Month: August 2020

Top news and what to watch in the markets on Friday, August 28, 2020. …read more […]

Bayer in June struck an agreement on about 75% of the 125,000 claims stemming from its $63 billion takeover of seed and chemical company Monsanto in 2018. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria threatened to restart the litigation and let it move forward after questioning if Bayer was going back on the settlement, according to a Bloomberg News report. “There are often some bumps in the road in implementing a resolution of this magnitude, but we remain confident that a comprehensive settlement will be finalized and executed,” Bayer said in a statement. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Gold climbed, recovering from Thursday’s drop, as the dollar weakened and investors weighed the impact of the Federal Reserve’s new approach to setting U.S. monetary policy.Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell sent bullion on a roller-coaster ride on Thursday after he announced a more relaxed approach on inflation, with the central bank seeking inflation that averages 2% over time. He also noted that the Fed wouldn’t hesitate to act if consumer prices rose considerably above its goals.Higher inflation tolerance and low interest rates should see U.S. real yields fall in the medium-to-longer term, which is supportive for gold, …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Bayer AG’s comprehensive settlement of U.S. lawsuits over its Roundup weed killer is in jeopardy after lawyers for some consumers accused the company of reneging on the $11 billion deal and the judge overseeing the litigation questioned its truthfulness.U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said during a hearing Thursday he’s concerned Bayer has “manipulated” the settlement process since announcing its plan in June to resolve 125,000 cases alleging that the herbicide causes cancer. He said he will revisit in a month whether to keep the litigation on hold for settlement talks to continue or to let more trials proceed.“My …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Everything now appears to be going right for Xiaomi Corp., the Chinese smartphone maker whose stock failed to gain traction following its 2018 initial public offering.Shares have surged a record 59% this month, hitting all-time highs as larger rival Huawei Technologies Co. deals with U.S. restrictions intended to crimp adoption of the company’s 5G wireless technology. This week’s second-quarter report showed Xiaomi’s phones are making inroads in China, helping profit more than double. And an electric vehicle maker that Xiaomi invested in soared 41% in its U.S. debut on Thursday.About 20 brokerages have raised their stock-price targets on …read more […]

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U.S. technology giants are increasingly dominating the stock market in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, even as they draw accusations of unfair business practices, and some investors fear the pump is primed for a tech-fueled sell-off. The combined value of the S&P 500’s five biggest companies – Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc , Microsoft Corp , Facebook Inc and Google parent Alphabet Inc – now stands at more than $7 trillion, accounting for almost 25% of the index’s market capitalization. …read more […]

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Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk confirmed late Thursday that the automaker was the subject of a hacking attempt by a Russian national and his co-conspirators. What Happened: “This was a serious attack,” the billionaire entrepreneur said in response to a media report related to the attempted hacking on Twitter.A complaint was filed this week by prosecutors in Nevada against Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, a Russian national, who allegedly conspired to recruit an employee at an unnamed company, in order to surreptitiously install malware on its computers.Musk’s tweet confirms the company detailed in the lawsuit is, in fact, Tesla.Kriuchkov approached …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — A rare show of investor confidence in European unity is boosting the region’s stocks and currency at the same time, but equities’ good fortune could take a hit if the euro keeps climbing toward a pain threshold seen around $1.30, according to a Bloomberg survey.There is still some way before the single currency could reach the level that will pose a threat to the region’s earnings recovery, according to the majority of the 24 strategists and fund managers polled. However, the euro’s rally to a two-year high just shy of $1.20 this month has brought it back on …read more […]

Spot gold was up 0.4% at $1,936.64 per ounce by 0316 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,943.20. “Realistically, we are probably a year or two away from the economy really recovering again,” said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at financial services firm AxiCorp. …read more […]

News website Teslarati said https://bit.ly/2D6C5N5 that the electric carmaker was the unnamed company in a statement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday about a Russian national’s arrest, in connection with a planned attack on an unidentified company. “This was a serious attack,” Musk said in a tweet, in response to the Teslarati article. The Justice Department said https://bit.ly/3b3tyH1 that Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, a Russian national, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer by trying to recruit an employee to introduce a malware into a system. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Fear gauges for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes may be providing reasons for caution about the rally in U.S. stocks.The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 scaled new peaks Wednesday, but their respective measures of implied volatility also rose in tandem. Simultaneous increases in equity and volatility gauges are unusual, and a reason for concern for some. The pattern was repeated for the S&P 500 on Thursday.Wednesday was the first time in about two decades the Cboe Volatility Index — or VIX — rose more than 5% as the S&P 500 rose over 1% to a record, …read more […]

In sharp contrast to the semiconductor sector, chip giant Intel (INTC) has struggled in 2020. While the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index (SOX) – the industry’s overall barometer – has added 20% of gains year-to-date, INTC shares have declined by 16%. The sharp drop is mostly on account of investors disappointment in delays to the release of the company’s next-generation 7nm chips, which have been moved back to 2022. Intel was already struggling to keep up with other high-flying semiconductor players such as Nvidia and AMD, but the latest delay has sent the stock into a tailspin as investors have wondered …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Capital One Financial Corp. is cutting borrowing limits on credit cards, reining in its exposure as the U.S. reduces support for millions of unemployed Americans.The adjustments, which the company said it makes from time to time, set off a swift outcry on social media. Some customers have complained in recent days their limits have been slashed by a third to two-thirds, eroding their ability to borrow in an emergency during a pandemic or potentially hurting their credit scores.“Capital One periodically reviews accounts based on a variety of factors and may make changes to existing credit lines,” the company …read more […]