Macro Focus
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to 19,902.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures dropped
2.25 points to 2,264.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 4.50 points to 4,951.25.
Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.54 percent to trade at $55.65 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures
also rose 0.53 percent to trade at $53.58 a barrel.
MBA Mortgage Applications up 2.5%
- Data on existing home sales for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
- The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
BZ News Desk Focus
-
Nike (NYSE: NKE) Reports Q2 EPS $0.50 vs.
Est. $0.43, Rev. $8.2B vs. Est. $8.09B
-
FedEx (NYSE: FDX) Reports Q2 Adj. EPS
$2.80 vs $2.60 Est., Sales $14.9B vs $14.92B Est.
-
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) Reports Q1 EPS $1.58
vs. Est. $1.49, Rev. $9B vs. Est. $8.59B
-
Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL) Reports Q3
EPS $(0.24) vs. Est. $(0.18), Rev. $371.7M vs. Est. $411M
Sell-Side Themes
Susquehanna initiated coverage on several semiconductor names, such as Mobileye (NYSE: MBLY), Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS) and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN).
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
- Raymond James downgraded JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) to Market Perform.
- Stifel downgraded Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) to Hold.
- UBS upgraded BP (NYSE: BP) to Buy.
- Credit Suisse upgraded Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) to Outperform.
- Citi started Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM)
at Neutral.
Deal Talk
Shares of Shake Shack (NYSE: SHAK) spiked
as high as $39.37 on unconfirmed chatter that McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) could bid $48 per share for the burger chain. McDonald's is said to be working
with advisors on a proposal. Shake Shack has been the subject of numerous rumors in 2016.
TheStreet (NASDAQ: TST), the struggling
financial news site co-founded by Jim Cramer, is in danger of getting delisted by Nasdaq because its share
price has traded at below $1 for more than 30 business days. The exchange will delist TheStreet on June 12 if its shares don’t
trade above the dollar level for 10 straight days before that date, the news site disclosed in a regulatory filing.
Carl Icahn is in talks with fellow casino operators about selling control of the recently shuttered Trump Taj Mahal, The
New York Post has learned. News
of the talks surfaced 24 hours after state legislatures moved to block any chance the activist investor might have had to reopen
the casino with non-union workers.
In The News
The most expensive fossil-fuel power plant ever built in the U.S. could soon get a financial lifeline thanks to
President-elect Donald Trump, who has signaled interest in clean coal tax-credit initiatives as a way to preserve mining jobs.
Last week, Benzinga covered the allegedly
fraudulent activity of Hobbies Discount, the customers of which reported failed delivery of ordered merchandise, refused
refunds, evaded emails and — for those whose complaints prompted package reception — poor quality items.
Facebook insiders have since
raised alerts about Store Discount Fishing Supplies, a page that links to a website with merchandise and page layout resembling
that of Hobbies Discount. The websites have convincing — and identical — features vouching for their legitimacy, including a
"McAfee Secure" verification and a secure connection lock in the link bar. However, their customer approval rates are, in equal
measures, poor.
Blogosphere
"Break it up and put it back together again. It’s a game plan that has kept bankers in work for years. The idea currently doing
the rounds is the potential reunion of Suez , the French waste and water company, with Engie, the energy group from which it was
spun off eight years ago. This has long looked like a pipe dream. But it has some
logic."
"[I]t is increasingly obvious that we are about to experience a profound, president-led ideological shift."
Trending
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Wine more, whine less; Make America Great Again!; Prepare 2020 Presidential Campaign #My4WordNewYearsResolution
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