Month: July 2020

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, reported higher than expected second quarter earnings and said its core markets were showing signs of recovery, albeit from exceptionally low levels. ArcelorMittal, which withdrew its guidance for global steel consumption in May, said the speed and course of the demand recovery following the pandemic remained uncertain. …read more […]

Jul.30 — Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Gaines discusses the company’s projects, demand and business outlook. The world’s fourth-largest iron ore producer sees a path to lift export volumes further after shipments climbed to an annual record and it advances a slate of growth projects. Gaines speaks with Haslinda Amin and Rishaad Salamat on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.” …read more […]

A record-breaking flood of gold investment that has driven prices to all-time highs was not enough to stop a collapse in jewellery sales from cutting global demand for the metal by 6% in the first half of 2020, the World Gold Council (WGC) said. The coronavirus pandemic triggered stockpiling of gold in Europe and North America as insurance against inflation and market turmoil, driving prices up almost 30% this year to more than $1,950 an ounce. Investors amassed a record 1,131 tonnes of gold, worth $60 billion, over the six months to June, up from 595 tonnes in …read more […]

The stock, seen as an e-commerce investment play, was already up 44% since PayPal last reported results on May 6. The company said it expected the trends to continue and that it now expected earnings per share for the full year to increase about 25% on 22% revenue growth. “We have more confidence in the elevated e-commerce trends we are seeing,” Chief Financial Officer John Rainey told analysts. …read more […]

In a securities filing, Vale’s board also approved an interest on equity payment of 1.41 reais ($0.27) per share, to be paid on Aug. 7. The resumption of payments to shareholders is sure to please investors and analysts who have repeatedly pressed the iron ore company on the matter. Vale said its payments to shareholders were resumed following the reduction of uncertainties related to the novel coronavirus pandemic. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia may have little choice but to reduce the price of its oil as OPEC and allied producers start to ease output curbs amid weakening demand that’s crashed the value of physical supplies.Aramco is expected to cut the official selling price for its flagship Arab Light grade by 48 cents a barrel for September sales to Asia, the median estimate in a survey of eight traders and refiners across the region shows. It would be the first drop in four months after a series of hikes that came as OPEC+ cut output and consumption recovered as Asian …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Chinese carmaker Li Auto Inc. raised $1.1 billion in an above-range U.S. initial public offering, adding to the market focus on electric-vehicle companies, according to terms of the deal reviewed by Bloomberg.Li Auto sold 95 million American depositary shares for $11.50 each on Wednesday after marketing them for $8 to $10. The Beijing-based company is valued in the listing at about $10 billion fully diluted, based on a calculation by Bloomberg.A representative for Li Auto declined to comment.The company joins other electric-vehicle makers in tapping the U.S. capital market. Shares of NIO Inc., a Chinese rival, have doubled …read more […]

COVID-19 has put several little-known pharma companies on the map. Going hand in hand with these nano-caps’ pursuit of coronavirus solutions, hopeful investors have sent the small players’ shares to previously unimaginable heights.Vaxart (VXRT) might be the purest example of this phenomenon. At the start of the year, the vaccine specialist’s market cap stood at $17.39 million, with each share going for $0.34. Fast forward to July 29, and the biotech is valued at $1.2 billion, with shares changing hands for $11 apiece, an increase of an amazing 3,135%.Vaxart is not an outlier, as several other names have also recorded …read more […]

The CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google sat for a 5-hour grilling before the House Judiciary Committee, with dramatically different results for each company. …read more […]

Until recently, shares of Bionano Genomics (BNGO) had been on an almost constant downward trend, declining by 90% since August 2018. However, sentiment appears to have improved as evidenced by a gain of 50% over the past month.According to Oppenheimer analyst Kevin DeGeeter, there’s still a long way up from here. The 5-star analyst reiterated an Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating on BNGO shares along with a $1.50 price target. The implication for investors? Mighty upside potential of a further 100%. (To watch DeGeeter’s track record, click here)For starters, the heart of the bullish case for Bionano is its role in …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Samsung Electronics Co. reported earnings that beat estimates and said demand for memory chips is likely to recover in the second half of the year, driven by new smartphones and gaming consoles.Net income increased to 5.5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) in the three months ended June, the company said in a filing on Thursday, compared with the 4.9 trillion won average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Samsung had reported preliminary numbers earlier this month that showed operating profit rose 23%.The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones had warned of a second-quarter sales slump in its consumer …read more […]

On Wednesday, the four major tech CEOS – Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, and Tim Cook of Apple – testified before Congress on an antitrust probe. Yahoo Finance’s Final Round panel discusses what was heard from the four major CEOs and what it could mean moving forward for their companies. …read more […]

On Sunday, Moderna (MRNA) disclosed it had been awarded an extra $472 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to further support the development of mRNA-1273, its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The new award follows a $483 million grant provided by BARDA in April, which means Moderna has now received a total of $955 million in funding from the U.S. government.The award coincides with the initiation of Moderna’s Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273. The study began on Monday with the dosing of the first patients in the 30,000-participant study across 87 trial sites. If all goes according to …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Silver’s biggest monthly rally since 1980 has mainly been a story of strong demand. Investors are seeking shelter from pandemic turmoil and negative rates while industrial demand for the metal recovers in some parts of the world.But here’s another reason to be bullish on silver: Supplies are set to shrink too.Peruvian and Mexican mines that make up almost 40% of world supply shut en masse earlier this year as the pandemic hit. While much of the industry is ramping back up, some mines have had to close again as Covid-19 cases surge. The Silver Institute now predicts a …read more […]

Apple CEO Tim Cook faced pointed questions from the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law on Wednesday, with members pointing to the cut Apple takes from app developers in its App Store. …read more […]