Split (1)

train · ~16.3M rows (showing the first 2.16M)

text stringlengths 1 675k ⌀
EU leaders break deadlock, nominate candidates for top posts BRUSSELS (AP) — After three days of arduous negotiations, European Union leaders broke a deadlock Tuesday and nominated German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen to become the new president of the bloc's powerful executive arm, the European Commission, one of two women named to top EU posts for the first time. In a series of tweets, European Council President Donald Tusk said that Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel would take over from him in the fall. Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde was proposed as president of the European Central Bank, while Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell was nominated to become EU foreign policy chief, meaning he would be charged with supervising the Iran nuclear deal, among other duties. Only Michel can take up his post without other formalities. The others, notably von der Leyen — who will take over from Jean-Claude Juncker for the next five years — must be endorsed by the European Parliament. The assembly sits in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday to elect its own new president, and early signs suggest that lawmakers could contest the nominations. "It is important that we were able to decide with great unity today, and that is important because it's about our future ability to work." German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after the nominations — decided away from the cameras and media in a long series of meetings — were made public. Several lawmakers have already objected to the leaders' package of nominations, and it remains to be seen whether the parliament will flex new found muscles following the massive turnout for EU-wide elections in May. Party leaders have said the vote has brought the assembly — the EU's only elected institution — even more democratic legitimacy. "This backroom stich-up after days of talks is grotesque," said Greens group leader Ska Keller, describing the nomination process as "party power games." "After such a high turnout in the European elections and a real mandate for change, this is not what European citizens deserve," said Keller, who is in the running to become parliament president on Wednesday. Story continues Juncker, who steps down on Oct. 31 as head of the commission, which proposes and enforces EU laws, conceded that "it won't be easy in parliament." Tusk said "it was worth waiting for such an outcome" and that he would do his best to explain to what could well be a tetchy parliament on Thursday how the nominations were made and what thought processes went into the move. "It's always a huge question mark. This is why we have parliaments," Tusk said, with a wry smile. Von der Leyen would be the first woman in the commission job, and Merkel said this is "a good sign." So would Lagarde — currently chair of the International Monetary Fund — and she would serve for up to eight years if her nomination is endorsed. "That's a very important statement that Europe leads on gender equality," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said. "It might have taken three days, but it's a good outcome overall," he told reporters. The nominations came after one of the longest summits in recent years, outstripping even all-night negotiations during the Greek debt crisis. Already plagued by crises like Brexit and deep divisions among nations over how best to manage migration, the leaders had been keen to show that they could take quick decisions and that the European project remains important to its citizens. But they struggled to establish a delicate balance between population size and geography — an even mix of countries from the north and south, east and west, and ensure that at least two women were nominated. Tusk he said he hoped that someone from a central or eastern European member state would be voted in as president of the European Parliament. Despite deep tensions, some tantrums by leaders behind the scenes and even public criticism of his handling of the summit, Tusk said: "Five years ago we needed three months to decide, and still some leaders were against. This year it was three days and nobody was against." The Belgian prime minister said that he understands the challenges that lie ahead. "The next five years will be very important for the future of the European project and I am convinced that it will be very important to protect and to promote our unity, our diversity and especially also our solidarity," Michel told reporters, after one of the most acrimonious summits in recent memory. ___ AP writers Mike Corder in Brussels, and Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin, contributed to this report.
Alabama Wants To Imprison Marshae Jones. Her Crime Was Being Shot While Pregnant. An undated photo of Marshae Jones, who was indicted in the death of her five-month-old fetus after she was the victim of a shooting. (Photo: White, Arnold and Dowd) Marshae Jones, a 28-year-old Alabama woman, is facing a manslaughter charge after her fetus died in utero. Her crime? Allegedly provoking a fight with a person who ultimately shot her in the stomach, killing her five-month-old fetus. Lawyers for Jones filed a motion for the charges to be dropped on Monday, stating that there is no legal or factual basis to permit a criminal prosecution. A hearing is scheduled for July 9. The unusual case highlights a growing movement to prosecute women for alleged crimes against their own fetuses. Jones’ case, in particular, raises questions about the legal ramifications of the concept of “fetal personhood,” which holds that a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus is a separate person with a separate set of rights who deserves full legal protection under the U.S. Constitution. Alabama, known for its deep hostility toward abortion rights, is at the epicenter of the fight to recognize the fetus as an individual person. Over the years, anti-abortion activists and lawmakers have laid the groundwork for Jones’ extraordinary prosecution. In 2018 , voters passed a constitutional amendment declaring that it is “public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.” Earlier this year, Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed into law a near-total ban on abortion , which she called a testament to her constituents’ deeply held belief that every life is precious. Alabama is also one of 38 states with a fetal homicide law, which allows charges to be brought when a fetus is killed. Under state law, “an unborn child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability” counts as a “person” for prosecution purposes. But the statute stipulates that women should not be charged in the deaths of their own fetuses, complicating the state’s case against Jones. Nancy Rosenbloom, director of legal advocacy at the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said she suspects prosecutors will argue that the 2018 constitutional amendment somehow negates existing criminal law ― a prospect that reproductive rights groups warned about at the time of its passage. Story continues The concept of “fetal personhood” comes out of the anti-abortion movement, she said, which has worked for years to change the definition of the word “person” in state law to include a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus. The idea is that if a fetus is considered a person, abortion at all stages of pregnancy can more easily be outlawed. But these measures have had another effect: criminalizing women who lose pregnancies, no matter the cause. “Anti-abortion advocates have essentially put into place a broader set of laws that are being used to arrest and prosecute women,” Rosenbloom said. “That same thinking ― of making the fetus a separate person ― always restricts the right of the woman who is pregnant.” Alabama leads the country in criminal cases involving women accused of endangering their fetuses, she said. Over 600 women have been charged since 2005 with alleged crimes related to their pregnancies; the vast majority of them prosecuted for exposing their embryo or fetus to controlled substances under the state’s “chemical endangerment of a child” statute. The criminal cases go beyond substance abuse during pregnancy, Rosenbloom added, pointing to cases where pregnant women have been charged for getting in a car accident, failing to leave a physically abusive partner, or attempting suicide. Randall Marshall, the executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, worries that the Jones case signals an expansion of the policing of pregnancy in the state, raising significant constitutional concerns. “This could easily subject any act or omission by a pregnant woman to state scrutiny,” he said. “Virtually everything a pregnant woman does or does not do has an impact on the fetus. What if you don’t get regular prenatal care, or you keep too many hours, or drive an unreliable car, or fail to keep your diabetes under control?” If prosecutors hold Jones, a victim of gun violence, criminally liable for someone else’s action that ended her pregnancy, it will send a frightening message to all Alabama women, said Kimberly Mutcherson, co-dean of Rutgers Law School. “This is a new boundary that has been crossed,” she said. “Women who lose a pregnancy, who are already dealing with that pain, will also have to think about whether there’s anything they did that the state could decide was criminal.” She noted that proponents of anti-abortion and personhood measures often argue that the legislation won’t be used to punish pregnant women. “What’s revealing about this is that it sort of peels back that layer of pretext ― which is that this is not about hurting women ― and shows that that is really at the core of a lot of what is going on here,” she said. What Jones needs right now is compassion, not prison time, said Elissa Serapio, a physician who provides obstetrics-gynecology care in several states, including Alabama. “Losing a desired pregnancy can be incredibly traumatic,” she said. “Ms. Jones deserves medical care for her bullet wounds and the kindness and compassion that all people deserve when facing loss. She should not have to worry about being imprisoned for losing a pregnancy.” Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost .
What's Next for Facebook (FB) Stock Heading into Q2 2019 Earnings & Beyond? Facebook FB stock is up over 18% in the last month to crush the S&P 500 and its industry’s average as Wall Street seems smitten with the idea that the social media giant is ready to jump into the cryptocurrency space. But Libra isn’t set to launch until 2020. This means investors need to know what to expect from FB now—Q2 and 2019 earnings—to see if Facebook can maintain its stellar run in the second half of 2019. The State of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has slowly teased ideas over the last year about how he plans to shift Facebook back toward a platform focused more on communication between friends and family than the news aggregator it has become. Facebook’s chief executive has spoken about offering private encrypted messaging, payments, and other services in a move that would see it transition to a model similar to Tencent’s TCEHY WeChat. FB officially announced on June 18 its blockchain-based payment system, which will be backed by hard assets, in partnership with Uber UBER, Spotify SPOT, Mastercard MA, and PayPal PYPL. Facebook’s crypto move is part of a larger goal to diversify its business, which includes a push into augment and virtual reality, as fears that U.S. government regulators might take action against Facebook intensify. Facebook is, of course, not alone. Fellow digital advertising giant Google GOOGL and even Apple AAPL and Amazon AMZN have garnered more negative government attention than they prefer. Despite these worries, Facebook has yet to face any truly severe consequences for its privacy scandals and outsized control over the spread of information. In fact, Facebook’s family of services, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, saw its daily and monthly active user totals climbed 8% in Q1. Executives estimate that around 2.7 billion people use at least one of FB’s family of services on average every month. This figure alone might help Facebook chug along for years to come, especially as consumers become harder to reach in the Netflix NFLX age. FB shares have soared from $164.15 on June 3 to open at $193.00 Tuesday morning. Facebook stock is now up 48% on the year, against its industry’s 21% jump. Luckily for investors, Facebook still has about 12% room to climb before it hits its 52-week high—thanks to its massive second-half of 2018 selloff. Outlook Looking ahead, our current Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for FB’s second-quarter revenue to jump 24.3% to $16.45 billion. This would mark a slowdown from Q1’s roughly 26 % growth. Facebook’s fiscal 2019 revenue is projected to climb 24.1% from $55.84 billion in 2018 to $69.29 billion. Then, the social media giant’s fiscal 2020 revenue is projected to climb 21% higher than our current year estimate to reach $83.91 billion. Similarly, both 2019 and 2020 would mark a significant slowdown from 2018’s 37% top-line growth, as one might expect as the law of large numbers makes year over year expansion on a percentage basis harder to achieve. Facebook’s second-half 2018 fall was due, in large part, to the fact that executives said the company’s margins and profits would take a hit in the near-term as the firm spent more on everything from increased security to expansion. At the moment, the company’s adjusted Q2 earnings are projected to jump 9.2% to $1.90 share. Meanwhile, the company’s full-year fiscal 2019 EPS figure is projected to dip 6.3%. FB’s 2020 earnings are then projected to come roaring back, to surge 31% higher than our current-year estimate. Bottom Line Clearly, Facebook’s top-line growth is expected to look less flashy than in years past. But 20% growth for a company projected to pull in over $80 billion next year is nothing to scoff at. We can also see that FB is trading at a discount compared to its industry and its own historical figures in one key valuation metric: forward 12-month earnings estimates. FB’s 7.2 forward price/sales ratio rest above its industry’s 6.2 at the moment but still comes in well below Facebook’s own two-year high of 13.3 and 8.1 median. Therefore, we can say that Facebook’s valuation picture is hardly stretched at the moment, if not “cheap.” Facebook is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now that looks poised to expand for years to come based on its sheer size, not to mention its growth plans. It also seems reasonable to think that FB stock could climb past its 52-week intraday highs in the second half of 2019 and beyond. Facebook is set to report its Q2 2019 financial results on Wednesday, July 24. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities.These companies are changing the world – and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated+98%,+119%and+164%gains in as little as 1 month.Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportNetflix, Inc. (NFLX) : Free Stock Analysis ReportAmazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis ReportFacebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTencent Holding Ltd. (TCEHY) : Free Stock Analysis ReportAlphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportPayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportApple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis ReportSpotify Technology SA (SPOT) : Free Stock Analysis ReportUber Technologies, Inc. (UBER) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research
Pence's abrupt travel cancellation sparks speculation Mike Pence isn’t exactly an international man of mystery. But his abrupt cancellation of a scheduled trip to New Hampshire on Tuesday morning set off a groundswell of speculation inside the Beltway — prompting reporters and pundits to contemplate the potentially global ramifications of the vice president’s sudden change of plans. Pence was previously slated to travel to Manchester, N.H., to meet with former patients and alumni of the Granite Recovery Center at its headquarters, and deliver remarks on America’s opioid epidemic. But his office confirmed to CNN that Air Force Two never left the ground, and deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters that Pence had entered the West Wing. “Something came up that requires the VP to remain in DC. There is no cause for concern,” Gidley said, according to PBS NewsHour . Alyssa Farah, Pence’s press secretary, shared a similar talking point on Twitter. “Something came up that required the @VP to remain in Washington, DC,” she wrote . “It’s no cause for alarm. He looks forward to rescheduling the trip to New Hampshire very soon.” The @VP never left Washington, DC. There was no “emergency callback.” Something came up that required the VP to stay in DC. We’ll reschedule NH shortly. https://t.co/h270JCEUIG — Alyssa Farah (@VPPressSec) July 2, 2019 Farah posted again roughly an hour later, tweeting Tuesday afternoon that Pence "never left Washington, DC. There was no ‘emergency callback.’ Something came up that required the VP to stay in DC. We’ll reschedule NH shortly.” News of the adjustments to Pence’s agenda came as contemporaneous reports surfaced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had shifted his own schedule to attend a meeting with Kremlin Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. A fire aboard a Russian submarine killed 14 sailors earlier in the day. Story continues But a senior administration official told White House pool reporters that Pence’s cancellation was not "related to national security." Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff, said the vice president was aboard Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews before he was summoned to the White House, where he and President Donald Trump took part in "other high level meetings," according to ABC News . The issue that caused Pence to cancel his New Hampshire trip was "not a national security" concern, Short said, though Pence discussed it with Trump "briefly." Short told ABC that members of the media would learn "in a few weeks" what led to Pence's reversal. The issue at hand also was not health-related and "not a personal or family issue," Short said, adding that no one within the administration would soon be fired, according to Bloomberg .
Here's Why I Think CorVel (NASDAQ:CRVL) Is An Interesting Stock Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Like a puppy chasing its tail, some new investors often chase 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without revenue, let alone profit. But as Warren Buffett has mused, 'If you've been playing poker for half an hour and you still don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy.' When they buy such story stocks, investors are all too often the patsy. So if you're like me, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, likeCorVel(NASDAQ:CRVL). While profit is not necessarily a social good, it's easy to admire a business than can consistently produce it. In comparison, loss making companies act like a sponge for capital - but unlike such a sponge they do not always produce something when squeezed. View our latest analysis for CorVel The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term, so share price follows earnings per share (EPS) eventually. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. Impressively, CorVel has grown EPS by 20% per year, compound, in the last three years. If the company can sustain that sort of growth, we'd expect shareholders to come away winners. I like to take a look at earnings before interest and (EBIT) tax margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. While we note CorVel's EBIT margins were flat over the last year, revenue grew by a solid 6.7% to US$596m. That's progress. In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings, and revenue, over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers. While it's always good to see growing profits, you should always remember that a weak balance sheet could come back to bite. So check CorVel'sbalance sheet strength, before getting too excited. It makes me feel more secure owning shares in a company if insiders also own shares, thusly more closely aligning our interests. As a result, I'm encouraged by the fact that insiders own CorVel shares worth a considerable sum. Indeed, they have a glittering mountain of wealth invested in it, currently valued at US$200m. That equates to 12% of the company, making insiders powerful and aligned with other shareholders. So it might be my imagination, but I do sense the glimmer of an opportunity. It means a lot to see insiders invested in the business, but I find myself wondering if remuneration policies are shareholder friendly. A brief analysis of the CEO compensation suggests they are. For companies with market capitalizations between US$1.0b and US$3.2b, like CorVel, the median CEO pay is around US$4.1m. The CEO of CorVel only received US$1.5m in total compensation for the year ending March 2018. That's clearly well below average, so at a glance, that arrangement seems generous to shareholders, and points to a modest remuneration culture. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when its reasonable that does give me a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. I'd also argue reasonable pay levels attest to good decision making more generally. You can't deny that CorVel has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. If you need more convincing beyond that EPS growth rate, don't forget about the reasonable remuneration and the high insider ownership. Each to their own, but I think all this makes CorVel look rather interesting indeed. Once you've identified a business you like, the next step is to consider what you think it's worth. And right now is your chance to view our exclusivediscounted cashflow valuationof CorVel. You might benefit from giving it a glance today. Although CorVel certainly looks good to me, I would like it more if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, too, then thisfreelist of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for. Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Khloe Kardashian's Newest Coach On 'Revenge Body' Actually Trains Jennifer Aniston Photo credit: E! Entertainment From Women's Health Khloe Kardashian's reality show Revenge Body comes back Sunday, July 7 for its third season. Some of the coaches from the first two seasons will return, including Corey Calliet and Latreal Mitchell. New coaches, like Leyon Azubuike and Autumn Calabrese are also joining the team. Just in case you're still not getting your Kardashian fix (they're everywhere, amirite?), Khloé Kardashian's reality show Revenge Body is about to make its return for its third season on the E! -and there have been a few changes to the coaching roster. Of course, veteran Revenge Body trainers like Corey Calliet, Latreal Mitchell, Simone De La Rue are joining Khloé again to help contestants through their 12-week transformations, but she's also got some newbies to add to her training roster, including Leyon Azubuike and Autumn Calabrese (more on them below), according to E! Online . Here's the rundown on all of Khloé's Revenge Body trainers for the show's third season (which premieres Sunday, July 7 at 9 p.m. on E! , FYI), along with their Instagram accounts-you know, just in case you need some motivation of your own. Gunnar Peterson View this post on Instagram Sunday, Funday, DONEday. A post shared by Gunnar Peterson (@gunnarfitness) on Jun 30, 2019 at 8:32am PDT Peterson is a renowned celebrity trainer known for keeping stars like Jennifer Lopez, Kate Beckinsale in tip-top shape for performing. He's also the Director of Strength and Endurance for the Los Angeles Lakers. TBH, Peterson is definitely one of the tougher coaches (his motto is: "Do it right, or do it over," according to E! Online ), but his approach to functional fitness has gotten him widely recognized (check that client list again). Peterson has also worked with Khloe personally. "We keep her mind challenged and her body guessing, and the focus is on building strength," he's said previously of Khloe's workout routine . So yeah, the guy gets results. Story continues Harley Pasternak View this post on Instagram Kettle bells! What do you think of them? Do they scare you? Are they part of your regular workout program? What are use them for? #kettlebells #exercise A post shared by Harley Pasternak MSc (@harleypasternak) on Jun 21, 2019 at 8:40am PDT Harley Pasternak is one of the most in-demand trainers in the industry, with clients like Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Rihanna (the list honesty goes on and on). He's also a seven-time bestselling nutrition and fitness author and former military exercise scientist, according to E! Online . Luke Milton View this post on Instagram How I feel about @taylorswift 🎼 announcement coming out tomorrow!!! Get ready for some new 🕺🏼 moves @trainingmate 🤪 #swifty #trainingmate #fun #la #fitness #thirstythursday 📸 @kerrymilton A post shared by Luke Milton (@milts1) on Apr 25, 2019 at 4:36pm PDT Luke Milton is a trainer at Training Mate fitness studi in West Hollywood, and works with clients including Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens, and Hilary Duff. While Luke is clearly all about those #gains, he also helps his clients with the mental aspect of weight loss and fitness, too. His number one tip? "Having a laugh with your mates to get the most out of your workout," per E! Online . Latreal Mitchell View this post on Instagram "Suns Out Guns Out!" That saying is not just for men. I believe woman should have strong toned arms as well. Don't be afraid to be strong ladies! 💯 💪🏽 #UnderArmour #LaTips #LatrealMitchell #RevengeBody #Toned #HealthyLifestyle #FitOver40 #TryingIsLying A post shared by Latreal Mitchell (@latrealmitchell) on Jun 27, 2019 at 10:08am PDT Latreal Mitchell is a celebrity trainer with who specializes in health and nutrition. For years, Mitchell was a columnist at Good Housekeeping, where she developed at-home bodyweight workouts for readers across the country. She's also one of the trainers coming back for another season of Revenge Body. “View your body as a fireplace, and the fire is your metabolism ," she told Women's Health before Season 2 started last year. "In order to keep your fire burning, you have to regularly give it wood." Simone De La Rue View this post on Instagram Fitness Friday! Brought to you from my gorgeous London studio in Primrose Hill. 10 weeks postpartum today. Working on my balance, strength and stability. I am using 5 pound hand weights and a bosu ball. 1️⃣ weighted squat: Three sets of 10 reps 2️⃣ weighted squat with frontal raise: Three sets of 10 reps 3️⃣ weighted squat with bicep curl to overhead press: Three sets of 10 reps Outfit @aloyoga @newtonrunning @bbsstudio #bodybysimone #simonedelarue #bbslondon #fitnessfriday #bosuball A post shared by Simone De La Rue (@bodybysimone) on Jun 7, 2019 at 8:13am PDT Simone de la Rue trains models and actresses like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Reese Witherspon. She also has three studios across the globe, and is the author of the Eight-Week Total Body Transformation . "What I tell my clients is just put your clothes on-all you have to do is show up. You immediately feel better, endorphins kick in, you sweat it out-you feel great. Just focus on that after feeling," she told Women's Health in 2014 . Corey Calliet View this post on Instagram We all have that one song that sets the tone when we’re working out! @jeezy “Don’t You Know” gets me going every time whats yours???? Name your song in the comments below so i can add it to my playlist #callietplaylist #workoutwednesday #hustleandmuscle #tatted #ripped A post shared by Corey Calliet (@mrcalliet) on Jun 26, 2019 at 11:21am PDT Corey Calliet is the founder of " The Calliet Way ,"and trains actors before they become Marvel superheroes (talk about coolest job EVER). He even shared Micheal B. Jordan's Black Panther workout with Men's Health . " The word that kept playing in my mind was 'savage,'" Calliet said of the star. "When you see him, you need to be scared. You need to be intimidated. We don't want the nice, young-looking Michael." Khloe probably wants the same killer instinct for the contestants, tbh. Autumn Calabrese View this post on Instagram STOP! 🛑 READ THIS! . What does it take to achieve your goals? Letting go of all of your excuses. Now is when you expect to read the story of how I had all of these excuses and how I overcame them, but that’s not my story. I’m a fiery Italian girl, so I guess you can say excuses aren’t in my blood. When I want something, then there are no excuses as to why I can’t have it. People would say to me all the time “Autumn what makes you think you’ll make it?” “What makes you better than everyone else out there trying to make it?” . The answer is absolutely nothing. I’m no better than anyone else trying to make it, but I might just be more determined. I might just believe I can do it & I deserve to have my dreams if I’m willing to work for them. So I guess that makes me different. . See people will make excuses because to dream can be scary, to want can be scary, to do something you’ve never done can be scary. To stand tall and declare “IM GOING TO DO THIS.” That shit is scary, but scary doesn’t mean impossible. . When you let go of each and every excuse you open the door for each and every possible opportunity. . That’s what I aim to teach people with my fitness & nutrition programs. It’s not just about getting shredded. Fitness is a metaphor for life. If you can let go of your excuses there then you can let go of them everywhere. So if you need a place to practice, pick anyone of my programs. I’ll teach you along the way. Being disciplined in your nutrition can be challenging but if you can be disciplined there you can be disciplined anywhere. Want to learn? GREAT! Follow Ultimate Portion Fix and I’ll teach you. That is what this is all about. Let go of the excuses. Go after the goal. And focus on progress not perfection. . . . Outfit from: @carbon38 #believe #entrepreneur #bossbabe #goaldigger A post shared by AUTUMN CALABRESE (@autumncalabrese) on Jun 17, 2019 at 6:33am PDT Autumn Calabrese is known for training celebs like Kendall Jenner and Rachel Zoe. She's the creator of a handful of popular fitness and weight loss programs, including the "21 Day Fix" and the "80 Day Obsession," which both work the self-care into the regimen. She's big on empowerment, and regularly shares #mondaymotivation quotes on Instagram. Leyon Azubuike View this post on Instagram 11:11 6/28/19 💪🏿🦁🐻💪🏿 . . . I’m officially putting the game on notice. I’m here. And 👏🏿 Rent👏🏿Is👏🏿Due👏🏿 . . . #UnderArmour #Fitness #Gloveworx #FlexFriday #Gymnast #Boxer @underarmour @gloveworx #RentsDue A post shared by Leyon Azubuike (@leyon) on Jun 28, 2019 at 11:12pm PDT Leyon is the co-owner of Gloveworx, and regularly trains Jennifer Aniston. A former US Nationals heavyweight boxer and captain of the Temple University football team, he's a seasoned athlete himself, too. One of his biggest secrets for endurance is hydrating strategically. "The common misconception about hydration is that you should wait until you’re thirsty, and then drink until you’re full," he told Women's Health last month. "But if you pound water right before your workout, you’ll just feel heavy and full and sluggish the entire time." Ashley Borden View this post on Instagram . 💜Try this glute/back combination: 1.) 12x bent over alternating kb rows 2.) 12x kb #gobletsquats 3.) 10-10 single leg stability ball hamstring curls Repeat 3-4 sets . Workouts like these and over 300 more functional video moves with my obsessive step by step cueing are available via the #abfitapp. (Click here 👉🏼@ashleybordenfitness bio link) . We offer full, 6,8,12 week programs for EVERY SINGLE LEVEL . NEWEST PROGRAM OUT: 💥On Ramp 1.0 and 2.0💥 It is a TRUE BEGINNER gym training program so you never feel lost or intimidated again. . INTERMEDIATE + ADVANCED: 💥#rezafit, #austinrhodesfit and #projecthotbody💥 . I’ve got you! Any questions ask below👇🏼 . (Or click @ashleybordenfitness bio link for all of the programs offered!) A post shared by Ashley Borden (@ashleybordenfitness) on Jun 20, 2019 at 7:14am PDT Ashley Borden (a returning trainer on the show) trains the likes of Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling. Though Revenge Body focuses on self-transformation after breakups, Borden told Women's Health she loves working with couples during partnered training sessions. “There’s a special magic that I witness with the duos I work with,” she said. “Both people work much harder than they would on their own, and there’s organic camaraderie and competition that bubbles up in the moment.” Nicole Winhoffer View this post on Instagram first NW workout in @balesinislandclub 🇵🇭! Did #WaistTrimmer avail on demand on www.nicolewinhoffer.com Mahal Kita 🇵🇭❤️🏋🏾♀️ A post shared by Nicole E Winhoffer (@nicolewinhoffer) on May 19, 2019 at 2:43am PDT Winhoffer is the founder of founder of the NW Method and trains stars like Rachel Weisz and designer Stella McCartney. Like Borden and Mitchell, she also appeared on Revenge Body last season. Last year, when Women's Health asked Winhoffer about mistakes women make while trying to lose weight, she advised not to underestimate the power of food and feelings. “We naturally have an emotional connection to food,” she said. “People who completely remove a type of food will feel emotionally unstable and will think that the plan can’t work for them.” ('You Might Also Like',) 14 Keto Breakfast Recipes That Make Waking Up So Much Easier 13 MS Symptoms In Women That Shouldn't Be Ignored Love Carbs? We Created This 21-Day Keto Diet Plan Just for You
Did You Miss Bluestone Resources's (CVE:BSR) 52% Share Price Gain? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Bluestone Resources Inc.(CVE:BSR) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 20% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been pleasing. After all, the share price is up a market-beating 52% in that time. View our latest analysis for Bluestone Resources Bluestone Resources hasn't yet reported any revenue yet, so it's as much a business idea as an actual business. So it seems shareholders are too busy dreaming about the progress to come than dwelling on the current (lack of) revenue. It seems likely some shareholders believe that Bluestone Resources will find or develop a valuable new mine before too long. As a general rule, if a company doesn't have much revenue, and it loses money, then it is a high risk investment. You should be aware that there is always a chance that this sort of company will need to issue more shares to raise money to continue pursuing its business plan. While some companies like this go on to deliver on their plan, making good money for shareholders, many end in painful losses and eventual de-listing. Some Bluestone Resources investors have already had a taste of the sweet taste stocks like this can leave in the mouth, as they gain popularity and attract speculative capital. Bluestone Resources had cash in excess of all liabilities of just US$6.0m when it last reported (March 2019). So if it has not already moved to replenish reserves, we think the near-term chances of a capital raising event are pretty high. Given how low on cash the it got, investors must really like its potential for the share price to be up 15% per year, over 3 years. You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how Bluestone Resources's cash levels have changed over time. You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how Bluestone Resources's cash levels have changed over time. Of course, the truth is that it is hard to value companies without much revenue or profit. Given that situation, many of the best investors like to check if insiders have been buying shares. If they are buying a significant amount of shares, that's certainly a good thing. Luckily we are in a position to provide you with thisfreechart of insider buying (and selling). Bluestone Resources shareholders are down 30% for the year, but the market itself is up 1.0%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 5.7%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You canclick here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid. Bluestone Resources is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at thisfreelist of growing companies with insider buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on CA exchanges. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Archie and Sabrina Are Dating in This Crazy "Riverdale"/"CAOS" Comics Crossover Photo credit: Archie Comics From Seventeen Archie comics have recently introduced an Archie and Sabrina crossover. The five part series features two of the most iconic Archie comics characters dating. Fans have been hoping for a Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina crossover for a while. Archie Andrews and Sabrina Spellman may not have had the big crossover the fans have been waiting for on Riverdale or Chilling Adventures of the Sabrina , but fans of the famous Archie comics have been able to see them meet and take things to the next level. In the latest issue of Archie , fans will finally get to see how Riverdale's hottest new couple got together. That's right, Archie Andrews and Sabrina Spellman are DATING in the Archie comics. The cover for issue #706, which is part two of the crossover special, even features Archie and Sabrina posing together, with Sabrina showing off her cute letterman jacket that says "Andrews" on the back. The Archie Comics Twitter page, which even covers Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina , announced the big news and they reminded fans that this is happening in the comics and not on their favorite shows. Archie and Sabrina are dating (in the comics). You can take a look at some art (from the comics) by clicking the link at the end of this post. Please check it out when it comes out (at a comic book store) on July 24th. (It's a comic book.) https://t.co/va6o1BbiOr Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) July 1, 2019 While it's not exactly the kind of crossover that fans have been waiting for between Archie and Sabrina, it's still exciting to see them interact in this comic book series. Plus, favorites like Veronica, Betty, and Jughead can all be seen hanging out with everyone's favorite teenage witch. Fans of Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina have been asking for a crossover since CAOS was revealed to be a Riverdale spin-off. During the first season of CAOS , fans did get a little easter egg when Ben Button suddenly appeared in episode seven. This totally makes sense since Riverdale and Greendale are right next to each other, but main characters Archie and Sabrina haven't interacted in either show just yet. At least the comic book proves that a crossover can totally work and hopefully we'll see it either on season 4 of Riverdale or season 3 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina when both shows return. Story continues ('You Might Also Like',) How to Master a Pretty Waterfall Braid 11 Waterproof Makeup Products You Have to Try How To Contour and Highlight Your Face Like A Total Pro View comments
Imagine Owning GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) And Wondering If The 34% Share Price Slide Is Justified Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! GrafTech International Ltd.(NYSE:EAF) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 16% in the last month. But in truth the last year hasn't been good for the share price. The cold reality is that the stock has dropped 34% in one year, under-performing the market. Check out our latest analysis for GrafTech International To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price. Even though the GrafTech International share price is down over the year, its EPS actually improved. It's quite possible that growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past. It's surprising to see the share price fall so much, despite the improved EPS. So it's easy to justify a look at some other metrics. GrafTech International managed to grow revenue over the last year, which is usually a real positive. Since we can't easily explain the share price movement based on these metrics, it might be worth considering how market sentiment has changed towards the stock. The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image). It is of course excellent to see how GrafTech International has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at ourfreereport on how its financial position has changed over time. When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference betweentotal shareholder return(TSR) andshare price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, GrafTech International's TSR for the last year was -29%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments! While GrafTech International shareholders are down 29% for the year (even including dividends), the market itself is up 8.4%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. The share price decline has continued throughout the most recent three months, down 16%, suggesting an absence of enthusiasm from investors. Basically, most investors should be wary of buying into a poor-performing stock, unless the business itself has clearly improved. You might want to assessthis data-rich visualizationof its earnings, revenue and cash flow. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss thisfreelist of companies that have proven they can grow earnings. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
OPEC is 'a worthless organization': oil strategist The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has agreed to extend production cuts until next March, endorsing a policy designed to support oil prices amid increasing production from the United States, which has become the world’s top producer ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia. The deal is awaiting approval from non-OPEC allies; however, Iraq’s oil minister stated he did not anticipate any complications. But Bubba Trading founder Todd Horwitz is a bit skeptical. OPEC "never adhere[s] to anything," he told Yahoo Finance. "That's the problem with the entire OPEC world is that they're all backstabbing each other as it goes on.” The U.S. has been producing 12.1 million barrels per day of oil, according to recent U.S. data. Saudi Arabia, which has 2.3 million barrels of spare capacity, has been producing 9.7 million barrels a day. As the U.S. continues to produce more oil, Horwitz believes OPEC can “no longer hold the United States hostage, which is what they used to do when oil was cheap. They [OPEC] are a worthless organization." When assessing the long term outlook for oil prices and the opportunity to invest in the sector, Horwitz told Yahoo Finance that he expects oils prices to come down because the economy is slowing, supply is increasing and demand is falling. “We do have, in this country right now, well over 200 years supply of oil. Now that we’ve become master frackers, we have an overabundance of supply,” he said. “We’ve had a number of firsts up,” he said. “We just came off a 50% rise from $50... The mid-40’s is a reasonable place for oil when it’s all said and done.” When analyzing the annualized return over the last 20 years, oil has outperformed theS&P 500. Looking forward to the next two decades, Horwitz believes this return is not sustainable. “Oil has been a great performer but I don’t expect it any longer,” he said. “There will be a replacement. I assume the S&P and markets will outperform oil going forward.” Taylor Locke is a producer for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter@itstaylorlocke. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,SmartNews,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit.
New details have emerged about Jony Ive leaving Apple A new report fromThe Wall Street Journaldetails tensions at Apple.Read morehere.Read more... More aboutApple,Mashable Video,Jony Ive,Tech, andBig Tech Companies
Is MIND C.T.I. Ltd's (NASDAQ:MNDO) CEO Salary Justified? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Eisinger Iancu has been the CEO of MIND C.T.I. Ltd (NASDAQ:MNDO) since 1995. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid. See our latest analysis for MIND C.T.I According to our data, MIND C.T.I. Ltd has a market capitalization of US$44m, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth US$504k. (This figure is for the year to December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$240k. We examined a group of similar sized companies, with market capitalizations of below US$200m. The median CEO total compensation in that group is US$465k. So Eisinger Iancu is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. Although this fact alone doesn't tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at MIND C.T.I, below. Over the last three years MIND C.T.I. Ltd has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 5.9% per year (using a line of best fit). Revenue was pretty flat on last year. I generally like to see a little revenue growth, but I'm happy with the EPS growth. These two metric are moving in different directions, so while it's hard to be confident judging performance, we think the stock is worth watching. Although we don't have analyst forecasts, you might want to assessthis data-rich visualizationof earnings, revenue and cash flow. I think that the total shareholder return of 48%, over three years, would leave most MIND C.T.I. Ltd shareholders smiling. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size. Remuneration for Eisinger Iancu is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company . While we would like to see improved growth metrics, there is no doubt that the total returns have been great, over the last three years. So considering most shareholders would be happy, we'd say the CEO pay is appropriate. So you may want tocheck if insiders are buying MIND C.T.I shares with their own money (free access). If you want to buy a stock that is better than MIND C.T.I, thisfreelist of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
10 Stocks to Buy for A Summer Rally It has been a record year for the stock market. In the first half of 2019, theS&P 500rose 17%, marking the best first half performance for the index since 1997, when stocks were up more than 20% in the first half of the year. Following that 20%-plus rally in the first half of 1997, the S&P 500 proceeded to rise another near 10% in the back-half of the year, and closed the year up more than 30%. In other words, not only are stocks off to their best year in over two decades, but the last time stocks were this hot to start a year, they stayed hot into the end of the year. Will history repeat itself? Maybe. There are two big risks facing the markets right now: the U.S.-China trade war and slowing economic expansion. But, the trade war has been put on hold, and it looks increasingly likely that a deal between the two countries will get done soon. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is acting like they are going to cut rates, an action that should goose the economy and boost economic expansion. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips • 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever Thus, the two biggest risks holding back stocks, may disappear over the next few months. If they do, stocks will have a big summer. With that in mind, let’s take a look at ten stocks to buy for a potential summer rally. Source:Charles Chan Via Flickr The Catalyst:U.S.-China trade deal The Thesis:Shares of Chinese e-commerce giantAlibaba(NYSE:BABA) have been under pressure over the past few months as trade tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated. But, those trade tensions are now de-escalating once again, as both countries have agreed to resume trade negotiations and put a truce on the trade war. It appears increasingly likely that a trade deal will get done soon. As investors grow more optimistic regarding the prospects of a trade deal in the foreseeable future, Chinese stocks will head higher since such a trade deal will provide a material boost to the Chinese economy. The biggest and most high profile of those Chinese stocks? Alibaba. Consequently, as trade tensions cool in the summer and China’s economy picks up steam, BABA stock should bounce back toward the $200 level. Source: Shutterstock The Catalyst:Revenue growth re-accelerating The Thesis:Shares of global social media giantFacebook(NASDAQ:FB) were under pressure in 2018 due to data privacy and regulation concerns. But, such concerns have faded into the background in 2019, and the stock has rallied big year-to-date. This big rebound rally in FB stock should continue into the summer as the company’s revenue growth trajectory ramps back up for several reasons. First, a trade deal should help Facebook’s business, since it means companies won’t have to worry about cutting costs from supply chain disruptions, and will have more budget to allocate toward advertising. Second, a potential rate cut should goose the economy, and increase corporate spending on things like advertising. Third, the pivot into commerce should provide a new revenue tailwind. • The Top 10 Best Sectors in the Market for 2019 Net net, Facebook’s growth narrative is set to improve substantially over the next few months, and as it does, investors will continue to buy into the FB rebound narrative. Source: Shutterstock The Catalyst:Strong earnings The Thesis:Over the past several years, sandal footwear brandCrocs(NASDAQ:CROX) has orchestrated one of the most impressive retail turnarounds anyone has ever seen, simply by narrowing the product portfolio andfocusing on the company’s classic foam clog(which has reinvigorated revenue growth and cut expenses from the operating model). This turnaround has propelled CROX stock from $6 in mid-2017, to over $30 by early 2019. Over the past few months, that big turnaround has hit a snag as the whole CROX growth trajectory slowed against the backdrop of broader retail turmoil in early 2019. But, that dour retail backdrop has significantly improved since then, as U.S. labor markets have remained healthy, rates have plunged and trade tensions have eased. Plus, consumer interest with respect to Crocs has onlysurged highersince then, and the company just scored abig partnershipwith Vera Bradley. Overall, then, the numbers over at Crocs should be a lot better this summer, than they were in early 2019, and that sequential improvement should drive a big rebound rally in CROX stock. Source: Nvidia The Catalyst:Improving semiconductor market conditions The Thesis:Shares of GPU giantNvidia(NASDAQ:NVDA) have struggled over the past year as slowing demand across the global semiconductor market has converged on huge inventory levels to create a material drag on semiconductor revenues and margins. Nvidia has been no exception. Revenues and margins have dropped over the past year, and as they have, NVDA stock has dropped, too. But, the fundamentals underlying the semiconductor market are starting to improve. Demand remains weak, but should improve as trade tensions between the U.S. and China cool, and as the Fed cuts rates. Meanwhile, supply remains high, but a rebound in demand should help alleviate the inventory glut. At the same time, bitcoin prices have come roaring back, and that brings bitcoin mining revenue back into the picture. Cloud gaming catalysts in the back half of 2019 should similarly provide a boost to Nvidia GPU demand. • 7 Restaurant Stocks to Put on Your Plate All in all, the fundamental backdrop supporting NVDA stock should substantially improve in the summer of 2019, and into the end of the year. Those improvements should drive up investor demand for Nvidia stock, and ultimately push the stock higher over the next few months. Source: Shutterstock The Catalyst:A stabilizing global economy The Thesis:Economically sensitive industrial giant3M(NYSE:MMM) has suffered from a slowing growth and compressing margin trend over the past several quarters as the global economy has similarly slowed. This slowdown has led to a wipe-out in 3M stock, which is presently more than 30% off its 52-week highs. But, the global economy is starting to show signs of stabilization, and could start to improve in the back-half of the year as U.S.-China trade tensions cool and as the Fed cuts rates. This global economic improvement should lead to a boost in consumer and business confidence, which should lead to a boost in consumer and business spending. Ultimately, some of that spending will find its way onto 3M’s income statement, and this company’s numbers in the back-half of the year could be much better than the numbers early in the year. This fundamental improvement will converge on a stock that is trading at a discount to its average valuation and is more than 30% off 52-week highs. In other words, fundamental strength will converge on stock price weakness in the back half of 2019. That convergence should produce a nice bounce-back rally in 3M stock. Source: Shutterstock The Catalyst:Strong earnings The Thesis:Once struggling athletic footwear retailerFoot Locker(NYSE:FL) has staged a nice comeback over the past few years, as the athletic apparel sector has stabilized in its shift from wholesale retail to direct retail. As it has, Foot Locker’s numbers have improved. Last quarter, this company reported both positive comparable sales growth and margin expansion. Yet, FL stock presently trades 35% off its 52-week highs, and at a measly 8X forward earnings. Why? The trade war. Foot Locker finds itself at the epicenter of the U.S.-China trade war. The athletic footwear industry outsources a lot of production. The biggest destination of that outsourcing is China. As such, higher tariffs on Chinese imports stand to significantly and adversely impact Foot Locker’s numbers. Investors have been persistently nervous about this, and FL stock has remained very weak. • 7 Stocks on Sale the Insiders Are Buying But, the U.S. and China agreed to a trade war truce recently, and it looks likely that a trade deal is coming soon. At the same time, the Fed will likely cut rates soon, and that will provide a boost to consumer spending. Net net, Foot Locker’s biggest headwinds will significantly ease in the back-half of the year, clearing the way for a big rally in depressed, beaten-up and dirt cheap FL stock. Source:OnInnovation via Flickr The Catalyst:Delivery rebound The Thesis:Shares of electric vehicle makerTesla(NASDAQ:TSLA) have been under immense pressure in 2019 as the company’s growth trajectory has fallen flat. Specifically, delivery numbers for Tesla fell from late 2018 to early 2019, while competing models gained market share. Investors freaked out, and TSLA stock plunged. But, there are signs emerging that indicate that Tesla vehicle demand isramping back upfrom the depressed early 2019 levels. At the same time, there are also signs that Tesla remainsthe runaway leaderin the U.S. EV market, and competitors aren’t gaining that much ground. There is also a Model S refresh coming soon, and hope that new Model Y production will start in late 2019. Broadly, the TSLA growth narrative hit a snag in early 2019, but appears to rebounding nicely from that trough. Summer 2019 numbers should be markedly better than early 2019 numbers. Bad early 2019 numbers caused a huge sell off in TSLA stock. Better summer 2019 numbers should spark a rebound. Source:Vivian D Nguyen via Flickr (Modified) The Catalyst:Strong subscriber numbers The Thesis:Shares of streaming giantNetflix(NASDAQ:NFLX) had a big rally to start the year. But, ever since late January 2019, NFLX stock has traded largely sideways as investors have tried to balance continued strong numbers with a stretched valuation and forthcoming competitive risks. This balancing act should end soon. The key with NFLX stock is to follow the content. When the original content pipeline is strong in a certain quarter, the subscriber trends in that quarter are usually similarly strong. The opposite is true, too. Fortunately, over the past several months, Netflix’s original content pipeline has been aboutas good as it has ever been, both on its face and relative to the competition. • 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever This strong content pipeline will produce strong Q2 subscriber numbers. Furthermore, a healthy content line-up into the back-half of 2019 will produce a strong Q3 subscriber guide. Strong Q2 sub numbers and a healthy Q3 sub guide will lead to NFLX stock breaking out of its sideways trading pattern. Source: Shutterstock The Catalyst:Rate cut The Thesis:Arcade and restaurant ownerDave & Buster’s(NASDAQ:PLAY) has suffered from a sideways stock for several years now. Since late 2015, PLAY stock has bounced between $30 and $70. Ultimately, though, it has made no sustainable upward progress. In late 2015, this was a $40 stock. Today, PLAY trades hands around $40. The trouble with Dave & Buster’s is that growth is slowing. Back in 2015, Dave & Buster’s was winning big thanks to a huge pivot towards experience-oriented spending. That tailwind has dried up, and this company has gone from 8.9% comparable sales growth in 2015, to 3.3% in 2016, flat in 2017 and a 1.6% loss in 2018. As comparable sales growth has consistently decelerated, the stock has failed to gain ground. But, comparable sales came in at a loss of 0.3% in the first quarter of 2019, better than last year’s 1.6% decline. Further, management is guiding for a loss of 0.5% comparable sales growth this year, which is also better than last year’s 1.6% decline. And the forthcoming Fed rate cuts give potential upside to that -0.5% guide. In other words, in 2019, the trend should reverse course for Dave & Buster’s. Slowing comparable sales growth will turn into rebounding comparable sales growth, and that trend reversal should cause a similar reversal in PLAY stock. Source: Canopy Growth The Catalyst:Edibles, extracts, & topicals The Thesis:Canadian cannabis giantCanopy Growth(NYSE:CGC) has had a really good 2019. Over the past several months, it has become increasingly obvious through continued Canadian market dominance, key acquisitions, and certain legal developments, that Canopy projects as the leader in a potentially very large global cannabis market. As Canopy has gained long term growth visibility, CGC stock has rallied. Year-to-date, shares are up 50%. But, CGC stock is also 25% off recent highs as the Canadian cannabis market continues to fight through growing pains. The latest growing pain? Continuedsupply shortages, and an inability to transfer illicit sales into the legal channel. These struggles weighed on Canopy’s early 2019 numbers, and CGC stock has subsequently sold off from its recent highs. The numbers will get better in the back-half of the year. Specifically, Canada is set to legalize cannabis edibles, extracts, and topicals later this year. The introduction of these new products into the market will do two things. First, it will boost demand. Second, it will increase margins, since these products have higher margins than dried flower. • 7 Restaurant Stocks to Put on Your Plate Overall, then, the introduction of edibles, extracts, and topicals into the legal Canadian cannabis market will provide a lift to Canopy’s numbers in the back-half of 2019, and that lift should translate into a rally for CGC stock. As of this writing, Luke Lango was long BABA, FB, CROX, FL, TSLA, NFLX and CGC. • 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid • 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever • 10 Small-Cap Stocks That Look Like Bargains • 10 Names That Are Screaming Stocks to Buy The post10 Stocks to Buy for A Summer Rallyappeared first onInvestorPlace.
Should You Think About Buying H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) Now? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL), which is in the chemicals business, and is based in United States, saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. As a mid-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Today I will analyse the most recent data on H.B. Fuller’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists. View our latest analysis for H.B. Fuller Great news for investors – H.B. Fuller is still trading at a fairly cheap price. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $65.1, but it is currently trading at US$46.55 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. Although, there may be another chance to buy again in the future. This is because H.B. Fuller’s beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the company's shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity. Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. H.B. Fuller’s earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 63%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. Are you a shareholder?Since FUL is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation. Are you a potential investor?If you’ve been keeping an eye on FUL for a while, now might be the time to make a leap. Its prosperous future outlook isn’t fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it’s not too late to buy FUL. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed buy. Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on H.B. Fuller. You can find everything you need to know about H.B. Fuller inthe latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in H.B. Fuller, you can use our free platform to see my list of over50 other stocks with a high growth potential. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Acuity Brands Inc (AYI) Q3 2019 Earnings Call Transcript Image source: The Motley Fool. Acuity Brands Inc(NYSE: AYI)Q3 2019 Earnings CallJul 2, 2019,10:00 a.m. ET • Prepared Remarks • Questions and Answers • Call Participants Operator Good morning, and welcome to the Acuity Brands Fiscal 2019 Third Quarter Financial Conference Call. After today's presentation, there will be a formal question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now, I will like to introduce Mr. Dan Smith, Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. Sir, you may begin. Dan Smith--Senior Vice President, Treasurer & Secretary Thank you, and good morning. With me today to discuss our fiscal 2019 third quarter results are Vern Nagel, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ricky Reece, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We are webcasting today's conference call on our website at acuitybrands.com. I would like to remind everyone that, during this call, we may make projections or forward-looking statements regarding future events or future financial performance of the company. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties such that actual results may differ materially. Please refer to our most recent 10-K and 10-Q SEC filings and today's press release, which identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements. Now, let me turn this call over to Vern Nagel. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everyone. Ricky and I would like to make a few comments, and then we will answer your questions. Our results for the third quarter were very solid, despite continuing inflationary cost pressures, the impact of tariffs and further uncertainties caused by US trade policies. We implemented several programs to address these cost issues including additional price increases, product and freight cost reductions and further actions to improve productivity. We believe our top line growth this past quarter was negatively impacted by the pull forward of orders from customers into the first half of the year as they acted to avoid announced price increases as well as reduced shipments in the retail channel due to efforts initiated this year to eliminate products within our portfolio that do not meet our profitability hurdles primarily in the retail channel. I will provide greater detail on our sales mix later in the call. Additionally, we are pleased that our adjusted gross profit margin exceeded 40% for the first time in a year and improved sequentially for the third quarter in a row. Our adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.53 was a third quarter record. I know many of you have already seen our results and Ricky will provide more detail later in the call, but I would like to make a few comments on the key highlights for the third quarter of 2019. Net sales were $948 million, a slight increase over the year ago period. Reported operating profit was $120.3 million compared with $107.4 million in the year ago period. Reported diluted earnings per share was $2.22 compared with $1.80 in the year ago period. There were adjustments in both quarters for certain special items as well as certain other add backs necessary for our results to be comparable between periods, as Ricky will explain later in the call. In adding back these items, one can see, adjusted operating profit for the third quarter of 2019 was $135.5 million or 14.3% of net sales compared with adjusted operating profit of $137.3 million in the year ago period of 14.5% of net sales. Adjusted diluting earnings per share was $2.53 a third quarter record, up 7% from the year ago period. Results this period were benefited by a lower effective tax rate, as Ricky will explain later in the call. Net cash provided by operating activities was a strong $312 million for the first nine months of the year, up nicely over the year ago period, and our cash position at the end of the quarter grew to $334 million, leaving us with plenty of liquidity to execute our growth strategies. Looking at some specific details for the quarter, net sales were essentially flat when compared with the year ago period. Overall, net sales volume grew more than 1%, which was mostly offset by unfavorable foreign exchange rates and the adoption of ACS 606 (sic) (ASC 606). Changes in product prices and the mix of products sold were essentially flat compared with the prior year as higher pricing was offset by changes in the mix of products sold and customer mix within certain channels. We estimate the realization from recent price increases contributed low single-digit growth to overall net sales for the quarter. From a channel perspective, the increase in net sales in our independent sales network was largely offset by lower net sales in the retail channel, compared with the year ago period. The decline in net sales in the retail channel was primarily due to the impact of efforts initiated this year to eliminate certain product categories that do not meet our expected profit margin profile. We believe our growth in net sales this quarter was also muted by the impact of customers primarily in the independent sales network channel pulling forward orders into the first half of the year in advance of announced price increases. We know -- while we noted this activity in our previous two earnings calls, we were unable to determine the precise impact of the sales shift between quarters. Looking more closely at the details of our net sales this quarter, net sales through our independent sales network were up almost 3%. Our growth in this channel was benefited by implemented price increases, market share gains in certain biting categories, particularly for lighting controls and growth of our building management solutions platform at this (inaudible) 13:12, which again performed exceptionally well this quarter. We believe the growth rate of our C&I business within the independent sales network channel was more than double the overall rate of growth for this particular market. Our growth in C&I was primarily due to greater shipments of certain high volume, more basic, lesser featured LED fixtures, primarily for applications on smaller and mid-sized commercial projects, significant growth of our lighting controls platform, nLight and the benefit from our implemented price increases, all partially offset by prolonged delays for larger non-residential lighting projects as well as continued product substitution to lower priced alternatives for certain lighting products. Additionally, net sales in our corporate accounts and direct sales channels were down slightly compared with the year ago period, primarily due to the completion of certain large projects in the year ago period and to a lesser degree slower releases for certain renovation projects. Net sales in the retail channel declined approximately $12 million this quarter compared with the year ago period. As I noted earlier, the decline was primarily due to the elimination this year of certain products sold primarily through the retail channel as part of a comprehensive review of our product portfolio for those products that do not meet our margin profile expectations, while we expect these efforts to result in lower net sales in this channel over the next few quarters, we ultimately expect that these actions will be margin accretive as operating profit dollars are expected to remain fairly constant . With regard to the impact on net sales for changes in the price and mix of products sold, the overall net impact was essentially flat this quarter. While it is not possible to precisely determine the separate impact of changes in the price and mix of products sold, we estimate the impact of price increases contributed low single digits to our overall growth in the quarter. This positive price capture was offset by changes in channel and product mix. The change in channel and product mix this quarter was mostly influenced by changes in sales to certain customers within certain channels and to a much lesser degree the extent -- product substitution to lower priced alternatives primarily for more basic lesser featured LED luminaries sold in certain channels as well as a modest decline in shipments for larger commercial projects. Our profitability measures for the third quarter were solid given these overall market conditions. Our adjusted operating profit for the quarter was $136 million, down ever so slightly compared with the year ago period. While adjusted operating profit margin for the quarter was 14.3%, down 20 basis points from the year ago period. If one were to reconcile our adjusted operating profit in margin in both periods for the US GAAP mandated accounting changes for ACS 606 (sic) (ASC 606) and the pension accounting pronouncement in 2018, our adjusted operating profit this quarter would have exceeded the year ago period by approximately $1.3 million and adjusted operating profit margin would have been the same compared with the year ago period. Our adjusted gross profit margin for the third quarter was 40.5%, a decrease of about 110 basis points compared with year ago period. Adjusted gross profit was $384 million, down $9 million from the year ago period. The decline in gross margin was primarily due to a shift in net sales among key customers within the retail channel and the significant impact from the under absorption of manufacturing operating cost as a consequence of our inventory reduction efforts this year compared with an increase in inventory in the year ago period. The inventory build in the year ago period was necessary to service certain very large orders that were required to be shipped in the fourth quarter in both corporate accounts and retail channels. As we mentioned last quarter, our adjusted gross profit and margin were negatively impacted by a shift in net sales between key customers within our retail channel. Each of our key customers in this channel have different service requirements, which impact how we account for these differences under generally accepted accounting principles. We believe the impact of this customer shift within this channel accounted for approximately a third of the decline in overall adjusted gross profit margin as a percentage of net sales in the third quarter compared with a year ago. However, it is important to note, we believe much of this decline was largely offset with lower SDA expense. Next, our adjusted SDA expenses were down approximately $7 million compared with the year ago period. Adjusted SDA expense as a percentage of net sales was 26.2% in the third quarter, a decrease of 90 basis points from the year ago period. Again, the decline in adjusted SDA expense was primarily due to lower freight costs caused primarily by the customer shift within the retail channel. Our adjusted diluted EPS was a third quarter record of $2.53 compared with $2.37 reported in the year ago period, an increase of 7%. The increase was primarily due to higher adjusted net income, which was benefited primarily by a lower effective tax rate this quarter as well as lower average shares outstanding. Before I turn the call over to Ricky, I would like to comment on a few important accomplishments this past quarter. On the strategic and technology front, we continue to make significant strides setting the stage for what we believe will be solid growth in revenue and profitability over the long term. We continue to gain market share in many important product categories and sales channels. Our Tier 3 and 4 solutions continue to expand and now make up more than 20% of our net sales. Our new product introductions continue to be well received by the market, some winning various awards for innovation. From a commercial perspective, we continue to accelerate the number of Atrius-enabled deployments and increased active programs with several of the largest US-based retailers. Our Atrius-based IoT luminaires and solutions are becoming the industry standard in the Big Box Retail segment, we believe that over 20% of the floor space at Big Box retailers is in the US is now Atrius-enabled. Additionally, we continue to expand these differentiated solutions into other verticals as awareness by customers grows as they come to recognize the full benefits of these solutions including superior visual comfort and energy savings as well as the capabilities of our IoT solutions, providing them with the opportunity to transform their spaces from nothing more than expense items into strategic assets. As I mentioned in prior earnings calls, it is clear that certain Chinese-based lighting companies, many obviously being subsidized in some form are influencing pricing for certain basic lesser featured fixtures sold in certain channels. We will not yield this space for many strategic reasons. As such, we have continued to expand our contractor select portfolio and further enhance our service platforms to profitably compete in this portion of the market. We believe our lighting and BMS controls capabilities continue to expand it more than double the overall estimated market growth rate for these solutions. We believe Acuity has the most comprehensive and feature rich wired and wireless lighting control systems available in the non-residential market and importantly, they are connected to our growing BMS solutions, providing customers with even more functionality. Lastly, this year, we initiated a comprehensive reviews in two key areas of our company, Compensation and Environmental, Social and Governance or ESG. These reviews which included feedback and insights from our shareholder base resulted in modification and enhancements to both programs. Specifically with regard to ESG, we believe these factors are important to the long-term success of Acuity Brands and our stakeholders. We are very pleased to announce that we have updated our EarthLIGHT website, which highlight some of the significant efforts and results we have achieved to-date that lessen our impact on the earth and benefit our business, associates, customers and communities. I encourage all of you to visit our website at www.acuitybrands.com/about us/sustainability to view these impressive results. We have been able to create these capabilities while providing industry leading results because of the dedication resolve of our 12,000 associates, who are maniacally focused on serving, solving and supporting the needs of our key stakeholders. I will talk more about our expectations for the balance of 2019 later in the call, I would like to now turn the call over to Ricky. Ricky? Richard K. Reece--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Thank you, Vern, and good morning, everyone. As Vern mentioned earlier, we had some adjustments to the GAAP results in the third quarter of fiscal 2019 and 2018, which we find useful to add back in order for the results to be comparable. In our earnings release and Form 10-Q, we provide a detailed reconciliation of non-GAAP measures for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal year 2019 and 2018. Adjusted results exclude the impact of amortization expense for acquired intangible assets, share-based payment expense, manufacturing inefficiencies directly related to the closure of a facility, excess inventory adjustments, acquisition-related items, special charges for streamlining activities and an income tax net benefit for discrete items associated with the Tax Cuts and Job Act. We believe adjusting for these items and providing these non-GAAP measures provide greater comparability and enhanced visibility into our results of operations. We think you'll find this transparency very helpful in your analysis of our performance. In the third quarter of the prior fiscal year, we recorded a pre-tax special charge of $9.9 million, primarily with actions to streamline the organization. We expect to continue to incur additional cost in future periods associated with these actions initiated last year. The additional costs will consist primarily of early lease termination and moving cost associated with the closing of certain facilities. During the third quarter of this fiscal year, we reversed $100,000 of previously recorded special charges due to updated estimates. The effective tax rate for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 was 20.9% compared with 26.4% in the prior year quarter. The decline in the current fiscal tax rate reflects a lower federal statutory rate and certain research and development cost tax credits, including claims for prior periods recognized during the third quarter of fiscal 2019. We currently estimate that our blended effective income tax rate before discrete items will approximate 22% to 24% for fiscal 2019 and 2020. Shortly after the end of our third quarter or in June 20, 2019 using cash on hand, we acquired WhiteOptics, LLC headquartered in New Castle, Delaware. WhiteOptics is a manufacturer of advanced optical components used to reflect, defuse and control light for LED lighting used in commercial and institutional applications. WhiteOptics product portfolio includes light guide plates, optical defusers and innovative micro structure lenses that provide a unique 3 dimensional appearance. WhiteOptics transmissive products include optics that improve the quality of light to support a low glare LED solution and superior luminaire efficiency and energy savings. The acquisition of WhiteOptics is not expected to materially impact the company's fiscal 2019 consolidated financial performance. We did not disclose the terms of the acquisition. We generated $312 million of net cash flow provided by operating activities during the first nine months of fiscal 2019, compared with $300 million for the year ago period. Operating working capital, defined as receivables, plus inventory, less payables decreased almost $21 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2019. This decrease is largely due to greater cash collections as well as fewer inventory purchases year-over-year, partially offset by the timing of payments for trade payables. We reduced our inventory by $22 million during the past quarter, as our focus on improving inventory turns is yielding positive results. At May 31, 2019, we had a cash position of $334 million, an increase of $205 million since August 31, 2018. The increase was due primarily to the cash flow from operations, partially offset by cash used to repurchase common stock to invest in plant and equipment and to pay dividends. We repurchased 400,000 shares for $49 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2019. We have 4.8 million shares remaining under our current share repurchase Board authorization. Our investment in capital expenditures was $40 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2019, an increase of almost $8 million compared with the prior year period. We currently expect to invest approximately 1.5% of net sales in capital expenditures in fiscal year 2019. Capital expenditures for fiscal year 2019 include tooling for new products, equipment, facility renovations, information technology including enhancements and upgrades to our industry-leading lighting and lighting control design software, Visual, and our proprietary customer order portal, Agile, as well as normal ongoing property and equipment maintenance. Last year we executed a new five-year unsecured credit agreement with a syndicate of banks that provide us with a total of $800 million of borrowing capacity, of which $795 million was available at May 31, 2019. Our total debt outstanding was $357 million at May 31, 2019. Our debt to capitalization at May 31, 2019 was 15.9% and net debt to net capital was 1.2%. Our $350 million senior unsecured notes mature in December 2019. We intend to refinance these borrowings using availability under our $400 million unsecured delayed-draw five-year term loan facility. We clearly enjoy significant financial strength and flexibility to support our growth opportunities, which may include acquisitions and we will continue to seek the best use of our strong cash generation to enhance shareholder value. Thank you. And I'll turn it back to Vern. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thank you, Ricky. While current market conditions in the lighting industry continued to be challenging, we continue to be optimistic regarding our long-term future. We believe our many actions to improve our market reach, enhance our customer solutions and capabilities and to drive companywide productivity will help optimize our financial performance in the future, while affording us the opportunity to continue to invest in areas we believe, have high profitable growth potential over the long term. Our above market sales growth, significant cash flow and robust return on invested capital through the first nine months of the year are reflective of our very positive operating performance despite some of these current industry headwinds. Our views and overall market demand for the lighting industry and items influencing costs have not really changed over the last few quarters. So let me reiterate a few of those key items that could influence our performance in the fourth quarter and for the balance of the calendar 2019. Many independent third-party forecasts continue to suggest the overall growth rate for the North American construction market as measured in dollars will be in the low- to mid-single-digit range. We still believe the lighting industry will lag the overall growth rate of the construction market, primarily due to continued product substitution to lower priced alternatives for certain products sold through certain channels, while recent industry pricing actions should have a favorable impact on growth as measured in dollars. Additionally, we expect that labor shortages in certain markets will continue to dampen growth rates for both construction and lighting. The US government increased tariffs on certain imported Chinese made finished goods to 25% from 10% in May. This action resulted in many lighting companies, including Acuity, implementing a price increase in late May. The US has threatened to increase tariffs on additional Chinese made products and now, Mexico as well. Though the administration recently backed off on these threats, the turmoil caused by this almost daily rhetoric in the press regarding global trade issues has certainly created greater volatility in our various end markets impacting demand. We believe the outcome of the entire tariff situation could have a dampening effect on overall demand due to higher component cost and finished good prices. As previously mentioned, we believe the other announced price increases and other actions taken will help offset the increase in cost for various items noted earlier. While increases in some input costs, such as steel have leveled off for now, we expect other costs and expenses, such as imported electrical components and finished goods, freight and wages will continue to rise. These potential cost increases could have a negative impact on our financial results due to the timing and nature of any mitigation efforts, including potential future price increases and other actions to reduce costs. Further, we believe that product substitutions to lower-priced alternatives for certain products in certain portions of the lighting market will continue, particularly for more basic, lesser featured products sold through certain channels, potentially pressuring both top line growth and profitability. The relaunch of our Contractor Select portfolio and other actions taken were done to enhance our opportunities for profitable growth in these or those portions of the market. Excluding the impact, if any of those factors just noted, we remain cautiously optimistic about overall market conditions for the balance of 2019, though some leading indicators of future market demand, such as the Architectural Billing Index and the Dodge Momentum Index show current softness. Our wide and varied base of customers generally remain positive about their current year growth prospects. While many customers continue to have healthy backlogs, they too are concerned about the timing of releases, particularly for larger projects and the potential impact of tariffs and inflation on overall demand and the current softness in some of these leading indicators. However, most importantly, we expect to continue to outperform the overall growth rate of the markets we serve primarily in North America. Further, we believe the sales of our lighting and BMS control solutions as well as our Atrius-based luminaires all within our Tier 3 and 4 categories will continue to expand, though and I would like to emphasize, it will be lumpy at times because of the unpredictability and timing of customer's renovation and new construction schedules as well as the volatility in demand caused by global trade and political issues. This next point is very important. While as a matter of policy, we don't give earnings guidance, we feel it is important for all investors and analysts to understand that we believe our net sales could be down modestly in this coming fourth quarter compared with the year-ago period. The primary reason for this was that net sales last year were significantly benefited by shipments to new customers in the retail channel as part of initial stocking programs. Those initial stocking orders will not repeat this year. The potential of this top line decline notwithstanding, we believe our adjusted operating profit margins will exceed those reported in the year ago period as well as continue to improve on a sequential basis. I'd like to reemphasize those points because it will be particularly important as one thinks about their models going forward and I believe it's a favorable outcome. Additionally, as I noted last quarter, we initiated a review this year of a portion of our product portfolio and services offered primarily through the retail channel with the objective of eliminating those items and activities that do not meet our financial objectives. These efforts have and will continue to impact our top line growth rate, however, we expect that the actions taken in this effort will be accretive to our margins as a percentage of net sales and return on invested capital. As we have noted before, our gross profit margin is influenced by several factors, including sales volume, innovation, components and commodity cost, market pricing dynamics and changes in product and sales channel mix. Additionally, we are always striving to improve our profitability through our continuous improvement efforts. Lastly, the execution of our integrated tiered solutions strategy, including the expansion of our Tier 3 and 4 holistic lighting, building management and our Atrius IoT platform and software solutions and our opportunities to participate the interconnected world as an integral part of our overall long-term profitable growth strategy to meaningfully expand our addressable market by adding broad-based holistic solutions that will allow our customers to transform their connected, intelligent buildings and campuses from cost centers to strategic assets. As I've said before, we believe the lighting and lighting-related industry as well as the building management systems market have the potential to experience solid growth over the next decade because of continued opportunities for new construction and as importantly, the conversion of the installed base, which is enormous in size to more efficient and effective solutions. As the market leader in lighting solutions and a technology leader in building automation, along with our Atrius platform, we believe we are well positioned to fully participate and lead these exciting and growing industries. Thank you, and with that, we will now entertain any questions that you have. Operator Thank you. (Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Tim Wojs with Baird. Your line is now open. Timothy Wojs--Robert W. Baird & Co. -- Analyst Hey, gentlemen. Good morning. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Good morning. Timothy Wojs--Robert W. Baird & Co. -- Analyst So maybe just, again, going back to your last comments there Vern, just on the profitability improvement that you're expecting in the fourth quarter. You mentioned that you expect EBIT to be -- EBIT margins to be up year-over-year and sequentially. Should we think the same for gross profit? Just there was that headwind from the loading on the sales line, but also think there was a headwind not only from that loading, but also just some negative operating costs that hit the gross profit line, the COGS line in the fourth quarter last year. So any commentary you can give us and just gross margins being higher year-over-year in the fourth quarter would be helpful? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Sure. So you saw that this quarter our gross profit margin improved well, sequentially to 40.5%. It was the first time in, I believe the last three quarters that we have exceeded 40% the gross profit margin level, a key indicator for all of you and for us internally as well. We would expect to see improvement in Q4 as well. As you know, and we mentioned last couple of quarters number because of some of the intra-channel mix, customer mix within the retail channel and how we serve those customers, it is having an influence that lowers, if you will, based on historical standards, our gross profit margin, but it is made up in lower SDA. We estimate that in the third quarter that impact lessened our gross profit margin by approximately 30 basis points compared with the year ago period. So we are expecting improvements in Q4, particularly as we look at various products and product categories within our portfolio that really don't meet our margin hurdles, our return on investment hurdles. So we're looking to prune that back, which I view is a very favorable activity and so what that should do in Q4 little bit of noise going out, it will contribute to most likely lower sales in Q4, but a higher margin profile, and as Ricky and I said in our prepared remarks, we're expecting that to result in constant or consistent operating profit dollars. Timothy Wojs--Robert W. Baird & Co. -- Analyst Okay. And then, I guess just to be clear, you would expect gross margins to be up year-over-year in Q4 or sequentially as well? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer I would expect them to be up sequentially. The headwind, well, oh, excuse me, for the year-ago period, we would expect them to be up pretty meaningfully above the year-ago period. Timothy Wojs--Robert W. Baird & Co. -- Analyst Okay, great. And then maybe just switching over to kind of the tariffs. What have you heard from your customer base in terms of the move from no tariffs to 10% and then just the incremental move from 10% to 25%. Have your customers or your channel partners being able pit to pass that on to customers? Is that what you've heard or have you heard any sort of pushback on that move to 25%? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer So we sell-through 14 different sales channels and so I just comment on some of the broader ones. Certainly, the move from 10% to 25%, that was a situation, I believe, where the industry, not only the lighting industry but anybody who has product that's coming from China, that was a move too large for anyone to absorb or for the fluctuation in foreign currency to give some argument that you could absorb that. So the price increases, I think are real and the end channels are passing those along to end customers because they can't absorb that either. I was very pleased with our price capture in Q3. We've implemented more pricing. We expect that to continue to benefit our results. And when I say benefit our results, to offset the significant tariff increases. I'll remind everyone that if you go back to early September, mid-September, that price increase had more to do with the cost dynamics in our industry, less to do with tariffs on finished goods. We then put in additional price increases, including the most recent price increase in May, reflective of the significant increase in tariffs on Asian-made finished goods. Timothy Wojs--Robert W. Baird & Co. -- Analyst Okay. Okay, great. And then just kind of sneak last one in. We noticed you didn't buy any stock back in the quarter. Any thoughts on just stock down 11% here today, how you think about buybacks opportunistically would be helpful? Thanks. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Sure. So I'll take a stab at this at first and then Ricky can comment. First of all, our stock being down 11% today is ridiculous. I mean the value of the business and the things that we're doing, we're enhancing the value of that. It's all the good things. We're really generating a lot of cash. We're doing great things within the key markets that we serve. We're looking to prune some of the things within our business that don't really provide the kinds of returns that we expect. We have a significantly high return on invested capital, cash flow return on investment and those are important metrics to us. So we're looking to make sure that we're a better business and a growing business. You might imagine that with $334 million of cash, we are looking at all alternatives. The pipeline that Ricky has from acquisitions and strategic investments is robust and we would expect to execute on those where we see really interesting opportunities to enhance our return. So as we have always said in the past, if you look at how we have used our capital, our free cash flow, third of it has gone to acquisitions, a third of it has gone to stock buybacks and then the other third that has been split between CapEx and dividend. So I would expect us to continue to operate in that kind of environment. Ricky? Richard K. Reece--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Yeah, I would just add a few more comments on that. As Vern said, our first priority is acquisitions. We think that provides the greatest longer term value creation for shareholders. The pipeline is very long and very active, both for outright acquisitions as well as opportunities to invest in complementary technologies and operations. You saw after the end of the quarter, the small acquisition of WhiteOptics, but strategically that will be very important to us as we continue to advance the optics capability in some of the new form factors that are going to the market today, taking advantage of the LED. So very excited about that, but clearly share buyback is on the table. We have the authorization from the Board and that certainly an opportunity, we'll take good care of. Timothy Wojs--Robert W. Baird & Co. -- Analyst Great. Well, good luck on the rest of the year and have a happy 4th. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thank you. Operator Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of John Walsh with Credit Suisse. Your line is now open. John Walsh--Credit Suisse -- Analyst Hi, good morning. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Good morning. John Walsh--Credit Suisse -- Analyst I guess, the first question around pricing and I think you've articulated that there is the general inflationary price increases and then the price increases that are related to the tariffs. But I'm just curious, if we were to see the tariffs disappear, what kind of industry discipline has been instilled or do you think customers would allow you to continue to capture that non-tariff inflation just because historically it has been a price down market? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Yeah, my observation around that is that the industry has been for the bulk of the industry, I won't say for some of these lesser featured type products where they are subject to a bit more of global competition, I would say that the industry has generally been and I would expect it to continue to be disciplined around larger projects or what I will call specification-driven projects, where you're adding value by selling not only product feature differences, but you're selling service and support differences and we're seeing that. We're raising prices on some of our controls platform, primarily because there is value there and we have experienced some cost. And I think that the industry recognizes that value and our competitors also recognize their own value. So I would expect that those types of price increases to stay in place, frankly. Richard K. Reece--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer I would just add, historically, we have seen the ability to pass on commodity price increases. So for a lot of the price degradation we experienced over the last eight, nine years was because we were seeing declines in LED cost, efficacy of LED and so forth and the market again was passing that on. So I would just reiterate, I do think the market is pretty rational when it comes to these kind of common commodity costs, both when they go up as well as when they goes down. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer And John, I would also comment that one of the reasons that we have aggressively relaunched our Contractor Select portfolio where we have revamped the product portfolio, if you will, based on features and benefits, but also has been manically focus on the cost structure within that, and that is to effectively compete in that portion of the market where to the extent that tariffs go away, we still have a strong competitive advantage, not only in the product portfolio set, but in the service set. We're modifying or service platforms, making our transactional capabilities far more frictionless and easy to do business with to compete in that world and it's an important element for us, because I don't know that pricing, while we seem to debate somewhat, particularly on product substitutions, we would expect to continue to thrive in that marketplace, even without tariffs. John Walsh--Credit Suisse -- Analyst Got you. And then maybe a follow-on here about the installed base opportunity. I mean, I feel like we've always talked about LED penetration rates through the installed base, but given the very public field failure with Detroit that everyone was speaking about at LIGHTFAIR, you've seen kind of an increased amount of marketing around product quality, whether it's from yourself, your channel partners or competitors. Is there a potential to see an acceleration of, call it Contractor Selector, this kind of Tier 1 refocused product as some of this earlier imported lights fell in the field, is that a big opportunity or is that something people talk about, but you don't actually think it's going to amount to an increased installed based opportunity? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer John, that's a great question. We, Acuity, have been and are increasing our aggressiveness in communicating to our customer base both through electrical distribution to the end customer that there is a huge difference, just because something looks the same and they both say LED and they both say five-year warranty, they're not the same. I call it internally selling the difference. And more and more, we are becoming even more aggressive at selling the difference. And this happened in the analog world. If you go back almost a decade ago, imports coming in, they didn't meet some of the standards and when you had failures that were highly publicized and more and more these failures are -- I'll just call them, larger projects like the city of Detroit, that goes like wildfire through the industry. And now, we are able to sell our difference, but also sell the fact that Acuity is manically focused solely on lighting, lighting controls, building management capability and it's our quality that we sell and our ability to support those kinds of things. So we do see it as an emerging opportunity to really sell the difference and create greater sales and greater profitability for Acuity. John Walsh--Credit Suisse -- Analyst Thank you. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thank you. Operator Thank you. (Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Jeff Osborne with Cowen and Company. Your line is now open. Jeffrey Osborne--Cowen and Company -- Analyst Hey, good morning, guys. I was wondering if you could just put in perspective the pruning of the portfolio. You mentioned it was $12 million year-over-year. If you annualize that, is that a good number of what you've done so far and is there more room to go in terms of what you're looking to prune? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer I would say that there is. The decline in our Retail segment of $12 million, that's a portion of the pruning activity, that's not all of it, it's not all in the retail channel, it's looking at various products. Just a little historical perspective. We got into some of these products by really doing a service and accommodation to certain customers sets so on, and so forth. It wasn't really core to our business, but the customers were core to us. And so leveraging some of that capability and saying, yep, we'll do it, it wasn't really consistent with some of the value propositions of the brands that we have. So this pruning is really, it's been a long time coming, but it's an appropriate thing to do. My guess is that it will continue to influence the next couple of quarters, particularly as we do year-over-year type comparisons and we'll continue to give more insight on that. While we said it's modest, it could be two or three points of our top line, depending on how aggressively we pursue some of these things and look at alternatives. It's not just that we're going to stop doing some things, but do we want to commit resources to reengineer or engineer some new products in this area that, again, may or may not be consistent with the value proposition of brands. So we're still evaluating those types of things. But again, I want to reemphasize really important that we expect at the operating profit level for these things to be fairly neutral in terms of the actions. That's reflective of the fact that we're not making really any money on doing some of these accommodated type things and there is no reason to burn up our factories, or our balance sheet, or our people servicing that portion of the business, that is not accretive to what we're doing. So there is still I think more effort that we'll be putting into this. And while will create a little bit of noise on the top line, we think that shareholders will appreciate the benefit on the bottom line and on how we return capital to shareholders. Jeffrey Osborne--Cowen and Company -- Analyst Make sense. And my second question and the last one is just on the Atrius. Can you just touch on how you're capturing the value for that, in terms of any metrics that you can give in terms of price premium that you have for the product, either in a per unit or square footage basis? You've just been somewhat elusive on sort of the revenue model for Tier 3 and 4 in the past, and so it would be helpful just to understand how is that 20% of retail square footage evolves over time with the awards you have, what the financial ramifications of that are? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff, I don't know, if we've been elusive on Tier 3, we apologize and that must be miscommunication. Our growth in the corporate account world for us or that enterprise solution world has been really quite positive. We are gaining share, if you will, in that space as we convert these retailers. That's why we wanted to give you all a sense that our actions to-date where we say, we believe that in the big box world, more than 20% of that square footage in the US is under Atrius-enabled luminaires. So we earn that business and we sold those luminaires. Now what we're doing is we're working with customers to really help them drive the Ferrari that they bought in terms of what it can do to their business model. And that's really been the Tier 4 opportunity for us to generate more SaaS revenues. They are, again, we're operating off the small base. But the reason that these retailers and other verticals are putting in our Atrius-based luminaires is because they are -- they believe in the future opportunity of the IoT-enabled capabilities. And so they're now experimenting with these apps. I think that if I had a learning that I would share with the group and I think Ricky and I would have said, boy, when someone transforms a single store, they're now going to start using it and putting absent, that's just not how things work. We were wrong in that premise. People want to get critical mass. Think of airports. These transformation of these airports are years in the making. Well if they redo one terminal and you're a passenger going from that terminal to another terminal and its Atrius-enabled in the one terminal and then they lose you going to the other, they've created a horrible customer experience. So they are buying these luminaires, future proofing because they know that over the course of, I'll call it, whatever their renovation cycle is, they're going to have that platform in place. So the Tier 4 revenues, the SaaS revenues, have been slower incoming relative to what our assumptions were three or four years ago. But we believe that the reason that they are buying these solutions, the fixtures themselves and the controls platform and all of this is because they believe strongly in the opportunity of what the Atrius IoT-enabled capability will allow them and that's why we're selling a lot of luminaires into that space. Richard K. Reece--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer And I would just add, our business model enable us to capture that value over time, as Vern said, as they start driving that Ferrari or adding more and more applications and capability to it. Yes, we get a premium when we sell the hardware, but the further opportunity is once they start using the data that we're able to collect or collect additional data as we build out greater capability, or other sensors, or other companies want to use our network to transfer data and run applications and gather information that they can use to enhance the business or the productivity of the customer. So our business model allows us to continue to capture that along the way and grow the SaaS revenue and enhance their revenue on that network that we put on as they continue to use it more and more. Jeffrey Osborne--Cowen and Company -- Analyst I appreciate it. Thanks guys. Operator Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Jeff Sprague with Vertical Research Partners. Your line is now open. Jeffrey T. Sprague--Vertical Research Partners -- Analyst Yes, good morning. Thank you, guys. Hey. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Good morning. Jeffrey T. Sprague--Vertical Research Partners -- Analyst Just a couple things from me. Good morning. Just back on the whole idea of kind of the influence of tariffs and pricing on buyers behavior. So first, do you have a sense of what the pull forward actually was in the first half of your year? And secondly, I would've thought perhaps that this move to 10% to 25% may have actually created some sort of pull forward in the current period and it seems like that didn't happen. So maybe just a little bit of additional color there would be helpful? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Sure. It's interesting and unfortunately, to have precise data to answer your question, we don't have, but I have been to a number of industry events talking with distributors, contractors, different customer set. And in that dialogue with them and I'll just pick distributors here for one second, they've said, we've been inundated at bringing in projects now and having to consume more and more of our floor space actually having to add space to house these projects that will be delivered over a more likely period of time. I believe that the move to 25%, while that may have created some pull forward, I think, you saw a lot of the pull forward kind of in that first half of the year. I think, what you could actually see is projects on the 25% side potentially being delayed. And the truth of the matter is that for a lot of the product that was hit by the 25% tariff, that actually is on the more smaller, more stock flow type projects. Usually, larger projects that require more sophisticated type luminaire, we're manufacturing those types of products in our North American footprint and so we're able to, through different types of sourcing so on and so forth, sell those luminaires without necessarily the pressure of -- the full some pressure of the tariffs. So I think, there you didn't see more pull forward of those types of things. And then on the stock flow side, I believe that folks are sitting back saying, well, how long is this going to stay. A lot of distributors, they already have enough inventory. They're not going to pull forward more when they're running out of space. So we did not see the same type of pull forward activity on the May increase, even though it was a significant increase. So it's just an interesting dynamic that's going on. And I wish, I could give you real statistics, but we just don't have them and lot of our distributor customers are struggling with what is actually happening in their business. Yeah, they continue to be reasonably optimistic around their backlogs are healthy, they see some of these projects, but they too are concerned about larger projects. This is just simply taking long and I think that have more to do with steel, which fortunately has abated somewhat here. So we'll see how that plays out frankly. Jeffrey T. Sprague--Vertical Research Partners -- Analyst Yeah, so just maybe an additional color on large projects. So is it your view that it's just inflationary pressures? Or there is something going on with the end demand picture or some other dynamic that is kind of leading this kind of extended drawing out, for lack of a better term in some of those large project activity? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Yeah, it's a great question. No doubt that there are changes of a foot on how people use space, use space differently so on and so forth. But I think that a lot of that has been influenced by, I hate to say this, at first, I do really accept that the notion of labor shortages were having an influence, but I think more and more a lot of these contractors, they're comfortable with their backlogs, they're comfortable with their project and their activity, as it currently is and they're saying I'll get to that project later. And so I think the delay has a lot to do with just the availability of labor and to a lesser degree then expectations, Dan, as you pointed out earlier, folks maybe saying, well, if I wait, maybe these tariffs go away and the pricing will come down back to pre-tariff levels and therefore, my project looks better. We hear that anecdotally, but we don't really have good evidence around that yet. Jeffrey T. Sprague--Vertical Research Partners -- Analyst Great, thank you for the thoughts. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thank you. Operator Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Ryan Merkel with William Blair. Your line is now open. Ryan Merkel--William Blair -- Analyst Hey, thanks. So first off on the low single-digit price capture. Has this been neutral to the profit line as it relates to the quarter? And then any reason this should change positive or negatively in the future? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer So low digit capture, we're spreading across the whole portfolio. We would say that it has been slight positive, but we've had to really work hard to take cost out of cost components that we can control, not just componentry that's coming in from Asia and/or finished goods. There's still, I think more to come on the finished good side. Again, price increases just put in place in late May. We still see input coming in at a favorable rate, positive rate for those types of smaller, medium projects, but maybe that's slowed down just a tad. But I would expect that these types of activities to continue to be positive so long as they don't ultimately end up impacting overall demand. I think the bigger issue and I'll let Ricky comment, I think the bigger issue still continues to be just the volatility caused by all of the rhetoric that's in the marketplace. I think that, that we see people who are busy but they're not really actually shipping product. I think people are, again, taking a bit of wait and see approach. Ricky, your perspective on... Richard K. Reece--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Yeah, I think for the low single-digit in the quarter for the most part offset the tariff increases we have. Of course, the last tariff increase came in very late in the quarter in mid-May. We announced the price increase extremely quickly, but we do protect certain backlog. We had certain customers, we had to negotiate the final amount with that are under a different scenario than just distributor or someone who places an order on a daily basis. So I think, for the most part, we captured it in the third quarter, but I think there'll be further margin opportunity to capture more and then maybe go beyond here in the other quarters as we don't have to protect certain projects that had already been quoted and all once we get past that. Ryan Merkel--William Blair -- Analyst Okay. Yeah, that make sense. And then just to follow-up on the fourth quarter sales, so down modestly. If I were to rank sort of the pieces there, would it be first the retail comparison that's pretty tough, I think it was 500 basis points of growth last year, I think, that's what you quantified? And then secondly, eliminating some products maybe 2% to 3% negative impact and then would the last piece just be the pull forward into the first half? Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer I would say that the first two are directionally correct. I would say that when you get into our fourth quarter and then imagine where projects pull forward all the way from the fourth quarter into the first half, I would say probably not as much. I don't know that I would influence that. We're still trying to handicap, as Ricky pointed out in answering the previous question, what impact is the May price increase having. Right now, we're not seeing that it's having a huge pull forward impact. So I would say as you think about the Q4, the first two were directionally correct, and again, I'd like to really emphasize because this is going to be important for how all of you write your reports. Our expectation is that we're going to continue to see our profit measures improve and will go a long way to offsetting some of that top line decline because of just the mix of it. So it's important that everyone understand that as it create some of their models. Ryan Merkel--William Blair -- Analyst Very helpful. Thanks. Operator Thank you. And that does conclude today's question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back to Mr. Vernon Nagel for any further remarks. Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thank you, everyone, for your time this morning. I realize that some of the questions around top line for Q4 very important as you think about your models, but again, we are really focused on not only growing our business, but profitably growing our business and making sure that we're doing it in areas that provide us with the kinds of return on capital in the margin improvements that we're after. So please understand that, know that we're focused on it I think that you do your models you find it to be very favorable outcome. Any way, we strongly believe we are focusing on the right objectives, deploying the proper strategies and driving the organization to succeed in critical areas that have the potential over the long term to deliver strong returns to our key stakeholders. Again, our future is bright. Thank you for your support. Operator Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This does conclude today's program. You may all disconnect, and everyone have a great day. Duration: 62 minutes Dan Smith--Senior Vice President, Treasurer & Secretary Vernon J. Nagel--Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Richard K. Reece--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Timothy Wojs--Robert W. Baird & Co. -- Analyst John Walsh--Credit Suisse -- Analyst Jeffrey Osborne--Cowen and Company -- Analyst Jeffrey T. Sprague--Vertical Research Partners -- Analyst Ryan Merkel--William Blair -- Analyst More AYI analysis All earnings call transcripts More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see ourTerms and Conditionsfor additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. Motley Fool Transcribershas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
Federal tax credit for Tesla drops to under $2,000 The car company recently reached its sales threshold of 200,000 sold electric cars and is now devaluing the tax credit.Read morehere.Read more... More aboutTech,Mashable Video,Tesla,Elon Musk, andElectric Cars
Here's What We Think About Educational Development Corporation's (NASDAQ:EDUC) CEO Pay Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Randall White became the CEO of Educational Development Corporation (NASDAQ:EDUC) in 1986. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid. View our latest analysis for Educational Development Our data indicates that Educational Development Corporation is worth US$57m, and total annual CEO compensation is US$273k. (This figure is for the year to February 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$218k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under US$200m, and the median CEO total compensation was US$465k. Most shareholders would consider it a positive that Randall White takes less total compensation than the CEOs of most similar size companies, leaving more for shareholders. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Educational Development has changed from year to year. Over the last three years Educational Development Corporation has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 43% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 6.1%. This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's good to see a bit of revenue growth, as this suggests the business is able to grow sustainably. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking outthis more detailed historical graphof earnings, revenue and cash flow. Educational Development Corporation has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 28% over three years. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size. It appears that Educational Development Corporation remunerates its CEO below most similar sized companies. Since the business is growing, many would argue this suggests the pay is modest. The total shareholder return might not be amazing, but that doesn't mean that Randall White is paid too much. It's good to see reasonable payment of the CEO, even while the business improves. But for me, it's even better if insiders are also buying shares with their own cold, hard, cash. So you may want tocheck if insiders are buying Educational Development shares with their own money (free access). Important note:Educational Development may not be the best stock to buy. You might find somethingbetterinthis list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
California Postpones Law Requiring Child Actors To Receive Sex Harassment Prevention Training Due To “Unavailability” Of Vendors And Materials Click here to read the full article. EXCLUSIVE: Enforcement of a new California law that requires child actors to receive training in sexual harassment prevention has been put on hold “due to the current unavailability of third-party vendors and applicable materials,” according to the state Labor Commissioner’s office. Sources tell Deadline that two vendors had signed up to provide the training, but that neither was getting the job done. One was too expensive, charging kids $1,000 for the online training, and the other’s material reportedly wasn’t designed specifically for the needs of children employed in the entertainment industry. Related stories Six Democratic State Legislators Sign Letter Supporting WGA In Its Battle With Agents California Postpones Net Neutrality Law Pending Outcome Of Federal Court Challenge Broadband Industry Piles On California, Sues To Stop Net Neutrality Law AB 2338 , which was signed into law last September by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, and which went into effect January 1, required child actors and their parents or legal guardians to receive training in sexual harassment prevention prior to the issuance of a permit to employ the child in the entertainment industry. A statement posted on the website of the state’s Department of Industrial Relations, however, says that “the Labor Commissioner will not enforce the entertainment work permit provisions until further notice.” Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . View comments
How ICF International, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ICFI) Earnings Growth Stacks Up Against The Industry Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Examining how ICF International, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICFI) is performing as a company requires looking at more than just a years' earnings. Below, I will run you through a simple sense check to build perspective on how ICF International is doing by comparing its most recent earnings with its historical trend, in addition to the performance of its professional services industry peers. See our latest analysis for ICF International ICFI's trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 March 2019) of US$64m has declined by -1.3% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has been lower than its average earnings growth rate over the past 5 years of 14%, indicating the rate at which ICFI is growing has slowed down. Why could this be happening? Well, let’s take a look at what’s transpiring with margins and whether the rest of the industry is feeling the heat. In terms of returns from investment, ICF International has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 9.7% instead. Furthermore, its return on assets (ROA) of 5.4% is below the US Professional Services industry of 6.5%, indicating ICF International's are utilized less efficiently. However, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for ICF International’s debt level, has increased over the past 3 years from 8.3% to 9.1%. Though ICF International's past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that are profitable, but have capricious earnings, can have many factors impacting its business. I suggest you continue to research ICF International to get a better picture of the stock by looking at: 1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ICFI’s future growth? Take a look at ourfree research report of analyst consensusfor ICFI’s outlook. 2. Financial Health: Are ICFI’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out ourfinancial health checks here. 3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore ourfree list of these great stocks here. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 March 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Nestle Announces New Blockchain Initiative Separate From Ongoing IBM Project Nestlé, the largest food company by revenue, announced a pilot program to track its supply chains using blockchain, according to a companystatement. The firm partnered with OpenSC, a blockchain platform, to develop the distributed ledger system which will be separate and distinct from Nestlé’s ongoing participation with IBM Food Trust blockchain. The pilot will last six months, and success will be determined by the “feasibility, viability and scalability of the system,” as well as how well the system verifies data, according to a Nestlé representative. Once rolled out, the service may involve a QR code, mobile app, and web portal. Related:IBM-Maersk Shipping Blockchain Gains Steam With 15 Carriers Now on Board “For us, it is key that the access to the information is as seamless and easy as possible in order to have participation and traction with stakeholders and consumers,” the spokesperson said. The company said the initiative is to drive the market towards transparency by providing independently verifiable data to the conglomerate’s consumers. They also believe the mechanism will improve food safety and quality control. “We want our consumers to make an informed decision on their choice of products – to choose products produced responsibly. Open blockchain technology might allow us to share reliable information with consumers in an accessible way,” said Magdi Batato, Nestlé Executive Vice President in astatement. The program will initially track milk from farms in New Zealand to Nestlé facilities in the Middle East, and will expand to include palm oil production in the Americas. Nestlé will then determine how scalable the application is, noting that some retail items will take time to integrate. Related:Longenesis Brings South Korean Medical Records to the Blockchain “With the palm oil supply chain in the America, we can experiment the system at local level. Furthermore, the product itself, being liquid, it adds more complexity to the traceability,” a company representative said to CoinDesk. The data will be collected through each step of the value chain and recorded on an open platform. The company may plan to include data from other monitoring systems, such as satellite imaging of farms, according to the company representative. “With the open platform, any update or change made in the system can be seen by all users as it retains the original data, which cannot be deleted,” they said. Nestlé beganexperimenting with blockchainin 2017 when it joined IBM Food Trust as a founding member. In April, Nestlé announced that it had begun working withCarrefourto use blockchain to trackMouslinepotato puree from Nestlé factories to the French retail giant’s stores. In June, Carrefour attributed anincrease in salesto its use of transparent tracking. “We want to offer consumers what they want. Consumers are more and more demanding for information related to their food. They are eager to understand where the ingredients come from, whether it has been sourced responsibly and how the food is made. Blockchain helps provide consumers trusted data collected throughout the value chain,” said the spokesperson. “This open blockchain technology will allow anyone, anywhere in the world to assess our responsible sourcing facts and figures,” said Benjamin Ware, Global Head of Responsible Sourcing for Nestlé. IBM Blockchain uses a QR barcode on a product that when scanned provides information such as date of harvest, farm location and owner, packing date, how long the item in transport, and tips on how to prepare it. OpenSC was founded in January by WWF-Australia and The Boston Consulting Group Digital Ventures. Nestlé photo via Shutterstock • ‘All Time Lows’ by Lil Bubble Captures Spirit as Altcoins Fail to Pace Bitcoin • Blockchains.com Founder Buys Community Bank to Finance Crypto Dreams
Catholic archdiocese sues insurers over future abuse claims NEW YORK (AP) — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York has sued more than two dozen insurance companies, seeking to compel them to cover claims filed by people who say they were abused by clerics. Church officials anticipate that numerous alleged abuse victims will sue under New York's Child Victims Act, which gives victims a year to file claims alleging sex abuse that were previously barred by the statute of limitations. The archdiocese, the nation's second-largest after Los Angeles, says in its lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan state Supreme Court that many of its insurers "intend to dispute, limit, or deny coverage" for abuse claims filed in response to the Child Victims Act, which Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law in February. "The Archdiocese of New York has filed suit seeking to hold insurance companies to the policies they issued, and for which it paid premiums," archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said in a statement. The one-year window to file claims under the new state law starts in August, but the archdiocese says people who allege they were abused by priests decades ago have already begun to file actions against the archdiocese. The lawsuit says that the archdiocese notified Insurance Co. of North America, a subsidiary of Chubb Group of Insurance Cos., of a lawsuit filed by a man who says he was abused by two clergymen in the 1970s. Chubb responded that it wouldn't cover the claim, the lawsuit says. The archdiocese says the denial of coverage "deprives the archdiocese of the benefits of the liability coverage for which it paid premiums." A Chubb spokesman said the company does not comment on claims or legal matters. James R. Marsh, a lawyer for 40 plaintiffs planning to sue the archdiocese for sex abuse, called the lawsuit against the insurers an important sign for abuse survivors "since it indicates that the church is preparing to defend against lawsuits by those who experienced childhood sexual abuse and possibly seeking to fund settlements using insurance money for at least some of those claims." Story continues The legislation giving New York victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to seek criminal charges or sue was blocked for years by Republicans who controlled the state Senate. Democrats took control of the chamber in the November elections, and the Senate and Democrat-controlled Assembly approved the legislation in January. A similar law passed in 2002 in California resulted in Catholic dioceses there paying $1.2 billion in legal settlements. A compensation fund for sex abuse victims set up by the New York Archdiocese in 2016 has paid out $65 million to 323 victims, the archdiocese says. Those victims have waived their right to file lawsuits. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York covers the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island plus seven counties north of the city.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) Is Yielding 0.8% - But Is It A Buy? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Dividend paying stocks like Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) tend to be popular with investors, and for good reason - some research suggests a significant amount of all stock market returns come from reinvested dividends. On the other hand, investors have been known to buy a stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations. With only a two-year payment history, and a 0.8% yield, investors probably think Jacobs Engineering Group is not much of a dividend stock. Many of the best dividend stocks typically start out paying a low yield, so we wouldn't automatically cut it from our list of prospects. The company also bought back stock equivalent to around 4.1% of market capitalisation this year. When buying stocks for their dividends, you should always run through the checks below, to see if the dividend looks sustainable. Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that 23% of Jacobs Engineering Group's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. We'd say its dividends are thoroughly covered by earnings. Another important check we do is to see if the free cash flow generated is sufficient to pay the dividend. Jacobs Engineering Group's cash payout ratio in the last year was 38%, which suggests dividends were well covered by cash generated by the business. It's positive to see that Jacobs Engineering Group's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut. As Jacobs Engineering Group has a meaningful amount of debt, we need to check its balance sheet to see if the company might have debt risks. A quick check of its financial situation can be done with two ratios: net debt divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and net interest cover. Net debt to EBITDA measures total debt load relative to company earnings (lower = less debt), while net interest cover measures the ability to pay interest on the debt (higher = greater ability to pay interest costs). With net debt of 2.10 times its EBITDA, Jacobs Engineering Group has a noticeable amount of debt, although if business stays steady, this may not be overly concerning. Net interest cover can be calculated by dividing earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by the company's net interest expense. Net interest cover of 8.60 times its interest expense appears reasonable for Jacobs Engineering Group, although we're conscious that even high interest cover doesn't make a company bulletproof. We update our data on Jacobs Engineering Group every 24 hours, so you can always getour latest analysis of its financial health, here. Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. During the past two-year period, the first annual payment was US$0.60 in 2017, compared to US$0.68 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.5% a year over that time. The dividend has been growing at a reasonable rate, which we like. We're conscious though that one of the best ways to detect a multi-decade consistent dividend-payer, is to watch a company pay dividends for 20 years - a distinction Jacobs Engineering Group has not achieved yet. Examining whether the dividend is affordable and stable is important. However, it's also important to assess if earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Over the long term, dividends need to grow at or above the rate of inflation, in order to maintain the recipient's purchasing power. In the last five years, Jacobs Engineering Group's earnings per share have shrunk at approximately 3.7% per annum. If earnings continue to decline, the dividend may come under pressure. Every investor should make an assessment of whether the company is taking steps to stabilise the situation. Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. Firstly, we like that Jacobs Engineering Group has low and conservative payout ratios. Earnings per share are down, and to our mind Jacobs Engineering Group has not been paying a dividend long enough to demonstrate its resilience across economic cycles. Ultimately, Jacobs Engineering Group comes up short on our dividend analysis. It's not that we think it is a bad company - just that there are likely more appealing dividend prospects out there on this analysis. Given that earnings are not growing, the dividend does not look nearly so attractive. See if the 11 analysts are forecasting a turnaround in ourfree collection of analyst estimates here. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at ourcurated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Spider-Man sans Iron Man: How 'Far From Home' kept huge 'Endgame' death a secret on set Tom Holland swings into action without Robert Downey Jr. in 'Spider-Man; Far From Home' (Photo: Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios/Courtesy Everett Collection) Since first joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2015, Tom Holland has never gone web-slinging as Spider-Man without Robert Downey Jr. around to offer big time superhero pointers. That is … until now. Spider-Man: Far From Home is the first Marvel Studios production to take place in a post-Tony Stark MCU, picking up in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame , which ended with Iron Man sacrificing himself so that the next generation of heroes — Peter Parker included — could live. “It was scary at first,” Holland admits to Yahoo Entertainment about facing a future without his on and off-camera mentor. “It was the first time I’d played Spider-Man without Robert being there to help me along.” Holland and director Jon Watts had another reason to fear Downey’s absence from the Far From Home set: due to the Marvel Studios production schedule, they were shooting a movie depicting the aftermath of Tony’s death before the rest of the world even knew that Tony was going to die. “We couldn’t risk anyone finding what happened at the end of Endgame , which is a massive part of our film,” says Watts, returning to the director’s chair after launching Spidey’s solo adventures with 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming . Agreeing to direct the sequel meant agreeing to have Endgame spoiled for him years before the movie hit theaters; Watts reveals that he was among the privileged few at Marvel to know that Stark wouldn’t survive his rematch with Thanos during the movie’s lengthy production and post-production process. So all those painted murals memorializing Iron Man on the streets of New York that we’ve seen in the Far From Home trailers ? Those were added in the editing room. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) tries to be "the next Iron Man" in Spider-Man: Far From Home . (Photo: Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios) “We couldn’t risk a set photo leaking out,” explains Watts, adding that including those reminders of Tony in the frame were nevertheless essential to the film. “Tony’s death is a massive loss for Peter, and I wanted to show that no matter where he goes, he can’t escape the shadow that Tony is casting.” Despite being dead when the movie begins, Iron Man was still very much alive when Far From Home commenced production in England in July 2018. It wasn’t until October that Holland took a brief detour to the Endgame set in Atlanta to film Downey’s last scene. “It was a beautiful day,” the actor remembers. “ When we did my death scene in Infinity War , it was an incredibly emotional in the film, but it wasn’t all that emotional when we shot the scene. And it was the same for Robert’s death. We all knew that it was coming and by the time we went to lunch, there were only three or four hours left in ‘Downey Town.’ I remember having a great day.” It didn’t even seem strange to Holland to be filming Tony’s death scene after shooting an entire movie where he’s already six feet under. “You just use your imagination.” Story continues Jon Favreau, Downey and Holland in happier times in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' (Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection) Holland also credits new co-star Jake Gyllenhaal with helping fill the Downey-shaped hole in Far From Home . The Nightcrawler star plays Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio, who introduces himself to the MCU as a hero from an alternate dimension — specifically Earth-833. In his appearance and attitude, Quentin comes across as the Tony Stark of his reality. Watts and Holland both confirm that Gyllenhaal specifically modeled his performance, in part, after Downey, who he previously worked with in David Fincher’s 2007 favorite, Zodiac . Holland remembers one particular scene where the director gave Gyllenhaal a picture of Downey from an earlier Marvel movie. “He was like, ‘If you could try to copy this, that would be great.’” According to Watts, Gyllenhaal followed his instructions to the letter. “Jake did this one look and gesture, and it was like looking at Tony Stark.” Gyllenhaal and Holland in 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' (Photo: Jay-Maidment/Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios/Courtesy Everett Collection) In a separate interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Gyllenhaal jokingly says that he’s been “channelling Robert Downey Jr.” since before the actor became Iron Man. But he also acknowledges that there are some definite comparisons to be drawn between Quentin and Tony, from the superficial (just put those beards side-by-side) to the subtle. “There are aspects to Quentin and Peter’s relationship in this movie that are very similar to Iron Man and Spider-Man in the last one,” Gyllenhaal says. “And that was important for me to watch in Homecoming : there were things that Tony does and says that were important for me to see. Tom talks about [Quentin and Peter] as being an evolution from being a father-son dynamic to more brotherly. But I’d say uncle — I’d age it up a little bit.” Spider-Man: Far From Home is now playing in theaters. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' star Jake Gyllenhaal on loving his Mysterio costume and his costar Tom Holland Stan Lee's latest Marvel cameo: Spider-Man's United Airlines safety video Secrets of the epic final battle of 'Avengers: Endgame,' from the female Avengers assembling to Thanos's last stand 'Avengers: Endgame' writers admit time-travel plot was so confusing they had to shoot new scenes to explain it View comments
Are Insiders Selling MAXIMUS, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Stock? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sellMAXIMUS, Inc.(NYSE:MMS), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information. Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard Universitystudyfound that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.' See our latest analysis for MAXIMUS The Vice Chairman & Senior Advisor to the CEO, Richard Montoni, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.2m worth of shares at a price of US$72.03 each. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$72.61, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling on market, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was just 6.5% of Richard Montoni's stake. In the last twelve months insiders netted US$5.6m for 81117 shares sold. MAXIMUS insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! I will like MAXIMUS better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out thisfreelist of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 1.3% of MAXIMUS shares, worth about US$59m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. The fact that there have been no MAXIMUS insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Still, the insider transactions at MAXIMUS in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check thisfreereport showing analyst forecasts for its future. Of course,you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere.So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
BitMEX CEO Rips Bitcoin ‘Hater’ Roubini, Praises Facebook’s Libra Bitcoin archnemesis Nouriel Roubini is a “no-coiner hater” who’s upset that he didn’t buycryptosooner. That’s the opinion ofArthur Hayes, the CEO of the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange (BitMEX), the world’s largest bitcoin derivatives trading platform. Hayes toldBloombergthat Roubini is a disgruntled killjoy who repeats anti-crypto talking points because he’s suffering from FOMO. “He’s a hater. He’s a no-coiner — someone doesn’t have any bitcoin and watched the price rocket in their face over the past few years.” Hayes is scheduled to debate Roubini on July 3 at the 2019 Asia Blockchain Summit in Taipei. Crypto fans are looking forward to a fiery discussion, especially since Hayes and Roubini have been trash-talking each other in the lead-up to the debate. Read the full story on CCN.com.
3 Dow Jones Stocks to Buy for the Second Half As we start the latter half of the year, markets face uncertainty as to how the trade wars will develop, what the Federal Reserve will do next and whether the tensions with Iran will keep heating up. I am going to discuss threeDow Jones Industrial Averagestocks that are appropriate for long-term portfolios:Pfizer(NYSE:PFE),Coca-Cola(NYSE:KO) andMcDonald’s(NYSE:MCD). Having a long-term focus enables investors to patiently get through the weekly noise of the markets while they relax with the knowledge that their portfolio stocks have the quality to weather short-term adverse developments. These investors do not need to make constant plans for the payment of capital gains taxes as they do not have to worry about selling their shares in the short-run. • 7 F-Rated Stocks to Sell for Summer Finally, all three stocks pay stable dividends, which adds up over the years. Income investors know that they can compound their returns throughreinvesting dividends from high-yielding shares. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Source: Shutterstock Pfizer is one of the world’slargest prescription drug companies. Its global portfolio includes medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products. PFE stock’s commercial operations fall under three segments: • Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group (Biopharma), a science-based innovative medicines business • Upjohn, a global, off-patent branded and generic established medicines business • Consumer Healthcare, which includes Pfizer’s over-the-counter medicines Pfizer’s robust clinical pipeline has provided the company with impressive returns over the past few years. The group owns two of the world’s best-selling drugs: the breast cancer treatment Ibrance and the blood thinnerEliquis(co-owned byBristol-Meyers Squibb(NYSE:BMY)). 2019 has been a big year for pharma mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In June, Pfizer announced that it would be acquiringArray BioPharma(NASDAQ:ARRY), the cancer-fighting specialist biotech, in a deal worth $11.4 billion. ARRY’s two drugs, Braftovi and Mektovi, have already been approved for treating metastatic melanoma. In Array BioPharma’s last quarter results, the two drugs combined achieved $35.1 million in sales. This acquisition is likely to strengthen Pfizer’s long-term position in oncology, which is regarded as one of thefastest-growing segmentsof the pharmaceutical industry. Although analysts regard this buyout as a good decision for Pfizer, it is likely to be several quarters before the positive financial effects appear in PFE’s balance sheet. On April 30, the company reportedQ1 2019 earningsthat came to 85 cents. Total revenue stood at $13.1 billion, higher by 1.64% year-over-year (YoY). The next earnings report will be out in late July. Most investors don’t think of Pfizer as a high-growth biotech, but they do recognize it as a mature and defensive big pharma with stable revenues. If you are interested in buying into PFE stock, you may want to study the next earnings release to decide whether you should own it for the long-term. With its robust balance sheet, low volatility, and strong AA S&P rating, the shares could be suitable for diversified portfolios. PFE stock could also provide shareholders with a steady stream of income for decades to come. Pfizer’s dividend, which currently stands at about 3.3%, has increased for nine of the last 10 years. Pfizer’scash flowis strong and should allow a dividend increase well into the future. Source:Coca-Cola Coca-Cola is the world’s largest beverage company with 20 different brands that generate more than$31 billion dollars in annual revenues. Many investors have regarded KO stock as a reliable investment over the years. Coca-Cola stock tops the list of Warren Buffet’s longtime favorite holdings. The Oracle of Omaha’sBerkshire Hathaway(NYSE:BRK.A, NYSE:BRK.B) owns400,000,000 shares of Coca-Cola, worth over $18 billion. In the last quarter of 2018 when many stocks suffered sizable losses,KO was the only green stockamong the top 10 holdings of Berkshire Hathaway. Yet most of this decade, KO has had its share of challenges and seen declining revenues. There has been a drop in soda sales as the U.S. consumer moves towards healthier beverages like flavored water. It is worth mentioning that despite the decline in soda sales, gross margins have remained stable at about 60%. Management has steered the company toward offering a beverage portfolio that seizes on the public’s increased appetite for flavored drinks. In 2016, the company announced its “One Brand Strategy” and introduced a common visual identity and creative campaign for all brands. This year, the company introduced a U.S.-wide ad campaign for itsnew flavor, Orange Vanilla Coke. As a result of the changes in product offerings,cherry and vanilla-flavored Cokesaccount for about 9% of the dollar volume but bring in 18% of the dollar growth. KO also recently completed the acquisition of Costa Coffee, the biggest coffee chain in the U.K. Wall Street believes the purchase could lead to increased diversification away from soda and revenues, especially prompted by growth inthe Chinese market, where Costa Coffee has almost 500 stores. Offering hot beverages for the first time is yet anotherstrategic stepfor the group as it addresses the shift in consumer taste and purchasing behavior. As you decide what may be next for KO stock fundamentally, you may also want to think about whether the global economy or the U.S. is headed for a slowdown or recession. During periods of market volatility or economic downturn, consumer staples tend to be among the last products removed from household budgets. In other words,defensive stocks like KOmay help your portfolio when the going gets tough in the markets. Despite the question marks regarding future growth at Coca-Cola, its dividends make the shares rather attractive. In February, the companyincreased its dividendand declared a new share buyback program. • The 7 Top Small-Cap Stocks Of 2019 The current dividend yield stands at 3.1% — another reason why I believe KO stock belongs to a capital-growth portfolio. The next dividend payment is scheduled for July 1, 2019 to shareholders who purchased Coca-Cola stock prior to the ex-dividend of June 13. Source: Shutterstock McDonald’s operates in the fragmented food service industry, which includes competitors likeYum Brands(NYSE:YUM),Restaurant Brands International(NYSE:QSR), andStarbucks(NASDAQ:SBUX). It has over 36,000 restaurants in over 100 countries. McDonald’s latestearnings resultscame inbetter than expected. Group revenues of $4.95 billion topped analysts’ estimates of $4.94 billion. Management gave an upbeat outlook on long-term growth and profitability. In addition to the acceleration of U.S. sales, McDonald’s stock has benefited from international growth. Comparable U.S. store sales rose 4.5%. Global comparable-store sales rose 5.4%, mostly thanks to promotional mixed-priced deals, as well as store renovations. As one of the largest fast food chains around the globe, over 90% of the restaurants are currently franchised. The franchising business gives McDonald’s acompetitive edgeas the initial fees and ongoing royalties mean high margins. MCD’s operating margins now stand at almost 30%. As the franchisees carry theoperating costs and business risks, McDonald’s does not have to worry about the expenses of running those operations. The company owns most of the properties where their restaurants operate andcollects rentfrom franchisees. MCD leases those out to the franchisees, often at significant markups. It may not be wrong to say that the company is in the real estate business as much as food services. In 2015, management initiated a turnaround plan focused on making MCD more agile by slimming down the corporate structures, improving menu quality, and delivering better customer service. Almost five years later, the steps have been paying off. As part of its efforts to improve shareholder value, McDonald’s has increased dividend payments since its first-ever dividend payment in 1976. The next dividend payment of $1.16 per share is expected to be paid out on Sep. 17. The current dividend yield stands at over 2.2%. On June 25, MCD stock price saw an all-time high of $206.39. Year-to-date, the stock is up 18%. Although there might be some profit-taking in the MCD stock price in the coming weeks, I’d regard any dip as an opportunity to go long the shares. The company is a core consumer staples holding for a well-diversified portfolio. As of this writing, the author did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. • 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid • 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever • 10 Small-Cap Stocks That Look Like Bargains • 10 Names That Are Screaming Stocks to Buy The post3 Dow Jones Stocks to Buy for the Second Halfappeared first onInvestorPlace.
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: PSMT EQBK TUSK: The Law Offices of Vincent Wong Reminds Investors of Important Class Action Deadlines NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 2, 2019 /The Law Offices of Vincent Wong announce that class actions have commenced on behalf of shareholders of the following companies. If you suffered a loss you have until the lead plaintiff deadline to request that the court appoint you as lead plaintiff. PriceSmart, Inc. (PSMT)Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 22, 2019Class Period: October 26, 2017 to October 25, 2018 Get additional information about PSMT:http://www.wongesq.com/pslra-1/pricesmart-inc-loss-submission-form?prid=2205&wire=1 Equity Bancshares, Inc. (EQBK)Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 12, 2019Class Period: May 11, 2018 to April 22, 2019 Get additional information about EQBK:http://www.wongesq.com/pslra-1/equity-bancshares-inc-loss-submission-form?prid=2205&wire=1 Mammoth Energy Services, Inc. (TUSK)Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 9, 2019Class Period: October 19, 2017 to June 5, 2019 Get additional information about TUSK:http://www.wongesq.com/pslra-1/mammoth-energy-services-inc-loss-submission-form?prid=2205&wire=1 To learn more contact Vincent Wong, Esq. either via emailvw@wongesq.comor by telephone at 212.425.1140. Vincent Wong, Esq. is an experienced attorney that has represented investors in securities litigations involving financial fraud and violations of shareholder rights. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CONTACT: Vincent Wong, Esq.39 East BroadwaySuite 304New York, NY 10002Tel. 212.425.1140Fax. 866.699.3880E-Mail:vw@wongesq.com SOURCE:The Law Offices of Vincent Wong View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/550660/SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-PSMT-EQBK-TUSK-The-Law-Offices-of-Vincent-Wong-Reminds-Investors-of-Important-Class-Action-Deadlines
10 Signs Miley Cyrus's "Mother's Daughter" Is the Ultimate Feminist Anthem Photo credit: YouTube From Seventeen Miley Cyrus didn't hold back any punches in her new music video for the song, "Mother's Daughter." The song is a feminist anthem and if there was any doubt, the badass visuals prove it. The music video is full of powerful political messages regarding rights for ALL women. In the video, Miley is dressed in a tight blood-red latex outfit. Could the color be alluding to a woman's period? The video also features cameos from a host of barrier-breaking individuals including skateboarder Lacey Baker, transgender model Aaron Philip and activist Mela Murder. The video is so packed with messages that it might be easy to miss one. Here are all the signs "Mother's Daughter" is a feminist anthem. 1. The video begins with the message "Every Woman Is A Riot" flashing across the screen. The message likely means that women can't be boxed in. The phrase could also be referring to a feminist musical movement in the 1990's. The movement combined punk style music with politics and "riot grrrl" bands would often touch on topics like rape, female empowerment and sexuality. Now, Miley's started her own movement using her music. Photo credit: Miley Cyrus - YouTube 2. Other overt messages included in the music video include "Not an Object," "Sin Is In Your Eyes," "Virginity is a social construct," and "Feminist AF." The messages clearly fight back against the control and objectifying of women's bodies. Miley is probably calling attention to today's climate. As politicians in several states work to pass strict laws regarding abortion, women continue to fight for the freedom to make their own choices regarding what they do with their bodies. 3. All the images of boobs, likely referring to the "Free the nipple" movement. In one frame, two balloon-like objects shaped like boobs are rubbing against each other. In the video, Miley also includes the phrase "Tough Titties" and an image of a mother, Mela Murder, in a flower crown breastfeeding a baby. It seems like Miley is taking a stance against the censorship and sexualization of women's breasts by attempting to normalize the nipple and breastfeeding. Story continues Photo credit: Miley Cyrus - YouTube 4, All the images of vaginas. In one scene, Miley's grabbing her vaginal area that's covered in vagina spikes . Not only does Miley celebrate the vagina, but she also includes images that celebrate a woman's period, including this one of sheer panties adorned with red spots. Photo credit: YouTube View this post on Instagram Link in bio. #MothersDaughterVideo A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jul 2, 2019 at 5:05am PDT 5. All the images celebrating all types of bodies. In one part of the video, actress Angelina Duplisea is seen laying nude on a couch, while fanning herself. This image of Angelina takes a stance against our toxic beauty standards.. Right before the image of Angelina is shown, a message flashes across the screen that says "You are f*** beautiful." Miley also posted a statement from Angelina herself on her Instagram page. View this post on Instagram “I've always been a fighter. Maybe not always in the most productive way, but fighting for myself, a friend or even for a stranger who is being bullied has always been a part of my personality. Fat acceptance is based on the notion that all fat people, regardless of health, deserve respect. And it's a battle that is fought every day by thousands, including myself. Social media's accessibility allows us to peek in on others living their lives, but too often the conversation turns negative when there are fat bodies involved. People just love to leave awful comments on fat folks photos in order to feel superior and I promise you, not one of these commenters actually cares about the health, family, environment or whatever bullshit reason they give for their vile behavior towards a fat person. And really, how in the hell does health matter in the context of someone just posting a photo of themselves feeling happy and confident? (HINT: it doesn't matter, stop pretending like it does) Next time you see a fat person posting pictures of themselves living their life, stop and ask yourself why you wish to spoil their joy. I guarantee that you can't come up with a valid reason that isn't based in your own ego gratification. Stop it and do better! We humans have a lot to learn, but we can start by fighting our personal biases and permitting people of all genders, races, sexualities, sizes, abilities and health levels to live harassment-free lives. Don't fuck with their freedom to feel happy and beautiful right now, not just when society says it’s ok.” - Angelina Duplisea @anactingangel A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jul 2, 2019 at 4:06am PDT The video also celebrates people with disabilities by featuring Black, trans and disabled model Aaron Philip. Several scenes focus on Aaron looking super glam while serving face. Miley also posted a message from Aaron on her Instagram. View this post on Instagram “As a black girl in a wheelchair who happens to be trans - I just want to have a good life and do good in whatever my endeavors consist of, regardless of what that might mean in the face of oppression. I do not identify or label myself as an activist, but that’s just because I care- and I think everyone should, activist or not. I fight for my freedom by being myself.” – Aaron Philip @aaron___philip A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jul 2, 2019 at 5:13am PDT In the video, Miley also includes images of a woman's c-section scar, normalizing something that many women feel forced to hide. Photo credit: Miley Cyrus - YouTube 6. All the powerful images of women. The images include Amazon Ashley in a championship belt, Paige Fralix with the words "I Am Free" running down her chest and activist Mari Copeny wearing a cape and a mask. All the images juxtapose women with symbols of power. Miley's mom, Tish Cyrus, also makes a cameo in the music video. Miley and Tish are dressed in Victorian-wear while sipping tea. Photo credit: YouTube 7. The video is also a celebration of identity. In once scene, skateboard Lacey Baker is seen in a white tee with the pronouns "they/them" written on it. View this post on Instagram “Taking a stand for the women and queer community in skateboarding has brought me to life in a powerful way. It’s crucial to create space for marginalized communities every single day, and the platform I have through skateboarding is a perfect vehicle for this. There is so much love to share in the LGBTQ communities all over the world, and to be able to tap into this love through skateboarding is so beautiful. The queer community gives me so much fucking life. #LGBTQ #PRIDE” – Lacey Baker @laceybaker A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jul 2, 2019 at 5:33am PDT 8. Miley tried to let the activists in her videos speak for themselves. On her Instagram page, she's posted a series of shots from the music video accompanied by statements from the people that made cameos. View this post on Instagram “I try to live as authentically as I can - and I want to create a space where everyone else can do the same. I don’t want people living in fear - because of how they choose to identify and express themselves to the world. I want people to live and love freely. My existence shouldn’t be upsetting to people, but if it is, good. People like me and my community aren’t going anywhere. We’re coming into a generation where it’s way more accepted to express ourselves and our identities. - Casil McArthur @casil_the_goat_lord A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jul 2, 2019 at 5:28am PDT 9. In one scene, Miley takes on a Joan of Arc persona. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jul 2, 2019 at 6:17am PDT Joan of Arc is a historical figure who helped the French fight against the English by dressing as a man, since women weren't allowed to go into battle. But Joan of Arc eventually became a martyr when she was killed on charges of witchcraft and heresy, which means having beliefs that are contrary to those of Christian doctrine. By dressing as Joan of Arc, Miley is probably calling attention to the many women who have fought and are willing to die for their causes. 10. The lyrics to the song prove it's the ultimate feminist anthem. In the song Miley sings and often repeats lyrics like "Don't f*uck with my freedom" and "Oh my God, she got the power." ('You Might Also Like',) How to Master a Pretty Waterfall Braid 11 Waterproof Makeup Products You Have to Try How To Contour and Highlight Your Face Like A Total Pro
Should You Be Excited About Brixmor Property Group Inc.'s (NYSE:BRX) 13% Return On Equity? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX). Over the last twelve monthsBrixmor Property Group has recorded a ROE of 13%. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, it generated $0.13 in profit. Check out our latest analysis for Brixmor Property Group Theformula for return on equityis: Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders' Equity Or for Brixmor Property Group: 13% = US$368m ÷ US$2.8b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2019.) It's easy to understand the 'net profit' part of that equation, but 'shareholders' equity' requires further explanation. It is all the money paid into the company from shareholders, plus any earnings retained. You can calculate shareholders' equity by subtracting the company's total liabilities from its total assets. ROE measures a company's profitability against the profit it retains, and any outside investments. The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. The higher the ROE, the more profit the company is making. So, all else being equal,a high ROE is better than a low one. That means it can be interesting to compare the ROE of different companies. Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, Brixmor Property Group has a better ROE than the average (6.2%) in the REITs industry. That is a good sign. In my book, a high ROE almost always warrants a closer look. For example,I often check if insiders have been buying shares. Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same. Brixmor Property Group clearly uses a significant amount of debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.75. There's no doubt the ROE is respectable, but it's worth keeping in mind that metric is elevated by the use of debt. Investors should think carefully about how a company might perform if it was unable to borrow so easily, because credit markets do change over time. Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE. But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So you might want to take a peek at thisdata-rich interactive graph of forecasts for the company. Of course,you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere.So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Does Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Create Value For Shareholders? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. We'll use ROE to examine Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM), by way of a worked example. Over the last twelve monthsMartin Marietta Materials has recorded a ROE of 10%. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, it generated $0.10 in profit. See our latest analysis for Martin Marietta Materials Theformula for return on equityis: Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders' Equity Or for Martin Marietta Materials: 10% = US$502m ÷ US$5.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2019.) Most know that net profit is the total earnings after all expenses, but the concept of shareholders' equity is a little more complicated. It is the capital paid in by shareholders, plus any retained earnings. The easiest way to calculate shareholders' equity is to subtract the company's total liabilities from the total assets. ROE measures a company's profitability against the profit it retains, and any outside investments. The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, all else being equal,a high ROE is better than a low one. That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses. Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. The image below shows that Martin Marietta Materials has an ROE that is roughly in line with the Basic Materials industry average (9.7%). That isn't amazing, but it is respectable. ROE doesn't tell us if the share price is low, but it can inform us to the nature of the business. For those looking for a bargain, other factors may be more important. For those who like to findwinning investmentsthisfreelist of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same. Although Martin Marietta Materials does use debt, its debt to equity ratio of 0.64 is still low. I'm not impressed with its ROE, but the debt levels are not too high, indicating the business has decent prospects. Careful use of debt to boost returns is often very good for shareholders. However, it could reduce the company's ability to take advantage of future opportunities. Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. In my book the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt. But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. So you might want to take a peek at thisdata-rich interactive graph of forecasts for the company. Of courseMartin Marietta Materials may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see thisfreecollection of other companies that have high ROE and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Dutch feel freedom ahead of World Cup semi-final with Sweden By Simon Evans LYON, France (Reuters) - The Netherlands face their first women's World Cup semi-final when they play Sweden on Wednesday and striker Vivianne Miedema believes the pressure is finally off her team. The Dutch are European champions and the resultant high expectations at home were felt by the players, who have talked about how the pressure influenced their play in the group stage. Although the Netherlands won all their group games, their performances came in for some criticism but Miedema feels those displays reflected the tension because of expectations. "We talked a lot about not playing our best football in the first couple of games here," she said. "But I think the problem was that we didn’t really have the chance to properly enjoy ourselves on the pitch. "The main feeling with people back home was, ‘Oh, those girls will just go to France to pick up that cup.’ As European Champions, of course you have higher expectations on you. "But we as a team never saw it that way. We are very happy with what we’ve achieved so far, but for us, the journey is not over. We’ve got so close and we’ve finally got back into that flow that we had during the Euros. Now, all we want is to make it to that final," she added. MOOD CHANGE Saturday's 2-0 victory over Italy in the quarter-finals has totally changed the mood with the result also securing the Dutch their first Olympic qualification. "I think the pressure is off now," said Miedema, whose fine header against the Azzurre was her third goal of the tournament and helped ensure a place at Tokyo 2020. That was harder to earn than expected, with only three places for European teams at the Olympics up for grabs and seven of the World Cup quarter-finalists coming from Europe. "We came here to do better than four years ago, when we reached the last 16, and to get a ticket for the Olympic tournament in Tokyo next year. "We never thought it would take reaching the semi-finals to be among the best three European teams, but that makes being there even more amazing. I think we surprised everyone by going this far, including ourselves," she said. Story continues Although Miedema is only 22, the tall center-forward has scored 61 goals in 80 games for her country and will be a major threat to the Sweden defense. However, the Swedes are in confident mood themselves after beating Germany 2-1 with their counter-attacking and direct style proving effective. "Against Germany I think we played really well, we defended really well and were good on the counter-attack so I really feel it is a big, big chance for us to go the whole way and to be able to play a final," said striker Sofia Jakobsson. "Now we have to play a big semi, but if we play our game and at the level we played against Germany I think we have a good chance." (Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Why companies like Apple and Facebook just weighed in on a gay rights case hitting the Supreme Court Although Pride Month came to an end over the weekend, corporate America is still showing its support forLGBTindividuals across the country. On July 2, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), several civil rights groups, and 203 corporations filedan amicus briefweighing in on a gay rights case hitting the Supreme Court’s next term. The case could determine whether federal civil rights law bars employers from discriminating against workers based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These companies include Apple (AAPL), Bank of America (BAC), Facebook (FB), Goldman Sachs (GS), Google (GOOG,GOOGL), JP Morgan (JPM), Microsoft (MSFT), Disney (DIS), and baseball teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and San Francisco Giants. All together, the 203 companies represent 7.4 million employees and over $5 trillion in revenue. They argue in their brief that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should protect workers from being fired simply for being LGBT. “These businesses … share a common interest in equality because they know that ending discrimination in the workplace is good for business, employees, and the U.S. economy as a whole,” the briefstated. As it stands in the U.S., 21 states, along with D.C., have labor laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according toHRC. Wisconsin’s labor laws prohibit discrimination based solely on sexual orientation. Seven states bar discrimination against public employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and four states protect public employees based on just sexual orientation. There are 17 states that have no workplace protections in place for LGBTQ employees. This new filing would not leave it up to the states to decide — instead, it will attempt to force a federal ruling on the matter. Currently,Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. U.S. courts of appeal have issued conflicting opinions on whether the “sex” provision applies to sexual orientation and gender identity, prompting the Supreme Court to take up the issue. HRC and the others arguing for the briefcitedeconomic data as to why LGBT workers’ rights should be protected. “The U.S. economy is strengthened whenallemployees are protected from discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” thebriefsaid. “The failure to recognize that Title VII protects LGBT workers would hinder the ability of businesses to compete in all corners of the nation, and would harm the U.S. economy as a whole.” The brief cited areportfrom Witeck Communications, which found that the LGBT population’s buying power is estimated at $917 billion, along with astudyfrom Out Now Global, which found that the U.S. economy could save nearly $9 billion by protecting LGBT employees in the workplace. “The failure to uniformly recognize discrimination against LGBT persons as inherently sex-based and properly covered by Title VII takes a heavy toll on businesses’ bottom lines and, in the aggregate, hurts economic growth,” the briefsaid. American clothing company Levi’s (LEVI) is also one of the companies that signed on. In a statement to Yahoo Finance, Anna Walker, the vice president of public affairs, explained why the company joined in. “Equality and nondiscrimination in the workplace are core values to Levi Strauss & Co. and integral to how we do business,” she said. “The success of a business depends on its ability to recruit and retain the best talent and enable an inclusive workplace and society for our employees, their families, and our consumers. We are proud to join with more than 180 companies in outlining the business case for protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination under existing federal civil rights laws.” AVerizon Media surveyfrom May 2019 found that just over one-third of LGTBQ employees at various companies are open about their sexual orientation at work. “Discrimination is prevalent,” one respondent said, while another stated, “I’m a teacher and teachers can’t be gay.” According to the survey, 44% of LGBTQ employees have said they’ve experienced discrimination at work. “My new manager was homophobic and wrote me up until I stepped down,” one survey respondent said. Adriana is an associate editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter@adrianambells. READ MORE: • 'I just keep quiet': Survey finds only one-third of LGBTQ employees are out at work • Two in five brands with Pride campaigns not donating to LGBT+ causes in 2019 • Barclays' new Gay Pride logo is upsetting social media: 'This is not putting the customer first' • Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,SmartNews,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit.
Does Motorola Solutions, Inc.'s (NYSE:MSI) CEO Pay Compare Well With Peers? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! In 2011 Greg Brown was appointed CEO of Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI). First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at other large companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO. See our latest analysis for Motorola Solutions Our data indicates that Motorola Solutions, Inc. is worth US$28b, and total annual CEO compensation is US$20m. (This is based on the year to December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$1.3m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b and the median CEO total compensation was US$11m. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts - even though some are quite a bit bigger than others). Thus we can conclude that Greg Brown receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of large companies in the same market as Motorola Solutions, Inc.. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Motorola Solutions has changed over time. Over the last three years Motorola Solutions, Inc. has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 4.0% per year (measured with a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 15% over the last year. Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. There's no doubt that the silver lining is that revenue is up. But it isn't sufficiently fast growth to overlook the fact that earnings per share has gone backwards over three years. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. Shareholders might be interested inthisfreevisualization of analyst forecasts. Boasting a total shareholder return of 168% over three years, Motorola Solutions, Inc. has done well by shareholders. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size. We compared total CEO remuneration at Motorola Solutions, Inc. with the amount paid at other large companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group. We think many shareholders would be underwhelmed with the business growth over the last three years. On the other hand, returns have been good, so the company is doing something right. Considering this, shareholders are probably not too worried about the CEO compensation. So you may want tocheck if insiders are buying Motorola Solutions shares with their own money (free access). Of course,you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere.So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Kellyanne Conway Calls AOC a Liar for Claim That Migrants Are ‘Drinking Out of Toilets’ Kellyanne Conway deftly pivoted from defending President Donald Trump’s photo-op with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to defending Customs and Border Patrol from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning. “Chuck Schumer wants to talk about photo-ops?” Conway said, referring to criticism of her boss from the Senate minority leader. “I saw one yesterday. And it’s called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez going down to one of these facilities and making this outrageous claim that a woman’s drinking from a toilet, which everybody who has control over that facility, or control for the border patrol has said that’s not true, they’ve not heard of this.” Rather than force Conway to back up her denial, Fox & Friends simply gave her a boost by changing its chyron to read “AOC Makes Explosive Claims About Border Agents.” The New York congresswoman on Monday visited the border facility in Clint, Texas, where migrants are being held and tweeted that CBP officers were “keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets.” Border Patrol Gives Sanitized Tour of Notorious Detention Center Where Migrant Kids Held That claim was later backed up by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), who also visited the facility and said a border patrol agent told one woman she met, “If you want water, just drink from a toilet.” Conway went on to attack Ocasio-Cortez for rolling up her car window when a reporter was trying to question her about those claims. “Don’t let the air condition[ing] out,” she mocked, before noting that Ocasio-Cortez was among the Democrats who voted against additional border funding for the Trump administration —or “aid package” as Conway called it. Later, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez fired back at Conway on Twitter, asking, “How many migrant women has Kellyanne Conway touched? Hugged? Sat on a concrete floor with? Actually listened to? The answer is none.” Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Are Insiders Buying Total Energy Services Inc. (TSE:TOT) Stock? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares inTotal Energy Services Inc.(TSE:TOT). It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required. We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.' View our latest analysis for Total Energy Services In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when President Daniel Halyk bought CA$88k worth of shares at a price of CA$8.80 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than CA$8.26 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. In the last twelve months insiders purchased 102k shares for CA$1.0m. But insiders sold 1200 shares worth CA$11k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Total Energy Services insiders. They paid about CA$9.82 on average. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! Total Energy Services is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at thisfreelist of growing companies with insider buying. Over the last quarter, Total Energy Services insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. Overall, six insiders shelled out CA$220k for shares in the company -- and none sold. That shows some optimism about the company's future. Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Total Energy Services insiders own about CA$19m worth of shares. That equates to 5.1% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders. It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Total Energy Services we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check thisfreereport showing analyst forecasts for its future. But note:Total Energy Services may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
10 Stocks That Should Be Every Young Investor’s First Choice Veteran investors usually have a pretty good feel for selecting their holdings, having learned from both good and bad experiences. In most cases, they’re just maintaining an existing portfolio, picking one stock at a time to replace another that’s no longer a worthy holding. It’s a journey, and can be taken slowly. Brand new investors, however, face a tougher task. Building a portfolio from scratch is not only daunting, but plain difficult. Between finding enough good names to fill out a fully diversified collection of stocks, determining the best time to step in and then learning to sleep when taking on a new kind of risk, it can be an overwhelming matter. But, it doesn’t have to be. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips • The Top 10 Best Sectors in the Market for 2019 Here’s a list of ten stocks to buy, hand-picked for their simplicity, but without the sacrifice of real opportunity. There’s palatable risk paired with respectable reward, and each name is easy to judge going forward. In no particular order … Source: Shutterstock Walmart(NYSE:WMT) may not be the world’s very best-run retailer. But, being the biggest certainly helps offset some of the disadvantages of size. It can negotiate the best prices for inventory it sells, and its scale allows it to offer the best prices to its customers. That sheer scale gives it a serious edge on any of its brick-and-mortar competitors. It’s even made a dent is the unchecked dominanceAmazon.com(NASDAQ:AMZN) has historically enjoyed on the e-commerce front. Last quarter’s online sales for Walmart wereup 37% year-over-year, sustaining a long streak of strong double-digit growth. Unlike high-tech companies, there’s no wait-time for product development, and no intellectual property or patent nuances. It sells stuff, and how well it’s selling stuff is made clear every quarter with an all-important same-store sales figure. Last quarter’s same-store sales growth of 3.4% was the best first-quarter sales growth in several years. Source: Shutterstock Big banks likeBank of America(NYSE:BAC) are generally more subject to economic cycles than smaller banks are. And, they’re also more sensitive to interest rate changes than smaller rivals… for better or worse. The upside to size is still better than the downside though. For the same reason Walmart is one of the best stocks to buy for a new portfolio, BAC stock is ideal exposure to the banking sector because it’s arguably the best-run among the majors. • 7 Restaurant Stocks to Put on Your Plate Better yet, it’s generously sharing the wealth created by that work. After passing this year’s so-called ‘stress test’ with flying colors, the Federal Reserve approved the bank’s request togive $37 billion back to shareholderswithin the next year through dividends and stock buybacks. For perspective, Bank of America sports a market cap of $279 billion. Source:Sean Biehle via Flickr Unilever(NYSE:UN) isn’t exactly a household name for most U.S. investors… for a couple of reasons. One of them is the fact that it promotes its products’ brand names rather than the corporate moniker. The other is, it’s not based in the United States, nor is North America its primary target market. UK-based Unilever is theparent of productslike Breyers ice cream, Lipton tea, Noxzema facial products and dozens more you’ve never heard of because they’re only offered overseas. Not only is Unilever a highly diversified play just because of the sheer number of products, it’s geographically diversified too. Every day,2.5 billion people use a Unilever product. Source: Shutterstock As far as industrial names go,Danaher(NYSE:DHR) doesn’t spend much time in the spotlight. This is a case, however, where boring can be beautiful. What the company lacks in pizzazz it more than makes up for in consistency. Danaher is the parent company of roughly a couple dozen businesses. Some of them you’ve heard of, likePantone, Backman Coulter and Alltech. Most of them are likely unfamiliar though… names like Ormco, Leica Biosystems and Phenomenex. • 7 Restaurant Stocks to Put on Your Plate It seems like a lot to manage, and it is. Danaher manages it all quite well though, turning that extreme diversity into the foundation for arespectably consistent revenue and earnings growth machine. Source:swong95765 via Flickr (Modified) Following the 2014/2015 debacle the energy sector went through, it would be easy to be soured on all oil and gas stocks forever. But, here’s a little secret… though that meltdown was extreme, it actually wasn’t unusual or surprising. Energy stocks fell into the same trap in 2008, in the late 90s and in the late 80s. Cyclical overproduction is sadly the norm. The biggest and best names in the business tend to survive. Chevron(NYSE:CVX) is one of the biggest and best names in the business, and arguably the one to own if there’s only room for one in a portfolio. Indeed, relatively new CEO Mike Wirth has already made it clear he’s keeping the bigger picture in mind. In a recent interviewhe explained“Good times won’t last forever, so you can’t change your cost structure, or make unwise investment choices.” If he can make that kind of sound thinking the new norm for everyone at the company, Chevron will be more than built to last. Source: Shutterstock No list of good stocks to buy is complete without a utility name.Duke Energy(NYSE:DUK) is the one that made the cut. Duke Energydelivers electricity to 7.7 million customersspread across six different states, mostly in the south. It also services 1.6 million natural gas customers. And, with a market cap of $64 billion, it’s one of the biggest players in the utility business. Translation: It’s not going anywhere. While its revenue may ebb and flow from time to time, its future is secure. • 7 One-Stock Portfolios for Passive Investors Sure, it’s not a high-growth business, but with such a strong dividend profile, it doesn’t have to be. The current yield of 4.22% makes for a nice bit of cash flow that most other investments can’t quite rival. Source: Shutterstock There was a point in time not too long ago withMicrosoft(NASDAQ:MSFT) was on the verge of becoming a has-been. Although operating system and productivity software made it an icon, cheaper and even free alternatives have since become readily available. CEO Satya Nadella saw the writing on the wall though, and adjusted accordingly. Not only did he shift the business model to one that monetizes customers ‘on the back end’ rather than collect money up-front from one-time sales of software, he made a point of making the company a monolith of the cloud-computing market. Its Azure platform, which helps customers manage their own cloud, saw73% revenue growth last quarter, extending an incredible pace of progress. Perhaps even better, the recurring revenue nature of the business model has madesales and earnings growthsurprisingly consistent for the behemoth. Source: Shutterstock For yearsMcDonald’s(NYSE:MCD) has supposedly been on its last leg, with observers claiming an aging shtick, an unhealthy menu and growing competition would up-end the world’s largest restaurant chain. McDonald’s keeps on chugging though, finding not just a way to survive, but thrive. As it turns out, low-cost food sold in a familiar environment is perpetually marketable. One nuance to note… the company has become almost entirely focused on franchising restaurants rather than owning them outright, because franchising revenue is higher-margin revenue. Running and owning stores is the bigger challenge. More and more franchisees arepushing back, complaining of coststhey have no choice but to incur. • 5 IPO Stocks to Buy -- According to Wall Street Analysts It’s not become an existential problem yet, and likely won’t. But, it’s the one thing new investors may want to keep an eye on. Source: Shutterstock On a fintech landscape that includesSquare(NYSE:SQ), Bitcoin and similar work being done byVisa(NYSE:V) just to name a few, it would be easy to viewPaypal Holdings(NASDAQ:PYPL) as a relic that has no place in the future of money. Don’t let its age fool you though. The oldest player in the digital payments space is not only the biggest, but remains one of the best because of its reach. That said, also know that Paypal has its finger on the pulse of all the changes. The fact that it’s developed its owncredit card readers and cash register systemsthat also manage inventory along with customer relationships makes it clear that simply being a middleman isn’t enough. In other words, Paypal is more than ready for the cashless and payments revolution that’s quickly becoming inevitable. The first quarter’srevenue growth of 12%underscores that reality. Source: Shutterstock Finally, addJohnson & Johnson(NYSE:JNJ) to your list of stocks to buy for first-timers just starting to fill up a portfolio. It’s admittedly not an earth-shattering growth opportunity. Though it offers prescription pharmaceuticals likeblockbuster drugs Stelara and Remicade, pharma accounts for only about half of J&J’s business, and it’s not exactly a groundbreaking drug developer. The other half of the company’s business is basics likeband-aids and baby shampoo, and surgical devices. It’s solid, but not the stuff of double-digit top-line progress. • 5 Cheap ETFs That Aren't Actually a Good Value The tradeoff is worth it though. Johnson & Johnson offers safety in numbers. The currentdividend yield of 2.73%isn’t too shabby either, especially considering the company hasn’t failed to raise it in any years since 2000. As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can learn more about James at his site,jamesbrumley.com, orfollow him on Twitter, at @jbrumley. • 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid • 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever • 10 Small-Cap Stocks That Look Like Bargains • 10 Names That Are Screaming Stocks to Buy The post10 Stocks That Should Be Every Young Investor’s First Choiceappeared first onInvestorPlace.
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup: Alex Morgan makes history with tea-sipping birthday goal Alex Morgan sipped some imaginary tea after scoring the USWNT's second goal against England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Birthday girl Alex Morgan made history on Tuesday when she became the first player in Women’s World Cup history to score a goal on her natal day. Oh, and that goal she scored in the 31st minute? It broke the tie against England and gave the USWNT the lead in its 2-1 victory. Alex Morgan scores her first goal since the opening game and retakes the lead in the Golden Boot race (6 goals, 3 assists) She's the first player in #FIFAWWC history to score on her birthday 🎂 pic.twitter.com/EGWBNIyaxI — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2019 Here’s Morgan’s absolutely fabulous tea-sipping celebration. Here for Alex Morgan’s sipping tea celebration 😂 pic.twitter.com/vUOhJolHJ4 — Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) July 2, 2019 Was Morgan throwing shade at the tea-loving English and their insecurity about how confident the USWNT are? Or was she simply doing her version of the famous Kermit tea-sipping meme? Why not both! More from Yahoo Sports: Nike pulls shoe after Kaepernick raises racial concerns Angels pitcher, family man Skaggs gone too soon Yankees’ Stanton posts heartfelt message after Skaggs’ death Broncos preview: Replacing Manning has been tough
Read This Before Buying Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) Shares Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares inProvident Financial Services, Inc.(NYSE:PFS). It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information. We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia Universitystudyfound that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. Check out our latest analysis for Provident Financial Services Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Executive VP & Chief Credit Officer of the Provident Bank, Brian Giovinazzi, for US$193k worth of shares, at about US$26.78 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$24.39. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern. Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 5000 shares worth US$129k. But they sold 15340 for US$399k. All up, insiders sold more shares in Provident Financial Services than they bought, over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! I will like Provident Financial Services better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out thisfreelist of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider selling at Provident Financial Services. US$71k worth of shares were sold by Lead Director Carlos Hernandez. But at least we saw US$25k worth of buying. While it's not great to see insider selling, the net amount sold isn't enough for us to want to read anything into it. For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Provident Financial Services insiders own about US$46m worth of shares. That equates to 2.8% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. We note that there's been a little more insider selling than buying, recently. But the net divestment is not enough to concern us at all. Recent sales exacerbate our caution arising from analysis of Provident Financial Services insider transactions. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. Of course,the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Provident Financial Services, you should check out thisfreereport on analyst forecasts for the company. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss thisfreelist of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Black family fires contractor who shows up to job with Confederate flag on truck A Georgia contractor named Michael in Georgia arrived at the home of a black family with a Confederate flag on his truck. (Credit: Facebook) A black family fired an independent contractor they had hired for a job after he drove to their home with a giant Confederate flag affixed to his truck. Allison and Zeke Brown of Atlanta, Georgia hired the man, whose name is Michael, to replace the brakes on their golf cart. When he arrived at their home on Saturday, an enormous rebel flag was attached to his truck. “Hi, you know what, I do apologize, I know you’ve come from a very long way, but we’re going to use someone else,” Allison, 40, a radiation therapist, tells Michael, as captured in a video on her Ring app. “She’s upset with the flag,” explains Zeke, 48. “No, I’m beyond upset with the flag,” corrects Allison. Michael offers to remove the flag, but Allison says, “No, you don’t need to take it down. You can continue to believe what you need to believe, sir. But no, I cannot pay you for your services. Thank you, have a good day.” Thousands watched the Ring footage and noted Allison’s decorum, much like Craig Brooks, a Holiday Inn Express employee in Austin, Texas, whose polite rejection, “ It’s above me now ,” to a customer who called him the n-word, went viral last month. Would he had shown up to a white Jewish family with a swastika? The Confederate flag is a common white supremacist symbol of hatred of blacks. It represents racism, slavery and the country’s long history of oppression of black people — Brother Tyrone X (@tyrone345345) July 2, 2019 It takes a person of extraordinary stupidity to show up at a black person’s house with a CSA flag on their truck or person. — Ryan Quattro (@forzaquattro77) July 2, 2019 If he's a proud Southerner, why not an Alabama, South Carolina, etc flag? Funny how that works. — Blackbelt Birder 🏳️‍🌈 (@blackbeltbirder) July 2, 2019 She was brilliant! I applaud her calm demeanor 👏👏 FACT: No thoughtful human being should employ this guy... regardless of what race you are. Saving a few dollars isn’t worth losing your humanity. — Shopgirl 🇺🇸🗣☮️ (@idnac4u) July 2, 2019 GOOD FOR HER! And she was incredibly polite about it to boot. pic.twitter.com/pxPlTVx9hM — R. LaPointe (@lapointe67) July 2, 2019 We have a right to choose where we spend our dollars. And I completely agree with her refusal to work with that guy. — KimiBaeB (@kimiBaeB) July 2, 2019 Okay this lady was more polite then I would have been. Good on her, she's right. — Rachel Maria (@rachel_maria65) July 2, 2019 Initially unaware of Michael’s arrival, Allison was cleaning out her closet when Zeke walked into their bedroom and said, “God is testing me.” Story continues Allison tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “When my husband told me about the flag, I said, ‘Let me handle this,’” adding that their college-aged son fled the house, anticipating his mother’s reaction. “I didn’t want to be the ‘angry black woman’ but I wanted him to learn and feel that bottom-line loss,” she says. “You don’t go to Germany and wave the Nazi flag. It’s the same thing.” Zeke, a manager at a health care tech company, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that over the course of three days, he chatted with the man about work logistics over Facebook messenger. “He hadn’t been disrespectful prior, so seeing the flag did not fit my preconceptions,” he says. “The flag was absurd — I had to walk back into the house to calm myself down.” After Michael left, he messaged Zeke saying, “I didn’t know the flag offended y’all.” In screenshots of the conversation on Facebook Messenger shared with Yahoo Lifestyle, Zeke replied, “Yes, it is extremely offensive to anyone of color. I understand it is part of American history, but that flag stood for a time in history where people such as myself had a very bad way of life...Micheal, I hope this small interaction causes you to do a little research on how several Americans feel about the Confederacy. I know it’s part of history, so is Nazi Germany...” Zeke tells Yahoo Lifestyle that he hoped the firing would be educational. “I thought, ‘Maybe there is hope for someone like him or an opportunity to save him from this way of thinking,” he says. “And I wanted that flag off my property — as one of the few black families in our subdivision, what would the neighbors think of a Confederate symbol in our driveway?” Michael tells Yahoo Lifestyle that he is a “redneck” and that the flag is for the Fourth of July. “My little siblings bought it from a flea market,” he says. “I don’t support slavery and neither do my siblings. But I am not going to take it down when my siblings asked me to fly it. If [the family] wants to take offense, they can.” Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Restaurant employee fired for Facebook meme mocking Holocaust victims Recruiting manager accidentally sends prospective employee 'incredibly insensitive' email: 'Me love you long time' Florida mayor proclaims Confederate Memorial Day, inciting backlash: 'I hope somebody runs against you' Follow us on Instagram , Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Hapag-Lloyd, ONE join blockchain platform TradeLens Two new shipping companies have joined the blockchain shipping platform TradeLens used for the global shipping supply chain. German Hapag-Lloyd and Singapore-based Ocean Network Express (ONE) haveannouncedthey will participate in TradeLens. With these additions, five out of six of the biggest shipping companies are now part of the blockchain platform, and TradeLens now covers more than half the world’s ocean container cargo. “Now, with five of the world’s six largest carriers committed to the platform, not to mention many other ecosystem participants, we can collectively accelerate that transformation to provide greater trust, transparency and collaboration across supply chains and help promote global trade,” said Managing Director Information Technology at Hapag-Lloyd Martin Gnass. The blockchain was developed by A.P. Moller - Maersk and IBM to modernise supply chains. Both Hapag-Lloyd and ONE will operate a blockchain node and will participate in consensus to validate transactions.
Is Markel Corporation's (NYSE:MKL) CEO Paid Enough Relative To Peers? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Richie Whitt has been the CEO of Markel Corporation (NYSE:MKL) since 2016. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at other big companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO. View our latest analysis for Markel Our data indicates that Markel Corporation is worth US$15b, and total annual CEO compensation is US$3.7m. (This number is for the twelve months until December 2018). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$981k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b and the median CEO total compensation was US$11m. There aren't very many mega-cap companies, so we had to take a wide range to get a meaningful comparison figure. Most shareholders would consider it a positive that Richie Whitt takes less in total compensation than the CEOs of most other large companies, leaving more for shareholders. While this is a good thing, you'll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Markel has changed over time. Markel Corporation has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 9.2% a year, over the last three years (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 24% over last year. Few shareholders would be pleased to read that earnings per share are lower over three years. There's no doubt that the silver lining is that revenue is up. But it isn't sufficiently fast growth to overlook the fact that earnings per share has gone backwards over three years. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. You might want to checkthis free visual report onanalyst forecastsfor future earnings. Markel Corporation has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 17% over three years. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median. Markel Corporation is currently paying its CEO below what is normal for large companies. Shareholders should note that compensation for Richie Whitt is under the median of a group of large companies. But the business isn't growing earnings per share, and the returns to shareholders haven't been wonderful. We would like to see EPS growth from the business, although we wouldn't say the CEO pay is high. CEO compensation is one thing, but it is also interesting tocheck if the CEO is buying or selling Markel (free visualization of insider trades). Important note:Markel may not be the best stock to buy. You might find somethingbetterinthis list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Hold the Phone: Blue Bell Has Two Creameries You Can Visit Its time to edit your list of Southern pilgrimage destinations, because Blue Bells Little Creamery belongs up there with Dollywood, Disney World, and the Grand Ole Opry. The beloved ice cream brand has two creamery locations you can visitone in its hometown of Brenham, Texas, and another in Sylacauga, Alabama, outside Birmingham. And you can get a taste of your favorite Blue Bell flavors made fresh, right there on the premises. Just dont forget to wear your stretchy pants! At the original Blue Bell in Brenham, a small town about halfway between Austin and Houston, you can get a scoop of ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlor, view where the ice cream is made from the famous Observation Deck, shop in the Country Store, and learn about the creamerys 100-plus-year history at the Visitor Center. The Observation Deck, the creamerys most popular attraction, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors can see how our products are made like half gallons, pints, three gallons, and three-ounce cups. With the summer crowds, we've seen several hundred each day," spokeswoman Jenny Van Dorf told The Dallas Morning News in 2017. At Sylacauga, visitors can indulge at the Ice Cream Parlor, check out where the ice cream is made, and do some shopping at the Country Store. WATCH: 10 Southern Food Brands Still Proudly Made in the South Visit BlueBell.com for more information.
How Will Newly Acquired Genesee And Wyoming Pay For Its Infrastructure? The pendingacquisitionof short line operatorGenesee & Wyoming(NYSE:GWR) byBrookfield Infrastructure(NYSE:BIP) and GIC might not affect customers in the short-term, but in the longer-term, rail industry observers are waiting to see how and whether GWR will be able to make the capital investments needed to maintain its infrastructure. Some of GWR's equipment and network is aging and may be in need of repair. Tracks may also need to be replaced and bridges might need rehabilitation. All of these needs will require capital investment, sources said. If GWR reaches a point where it needs to cut costs operationally or to fund capital projects, will the new owners push GWR to raise prices, sources wondered. "We will have to see whether the new owners will allow GWR to make capital expenditures at the pace required to maintain the properties and add capacity as needed, and/or if they will put some of the railroads up for sale," a transportation consultant said. "I doubt if the transaction will benefit customers. Hopefully, it won't hurt." Another initial reaction was a question about whether GWR's operating philosophy will change in part because international buyers are part of the deal. Associated with that question is whether existing management will remain at GWR, a rail expert said. Asprecision scheduled railroadingtakes hold at almost all of the Class I railroads and those railroads seek to streamline operations and shed assets, they may seek to shed intermodal lanes or opt for more transloading. That could also affect GWR's future rail operations and sales and marketing efforts, the rail expert said. In the meantime, the investment community didn't see any major hurdles preventing the acquisition from occurring. "As this is a financial transaction and not a rail-to-rail merger in the U.S., we see very little regulatory risk from theSurface Transportation Boardapproval process," Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Bascome Majors said in a July 1 research note. His firm expects the transaction to close in late 2019 or early 2020 as planned. Brookfield and GWR could also see upside as the global economy improves, Cowen analyst Jason Seidl said. "As the North American economy continues to grow, Europe recovers and the company's presence in Australia grows, GWR is well positioned to post strong top- and bottom-line growth. The company's operations overseas provide international diversification and various long-term opportunities," Seidl said in a July 1 note. Meanwhile, Brookfield Infrastructure said yesterday that the acquisition of GWR will complement Brookfield Infrastructure's existing global portfolio. "This is a rare opportunity to acquire a large-scale transport infrastructure business in North America," said Sam Pollock, chief executive officer of Brookfield Infrastructure. "GWR will be a significant addition to our global rail platform and will expand our presence in this sector to four continents." Pollock continued, "Brookfield Infrastructure is well-suited to work with the company to continue to improve the business, given our significant experience owning and operating rail, ports and other large-scale transportation infrastructure businesses." GWR currently owns or leases 120 short-line railroads in North America, Europe and Australia. It provides service on more than 26,000 kilometers of track with approximately 8,000 employees. Brookfield Infrastructure is part of Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with more than $365 billion in assets under management. GIC is a global investment firm with the primary strategy of investing directly into operating assets with a high degree of cash flow visibility and provide an inflation hedge. Image Sourced From Pixabay See more from Benzinga • Record-Breaking Stock Numbers Could Prompt Consumers To Spend More • Officials Say Migrant Checkpoint In Mexico Affects Cargo Truck Wait Times In Ciudad Juarez • Indian E-Commerce Major Flipkart To Replace 40 Percent Of Its Fleet With Electric Vehicles © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Why Seven Group Holdings Limited's (ASX:SVW) CEO Pay Matters To You Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Ryan Stokes became the CEO of Seven Group Holdings Limited (ASX:SVW) in 2015. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. Check out our latest analysis for Seven Group Holdings Our data indicates that Seven Group Holdings Limited is worth AU$6.4b, and total annual CEO compensation is AU$5.3m. (This figure is for the year to June 2018). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at AU$1.6m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from AU$2.9b to AU$9.2b, and the median CEO total compensation was AU$3.4m. Thus we can conclude that Ryan Stokes receives more in total compensation than the median of a group of companies in the same market, and of similar size to Seven Group Holdings Limited. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the pay is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Seven Group Holdings has changed from year to year. Over the last three years Seven Group Holdings Limited has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 84% per year (using a line of best fit). It achieved revenue growth of 47% over the last year. This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's great to see that revenue growth is strong, too. These metrics suggest the business is growing strongly. Shareholders might be interested inthisfreevisualization of analyst forecasts. I think that the total shareholder return of 224%, over three years, would leave most Seven Group Holdings Limited shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size. We examined the amount Seven Group Holdings Limited pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group. However we must not forget that the EPS growth has been very strong over three years. Even better, returns to shareholders have been plentiful, over the same time period. Considering this fine result for shareholders, we daresay the CEO compensation might be apt. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want tocheck if insiders are buying or selling Seven Group Holdings shares (free trial). Of course,you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere.So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
EMERGING MARKETS-Most Latam stocks fall as U.S.-China trade optimism fades (Updates prices) By Susan Mathew July 2 (Reuters) - Most Latin American stocks fell on Tuesday, tracking a pause in Wall Street's rally as optimism around U.S.-China trade talks subsided, with worries about economic growth and a drop in miner Vale additionally pressuring Brazil shares. Following a risk-on day on spurred by the United States and China agreeing to return to the negotiating table, most regional shares lost between 0.1% and 1%. U.S. stocks lost momentum after as investors turned skeptical about a U.S.-China trade deal after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said any trade deal with China would need to be "somewhat tilted" in favour of the United States. Washington's threats to impose tariffs on an additional $4 billion of goods from the European Union also weighed sentiment. Brazil shares slid 1% and the currency fell 0.2% against a weaker dollar on sluggish economic growth outlook. Central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said risks to domestic growth from a global slowdown may be greater than previously thought, and reiterated that economic recovery will be gradual. Meanwhile, Brazil's industrial output data showed some longer-term trends still point to an underperforming sector. This followed a warning from the economy ministry on Monday that trade activity will decline due to slowing global economic growth. "We remain sceptical about a sustained rebound in gross fixed capital formation this year, as business confidence still struggles and as key macro reforms move slowly in Congress," wrote Mauricio Oreng, senior Brazil strategist at Rabobank in a note. "We only expected a U-turn in private capital spending for 2020," he wrote. Iron ore miner Vale's shares slumped 4.4% after a Brazilian Senate committee investigating a deadly dam collapse in January, said Vale's chief financial officer and its former chief executive should both be indicted for manslaughter. In Mexico, the peso firmed 0.3%, and decline on the stock index were capped after Trump took tariffs against Mexican imports off the table after the country stepped up efforts to stem migrant flows from Central America to the United States. Argentine assets outperformed, with shares up 0.9%, while the peso extended gains a day after the central bank set a new lower interest rate floor on its benchmark "Leliq" notes for July, a rate it has been bringing down from sky-high levels last year. "We think that the current move implies a more cautious approach from policy-makers, in an effort to preserve ARS stability," said Morgan Stanley analysts in a note. "The current environment benefits high yielders and we think that ARS should stay supported." Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1937 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1063.59 -0.05 MSCI LatAm 2833.17 -1.18 Brazil Bovespa 100505.51 -0.99 Mexico IPC 43385.36 -0.12 Chile IPSA 5033.64 -0.58 Argentina MerVal 41898.39 0.94 Colombia IGBC 12546.22 -0.48 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 3.8473 -0.12 Mexico peso 19.0616 0.28 Chile peso 680.3 -0.10 Colombia peso 3208.45 -0.22 Peru sol 3.294 -0.15 Argentina peso 42.1500 0.52 (interbank) (Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
‘It’ Filmmaker Andy Muschietti Eyed to Direct ‘The Flash’ Click here to read the full article. Warner Bros. is in talks with “It” director Andy Muschietti to helm its long-gestating “ The Flash ” standalone movie, a source close to the project has told Variety. No offer has been made yet, but if the deal goes through Muschietti will also produce the movie with his partner and sister Barbara Muschietti and Michael Disco. Related stories 'It: Chapter Two' Footage Terrifies at CinemaCon 'The Flash' to Change Showrunners Ahead of Season 6 'Elseworlds, Part 1' Recap: Barry Allen and Oliver Queen Swap Skills, Visit Superman Muschietti would replace “Spider-Man: Homecoming” writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who were signed last year to direct the film after replacing “Dope” helmer Rick Famuyiwa, who left the film in 2016. Seth Grahame-Smith was also attached to direct at one point. Ezra Miller remains attached to play Barry Allen, also known as The Flash in the DC Extended Universe movie. Miller has portrayed The Flash in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad” and “Justice League.” The Flash character originated during the 1950s when police scientist Barry Allen gained super-speed when bathed by chemicals that had been struck by lightning. Warner Bros. is also eyeing Christina Hodson to write the screenplay for “The Flash.” Her credits include “Bumblebee” and the studio’s upcoming “Suicide Squad” spin-off “Birds of Prey” with Margot Robbie. Muschietti recently directed Warner’s upcoming “It: Chapter 2,” which hits theaters in September. Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .
Blackjewel CEO confident bankrupt coal operator will rebound CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The CEO of one of the nation's largest coal producers says he's confident the company will bounce back despite the shutdown of several mines after it filed for federal bankruptcy protection. Milton-based Blackjewel LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for southern West Virginia. News outlets reported the company cited at least $500 million owed in liabilities. Blackjewel follows other major U.S. coal producers that have filed for bankruptcy protection in recent years, including Englewood, Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal Co. in October and Gillette, Wyoming-based Cloud Peak Energy in May. St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp. emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2017 and both St. Louis-based Arch Coal and Bristol, Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources emerged in 2016. "The entire U.S. mining complex has been impacted by these events," Blackjewel CEO Jeff Hoops said in a court filing. "The entire industry either has gone through, or is currently going through, a period of financial distress and reorganization." Hoops said the company and its partners had insufficient cash to operate and require additional liquidity, especially to pay employees' wages and benefits. "We are confident that this restructuring will solidify Blackjewel's position as a significant participant in the (U.S.) coal market," Hoops said in a separate statement. Blackjewel has about 1,100 employees in its eastern division at mines in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. It also operates two mines with about 600 workers in northeast Wyoming. Other recent bankruptcies in Wyoming's Powder River Basin coal industry haven't interrupted mining operations. But this time, two enormous, open-pit mines operated in Wyoming by Blackjewel — Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr, the fourth- and sixth-most-productive U.S. coal mines — abruptly closed. "They sent everybody home yesterday. There was no staff on site," Keith Guille, spokesman for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, said Tuesday. Story continues The department sent inspectors to check for any unattended hazards at the mines. The inspectors had no difficulty accessing the vast sites but weren't able to reach anybody at either Blackjewel or Contura Energy, Guille said. Blackjewel holds the license to mine coal while Contura, a company created out of the 2015 bankruptcy of Alpha Natural Resources, holds the Wyoming state mine permits. An attempt by Contura to transfer the permits to Blackjewel has been pending before a Wyoming review board. Blackjewel recently missed a $1 million tax payment owed to Campbell County. "This closure is hardest on the individuals who work at these important mines and their families, and our most immediate concerns lay with them," Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. "We are not unprepared for this set of circumstances and are eager to do all we can for the hardworking employees of these mines." Gordon met Tuesday with local officials and discussed the state's response to the closings, which included directing the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services to help mine workers. It wasn't immediately known whether the company's entire eastern operations shut down as well. The mayor of Cumberland, Kentucky, told the Lexington Herald Leader at least two miners told him the company closed its local operations Monday. According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, Blackjewel and affiliate Revelation Energy LLC were the nation's sixth-largest U.S. coal producer in 2017, the latest year available. ___ Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming
When to Add Bonds to Your Portfolio While the addition of bonds to a retirement portfolio can add income, diversification and lower volatility, financial experts disagree on when to start allocating money to this type of asset. Fixed-income securities are often incorporated into a portfolio because these assets produce steady income for investors, which is crucial for people who are planning to retire soon or in retirement. While age remains a major factor when investors consider adding fixed income to their mix of assets, the amount of risk is also another consideration. Lowering the amount of risk and volatility in a portfolio also means an investor could miss out on gains from the stock market. "It's an old adage that the closer to retirement you are the more you want to be weighted toward bonds, but keep in mind you're giving up potential equity returns," says Mike Loewengart, chief investment officer at E-Trade Financial, a New York-based brokerage company. "For those spooked by stomach-churning market moves, a higher allocation to fixed income could be appropriate." [ See: 8 Investing Do's and Don'ts During Market Volatility. ] Here are few things to know about adding bonds to your portfolio: -- It's not suited for younger investors. -- Investors should rethink a conservative approach. -- Focus on quality. -- Know the type of bond that you're adding to your account. Not Suited for Younger Investors Younger investors, including millennials and Generation Y, should hold off on adding bonds because it will lower their returns, says Ron McCoy, CEO of Freedom Capital Advisors. "I don't recommend younger investors buy bonds, since their time horizon is much farther out, plus the S&P 500 has historically outperformed bonds," he says. High-quality bonds typically "will and should play a buffering role" in any well-diversified portfolio, Loewengart says. Bonds have a low correlation with equities. When the stock market goes down, the bond market typically moves in the reverse direction. Fixed income continues to serve a "traditional role as a safe haven during periods of equity market volatility," Loewengart adds. Rethink a Conservative Approach While many financial experts and investors fall back to the customary equation of allocating 40% of a portfolio in bonds, that strategy is no longer valid, says Scott Puritz, managing director of Rebalance. "A generation ago the protocol of 60% stocks and 40% bonds was pretty much industry standard," he says. "These days, that formula is not just outdated, but dangerous." The longevity of people has risen due to modern medicine, resulting in investors spending more than a decade in retirement. Story continues "Living in a historically low-interest world with low-bond yields means that bond-heavy portfolios mean investors are at greater risk of running out of savings as they age," Puritz says. Instead of a conservative approach, the best practice for investors in their 20s, 30s and 40s is to allocate 10% of their money to bond holdings, rising to 20% for people in their 50s and 30% in their 60s, he says. Even though yields in bonds have declined, including them as a portion of a diversified portfolio makes sense for most investors, especially those who are in or near retirement, McCoy says. The recent rally in bonds has dropped the 10-year Treasury yield to about 2%. Finding yield during this market cycle can be difficult but "not impossible if investors know where to look," he says. [ See: 10 Investing Tips for Busy People. ] Investors should remain on the shorter end of the curve, maybe bonds that mature in seven years or less and avoid bond funds that use leverage, McCoy says. Focus on Quality "Think short and focus on quality and be willing to accept a little less in return for extra safety," he says. "Stick with higher rated bonds that are at or near investment grade [BBB- and up] if you are more risk adverse." Timing the market remains a fool's errand, experts say. It's tempting when there are trade disputes, inflation increases, extreme volatility in the market and interest rates are declining, but establishing a diversified portfolio and remaining with it is key, Loewengart says. "First and foremost, allocations should fundamentally be based more on your time horizon and risk tolerance than what is happening in the market day in and day out," he says. Although there are instances when investors are tempted to "flee for the exits when the markets go south or "even those who have an iron constitution but would like to limit price fluctuations," increasing bond allocations can be a strategy. "During those times of extreme market volatility, it could be appropriate to increase fixed-income exposure to help mitigate some of those portfolio swings," Loewengart says. Know the Type of Bond You're Adding Not all bonds are created equally and corporate bonds are considered riskier than municipal bonds. Corporate bonds have a higher rate of default because a company could miss earnings for several quarters and incur large losses, impacting its profitability. Municipal bonds are safer because the debt is being lent to a state, county or municipality and the debt is backed by the full faith and credit of the government, he says. Corporate bonds can vary in risk from typically super-steady utility bonds to highly volatile, high-interest junk bonds, Loewengart says. Many of these bonds are callable, meaning that it can be called in by the issuing company and redeemed on a fixed date. "The company pays back your principal along with accrued interest, plus an additional amount for calling the bond before maturity," he says. "Investors need to weigh the risk and reward." [ See: 7 Best Corporate Bonds to Buy and Hold for 2019. ] One advantage of municipal municipal bonds is it's free from federal taxations and some may be completely tax free if the investor is a resident of the state, county or municipality of issuance. "Though municipal bonds generally offer lower interest payments compared with taxable bonds, their overall return may be higher because of their tax-reduced or tax-free status," Loewengart says. It's important to consider the type of bonds that you add in your account, depending on if you have a taxable or retirement account, says Alex Chalekian, CEO of Lake Avenue Financial. "We prefer purchasing municipal bonds inside of a nonretirement account and taxable bonds inside of a retirement account," he says. "I've been a big fan of municipal bonds because of the tax-exempt income they may provide. The tax-equivalent yield that a taxable bond would have to produce based on a person's tax bracket would have to be pretty high in order to be on par with many municipal bonds that are trading today." Selecting bonds can be as difficult as choosing stocks, but investing in a bond fund can eliminate the heavy lifting. "Spreading the wealth amongst funds can also help with diversification," Loewengart says. "Another popular investment strategy is bond laddering and is used to diversify a portfolio of fixed-income securities by purchasing bonds with staggered maturities. While building your own bond ladder requires discipline, a bond fund with a similar strategy can take away all that legwork." More From US News & World Report Why It Pays to Include Bonds in Your Portfolio 7 Best Bond Funds for Retirement 7 Reasons to Bulk Up on Bond Investments View comments
Why Phillips 66’s Stock Popped 15% in June Shares ofPhillips 66(NYSE: PSX)rallied 15.7% in June, according to data provided byS&P Global Market Intelligence. Several catalysts fueled shares of thedownstream oil and gas company, including improving refining market conditions and notable progress on several growth-related initiatives. Refining stocks got pummeled in Maydue to concerns that the already challenging market conditions in the sector would worsen. That view, however, changed in June, with analysts fromGoldman Sachsproclaiming that the worst was over for the top U.S. refiners. The investment bank sees several catalysts on the horizon, includingnew emissions rules that go into effect next yearand an increased flow of low-cost oil supplies when new pipelines come online later this year. On top of that, a massive fire devastated the biggest refinery on the east coast last month, which will cause it to shut down permanently. That move will have a positive effect on the refining market. Image source: Getty Images. Phillips 66 also made excellent progress in expanding its nonrefining businesses last month. The company took steps to grow itsmidstream operationsbysanctioning two new oil pipeline projects. The refiner and a partner will move forward with the Liberty Pipeline, which will improve the flow of oil out of the Rockies. On top of that, Phillips 66 teamed up with another company to build the Red Oak pipeline. That project will help improve the flow of oil out of the Permian Basin as well as move crude from a major oil storage terminal in Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast. The company also took steps tobuild a new offshore oil export terminal in Texaslast month. Meanwhile, Phillips 66 and its partnerChevron(NYSE: CVX)made a move to expand their chemicals joint venture (JV), CPChem. The companies agreed to develop a new petrochemical plant in Qatar. It will be the biggest such facility in the Middle East, turning ethane into ethylene, which is a key building block for plastics. And speaking of plastics, the Chevron-Phillips 66 JV alsoreportedly bid$15 billion to buy Canadian plastics maker Nova Chemicals last month. Shares of Phillips 66 have been under pressure for much of the past year because of the challenging conditions in the refining market. However, those headwinds seem to be abating, which suggests there are better days ahead for the refining giant. On top of that, the company moved forward with several needle-moving projects in both the midstream and chemicals sectors while also taking steps to secure additional growth opportunities in those industries. That future upside, when combined with the fact that shares of Phillips 66 are still down more than 15% over the past year even after last month's rally, is why it remains one of thetop oil stocks to buy for 2019. More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market Matthew DiLalloowns shares of Phillips 66. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
The U.S. is headed to fascism, says Ocasio-Cortez after tour of detention facilities at southern border EL PASO, Texas Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the conditions at U.S. migrant detention facilities horrifying in an interview Monday evening and doubled down on her comparisons of the situation at the border to World War II. Are we headed to fascism? Yes. I dont think theres a question, the congresswoman told Yahoo News hours after she toured the detention facilities run by Customs and Border Protection. If you actually take the time to study, and to look at the steps, and to see how government transforms under authoritarian regimes, and look at the political decisions and patterns of this president, the answer is yes. Last month Ocasio-Cortez sparked controversy when she described the migrant detention facilities as concentration camps on our southern border. Her comment drew an immediate backlash from critics who accused her of trivializing Nazi concentration camps, while others, including some Holocaust survivors and scholars, said the comparison was a valid one. The freshman Democratic lawmaker from New York refused to back down from that comparison, and in her conversation with Yahoo News, Ocasio-Cortez argued that many things about President Trump echo that dark period in history. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., at the Clint, Texas, Border Patrol facility housing children on July 1. (Photo: Christ Chavez/Getty Images) She described a chaotic situation during Mondays congressional tour, including one site visit where s* hit the fan over what she described as disrespectful conduct by CBP staff, such as one officer who tried to take a selfie with the congresswoman, even as the lawmakers were not allowed to have cameras. The incident led her to believe the agency has systematically lost control, she said. Ocasio-Cortez also had harsh words for the horrible Democrats who voted for a bill to provide $4.5 billion in funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP. She laid blame for the humanitarian crisis squarely at the feet of the president. This is completely engineered by him, Ocasio-Cortez said. Trump has repeatedly argued that Democrats are to blame for the immigration crisis because they have not made an immigration reform deal with congressional Republicans. He has also claimed he did not begin the child separation policy. While some children were detained separately from accompanying adults after crossing the border under previous administrations because of a lack of familial relationship or criminal records, the zero tolerance policy introduced by Trump led to unprecedented mass separations. Story continues Ocasio-Cortez holds Trump responsible for the conditions that migrants are being kept in, and argues that he has contributed to the factors causing immigrants from Central America to leave the region in growing numbers. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Clint, Texas, Border Patrol facility. (Photo: Christ Chavez/Getty Images) We withdrew U.S. aid to those areas that was intended to stabilize those areas, said Ocasio-Cortez. It deepened and exacerbated all of the crises that are already happening, causing a flood of people to try to escape these horrifying conditions. So we are contributing to the surge in the first place. Were engineering it, so thats coming to our border. Earlier this year Trump announced he would cut aid to Central America, claiming the countries there were not doing enough to stop the flow of migrants to the United States. U.S. assistance to the region has already decreased by 20 percent since 2016, according to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition . Ocasio-Cortez also blamed the Trump administration for contributing to the poor, overcrowded conditions at CBP facilities by not using available space to house migrants at facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. According to her, if Trump really cared about human lives, he would declare a national emergency to get additional funds to improve conditions at migrant shelters. CBP and HHS did not respond to requests for comment. He declared a national emergency to move funds to build a wall, Ocasio-Cortez said. If he actually cared about these kids lives, he could have snapped his fingers and done that easily to get them the care that they needed. While she has plenty of criticism on Trumps performance, Ocasio-Cortez said she has no message for the president. What do I want to say to him directly? I have never had any desire to say anything to him. I just havent, she said. Last week the House of Representatives passed a bill to provide about $4.5 billion to CBP and ICE. The legislation included provisions to provide supplies and medical services for migrants. It was supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and swing-district Democrats known as frontliners. A bipartisan group called the Problem Solvers Caucus worked to block language some more liberal members attempted to have added to the bill that explicitly called for the protection of migrant children and cut funds to ICE. Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives opposed the bill. She accused Pelosi of having lost control of the caucus and said the Problem Solvers Caucus thinks that immigrants dont matter. They pushed through with the help of the Democrats in the Problem Solvers Caucus a completely lacking of accountability $5 billion to a system and to a culture of people that we know is rotted at its core, Ocasio-Cortez said of the bill. Her staunch progressivism and willingness to take on members of her own party and Trump has made Ocasio-Cortez one of the most visible political figures in Washington since she was elected last year. Her trip to the border on Monday was part of a delegation of Democratic members of Congress. They visited several facilities in the El Paso area where migrants are being held, including some children who have been separated from their families. Afterward, the group spoke to reporters and said they witnessed inhumane conditions including a lack of running water, overcrowding, and migrants with serious medical conditions who did not have access to medicine. Ocasio-Cortez told Yahoo News the situation was particularly troubling since CBP was aware the congressional delegation was coming at least four days in advance. Protesters on June 27 at the U.S. Border Patrol facility in Clint, Texas, where lawyers reported that detained migrant children were held unbathed and hungry. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images) No matter how nefarious you may be or how generous you may be, the incentive would be to put your best foot forward and to represent the operation as efficient, and effective, and controlled as possible, said Ocasio-Cortez. If this was their best behavior today, what that tells me is that the conditions are far more horrifying than even what we saw. Members of the press were not allowed to accompany the congressional delegation. However, some of the claims made by Ocasio-Cortez and the other Democrats echo a report written last month by the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP. That report, which was obtained by NBC News , described the results of a spot inspection conducted at a Border Patrol facility in El Paso that found alarming conditions including dangerous overcrowding, with some detainees being held in standing-room only conditions for days or weeks. As Ocasio-Cortez recounted the trip to the border, her outrage was apparent, but she spoke in measured tones. The words rushed out of her and she tried to paint pictures with her hands, seemingly eager to convey every aspect of the days events as quickly as possible. Her day began with bungling as the group visited Casa Franklin, a shelter in downtown El Paso that houses about 70 migrant children and is run by Southwest Key, a nonprofit that has received contracts from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement. As Ocasio-Cortez and the other members of Congress went into the facility, a staffer asked to see each of their IDs. Halfway through, they started really feeling how inappropriate it was, and then they just stopped, Ocasio-Cortez recounted. So they checked half the members IDs and then they were like, OK, just come inside. At Casa Franklin, Ocasio-Cortez said the conditions were fine. But she thought a briefing the delegation received from the shelters staff was bizarre, because they said children coming to the facility from the CBP stations are in good health. To say that these kids ... were fine and not traumatized, it ... raised alarm bells, Ocasio-Cortez said. A spokesperson for Southwest Key declined to comment on record. After Casa Franklin, Ocasio-Cortez and the other Democrats visited another shelter and a Border Patrol station where some migrants are being held. According to Ocasio-Cortez, at the first facility some things were off, but she felt the staff there was clearly trying and doing their best. The Border Patrol station was a different story. The El Paso Border Patrol Station 1 was ... easily the most horrible of them all. Ocasio-Cortez was particularly dismayed given that the staff knew members of Congress and high-ranking CBP officials were present and theoretically should have been on their best behavior. That one was shocking not just because of the conditions, but because of how flagrant the CBP officials were in front of us, she said. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after a tour of Border Patrol facilities and migrant detention centers for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on July 1. (Photo: Luke Montavon/AFP/Getty Images) According to her, when the members arrived at the facility, they had to turn over their phones due to strict prohibitions on photographing detainees. The group was also told they were not permitted to speak to the migrants. During this discussion, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, asked some of the officials about a story published earlier in the day by the news site ProPublica that described a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol officers. Some of the posts referenced the delegations trip to the border and included sexist jokes about Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, two of the lawmakers on the trip. Members of the group also joked about setting up a GoFundMe page to give money to any officer who hurt Ocasio-Cortez and Escobar during their visit. Once Castro brought up the Facebook group, Ocasio-Cortez said, the situation at the Border Patrol station began to devolve. CBP has said it initiated an investigation, and officials at the station assured the members of Congress there would be internal disciplinary measures. Ocasio-Cortez pushed back at this response, she recalled. Its a culture. This is not about, like, punishing five people. This is systemic, she said to the officials. According to Ocasio-Cortez, as they discussed the Facebook page, Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., asked the officials if the Democrats would be safe during their visit. They wouldnt even answer her, Ocasio-Cortez said, later adding, They were absolutely rude and they were absolutely talking back as though they had as much power as the oversight powers of Congress ... as though they were exempt from congressional oversight. The group then went inside the detention area, where they stood at a central command post that had banks of monitors showing surveillance camera feeds from the cells. Ocasio-Cortez said she noticed that one of the cells was especially overcrowded and began pointing her pen at the monitor to try and count how many people were inside. I see, like, children, no one has enough room to sleep ... and then all of a sudden theres literally a CBP officer on the other side of that glass ... and she literally starts taking a selfie with me in the background, Ocasio-Cortez said. She was, like, right there in front of me. Ocasio-Cortez became upset both because she felt the officer was joking around and because photography was supposed to be prohibited in the area. It was like a mocking selfie in a facility that were told there are no cellphones allowed, said Ocasio-Cortez. Shes doing this 2 feet in front of me, in front of all the other members, in front of all her management, in front of all the superiors, like its a joke. Ocasio-Cortez said she pointed at the woman and turned to the CBP officials, who froze as she got pissed off. The Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas. (Photo: Cedar Attanasio/AP) I was like, what this tells me is that if they feel this brazen to do this here in front of everyone ... and 14 members of Congress, she said. This tells me that there is no disciplinary culture. This tells me that you have lost all control. You have lost all control of the conduct of the officers in this facility ... so there are no rules here. Ocasio-Cortez said other officers in the facility began to laugh. I pointed at one of them that was laughing and I said, Whats so funny? Im interested in what youre laughing at, she explained. Then I pointed at the one who took the selfie and I said, Are you going to be interacting with kids today? Are you going to be in charge of kids safety today? According to Ocasio-Cortez, the officers did not respond. The congresswoman said she then began walking through the facility on her own and demanded to enter a cell that was full of women. She was let inside and sat on the floor with the women as she introduced herself and spoke to them in Spanish. They were almost talking over each other trying to tell me everything. It was like overwhelming, Ocasio-Cortez said, adding, There was, like, this kind of outpouring, and then they just started sobbing, all of them like one ... sobbing, not even crying. ... They said, Please help us. Were not criminals. We didnt hurt anyone. According to Ocasio-Cortez, some of the women complained about being detained for weeks and not having access to their families or showers. One said her hair was falling out. Ocasio-Cortez claimed one woman told her the guards use psychological warfare, including randomly waking them up at odd hours for no apparent reason. Ocasio-Cortez grew up in New York, but her parents are both Puerto Rican. As a Latina with immigrant roots, she said, she felt connected to the women she saw in detention. I saw one young woman today ... she looked exactly like I looked when I was 14. ... She had the same build, she had a similar face. ... She looked like me, like 14-year-old me. ... She could have been my cousin, Ocasio-Cortez said. Especially with these other women, especially with these Cuban women, theyre Caribbean too, like me. ... Theyre me. While she clearly felt strong emotions during the visit and said other members of Congress were sobbing, Ocasio-Cortez claimed she did not cry because she was so focused on getting all the information she could. I just felt this urgency, she said. Though she clearly feels driven to act, Ocasio-Cortezs options to change the immigration system are limited with a Republican Senate and Trump in office. She said her options are even further curtailed because she is a freshman in a safe Democratic district, which gives her little influence in the partys congressional caucus. Because of this, she said, her main goal is to expose the situation at the border and encourage the public to act. Everything that happens in D.C. is like water ... and you can try to stir the water ... but I would prefer to shape the vessel, and that is how I feel, Ocasio-Cortez said. If I help contribute to public awareness, or outrage, or desire, then they will speak to their members and put pressure on their members to do the right thing. Rep. Joaquin Castro alongside members of the Hispanic Caucus after touring the Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, on July 1. Castro's identical twin, presidential candidate Julián Castro, held a rally outside the building over the weekend. (Photo: AP/Cedar Attanasio) Ocasio-Cortez hopes to inspire people to call their congressional representatives, go to town halls and push them to address the situation at the border. And she hopes the pressure campaign will include some of her Democratic colleagues. There are a lot of horrible Democrats on immigration, she said. Following their visit to the El Paso Border Patrol station, the Democrats went to another facility in nearby Clint. Groups of protesters, including those supporting and decrying the Trump administrations policies on immigration, were present at Clint as the congressional delegation visited. The anger Ocasio-Cortez faced from anti-immigration protesters in Clint and the threats levied against her in the secret Border Patrol Facebook group are just a fraction of the intense and threatening reactions she has generated in the past year. With her prominence and progressive positions making her a lightning rod, Yahoo News asked the congresswoman if she ever feared for her safety. She noted in response that the House of Representatives provides security details only to members who are in leadership. They dont offer us any help with security. ... You could literally be the most threatened and whether its me, whether its what happened with [Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.] ... it does not matter how many death threats we report. They will not do anything, Ocasio-Cortez said. A spokesperson for House Speaker Pelosi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Unless the Democratic caucus wants to elect me to a leadership position, which fat chance at that, Ocasio-Cortez said, slapping her hand on the table and lowering her voice to a near whisper. Its just a leap of faith in the morning. Dealing with threats has also made her dismissive of swing-district Democrats who tell her they must take moderate positions to protect their political future. I talk to some of these frontliners, and theyre like, I might not come back. I need to take certain votes because I need to get reelected, said Ocasio-Cortez. Im like, You know why I fight? Because I dont know if Im going to come back, period. She said those risks are part of what drives her to be aggressive on issues like immigration. I wake up in the morning, I dont know whats going to happen to me that day, Ocasio-Cortez said. That, I think, is part of the intensity of my advocacy, because it better be f*ing worth it. Julie Lythcott-Haims from Northern California, center, organized a caravan to Clint, Texas, to protest the continued separation of migrant children from their families and the conditions they are being held in by CBP. (Photo: Christ Chavez/Getty Images) _____ Read more from Yahoo News: GOP whip Scalise cites Trump accusers bizarre CNN interview in doubting her account Pentagon secretly struck back against Iranian cyberspies targeting U.S. ships Trump admits his Cabinet had 'some clinkers' 'Great Replacement' ideology is spreading hate in U.S. and across the globe How Europe's smallest nations are battling Russia's cyberattacks PHOTOS: Hong Kong protesters take over legislative chambers
Trump administration charging undocumented immigrants $500,000 ahead of planned mass raids Donald Trump s White House has sent notices of fines totalling nearly $500,000 (£396,715) to some undocumented immigrants in recent weeks, as the federal government prepares to conduct sweeping immigration raids nationwide after the 4 July holiday. Letters notifying undocumented immigrants of the administrations intention were obtained by NPR , which included copies of the statements in a report published on Tuesday afternoon. The US d epartment of homeland security stated the fines were for failing to depart the US as previously agreed and appeared to target undocumented immigrants who willfully refuse to meet the obligations of an order issued by the department of justices executive office for immigration review, the outlet reported. The letters, described by Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) officials as notices of intention to fine, were issued to certain individuals beginning in December 2018. One of the letters was sent late last month to Edith Espinal Moreno, who has lived in sanctuary at an Ohio church ever since her deportation was ordered by an immigration judge nearly two years ago. Lisa Hoeschst, an ICE officer, wrote Ms Espinal on 25 June, saying: It is the intention of ICE to order you pay a fine in the amount of $497,777 [£395,115]. Undocumented immigrants who receive the letters are provided a 30-day period to respond before an official decision is made by the agency of whether or not to charge the previously stated fines. In a statement to NPR , Matthew Bourke, an ICE spokesperson, said: ICE is committed to using various enforcement methods including arrest, detention, technological monitoring and financial penalties to enforce US immigration law and maintain the integrity of legal orders issued by judges. A former official who served as the deputy assistant attorney general for Barack Obama told NPR he could not recall a time when such a massive fine had been levelled against immigrants for failing to facilitate ones own removal, adding: Its a vivid illustration of the lengths the Trump administration will go to use any available authority to try to enforce immigration law. Story continues A lawyer for Ms Espinal also rebuked the letter of intent, telling the outlet: Its almost half a million dollars. Are they for real? Do they really think that shes going to pay this? She added, I laughed, because there has to be someone in some basement in DC thinking, Oh, what else can I do to mess with immigrants. What else can I do to hurt them? The administration has meanwhile announced sweeping raids to take place that reportedly target undocumented immigrant families after Independence Day. Mr Trump has threatened the raids unless Congress passes legislation that makes applying for asylum in the US a more restrictive process.
Oilfield Service Trucking Carriers Crushed By Evolving Demand Lower capital expenditures, fewer wells and longer lateral lengths are helping oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies turn their balance sheets rightside-up, but oilfield services firms are getting left out in the cold. One of the dirty little secrets of the American shale oil and gas boom of the past four years has been that most E&P companies drilling in the shale are cash flow negative. Horizontal wells in tight rock are expensive to construct and their hydrocarbon flows tend to fall off more rapidly than conventional wells. Maintaining an unconventional well's production levels involves many resources – pumping horsepower, chemicals and water – that tapping into a high-pressure underground reservoir of oil simply doesn't require. Market forces and investor expectations also prevented E&P companies from generating as much cash as they could have. Many of the shale players, taking advantage of new technology in relatively untapped basins like the Permian and Bakken, had aggressive growth plans, which meant plowing all of their cash back into drilling operations. Their investors, some of them still smarting from the last oil crash in 2014-15, required shale companies to hedge the price of oil. While their hedging strategies are protecting them against downside risk, it also limited the upside they could capture when the price of West Texas Intermediate shot up over $75 per barrel in October 2018. Lately, investors and boards of E&P companies have asked the drillers to become more disciplined with their cash. In the commodities world, oil is considered a risk asset – something that speculators go long on when they expect strong economic growth – while ‘havens' like gold are in demand when expectations for growth darken. Despite the melt-up in U.S. equities, fixed income markets are still reflecting a widespread outlook that global economic growth will slow. Demand for sovereign debt remains strong to the point of negative yields in the Eurozone, and in the United States, three month and 10-year Treasuries have been inverted for a full quarter now. Story continues So E&P companies are being asked to do more with less. EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG ), for example, has switched to a ‘premium' strategy in which it only invests in assets capable of generating a 30 percent return on capital employed. Lateral lengths of horizontal wells are growing as shale players try to improve their hydrocarbon yields per well, reducing the demand for equipment and transportation services. Finally, there are simply significantly fewer oil and gas rigs in North America. The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week ending June 28 recorded 1,091 total rigs in North America, down by 128 rigs from the same week in 2018. Texas has 66 fewer rigs than a year ago; Oklahoma has 34 fewer. There's less work for oilfield transportation companies to go around, and the major publicly traded carriers that managed to hold on to their market share as competition rushed in during the boom did so largely on the back of steep price reductions. Their stocks have taken a beating. The largest private trucking fleet in the oilfield services segment belongs to Halliburton (NYSE: HAL ), which had 5,382 tractors in 2018, according to Transport Topics . Shares of HAL have been crushed since last summer, losing 59 percent of their value. "As expected, the first quarter activity levels in North America were modestly higher compared to the first quarter of 2018, and we experienced pricing headwinds throughout the quarter," said Halliburton chairman, president and chief executive officer Jeff Miller, announcing the company's results for the first quarter of 2019. "We believe the worst in the pricing deterioration is now behind us. For the next couple of quarters, I see demand for our services progressing modestly." Shares of Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ), which had 3,652 tractors in Transport Topics ' 2018 list, have fallen 49 percent in the same period. Schlumberger's chairman and chief executive officer Paal Kibsgaard predicted that financial constraints would slow the growth of North American shale production in the back half of 2019. "Conversely in North America land, the higher cost of capital, lower borrowing capacity and investors looking for increased returns suggest that future E&P investment levels will likely be dictated by free cash flow," Kibsgaard said. "We therefore see E&P investment in North America land down 10 percent in 2019. In addition, rising technical challenges – from parent-child well interference, step-outs from core acreage and limited growth in lateral length and proppant per stage – all point to more moderate growth in U.S. shale oil production in the coming years." Basic Energy Services (NYSE: BAS ) and its 1,868 tractors dropped even faster and further, losing 84 percent of its value since October 2018. Image Sourced From Pixabay See more from Benzinga Going Whole Hog: Smithfield Carves Out Leading Position In Pork Supply Chain Small Carriers Cling To Old Devices As Compliance Deadline Looms How Will Newly Acquired Genesee And Wyoming Pay For Its Infrastructure? © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trump Facebook ads use models to portray actual supporters NEW YORK (AP) A series of Facebook video ads for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign shows what appears to be a young woman strolling on a beach in Florida, a Hispanic man on a city street in Texas and a bearded hipster in a coffee shop in Washington, D.C., all making glowing, voice-over endorsements of the president. "I could not ask for a better president," intones the voice during slow-motion footage of the smiling blonde called "Tracey from Florida." A man labeled on another video as "TJ from Texas" stares into the camera as a voice says, "Although I am a lifelong Democrat, I sincerely believe that a nation must secure its borders." There's just one problem: The people in the videos that ran in the past few months are all actually models in stock video footage produced far from the U.S. in France, Brazil and Turkey, and available to anyone online for a fee. Though the 20-second videos include tiny disclaimers that say "actual testimonial, actor portrayal," they raise the question why a campaign that can fill arenas with supporters would have to buy stock footage of models. It's a practice that, under different circumstances, Trump himself would likely blast as "fake news." Trump campaign officials declined repeated requests for comment on Tuesday. Political experts say that, while it's not unusual for stock footage to find its way into ads, a presidential campaign should have been more careful. "As a producer, you want to control you want people to look a certain way and you want them to sound a certain way," said Jay Newell, a former cable TV executive who teaches advertising at Iowa State University. "The fact that the footage is from outside the U.S. makes it that much more embarrassing." There are plenty examples of such gaffes. In the last presidential primaries, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio ran an ad titled "Morning in America" with shots from Canada. A super PAC supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush put ads on TV with video reportedly from the English countryside and workers from Southeast Asia. Story continues Trump himself has used video from abroad before. His 2016 TV ad vowing to build a wall to keep out immigrants from Mexico showed people streaming across the border but the shots of refugees were taken in Morocco. The existence of the stock footage in this series of Trump ads, reported last week by Judd Legum for his website Popular Information , underscores an increasingly aggressive, targeted approach by the Trump campaign to reach out to voters on Facebook. The Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which was behind the testimonial videos, is by far the biggest spender on political Facebook advertising, shelling out more than $2.7 million on 27,735 ads in the last 90 days alone, according to the social network's running database of campaign ad spending. That's in addition to the more than $1 million spent on more than 14,500 ads in the same period by Donald J. Trump for President Inc. Trump's campaign gets to such totals by running the same ads numerous times, all at slightly different audiences. "Thomas from Washington," featuring the bearded young man behind a coffee shop counter, appeared aimed at evangelicals, with the voice-over quote saying the president and his family are "in our prayers for strength and wisdom from God almighty." ''TJ from Texas" seemed focused on Hispanic men. And "Tracey in Florida" was aimed specifically at a demographic in which Trump is historically weak young women. All are models for Turkish, Brazilian and French companies, respectively, that supply hundreds of photos and video to the popular site iStock run by Getty Images, which caters to publications, filmmakers and advertisers looking for professional, inexpensive imagery. According to the site, licenses for the video clips used in the Trump ads can be had for as little as $170. The blonde on the beach appears to be particularly prolific. Her photos and videos from the French company Tuto Photos in Roubaix, France, show her twirling in a wedding gown, walking spaniels in a meadow, getting her teeth checked at the dentist and working in a warehouse. And the star of iStock's "Bearded and tattooed hipster coffee shop owner posing" also known as Trump's "Thomas from Washington" is a fixture on the videos and photos contributed by the company GM Stock out of Izmir, Turkey. His unmistakable beard and tats can be seen on the image site strolling with a woman on the beach, sitting by a campfire and pumping iron in the gym. So what do these models think of being held up as model Trump supporters? That's not clear because none of the companies they've posed for would give a detailed comment to The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for Getty Images would not identify the models, citing privacy concerns. Fred Davis, a campaign consultant who's produced ads for George W. Bush and other Republican presidential candidates, said the Trump campaign's use of such footage is not surprising, given the volume of political ads on the internet these days. "Whoever did this is probably 22 years old, and they're going through pictures and thought, 'This is a great picture,'" Davis said. "This is a great shot of Thomas from Washington. It's a shame it's not Thomas from Washington."
Here's Why Amarin Rose as Much as 16.3% Today Shares ofAmarin(NASDAQ: AMRN)rose more than 16% after the company issued a mid-2019 business update. Management increased full-year 2019 revenue guidance from a previous target of $350 million to a new midpoint of $400 million. The boost comes on the heels of soaring demand for Vascepa, which is currently approved to treat very high triglycerides. Of course, the drug's most promising application -- being prescribed to reduce cardiovascular risks -- has yet to even be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Anticipation of that decision, expected in late September, hasn't stopped momentum. First-half 2019 revenue is expected to have been in the neighborhood of $172 million. Although results haven't been finalized, investors aren't letting informality get in the way of their optimism. As of 3:32 p.m. EDT, the stock had settled to a 15.7% gain. Image source: Getty Images. Shares of Amarin have soared 618% in the last year after the company reported impressive results from the massive REDUCE-IT trial. The study showed that Vascepa, a concentrated formulation of an omega-3 fatty acid, delivered a 25% relative risk reduction compared to placebo in the first occurrence of a major adverse cardiovascular event. In other words, it could significantly improve the health of individuals with heightened risk factors, namely elevated levels of bad cholesterol (LDL-C). That has analysts eyeing peak annual sales potential measured in billions of dollars, with some optimistic projectionsapproaching $10 billion per year. The market is certainly there for a simple oral drug such as Vascepa. Amarin isn't wasting time ahead of the FDA's decision, expected on Sept. 28, and announced plans to double its U.S. sales force to 800 representatives by October. Today's news is just the latest piece of information suggesting that Amarin has a promising future. If Vascepa achieves full-year 2019 revenue guidance, then it will achieve year-over-year sales growth of 75%. And, of course, a midpoint of $400 million might just be a fraction of the drug's eventual peak sales. Now all investors can do is wait for the FDA's decision to be handed down in September. More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market Maxx Chatskohas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
Nike canceled 'Betsy Ross flag' sneaker out of fears it could 'unintentionally offend' customers Nikeon Tuesday said it canceled the planned launch of its“Betsy Ross flag”sneakers out of concerns that the design could upset some customers, hours after a report that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick had raised concerns about the shoe. “We regularly make business decisions to withdraw initiatives, products and services. Nike made the decision to halt distribution of the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July based on concerns that it could unintentionally offend and detract from the nation’s patriotic holiday,” the company said in a statement. The sneaker, which featured 13-star American flag designed by Betsy Ross during the Revolutionary War, was set to hit stores this week ahead of the Fourth of July. However, company executives opted to withdraw the release after Kaepernick, a prominent social activist, said the design could be deemed offensive because it stemmed from an era in which slavery was legal in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported. While the sneakers had a retail value of $120, leaked pairs were selling for as much as $3,000 on resale site StockX as of Tuesday afternoon. As prices surged, StockX CEO Scott Cutler said the site would block further sales of the sneaker, which he said did not align with company values. Nike’s decision to pull the sneaker release led Ariz. Gov. Doug Ducey with withdraw financial incentives for planned manufacturing plant in the state. The plant is expected to add more than 500 new jobs to the state’s economy, according to estimates. Nike signaled that it planned to move forward with a new manufacturing plant but did not specify whether it would be in Goodyear, Arizona -- despite Ducey’s decision. “Nike is a company proud of its American heritage and our continuing engagement supporting thousands of American athletes including the US Olympic team and US Soccer teams,” the company added. “We already employ 35,000 people in the U.S. and remain committed to creating jobs in the U.S., including a significant investment in an additional manufacturing center which will create 500 new jobs.” Related Articles • How Much is Michael Phelps Worth? • Ryan Lochte's Brand Value Sinks Amid Rio Scandal • Here's How You Get a Body Like An Olympian
Estimating The Intrinsic Value Of GUD Holdings Limited (ASX:GUD) Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! How far off is GUD Holdings Limited (ASX:GUD) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. This is done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward. Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of theSimply Wall St analysis model. Check out our latest analysis for GUD Holdings We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value: [{"": "Levered FCF (A$, Millions)", "2020": "A$61.0m", "2021": "A$67.6m", "2022": "A$73.2m", "2023": "A$78.0m", "2024": "A$82.1m", "2025": "A$85.7m", "2026": "A$88.9m", "2027": "A$91.8m", "2028": "A$94.6m", "2029": "A$97.2m"}, {"": "Growth Rate Estimate Source", "2020": "Analyst x1", "2021": "Est @ 10.85%", "2022": "Est @ 8.29%", "2023": "Est @ 6.5%", "2024": "Est @ 5.24%", "2025": "Est @ 4.36%", "2026": "Est @ 3.75%", "2027": "Est @ 3.32%", "2028": "Est @ 3.02%", "2029": "Est @ 2.8%"}, {"": "Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 9.73%", "2020": "A$55.6", "2021": "A$56.2", "2022": "A$55.4", "2023": "A$53.8", "2024": "A$51.6", "2025": "A$49.1", "2026": "A$46.4", "2027": "A$43.7", "2028": "A$41.0", "2029": "A$38.4"}] ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF)= A$491.2m The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 10-year government bond rate of 2.3%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 9.7%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2029× (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = AU$97m × (1 + 2.3%) ÷ (9.7% – 2.3%) = AU$1.3b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= A$AU$1.3b ÷ ( 1 + 9.7%)10= A$530.12m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is A$1.02b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding.This results in an intrinsic value estimate of A$11.81. Relative to the current share price of A$10.36, the company appears about fair value at a 12% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at GUD Holdings as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 9.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.244. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn’t be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For GUD Holdings, There are three pertinent aspects you should further examine: 1. Financial Health: Does GUD have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at ourfree balance sheet analysis with six simple checkson key factors like leverage and risk. 2. Future Earnings: How does GUD's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with ourfree analyst growth expectation chart. 3. Other High Quality Alternatives: Are there other high quality stocks you could be holding instead of GUD? Exploreour interactive list of high quality stocksto get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the ASX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks justsearch here. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
S&P 500 posts new record close as investors shrug off trade uncertainty U.S. stocks ended higher at the close of a choppy session of trading as investors considered the prospect of new tariffs on goods produced in the European Union. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.29%, or 8.68 points, as of market close. The Dow (^DJI) edged up 0.26%, or 69.25 points, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) advanced 0.22%, or 17.93 points. Despite a pullback during early trading, the S&P 500 eked out a new closing high on Tuesday, ending at 2,973.01. This was the second consecutive day that the blue-chip index posted a record closing level. Equity advances came even after the U.S. on Monday threatened to slap tariffs on about $4 billion worth of EU goods amid an ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) case over the bloc’s subsidies of Airbus SE (AIR.PA). The WTO is set to make a ruling later this year on the case to determine the extent of the unfair subsidies to Airbus. The Trump administration has suggested the EU’s support has been at the detriment of U.S. competitor Boeing (BA). The announcement lays the groundwork for a broadening out of the Trump administration’s multi-fronted trade war, and comes just days after President Donald Trump agreed to a halt to tariff escalation on goods made in China. The newly proposed duties would impact EU-madegoods includingcheese, pasta, whiskey, certain cuts of meat and some metals, and have been suggested as a “countermeasure in response to harm caused by EU aircraft subsidies,” theU.S. Trade Representative’s Officewrote in a statement. The USTR issued arequest for public commenton the additional tariffs Monday. Meanwhile, Treasury yields fell across the curve as a move to safe haven assets resumed after Monday’s risk rally. The 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX), which moves inversely to the price, declined 5 basis points to 1.983% Tuesday afternoon Fed funds futures rose to see a 25.6% probability of a 50-basis point rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s July meeting, according toCME Group. Uber (UBER) shares on Tuesday earned a new Hold ratingand $50 price target from Stifel analysts. The firm acknowledged Uber’s “significant transportation and food delivery market opportunities,” but noted that key debates remain over the ride-hailing giant’s growth expectations and path to profitability. Stifel analyst Scott Devitt noted that Uber is the market leader in most regions, but competitive pressures, slower net revenue growth and uncertain future profitability justify a Hold rating. Stifel analysts led by Devitt also raised their price target on shares of Lyft (LYFT) to $76 on Tuesday, from $70 previously, and maintained their Buy rating on the stock. Lyft’s management in May had underscored a reduction in costly rider incentives and more competitive rationalization across the ride-hailing sector, Devitt noted. He said he viewed Lyft as “well-positioned to extend rider growth momentum” through 2019. — Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck Read more from Emily: • Don’t say ‘IPO’: What to know about Slack’s direct listing • Buffett on the American economy, capitalism: ‘It works’ • Tech companies like Lyft want your money – not ‘your opinion’ • Levi Strauss shares jump more than 30% above IPO price at open • Facebook sued by Trump administration for alleged ‘discriminatory’ ad practices • Boeing 737 Max groundings ‘pressure’ U.S. economic data: Wells Fargo Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,LinkedIn, andreddit. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Australia ETFs Could Find Support from Central Bank This article was originally published onETFTrends.com. Australia country-specific ETFs could get a helping hand from the Reserve Bank of Australia as the central bank cuts interest rates for the second time in as many months to support the resource-rich economy in an increasingly uncertain global outlook. Year-to-date, theiShares MSCI Australia ETF (EWA) increased 19.3% andFranklin FTSE Australia ETF (FLAU) advanced 19.9%. The Australian central bank lowered its official cash rate to a record low 1.00% on Tuesday, down from 1.25% after the cut in June, as policy makers underscored the U.S.-China trade dispute that threatened the global export industry, theWall Street Journalreports. The RBA's dovish stance comes as other global central banks consider more accommodative monetary policies as well to combat the negative effects of slowing global growth and the prospects of a prolonged trade dispute between some of the largest economies in the world. “The uncertainty generated by the trade and technology disputes is affecting investment and means that the risks to the global economy are tilted to the downside,” RBA Gov. Philip Lowe said. Lowe argued that the pace of economic growth needs to accelerate to tighten the job market and the rate cuts could bolster wage growth and restore inflation back to the target band of 2% to 3%. “There has been little inroad into the spare capacity in the labor market recently, with the unemployment rate having risen slightly,” Lowe said. “These labor market outcomes suggest that the Australian economy can sustain lower rates of unemployment and underemployment.” The Australian economy has fallen off since mid-2018 due to weak wage growth and record household debt that contributed to diminished household spending. Furthermore, falling home prices have dampened spending as well, contributing to the lowered growth outlook. Economists expect the central bank to continue with rate cuts before the end of the year as projections for GDP growth, inflation and unemployment fall short of targets. For more information on the Australian markets, visit ourAustralia category. POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM • SPY ETF Quote • VOO ETF Quote • QQQ ETF Quote • VTI ETF Quote • JNUG ETF Quote • Top 34 Gold ETFs • Top 34 Oil ETFs • Top 57 Financials ETFs • Facebook Libra: Weighing The Pros And Cons • As Bitcoin Surges Past $13K, Calls to Embrace Crypto Grow • GLDM Marks One Year Anniversary Today, Leads Gold-Backed ETF Flows • ROBO Global Healthcare Technology ETF Debuts on NYSE • Gold And Silver Rally On Unusual Options Activity READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM >
Sandstorm Gold Royalties Announces Record Gold Equivalent Ounces Sold in Q2 2019 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 2, 2019 /Sandstorm Gold Ltd. ("Sandstorm Gold Royalties", "Sandstorm" or the "Company") (NYSE American: SAND, TSX: SSL) is pleased to report that the Company has sold approximately 16,400 attributable gold equivalent ounces1during the second quarter of 2019, a record for the Company. Note 1 Sandstorm has included a performance measure in this press release that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). As Sandstorm's operations are primarily focused on precious metals, the Company presents attributable gold equivalent ounces as it believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance in comparison to other mining companies in the precious metals mining industry who present results on a similar basis. Other companies may calculate this measure differently as a result of differences in the underlying accounting principles, policies applied and in accounting frameworks, such as in IFRS. The presentation of this measure is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. The Company's royalty and other commodity stream revenue is converted to an attributable gold equivalent ounce basis by dividing the royalty and other commodity revenue for the period by the average realized gold price per ounce from the Company's gold streams for the same respective period. These attributable gold equivalent ounces when combined with the gold ounces sold from the Company's gold streams equal total attributable gold equivalent ounces sold. Note these figures have not been audited and are subject to change. CONTACT INFORMATION For more information about Sandstorm Gold Royalties, please visit our website atwww.sandstormgold.comor email us atinfo@sandstormgold.com. [{"ERFAN KAZEMI": "CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER", "": "", "KIM FORGAARD": "INVESTOR RELATIONS"}, {"ERFAN KAZEMI": "604 689 0234", "": "", "KIM FORGAARD": "604 628 1164"}] ABOUT SANDSTORM GOLD ROYALTIES Sandstorm is a gold royalty company that provides upfront financing to gold mining companies that are looking for capital and in return, receives the right to a percentage of the gold produced from a mine, for the life of the mine. Sandstorm has acquired a portfolio of 188 royalties, of which 21 of the underlying mines are producing. Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low cost production profile through the acquisition of additional gold royalties. For more information visit:www.sandstormgold.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS TO U.S. SECURITYHOLDERS The financial information included or incorporated by reference in this press release or the documents referenced herein has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, which differs from US generally accepted accounting principles ("US GAAP") in certain material respects, and thus are not directly comparable to financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP. Information contained or referenced in this press release or in the documents referenced herein concerning the properties, technical information and operations of Sandstorm has been prepared in accordance with requirements and standards under securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. The terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" used in this or in the documents incorporated by reference herein are mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under guidelines set out in the Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on 11 December 2005. While the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are recognized and required by securities laws other than the requirements of US securities laws, they are not recognized by the SEC. Disclosure of contained ounces are or may be permitted disclosure under regulations applicable to Sandstorm; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report resources as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit of production measures. As such, certain information contained in this document or in the documents incorporated by reference herein concerning descriptions of mineralization and mineral resources under these standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by US companies subject to reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains "forward-looking statements", within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Sandstorm. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the future price of gold, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, realization of mineral reserve estimates, and the timing and amount of estimated future production. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans", or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Sandstorm to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Sandstorm will operate in the future, including the price of gold and anticipated costs. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, changes in business plans and strategies, market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, gold and other commodity price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks relating to the parties which produce the gold Sandstorm will purchase, regulatory restrictions, activities by governmental authorities (including changes in taxation), currency fluctuations, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility and competition.Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Sandstorm to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over mining operations from which Sandstorm will purchase gold, other commodities or receive royalties from, and risks related to those mining operations, including risks related to international operations, government and environmental regulation, actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, risks in the marketability of minerals, fluctuations in the price of gold and other commodities, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, stock market volatility, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risks to Sandstorm" in Sandstorm's annual report for the financial year ended December 31, 2018 and the section entitled "Risk Factors" contained in the Company's annual information form dated March 21, 2019 available at www.sedar.com. Although Sandstorm has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Sandstorm does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained or incorporated by reference, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. SOURCE:Sandstorm Gold Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/550646/Sandstorm-Gold-Royalties-Announces-Record-Gold-Equivalent-Ounces-Sold-in-Q2-2019
Camber Energy, Inc. Announces Approval of 1for25 Reverse Stock Split HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / July 2,2019/ Camber Energy, Inc. (NYSE American: CEI) ("Camber"or the "Company") based in Houston, Texas, announced today that the Board of Directors has approved a 1for25 reverse split of the Company's issued and outstanding shares of common stock. The 1for25 reverse stock split will be effective pre-market open on Monday, July 8, 2019, in connection with the filing of a Certificate of Amendment to Camber's Certificate of Incorporation and Camber's common stock will begin trading on a splitadjusted basis when the market opens on Monday, July 8, 2019. At Camber's 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on February 19, 2019, Camber's stockholders granted authority to the Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, to determine whether to proceed with a reverse stock split and, if the Board of Directors so determined, to select the reverse stock ratio, in a ratio of between 1-for-5 and 1-for-25, and to file a Certificate of Amendment to Camber's Certificate of Incorporation to effect the reverse stock split at the ratio determined by the Board of Directors. The reverse stock split was approved by the Board of Directors pursuant to the authority granted to the Board of Directors by the stockholders at the February 19, 2019 annual meeting. When the reverse stock split becomes effective, every 25 shares of Camber's issued and outstanding common stock (and such shares held in treasury) will automatically be converted into one share of common stock. No fractional shares will be issued if, as a result of the reverse stock split, a stockholder would otherwise become entitled to a fractional share. Instead, each stockholder will have such aggregate fractional holdings rounded up to the next whole share. The reverse stock split will not impact any stockholder's percentage ownership of Camber or voting power, except for minimal effects resulting from the treatment of fractional shares. Following the reverse stock split, the number of outstanding shares of Camber's common stock will be reduced by a factor of twenty-five. The Certificate of Amendment to Camber's Certificate of Incorporation will not decrease the number of authorized shares of common stock. All options, warrants and convertible securities of the Company outstanding immediately prior to the reverse stock split (to the extent they don't provide otherwise) will be appropriately adjusted by dividing the number of shares of common stock into which the options, warrants and convertible securities are exercisable or convertible by 25 and multiplying the exercise or conversion price thereof by 25, as a result of the reverse stock split. Camber's shares of common stock will continue to trade on the NYSE American ("NYSE") under the symbol "CEI" but will trade under a new CUSIP. The reverse stock split is intended to increase the market price per share of Camber's common stock in order to ensure the continued compliance of the Company's common stock with the NYSE continued listing standards relating to minimum prices per share and to position the Company's capitalization for the planned closing of the acquisition of Lineal Star Holdings ("Lineal"),www.LinealStar.com, pursuant to the Company's previously disclosed non-binding letter of intent. ClearTrust, LLC, Camber's transfer agent, will act as the exchange agent for the reverse stock split. Please contact ClearTrust, LLC for further information at (813) 235-4490. More information regarding the 1-for-25 reverse stock split will be included in a Current Report on Form 8-K which the Company will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 8, 2019. About Camber Energy, Inc. Based in Houston, Texas, Camber Energy (NYSE American: CEI) is a growth-oriented, independent oil and gas company engaged in the development of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in the Texas Panhandle as well as other basins with a new focus on midstream and downstream pipeline integrity services, specialty construction and field services. For more information, please visit the Company's website atwww.camber.energy. SafeHarbor Statement and Disclaimer This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations, opinion, belief or forecasts of future events and performance. A statement identified by the use of forward-looking words including "will," "may," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimate," "should," and certain of the other foregoing statements may be deemed forward-looking statements. Although Camber believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future activities and results to be materially different from those suggested or described in this news release. These include risks inherent in natural gas and oil drilling and production activities, including risks of fire, explosion, blowouts, pipe failure, casing collapse, unusual or unexpected formation pressures, environmental hazards, and other operating and production risks, which may temporarily or permanently reduce production or cause initial production or test results to not be indicative of future well performance or delay the timing of sales or completion of drilling operations; delays in receipt of drilling permits; risks with respect to natural gas and oil prices, a material decline which could cause Camber to delay or suspend planned drilling operations or reduce production levels; risks relating to the availability of capital to fund drilling operations that can be adversely affected by adverse drilling results, production declines and declines in natural gas and oil prices; risks relating to unexpected adverse developments in the status of properties; risks relating to the absence or delay in receipt of government approvals or third party consents; risks relating to funding we may never receive pursuant to the November 2018 Stock Purchase Agreement; risks relating to extensions and approvals provided by the NYSE American; risks related to potential future acquisitions or combinations, including, but not limited to the planned acquisition disclosed above, including, but not limited to the Company's ability to structure the transaction described above in a tax free manner and the finalization of mutually acceptable definitive documents and terms relating thereto and the risk of not closing such transaction on a timely basis, if at all; and other risks described in Camber's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, available at the SEC's website atwww.sec.gov. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof. The Company takes no obligation to update or correct its own forward-looking statements, except as required by law, or those prepared by third parties that are not paid for by the Company. The Company's SEC filings are available athttp://www.sec.gov. SOURCE:Camber Energy, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/550663/Camber-Energy-Inc-Announces-Approval-of-1for25-Reverse-Stock-Split
John McAfee Rips Facebook’s Libra as ‘Grotesque Distortion’ of Crypto In his relentless crusade to get the altcoin markets roaring,John McAfeeis once again backing privacy coins on Twitter. McAfee’s bullish argument centers around his hatred forFacebook’sLibracoin, which he believes is the antithesis of his love of privacy and personal freedom. Mark Zuckerberg’sFacebook is widely criticized for abusing the private information of its users. Thus, it is a natural enemy for alibertarianlike McAfee. Facebook diving into the freedom-obsessed world of cryptocurrency is sacrilegious for thebitcoinbull now holed up in Cuba. Looking at the text of the tweet, this is a remarkably convincing response to Libra’s purpose. Cryptocurrency was forged mainly in thefires of governmental distrust. By not decentralizing its coin, Facebook is arguably corrupting its fundamental purpose. Privacy coins might beMcAfee’s favorite, but they face precisely the hurdles that Libra has been engineered to avoid. The government is unlikely to ever fully sign off on a medium of exchange that isentirely untraceable. Facebook has got both eyes firmly on ensuring minimalregulatory issuesdown the road. It’s an artificial fruit designed to look and taste like the real thing with all the nutritious aspects removed. Read the full story on CCN.com.
Hollywood is obsessed with Reformation's Lacey dress Our editorial team is dedicated to finding and telling you more about the products and deals we love. If you love them too and decide to purchase through the links below, we may receive a commission. As theJuly 4th salesbegin to heat up, we may have found the "It" dress of the summer. It seems that celebrities from every walk of life -- from the runway to the big screen -- are obsessed withReformation's Lacey Dress. The brand, which has become popular due to its dedication to sustainability and eco-friendly materials, has long been a Hollywood (and royal!) favorite, but this $250 frock hasseen a surge of popularity like never before. Kaia Gerber, Busy Philipps, Michelle Monaghan, Zoey Deutch and Lili Reinhart are just some of our favorite celebrities seen sporting the dress. The midi dress features a sweetheart neckline and puff sleeves and comes in four different patterns. And despite its price tag, the lightweight frock makes for the perfect investment piece for summer. Shop all the chic styles below: Lacey Dress,$248 Lacey Dress, $248 Lacey Dress, $248 Lacey Dress, $248 Sign up forDeal of the Day by AOLto discover great products and never miss a top deal.
Tesla delivers record number of electric cars in quarter, shares up 7% By Alexandria Sage and Munsif Vengattil SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla Inc <TSLA.O> set a record for quarterly vehicle deliveries in a triumphant response to months of questions about demand for its luxury electric cars, sending shares up 7% after hours on Tuesday. Tesla did not comment on profit - which is still elusive - but the robust deliveries could help jumpstart investor sentiment on Tesla, which has been challenged in recent months. Before Tuesday's after-hours spike, Tesla shares were down about a third from the beginning of the year. Brushing aside concerns about demand that have dogged the company all year, Tesla said orders during the second quarter exceeded deliveries, despite buyers getting a smaller tax credit. A $7,500 U.S. federal tax credit was cut in half at the end of last year, fell to $1,875 on Monday and expires at the end of the year. "We believe we are well positioned to continue growing total production and deliveries in Q3," the company said in a statement. Tesla delivered 77,550 Model 3s in the quarter, the company's latest sedan and linchpin of the company's growth strategy. That compared with analysts' average estimate of 73,144, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Deliveries of all models rose 51% from the first quarter to 95,200 vehicles, including 17,650 Model S and X. Analysts on average were expecting total deliveries of 89,084. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has repeatedly said Tesla could deliver a record number of cars in the second quarter, beating the 90,700 it sent to customers in the final quarter of last year. Tuesday's numbers helped take the sting off a difficult first quarter, in which deliveries plunged and the company lost $702 million. That fraught quarter – hurt by logistics issues at Tesla's international ports and a drop-off in U.S. orders after the tax credit was halved – spurred worries that Tesla may have tapped a limited market for electric cars at premium prices. Despite the positive second-quarter delivery numbers, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives cautioned that "the Street remains skeptical." Demand and profitability will remain the two main drivers to buoy Tesla shares in coming quarters, Ives told Reuters, signaling that Tesla's challenges are far from over. Garrett Nelson of CFRA Research noted that second-quarter deliveries were likely artificially boosted by customers pulling forward their vehicle purchases before the July 1 tax credit cut, warning that could result in a "significant retracement" in deliveries in the third quarter. Tesla did not repeat its prior forecast that it would post a second-quarter loss but return to profit in the third quarter. A big challenge for Tesla has been how to deliver its vehicles efficiently and swiftly to customers around the world. An improved system for logistics helped in the second quarter, Tesla said, without providing more detail. In prior quarters, Tesla has diverted employees from all parts of the company to help with deliveries in an all-hands-on-deck effort to meet delivery goals. That has proved to be an expensive and inefficient way to meet targets, which reduces potential profit margins on each vehicle. The delivery numbers included 10,600 vehicles that had been in transit at the end of the first quarter. The company has pledged to deliver 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles in 2019, a goal many analysts predict will be difficult to meet. Overall, total production rose 13% to 87,048 vehicles compared with the first quarter. The company churned out 72,531 Model 3s in the second quarter, up from a total of 62,950 Model 3s in the preceding quarter. Tesla said that going forward, it would no longer disclose how many vehicles were in transit at the end of each quarter due to production changes that made the number less relevant. At the end of the second quarter, over 7,400 vehicles were in transit. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage in San Francisco and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman)
The Gross Law Firm Announces Class Actions on Behalf of Shareholders of CBL, HL and PVTL NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 2, 2019 /The securities litigation law firm of The Gross Law Firm issues the following notice on behalf of shareholders in the following publicly traded companies. Shareholders who purchased shares in the following companies during the dates listed are encouraged to contact the firm regarding possible Lead Plaintiff appointment. Appointment as Lead Plaintiff is not required to partake in any recovery. CBL & Associates Properties, Inc (CBL) Investors Affected : April 29, 2016 - March 26, 2019 A class action has commenced on behalf of certain shareholders in CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. The filed complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company was the target of a class action suit that could result in tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in liability. The Complaint further alleges that Defendants completely ignored their disclosure obligation, motivated by a desire to avoid bad publicity surrounding their dishonest nature and their dishonest conduct. When the truth was revealed, CBL shares materially declined in price, injuring the class. Shareholders may find more information athttps://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/cbl-associates-properties-inc-loss-submission-form/?id=2207&from=1 Hecla Mining Company (HL) Investors Affected : March 19, 2018 - May 8, 2019 A class action has commenced on behalf of certain shareholders in Hecla Mining Company. The filed complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) the Nevada operations were hemorrhaging cash due to a multitude of material problems identified by Defendants during Hecla's extensive due diligence of the Nevada mines before the Class Period, and (b) as a result of these material problems, Defendants had no reasonable basis for their representations that the Nevada operations would be in a position to have positive or self-funding cash flow. Shareholders may find more information athttps://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/hecla-mining-company-loss-submission-form/?id=2207&from=1 Pivotal Software, Inc. (PVTL) Investors Affected : investors who purchased common stock pursuant or traceable to the April 2018 initial public offering and/or Pivotal securities between April 24, 2018 and June 4, 2019. A class action has commenced on behalf of certain shareholders in Pivotal Software, Inc. The filed complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Pivotal was facing major problems with its sales execution and a complex technology landscape; (ii) the foregoing headwinds resulted in deferred sales, lengthening sales cycles, and diminished growth as its customers and the industry's sentiment shifted away from Pivotal's principal products because the Company's products were outdated, inadequate, and incompatible with the industry-standard platform; and (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. Shareholders may find more information athttps://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/pivotal-software-inc-loss-submission-form/?id=2207&from=1 The Gross Law Firm is committed to ensuring that companies adhere to responsible business practices and engage in good corporate citizenship. The firm seeks recovery on behalf of investors who incurred losses when false and/or misleading statements or the omission of material information by a Company lead to artificial inflation of the Company's stock. CONTACT:The Gross Law Firm15 West 38th Street, 12th floorNew York, NY, 10018Email:dg@securitiesclasslaw.comPhone: (212) 537-9430Fax: (833) 862-7770SOURCE:The Gross Law Firm View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/550669/The-Gross-Law-Firm-Announces-Class-Actions-on-Behalf-of-Shareholders-of-CBL-HL-and-PVTL
Gordon Ramsay Plans To Open 100 New Restaurants By 2024 Photo credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images From Delish Gordon Ramsay is everywhere right now. He's on our TV screens ( Uncharted , MasterChef , etc.), on our timelines (he's still swapping tweets with Lil Nas X ), and now he's reportedly working on 100 new restaurants . Like, when does this guy find time to sleep? According to Forbes , Ramsay signed a deal with Lion Capital, handing over partial ownership of Gordon Ramsay North America. But there's a stipulation. The private equity firm is required to invest over $100 million to open the restaurants across the U.S. by 2024. That's a huge number for the Hell's Kitchen host, who currently owns eight restaurants in partnership with Caesars Entertainment casinos. Three of the brands-Gordon Ramsay Steak, Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill, and Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips-will be part of the expansion. Meanwhile, two international concepts are also planned for the United States. Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza and Gordon Ramsay Bread Street Kitchen, which are both currently located in London, will land across the pond. "I wasn't ready to pedal this bike up a hill on my own," Ramsay told Forbes of the restaurant openings. "That would take me another 15 years...It may seem aggressive, but we're not opening up 80 or 90 of the same restaurant. We're crossing over with a multilayered brand. That's the big that I've worked hard at. We've divided and conquered." View this post on Instagram The big reveal..... the vegan Wellington @breadstkitchen !! #showmeyourwelly Gx A post shared by Gordon Ramsay (@gordongram) on Jun 27, 2019 at 8:48am PDT This isn't Lion Capital's first food-related venture either. The firm has worked with ramen chain Wagamama and Kettle Chips. ('You Might Also Like',) Crave Carbs? We Created This 21-Day Keto Plan Just for You Insanely Easy Weeknight Dinners To Try This Week 29 Insanely Delicious Vodka Cocktails
What The OPEC, OPEC+ Deal Means For Oil Investors On Monday, OPEC reached a deal to extend its crude oil production cuts until March 2020. On Tuesday, Russia and nine other non-OPEC oil producers also reached a deal to cap oil production in an effort to support crude oil prices in a softening global manufacturing environment. The Numbers Production cuts from OPEC and non-OPEC partners — collectively referred to as OPEC+ — come in response to booming production growth in the U.S. The U.S. has now surpassed both Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest oil producer. As a result, the global market has become oversupplied, and OPEC+ has cut about 1.2 million barrels per day of production to support prices. At the same time the U.S. is producing a record amount of oil, the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI has dipped to its lowest levelsince 2012, a sign that oil demand could be slowing. Analyst Reacts Bank of America Merrill Lynch analystDoug Leggatesaid in a note that the global oil environment is far from ideal for U.S. oil investors, but the market is already pricing in an extreme amount of pessimism when it comes to oil stocks. “While still early, we believe industry commitments to capital discipline are really leaving the U.S. on the cusp of a transition to more measured growth that can coexist with OPEC and begin to address fragile market confidence that oil can be sustained above levels currently discounted across the U.S. oils,” he said Tuesday. U.S. unconventional oil growth is only about 180,000 bopd so far in 2019, the analyst said, adding that he expects U.S. onshore oil growth of 700,000 bopd in 2019 and again in 2020, but growth could slow to just 200,000 bopd in 2021. Bank of America has namedHess Corp. (NYSE:HES) as its top U.S. E&P stock andExxon Mobil Corporation(NYSE:XOM) as its preferred oil major play. WTI crude oil prices fell 4.59% on Tuesday to $56.38/bbl following the OPEC news. Bank of America isn’t expecting much of a rebound in the second half of the year, forecasting averagefourth-quarter pricesof around $56/bbl. So far in 2019, theUnited States Oil Fund LP(NYSE:USO) is up 22.6% overall. Related Links: What To Expect From The S&P 500 Over The Next 20 Years Options Traders Place Bets On Potential Oil Stock Rebound Latest Ratings for HES [{"May 2019": "May 2019", "": "", "Upgrades": "Upgrades", "Neutral": "Underweight", "Buy": "Equal-Weight"}, {"May 2019": "Apr 2019", "": "", "Upgrades": "Downgrades", "Neutral": "Buy", "Buy": "Neutral"}] View More Analyst Ratings for HESView the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga • This Day In Market History: Compaq Buys Digital Equipment • Options Traders Place Bets On Potential Oil Stock Rebound © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Avatar Remains the Highest Grossing Film of All Time Despite Avengers: Endgame Re-Release Avatar can rest easy — for now. The 2009 film faced competition from Avengers: Endgame after the Marvel Studio film was re-released in theaters last weekend ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Far from Home . Avengers: Endgame raked in an extra $5.5 million in the U.S. box office during the re-release and $2.3 million in the worldwide box office for a total gross of $2.761 billion, according to Forbes . Avatar stands at $2.788 billion worldwide (not adjusted for inflation), a difference of $27 million that Avengers: Endgame likely won’t reach. While Marvel couldn’t close the gap, they’re rolling out their latest film since the April release of Avengers: Endgame with Spider-Man: Far from Home, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming . Avengers: Endgame; Avatar \| Marvel Studios; Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation/Kobal/Shutterstock The film picks up where Endgame left off and sees Tom Holland’s Peter Parker dealing with his grief over the loss of his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). RELATED: Tom Holland Had to Drink Water Through the Eye Hole of His Spider-Man Costume While struggling with his sadness, he ventures on a European vacation with his classmates and crush MJ, which he views as an opportunity to be away from his superhero duties — until he’s called back into the action by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and a new mysterious super-powered character, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). Spider-Man: Far from Home is now playing.
Volkswagen’s Type 20 electric concept merges old-school and new At an event at its newly christened Innovation and Engineering Center California in Belmont, Volkswagen unveiled its Type 20 concept car that's essentially a 1962 Microbus with a lot of tech crammed inside and its engine swapped for a battery pack and electric motor. Zelectric down in San Diegohas been converting VW busses into EVs for years, but the Type 20 takes it to a whole other level. The EV powertrain conversion (which was handled by the team over atElectric GT) has a 10kWh battery pack that powers a motor capable of 120 horsepower and 173 foot-pounds of torque. To really drive home the free-living aesthetic of the Bus, VW also placed two electric skateboards into the trunk that are charged by the vehicle. Meanwhile, the interior of the Microbus-turned-tech-showcase has been outfitted with a touchscreen infotainment system behind the wheel. It replaces an analog speedometer that at this point was probably broken. In the center of the dash, the automaker put a hologram of the logo. Mostly because it looks cool. A facial recognition camera opens the door is actually really great for surfers (who love this vehicle more than some of their relatives) that don't want to get their fancy keyfob wet. While the unlocking is techy, the mechanisms for opening and closing the doors are still rooted in the vehicle's past. Still, that didn't stop the company from changing other aspects of the design. The wheels (both steering and attached to rubber), are a joint venture between the automaker and Autodesk. The "generative design" that resembles a creepy orange spiderweb was created by the designers giving the AI a set of parameters (the sie of the wheel, where the lug nuts go, how much weight it needs to support and other bits of engineering info related to propulsion) and let the system go to town. After looking at about 200 designs the team narrowed down to two. One for the front wheels and one for the back. Each built for the specific stresses that each wheel encounters. The end result is an exciting mix of old-school design and cutting edge technology. Sure it doesn't drive itself, but this the type of car you pilot to beach or Burning Man.
Does LendLease Group's (ASX:LLC) CEO Pay Reflect Performance? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! In 2008 Steve McCann was appointed CEO of LendLease Group (ASX:LLC). This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. View our latest analysis for LendLease Group At the time of writing our data says that LendLease Group has a market cap of AU$7.5b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of AU$6.4m. (This is based on the year to June 2018). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at AU$2.0m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of AU$5.7b to AU$17b. The median total CEO compensation was AU$4.1m. It would therefore appear that LendLease Group pays Steve McCann more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can get a better idea of how generous the pay is by looking at the performance of the underlying business. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at LendLease Group has changed from year to year. On average over the last three years, LendLease Group has shrunk earnings per share by 6.0% each year (measured with a line of best fit). It saw its revenue drop -10% over the last year. Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. And the impression is worse when you consider revenue is down year-on-year. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. Shareholders might be interested inthisfreevisualization of analyst forecasts. LendLease Group has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 22% over three years. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median. We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by LendLease Group, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group. Earnings per share have not grown in three years, and the revenue growth fails to impress us. While shareholder returns are acceptable, they don't delight. So we doubt many shareholders would consider the CEO pay to be particularly modest! Shareholders may want tocheck for free if LendLease Group insiders are buying or selling shares. Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out thisfreelist of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Tesla posts record vehicle deliveries in the second quarter Tesla’s (TSLA) vehicle deliveries for the second quarter of 2019 topped Wall Street’s expectations, sending shares higher during after-hours trading. The electric car-makerreported Tuesdaythat it delivered 95,200 vehicles in the three months ending in June, besting consensus analyst expectations for about 88,000 deliveries, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. The results were in-line with estimates Tesla provided in its Aprilupdate letter, when the company guided for between 90,000 and 100,000 deliveries during the second quarter. The Palo Alto, California-based company’s second quarter delivery figures surpassed the previous all-time record set during thefourth quarter of 2018, when deliveries totaled 90,700. Shares of Tesla surged more than 7% during extended trading immediately following the company’s report. Tesla’s second-quarter results mark a rebound from the company’s disappointing figures reported earlier this year. First-quarter deliveries totaled just 63,000 in the first three months of the year, representing a quarter-over-quarter decline and missing consensus expectations. Deliveries of Tesla’s Model 3 vehicles increased 52% from the first quarter to 77,550. Meanwhile, combined Model S and X vehicle deliveries rose 25% to 17,650 in the second quarter. Vehicle production also hit a new quarterly record of 87,048, the company said. Tesla noted that orders created during the quarter exceeded deliveries, leading to an increase in its order backlog heading into the third quarter. “We believe we are well positioned to continue growing total production and deliveries in Q3,” the company said in a statement. In April,Tesla saidit planned to see between 360,000 and 400,000 total vehicle deliveries in 2019. This would mark an increase of between 45% to 65% compared to 2018. — Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck Read more from Emily: • Don’t say ‘IPO’: What to know about Slack’s direct listing • Buffett on the American economy, capitalism: ‘It works’ • Tech companies like Lyft want your money – not ‘your opinion’ • Levi Strauss shares jump more than 30% above IPO price at open • Facebook sued by Trump administration for alleged ‘discriminatory’ ad practices • Boeing 737 Max groundings ‘pressure’ U.S. economic data: Wells Fargo Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,LinkedIn, andreddit. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Queen Elizabeth Is Planning a Birthday Party for Meghan Markle at Her Summer Home in Scotland Photo credit: Getty Images From House Beautiful While we sweat the heat away in our cramped apartments, Queen Elizabeth soends her sumemrs relaxing at Balmoral Castle (AKA the Queen's favorite home) in the west Highlands of Scotland. This year, though, she's making it " a special point " to invite Prince Harry , Meghan Markle , and baby Archie to celebrate what will be Meghan's 38th birthday on August 4. Photo credit: House Beautiful While they visit, the Sussexes will have their own wing in the castle for the duration of their stay and will also be the guests of honor at an afternoon tea with the Queen, The Sun reports. The UK news outlet also shares that such an invitation, which is Meghan's first invitation to visit Balmoral, is particularly thoughtful because it will be for the Duchess of Sussex's birthday. A source told the outlet that this sort of invitation "is a testament to Meghan." Given that the Queen and Prince Philip both reportedly adore Harry, Meghan, and Archie, it may not come as much of a surprise to some, though it's "a huge honor" nonetheless. Unlike the Royal Palaces, which belong to the Crown, Balmoral Castle is actually one of two personal and private residences owned by the Royal Family themselves and it has been in the family since the mid-1800s, according to the Royal Family's website . To make things more exciting, Balmoral Castle is actually open to the public between April and July each year. This year, you can visit through July 31 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. While there, you can walk the grounds and see the gardens, take a safari tour, visit the Castle Ballroom, Carriage Hall Courtyard, and Estate Exhibition, and, of course, pretend you, too, are there at special invitation of Her Majesty. Photo credit: oneworld picture - Getty Images BOOK NOW Full Day Balmoral Castle Tour from Aberdeen, tripadvisor.com Follow House Beautiful on Instagram . ('You Might Also Like',) 7 Secrets HomeGoods Employees Won't Tell You 19 Closet Organization Ideas You'll Want to Steal Immediately 15 Styling Tricks That Make A Small Living Room Seem Bigger Than It Is
Greenbrier Companies Inc (GBX) Q3 2019 Earnings Call Transcript Image source: The Motley Fool. Greenbrier Companies Inc(NYSE: GBX)Q3 2019 Earnings CallJul 2, 2019,11:00 a.m. ET • Prepared Remarks • Questions and Answers • Call Participants Operator Hello, and welcome to The Greenbrier Companies' Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2019 Earnings Conference Call. Following today's presentation, we will conduct the question-and-answer session. Each analyst should limit themselves to only two questions. Until that time, all lines will be in a listen-only mode. At the request of Greenbrier Companies, this conference call is being recorded for instant replay purpose. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Justin Roberts, Vice President and Treasurer. Mr. Roberts, you may begin. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Thank you, Justin. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter conference call. On today's call, I'm joined by Greenbrier's Chairman and CEO, Bill Furman; Lorie Tekorius, Executive Vice President and COO; and Adrian Downes, Senior Vice President and CFO. They will discuss the results for the third quarter and provide an outlook for Greenbrier's fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. Following our introductory remarks, we will open up the call for questions. In addition to the press release issued this morning, which includes supplemental data, additional financial information and key metrics can be found in a slide presentation posted today on the IR section of our website. Matters discussed on today's conference call include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Throughout our discussion today, we will describe some of the important factors that could cause Greenbrier's actual results in 2019 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by or on behalf of Greenbrier. And with that, I'll turn it over to Bill. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Okay. Thank you, Justin. Good morning, everybody. In the third quarter, Greenbrier's core North American business produced strong revenue and margin gains. Third quarter revenue grew by 30% compared to the second quarter, and we achieved our highest consolidated gross margin of the year at more than 12%, an increase of over 400 basis points from last quarter. Manufacturing performance led the way with a gross margin of 13.3%, as Greenbrier achieve these gains in our core business. The momentum we expected in manufacturing during the second half of the fiscal year is materializing, led by improved operating efficiencies and increased railcar deliveries. Another highlight of Greenbrier's third quarter included solid railcar activity, which we spoke to you in the press release, and which Lorie and Adrian will touch on this morning. We expect our strongest earnings per share of the year during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, as accordance to -- in accordance with earlier guidance. Greenbrier's bottom line results in the quarter were impacted by non-cash goodwill impairment within our railcar repair operations, and that unit is continuing to undergo a top to bottom review and reorganization. In a moment, Lorie Tekorius will speak to our specific actions to return the repair operations to sustain profitability. Our Brazil joint venture also experienced an operating loss this quarter. We have been rightsizing the Brazil operation to reflect normalized demand, and see this quarter, as an anomaly. We expect deliveries to improve in Brazil beginning in the current quarter, as the Brazilian rail concession renewal process ramps up, we expect deliveries to increase substantially in 2020 and beyond. Clearly the results from our first nine months will result in lower earnings per share for fiscal 2019 and previously guided. I believe much of this is timing and some due to preoccupation with earlier publicly announced events. Definitely we got a bad start in Europe, but we are -- aggressively have been pursuing that we think that we've turned the corner over there. We've been addressing the conditions -- in summary, that has led to these results. We are seeing monthly improvements in Gunderson, in our European operations, reorganized in the second quarter, and before that, an improvement in its operations will serve as a tailwind throughout the fourth quarter and beyond. In fact, those forces that have caused us to have a less than expected year should be turned into tailwinds or headwinds in the -- I'm sorry, tailwinds in the coming quarters. So Adrian will discuss our full third quarter financial results, and our current financial guidance in more detail during his remarks. Our announced acquisition of ARI's manufacturing business is proceeding through regulatory review, consistent with our expectations. Acquisition-related activities in the third quarter demanded management attention and this also impacted our ability to focus on other priorities in the quarter, affecting financial results. We are confident that ARI will be highly accretive to Greenbrier, once operations are fully integrated, serving a geographic diversification goal and goal of scale, and protection of our North American core manufacturing engineering business. This is the extent of the comments we're able to -- we are able to provide today with respect to the ARI transaction. Turning to overall economic data, US economy is growing at a slower rate than last quarter, still on a pace greater than 2% GDP growth, as May core inflation continues at the same -- about the same rate. The next interest rate move in the US Federal Reserve, as most of you are aware is more likely to be a cut, as opposed to a hike, and most people are forecasting as many as two cuts in the coming year. Overall, low inflation and a more accommodative monetary policy in the United States should allow for GDP expansion through the remainder of this current year, and into 2020. Major risks here in the economic sphere continue to be external shocks and trade or political uncertainty. Turning to our sector year-to-date through June 22, volumes for all of the North American Class 1 railroads taken together have decreased 2.5% year-over-year. This is due to in part to flooding throughout the Midwest, impacting grain shipments, in additions to declines in coal, intermodal and non-metallic minerals, some of which related to trade. The change in the number of railcars online has been roughly in line with the change in loadings volume. That is good for builders, as we prefer to see it track together. The Canadian railroads however are a bright spot posting year-over-year loadings better than those of the US counterparts. For example, breaking down the North American loadings by country reveals the difference. Volumes for the US Class 1 railroads have declined 3.7% year-over-year, while volumes for the two Canadian railroads have increased 2.6% year-over-year, led by Canadian Pacific's 5.7% volume growth. Average Class 1 railroad velocity has increased less than 1% in the trailing 12 months, less than many people seem to believe. This measure railroad performance has risen steadily over the year. Terminal dwell time is lower this quarter, with average train velocity ticking up over the past three months. Car demand still remains strong across many car types. Precision railroading or PSR to-date, we have not seen significantly identifiable impacts stemming solely from the adoption of this system. It is receiving a great deal of attention by industry analysts, and of course by every freight car builder and leasing company. Intermodal shipments have been lower in part due to uncertainties in trade policy, weather impacts and the softer spot rate market for truck shipping. More recently, the transportation analytics firm, FTR, lowered its North American railcar delivery outlook for 2019 by over 11,000 railcars to 51,396, an amazingly precise number, anticipated deliveries. FTR also lowered its 2020 railcar delivery projections by approximately the same amount to 51,100 deliveries. Nonetheless, there is a strong primarily replacement demand cycle over the next 18 months. And historically, Greenbrier has performed well in this type of market. We believe the FTR reductions may be an overreaction to concerns about the economic cycle and trade-specific concerns that we're not certain about either. We just had our June Board meeting in Washington, D.C. We're tracking a number of very important issues on trade, including issues concerning China. And the Board affirmed the Company's strategy, which is working. Revenue has increased significantly and our drive for scale, one of the four pillars of our strategy is working. We are strengthening our core North American business with the ARI acquisition. Our international diversification will pay-off despite recent hiccups. The results reported for our current quarter, as mentioned earlier, less than we originally forecast, will of course impact our annual totals. However, the fundamentals of our business are strong and are improving, and our strategy is sound. As Lorie will describe, our core North American manufacturing business has emerged from two of its more challenging quarters in recent memory, we're positioned for strong performance ahead. Improvements will begin to produce tailwinds in the fourth quarter in future periods. We have a strong balance sheet, strong financial ratios, even after the ARI acquisition, and we have returned substantial dividends to shareholders with a 3% yield at our present prices. At these prices Greenbrier is definitely undervalued by the market. We're very grateful to all of our colleagues and industry friends, our customers, who are working hard and support Greenbrier's performance. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. Lorie, over to you. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Thank you, Bill. Good morning, everyone. I'll briefly provide some more details on Greenbrier's operating performance, before Adrian addresses the financial details and outlook. We delivered 6,500 railcar units, and received orders for approximately 6,500 units, valued at $730 million. Orders in the quarter were for a broad range of railcar types, including tank cars, covered hoppers and boxcars. Our diversified backlog as of May 31, totaled 26,100 units, with an estimated value of $2.7 billion. I'll highlight the moving pieces in what was a mixed third quarter. As for the positives, as Bill reminded you, we announced the pending acquisition of the manufacturing assets of ARI in a transaction valued at $400 million. The production improvements predicted for the second half of the year began to materialize in the quarter, with a 40% plus increase in deliveries, primarily in North America, and strong margin performance. And improvements in Europe and Gunderson occurred in the quarter with stronger performance expected in Q4. On the flip side, the railcar repair business continue to struggle operationally, and the Brazilian operations had a challenging quarter with minimal deliveries as a result of weak demand environment. Now, I'll give a little bit more color on each of our operations. Our North American manufacturing had a strong performance this quarter. I'd like to take a moment and thank the GMO team, led by Alejandro Centurion, for the hard work and successful production activity this year. We've increased production rates, while managing several production line changeovers. Several hundred employees were added safely across multiple locations. This is a testament to the strong manufacturing organization that's been built at Greenbrier over the years. In Europe, a meeting of the Supervisory Board was held in mid-June. The new management team led by William Glenn in close collaboration with Martin Graham from our GMO operations, laid out their plan to improve production and procurement efficiencies, as well as a revised commercial plan. We're executing on this plan, and expect the headwinds from this operation to turn into tailwinds in Q4, and continuing into 2020. In our Wheels, Repair & Parts operation, the evaluation and optimization of the railcar repair network continues. Since regaining direct control of our 12 legacy locations last August, four shops have been close based on a review of the market being served and the ability to be profitable. A combination of the smaller network and operating performance triggered the goodwill impairment this quarter. As part of the network optimization, we continue to focus on how we can best serve our customers and improve the profitability of the remaining locations, remain optimistic about the value of the repair network to our integrated business model, and we expect to have the network solidifies with improved operating performance by the end of 2019. The Wheels & Parts operations were also positive contributors to the performance of this segment during the quarter. Seasonally, the wheels business is stronger in our fiscal Q2 and Q3 due to winter weather and spring restocking, and the parts business continues to have good demand and operate efficiently. Turning to our Leasing segment. The leasing revenue in the quarter was robust, reflecting high levels of syndication of externally sourced railcars. As a reminder, to meet the demand from our syndication partners, some syndication product is sourced from outside of our own manufacturing operations. This activity generates positive returns, but is dilutive to gross margin percentage for this segment. Excluding this activity, the gross margin in Leasing & Services was about 43%. Greenbrier Management Services, our proprietary railcar management provider continues to grow, both service -- both services provided to existing customers and its customer base, with the addition of multiple new customers in this quarter. In Brazil, our customers operate under a concession issued by the government. The renewal of existing concessions and issuance of new concessions has been ongoing for the last several quarters. These delays in the issuance of the concessions impacts customer's ability to finance and purchase railcars. The benefit of these delays in issuing the concessions is the creation of substantial pent-up demand. We've seen modest improvement in order activity thus far in Q4, with further improvements expected into fiscal 2020. We have rightsized our operations for the current demand environment, while remaining nimble for when rail demand improves, as expected in the near future. In summary, our core North American operation continues to perform well. We've identified problematic areas of our business and are executing on specific changes to improve operationally and financially, building on the momentum achieved in Q3. Our team is strong and dedicated to growth over the long-term. We're making the right strategic and structural decisions for the business, and I'm excited about our future. Adrian, will now discuss our third quarter performance and provide updates to guidance. Adrian J. Downes--Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer Thank you, Lorie. Good morning, everyone. Quarterly financial information and metrics are available in the press release and supplemental slides on our website. Given the discussion so far, I'll focus on a few additional details in the quarter, and then provide additional information on our fiscal year 2019 guidance . Highlights for the third quarter include net earnings attributable to Greenbrier of $15.2 million, or $0.46 per share, including $10 million, or $0.30 per share, a goodwill impairment at the railcar repair operation, and $4.3 million net of tax, or $0.13 per share of costs related to the ARI acquisition. Excluding these items, net earnings attributable to Greenbrier are $29.6 million, or $0.89 per share. Adjusted EBITDA of $84.4 million was 9.9% of revenue. Revenue grew 30% to $856.2 million, our strongest quarterly result ever. Deliveries grew over 40% sequentially, reflecting the strong performance in North American manufacturing. Approximately 13% of our 6,500 units delivered were outside the North American market, with minimal activity occurring in Brazil. Internally produced syndication activity was strong again this quarter with 1,500 units delivered in the quarter. Approximately 10% of the 6,500 unit orders in the quarter were from international markets. Aggregate gross margins of 12.4% significantly improved from Q2, led by a substantial increase in manufacturing gross margin to 13.3%. We expect gross margins to continue to improve in Q4. Manufacturing gross margin increased 640 basis points from Q2, and were almost 200 basis points higher than in Q1. We generated over $500 million -- I'm sorry, we generated over $50 million of operating cash flow in the quarter. Greenbrier's balance sheet continues to be strong and flexible, with nearly $360 million of cash. Upon the closure of the ARI acquisition, we expect to continue to have strong liquidity. Revisiting the subject of working capital, although higher sequentially, inventory level started to decrease during the quarter, reflecting the stabilization of production rates, and reduction of the outsourcing of lining for certain cars. We expect inventory levels to modestly decrease in the fourth quarter, reflecting the completion of the outsourcing work. We believe our approach to capital deployment that emphasize this cash flow generation and return on capital employed will continue to create long-term shareholder value. This is supported by our history of steady dividend increases over the last several years. Today, we announced a $0.25 per share quarterly dividend, our 21st consecutive quarterly dividend. We have already paid dividends of over $123 million to shareholders under our current dividend program. Moving to our outlook. Due to the many moving parts this year so far, we are providing Q4 guidance instead of annual guidance. Based on current business trends, we expect Greenbrier's fiscal Q4 to reflect Q4 deliveries to be approximately 7,000 units to 8,000 units, which includes about a 100 units to 200 units from Greenbrier-Maxion in Brazil. Q4 revenue will be nearly $1 billion. Q4 EPS will be $1.30 to $1.50, excluding any ARI acquisition costs or benefits from the ARI acquisition. We expect Q4 to be the strongest operating quarter of the year. Further for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, we expect a positive Q4 operating cash flow, Q4 G&A expense of $50 million to $55 million, which excludes any additional ARI acquisition costs. We expect Q4 gains on sale of about $5 million on $25 million of proceeds from those sales. We expect to invest about $15 million in our fleet in the quarter. Q4 capital expenditures of $40 million in Manufacturing, and Wheels, Repair & Parts. Combined with our fleet activity, our net capital expenditures will be about $30 million. Q4 depreciation and amortization is expected to be about $20 million. With the challenges in Brazil in the third quarter, we now expect a Q4 loss of $1 million to $2 million in our unconsolidated affiliates line item. We expect Q4 2019 earnings attributable to non-controlling interest to be about $20 million. Our Q4 consolidated tax rate is expected to be about 25%. To sum up, we had a mixed Q3 with strong momentum in North American manufacturing, along with some headwinds. We acknowledge our Q4 outlook represents a reduction compared to our previous full-year delivery in earnings guidance. As Bill and Lorie have mentioned, these changes primarily reflects the impacts during the year of Brazil repair, Europe as well as a few production disposition changes or delays. As we discussed, remedial action has occurred or is well under way in all cases, and we are optimistic that we will turn these headwinds into tailwinds, as we finish fiscal 2019, and head into fiscal 2020. Justin, now we'll open it up for questions. Operator (Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Justin Long. Go ahead. Your line is open. Justin Long--Stephens Inc. -- Analyst Thanks and good morning. And maybe... William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Good morning, Justin. Justin Long--Stephens Inc. -- Analyst ...good morning. Maybe I could start with the orders in the quarter. I think they were probably better than most people expected, just given what we've seen with rail volumes and some of the macro uncertainties. Can you give us a little bit more color on the order environment is what we saw a pickup in demand sequentially, or is it more related to Greenbrier getting market share, and then any thoughts around the order environment going forward as well? William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors I'll let others comment. But we had a mixed grouping orders throughout different car types. Obviously, some areas of the -- car portfolio are benefiting better -- stronger than others. So the petrochemicals and tank cars is still a strong demand, and even autos continue to have -- show some strength. But I understand the view that the business is affected by the declines in loadings. Actually, we have a different approach to market and we still see strong visibility in the demand for railcars across our railcar portfolio. Lastly, I'd say that while we did have an adjustment in Europe and in Brazil, we do expect those franchises, which we believe to be very valuable to turnaround, and so we're going to get some good tailwinds in the future, I think from both of those markets. We're well on our way to fixing the European model and the orders we're taking there have strong margins in them. Why don't you -- If you want to give more color (multiple speakers) Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer No. I think that's great color, Bill. Thank you. Yes. Just to emphasize, there was broad-based demand across all different car types led a bit by the petrochemical industry. But we saw demand I think in every quartile. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer And Justin, just tack on to what they've said is, I mean, there is a lot of activity around and a lot of discussion around PSR and railroads owning fewer cars. But again, as we've talked about before, that's not necessarily new news, but it does mean that shippers and lessors will need to own more cars. And so we're seeing a -- seen a little bit of that benefit as well. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors That's really a great point, Justin. On that point, I want to just speak to Greenbrier's strategy model as it relates to this question. And all of you have been watching the public comments of other companies, recognize that Greenbrier's trajectory is somewhat different. We are a manufacturing, engineering, origination and asset management company. We also have a strong aftermarket service business bundled together with all of that. We are in business to support our customers. Our customers include some very strong leasing companies; companies we've done business with for years and years. And we expect to continue to hold out product and -- to give product to those companies. We're very positive about the fact ARI has strong relationship with GATX with whom we've dealt in the past. The industry needs to be able to not only -- we need not to compete with our base of customers. In our case, we don't intend to do that. We intend to serve these customers and it serves us very well by feeding the machine and the integrated business model. So I just wanted to add those two comments. I think we're getting some halo effect from that. Justin Long--Stephens Inc. -- Analyst Okay. That's all helpful. And it sounds like going forward your expectation on orders is that they should be relatively stable sequentially. Is that fair? Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer I think that is a fair statement with -- while we're not disclosing orders received during the fourth quarter, we have seen robust activity and expect that to continue. Justin Long--Stephens Inc. -- Analyst Okay, great. And then secondly and I'll pass it on. The build rate has been increasing sequentially every quarter, this year. But I wanted to see if you had any initial thoughts about the production levels, you'll be targeting as we get into fiscal 2020. So if I look at that fourth quarter guidance for 7,000 to 8,000 builds, is that the rate of production we should be thinking about for early next year as well? William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Nice try on an effort to get guidance for 2020. I surprised... Justin Long--Stephens Inc. -- Analyst I have to try. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors ...you want it since we kind of good at the guidance for '20 -- for 2019. But we are -- we do have a very good momentum under our model for -- on the commercial side, commercial relationships with customers, producing good products at a high rate of reliability. These things generally paid off. I don't agree with FTR that there's going to be that big of a shift certainly by 2020. So there is still momentum in our model for next year. And I will define what we do. We've given you some visibility for this quarter in that regard. And I'm afraid that's about all we're going to be able to say about it. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Well, I wouldn't -- it wouldn't be a Greenbrier calls; you and I didn't have a bit of a conversation back and forth. But... Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer That's certainly true. Yes. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer ...I would just remind you guys all know, our production rates is very dependent on the car types that we're building, and the timing of when our customers want those cars. So depending on that need, that will moderate or could moderate some of our production rates. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors True. Justin Long--Stephens Inc. -- Analyst Okay, fair enough. I'll leave it at that. Thanks for the time. Operator Our next question is from Matt Elkott from Cowen. Go ahead. Your line is open. Matt Elkott--Cowen & Company -- Analyst Good morning. Thank you, guys. Just a follow-up on the delivery question. Did you guys tell us how much of your current backlog is for fiscal 2020 deliveries? Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer So, Matt, -- this is Justin. It's -- right now, we're heading -- we are sitting with about 60% of 2020 activity in our backlog. Please don't try to triangulate further, because it will only get muddier. But that's kind of what we're prepared to say at this point. So we're entering 2020 in a very good situation again. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer And I would just clarify that, Justin. Entering 2020 is based on a May 31, number. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Correct. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer So we still have another quarter to go of commercial activity to bolster our production schedules. And as you guys all know, we love -- at Greenbrier, we love having flexibility. We don't enjoy being fully booked up, because it doesn't give us the opportunity to take care our -- take advantage of near-term or short-term demand. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer But Matt, I'd like you -- and thanks for joining us today. I'd like you to focus on the remarks I just made. We are in the middle of what is essentially a differentiation in the -- between the major car builders, those who lease, which we do, those who serve customers an engineer, those that are potentially moving toward more of leasing content. We will benefit from this differentiation, because those leasing companies with whom we've had strong relationships and others like GATX, we hope to have strong relationships in the future, need to make commitments for product, and they need someone who's reliable to produce that product for them. We intend to be that company for those customers with whom we've had a strategic relationship. This will be a factor that you can't read about really in the literature on economics or industry forecast. Yes. I think it's going to be a differentiating factor for Greenbrier. And there's multi-year orders that are coming up in that regard. Matt Elkott--Cowen & Company -- Analyst That's very helpful commentary. And I know the ARI acquisition has not closed yet. But to go back to the order front, do you guys think that some of the order activity that you got in the quarter, which was very strong, was influenced by the fact that people know that you're going to be ARI as well in the future? In other words, had you not announced that ARI was going to be your company, you would not have -- maybe you would not have gotten this many orders? William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors I don't believe -- personally, I don't believe that. I think the reaction from customers has been universally -- almost universally positive because it diversifies our product. And it's a parallel product line, giving us geographic diversity. I think it strengthens our position to serve our customers. I think our customers are happy about that. I propel my earlier remarks a few minutes ago. Matt Elkott--Cowen & Company -- Analyst Got it. No, I mean, I don't disagree with that, Bill. I was just wondering, if customers know that you're going to be ARI, so they're placing orders with you -- knowing that you're going to have that capacity going forward for tank cars. And just one final question. There are -- as you noted in the prepared remarks, there are many weak spots in rail traffic and everything is pretty much down except for petroleum products. Intermodal, grain is going to be weak for the foreseeable future. Frac sand has basically declined significantly. Is there any -- I mean, are you getting any calls from your customers about potential deferment of grain cars or frac sand cars or intermodal equipment? William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Lorie? Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Matt, this is Lorie. I would say that you're spot on that there are some areas of weakness. What I would add, just for some additional color is when we've had customers who are seeing -- who have placed orders and are seeing weakness in particular car types, we will work with our customers to find a way to make it be a win-win situation for both Greenbrier, and our customers, where because we have such a broad product mix, we can sometimes work with the customer to shift, let's say they've ordered a particular car type and when they would prefer something else, because they're not seeing the same strength that they thought they were going to see. So I do think that there is the potential for that over the rest of calendar 2019. But we believe that we have demonstrated that we know how to work with our customers, and we try to find that solution is beneficial for both. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors So we are having at least one conversation with a customer -- prospective customer on that score. We also have -- in the intermodal area, that's been hit with the intermodal loadings down, and trade affecting intermodal. So we have -- had very positive discussions, redeploying some of our capacity to do freight cars in exchange of the capacity types. But not any -- not to our financial detriment at all. So we -- as Lorie said, we're very flexible. These long-term customers produce long-term revenue streams and cash flow for us. We have to keep them happy. That's the nature of the business. And it's -- there is a limited number of these big players in the marketplace, so we have to pay close attention to them. We also have very strong and solid competitors, National Steel Car, Trinity, freight car and others -- Union Tank Car. So we have to keep on top of our game, that means satisfying our customers. Matt Elkott--Cowen & Company -- Analyst Great. Thank you very much. Operator Our next question is from Mike Baudendistel from Stifel. Go ahead. Your line is open. Mike Baudendistel--Stifel -- Analyst Thank you. I just wanted to ask you on your updated delivery guidance. I'm just looking back in my mind, it looks like it was about a 1,400 unit delta versus sort of what I had before. And I'm just trying to understand sort of what happened there. I was sort of under the impression, you sort of knew what you were going to build and what build slots, and there was more visibility there. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sure, Mike. I'll answer that question. As we've encountered at different times, when we enter a year, we do our best to provide guidance and expectations based on the visibility we have. There are times when the timing or disposition of production activity can shift. So that's what you're seeing is a shift in primarily that disposition activity, as well as a little bit of weakness coming out of our international operations, Europe and Brazil. That being said, fourth quarter will still be a very strong delivery quarter, and we expect it to be a very strong earnings quarter. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer And I just have to step-in and say with respect to that weakness, which we tend to look at, sometimes we tend to look back, we've got to look forward to the quarters to come, and the years to come. We think both Brazil and Europe are great franchises. To have a good franchise and build a franchise, you have to lose some games. In Europe, we booted it. We made a management change that new management, William Glenn coming in -- just came back from and Amsterdam Board meeting, they are really doing a great job, reorganizing. And I think that good things are on the way there. So we just have a blip, and I think it's largely timing of that franchise kicking in. Same thing at Brazil. Brazil has got some really good opportunity there. When these concessions are awarded in Brazil, the concessionaires have to buy new equipment, invest heavily as part of the government mandate. So they put billions of dollars in each of these concessions. Now, Rumo has received its concession or is about to; the others are going to be tracking closely behind. And the problem down there for them will be that there is a limited car capacity in Brazil. It will be for a period of time to summers market. But the question is when. It certainly in this quarter. We had -- I think, we've built 15 cars an anomaly. I think in future quarters, we'll see gradual improvement. Soon as the concessions are awarded, that thing will turn around with visibility in the next four to five years. Mike Baudendistel--Stifel -- Analyst Got it. That's helpful. And just also wanted to ask you, I know you said you don't want to say much on ARI. But just wanted to ask you to make sure that the -- sort of the statistics you said at the last call on that in April that being a 20% accretive, the $30 million in synergies time -- timing, especially close by the end of the year, early next fiscal year. All those things are all still relevant? William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Yes. All of that is still relevant. That's what we believe. Mike Baudendistel--Stifel -- Analyst Got it. That's all I have. Thank you. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Thank you. Operator Our next question is from Matt Brooklier from Buckingham Research. Go ahead. Your line is open. Matt Brooklier--Buckingham Research -- Analyst Hey, thanks and good morning. Any sense as to how much of a margin or profit headwind? Some of the hiccups that you had in Europe were on the quarter. I'm just trying to think of sequential progression in terms of the margins here. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors That's a great question. Laurie is prepared to answer that question, or Justin or Adrian, or me if they fail to answer it. Owes a lot. Justin? Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer So the European impact was about a 100 to 150 basis points in the -- in Q3. The -- we would actually expect to see another step-up in our margins in Manufacturing in Q4, as Europe starts to return to a little bit more of a normalized level. So kind of in line with what we've been saying all year, continue to see the stair-step progression. And we'll see quite a bit of strength as we have our current run rates for the entire quarter, especially in North America. Adrian J. Downes--Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer Manufacturing revenues will step up in Q4, and also the margin will step up. So we'll get a double benefit. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors I think -- what we might be looking for is just an order of magnitude in terms of the headwinds that we had in the quarter. I think the number is something like between Europe and Brazil, which we think will not repeat, and will turn into a tailwind relatively speaking, and this cost -- it was close to $10 million, supposed to. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Yes, that's correct. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Right. Matt Brooklier--Buckingham Research -- Analyst Okay. That's all inclusive headwinds in fiscal 3Q with everything. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors That is just for those two parts, but repair was another big lumps. So as we work off and we're well under way in repair in Europe to they -- to normalcy, and Brazil is little more of a wildcard, but is not going to be the aberration than it was in this quarter, at least we hope knock on with. So if we get this from a relative perspective, the quarter was quite noisy with unexpected residual legacy issues after we announced a write-off in the last quarter. We thought we had this pretty well corral, but dogs and cats get coming homes, and we think we've got most of those corral now. But that's what we think. And we're expecting a -- relatively speaking, a positive from these areas as it relates to the drag we were carrying in the Q3. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer And just to be very, very clear, from a gross margin perspective, if you take into consideration, repair operations Brazil and Europe, you are talking about, about $10 million. Matt Brooklier--Buckingham Research -- Analyst Okay, helpful. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer The headwinds. Matt Brooklier--Buckingham Research -- Analyst And then with -- second question, with respect to the repair operations, you've closed a couple of locations. What's left to do with that business in order to return it to your targeted margin goals? And would you ever consider potentially selling that asset, if you're not able to hit that target? Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sure. So we've just brought our legacy operations back into Greenbrier in August. So while for some of us, it feels like it's been a long time, it really hasn't been that long. And I would say that we're moving fairly efficiently through an optimization and review of each of those facilities, working closely with some of the customers that we service in these geographic areas to see if there is a solution to us becoming more profitable. I think that by the fact that we've closed four out of 12 locations in just nine months, it goes to the fact that we are working quickly if we cannot figure out a way. We've also seen good operating performance improvement at several of the locations. So we don't get into the details facility-by-facility, but we have set a very tight timeline to come to a final optimization of this network by the end of 2019. And again, we're taking into consideration a lot of things, including how this network or this activity that we provide, how it works with our management services operation from an integrated business model perspective. As you are aware, we manage over 300,000 railcars for the North American fleet, as part of that management oftentimes, we are managing the maintenance activities associated with those railcars. So we're looking at these two activities as it -- they go hand-in-hand. Matt Brooklier--Buckingham Research -- Analyst Okay, very helpful. Appreciate the time. Operator Our next question is from Bascome Majors from Susquehanna. Go ahead. Your line is open. Bascome Majors--Susquehanna International Group -- Analyst Yes. Thanks for taking my question. You talked a little bit about positive operating cash flow in the fourth quarter. Can we back it out and look at the full-year, is that swinging in some of the working capital, when you guys go ahead (inaudible) significant enough to deliver a positive operating cash, or even free cash flow number for the entire year, and maybe a little bridge to -- if that's something that could reverse, if not in the next quarter or next year? Thanks. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer So Bascome, this is Justin. I would say that probably at this point, will be getting close to breakeven on an operating cash flow basis for the year. It's just that with the robust working capital build, including inventories, but also syn -- railcars held for syndication, that will is definitely reversing itself in the back half. But is also -- we don't sell that -- those assets down to zero, as we enter the next fiscal year. We do carry some of that. So we will be expect to have a strong fourth quarter, which will get us closer to breakeven on the operating cash flow, and then will position us well for 2020. Bascome Majors--Susquehanna International Group -- Analyst Okay. And I know you had some questions on next year earlier, and you understand the reluctance to speak to it. But there's certainly a wide range of investor expectations out there, and you've been willing to at least kind of share some directional thoughts on the going year, even one or two quarters early in the past. I mean, from the $3-ish bogey for the full-year that we sit at today, any sense of where this backlog cover gets you for next year? How -- what are the range of expectations in your role, just anything you can give us to help us a little bit, get some comfort with at least the first quarter to next year, I think could be really helpful. Thank you. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Well, I would say that we're excited with the momentum that we've achieved in the third quarter. We expect fourth quarter to continue that growth. We've mentioned that the North American market, which is our largest market, where we service over 370,000 railcars, I was corrected, understating so, sometimes my conservatism can come out, but we're excited. Again, choppy market -- the North American market, so we don't want to be overly aggressive. We also have the fantastic opportunity to close on the manufacturing assets of ARI. So it's going to quickly become difficult to distinguish between what is legacy Greenbrier and what is this combined network, because we're going to be very focused on quickly assimilating and combining these operations, and not continue to run them as distinct unit. So I would say, and this is saying a lot for those of you that have been following us, I'm excited about what our expectations will be for 2020. And I think that I'll turn it over to Justin or Adrian to see if they want to to moderate my comments. Adrian J. Downes--Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer I wouldn't do that because they may -- you may -- they may do so. Look at -- I -- that's a very optimistic positive statement from Lorie. For those of you who know Lorie's history as Chief Financial Officer. I think that we've got a company that has -- from this current guidance you can construct $320 million, correct me, Justin, of EBITDA for the quarter, you can construct what you -- the earnings per share. It seems to me to a bit hard -- will be hard-pressed to do worse than that, but I -- next year with baseline. We have changed the model dramatically. We have some real optionality in the international business, so stuff can churn very quickly. We still have the Saudi Arabian optionality in the mining industry there. They're investing heavily. We are in -- still trying to conclude the joint venture activities over there. So these things can pop and break to the good as well as to the bad. So we've been beating ourselves up a little bit about not performing as well as we had hoped. But the truth is, we've got a company that's undervalued with high dividend yield, a lot of strength in its balance sheet, a strong cash flow as we normalize production and inventory levels. We just hit record revenues. We're going to hit a record revenue for the quarter. We're running at a $4 billion rate, if we can keep that up. The industry in North America is declining a little bit arguably, but I think the streets looking for any negative news again in 10-year cycle. But our Company is a lot different and a lot stronger than it was in the beginning of the last downturn. We are all looking for the beginning of the last -- in the next downturn. It just doesn't look like in an election season that, that's going to happen unless there is a shock from the outside. So baseline, I see a very -- will be very difficult for me to see how we do worse. Now, I don't want to curse this by saying that and having something happen. So that's kind of the best outlook we're going to be able to give you, I'm afraid. But I think it's very positive. I agree with Lorie. Bascome Majors--Susquehanna International Group -- Analyst That's Lorie to hear it from you, if your history conservatism, that's good deal. And I'm glad to hear that you guys are optimistic. And we'll wait and see what you have delivered out first in October. Thank you. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Thanks, Bascome. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Thanks, Bascome. Adrian J. Downes--Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer Thank you, Bascome. Operator And our last question is from Steve Barger from KeyBanc Capital Markets. Go ahead. Your line is open. Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst Thanks. Good morning. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Good morning. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Good morning, Steve. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Hi, Steve. Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst You've talked a lot on this call about international getting back on track. And just for Europe specifically, can you give us any more specifics on the commercial plan in terms of how you're changing your market strategy? And I'm just trying to gaze market opportunity versus the more recent reality. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Yes. We're going to stop doing stupid stuff, number one. All right. That's a quote from the Navy. Admiral Fargo on our Board saying, once you start doing stupid stuff, the easy stuff and a good stuff comes along a lot easier. We have William Glenn was a veteran of our as Chief Commercial Officer. He knows our system. He is working very well with Alejandro Centurion. So number one, we're screening customers or being much more selective about customers. And we took some really bad contracts under the earlier administration. We weren't watching the store. We integrated well on all of the details, but we didn't pay attention to the business that they took on during the transition when we were seeking regulatory approval. Once they took that business on and they -- then they did a second mistake of deploying too many cart lines in too many factories they should have specialized. William has got and Martin Graham have -- who is an industry veteran, have got both of those areas contain. That itself will make a major difference. The margins that they're seeing and we had some margins and the legacy contracts that were taken before the deal was approved that are producing 25% losses. And it's really tough to make money, when you've got some major state-owned companies like BB producing a 25% loss. And there is no quarter over there in that environment, if you make that kind of contract, none has given and none has asked. So I think they've made a tremendous difference and they put the -- William used to run Europe. He is very experienced with customers. He is calling on the right customers and I'm optimistic, he will turn this around. Just looking at Europe alone, the shift from the negative we had to the positive, we expect in the next few quarters will make a big difference in our bottom line. And it will continue to improve. Now, the downside is, Europeans growth is that as -- is kind of flat. There's a lot of trade related issues over there, a lot of noise, Brexit and so on. But we're still seeing a reasonably strong market, and we're booking orders. And more importantly, we're building strong relationships over there with companies that we had neglected to go for some of the big German companies. So that was a mistake. We corrected that mistake as well. Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst Got it. Thank you. And of the 6,500 orders this quarter, how many were international versus domestic? Adrian J. Downes--Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer About 10% international; balance was domestic. Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst And would you expect a similar mix in fiscal 4Q? Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Broadly. Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst All right. And just one last quick one. Bill, you made the case that the stocks undervalued versus all you've done, and all you have going on. But free cash flow has been hard to come by over the last couple of years, as you've made these international investments in the leasing actions. Is it reasonable to say that 2020 gets back to free cash flow generation? Or are there still some investments and headwinds yet to come that will still keep that more depressed? William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Well, as to the general strategy, I think we have to digest what we've done, if we can get baseline -- top line revenue, make that profitable, at a $3.5 million run rate to $4 million run rate if that could be achieved, that would be great. But we better be sure that the blocking and tackling is all being done. So what does that mean for working capital, we should be able to tightened down working capital, be aggressive about G&A cost, look at capital allocation very closely. We do intend to continue our dividend. But we want to be sure, we have a strong balance sheet for contingencies that are more downside type contingencies as opposed to looking for continued this rapid pace of growth. We're not going to be doing any more international acquisitions in basic plan. But we're open always to opportunistic -- opportunities. But we're just really (inaudible) button things down in 2020, and get the house running in good order. Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst So unusual leasing things, notwithstanding, you would expect better operating and free cash flow next year? Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Yes. William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Yes. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Yes. Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst All right. Thanks. Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Thank you. Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer Thank you very much everyone for your time and attention today. And if you have any follow-up questions, please reach out to me. Have a great day. Thank you. And a happy 4th of July. Operator That concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may disconnect at this time. Duration: 56 minutes Justin M. Roberts--Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer William A. Furman--Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Lorie L. Tekorius--Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Adrian J. Downes--Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer Justin Long--Stephens Inc. -- Analyst Matt Elkott--Cowen & Company -- Analyst Mike Baudendistel--Stifel -- Analyst Matt Brooklier--Buckingham Research -- Analyst Bascome Majors--Susquehanna International Group -- Analyst Steve Barger--KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst More GBX analysis All earnings call transcripts More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see ourTerms and Conditionsfor additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. Motley Fool Transcribershas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
U.S. states urge CFPB not to dilute rule that limits bank overdraft fees By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK, July 2 (Reuters) - The attorneys general of New York and 23 other states plus Washington, D.C. have urged the Trump administration not to roll back a decade-old federal rule that limits the ability of banks to charge overdraft fees when customers spend more than they have in their accounts. In a letter to Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), that was made public on Tuesday, the attorneys general, all Democrats, called the rule an "overwhelming success" that should not be watered down or scrapped. They said the rule has helped customers make informed decisions about whether to sign up for overdraft protection on automated teller machine and debit card purchases, and there was no reason to believe the rule has harmed smaller lenders. "If the CFPB rolls back this rule, it would put hard-working people in harm's way by allowing banks to charge more overdraft fees, all in the name of corporate greed," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. A CFPB spokeswoman said the agency will complete its review by November. The CFPB has moved in a more business-friendly direction under President Donald Trump, a Republican. Issued by the Federal Reserve Board in 2009, the overdraft rule requires banks and other financial services companies to obtain permission before charging overdraft fees, typically around $35, that could sock customers with big penalties on even small purchases such as a cup of coffee. Consumer advocates believe the rule has helped many customers avoid being overburdened by fees. But some banking groups have said regulators should not impede their ability to offer overdraft services that customers want. Banks collected more than $11.45 billion in overdraft fees in 2017, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, citing Federal Deposit Insurance Corp data for banks with over $1 billion of assets. In a 2013 study, the CFPB found that the rule had materially reduced fees for many heavy overdrafters, but that customers with overdraft protection paid an average seven times more fees than customers who went without it. The letter from the attorneys general, dated July 1, coincided with the end of a 45-day public comment period on the rule. The CFPB is conducting its review pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, a 1980 law requiring federal agencies generally to assess the impact of their regulations on smaller businesses. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
4K TV on sale Canada: Boxing Day in Summer Sony 65" 4K UHD HDR LED Android Smart TV. Image via Best Buy. Yes, you read that right - Boxing Day sales are back, and it’s a Christmas in July miracle! Best Buy is kicking off summer by getting into the gift-giving spirit with their Boxing Day in Summer sale. ALSO SEE: Prime Day is coming: Here’s what we know so far about Amazon’s biggest sale of the year From televisions to appliances, laptops to headphones, the retailer is offering serious discounts on it’s must-have items designed to make our lives more enjoyable. Our standout favourite deal of the summer? The Sony 65” 4K UHD HDR LED Android Smart TV. Image via Best Buy. Originally retailing for $2,300, this ultra slim television allows for optimal gaming and Netflix marathons thanks to it’s 3840 x 2160 resolution and blur-free motion. Designed to make everything you watch appear 4K HDR, this unit is compatible with Google Home and offers a wide variety of entertainment thanks to Android TV functionality. With an average customer rating of 4.7 out of 5, buyers are loving the speed, picture quality drawing comparisons from customers to other OLED units. Image via Best Buy. The one area this unit can’t be beat? The price tag. “Based on my 6 months of research this is one of the best TVs made by Sony,” one satisfied buyer wrote regarding their purchase. “I doubt Sony can beat the picture quality on their next model.” SHOP IT: Best Buy, $1,800 (Originally $2,300) The editors at Yahoo Lifestyle Canada are committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. At times, we may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @ YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram .
'Help': Photos from US migrant detention centres reveal despair and overcrowding as people go a month without showers Conditions at five US migrant detention centres in Texas have been described as a ticking time bomb, as photographs emerged of people crammed in their dozens into cells far too small for the purpose. Official investigators found thousands of people had been in Border Patrol custody for longer than the agencys own 72-hour limit, while some had not been given access to showers for a month. Children at three of the five centres had no access to showers. Two sites did not give child detainees hot food until inspectors arrived, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) representatives were forced to leave one centre early because when detainees observed us, they banged on the cell windows, shouted, pressed notes to the window with their time in custody, and gestured to evidence of their time in custody. One man was pictured holding a scrap of cardboard bearing the words, Help 40 Days Here. He was among 88 men being held in a cell designed for 41, the DHS inspector generals office (OIG) said. In a report on conditions at several Border Patrol sites in the Rio Grande Valley released on Tuesday, OIG added that at one facility, some single adults were held in standing-room-only conditions for a week. Most single adult detainees were still wearing the clothes they arrived in days, weeks and even up to a month prior. And despite rules ordering Border Patrol agents to recognise peoples dietary and religious needs, many adults were being fed only bologna [processed sausage] sandwiches. Some detainees on this diet were becoming constipated and required medical attention, OIGs report said. Images showed children sleeping on the floor in chain-link cages with only foil blankets for comfort. Inspectors said overcrowding had become dangerous and quoted a senior manager at one facility as calling the situation a ticking time bomb, and a hazard for both staff and the people detained. It comes just weeks after the watchdog rapped Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials over egregious violations of standards at two of their facilities, where staff were found to be serving spoiled food . Story continues Donald Trump s administration has faced criticism for its handling of the flow of people trying to enter the US from Latin American countries. Mr Trump has called the asylum system broken, saying that some take advantage of it with frivolous claims. The OIG report noted that the Rio Grande area of Texas had seen a 124-per-cent increase in attempted border crossings in the last year. Border Patrol facilities were holding about 8,000 people during the inspectors visits in June, with 3,400 detained longer than the 72 hours permitted. Of those,1,500 had been held more than 10 days. Eight hundred and twenty-six of the 2,669 children at Border Patrols facilities had been held longer than the 72 hours generally permitted under the customs agencys standards and a prior court finding. Of the 1,031 children held at the centralised processing centre in McAllen, 806 had already been processed and were awaiting transfer to Health Department custody. Of those, 165 had been in custody longer than a week. More than 50 were less than seven years old.
Why Maxar Technologies, Amarin, and Revolve Group Jumped Today Tuesday was an up-and-down day on Wall Street as market participants watched major stock indexes trade on either side of the unchanged mark throughout the session, eventually finishing with modest gains. Favorable sentiment carried through from an eventful weekend on the geopolitical front, as goodwill developed from the G-20 summit made some investors more confident about the future. Yet the possibility for new tariffs on European goods suggested that trade tensions are far from over. Nevertheless, some companies were able to separate themselves from the crowd.Maxar Technologies(NYSE: MAXR),Amarin(NASDAQ: AMRN), andRevolve Group(NYSE: RVLV)were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well. Shares of Maxar Technologies jumped 17% amid rampant speculation that the satellite company is looking to make a strategic divestiture. The provider of satellite imagery apparently has a couple of European companies looking at possibly bidding for Maxar's space systems business, with some reports suggesting that theunit could bring Maxar in excess of $1 billion. That's a big price tag for a company whose market capitalization is barely half that number, but even if an eventual bid is for less money, it could still help Maxar improve its balance sheet and put itself in position to continue its efforts to transform itself after a key satellite failure early this year. Image source: Maxar Technologies. Amarin's stock climbed 16% after the drug manufacturer issued a midyear update. The company boosted its sales guidance for full-year 2019 from $350 million to a new range of $380 million to $420 million. Demand for Amarin's Vascepa cardiovascular treatment has been strong, and the company believes that it's likely to be able to expand the current indications for the drug to make it a far larger commercial opportunity. CEO John Thero noted that he is "pleased with the progress made to date," especially with Vascepa, andAmarin hopesthat it'll be able to sustain positive momentum for the rest of this year and beyond. Finally,shares of Revolve Group gained 6%. The social-savvy online apparel company saw its post-IPO quiet period come to an end, freeing up stock analysts to weigh in. Out of nine new ratings on Revolve, eight came in at buy, with just a single hold among the crowd. The company's competitive advantage comes from its use of influence-rich promoters to drive demand for the products it sells, and so far, that seems to be going well. It'll be interesting to see whether actual results can live up to the hype that the IPO has generated, but for now, shareholders seem confident that Revolve will be able to pass the test and stay popular among investors. More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Maxar Technologies Ltd. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
Why EOG Resources, Acuity Brands, and BlackLine Slumped Today The stock market posted modest gains on Tuesday, with major benchmarks finishing not too far away from where they began the session. After such a strong first half of the year, investors aren't entirely certain whether the markets can keep up the pace indefinitely, especially as certain economic indicators have started to suggest a more defensive tone. Declines for several stocks also weighed on overall sentiment.EOG Resources(NYSE: EOG),Acuity Brands(NYSE: AYI), andBlackLine(NASDAQ: BL)were among the worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly. Shares of EOG Resources dropped 6% on a tough day for oil stocks in general, as crude oil prices were weak. Prices for West Texas Intermediate crude fell more than $2.50 to $56.50 per barrel, and that sent shivers throughout the energy sector. ForEOG Resources in particular, success in shale plays has brought big rewards, and the company is ambitious to keep taking advantage of high-profit opportunities to expand. Balancing fiscal discipline with aggressive investment is always a challenge, though, and shareholders today seem worried that a weaker pricing environment for crude oil could put a damper on EOG's ability to grow at the pace it would like. Image source: Getty Images. Acuity Brands saw its stock tumble 8%following the release of its fiscal third-quarter financial report. The lighting and building management solutions provider said that sales rose just 0.4% compared to the year-earlier quarter, and adjusted earnings per share climbed just 7%. CEO Vernon Nagel noted that some of the disruption might have been due to price increases that Acuity put into place, as savvy customers got a jump by pulling some of their anticipated orders into prior quarters to avoid the price hikes. Yet the CEO also noted sales for the fourth quarter could drop from last year's levels, and investors didn't seem very patient to wait until fiscal 2020 to see more of the fruits of Acuity's strategic moves. Finally, shares of BlackLine fell 7.5%. The accounting solutions specialist was the subject of a rare move by analysts at Goldman Sachs, who downgraded the stock all the way from buy to sell and cut their price target by $16 to $41 per share. Goldman is concerned that BlackLine won't be able to grow as quickly as Wall Street currently expects, and giveninvestor appetite for software-as-a-service companies, valuations might be stretched too thin. BlackLine provides a valuable service for its clients, but that won't save the stock from further declines if it can't live up to shareholders' growth expectations. More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends BlackLine, Inc. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
Ellen Pages wife Emma Portner says working for Justin Bieber was hell Choreographer Emma Portner does not have fond memories of working with Justin Bieber . Portner collaborated with the Sorry singer on multiple projects, including starring in his 2015 video for Life Is Worth Living and doing choreography for his 2016 Purpose World Tour, which he abruptly cancelled amid personal problems. Shes gone on to find success managing her own New York-based contemporary dance company, teaching around the world and continues to perform. After Bieber slammed Taylor Swift as a show of support for his manager Scooter Braun , Portner whos also the wife of actress Ellen Page took to her own social media page to say what it was like working with the singer and his manager. She said she has regret over it as the star and his team made millions off of content she created while she made zilch. The dancer said she couldnt afford to eat and was sweeping studio floors to be able to practice my craft. She also slammed Biebers support of Hillsong Church, which has been called anti-LGBT. Justin Bieber performing in Belgium in 2016 during his Purpose World Tour. (Photo: Pieter-Jan Vanstockstraeten / Photonews via Getty Images) I regret working under your name, Portner wrote in her Instagram Stories. I gave your universe my naive body, creativity, time and effort. Twice. For content you made millions off of. While I made zilch. Natta. Barely anything. Less than minimum wage for the hours I invested. I couldnt afford to eat. I was sweeping studio floors to be able to practice my own craft. The way you degrade women is an abomination. Justin Biebers #PurposeWorldTour choreographer/dancer, who also happens to be Ellen Pages wife, slams the singer for allegedly paying her less than minimum wage while working for him: "I couldnt afford to eat. I was sweeping studio floors to be able to practice my craft." pic.twitter.com/Yb7VIziKFz Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 1, 2019 She went on to say that Biebers treatment of women is an abomination and called him out for continuing to collaborate with overly problematic people, alluding to Bieber appearing on Chris Browns new album . Story continues The second part of Portners post talked mostly about his affliction with Hillsong, which Page has also spoken out about . You religiously go to a church that does not support the LBGTQ+ community, she wrote then asked how he reconciles that with his handlers hiring an out lesbian for your music video and to choreograph some content for your purpose world tour. Heres Portner in Biebers Life Is Worth Living video, which was part of his Purpose: The Movement mini movie: She continued, A lesbian, HELPING YOU, for a disrespectful amount of money, as you attend a church that goes against my existence. The post ended by reminding him that he has IMMENSE power so he should Use it to STOP DEGRADING WOMEN. Bieber hasnt spoken directly about her post, but a source told Page Six that Bieber wasnt even privy to what was going on with budgets. He and Braun served as co-executive producers on the video. Portners comments come in the wake of Bieber slamming Swift for publicly lashing out against Braun for buying her former record label Big Machine Records and as a result now owning the masters of her first six albums. (Swift said she and Braun had a long negative history.) In Biebers response, he said that Swift criticizing Braun would incite her fans to bully Scooter. Emma Portner and her wife Ellen Page at the Tales of the City premiere on June 3, 2019. (Photo: Dia Dipasupil/WireImage) However, after Portner spoke out against Bieber, his fans have been bullying her. On her various social media posts none having anything to do with the Baby singer there are nasty comments calling the dancer names. Here are some calling her feminism fake, saying shes spreading lies and calling her a clout chaser and ungrateful: (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) Though shes also gotten praise for speaking out, including love from some Swift fans: (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) (Screenshot: Emma Portner via Instagram) Read more on Yahoo Entertainment: Karlie Kloss admits 'it's been hard' having Ivanka and Jared as family due to their differing politics Miley Cyrus fans fat-shame plus-size model from her new video: 'You're praising people killing themselves' Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato dispute Taylor Swift accusations against Scooter Braun Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyles newsletter.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman May Be “Top Tier” in IPOs – But This Firm Tops Them in Returns When Cowen & Company is Lead Left, IPOs Tend to Outperform By John Jannarone When it comes to measuring the success of an IPO, there is often a swirl of attention around the first few hours and days of trading. But most stakeholders involved probably care much more about a company’s sustained stock-price performance. What if the investment banks that underwrite deals were ranked accordingly? Consider the six-month stock-price performance for U.S. IPOs priced since the beginning of 2014. That data set, compiled by Dealogic, can be used to rank so-called lead left underwriters, the Wall Street term for the investment bank chosen to lead an IPO process because its name appears on the far left of an offering prospectus. Topping the lead left league table is Cowen & Company, which led 21 deals. On average, the companies it took public saw their shares rise 48% from their IPO price over six months. Stripping out investment banks that only managed a couple of deals or focused on very small transactions, there are some other impressive firms high on the list, with J.P. Morgan posting an average 34% return on 103 deals and Jefferies with 24% on 64 transactions. Further down were other “bulge bracket” firms such as Goldman Sachs, which averaged 23%, Barclays at 21%, and Morgan Stanley coming in with 12%. Cowen’s top performance after six-months is not an anomaly: Its deals outperform for much longer. Taking the same deals since 2014 to current prices, Cowen is near the top of the list with an average 96% return as lead left. That’s a close second place behind J.P. Morgan, whose average return is just under 100%. Wall Street league tables in everything from IPOs to M&A typically focus on one simple measure: deal volume. With IPOs in particular, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and a few others investment banks have dominated that list for many years. In turn, those firms frequently win major IPO mandates when companies decide it’s time to go public. For many companies that have never been through the process, the “safe” choice has obvious appeal. If something goes wrong, a CEO is unlikely to be blamed for hiring a white shoe firm. But for companies that conduct a thorough selection process for a lead left bank, due diligence may include deeper questions about an investment bank’s abilities, including a review of past performance. New issuers will also frequently reach out to large investors and ask for their advice. “We are proud of the outcome of our deals,” Cowen Co-President Larry Wieseneck toldIPO Edgein an interview. “We can’t afford to be average so it’s a necessity.” Mr. Wieseneck, who previously spent 17 years at Lehman Brothers and Barclays, in roles including Co-Head of Securities and Chief Strategy Officer, said Cowen chooses IPO candidates with characteristics that support long-term success. “The first issue we consider is whether we think the company going to make a difference,” he said. “Is it doing something better than competitors? Does it have a cost advantage?” Another factor is the strength of company’s management team, Mr. Wieseneck said. The IPO marks a time when companies generally go through a transition, and it’s critical to have the right people in place to guide a business under the scrutiny of public-market investors. Cowen’s recent notable lead-left deals include Canadian cannabis company Tilray (ticker: TLRY), which priced at $17 last year and now trades around $47. Cowen also led the IPO of payments company i3 Verticals (ticker: IIIV), which priced at $13 a share in June 2018 and now trades at $30. Those deals reflect a move by Cowen to move into new industries. The firm has traditionally been strong in areas such as healthcare, technology, and retail, but cannabis and payments are more recent areas of focus. When Cowen moves into new industry groups, it adds both bankers and research analysts in lockstep. While research is theoretically written for the benefit of investors, it’s also something that helps Cowen with corporate clients, Mr. Wieseneck said. “The market knows that we’re good at quality execution – we always align research and banking,” he said. “That helps us do a better job of picking good companies.” The emphasis on high-quality research helps set Cowen apart from some bulge bracket firms, which have more complex business models and increasingly neglect research departments. “Bigger firms have a harder time figuring out how to harness equity research, but it’s simple for us,” Mr. Wieseneck said. Of course, Cowen hasn’t been lead left on as many deals as the bulge bracket firms, which were selected for the largest IPOs in recent years such as Lyft, led by J.P. Morgan, Uber, led by Morgan Stanley, and Pinterest, led by Goldman Sachs. And it’s arguably harder to generate massive stock-price returns from larger companies when they start out with such large market capitalizations. But even when the lead left assignment goes to the bulge bracket, Cowen is very frequently on the deal as a co-manager, indicating its expertise is well recognized. Since 2017, Cowen has been a joint bookrunner with J.P. Morgan 52 times, with Goldman Sachs 34 times, and with Morgan Stanley 22 times. Contact: Editor@ipo-edge.com www.IPO-Edge.com Editor@IPO-Edge.com Twitter:@IPOEdge Instagram:@IPOEdge
Do Collins Foods's (ASX:CKF) Earnings Warrant Your Attention? Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! It's only natural that many investors, especially those who are new to the game, prefer to buy shares in 'sexy' stocks with a good story, even if those businesses lose money. And in their study titledWho Falls Prey to the Wolf of Wall Street?'Leuz et. al. found that it is 'quite common' for investors to lose money by buying into 'pump and dump' schemes. So if you're like me, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, likeCollins Foods(ASX:CKF). While profit is not necessarily a social good, it's easy to admire a business than can consistently produce it. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, unless its owners have an endless appetite for subsidizing the customer, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else breathe its last breath. See our latest analysis for Collins Foods Even with very modest growth rates, a company will usually do well if it improves earnings per share (EPS) year after year. So it's no surprise that some investors are more inclined to invest in profitable businesses. Collins Foods boosted its trailing twelve month EPS from AU$0.28 to AU$0.34, in the last year. That's a 19% gain; respectable growth in the broader scheme of things. I like to see top-line growth as an indication that growth is sustainable, and I look for a high earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin to point to a competitive moat (though some companies with low margins also have moats). Collins Foods maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 17% to AU$901m. That's progress. The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. For finer detail, click on the image. While we live in the present moment at all times, there's no doubt in my mind that the future matters more than the past. So why not checkthis interactive chart depicting future EPS estimates, for Collins Foods? I like company leaders to have some skin in the game, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. So it is good to see that Collins Foods insiders have a significant amount of capital invested in the stock. To be specific, they have AU$71m worth of shares. That shows significant buy-in, and may indicate conviction in the business strategy. Those holdings account for over 7.3% of the company; visible skin in the game. One positive for Collins Foods is that it is growing EPS. That's nice to see. If that's not enough on its own, there is also the rather notable levels of insider ownership. That combination appeals to me, for one. So yes, I do think the stock is worth keeping an eye on. If you think Collins Foods might suit your style as an investor, you could go straight to its annual report, or you could first checkour discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation for the company. Although Collins Foods certainly looks good to me, I would like it more if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, too, then thisfreelist of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for. Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
Kevin Ollie's NCAA sanctions could portend problems for other coaches Kevin Ollie could well be the appetizer. Is the main course coming next? If the NCAA is intent upon devouring head coaches who sit atop rule-breaking programs — holding accountable the richest and most powerful and often most protected people within a program — it may have been signaled Tuesday. That’s when the former University of Connecticut basketball coach was hit much harder than any other element of the school’s men’s basketball program as the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced its sanctions against the Huskies. Some games were vacated from disappointing seasons, a scholarship was docked, and some recruiting restrictions were imposed. Garden-variety NCAA justice for violations few would deem egregious. But Ollie was hit with a charge of failure to monitor his program, and a subsequent three-year show-cause order. A show-cause order doesn’t carry a specific penalty, but it does give the NCAA the ability to punish any school that hires a coach with sanctions in effect and, furthermore, opens the school up to more serious penalties if an infraction occurs while said coach is still under sanctions. Ollie’s tenure ended poorly at UConn in 2018, but it’s not hard to envision a national championship-winning coach getting another shot in the college ranks if he wants one. With this ruling, though, Ollie would basically be untouchable in the hiring market until 2022. That’s a stout penalty for what the NCAA characterized as primarily Level II violations (Level I is the most serious). Ollie was found to have lied to investigators and then declined a follow-up interview with the enforcement staff, so that was an aggravating factor. Still, there is a palpable sentiment within the NCAA membership to apply significant penalties where they would have the highest impact — and that means head coaches. “We do note the emphasis we’ve been asked to put on head coach responsibility since it was put in place,” said NCAA Committee on Infractions chair Joel Maturi on a conference call Tuesday to discuss the UConn sanctions. “And we do think it’s important.” Now here’s what to extrapolate from this ruling: If you’re a head coach whose program is under investigation, in a sport everyone believes is in dire need of a stout fumigation, there could be a pesticide with your name on it. Even if your name is a big name. The University of Connecticut and former coach Kevin Ollie have been notified by the NCAA of alleged recruiting and other violations during his tenure at the school. (AP) Lo and behold, there are some highly accomplished head coaches whose programs are in the enforcement crosshairs right now: Kansas and national champion coach Bill Self; Auburn and Final Four coach Bruce Pearl; Arizona and three-time Pac-12 coach of the year Sean Miller; North Carolina State and former coach Mark Gottfried, a 400-game winner, now at Cal State Northridge; Louisville and Hall of Fame former coach Rick Pitino, whose college coaching future could hang in the balance; USC and Andy Enfield; LSU and 2019 SEC champion coach Will Wade. Among the 2018 charging guidelines at the NCAA’s disposal if Level I head coach responsibility violations are found to have occurred: a full-season suspension. Level II violations can result in a half-season suspension. If significant charges are leveled against some or all of those men, followed by significant penalties, all the Cleveland State jokes that have been foisted off at the NCAA’s expense would have to be put in storage. It would not be the action of an NCAA enforcement staff that was timid about disrupting the sport at a high level. This is also worth noting, and factoring into the current climate: The above coaches are all white men, and only one of them (Pitino) has lost his job in relation to the corruption scandal. The assistant coaches who were nailed by the FBI, fired from their jobs and are facing jail time, are all African-American men. Don’t think for a minute that dynamic is lost on the coaching community, or on the NCAA itself. “If rules are being broken, then those universities should be accountable for their actions,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin, an African-American, said last month. “Not to make it black or white, but it appears that when you have four coaches with the FBI get involved in that stuff happen to be black Americans but the head coach is still OK … Story continues “Not to say as a head coach I see everything. I don’t. But … I just think there has to be a level of accountability.” Thus the expectation is that head coach accountability is arriving. And arriving quickly. We know from NCAA vice president Stan Wilcox spilling the particulars last month that notices of allegation are coming soon in the wake of the federal investigation of corruption college basketball. “Soon” is an evasive target with the NCAA, but July makes sense for the first notices to drop. When they do, look for “head coach responsibility” within the allegations. Kevin Ollie may be the first of several head basketball coaches to find themselves on a silver serving platter of sanctions in 2019 and 2020. More from Yahoo Sports: Nike pulls shoe after Kaepernick raises racial concerns Angels pitcher, family man Skaggs gone too soon Yankees’ Stanton posts heartfelt message after Skaggs’ death Broncos preview: Replacing Manning has been tough View comments
The Markets Should Be Happy, Says White House Trade Advisor This article was originally published onETFTrends.com. With the stock markets toying with all-time highs following the G20 summit, where President Donald Trump and President Xi came to a trade truce, analysts are examining how White House trade advisor Peter Navarro's comments about U.S.-China trade talks and the Federal Reserve guidance should be interpreted. Navarro on Tuesday admonished the Federal Reserve's past increases in interest rates for fears of a slowdown in growth and said he hoped the Fed would reverse hikes in interest rates in the future. "All I have to do is point to the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates, unnecessarily, too fast, too far and engaging in massive quantitative tightening when they should have been holding pat," Navarro told CNBC. "And what we're feeling now is kind of the residual effect of that mistake that was done months ago, and the hope is that the Fed will do the right thing here and lower interest rates and get us back on track," he added. Navarro did comment however, that the markets should be content with the current situation, which analysts weighed in on. “I think we’re back to early May where we were with a possible variance on what’s going on with North Korea. Peter definitely sounded like his main point was that stock markets should be happy. We didn’t get a date for new talks. We didn’t get how much the Chinese are going to buy. We didn’t get any details, but that stock market should be happy,” said Derek Scissors, an Asia economist with AEI speaking onCNBC. Andy Rothman of Matthews Asia seemed to feel that the Navarro's comments were sanguine, stating, “Well remember that secretary Mnuchin claimed that back in May before things blew up they were 90% close to a deal. So that’s back on track and I take Peter Navarro’s words as a very optimistic approach to that. But more importantly for me was what the president had to say over the last few days about his meeting with Xi. He talked about a strategic partnership. He talked about welcoming Chinese students back. He talked about allowing American companies to sell to Huawei. So I think he really kind of threw his national security team under the bus here by emphasizing the trade relationships and engagement rather than a confrontational approach to China. That’s a very positive change from just a week ago.” The news of the overnight violence in Hong Kong has created something of a stir, causing a possible wrinkle in the trade negotiations however, as Scissors pointed out. “I do think Hong Kong is a potential threat to US China talks. The rallies in Hong Kong have lasted longer than I expected at least. And the Chinese have been from their standpoint patient. I don’t expect him to be patient forever. So there is a wildcard. I mention the wildcard being North Korea on the positive side. On the negative side Hong Kong could be a wild card for the talks if the protests continue,” added Scissors. Ultimately, however, the U.S. has a deeply enmeshed consumer relationship with China, and as Rothman remarked, “China remains the worlds best consumer story.” For more investing news and ideas, visitETFtrends.com.POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM • SPY ETF Quote • VOO ETF Quote • QQQ ETF Quote • VTI ETF Quote • JNUG ETF Quote • Top 34 Gold ETFs • Top 34 Oil ETFs • Top 57 Financials ETFs • Facebook Libra: Weighing The Pros And Cons • As Bitcoin Surges Past $13K, Calls to Embrace Crypto Grow • GLDM Marks One Year Anniversary Today, Leads Gold-Backed ETF Flows • ROBO Global Healthcare Technology ETF Debuts on NYSE • Gold And Silver Rally On Unusual Options Activity READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM >
Jessie J Just Posted A Photo Of Herself Licking Channing Tatum On Instagram Photo credit: Jessie J / Instagram From Women's Health Jessie J posted a series of adorable photos with boyfriend Channing Tatum on her Instagram stories. In the black-and-white photos, Jessie and Channing are cozied up together and look very happy. The hot couple were first linked when they were spotted holding hands in London in October 2018. Photo credit: Jessie J / Instagarm Good things come in threes. Sometimes it's in fairytales or swoon-worthy celeb couples. Jessica Cornish, a.k.a. Jessie J, just shared an adorable series of three photos to her Instagram stories that puts any other trio to shame. The singer isn't alone in the photos, though. Right by her side in each one is her boyfriend Magic Mike star Channing Tatum. The couple have been dating since fall of 2018 , but there are not nearly enough photos of them together. Jessie snuggles up super close to Channing, and their heads touch in a way that almost looks like the shape of a heart. Naturally, Jessie drew a big red heart around them. There's no question about it, love is in the air. Photo credit: Jessie J / Instagarm The next photo shows more of Jessie's signature sense of humor. She turns away from the camera and pretends to lick Channing's cheek. Tbh, his cheek does look quite lick-able. She also adds a tongue emoji to the top of the pic. For the third and final photo, Jessie and Channing look right at the camera with natural smiles across their faces. They look so happy and relaxed. The couple enlisted a photographer to capture this trio of snaps. However, Channing has proven he is quite capable behind the camera himself, especially when his subject is his gorgeous girlfriend Jessie. (Remember when he snapped an adorable and hilarious photo of Jessie's 'elbow nose' earlier this year?) Leave it to Jessie and Channing to serve up more #couplesgoals on the reg. ('You Might Also Like',) 14 Keto Breakfast Recipes That Make Waking Up So Much Easier 13 MS Symptoms In Women That Shouldn't Be Ignored Love Carbs? We Created This 21-Day Keto Diet Plan Just for You
Dow Jones Today: More Trade Tiffs, But It’s Not China This Time Just when it appeared the global trade outlook was getting a little more sanguine, the thesis was dealt a blow when the White House threatened tariffs on $4 billion worth of imports from the European Union (EU). Source: Shutterstock That is a piddly amount in comparison to the tariffs that were bandied about at the height of theU.S.-China trade tensions. It is worth noting President Donald Trump previously singled out the EU as a trade offender. The U.S. is already imposing tariffs on $21 billion worth of EU goods. The new $4 billion worth of tariffs, if enacted, could apply to indulgences such ascoffee, tea and whiskey. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips • 7 F-Rated Stocks to Sell for Summer Still, the U.S.-EU trade tiff is not on par with the recent wranglings with China. As such, equities did not endure significant punishment today. TheNasdaq Compositerose 0.22% while theS&P 500added 0.29%. TheDow Jones Industrial Averagegained 0.26%. Before getting into some of today’s Dow winners, let’s take a look atNike(NYSE:NKE), one of Dow’s Tuesday losers with a loss of almost 1%. It is doubtful that Tuesday’s loss represents the start of material declines for Nike stock, but today’s action in the athletic apparel giant is endemic of the current political environment in the U.S. Nike was prepared to launch sneakers featuring the Betsy Ross version of the American flag. Former NFL football player Colin Kaepernick, a Nike endorser, complained that the flag was used during a period of slavery in the U.S. Nike decided to scrap the sneaker. It did not end there. Admonishing the perceived political correctness, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said he wouldyank the financial incentiveshis state offers Nike if the Betsy sneaker is pulled. Hats off toVerizon Communications(NYSE:VZ) for leading the way in the Dow today. On seemingly no company-specific news and below-average volume, the telecommunications giant jumped 2.59%. In the stocks favor today is this: Verizon did not rally simply because investors favored defensive stocks today. Many of the Dow’s Tuesday winners were not boring or defensive stocks. Shares ofApple(NASDAQ:AAPL) nudged up 0.59%, but some analysts are forecasting volatility for the iPhone maker between now and its next earnings date on July 30. Citigroup analyst Jim Suva “estimated revenue of $52.6 billion, with iPhone revenues down 12% to $25.76 billion, and profits of $2.06 per share,”reportsBarron’s. For Apple’s June quarter, those figures are below consensus estimates. In a few months, Apple will likely unveil a new iPhone. Some analysts are not expecting major hardware improvements and it is expected the company willnot have 5G-compatiblephones out until 2020. Visa(NYSE:V) had a decent day, rising 0.77% after Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri saidFacebook’s(NASDAQ:FB) recently unveiled Libra digital currencydoes not presenta significant threat to Visa. Visa investors may get more word on that when the company reports earnings on July 23. We’ve discussed severaltimes in this spacethe aftermath of U.S.-China trade talks and their implications. That aftermath is here and while there will be ongoing talks between the two sides, for now, investors are asking, “what’s next?” Recent global economic points have been sluggish, a scenario that if persistent, puts burden on various central banks — including the Federal Reserve — to act. That means investors should focus on monetary policy and earnings over the next several weeks. Those will be the clues for broader market direction this summer. As of this writing, Todd Shriber did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. • 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid • 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever • 10 Small-Cap Stocks That Look Like Bargains • 10 Names That Are Screaming Stocks to Buy The postDow Jones Today: More Trade Tiffs, But It’s Not China This Timeappeared first onInvestorPlace.
Nasdaq Today: Use Caution on Apple, Roku and Uber? What a boring trading session it was on Tuesday. While a late-session rally elevated the indices — with theNasdaqclimbing 0.22% and theS&P 500up 0.21% — both hugged the flatline for most of the day. Source: Shutterstock In fact, an odd anomaly stood out to me. The so-called “fear gauge,” more formally known as the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) plunged on the day. Even when the S&P 500 was flat on the day, the VIX was down 5%. After the index’s slight rally, the VIX ultimately fell 8%. What does that suggest? The VIX measures the 30-day outlook of future volatility. Essentially, investors aren’t expecting much in the next month, despite earnings set to start in a few weeks. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips The Nasdaq continues to hover right near that key 8,100 mark and with this week’s interesting price action, it’s got investors wondering if new highs could be next. Combined with the weakness in the VIX, it’s encouraging that sellers aren’t pushing the markets down, even after Monday’s subpar rally. Let’s see if bulls can harness enough momentum to generate new highs. Click to Enlarge Despite the promising start to Monday’s trading session, chip stocks continue to flounder. Specifically, shares ofNvidia(NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 2.4% on Tuesday as the company unveiled its new “Super” chip lineup. Apparently investors weren’t wowed, as shares now flirt with support. • 7 Stocks on Sale the Insiders Are Buying Alphabet’s(NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) self-driving unit Waymo took another positive step forward. While the unit has made great progress by offering autonomous driving taxi services in the Phoenix area, the company now has state approval from California. Well, sort of. It was approved for a permit to participate in the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot. It cannot charge passengers, will have a safety drivers and it will start with its own employees as the riders. The company tends to roll out slowly and carefully, although that’s exactly what you want from a robo-taxi service. In any regard, Waymo continues to put distance between itself and its peers. It’s also exciting news for the autonomous driving industry. Tesla(NASDAQ:TSLA) is seeing a somewhat alarming exodus of talent. The company’s engineering VP Steve MacManus has left, as has European Head Jan Oehmick. The reports are troubling as these two —and others— flee Tesla amid a big production push to end the second quarter. We’ll find out how Tesla’s production numbers came out soon enough, and while the company has always had seemingly high turnover, the news is still concerning. Finally,T-Mobile(NASDAQ:TMUS) has apparently settled on a deal withDish Networks(NYSE:DISH). The company is trying to meet various government concessions to get its deal forSprint(NYSE:S) approved. This is one step closer, but the partiesmay still need to do more. Sprint rallied over 4.5% on the news. When will it finally end? There were a few noteworthy calls this morning, despite the sleepy stock market. The first was onRoku(NASDAQ:ROKU), which received a downgrade from RBC Capital Markets. The analyst downgraded the stock from outperform to neutral and maintained his $90 price target. His actions seem justified given the stock’s major run this year (up 204% year to date). To be even more fair, the analyst said the rally was justified and that investors should buy on any major pullback. However, one could argue that it came a little late, with shares down almost 20% from its recent highs. Citigroup analysts were cautious onApple(NASDAQ:AAPL). The analysts are concerned about China’s impact on Apple, even though CEO Tim Cook said he believes the holiday period should mark the trough for its business in China. Further, the trade war just took a positive step forward and Apple’s most recent revenue guidance came in handedly above consensus estimates. So what’s the problem? Analyst Jim Suva says that Apple’s China sales “could be cut in half.” That’s thanks to a “less favorable brand image.” Ironically, Suva maintains a buy rating and $205 price target on Apple. • 7 Restaurant Stocks to Put on Your Plate Lyft > Uber? That’s according to one analyst, who raised his price target onLyft(NASDAQ:LYFT) from $70 to $76 and maintained his buy rating. ForUber(NYSE:UBER), he initiated the stock with a hold rating and $50 price target. Although, with that $50 price target, it would mean Uber stock wouldneed to breakoutover its $45 IPO price. Perhaps that’s the silver lining. Bret Kenwell is the manager and author ofFuture Blue Chipsand is on Twitter@BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell is long GOOGL and NVDA, and AAPL and ROKU, no matter what the analysts say. • 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid • 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever • 10 Small-Cap Stocks That Look Like Bargains • 10 Names That Are Screaming Stocks to Buy The postNasdaq Today: Use Caution on Apple, Roku and Uber?Âappeared first onInvestorPlace.
Kaia Gerber Just Went Full Big Bird on the Givenchy Runway We knew that Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week would bring some extravagant, over-the-top designs, but when Kaia Gerber walked down Givenchy's runway, we were still taken by surprise. The model was dressed in a voluminous, feathered, green-ombre gown, and it's safe to say the standout look stole the whole show. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Created by Givenchy's designer and creative director, Clare Waight Keller (as in, the woman behind Meghan Markle's wedding dress ), this piece definitely gave off bird-like vibes. In fact, if Sesame Street 's Big Bird ever had a high-fashion cousin, we imagine they would resemble this design (or, perhaps, it's more this ostrich toy from Crate & Barrel ). The look which had a black base and faded from light green on top to a dark navy train pretty much consumed Gerber's body. However, the model's leg was still visible, poking out from a slit in the front. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images We can only hope that someone, somewhere sees this dress and decides to snag it for a red carpet. (Fingers crossed that it's Lady Gaga.)
It’s Time for a Midyear Portfolio Wellness Check How's your portfolio doing? In this episode ofMarket Foolery, host Chris Hill chats with Motley Fool analyst Ron Gross about midyear investment checkups. Tune in to learn a few big numbers to watch in your portfolio, what to do with oversized positions, when to sell a loser of a stock, why you should have a watch list, some metrics to check before buying for the long term, and more. Plus, answers to some burning listener questions. Where can you find trustworthy and reliable company info -- besides The Motley Fool, of course? How and when should a long-term investor cash out a stock? And how long does "long-term" really mean, anyway? Find out below. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out ourpodcast center. A full transcript follows the video. More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market This video was recorded on July 1, 2019. Chris Hill:It's Monday, July 1st. Welcome toMarket Foolery! I'm Chris Hill. Joining me in studio today, the one and only Ron Gross. Thanks for being here! Ron Gross:Always a pleasure, Chris, literally! Hill:As I mentioned last week, two things. This is going to be a short week forMarket Foolerybecause we have the holiday coming up. So, just an episode today and tomorrow. Gross:Big July 4th coming up! Hill:Yeah. And I'm not here. Gross:Literally. Hill:Hopefully, by the time you're hearing this, I'm already on Cape Cod. Gross:Are you enjoying yourself, do you think? Hill:Hopefully! [laughs] Fingers crossed. We're taping this a little early. But I wanted to get you in here because this really seems like a good natural break for any investor. We're at the halfway point of 2019. We're going to dip into the Fool mailbag, because we got some great questions. But I am curious, this does seem like a good time for any investor to take a step back and say, "OK, it's the midway point. How am I doing?" Almost, to the extent it's possible, look at your portfolio with a fresh set of eyes. Gross:I like to do that two times a year. Now, because I'm an investing nerd, I do it daily. But I don't recommend that to the average person. But, two times a year is a really nice time. You can step back, take a look at your portfolio. You just need to see a few things. Sometimes, for example, cash can have accumulated. For example, I put a piece of my 401(k) into cash every month, and then I deploy it. But sometimes I forget, and the cash can build up. You don't want cash sitting idle unless that's a strategy that you're particularly pursuing. You want to keep an eye on your cash balance. You want to see if any positions have become oversized. First of all, it's a good problem to have. It probably means something is skyrocketing to the moon and it's just killing it. But you may be unhappy with how big that has become as part of your portfolio, the allocation size. And perhaps it's time to pare back. A third thing is, perhaps you've been hanging on to a loser a little bit too long in the hopes that it would come back. Hope is a bad strategy when it comes to investing. You have to have a good reason, a good rationale. We always suggest writing down your investment thesis. In the case of a loser that you're really unhappy with, it's always good to go back and revisit your investment thesis if you have written it down. Those three things. Maybe a company has become too large, maybe a company is not turning around as hoped, or maybe cash is accumulating. Two times a year, perfect. Hill:Two of those things, I think, tie nicely into something we talk about from time to time, which is having a watch list. It's great to have a portfolio diversified with a bunch of stocks, but you also want to have a few stocks that are on a watch list so that if the cash balance builds up, or you do look at something and say, "You know what? I've looked back at why I bought this company. The thesis is broken. I'm going to get rid of this," maybe you time the sale, if it's at a loss, you time it to be advantageous from a tax position. But yeah, that's really why you want to have a watch list. Gross:I love that idea, for sure! And don't take your watch list for granted. If you put a company on your watch list a year, two years ago, don't just assume nothing has changed. Give it a once-over twice to make sure that you still like that company and your thesis, whatever it is, still holds. I always have a watch list. I'm always hoping to buy that next thing and having enough cash to buy that next stock, or, as you said, maybe selling something and replacing it with something better. The idea being, you always want to have your favorite stocks in your portfolio at any given time. This is the perfect time to make sure that's the case. Hill:What is the first number you look at when you're looking at a company? Let's put aside the stock price. You can't help but see that number when you type in a ticker. For me, it's the market cap. That is the first thing I look at, because one of the ways I think about investing for the long haul is, what is the market cap today, what do I think it can be, particularly relative to competition. So, for me, it's market cap. What is it for you? Gross:Market cap is definitely top few things. I can look at a glance of a tear sheet and look at a few things like, boom, right? Is the company profitable? Is there net income? Even more importantly, I'll look at a cash flow metric like EBITDA. Are they producing cash flow? What's the market cap? What size of a company are we talking about here? So, perhaps what's the revenue number look like? Those three things right there can tell you a lot about a company. Hill:Before we get into the mailbag, looking ahead to the second half of the year, is there anything in particular you're going to be watching -- whether it's an industry, a particular company? Anything? Gross:This may not be satisfying to many listeners because it gets a little bit in the economic weeds, but macro is what I'll be looking at, for the second half of this year, specifically interest rates and GDP or economic growth. That's going to tell me a lot about what I need to know about individual companies and how their growth rates are looking, and if, God forbid, we're going to fall back into a recession, which does happen. Sometime, we will. But, how's that all looking? Alongside that, how's the trade war situation shaping up? Six months from now, are we going to look back and say, "Wow, this has been a real thing!" or will we say, "That was just a blip, and it's gone"? So, mostly macro things for me. Hill:Our email address ismarketfoolery@fool.com. Question from Ryan Merkel, Staten Island, New York. Ryan writes, "I'm a new investor, love the podcast and the services you provide throughStock AdvisorandRule Breakers. With the market doing really well since Christmas Eve, 2018, a trade war hovering over us, slowdown in the economy, and in my opinion, an uncertain future economy, is it a good time to take some profit? I've heard that once you hit 15% profit, you should take some off the table. I'm a long-term investor, but what does the term long-term really mean? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated." I'm curious about the number he wrote. You hear all manner of things, but I've heard investors say, "If I make 50% profit," or -- this is my father in law's move, and it's worked out well for him, I should say -- if he doubles his money with a stock, he'll sell half and roll with the rest and redeploy the cash in another way. Do you have any guidelines that you live by? I know you're a valuation guy. Gross:Yeah, that's what I live and die by, so I don't have a standard number. A company could go up 15%, but have another 100% to go over the next five years. I want to be all in there, I don't want to start paring it back. So, for me, it's looking at each individual company and assessing, is this too big of a position, is the valuation stretched such that I probably won't earn the rate of return that I want to earn, especially relative to the market? And if that happens, then I'll pare back. But there's no standard like, "Oh, 15%, time to peel back." That's just not how I think about stocks. Hill:In terms of long-term investing -- to Ryan's question -- how do you think about "long-term"? I think in general here at The Motley Fool, we define "long-term" in a much longer time horizon than, say, the average person on Wall Street does. Gross:I literally think about it as forever, except maybe retirement, things will change, and I'll have to change my allocation from an equity bond perspective or an equity cash perspective. But, for really long periods of time. That doesn't mean I'm going to hold every single company for really long periods of time. But I'm going to remain almost fully invested for really long periods of time, and I'm not going to try to time the market and move to cash in any significant way. There are certain times where I feel things are stretched where I'll be more in cash than others. But I'm not pulling money in and out of the market. Statistics show that if you're not in the market for the best five days of any given period of time -- a year, 2 years, 5, or 10 -- you underperform unbelievably versus if you had stayed in investing. And that's only if you missed five days or so. So, I'm happy to take the ebbs and flows of the market and live through them, not try to be smarter than the market. Try to buy good companies, make good investments, but not try to be smarter than the market. Just hold on for literally decades. Hill:Particularly if you're a new investor, like Ryan, and you're younger, it can be a little hard when you're starting out to think in terms of 10 years, 20 years, that sort of thing. But really, overwhelmingly, that's how younger investors should -- I don't know how old Ryan is, but I'm going to make the safe assumption he's younger than you and me. Gross:[laughs] Most people are. Agreed. The only thing you have to worry about, in my opinion, is to make sure that you don't have cash in the market that you're going to need over the next two or three years. If you do that, then you can stay invested, and even if the market tanks like it did in 2008 and 2009, you can stay patient, perhaps invest more money if you have it, but just stay patient, don't pull money out, because you don't need that money. It's going to come back. It historically always has. Hill:That's a great point! I was thinking of last week, when Dan Kline was here in the studio, we were talking about theCaesars-Eldoradomerger. Dan was very clear about saying he really likes the deal and he really thinks it's going to pay off 10 years down the line. He was basically like, "Yeah, I think this is a great deal!" He ticked off all the reasons he thought it made sense. And in the next breath, he said, "The next couple of years, that's not going to show up. They're going to be spending money. They'll have to do all the things that come with a merger, including rebranding, etc. But 5, 10 years down the line, I really love this deal!" Gross:That's awesome! I love that kind of thinking! The only caveat there is, over a 10-year period of time, its total rate of return would have to be equal to or better than the opportunity cost of what I could have put the money into elsewhere. So, it's going to have to earn me whatever it is, 8% to 10%, on average for that 10 year period, so that when I look back at it and say, "OK, that was a great investment!" If it's only earned me 20% over that 10-year period, it was probably a mistake. Hill:Question from Caroline Smith, who writes, "I've heard folks on your podcast mention how Wall Street has an inherent conflict of interest when the issue analyst reports and price targets for stocks. Where should I go to get information I can really trust when I'm doing research -- outside of The Motley Fool, that is. Thanks very much." Great question! I'm reminded of a phrase that I always associate with our friend and colleague, Uncle Joe Magyer, when he talks about, not necessarily Wall Street analysts, but company executives, as he puts it, talking their own book. You would expect the CEO of any company to talk up their business. It's not to say that analysts on Wall Street are being disingenuous when they say, "This is why I like this company. This is why I don't like this company." But, yeah, there are absolutely conflicts of interest when analysts from Wall Street Firm X is saying, "I love this stock!" Meanwhile, the analysts on the sell side are pushing the stock as well. Anyway, to the question that Caroline posed, where do you go for research? Gross:I personally go directly to the company documents and do my own research. That's easy for me to say. That's what I do all day long. If you're someone who wants someone else's opinion, and you don't want to go to the primary documents and do your own work, I always start with a straight-outGoogle. Just start googling the company. You'll find articles, whether it'sForbes,Fortune,The Wall Street Journal, from folks that don't have a conflict. They're either analysts, or even financial authors from the financial press, and they will give you thoughts and opinions. Even if it's not opinion, at least it will be facts about how a company is doing. Obviously, The Fool, as the question says, but we do have competitors that don't have conflicts. I'll throw out one because I'm not in the business of helping our competitors. ButMorningstaris a company that we trust around here to look at a research report and to get advice that is not conflicted. It's not free, it's expensive, and not everybody wants to pay for that level of research. But there are some folks out there that do independent research. And those are the folks that are typically not associated with an investment bank. Hill:I'll just add that if it's an industry that you're particularly interested in, the trade media beyondThe Wall Street Journals andFortune,Forbes, etc. If you start digging into what trade media covering a given industry are writing about, you can really get into stuff that's never going to see the light of day inThe Wall Street Journal. For me, it's always enlightening to look at the restaurant trade publications. You almost hear about stuff before it makes its way to the mainstream media. Gross:Excellent point! In fact, a lot of the trade media is free because it's advertising supported. So, you could get your hands on a lot -- whether it's telecom, food, restaurants, lots of different industries -- a lot more information than you would think you could, for free. Hill:Last thing before we wrap up: fireworks. You're a fan of fireworks, aren't you? Gross:Sure! Hill:I'm looking ahead to later in the week. Do you have one that stands out? Did you ever go to New York City, like, "I'm getting the fireworks that are over the Statue of Liberty"? Do you ever do that? Gross:TheMacy'sfireworks display was always -- I'm a New Yorker, so growing up ... I wouldn't necessarily head down to the city to see it, but, always, sitting in front of the TV, I remember as a kid lots of times focusing on what Macy's had to offer. You? Hill:Not quite as big as that in Maine when I was growing up. [laughs] But, fireworks... Gross:It's fun! Hill:Always fun! Anytime you can be elevated, anytime you get the opportunity -- even if you're a few floors up in an apartment building, it makes a nice difference. I've actually come over here to Fool headquarters a few times. You go to the fifth-floor balcony -- assuming it's not cloudy or anything like that -- you get a nice view, not of the ones over the Mall in D.C., but over in Maryland, all over the place. Gross:Awesome! Hill:Who doesn't love fireworks? Gross:Exactly! Hill:Ron Gross, always good talking to you! Gross:Thank you, Chris! Hill:As always, people on the program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. That's going to do it for this edition ofMarket Foolery! The show is mixed by the newly married Dan Boyd. I'm Chris Hill. Thanks for listening! We'll see you tomorrow! Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Chris Hillhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned.Ron Grossowns shares of Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
Trump's Fourth of July extravaganza troubles former military leaders President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday that the nations military leaders are thrilled that hes trotting out a dazzling display of troops, tanks, helicopters and fighter jets for his personal Independence Day celebration. But multiple former military leaders are publicly expressing dismay, calling it the latest example of Trump politicizing the armed services. The annual public festivities and fireworks display on the National Mall scheduled for Thursday are being overtaken by Trump's "Salute to America" event, which is shaping up to feature a prominent role for the military. "This looks like its becoming much more of a Republican Party event a political event about the president than a national celebration of the Fourth of July, and its unfortunate to have the military smack dab in the middle of that, said retired Army Lt. Gen. David Barno, who commanded U.S. troops in Afghanistan under President George W. Bush. The president is using the armed forces in a political ploy for his reelection campaign and I think its absolutely obscene, added retired Army Maj. Gen. William Nash, a veteran of Vietnam, the Gulf War and peacekeeping operations in the Balkans. The Pentagon is offering few details about the deployment of military hardware and the extent of its participation, referring queries to the White House. But a small contingent of tanks and other armored vehicles has arrived in the nation's capital, and, according to news reports, will be placed on display ahead of Trumps speech at the Lincoln Memorial. A pair of Abrams tanks were photographed on railroad tracks in southeast Washington late Monday and again Tuesday, accompanied by two Bradley Fighting Vehicles and an M88 armored recovery vehicle. At least one of the vehicles bore markings of the Armys Georgia-based 3rd Infantry Division. A Defense official who wasnt authorized to speak publicly confirmed to POLITICO that the unit had been tapped to send the hardware north by train. From what I understand, the unit was given short notice they only received the order last week, the official said. Story continues "There will be military vehicles on display at the Salute to America," the Pentagon confirmed in a statement Tuesday. "DoD has provided two M1A2 Abrams tanks and two M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles in support of the event." Meanwhile, the Interior Department confirmed to POLITICO last week that the Navys Blue Angels will conduct a flyover and a Marine Corps Silent Drill Team will take part in the celebration. Other aircraft may include F-22 and F-35 fighters, one of the aircraft used as Air Force One, and even a massive B-2 stealth bomber, according to CNN. In addition, ABC reported an MV-22 Osprey "tiltrotor" aircraft will be on hand, and the event could mark the public debut of the Marine Corps new presidential helicopter, the VH-92. But the Fourth of July is not traditionally a holiday focused on the military unlike the Bastille Day celebrations in France that so impressed Trump in 2017 and inspired his interest in a major military display. "Military displays like this are a favorite tactic of those who want to wrap themselves in the symbols of who we are rather than really celebrating who we are, said Jason Dempsey, a former Army major who studies the military and society at the Center for a New American Security, a nonpartisan think tank. The military is playing an ever more central role in American political life, Dempsey added. This fits into this larger, troubling trend of identifying America itself as a military state. The Fourth of July in America should be about so much more than our military and our ability to fight off the rest of the world. Barno called the Fourth of July plans "very unusual." "I think one of the big risks is that the military is being used in some ways as a political prop," he said. "Its looking highly politicized by anybodys yardstick." The plans for July Fourth come after a string of appearances at military bases from Korea to Germany at which Trump offered "politicized diatribes against his political opponents," Barno added. "I hope the speech doesnt become partisan, because troops shouldnt be listening to the president talk about the other party," agreed retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré. "Presidents usually leave their party business out when they talk in front of military audiences, but people are becoming numb to it." Just last month, then-acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan called on troops and their leaders to "reinforce the apolitical nature of military and civilian service." He offered those words in a pair of memos issued after an episode in which the White House's military office had asked the Navy to keep the destroyer USS John McCain out of sight during a presidential visit to Japan. Other veterans and defense experts, however, insisted the flyovers and deployment of armored vehicles aren't too far out of line with the Pentagons own routine displays at public events like air shows and other recruiting efforts. This is not such a big deal. Its all been done before, said Ron Moeller, an Air Force veteran and former senior CIA paramilitary officer though not on Independence Day, he acknowledged. Moeller cited past displays of military hardware and capabilities at a base just outside Washington. And in June 1991, troops and vehicles poured through the capital in a Gulf War victory parade with a $12 million price tag which also involved tanks, Bradleys and even stealth bombers, according to news reports at the time. The military display on Thursday could be expensive. For example, flying a B-2 stealth bomber will likely require a journey from an Air Force base as far away as Missouri or Florida . "That will be millions of dollars in and of itself," estimated Rick Berger, a Defense budget expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. But he also said Trump's military display could enhance military recruiting efforts and public knowledge of the armed forces. I dont think its the worst thing to ship up a few vehicles out of the thousands that we own to maybe give some young Americans a glimpse of what the military looks like, Berger said. Public support gets translated into support in Congress, which gets translated into appropriations bills. Its probably actually a good cost-benefit ratio given how separated the military is from the public today. Still, "this celebration definitely seems to be more politicized than in the past," he added, "but so is everything."
Acuity Sacrifices Sales for Margin Improvement Commercial lighting, controls, and building management solutions providerAcuity Brands(NYSE: AYI)coupled flat top-line results in its fiscal Q3 2019 with a forecast for lower year-over-year sales next quarter. Below, I'll review the last three months of operations as detailed in Acuity's latest earnings report and discuss why management turned the dimmer switch on next quarter's prospects. Note that all comparative numbers in the discussion that follows are presented against the prior-year quarter. [{"Metric": "Revenue", "Q3 2019": "$947.6 million", "Q3 2018": "$944.0 million", "Change": "0.4%"}, {"Metric": "Net income", "Q3 2019": "$88.4 million", "Q3 2018": "$73.0 million", "Change": "21.1%"}, {"Metric": "Diluted earnings per share", "Q3 2019": "$2.22", "Q3 2018": "$1.80", "Change": "23.3%"}] Data source: Acuity Brands. • Acuity's 0.4% sales increase was due to volume growth of roughly 1%, which was offset by foreign currency translation and the company's adoption of new accounting standard ASC 606. A recent price increase was negated by the mix of products sold during the quarter. • Gross marginfell 70basis pointsto 40.5%. Management blamed a timing shift in key customer sales in the company's retail channel, in addition to the underabsorption of manufacturing costs as Acuity reduced inventory as part of an efficiency exercise. • Despite the lower gross profitability in comparison to the prior-year period, management pointed out that Q3's adjusted gross profit margin (also 40.5%) marked the third sequential quarter of improvement and the first quarter in a year that this number has cleared 40%. • Similar toQ2, selling, distribution, and administrative (SD&A) expenses declined compared to the prior year. Acuity incurred lower outbound freight costs due to the sales mix changes in the retail channel, and booked lower professional fees related to mergers and acquisitions. SD&A decreased roughly 3% to $263.4 million. • After adjusting for a one-time $10 million special charge in the prior-year quarter,operating marginimproved by roughly 30 basis points to 12.7%. • The company acquired Delaware-based advanced optical components manufacturer WhiteOptics in June for an undisclosed amount. Acuity will utilize WhiteOptics to enhance its commercial and institutional LED lighting solutions. Image source: Getty Images. Despite ongoing margin pressure from import tariffs, Acuity's management believes that the demand outlook for the remainder of calendar year 2019 remains relatively benign. Still, in the company's earnings press release, CEO Vernon Nagel warned of sales weakness (though accompanied by improved profitability) in the upcoming quarter: We believe our fiscal fourth quarter net sales could be down modestly compared with prior year's net sales, which benefited from the significant initial stocking of product in the stores of a new customer in the retail sales channel. Also, fourth quarter net sales may be negatively impacted by our efforts to enhance our margin profile as we expect to continue our program of reviewing portions of our product portfolio and services offerings with the objective of eliminating those items and activities that do not meet our return objectives. Lastly, we believe our fourth quarter adjusted operating profit margin will exceed prior-year's fourth quarter margin as well as improve on a sequential basis from the third quarter. Acuity's guidance for a sales decline sent shares spiraling south by as much as 17% in the trading session following the earnings release, though they recovered to a relatively favorable 7% drop by midday. The forecast unnerved investors, as Acuity has already shown some revenue vulnerability from an evolving customer and product mix in its retail channel. In addition, some customers had moved orders into the first half of the fiscal year in advance of a recently instituted price increase, and this represents another potential drag on fourth-quarter sales. Conversely, as Nagel asserts, the company is intentionally foregoing some sales of anemic margin in order to generate higher-profit, value-added business.As I recently discussed, Acuity is investing in Internet of Things (IoT) "smart building" platforms, as well as advanced lighting and control systems, to build a healthier gross margin over time. Thus, current sales sluggishness may lead to higher earnings capacity in the long run. While skeptical today, shareholders will await illumination on this business model improvement effort in the coming quarters. More From The Motley Fool • 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today • The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss • 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) • What Is an ETF? • 5 Recession-Proof Stocks • How to Beat the Market Asit Sharmahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
Defenders of vegan bacon sue Mississippi over labeling law JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal lawsuit says Mississippi is violating free-speech rights by banning makers of plant-based foods from using terms such as "meatless meatballs" and "vegan bacon." The lawsuit against Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant and the state's Republican agriculture commissioner, Andy Gipson, was filed Monday by the Plant Based Foods Association and the Illinois-based Upton's Naturals Co. , which makes vegan products and sells them in many states, including Mississippi. It was filed the same day Mississippi enacted a new law that declares "a plant-based or insect-based food product shall not be labeled as meat or a meat food product." "The ban serves only to create consumer confusion where none previously existed," says the lawsuit, which is backed by Institute for Justice, a free-market advocacy group based in Virginia. A similar food labeling lawsuit was filed in Missouri last year by the Oregon-based Tofurky Co., which makes vegetarian food products, and the Good Food Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for alternatives to meat. A Missouri law made it a misdemeanor to label plant-based products as meat. Producers of beef, poultry, pork and lamb have been pushing to protect meat terminology as companies develop more plant-based products that look and taste similar to meat. The Good Food Institute says 12 states have enacted what it calls "meat label censorship" laws. In addition to Mississippi and Missouri, the states are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming. The Louisiana measure signed by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards prohibits veggie products from being called meat, non-rice products from being described as rice and sugar alternatives from being marketed as sugar. It becomes law in October 2020. The chairman of the Mississippi Senate Agriculture Committee, Republican Billy Hudson of Hattiesburg, was chief sponsor of the meat labeling legislation. He said the state agriculture department and the Mississippi Cattlemen's Association pushed for it because of concerns that consumers could be misled. The Mississippi law also says food produced using animal tissue cultured in a laboratory may not be labeled as meat. Story continues "They tell me that fake steak looks just like our real meat," Hudson told The Associated Press on Monday. He said if a consumer sees two similar products side by side, they could think they're getting meat when they're not. "I don't want to eat meat grown by a test tube in a laboratory," Hudson said. "If my constituents do, they ought to know what they're getting." Mississippi's agriculture commissioner said Tuesday that he looks forward to defending the law. "A food product made of insect-protein should not be deceptively labeled as beef," Gipson said. "Someone looking to purchase tofu should not be tricked into buying lab-grown animal protein." The lawsuit in Mississippi says that Upton's Naturals does not make meat products but does use terms such as "vegan burgers," ''vegan bacon" and "vegan chorizo." "These terms, as used by Upton's Naturals, increase consumer understanding of the foods' characteristics and communicate how the foods should be prepared and eaten," the lawsuit says. The Plant Based Foods Association says in the lawsuit that "no reasonable consumer would be misled" by terms such as "meatless steaks" and "vegan jerky." Jessica Almy, policy director for the Good Food Institute, said the food labeling restrictions in Mississippi should be overturned: "This law is a tremendous overstep of state powers and is really just a sad attempt to censor veggie burgers." ____ Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus .
Women's World Cup: U.S. beats England to advance to final Alyssa Naeher was supposed to be the weakness. The Achilles heel. The insufficient Hope Solo replacement, the question mark, and so much more. But on Tuesday, in the biggest game of her life, she was the hero. The player 22 teammates mobbed at the final whistle. They – the U.S. women’s national team – are headed to the 2019 World Cup final because of her. Christen Press and Alex Morgan had given the U.S. a 2-1 lead over England. Naeher then saved an 84th-minute penalty to preserve it, and ultimately seal the semifinal win. NAEHER SAVES!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/h4JqFFLylY — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2019 The Americans are now 90 minutes away from back-to-back world championships. One more ascent away from their sport’s mountaintop. On Sunday (11 a.m. ET, Fox), either Sweden or the Netherlands will stand between them and a fourth star. (Megan Rapinoe, who missed Tuesday’s game with a hamstring injury , expects to be ready.) But first, they’ll savor a thriller – which, given context and narratives, included an all-time great World Cup moment. U.S. gets another early goal It took the U.S. 12 minutes against Thailand . Eleven against Chile . Three against Sweden , seven against Spain , and five against France . On Tuesday, the Americans did it again. For the sixth consecutive World Cup game – and seventh dating back to 2015 – they scored inside 12 minutes. Press, who started in place of the injured Rapinoe, needed less than 10 to break the deadlock. This, though, was a brilliant team goal. Tobin Heath picked out Rose Lavelle in a pocket of space. Lavelle let the ball run through her legs into the path of Kelley O’Hara. O’Hara’s cross beat the English defense, and Press beat backup keeper Carly Telford: CHRISTEN PRESS! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 No Rapinoe, no problem! The USWNT takes the early lead again and has now scored in the first 15 minutes in every single game this #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/Xqu3u0m56V — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2019 Lavelle created the goal without even touching the ball. And she did plenty else with it at her feet as well. Story continues Rose Lavelle dazzled, and the U.S. The U.S. was the better team in the first half, and the talisman was Lavelle. Three minutes into the game, she humiliated Millie Bright, danced into the box, and tested Telford. ROSE LAVELLE. STOP IT. pic.twitter.com/uLMGLxiHTZ — Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) July 2, 2019 Later in the half, she caught two 20-yard shots really well. Telford’s palms kept one out of the back of the net. An English defender’s forehead foiled the other. Rose forces a save from Telford! Morgan collides with Bronze on the play and stays down for a moment, but can continue. #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/PFsY9dstEQ — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2019 Throughout the half, she glided past opponents in midfield, as she’s done all tournament. She was the most influential player on the field, even if her name won’t show up on the scoresheet – until she exited with what appeared to be a hamstring injury after an hour. And the Americans, in part thanks to her excellence, were on top ... until they weren’t. England equalizes, and ascends As it had done against France , the U.S. gradually began to sit back after the early goal. And it paid a price. It gave England’s Keira Walsh loads of space at the base of midfield to survey the field. not ideal pic.twitter.com/1UDIfUoXWd — Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) July 2, 2019 With neither Lindsey Horan nor Julie Ertz stepping up to pressure the ball, Walsh picked out Beth Mead on the left. Mead crossed for Ellen White, whose redirection pinged in off the post. What a goal! Ellen White takes the lead in the Golden Boot race with her 6th goal of the #FIFAWWC . Great cross from Mead, clinical finish from White. 1-1! pic.twitter.com/U5GoaxbIRv — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2019 Before and after the equalizer, England found a foothold in the game. At 1-1, Walsh tested Naeher with a slicing drive. Naeher, not for the last time, was up to the task. #WWCTelemundo : ¡ @AlyssaNaeher ! 😱🔥🔥 Tremenda atajada de la arquera de #USA que evita el segundo de #ENG 🧤 pic.twitter.com/lVs1uowLwx — Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 2, 2019 U.S. retakes the lead The game swung again just after the half-hour mark – and again thanks to a superb team move. Abby Dahlkemper bypassed England’s midfield with a pinpoint cross-field ball to Press. Press played to Horan, who clipped in a cross that Morgan powered home: The ball from Dahlkemper to start it though. HOO BABY. COME ON. pic.twitter.com/zAoY4WJhXt — Nate Scott (@aNateScott) July 2, 2019 The vision was vintage Horan. The run and header, on her 30th birthday, were vintage Morgan. So was the celebration . The U.S. took the 2-1 lead into halftime. U.S. hangs on thanks to Naeher and VAR The second half was less eventful. But two events nearly brought England level again. First, White thought she had. The ball was in the back of the net. The scoreboard read “2-2.” But replays showed that White was inches offside. OFFSIDE! VAR rules out what would have been Ellen White's second goal and second equalizer of the game! #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/a1aCGeas4R — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2019 The video assistant referee notified the head referee, who correctly disallowed the goal. Then, with 12 minutes remaining, VAR worked against the Americans. Fran Kirby, in as a second-half substitute, split the U.S. defense to find Demi Stokes. Stokes tapped a dribbling cross into the path of White, who looked like she’d surely score her seventh goal of the World Cup. Instead, she whiffed. But that was because Becky Sauerbrunn clipped her heel as she tried to connect with the ball. PENALTY TO ENGLAND! Ellen White couldn't get a foot on Stokes' cross, VAR took a look, and a penalty is called on Sauerbrunn! #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/I7kqxCMLeW — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2019 VAR spotted that, and the referee pointed to the spot. With Nikita Parris having missed two penalties earlier in the tournament, Steph Houghton stepped up. Naeher, however, in the biggest of moments, came up even bigger. The oft-criticized keeper dove right and corralled Houghton’s penalty. Teammates sprinted toward her, their emotion and gratitude momentarily overriding the fact that they still had seven minutes to see out. After England was reduced to 10 players by Millie Bright’s red card, they did just that. They held on for a third consecutive 2-1 victory. They did not dominate, but rode heroes new and old to the brink of glory. And they’ll be overflowing with confidence that yet more will arise on Sunday. U.S. players mob Alyssa Naeher after her heroic penalty save in a Women's World Cup semifinal win over England. (Getty) – – – – – – – Henry Bushnell is a features writer for Yahoo Sports . Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell , and on Facebook . More from Yahoo Sports: Nike pulls shoe after Kaepernick raises racial concerns Angels pitcher, family man Skaggs gone too soon Yankees’ Stanton posts heartfelt message after Skaggs’ death Broncos preview: Replacing Manning has been tough
NYWIFT Presents "2019 NYWIFT Summit: Inclusion, Equality and Safety" at the Ford Foundation for Social Justice NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 2, 2019/ New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) presented its first annual NYWIFT Summit on June 27th, 2019 from 4-8 PM, hosted by the Ford Foundation for Social Justice (320 East 43rdStreet) with 175 film and television industry stakeholders in attendance. The theme for 2019 was Inclusion, Equality and Safety in the workplace for women working in the media industry. Conversation 1: Sexual Harassment / Safety: (from left): Jericka Duncan, Amber Tamblyn, Leslie Silvaand Sharyn Tejani (photo credit: John Dallas Phelps) "We saw that NYWIFT was needed now more than ever, to raise our collective voice on issues that are vital for working women. We've been taking stock and mining what initiatives are being rolled out; how the networks, studios and agencies are responding and listening to our community of women across the industry," said NYWIFT Board President Simone Pero in her opening remarks. "The Summit is somewhat of a pause and is meant to engage in gathering information and generating new ideas and approaches both individually and collectively." The event marked the launch of a new advocacy initiative to bring together some of the most unique and diverse voices of women working to create better labor conditions for women working in the entertainment industry. "There is a difference between a movement - a gathering of people with specific intentions to create social change- and actual measurable progress," said NYWIFT Executive Director Cynthia Lopez. "I am thrilled that every woman who spoke here today exemplified and embodied the best of both movementandprogress in our industry." As part of this new initiative, NYWIFT's goal is to develop a briefing summary of the Summit that would include case studies, interviews, best practices and a bibliography of local, state and national resources. Cara Mertes(Director, JustFilms, Ford Foundation),Cynthia Lopez(Executive Director, NYWIFT), andSimone Pero(Producer; President, NYWIFT Board of Directors) gave opening remarks andRoberta Reardon(Commissioner, New York State Department of Labor) presented the keynote. NYWIFT Board MemberKathrynO'Kane(Producer and Director; Showrunner ofSalt Fat Acid Heat) was one of the key organizers of the Summit and emceed the proceedings. The Summit was organized in to three panels, one per issue, with industry thought leaders and journalists discussing challenges and solutions before opening the floor for audience questions. InConversation1: Sexual Harassment / Safety,speakers defined sexual harassment in its many forms and highlighted programs and laws that work toward creating a safer work environment. Panelists includedLeslie Silva(Actress, Founding Member of TIME'S UP);Amber Tamblyn(Author, Actress and Director, Founding Member of TIME'S UP); andSharyn Tejani(Director, TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund).Jericka Duncan(National Correspondent,CBS This Morning) moderated. A few weeks prior to the Summit, Silva and other TIME'S UP Members had successfully lobbied to pass the TIME'S UP NY Safety Agenda which extends the statues of limitations for second- and third-degree rape in New York State. The dialogue inConversation 2: Diversity/Inclusionfocused on representation and gender equality matters and provided examples of initiatives to implement a more diverse intersectional environment. The panelists wereChristina Norman(Creative Executive, Creative Advisor to Level Forward) andRadhaBlank(Performer/Writer/Director/Producer for TV, Stage and Film), andDanielle C. Belton(Editor-in-Chief,The Root) moderated. Finally,Conversation 3: Pay Equityexamined the extent of the gender pay gap in the film and television industry and highlighted programs, incentives and campaigns that work toward equity. The conversation withBeverly Cooper Neufeld(President, PowHer New York) andRebeccaDamon(Executive Vice President and New York Local President SAG-AFTRA) was moderated byLori Sokol(Ph.D., Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief,Women's eNews). A clip from the forthcoming documentaryThis Changes Everything, which addresses gender discrimination both onscreen and off, closed out the program, followed by a reception and lively conversation among audience members about the issues at hand. Attendees were encouraged to sign up for more information about NYWIFT's Advocacy Committee in the coming weeks, as the organization cultivates a team dedicated to progress. For more information about New York Women in Film & Television's initiatives please visitwww.nywift.org. ABOUT NYWIFT New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) advocates for equality in the moving image industry and supports women in every stage of their careers. As the preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York, NYWIFT energizes women by illuminating their achievements, presenting training and professional development programs, awarding scholarships and grants, and providing access to a supportive community of peers. NYWIFT brings together nearly 2,500 women and men working both above and below the line. NYWIFT is part of a network of 50 women in film chapters worldwide, representing more than 15,000 members. NYWIFT is a nonprofit 501c3 public charity. For more information visitwww.nywift.org.Follow on all social platforms @NYWIFT / #NYWIFTPICTURES AVAILABLE ATwww.nywift.org/summit CONTACT: Katie ChambersCommunity Engagement Director at NYWIFTkchambers@nywift.org(212) 679-0870, ext. 23 SOURCE:New York Women in Film & Television View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/550668/NYWIFT-Presents-2019-NYWIFT-Summit-Inclusion-Equality-and-Safety-at-the-Ford-Foundation-for-Social-Justice
Real-Life 'Crazy Rich Asians' Throw 1st Birthday Party With Gucci Claw Machine and $1 Million Donation Chicken and Waffles In Beverly Hills -- it's not about who you know -- it's about how lavish a party you can throw, and one over the top event included amazing treats and entertainment ... especially the claw machine stuffed full of Gucci products. Dr. Gabriel Chiu , one of Beverly Hills' top plastic surgeons, and his wife Christine are rising socialites in town, and celebrated their 1-year-old son Gabriel's birthday with a party to end all parties. The Chiu's have been living the luxurious lifestyle in BH for years, and we're told Christine was once in the running to become one of the "Housewives of Beverly Hills." Even more interesting -- sources tell The Blast Christine is actually the focus of a new TV show based on a real-life version of the popular movie, "Crazy Rich Asians," and crews were rolling during the insane birthday bash. It's unclear where exactly the show will end up, but we're told they have been following Chiu around for months and documenting her opulent and philanthropic lifestyle. It was attended by celebrities like "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Teddi Jo Mellencamp and others, including Joyce Bonelli, and Alexa Dell. We're told Mellencamp especially enjoyed the Gucci claw machine, and even took a stab at trying to score her own swag. However, she came away empty handed while her friend was able to win a bag. We're told the claw machine was the biggest hit, but guests also enjoyed a carnival-themed party, which included a money booth, virtual reality games, custom Baby G surf shop, face painting, arcade room, marionette shows, caricatures and carnival games. The entertainment was good, but the food at Baby G's party was next level. We're told guests dined on reimagined carnival eats, which included mini corn dogs, lobster rolls, popcorn, chicken and waffles, cotton candy and tater tots topped with caviar. Something tells us Baby G is going to have a whole bunch of new friends when his 2nd birthday party rolls around. Story continues Baby G's party went down Saturday in Santa Monica at the Cayton Children's Museum by ShareWell. Along with choosing the museum as their venue, the Chiu family donated $1 million in Gabriel's honor to dedicate a wing of the museum. The donation also helped establed the Chiu Fund-For-All, which we're told will provide free museum admission for children in "undeserved" communities. Tater Tots and Caviar Bite-Sized Clam Chowder Bowls Sliders Cotton Candy Lobster Rolls
The Latest: Macron looks at Brexit as EU picks new leaders BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on the European Union summit (all times local): 10:25 p.m. French President Emmanuel Macron says a no-deal Brexit "remains a possible option" but it shouldn't be feared. The European Union is getting new leadership by late fall but an Oct. 30 deadline for Britain's departure from the EU means Brexit remains on the agenda. Macron said on Tuesday after EU leaders nominated candidates for four top posts that he hopes Brexit negotiations don't drag on so "we can conclude before that." Macron says there is uncertainty ahead because Prime Minister Theresa May's successor hasn't been chosen and "we don't know how the leaders to come will behave." But he added that fear over British politicians failing to approve a divorce deal and the U.K. leaving the EU without one shouldn't enter the talks. Macron said: "If we fear a no deal, we are hostages to the camp in front of us." ___ 9:55 p.m. French President Emmanuel says the selection of candidates for the European Union's top jobs reflects the Franco-German alliance that's dominated the EU since its inception. Macron said after he and other leaders of EU counties broke an impasse over four key posts that the agreement they found Tuesday was partly "the fruit of a profound Franco-German entente." He said: "This decision allows us not to divide Europe, either politically or geographically." The French leader noted his constant coordination with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Macron was coy about whether he suggested German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen to head the EU's executive commission several weeks ago. Von der Leyen was nominated as European Commission president after final negotiations Tuesday in which she had Macron's strong backing. He says he loved her knowledge of the French language. Macron wasn't empty-handed. France is represented in the nomination of the French chief of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, to head the central bank for the 19 EU nations that share the same euro currency. Story continues ___ 8:45 p.m. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel says it's a "great honor, a privilege" to be named as the next president of the European Council and that he will do his utmost to live up to the expectations of the role. Speaking Tuesday after being elected to the post in Brussels, Michel said: "I am conscious of this huge responsibility and of course I will do my best to fulfill this task." He says the challenges facing the EU "are numerous, they are enormous." Michel acknowledges that as summit chairman for the next five years it will be "crucial" to work closely with the EU's other institutions. He says the time ahead is "very important for the future of the European project and I am convinced that it will be very important to protect and to promote our unity, our diversity and especially also our solidarity." ___ 8:25 p.m. European Union leaders have decided on four top positions to lead the world's biggest trade bloc through the next years, and for the first time ever half of them went to women. Arguably the two most important jobs — heading the European Commission and leading the European Central Bank — look likely to go to experienced women. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen is in line to become the new president of the bloc's powerful executive, and Christine Lagarde of the ECB which sets monetary policy for the 19 EU nations that share the euro currency. EU Council President Donald Tusk said after the EU summit that "first and foremost, we have chosen two women and two men for the four key positions. A perfect gender balance." ___ 8:10 p.m. Ursula von der Leyen, a surprise choice to become the next head of the European Union's executive Commission, is a strong supporter of closer European cooperation who has been Germany's defense minister since 2013 and a fixture in Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet over the longtime leader's nearly 14 years in power. Von der Leyen, 60, was born in Brussels and spent her early years in the Belgian capital. She speaks fluent English and French, having studied at the London School of Economics in the 1970s and lived in Stanford, California from 1992 to 1996. She was long viewed as a potential successor to Merkel, but has had a tough tenure at the head of the notoriously difficult defense ministry and had long since faded out of contention by the time Merkel stepped down last year as leader of her center-right Christian Democratic Union party. ___ 8 p.m. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says it's important that European Union finally achieved broad unity in nominating its future leaders. Merkel said after EU leaders broke three days of deadlock that "everyone had to move and did move." She told reporters: "It is important that we were able to decide with great unity today, and that it is important because it's about our future ability to work." Merkel added that in view of the very different views going into the summit, "it is of great value that we succeeded in this." The package put together Tuesday foresees Merkel's defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, becoming president of the EU's executive Commission. Merkel said: "For me it is also a good sign that a woman will have this office for the first time." She noted that, if approved, von der Leyen also will be the first German head of the European executive for 52 years. ___ 7:30 p.m. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde says she is giving up her IMF duties temporarily now that European Union leaders nominated her for the presidency of the European Central Bank. Lagarde, currently serving as the IMF's managing director, said in a tweet that she was honored by the nomination in Brussels on Tuesday. She said: "I have decided to temporarily relinquish my responsibilities" as the head of IMF during the EU's selection period. ___ 7:10 p.m. European Union leaders have broken three days of deadlock and nominated new heads for the 28-nation bloc's institutions. European Council President Donald Tusk said in a series of tweets Tuesday that German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has been backed to become president of the executive European Commission, and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel the head of the European Council. Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde has been nominated as the head of the European Central Bank and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as EU foreign policy chief. ___ 7 p.m. German European Union lawmaker Manfred Weber says he's resigning as lead candidate for the center-right European People's Party, the biggest group in the EU parliament, ending his run for one of Europe's top jobs. Weber's spokesman tweeted that Weber told EPP colleagues in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday that "this is where my journey started last September as lead candidate, and this is where it ends." The Bavarian lawmaker was backed by leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel to take over as president of the EU's powerful executive arm, the European Commission, for the next five years. Weber was long considered favorite to take over from Jean-Claude Juncker from November. ___ 4:35 p.m. European Union leaders are considering a list of top job candidates that would have German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen become president of the executive European Commission and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel the head of the European Council. A diplomat close to the negotiations called the names "a point of departure" as EU leaders reconvened Tuesday for a formal summit after two days of negotiations. The 28 leaders of member countries had a previous package of candidates on Monday but it fell apart when the list was vetted for final approval by the prime ministers and presidents. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the approval process was ongoing. The new list has Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde as the head of the European Central Bank and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as EU foreign policy chief. -By Raf Casert. ___ 12:05 p.m. European Council President Donald Tusk is delaying the start of a summit in Brussels to consult with EU leaders in an attempt to overcome the impasse over appointments to the bloc's top jobs. Tusk spokesman Preben Aamann tweeted Tuesday that the summit will begin at 1 p.m. Brussels time (1100 GMT), two hours later than planned, and that the meeting chairman "continues his consultations." Camera operators and photographers have not been allowed in to film any of the deliberations. The summit started Sunday and broke up in acrimony at lunch time on Monday. ___ 10:25 a.m. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis says getting Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans to lead the EU's executive Commission will be not be acceptable to several eastern member states and Italy. Arriving for the third of an EU summit, Babis said "we want a Commission chief with whom we can discuss normally." Timmermans, he said has had "a negative view of region" during his time as an EU Commission vice president. East European countries have taken much of the blame for the failure of EU leaders to agree on who should succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission president for the coming five years. Babis said "our problem is only one name, and our colleagues didn't understand this for 24 hours," in a pointed reference to the failed all-night negotiating session that ended Monday. EU leaders are gathering again to try to forge a consensus on who should lead the Commission as well as other top jobs within the EU. ___ 10 a.m. European Union leaders are gathering again to try to overcome an embarrassing deadlock over a series of job nominations to key posts at the bloc for at least the next five years. In one of the longest EU summits in recent years, the leaders are looking Tuesday to name a new president of the EU's powerful executive arm, the European Commission, a president of the European Council and a foreign policy chief. The European Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on its new president, while the new chairman of the European Central Bank could be named later. The leaders are struggling to show the EU is still relevant and coherent after the bloc's two traditional center-right and left powers lost votes in May's European elections.
Study Compares Gender-Linked Risk Between Drinking Alcohol And Smoking Cigarettes Photo credit: Getty Images From Delish UPDATE JULY 2, 2019 4:49 PM EST: Headline updated from "Drinking One Bottle Of Wine A Week Increases Your Risk Of Cancer, Study Says" to "Study Compares Gender-Linked Risk Between Drinking Alcohol And Smoking Cigarettes" to provide clarification. ORIGINAL STORY 3/29/2019: By now, you know smoking leads to a higher risk of cancer. The scary commercials, giant warning signs on packs, and subway ads have no doubt crossed your path, whether you are a smoker or not. But the dangers of moderate drinking, researchers from the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust argue, are not as well understood. With that in mind, they set out to compare the effects of drinking alcohol to that of smoking cigarettes in relation to developing cancer. The goal was to quantify a "cigarette-equivalent of population cancer harm." What they found won't exactly make you happy if you're a regular wine drinker: "One bottle of wine per week is associated with an increased absolute lifetime cancer risk for non-smokers of 1.0% (men) and 1.4% (women). The overall absolute increase in cancer risk for one bottle of wine per week equals that of five (men) or ten cigarettes per week (women)." In smoking terms, the risks associated with drinking one bottle of wine equals out to smoking half a pack of cigarettes a week for women. The reason women's risk is higher is because of the increased risk of breast cancer, researchers note. To look at it another way, for every 1000 men and 1000 women that drink that amount of wine a week, 10 men and 14 women would develop cancer as a result. Researchers point out that this is not meant to detract from the known dangers of smoking. "Our findings are not meant to detract from the substantive cancer risks associated with smoking which remains the single largest preventable cause of cancer worldwide, and for which even very low levels of exposure are associated with an increased risk of cancer." Story continues You can read the study in full here . ('You Might Also Like',) Crave Carbs? We Created This 21-Day Keto Plan Just for You Insanely Easy Weeknight Dinners To Try This Week 29 Insanely Delicious Vodka Cocktails
New ECB head Lagarde backed Draghi stimulus while at IMF FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Christine Lagarde, nominated to head the European Central Bank, has a politician's ability to communicate and forge compromise, skills she will need to follow Mario Draghi's performance as the central banker credited with defusing the eurozone's debt crisis with a few well-chosen words. She has backed Draghi's stimulus efforts in her current post as head of the International Monetary Fund, although her exact views on the often-arcane issues involved in central banking are less known. Lagarde, 63, was nominated by the eurozone's 19 member governments on Tuesday to succeed Draghi, whose eight-year term ends Oct. 31. She said she would "temporarily relinquish" her responsibilities as IMF managing director during the nomination period. She would be the first woman to serve as ECB head and the first not to come from a central banking job. Private economists said that Lagarde's background as France's former finance minister and her tenure as head of the 189-nation IMF should serve her well in running the ECB, even though her training is as a lawyer and not an economist. Her selection would mean that the world's two biggest central banks will be run by lawyers. Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, is also a lawyer by training. "She has done an extraordinary job as head of the IMF," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. "She knows the challenges of the European Union better than most given the role she played in managing the European debt crisis." The IMF under Lagarde was called upon to supply emergency loans during the crisis to keep financial troubles in Greece and other nations from unraveling the monetary union. "At the IMF, she has been pretty vocal about doing what is right for the global economy," said Sung Won Sohn, economics professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. "She has been expressing concerns about slow economic growth around the world and low inflation." Under Lagarde's leadership, the IMF has called for the ECB to continue its monetary stimulus efforts aimed at raising inflation and supporting a recovery that appears to be losing steam. The IMF's review of the eurozone last year warned against premature interest rate increases and urged clear forward guidance, that is, promises to keep rates low well into the future. The report echoed much of what Draghi had been saying, including his urging for governments to do more to support their economies with well-targeted spending, and to engage in pro-business reforms. One of Lagarde's challenges will be to reconcile inevitable differences in viewpoint on the ECB's 25-member rate-setting council, especially between indebted southern European countries that tend to support stimulus and northern European officials who are more skeptical of stimulus efforts. In a crisis however, the president takes center stage, as Draghi showed on July 26, 2012 when he promised to "do whatever it takes" to keep the eurozone from breaking up and then came up with a plan to purchase the bonds of countries facing excessive borrowing costs. That move calmed market panic surrounding Italy's ability to manage its debt. One question is whether Draghi's successor will have his willingness to be pragmatic and try new policies if the eurozone again runs into trouble. "With Christine Lagarde, the ECB will get another excellent communicator," said Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Germany. "What kind of monetary policies Lagarde really stands for, no one can currently tell. In our view, a continuation of a pragmatic monetary policy stance as well as a confirmation of 'whatever-it-takes' looks likely." A key challenge for Lagarde would be how to add more stimulus if needed, with ECB rates already at record lows. The ECB in December halted nearly four years of bond purchases amounting to 2.6 trillion euros ($2.9 trillion) as it began to approach the limits on available assets to buy. Draghi has said there is still "headroom" to buy more bonds if needed. The bigger challenge, however, is that the years of stimulus did not push inflation sustainably to the bank's goal of just under 2%. It was 1.2% in June. In any case, she will find it difficult to immediately change Draghi's policy stance. The ECB has promised to keep rates at record lows until mid-2020. Lagarde showed her ability to forge compromise during the eurozone debt crisis, when the IMF partnered with Germany and other eurozone governments to bail out crisis-stricken countries such as Greece. Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank, noted that she was able to work well with Germany's conservative Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, despite disagreeing with him on key issues such as eurozonewide bonds. "She is well respected, able to forge compromises and to express herself well," Schmieding said. He said she would be able to rely on the ECB's new chief economist, Philip Lane, who is an academic economist, much as Draghi has relied on former Chief Economist Peter Praet. The chief economist briefs the 25-member rate-setting council on the economic situation and proposes policy moves, such as interest-rate changes and bond purchase stimulus. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has worked with Lagarde at numerous international summits, said the nomination was unanimous. "I think Christine Lagarde has so much experience and knowledge that she also knows what she maybe doesn't know and where she has to ask someone," Merkel told reporters in Brussels. "She will do it with care and great commitment in such a way that the euro will do well — I am convinced of that." Under the EU treaty, Lagarde faces a review by the European Parliament and the ECB, and another vote by the European Council of heads of state and government before the appointment becomes official. Those steps are mostly formalities. ___ Associated Press Writer Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin and Associated Press Business Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed from Washington, DC. ___ This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the new ECB chief economist Lane's first name. It's Philip, not Phillip.
Pfizer's Eucrisa Proves Safety in Kids with Atopic Dermatitis Pfizer Inc.PFE announced top-line results from a late-stage study, which evaluated its PDE4 inhibitor, Eucrisa (crisaborole ointment, 2%), for the treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) or eczmema in children aged three months to two years. The steroid-free topical treatment is already approved for eczema in patients aged two years and older in the United States and Canada. The drug is also marketed in Israel and Australia under the brand name Staquis for the given patient population. The phase IV CrisADe CARE 1 study showed that Eucrisa was well-tolerated over a four- week regimen and its safety profile was consistent with the previous clinical studies. Pfizer plans to present detail results from this label expansion study at an upcoming scientific conference. Shares of Pfizer have inched up 0.3% so far this year, underperforming the industry’s rise of 2.1%. We would like to remind investors that Pfizer added Eucrisa to its portfolio with the acquisition of Anacor Pharmaceuticals in June 2016. The company estimates Eucrisa’s peak sales potential to be at least $2 billion. Another interesting eczema candidate in Pfizer’s portfolio is its investigational JAK1 inhibitor, abrocitinib. In May this year, the company announced that a pivotal late-stage study evaluating abrocitinib for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD, met all the co-primary and secondary endpoints. The phase III program (B7451012) examined two doses (100mg and 200mg once daily) of abrocitinib (PF-04965842) monotherapy in patients aged 12 and above for over 12 weeks. Notably, many companies are developing medicines to address AD/eczema. A key new entrant in the AD market is Sanofi SNY/Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ REGN Dupixent. Others also developing key immunology candidates in late-stage studies for AD include AbbVie (upadacitinib) and Lilly LLY (Olumiant). Zacks Rank Pfizer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. This Could Be the Fastest Way to Grow Wealth in 2019 Research indicates one sector is poised to deliver a crop of the best-performing stocks you'll find anywhere in the market. Breaking news in this space frequently creates quick double- and triple-digit profit opportunities.These companies are changing the world – and owning their stocks could transform your portfolio in 2019 and beyond. Recent trades from this sector have generated+98%,+119%and+164%gains in as little as 1 month. Click here to see these breakthrough stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportPfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis ReportEli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis ReportSanofi (SNY) : Free Stock Analysis ReportRegeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research
NHL pins Steve Montador's fatal brain injuries on his ‘own lack of due care’ Steve Montador died in 2015 due to complications with CTE. (Getty) Former NHL defenseman Steve Montador was only 35 years old when he was found dead on February 2015. A few months following his death, researchers with the Canadian Sports Concussion Project disclosed Montador had suffered from Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a progressive degenerative brain disease found in people, especially athletes, with a history of repetitive brain trauma. Despite what the science clearly shows, commissioner Gary Bettman, the league and its beefy legal team have vehemently denied a link between professional hockey and CTE. It doesn’t look like the NHL’s stance on the issue will be changing anytime soon, either. In a new court filing, the league alleges it is “not to blame for any of the injuries or health problems suffered by former NHL player Steve Montador, who was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after his death in 2015,” per TSN’s Rick Westhead . Montador’s family filed a lawsuit against the NHL at the end of 2015, alleging it has profited off the product it sells while not properly advising its players of the risks of repeated blows to the head and brain trauma. That suit was paused for nearly four years as the league fought against, and tentatively settled , a proposed class-action suit involving more than 300 former players. As part of the minuscule (around $22,000 per player) settlement, every individual and family involved were barred from pursuing any future legal action. And it’s looking to be much of the same for Montador’s family as this ugly battle trudges on more than four years after Steve’s death. Any and all claims related to Montador’s injury “may be barred, in whole or in part, from recovery due to his contributory and/or comparative negligence,” the NHL alleged, according to Westhead. “Any injury or damage sustained by (Montador) was caused, in whole or in part, by (Montador's) own lack of due care and fault, and/or by pre-existing conditions; and/or the lack of due care of others for whom the NHL has no responsibility or control,” the league wrote in its answer to the Montador family’s lawsuit. Story continues Montador played 571 games during a 14-year NHL career that included stops with the Flames, Panthers, Ducks, Bruins, Sabres and Blackhawks, and his family claims that he suffered at least 11 documented concussions in the NHL, including four in 12 weeks during a stretch in 2012. More NHL coverage from Yahoo Sports
$2 Billion Firm Doubles Down on Chinese Tech Investments (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next. One tech-focused investor is putting money to work at a record pace as trade tensions and economic-slowdown concerns deflate lofty valuations. All-Stars Investment Ltd. has invested, or increased its stake, in six privately held Chinese technology companies over the past year, seizing on cheaper valuations, Hong Kong-based Chief Investment Officer Richard Ji said. That’s “double or triple” the number of private deals it strikes in a typical year, he said. As China and the U.S. engage in a stop-go trade spat, slowing economic growth in Asia’s biggest economy is damping investor appetite for listed giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., as well as their unlisted peers. The country’s vaunted tech sector is undergoing a period of pain as companies including JD.com Inc. lay off staff and trim costs, while startup investment fizzles. Against that backdrop, Ji sees an opportunity. “The macroeconomic overhang is the worst we’ve seen in 10 years,” he said. “The market has become more rational, and that’s helpful for value investors like us.” Forecast valuations for unlisted Chinese tech firms that plan to go public within three years have dropped at least 20% to 30% versus a year to 18 months ago, Ji said. There have been isolated cases of sharper declines of as much as 50%, he added. All-Stars is targeting firms that can sustain robust growth throughout an economic cycle by helping customers cut costs, improve efficiencies and innovate, Ji, a former head of Asia internet and media research at Morgan Stanley, said. New-Economy Champions Hong Kong-based All-Stars manages almost $2 billion in hedge and private equity funds that focus on “new-economy champions” in China. The majority is in private equity, including $600 million the group closed in January for a seven-year fund. Unlike early-stage venture capital investors, All-Stars’ private-equity investments focus on more mature companies that are close to public share sales. All-Stars’ new investments include artificial intelligence outfit SenseTime Group Ltd., online financing company Lufax, co-working firm Ucommune and WeDoctor. It added to its investments in Tujia.com, a Chinese rival to Airbnb Inc., and Full Truck Alliance Group, China’s largest truck-sharing platform, Ji said. Besides cheaper valuations, muted sentiment has made it easier to negotiate terms that are more favorable to investors, he said. Having deployed a majority of the money in the $600 million fund, All-Stars plans to tap investors for another private-equity fund in the second half, he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Bei Hu in Hong Kong at bhu5@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at knicholas2@bloomberg.net, Peter Vercoe For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
SoftBank Vision Fund Weighs Backing Crime-Busting Tech (Bloomberg) -- Vaak Inc., a Japanese startup backed by SoftBank Group Corp., said it is lining up a 2 billion yen ($18 million) cash injection in August and that the Vision Fund could provide further funding, as the company takes its violent crime prevention software global. Tokyo-based Vaak, which is already using artificial intelligence to detect shoplifters before they commit theft, said it will sell shares to investors including SoftBank’s venture capital arms. Chief Executive Officer Ryo Tanaka also said the Vision Fund had expressed interest and that its investment could come “as early as next year.” Vaak wants to install its murder and terrorism targeting software at airports and shopping malls around Japan, and is in talks with government bodies in the U.S., Singapore and the United Arab Emirates to introduce its service. It hopes its software can eventually become instrumental in fighting more serious crimes such as murder and terrorism. Vaak plans an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as 2022, the CEO said. It is also considering additional listings in Hong Kong and New York. The firm hired Hiromichi Maruono, a former investment banker at Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., as chief financial officer in June. As of the end of May, Vaak had 53 employees. The company plans to establish subsidiaries in San Francisco and Singapore later this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Takashi Amano at tamano6@bloomberg.net, Colum Murphy, Edwin Chan For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.