Macro Focus
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1 point to 19,827.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose
0.25 points to 2,265.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 1.50 points to 5,023.50.
Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.13 percent to trade at $55.01 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures
also rose 0.19 percent to trade at $52.06 a barrel.
- The Labor Department's JOLTS report for November is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
- Data on wholesale inventories for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
- The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
- The Treasury will also auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
BZ News Desk Focus
n a new development in the feud between Muddy Waters Research and St. Jude Medical, which involves patient
safety in medical technology implants, the research firm has rejected St. Jude’s attempts to make amends. A representative from
Muddy Waters told
Benzinga recently-announced technology fixes don't address many of the largest problems, including the existence of universal
code that could allow hackers to control medical implants.
It can be incredibly useful to see how others are approaching the market. And while you can get a good gauge on sentiment based
on price, it's harder to see what stocks people are flowing in and out of. That's the goal of TD Ameritrade's
(NYSE: AMTD) Investor Movement
Index, or IMX. The index tracks the activity of TD Ameritrade investors to measures how they are positioned in the markets.
Egalet (NASDAQ: EGLT) shares jumped as
much as 17 percent on Monday before being halted following news that the FDA has approved ARYMO ER. In its JPMorgan Healthcare
Conference presentation, the company said it plans to launch ARYMO ER starting in Q1 2017. The positive news and subsequent halt is
a nightmare scenario for the many Egalet short
sellers in the market who are now powerless to cover their positions as word of the approval spreads.
Sell-Side Themes
Loop Capital initiated coverage on several technology names, including PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Syntel (NASDAQ: SYNT).
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
- HSBC downgraded Chevron (NYSE: CVX) to
Hold.
- Goldman Sachs upgraded Vodafone (NASDAQ:
VOD) to Buy.
- Deutsche Bank started Trivago (NASDAQ: TRVG) at Hold.
Deal Talk
Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL) has won a bankruptcy auction for U.S. fashion retailer American
Apparel after raising its offer to around $88 million, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Gildan's takeover marks the
end of an era for the iconic Los Angeles-based company, which was founded in 1998 by an eccentric Canadian university drop-out and
grew to become a part of U.S. popular culture thanks to its racy advertising.
Shares of 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) rose
Monday on unconfirmed market chatter of an approach from General Electric (NYSE: GE). Sources say the offer is $18 per share in cash. 3D hired investment bankers to
handle the takeover interest, the sources said. 3D Systems closed at $16.73 on Monday up 15.7 percent.
Blackstone (NYSE: BX) has ended discussions
to acquire a $5 billion stake in Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP), according to sources as reported by Bloomberg. Sources say the talks collapsed
after a December 22 report by the Wall Street Journal disclosed the potential deal. A Blackstone representative declined comment on
today's reports, while a representative of Energy Transfer did not respond to a request for comment.
In The News
If and when the deal with Verizon (NYSE: VZ)
goes through, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO
Marissa Mayer will step down from the board. It's been in the headlines for months that Yahoo is selling itself to the telecom
giant for $4.8 billion. Not all of the company is being sold, just Yahoo's consumer web business, which includes Yahoo Mail and
Sports. Now the leftovers of the company after the Verizon sale have an official name: Altaba.
A Senate panel is set to consider the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general, the first in a series
of potentially contentious hearings into the proposed cabinet choices of president-elect Donald Trump.
Blogosphere
UnitedHealth's (NYSE: UNH) shot in the arm: "A body
in motion stays in motion, and the push for lower health costs certainly isn't losing any momentum."
Even though opioids killed more 32,000 people in the United States in 2015, addiction — ranging from AbbVie's Vicodin and Purdue
Pharma’s OxyContin to strait-out heroin — remained strong. Last year, an average of 78 people in the United States died every day
due to prescription opioid medications. One particular anesthetic usually used for surgery and cancer-related pain treatment was
the most controversial — or, at least, the most discussed by the media: Insys
Therapeutics' (NASDAQ: INSY) Fentanyl.
Trending
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The Clemson Tigers are college football's national champion after a stunning win over Alabama. Clemson beat the
defending-champion Crimson Tide, 35 to 31, and the win earned Clemson its first national championship in 35 years.
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