Liveblog Archief maandag 16 november 2020

TOP NEWS
• Moderna says its vaccine is 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19
Moderna said its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on interim data from a late-stage clinical trial, becoming the second U.S. company in a week to report results that far exceed expectations.

• Spain's BBVA to sell U.S. banking arm to PNC for $11.6 billion
Spain's BBVA is to sell its U.S. business to PNC Financial Services for $11.6 billion in cash, in one of the biggest global banking deals this year.

• Biden turns focus to U.S. economy as Trump vows more legal challenges to election
President-elect Joe Biden will focus on reviving a pandemic-battered U.S. economy as he prepares to take office, while outgoing President Donald Trump has promised more lawsuits of the type that so far have failed to alter his election defeat.

• European activist files complaints against Apple's tracking tool
A group led by privacy activist Max Schrems filed complaints on Monday with German and Spanish data protection authorities over Apple's online tracking tool, saying it breached European law by allowing iPhones to store users' data without their consent.

• 'One heck of a ride': SpaceX launches astronauts into space
Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station on Sunday, NASA's first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft.


BEFORE THE BELL
Wall Street futures were higher after Moderna said its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19, even as new restrictions to combat the pandemic were imposed in Michigan and Washington on Sunday. European and Asian equities rose, buoyed by strong economic data from China and Japan. The dollar index was little changed, while gold edged down. Oil gained as OPEC and its allies started meetings that will look at further action to support the market in 2021.


STOCKS TO WATCH

Results
• JD.com Inc (JD). Chinese e-commerce company posted a 29% jump in third-quarter revenue as online orders for groceries and other essentials stayed strong even after coronavirus-led restrictions were lifted in the world's second-largest economy. JD.com benefited from a broader shift to consumers shopping online from the comfort of their homes. Sales in its product segment, which includes online retail sales, rose 27% to 151.4 billion yuanin the quarter. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders rose to 7.56 billion yuan from 612.3 million yuan a year earlier. JD.com reported net revenue of 174.21 billion yuan in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 134.84 billion yuan last year.

• Vodafone Group PLC (VOD). The mobile operator nudged up its earnings outlook, saying it was increasingly confident after a "resilient" first half, despite the impact of COVID-19 obscuring its underlying momentum. The British company was hit by the loss of roaming revenue as international travel was curtailed by the pandemic, resulting in a 0.4% drop in group service revenue in the second quarter. Excluding roaming, service revenue grew 1.5%, the company said, helped by rises in its European contract customer base to 65 million and its broadband customers to 25.4 million, and speed-tiered unlimited data mobile plans in nine markets. Vodafone put numbers on its adjusted core earnings target for the year to end-March: 14.4 billion euros to 14.6 billion euros, compared to 14.5 billion euros for the previous year. It had previously said they would be "flat to slightly down". Analysts were forecasting 14.37 billion euros. For the six months to the end of September, Vodafone reported adjusted earnings of 7.0 billion euros, down 1.9%, on a 2.3% drop in group revenue to 21.4 billion euros.

Deals Of The Day
• PNC Financial Services Group Inc (PNC) & Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA). Spain's BBVA is to sell its U.S. business to PNC for $11.6 billion in cash, in one of the biggest global banking deals this year. PNC and BBVA had been in talks about a deal for the last few weeks, and decided to press on following the outcome of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election because they believe the regulatory environment will not change with Democrat Joe Biden as president and the Republicans likely controlling the U.S. Senate, sources told Reuters. BBVA decided to retreat from the U.S. market after its poor performance weighed on its stock, the sources said. The transaction, expected to close in mid 2021, will give BBVA an extra 300 basis points of common equity tier one ratio and a 580 million euro positive impact on its net profit, the Spanish bank said. PNC said it was expecting the deal, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, to add about 21% to it earnings in 2022.

In Other News
• Alphabet Inc (GOOGL). Google and the U.S. Justice Department have failed to reach agreement over a protective order for third parties like Microsoft that provided data to the government for its lawsuit against the search and advertising giant. Google is pressing for two in-house attorneys to have access to the confidential data while the Justice Department and state attorneys general involved in the lawsuit have disagreed, Google said in a court filing on Friday. Google stated it needed the information to prepare an effective defense. It offered to ensure that any confidential information would be made available solely to two in-house attorneys at the offices of Google's outside counsel or in another secure manner, adding that it would promptly report any disclosure. The government said in a separate filing that allowing Google's staff attorneys to review "strategic plans related to rival voice assistants, and other commercially sensitive information" was dangerous because they could misuse the information to squash potential competition.

• Apple Inc (AAPL). A group led by privacy activist Max Schrems filed complaints with German and Spanish data protection authorities over Apple's online tracking tool, saying it breached European law by allowing iPhones to store users' data without their consent. It is the first such major action against the U.S. technology group related to European Union privacy rules. Noyb's complaints were brought against Apple's use of a tracking code that is automatically generated on every iPhone when set up, the so-called Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). "Apple places codes that are comparable to a cookie in its phones without any consent by the user. This is a clear breach of European Union privacy laws," said Noyb lawyer Stefano Rossetti. Rossetti referred to the EU's e-Privacy Directive, which requires a user's prior consent to the installation and use of such information. The claims were made on behalf of an individual German and Spanish consumer and handed to the Spanish data protection authority and its counterpart in Berlin, said Noyb.

• Citigroup Inc (C). The bank said Friday it hired four bankers to work on the buying and selling of oil and gas acreage, betting the dislocation in commodity markets in 2020 will yield more land deals among energy producers. The quartet is led by Tony Fernandez, previously with boutique investment bank Intrepid Financial Partners, and also includes two hires from Jefferies Financial Group and another former Intrepid banker, according to a Citi statement. "The sector has entered into consolidation phase and the A&D activity will likely pick up in 2021 as companies seek to deleverage, the energy market stabilizes and improves, and companies seek to divest of non-core assets post consolidation," said Stephen Trauber, global head of energy at Citi.

• Equinor ASA (EQNR). The Norwegian oil major is promoting more women to its top leadership team, including the head of a new digital technology division, while cutting the group's overall number of senior executives, it said. It is the first corporate reshuffle by Chief Executive Anders Opedal, who took the helm of the state-controlled firm on Nov. 2. The new executive committee will have 11 members, down from 12 previously, while the number of women rises to five from three, addressing a frequent criticism in Norway of a lack of gender balance at the country's largest company. "The changes in the corporate executive committee team reflect a good mix of continuity and renewal, diversity and experience from across Equinor and the industry," Opedal said in a statement.

• Gulfport Energy Corp (GPOR). The natural gas explorer and producer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, becoming the latest company in the U.S. energy sector to succumb to weak crude prices as the COVID-19 pandemic crimps fuel demand. In a statement on Saturday, Gulfport said it has secured $262.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from its existing lenders under its revolving credit facility, including $105 million in new money that will be available upon court approval. As part of the restructuring plan, Gulfport said it expected to eliminate about $1.25 billion in funded debt and significantly reduce annual cash interest expense. Gulfport had interest payments on its debt due on Oct. 15, Nov. 1 and Nov. 15. Gulfport said it also received a commitment from existing lenders to provide $580 million in exit financing upon emergence from Chapter 11. As of Sept. 30, the company had total debt of about $2.5 billion, according to a filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). The drugmaker launched a new large-scale late-stage trial on Monday to test a two-dose regimen of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine and evaluate potential incremental benefits for the duration of protection with a second dose. The company plans to enrol up to 30,000 participants for the study and run it in parallel with a one-dose trial with as many as 60,000 volunteers that began in September. The UK arm of the study is aiming to recruit 6,000 participants and the rest will join from other countries with a high incidence of COVID-19 cases such as the United States, Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, the Philippines, South Africa and Spain, it said. They will be given a first dose of either a placebo or the experimental shot, currently called Ad26COV2, followed by a second dose or placebo 57 days later, said Saul Faust, a professor of paediatric immunology and infectious diseases who is co-leading the trial at University Hospital Southampton.

• Moderna Inc (MRNA). The company said its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on interim data from a late-stage clinical trial, becoming the second U.S. company in a week to report results that far exceed expectations. "We are going to have a vaccine that can stop COVID-19," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in a telephone interview. Moderna's interim analysis was based on 95 infections among trial participants who received either a placebo or the vaccine. Of those, only five infections occurred in those who received the vaccine, which is administered in two shots 28 days apart. A key advantage of Moderna's vaccine is that it does not need ultra-cold storage like Pfizer's, making it easier to distribute. Moderna expects it to be stable at standard refrigerator temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for 30 days and it can be stored for up to 6 months at -20 degrees Celsius. The data from Moderna's 30,000 participant-strong trial also showed the vaccine prevented cases of severe COVID-19, a question that still remains with the Pfizer vaccine. Of the 95 cases in Moderna's trial, 11 were severe and all 11 occurred among volunteers who got the placebo. Separately, Europe's health regulator said it had launched a real-time review of Moderna's experimental COVID-19 vaccine, following similar such reviews of rival vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer.​

• Novartis AG (NVS). Patients who had certain eye problems before they were treated with the company’s Beovu had a higher risk of suffering from vision-threatening conditions after treatment, the Swiss drugmaker said on Saturday, based on a safety review. According to Novartis's review, among 12,000 patients treated with Beovu, the highest observed risk for experiencing retinal vasculitis and/or retinal vascular occlusion in the six months after first treatment was prior intraocular inflammation and/or vascular occlusion in the 12 months before the first Beovu injection. The observed overall risk rate of 0.46% for all Beovu-treated patients increased to 3.97% in people who had the conditions before treatment, Novartis said.

• Ovintiv Inc (OVV). The company is looking to sell its Eagle Ford acreage in south-central Texas, several people familiar with the matter said on Friday, the latest debt-laden oil and gas producer to put assets on the block to raise cash during this year's coronavirus-fueled oil slump. The assets could fetch around $600 million to $700 million, one of the sources said. The divestiture plan is at an early stage, the sources said, requesting anonymity while discussing a confidential process. Ovintiv said it does not comment on questions related to potential transactions. At the end of last year, the company held 517 producing wells with total oil output of 25,300 bpd in the Eagle Ford.

• Qualcomm Inc (QCOM). The company on Friday received a license from the U.S. government to sell 4G mobile phone chips to China's Huawei Technologies, an exemption to U.S. trade restrictions imposed amid rising tensions with China. "We received a license for a number of products, which includes some 4G products," a Qualcomm spokeswoman told Reuters. The spokeswoman declined to comment on the specific 4G products Qualcomm can sell to Huawei but said they were related to mobile devices. Qualcomm has other license applications pending with the U.S. government, she said. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said the Qualcomm license would have a "limited impact" because it covers only 4G chips while consumers are shifting to newer 5G devices. Rasgon said it is still unclear whether U.S. officials will grant Qualcomm licenses for 5G smartphone chips.

• Simon Property Group Inc (SPG) & Taubman Centers Inc (TCO). Simon will cut its purchase price for an 80% stake of rival Taubman by 18%, both companies said on Sunday, as the coronavirus upends the retail industry sector. Under the revised terms, Simon will pay $2.65 billion for the 80% stake in the Taubman Realty Group (TRG), cutting its offer price to $43 per share in cash from $52.50 originally announced in February. The Taubman family will sell about one-third of its ownership interest at the transaction price, leaving them with a 20% stake in TRG, the companies added. The companies said they also have settled their pending litigation in a Michigan court over the merger and the companies expect the deal to close later this year or early next year.

• Tesla Inc (TSLA). Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Saturday he "most likely" has a moderate case of COVID-19, as he continued to question the accuracy of the tests. "Am getting wildly different results from different labs, but most likely I have a moderate case of covid. My symptoms are that of a minor cold, which is no surprise, since a coronavirus is a type of cold," Musk wrote in a tweet. He did not mention whether the results were from polymerase chain reaction tests, which are more accurate than rapid tests. "A little up & down. Feels just like a regular cold, but more body achy & cloudy head than coughing/sneezing," the Tesla CEO wrote in reply to a user asking about symptoms. Meanwhile, Musk's rocket company SpaceX launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station on Sunday, NASA's first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft.

• Uber Technologies Inc (UBER). The company is in talks to sell its autonomous driving unit, Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), to self-driving car startup Aurora, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The talks are still ongoing and there is no certainty a deal could be reached, the source said, adding that Uber is also considering taking stake in the new company if Aurora takes over ATG. Uber's ATG, which works to develop autonomous driving technology, counts Toyota and SoftBank among its investors. Earlier last year, the unit had raised $1 billion from a consortium of investors including SoftBank, that valued it at $7.25 billion. Uber and Aurora declined to comment. TechCrunch was the first to report about this deal.

• Walmart Inc (WMT) & KKR & Co Inc (KKR). Walmart is selling a majority stake in Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu to investment firm KKR and e-commerce company Rakuten for over $1 billion, after years of struggling to make money amid stiff competition. The deal, which values Seiyu at 172.5 billion yen, comes after on-off speculation about the U.S. retail giant looking to exit Japan. It is well below the 300-500 billion yen it reportedly sought a few years ago. KKR will buy 65% of Seiyu while Rakuten, which already has an online venture with the chain, will acquire a 20% stake. Walmart will retain 15%, the companies said in a joint statement. Some analysts said Walmart, while failing to make much money in Japan, had done better than other foreign retailers considering it saved money-losing Seiyu from bankruptcy by cutting costs and improving private brand sales.

• Western Union Co (WU). The company said on Friday it was suspending U.S. money transfers to Cuba in 10 days due to the Trump administration's latest sanction on the Communist-run island, in a blow to the many Cubans who rely on remittances from family abroad. "Today we informed our customers they have limited time to send money to their loved ones from the U.S. to Cuba," Western Union said in a statement. The world's largest money transfer firm said Nov. 22 was the deadline for customers to send money to Cuba while Nov. 23 was the deadline for them to pick it up.


INSIGHT
U.S. approval for 737 MAX return nears as challenges remain for Boeing
After a standoff with global regulators, management turmoil and a massive safety review, Boeing is set to win U.S. approval on Wednesday to resume flights of its grounded 737 MAX. But the largest U.S. airplane maker faces headwinds from the coronavirus and new European tariffs as it scrambles to return the best-selling jet to service.


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY). Cowen and Company raises price target to $70 from $66, highlighting its aquisition of Celgene which brings opportunities while waiting for greater visibility on its 'Opdivo' and 'Revlimid' treatment's outlook.

• Capri Holdings Ltd (CPRI). JPMorgan raises price target to $34 from $29, citing management's committment towards achieving a robust recovery with mid-single-digit historical industry growth and material bottom-line opportunity at its 'Versace' and 'Jimmy Choo' brands

• Keros Therapeutics Inc (KROS). Jefferies raises price target to $70 from $42, noting the company is due to release initial phase-2 data for its 'KER-050' treatment for Anemia, which is expected to be as effective as Acceleron's Reblozyl, in mid-2021.

• Mcafee Corp (MCFE). RBC initiates coverage with a sector perform rating and price target of $19, as consumers spend more time at home while an omnichannel approach to distribution helps the company achieve growth in the low double-digits for the next several years.

• Novanta Inc (NOVT). Berenberg initiates coverage with a hold rating and price target of $109, highlighting the company's innovation in robotics and factory automation wherein minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery could become prominent in a post-COVID-19 world.


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 NY Fed Manufacturing for Nov: Expected 13.50; Prior 10.50


COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
Tyson Foods Inc (TSN). Expected Q4 earnings of $1.19 per share


CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0800 Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW). Q1 earnings conference call
0900 Tyson Foods Inc (TSN). Q4 earnings conference call
1200 AECOM (ACM). Q4 earnings conference call
1900 IQIYI Inc (IQ). Q3 earnings conference call
2000 Ke Holdings Inc (BEKE). Q3 earnings conference call


EXDIVIDENDS
Carlisle Companies Inc (CSL). Amount $0.52
Phillips 66 (PSX). Amount $0.90
Reinsurance Group of America Inc (RGA). Amount $0.70
Vulcan Materials Co (VMC). Amount $0.34

Goedemorgen
Het ziet eruit dat we ook vandaag starten met plussen wat betreft de indices zowel in Europa als op Wall Street. Na het sterke slot van vrijdag op Wall Street zien we dat de Dow zo'n 250 punten hoger staat en de top in beeld krijgt, ook de SP 500 gaat er met 25-30 punten op vooruit terwijl de Nasdaq 100 future zo'n 80 punten in de plus staat. Ook Azië start de week hoger, de Nikkei wint rond de 500 punten, de Hang Seng index 185 punten. We komen weer in het gebied terecht waar we vorige wee maandag uitkwamen, de SP 500 boven de 3600 punten, de Dow dicht bij de 30.000 punten terwijl de DAX rond de 13.200 punten staat via de DAX future. De AEX zal net boven de 600 punten openen zo te zien, ook hier weer een test van de topzone.

Hoe de sessie verder zal verlopen moeten we afwachten, de plussen van rondom de 1% via de futures staan er al, nu maar eens zien hoe het verder zal verlopen gedurende de dag. Op zich blijft alles veel te hoog voor de tijd waar we ons in bevinden maar de markt negeert dat voorlopig zo te zien. Er blijft een donkere wolk boven de markten hangen, dat blijft hoe dan ook een feit ...

De extreme rally van de afgelopen 2 weken zorgt er in ieder geval voor dat we nog maar eens met een stevige overwaardering zitten. De grote vraag blijft hoe lang men dit alles nog kan volhouden? Kortom, de markt is weer eens op zoek naar een CRASH scenario want als alles zo snel kan oplopen dan kan het via een verkoopsignaal (en dat komt er zeker nog) dubbel zo snel weer omlaag ...

Maar goed, het vreemde aan dit alles is dat blijkbaar niemand er wat van leert en dat traders-handelaren zoals ikzelf met situaties te maken krijgen die niet herkenbaar zijn uit het verleden, het jaar 2020 was dan ook voor ons het moeilijkste ooit en wie mij al langer volgt weet dat ik al met de markt bezig ben sinds 1985 ...

We gaan het zien deze week, nog veel meer stijging verwacht ik niet meer, zeker niet als we weten dat alles in Europa nog deels stil ligt tot diep in december. Dat ze er in de VS voorlopig nog niets aan doen weken we, en dat komt door dat Trump alles open wil houden en een lockdown uitsluit zolang hij er nog zit. Maar als er niks wordt gedaan dan zal er des te meer moeten worden gedaan vanaf eind januari door de nieuwe president die het wel goed wil aanpakken. Dus wat betreft de VS moeten ze mijn inziens economisch nog een klap na krijgen begin volgend jaar en dat met torenhoge beurskoersen, u begrijpt het denk ik ook wel ...

Euro, olie en goud:
De euro zien we vanmorgen rond de 1.185 dollar, de prijs van een vat Brent olie staat nu op 43.25 dollar. Een troy ounce goud kost vanmorgen 1888 dollar.

US Markets Trading nu voor €39 tot 1 JANUARI 2021:
Maak gebruik van de aanbieding die loopt tot het einde van dit beursjaar, ofwel tot 1 januari 2021 ... Ik blijf zoeken naar kansen in de markt, we hebben strategisch al wat kleine posities open staan.

Meedoen kan nu via de speciale aanbieding tot 1 JANUARI voor €39, na uw inschrijving staat u meteen op de verzendlijst en ontvangt u de updates, de signalen en kunt u inloggen op onze Tradershop om alle posities LIVE te volgen.

Schrijf u in via de link: https://www.usmarkets.nl/tradershop

Tot later,

Guy Boscart

GLOBAL TOP NEWS
China's factory output rose faster-than-expected in October and retail sales continued to recover albeit at a slower-than-forecast pace, as the world's second-largest economy emerged from its COVID-19 slump.

President Donald Trump on Sunday briefly acknowledged losing the U.S. election in a morning Twitter post but then backtracked, saying he concedes "nothing" and vowing to keep up a court fight that election-law experts say is unlikely to succeed.

Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station on Sunday, NASA's first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft.


EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS
PNC Financial Services Group is nearing an all-cash deal to buy the U.S. business of Spanish lender BBVA for more than $10 billion, further consolidating the U.S. banking sector, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Italy's largest payments group Nexi on Sunday struck its second tie-up deal in six weeks, agreeing a 7.8 billion euros merger with Nordic rival Nets to create a major European player.

Italy's Treasury has asked financial and legal advisers to pitch for a role in the privatisation of Monte dei Paschi as it strives to secure a merger deal for the Tuscan lender, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.


TODAY'S COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Diploma PLC FY 2020 Earnings Release
European Opportunities Trust PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Ferratum Oyj Q3 2021 Earnings Call
Gruppo MutuiOnline SpA Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Interpump Group SpA Shareholders Meeting
Princess Private Equity Holding Ltd Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Ren Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS SA Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Shelf Drilling Ltd Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Smiths Group PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Sonova Holding AG HY 2021 Earnings Call
Trigano SA FY 2020 Earnings Release
Victoria PLC Shareholders Meeting
Vodafone Group PLC HY 2021 Earnings Call
Zinc Media Group PLC Shareholders Meeting


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All times GMT)
0900 (approx.) Italy CPI Excl Tobacco for Oct: Prior 101.9
0900 (approx.) Italy CPI Excl Tobacco m/m for Oct: Prior -0.6%
0900 (approx.) Italy Consumer Prices Final mm for Oct: Expected 0.2%; Prior 0.2%
0900 (approx.) Italy Consumer Prices Final yy for Oct: Expected -0.3%; Prior -0.3%
0900 (approx.) Italy CPI (EU Norm) Final mm for Oct: Expected 0.6%; Prior 0.6%
0900 (approx.) Italy CPI (EU Norm) Final yy for Oct: Expected -0.6%; Prior -0.6%