Liveblog Archief donderdag 16 september 2021

TOP NEWS
• Philip Morris seals deal for UK's Vectura despite health group concerns
Cigarette maker Philip Morris clinched its 1.1 billion-pound takeover of asthma inhaler maker Vectura, winning the support of the British company's shareholders despite the concerns of health professionals.

• Amazon to more than double payroll in Spain to 25,000 by 2025
Online retail giant Amazon will more than double its payroll in Spain to 25,000 workers by 2025 from 12,000 last year, Mariangela Marseglia, Amazon's vice president and general manager for Spain and Italy, said.

• Court win for EU regulators over crackdown on $825 million Belgium tax scheme
EU competition regulators secured a big win when Europe's top court backed their crackdown on Belgium's $825-million tax scheme for Magnetrol, BP and more than 30 other multinationals.

• Ryanair lifts growth target, says no need for new Boeing order
Ryanair hiked its five-year passenger forecast, saying the delivery of an existing Boeing order and increased use of older planes would allow it to grow faster without the need for an additional large deal.

• Hong Kong COVID testing firm Prenetics to go public via $1.7 billion SPAC deal
Hong Kong-based COVID-19 testing company Prenetics will go public via a merger agreement with Artisan Acquisition, in a deal that will value the pairing at $1.7 billion.


BEFORE THE BELL
Wall Street futures were slightly lower after a strong rally in the previous session, with investors awaiting jobless claims and retail sales data later in the day for a better reading on the economic recovery. European shares were up, supported by a rebound in travel stocks. Asian equitiesended mostly in the red. A stronger dollar hurt gold prices. Oil was down as energy companies resumed recovery efforts in the U.S. Gulf Coast after Hurricane Nicholas.


STOCKS TO WATCH

Deals Of The Day
• Artisan Acquisition Corp: Hong Kong-based COVID-19 testing company Prenetics will go public via a merger agreement with Artisan Acquisition, in a deal that will value the pairing at $1.7 billion. The companies announced the deal with the transaction valuing Prenetics at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion with a combined equity value of around $1.7 billion. The biotech will be the "first unicorn from Hong Kong to be publicly listed in any market", the companies said in their statement, riding a boom in COVID-19 testing globally. The deal highlights strong investor interest in Asian biotech startups with technology that has global applications amid the pandemic. Chinese biotech companies have been rushing to raise funds in the stock market as well, encouraged by the government's push to introduce more innovative treatments.

In Other News
• Amazon.com Inc: The online retail giant will more than double its payroll in Spain to 25,000 workers by 2025 from 12,000 last year, Mariangela Marseglia, Amazon's vice president and general manager for Spain and Italy, said. She added that Amazon will raise the number of its logistics centres in the country to 40 by the end of this year from 31 now. The retail and logistics giant also said it will train 50,000 small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs to sell their products online by the end of 2025.

• AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc: The company's CEO Adam Aron said on Wednesday AMC Theatres will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments, and similarly accept other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. "Cryptocurrency enthusiasts: you likely know @AMCTheatres has announced we will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments by year-end 2021. I can confirm today that when we do so, we also expect that we similarly will accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash," Aron tweeted.

• BioNTech SE: A panel of health experts advising the Hong Kong government has recommended children aged 12-17 should get only one dose of BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine after reports of heart inflammation as a side effect. Professor Lau Yu-lung, who chairs the health committee advising the government on its vaccination programme, told public broadcaster RTHK the side effect was more prevalent than originally thought. Regulators in the United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization have said that mRNA vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer and by Moderna are associated with rare cases of myocarditis or pericarditis, but that the benefits of the shots outweigh the risks.

• Chevron Corp: Chevron Corp Chief Executive Mike Wirth said on Wednesday the company prefers to return money to its shareholders rather than use it to invest in solar and wind power projects. The two renewable sources of energy generate low financial return for stockholders, Wirth said in an interview on CNBC. Investors could use dividend payments from Chevron instead to invest directly in renewable projects, he added. "We rather dividend it back to shareholders and let them plant trees," Chevron's chief said.

• Cisco Systems Inc: The biggest maker of networking gear on Wednesday forecast that within four years, about half its revenue will come from software and other recurring sales, but its chief financial officer told Reuters high chip prices in its hardware business will keep pressuring overall profits. At an event with Wall Street analysts, Cisco said it believes the portion of its revenue coming from subscriptions will rise from 44% notched for its fiscal 2021 ended July 31 to 50% by fiscal 2025. The company gave a fiscal 2025 revenue forecast with a midpoint of $62.9 billion, saying it expects a compound annual growth rate of 5% to 7%. Cisco predicted the same growth rate for adjusted profits, targeting a midpoint of $4.07 per share in fiscal 2025.

• Electronic Arts Inc: The videogame publisher has pushed the worldwide launch of its "Battlefield 2042" by a month to Nov. 19, blaming the pandemic's impact on game developers, the videogame publisher said on Wednesday. The company said the COVID-19 pandemic had created unforeseen challenges for the game's developers in building the next generation of Battlefield, causing the delay in launch. "With the ongoing conditions not allowing that to happen safely, and with all the hard work the teams are doing from home, we feel it is important to take the extra time to deliver on the vision of Battlefield 2042 for our players," the company added. In August, the company had said it expected annual net bookings to be about $7.40 billion.

• General Motors Co: The company on Wednesday recommended that Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle owners parking in decks do so on the top floor or on an open level, at least 50 feet away from other vehicles, citing potential fire risks. The precaution would "reduce potential damage to structures and nearby vehicles in the rare event of a potential fire," a company spokesman said in an email. GM sent a notice to consumers who had asked about parking issues, he added. GM had previously asked owners to park Bolt vehicles outdoors, away from structures, and to not charge them overnight. GM also urged owners to not leave Bolt EVs charging unattended, even if using a charging station in a parking deck.

• Microsoft Corp: Former Amazon.com cloud executive Charlie Bell said he has joined Microsoft to lead a newly formed role overseeing cybersecurity operations. Bell, who will start as an executive vice president, indicated in a LinkedIn post that his role will include dealing with digital fraud, ransomware attacks and with public exposure of private data. Bell's appointment comes at a time when Microsoft has been hit hard in terms of cybersecurity shortcomings. Bell, who long reported to former Amazon Web Services chief Andy Jassy and oversaw the engineering teams working on AWS's main software services, will report directly to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, Bloomberg News said.

• Moderna Inc: New data from the company's large COVID-19 vaccine trial shows that the protection it offers wanes over time, supporting the case for booster doses, the company said in a news release on Wednesday. "This is only one estimate, but we do believe this means as you look toward the fall and winter, at minimum we expect the estimated impact of waning immunity would be 600,000 additional cases of COVID-19," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said on a conference call with investors. Hoge did not project how many of the cases would be severe, but said some would require hospitalization. The data stands in stark contrast with data from several recent studies that suggested Moderna's vaccine protection lasts longer than a similar shot from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE.

• Philip Morris International Inc. The cigarette maker clinched its 1.1 billion-pound takeover of asthma inhaler maker, winning the support of the British company's shareholders despite the concerns of health professionals. Vectura's shareholders decided to take the 165 pence-per-share offer from PMI, with nearly 75% backing the deal. PMI Chief Executive Jacek Olczak said PMI would provide Vectura's scientists with the resources and expertise to reach its goal of generating at least $1 billion in net revenue from "Beyond Nicotine" products by 2025. PMI has received regulatory clearances for the deal and following the public tender process, its offer cannot now be withdrawn. While the company received the 50% threshold to make its offer unconditional, it has not yet reached the 75% of shares it needs to delist Vectura.

• Raytheon Technologies Corp: The maker of Tomahawk missiles, will require all U.S. employees to have a COVID-19 vaccination, the company said in a Wednesday statement. The employees need to get shots by mid-December in order to meet a Jan. 1 deadline for immunization, a source familiar with policy said. "In keeping with our ongoing commitment to maintain employee health and safety, Raytheon Technologies will require its U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated to further protect employees and communities from the risks and uncertainty of COVID-19 and its variants," the statement said.

Ryanair Holdings PLC: Ryanair hiked its five-year passenger forecast, saying the delivery of an existing Boeing order and increased use of older planes would allow it to grow faster without the need for an additional large deal. Europe's largest low cost carrier last week abruptly ended talks with the U.S. planemaker over a new order of the larger 737 MAX 10 jets, worth tens of billions of dollars, due to differences over price. Ryanair now expects to fly 225 million passengers a year by 2026, up from 200 million previously. Chief Executive Michael O'Leary told Reuters it would sell fewer second-hand planes to meet that target on top of the planned delivery of 210 of Boeing's 197-seat MAX 200 model over the next five years. It may also buy current generation planes in small numbers or lease them, he added.


COLUMN
Social Security doomsayers are wrong again, but reform choices loom
The U.S. government recently released its annual report on the health of Social Security. Not surprisingly, that was met with a slew of doomsday forecasts from pundits and media.


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Beyond Meat Inc: Piper Sandler cuts target price to $95 from $120 on a weaker growth outlook.

• Cisco Systems Inc: Piper Sandler raises target price to $57 from $53, saying transformation remains ongoing at the company and are encouraged to see the 5-7% CAGR come in above its historical low-single digit growth.

• Continental Resources Inc: Keybanc raises target price to $46 from $41 to reflect higher oil prices.

• Theravance Biopharma Inc: Needham cuts rating to hold from buy after the company announced negative results from its Ph3 trial evaluating ampreloxetine in Neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension (nOH).


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 (approx.) Initial jobless claims: Expected 330,000; Prior 310,000
0830 (approx.) Jobless claims 4-week average: Prior 339,500
0830 (approx.) Continued jobless claims: Expected 2.785 mln; Prior 2.783 mln
0830 (approx.) Philly Fed Business Index for Sep: Expected 18.8; Prior 19.4
0830 (approx.) Philly Fed 6M Index for Sep: Prior 33.70
0830 (approx.) Philly Fed Capex Index for Sep: Prior 33.70
0830 (approx.) Philly Fed Employment for Sep: Prior 32.60
0830 (approx.) Philly Fed Prices Paid for Sep: Prior 71.20
0830 (approx.) Philly Fed New Orders for Sep: Prior 22.80
0830 (approx.) Retail sales mm for Aug: Expected -0.8%; Prior -1.1%
0830 (approx.) Retail sales ex-autos mm for Aug: Expected -0.001; Prior -0.4%
0830 (approx.) Retail ex gas/autos for Aug: Prior -0.7%
0830 (approx.) Retail control for Aug: Expected -0.1%; Prior -1.0%
0830 (approx.) Retail sales yoy for Aug: Prior 15.78%
1000 (approx.) Business inventories mm for July: Expected 0.5%; Prior 0.8%
1000 (approx.) Retail inventories ex-auto revised for July: Prior 0.5%


COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
No major S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report for the day.


CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0800 ePlus Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting


EX-DIVIDENDS
Advance Auto Parts Inc: Amount $1.00
Albemarle Corp: Amount $0.39
Alexander & Baldwin Inc (Hawaii): Amount $0.18
Altra Industrial Motion Corp: Amount $0.08
Avient Corp: Amount $0.21
Eagle Materials Inc: Amount $0.25
Greif Inc: Amount $0.46
Hill-Rom Holdings Inc: Amount $0.24
Huntington Bancshares Inc: Amount $0.15
Prologis Inc: Amount $0.63
Republic Bancorp Inc: Amount $0.30
Retail Opportunity Investments Corp: Amount $0.11
Steven Madden Ltd: Amount $0.15
Uniti Group Inc: Amount $0.15
World Fuel Services Corp: Amount $0.12

Op Wall Street een herstel na enkele mindere dagen, vooral de Nasdaq deed het goed door dat nu de grote 5 de weg omhoog kiezen na de recente terugval. We kunnen nog onmogelijk aangeven wat het vervolg wordt maar het lijkt er wel op dat de markt een draai maakt en dat zal na de recordreeks meerdere dagen duren voor dat die grotere klappers omlaag voorbij zullen komen. Tot nu draaien we wel maar nog voorzichtig met de toppen in zicht. De olie valt ook weer een keer op, de Brent staat nu net boven de 75 dollar en stijgt al enkele dagen na elkaar.

Update donderdag 16 september:
Nu moest Europa inleveren terwijl Wall Street na het slot hier in Europa een rally inzetten. De Dow Jones stond met de S&P 500 wel de gehele sessie in de plus, de Nasdaq begon eerst wel met een verlies maar draaide later op de avond om sterk te sluiten om een positieve sessie achter te laten. Door de opleving op Wall Street woensdag wil dat nog niet zeggen dat alles er plots weer positief uitziet, het kan ook om een herstel binnen de correctie gaan. We weten dat nu nog niet omdat de markt nog te dicht bij de top uitkomt en dat er sommige indices hun hoogste stand ooit intraday nog hebben gezet, dat zijn de AEX en de SOX index.

Voor het verdere verloop moeten we vandaag even afwachten, zo te zien staan de futures vanmorgen wat lager maar veel is het niet. Krijgen we deze keer weer een "Sell the Rally" of kunnen de indices na een hersteldag verder omhoog om nog een keer de records op te zoeken? Het blijft een lastige fase waarin we nu zitten omdat niet alles samen omlaag wil, de markt blijft met divergenties zitten tussen de sectoren.

Posities werden reeds opgenomen:
Dat ik een correctie verwacht is bekend, ik heb de afgelopen zonder al teveel risico te nemen posities op kunnen bouwen rond of dicht bij de topzone. Bij Guy Trading zitten daar wat aandelen bij. Vanaf nu kunnen we met Boosters en Turbo's ook weer LONG posities kopen op Amerikaanse aandelen die toch veel meer kansen bieden wat betreft de volatiliteit dan de aandelen binnen de AEX. Daar zal ik waar het kan zeker wat mee doen de komende tijd.

Om mee te doen met het handelen op de indexen of aandelen, wordt lid nu tot 1 november voor €35 via de aanbieding. Ga naar https://www.usmarkets.nl/trade... en schrijf u meteen in ...

Marktoverzicht:
Via het overzicht zien we dat Wall Street het goed deed woensdag maar Europa moest inleveren. Op de grafieken merken we wel dat de markt bekeken over meerdere dagen aan het draaien is al blijven de AEX en de SOX nog heel dicht bij hun top. De chipsector blijft dus sterk want bij de AEX bepaalt ASML het verloop grotendeels. De komende dagen worden dus opnieuw belangrijk, de SOX zet nu duidelijk de 3e top neer terwijl de AEX even snuffelde aan de 800 punten grens.

Dow Jones:
De Dow Jones herpakt zich weer net als maandag al bleef de Dow nog altijd onder de eerste belangrijke weerstand die we zien door het 50-daags gemiddelde rond de 35.045 punten. Later weerstand bij de oplopende steunlijn die nu al rond de 35.400 punten uitkomt. Bij een verdere stijging zien we rond de 35.500 en de 35.630 punten weerstand.

Steun zien we nu eerst rond de 34.500 punten, later rond de 34.000 en de 33.750 punten steun. Wel opletten de komende sessies, na de oplevingen zien we dat de index de winst makkelijk weer inlevert. Door de duidelijke draai omlaag komt de Dow Jones in een trend omlaag terecht, zeker door de daling onder de belangrijke steunlijn en het 50-MA.

AEX index:
De AEX wist even de 800 punten te doorbreken maar moest later op de dag terug. Een nieuw intraday record dat nu op 800,34 punten uitkomt. Even een blik op het veld boven de 800 punten dus maar dat werd voorlopig te hoog bevonden. De index verloor uiteindelijk nog 3,5 punten. De komende dagen worden belangrijk dus.

Steun nu eerst de 790 punten ofwel de bodems van de afgelopen dagen, later zien we duidelijk steun rond de 782-783 punten. Later moeten we rekening houden met de 775 punten als steun. Kijken we nog wat verder omlaag dan zien we rond de 770 punten steun, later pas rond de 765 punten (het 50-daags gemiddelde) en de 750-755 punten.

DAX index:
De DAX valt op met de oplevingen die nog steeds de neiging vertonen om de 15.810 punten op te zoeken ofwel de bekende weerstand voor de index na de daling onder dat punt vorige week. De index probeert dat wel telkens maar krijgt het steeds moeilijk om door te zetten en moet nu toch al enkele dagen na elkaar het grootste gedeelte van de winst inleveren richting het slot. De DAX lijkt nu in een fase te zitten waar de oplevingen snel worden verkocht waardoor de kans nu groot lijkt dat de index nog lager wil.

Let vooral op de 15.500-15.550 punten steun, als de DAX daar weer onder moet dan voorzie ik een snelle terugval naar minimaal 15.000 punten. De conditie verzwakt dan wel en in een slechte fase kan een index als de DAX makkelijk tot 10% verliezen vanaf de top. Weerstand nu de 15.810 punten, later de 15.925 en de top rond de 16.030 punten. Wel opletten met de samenstelling die zal veranderen vanaf maandag 20 september, de DAX gaat van 30 naar 40 bedrijven en krijgt een totaal andere weging.

Nasdaq Composite:
De Nasdaq zet woensdag wel een lagere bodem neer maar herpakt zich richting het slot. De index blijft wel nog net onder de rode lijn over de toppen vanaf april dit jaar. De draai omlaag zien we duidelijk, het is nu de vraag of de index de steunzone rond de 14.650 punten zal gaan opzoeken. Aan de andere kant moeten we altijd rekening houden met nog een aanval op de top maar dan moet de rest van de week sterk worden.

Weerstand nu eerst rond de 15.175 punten waar nu de lijn over de toppen uitkomt, later rond de 15.275 punten en de topzone rond de 15.375-15.400 punten. Na de daling onder de belangrijke steunlijn moeten we er rekening mee houden dat de Nasdaq minimaal tot het 50-daags gemiddelde terug kan en dat komt nu uit op 14.855 punten. Later verwacht ik een sterke steun door de lijn onder de bodems vanaf juni rond de 14.650 punten.

Overzicht resultaat 2021 blijft goed:
Er lopen op dit moment vanaf de topzone wat posities en dat zijn nog steeds de eerste die werden opgebouwd voor de maand september. Zorg in ieder geval voor dat u ook een mooi en gunstige momentum kunt pakken om in de markt te stappen of wordt lid zodat u de signalen ontvangt op de indexen. Na de recente rally waar er mogelijk een top werd neergezet verwacht ik een 5 tot 8% correctie die ik graag wil meepakken voor de leden.

Meedoen kan meteen als u lid wordt, de posities kunt u nog opnemen daarna want de details ziet u dan in onze Tradershop op de website. Schrijf u nu in via de nieuwe aanbieding tot 1 NOVEMBER voor €35 via de aanbieding., ga naar https://www.usmarkets.nl/trade... en doe meteen mee met de nieuwe posities ...

Met vriendelijke groet,
Guy Boscart

US Markets Trading