Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) Slips 0.69% Ahead of Earnings: What To Watch

Take-Two Interactive (TTWO ) saw its stock price slip slightly during regular trading hours Wednesday just one day before it is set to release its fiscal first-quarter 2019 financial results, which might signal that investors are worried about the video game firm. Yet, shares of TTWO are still up over 40% in the last year, so let’s see what we should really expect Thursday.

Take-Two expects its first-quarter net bookings to be in the range of $215 million to $265 million, driven by strength in Grand Theft Auto Online, Grand Theft Auto V, and NBA 2K18. The company is also in the midst of the inaugural season of its first esports league, which it started in partnership with the NBA. The NBA 2K league games can be streamed on Amazon’s (AMZN ) widely popular Twitch platform and highlights the growing importance of esports to gaming companies.

Rival Activision Blizzard (ATVI ) recently landed a deal with Disney (DIS ) for coverage of its Overwatch League. Furthermore, the global games market, made up of 2.3 billion gamers, is projected to climb by 13% in 2018 to hit $137.9 billion, based on an April Newzoo report. Meanwhile, the overall esports economy is expected to total $906 million in 2018, up from $696 million in 2017—with potential to hit $1.5 billion by 2020.

With all that said, Take-Two is projected to see its first-quarter revenues plummet by over 25% to hit $258.95 million. The firm is also expected to see its adjusted quarterly earnings fall 70% to $0.18 per share.

However, we still need to gauge how likely it is that TTWO can outperform its earnings estimate. Luckily we can turn to our exclusive Earnings ESP figure to do so.

Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter. The Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change.

This is done because, generally speaking, when an analyst posts an estimate right before an earnings release, it means that they have fresh information which could potentially be more accurate than what analysts thought about a company two or three months ago.

A positive Earnings ESP paired with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better ranking helps us feel confident about the potential for an earnings beat. In fact, our 10-year backtest has revealed that this methodology has accurately produced a positive surprise 70% of the time.

Take-Two’s Most Accurate Estimate—the representation of the most recent analyst sentiment—is calling earnings of $0.14 per share, which is four cents worse than our current consensus estimate. This figure helps TTWO sport an Earnings ESP of -19.49% and a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), which means there is a good chance Take-Two falls short of our quarterly earnings estimate.

But Take-Two follows Sony (SNE ) and Nintendo’s (NTDOY ) strong quarterly results and has topped its quarterly earnings estimates in the trailing 10 periods. 

Make sure to check back for our full analysis of Take-Two’s actual results after market close Thursday.

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Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (FB) Given New $242.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ:FB) had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $202.00 to $242.00 in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a buy rating and set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock in a research note on Monday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Co reiterated a buy rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock in a research note on Thursday, April 5th. Finally, Morningstar set a $198.00 price objective on shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, forty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $223.75.

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Facebook, Inc. Common Stock traded up $1.85, reaching $209.94, during mid-day trading on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. 16,143,832 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,226,154. Facebook, Inc. Common Stock has a one year low of $149.02 and a one year high of $211.50. The firm has a market cap of $604.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.85.

Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ:FB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 25th. The social networking company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.44. Facebook, Inc. Common Stock had a net margin of 40.03% and a return on equity of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $11.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Facebook, Inc. Common Stock’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts anticipate that Facebook, Inc. Common Stock will post 7.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, VP David B. Fischer sold 5,138 shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $822,439.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Colin Stretch sold 750 shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $157,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,615 shares in the company, valued at $18,609,150. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,033,116 shares of company stock worth $3,041,961,441. 17.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 149,137,226 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,830,637,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966,437 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,433,759 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,478,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,306 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 15,125,319 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,669,014,000 after acquiring an additional 458,048 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 12,937,287 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,067,249,000 after acquiring an additional 58,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in shares of Facebook, Inc. Common Stock by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 12,587,578 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,221,204,000 after acquiring an additional 558,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.34% of the company’s stock.

Facebook, Inc. Common Stock Company Profile

Facebook, Inc provides various products to connect and share through mobile devices, personal computers, and other surfaces worldwide. Its products include Facebook Website and mobile application that enables people to connect, share, discover, and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers; Instagram, a community for sharing visual stories through photos, videos, and direct messages; Messenger, a messaging application to communicate with other people, groups, and businesses across various platforms and devices; and WhatsApp, a mobile messaging application.

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1,829 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (ECL) Acquired by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Wagner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Signaturefd LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $131,000. Ashburton Jersey Ltd raised its position in Ecolab by 302.9% in the fourth quarter. Ashburton Jersey Ltd now owns 1,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Retirement Income Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Ecolab by 540.7% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.95% of the company’s stock.

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Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Nomura increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $136.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 28th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank increased their price target on shares of Ecolab to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.44.

Shares of ECL stock traded down $2.10 on Thursday, hitting $141.90. 1,148,900 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,276,900. The company has a market capitalization of $41.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.74 and a 52 week high of $150.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 19th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 18th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 34.97%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and energy technologies and services for customers worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional, and Global Energy segments. The Global Industrial segment provides water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions primarily to large industrial customers within the manufacturing, food and beverage processing, chemical, mining and primary metals, power generation, pulp and paper, and commercial laundry industries.

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Hot China Stocks To Buy For 2019

tags:SINA,SOL,NTES,CDTI,

It has now been over 3 years since I wrote my first electric vehicle [EV] article back in March 2015 titled "Chinese Electric Vehicle Companies About To Boom." At that time it was becoming increasingly clear to me that China would lead the world towards a new way of travel - a way that was pollution free. In hindsight it all seems quite obvious especially if ever you have traveled to or lived in a highly polluted Asian or Chinese city.

In this article I want to take a look over the past 3 years and just see how far we have come and where we may be going next. Below is a brief summary of some of the major headlines (with links) to get a perspective.

EV news highlights 2015-2018 2015 Tesla Model S named best overall vehicle by consumer reports. Tesla Model X production begins. China electric car sales increased 223% in 2015. Global electric car sales reach 540,000 in 2015, up 70% on 2014, representing 0.6% of the global market share.

Tesla Model X production begins

Hot China Stocks To Buy For 2019: Sina Corporation(SINA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jack Delaney]

  SINA Corp. (Nasdaq: SINA) operates Weibo Corp. (Nasdaq: WB), a social media platform with 411 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of Q1 2018.

  It's considered the Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) of China.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: COCP) rose 15.3 percent to $2.41 in pre-market trading after declining 25.09 percent on Thursday. Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) shares rose 10.7 percent to $117.75 in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Thursday. DMC Global Inc. (NASDAQ: BOOM) rose 10.6 percent to $35.00 in pre-market trading after reporting Q1 results. Genprex, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNPX) rose 10.2 percent to $12.12 in pre-market trading after climbing 86.76 percent on Thursday. Sprint Corporation (NYSE: S) shares rose 7 percent to $6.42 in pre-market trading on reports that the company has made progress on merger talks with T-Mobile. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) rose 6.9 percent to $1,621.95 in pre-market trading after the company posted upbeat results for its first quarter. The company sees second quarter operating income of $1.1 billion - $1.9 billion and sales of $51 billion - $54 billion. Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) shares rose 5.5 percent to $7.88 in pre-market trading after gaining 1.49 percent on Thursday. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) rose 5.3 percent to $55.86 in pre-market trading as the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and also raised its FY18 sales outlook. 8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) rose 5.3 percent to $21.00 in pre-market trading. Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE: SWN) shares rose 5.1 percent to $4.75 in pre-market trading as the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter. Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NYSE: DO) rose 5 percent to $20.24 in pre-market trading. Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) rose 4.5 percent to $249.50 in pre-market trading following upbeat Q1 profit. Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) rose 4.3 percent to $311 in pre-market trading. Charter is expected to release quarterly earnings today. SINA Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) shares rose 3.9 pe
• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Eagle Global Advisors LLC decreased its position in Sina Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,875 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,595 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC owned about 0.12% of Sina worth $8,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Steve Symington]

  You wouldn't know it by the market's knee-jerk reaction, but�SINA Corp.�(NASDAQ:SINA)�just announced another stronger-than-expected quarter early Wednesday.�Shares of the Chinese internet media company fell 10% when all was said and done today -- though it's not the first time we've seen the stock fall on positive news.

• [By Steve Symington]

  Shares of SINA Corp. (NASDAQ:SINA) were down 10.2% as of 3:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday despite strong first-quarter 2018 results from the Chinese internet media company.

Hot China Stocks To Buy For 2019: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  These are some of the media headlines that may have impacted Accern’s scoring:

  Get ReneSola alerts: ReneSola Sells North Carolina Solar Project To Greenbacker (solarindustrymag.com) ReneSola (SOL) Rating Increased to Neutral at Roth Capital (americanbankingnews.com) ReneSola (SOL) Q1 Earnings in Line, Revenues Top Estimates (zacks.com) ReneSola’s (SOL) CEO Xianshou Li on Q1 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (seekingalpha.com) ReneSola (SOL) Releases Earnings Results (americanbankingnews.com)

  Shares of ReneSola traded up $0.08, hitting $2.76, during trading on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The stock had a trading volume of 124,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,565. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.11 million, a PE ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ReneSola has a 12 month low of $2.12 and a 12 month high of $3.79.

Hot China Stocks To Buy For 2019: Netease.com Inc.(NTES)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Asit Sharma]

  Shares of�NetEase, Inc.�(NASDAQ:NTES) have dipped 26.8% in the first six months of 2018, according to data from�S&P Global Market Intelligence.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  News articles about NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) have been trending somewhat positive this week, Accern reports. Accern ranks the sentiment of news coverage by reviewing more than 20 million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. NetEase earned a media sentiment score of 0.23 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news coverage about the technology company an impact score of 47.5808045346287 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the next few days.

• [By Harsh Chauhan]

  Over the years, NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) has made the most of the opportunities presented by China's mobile and online gaming market, and has also diversified into fast-growing verticals like ecommerce to supercharge its prospects. Not surprisingly, NetEase investors have been a happy lot, as their investment in the Chinese internet specialist has experienced five�straight years of double-digit percentage gains.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Investors in NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) have generally seen their company benefit from a strong environment in the Chinese video game industry. Impressive growth in revenue and profits in past years helped fuel impressive gains for NetEase shares, and the appetite for more from consumers in China and elsewhere has seemed insatiable. Yet in every growth stock's experience, a company eventually starts to face challenges in sustaining growth, and the key question becomes what that company does to restart its growth engines.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Thursday was a relatively quiet day on Wall Street, and action in different parts of the market showed mixed signals for investors. On one hand, small-cap stocks moved higher, with key benchmarks in that area hitting record highs. Yet the better-known large-cap stock indexes like the S&P 500 gave up early gains. Looking more closely at individual stocks, some companies suffered from bad news that sent their shares falling. J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP), NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES), and Jounce Therapeutics (NASDAQ:JNCE) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Chinese online media giant NetEase Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) is hardly the talk of the town.�Sporting a $30 billion market cap, NetEase works in a consumer-facing industry, and share prices have bounced between $222 and $378 over the last year. And these are the hallmarks of the market's most-discussed tickers.

Hot China Stocks To Buy For 2019: Clean Diesel Technologies Inc.(CDTI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Here are some of the media stories that may have impacted Accern Sentiment’s analysis:

  Get Molecular Templates alerts: Trading Center: Watching the Levels for Molecular Templates, Inc. (:MTEM): Move of 0.02 Since the Open (stocknewscaller.com) Molecular Templates (MTEM) Announces Clinical Data at 2018 ASCO Meeting (streetinsider.com) Gallbladder Cancer Treatment Sales Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application and Forecast to 2025 (exclusivereportage.com) ATR in spotlight EnSync, Inc. (NYSE:ESNC), CDTi Advanced Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTI), Molecular Templates, Inc … (stocksnewspoint.com)

  MTEM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. ValuEngine lowered shares of Molecular Templates from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Molecular Templates from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.20.

Texas Instruments CEO Resigns Over Personal Conduct Violations

Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) President and CEO Brian Crutcher is no longer with the company.

Source: VEX Robotics via Flickr

According to a statement from the company, Texas Instruments CEO Brian Crutcher has resigned from his roles at the company after violating its code of conduct. The company doesn’t say exactly what happened, but it notes that the former CEO’s actions are not consistent with its ethics and core values.

With Brian Crutcher gone, Texas Instruments is reverting back to its previous President and CEO, Rich Templeton. Templeton will be taking over as the next Texas Instruments CEO and the company won’t be holding a search for another. He will also still remain the Chairman of the Board for TXN.

“For decades, our company’s core values and code of conduct have been foundational to how we operate and behave, and we have no tolerance for violations of our code of conduct,” Mark Blinn, lead director of the TI Board, said in a statement. “Over the past 14 years, Rich has successfully led TI to become the company it is today, and we have great confidence in his values and ability to continue to lead this company forward.”

Brian Crutcher’s time as Texas Instruments CEO was short. He had only been serving in these roles for less than two months when news of his resignation was announced. Luckily, Rich Templeton has 14 years of experience as TXN’s CEO and is able to easily take over the role.

TXN stock was down 1% as of Wednesday morning.

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Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2019

tags:ACNB,IAE,FII,SSNLF,IRL,XIV,

The stock market’s relentless march upward has pushed the prices of many companies higher. As investors bid up good and bad businesses alike, that can make it hard to discern which companies are the best dividend growth stocks for long-term investors.

That’s especially true in the world of dividend stocks, where income-starved investors face great temptation to reach for high-dividend stocks that offer juicy yields.

Fortunately, Simply Safe Dividends identified the 10 best dividend growth stocks that investors can rely on for secure, fast-growing income.

These companies all have very healthy Dividend Safety Scores, which measure a firm’s most important financial metrics to gauge how likely it is to cut its dividend in the future.

Let’s take a look at 10 of the safest dividend growth stocks in the market. These companies generate excellent free cash flow, maintain safe payout ratios, are committed to rewarding shareholders with healthy dividend increases and have bright long-term outlooks.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2019: ACNB Corporation(ACNB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  BidaskClub upgraded shares of ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

• [By Max Byerly]

  John W. Rosenthal Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of ACNB Co. (NASDAQ:ACNB) by 11.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. John W. Rosenthal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ACNB were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2019: Voya Asia Pacific High Dividend Equity Income Fund(IAE)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Voya Asia Pacific High (NYSE:IAE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high and low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $10.04 and last traded at $10.18, with a volume of 200 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.18.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2019: Federated Investors, Inc.(FII)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Benzinga News Desk]

  Maybe AT&T’s (NYSE: T) $85 billion merger with Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) is in trouble, after all: Link

  ECONOMIC DATA USA S&P/CS HPI Composite - 20 n.s.a. (YoY) for Mar 6.80% vs 6.40% Est; Prior 6.80% The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for May will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for May is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET. The Treasury will auction 4-week bills at 1:00 p.m. ET. ANALYST RATINGS Morgan Stanley upgrades Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) from Underweight to Equal-Weight KBW upgrades Federated Investors (NYSE: FII) from Underperform to Market Perform HSBC downgrades Novartis (NYSE: NVS) from Buy to Hold Jefferies downgrades Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) from Hold to Underperform

  This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Federated Investors (NYSE:FII) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the asset manager on Tuesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 7th. This is an increase from Federated Investors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its stake in shares of Federated Investors Inc (NYSE:FII) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 540,433 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 42,515 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Federated Investors were worth $18,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

  Losers World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE: INT) tumbled 18 percent to $22.90 following Q1 results. Biglari Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BH) fell 17.4 percent to $349.52. Washington Prime Group will replace Biglari Holdings in the S&P SmallCap 600 on Tuesday, May 1. Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) dipped 15.7 percent to $14.03 after a mixed fourth quarter report. FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) fell 15.3 percent to $11.65. FormFactor is expected to release Q1 results on May 2. Data I/O Corporation (NASDAQ: DAIO) dropped 14.3 percent to $6.24 following Q1 results. National Instruments Corporation (NASDAQ: NATI) fell 14.3 percent to $ 42.34 after reporting Q1 results. United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) dipped 14.2 percent to $32.37 following Q1 results. Civeo Corporation (NYSE: CVEO) dropped 13.5 percent to $3.33. Civeo posted a Q1 loss of $0.42 per share on sales of $101.504 million. athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) fell 12.4 percent to $125.310 after reporting Q1 results. Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) shares tumbled 12.1 percent to $262.06 as the company posted Q1 results. Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ: VALU) fell 11.3 percent to $19.10. Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII) shares dropped 11.2 percent to $27.605 after the company posted downbeat quarterly earnings. AV Homes, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVHI) declined 10.7 percent to $17.20 following Q1 results. CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ: CAMP) dropped 9.4 percent to $21.01 after reporting Q4 results. Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNDM) shares fell 8.9 percent to $7.280 following mixed Q1 results. Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) shares fell 8.4 percent to $45.97 after reporting Q4 results. LogMeIn Inc (NASDAQ: LOGM) fell 8.2 percent to $109.825. LogMeIn reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but issued weak second quarter and FY18 earning guidance. Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIO
• [By Joseph Griffin]

  California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Federated Investors Inc (NYSE:FII) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 232,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,016 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.23% of Federated Investors worth $7,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2019: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (SSNLF)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Leo Sun]

  Micron controlled 23% of the global DRAM market during the first quarter, making it the third-largest manufacturer after Korean tech giants Samsung (NASDAQOTH:SSNLF) and SK Hynix. China is the world's largest importer of memory chips, consuming 20% of DRAM and 25% of NAND chips worldwide.

• [By ]

  Currently, the company operates in seven geographic regions and one reportable business segment - manufacturing and servicing of wafer processing semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The company supplies its products to leading non-volatile memory, DRAM memory, and logic devices manufacturers such as Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) or Toshiba (OTCPK:TOSYY).

• [By ]

  Big foreign brands like Samsung (OTC:SSNLF), Nestle (OTCPK:NSRGY), BMW (OTCPK:BMWYY), or Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY) should sound familiar to many Americans. While you would not see any of those popular names on NYSE or any other major exchange in the US, the OTC market does offer the access for US investors to own a piece of those foreign businesses that are large-scale, well-established and hopefully wonderful.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2019: New Ireland Fund, Inc. (IRL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  IrishCoin (CURRENCY:IRL) traded down 14.1% against the dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 18:00 PM Eastern on May 15th. One IrishCoin coin can now be purchased for approximately $0.0082 or 0.00000097 BTC on major exchanges. Over the last week, IrishCoin has traded 34.1% lower against the dollar. IrishCoin has a market capitalization of $291,706.00 and $248.00 worth of IrishCoin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  IrishCoin (CURRENCY:IRL) traded down 4.5% against the U.S. dollar during the one day period ending at 20:00 PM ET on June 22nd. In the last week, IrishCoin has traded 7.3% higher against the U.S. dollar. IrishCoin has a total market capitalization of $229,642.00 and $26.00 worth of IrishCoin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One IrishCoin coin can now be bought for about $0.0065 or 0.00000107 BTC on exchanges.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2019: region(XIV)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Money Morning News Team]

  This led some traders to purchase leveraged ETFs that move inverse to the VIX, like the�VelocityShares Daily Inv VIX Short Term�(Nasdaq: XIV).

  The VIX is a derivative of the broad S&P 500, and the XIV is a derivative of that derivative.

Top 5 trends on D-Street today: RIL's re-entry to $100 bn m-cap club, OMCs' surge post crude fall do

Driven by positive global cues as well as a good start to earnings season, backed by TCS, pushed the markets to fresh records on Thursday. Investors looked to cash in on the bullish momentum as buying was visible across sectors. Having said that, the Street closed off the day's high points.

The Sensex slipped over 100 points after notching record high.The Nifty, meanwhile, managed to cross 11,000-mark for the first time since February 1 and maintained the momentum through the afternoon. It closed above the psychological 11K-mark.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex ended up 282.48 points or 0.78% at 36548.41, while the Nifty was up 74.90 points or 0.68% at 11023.20. Here are the top five trends:

Fresh milestones for indices

related news PayPal tells woman her death violated account policies, apologises Canadian farmer puts 6-year-old McDonald��s burger, fries for sale on eBay In pictures: The spectacular aircraft that flies like a plane and takes off like a helicopter

Amid the news, the markets have witnessed a new record highs. The 30-stock Sensex ended 248.48 points up at�36548.41, while the 50-stock Nifty crossed the 11k mark for the first time after February 2018 marking a close at slightly above the mark at 11,023.20.

RIL re-visits USD 100-billion m-cap club

A key highlight of the markets was a huge surge in the shares of oil-to-telecom giant, Reliance Industries as it crossed a market capitalization of USD 100 billion after a decade.

The figure now stands at Rs 6.85 lakh crore. The company had previously crossed the same benchmark in 2008 when the rupee was close to 40 to the dollar. This makes the company in line with TCS as the only two Indian companies to have entered the billion dollar club.

The stock has witnessed a 13 percent growth post the Annual General Meet (AGM) held on July 5. Analysts and market participants remain bullish on the stock.

Crude prices cool off

With tension escalating in the US-China Trade War and Libya's talk on new crude facilities, shares of global oil major, Brent Crude saw its biggest drop on Wednesday.

The major beneficiaries have been oil marketing companies (OMCs). Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation gained between 1 to 3 percent on Thursday.

Aviation stocks take off

Shares of Indian aviation companies were also gainers in the market with crude oil prices falling globally. The shares major aviation companies like Jet Airways, SpiceJet, and Interglobe Aviation (IndiGo) surged up gaining 3 to 6 percent in the markets.

Midcaps witness selling pressure

The bears managed to take over the bulls as Nifty mid-cap ends in red. The Nifty mid-cap ticked on a high note and managed to gain 1 percent in the morning trading session. But selling pressure across segments resulted in the index turning flat at the closing hours eventually ending in red. The index has been one of the top losers of the day.

  First Published on Jul 12, 2018 05:50 pm

India's tech firms grow in popularity with country's grads

India's top tech firms are becoming more popular with the country's budding engineers.

Companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys (INFY) and Wipro (WIT), the leading players in India's vast outsourcing industry, have all surged up an annual ranking of preferred employers for Indian engineering students.

The rankings are based on Universum's annual survey, which had over 1.3 million participants from more than 50 countries. In India, more than 10,500 engineering and IT students from the country's major universities took part.

Infosys, which dropped out of the top 10 for the first time last year, regained 9th spot. TCS, the country's biggest outsourcing firm, and Bangalore-based Wipro both climbed five spots to rank 13th and 20th respectively.

Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Amazon (AMZN) still occupy the first five places on the list. India is a key market for most of them �� Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have all taken steps to do more business in the country recently.

Indian students still list "an international career" as their number one goal, just ahead of "work/life balance" and a "secure or stable" career, but they're increasingly willing to consider options closer to home.

"Having an international career still remains the most important career goal ... but it has declined in importance since last year," said Pratik Sabherwal, head of advisory for Universum in the Asia Pacific region.

"This is another indicator of Indian talent acknowledging India's growing international stature," he added.

It's not just the big outsourcing firms that are proving more attractive to Indian students.

Flipkart, the online shopping firm bought by Walmart for $16 billion, ranked nine places higher than last year at 24th. And Reliance Industries, the conglomerate owned by India's wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani, rose 12 spots to 34th.

Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon also feature in the top 10 rankings among business students, where the only Indian employers are the Reserve Bank of India �� the country's central bank �� and the State Bank of India, its largest state-run bank.

Emcor Group Inc (EME) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.08

Emcor Group Inc (NYSE:EME) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 9th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 20th will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the construction company on Tuesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%.

Emcor Group has a dividend payout ratio of 8.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Emcor Group to earn $4.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.5%.

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Shares of Emcor Group traded up $1.00, reaching $78.69, on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. 853 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 217,180. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Emcor Group has a one year low of $62.15 and a one year high of $85.08.

Emcor Group (NYSE:EME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 26th. The construction company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Emcor Group had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. analysts anticipate that Emcor Group will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Separately, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Emcor Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Emcor Group Company Profile

EMCOR Group, Inc provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services in the United States. The company designs, integrates, installs, starts-up, operates, and maintains electric power transmission and distribution systems; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical process, food process, and mining industries; low-voltage, voice and data communications, fire protection, water and wastewater treatment, and controls and filtration systems; roadway and transit lighting and fiber-optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and clean-room process ventilation systems; plumbing, processing, and piping systems; and central plant heating and cooling systems, as well as offers cranes and rigging, millwrighting, and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services.

Financial Survey: Bridgestone (BRDCY) and Cooper Tire & Rubber (CTB)

Bridgestone (OTCMKTS: BRDCY) and Cooper Tire & Rubber (NYSE:CTB) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Volatility and Risk

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Bridgestone has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cooper Tire & Rubber has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Bridgestone pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Cooper Tire & Rubber pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Bridgestone pays out 18.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cooper Tire & Rubber pays out 13.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Bridgestone and Cooper Tire & Rubber, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridgestone	0	0	0	0	N/A
Cooper Tire & Rubber	0	3	5	0	2.63

Cooper Tire & Rubber has a consensus price target of $42.14, indicating a potential upside of 51.87%. Given Cooper Tire & Rubber’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cooper Tire & Rubber is more favorable than Bridgestone.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bridgestone and Cooper Tire & Rubber’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bridgestone	$32.50 billion	0.88	$2.57 billion	$1.56	12.06
Cooper Tire & Rubber	$2.85 billion	0.49	$95.40 million	$3.10	8.95

Bridgestone has higher revenue and earnings than Cooper Tire & Rubber. Cooper Tire & Rubber is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bridgestone, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Bridgestone and Cooper Tire & Rubber’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridgestone	8.00%	11.35%	6.93%
Cooper Tire & Rubber	2.60%	11.73%	5.31%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.2% of Bridgestone shares are held by institutional investors. 57.1% of Bridgestone shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Cooper Tire & Rubber shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Bridgestone beats Cooper Tire & Rubber on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bridgestone

Bridgestone Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells tires and rubber products worldwide. The company provides tires and tire tubes for passenger cars, trucks, buses, construction/mining vehicles, industrial machines, agricultural machines, aircraft, and motorcycles and scooters; and tire related products, retread materials and services, tire raw materials, and automotive maintenance and repair services. It also offers vehicle parts, polyurethane foam and related products, electronic precision parts, industrial materials related products, civil engineering and construction materials and equipment, and other products; commercial roofing and other materials; golf balls, golf clubs, other sports products; and bicycles, bicycle related and other products, as well as finance and other services. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Cooper Tire & Rubber

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets replacement tires in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The company operates through Americas Tire Operations and International Tire Operations segments. It manufactures and markets passenger car, light truck, motorcycle, and racing tires, as well as tire retread material; and distributes tires for racing, medium trucks, and motorcycles. The company sells its products to independent tire dealers, wholesale distributors, regional and national retail tire chains, and other tire and automotive product retail chains, as well as original equipment manufacturers; and directly to end users through three owned retail stores. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio.

Why Juniper Pharmaceuticals Shares Jumped

Juniper Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: JNP) shares rallied early on Tuesday after the company announced that it would be acquired by Catalent. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

Catalent will acquire all outstanding shares of Juniper for $11.50 apiece in a tender offer. The transaction represents a total equity value of approximately $139.6 million on a fully diluted basis and a premium of 59.7% to Juniper’s unaffected share price on January 30, 2018, the last trading day prior to the date on which Juniper announced its intention to explore strategic alternatives.

The transaction also is offering a premium of 32% and 58% to the 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $8.70 and $7.25, respectively.

This deal has been unanimously approved by the Juniper board of directors following the recommendation of a special committee of independent directors. The board believes that this is the culmination of a diligent and extensive process to pursue strategic alternatives in order to maximize shareholder value.

Jonathan Arnold, president of Catalent Oral Drug Delivery, commented:

Juniper’s expertise and capabilities in pharmaceutical services will further support Catalent’s strategic goal to be the comprehensive partner of choice for pharmaceutical innovators. Juniper’s proven scientific expertise in early-phase product development and supply-chain management will help our customers unlock the full potential of their molecules and provide better treatments to patients, faster.

Shares of Juniper traded early Tuesday at $11.40, a gain of about 31% on the day. The consensus analyst price target is $20.00, and a 52-week trading range of $4.30 to $13.25.

ALSO READ: 2018 Dow Laggards Could Offer Material Upside Into 2019

Brokerages Anticipate GATX Co. (GATX) Will Post Earnings of $0.92 Per Share

Wall Street analysts forecast that GATX Co. (NYSE:GATX) will post earnings of $0.92 per share for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Three analysts have provided estimates for GATX’s earnings. The lowest EPS estimate is $0.83 and the highest is $0.97. GATX posted earnings of $1.32 per share during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a negative year-over-year growth rate of 30.3%. The business is expected to issue its next quarterly earnings report on Thursday, July 19th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that GATX will report full-year earnings of $4.70 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.60 to $4.80. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the business will report earnings of $4.84 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.55 to $5.05. Zacks Investment Research’s earnings per share averages are an average based on a survey of research firms that cover GATX.

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GATX (NYSE:GATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 19th. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.81. GATX had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 38.12%. The firm had revenue of $305.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several research firms have recently commented on GATX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on GATX from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 28th. Mizuho began coverage on GATX in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Investment Research downgraded GATX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 26th. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded GATX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. GATX presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.17.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in GATX by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,983 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of GATX by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GATX by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,881 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GATX by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,786 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, GWM Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of GATX by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. GWM Advisors LLC now owns 20,311 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the period.

GATX stock traded up $5.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.23. 570,673 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 225,382. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. GATX has a 12 month low of $56.00 and a 12 month high of $76.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 14th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. GATX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.45%.

GATX Company Profile

GATX Corporation leases, operates, manages, and remarkets assets in the rail and marine markets in North America and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Rail North America, Rail International, American Steamship Company (ASC), and Portfolio Management. The Rail North America segment primarily leases railcars and locomotives.

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on GATX (GATX)

For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

VF (VFC) Coverage Initiated at Goldman Sachs Group

Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of VF (NYSE:VFC) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $96.00 price target on the textile maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on VF in a report on Thursday, June 21st. They issued a neutral rating and a $89.00 price target for the company. Argus assumed coverage on VF in a report on Monday, May 21st. They issued a buy rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity set a $91.00 price target on VF and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 8th. Buckingham Research upped their price target on VF to $77.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, May 8th. Finally, TheStreet raised VF from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a report on Friday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $81.23.

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NYSE VFC opened at $81.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. VF has a twelve month low of $55.51 and a twelve month high of $85.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

VF (NYSE:VFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 4th. The textile maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. VF had a return on equity of 34.05% and a net margin of 5.24%. VF’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. equities research analysts expect that VF will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 8th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 7th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. VF’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.74%.

In related news, Chairman Steven E. Rendle sold 74,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.12, for a total value of $5,943,301.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 257,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,596,448.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kevin Bailey sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.42, for a total value of $1,161,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 54,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,224,886.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 220,900 shares of company stock valued at $17,948,688. Insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VF by 3.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 22,590,912 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,674,438,000 after purchasing an additional 699,045 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of VF by 1.6% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,138,244 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $677,327,000 after purchasing an additional 143,454 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VF by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,817,062 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $281,921,000 after purchasing an additional 172,234 shares during the last quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VF by 23.4% in the first quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,153,080 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $159,587,000 after purchasing an additional 408,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of VF by 18.2% in the first quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,648,360 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $122,176,000 after purchasing an additional 254,150 shares during the last quarter.

About VF

V.F. Corporation engages in the design, production, procurement, marketing, and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear, and related products for men, women, and children in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through four segments: Outdoor & Action Sports, Jeanswear, Imagewear, and Other.

Everbridge Inc (EVBG) CEO & Chairman Jaime Wallace Ellertson Sold $18.9 million of Shares

CEO & Chairman of Everbridge Inc (NASDAQ:EVBG) Jaime Wallace Ellertson sold 381,607 shares of EVBG on 06/22/2018 at an average price of $49.55 a share. The total sale was $18.9 million.

CEO Recent Trades:

CEO & Chairman Jaime Wallace Ellertson sold 381,607 shares of EVBG stock on 06/22/2018 at the average price of $49.55. The price of the stock has decreased by 4.44% since.CEO & Chairman Jaime Wallace Ellertson sold 219,349 shares of EVBG stock on 06/19/2018 at the average price of $51.33. The price of the stock has decreased by 7.75% since.

CFO Recent Trades:

SVP, CFO and Treasurer Kenneth S Goldman sold 9,500 shares of EVBG stock on 06/18/2018 at the average price of $51.29. The price of the stock has decreased by 7.68% since.

Directors and Officers Recent Trades:

SVP & Chief Technology Officer Imad Mouline sold 3,362 shares of EVBG stock on 06/18/2018 at the average price of $51.29. The price of the stock has decreased by 7.68% since.President Robert W Hughes sold 5,784 shares of EVBG stock on 06/11/2018 at the average price of $47.7. The price of the stock has decreased by 0.73% since.SVP & General Counsel Elliot J. Mark sold 1,000 shares of EVBG stock on 06/01/2018 at the average price of $46.04. The price of the stock has increased by 2.85% since.SVP & Chief Technology Officer Imad Mouline sold 1,974 shares of EVBG stock on 06/01/2018 at the average price of $46.11. The price of the stock has increased by 2.69% since.SVP & Chief Technology Officer Imad Mouline sold 3,000 shares of EVBG stock on 06/01/2018 at the average price of $46.11. The price of the stock has increased by 2.69% since.

For the complete insider trading history of EVBG, click here

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Trade Saga Unknowns Seen Bringing More Pain for China Investors

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A bad year for Chinese stocks looks set to worsen as the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington squeezes a market that’s just fallen below a key support level for the first time in two years.

Analysts said uncertainty over how the U.S.-China disagreement pans out will continue to weigh on investor sentiment, with one saying further escalation could be like a Cold War. Shanghai’s benchmark index extended a two-year low Wednesday, despite government attempts to reassure the market.

Here are some views of analysts and fund managers:

Sun Jianbo, president of China Vision Capital Management in Beijing:

The market is yet to bottom out as possible twists and turns in U.S.-China trade talks will continue to weigh on sentimentSome big caps are still at relatively high levels and may face selling pressureStock declines would prompt investors to cut leverage, leading to further losses -- a vicious cycle

Dai Ming, fund manager at Hengsheng Asset Management:

Don’t see a bottom yet. There were a lot of margin calls on Tuesday and more are looming that will accelerate the drop. Management in more than 90% of companies on ChiNext and 50% on main board have pledged shares Escalation in trade tension as well as disappointing May economic data surprised investors and has added to pessimismHard to gauge the impact of a full-blown trade war on China’s economy, but if the tariff list expands from finance and technology it’s very scary. This is like a Cold War Yi Gang’s comments signaled the government doesn’t see systemic risk in the stock market. Investors may interpret this as meaning the national team is in no rush to step in until there’s a crash like in 2015  

QuickTake: Can Trump Win a China Trade War? We May Soon Find Out

Wu Kan, fund manager with Shanshan Finance in Shanghai:

The double whammy of domestic and external risks is hitting market confidence. Risk appetite has dropped sharply, as investors worry about more unexpected developments in U.S.-China trade talksInvestors are also increasingly concerned about possible “landmines” on the mainland market as some shareholders may face forced liquidation of stocks they pledged or margin calls as markets declineThe downtrend is unlikely to reverse soon, unless China tunes its financial deleveraging policies or the trade situation stabilizes

Read: China at Risk of Losing Title of World’s Number Two Stock Market

Howard Wang, head of Greater China equities, JPMorgan Asset Management:

While the correction was sharp -– and as with all corrections, unpleasant -– we are continuing with portfolio strategies focused on secular growth in China Best to take longer-term view on fundamentals and valuation levels rather than what happened today or what will happen over the next few weeksGiven the merits of the global trading system and the problems associated with a re-mapping of supply chains, we expect a negotiated solution rather than a continuation of tariffs between the U.S. and its major trading partners

Banny Lam, head of research at CEB International Investment:

With Wednesday’s stronger-than-expected yuan fixing, China is trying to tell the market the yuan won’t weaken further and it’s not going to devalue the currency to fight the trade warTrade concerns will hurt market sentiment in the third quarter. A potential trade war would pressure the economy in the fourth quarterThe yuan will keep being pressured along the way, and the central bank will step in from time to time to rein in depreciation expectations

More: China Moves to Slow Currency Drop After Fastest Loss Since 2015

Ken Cheung, a senior currency strategist at Mizuho Bank in Hong Kong:

The PBOC is probably attempting to use the stronger-than-expected fixing to avoid a simultaneous selloff in the yuan and China equitiesStabilizing sentiment is the central bank’s primary task at the momentTrade tension and weakening growth momentum will keep the yuan under pressure in the near term, in a trading range between 6.45 and 6.50 per dollar

— With assistance by Amanda Wang, Tian Chen, Jeanny Yu, Abhishek Vishnoi, Emma Dai, and Sofia Horta e Costa

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now

tags:NDAQ,FISI,TBNK,DB,PCH,

This article is reprinted by permission from NerdWallet.

Horrible haircuts grow out, and broken hearts eventually heal. But bad money advice leaves a lasting mark on your bottom line.

Here��s how to spot bad financial counsel �� and the folks dishing it �� before any damage can be done.

1. The financial adviser�doesn��t act in your best interests

Until recently, there was no legal requirement for those dispensing advice about investing for retirement to put the customer��s financial interests before their own. Crazy, right? Then, came the fiduciary rule �� a kind of Hippocratic oath for financial professionals. Financial advisers can call themselves fiduciaries only if they avoid conflicts of interests and charge no more than a reasonable fee for their advice.

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.(NDAQ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Nasdaq (NDAQ)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Shares of Nasdaq Inc (NASDAQ:NDAQ) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.54.

• [By Asit Sharma]

  In its last sequential quarter, Nasdaq Inc.�(NASDAQ:NDAQ)�relied on non-trading segments for growth as its market-services segment turned in a near flat performance. In the first quarter of 2018, however, healthy trading volumes resumed, and Nasdaq achieved expansion in each of its four operating segments. Before sifting through important highlights for the quarter, let's briefly review the top-level performance:

• [By Wayne Duggan]

  Nasdaq Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) CEO Adena Friedman told CNBC the company is open to the possibility of adding a cryptocurrency exchange over time. Nasdaq also announced a deal to allow cryptocurrency exchange Gemini access to Nasdaq’s surveillance technology. Friedman told CNBC that cryptocurrency regulations must first be ironed out before the Nasdaq would add a crypto exchange.

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Financial Institutions Inc.(FISI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Financial Institutions (FISI)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Territorial Bancorp Inc.(TBNK)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Shares of Territorial Bancorp (NASDAQ:TBNK) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.50.

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Deutsche Bank AG(DB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Elizabeth Balboa]

  Creditanstalt was saved when the First Austrian Republic, the National Bank of Austria and the Rothschild family took up the costs. The firm eventually became state-owned following a forced merger with Wiener Bankverein, and the resulting entity was later subsumed by Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE: DB).

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $12.49, but opened at $12.90. Deutsche Bank shares last traded at $13.04, with a volume of 216758 shares changing hands.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Sanmina Corp (NASDAQ: SANM) shares rose 15.2 percent to $31.90 in pre-market trading as the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Monday. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) rose 12.4 percent to $41.30 in pre-market trading after the company posted upbeat Q1 results and issued a strong Q2 forecast. Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGLE) rose 10.8 percent to $8.75 in pre-market trading. Mitel Networks Corporation (NASDAQ: MITL) rose 8.8 percent to $11.05 in pre-market trading after the company agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners for $2.0 billion. Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALT) rose 7.3 percent to $3.70 in pre-market trading. Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) shares rose 6.9 percent to $7.00 in pre-market trading after declining 1.50 percent on Monday. Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALL) rose 6.5 percent to $10.68 in pre-market trading. Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BOOT) rose 5.2 percent to $20.40 in pre-market trading after gaining 4.53 percent on Monday. New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: EDU) rose 5 percent to $91.16 in pre-market trading after reporting Q3 results. Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) rose 5 percent to $167.98 in pre-market trading after Bloomberg reported that Takeda is nearing a preliminary agreement to acquire Shire after sweetened bid. Outfront Media Inc. (NYSE: OUT) shares rose 5 percent to $19.00 in pre-market trading. Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) rose 4.3 percent to $4.18 in pre-market trading after gaining 5.80 percent on Monday. SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) rose 3.7 percent to $109.80 in pre-market trading after the company posted strong quarterly results and raised its outlook for the year. Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ: GOGL) shares rose 3.7 percent to $8.70 in pre-market trading after gaining 1.45 percent on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE: D

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Potlatch Corporation(PCH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on PotlatchDeltic (PCH)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  PotlatchDeltic (NASDAQ:PCH) was upgraded by equities researchers at Vertical Research to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday, The Fly reports. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in PotlatchDeltic (NASDAQ:PCH) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 78,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,086,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America owned approximately 0.19% of PotlatchDeltic at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Major Banks See Rising Tide of Short Interest

The financial sector was a major part of the Great Recession, and it has been a major part of the recovery and raging bull market since then. Generally speaking, the major financial institutions in the United States are a good barometer of the current state of U.S. markets.

So when short sellers make a play against these major banks, they are effectively betting for a downturn. Conversely, when they back off they might be expecting a surge. Granted, some plays are directly against individual companies, like we saw with Wells Fargo early in 2017.

The May 15 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest in most of these selected big bank stocks increased.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) saw its short interest shrink to 113.25 million shares. The previous level was 121.00 million. Shares were last seen trading at $30.02, in a 52-week range of $22.07 to $33.05.

The number of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) shares short rose to 23.40 million from the previous level of 22.84 million. Shares recently traded at $110.74, in a 52-week range of $81.64 to $119.33.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) short interest increased to 23.62 million from the previous level of 18.31 million. Shares were trading at $68.60, in a 52-week range of $59.87 to $80.70.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) short interest grew to 35.55 million shares from the previous reading of 31.18 million. Shares were trading at $54.85, within a 52-week range of $49.27 to $66.31.

Short interest in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) decreased to 5.39 million shares from the previous 5.71 million. The stock recently traded at $235.42, within a 52-week range of $209.62 to $275.31.

Morgan Stanley��s (NYSE: MS) short interest for this settlement date was 14.97 million shares, up from the previous 11.34 million. Shares were changing hands at $53.29, in a 52-week range of $41.07 to $59.38.

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The 6 Most Shorted NYSE Stocks

10 States With the Lowest Average Social Security Retirement Benefit

By the time you retire, there's a very good chance that you'll be reliant on Social Security income in some capacity. According to national pollster Gallup, 89% of non-retirees believe they'll need Social Security income to make ends meet.�

As for official data from the Social Security Administration (SSA), 62% of today's retirees lean on the program to supply at least half of their monthly income, while some 34% of retired workers effectively depend on Social Security for all (90%-100%) of their income. We can safely say that without this guaranteed payout, the elderly poverty rate would be considerably higher than it is now.

Image source: Getty Images.

What's also interesting about Social Security's average retired worker benefit is that, at least on a nominal basis, it's not that big. According to the SSA's monthly snapshot from April 2018, the average retired worker received $1,411.07 a month, or $16,933 a year.� Even though it might not seem like a lot, this is above the federal poverty level of $12,140 in 2018, and it demonstrates the importance the retirement benefit has played in helping lay a financial foundation for our nation's retirees.

These states have the lowest average Social Security retirement benefits

However, if we were to examine the average Social Security retirement benefit on a state-by-state basis, we'd see quite the variance. Earlier this month, we examined those states paying the most to retired workers, and noted that the average New Jersey retiree, who's collecting an average of $1,553.63 a month, nets $1,711 extra per year over the national average.

Today, we're going to take a look at the 10 states with the lowest average Social Security retirement benefit, based on data released by the SSA in April 2018.

Louisiana: $1,311.72 Maine: $1,314.22 Mississippi: $1,319.06 New Mexico: $1,323.16 Montana: $1,331.30 Arkansas: $1,333.93 South Dakota: $1,336.28 Kentucky: $1,340.30 Alaska: $1,343.39 North Dakota: $1,344.48

In total, the average retired worker in 28 out of 50 U.S. states is receiving less than the national average retirement benefit, as of April 2018. In Louisiana, the average retiree is taking home around $2,900 a year less than the average retired worker in New Jersey. Likewise, Louisiana's retired workers are netting Social Security income that's about $100 a month below the national average, or about $1,200 a year.�

Image source: Getty Images.

Why these states are lagging

As was the case with for the states with the highest average benefit, the biggest differentiating factor for the states with the lowest average retirement benefit is earnings. Though there are more than a half-dozen factors that can ultimately impact your Social Security take-home, your wage income is a major component. The SSA takes your 35 highest-earning, inflation-adjusted years into account when determining your retirement benefit at full retirement age. Essentially, the more you make per year, up to the maximum taxable earnings cap, the more you'll be paid by Social Security when you retire.

According to 2015 median household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Louisiana, New Mexico, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Mississippi were five of the bottom seven states in median household income. If people are earning less per year than the national average, it would only make sense that their Social Security payouts are lower during retirement.�

Cost of living may also be playing a critical role. If a retired worker has earned less than the national average over their lifetime, it may make sense to seek out a place to retire where cost-of-living standards are low. In other words, San Francisco and New York City probably aren't reasonable retirement destinations.

With the exception of Alaska, the other nine states listed above have a Regional Price Parity Index reading of less than 100, as of 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. With regional price parity equating to 100, it means these states tends to be a few percentage points, to a double-digit percentage, cheaper than the national average. In other words, retirees are able to make their Social Security dollars stretch farther in these states, so this could be why so many lower lifetime-income workers flock to them.�

As for the anomaly that is Alaska, its inclusion might be best explained by the fact that it's the only U.S. state that has no sales or income tax. That might be just enough of a lure to attract lower-income retirees.�

Image source: Getty Images.

Looking at the big picture

However, current and future retirees should understand that this list doesn't define what they're capable of. For instance, if you live in Louisiana, you aren't doomed to receive $100 a month less than the national average when you claim Social Security. Everything is based on your income and work history, your birth year, and your claiming age.

Though you can't do anything about when you're born -- your birth year determines your full retirement age, which is when you're able to receive 100% of your retirement benefit -- you certainly have control over your wage income, the years you work, and when you file for benefits. Adjusting these variables can have a big impact on what the program pays you when you retire. All things being equal -- earnings, work history, and birth year -- a person claiming benefits at age 70 can net up to a 76% higher monthly payout than someone claiming retirement benefits as early as possible at age 62.

Ultimately, averages are just that... averages. It's what you make of your own work and earnings history that matters.

Current policy turmoil part of 'downside risks,' Fed's Bostic says

Geopolitical turmoil and policy certainty are combining to make businesses more cautious about investing, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said Thursday.

With nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea breaking down, the central bank leader said the development was "a surprise" and part of "downside risks" for the economy.

"Uncertainty has its own contribution," Bostic told CNBC's Steve Liesman in a live interview from Dallas, where Fed officials were attending a conference on disruption and technology. "Then we actually have to ... figure out what the policy ends up being. If the policy turns out in certain ways, then business can go forward."

Markets reacted negatively to the morning news, with the Dow industrials down about 200 points and government bond yields down substantially as well.

In a letter to Kim Jung Un, Trump said that recent rhetoric from North Korea made a summit impossible at this point.

Trump also announced possible new tariffs on imported vehicles to the U.S. even as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin earlier this week said a trade war with China had been averted at least for the moment.

"You're at the fork in the road, and there are multiple ways you can go," Bostic said. "What I'm hearing from business is we're going to wait and we're going to see what happens, and I think that will offset some of the impact."

On other matters, Bostic said he thinks the Fed is getting close to the end of its rate-hiking cycle.

The so-called neutral rate, he said, is probably around 2.25 percent to 2.75 percent, which would imply three to five more increases in the Fed's benchmark funds rate. The comments came a day after the Federal Open Market Committee, of which Bostic is a voting member, released minutes from a meeting earlier this month that indicated officials are comfortable with letting inflation run a little hot for a short period as the economy grows.

"For me, I think we get to the neutral and we let the economy work," Bostic said.

Correction: Bostic's Fed affiliation was misstated in an earlier version.

Creative Destruction: An Alternate View

��Universal basic income (UBI) is so silly on its face,�� begins reader Roger A, ��even a middle school kid would at least know to ask, ��What��s the catch?����

Yesterday��s reckoning on universal basic income drew a heavy mail�� and we thank you for your participation.

Ron B said:

There are a lot of jobs that would not be done if UBI is adopted, and there will be serious problems eventually�� UBI is a big, big, big mistake!

Adds Maria R:

When I first heard the term I thought it meant the lowest annual wage salary to survive on. But having read the more about it, I realize that it is just another incentive to keep people on welfare.

These comments were typical.

But not every reader stood in harsh opposition.

Dave S, for example:

Though I don’t believe UBI ‘s time has come it will in the future as automation technologies hit an inflection point�β� The rapid shift in technology will leave many behind with incompatible skills so UBI will really be a social program to keep the barbarians away from the gates.

Meantime, George B �� a UBI booster �� gave us a good hard slating:

Your diatribe on UBI makes many unfounded assumptions, utilizes examples that arrive at false conclusions and is short of actual facts. Under Nixon the United States was a hair��s breath [sic] from UBI. It was derailed by one of his advisors who was an Ayn Rand adherent and presented him with some very poor quality evidence later debunked.

The UBI was supported by 1,200 economists, many of them world renowned�� There is abundant newer research all disproving the ��people will become lazy if given free money�� canard that you promulgate. If you are open minded than [sic] actually read someone who has looked at the research and covers it��

We might remind George that Finland recently had a go at UBI �� and dropped it quick as a wink.

But let us recall the reason universal basic income is receiving any hearing at all:

Automation.

Some estimate artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will replace half of all jobs in 20 years.

These are not limited to trucking, taxi-driving or manufacturing and construction.

To these we must add white-collar jobs in law, finance, medicine, accounting, etc.

What will become of the attorney-at-law, we wonder �� and the human pilot of the ambulance he chases?

We are unconvinced automation will proceed at the projected gallop.

But let us suspend all assumption for the moment�� and drive on to the inevitable question:

What happens when robots are brainy enough to perform all human labor?

Economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883��1950) put the term ��creative destruction�� into wide circulation.

For Schumpeter, capitalism was the ��perennial gale�� of creative destruction.

Capitalism blows away the old and inefficient. In comes the new and improved.

Because of capitalism��s perennial gale�� today��s plebe lives better than yesteryear��s king.

Innovation and technology have always allowed humans to mine fresh sources of productive employment.

The 19th century farmer became the 20th century factory worker�� became the 21st century computer programmer.

But a fully capable robot would likely mean the end of the line.

A brute of a robot that can strike home a rivet is one thing.

But a genius robot that can do anything a human can do �� only better �� is quite another.

This intelligent robot would tower over the human as the human towers over the ape.

An Aristotle, an Einstein, would be a pygmy next to it.

What human ability would lie beyond this unnatural beast?

Artistic expression perhaps.

An evolved robot might run its circles around the human antique you say.

But it cannot appreciate beauty �� much less express it.

The robot has a brain�� but no soul.

No, the kingdom of the arts belongs to man alone.

Well, please introduce yourself to Avia…

Avia is a computerized musical composer.

Programmers ��introduced�� it to the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and other such colossi of the classical canon.

It proceeded to acquire musical theory based on the inputs�� and taught itself to compose original music.

Its tunes have been featured in cinematic soundtracks, advertisements and computer games.

No human composer has yet proven able to distinguish its music from a carbon-based professional��s.

Will the next Mozart be a computer?

Not even the oldest profession is safe from robotic competition �� if you can believe it.

But let it pass for now.

Return your mind instead to Schumpeter��s creative destruction…

The obvious benefits of capitalism are why most see only the ��creative�� part of the equation.

But we must never forget the equally critical ��destruction�� side of the ledger.

Capitalism thumbs a mocking nose at tradition.

It uproots communities.

Capitalism sends the human being careening around hairpin turns of social and technological change for which he may be unprepared.

Within a generation, the centuries-old farming community is given over to the assembly line and the punch clock.

A generation later that factory goes dark as the gales of creative destruction blow the jobs clear across to China�� or Vietnam�� or wherever the labor is cheapest.

Have you visited the Rust Belt?

It is the ��Rust Belt�� for a reason.

Furthermore, Americans must constantly upend themselves and their families to follow the jobs �� which yanks apart the bonds of community.

And advancing technology makes today��s job obsolete tomorrow.

Not everyone can take up new lines of employment.

Many are simply left behind, broken�� and can never catch up.

Today��s unemployment figure is officially 3.9%.

But that does not include the millions of forgotten and hopeless Americans who have simply thrown up the sponge.

As Jim Rickards noted yesterday, roughly 10 million able-bodied working age adults have abandoned the search for work.

Adjust for those ��missing workers,�� Jim says�� and the real unemployment rate is about 10% �� a depression level figure.

The river of progress carries forward, as it must.

And yes �� it must.

But let us at least recognize��

The advancing river of progress sometimes takes the human note with it.

Within the cold economic data, behind the dense forests of statistics�� exist living human beings with beating hearts.

And many with broken hearts.

To these, our fellow Americans �� our fellow human beings �� we lift a toast of acknowledgment today…

Regards,

Brian Maher
Managing editor, The Daily Reckoning

Top Energy Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:LPSN,ASML,PRGX,

Equities analysts forecast that SunCoke Energy Partners (NYSE:SXCP) will post sales of $208.03 million for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Three analysts have provided estimates for SunCoke Energy Partners’ earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $202.60 million and the highest is $214.70 million. SunCoke Energy Partners posted sales of $200.60 million during the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive year-over-year growth rate of 3.7%. The company is expected to announce its next quarterly earnings report on Thursday, July 26th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that SunCoke Energy Partners will report full year sales of $845.58 million for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $793.80 million to $900.64 million. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect that the firm will post sales of $830.02 million per share, with estimates ranging from $751.60 million to $890.50 million. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are an average based on a survey of research analysts that that provide coverage for SunCoke Energy Partners.

Top Energy Stocks To Own For 2019: LivePerson Inc.(LPSN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) updated its FY18 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.11-0.15 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.09. The company issued revenue guidance of $239-243 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $239.45 million.LivePerson also updated its Q2 guidance to $0.00-0.01 EPS.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, Bloomberg Earnings reports. LivePerson had a negative return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 6.95%. The company had revenue of $58.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. LivePerson updated its Q2 guidance to $0.00-0.01 EPS and its FY18 guidance to $0.11-0.15 EPS.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Double-digit growth is back at LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN). The provider of high-tech customer support reported fresh financials after Thursday's market close, delivering its best period of year-over-year revenue growth in nearly three years.�

Top Energy Stocks To Own For 2019: ASML Holding N.V.(ASML)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) was down 2.6% to $197.02 on Friday morning. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $126.03 to $216.00 and a consensus analyst target price of $196.81.

Top Energy Stocks To Own For 2019: PRGX Global, Inc.(PRGX)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  PRGX Global (NASDAQ:PRGX) had its price objective boosted by B. Riley from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research note published on Wednesday. They currently have a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for PRGX Global’s Q2 2018 earnings at ($0.07) EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $0.08 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $0.27 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $0.18 EPS, Q1 2019 earnings at ($0.12) EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at ($0.05) EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $0.17 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $0.32 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $0.33 EPS.