Liveblog Archief vrijdag 22 juli 2022

Target puts the squeeze on suppliers after inventories pile up
Target Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell pledged in a June blog post that the retailer would take necessary actions to adapt to a post-pandemic landscape, paring a record $15.1 billion in unsold merchandise.

• AmEx profit falls as higher loan-loss reserves offset record card spending
American Express posted a 14% fall in quarterly profit as higher costs and an increase in reserves for potentially sour loans overshadowed record cardholder spending.

• Schlumberger raises revenue forecast as oilfield services demand booms
Schlumberger raised its annual revenue forecast, buoyed by higher demand for its oilfield services from producers looking to raise output as oil prices surged.​

• Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine block Google search engine
Russian-backed separatists in a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine have blocked access to the search engine Google, their leader said, citing what he calls "disinformation".

• Snap shares plunge as economy, fierce competition slow revenue growth
Snap on Thursday painted a grim picture of the effects of a weakening economy on social media and declined to make a forecast in "incredibly challenging" conditions, sending its shares down and setting off a chain reaction of stocks among rivals.


BEFORE THE BELL
Wall Street futures fell as shares of social media firms and companies that sell online ads fell after Snap missed quarterly revenue targets. European shares rose as concerns over an energy supply crunch eased. Japanese shares closed higher on gains in growth stocks and shipping firms. The euro fell against the dollar on dampening activity data. Gold prices held to a tight range as investors avoided big bets ahead of next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting. Oil prices fell on a weakening global demand outlook and the resumption of some Libyan crude oil output. S&P Global's manufacturing and services PMI data is scheduled for release.


STOCKS TO WATCH

Results
• American Express Co: The credit card giant posted a 14% fall in quarterly profit as higher costs and an increase in reserves for potentially sour loans overshadowed record cardholder spending. The company recorded $410 million in provisions for credit losses amid rising risks of a recession, a sharp contrast from a year earlier when the economy's rapid recovery from the pandemic allowed it to book a benefit of $606 million. Expenses surged by nearly a third to $10.4 billion as AmEx spent heavily on rewards and perks to attract customers. But adjusted card member spending surged by 30% as customers, undeterred by decades-high inflation, spent heavily on travel and entertainment. The New York-based company's total revenue excluding interest expense rose 31% to $13.4 billion.

• Autoliv Inc: The world's largest producer of airbags and seat belts, posted earnings above market expectations, helped by a recovery in car production. The company said a stronger than expected performance in June had been driven by price increases, a recovery in light vehicle production (LVP) and a patent litigation settlement. "However, profitability declined due to higher raw material costs, currency movements, low and volatile LVP and lockdowns in China," it added. Autoliv reported adjusted operating profit of $124 million, down from $166 million in the year-ago quarter but easily beating a mean forecast for $48 million based on a poll of analysts published by the company.The company narrowed its organic, or like-for-like, sales growth forecast for 2022 to 13-16% from 12-17% and its adjusted operating margin forecast to around 6.0%-7.0% from 5.5%-7%.

• HCA Healthcare Inc: The company reported a 20% fall in its quarterly profit, hit by higher labor costs. HCA and other hospital operators have seen profits under pressure as they shell out large bonuses and salaries to recruit and retain nurses and other healthcare workers amid a staffing shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The staffing challenges have also hurt the pace of recovery for elective and other non-COVID procedures, even as demand has been edging up with a retreat in COVID-19 cases from the highs seen earlier this year. Net income attributable to the hospital operator fell to $1.16 billion, or $3.90 per share, in the second quarter, from $1.45 billion, or $4.36 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $14.82 billion from $14.44 billion, helped by higher emergency room visits.

• Mattel Inc: Parents continued to buy the company's action figures and Hot Wheels cars for their kids even though the toys got pricier, helping the company trump quarterly results estimates on Thursday. But surging costs of raw materials, freight and labor are starting to catch up to Mattel, pulling its adjusted margins to 45% from last year's 47.5%. In response, Mattel plans to continue raising prices and Chief Executive Officer Ynon Kreiz said he was confident that toy sales would hold up even in a potential economic downturn, echoing comments from his counterpart at Hasbro. Mattel's net sales jumped 20% to $1.24 billion in the second quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $1.10 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data. The overall gross billings for Hot Wheels toys rose 26% in the quarter, while the unit that makes action figures recorded a 44% jump, driven by demand for toys based on characters from the "Lightyear" and "Jurassic World" movies.

• Schlumberger NV: The company raised its annual revenue forecast, buoyed by higher demand for its oilfield services from producers looking to raise output as oil prices surged. Global crude prices hovered above $100 per barrel in the quarter, fueled by tight supplies following sanctions on major producer Russia and energy consumption returning to near pre-pandemic levels. Schlumberger's results round off a mixed quarter from the world's largest oilfield service providers. While Baker Hughes warned that the demand outlook for the next 12 to 18 months is "deteriorating", Halliburton predicted "multiple years" of increased activity. Schlumberger said revenue for 2022 is expected to rise in the high-teens, which translates to at least $27 billion. The company posted a net income of $959 million, or 67 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $431 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.

• Snap Inc: The Snapchat owner on Thursday painted a grim picture of the effects of a weakening economy on social media and declined to make a forecast in "incredibly challenging" conditions, sending its shares down 25% and setting off a chain reaction of stocks among rivals. Snap said some advertisers continue to face supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages, and many others are contending with rising costs amid record inflation, which has led to cutbacks in spending on advertising. The Santa Monica, California-based company said it will significantly slow hiring, invest in its advertising business and find new sources of revenue in order to grow at a faster pace. Snap's revenue for the second quarter ended June 30 was $1.11 billion, missing analyst expectations of $1.14 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The figure grew 13% from the prior-year quarter. Daily active users on Snapchat rose 18% year-over-year to 347 million, beating consensus estimates of 344 million users.

Deals Of The Day
• Hanger Inc: The medical devices maker said on Thursday it has agreed to be taken private by healthcare investment firm Patient Square Capital in a deal worth about $1.25 billion, sending its shares up more than 20%. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Hanger's Board of Directors, the prosthetic care provider's stockholders will receive $18.75 per share in cash, representing a 27% premium to stock's closing price on Thursday. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022 and Vinit Asar, the current Chief Executive Officer of Hanger, will continue to lead the company.

In Other News
• Alphabet Inc: Russian-backed separatists in a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine have blocked access to the company-owned search engine Google, their leader said, citing what he calls "disinformation". In a message posted on his Telegram channel, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), accused Google of promoting "violence against all Russians" and said that its "handlers from the U.S. government" were to blame. "If Google stops pursuing its criminal policy and returns to the mainstream of law, morality and common sense, there will be no obstacles to its work," he said.

• Citigroup Inc & Banco Santander SA: Santander has dropped out of the process to buy Citigroup's Mexican retail bank after having previously submitted a non-binding offer earlier this year. The euro zone's second-biggest bank by market value has been expanding in emerging economies in search of faster growth than in its core European markets, where it has been cutting costs to cope with ultra low interest rates. "In relation to the potential sale of certain parts of (Citigroup's) operations in Mexico, Santander confirms that, after submitting a non-binding offer for the businesses in question, the bank has been informed that it will not be continuing in the next stages of the process," the bank said in statement. Separately, Banco Santander's Mexico unit said in a statement to Mexico's main stock exchange on Thursday that its board approved Felipe Garcia as the bank's incoming chief executive, set to replace Hector Grisi, who will step down at the end of December.

• FedEx Corp: The U.S. delivery giant said on Thursday it is suspending Sunday delivery operations in some low-density, rural U.S. markets starting from Aug. 15. It said the move will increase the efficiency of its Ground unit which handles the bulk of the company's e-commerce home deliveries and reach nearly 80% of the U.S. population on Sundays. FedEx is optimizing its delivery network based on market conditions and customer needs, the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters. The company had started Sunday deliveries to match with the sudden rise in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020. "We accelerated the rollout of Sunday residential delivery coverage to nearly 95% of the U.S. population. As economic conditions have shifted, we are making operational adjustments to suspend Sunday delivery operations...," it said. Fedex did not clarify the specific markets that would be affected by the new policy.

• Honda Motor Co: The automaker said it would slash production by up to 30% in Japan next month against original plans due to persistent supply chain and logistical issues. Two lines at its Suzuka plant in western Japan will reduce production by about 10% this month and by about 30% in early August versus previous plans, Honda said late on Thursday. Its assembly plant in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, will also cut back production by about 10% early next month. Honda has not disclosed its monthly production target.

• Morgan Stanley: The bank has expanded its presence in the growing listed foreign exchange derivatives space, announcing it is offering clients the option to trade listed FX through the Eurex platform. In making the move, it cited a "market trend towards increasing listed FX business". Morgan Stanley's introduction of the service follows pressure from regulators and some market participants, notably exchanges, for FX derivatives trading to shift to listed platforms from murky over-the-counter (OTC) markets. The company told Reuters that while it had previously offered listed FX derivatives trading, the addition of Eurex was "a key evolutionary step in the expansion of our footprint into Europe."

• Petroleo Brasileiro SA: Oil production at the Brazilian company fell in the second quarter as asset divestments and increased work stoppages took their toll, while the company's refinery utilization rate hit a whopping 97%. In a securities filing, Petrbras, as the state-run firm is formally known, said crude production came to 2.114 million barrels per day, down 5.2% from the previous quarter and 5% from the same period a year ago. Including natural gas, the company produced 2.653 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down 5.1% in both quarterly and annual terms. The company characterized the production decline as in line with expectations, and said it was not revising its 2022 production guidance of roughly 2.6 million boepd.

• Sempra Energy: The energy infrastructure company and Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) on Thursday said they signed deals to further develop gas infrastructure projects, including a possible liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Oaxaca, amid sky high demand for the fuel globally. The agreements come as Mexico tries to build facilities to take advantage of existing gas lines and promote the country as a key hub to export LNG from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to Asia and Europe, where prices are currently considerably higher than in the Americas. Sempra and CFE will also look to advance engineering and permitting for the planned Vista Pacifico LNG storage and export facility, expected to be located near Topolobampo in Sinaloa.

• Target Corp: The retailer's Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell pledged in a June blog post that the retailer would take necessary actions to adapt to a post-pandemic landscape, paring a record $15.1 billion in unsold merchandise. Behind the scenes, Target's actions this summer include putting pressure on its vendors, asking them to pick up the tab for transporting goods and requiring some to retain more merchandise at their own warehouses, 11 Target vendors told Reuters. Six of the vendors said Target's recent moves drive up their expenses and squeeze their profit margins at a time when Target wants to free up cash in order to restock its stores as consumers gear up for back-to-school shopping. Specifically, Target told some vendors it will cease transporting some merchandise they manufacture in China, instead ordering the same goods from their U.S. warehouses, adding to vendors' costs, two vendors told Reuters. Two other vendors said that Target asked them to hold some inventories in their own warehouses, forwarding the goods to Target only on an as-needed basis.

• TotalEnergies SE: The French oil major and shipping giant CMA CGM announced further measures to cut prices, following government pressure for companies to do more to help consumers cope with soaring inflation. TotalEnergies said it would reduce fuel prices at its service station across France from Sept. 1 until the end of the year, while CMA CGM said it would cut shipping fees by 750 euros per container for imports to France from Asia. Unlike such countries as Britain and Italy, France has refrained from imposing a so-called supertax on companies whose profits have surged as the energy crisis and supply chain snags have pushed prices sharply higher. Instead, the government has called on companies, such as TotalEnergies and CMA CGM, to voluntarily help customers cope. TotalEnergies said it would lower prices by 0.20 euros per litre until Nov. 1, then by 0.10 euros per litre for the rest of the year. In its statement, TotalEnergies said a tax would penalise its refineries, which it said had lost more than 1 billion euros during the COVID-19 crisis, for which it had requested no government support. Biraj Borkhataria, analyst at RBC Capital markets, said the company was making huge profits in its downstream division thanks to sky-rocketing refining margins.

• Warner Bros Discovery Inc & BT Group Plc: Britain's competition watchdog approved a merger of sports broadcasting businesses of BT Group and Warner Bros Discovery. The deal to combine BT's sports TV unit with Discovery's Eurosport in Britain and Ireland enables the British company to retain Premier League soccer for its customers, while sharing the burden of expensive broadcast rights. BT Group and Warner Bros Discovery welcomed the decision, which allows them to complete the creation of the joint venture, BT Sport and Eurosport UK, in the coming weeks and to transfer assets to it. They said it would initially retain their separate brands and products before later bringing them together under a single brand. BT and the company will be equally represented on the joint venture's board. The new entity will be chaired initially by Marc Allera, chief executive of BT's consumer division. Management will be led by Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe.


ANALYSIS
R.I.P. forward guidance: Inflation forces central banks to ditch messaging tool
If the U.S. Federal Reserve killed off forward guidance in June, the European Central Bank may have just hammered the final nail in the coffin of a tool officials had long used to provide monetary policy signals to financial markets.


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• AT&T Inc: Cowen and Company cuts target price to $24 from $27, citing the company's lowered free cash flow guidance.

• D R Horton Inc: JPMorgan cuts target price to $77 from $80, reflecting rising interest rate environment, persistent inflation and a potentially softening economic backdrop as headwinds.

• Iqvia Holdings Inc: Jefferies raises target price to $261 from $255, driven by the company's strong second-quarter results.

• Quest Diagnostics Inc: JPMorgan cuts target price to $145 from $150, citing the company's reduced guidance on its core business.

• Snap Inc: Atlantic Equities cuts target price to $13 from $18, given the company's weak second-quarter performance.


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0945 S&P Global Flash Manufacturing PMI for July: Expected 52; Prior 52.7
0945 S&P Global Flash Services PMI for July: Expected 52.6; Prior 52.7
0945 S&P Global Flash Composite PMI for July: Prior 52.3


COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
NextEra Energy Inc: Expected Q2 earnings of 73 cents per share
Twitter Inc: Expected Q2 earnings of 14 cents per share
Verizon Communications Inc: Expected Q2 earnings of $1.32 per share


CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0800 PPG Industries Inc: Q2 earnings conference call
0800 Roper Technologies Inc: Q2 earnings conference call
0830 American Express Co: Q2 earnings conference call
0830 Verizon Communications Inc: Q2 earnings conference call
0900 HCA Healthcare Inc: Q2 earnings conference call
0900 NextEra Energy Inc: Q2 earnings conference call
0900 NextEra Energy Partners LP: Q2 earnings conference call
0930 Gentex Corp: Q2 earnings conference call
0930 Mckesson Corp: Annual Shareholders Meeting
0930 Schlumberger NV: Q2 earnings conference call
1000 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc: Q2 earnings conference call
1000 Regions Financial Corp: Q2 earnings conference call
1000 Tenet Healthcare Corp: Q2 earnings conference call
1100 Bank Ozk: Q2 earnings conference call
1100 Glacier Bancorp Inc: Q2 earnings conference call
1200 Western Alliance Bancorp: Q2 earnings conference call


EX-DIVIDENDS
Bank of New York Mellon Corp: Amount $0.37
Celanese Corp: Amount $0.68

Goedemorgen,

De markt zet de stijging door, vrijwel alle indices sluiten positief de sessie af, vooral Wall Street trekt door omhoog door de tech sectoren die met een waanzinnige en vooral onverwachte rally laten zien. In Europa valt vooral de AEX op, de index wint opnieuw 10 punten met een slot ruim boven de 700 punten, dat kwam vooral door dat ASML doortrekt en dat is een superzwaargewicht binnen de AEX index. De DAX en de BEL 20 sluiten met wat verlies zodat we de nodige divergentie zien binnen Europa. De rente werd met 0,5% opgetrokken en dat was meer dan verwacht, men moest wel om de inflatie aan te pakken. Het brengt de euro-dollar wel weer ruim boven de 1 op 1 verhouding. De Brent olie moest wat terug donderdag maar vanmorgen zien we de olie wat hoger en rond de 105-105,5 dollar. De 10-jaars rente in de VS zien we zakken tot 2,9%, opnieuw een eindje onder de 3%.

Wat betreft de maand juli staan we met alle abonnementen op winst na het sluiten van de short posities woensdag. Meedoen met de signalen die we versturen kan door lid te worden via de Tradershop ... Let op, er loopt nu een nieuwe aanbieding tot 1 OKTOBER voor €35 ...

Update vrijdag 22 juli:
Een sterke dag op Wall Street met opnieuw plussen bij de grote indices, de Dow Jones won 0,5% terwijl de S&P 500 met 1% winst de sessie afsloot. De tech indices deden het opnieuw heel goed, we zien een winst van 1,35% bij de Nasdaq terwijl de Nasdaq 100 met 1,45% winst sluit. Verder zien we de SOX 1,5% winst boeken maar de Dow Transport verloor donderdag 0,4%. Vooral de grote tech bedrijven en de semi-conductor sector deden het opnieuw goed. In de hoek waar de grootste klappen vielen de afgelopen weken zien we nu een stevige rebound. De vraag is natuurlijk of het niet opnieuw een rally binnen de bekende "Bear Market" is? We gaan dat snel genoeg merken, de komende week zal belangrijk worden want dan komen er heel wat top bedrijven met hun kwartaalcijfers, denk aan Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon en META.

In Europa een verdeelde sessie, de AEX won dan wel ruim 10 punten met een slot ver boven de 700 punten (704,6) maar de DAX verloor weer iets en staat even stil nu. De DAX verloor 35 punten met een slot op 13.246 punten. De Franse CAC 40 kon de sessie afsluiten met 0,3% winst terwijl we bij de BEL 20 een verlies van 0,4% zien.

Mijn verwachting is dat de zorgen over de economische groei snel terug zullen komen waardoor er niet veel ruimte meer overblijft omhoog. Dat men de weg omhoog terug probeert te vinden trekt veel beleggers over de streep om in te stappen maar we moeten zeker niet vergeten dat de onderliggende factoren behoorlijk zwak blijven waardoor er na de huidige rally snel weer een negatieve fase aan zit te komen. Zeker wanneer aandelen veel te fors zijn gestegen en er zijn wat sectoren die het wat te gek deden de afgelopen dagen, dus opletten lijkt me de juiste instelling.

In Europa blijft alles heel moeilijk, de rente werd met 0,5% verhoogd maar we zitten wel met een serieuze crisis in Italië waardoor het heel Europa met zich mee kan trekken. Daar gaan we weer in het politiek moeilijke Europa, dat komt er ook nog bij en zoiets kunnen we op dit moment missen als kiespijn. Daarom zie ik niet in waarom de beurzen in Europa een makkelijk parcours kunnen afleggen de komende periode, blijf dus alert en laat u niet vangen door de markt die wat beter lijkt op dit moment.

Zelf blijven we rustig handelen op halve kracht, we nemen kleinere posities en letten op het verloop van de markten. Woensdag werden er voorzichtig al wat posities opgenomen op enkele indices. U kunt nog meedoen door lid te worden via de mooie aanbieding.

De signaaldiensten:
We hebben woensdag al wat kleine short posities opgenomen, om mee te doen met de posities kunt u lid worden en inloggen op de website bij de Tradershop waar u dan alle details kunt zien. Wat betreft de maand JULI hebben we in ieder geval voor de 2e keer met de posities winst kunnen maken bij alle abonnementen.

Meedoen met onze signalen kan nu via de nieuwe aanbieding die loopt tot 1 OKTOBER 2022. Schrijf u nu snel in tot 1 OKTOBER voor €35 via de Tradershop en kies uw abonnement via de link https://www.usmarkets.nl/tradershop

Marktoverzicht:
Wall Street sluit opnieuw hoger met een redelijke plus voor de S&P 500 en de Nasdaq, de S&P 500 wint 1% terwijl de sluit 1,35% in de plus en zet de rally door. De Dow Jones moet het doen met 0,5% winst terwijl de SOX index opnieuw 1,5% hoger sluit.

In Europa een sterke sessie voor de AEX index, we zien een winst van 1,5% met een duidelijk slot boven de 700 punten (704,6) grens. Amper een week geleden moest de AEX nog even terug tot de 655 punten. De DAX moest weer wat inleveren, de index sluit 0,25% lager met een slot op 13.246 punten.

Dow Jones:
De Dow Jones sluit opnieuw hoger na een volatiele sessie en sluit net boven de 32.000 punten. Weerstand blijft de 32.200 punten, mocht de Dow Jones doortrekken en ver boven die 32.200 punten sluiten dan ligt de weg open richting de 33.000 punten. Zo ver zijn we nog niet, eerst maar eens zien wat de index de komende dagen zal doen.

Steun nu eerst de 31.590 punten waar het 50-daags gemiddelde nu uitkomt met snel daaronder vooral de 31.500-31.600 punten als steun. Later zien we rond de 30.150 steun.

AEX index:
De AEX sluit opnieuw 10 punten hoger en boven de 700 punten zelfs, de slotstand op 704,6 punten ligt zelfs al ruim boven die 700-702 punten waardoor we al moeten kijken naar de 708-710 punten als volgende doel omhoog. We zijn daar nog niet maar door de sessie van gisteren waar vooral zwaargewicht ASML een grote invloed uitoefende verliep de stijging wel heel makkelijk. Toch opletten, de index ziet er nu sterk uit maar binnen een paar sessies kan dat weer helemaal anders worden, we zijn niet anders gewend.

Weerstand nu eerst die 708-710 punten, later de 715 en de 718-720 punten als weerstand. Steun nu eerst de 700-702 punten, later de 689-690 punten en daaronder de 680-682 punten. Verder zien we steun rond 670-672 punten en de 660 punten.

DAX index:
De DAX moest wat inleveren maar ook nu blijft de index nog ruim boven de 13.000-13.050 punten steun. De zware weerstand zien we rond de 13.300-13.400 punten, het kan moeilijk worden om daarboven uit te breken maar in deze markt mogen we niets uitsluiten. Weerstand nu die 13.300-13.400 punten, later rond de 13.520 punten weerstand door het 50-daags gemiddelde. Verder rond de 13.750 punten nog een redelijke weerstand.

Steun nu eerst de 13.000-13.050 punten, later steun rond de 12.750 en de bodem rond de 12.400-12.500 punten.

Nasdaq Composite:
De Nasdaq trekt zo te zien onverbiddelijk door omhoog en het lijkt een herkenbare beweging die we al vaker hebben gezien de afgelopen pakweg 2 maanden. De volgende weerstand wordt nu de 12.300 punten ofwel de toppen van einde mei en begin juni. Daarna rond de 12.500-12.550 punten een redelijk zware weerstand.

Steun nu eerst de 11.750 punten met later vooral de 11.500 en de 11.300 punten als steun. Verder nog steun rond de 11.030-11.050 punten.

Overzicht resultaat dit jaar (2022):
Alle signaaldiensten sluiten dit jaar al voor de 6e maand op rij met winst af en deze maand juli werden er al wat posities met winst gesloten zodat we er ook deze maand al goed voorstaan. We hebben nu sinds woensdag weer wat posities lopen, zorg er in ieder geval voor dat u op tijd lid wordt zodat u de posities die nu open staan nog kunt opnemen. Er komen zeker nog genoeg kansen om wat te doen in deze markt.

Meedoen met onze signalen kan nu via de nieuwe aanbieding die loopt tot 1 OKTOBER 2022 voor €35. Ga naar onze Tradershop en kies uw abonnement via de link https://www.usmarkets.nl/tradershop en kies een abonnement.

Overzicht resultaten deze maand maart en dit jaar (2022):

Met vriendelijke groet,
Guy Boscart