Asian shares were mixed early Friday in the last trading session of 2016, with a weaker dollar hurting the competitiveness of exports in the region, while an overnight drop in oil prices sent key energy stocks lower.
The greenbacks rally has shown signs of slowing in recent days as doubts rose over the assumption of the U.S. Federal Reserves rapid interest rate increases. Earlier this week, the National Association of Realtors showed pending home sales dropped in November, a sign of weakening momentum for the U.S. housing market.
Best Energy Stocks For 2018: Cross Timbers Royalty Trust(CRT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jim Robertson]
On Wednesday, our Under the Radar Moversnewsletter suggested shorting small cap trust stock Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE: CRT):
On the close-up detailed chart of Cross Timber Royalty we can see how well-developed the downtrend is, but what’s so eye-catching is the way the selling volume is starting to build on the way down. The recent bearish crosses of all the key moving average lines were indeed telling of trouble.
Best Energy Stocks For 2018: SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION(SAIC)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Monica Gerson]
Science Applications International Corp (NYSE: SAIC) is estimated to report its quarterly earnings at $0.74 per share on revenue of $1.15 billion.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Wall Street expects Science Applications International Corp (NYSE: SAIC) to report its quarterly earnings at $0.74 per share on revenue of $1.15 billion. SAIC shares gained 0.96 percent to $57.87 in after-hours trading.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Gainers
Pyxis Tankers Inc. (NYSE: PXS) rose 47.48 percent to $$5.56, after the company announced it has entered into a definitive securities purchase agreement with a group of investors, which will result in gross proceeds of $4.8 million.
Sigma Designs Inc (NASDAQ: SIGM) rose 22.77 percent to $6.88. Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ: SLAB) announced plans to buy Sigma Designs for $7.05 per share in cash.
Steadymed Ltd (NASDAQ: STDY) rose 19.35 percent to $3.70, after the company reported that no clinical trials were required for Trevyent and that the FDA had agreed to the pathway for the drug candidate's NDA resubmission.
Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITI) rose 15.73 percent to $7.06. Earlier in the week, Zacks Investment Research had upgraded the company from "Sell" to "Hold".
Science Applications International Corp (NYSE: SAIC) rose 13.71 percent to $85.77 as the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.
Technical Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: TCCO) rose 12.41 percent to $6.07, after having risen sharply in pre-marketing trading.
Radius Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: RDUS) rose 12.41 percent to $30.81 after the company provided an update on data from the Phase 1 005 clinical study of elacestrant in patients with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer during the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
ForeScout Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCT) rose 12.32 percent to $25.80 after the company reported its third quarter financial results.
Prana Biotechnology Limited (NASDAQ: PRAN) rose 11.36 percent to $3.43, as the company announced a research collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceuticals to study the ability of movement disorders compound, PBT434 to slow or prevent neurodegeneration of the gastrointestinal system.
Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBIO) rose 10.49 percent to $7.90 as the company announced the appointment of Arwa Shurrab and Jamie Ellen Siegel in its clinical hemophilia
Best Energy Stocks For 2018: Western Union Company (The)(WU)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Chris Lange]
The stock posting the largest daily percentage gain in the S&P 500 ahead of the close Tuesday was The Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) which jumped 3.6% to $20.28. The stocks 52-week range is $18.07 to $22.70. Volume was 11 million which is well above the daily average of around 5.8 million shares.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Western Union (WU) soared to the top of the S&P 500 today after MoneyGram International (MGI) received a bid from Euronet Worldwide (EEFT).
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Shares of Western Union gained 3.5% to $20.27 today, while the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 2,365.45.MoneyGram International surged 25% to $15.77, while Euronet Worldwide advanced 0.3% to $83.22.
Normally, two competitors linking up to take on the dominant player in the industry might be considered bad news. BTIG’s Mark Palmer and Giuliano Bolognaexplain why the Western Union reaction”makes sense”:
While the surge in shares of MoneyGram (MGI, Not Rated) in response to the announcement by Euronet Worldwides (EEFT, Not Rated) that it had offered to buy the company for $15.20 per share in cash was easy to understand the bid trumped the bid of $13.25 per share that MoneyGram received from Alibaba (BABA) affiliate Ant Financial in late January what may have been surprising to some was the positive reaction of shares of MGI remittance competitor Western Union (WU, Buy, $23 PT) to the news.
With that said, we believe the uptick in WU shares makes some sense insofar as the competitive threat posed by EEFT may be perceived as less imposing than that represented by Ant, especially following reports in February that the latter was planning to raise as much as $3bn to fund global investments.
We also believe the second bid for MGI serves to underline the attractiveness and potential of the global remittance space, an industry in which WU is the clear leader. Moreover, we think the bid may have given rise to the notion that WU could be an acquisition candidate for another deep-pocketed firm that could lever off its global footprint and the strength of its brand.
Western Union’s market capitalization rose to $9.8 billion today, from $9.4 billion yesterday. It reported net income of $253 million on sales of $5.4 billion in
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
You don’t need to be an expert technical trader to figure out the price action in shares of $10 billion payment services stock Western Union (WU) . Instead, the price action is more or less as simple as it gets. Since January, Western Union has been a “buy the dips stock”, bouncing its way higher in a well-defined uptrend. And shares are showing traders another buyable dip this week.
- [By Brian Mathews]
Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) is the leading independent provider of consumer money transfer services. After a rough couple of years and dealing with compliance and regulatory issues, WU has finally weathered the storm. Market share has stabilized and revenues have been slowly growing. One of Western Union’s strengths is its size in the industry. The money-transfer business is highly scalable because the incremental costs of processing additional transactions are minimal. This allows WU to have operating margins that are twice as large as its closest competitor. Also, since WU is a highly recognizable brand, consumers flock to use its services in comparison to its peers. Western Union submitted a bid to buy the Australian company OzForex. If this deal goes through, it will provide additional scale to WU, especially to a market clientele that is more affluent. With the troubling times behind the company and expansion on the horizon, expect WU stock to appreciate to $24.
