Big Tech Earnings Boost NASDAQ

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere. The NASDAQ has gained over 2% today spurred by fantastic earnings from the tech sector, which has seen substantial profit taking as of late.

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) reported earnings per share of 52 cents a share, way ahead of Wall Streets estimate of 3 cents a share. Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud business, was its primary driver for growth, with sales leaping 42% on a year-over-year basis.

Amazon also received a boost in sales from its Whole Foods acquisition back in August.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report

Meanwhile, the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) beat Wall Street earnings expectations by 12 cents a share as its commercial cloud business topped $20 billion in annualized revenue for its fiscal first quarter. The stock was on track to post its biggest one-day gain since October of 2015. Continue reading "Big Tech Earnings Boost NASDAQ" →

Janet Yellen's Final Exam

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates


Although he professes to “really like her a lot,” President Trump appears to have made up his mind that that the next chair of the Federal Reserve won’t be the incumbent of the past four years, Janet Yellen.

On Tuesday, according to media reports, the president asked Republican senators for a show of hands on whether they favored current Fed governor Jerome H. Powell or John B. Taylor, the Stanford University economics professor and frequent Fed critic. Results of the informal vote weren’t disclosed. On the same day, the New York Times ran an article comparing the “finalists” for the Fed chair position, mentioning only Powell and Taylor, even though the White House has said Trump is considering three additional candidates, including Yellen.

So it now looks like it’s a two-man race between Powell and Taylor. Trump has promised to make an announcement any day, at least before his trip to Asia at the end of next week.
Regardless of who he chooses, it’s certainly an appropriate time to review Yellen’s tenure as Fed chair, either as a historical exercise or as an indicator of what we can expect for the next four years in the event she is reappointed. Let’s look at some of the main points. Continue reading "Janet Yellen's Final Exam" →

Stocks Fall On Lackluster Earnings

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere. The U.S. stock market is posting its most significant decline in 10 weeks after a batch of lackluster earnings reported today. Turmoil over President Trump’s tax reform bill has retaken center stage giving traders reason to take pause.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report

Some of the notable earnings today are: Continue reading "Stocks Fall On Lackluster Earnings" →

CVS: Walking Away - Amazon Effect Proving Too Great

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

Noah Kiedrowski - INO.com Contributor - Biotech


Introduction

I finally had to throw in the towel on CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) and walk away from the stock. Since its all-time highs in 2015, several headwinds have negatively impacted its growth, and the changing marketplace conditions have plagued the stock. Exacerbating this downward movement from the factors above, Amazon (AMZN) has entered the fray and has resulted in another leg down for the stock. The latter half of 2015 and throughout 2016 the political backdrop was a major headwind for the entire pharmaceutical supply chain from drug manufacturers to pharmacies/pharmacy benefit managers (i.e., CVS and Walgreens (WBA)) and the drug wholesalers in-between (i.e. McKesson (MCK), Cardinal Health (CAH) and AmerisourceBergen (ABC)). Marketplace trends forced CVS to cut guidance for Q4 2016 and the full-year 2017 numbers. CVS stated that “unexpected marketplace actions that will have a negative impact on our Q4 2016 results and a more meaningful impact on our outlook for 2017”. CVS suffered a self-inflicted wound and lost a contract with the Department of Defense which carries tens of millions of prescriptions on an annual basis. A new restricted network relationship between Prime Therapeutics and Walgreens impacts CVS Pharmacy’s participation in selected fully-insured networks in several key states, and many cases make CVS Pharmacy a non-preferred provider for Medicare Part D as well. These prescriptions tend to be the most profitable prescriptions as well. Lastly, Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods and behind the scenes moves in the healthcare space has incited rumors that Amazon is looking to gain entry into the pharmacy space via leveraging the Whole Foods physical footprint of storefronts. I’ve written several articles contending that CVS presents a compelling investment opportunity in the ever-expanding healthcare space. My investment thesis was based on an aging population, growth in long-term care facilities and the pharmacy benefit management segment. All of this in a backdrop of CVS being highly acquisitive, continuing to deliver earnings growth, revenue growth, growing dividends and has an aggressive share buyback program in place. The wildcard may be the Amazon threat with its first real pivot after acquiring Whole Foods with subsequent potential in entering the pharmacy space as well.
Continue reading "CVS: Walking Away - Amazon Effect Proving Too Great" →

OPEC's Fake Results and Upcoming Quagmire

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


OPEC’s market monitoring committee reported that OPEC reached “120% compliance” with the production adjustments. It also reported that commercial OECD stocks had been reduced by 178 million barrels “since the beginning of the year.”

In reality, OPEC exceeded its collective production limit by about 850,000 b/d in September. It reported production at 32.748 million barrels per day, but that level must be adjusted to be comparable to the 32.5 million production ceiling it set last November.

To get a comparable figure, two adjustments must be made. Production from Indonesia must be added (740,000 b/d) because its output was included in the ceiling, notwithstanding it was dropping out. And production from Equatorial Guinea (140,000 b/d) must be deducted because it was not an OPEC member and its output was not included. Continue reading "OPEC's Fake Results and Upcoming Quagmire" →