meta said in February that Apple s App Tracking Transparency feature which reduces targeting capabilities by limiting advertisers from accessing an iPhone user identifier will hit the social media company s sales this year by about 10 billion But Meta has since stepped up its efforts in response to those headwinds moving to generate more revenue from Instagram Reels and investing in artificial intelligence to drive content recommendations the way its competitor ByteDance owned TikTok does

Chart Industries IncNYSEGTLS reportedsecond quarter FY23sales growth of 103 year over year on a proforma basis for the combined business to 9081 million missing the consensus of 97181 million Adjusted EPS was 119 beatingthe consensus of 093 The company s Q2 results from continuing operations reflect the first full quarter of ownership of Howden and exclude the Root financial results for the entire ownership period Both reported gross and EBITDA margins grew 300 basis points or more proforma to include Howden Operating income was 957 million and adjusted operating income was 1544 million or 17 of operating income as a percent of sales Adjusted EBITDA increased to 1953 million and the margin expanded by over 500 bps to 215 Chart Industries cash provided by operating activities for the quarter totaled 916 million compared to 347 million a year ago Adjusted Free cash flow was 866 million Orders were 106 billion and backlog increasedto 396 billion The company achieved 943 million of commercial synergies and 965 million of cost synergies to date The company agreed to sell Comco fans business to PX3 Partners the London headquartered private equity firm for an 80 million purchase price The company also sold a French product line for €425 million expected to close in August 2023 GTLS anticipates generating 500 million of potential proceeds from divestitures including the 380 million from the announced Roots and Comco divestitures RelatedChart Industries Divests Roots Business To Ingersoll Rand For 300M FY23 OutlookChart Industries reaffirms sales guidance of 366 billion 380 billion versus consensus of 366 billion with associated adjusted EBITDA of 780 million 810 million It sees adjusted EPS of 570 670 prior 550 670 vs 593 consensus Price ActionGTLS shares traded higher by 826 at 17168 on the last check Friday

Regions Financial Corp reported lower revenue and profit for the first quarter of the year despite an increase in net interest income The Alabama based bank company posted profit attributable to common shareholders of 548 million in the first quarter compared with 642 million a year earlier Per share earnings were 55 cents down from 63 cents Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting 47 cents a share Net interest income rose 5 to 102 billion driven by higher interest rates as well as loan and deposit growth Total revenue was little changed at 16 billion Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for revenue of 161 billion Provision for credit losses was a benefit of 36 million compared with a benefit of 142 million a year ago Write to Will Feuer at WillFeuerwsjcom

MUMBAI March 20 Reuters The Indian rupee edged up slightly against the US dollar on Monday as the rescue of Credit Suisse calmed some nerves but worries around the banking crisis ahead of a US Federal Reserve meeting persisted in broader Asian markets The rupee was at 8247 against the dollar by 1130 am IST staying near a key resistance level of 8250 compared to its previous close of 825525 On Sunday UBS Group AG sealed a deal to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion francs 324 billion a merger engineered by Swiss authorities which was followed by global central banks assuring markets of adequate dollar liquidity via standing swap lines This has probably helped the rupee avoid larger losses but the currency will likely stay in a range of 8240 and 8270 a trader with a private bank said The injection of dollar liquidity has raised prospects of the Fed holding rates this week which creates another uncertainty in a market reeling from the banking crisis the trader added Shares in Singapore STI and Australia AJXO tumbled over 1 while among currencies the Indonesian rupiah and the South Korean won weakened around 025 The dollar index was little changed around 103800 The probability of the Fed holding rates at this week s meeting went up to nearly 60 a reversal from largely expecting a 25 basis point bps hike at the end of last week Futures further indicate rate cuts of around 90 bps this year HDFC Bank economists said a pause from the Fed was a less probable event but if it did materialise a cut could happen by summer and send both the dollar index and bond yields significantly lower The rupee forward premiums climbed with 1 year implied yield hitting a five month high at 245 on fading Fed rate hike bets

Good morning The euro keeps sinking dire warning on energy crisis Russia’s oil riches and narrowing the field of UK PM contenders Here’s what you need to know today Europe’s common currency edged closer toward parity with the US dollar Monday as energy concerns and the risk of recession weighed on the outlook for the euro area while risk aversion fueled a broad rally in the greenback The euro dropped as much as 13 to 10053 eclipsing its low from last week The currency’s downward spiral has been swift and brutal given it was trading around 115 in February A string of increasingly large Federal Reserve interest rate hikes has supercharged the dollar while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has worsened the outlook for growth in the euro zone and pushed up the cost of its energy imports

A major outside shareholder in News Corp NWSA NWS and Fox Corp FOXA FOX opposes a plan by Rupert Murdoch to recombine the companies and wants other alternatives considered including a breakup of News Corp Independent Franchise Partners a London based investment firm and one of the largest non Murdoch holders of both News Corp and Fox said it told a special committee of News Corp’s board last month that it thinks a combination on its own would fail to realize the full value of the company It believes any combination should be done in conjunction with the sale of some of News Corp’s most valuable business units Mr Murdoch’s family trust controls roughly 40 of the voting rights of both companies Both have dual class structures with the family trust mainly holding class B shares which have more powerful voting rights News Corp in addition to owning The Wall Street Journal the Times of London and HarperCollins Publishers is a major player in online real estate listings through Realtorcom and other properties It also owns Australian cable television network Foxtel A full version of this report can be found at WSJcom

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Li Auto LI And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with LI it often means somebody knows something is about to happen So how do we know what this whale just did The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 43 bullish and 56 bearish Out of all of the special options we uncovered 9 are puts for a total amount of 296909 and 7 are calls for a total amount of 784220 Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 250 to 430 for Li Auto over the last 3 months In terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Li Auto options trades today is 229629 with a total volume of 900400 In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Li Auto s big money trades within a strike price range of 250 to 430 over the last 30 days Li Auto Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Where Is Li Auto Standing Right Now With a volume of 5654737 the price of LI is down 559 at 2634 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be oversold Next earnings are expected to be released in 87 days Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Li Auto Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Bond yields advanced Friday ahead of a Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s long awaited speech as well as the latest reading of the central bank’s preferred inflation gauge Powell is speaking at 10 am Eastern in Jackson Hole Wyo with expectations that he will try to reinforce the central bank’s commitment to fighting inflation “We expect Fed Chair Powell to emphasize the Fed’s commitment to restoring price stability” said Bank of America economists led by Michael Gapen Powell may indicate the possibility the Fed could slow down the pace of rate hikes at some point but will emphasize the need to bring rates into restrictive territory having now reached the point at which they are considered neutral to the economy said Gapen “We expect the Fed to push back against any notion of a quick pivot to rate cuts We think Powell is likely to repeat that the Fed will keep policy restrictive until it has clear and convincing evidence PCE inflation is on a path to average 2 over time” he added Traders will be looking not just for clues on what the Fed will do this year but importantly how the Fed may react next year particularly if the US economy slides into recession “Bond traders are essentially saying the Fed can raise rates all it wants this year but it will still be cutting them next year to deal with some crisis This assumption has been embedded into asset prices keeping longer dated yields artificially low and the yield curve deeply inverted which is counterproductive for the Fed in its inflation battle” said Marios Hadjikyriacos senior investment analyst at XM The latest PCE price index data covering July is due for release at 830 am Expectations are for the core PCE price index that is closely watched by Fed policymakers to decelerate slightly to a 47 year over year rate from 48

This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be Subscribe here © 2022 All rights reserved Monique Greenwood former editor in chief of Essence magazine traded in her pen 28 years ago for a whisk and along with her husband launched a bed and breakfast in the heart of the Bed Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn New York Nearly three decades later the two are at the helm of several successful properties under the name Akwaaba which means welcome in Twi a language spoken in Ghana The Escape Home’s Danielle Hyams spoke with Greenwood about her success diversity or lack thereof in the hospitality world Airbnb ABNB and surviving during Covid 19 The following has been condensed and edited for clarity EH Tell us about the transition from journalism to hospitality Greenwood I studied and prepared for a career as a magazine editor and was able to achieve my life’s dream in terms of career by becoming editor in chief of Essence magazine Around that time I began to stay in bed and breakfasts and really enjoyed the experience and the more I stayed in them the more I realized it tied into my personal passions of decorating and entertaining and creating special experiences for people to remember for a lifetime I always believed that real estate was the best financial investment you could make We opened our first bed breakfast in Brooklyn in 1995 It was in a dilapidated mansion two blocks from our home Our thought was with only four guest rooms we should definitely be successful because back then there were no major hotel chains in Brooklyn EH Did you find that many of your skills transferred from one profession to the next Greenwood I think being able to intuitively read people has been helpful in both careers being a good listener has been helpful in both careers and being intuitive about one’s needs before they may even know what they are themselves has certainly been helpful And then I think an attention to detail is critical as a journalist and certainly as an innkeeper EH You’ve since expanded Akwaaba beyond New York how did you choose the locations Greenwood I really had this vision of having a home that I love in a city that I love for each season of the year and the B Bs were a way to do that We started in Brooklyn and as I expanded I thought that Brooklyn would be great for the fall Then we went to Cape May New Jersey to be at the beach in the summer and then Washington DC which is my hometown for the spring and the cherry blossoms and then we went to New Orleans for the winter because it’s still warm there when it’s cold everywhere else Greenwood and her husband have since sold the New Orleans and DC locations and launched B Bs in Philadelphia and the Poconos EH Bed Stuy and Brooklyn as a whole has changed a lot over the past two plus decades How does a business grow and change with the community it’s located in Greenwood A lot of people credit us or blame us depending on who you ask for the change that has happened in Bedford Stuyvesant When we opened here 27 years ago when a guest came and pulled up in their yellow taxi from the airport I can remember times the cab would slow down and then I would see it speed off and that was because the cab driver was telling the guest ‘why are you staying here this isn’t’ a safe place’ To our surprise when we first opened we had a lot of people from down the street around the corner through the tunnel over the bridge who wanted to get away without having to go away so we think we kind of pioneered the concept of staycations And then as the neighborhood continued to shift and it wasn’t just a place people wanted to visit it was a place people wanted to live a lot of creatives Midwesterners yuppies millennials whatever you want to call them started to come into our neighborhood So we became the place of choice for parents with young adult children who are now living in the neighborhood EH Let’s talk diversity in the hospitality sector where ownership has been predominantly white Are things changing Greenwood I still think it’s not super diverse when you look at the low number of black owned hotels or bed breakfasts in the industry the numbers are still dire There is a high entry price to get into this part of the business because you’ve got to have the real estate And we are still dealing with inequities when it comes to getting financing What we do see as part of a new consciousness around Black lives mattering is that the Black consumer is much more intentional about how they spend their money so when we ask folks how they heard about us the vast majority of people of color say ‘we wanted to support a Black owned business’ We’re grateful and appreciative of that consciousness And of course we also have those who are not of color but are allies and are also being intentional about how they spend their money I’m very active in the bed and breakfast space and I’m constantly talking about how you create a space that is welcoming to all people And sometimes it’s as simple as let’s take a look at the reading materials you have Could you get a couple books by Lorraine Hansberry or Toni Morrison Can we look at some of the visuals on your wall can we have a reflection of the way the world really looks Can we diversify even the food offering at breakfast so that folks feel they are in a good place Greenwood Because a large number of people had never stayed in a B B in the first place for Airbnb to kind of coop the name but give a different type of lodging experience creates confusion for the consumer There is no second B in Airbnb no one is making you breakfast and nobody is giving you the service that quite frankly we have used as a distinction for our industry So that has been challenging to help people understand the difference between the two types of experiences and why perhaps the bed and breakfast might be more expensive than the Airbnb stay EH How have you managed during Covid 19 Greenwood It’s been a roller coaster When we were finally able to reopen it was a slow return to New York and DC and Philadelphia because these were cities with high incidents of the infection So we had lots of interest and lots of bookings at our Poconos location in the mountains but very few in the cities In 2021 we actually had our best year ever at our Poconos location Now we are getting cancellations by the minute because of Omicron so we are just trying to brace ourselves and figure out what is next EH Is there anything you would like guests to know or be more aware of Greenwood We don’t make a big deal about gratuity but it’s nice when the guests do leave a tip for the staff because they are in the service industry and when you think about it they have served you breakfast they have made your bed they have done those things So I don’t think as many people would go to a restaurant and sit and dine without leaving a tip I think it’s important that same consideration be given to the staff at a bed breakfast I think some people just don’t know This article is reprinted by permission from The Escape Home a newsletter for second homeowners and those who want to be Subscribe here © 2022 All rights reserved

By Paul Armentano NORML Deputy Director Those who wish to perpetuate the failed public policy of cannabis criminalization have lost the hearts and minds of the American public And they know it With public support for marijuana policy reform reachingsuper majority statusin recent years prohibitionists and other political opponents have largely abandoned efforts to try and influence public opinion Rather they are now relying on gamesmanship to prevent voters from weighing in on the issue In some cases they are even willing to overturn the will of the electorate to get their way This was the case last election InMississippiandSouth Dakota reform opponents successfully litigated to nullify election results for a pair of marijuana legalization measures thereby nullifying the votes cast by 73 percent and 54 percent of voters respectively That same year in Nebraska members of the state Supreme Courtstruck downa proposed medical cannabis access initiative months after it had been approved by the Secretary of State’s office Polling in the state showed that77 percentof Nebraskans backed the initiative but they never got the chance to show their support at the polls Months later Florida’s Republican attorney generalsuccessfully brought suitto preemptivelydenya proposed 2022 legalization initiative from appearing on the ballot Opponents are engaging in similar tactics this election cycle In Arkansas they are seeking to invalidate voters’ pending decision on a statewide proposal to legalize marijuana possession and retail sales Although the measure will appear on the November ballot it is now up to justices on the state Supreme Courtto determineif the votes will ever be counted In a filing before the court opponents of the measure have cynicallycalled uponjudges to “protect the interests and rights of the minority of Arkansans who oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana”Statewidepollingfrom earlier this year identified majority support for legalization among voters In Missouri representatives of a leading prohibitionist organization havejoined legal effortsto try and disqualify a citizens’ initiative legalizing marijuana use by adults and providing legal relief for those with prior low level convictions Earlier this month Secretary of State John Ashcroftissuedacertificateof sufficiency to the Legal Missouri 2022 campaign formally placing their initiative on the November ballot But now opponents contend that election officials erred in doing so opining that they may have miscounted Opponents’ basis for this claim appears to rest solely oninitial media reportsspeculating that advocates risked falling short of signature requirements in one or two districts Campaign proponents had vociferously denied these reports A statewide survey published earlier this month finds that62 percentof registered voters back legalization Finally in Oklahoma election officials engaged in extensive delays prior to verifying that advocates had gathered the requisite quantity of signatures to qualify an adult use legalization measure for the November ballot Now officials are claiming that because of those delaysthere may be insufficient timeto formally certify the measure ahead of the coming election The issue remainsin litigation In a healthy democracy those with competing visions on public policy vie for voters’ support and abide by their voting decisions In this case however it is becoming clear that those who oppose marijuana policy reform would rather take voters out of the equation altogether Whether or not one personally supports or opposes cannabis legalization these cynical and undemocratic tactics ought to be a cause of deep concern Photo Wikipedia

Mizuho cut the price target on Microsoft Corporation NASDAQMSFT from 340 to 320 Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz maintained a Buy rating on the stock Microsoft shares rose 14 to 23183 in pre market trading Stifel cut the price target for International Business Machines Corporation NYSEIBM from 150 to 140 Stifel analyst David Grossman maintained a Buy rating on the stock IBM shares rose 08 to 12100 in pre market trading Morgan Stanley cut the price target on Seagate Technology Holdings plc NASDAQSTX from 70 to 57 Seagate shares rose 1 to 5213 in pre market trading BMO Capital raised the price target for Wells Fargo Company NYSEWFC from 61 to 63 Wells Fargo shares rose 16 to 4387 in pre market trading Stephens Co cut the price target for First Republic Bank NYSEFRC from 190 to 145 First Republic Bank shares rose 17 to 11450 in pre market trading RBC Capital lowered the price target on Check Point Software Technologies Ltd NASDAQCHKP from 145 to 130 Check Point Software shares rose 01 to 11200 in pre market trading Morgan Stanley slashed the price target on HP Inc NYSEHPQ from 28 to 24 HP shares rose 06 to 2560 in pre market trading Check out this Fear Among US Investors Increases After Dow Dips 400 Points Don’t forget to check out our premarket coverage here

Dogecoin CRYPTO DOGE surged almost 12 higher at one point during Thursday’s 24 hour trading session but was smacked down about 5 off the high of day which caused the crypto to fall under the 200 day simple moving average SMA In The News Sentiment in Dogecoin is turning bullish following news Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s deal to purchase TwitterInc NYSETWTR will close Friday Musk who is a Dogecoin bull has hinted at making Dogecoin the default currency for a potential Twitter wallet Shares of Twitter will be suspended from trading Friday the deadline Musk has to finalize the takeover Musk has said he plans to take the social media company private The 200 day SMA The indicator is an important bellwether Technical traders and investors consider a stock or crypto trading above the level on the daily chart to be in a bull cycle whereas a stock or crypto trading under the 200 day SMA is considered to be in a bear cycle The 50 day SMA also plays an important role in technical analysis especially when paired with the 200 day When the 50 day SMA crosses below the 200 day SMA a death cross occurs whereas when the 50 day SMA crosses above the 200 day a bullish golden cross takes place Want direct analysis Find me in the BZ Pro lounge Click here for a free trial The Dogecoin Chart Dogecoin was consolidating on smaller timeframes just under the 200 day simple moving average Thursday A stock or crypto is rarely able to bust up through or fall down under the 200 day SMA on the first attempt because the area historically acts as strong support and resistance Dogecoin is trading in an uptrend with the most recent higher low formed on Oct 21 at 0057 and the most recent confirmed higher high printed at the 0061 mark on Oct 18 Eventually Dogecoin will need to retrace to the downside to print its next higher low which may provide a solid entry for bullish traders who aren’t already in a position A retracement is likely to come soon because Dogecoin’s relative strength index RSI is measuring in at about 80 When a stock or crypto’s RSI reaches or exceeds the 70 mark it becomes overbought which can be a sell signal for technical traders If Dogecoin closes the trading day under the 200 day SMA with a long upper wick it suggests a retracement may come during Friday’s 24 hour session If the stock closes above the 200 day SMA Dogecoin may enter into a consolidation phase above the area possibly with an inside bar pattern Dogecoin has resistance above at 0083 and 0099 and support below at 0075 and 0067 See AlsoHere s How Much You d Have Now If You Invested 100 In Bitcoin Ethereum And Dogecoin Photocometa geovia Shutterstock

Feb 22 Reuters A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever US economic activity indicators on Tuesday accelerated the relentless march higher in US interest rate expectations and confirmed that for financial markets at least good news is most definitely bad news Wall Street and world stocks had their worst day this year after purchasing managers index data showed that the US services sector is roaring back to life Asian markets are likely to follow when they open on Wednesday Not one of the 18 economists polled by Reuters expected the services PMI to bounce back above the 500 threshold between contraction and expansion and the shockwaves were felt across all asset classes Stocks slumped volatility and the dollar rose the two year Treasury yield neared November s post 2007 peak the implied US terminal rate rose to a new high of 536 and a potential 50 basis point rate hike next month is coming on traders radar As analysts at Schroders put it A new regime in policy and market behavior is unfolding before our eyes This is not an emerging market friendly mix If the dollar and US yields continue to rise one of this year s consensus trades and the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars to emerging markets will have to be revised The geopolitical backdrop is not improving either Days from the one year anniversary of Russia s invasion of Ukraine Vladimir Putin announced Moscow will suspend a nuclear arms treaty and the United States and its allies prepared to impose new sanctions on Moscow China appeared to signal support for Russia and the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russia s president Vladimir Putin in the coming months Back to the economics and policy and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to slow the pace of its tightening campaign on Wednesday and deliver a 50 bps hike to 475 That s the view of 20 out of 25 economists polled by Reuters and the other five are going for a second successive 75 bps move If the Fed is as hawkish as markets think it will be it is difficult to see other central banks developed and emerging market alike keeping pace This would cast major doubt over another of this year s consensus ideas a weaker dollar Here are three key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Wednesday

August 2 2022 SEC Rule 10b5 1 provides that purchases or sales of a company s stock by that company s executives do not constitute insider trading when among other things the transactions are made pursuant to a prearranged plan for stock trading that establishes preset amounts and dates or gives discretion for trading decisions to a broker See17 CFR § 24010b5 1c The rationale for this rule is that if executives have decided in advance to make certain trades on a certain date or given that discretion to someone else they are not making those trades on the basis of any material non public information they might possess at the time of the trade Companies typically have discretion to determine the period of time required between adopting a Rule 10b5 1 trading plan and the first trade under that plan Some commentators have suggested that Rule 10b5 1 trading plans may create opportunities for certain executives to realize profits based on inside information if they are allowed to make trades shortly after adopting their Rule 10b5 1 plan On June 7 2021 US Securities and Exchange Commission SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that the lack of a cooling off period before executives may make trades pursuant to a Rule 10b5 1 plan creates a loophole to participate in insider trading See Gary Gensler Prepared Remarks for CFO Network Summit last visited July 28 2022 On Dec 15 2021 citing critical gaps in its insider trading regime the SEC proposed amendments to Rule 10b5 1 that would if adopted require the cooling off period for which Chairman Gensler advocated See SEC Press Release No 2021 256 last visited July 14 2022 And on June 29 2022 The Wall Street Journal published an article claiming among other things that corporate insiders who sell stock within 60 days after adopting a Rule 10b5 1 plan make higher profits and are more likely to avoid downturns in the company s stock price than those who sell later after adopting their Rule 10b5 1 plan See Tom McGinty and Mark Maremont CEO Stock Sales Raise Questions About Insider Trading The Wall Street Journal June 29 2022 The article collects views from academics and other sources suggesting that one possible explanation for any disproportionate profits may be that certain executives have used trades scheduled shortly after the adoption of a Rule 10b5 1 plan to sell stock before the company makes adverse disclosures that may cause its stock price to decline Despite this recent scrutiny courts adjudicating private securities fraud lawsuits broadly agree that trades made pursuant to Rule 10b5 1 plans generally are not suspicious as a matter of law regardless of whether these trades occur soon after the plan s adoption In private securities fraud lawsuits brought pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 PSLRA courts have typically rejected efforts by plaintiffs claiming that trades made pursuant to Rule 10b5 1 plans constitute evidence that corporate executives knowingly made false statements to the market to inflate the company s stock price so that they could later profit from insider trading For example in Harrington v Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc 2017 WL 1946305 D Mass May 9 2017 the plaintiffs argued that the court could infer that the defendant pharmaceutical company and its executives knowingly made misleading positive statements about clinical trial results for a new drug because some of the executive defendants sold a large amount of stock while the company s stock price was high before later bad news about the drug trial drove the price down Id at 7 The defendants countered that there was nothing suspicious about their stock sales because they were prearranged under Rule 10b5 1 trading plans and the plaintiff did not plead any facts suggesting that the executives knew the clinical trial at issue was going poorly at the time they entered into their trading plans Id The court agreed with the defendants holding that the prearranged stock sales were not suspicious as a matter of law even though two of the defendant executives adopted their Rule 10b5 1 plans two months before the sizable stock sales Id at 6 7 n11 Most recently the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals held that even when the defendant adopted the Rule 10b5 1 plan after the alleged fraud began and conducted trades under that plan during the purported class period the sales were still not suspicious unless the plaintiff could allege facts indicating that the plan was not given or entered into in good faith or was part of a plan or scheme to evade the prohibitions of the SEC s insider trading regulations See egArk Pub Empls Ret Sys v Bristol Myers Squibb Co 28 F4th 343 356 n4 2d Cir 2022 quoting 17 CFR § 24010b5 1c1ii By contrast some courts have concluded that trades made pursuant to Rule 10b5 1 plans support an inference of scienter but only in rare cases with extreme facts For example in Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Virgin Islands v Blanford 794 F3d 297 2d Cir 2015 the plaintiff argued that the executive defendants stock sales during the period when they were allegedly misleading the market about the company s business prospects were evidence that the defendant made the misstatements with fraudulent intent Id at 308 The 2nd Circuit did not find the defendants Rule 10b5 1 defense persuasive because 1 the Rule 10b5 1 plans were adopted the day after the alleged fraud began 2 the defendants sold a large amount of stock pursuant to those plans only a week after adopting them and 3 one of the defendants prearranged transactions constituted her only sale of the company s stock in the previous nine years Id at 308 309 As these cases reflect courts generally have not found stock sales made pursuant to Rule 10b5 1 trading plans suspicious enough to support an inference of scienter in private securities fraud cases governed by the PSLRA even when executives make trades pursuant to such plans shortly after adopting them Rather plaintiffs will typically need to show much more than a short turnaround between adoption of the plan and allegedly suspicious sales such as 1 the defendant executive adopted the plan after the fraud began and while the defendant knew information likely to affect the company s stock price adversely or 2 the sales were sizable and unusual relative to the defendants trading history Recent public scrutiny of 10b5 1 plans notwithstanding this well established case law upholds the protections such plans afford in private securities fraud lawsuits absent extreme additional facts creating a strong inference of scienter Alexander C Drylewski and Virginia F Milstead are regular joint contributing columnists on securities law and litigation for Reuters Legal News and Westlaw Today The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the firm or its clients

Big cap tech drew in investors in droves this past week as the market struggled against volatile interest rates and fears of banking sector contagion The broader market was selling off early Friday but stalwarts Apple and Microsoft were holding the week s gains The S P 500 was up 26 for the week as of Thursday s close But the S P information technology sector was up 58 and the communications services sector rose 75 in the same time frame Strategists warn that tech and big internet names could begin to suffer again as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates or even holds them at high levels The futures market Thursday was pricing in strong odds of a quarter point rate hike from the Federal Reserve next week But even though tech is vulnerable when rates rise the dramatic fluctuations in bond yields and concerns about the financial sector pushed investors into the relative safety of big cap tech The big cap tech names are benefiting from a flight to quality within the sector since those stocks have strong cash flow and reliable earnings The 2 year Treasury yield for instance rose above 5 last week but this past week it was well below 4 The yield stood at 405 Friday morning The slide in yields took some pressure off of tech Tech and growth names have reacted poorly when rates rise since investors tend to pay a premium for the promise of future earnings growth Those earnings are less valuable when the cost of funding rises MSFT GOOG 1Y line techs Apple was up 5 for the week to date as of Thursday while Microsoft was up 111 for the week as of Thursday s close Alphabet was higher by 107 and Amazon gained 103 for the week also through Thursday I think inflation is going to be with us for awhile said Jeff Kleintop chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab That may prevent the central banks from declaring victoryI think that s going to keep pressure on some of these tech stocks Strategists say the market could remain choppy particularly if there are more negative headlines from the financial sector Stocks were higher Thursday as investors reacted to news about a consortium of banks agreeing to deposit 30 billion into First Republic But banks were at the epicenter of Friday s sell off as traders worried there could be more contagion Paul Hickey co founder of Bespoke Investment Group said the stock market in general showed resilience in the face of banking concerns since the failure of Silicon Valley Bank one week ago From the bigger picture perspective it s just another example of every headline you look at tells you you should not be investing in risk assets like equities but they continue to hold up Hickey said The market is saying one thing and the headlines are saying another When there s a divergence like that we re always going to be on the side of the market Of technology Hickey said some of the names remain expensive so he is selective As for the group they re not cheap but they re not absurdly expensive either he said Alphabet is trading at a market multiple and sentiment is pretty negative on the stock That s a stock we like here and it could act as a cushion for investors But he said Microsoft is on the pricey side Just as Alphabet has become so out of favor on the AI play Microsoft has become everybody s favorite on that play he said I think it s got a bit ahead of itself Kleintop said he s seeing some more outperformance in the international markets such as Europe In the US he likes companies that are quality names with a lot of immediate cash flow

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on Exxon Mobil NYSEXOM And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with XOM it often means somebody knows something is about to happen So how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 14 uncommon options trades for Exxon Mobil This isn t normal The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 57 bullish and 42 bearish Out of all of the special options we uncovered 5 are puts for a total amount of 334855 and 9 are calls for a total amount of 494728 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 875 to 1050 for Exxon Mobil over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development In terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Exxon Mobil options trades today is 559077 with a total volume of 581400 In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Exxon Mobil s big money trades within a strike price range of 875 to 1050 over the last 30 days Exxon Mobil Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume XOM PUT SWEEP BULLISH 061623 8750 1203K 845 133 XOM CALL SWEEP BEARISH 091622 9500 968K 141K 959 XOM CALL SWEEP BULLISH 012023 10500 930K 61K 334 XOM PUT SWEEP BEARISH 102122 9250 885K 16K 415 XOM CALL SWEEP BEARISH 012023 9500 620K 143K 128 Where Is Exxon Mobil Standing Right Now With a volume of 4027734 the price of XOM is up 125 at 926 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 72 days What The Experts Say On Exxon Mobil Credit Suisse downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of 125 Truist Securities has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Exxon Mobil which currently sits at a price target of 83 B of A Securities has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Exxon Mobil which currently sits at a price target of 120 Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Exxon Mobil which currently sits at a price target of 106 B of A Securities has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Exxon Mobil which currently sits at a price target of 123 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Exxon Mobil Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Chevron NYSECVX And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with CVX it often means somebody knows something is about to happen So how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 15 uncommon options trades for Chevron This isn t normal The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 46 bullish and 53 bearish Out of all of the special options we uncovered 6 are puts for a total amount of 1087895 and 9 are calls for a total amount of 595080 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 1300 to 1800 for Chevron over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Chevron s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Chevron s whale trades within a strike price range from 1300 to 1800 in the last 30 days Chevron Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume CVX PUT TRADE NEUTRAL 011725 14500 7825K 11K 500 CVX CALL TRADE BULLISH 042123 15500 1490K 24K 415 CVX CALL SWEEP BULLISH 042123 15500 1438K 24K 205 CVX PUT TRADE BEARISH 061623 13000 1410K 43K 10K CVX CALL SWEEP BULLISH 061623 17000 622K 49K 187 Where Is Chevron Standing Right Now With a volume of 2130030 the price of CVX is up 141 at 15988 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 31 days What The Experts Say On Chevron Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal Weight rating on Chevron which currently sits at a price target of 192 Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Chevron which currently sits at a price target of 199 Mizuho downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of 206 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Chevron Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Shares of Carvana Co on Thursday rebounded following Wednesday s losses on reports that the user car dealer s creditors had signed agreements on a potential capital raise Shares at 1142 am ET were up 18 at 449 after closing down 43 at 383 a day earlier On a year to date basis the stock is down 98 The creditor group which include Apollo Global Management Inc Pacific Investment Management Co and Ares Management Corp signed a three month cooperation deal to ensure they act in unison if the company attempts to borrow new debt The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter Carvana also hired Moelis Co as a financial adviser and is working with its legal counsel Kirkland Ellis LLP to evaluate restructuring options the Journal reported

C21 Investments Inc CXXIF CXXI released unaudited results for its fiscal year ended January 31 2022 revealing revenue of 330 million down 1 year over year Note that all current and prior period financial results are presented with the company s Oregon activities having been classified as discontinued with the exception of net income Record gross margin of 57 up 310 basis points from last year Record adjusted EBITDA of 124 million – up 6 year over year with 38 EBITDA Margin Income from operations of 98 million – a 6 increase over the prior year Cash flow from operations of 82 million after 31 million income tax paid Total liabilities reduced by 168 million from the previous year C21 delivered record year end results across all profitability metrics and reported 009 in earnings per share for the year Despite continued industry headwinds a consistent focus on bottom line results generated an eleventh straight quarter of positive free cash flow in Q4 Our strong operational performance coupled with the elimination of the drag on earnings from the Oregon operations allowed us to double cultivation capacity in Nevada while further fortifying our balance sheet stated Sonny Newman president and CEO of C21 Despite cannabis retail sales in the State of Nevada being down 162 in Q4 C21 s 4th quarter sales were down 36 This is a testament to our loyal customer base strong brands and quality retail operations which delivered record profitability for the year in the face of very challenging markets Cash at end of the fourth quarter was 31 million down 02 million from Q3 The company s senior secured note was reduced by 15 million in Q4 Subsequent to year end the company has paid down its senior secured note by an additional 25 million with 56 million outstanding as of June 1 2022 On May 30 2022 the company applied for a management cease trade order from the British Columbia Securities Commission the BCSC due to an expected delay in filing of the audited consolidated financial statement for the year ended January 31 2022 annual management s discussion and analysis for the same period and management certifications of annual filings beyond the deadline of May 31 2022 prescribed by Canadian securities laws The MCTO was granted by the BCSC on June 1 2022 The MCTO prohibits the company s management from trading in the securities of the company until such time as the filings are filed The MCTO does not affect the ability of any other shareholders of the company to trade securities of the company C21 and its auditors continue to work diligently toward completing the filings as soon as possible The ongoing auditor review is primarily addressing non operational derivative accounting and certain other non cash items as it pertains to GAAP conversion for restatement of previous periods which could result in a change to net income and earnings per share

NY Agency Fails To Turn Over Requested Documents In 200M Fund Investigation New York’s equity focused rollout of legal recreational marijuana relies on a 200 million Gov Kathy Hochul pledged to support social equity applicants However the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York DASNY which Hochul appointed to oversee the fund still didn’t turn over the key documents as part of an investigation reported Syracuse The Background DASNY was responsible for finding a fund manager for the state’s Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund tasked to raise 150 million from private investors and use it with an addition of 50 million coming from the state to fund leasing and renovating up to 150 Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensaries CAURDs The agency opted for Social Equity Impact Ventures’ team comprised of NBA Hall of Famer Chris Webber and entrepreneur Lavetta Willis and a team from the investment banking firm Siebert Williams Shank However according to an investigation published by NY Cannabis Webber and Willis failed to deliver on several of their claims in addition to missing a deadline to raise 150 million by Sept 1 Later that month NY Cannabis Insider submitted a Freedom of Information Law request to DASNY to get ahold of documents justifying their choice of the fund manager To date DASNY pushed the deadline to submit the requested files several times First Legal Rec Cannabis Sale Pilot Project In Basel To Launch Switzerland opted to be among the first in Europe to launch a THC adult use cannabis trial reported BusinessCann The ‘Weed Care’ pilot program is scheduled to launch on Jan 30 2023 after Pure Production AG was granted renewed approval from Swiss health authorities to supply the trial The company’s initial 30kg batch didn’t meet quality standards Now following a four month delay the study is expected to pave the way for more recreational cannabis trials to take place across Switzerland and Europe A few hundred people in the city of Basel will be allowed to buy cannabis from pharmacies for recreational purposes In 2021 an amendment to the Federal Narcotics Act came into force in Switzerland allowing pilot trials involving the dispensing of cannabis for non medicinal purposes Oregon Wants To Put An End To Illegal Cannabis Production With Tougher Laws Oregon lawmakers are seeking a way to put an end to the illegal production of recreational cannabis which continues to grow even though adult use cannabis is legal statewide reported Oregon Public Broadcasting Year to date policehave seized more than 105 tons of illegally grown marijuana according to the Oregon Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force Now a draft bill for the state’s 2023 legislative session seeks to double the maximum prison sentence and fine for producing over 100 plants and possessing more than 32 times the legal limits to 10 years in prison and 250000 respectively Oregonians can legally possess 2 ounces of marijuana in a public place and 8 ounces at home Employees Can Get Fired For Using Marijuana In South Africa Marijuana in South Africa is decriminalized for personal use by adults in private following the Constitutional Court’s 2018 decision However that doesn’t mean that employees can go to work under the influence according to the Labour Court’s recent ruling reported BusinessTech Those using cannabis can lose their jobs if testing positive for weedwhile at the workplace Legal experts Kerry Fredericks and Bradley Workman Davies from Werksmans Attorneys said The two employees who got fired for testing positivewhile on duty are arbitrating commissioner’s decision on review at the Labor Court The court found no merit to each of the grounds in the NUMSA v PFG Building Glass case First Nations To Oversee Its Cannabis Stores In Saskatchewan Saskatchewan lawmakers have introduced a measure to grant First Nations more self governance in the retail cannabis sector reported Marijuana Business Daily Saskatchewan’s Cannabis Control Amendment Act 2022seeks to set up a legal framework for First Nations to license and regulate the distribution and sale of recreational cannabis on reserve “Our government supports First Nations exercising their authority over on reserve distribution and retailing of cannabis through a legal framework with SLGA” saidLori Carr the minister responsible for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming AuthorityPhoto Courtesy of succo mrkukuruznik5 by Pixabay

With US futures trading higher this morning on Tuesday some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are as follows Wall Street expects Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc NASDAQWBA to post quarterly earnings at 110 per share on revenue of 3344 billion before the opening bell Walgreens shares rose 02 to 3300 in after hours trading PVH Corp NYSEPVH posted better than expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong FY23 earnings forecast PVH shares jumped 109 to 8165 in the after hours trading session Analysts are expecting McCormick Company Incorporated NYSEMKC to have earned 052 per share on revenue of 154 billion for the latest quarter The company will release earnings before the markets open McCormick shares fell 08 to 7350 in after hours trading Check out our premarket coverage here FreightCar America Inc NASDAQRAIL posted a wider than expected loss for its fourth quarter but sales topped estimates The company also said it sees FY23 revenue of 400 million to 430 million FreightCar America shares dropped 98 to 287 in the after hours trading session Analysts expect Micron Technology Inc NASDAQMU to post quarterly loss at 080 per share on revenue of 373 billion after the closing bell Micron shares rose 06 to 6014 in after hours trading Read This Next Top 5 Energy Stocks That May Rocket Higher This Quarter

Amazon could have another winner with its Buy with Prime service according to Morgan Stanley The company started out as an online bookseller morphed into an e commerce giant and tackled cloud computing with Amazon Web Services Its newest program Buy with Prime allows Prime members who purchase from another retailer s website to check out using their Amazon account and receive free two day delivery The service could rake in billions for Amazon analyst Brian Nowak said AMZN YTD mountain Amazon s year to date performance Every 2 of non Amazoncom packages that shift to Buy with Prime would add 59 billion to Amazon s 2025 revenue and 1 billion to annual earnings before interest and taxes EBIT he estimated in a note Tuesday His bull case of 5 of non Amazon volume translates to 35 billion of annual EBIT Amazon s new service competes directly with Shopify which warned its merchants in September that those who use Buy with Prime will violate Shopify s terms of service Nowak said Amazon has an edge Buy with Prime shipping is priced competitively vs peers while also offering the fastest delivery he said Pricing between AMZN and SHOP is at rough parity 8 to ship each packagethough AMZN offers 1 2 day shipping vs SHOP at 2 3 day The other option is for buyers to coordinate their own shipping through delivery services such as UPS and FedEx which is more expensive Nowak added Amazon reports quarterly earnings on Thursday Its shares are up more than 21 this year CNBC s Michael Bloom contributed reporting

Let’s start with the frontrunner and candidate we know best after his four long years in the White House Though the former president went back and forth on numerous issues on numerous occasions and still isn t always crystal clear on his views let s look at his statements and glean as best we canAs we know presidential candidates make all manner of promises that usually get tossed into the bin once their hand touches the HolyBible on Jan 20th Donald Trump indicated during his 2016 campaign that he favored leaving the issue of legalization to the stateswhile his administration upheld federal prohibition thoughdid not pursue a crackdown on state legal cannabis programs And Now Trump recentlycalled weed a “pretty popular thing” among voters but he still contends that drug dealers should get the death penalty Are illicit weed sellers considereddrug dealers in Trump’s view No one knows for sure althoughhe recently saidthatmass shootingswere“not a gun problem but rather that genetically engineered cannabis and the trans community could be at fault and should therefore be investigated So is that a yes or a no about legalization Next and nipping at Trump’s heels is RonDeSantiswho along with Tesla NASDAQTSLA and Twitter CEOElon Musktried his best last week to tell the worldvia Twitterwhat hehad to offer as president DeSantis sstance on cannabis is alsomixed He seems to bea no on legalization though as a Congress member and latergovernor he likedthe idea of Florida becoming a medical marijuana state which it did inan overwhelming popular vote DeSantis also approved ahemp program in 2019 And who can forget whenDeSantis proposedmakingit a first degree felony with a mandatory life sentencefor trafficking fentanyl or any other controlled substances that target children But as president would he or wouldn’t he push for federal legalization Again it seems we’ll have to speculate as we wait Nikki Haley former South Carolina governorthrew her hat into the ring early asTrump’sfirst major Republican opponentwith a dig about his ageshe called for a “new generation” of leaders Haley is 51 and Trump is 76 Haley formerUN ambassador under Trump was asked in a recent interview withWMUR TVabout federal cannabis legalization She replied that she was a states rights person “I think these types of decisions are best decided at the state level” Haleysaid “It’s where people can show the power of their voice Some states will want to see it and that allows them the right to do that Some don’t want to see it and that allows them that right” Who Else There are a few othersjumping intowhat will likelybecomea crowded field Ex Arkansas Gov Asa Hutchinson whohas positioned himself as a palatable alternative to the MAGA wing of the GOPsays he wants to “bring out the best in America” Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and the only Black Republican in the Senate seems to have no particular view on cannabis that we know of Photo Benzinga edit with photos fromSam Holland and Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons and OpenRangeStock on Shutterstock

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Vale NYSEVALE And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with VALE it often means somebody knows something is about to happen Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 10 options trades for Vale This isn t normal The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 20 bullish and 80 bearish Out of all of the options we uncovered 9 are puts for a total amount of 968872 and there was 1 call for a total amount of 64071 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 130 to 300 for Vale over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Vale s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Vale s whale trades within a strike price range from 130 to 300 in the last 30 days Vale Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume VALE PUT SWEEP BULLISH 122024 1700 3836K 53K 872 VALE PUT TRADE BULLISH 042123 3000 1495K 100 100 VALE PUT TRADE BEARISH 051923 3000 1490K 0 0 VALE CALL TRADE BEARISH 051923 1500 640K 47K 12K VALE PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011924 1300 631K 545K 19K Where Is Vale Standing Right Now With a volume of 14791771 the price of VALE is down 485 at 1501 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold Next earnings are expected to be released in 12 days Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Vale Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Benzinga DeSantis Vs Trump Official Florida Governor Reportedly Plans To Declare 2024 Bid Next Week Florida GovernorRon DeSantisis reportedly preparing to announce his candidacy for the 2024 US presidential elections Sources familiar with the matter have revealed that DeSantis plans to formally announce his Republican nomination bid next week He intends to submit the required documents to theFederal Election Commission officially declaring his presidential candidacy around the same time as a gathering in Miami where his long standing and generous donors will be present Why Walmart Shares Are Surging Thursday Morning Walmart IncNYSEWMT reported first quarter FY24 sales growth of 76 year on year to 15230 billion beating the analyst consensus estimate of 14865 billion Net sales from Walmart US increased 72 YY Walmart International rose 12 and Sam’s Club jumped 45 Excluding fuel Walmart’s US Q1 comp sales grew 74 eCommerce growth was 27 Why Alibaba Shares Are Gaining Today Alibaba Group Holding LimitedNYSEBABA reported fourth quarter FY22 revenue growth of 2 year on year to 3032 billion beating the consensus of 3024 billion Non GAAP earnings per ADS of 156 beat the consensus of 135 The board has approved a complete spinoff of the Cloud Intelligence Group via a stock dividend distribution to shareholders to become an independent publicly listed company Grounded Packages FedEx Pilots Flex Their Bargaining Muscles with Strike Vote FedEx Corporation’sNYSEFDX Express unit pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association Int’l ALPA have voted overwhelmingly in support of a strike if necessary After two years of negotiations FedEx pilots pledge to walk if talks fail With aviators in short supply and air travel demand booming pilots are enjoying enhanced bargaining power encouraging them to push for better contracts with airlines and parcel firms Amazon’s AWS Sets 127B Course For India’s Booming Cloud Requirements In an ambitious moveAmazonNASDAQAMZN announced its plans to pour 127 billion to bolster its cloud infrastructure in India by 2030 This comes as the e commerce behemoth redoubles efforts to expand itsAmazon Web ServicesAWS in a critical foreign market despite recent cutbacks in other areas of the region According to a TechCrunch report the investment marks a significant increase from the company’s pledge last year to invest 44 billion ₹3617824 crores in Indian AWS by 2030 underlining Amazon’s intensified commitment What’s Going On With Micron Technology Stock Thursday Micron Technology IncNASDAQMU shares are trading higher on Thursday following reports of the Japanese government’s incentives towards ramping up DRAM chip production in the country The Japanese government will likely dole out close to 151 billion 200 billion yen in financial incentives to help Micron make next generation memory chips in the country The company will be the first semiconductor business to introduce EUV technology to Japan for production with its Hiroshima fab playing a critical role in developing the 1 gamma node Grab Stock Is Trading Lower After Q1 Here’s The Details Grab Holdings LimitedNASDAQGRAB reported first quarter FY23 revenue growth of 130 year on year 139 YY on a constant currency basis to 525 million beating the consensus of 4901 million EPS loss of 006 is in line with the consensus Grab reiterates FY23 revenue of 220 billion 230 billion up by 54 60 YY vs consensus 224 billion and adjusted EBITDA breakeven n Q4 2023 Wall Street Journal Deutsche Bank To Reportedly Pay 75M To Settle Jeffrey Epstein Accusers’ Suit ‘Groundbreaking’ Say Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Deutsche BankAGNYSEDB has agreed to pay 75 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit that accused the financial institution of facilitatingJeffrey Epstein’ssex trafficking ring Lawyers who sued the bank on behalf of alleged victims announced the settlement Last year an anonymous woman referred to asJane Doefiled a suit in New York alleging that Deutsche Bank conducted business with Epstein for five years while being aware of his use of funds to support his sex trafficking activities Buyout Firms Team Up In 5B Plus Bid To Buy New Relic Private equity companiesFrancisco PartnersandTPGIncNASDAQTPG are reportedly interested in acquiringNew RelicIncNYSENEWR Francisco Partners and TPG are working together on a 5 billion plus bid to acquire software company New Relic According to the report an agreement might be reached within two weeks Feeding the Need for Speed ATT’s Grand 425B Plan to Expand Fiber Optic Reach ATT IncNYSET is expanding its fiber optic cable network to deliver fast internet speeds for customers including those without broadband presence ATT has tappedBlackRoc IncNYSEBLK and eyes government funding to accelerate the build out to fund the extravagant expansion worth 425 billion as its debt load outstrips its annual revenue ATT and BlackRock have invested 15 billion in the Gigapower venture Reuters Walgreens Settles Opioid Epidemic Lawsuit with San Francisco for 230M Says It Does Not Admit Fault Walgreens Boots Alliance IncNASDAQWBA reached a 230 million settlement with San Francisco to settle claims regarding its role in the city’s opioid epidemic Last year US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said that Walgreens Boots could be held liable for “substantially contributing” to an opio” d epidemic and faulted Walgreens for its “15 year failure” to properly scrutinize opioid prescriptions and flag possible misuse of the drugs San Francisco had estimated it might cost 81 billion to abate the opioid crisis and that Walgreens was legally liable for the entire amount EU Pulls out the Big Guns Record Privacy Fine on the Horizon for Meta Meta Platformswill likely face a record European Union privacy fine related to data transfer of Facebook’s EU users to US servers for failing to comply with a warning by a top EU court The EU court warns that violation will entail a higher penalty than the previous record €746 million 82120 million fine forAmazoncom IncNASDAQAMZN Europe’s highest court ruled in 2020 that an EU US data transfer agreement was invalid citing surveillance concerns Toyota Suzuki Daihatsu Launch Mini Commercial Electric Vans In Japan Toyota Motor CorporationNYSETM is launching a prototype mini commercial electric van in partnership withSuzuki Motor CorporationOTCSZKMF and Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association JAMA and the G7 Hiroshima Summit organized the exhibition event The van is targeted at Japan’s delivery industry The small size cars will use the BEV or Batter Electric Vehicle system powered by Toyota Motor’s electrification technology Bloomberg Sony Shares Are Surging Premarket Company Eyes Sony Financial Arm IPO Sony Group CorpNYSESONY is exploring a partial spinoff and separate listing for its financial unit in two to three years Sony looks to retain just under 20 ofSony Financial Group Incand sell its shares on a Japanese exchange The potential spinoff would reverse a 37 billion take private deal concluded in 2020 over FY23 The spinoff will help the firm to bag more considerable investment for Sony’s image sensor and entertainment businesses COO Hiroki Totoki said at the briefing Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Ciena Corporation is set up for solid earnings in the coming quarters which could add meaningful gains to shares of the company according to Morgan Stanley The firm upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight and boosted its price target to 65 from 56 in a Friday note The new price target represents a more than 22 increase from where shares of Ciena closed Thursday at 5289 The upgrade comes as supply chain issues for the software company bottomed out in the second quarter and look to improve in the back half of the year They have over 4bn of backlog a relatively healthy service provider spending environment as investment in high speed networks continue and are share gainers as they finally deploy new deals analyst Meta Marshall wrote Those new deals should also boost gross margins and make outsized growth compared to the industry more achievable for Ciena according to the note As these deployments get underway we are mindful that gross margins are not likely to achieve FY20FY21 levels however operating leverage gained from that time period can continue to generate double digit earnings growth in the coming years said Marshall Of course risks to Morgan Stanley s base case remain especially if Ciena doesn t meet the outlook its given for investors for the year In its latest earnings release in June the company s earnings and revenue both came in short of Wall Street consensus We could be too optimistic if challenges in achieving FQ4 outlook reduces investor confidence in the name particularly after two quarters of outlook disappointment Marshall said Still given the pent up demand the firm sees for high speed networks and less risk of supply chain issues going forward the firm sees now as a time to reconsider Ciena

Shares of oil companies traded higher on Friday as crude futures gained amid reports suggesting Russia couldcut oil production What Happened Russia s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reportedly told state television that Russia may reduce oil output by 500000 to 700000 barrels per day in response to price caps placed on the country s exports which came in reaction to Russia s invasion of Ukraine It would amount to an output cut of 5 7 percent The potential reduction in supply offset demand concerns in Friday s session sending crude futures nearly 3 higher Oil has been volatile as the market weighs the negative demand impact of a potential economic slowdown with supply shortages caused by the Russia Ukraine conflict Notable stocks in the sector included Occidental PetroleumNYSEOXY up 255 ConocoPhillipsNYSECOP up 342 BPNYSEBP up 16

Shares of Kroger Co KR inched 067 higher to 4687 Tuesday on what proved to be an all around great trading session for the stock market with the SP 500 Index SPX rising 087 to 399173 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rising 017 to 3359292 The stock s rise snapped a two day losing streak Kroger Co closed 1591 short of its 52 week high 6278 which the company achieved on April 8th The stock demonstrated a mixed performance when compared to some of its competitors Tuesday as Walmart Inc WMT rose 654 to 14744 Sprouts Farmers Market Inc SFM fell 054 to 3345 and Ingles Markets Inc Cl A IMKTA rose 336 to 9664 Trading volume 53 M remained 16 million below its 50 day average volume of 69 M Editor s Note This story was auto generated by Automated Insights an automation technology provider using data from Dow Jones and FactSet See our market data terms of use

Following a push from researchers associated with the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches To Marijuana SAM to advance the bipartisan that would substantially expand scientific cannabis research in the Senate Chuck Schumer the chamber s minority leader kicked off the process to pass the measure A revised version of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act from Reps Earl Blumenauer D OR and Andy Harris R MD got the green light from the US House of Representatives in July in a 325 95 vote The process was initiated on Thursday Known as hotlining the practice allows bypassing regular Senate procedures by advancing the legislation through to a vote with little or no floor debate However Sen John Cornyn R TX opposesthe move thusputting the vote in question as first reported by Marijuana Moment In an ideal scenario with no objections the bill would have advanced through the Senate swiftly reaching President Joe Biden s desk for final approval and becoming the first standalone marijuana reform legislation to be enacted into law Asource on Capitol Hill known to Marijuana Moment said that the GOP lawmaker plans to veto all House measures that were approved by unanimous consent in the Senate The reason behind that move is Cornyn s frustration that House members didn t pass more of his own legislation earlier The Senator previously opposed a House approved cannabis legalization bill calling it premature as we need to have some serious studies into the impact on developing children s brains and pregnant women and alike Ironically he is now opposing a measure that would expand marijuana research What s In The Bill According to the twelve members of SAM s Scientific Advisory Board sent toSchumer earlier this week the bill would provide a better understanding of marijuana and its effects This bill would streamline the process for research necessary to improve our understanding of marijuana and its effects on the human brain and body the researchers said As existing research already shows there are myriad potential harms and benefits to marijuana and its various compounds But we need to have a greater understanding of exactly how marijuana affects its consumers In a press release SAM s president Kevin Sabet said it is vital that standalone science reach President Biden s desk because marijuana use rates among Americans are growing by the day With more Americans using marijuana today than ever before it is critical that we streamline the process for research Sabet said adding that the measure is the only marijuana reform legislation that has enough support to pass Congress The measure was reintroduced in February 2021 and passed last April by the House of Representatives It seeks to facilitate cannabis specific scientific research and potential drug development Also the legislation would substantially expand scientific research on marijuana allowing scientists to study products from dispensaries The Senate green lighted a separate piece of legislation focused on marijuana research in March The bill from Sens Dianne Feinstein D CA Brian Schatz D HI and Chuck Grassley R IA the Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act seeks to simplify the application process for researchers wanting to study cannabis Photo Benzinga Edit Source Shutterstock

Tesla Inc stock lost more than 3 in the extended session Wednesday after the electric vehicle maker teased a next generation EV to be part of a bigger push toward electrification but stopped short of details Tesla stock TSLA had advanced right after the close after ending the regular trading day down 14 The stock then saw losses accelerate as the event progressed Tesla executives sought to highlight Tesla s technological prowess but no date for a next generation vehicle was offered Tesla had to fully rethink the manufacturing process with the goal of improving assembly and making EVs faster and more cheaply and with a smaller powertrain and lighter Tesla stopped short of giving a timeline for the next generation car however Chief Executive Elon Musk took the stage saying that he didn t want the day to be for only Tesla investors but for anyone invested in Earth and he wanted to offer hope and optimism based on actual physics and calculations There s a clear path toward sustainable energy that doesn t require destroying natural habitats or austerity combining energy storage EVs and other aspects of electrification Musk said Musk tweeted nearly a year ago he was working on the plan Master Plan 2 was released in March 2016 promising a few things that have fallen short of reality especially around Musk s hopes for self driving cars and car sharing The first plan from 2006 outlined Tesla s strategy of starting off with a pricey and highly desirable sports car as a springboard funding to future affordable EVs The newest blueprint comes as Tesla stock regained the 200 level after trading as low as 10910 in late December The stock has gained 64 in the quarter so far and down 30 in the past 12 months See also Tesla recalls 362758 EVs says self driving software may cause crashes That compares with a decline of about 8 for the SP 500 index in the past 12 months and contrasts with a quarterly advance around 3 Tesla in late January reported mixed fourth quarter results with revenue slightly below Wall Street expectations but injected some optimism in its production outlook for 2023 and promised to rein in costs faster Musk also told investors that demand for Tesla s EVs were not a problem

China previously sailed on economically while other countries struggled but the world s second largest economy may have a difficult path ahead according to one strategist China has reached that level of its development where a lot of emerging markets typically find the going getting tougher said Mark Jolley of CCB International Securities He pointed to the trend of deglobalization friction between the US and China as well as the weak global economy On both sides of the Pacific we hear a lot of wishful thinking that decoupling will promote rather than hurt domestic growth We disagree Ethan Harris wrote in a BofA Global Research note published Friday Decoupling is a negative sum game that hurts both countries It means abandoning comparative advantage and stranding capital the global economist at Bank of America Securities added though he acknowledged that there may be strong geo political and reliability reasons for decoupling Domestically Beijing also has to manage its troubled real estate sector Jolley told CNBC s Squawk Box Asia on Monday I certainly think that the economic outlook for China over the next five to 10 years is deeply challenging he said In the past China has sailed on while everyone else has kind of struggled Now China s probably going to be more like other countries he added BofA s Harris said adverse demographics and the limits of an export or construction driven economy are challenges for Beijing Beyond the near term rebound in growth we see ongoing downward pressure on potential or trend growth in China he said pointing to a return to more of a command economy and concerns that are dampening foreign investment flows That said Jun Bei Liu a portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners said 2023 will be a pretty good year for China as the economy is expected lift strict Covid measures and domestic consumption rebounds Compared to the rest of the world where the consumer is going to struggle in the next 12 months China is going to be the shining spot she told CNBC s Squawk Box Asia The sell off in Chinese tech stocks presents an enormous opportunity she said though she warned that investors have to be mindful of policy changes for income redistribution You just have to be very selective in what you choose be focusing on businesses and sectors that are not so much policy driven because that s probably where most of the risk lies she said

The Federal Reserve will hike interest rates just one more time in 2023 before the central bank ends its inflation battle according to its median forecast released Wednesday The Fed kept the terminal rate unchanged from the last estimate in December at 51 equivalent to a target range of 5 525 The central bank on Wednesday took the benchmark federal funds rate a quarter percentage point higher to a range between 475 5 The so called dot plot which the Fed uses to signal its outlook for the path of interest rates indicate that a majority of officials 10 out of 18 members expect only one more rate hike ahead by the end of this year Seven Fed officials see rates going higher than the 51 terminal rate For 2024 the rate setting Federal Open Market Committee projected that rates would fall to 41 also unchanged from its December estimate This is breaking news Please check back for updates

For 10 year fixed rate loans the average student loan refinancing rate continued its upward trajectory to 581 from 542 the week prior according to the latest rates from Credible for the week ending June 27 However average rates on 5 year variable rate loans decreased to 329 down from 337 the week prior You can see the lowest rates you may qualify for here With more than 40 million Americans on the hook for student loan debt totaling more than 17 trillion dollars it’s not surprising that many people are looking to refinance their student loans For Americans with private student loans it can make a lot of sense If you’re in that boat and your credit score has improved or your finances have changed or you simply haven’t shopped around in awhile and you’re able to get a more attractive interest rate or shorten your loan term you’re likely to benefit from a refinance But those with federal loans may want to think twice Here’s what to know That’s because when refinancing a federal student loan the borrower effectively takes out a new private loan to pay off their existing federal loan But in doing so you lose federal protections that accompanied your federal loans These protections include any pandemic related forbearance currently student loan payments are interest are on pause until August 31 2022 government issued loan forgiveness and more forgiving repayment plans based on your income Even if you aren’t taking advantage of these perks now think about whether you might in the future If you do decide to refinance your student loans shop around to find the lender with the best rates and terms Note that unlike federal loans private loans may offer a variable rate which often starts off lower than a fixed rate loan But they may start increasing over the term of the loan which could increase the cost of that loan over time and thus your monthly payment could increase “The only time I would recommend a borrower getting a variable rate right now is if they are capable of repaying the loan and fully intend to do so before interest rates rise too much” Mark Kantrowitz a student loan expert and founder of PrivateStudentsLoansguru recently told MarketWatch Picks

MEXICO CITY Mexican auto production rose sharply in August from a year earlier in a second consecutive month of double digit growth as the industry continued to recover from the global chip shortage and other supply chain problems The industry produced 316815 cars and light trucks last month 31 more than in August of 2021 In the first eight months of the year production was up 79 at 224 million units the National Statistics Institute said Wednesday Exports rose 17 in August to 248704 units and were up 24 in the January August period at 186 million The industry continues to overcome the challenges in global supply chains the Mexican auto industry association AMIA said but added that increased economic uncertainty and inflation are moderating demand in export markets Mexico s domestic new car sales rose 16 in August to 91124 units and were up 17 in the first eight months of the year at 692685 units Mexico is the world s seventh largest auto producer and fourth largest exporter Vehicles and auto parts account for about 18 of its manufacturing output a third of its manufactured exports and about 35 of GDP Production and exports through August remained 15 below 2019 s prepandemic levels Output fell 20 in 2020 when assembly and auto parts plants were closed for several months and the recovery in 2021 was interrupted by supply problems including the shortage of semiconductors The auto association is projecting vehicle production growth of around 5 for 2022 although it could end up somewhat above that AMIA director Fausto Cuevas said This appears to be signaling a more optimistic scenario going forward although our expectation is still that there will be a slow recovery he said We don t expect to return to 2019 prepandemic levels until the latter part of 2024

The SEC continued to crack the regulatory whip on US listed Chinese companies for non compliance with audit requirements necessitated by the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act What Happened The SEC on Wednesday put out a provisional list of 80 Chinese companies expanding its previously issued lists Those companies that have been identified have up to 15 business days to contact the federal agency to provide evidence to prove otherwise Some of the renowned companies added to the list afresh are e commerce retailer JDcom Inc JD Bilibili Inc BILI Pinduoduo Inc PDD NetEase Inc NTES XPeng Inc XPEV and Nio Inc NIO The SEC has conclusively identified 23 companies including Baidu Inc BIDU Sohucom Limited SOHU and iQIYI IncIQ for having violated the audit norms Related Link The Analyst Who Called The Sell Off Of Alibaba JD Now Has This To Say About Chinese Stocks Why It s Important The HFCAA which was passed in December 2020 requires Chinese companies listed on the US exchanges to allow the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to inspect their auditing reports If the PCAOB is given access to audit reports for three consecutive years these companies would be delisted from the exchanges This suggests that if the SEC includes the companies in the confirmed list and if they are found non compliant they could face potential delisting as early as 2024 Delisting risks have led to steep sell offs in Chinese stocks and continue to remain an overhang Taking cognizance of the situation China has shown a willingness to soften its stance In April Chinese regulators reportedly asked some companies including Alibaba Group Holding Inc BABA Baidu and JDcom to get ready for additional audit disclosures China is reportedly working toward giving the US full access to the auditing reports of a majority of Chinese companies by the middle of the year Bloomberg reported in early April Even as China s regulators and domestic companies are working on resolving the issue most big names have hedged against the delisting risk by pursuing either dual primary or secondary listings in Hong Kong Following the most recent SEC move JDcom released a statement saying it has been actively exploring possible solutions The company will continue to comply with applicable laws and regulations in both China and the United States and strive to maintain its listing status on both Nasdaq and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange it added Nio said it has been actively exploring possible solutions to protect the interest of its stakeholders and pointed to the secondary listing in Hong Kong in March NIO will continue to comply with applicable laws and regulations in both China and the United States and strive to maintain its listing status on both the NYSE and the HKEX in compliance with applicable listing rules the electric vehicle maker said Hong Kong listed shares of the identified companies reacted to the news with northward moves apparently due to the fact that the development has already been digested by investors Related Link Chinese Analyst Who Highlighted Delisting Risks For US Listed Companies Like Alibaba Suddenly Leaves State Owned Brokerage

Ford Motor Co stock rallied Wednesday as Wall Street cheered the auto maker’s decision to split itself into two businesses and “go all in” toward electric vehicles Ford F shares were on track for their largest one day percentage increase in two months snapping a two day losing streak Ford stock has gained nearly 43 in the past 12 months compared with gains of around 13 for the SP 500 index SPX Ford’s “bold reorg can help accelerate transformation” and being more competitive Joseph Spak with RBC said in a note “We applaud this move as it can help investors better understand the business” but the transparency and key performance indicators for each unit will be key he said “We wouldn’t be surprised to see other OEMs follow a similar template” Spak said Ford earlier Wednesday said it was forming two “distinct” auto businesses one focused on electric vehicles which the company dubbed Ford Model e and the other on internal combustion engines called Ford Blue They join Ford Pro the auto maker’s commercial vehicle unit Chief Executive Jim Farley will lead the EV business as president Ford is “going all in creating separate but complementary businesses that give us startup speed and unbridled innovation in Ford Model e together with Ford Blue’s industrial know how volume and iconic brands like Bronco that startups can only dream about” he said The news was “another encouraging proof point of action in the company’s Ford Strategy outlined earlier this year and adds to a list of positive announcements made by the company in recent months” including plans to double production capacity of the F 150 Lighting and investments to EV plants B of A analyst John Murphy said in his note Ford will strengthen its core business to fund its future business he said Moreover despite the volatile macroeconomic backdrop “Ford is starting to hit a more sustainable inflection in earnings driven by the combination of a favorable product cadence in the US and North American market redesign efforts and a real push into electrification autonomy connectivity and other future businesses” Murphy said Ford’s split managed to be both “radical and rational” said Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell It can be challenging for a company to juggle disparate businesses she said “It’s evident that the future of the industry is electric and legacy auto companies like Ford need to put themselves in the best position to compete with EV only companies” such as Tesla Inc TSLA which are not trying to make ICE vehicles while also rolling out their EV strategy “By separating Ford’s future from its present Farley is empowering different specialized teams to laser focus on their specific tasks” Caldwell said Garrett Nelson at CFRA said that Ford likely intends to help narrow the “massive valuation gap” between Ford and EV pure plays such as Tesla and also Lucid Group Inc LCID and Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN It would also help an EV spinoff if the company so chooses he said “Ford quietly became the second bestselling US EV manufacturer in 2021 thanks to the Mustang Mach E and its EV sales are poised to accelerate further in the coming months with first deliveries of the F 150 Lightning” Nelson said The analyst raised his rating on the stock to a “strong buy” from buy The auto maker also reported February sales earlier Wednesday that fell 21 from a year ago including a 26 stumble in truck sales and a 12 fall in SUV sales

For months the SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has expressed concern over the meteoric rise of SPACs and has dropped teasers about stepped up enforcement to come Now the time for the main event is almost here According to Chairman Gensler the Commission’s guiding principle as it devises proposed rules for SPACs in the coming months should be—to borrow from Aristotle—to “treat like cases as like” That is the Commission should strive to align SPACs’ structure and regulatory obligations more closely with those of a standard IPO Chairman Gensler identified three areas of interest information asymmetries between early and late investors the use of misleading or fraudulent information in marketing materials and updating liability regimes to mitigate conflicts of interests among a SPAC’s sponsors and the investing public As for how the Commission will achieve these goals Chairman Gensler called on the SEC staff to develop new proposed rules by spring 2022 and expressed support for additional avenues for private litigation against SPAC “gatekeepers” The latter of these changes could mean paring back the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act “PSLRA” which has protected SPAC sponsors from civil liability for their forward looking statements Chairman Gensler’s remarks offer the clearest vision yet of how the Commission will shape SPAC transactions going forward and suggest that Gensler would like to enlist both the SEC and private plaintiffs in that effort Aristotle might have opined centuries ago that “the Law is Reason free from Passion” but it seems that the SEC is growing more passionate and specific about the impending SPAC crackdown The Early Bird Or Investor Gets The Worm As explained in my prior Article ‘SPAC Tacular’ Growth Means More Enforcement Ahead SPACs are companies formed with no commercial operations whose purpose is to raise capital to acquire another company Because the SPAC is little more than a name with a robust bank account a SPAC can conduct an IPO with less regulatory friction than a traditional IPO Once the SPAC has gone public through its streamlined IPO it sets out on the next phase of its lifecycle identifying and acquiring a private company—the so called “target company” If approved by the SPAC shareholders the SPAC purchases the target company using the funds raised during its IPO the companies merge and—voila—the newly created operating business is listed on a public exchange Additionally after the announcement of a merger the SPAC must give its public shareholders the option to redeem their shares at the original price In order to offset the potential deficit of operating capital following this redemption period a SPAC will often shore up the balance sheet of the eventual operating company using a private investment in public equity—or “PIPE”—wherein the SPAC raises further capital through a sale of some of its public shares to institutions or wealthy individuals Since arriving at the SEC in April 2021 Chairman Gensler has signaled that the Commission was concerned about protecting retail investors in the midst of the SPAC boom that resulted in SPAC deals worth 370 billion in 2021 A central aim of the SEC’s regulatory agenda is opening the spigot of information to retail investors who purchase shares later in the SPAC process In December 2020 for example the Commission released informal guidance regarding what it considered best practices for SPAC disclosures which centered on giving retail investors more insight into the interests of a SPAC’s sponsors and how the SPAC evaluated the company it planned to acquire The guidance instructs that at each stage of the SPAC’s lifecycle—from the SPAC’s IPO to the merger with the target company—the SPAC’s sponsors directors and officers should disclose their financial incentives in particular any conflicts between their compensation and the interests of the SPAC’s shareholders and explain the business rationale behind their selection of a target company Chairman Gensler’s December 2021 remarks bring into focus the kinds of information asymmetries the SEC will seek to remedy and identify a particular feature of SPAC financing as problematic—the PIPE transaction Theoretically the PIPE is intended to provide an infusion of cash that the SPAC can use to finance the new operating company As Chairman Gensler sees it however the typical result of the PIPE transaction is a privileged class of investors Often the PIPE investors are large wealthy institutions and the PIPE affords them the opportunity to purchase shares of the SPAC at a discount just before a splashy merger with the target company This preferential access gives PIPE investors early access to information about the target company which they can use to sell their shares just as the hype around the merger reaches its apex PIPE investors can use this information advantage to reap a profit by offloading their shares leaving the public investors with diluted positions Chairman Gensler has asked the SEC staff for recommendations for better disclosure “about the fees projections dilution and conflicts that may exist during all stages of SPACs and how investors can receive those disclosures at the time they’re deciding whether to invest” Although the exact contours of the Commission’s posture will have to wait until the staff’s proposal it is likely that the Commission will attempt to empower public retail investors with the same knowledge possessed by institutional PIPE investors through additional disclosures before small investors decide to purchase shares Take Off Your Rose Colored Glasses In SPAC Marketing Chairman Gensler also noted that when announcing the proposed target company SPACs often prime the market for its shares with sophisticated marketing practices Often Gensler explained SPACs announce their Target with a glitzy slide deck a bombastic press release or the backing of a beloved celebrity or financier Although these initial public statements make for eye catching headlines they fall short of the rigorous disclosures that the SEC considers crucial for informed investing Indeed SPACs’ use of high profile endorsements or shiny press materials Gensler explained contravenes a core tenet of US securities laws that insiders in a company—here the SPAC’s sponsors—should not be allowed to use incomplete marketing materials to drum up demand for stock before the required disclosures reach investors SPACs’ supposed use of incomplete marketing materials has been a consistent area of focus for the SEC in both the Commission’s interactions with specific SPACs and in general guidance released to the investing public In March 2021 for instance the SEC issued an investor warning against the dangers of assuming that a SPAC is a wise investment simply because of the glitz and glamour of celebrity involvement In July 2021 the SEC torpedoed the SPAC spearheaded by Bill Ackman the celebrity financier with a penchant for aggressive investing Although the SEC did not offer specifics about its objections to the transaction it surely noticed that the buzz around Ackman’s SPAC reached a fever pitch among retail investors whenever Ackman hinted at a potential target Now the SEC appears ready to address what it considers to be SPACs’ improper use of marketing materials to juice demand for stock with concrete regulations targeted at SPACs as a class of investment vehicle Gensler called on the SEC staff to develop a more comprehensive disclosure regime for SPACs when they announce their target acquisition Based on Gensler’s comments SEC regulations or guidance are likely to require a SPAC to make additional disclosures at the time it announces a target company the hope being that a sober analysis of the long term viability of the target acquisition will drown out the braggadocio of a SPAC’s sponsors thereby allowing investors to make an investing decision without being swayed by a SPAC’s marketing hype Practically a more demanding disclosure regime would mean that SPACs will be compelled to perform more thorough due diligence on potential targets for acquisition and compile a more fulsome disclosure earlier in the process Batten Down The Hatches—SPACs Could Lose Safe Harbor Of PSLRA An important adjunct to the SEC’s own enforcement is the use of private plaintiffs to combat securities fraud with lawsuits against SPAC sponsors Although a few private plaintiffs have brought suit against SPACs for allegedly misleading statements about a target company or for improperly acting as an investment company the plaintiffs’ bar has been quieter than one would expect thus far given the explosion of SPACs in 2021 One reason that SPACs may have largely evaded securities class actions is that they currently fall under for the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act “PSLRA” Under the PSLRA safe harbor provision set forth at 15 USC § 77z–2 issuers in certain filings are immune from liability in civil litigation for forward looking statements about a company’s prospects as long as the projections are made in good faith and are accompanied by a warning that the projections are uncertain Importantly the PSLRA excludes from the safe harbor statements made in connection with an IPO or those made by “blank check companies” SPACs however have not traditionally been considered to fall under either exclusion and forward looking statements by SPAC sponsors are thus protected by the safe harbor The SEC has supported closing this apparent loophole In April 2021 the then Acting Director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance John Coates argued the SPAC’s merger with a Target was akin to an IPO and that SPACs should not be immune from private litigation alleging material misstatements by finding cover under the PSLRA’s safe harbor provision Coates’ statement included the standard language that his interpretation of the PSLRA was not a binding pronouncement of the SEC but only his personal view Chairman Gensler appears to share Coates’ assessment and may be ready to make it the formal view of the Commission In his December 2021 remarks Gensler warned that there may be some who attempt to use SPACs as a way to arbitrage liability regimes” The sponsors accountants and advisors behind a SPAC’s acquisition of a target company Gensler suggested should be subject to civil liability for inadequate due diligence or material misstatements just like underwriters of a traditional IPO Gensler asked for recommendations from the SEC staff about how the Commission can “better align incentives between gatekeepers and investors and how it can address the status of gatekeepers’ liability obligations” In the end the Commission would likely need Congress’s help to amend the PSLRA to exclude SPACs from its safe harbor provisions and the House Committee on Financial Services released draft legislation that would do just that Nevertheless were the SEC to take a formal position that SPAC sponsors should face greater liability for their prospective statements regarding target companies it would provide powerful momentum for a sea change in private securities litigation that would surely lead to more litigation against SPAC insiders With the SEC targeting April 22 2022 as the date by which it hopes to issue a proposed rule or guidance about SPACs the investing public will not need to wait long before finding out exactly what the SEC has planned If one reads the tea leaves of Chairman Gensler’s recent remarks however spring 2022 likely will see the Commission impose additional disclosure requirements on SPACs regarding their structure and potential conflicts of interest curb inflated marketing strategies and push for additional avenues for private litigants to sue a SPAC’s insiders for their forward looking statements Whether shifts in the Commission’s posture toward SPACs puts a dent in their popularity on Wall Street remains to be seen If—to quote Aristotle one last time—“We are what we repeatedly do” the SEC’s persistent focus on SPACs culminating in Chairman Gensler’s recent comments shows that the Commission intends to exert significant influence over the SPAC market in the coming months Anthony Sampson an associate at the firm assisted in the preparation of this blog To read more from Robert J Anello please visit wwwmaglawcom

NEW DELHI Nov 24 Reuters India s inflation is likely to ease in the coming months partly due to fall in commodity prices India s finance ministry said in a monthly economic report India s annual retail inflation has remained above the central bank s tolerance limit of 2 to 6 since January even as it eased to 677 in October helped by slower rise in food prices and base effect Easing international commodity prices and new Kharif arrival are also set to dampen inflationary pressures in the coming months the report said Kharif refers to the crop season harvested in October and November The Reserve Bank of India expects inflation to return to its tolerance level of under 6 in the fourth quarter of the financial year that started April 1 2022 The finance ministry has also said that a global slowdown may dampen the country s exports businesses outlook According to official trade data released earlier this month India s merchandise trade deficit widened to 2691 billion in October from 2571 billion in the previous month The economic report also stated that monetary tightening had weakened growth prospects globally but India was well placed to grow at a moderately brisk rate in the coming years The lifting of COVID 19 restrictions and growth in retail sales was likely to aid hiring by firms in the coming quarters the report said Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Alex Richardson

Shares of Workday Inc rose 12 to 16044 Wednesday as Wall Street analysts reacted positively to the company s performance in the third quarter despite strengthening macroeconomic headwinds The company said after the bell Tuesday that its top line surged to 160 billion from 133 billion a year ago reflecting strong continued demand for its enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources JP Morgan analysts said in a note that the results demonstrate relative resilience and stability in a tough macro environment noting that finance and HR solutions remain a high priority in the current labor market The results show Workday selling back to its own customers who are continuing to consolidate on the platform according to DA Davidson analysts Robert Simmons and Lucky Schreiner Overall the customer base motion and medium enterprise are driving Workday s ability to maintain healthy growth as the economy continues to be uneven the DA Davidson analysts said in a note Wednesday Workday also announced Tuesday that its directors have approved a share repurchase program with an authorization of up to 500 million with the hope of reducing the impact of future share dilution from employee stock issuances Analysts at Mizuho Securities view the buyback program positively saying in a note that it demonstrates management s confidence in the business and validates the view that Workday s shares are currently undervalued

On Monday 15 companies hit new 52 week lows Areas of Significance In Today s 52 Week Lows Tyson Foods NYSETSN was the largest company by market cap to set a new 52 week low ContraFect NASDAQCFRX was the smallest company in terms of market cap to set a new 52 week low REX American Resources NYSEREX was the biggest loser of the morning session as it dropped 6566 to reach its new 52 week low ContraFect NASDAQCFRX shares were the most resilient as shares rose 003 rebounding from its new 52 week low On Monday the following stocks hit new 52 week lows Markel NYSEMKL shares set a new yearly low of 116200 this morning The stock was up 139 on the session Orthofix Medical NASDAQOFIX shares fell to 2221 on Monday setting a new 52 week low with a shift of up 114 Fusion Pharmaceuticals NASDAQFUSN stock broke to a new 52 week low of 217 on Monday Shares of the company traded down 219 Yiren Digital NYSEYRD shares made a new 52 week low of 101 on Monday The stock was down 1198 for the day Gaia NASDAQGAIA shares set a new yearly low of 328 this morning The stock was up 151 on the session Qilian Intl Hldg Gr NASDAQQLI stock drifted down 621 on Monday morning to hit a new 52 week low of 118 Nuzee NASDAQNUZE stock hit a yearly low of 084 The stock was down 2445 for the day ContraFect NASDAQCFRX shares reached a new 52 week low of 028 on Monday morning moving up 003 Be sure to stay with Benzinga for further updates and market moving news And if you want to be among the first to know about the 52 week highs and lows for the day check out Benzinga Pro Users receive a daily alert listing stocks trading near 52 week highs and lows each morning Click here to learn more

PARIS Jan 7 Reuters A major aluminium smelter in northern France is to reduce production by 15 in response to soaring electricity prices a spokesperson for the site s owner American Industrial Partners AIP said on Friday The smelter at Dunkirk which has annual capacity of about 285000 tonnes has already cut output by 10 and will reduce it by a further 5 next week the spokesperson said Dunkirk is one of several aluminium plants in Europe to lower production since last month in response to record electricity prices that have hurt margins for the energy intensive industry The spokesperson declined to comment on possible additional production cuts A CGT union official at the site Laurent Geeraert told local radio station Delta FM that cuts would be amplified to around 25 of capacity if electricity prices didn t ease The Dunkirk smelter is among large energy users discussing relief measures with the French government and state owned EDF EDFPA which operates the country s nuclear power network Dunkirk obtains about 60 of its electricity through a preferential rate scheme but is exposed to market prices for the remaining 40 France s finance minister said on Friday he was working on further measures to limit the surge in electricity prices with the government mindful of the burden on consumers ahead of April s presidential election read more Private equity firm AIP acquired the Dunkirk smelter last year following a debt default by a unit of previous owner GFG Alliance The takeover is being challenged by GFG which is owned by commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta read more

The SP 500 SPX slumped 10 in afternoon trading Thursday and has now shed 67 amid a five day losing streak and dropped 90 since closing at a four month high on Aug 16 The 38758 point decline from the Aug 16 close of 430520 represents a 607 retracement of the 63843 point 174 rally off the June 16 18 month closing low of 366677 Wall Street followers of the Fibonacci ratio of 1618 also known as the golden ratio given its prevalence throughout natural systems believe if a pullback stays within 618 of the previous uptrend the previous uptrend remains intact For the SP 500 a 618 retracement of the June 16 to Aug 16 rally comes in at 391065 The index dipped to an intraday low of 390365 before paring some losses

The United States Oil ETF NYSEUSO dropped 1 but the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund NYSEXLE gained 05 on Wednesday as investors digest mixed data on the strength of the global economy and the outlook for energy demand Brent crude oil dropped 25 to 9678 per barrel while WTI crude fell just 05 to 9111bbl Mixed Signals China s ongoing COVID 19 factory shutdowns are easing global energy demand but the latest data from the American Petroleum Institute API revealed gasoline inventories fell by about 34 million barrels for the week ended Aug 26 However crude oil stocks increased by about 593000 barrels for the week Analysts had expected a 15 million barrel drawdown Related Link Warren Buffett Is Betting Big On Occidental Petroleum But Analyst Sees Better Options Elsewhere Oil and gas investors are positioning ahead of the upcoming OPEC meeting on Sept 5 Meanwhile in Europe Russia once again halted the flow of natural gas to Germany on Wednesday Russian energy company Gazprom said its Nord Stream 1 pipeline the largest gas supplier to Germany will be shut down for maintenance for three days from Aug 31 to Sept 3 The United States Natural Gas Fund LP NYSEUNG traded lower by 1 on Wednesday Related Link Should Occidental Petroleum Be Renamed Occidental Hathaway Warren Buffett Gets Approval To Purchase Half The Company s Stock Buy The Dip Energy stocks have been pressured along with much of the rest of the market in the past week but analysts from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have advised investors to buy the dip For a sector that is a direct input into every segment of the economy and a natural hedge against geopolitics and inflation in our view energy’s earnings stream is worth more than the current price to earnings ratio of 95 times” JP Morgan analyst Dubravko Lakos Bujas wrote Goldman Sachs is forecasting Brent crude prices will rebound and average 125bbl in 2023 Here s a look at some of the biggest movers in the energy sector on Wednesday Texas Pacific Land Corp NYSETPL was up 67 Antero Resources Corp NYSEAR was up 38 Chesapeake Energy NASDAQCHK was up 25 EQT Corporation NYSEEQT was up 25 Benzinga s Take There s no question the future of global energy is renewables but the global supply shortages in 2022 have highlighted just how much the world still relies on oil coal and natural gas The energy sector has been the top performing sector in the market so far in 2022 and supply challenges will likely only get worse as Europe and the rest of the world approaches the winter months

Investors are going to find themselves with a long weekend as the stock market goes on a hiatus for Good Friday on April 7 Despite itsreligious significance toChristianity Good Friday isn t recognized as a federal holiday in the US which means some sectors will continue their operations including banks The highly anticipated March jobs report is slated for release on the same day sparking interest among investors The labor market has been a major concern for the Federal Reserve as the institution continues to tame inflation with interest rate hikes As it stands the probability of a rate hike during the upcoming Fed meeting on May 3 is at 474 based on CME Group data Bond traders will also take a breather as the bond market follows suit and closes for Good Friday More than that the bond marketwrapped up early on Maundy Thursday April 6 at 2 pm Eastern As for banks they will continue their operations on Good Friday The day is not included in the list of 11 bank holidays for 2023 ensuring banks remain open for business Here are the remaining market holidays in 2023 Date Holiday NYSE Nasdaq April 7 Good Friday Closed Closed May 29 Memorial Day Closed Closed June 19 Juneteenth Closed Closed July 3 Independence Day eve 1 pm close 1 pm close July 4 Independence Day Closed Closed Sept 5 Labor Day Closed Closed Nov 23 Thanksgiving Day Closed Closed Nov 24 Day After Thanksgiving 1 pm close 1 pm close Dec 25 Christmas Day Closed Closed

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Enphase Energy NASDAQENPHAnd retail traders should knowWe noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at BenzingaWhether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with ENPH it often means somebody knows something is about to happenSo how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 10 uncommon options trades for Enphase EnergyThis isn t normalThe overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 30 bullish and 70 bearishOut of all of the special options we uncovered 7 are puts for a total amount of 217680 and 3 are calls for a total amount of 197498What s The Price TargetTaking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 1500 to 3025 for Enphase Energy over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest DevelopmentLooking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stockThis data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Enphase Energy s options for a given strike priceBelow we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Enphase Energy s whale activity within a strike price range from 1500 to 3025 in the last 30 days Enphase Energy Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted SymbolPUTCALLTrade TypeSentimentExp DateStrike PriceTotal Trade PriceOpen InterestVolume ENPHCALLTRADEBEARISH01192415000979K2766 ENPHCALLTRADEBEARISH10072228500705K2713 ENPHPUTSWEEPNEUTRAL11182230000338K64412 ENPHPUTTRADEBEARISH01202325000338K64214 ENPHPUTTRADEBULLISH11182230000337K64412 Where Is Enphase Energy Standing Right Now With a volume of 428263 the price of ENPH is up 501 at 28869 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overboughtNext earnings are expected to be released in 28 days Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closelyIf you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Enphase Energy Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

June 30 Reuters Most Gulf stock markets rose in early trade on Thursday on crude prices strength while gains were limited amid concerns that major central banks aggressive rate hike approach for taming inflation would end up slowing down the global economy Oil prices a key catalyst for the Gulf s financial market edged higher after dipping in early Asian trade as concerns about global supply tightness outweighed a build in US gasoline and distillate inventories Saudi Arabia s benchmark index TASI inched 01 higher in a choppy trading session led by a 39 rise in Sahara International Petrochemical Company 2310SE The kingdom the world s largest oil exporter may raise prices of light crude grades to Asia for the second straight month in August on the back of record distillate margins and strong spot premiums for Middle Eastern oil this month read more Among other gainers Arabian Centres 4321SE was up 1 as the company adopted fair value model to measure real estate and the investment properties The mall operator expects net assets to be positively affected after adopting this model by an increase of about 10 billion riyals 267 billion In Abu Dhabi the equities FTFADGI gained 11 led by a 2 rise in the United Arab Emirates biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank FABAD after HSBC raised its rating for the bank to Hold from Reduce However HSBC slashed its target price to 166 dirhams from 181 dirhams earlier The main share index DFMGI in Dubai the Middle East s travel and tourism hub eased 01 hit by a 11 fall in top lender Emirates NBD ENBDDU Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru Editing by Rashmi Aich

LONDON July 5 Reuters A stampede for dollars as global recession risks mount has left other currencies battered and bruised with the euro getting trampled on more than most as surging European gas prices worsen economic growth fears Analysts predict the single currency which on Tuesday hit its weakest since 2002 will soon fall to parity read more The euro is seen as particularly vulnerable given Germany Italy and others heavy dependence on Russian gas and fears that sizeable European Central Bank rate hikes could reignite another euro zone debt crisis All of this means the euro will fall further and markets are waking up to that said Jordan Rochester FX strategist at Nomura Securities We are looking for parity and the question is whether that is too small a move or whether it can go lower We think it can Below are a series of charts laying out the challenges The euro has lost 10 versus the dollar this year and at 10238 is close to the psychologically crucial parity point it last saw in mid 2002 when it was just three years old It has also hit new seven year lows versus the Swiss franc and dropped against the sterling and the yen but few observers are willing to call a bottom yet Nomura s analysts have cut their eurodollar target to 095 and said parity could be breached as soon as August Citibank says a move to parity is inevitable However Nomura said that 095 was not that important historically noting that the euro fell from 117 after its creation to 082 in October 2002 Extrapolating backwards using its legacy currencies the euro traded as weak as 06444 in February 1985 they added Surging gas prices and warnings of a big cut in Russia s supply are driving concern of a major European energy crisis this winter Natural gas prices have doubled from June lows and soared 465 over the last year A huge pipeline maintenance row has blown up between Russia and Germany the euro area imported about 40 of its energy needs from Russia just before the war in Ukraine broke out Added to that Norwegian oil workers have just gone on strike which could take 292000 barrels of the oil equivalent of natural gas out of the market read more Economists expect the euro area to slip into recession faster than rivals Nomura expects the euro economy to fall into recession by the third quarter with a total decline in GDP of 17 A spike in bond yields is further stoking recession risks European government borrowing costs have risen faster in the past fortnight compared with the United States indicating a quicker tightening of financial conditions Recession risks and the downgrades to European growth that we are seeing are all driving these euro moves said Grace Peters EMEA head of investment strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank The euro s slump is another headache for the European Central Bank ECB which is grappling with record high inflation since a weak currency fuels import prices ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau speaking in May before the latest slump said euro weakness makes it harder to hit its 2 inflation target The ECB is widely expected to start hiking rates this month its first increase since 2011 Yet soaring energy prices raise recession risks so money markets have scaled back aggressive rate hike bets A significantly weaker currency would normally worry the ECB but on a trade weighted basis which policymakers tend to track the euro has held up far better Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes Saikat Chatterjee Dhara Ranasinghe and Marc Jones Additional reporting by Sujata Rao Editing by Josie Kao

In this episode of The Hoban Minute Bob and Xavier hop on Zoom for a chat with Kevin Schultz co founder and president of 357 Company a global logistics provider serving the cannabis industry The three discuss Kevin’s journey into cannabis and the opportunity he saw that led to the creation of 357 Company along with covering some of the challenges and opportunities around the domestic and international cannabis logistics industry Tune in to learn more about moving legal cannabis products around the world Listen to the show The Hoban Minute a podcast centered on cannabis business law and culture has returned for its second season presented by Benzinga Cannabis and hosted on PodConX With over 150 episodes in its first season the show offers listeners valuable insights from industry experts Bob Hoban and Xavier Jaillet The podcast has been described as providing a crash course MBA in cannabis offering both US and international updates and featuring interviews with top executives artists and consultants in the global cannabis industry The Hoban Minute was created to connect with their network and showcase the diverse voices that make up the multifaceted global cannabis industry The podcast aims to provide a broader perspective on cannabis hemp and marijuana markets around the world More Episodes Podcast Cracking The Code of Cannabis Insurance Top Tips From Industry Leader Summer Westerbur Podcast Cutting Edge Solutions For Hemp Marketing Podcast How Hemp And Carbon Credits Could Save The Planet

12 Head of Italian Banking Association ABI Antonio Patuelli is seen during a meeting in Rome Italy October 31 2017 REUTERSRemo Casilli FLORENCE Italy Nov 21 Reuters The head of Italy s banking lobby urged the European Central Bank ECB to consider whether its representatives could find themselves sharing responsibility for lenders’ mistakes if they attend banks’ board meetings Speaking at a banking seminar Italian Banking Association President Antonio Patuelli weighed in on the tensions brewing between euro zone banks and ECB supervisors Friction has come into focus following a recent letter by Societe Generale Chairman Lorenzo Bini Smaghi which according to a source with knowledge of the matter aired complaints about the central bank s excessive involvement in lenders daily operations including attendance at board meetings Bini Smaghi declined to comment on the issue Sources have told Reuters relations between banks and the ECB which took on oversight of the industry less than a decade ago are at a low point Regulators frown in particular at capital distribution pledges banking chiefs have made to investors urging extra caution ahead of an expected recession whose depth is still unclear Some bankers are saying openly what they used to say in private Patuelli said when asked about the tensions They re only being more forthcoming but the reasons behind are the same as they always were Further straining relations the ECB has changed the terms at which it extends long term loans to banks depriving the sector of a source of risk free profits at a time when consumers are wrestling with a price surge Patuelli said it should not come at a surprise if Italian banks bought fewer domestic government bonds following the ECB s decision Speaking at the same seminar ABI Director General Giovanni Sabatini said ECB supervisors worried banks may underestimate provisions needed against loan losses because support measures governments have deployed against the pandemic have kept default levels artificially low in the past two years Historical data feed into banks calculations of how risky the assets they hold are and sources have said the ECB is concerned that risk models won t capture the threat posed by high inflation given the fact that it is a recent phenomenon Touching on the issue of ECB representatives presence at banks board meetings Patuelli said this could get them in trouble if they proved unable to stop what later emerged as misdeeds A key legal principle is that not preventing something from happening is tantamount to aiding it Patuelli said So I think it would be prudential for the ECB not to send its representatives to board meetings because if decisions were taken that turned out not to be appropriate and ECB supervisors failed to promptly and effectively fight them it could cause problems to the ECB itself

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bullish stance on Lam Research Looking at options history for Lam Research NASDAQLRCX we detected 19 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 68 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 31 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 2 are puts for a total amount of 67052 and 17 calls for a total amount of 1169599 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 5200 to 7100 for Lam Research over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Lam Research s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Lam Research s whale trades within a strike price range from 5200 to 7100 in the last 30 days Lam Research Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume LRCX CALL SWEEP BULLISH 063023 55000 3199K 38 0 LRCX CALL TRADE BEARISH 011924 52000 1410K 212 10 LRCX CALL SWEEP NEUTRAL 081823 55500 1118K 3 16 LRCX CALL TRADE BULLISH 062323 59500 963K 94 47 LRCX CALL SWEEP BULLISH 071423 62000 900K 45 40 Where Is Lam Research Standing Right Now With a volume of 500013 the price of LRCX is up 199 at 61784 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 34 days What The Experts Say On Lam Research Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal Weight rating on Lam Research which currently sits at a price target of 620 UBS has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Lam Research which currently sits at a price target of 725 Mizuho downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of 520 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Lam Research Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Chinese internet giantBaidu IncNASDAQBIDU said on Monday it has secured the country s first ever permits to commercially offer fully driverless robotaxi services to the public on open roads in Chongqing and Wuhan Service Start Apollo Go Baidu’s autonomous ride hailing service will start fully driverless robotaxi services in designated areas in Wuhan from 9 am to 5 pm and Chongqing from 930 am to 430 pm with fiveApollo5th gen robotaxis operating in each city See AlsoGM s Cruise Becomes California s First Driverless Ride Service Baidu s service range covers 13 square kilometers in the Wuhan Economic Technological Development Zone and 30 square kilometers in Chongqing’s Yongchuan District Why It MattersThe company said this would mark a key turning point for the future of mobility in China leading to an eventual expansion of driverless ride hailing services to paying users across the country According to the firm China is the first country in the world that allows fared fully driverless robotaxi operation in two megacities Key MilestoneApollo Gohas recently reached the milestone of more than one million orders after expanding to all first tier cities in China covering Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou and Shenzhen Price Movement Baidu shares were down 16 at HKD13560 on Monday morning The stock has lost over 9 in last one month according todata from Benzinga Pro Also ReadLooking To Trade Dollar Against Yen Watch Out For This Key US Data Report On Wednesday Photo courtesy Baidu

If history is any guide there may be good fortune ahead for shares of CSX NASDAQCSX A so called golden cross has formed on its chart and not surprisingly this could be bullish for the stock What To Know Many traders use moving average crossover systems to make their decisions When a shorter term average price crosses above a longer term average price it could mean the stock is trending higher If the short term average price crosses below the long term average price it means the trend is lower Why It s Important The 50 day and the 200 day simple moving averages are commonly used The golden cross occurs when the 50 day crosses above the 200 day This could mean the long term trend is changing That just happened with CSX which is trading around 3242 at publication time Remember Seasoned investors don t blindly trade Golden Crosses Instead they use it as a signal to start looking for long positions based on other factors like price levels and company fundamentals events For seasoned investors this is just a sign that it might be time to start considering possible long positions With that in mind take a look at CSX s past and upcoming earnings expectations Quarter Q3 2022 Q2 2022 Q1 2022 Q4 2021 EPS Estimate 050 047 037 041 EPS Actual 052 050 039 042 Revenue Estimate 377B 365B 331B 332B Revenue Actual 390B 381B 341B 343B Also consider this overview of CSX analyst ratings Do you use the Golden Cross signal in your trading or investing Share this article with a friend if you found it helpful This article was generated by Benzinga s automated content engine and reviewed by an editor

More than 60 of statewide markets measured by Rentcom saw rents drop in September compared to August another sign of prices cooling down after soaring to dizzying highs earlier this year according to a new analysis from the company What’s more national median rent prices month over month fell 25 overall though rents still remained 88 higher in September than they were the same time a year earlier Year over year rents are also up in all but a few statewide markets Rentcom noted Still “it’s the first time year over year changes dipped into the single digits since September 2021 and the lowest year over year increase since October 2021” the Rentcom analysis said “Rents peaked during that time at a 175 percent increase in March 2022” Out of the state level markets included in the analysis New York experienced the biggest month over month dip in rents in September at 17 according to Rentcom followed by Illinois down 46 and Massachusetts 4 lower Of the cities examined by Rentcom Cincinnati saw its rental market decline the most month over month at 68 Year over year the statewide markets that decreased the most in September were Those that increased the most meanwhile were City by city the markets that decreased the most year over year in September were And the biggest year over year increases were in

Charles Schwab Corp one of a host of financial firms that have taken a drubbing since the collapse of several regional banks this month is pushing back against fears that it could face some of the same problems as paper losses on its bondholdings mount In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Schwab’s chief executive said the brokerage giant could continue to operate even if it lost most of its deposits over the next year

Gainers Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc NASDAQNEPT shares rose 669 to 237 in pre market trading Neptune Wellness Solutions recently announced voluntary delisting from Toronto Stock Exchange Larimar Therapeutics Inc NASDAQLRMR shares rose 374 to 272 in pre market trading after the company received meeting minutes from the FDA following a recent Type C Meeting to obtain its feedback on the information needed to resolve CTI 1601 s current clinical hold Twin Vee Powercats Co NASDAQVEEE rose 32 to 528 in pre market trading ADDvantage Technologies Group Inc NASDAQAEY shares rose 277 to 180 in pre market trading after the company swung to a profit in the third quarter Kiora Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQKPRX rose 223 to 02225 in pre market trading after jumping 17 on Thursday Payoneer Global Inc NASDAQPAYO shares rose 21 to 687 in pre market trading after reporting upbeat Q2 results Toast Inc NYSETOST shares rose 198 to 2174 in pre market trading after the company reported better than expected Q2 sales and raised FY22 guidance MyMD Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQMYMD rose 198 to 598 in pre market trading Neoleukin Therapeutics Inc NASDAQNLTX rose 146 to 117 in pre market trading Neoleukin Therapeutics recently posted a Q2 loss of 028 per share Wilhelmina International Inc NASDAQWHLM rose 14 to 573 in pre market trading The company recently posted a decline in quarterly earnings T2 Biosystems Inc NASDAQTTOO rose 123 to 02240 in pre market trading after gaining 26 on Thursday The company on Tuesday announced it will explore the potential to develop a rapid molecular diagnostic test for monkeypox Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc NASDAQCRBP rose 116 to 02951 in pre market trading The company recently posted a narrower quarterly loss Aditxt Inc NASDAQADTX rose 113 to 019 in pre market trading after gaining 5 on Thursday The company’s Adimune therapeutic program last month completed a toxicology study indicating a favorable safety profile of ADI 100 ironSource Ltd NYSEIS rose 88 to 460 in pre market trading ironSource shares dropped around 8 on Thursday after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral and lowered its price target from 13 to 542 Offerpad Solutions Inc NASDAQOPAD rose 71 to 181 in pre market trading Joby Aviation Inc NYSEJOBY rose 54 to 650 in pre market trading after the company posted a narrower than expected quarterly loss Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc NYSEDNA rose 53 to 358 in pre market trading Ginkgo Bioworks shares gained around 9 on Thursday after Synlogic announced a new drug candidate for the treatment of gout developed in partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks Don’t forget to check out our premarket coverage here Losers Olo Inc NYSEOLO shares fell 317 to 887 in pre market trading after the company reported Q2 results and issued FY22 guidance below consensus estimates CS Disco Inc NYSELAW fell 278 to 2090 in pre market trading after the company reported worse than expected Q2 EPS and issued weak Q3 guidance Co Diagnostics Inc NASDAQCODX shares fell 257 to 480 in pre market trading after the company reported downbeat results for its second quarter on Thursday Treasure Global Inc NASDAQTGL shares fell 204 to 1419 in pre market trading Treasure Global shares jumped around 345 on Thursday after the company priced its IPO at 4 per share Dave Inc NASDAQDAVE fell 173 to 071 in pre market trading after the company posted downbeat quarterly sales Illumina Inc NASDAQILMN fell 158 to 19159 in pre market trading after the company reported worse than expected results for its second quarter and issued weak full year 2022 guidance Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc NASDAQCSSE fell 147 to 1210 in pre market trading after the company reported wider quarterly loss Digital Media Solutions Inc NYSEDMS fell 147 to 180 in pre market trading after jumping around 79 on Thursday The company reported its Q2 earnings Tuesday Rockley Photonics Holdings Limited NYSERKLY fell 125 to 175 in pre market trading Rockley Photonics posted a Q2 loss of 082 per share Expensify Inc NASDAQEXFY fell 124 to 2130 in pre market trading following weak Q2 sales TOP Financial Group Limited NASDAQTOP fell 124 to 1687 in pre market trading after jumping 52 on Thursday AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQACRX shares fell 122 to 02742 in pre market trading after the company reported Q2 results Flotek Industries Inc NYSEFTK fell 113 to 110 in pre market trading The company recently reported Q2 results Palisade Bio Inc NASDAQPALI fell 105 to 030 in pre market trading Esports Entertainment Group Inc NASDAQGMBL fell 10 to 05402 in pre market trading Esports Entertainment Group shares jumped 32 on Thursday after Massachusetts Governor Baker on Wednesday signed a sports betting bill into law Aeglea BioTherapeutics Inc NASDAQAGLE fell 10 to 045 in pre market trading after gaining 8 on Thursday PolarityTE Inc NASDAQPTE fell 85 to 148 in pre market trading after reporting downbeat quarterly earnings

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bullish stance on Peabody Energy Looking at options history for Peabody Energy BTU we detected 18 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 55 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 44 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 6 are puts for a total amount of 233560 and 12 calls for a total amount of 1001800 Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 170 to 350 for Peabody Energy over the last 3 months Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Peabody Energy s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Peabody Energy s whale activity within a strike price range from 170 to 350 in the last 30 days Peabody Energy Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Where Is Peabody Energy Standing Right Now With a volume of 6259714 the price of BTU is down 514 at 2318 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 30 days What The Experts Say On Peabody Energy Jefferies has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Peabody Energy which currently sits at a price target of 25 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely

British five pound banknotes are seen in this picture illustration taken November 14 2017 REUTERSBenoit TessierIllustration March 18 Reuters Britain s FTSE 100 erased early gains to trade lower on Friday weighed by weakness in energy and banking shares as the lack of progress in Russia Ukraine peace negotiations kept investors on the edge The blue chip FTSE 100 index FTSE fell 02 in volatile trade but was on track for its best weekly gain in over a year while the domestically focused mid cap index FTMC declined 02 The banking sub index FTNMX301010 fell 04 while oil majors Shell SHELL and BP dropped 05 and 10 respectively despite a rally in crude prices Investors kept a wary eye on developments around the Ukraine crisis as hopes of a deal dwindled amid lack of tangible progress in peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators The comments we saw from the Kremlin yesterday have kind of clouded that picture an agreement of ceasefire Russian troops leaving Ukraine and now markets are in the impression the progress has been overplayed said Craig Erlam a senior market analyst at Oanda Further losses were limited by gains in base metal miners FTNMX551020 up 05 tracking rising metal prices as coronavirus curbs in China fuelled supply concerns Despite the week s rebound the FTSE 100 has lost nearly 02 so far this year Still heavyweight energy firms tracked strong gains in oil prices so year to date losses were not as steep as those in the wider European aggregate STOXX Among individual stocks Ted Baker TEDL jumped 184 with US private equity firm Sycamore Partners in the early stages of making a possible cash offer for the fashion retailer read more Vodafone VODL gained 17 after Reuters reported quoting sources familiar with the matter that Global infrastructure funds approached the network operator to invest in its 16 billion mast company Vantage Towers VTWRnDE but the telecoms giant s preference is for an industry merger read more Reporting by Amal S in Bengaluru Editing by Rashmi Aich

US stock futures posted muted gains as investors awaited the outcome of the midterm elections which are expected to result in a divided government SP 500 futures edged up 01 Tuesday while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 04 Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 01 The moves come a day after equity markets jumped with the SP 500 adding 1 and the Dow rising 13

The most oversold stocks in the communication services sector presents an opportunity to buy into undervalued companies The RSI is a momentum indicator which compares a stock s strength on days when prices go up to its strength on days when prices go down When compared to a stock s price action it can give traders a better sense of how a stock may perform in the short term An asset is typically considered oversold when the RSI is below 30 Here’s the latest list of major oversold players in this sector having an RSI near or below 30 Sirius XM Holdings Inc NASDAQSIRI Sirius XM lowered around 8 of its workforce Bloomberg reported The company’s stock has a 52 week low of 420 RSI Value 2839 SIRI Price Action Shares of Sirius XM Holdings gained 12 to close at 430 on Monday KT Corporation NYSEKT KT during November reported a rise in Q3 sales The company’s stock has a 52 week low of 1130 RSI Value 2789 KT Price Action Shares of KT gained 04 to close at 1176 on Monday Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc NASDAQSBGI Sinclair Broadcast Group reported a fourth quarter FY22 revenue decline of 35 year on year to 960 million missing the consensus of 98198 million Sinclair had a solid finish to 2022 setting records for our Broadcast and other advertising and distribution revenues Strong political revenues were a big factor in the record results demonstrating the strong value proposition TV continues to offer in reaching the masses said Chris Ripley Sinclair s President Chief Executive Officer The company’s stock has a 52 week low of 1437 RSI Value 2908 SBGI Price Action Shares of Sinclair Broadcast fell 06 to close at 1559 on Monday The EW Scripps Company NASDAQSSP EW Scripps reported worse than expected Q4 sales results Since the beginning of this year Scripps has been engaged in examining the best ways to structure our company so that we are well positioned to capture the opportunities we see emerging in our industry said Adam Symson Scripps president and CEO We see those in three key growth areas the content categories of news sports and entertainment TV distribution platforms and the burgeoning marketplace enabled by ATSC 30 The company’s 52 week low is 990 RSI Value 2432 SSP Price Action Shares of EW Scripps fell 66 to close at 1092 on Monday Match Group Inc NASDAQMTCH Match Group shared its plans to reduce its global workforce by 8 after missing the first quarter revenue consensus Bloomberg reported The company has a 52 week low of 3864 RSI Value 2760 MTCH Price Action Shares of Match Group fell 5 to close at 3957 on Monday Read More Investor Optimism Declines Ahead Of Fed Chair Powell s Testimony

Right now Goldman Sachs Group Inc NYSEGS share price is at 39330 after a 077 increase Moreover over the past month the stock fell by 102 but in the past year went up by 3066 Shareholders might be interested in knowing whether the stock is overvalued even if the company is performing up to par in the current session Assuming that all other factors are held constant this could present itself as an opportunity for shareholders trying to capitalize on the higher share price The stock is currently under from its 52 week high by 771 The PE ratio measures the current share price to the company s EPS It is used by long term investors to analyze the company s current performance against its past earnings historical data and aggregate market data for the industry or the indices such as SP 500 A higher PE indicates that investors expect the company to perform better in the future and the stock is probably overvalued but not necessarily It also shows that investors are willing to pay a higher share price currently because they expect the company to perform better in the upcoming quarters This leads investors to also remain optimistic about rising dividends in the future Depending on the particular phase of a business cycle some industries will perform better than others Goldman Sachs Group Inc has a lower PE than the aggregate PE of 1666 of the Capital Markets industry Ideally one might believe that the stock might perform worse than its peers but it s also probable that the stock is undervalued There are many limitations to PE ratio It is sometimes difficult to determine the nature of the earnings makeup of a company Shareholders might not get what they re looking for from trailing earnings

SYDNEY Outdoor clothing retailer KMD Brands Ltd raised its dividend despite tumbling to a first half net loss as the business was impacted by Covid 19 restrictions in New Zealand and Southeast Asia The company formerly known as Kathmandu Holdings reported a net loss of 55 million New Zealand dollars US38 million in the six months through January Underlying earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization totaled NZ102 million while revenue fell 08 on year to NZ4073 million Directors of KMD Brands declared an interim dividend of 3 New Zealand cents per security up 50 on the payout of 2 New Zealand cents a year earlier KMD Brands said its Kathmandu store network in Australia and New Zealand was affected by Covid related store closures in its fiscal first quarter and the impact of travel restrictions Its Oboz business was separately affected by the temporary closure of factories in Vietnam with around half of orders in the six month period unable to be fulfilled While we continue to navigate impacts from Covid on global supply chains forward demand for our Rip Curl and Oboz products remains at record levels and Kathmandu enters the traditionally strong winter season well prepared Chief Executive Michael Daly said

Investors in Bread Financial Holdings Inc NYSEBFHneed to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately That is because the Dec 16 2022 6500 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today What is Implied Volatility Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell off However implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy What do the Analysts Think Clearly options traders are pricing in a big move for Bread Financial shares but what is the fundamental picture for the company Currently Bread Financial is a Zacks Rank 3 Hold in the Financial Transaction Services industry that ranks in the Bottom 31 of our Zacks Industry Rank Over the last 60 days two analysts have increased their earnings estimates for the current quarter while eight have dropped their estimates The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from 323 per share to 310 in that period Given the way analysts feel about Bread Financial right now this huge implied volatility could mean there s a trade developing Oftentimes options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay At expiration the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected Image sourced from Shutterstock

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on Micron Technology Looking at options history for Micron Technology NASDAQMU we detected 26 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 23 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 76 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 11 are puts for a total amount of 677422 and 15 calls for a total amount of 814054 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 500 to 700 for Micron Technology over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development In terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Micron Technology options trades today is 406114 with a total volume of 1912000 In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Micron Technology s big money trades within a strike price range of 500 to 700 over the last 30 days Micron Technology Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume MU CALL SWEEP BEARISH 122322 5400 1701K 124 11K MU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011924 6500 1460K 113K 201 MU CALL SWEEP BEARISH 122322 5500 1190K 610 534 MU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 122322 5400 965K 15K 452 MU CALL SWEEP BEARISH 122322 5500 735K 610 10K Where Is Micron Technology Standing Right Now With a volume of 5726018 the price of MU is up 279 at 5532 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold Next earnings are expected to be released in 13 days What The Experts Say On Micron Technology UBS has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Micron Technology which currently sits at a price target of 75 Needham has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Micron Technology which currently sits at a price target of 67 Credit Suisse downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of 78 Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Micron Technology which currently sits at a price target of 70 Mizuho has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Micron Technology which currently sits at a price target of 50 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Micron Technology Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Ford Motor Co stock fell more than 10 on Friday to hit its lowest in more than three months after Wall Street faulted the auto maker for its bottom line miss and light volumes amid ongoing supply problems Ford stock F was on track for the lowest close since Oct 29 when it closed at 1708 and its largest one day percentage decrease in nearly two years Ford late Thursday reported fourth quarter profit and sales that fell short of expectations saying that “persistent supply chain disruptions” hampered its ability to meet strong demand Chief Executive Jim Farley expressed optimism about the company’s trajectory in electric and autonomous vehicles saying that Ford is to “compete like the challenger” and “speak with our actions” but also that the company remained “in the teeth of the COVID crisis and semiconductor shortages” despite being in “great shape” overall Ford’s miss “was a combination of lower volumes chip shortagesupply chain disruption higher raw material costs and higher mobility spending” John Murphy at B of A Securities said in a note Friday Murphy kept his buy rating on the stock however saying despite the “the tough finish to 2021” Ford’s 2022 financial outlook is strong Ford “will strengthen its core business pillars to fund its future business” he said “And despite the tough macroeconomic backdrop we continue to believe Ford is just starting to hit a more sustainable inflection in earnings” Ford guided for a 2022 volume between 10 and 15 despite continued supply volatility which is “more consistent with market views and keeping GM’s 25 30 an outlier for now” said Philippe Houchois with Jefferies See also GM ‘came out swinging’ in Q4 surprising Street with optimistic 2022 view The auto maker also guided EBIT growth between 15 and 25 Ford’s 2022 guidance would have been “good enough” in a “quiet tape” Chris McNally with Evercore ISI said in his note The quarter however was not “pretty” showing the miss Ford did show progress on the two “forward ‘races’ that matter” margins and EV sales McNally said Dan Levy with Credit Suisse seemed to concur “While Ford’s 4Q miss was disappointing we believe the focus of the 4Q print should be a ’22 guide which shows Ford is continuing its path of improvement” he said Last year showed “the significant turnaround under way at Ford and one which has occurred within a short period of time” Levy said “Changing perception on both these fronts is critical as near term financial strength is supporting better funding of Ford’s long term transition” Related Tesla stock shrugs off second over the air recall for auto maker this week And that transition “has just begun” with Ford’s push “to go deeper in supplysourcing and decrease complexity The transition won’t be easy but the efforts could make Ford well positioned in an industry defined by EV and software in vehicles” he said Despite Friday’s losses Ford stock still holds on to a significant outperformance in the past 12 months up more than 55 compared with an advance of around 16 for the SP 500 index SPX

Gold futures edged lower Friday but were on track for a weekly gain as traders eye developments around the Russia Ukraine war and an increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve Gold for April delivery GC00 GCJ22 fell 740 or 04 to 195480 an ounce on Comex leaving it on track for a 13 weekly rise May silver SIK22 fell 95 bents or 04 to 25825 an ounce “The Russian war and other factors such as supply chain issues will likely boost even higher rates of inflation thus remaining the catalyst for rising gold prices” said Peter Cardillo chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in a note The Biden administration on Thursday announced more sanctions against Moscow in response to the Feb 24 invasion of Ukraine President Joe Biden called for kicking Russia out of the Group of 20 largest economies and warned that NATO would respond in some form if the country’s armed forces used chemical weapons in Ukraine Read What traders think of US led efforts to block gold transactions by Russia’s central bank Expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 50 basis points or half a percentage point at its next policy meeting in May have grown this week Fed Chairman Jerome Powell left the door open to a move larger than a quarter point in remarks Monday a prospect echoed by some policy makers later in the week Treasury yields have risen sharply and the dollar has rallied as hot inflation fuels expectations the Fed will move aggressively to hike rates and otherwise tighten monetary policy Higher bond yields can be a headwind for gold raising the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding assets A stronger dollar can also be a negative making commodities priced in the unit more expensive to users of other currencies The rise in rates and the dollar have likely capped gold form advancing at a stronger pace Cardillo said But the inflation story is likely to outweigh those factors he said arguing that gold is likely to surpass 2000 an ounce as inflation sparks demand from investors looking for a hedge against rising prices and geopolitical tensions drive demand for assets viewed as havens

HOW COME BONDS ARE SEEING SO MUCH VOLATILITY WHEN WE ARE NOT REALLY FEELING IT IN THE EQUITY INDEXES SO BONDS LIKE THE MOVES IN MARKETS THEY MOVE LOWER TO BONDS WHEN COMPARED TO EQUITY MARKETS EQUITY MARKETS THEY REACT TO HEADLINES FASTER THAN BONDS IN THE BONDS IT S LITERALLY THE RESULT OF A YEAR OF REALLY BAD RETURNS FOR INVESTORS AND THAT S WHAT WE ARE SEEING WHAT ABOUT THE BIG MACRO PICTURE AT THE MOMENT UPDATE US ON WHERE WE GOT TO WITH THE FED EXPECTATIONS SAGA AROUND THE TERMINAL RATE AND HOW MUCH THERE IS STILL TO GO YESTERDAY EMPHASIZING THE NEED TO CONSIDER LAGS BUT EVEN SHE WAS SAYING THAT DOESN T MEAN WITH HIKING RATES BASICALLY INVESTORS ARE LOOKING AT THE BROADER PICTURE YOU HAVE A LOT OF VOLATILITY MARKETS STILL AND YOU NEED TO LOOK AT THE BROADER PICTURE INSTEAD OF PARTICULAR COMMENTS OTHERWISE WE TRADING ON THE HEADLINES INVESTORS ARE FOCUSING ON THE FED S ULTIMATE MESH AND ASH MESSAGE WISHES TO CONTAIN INFLATION KAILEY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CONTAINING THINGS SPEAKING ABOUT CHINA FOR A MOMENT ON THE BANK OF AMERICA FAYETTE THE BANK OF AMERICA CERT WHERE WAS THE BIGGEST RISK OF A CREDIT EVENT DATING FROM THE ANSWER WAS CHINA THE TAKEN STEPS TO SHORE UP THE PROPERTY MARKET NOW THERE S SOME QUESTIONS AROUND THAT IS COVID CASES RISE WHAT DOES RISK LOOK LIKE IN THAT MARKET AT THE MOMENT RISK IS STILL ELEVATED THEY ARE DOING THINGS TO CONTAIN THE PROPERTY MARKET AND THIS IS POSITIVE FOR INVESTORS AT THE SAME TIME QUESTIONS LINGER AROUND THE REOPENING SCHEDULE WE VE SEEN THESE HEADLINES THAT THIS MIGHT BE PUSHED POST WINTER WHEN COVID INFECTIONS GO HIGHER AND THERE S MORE RISKS THERE WE ARE STILL UNSURE ABOUT THE TIMELINE AND WHEN WE WILL SEE CHINA OPENING AGAIN THE LATEST ON CREDIT MARKETS AND BEYOND FOR MORE MARKET ANALYSIS

Wall Street analysts unveiled a slew of must own stocks this week even as bank and macroeconomic worries permeate the market While some investors might be distracted by the ongoing financial turmoil analysts say there are plenty of quality buying opportunities CNBC Pro combed through the top Wall Street research to find stocks to buy in a tough macro environment They include TrueCar Apple Progressive Academy Sports and Prosperity Bancshares Apple Morgan Stanley is doubling down on Apple shares The firm said in a note that it s even more bullish on the stock after hosting its recent annual technology media and telecom conference We see 5 underappreciated catalysts that can drive a re rating over the next 12 months cementing Apple as our Top Pick with new 180 PT said analysts led by Michelle Weaver and Erik Woodring They cited Apple s reaccelerating iPhone and Services growth record gross margins we see the greatest inflection in F1H24 two new product launches and the potential introduction of an iPhone subscription program To be sure the near term macro backdrop looks rough as consumers pullback spending in areas like electronics the firm said But patient investors will be rewarded they said Relative to the rest of our large cap Hardware coverage no other company has as many important catalysts similar upside vs Consensus estimates or commensurate upside to our price target as Apple they went on to say Apple shares are up almost 20 since the start of the year However over the past year shares are down down about 3 Prosperity Bancshares Investment firm DA Davidson upgraded the regional bank to buy from hold earlier this week The firm says Prosperity is being unfairly punished in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse Shares are down about 16 this month Analyst Peter Winter said issues arising from Silicon and others are idiosyncratic and have no bearing on PB PB has a long standing credit culture of conservative underwriting and being very risk adverse through cycles he said It also has a robust balance sheet and plenty of upside over the next 12 to 24 months according to the firm Winter also called the Houston based bank a flight to quality name Given the increased risks of a deeper recession PB is a great defensive stock given its low risk balance sheet strong deposit franchise and peer leading capital ratios he wrote Progressive The auto insurer has major upside according to Wells Fargo The firm double upgraded Progressive to overweight from equal weight earlier this week and says it s the right stock at the right time for investors PGR is a defensive insurer with low investment leverage and a conservative investment portfolio analyst Elyse Greenspan wrote Progressive which reports earnings monthly unveiled mostly mixed results earlier this week The shares traded down post earnings and we believe this provides a good entry point she added The firm noted that PGR shares outperformed the S P 500 in 2008 by 16 The stock is up just over 5 this year and Greenspan raised her price target to 158 per share from 116 or about 15 from where it s currently trading Greenspan also says auto policy growth has picked up in a big way and that should lead to further earnings per share upside PGR has turned the corner on growth and we think that will drive the stock from here she added Prosperity Bancshares DA Davidson buy rating No change to our 79 PT as the stock has been caught up in this bank meltdown trading at its 52 week low following failures of SIVB and SI which we believe are idiosyncratic issues and have no bearing on PB Given the increased risks of a deeper recession PB is a great defensive stock given its low risk balance sheet strong deposit franchise and peer leading capital ratios Flight to quality to name 1Q margin outlook stable but plenty of upside over next 12 to 24 mos Apple Morgan Stanley overweight rating We see 5 underappreciated catalysts that can drive a re rating over the next 12 months cementing Apple as our Top Pick with new 180 PT As we look beyond the near term we see catalyst rich event path over the next 12 months that is underappreciated by investors including reaccelerating iPhone and Services growth record gross margins two new product launches the potential introduction of an iPhone subscription program Relative to the rest of our large cap Hardware coverage no other company has as many important catalysts similar upside vs Consensus estimates or commensurate upside to our price target as AAPL Academy Sports Jefferies buy rating Our sports retail coverage has been broadly resilient amid the COVID unwind dynamic backdrop though we see go forward margin assumptions broadly at risk amid a rising promotional tide We prefer ASO value oriented market position drives outperformance over the next 12 18 months sticky margin improvement 3x unit growth oppty Value oriented market positioning best in class unit economics longest unit growth runway an attractive valuation TrueCar Needham buy rating We upgrade TRUE to a Buy from Hold and introduce a 350 price target TRUE s combination of leverage to new vehicle sales as the industry slowly returns to normal and changes to TRUE s business model help us get comfortable playing offense while TRUE s cash balance and further potential interest from strategic industry partners adds comfort on the defensive side Progressive Wells Fargo overweight rating PGR has turned the corner on growth and we think that will drive the stock from here The shares traded down post earnings and we believe this provides a good entry point Progressive has seen its personal auto policy growth pick up significantly over the past couple of months as they look to take advantage of shopping as competitors are taking pricere pricing their books of business PGR is a defensive insurer with low investment leverage and conservative investment portfolio

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on Taiwan SemiconductorLooking at options history for Taiwan Semiconductor NYSETSM we detected 11 strange tradesIf we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 18 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 81 with bearishFrom the overall spotted trades 2 are puts for a total amount of 238660 and 9 calls for a total amount of 886472What s The Price TargetTaking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 550 to 800 for Taiwan Semiconductor over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest DevelopmentIn terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Taiwan Semiconductor options trades today is 150162 with a total volume of 324300In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Taiwan Semiconductor s big money trades within a strike price range of 550 to 800 over the last 30 daysTaiwan Semiconductor Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted SymbolPUTCALLTrade TypeSentimentExp DateStrike PriceTotal Trade PriceOpen InterestVolume TSMCALLTRADEBULLISH01172570003253K205501 TSMCALLTRADEBULLISH01172580002437K154253 TSMPUTTRADENEUTRAL04212355001800K10K500 TSMCALLSWEEPBEARISH0119248000888K12K447 TSMCALLSWEEPBEARISH0119248000675K12K0 Where Is Taiwan Semiconductor Standing Right Now With a volume of 4726914 the price of TSM is down 063 at 6448 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversoldNext earnings are expected to be released in 86 days Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closelyIf you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Taiwan Semiconductor Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY Get 50 OFF and get 2 bear market beating options trade straight to your inbox and SMS every month Click Here Now to Get Started The Global Prostate Cancer Market and Competitive Landscape 2021 report has been added to ResearchAndMarketscom s offering Global Prostate Cancer Market and Competitive Landscape 2021 provides comprehensive insights into Prostate Cancer pipeline epidemiology market valuations drug sales market forecast drug forecasts and market shares This research analyzes and forecasts Prostate Cancer market size and drug sales It also provides insights into Prostate Cancer epidemiology and late stage pipeline This research covers the following Prostate Cancer treatment options Prostate Cancer late stage clinical trials pipeline Prostate Cancer prevalence by countries Prostate Cancer market size and forecast by countries key market events and trends drug sales and forecast by countries and market shares by countries The research scope includes the countries US Germany France Italy Spain UK Japan Europe Global G7 Countries REGISTER NOW Educational session on How to Get Rich When The Stock Market Drops Using Options with Full time Trader Nic Chahine Click Here Now to Register Prostate Cancer pipeline Find out drugs in clinical trials for the treatment of Prostate Cancer by development phase 3 phase 2 by pharmacological class and company Prostate Cancer epidemiology Find out the number of patients diagnosed prevalence with Prostate Cancer by countries Prostate Cancer drugs Identify key drugs marketed and prescribed for Prostate Cancer in the US including trade name molecule name and company Prostate Cancer drugs sales Find out the sales value for Prostate Cancer drugs by countries Prostate Cancer market valuations Find out the market size for Prostate Cancer drugs in 2020 by countries Find out how the market advanced from 2018 and forecast to 2026 Prostate Cancer drugs market share Find out the market shares for key drugs by countries Develop tactics and strategies to take advantage of opportunities in the market Track Market Events and Trends and analyze key events in Prostate Cancer market 41 Marketed Drugs for Prostate Cancer in US For more information about this report visit httpswwwresearchandmarketscomr19kya9 If you are not using this trading strategy you are leaving money on the table If you are blindly looking up and trading stocks the way 99 of traders are you are missing on HUGE potential returns Even new traders who started following this options trading strategy instantly began seeing returns they wouldn t have had otherwise With even two trades per month with this strategy you will start seeing the difference in your trading account Don t waste any more time guessing and getting lucky Click Here to See if you Qualify for Benzinga Options It must be your lucky day Nic Chahine Benzinga s Full time Head Options Trader has been minting profits during the recent volatility His average win rate in 2021 alone was over 90 of booked trades Never before have we offered such a price reduction on his Options Starter strategy For a massive 50 OFF plus a 7 day full refund guarantee you can get full access to Nic s very own trades twice a month These come with a complete video breakdown explanation charts and trade tables to show you that he takes every single trade alongside you Click Here to Take this Limited Time Offer

Shuttle tanker operator Knot Offshore Partners LP said it has bought shuttle tanker Synnøve Knutsen from Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS for 119 million less 877 million of outstanding indebtedness The Synnøve Knutsen a 153000 deadweight ton DP2 Suezmax class shuttle tanker is operating in Brazil under a five year time charter with Equinor Shipping Inc providing fixed rate firm employment through to at least the first quarter of 2027 Knot Offshore said The charterer has options to further extend the charter for up to 15 additional years Knot Offshore said the deal is being financed using borrowings under the sale leaseback of the Torill Knutsen tanker with a Japanese based lessor for a lease period of ten years While the current shuttle tanker charter market continues to reflect the effects of temporary capex pauses instituted by the oil majors at the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic we are increasingly seeing a catch up in offshore development activity Knot Offshore Chief Executive Gary Chapman said Knot Offshore shares have risen nearly 23 so far this year as higher oil prices have boosted it and its peers Write to Will Feuer at WillFeuerwsjcom

The major US index futures were pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday ahead of some key tech earnings reports Traders may prefer to step to the sidelines or take some profit off the tables following the recent leg up by stocks On Monday stocks advanced amid hopes that ongoing earnings momentum will help avert any economic setback Most sectors barring material and real estate stocks advanced Defensive consumer staple and healthcare stocks saw marked strength reflecting the tentativeness of traders Monday’s rally took the SP 500 Index to its highest level in over a month and the Nasdaq Composite Index failed to break above the levels seen in early October US Indices Performance on Monday Index Performance Value Nasdaq Composite 086 1095261 SP 500 Index 119 379734 Dow Industrials 134 3149962 The four year presidential cycle typically sees the best performance for the SP 500 Index in the third year following the midterms John Lynch chief investment officer at Comerica said in a note “The two most likely outcomes of the midterm election suggest a combination of partisan control that have historically seen the SP 500 climb at an average rate of 130” the analyst said Lynch said he holds onto the belief that the best strategy is to maintain long term investment plans Here’s a peek into index futures trading US Futures Performance On Monday During Premarket Session Index Performance Nasdaq 100 Futures 015 SP 500 Futures 035 Dow Futures 040 R2K Futures 047 In premarket trading on Monday the SPDR SP 500 ETF TrustNYSESPY slipped 035 to 37756 and the Invesco QQQ TrustNASDAQQQQ fell 015 to 27805 according to Benzinga Pro data On the economic front the SP Case Shiller house price index for August is due at 9 am EDT At 10 am EDT the Richmond Federal Reserve will release the results of its manufacturing survey for October The Conference Board will also release its consumer confidence index for October around the same time with economists widely expecting waning confidence among consumers who make up two thirds of the economic activity Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Walleris scheduled to make a public address at 155 pm EDT See alsoWhy This Market Analyst Expects Santa Claus Rally To Take SP 500 Back To August High Stocks In Focus Tesla Inc NASDAQTSLA declined yet again in premarket trading whileTwitter Inc NYSETWTR pushed higher on deal hopes UBS Group NYSEUBS climbed about 4 in reaction to its quarterly results while HSBC Holdings Plc NYSEHSBC fell steeply after it said it set aside higher charges for bad debts SAP SE NYSESAP rose about 3 as the stock reacted to the software company’s financial results Chinese stocks were rebounding after Monday’s bloodbath JDcom NASDAQJD Alibaba Group Holding Limited NYSEBABA and Pinduoduo Inc NASDAQPDD were all higher General Motors Corp NYSEGM General Electric Co NYSEGE Biogen Inc NASDAQBIIB 3M Co NYSEMMM JetBlue Corp NASDAQJBLU and Coca Cola Company NYSEKO are among the key companies reporting ahead of the market open Microsoft Corp NASDAQMSFT Alphabet Inc NASDAQGOOGL NASDAQGOOG Visa Inc NYSEV Spotify Technology SE NYSESPOT and Texas Instruments Inc NASDAQTXN are due to report their results after the market close Commodities Global Equity Markets Crude oil futures fell for a third straight session amid demand worries The Asia Pacific markets had a mixed outing although the Hong Kong and Chinese markets continue to be under pressure amid the political developments in China European stocks traded mixed as traders digested mixed earnings news flow from the region Read Next Futures Investing For Beginners

Gold prices closed flat on Friday but booked a weekly gain putting an end to the yellow metal s longest streak of weekly losses in four years Gold for June delivery gcm22 gc00 finished the session virtually unchanged up just 90 cents to settle at 184210 an ounce on Comex as continued volatility in equity markets led the SP 500 index spx to trade below the threshold needed for it to enter a bear market For the week the most active gold contract gained 18 snapping a four week skid that was its longest stretch of weekly losses since August 17 2018 when it fell for six weeks in a row according to Dow Jones Market Data

With a booming economy and a tight job market median pay rose last year for most SP 500 companies according to a Wall Street Journal analysis Google parent Alphabet and Facebook’s Meta Platforms Inc had the highest paid median workers at almost 300000 They were among nearly 150 companies that said their median employee earned more than 100000

Shares of Twitter Inc TWTR plummeted after Elon Musk announced his intention to terminate the deal to acquire the social media company On CNBC s Options Action Michael Khouw of Optimize Advisors said Musk had cast doubts several times on the claims made by Twitter signaling that he was “either negotiating for a lower price or looking for a way to back of it” There has also been significant weakness in the overall markets he mentioned Check out other stocks making big moves in the premarket Over 100000 puts traded on Friday Khouw said “I don’t see a whole lot of upside for this stock in the near term” he added TWTR Price Action Shares of Twitter were down 701 Monday morning at 3426

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Airbnb NASDAQABNBAnd retail traders should knowWe noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at BenzingaWhether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with ABNB it often means somebody knows something is about to happenSo how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 11 uncommon options trades for AirbnbThis isn t normalThe overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 36 bullish and 63 bearishOut of all of the special options we uncovered 9 are puts for a total amount of 1167811 and 2 are calls for a total amount of 58921What s The Price TargetTaking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 1150 to 1250 for Airbnb over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest DevelopmentIn terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Airbnb options trades today is 329375 with a total volume of 491600In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Airbnb s big money trades within a strike price range of 1150 to 1250 over the last 30 daysAirbnb Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted SymbolPUTCALLTrade TypeSentimentExp DateStrike PriceTotal Trade PriceOpen InterestVolume ABNBPUTTRADEBULLISH111822120002449K37K870 ABNBPUTTRADEBULLISH111822120002400K37K10K ABNBPUTSWEEPBULLISH111822120002064K37K665 ABNBPUTTRADEBEARISH111822120001733K37K51 ABNBPUTTRADEBEARISH111822120001118K37K11K Where Is Airbnb Standing Right Now With a volume of 363406 the price of ABNB is up 063 at 1168 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversoldNext earnings are expected to be released in 56 days What The Experts Say On Airbnb Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal Weight rating on Airbnb which currently sits at a price target of 125 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closelyIf you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Airbnb Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on BP Looking at options history for BP NYSEBP we detected 21 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 33 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 66 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 11 are puts for a total amount of 606450 and 10 calls for a total amount of 1419435 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 290 to 500 for BP over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for BP s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of BP s whale trades within a strike price range from 290 to 500 in the last 30 days BP Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume BP CALL TRADE BEARISH 011924 3000 6320K 97K 933 BP CALL SWEEP BEARISH 042823 2900 2950K 13 111 BP CALL SWEEP BEARISH 042823 2900 1087K 13 714 BP PUT SWEEP BULLISH 011924 4000 1012K 88K 265 BP CALL SWEEP BEARISH 042823 2900 957K 13 714 Where Is BP Standing Right Now With a volume of 7853875 the price of BP is down 667 at 357 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be oversold Next earnings are expected to be released in 48 days Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for BP Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Gold futures traded lower this morning on Wednesday Investors meanwhile focused on some notable insider trades When insiders sell shares it indicates their concern in the company’s prospects or that they view the stock as being overpriced Either way this signals an opportunity to go short on the stock Insider sales should not be taken as the only indicator for making an investment or trading decision At best it can lend conviction to a selling decision Below is a look at a few recent notable insider sales For more check out Benzinga s insider transactions platform The Trade Palo Alto Networks Inc CEO Nikesh Arora sold a total of 12500 shares at an average price of 55456 The insider received around 693 million from selling those shares What Palo Alto Networks Does Palo Alto Networks is a pure play cybersecurity vendor that sells security appliances subscriptions and support into enterprises government entities and service providers Also check this Fear Greed Index Drops But Remains In Neutral Zone The Trade Genpact Limited Senior Vice President Balkrishan Kalra sold a total of 10000 shares at an average price of 4735 The insider received around 47354 thousand as a result of the transaction What Genpact Does Genpact Ltd is a provider of business process management services Clients are industry verticals and operate in banking and financial services insurance capital markets consumer product goods life sciences infrastructure manufacturing and services healthcare and high tech Have a look at our premarket coverage here The Trade Fifth Third Bancorp Director Mitchell Feiger sold a total of 8734 shares at an average price of 3521 The insider received around 30748 thousand from selling those shares What’s Happening The company last month posted downbeat quarterly earnings What Fifth Third Bancorp Does Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati

Danone SA s shares soar Wednesday at market opening following a broadbased sales beat in the first quarter and reiteration of guidance for the full year despite inflationary and supply chain pressures The French food company s start to the year was marked by quarterly sales organic growth of 71 mainly driven by price and volumemix which were up 49 and 22 respectively 1Q sales have beaten meaningfully led by the specialized nutrition division the health of which we see as critical to the profit and margin algorithm analysts at Jefferies say in a research note Danone also backed its 2022 outlook despite expected mid teens inflation in the year and still assuming the reinvestment of 100 of the cost savings of its local first plan This means the company will be funding its revamp while peers may have to cut back on AP advertising promotional spend to protect margin outlooks Citi analysts say in a note

US stock futures traded lower Thursday as concerns about lingering inflationary pressures weighed across several asset classes On Wednesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell 327 points or 102 to 31834 the SP 500 SPX declined 66 points or 165 to 3935 and the Nasdaq Composite COMP dropped 373 points or 318 to 11364 The SP 500 has dropped 18 from its record high set on Jan 3 The latest inflation data released Wednesday may have shown a peak in price growth but the figures were hotter than forecast Core CPI which excludes energy and food and tends to be a better predictor of future inflation surprisingly accelerated in April “It means that the Fed might have to tighten too much leading to a sharp economic slowdown but it also means that the economic projection in tech and some other assets are now seen as far too optimistic” said Sebastian Galy senior macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management “Equity analysts adopting fixed income speech call it a long duration equity that is long on hope as forecasting past two years is very difficult when the wave of liquiditynarrative is no longer so supportive” The cryptocurrency market has been particularly roiled as the stablecoin Tether USDTUSD said it performed a 1 billion swap after it fell as low as 95 cents on the dollar “Given that the wave of liquidity pushed tech and some other asset classes up to the top of the dam before it started to collapse the price dynamics are complex nonlinear and hard to forecast” said Galy More inflation data is due as the produce price index is due for release alongside the latest on jobless claims Walt Disney DIS shares may see pressure after the entertainment giant forecast that streaming subscriber growth may tail off after better than forecast additions in its fiscal second quarter

Former executives from luxury automotive companies Audi of America Bentley Toyota NYSETM and Genesis have announced the launch of a new cannabis lifestyle company LBRTE The brand which is set to launch its bespoke accessories and THC line in the spring of 2023 aims to cater to a connoisseur audience with its high design and modern approach LBRTE uses a proprietary hash washing system during processing ensuring all concentrates are solventless The company s founder and COO Dustin Teuscher has a distinguished engineering background and he pioneered the application of jet injection technology to the extraction of pressed hash The proprietary water jet method is a more efficient operation than other methods and uses no harmful chemicals or terpenes LBRTE s stylized suite of cannabis products includes solventless disposable vape pens hash infused pre rolls flower only pre rolls pressed hash and infused edible oils The company will exclusively sell its cannabis products online in California and they will only be sold direct to connoisseur and not through dispensaries Delivery service will initially be offered to Los Angeles based consumers and the company plans to increase accessibility throughout California in 2023 LBRTE s CEO Mark Del Rosso boasts decades of experience in the luxury automotive world and imparts that sophistication and credibility to LBRTE His expertise in cultivating close relationships with ultra high net worth customers allows LBRTE with its unique direct to consumer business model to flourish and stand apart from other cannabis companies LBRTE has raised 1 million in seed funding from family and friends and seeks to bring bespoke collectible design to the solventless cannabis space Every purchase will come with custom designed packaging by celebrated contemporary artist Kenton Parker The emergence of LBRTE signals a shift in the cannabis industry where luxury and design are becoming increasingly important for discerning cannabis users LBRTE s focus on solventless products combined with its direct to consumer business model is likely to attract high end consumers looking for premium exclusive products With a mission to free themselves and elevate cannabis in society LBRTE s impressive leadership team is set to make a significant impact in the cannabis industry Get all of your cannabis news on Benzinga Cannabis

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed further improvement in overall sentiment among US investors on Thursday The Dow Jones jumped more than 400 points on Thursday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates at its latest meeting On the economic data front US jobless claims came in unchanged at 262000 in the week ending June 10 versus the previous week’s revised value However analysts were expecting a reading of 249000 Retail sales in the US increased 03 month over month in May versus a 04 growth in April and topping market expectations for a 01 drop After the closing bell Adobe Inc NASDAQADBE reported better than expected results for its second quarter and issued strong earnings forecast The Dow Jones closed higher by around 429 points to 3440806 on Thursday The SP 500 rose 122 at 442584 while the Nasdaq Composite added 115 to settle at 1378282 during the session Investors are awaiting earnings results from NaaS Technology Inc NASDAQNAAS today At a current reading of 830 the index remained in the Extreme Greed zone versus a previous reading of 810 What is CNN Business Fear Greed Index The Fear Greed Index is a measure of the current market sentiment It is based on the premise that higher fear exerts pressure on stock prices while higher greed has the opposite effect The index is calculated based on seven equal weighted indicators The index ranges from 0 to 100 where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness Read Next Top 5 Tech And Telecom Stocks You ll Regret Missing This Quarter

The numbers A survey of US consumer confidence rose in August for the first time in four months thanks to falling gasoline prices suggesting a slowing economy stabilized toward the end of summer Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast the index to rise to 974 from 957 in the prior month Big picture Americans have gotten some relief from high inflation due to tumbling gas prices but the outlook for the economy has gotten worse The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to try to tame the highest inflation in 40 years and promising more “pain” for consumers and businesses And many economist think another recession is likely by next year Higher rates raise the cost of borrowing and tend to make consumers and businesses spend less Market reaction The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and SP 500 SPX fell in early Tuesday trades

Wall Street looks set to start the first trading session of the week on a markedly negative note extending the downward momentum from Friday The major US averages finished the week ended Aug 19 on a low note with the SP 500 Index snapping a four week winning streak and ending down 12 for the week at 422848 Despite the recent surge in the overall equity market the SP 500 was unable to close above its 200 day moving average As a result the market is now going through a digestion phase triggered by weaker than expected economic reports and anxiety ahead of the statements and policy indications expected to emerge from the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium Sam Stovall Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA Research told Benzinga The past week’s sell off was led by tech stocks and this is reflected in the 27 weekly plunge by the Nasdaq Composite Index The 30 stock Dow Industrials clocked a more modest 016 drop Much of the market weakness was back end loaded last week with stocks coming in for particular punishment on Friday amid massive options expiry The correction appears more technical in nature as the six week rally off the bottom stalled Navellier Associates Louis Navellier said in a note The fund manager also pinned the predicament on the 2 trillion options expiry At the time of going to press on Monday the Dow futures and SP futures were down 082 and 105 respectively The Nasdaq 100 futures were plunging 137 Fundamentals remain largely the same Navellier said “Profit taking after a major rally is to be expected and presents a buying opportunity in strong earners that are swept into the correction” the market expert said See also How Sanctions On China Over Taiwan Could Create A 26 Trillion Hole In The Global Economy On the economic front investors would get to digest the results of a business activity survey The Chicago Federal Reserve is set to release its national activity index for July at 830 am ET In June the index was at 019 suggesting a contraction in activity Caution is likely to be the watchword for the week ahead of the annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole on Thursday and Friday Navellier noted fears around the global tightening theme gettingreinforced at the informal Fed event weakening the forecasts for a pivot to lower rates next year As the second quarter reporting season enters its final leg earnings will trickle down this week Among noteworthy earnings scheduled for the week are from two tech names Palo Alto Networks Inc NASDAQPANW and Zoom Video Communications Inc NASDAQZM Both are due to report their quarterly reports after the market closes WTI crude oil futures have recovered in New York trading and are back above the 90 a barrel market potentially lifting energy stocks Among individual stocks AMC Entertainment Holdings NYSEAMC is pulling back sharply after the company paid its shareholders one preferred equity unit for every share they held The preferred unit will begin trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol APE Signify Health Inc NYSESGFY is jumping on MA rumors The major Asian markets retreated on Monday although the Chinese Singaporean and New Zealand markets bucked the downtrend China received support from the People’s Bank of China’s decision to trim the key lending rates yet again A week after an unexpected cut the central bank reduced the five year loan prime rate from 445 to 430 and the one year loan prime rate from 370 to 365 European stocks are also seen plunging in line with the overall negative market sentiment seen across the globe In premarket trading on Monday the SPDR SP 500 ETF Trust NYSESPY was slipping 111 to 41745 and the Invesco QQQ Trust NASDAQQQQ was moving down 195 to 32286 according to Benzinga Pro data

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bullish stance on Adobe Looking at options history for Adobe NASDAQADBE we detected 10 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 50 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 50 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 5 are puts for a total amount of 205178 and 5 calls for a total amount of 249515 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 3000 to 4400 for Adobe over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development In terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Adobe options trades today is 4530 with a total volume of 19500 In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Adobe s big money trades within a strike price range of 3000 to 4400 over the last 30 days Adobe Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume ADBE CALL SWEEP BULLISH 042123 32500 851K 232 16 ADBE PUT SWEEP BEARISH 061623 36000 703K 687 14 ADBE CALL TRADE BEARISH 102023 44000 533K 56 2 ADBE CALL TRADE BULLISH 011725 41000 461K 76 0 ADBE PUT SWEEP BEARISH 061623 34500 386K 61 36 Where Is Adobe Standing Right Now With a volume of 246061 the price of ADBE is up 095 at 37854 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 80 days What The Experts Say On Adobe BMO Capital has decided to maintain their Market Perform rating on Adobe which currently sits at a price target of 395 Piper Sandler downgraded its action to Overweight with a price target of 415 JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Adobe which currently sits at a price target of 380 Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal Weight rating on Adobe which currently sits at a price target of 360 Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Adobe which currently sits at a price target of 350 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Adobe Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Good Morning Traders In today s Market Clubhouse Morning Memo we will discuss SPY QQQ AAPL MSFT and AMZN Our proprietary formula exclusive to Market Clubhouse dictates these price levels This dynamic equation takes into account price volume and options flow These levels are updated every day and shared with all Clubhouse Members during our daily Morning Call prior to the opening of the market We recommend closely monitoring these stocks and be prepared to leverage potential breakouts or reversals As always stay alert and ready to adjust your tactics based on the market s pulse to optimize your trading gains Now let s dive into the stock analysis SPDR SP 500 ETF Trust The SPY ETFNYSESPY is trading lower as Tuesday s premarket session begins in August If the sell off persists we re watching for it to reach our key downside level of 45590 Should aggressive selling occur at this level a lower test of strength at 45514 is anticipated Our lowest bear target for the day stands at 45456 Conversely if SPY bounces the bulls must regain control at 45688 The day s high bull target is 45786 Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 The Nasdaq ETF NASDAQQQQ is experiencing a sell off in Tuesday s early session For bearish traders continued weakness under 38189 is key If selling persists a test of 38041 is expected Should this level break with intense selling the low bear target is 37893 If buyers emerge a reclaim of 38189 is the first upside target followed by 38293 If bulls dominate a test of 38436 could occur with an ultimate bull target of 38555 Apple Inc AppleNASDAQAAPLcontinues its recent trend fluctuating between 19567 and 19661 If the lower level breaks a lower test at 19525 is expected Aggressive selling could push it to a daily low target of 19429 On the bullish side if 19661 holds the stock could move up to 19694 with a high bull target of 19822 Microsoft Corp MicrosoftNASDAQMSFTis hovering just above the key level of 33346 Weak trading that breaks this level may lead bears to target 33124 with a daily low target of 32852 If the level holds and buyers emerge a move towards 33596 is possible with 33780 in play if buying continues Amazoncom Inc AmazonNASDAQAMZN is presently trading just above the key level of 13294 If aggressive selling occurs here the bears may target 13199 with further downside to 13123 possible If the level holds bulls may target 13386 with the potential for a move up to 13460 Final Word Key data releases in today s session are likely to guide price action Stay alert and approach trading with caution and discipline Best of luck The Morning Memo is curated by RIPS a pro trader with years of experience in equities options and futures trading RIPS is at the heart of the exclusive Market Clubhouse community offering his insights expertise and real time mentorship Start your day with a live daily market analysis a carefully selected watch list early access to the Morning Memo and exclusive Market Clubhouse price levels providing precise support and resistance indicators When you become a member of Market Clubhouse you will get early access to the Morning Memo just like this one every single day hours before it goes to publication For a limited time during our special promotion you can join RIPS and get a full access pass to Market Clubhouse for 7 full days for just 7 Check it out at httpsmarketclubhouseclub7Days where you can trade live with him and tap into his wealth of knowledge and experience

One of the Treasury market’s most reliable gauges of impending US recessions has the potential to shrink to its narrowest level in 41 years within a matter of months according to BMO Capital Markets strategists That indicator is the spread between 2 TMUBMUSD02Y and 10 year Treasurys TMUBMUSD10Y which becomes inverted whenever the shorter term rate trades above the longer term one The spread hovered around minus 42 basis points as of Tuesday and has been below zero since July when Federal Reserve policy makers made it clear that elevated inflation could become entrenched The 2s10s spread now has the potential to reach minus 75 to minus 100 basis points either after Jan 1 or during the period between November’s US midterm elections and the Federal Open Market Committee’s Dec 13 14 meeting said BMO rates strategists Ben Jeffery and Ian Lyngen BMO’s view comes a day after a Bloomberg Economics forecast model pointed to a 100 probability of a US recession within the next 12 months “Admittedly the highest conviction on our year end calls are in terms of levels” said Jeffery and Lyngen wrote in a note on Tuesday The 2s10s spread “reaching the 75 bp to 100 bp zone could certainly take place on the other side of the New Year as easily as it could in the run up to holiday trading conditions coming out of the midterm elections and around the December FOMC” “In terms of the driver of such a repricing we are watching for Treasuries’ status as the benchmark safe haven asset with the backdrop of a global economy that no longer benefits from an accommodative policy to be the bullish driver toward lower rates” they said The last time the 2s10s spread ended the New York session in triple digit negative territory was Sept 22 1981 when it was minus 1214 basis points according to 3 pm figures from Dow Jones Market Data At that time Ronald Reagan was in his first year as president the annual headline inflation rate was above 10 and the US economy was in the early stages of what would turn out to be one of the worst downturns since the Great Depression triggered by the Fed’s tight monetary policy under Paul Volcker Though a negative Treasury curve doesn’t translate immediately into a recession it has a track record of translating into one at some point This was the case with the early 2000s downturn marked by the bursting of the dot com bubble the 911 terrorist attacks and various corporate accounting scandals the 2007 2009 recession triggered by a global financial crisis and the brief 2020 contraction fueled by the Covid 19 pandemic Even with the 2s10s spread stuck below zero for months though investors have been willing to dismiss a whole lot of negativity whether it’s cracks in global financial markets a hotter than expected consumer price index for September or the risks of continued high inflation What’s more a recent crisis of confidence in the UK’s bond market has only emboldened investors’ perception that policy makers would likely ride to the rescue if needed On Tuesday US stocks continued to hold on to gains after another round of corporate earnings reports with all three major indexes DJIA SPX COMP higher in the afternoon Meanwhile Treasury yields held steady as calm prevailed following the UK government’s budget U turn