Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 24,182.48 while the NASDAQ declined 0.04 percent to 6,759.48. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.03 percent to 2,628.87.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Wednesday afternoon, the utilities sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from TransAlta Corporation (NYSE: TAC) and NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP).
In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 1.1 percent.
Top Headline
American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter, but issued a strong earnings forecast for the current quarter.
American Eagle posted quarterly earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $960 million. However, analysts expected earnings of $0.38 per share on revenue of $960.8 million.
American Eagle expects Q4 earnings of $0.42 to $0.44 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.39 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: MDGL) shares shot up 74 percent to $80.43 after the company disclosed that its MGL-3196 achieved primary endpoint in patients with biopsy-proven non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in Phase 2 clinical trial.
stock market research: Liberty Global plc(LBTYA)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Alex Webb]
Kabel Deutschland is a key part of Vodafones expansion strategy as the carrier looks for ways to boost revenue and lock in customers with Internet and television offers in addition to wireless service. Kabel Deutschland is the biggest cable company in Germany, Vodafones largest market, and had drawn a rival bid from John Malones Liberty Global Plc. (LBTYA)
stock market research: Semtech Corporation(SMTC)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Monica Gerson]
Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ: SMTC) is projected to post its quarterly earnings at $0.27 per share on revenue of $128.38 million.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: OLLI) is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $190.44 million.
stock market research: Statoil ASA(STO)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Paul Ausick]
Norway’s Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) announced this morning that it has acquired stakes in two North Sea projects from France’s Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT). The transaction, valued at $1.45 billion, includes a 51% equity stake in the Martin Linge field and a 40% stake in the Garantiana discovery, both located on Norway’s continental shelf.
- [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]
NORW reflects Norway's oil exposure. The ETF allocates nearly 28.8 percent of its weight to the energy, 870 basis points more than it devotes to its second-largest sector exposure, financial services. State-run Statoil ASA(ADR) (NYSE: STO) is NORW's largest individual holding at a weight of 15.3 percent, or 560 basis points more than NORW allocates to its second-largest holding.
- [By Jayson Derrick]
BP plc (ADR) (NYSE: BP), Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE: RDS-A) (NYSE: RDS-B) and Statoil ASA(ADR) (NYSE: STO) are expected to outperform their peers by offering: 1) the greatest rate of change in cost reduction through technology and innovation, 2) upstream portfolios with an attractive risk to reward profile and 3) sufficient liquidity to invest in future growth.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Should oil prices recover, we believe that deepwater drilling activity growth should lag growth in US shale activity, as project economics is generally better in US shales, and E&Ps involved in US shales are generally quicker to react. Deepwater activity is largely comprises a handful of companies (Petrobras (PBR), Statoil (STO), Total (TOT), Shell (RDS.A), BP (BP), ONGC, ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX)) and it is unlikely that these companies can meaningfully increase their rig demand in a short period of time to absorb the current oversupply. Thus, should oil prices rise in 2018, rig demand may increase, but likely not enough to tighten the market, given that supply equaling 43% of current working rig count is stacked and new supply equaling 25% of working rig count is under-construction and should be entering the market in the coming years. As a result, while we expect some improvement in rig utilization owing to rig retirements, it will unlikely be strong enough to meaningfully improve rates in 2018 above spot levels. Any demand increase in the interim could slow rig retirements materially, and be self-defeating. We thus are Sell rated on Transocean, Atwood and Noble.
- [By Cameron Swinehart]
Going forward I will be looking to add investments on my watchlist and trim other positions. It will be interesting to see how an overweight commodity portfolio will perform relative to the rest of the market.
Cost Basis# SharesCurrent Price% of PortfolioCurrent ValueReturnMetal/Miners Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS)$12.4985$11.043.75%$938.40-13.13%Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV)$7.95125$8.744.37%$1,092.509.04%FreePort-McMoran (FCX)$31.6731$33.874.20%$1,049.976.50%Ishares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING)$13.0695$10.644.04%$1,010.80-22.74%Energy Statoil ASA(STO)$21.7940$22.683.63%$907.203.92%Vanguard Natural Resources LLC (VNR)$27.5636$27.874.01%$1,003.321.11%ConocoPhillips (COP)$63.6822.43$71.006.37%$1,592.5310.31%Agriculture CVR Partner LP (UAN)$26.3630.9$18.932.34%$584.94-39.25%Adecoagro$6.78125$7.443.72%$930.008.87%Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM)$34.8030$37.244.47%$1,117.206.55%Mixed Commodity Powershares DB Commodity Index (DBC)$26.3540$25.954.15%$1,038.00-1.54%Sprott Resource Corp$3.34400$2.714.34%$1,084.00-23.25% Total % of portfolio49.40% Cost Basis12,666.00 Current Value12,348.86 Return-2.50% Source: Investing For The Future Surge In Commodity Prices
Disclosure: I am long ADM, FCX, UAN, AGRO, RING, VNR, SCPZF.PK, COP, DBC, PHYS, PSLV. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More…)
- [By Ben Levisohn]
We believe that the equity market has neutralised much of its underweight energy positioning in 4Q/1Q, but was caught by the sharp rally in crude from end-January. Our base-case sees oil prices still higher by end-2016 (we see >$50/bbl), albeit with a choppy 2Q likely ahead. In this scenario a modest, rather than fully-fledged price-recovery we continue to place a lot of importance on self-help in driving ROE expansion (as opposed to relying simply on oil-leverage). Value-adjusted, we like the self-help stories around Total, Chevron, Statoil (STO), Royal Dutch Shell and Eni (E) in the group. Total is on the Citi European Focus list.
stock market research: ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc.(SERV)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lee Jackson]
ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SERV) had its top executive selling shares last week. CEO Robert Gillette sold a total of 343,750 shares at prices that ranged from $36.00 to $36.86 apiece. The total for the sale was about$13 million.The company provides residential and commercial services in the United States, and its shares traded onFriday at $35.50.
stock market research: American Capital, Ltd.(ACAS)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Monica Gerson]
American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS) shares rose 5.63 percent to $16.50 in the pre-market trading session as Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) reported the purchase of American Capital at $3.4 billion in cash and stock.
stock market research: Cerulean Pharma Inc.(CERU)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Cerulean Pharma Inc (NASDAQ: CERU) shares dropped 62 percent to $1.27. Cerulean Pharma and Dar茅 Bioscience reported that they have entered into a stock purchase agreement. Cerulean also announced plans to reduce workforce by 11 people. The company reported that it has sold CRLX101 and CRLX301 to BlueLink Pharmaceuticals for $1.5 million and also agreed to sell Dynamic Tumor Targeting Platform to Novartis for $6 million.
- [By Lisa Levin] Related Mid-Afternoon Market Update: CytomX Therapeutics Climbs Following Bristol-Myers Squibb Partnership; Medgenics Shares Slide 15 Biggest Mid-Day Losers For Monday Cerulean Pharma's (CERU) CEO Chris Guiffre on Cerulean and Dar茅 Proposed Transaction (Transcript) (Seeking Alpha)
Related Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Cancer Genetics Gains After Q4 Results; Heat Biologics Shares Slide Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Rises Over 50 Points; Tandem Diabetes Care Shares Plunge Tandem Diabetes prices stock offering at $1.25; shares off 19% premarket (Seeking Alpha)
Cerulean Pharma Inc (NASDAQ: CERU) shares dipped 27 percent to $0.817. Cerulean Pharma shares have dropped 60.28 percent over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 15.31 percent in the same period.
Tandem Diabetes Care Inc (NASDAQ: TNDM) shares tumbled 24.2 percent to $1.17. Tandem Diabetes Care priced 18 million share offering at $1.25 per share.
Alphatec Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ATEC) shares fell 21.1 percent to $2.10 as the company reported a $18.9 million private placement.
Heat Biologics Inc (NASDAQ: HTBX) shares dropped 15.5 percent to $0.870. Heat Biologics priced its 5 million share offering at $0.80 per share.
Rave Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ: RAVE) shares fell 15 percent to $1.76.
QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK) shares declined 12.2 percent to $1.58. QuickLogic priced its 10 million share offering at $1.50 per share.
Orion Engineered Carbons SA (NYSE: OEC) shares dropped 9.5 percent to $19.10. Orion Engineered Carbons reported a 5 million common stock secondary offering.
Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc (NASDAQ: IDXG) shares fell 8.7 percent to $2.61 after the company reported debt restructuring and agreed to eliminate its royalty and mileston - [By Lisa Levin] Related CRMD Mid-Day Market Update: U.S. Stocks Turn Negative; AveXis Shares Spike Higher 12 Biggest Mid-Day Gainers For Tuesday CorMedix's (CRMD) CEO Khoso Baluch on Q4 2016 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
Related BIOA Mid-Day Market Update: U.S. Stocks Turn Negative; AveXis Shares Spike Higher Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Tiffany Earnings Top Estimates BioAmber (BIOA) Q4 2016 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
CorMedix Inc. (NYSE: CRMD) shares fell 27.5 percent to $1.50 after the company reported Q4 results and issued a business update.
Bioamber Inc (NYSE: BIOA) shares tumbled 23.6 percent to $2.40. BioAmber reported FY16 adjusted loss of $1.07 per share on revenue of $8.3 million.
The Medicines Company (NASDAQ: MDCO) shares dipped 20.9 percent to $41.62.
Innocoll Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: INNL) shares fell 20.3 percent to $1.49. Innocoll posted a narrower-than-expected quarter loss, but revenue missed estimates. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Innocoll from Buy to Hold.
Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ: ROSG) shares declined 20.3 percent to $3.83. On Thursday, Rosetta Genomics disclosed a 1-for-12 reverse stock split.
Esperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: ESPR) shares dropped 19.9 percent to $23.76. Esperion Therapeutics shares have jumped 106.19 percent over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 16.70 percent in the same period.
AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ: AFSI) tumbled 18.3 percent to $17.65. AmTrust Financial disclosed that it will delay its annual report filing for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.
Qualstar Corporation (NASDAQ: QBAK) slipped 17.7 percent to $6.85. Qualstar reported a Q4 loss of $0.20 per share on revenue of $2.2 milli
