Liveblog Archief maandag 26 oktober 2020

TOP NEWS
• China to impose sanctions on U.S. firms over Taiwan arms sales
China will impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense, Raytheon and other U.S. companies it says are involved in Washington's arms sales to Taiwan, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

• Fiat, PSA to win EU approval for $38 billion merger
Fiat Chrysler and PSA are set to win EU approval for their $38 billion merger to create the world's No.4 carmaker, people close to the matter said, as they strive to meet the industry's dual challenges of funding cleaner vehicles and the global pandemic.

• Oxford COVID-19 vaccine prompts immune response among adults old and young, AstraZeneca says
The COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford produces a similar immune response in both older and younger adults, and adverse responses were lower among the elderly, British drug maker AstraZeneca said.

• Trump, Biden in final full week of campaigning as virus looms large
President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are down to the final full week of campaigning before the Nov. 3 election, as surging coronavirus cases and a COVID-19 outbreak within Vice President Mike Pence's staff keep the focus of the race on the pandemic.

• Bayer to acquire Asklepios Bio in foray into gene therapy worth up to $4 billion
Bayer agreed to acquire unlisted U.S. biotech firm Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc for as much as $4 billion in a bet on gene therapy with the help of modified viruses.


BEFORE THE BELL
Wall Street futures fell, tracking global equities, as rising coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe, and a stalemate in Washington over the stimulus package hurt investor sentiment. The dollar gained against a basket of currencies, while gold prices were little changed. Oil prices were in the negative territory, pressured by Libya's increasing production. The U.S. new home sales and building permit numbers are on the economic radar.


STOCKS TO WATCH

Results
• Hasbro Inc (HAS). The company beat analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue and profit, boosted by demand for its Monopoly and other board games from stuck-at-home parents looking to keep their children entertained. The company said total revenue from all of its gaming brands including Monopoly, Scrabble and Dungeons & Dragons jumped 21% to about $543 million in the third quarter. The company's net revenue rose 12.8% to $1.78 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 27, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.75 billion. Net earnings attributable to the company rose to $220.9 million from $212.9 million a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Hasbro posted earnings of $1.88 per share, beating estimates of $1.63 per share.
• SAP SE (SAP). The company said it was going all in on its shift to cloud computing as it abandoned medium-term profitability targets and cautioned that its business would take longer than expected to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The latest shift means effectively that profit margins will languish over the next three years. Headwinds will only turn to tailwinds after that, Chief Financial Officer Luka Mucic told reporters. Cloud revenue - from subscription-based services hosted at remote data centres - is now expected to triple to 22 billion euros by 2025. That will eclipse traditional licence sales that have for decades been SAP's cash cow. Total adjusted revenue in 2025 is now forecast at 36 billion euros and adjusted operating profit at 11.5 billion - implying a margin of 31.9% that is roughly in line with SAP's third-quarter showing. In the quarter, adjusted total revenue fell by 4% while operating profit fell 12%, based on international financial reporting standards. After adjustments and at constant currency rates, profit rose by 4%.

Deals Of The Day
• Blackstone Group Inc (BX). Blackstone has reached an agreement to buy Simply Self Storage from Canada's Brookfield Asset Management for about $1.2 billion, a spokeswoman for the asset manager said late on Sunday. Blackstone's non-traded real-estate investment trust, known as BREIT, is acquiring the 8 million-square-foot portfolio of self-storage facilities, the spokeswoman said, confirming an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal. The self-storage facilities provider now operates more than 120 locations across 23 U.S. states, including Texas, Florida, New York and California, according to its website.

• Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE). Cenovus has agreed to buy rival Husky Energy in an all-stock deal valued at C$3.8 billion to create Canada's No. 3 oil and gas producer, as a pandemic-driven collapse in demand forces the industry to consolidate. Cenovus' deal for Husky is valued at C$23.6 billion, including debt, the companies said. Husky shareholders will receive 0.7845 of a Cenovus share and 0.0651 of a Cenovus share purchase warrant in exchange for each Husky common share, according to the statement. Husky's market value stood at C$3.2 billion as of Friday's close, which implies Cenovus is offering a 19.5% premium through the all-stock deal. The combined company is expected to generate annual synergies of C$1.2 billion and will operate as Cenovus Energy Inc with headquarters in Alberta. The transaction has been approved by the boards of both Cenovus and Husky and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, the companies said.

In Other News
• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA). China's Ant Group could raise up to $17.3 billion in the Shanghai leg of the likely $35 billion dual listing, the world's largest ever, after some large investors submitted bids in the range of 68-69 yuan per share, people with knowledge of the matter said. The simultaneous listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai of the Chinese financial technology giant, backed by e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, would beat the previous largest IPO, Saudi Aramco's $29.4 billion float last December. The pricing for the Shanghai tranche of the initial public offering was decided on Friday, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said on Saturday, without disclosing the price. At 69 yuan per share, Ant could raise up to 115.3 billion yuan in the Shanghai tranche, valuing the company as a whole at up to 2.1 trillion yuan, before a 15% greenshoe or over-allotment option is exercised.

• Amazon.com Inc (AMZN). A Singapore arbitration panel has put on hold Future Group's $3.38 billion asset sale to Reliance Industries, an interim win for Amazon.com which had alleged the deal between the Indian firms breached some existing agreements. Amazon received an emergency order to halt the companies from proceeding with the deal until an arbitration tribunal is formed, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. "It's a comprehensive victory for Amazon," a source with direct knowledge of the decision said. "They've won an injunction to stop the deal." Two sources familiar with the matter said that the temporary injunction was not automatically enforceable in India and that the order would have to be ratified by an Indian court.

• AstraZeneca Plc (AZN). The COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford produces a similar immune response in both older and younger adults, and adverse responses were lower among the elderly, British drug maker AstraZeneca said. "It is encouraging to see immunogenicity responses were similar between older and younger adults and that reactogenicity was lower in older adults, where the COVID-19 disease severity is higher," an AstraZeneca spokesman told Reuters. "The results further build the body of evidence for the safety and immunogenicity of AZD1222," the spokesman said, referring to the technical name of the vaccine. The Financial Times reported earlier that the vaccine, being developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, triggers protective antibodies and T-cells in older age groups - among those most at risk from the virus.

• Carlyle Group Inc (CG). Link Administration Holdings said private equity firms Carlyle and Pacific Equity Partners raised their takeover offer for the shareholder registry firm to A$2.87 billion, days after an earlier bid was turned down. The new proposal also includes an option to acquire a stake in PEXA, an online property transaction firm that Link holds a stake in, and buy Link without it for A$3.80 per share. The latest offer by Carlyle and Pacific Equity values the New South Wales-based company at A$5.40 per share, nearly 4% higher than the earlier bid, and at a 10.2% premium to Link's last close. Separately, Carlyle said it had agreed to buy a majority stake in funds network Calastone from its current owners including venture capital investor Octopus Ventures and Accel for an undisclosed sum.

• Coca-Cola Co (KO). The company’s European bottler has made a A$9.28 billion buyout approach to Australian peer Coca-Cola Amatil, a cut-price proposal that the target firm is backing due to uncertainty sparked by the coronavirus crisis. "Ultimately, when franchises become available, aligned Coke bottlers need to act," said Jefferies analysts in a note, adding CCEP would be able to strengthen Amatil's operational capabilities. "Longer term, the deal offers a platform for further consolidation in Asia." A spokesman for The Coca-Cola, which owns 31% of the Australian company and 19% of London-listed CCEP, said in an email the deal would be "in the best interests of the shareowners of both companies and of the Coca-Cola system overall".

• Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL). The U.S. Transportation Department said on Friday it had tentatively approved a proposed alliance agreement between Delta Air Lines and Canada's WestJet, which is owned by Onex, that is expected to expand travel options between the United States and Canada. The department said as part of its tentative antitrust immunity approval it would require the carriers to remove Swoop, an ultra low-cost carrier affiliate of WestJet, from the alliance, and divest 16 takeoff and landing slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The department also proposes to require WestJet to provide interline access to select carriers flying to Canada, and to review the proposed alliance in five years.

• Dunkin' Brands Group Inc (DNKN). The Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins chains owner has held preliminary discussions to be acquired by Inspire Brands, a private equity-backed restaurant company, Dunkin' said in a statement on Sunday. "There is no certainty that any agreement will be reached," said Karen Raskopf, Chief Communications Officer of Dunkin’ Brands. The deal being discussed would take Dunkin' Brands private at a price of $106.50 a share, said the New York Times which first reported the development. The announcement could be made public as soon as Monday, the New York Times said.

• Facebook Inc (FB) & Twitter Inc (TWTR). The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Friday the chief executives of Twitter and Facebook will testify before the panel on Nov. 17 over their decision to block stories that made claims about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son. The executives will testify on allegations of anti-conservative bias, the committee said. Separately, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called on Facebook to ban Islamophobic content on its platform, warning of a spike in radicalisation amongst Muslims, hours after he hit out at the French President Emmanuel Macron for "attacking Islam". Khan, in an open letter posted on Twitter on Sunday, said "growing Islamophobia" was encouraging extremism and violence worldwide, especially through social media platforms such as Facebook.

• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCAU). Fiat Chrysler and PSA are set to win EU approval for their $38 billion merger to create the world's No.4 carmaker, people close to the matter said, as they strive to meet the industry's dual challenges of funding cleaner vehicles and the global pandemic. To allay EU antitrust concerns, PSA has offered to strengthen Japanese rival Toyota Motor, with which it has a van joint venture, by ramping up production and selling it vans at close to cost price, the people said. Following feedback from rivals and customers, the carmakers only had to tweak the wording of their concessions, with no changes to the substance, the people said. The companies did not have to use the COVID-19 pandemic to argue for the merger, they added. FCA and PSA have said they hope to complete the merger in the first quarter of 2021.

• Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT), Boeing Co (BA) & Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX). China will impose sanctions on U.S. entities participating in Washington's arms sales to Taiwan, a foreign ministry spokesman said. Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense and Raytheon will be sanctioned, the spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news conference in the Chinese capital. He did not say what those sactions would entail. The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of three weapons systems to Taiwan, including sensors, missiles and artillery that could have a total value of $1.8 billion, the Pentagon said last week. China strongly condemns the sale of arms to Taiwan, said Zhao. Beijing considers Taiwan a wayward province it has vowed to bring under control, by force if necessary.

• McDonald's Corp (MCD). The company on Friday urged a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit by dozens of Black former franchise owners who accused the fast-food giant of racial discrimination for selling them underperforming stores, saying it did not want them to fail and never promised success. In a filing in the federal court in Chicago, McDonald's said its franchise agreements made clear the obligations and risks of owning restaurants, which was "fatal" to the claim it defrauded the 52 plaintiffs, who operated more than 200 stores and have been seeking as much as $1 billion in damages. McDonald's, which is based in Chicago, also said many of the plaintiffs' claims were too old, and that there was no proof it made or broke promises that would support their "expansive" claim of longstanding, companywide discrimination.

• Moderna Inc (MRNA). Qatar has signed an agreement with drugmaker Moderna to buy its potential COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is approved and released for global use, state news agency QNA quoted a health official as saying on Sunday. "Negotiating early and securing a number of agreements enhances our chances of getting sufficient quantities of the vaccine early," said Abdullatif al-Khal, chair of a national COVID-19 health group and head of infectious diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation. He did not say how many doses Doha was requesting. Earlier this month, al-Khal said Qatar signed an agreement with Pfizer and BioNTech to supply Qatar with their vaccines.


FOCUS
Microsoft quietly prepares to avoid spotlight under Biden
Microsoft, which has largely evaded Washington's scrutiny of Big Tech companies and scored a lucrative $10 billion government contract under the Trump administration, has emerged as a significant backer of the Biden campaign.


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• American Express Co (AXP) JPMorgan cuts target price to $105 from $106, following the company’s lower net revenue in third quarter and increase in its operating expense.
• Baker Hughes Co (BKR). Zephirin Group raises target price to $22 from $20, reflecting on the company’s improving EBITDA and higher profits.
• Dow Inc (DOW). JPMorgan raises target price to $47 from $45, stating the company’s lower capital expenditure and growing polyethylene business.
• Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR). RBC initiates coverage with sector perform rating and target price of $11, noting the company’s accelerating revenue growth and higher free cash flow margin.
• Sunpower Corp (SPWR). Credit Suisse raises target price to $16 from $12, citing the company’s strong EBITDA recovery and lower cost of capital.


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0800 (approx.) Building permits R number for Sep: Prior 1.553 mln
0800 (approx.) Building permits R change mm for Sep: Prior 5.2%
0830 (approx.) National Activity Index for Sep: Prior 0.79
1000 (approx.) New home sales-units for Sep: Expected 1.025 mln; Prior 1.011 mln
1000 (approx.) New home sales change mm for Sep: Expected 2.8%; Prior 4.8%
1030 Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index for Oct: Prior 13.60


COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (ARE). Expected Q3 earnings of 61 cents per share
Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF). Expected Q3 earnings of 38 cents per share
F5 Networks Inc (FFIV). Expected Q4 earnings of $2.37 per share
HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA). Expected Q3 earnings of $2.32 per share
Packaging Corp of America (PKG). Expected Q3 earnings of $1.42 per share
Principal Financial Group Inc (PFG). Expected Q3 earnings of $1.39 per share


CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 Hasbro Inc (HAS). Q3 earnings conference call
1000 HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA). Q3 earnings conference call
1000 Otis Worldwide Corp (OTIS). Q3 earnings conference call
1200 Cree Inc (CREE). Annual Shareholders Meeting
1300 Celanese Corp (CE). Q3 earnings conference call
1630 Chegg Inc (CHGG). Q3 earnings conference call
1630 F5 Networks Inc (FFIV). Q4 earnings conference call
1700 TriNet Group Inc (TNET). Q3 earnings conference call
1700 Twilio Inc (TWLO). Q3 earnings conference call


EXDIVIDENDS
Celanese Corp (CE). Amount $0.62
Fastenal Co (FAST). Amount $0.25

Goedemorgen
Deze week staan er enkele belangrijke zaken op de rol, en we zitten midden in de battle tussen Trump en Biden waar de laatste nog steeds een ruime voorsprong blijft houden via de polls. Verder geraakt de VS nog steeds niet akkoord om een steunpakket los te laten al wordt daar dagelijks over vergaderd. De markt zal daar zeker op blijven bewegen, rally's en dalingen kunnen elkaar afwisselen in een snel tempo en op onverwachte momenten.

De kwartaalcijfers komen ook verder op gang, in de VS krijgen we deze week de grote 5 met Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple en Facebook, op donderdag komen er daar 3 van nabeurs (Apple, Amazon en Facebook), vandaag Alphabet en morgen Microsoft. Zie hieronder het overzicht per dag wat betreft de cijfers voor de komende week ...

Binnen de AEX komen er ook wat grote spelers met cijfers, Shell, Heineken, KPN en KLM-Air France. Dan hebben we ook de grootste al gehad wat betreft de AEX want Unilever, Philips en ASML hebben we al achter de rug. Toch maar eens goed de AEX in de gaten houden de komende dagen want we blijven al een tijdje gevangen tussen de 540 en de 570 punten met onze index.

Verder komt de ECB nog donderdag met een beslissing over de rente en eventueel het opkopen van nog meer obligaties om de markten te steunen. We weten dat het in Europa weer slecht gaat met COVID-19 en dat veel landen stevige maatregelen aan het treffen zijn en die kunnen nog strenger worden de komende periode. Daarom even opletten met wat er allemaal zal gaan gebeuren op de korte termijn. en vooral wat men bij de ECB zal vertellen (via de persconferentie) ...

50- en 20-daags gemiddelde
Met de daling die we vanmorgen zien via de futures is de kans groot dat de indices op Wall Street meteen al rond of onder hun 20- en 50-daags gemiddelde gaan duiken. Europa doet dat al sinds vorige week, vooral de DAX ziet er slecht uit nu want de index laat het los en staat via de futures al ruim onder de 12.500 punten. We blijven letten op dat 20- en 50-MA uiteraard, ook deze week zal dat belangrijk worden. Een rebound of verder omlaag? Voorlopig zie ik nog wat kansen via Wall Street maar niks is zeker, we zitten nog met veel zaken die de markt deze week zullen blijven sturen ...

Euro, olie en goud:
De euro zien we de euro rond de 1,183 dollar uitkomen, de olie (Brent) verliest 2,5% vanmorgen tot 40,9 dollar. De prijs van het goud zien we ook vanmorgen dicht bij de 1900 dollar uitkomen per troy ounce.

US Markets Trading nu voor €39 tot 1 JANUARI 2021:
Maak gebruik van de nieuwe aanbieding die loopt tot het einde van dit beursjaar, ofwel tot 1 januari 2021 ... We hebben gisteren winst genomen op de lopende posities en staan in ieder geval voor deze maand oktober in de plus bij alle abonnementen. Ik blijf zoeken naar kansen in de markt en vrijdag werden er al wat kleine posities opgenomen voor de komende week. Die kunt u nog opnemen door lid te worden.

De markt blijft wel nog wat te moeilijk om met grotere posities te werken dus blijf ik het met kleine aantallen doen tot na de verkiezingen in de VS. De volatiliteit is wel stevig genoeg om ook met kleine posities te werken hetgeen we aan beide kanten merken. Op zich kunnen we ermee overweg maar wel blijf ik zeer alert in deze markt en moeten we waar het kan geduld blijven houden.

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 https://www.usmarkets.nl/tradershop

Tot snel,

Guy Boscart

GLOBAL TOP NEWS
Vice President Mike Pence campaigned on Sunday despite a COVID-19 outbreak among his aides and President Donald Trump claimed progress as the United States set records for daily infections, prompting Democratic challenger Joe Biden to accuse Trump of surrendering to the pandemic.

China's top leaders will chart the country's economic course for 2021-2025 at a key meeting starting on Monday, seeking to balance growth and reforms to avoid stagnation amid an uncertain global outlook and deepening tensions with the United States.

The United States has seen its highest ever number of new COVID-19 cases in the past two days, keeping the pandemic a top election issue as Vice President Mike Pence travels the country to campaign despite close aides testing positive.


EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS
SAP on Sunday cut its guidance for the year and abandoned its forecast that profitability would expand steadily over the medium term, saying coronavirus lockdowns would hit demand well into 2021.

AstraZeneca has resumed the U.S. trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine after approval by regulators, and Johnson & Johnson is preparing to resume its trial on Monday or Tuesday, the companies said on Friday.

U.S. buyout group Carlyle Group is nearing an agreement to acquire Siemens AG's mechanical drive arm Flender, for about for about 2 billion euros, Bloomberg News reported citing sources.


TODAY'S COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Acerinox SA Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Asimilar Group PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Coface SA Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Compagnie Mercosur Grecemar SA Annual Shareholders Meeting
Galp Energia SGPS SA Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Liberbank SA Q3 2020 Earnings Call
Marechale Capital PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Medios AG Annual Shareholders Meeting
Nyesa Valores Corporacion SA Annual Shareholders Meeting
SAP SE Q3 2020 Earnings Call


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All times GMT)
1430 Germany Ifo Business Climate New for October: Expected 93.0; Prior 93.4
1430 Germany Ifo Current Conditions New for October: Expected 89.8; Prior 89.2
1430 Germany Ifo Expectations New for October: Expected 96.5; Prior 97.7