The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
US sales dropping 0•8% in Jan did not deter US stocks from moving higher on the day. Hopes that the consumer is reigning in spending and the economy slowing is potentially good news for rate cuts coming sooner than thought. A Labour Dept report showed claims for state benefits stood at 212,000 for the wk ending Feb 10 slightly lower than forecast.
On the stock market Alphabet ($144) dropped 2% after investment House Third Point sold 900,000 class A shares of the megacap dissolving its entire stake. Soros Fund Management did likewise to its Apple holding.
Buffet made moves in several of his holdings, trimming his Apple stake by 10m to 905m leaving him with massive $167bn holding. He also added to his holdings in Chevron ($154) picking up 16m taking his stake to 126m shares. Others to get the heave-ho inc Paramount Global and HP cut by 80m and 30m respectively. Berkshire Hathaway class A stock closed at $606,000 now the 8th most valuable global company.
Cisco ($49) fell 2•5% after announcing it plans to cut its global workforce by 5% becoming the latest company to downsize this year as the industry continues to squeeze out costs. To date c.140 tech firms have laid off 35,000 workers.
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Nyse data
Issues 2907
Advances 2359
Decliners 497
U/c 51
T/vol(bn) 4•1
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Latest :- Vix 14. Brent $83.
Gold $2003. Copper $3•769.
Palm $960. Silver $23•000.
$1•258. €1•169.
FF +34. DF -54.
Morning all.
Nothing has been announced to the LSE so I suspect the £24•2m award mentioned on ADVFN is part of an old contract. Mind you with MSi you never know.....
At the weekly half way accounting MSi is flat on 15•4m buys v 14•7m sells.
For those of you who follow the nos here's some MSi league table data as of 13/2/24.
Price to earnings: 2/8 (36•2)
EV to ebita: 1/8 (17•9)
Price to book: 2/8 (3•6)
Price to cash flow: 9/9 (0)
Price to sales: 3/8 (1•8)
Net debt to equity 8/8 (0•0)
Dividend pay out: 4/9 (36•9)
Dividend yield %: 5/9 (1•7)
Return on equity: 3/9 (10•3)
Du Pont Analysis 2024
Roe: 10
Gearing: 14
Asset t/over: 8
Net margin: 2
At the weekly half way accounting MSi is flat on 15•4m buys v 14•7m sells.
For those of you who follow the nos here's some MSi league table data as of 13/2/24.
Price to earnings: 2/8 (36•2)
EV to ebita: 1/8 (17•9)
Price to book: 2/8 (3•6)
Price to cash flow: 9/9 (0)
Price to sales: 3/8 (1•8)
Net debt to equity 8/8 (0•0)
Dividend pay out: 4/9 (36•9)
Dividend yield %: 5/9 (1•7)
Return on equity: 3/9 (10•3)
Du Pont Analysis 2024
Roe: 10
Gearing: 14
Asset t/over: 8
Net margin: 2
At the weekly half way accounting MSi is flat on 15•4m buys v 14•7m sells.
For those of you who follow the nos here's some MSi league table data as of 13/2/24.
Price to earnings: 2/8 (36•2)
EV to ebita: 1/8 (17•9)
Price to book: 2/8 (3•6)
Price to cash flow: 9/9 (0)
Price to sales: 3/8 (1•8)
Net debt to equity 8/8 (0•0)
Dividend pay out: 4/9 (36•9)
Dividend yield %: 5/9 (1•7)
Return on equity: 3/9 (10•3)
Du Pont Analysis 2024
Roe: 10
Gearing: 14
Asset t/over: 8
Net margin: 2
At the weekly half way accounting MSi is flat on 15•4m buys v 14•7m sells.
For those of you who follow the nos here's some MSi league table data as of 13/2/24.
Price to earnings: 2/8 (36•2)
EV to ebita: 1/8 (17•9)
Price to book: 2/8 (3•6)
Price to cash flow: 9/9 (0)
Price to sales: 3/8 (1•8)
Net debt to equity 8/8 (0•0)
Dividend pay out: 4/9 (36•9)
Dividend yield %: 5/9 (1•7)
Return on equity: 3/9 (10•3)
Du Pont Analysis 2024
Roe: 10
Gearing: 14
Asset t/over: 8
Net margin: 2
Yesterday the Nsdq led the rebound on dip buying almost recouping losses from Tuesday as stocks moved higher throughout the day. Sprinting some 200 points from 2•00pm the Dow closed the session at (38,424) once again wrong footing the shorters.
Inevitably Nvidia was the only story in town displacing Alphabet as the 3rd most valuable company on the S&P 500 with a mrkt cap of $1•825tn. Squawk boxes were inundated with Nvidia talk. Nvidia controls c.80% of the high-end Ai mrkt, trading on 34x earnings its shares rose $17 to $738 ahead of Q4 due Feb 21st when blowout nos are forecast.
Other notable movers inc the two main ride hailing companies. UBER led the way to a record high boosted by a $7bn share buyback plan. The days of burning through cash may have ended as the CEO hinted dividends down the line could be part of the overall plan to return capital to investors. Shares up 15% to $79 a 36% ytd gain.
Not to be outdone even after the duff earnings 'typo' sent the stock up 60% (quick witted dealers cashed in) LYFT had some good news for investors for the first time since the 2019 IPO. Posting profit beats Lyft said it would generate free cash flow in 2024.
LYFT still significantly lags arch rival UBER on user numbers with a valuation of $6bn to Uber's $162bn. LYFT up $3 to $16 for a 19% ytd gain.
Coming in the days ahead key events inc new jobless claims, retail sales, industrial production nos & housing starts.
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Nyse data
Issues 2909
Advances 2298
Decliners 542
U/c 69
T/vol(bn) 3•8
-------------
Latest :- Vix 14. Brent $81.
Gold $1991. Copper $3•705.
Palm $995. Silver $22•435.
$1•256. €1•171.
FF +32. DF +80.
Morning all.
London and Dow futures point to a better start for equities this morning. Higher for longer rates may about to be reversed which would support further gains for equity mrkts into H1& H2.
Not so good for gold whose value rises when inflation is high. Put simply gold rises when rates go down and goes down when rates go up.
The tech support for $2000 gold disappeared in a flash as gold bullies sold in the face of a strong equity mrkt. Regardless many think gold is headed to $2150 by Q4 on a) the Fed cuts rates in Q2 b) the USD weakens and c) safe haven demands cont in the face of global uncertainties.
Wallgreens, Home Depot and Goldman saw concerted selling but most observers see equities holding current levels going into Q2/3 as tech stocks have such strong support. Afterall the 500 has gained in 14 out of the last 15 weeks, so a retrace was expected as 'weak' holders sold out.
At the bell the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 300+ after the Jan CPI report showed the rate of inflation remained above 3% last month. At mid'day the Dow was down 450 points as dealers dumped rate sensitive FAANGs. At worst prices were off 660 facing their bigest 1 day drop in 11 months.
Away from the tech space Coca Cola ($60) outperformed the broader mrkt and Warren Buffet says Coca Cola is the best thing since sliced bread. His first purchased 23m shares in 1988 at $3 a share and today after many splits and futher purchases Berkshire owns over 400m shares valued at $23bn plus today.
Jet Blue ($7•20) much in the news of late soared 17% as Carl Icahn reveals a near 10% stake and seeks board representation. TripAdvisor jumped $3 to $26 on hopes of being taken private by Liberty Media Group who have long held a controlling stake. Shopify fell 13% to $78 despite earning beats and Marriott Hotels annual profits disappointed the stock falling 7% to $233.
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Nyse data
Issues 2906
Advances 234
Decliners 2625
U/c 47
T/vol(bn) 4•3
-------
Latest :- Vix 15. Brent $83.
Gold $1991. Copper $3•696.
Palm $990. Silver $22•070.
$1•260. €1•176.
FF -10. DF -3.
Morning all.
From a low mrkt cap of c.£71m and number 580 on the all share mrkt cap ranking list as of then, MSi has made progress up the league to no 530 though at a pace too slow for some.
A mrkt cap of £200m not out of the question by any means would place MSi at no 483/617 under the current listing places. I'd wager we will be there sooner than later if any new MOD / US Navy contracts are awarded. The last contract awarded was back in Oct'23 for £15•8m.
Its worth noting some of these contracts on the order books stretch into 2028 and beyond so the flow of new orders will be somewhat restricted due to the long lead times already in the pipeline. Afterall we only have so many hands on the tiller.
Since the beginning of the year the sp has hit a 900p barrier unable to make consistent higher ground. Bit of a mystery to me as I don't believe in 'roundo'phobia' as a block to share price gains.
So if there is a reason i fail to see what it might be outside of pis thinking mrkt maker manipulation as their bete noire.
On Wall stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line 4 times before ending mixed.
The S&P and Nsdq had been poised to set new closing highs but lost impetus in the afternoon. In fact the Nsdq posted an intra-day high of 18,046 before slipping back. The Dow rose 126 to set a closing record despite Apple & Msoft losing ground.
However the euphoria around Ai catapulted Nvidia ($702) to become the 4th most valuable company by mrkt cap in America just topping Amazon & Google. Unbelievably Nvidia stock has quadrupled in the last 15 months and has gained over 17,000% in the last 10 years, by far the best return of any 500 company in history. Nvidia reports earnings next Wed for fiscal Q ending last month.
Among other notable movers Diamond Back Energy rose 7% after announcing a $26bn cash and shares transaction to buy the privately held oil and gas producer Endeavor just beating off Conoco Philips.
Nyse data
Issues 2922
Advances 2204
Decliners 633
U/c 85
T/vol(bn) 3•8
-------------
DJ +126 (38,797)
SP -5 (5022)
NS -80 (17,833)
R2 +23 (1311)
WTI $77
10ytb 4•182%
-----------
MSCI(W) u/c (3281)
Gold Bugs +3 (214)
----------------
Latest :- Vix 14. Brent $82.
Gold $2019. Copper $3•751.
Palm $950. Silver $22•790.
$1•262. €1•272.
FF +9. DF -8.
Morning all.
All Share index ranking (unofficial guide) as at 26/1/2024.
1. ANZ £163•4bn
2. SHELL £161•7bn
3. BHP £122•3bn
4. HSB £120•9bn
5. ULVR £96•2bn
530 MSi £147m
617 LMS £16m
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Most markets across Asia are closed for public holidays. In China they are celebrating the Chinese New Year (the year of the Dragon). It's a welcome break from the depressing performance of Chinese & Hong Kong stock mrkts which this year are supposed to symbolise luck, strength and ambition.
Concerns over the Chinese economy and geo political tensions in the ME weigh on mrkts. On a 52 wk basis the Shanghai Composite is down (12%) and the junior Shenzen (27%) slumping 9% last Monday after news that ex POTUS Trump threatened a renewed trade war should he win in November.
Australia's benchmark ASX200 closed down 32 at 7612 snapping a 3 day win streak and year to date is just 0•28% ahead. It was a mixed performance in Sydney, Miners were down, Oils better and some Techs were strongly up (Xero & Appen). Goldies and Banks were in demand gaining on average c.1%.
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Latest :- Vix 13. Brent $82.
Gold $2024. Copper 3•672.
Palm $947. Silver $22•885.
$1•263. €1•170. 10ytb 4•168%
FF +20. DF -5.
Morning all.
A string of positive earnings nos and optimism around Ai pushed the main indexes to record levels for the 5th straight week as upbeat earnings nos offset jitters around the 'rates' path.
Next week sees release of CPI data which may give a clearer picture of where rates are headed.
Safe haven metals have been negatively impacted by the strength of equities. However China's insatiable demand for the gold stuff is supercharging demand in the Chinese New Year as the equity and real estate mrkts experience their worst ever starts to the year on record. China's mrkt mayhem has dragged the benchmark CSI 300 equity index down 30% ytd.
The S&P waltzed past the 5000 level for the first time ever and the Nsdq ended just 26 short of a record close helped by tech heavyweights Nvidia, Msoft & Alphabet. Cloudfare became the latest company to soar on Q1 earnings beats jumping 20% to $108. With the 4Q earnings season now 66% completed more than 80% have beaten Wall's forecasts for profits.
Not all companies have been on easy street, PepsiCo ($168) lost 3% as 4Q revs fell short and Pinterest ($38) plunged 12% on disappointing nos and a weak outlook. Adding to worries the breadth of the mrkt has narrowed with fewer stocks participating in the rally led by the so-called Magnificent 7. Of the DJ top 30 only 13 companies gained yesterday.
The Mag7 have accounted for nearly 60% of the S&P gains this year. As ever more money is concentrated in a small nos of stocks it makes them vulnerable to swift declines should they disappoint.
DJ -54 (38,672)
SP +29 (5027)
NS +179 (17,962)
R2 +14 (1288)
WTI $77
10ytb 4•168%
----------
MSCI(W) +15 (3281)
Gold Bugs -2 (211)
----------------
Close :- Vix 13. Brent $82.
Gold $2024. Copper $3•686.
Palm $946. Silver $22•670.
$1•263. €1•171.
Yen 149•4. Yuan 7•12.
FF +20. DF -35.
Morning all.
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Buy interest outpaced sells in wk 6 by a ratio of 3:1 on 72,000 traded. Shares fell 30 to 860. There was no newsflow of interest to bother the scorer. The All Share is off 2% ytd and substantially lags the US which posts record nos on a weekly basis as the economy continues to defy the doomsters with 60% in work.
Wk 6
MSi
----
S/p 860
Ytd - 2%
L/yr 620
52wk(h) 935
52wk(l) 443
-----------
T/trds 91
T/vol 72,000
Buy 54,100
Sell 17,900
Buy% 75
Av trd 790
Av trd (£) 910
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Evening all.
No nos this morning as these bloody infernal ads blocking and distracting me I screwed up the daily report by pressing the wrong button which deleted everything.
You might think the board are being over cautious with our money given one can sell in the mrkt around current price.
On further consideration I see little point in tendering all or part of my shares at 95p as long as the shares stay around 80-100 level. I'm sure the board were cognisant of this pricing the offer as they have.
I'd rather stay and see how the SBU operational synergies plays out in 2024/5 on an expanded aircraft base. I think there's a very good chance the SBU will be the main driver of future revenues for GMMA as the company expect the division to break even in H1'24. I'd be willing to bet the use of helicopter ambulances emergency or otherwise will only increase in the years ahead.
As I haven't any desperate need for funds I may as well stay here than risk my money elsewhere on a chance I pick the right stock. Given my record of stock picks that's not a given by any means!
DJ +156 (38,677)
SP +41 (4995)
NS +182 (17,755)
R2 -2 (1258)
WTI $74
10ytb 4•103%
-----------
MSCI(W) +21 (3265)
Gold Bugs -2 (215)
----------------
Nyse data
Issues 2977
Advances 1424
Decliners 1508
U/c 45
T/vol(bn) 4•9
-------------
Latest :- Vix 13. Brent $80.
Gold $2032. Copper $3•757.
Palm $965. Silver $22•385.
$1•263. €1•171.
FF +6. DF +26.
Morning all.
The major indexes were rangebound for most of the day bouncing between 38,300 and 38,550 the Dow eventually closing up 141. Airlines sparked interest in the travel sector despite Boeing's 'missing' bolts, the DJ transport index added 2% on signs of strong travel demand.
Most of the interest was among healthcare as the sector scaled new record highs on back of earnings beats from major companies.
Eli Lilly ($705) initially added 3•5% after forecasting 2024 profits above estimates driven by demand for it's weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro. However after hours the stock slipped back to $701.
GE HealthCare put on $9 to $82 beating Q4 earnings expectations and slamming the shorters betting against the company. DuPont de Nemours ($66) gained 6% after announcing a $1bn share repurchase program and hiking the dividend but sales in China fell 14%.
Companies have been telling investors they are seeing growth in top line and earnings nos a good 6 to 12 months out but many remain sceptical the mrkt is too tech obsessed.
Bigest gainer of the day was Palantir Tech ($22) which shot up 26% on broker upgrades and a 20% jump in Q4 revenues. Thanx to Ai revenue boost which CEO Karp said for large language models continues to be unrelenting its forward guidance impressed investors.
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Nyse data
Issues 2911
Advances 2043
Declines 809
U/c 59
Tot/vol(bn) 4•4
-------------
Latest :- Vix 13. Brent $79.
Gold $2035. Copper $3•780.
Palm $965. Silver $22•425.
$1•260. €1•171.
FF +10. DF +16.
Morning all.
DJ-274 (38,389)
SP -16 (4943)
NS -30 (17,613)
R2 -21 (1253)
WTI $73
10ytb 4•127%
-----------
MSCI(W) -14 (3234)
Gold Bugs -4 (215)
----------------
Latest :- Vix 14. Brent $78.
Gold $2028. Copper $3•790.
Palm $965. Silver $22•515.
$1•256. €1•167.
FF +30. DF -6.
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Nyse data
Issues 2912
Advances 511
Declines 2332
U/c 69
T/vol(bn) 4•0
-------------
Treasury Sec Powell threw a bucket of cold water over eager rate cut bulls as data from the IOSM showed the services sector picked up growth in Jan as input prices rose to an 11 month high. Adding pressure US t/bills were up for the 2nd straight day to the highest level since Jan.
The S&P materials sector was the largest decliner of the 11 major sectors, only 2 gained ground, techs and energy. Co results are in from around 50% of the 500 with 80% beating forecasts albeit some say too generous coming off a poor 2021/2.
Shares in focus inc Caterpillar (higher Q profits), Estee Lauder jumped 12% on cuts to the workforce and Boeing slipped 1•2% following a new quality glitch in some 737 MAX planes. Tesla cont to be shunned by investors on broker downgrades the stock falling $8 to $180 and off 27% this year.
However Nvidia top of all broker buy lists hit another record high up $41 to $702 in anticipation of a major boost to its earnings from the Ai boom. Nvidia trades on 31x forward earnings well above its peers. Of the 64 brokers covering Nvidia only 6 have a sell note on the company.
Morning all.
I expect the board to stand at their posts ready to accept returns at 95p, a small premium to the current bid price. You could be scaled back so best offer your full holding if your minded to fold as round 2 might be adjusted downwards if the economics of the business change.
No mention what the board intend to do. I'd expect them to retain their % and possibly add. Will returned shares go into treasury or be cancelled? As of now I'm minded to sell but will await the tender offer.
Evening all.
The World Defense Show will be taking place in Riyadh Saudi Arabia on the 4th-8th Feb where its expected 770 exhibitiors, 75 countries and 850 media will be attending the event.
Japan is trading modestly higher this morning extending gains in the previous session.
The benchmark Nikkei above the 36,000 level after positive clues from Wall on Friday thanks to gains in heavyweights and financials partly off'setting weakness in tech. At close the index ended up 196 at 36,354.
Australia slipped to 7593 but ended off days lows at 7626 down 74 at the close. Losses were seen across most sectors led by miners and energy on weaker commodity prices. The cont strength in the US Labour mrkt (353,000 new jobs created) way above forecasts is negatively impacting prices as institutional investors lose faith in gold.
China and Hongkong both overdue a bounce were expected to rally off recent lows which had taken the SHCOMP down 7% during the last 5 sessions. However a small bounce in HK was not replicated in Shanghai the index struggling around the gain line heading to the close led by weakness in banks worried about thousands of empty properties with no buyers in sight.
Hong-Kong opened on a downbeat note denting risk appetite. At the noon break the Hang Seng was down at 15,510. The China State Regulatory Commission pledged to rein in wild fluctuations in the mrkt by cracking down on manipulation, vicious short selling, insider trading and fraudulent listings. How they intended to proceed was not forthcoming.
Latest:- Vix 14. Brent $78.
Gold $2028. Copper $3•831.
Palm $955. Silver $22•650.
$1•261. €1•169. 10ytb 4•072%
FF +11. DF +10.
Morning all.