America is a nation of borrowers, and while racking up debt can be dangerous at any age, it’s especially hazardous for those heading into retirement.
Because most seniors are behind on savings to begin with, carrying debt into retirement will only strain their already limited budget. Yet a growing number of households are kicking off their golden years with piles of debt — in fact, 20% of borrowers actually expect to die in debt.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 30% of homeowners aged 65 and older still carry mortgage debt — granted, housing debt is technically the “good” kind to have. However, credit card debt can be particularly detrimental for seniors, and ValuePenguin reports that Americans 65 and older have average credit card balances of $6,351.
While the picture of retiree debt isn’t pretty, the good news is that you can take steps to rid yourself of your nagging obligations in time for retirement. Here’s how.
1. Build up a chunk of emergency savings
usa stock market: RetailMeNot, Inc.(SALE)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
As for individual stocks, RetailMeNot (NASDAQ:SALE) and SUPERVALU (NYSE:SVU) attracted heavy investor interest following merger and acquisition news.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Shares of RetailMeNot Inc (NASDAQ: SALE) got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $8.42. RetailMeNot announced after Thursday’s close it has entered into an agreement to acquire GiftCard Zen, a secondary marketplace for gift cards. The company reported preliminary Q1 revenue of $54 million to $54.5 million and FY16 revenue of $228 million to $241 million.
usa stock market: LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd.(LITB)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jim Robertson]
On Friday, our Under the Radar Moversnewsletter suggested small cap China based online retailstockLightinthebox Holding Co (NYSE: LITB) as a long/buy trade:
- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap China based online retailstockLightinthebox Holding Co (NYSE: LITB) reportedQ1 2017 earnings as net revenues increased 8.0% to $72.7 million (above the high end of the Company’s guidance of $72.0 million). Net revenues from product sales were $64.8 million versus$61.9 million and net revenues from service and others were $7.9 million versus $5.4 million in the same quarter of 2016. As a percentage of net revenues, service and others accounted for 10.9% during the first quarter of 2017. Total orders of product sales were 1.6 million for the first quarter of 2017 versus1.7 million in the same quarter of 2016 while the total number of product sales customers was 1.2 million versus 1.4 million.
usa stock market: Fidelity Southern Corporation(LION)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Here is the list of stocks going ex-dividend on Monday.
AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE: ATR) – $0.3200 dividend, 1.6780 percent yield. AptarGroup reported weaker-than-expected Q3 results on Thursday.
Fidelity Southern Corporation (NASDAQ: LION) – $0.1200 dividend, 2.6359 percent yield. The company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, provides financial products and services for customers.
Apple Hospitality REIT Inc (NYSE: APLE) – $0.1000 dividend, 6.5826 percent yield. Apple Hospitality REIT, based in Richmond, Virginia, operates as a subsidiary of Apple REIT Companies.
Targa Resources Corp (NYSE: TRGP) – $0.9100 dividend, 7.7299 percent yield. The Houston, Texas-based company provides midstream natura
usa stock market: Pound/Rand(PX)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The last twelve months haven’t been kind to Praxair (PX) and Air Products & Chemicals (APD), but UBS analyst John Roberts and team argue that’s about to change, as they upgrade their shares to Buy from Neutral arguing that their earnings can withstand a slowing global economy:
In our view, the two stocks are more alike than different. NTM P/Es are within ~0.5 pts of each other. Both stocks have declined ~20% from their historical highs the largest corrections in 20+ years aside from the financial crisis…
Industrial gas stocks have normally grown through changes in FX, oil & China demand within normal historical ranges. And investor concerns around China forAir Products & Chemicals may still prove much bigger than reality. Nevertheless, the combination of FX & oil sector impacts on Praxair, and FX & China issues for Air Products & Chemicals, have been much larger than previously seen. With oil already down, the dollar already appreciated, & China concerns already heightened we believe forward basis would appear to carry only normal risks (& lower if FX & oil are mean-reverting, which some theories support).
Normal high single digit EPS growth projected for both in 2017 vs 2016: Four large firms serve 70%+ of the global merchant gas market, and price normally contributes ~2% to growth. Customer older captive units being outsourced contributes another 2%. Secular drivers for oxygen include energy savings (i.e. O2 burns more efficiently than air), life sciences (healthcare & microbial processes) nitrogen secular drivers include increasing purity requirements (food freezing & semiconductors). Topline growth ~2x global GDP more normal, with EPS growth ~2x sales growth due to high fixed costs (key variable costs are inexpensive air & power).
Financial crisis demand drop was only a few %, in line with global GDP drop Most chemicals volumes dropped 10%+ (some 40%
usa stock market: Fitbit, Inc.(FIT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap fitnessdevice stock and wearables stockFitbit Inc (NYSE: FIT) started off as a high flyer after its 2015 IPO, but those highflying days have largely ended as you can see from its long term performance chart:
- [By Peter Graham]
The Q4 2016 earnings report forsmall cap fitnessdevice stockFitbit Inc (NYSE: FIT) is scheduled for after the market closes onWednesday (February 22nd). Competition in the fitness device and wearables market has made Fitbit Inc theseventh most shorted stock on the NYSE with elevated short interest of 38.92% according to Highshortinterest.com. At the end of January, Fitbit Incs CEOwarned that:
- [By Leo Sun]
Under Armour (NYSE:UA) (NYSE:UAA), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT), and GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) were all terrible stocks to own over the past year. Under Armour and Fitbit were both cut in half, and GoPro plummeted nearly 40%.
- [By Tracey Ryniec]
Fitbit is the latest tech gadget sensation. It has 22% of the wearables market and it looks like this holiday season could be huge for the company. Fitness and wellness are a big market globally which Fitbit is only beginning to tap.
- [By Dustin Blitchok]
The NBA authorized jersey sponsorships last year, and Flagstar joins companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (NASDAQ: GT), Fitbit Inc (NYSE: FIT), eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) and General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) in sponsoring a team’s jersey.
usa stock market: Edwards Lifesciences Corporation(EW)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Breaking news
Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE: EW) announced plans to buy Valtech Cardio for $340 million in cash and stock. The company also announced a $1 billion buyback plan.
Epizyme Inc (NASDAQ: EPZM) disclosed that it has received Fast Track designation for tazemetostat.
Athene Holding Ltd. (NYSE: ATH) reported that it has priced its 23.8 million share IPO between $38 per share and $42 per share.
Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) reported the approval for its Metaxalone Tablets USP, 800 mg. - [By Ben Levisohn]
Edwards Lifesciences (EW) soared to the top of the S&P 500 today after the medical-device company beat earnings and revenue forecasts, and raised its full-year guidance.
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Edwards Lifesciencesgained 11% to 109.33, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.1% to 2,387.45.
Mogran Stanley’s David Lewis andScott Wang contend that that Edwards Lifesciences is “back on track.” They explain:
US sequential acceleration returns to the prior curve and debunks the bear case. Sequential growth in US [transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR,] in 1Q17 was ~12%, more in line with the ~13.5% average growth rate seen in the five quarters leading up to 3Q16. It’s hard to pinpoint the drivers, but we see several dynamics, including: (i) underlying device utilization thus far in 1Q, (ii) faster ramp at new hospitals where one additional TAVR per center is worth $15mn (~65% of the US upside we saw this quarter), and (iii) less acute competitive pressure from Medtronic (MDT) on larger valve sizes. SURTAVI likely played a limited role but management did not rule it out. Guidance implies a more conservative q/q US growth of ~3% for the rest of the year vs the ~12% this quarter, but underlying strength in the quarter is a material shift in US growth and intermediate penetration. As we stated in our preview, we favored the risk reward into the quarter given achievable expectations and the >20 point lag vs Intuitive YTD and would expect significant recovery tomorrow. Momentum likely continues into 2Q17 as signs of improving intermediate risk penetration provide important offsets to increased competition from Boston in early-2018 before mitral takes hold.
Edwards Lifesciences’ market capitalization rose to $23.1 billion today from $20.9 billion yesterday.
- [By Chris Lange]
The stock posting the largest daily percentage gain in the S&P 500 ahead of the close Wednesday was Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) which jumped about 10% to $108.91. The stocks 52-week range is $81.12 to $1221.75. Volume was roughly 7.3million which is above the daily average of around 2.2 million shares.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Edwards Lifesciences (EW) jumped to the top of the S&P 500 today after the medical-device maker offered its 2017 guidance this morning at its investor day.
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Shares of Edwards Lifesciences gained 6.7% to $89.31 today, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 2,246.19.
Wells Fargo’sLarry Biegelsen offers his take on Edwards Lifesciences’ guidance:
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW-$83.73; Outperform) provided its 2017 outlook this morning (12/8) ahead of its investor meeting today. As expected, the company highlighted its robust pipeline which should drive strong growth for years to come. However, the company now expects Q4 16 revenue to come in at the low end of the guidance range due to currency and weakness in surgical heart valves. The 2017 guidance was generally strong on the top and bottom line, with both bracketing consensus.
For 2017, EW expects sales of $3.0-3.4B and 10-14% underlying growth. This compares to consensus of $3.3B and 12.3% underlying growth (were at 12.6%)… For 2017 EPS, EW expects $3.30-3.45 which includes $0.10 dilution from the Valtech deal (something we highlighted in our preview) and $0.08-0.10 benefit from the accounting change for stock based compensation. Backing these two items out implies guidance of about $3.30-3.45 which compares to consensus of $3.40 and our estimate of $3.41…
As expected, the pipeline updates were highly positive. While the initial reaction to the Q4 guidance will likely be negative, we are highly confident that the strong 2017 guidance and robust pipeline update will be the main takeaways from the meeting today.
No negativity here: Edwards Lifesciences’ market capitalization rose to $19.1 billion today from $17.9 billion yesterday. It reported net income of $495 million on sales of $2.5 billion in 2015.
