Liveblog Archief maandag 10 augustus 2020

OP NEWS
• Microsoft faces complex technical challenges in TikTok carveout
Microsoft bid to carve out parts of TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance will be a technically complex endeavor that could test the patience of President Donald Trump's administration, according to sources familiar with the setup.
• Pelosi, Mnuchin open door to narrower COVID-19 aid through 2020
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said they were open to restarting COVID-19 aid talks, after weeks of failed negotiations prompted President Donald Trump to take executive actions that Democrats argued would do little to ease Americans' financial distress.​
• PREVIEW-Top U.S. mall operator Simon faces pandemic pain
Surging COVID-19 infections in big states like California, Texas and Florida are scaring shoppers away from newly reopened malls, dealing a blow to an industry that was on the ropes even before the pandemic began.
• Coronavirus punishes Warren Buffett, as Berkshire Hathaway takes big writedown
Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday announced a $9.8 billion writedown and 10,000 job losses at its Precision Castparts aircraft parts unit, as the coronavirus pandemic caused widespread pain at Warren Buffett's conglomerate.
• Roper Technologies in $5.5 billion bid for Vertafore -sources
Roper Technologies, a U.S. provider of software to several industries, is in talks to acquire private equity-owned insurance software vendor Vertafore Inc for close to $5.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.


BEFORE THE BELL
Major U.S. stock index futures edged higher as investors looked to executive orders from President Donald Trump over the weekend to support the economy. European equities were in the green after shares of energy majors rose as crude prices gained, buoyed by hopes of rising demand. Asian shares ended mostly higher, supported by an improvement in Chinese factory data. The dollar index was up as U.S.-China tensions escalated, while spot gold prices dipped. Occidental Petroleum and Simon Property report their earnings after the closing bell.​


STOCKS TO WATCH
Results
• Barrick Gold Corp (GOLD). The Canadian miner beat estimates for quarterly profit, benefiting from a rise in demand for the safe-haven metal driven by uncertainty about the global economy. Barrick said it realized an average gold price of $1,725 per ounce in the quarter, a 31% jump from a year earlier. The company's adjusted profit rose to $415 million, or 23 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $154 million, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting the company to report a profit of 19 cents per share.​
• Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa). The company on Saturday announced a $9.8 billion writedown and 10,000 job losses at its Precision Castparts aircraft parts unit, as the coronavirus pandemic caused widespread pain at Warren Buffett's conglomerate. Despite the writedown, Berkshire said second-quarter net income surged 87% because of gains in stock investments such as Apple as markets rebounded. Operating profit fell 10%, cushioned by a temporary bump at the Geico auto insurer, as the pandemic caused "relatively minor to severe" damage to most of Berkshire's more than 90 operating businesses. Second-quarter operating profit fell to $5.53 billion, or about $3,463 per Class A share, from $6.14 billion, or $3,757 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 11% to $56.8 billion, despite gains in some businesses including Duracell batteries, which rose 16%.


In Other News
• Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) & Simon Property Group Inc (SPG). The mall operator has been in talks with Amazon.com about turning some of its department-store sites into Amazon fulfillment centers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The two companies have explored converting retail space formerly occupied by J.C. Penney and Sears into Amazon distribution centers, while in some cases, Simon and Amazon explored buying out occupied space from the retailers, the report said, citing sources.
• Barclays Plc (BCS). The company is being probed by the United Kingdom's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), over allegations that the British bank spied on its staff, the agency said on Sunday. Earlier this year, Barclays said it was changing a system that the bank was piloting, which tracked how employees spent their time at work, after critical media reports accused the bank of spying on its staff. "People expect that they can keep their personal lives private and that they are also entitled to a degree of privacy in the workplace," an ICO spokesman said.​
• CoreLogic Inc (CLGX). The company said on Sunday that it has called a special meeting of shareholders on Nov 17 to vote to replace up to nine of the company's directors with nominees identified by Senator Investment Group LP and Cannae Holdings Inc. The company's investors said in July that they would seek to replace nine of the company's directors after it quashed their $7 billion takeover bid.
• Eastman Kodak Co (KODK). The company's $765 million loan agreement with the U.S. government to produce pharmaceutical ingredients has been put on hold due to "recent allegations of wrongdoing," the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC) said. Earlier this week, senior Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to investigate securities transactions made by the company and its executives around the time it learned it could receive the government loan. "Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns," DFC said. "We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared," the DFC said. It was referring to a letter of interest it signed on July 28 with Kodak.
• General Dynamics Corp (GD). Bath Iron Works, a unit of General Dynamics, and a union reached an agreement to end a strike by shipyard workers in Bath, Maine, the defense contractor and the union said on Saturday. About 4,300 workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local S6 have been on strike since June 22, General Dynamics said. A local media report suggested that the dispute was centered on subcontractors, seniority and work rules rather than on wages and benefits, with the proposed contract giving shipbuilders annual wage increases of 3% over three years.
• Microsoft Corp (MSFT). The company's bid to carve out parts of TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance will be a technically complex endeavor that could test the patience of President Donald Trump's administration, according to sources familiar with the setup. Trump has given Microsoft until Sept. 15 to put together a blueprint for an acquisition that safeguards the personal data of Americans stored on the short-video app, and he has issued an order to ban it if there is no deal by then. Microsoft is negotiating a transition period that will give it time to ringfence TikTok technologically from ByteDance after they agree to a deal, Reuters reported on Aug. 2.​
• Roper Technologies Inc (ROP). The company is in talks to acquire private equity-owned insurance software vendor Vertafore for close to $5.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The deal would be Roper's largest acquisition to date. It would signal that the highly acquisitive company has not given up on its expansion plans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused some of its customers to review their spending plans.
• Twitter Inc (TWTR). The company has approached TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to express interest in acquiring the U.S. operations of the video-sharing app, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as experts raised doubts over Twitter's ability to put together financing for a potential deal. It is far from certain that Twitter would be able to outbid Microsoft and complete such a transformative deal in the 45 days that U.S. President Donald Trump has given ByteDance to agree to a sale, the sources said on Saturday.
• United Parcel Service Inc (UPS). The company plans to impose big fees on large shippers sending significantly more packages through its system during the holiday season amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new fee schedule released on Friday. UPS said the new fees could total as much as $3 a package for ground shipments and other lower-priced shipping options and up to $4 a package for air shipments bound for residences. UPS said the surcharges will apply from mid-November until mid-January and are designed to apply only to customers who ship more than 25,000 packages a week. The charges escalate as customers send 110%, 200% and 300% more shipments than their average weekly shipping volume in February.


GRAPHIC
Oil giants' production cuts come to 1 million bpd as they post massive writedowns
The world's five largest oil companies collectively cut the value of their assets by nearly $50 billion in the second quarter, and slashed production rates as the coronavirus pandemic caused a drastic fall in fuel prices and demand.


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AAOI). JPMorgan raises target price to $14 from $9, after the company's second-quarter revenue beat expectations, led by improving demand trends in data center and telecom.
• Dish Network Corp (DISH). Cowen and Company raises target price to $58 from $55, after the company's second-quarter results beat estimates, and delivered strong free cash flow.
• KB Home (KBH). Barclays raises target price to $39 from $34, after the company provided an intraquarter update last week.
• Lyft Inc (LYFT). Jefferies cuts target price to $40 from $50, saying recovery in ridehailing services is progressing slower than expected.
• Tripadvisor Inc (TRIP). Jefferies raises target price to $16 from $13, reflecting on the company's better than expected second-quarter results, and citing improvements in traffic and revenue in July. ​


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
1000 (approx.) Employment Trends for Jul: Prior 49.00
1000 JOLTS job openings for Jun: Prior 5.397 mln​


COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY). Expected Q2 loss of $1.68 per share
PPL Corp (PPL). Expected Q2 earnings of 55 cents per share
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL). Expected Q2 loss of $4.82 per share
Simon Property Group Inc (SPG). Expected Q2 earnings of 98 cents per share​


CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0800 Douyu International Holdings Ltd (DOYU). Q2 earnings conference call
0830 Black Knight Inc (BKI). Q2 earnings conference call
0830 Marriott International Inc (MAR). Q2 earnings conference call
0830 Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc (RETA). Q2 earnings conference call
0830 Schrodinger Inc (SDGR). Q2 earnings conference call
0900 ON Semiconductor Corp (ON). Q2 earnings conference call
1000 Duke Energy Corp (DUK). Q2 earnings conference call
1000 Liberty Media Corp (FWONA). Q2 earnings conference call
1000 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL). Q2 earnings conference call
1100 PPL Corp (PPL). Q2 earnings conference call
1115 Gci Liberty Inc (GLIBA). Q2 earnings conference call
1115 Liberty Broadband Corp (LBRDA). Q2 earnings conference call
1630 Novavax Inc (NVAX). Q2 earnings conference call
1630 ZoomInfo Technologies Inc (ZI). Q2 earnings conference call
1700 Qualys Inc (QLYS). Q2 earnings conference call
1700 Simon Property Group Inc (SPG). Q2 earnings conference call
1700 Sunrun Inc (RUN). Q2 earnings conference call
1730 Qurate Retail Inc (QRTEA). Q2 earnings conference call


EXDIVIDENDS
Carlyle Group Inc (CG). Amount $0.25
Constellation Brands Inc (STZ). Amount $0.75
Constellation Brands Inc (STZb). Amount $0.68
Equitable Holdings Inc (EQH). Amount $0.17
HanesBrands Inc (HBI). Amount $0.15
Paccar Inc (PCAR). Amount $0.32
Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS). Amount $0.50

Goedemorgen
Na een onderbreking van een paar weken ben ik weer terug op mijn vertrouwde plek, niet dat er veel van werd gemerkt want ik ga altijd door met het handel en volgen van de beurs, maak elke dag mijn updates op de site maar even vanaf een andere omgeving en dat is soms eens nodig. Het is hier zelfs warmer dan in Frankrijk, ook dat krijgen we tegenwoordig elk jaar, temperaturen ruim boven de 30 graden.

Vandaag maar even kijken of de beurzen het ook warm gaan krijgen na de solo actie van Trump die zaterdag plots eenzijdig voor sinterklaas wou spelen, hij wil met geld strooien om de economie te stimuleren, waar hij het vandaan zal halen is voor velen nog een vraag en of het volgens de regels is moet ook nog blijken. De markt weet het blijkbaar ook niet want de futures begonnen twijfelachtig toen ze in de loop van de nacht opstarten. Het is wel maandag en de afgelopen keren pakt dat uit met een hogere start van de week, later op de dag kwam er dan vaak een reactie omlaag. Opvallend is dat de Nasdaq niet echt sterk wil opstarten, vrijdag hebben we ook al gezien dat de Nasdaq het wat moeilijker kreeg met een stevige terugval intraday. Daar zitten ook de bedrijven die het meest overgewaardeerd zijn uiteraard.

Wat ik verder van de markt moet denken is nog maar de vraag, er is 1 ding zeker, we komen zo elke dag een stap dichter bij de top, dichter bij het moment dat men inziet dat de markt veel te duur is met de economie waar we nu mee te maken hebben. En let op, dat is zo voor wat betreft Wall Street, Europa niet in deze mate, we staan hier mijn inziens ook wat te hoog maar veel minder overspannen dat hoe het er op Wall Street uitziet op dit ogenblik. Laten we niet vergeten dat de economie er echt veel slechter voor staat dan voor we te maken kregen met de situatie waar we ons nu in bevinden en die zoals het er nu naar uit ziet nog niet van zijn verlost. Dat de beurzen zo makkelijk, en dan nogmaals vooral Wall Street met deze waarderingen, het nog zo goed doen blijft een groot vraagteken en zit ik met de gedachte van hoe dat zal eindigen. Een 2e grote CRASH dit jaar is iets waar we rekening mee moeten houden want op een gegeven moment zijn deze waarderingen niet meer te houden. En de verkiezingen in de VS komen er ook nog een keer aan, als Biden het wint van Trump is de kans groot dat er heel wat gaat veranderen in de VS wat betreft belastingen, gretigheid en vooral Wall Street dat bulkt van het geld wat eigenlijk voor een groot deel naar Main Street moet.

Ja het klinkt allemaal negatief wat ik schrijf, maar ik niet anders, ik kan niet iets schrijven waar ik niet achter sta. Ik heb ervaring genoeg om te weten dat zo'n fase 99% van de keren totaal verkeerd af zal lopen. We zitten in een fase die zelfs erger is dan die tijdens de tech-bubbel van 1999-2000 en die was al zeer ernstig, de Nasdaq verloor toen vanaf de TOP 80% van de waarde.

Europa zal vandaag ook wat hoger starten, niet overdreven veel zo te zien via de futures maar toch zal de AEX 2 tot 3 punten hoger openen. De DAX rond de 50-60 punten met de standen rond 08:00. Europa doet zoals ik het al aangaf niet zo voortvarend, we blijven hier wat hangen met de AEX tussen de 550 en 560 punten, de DAX tussen de 12.500 en 12.750 punten, niet meer de standen van pakweg 3 weken geleden die toen rond de 580 en de 12.300 uitkwamen. Op zich zien de grafieken er negatief uit voor wat betreft de AEX en de DAX, ook zien we dat het deels door de euro komt die veel duurder werd de afgelopen weken. Dat is ook te zien aan de vlucht richting de edelmetalen zoals goud en zilver, het is niet zomaar dat beleggers weer naar die veilige plaatsen kijken.

Zelf neem ik mijn tijd, zoek ik naar kansen, waar het kan zal ik handelen met nog steeds kleine posities door de volatiliteit die hoog blijft. Mogelijk neem ik in de loop van de dag, of morgen er nog een positie bij, wat aandelen of nog een index of zelfs de euro en wie weet het goud. Die laatste bij Guy Trading wel te verstaan, indexen bij Systeem Trading en Index Trading. Om mee te doen kunt u zich inschrijven via de site en via de aanbieding tot 1 oktober voor €39 ... Dan kunt u nog de posities die nu al lopen opnemen (scheelt nog niet veel met onze instap van afgelopen woensdag) en kunt u mee met de nieuwe posities. Schrijf u dus meteen in via de link https://www.usmarkets.nl/tradershop ...

Tot straks ... Guy Boscart

GLOBAL TOP NEWS
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said they were open to restarting COVID-19 aid talks, after weeks of failed negotiations prompted President Donald Trump to take executive actions that Democrats argued would do little to ease Americans' financial distress.

China's factory deflation eased in July, driven by a rise in global oil prices and as industrial activity climbed back towards pre-coronavirus levels, adding to signs of recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

Twitter has approached TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to express interest in acquiring the U.S. operations of the video-sharing app, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as experts raised doubts over Twitter's ability to put together financing for a potential deal.


EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS
Thousands of British Airways staff will be sent letters telling them they have lost their jobs on Friday, as the airline pushes ahead with a plan to cut employee numbers by 29% in the face of bitter opposition from unions.

Nokia's new chief executive Pekka Lundmark said he will take time to re-acquaint himself with the Finnish telecom equipment maker as he works toward setting a strategy, as the company jostles for position in the highly political 5G race.

Britain's Hikma Pharmaceuticals said on Friday it has started manufacturing Gilead's antiviral drug remdesivir under contract in Portugal, as the U.S. company outsources to increase availability of the COVID-19 treatment.​


TODAY'S COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENTS
alstria office REIT AG Q2 2020 Earnings Release
Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Bezant Resources PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Capital & Counties Properties PLC Shareholders Meeting
ContourGlobal PLC HY 2020 Earnings Call
GB Group PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Genomic Vision SA Annual Shareholders Meeting
iEnergizer Ltd Annual Shareholders Meeting
LiqTech International Inc Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Mining Minerals & Metals PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Personal Assets Trust PLC Shareholders Meeting
Petropavlovsk PLC Shareholders Meeting
Proven Growth and Income Vct PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Proven Vct PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
QSC AG Q2 2020 Earnings Call


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All times GMT)
0545 Switzerland Unemployment Rate Unadjusted for Jul: Prior 3.2%
0545 Switzerland Unemployment Rate Adjusted for Jul: Prior 3.3%
0730 Sweden Household Consumption yy for Jun: Prior -9.7%
0730 Sweden Household Consumption mm for Jun: Prior 1.2%
0830 (approx.) Euro Zone Sentix Index for Aug: Expected -15.1; Prior -18.2
2301 United Kingdom BRC Retail Sales yy for Jul: Prior 10.9%