Liveblog Archief vrijdag 18 september 2020

TOP NEWS
• Second UK lockdown? COVID hospital admissions double every eight days
Britain's health minister said that the novel coronavirus was accelerating across the country, with hospital admissions doubling every eight days, but refused to say if another national lockdown would be imposed next month.
• Caixabank strikes $5 billion Bankia deal as more European bank mergers loom
Caixabank has agreed to buy Bankia for 4.3 billion euros in an all-share deal that creates Spain's biggest domestic lender and signals a pick up in mergers among Europe's banks as they battle the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Covestro denies it is in takeover talks with Apollo
German plastics maker Covestro rejected a report that it was in takeover talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
• Jack Ma's Ant Group wins Shanghai OK for launch of giant dual IPO
China's Ant Group has received approval from the Shanghai Stock Exchange for a domestic initial public offering, the bourse said, bringing the financial technology firm closer to a dual-listing expected to be worth up to $30 billion.
• Unity sells shares in $1.3 billion U.S. IPO above target range
Unity Software on Thursday sold shares in its New York initial public offering (IPO) above its target range to raise $1.3 billion, the company said.​


BEFORE THE BELL
Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 index rose as a two-day sell-off in technology-related stocks halted, while worries about rising coronavirus cases and a patchy economic recovery weighed on the S&P 500 and the Dow futures. Travel and bank stocks weighed on major European indexes. China stocks staged a strong finish, led by heavyweight financials, while Japanese shares inched higher. The dollar extended overnight losses. Gold prices gained on lingering concerns over an economic recovery. Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia pressed allies to stick to production quotas.​


STOCKS TO WATCH
IPOs
• Unity Software Inc (U). The company said on Thursday it sold shares in its New York initial public offering (IPO) above its target range to raise $1.3 billion. Unity, which develops software used to design video games, sold 25 million shares at $52 apiece, the company said, confirming an earlier Reuters report. This was above the $44-$48 per share price range which the company on Monday revised upwards from its initial target of $34-$42 per share. The IPO values Unity at $13.7 billion. Unity is due to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the symbol "U".

Deals Of The Day
• Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC). Ericsson has agreed to buy U.S.-based wireless networking company Cradlepoint in a $1.1 billion deal, the Swedish telecoms gear maker said, as part of plans to expand its 5G-related products for business customers. The deal, Ericsson's largest in more than a decade, would give it access to tools that can connect devices using the so-called Internet of Things over a 4G or a 5G network. Ericsson plans to sell Cradlepoint products to its mobile operator customers, who can create new revenue streams by selling it to their business clients. The transaction, which is expected to close before the end of this year, will dent Ericsson's operating margins by about 1% in 2021 and 2022. The company expects the takeover to start contributing to operating cash flow from 2022. Ericsson said its 2022 group financial targets remain unchanged.

In Other News
• Alphabet Inc (GOOGL). Google removed the mobile app of SoftBank and Alibaba backed Indian fintech firm Paytm from its Android store over violations of its gambling policy. "We don't allow online casinos or support any unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting," the U.S. tech company said in a blog post. The blog post did not name Paytm, but Google separately confirmed the removal for policy violations.
• Apollo Global Management Inc (APO). German plastics maker Covestro rejected a report that it was in takeover talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Shares in the blue-chip company were trading up in pre-market trade following a Bloomberg report that Apollo was exploring a takeover.
• Apple Inc (AAPL). The iPhone maker will launch its first online store in India on Sept. 23, the company said, coinciding with the country's holiday season that brings some of the biggest sales for retailers every year. Through its online retail platform, Apple plans to offer assistance to customers in English and Hindi, while allowing users to personalise some devices, including iPads, with engravings, it said. The website will also allow Mac customers to configure their laptops according to their needs.
• Chevron Corp (CVX). The company confirmed it will be cutting jobs in Australia, part of a worldwide cull of up to 15% of its 45,000 employees, which it flagged in May. Australia will be hit harder than other locations, with around 20% to 30% of its staff to go, a person familiar with the situation said. Upcoming cuts involve 410 workers.
• Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL). The company has reached a tentative agreement with the negotiating committee of its pilots' union to reduce the number of furloughs by 220, bringing the new total number of job reductions to 1,721, according to a memo to pilots seen by Reuters. The agreement must still go through the pilot union's review process, but is "a positive step toward reducing pilot furloughs," Delta's head of flight operations John Laughter said in the memo.
• Facebook Inc (FB). The company on Thursday said it would update its internal discussion policies to impose restrictions on employees' ability to debate social and political issues. The company's spokesman, Joe Osborne, said Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg outlined his plans for the curbs to employees, with details of the new rules to be announced next week. Osborne said the new rules would apply to employee discussions of how executives handle politically sensitive content on Facebook's platforms, which was the subject of intense internal debates this summer.
• GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) & Sanofi SA (SNY). The European Union has agreed an advance purchase agreement with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline to buy the companies' potential COVID-19 vaccine, according to a tweet from European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. The agreement is the second such deal struck by the European Union. Kyriakides said she was hosting the signature of the contract. The deal, for all 27 EU countries, covers the purchase of 300 million doses. In return for the right to the doses, the European Commission will finance part of the upfront costs faced by vaccine producers. The vaccine doses themselves would be bought by EU countries.
• Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY). The company said it had been forced to cut its capacity in October and that it may have to do the same for the rest of the winter unless European Union governments ease their COVID-19 travel restrictions. The budget airline, whose Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary last week described the winter as a "write-off", said it would fly around 40% of the capacity it flew last October, down from an earlier plan of 50%.
• Tesla Inc (TSLA). The U.S. electric carmaker won its case against a former employee, who was fired for hacking and transferring company data to third parties, according to court documents filed on Thursday. Tesla had filed a lawsuit against Martin Tripp, who formerly worked at the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada, in 2018 claiming that he had admitted to writing software that hacked the carmaker's manufacturing operating system, transferring several gigabytes of its data to third parties and making false claims to the media.
• Unilever PLC (UL). Shareholders of Unilever in the Netherlands are expected to back plans to unify the consumer goods giant under a single parent company based in London and end 90 years as an Anglo-Dutch hybrid. The result of an online vote will be released on Monday during an extraordinary shareholders' meeting streamed online due to the coronavirus, with investors in British Unilever Plc due to vote on Oct. 12. If approved by both sides, Unilever hopes to unify on Nov. 22.
• United Parcel Service Inc (UPS). The company said on Thursday it was offering buyouts to some employees, as Chief Executive Carol Tomé aims to curb costs at the delivery firm. The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported workers would leave in two phases - by the end of 2020 and mid-2021. UPS said last week it would hire more than 100,000 workers for the winter holiday season, as delivery networks are taxed by pandemic-fueled online shopping.


INSIGHT
What are the Fed's new hurdles for rate hikes? Only the Fed knows
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday effectively established a three-part test that must be met before it will raise interest rates: the economy must be at "maximum employment," inflation must have "risen to 2 percent" and it must be "on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time." It may be years before the economy reaches any of those hurdles, let alone all three, fresh forecasts released by the Fed on Wednesday suggest. Most policymakers see inflation only reaching 2% by 2023, with unemployment still above pre-crisis levels. Even so, questions are already swirling about what the hurdles will mean in practice.​


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Beyond Meat Inc (BYND). JPMorgan cuts rating to underweight from neutral, stating outperformance of the company’s shares outperformance is “above and beyond.”
• Intuit Inc (INTU). Piper Sandler initiates coverage with overweight rating, saying the company’s differentiated product offering, large customer base, proprietary tech stack, and relentless innovation and customer focus will enable the firm to continue delivering superior revenue growth and margin expansion.
• Metlife Inc (MET). Evercore ISI raises target price to $43 from $41, factoring the company’s deal with a leading vision insurer, Versant Health and intention to resume share repurchase.
• PG&E Corp (PCG). JPMorgan raises target price to $12 from $11, saying the company offers attractive regulated growth at a deep discount to peers.
• Tesla Inc (TSLA). Wedbush raises target price to $475 from $380, to reflect a higher unit delivery trajectory and the new share count after the recent stock split.​


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 Current account for Q2: Expected -$157.9 bln; Prior -$104.2 bln
1000 (approx.) Leading index change mm for Aug: Expected 1.3%; Prior 1.4%
1000 U Mich Sentiment preliminary for Sep: Expected 75.0; Prior 74.1
1000 U Mich Conditions preliminary for Sep: Expected 83.9; Prior 82.9
1000 U Mich Expectations preliminary for Sep: Expected 67.8; Prior 68.5
1000 (approx.) U Mich 1 year inflation preliminary for Sep: Prior 3.1%
1000 (approx.) U Mich 5-year inflation preliminary for Sep: Prior 2.7%

Goedemorgen
De Dow Jones verloor na eerder veel dieper in het rood te hebben gestaan uiteindelijk 130 punten (0,5%) terwijl de SP 500 met 0,8% omlaag moest. De Nasdaq lag opnieuw het meest onder druk met een verlies van 140 punten (1,3%) om op 10.910 punten te sluiten. De Nasdaq deed deze week wel duidelijk een poging om te herstellen maar geraakte niet verder dan tot rond de 11.250 punten, vorige week hebben we iets gelijkaardigs gezien want ook toen kwam de Nasdaq tot dat punt met herstel. Zitten we een tijdje met een zijwaarts verloop nu?

De bodem lijkt ook vast te liggen rond de 10.750 punten, vorige week werd dat niveau getest en gisteren (dus deze week) ook weer. Het is wel een brede range van 500 punten waar de index snel tussen lijkt te bewegen. De volgende stap zal er een worden onder of boven de range, dus ofwel tot onder de 10.750 ofwel boven de 11.250 punten. Wat er nu wel belangrijk is, de index sloot duidelijk onder het 50-daags gemiddelde en dat is geen goed signaal, we bekijken het vervolg ....

De grote techfondsen zoals Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Tesla, Facebook en Nvidia en Alphabet blijven het verloop van de Nasdaq uiteraard bepalen en wanneer die een slechte of sterke dag hebben dan zien we dat meteen aan het verloop op Wall Street. Deze aandelen behalve Tesla wegen ook zwaar mee binnen de SP 500 index. Verder zien we veel sector rotatie op Wall Street en deels ook rotatie richting andere regio's want we zien duidelijk dat de DAX en andere indices hier in Europa worden opgepakt door de Amerikanen. De komende weken en vooral richting de verkiezingen in de VS zullen de markten volatiel blijven en zal men blijven zoeken naar meer veiligheid waar men dan parkeert ...

Dan het vaccin, er blijft veel onduidelijkheid daaromtrent want de CDC directeur zei dat er rond het einde van het jaar op zeer beperkte schaal mogelijk wat voorradig zou zijn maar Trump maakt de man meteen af als verward en niet op de hoogte. Trump zegt dat het over 4 tot 5 weken beschikbaar zal zijn voor vrijwel iedereen. Een beetje vreemd want iedere viroloog, iedere wetenschapper en vooral ook hoog geplaatste gezondheid deskundigen kwalificeren deze uitspraak als lariekoek. Hoe zou hij dat voor elkaar krijgen? Het lijkt meer en meer op een verkiezingsstunt van Trump.

Nog wat opvallende zaken, de euro staat vanmorgen rond de 1,185 dollar, een vat Brent kost vanmorgen 43,6 dollar en het goud komt rond de 1960 dollar.

Wat kunnen we doen wat betreft nieuwe posities:
Gisteren, donderdag, werden de posities met een mooie winst gesloten zodat we deze maand een goeie maand doormaken. En er komen snel weer nieuwe mogelijkheden die ik zal aangrijpen een dezer dagen. Men kan meteen mee met de nieuwe posities door lid te worden, er loopt nu een nieuwe aanbieding voor €39 tot 1 DECEMBER ...

Lid worden kan via de aanbieding die loopt tot 1 DECEMBER, lid worden kan nu voor €39, een proefabonnement. Om u in te schrijven ga naar https://www.usmarkets.nl/tradershop en dan staat u meteen op de lijst.

Verder zijn we de maand september goed begonnen, zie hieronder de tabel met het resultaat van de gesloten posities .... Systeem Trading staat nu al op €1202 winst terwijl we met Guy Trading op €1864 winst uitkomen. We gaan nog wat posities opnemen de komende tijd, ik denk vooral aan maandag na een opleving (rebound) of wie weet zelfs in de loop van vandaag.

Tot later ... Guy

GLOBAL TOP NEWS
The European Union's Brexit negotiator Barnier told the bloc's 27 national envoys to Brussels that he still thinks a trade deal with Britain is possible despite a new crisis in the tortuous four-year saga, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked controversial changes to the United States postal service, saying they were "a politically motivated attack" that had slowed the nation's mail and likely would slow the delivery of ballots in the upcoming presidential election.

China's ByteDance is planning a U.S. initial public offering of TikTok Global, the new company that will operate the popular short video app, should its proposed deal be cleared by the U.S. government, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.​


EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS
Enel has received a bid from Macquarie for its stake in Open Fiber valuing the group at more than 7 billion euros, signaling strong interest from big funds for Rome's plans for a national broadband network.

Caixabank and Bankia on Thursday approved the terms of a proposed merger that will create Spain's biggest domestic bank with around 600 billion euros in assets, two sources familiar with the matter said.

LVMH tried on Thursday to block an attempt by Tiffany to fast-track legal proceedings in the United States to force the French luxury group to honour an acquisition deal agreed last year.​


TODAY'S COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Accsys Technologies PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Aevis Victoria SA HY 2020 Earnings Call
B&M European Value Retail SA Annual Shareholders Meeting
Eurasia Mining PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Figeac Aero SARL Annual Shareholders Meeting
Financiere Immobiliere Etang Berre Medit SA Annual Shareholders Meeting
Fonciere Volta SA Annual Shareholders Meeting
Geratherm Medical AG Annual Shareholders Meeting
Groupe Parot SA Annual Shareholders Meeting
Kore Potash PLC Shareholders Meeting
Pearson PLC Shareholders Meeting
Surgical Innovations Group PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All times GMT)0600 (approx.) Germany Producer Prices mm for Aug: Expected -0.1%; Prior 0.2%0600 (approx.) Germany Producer Prices yy for Aug: Expected -1.4%; Prior -1.7%0600 (approx.) United Kingdom Retail Sales mm for Aug: Expected 0.7%; Prior 3.6%0600 (approx.) United Kingdom Retail Sales Ex-Fuel mm for Aug: Expected 0.4%; Prior 2.0%0600 (approx.) United Kingdom Retail Sales yy for Aug: Expected 3.0%; Prior 1.4%0600 (approx.) United Kingdom Retail Sales Ex-Fuel yy for Aug: Expected 4.2%; Prior 3.1%0800 (approx.) Italy Industrial Orders mm SA for Jul: Prior 23.4%0800 (approx.) Italy Industrial Orders yy NSA for Jul: Prior -11.8%0800 (approx.) Italy Industrial Sales mm SA for Jul: Prior 13.4%0800 (approx.) Italy Industrial Sales yy WDA for Jul: Prior -16.4%0800 (approx.) Euro Zone Current Account NSA for Jul: Prior 17.3 bln EUR0800 Euro Zone Current Account SA for Jul: Prior 20.690 bln EUR