Archive for October, 2021

• Bakkt Holdings Soars 109%
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 25th, 2021 at 1:17 pm

  Bakkt is soaring today. From MarketWatch:

  Bakkt Holdings…said it was working with Mastercard Inc. to make it easier for merchants, banks and fintechs in the U.S. to use and offer a broad set of cryptocurrency solutions and services.

  Bakkt said it was extending Mastercard’s ecosystem of cryptocurrency partners, enabling Crypto-as-a-Service, which provides quick access to cryptocurrency capabilities.

  Through Mastercard’s network and Bakkt’s digital asset platform, Mastercard partners will be able to offer cryptocurrency solutions. These include the ability for consumers to buy, sell and hold digital assets through custodial wallets powered by the Bakkt platform and streamlined issuance of branded crypto debit and credit cards.

  Mastercard also will integrate crypto into its loyalty solutions, enabling its partners to offer cryptocurrency as rewards and create fungibility between loyalty points and other digital assets.

  

• New Buy List Highs
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 25th, 2021 at 12:26 pm

  We have a few new highs on our Buy List today. The list includes FactSet (FDS), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Sherwin-Williams (SHW) and Zoetis (ZTS). Also, Broadridge (BR), Hershey (HSY) and Moody’s (MCO) are within 1% of a new high.

• Bakkt Soars 50% on Mastercard Deal
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 25th, 2021 at 10:20 am

  The stock market is up again this morning and it’s at another new all-time high. There aren’t any Buy List earnings reports today but there are many other stocks reporting. Kimberly-Clark (KMB) missed earnings and the shares are down about 3%.

  Bakkt Holdings (BKKT), which is backed by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is up 50% this morning. The company announced a partnership with Mastercard.

  The Energy Sector ETF (XLE) is up 1.6% today to a new 52 week high. Tesla also reached a new high of $970 per share. I think this is going to be the most important week for corporate earnings.

  There aren’t any major economic reports today, but we will get the first report on third quarter GDP on Thursday.

• Morning News: October 25, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 25th, 2021 at 7:08 am

  There’s No ‘Supply-Chain Shortage,’ Or Inflation. There’s Just Central Planning

  M&A Heads to Record $5 Trillion Year Despite, Well, Everything

  The Week in Business: A Consumer Internet Deal

  SolarWinds Hackers Continue to Hit Technology Companies, Says Microsoft

  Alibaba Has Lost $344 Billion in World’s Biggest Wipeout

  The Chinese Companies Polluting the World More Than Entire Nations

  Inside the Big Facebook Leak

  Facebook, Alarmed by Teen Usage Drop, Left Investors in the Dark

  Capitol Hill Drug Pricing Reform Opponents Among the Biggest Beneficiaries of Pharma Funds

  Dollars in the Dirt: Big Ag Pays Farmers for Control of their Soil-Bound Carbon

  Hertz Orders 100,000 Teslas in Car-Rental Market Shake-Up

  Volvo Cars Gives Itself $18 Billion Price Tag as Cuts IPO Size

  France Moves to Shield its Book Industry from Amazon

  Why Amazon Is in Business with Judge Judy

  Burger King Parent Earnings Beat but Labor Challenges Weigh on Sales

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• “Don’t settle for measly yields”
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 24th, 2021 at 4:20 pm

  MarketWatch has an article on the importance of dividends. They go on to quote yours truly:

  The new 10-year screen was inspired by Eddy Elfenbein, who discussed Public Storage PSA, +1.18% in his CWS Market Review on Oct. 19.

  “I really like PSA’s dividend,” he wrote, explaining that the annual payout had quadrupled over the past 15 years. “Think of it this way: If you had bought PSA 15 years ago, you’d now be yielding close to 10% based on your original purchase price.”

  Fifteen years is a very long time to hold a stock, so this time around we’re looking back 10 years, with a screen similar to the previous five-year list. Here’s the breakdown:

  There were 204 stocks in the S&P 500 with dividend yields of at least 2.00% as of the close on Oct. 20, 2011.

  Among the 204 stocks, 91 had at least tripled in price (with prices adjusted by FactSet for splits and spinoffs) for 10 years through Oct. 20, 2021. (We had limited our previous five-year dividend-compounders list to companies whose shares had at least doubled in price.)

  Among the remaining 91 companies, 49 had achieved 10-year compound annual growth rates (CAGR) for dividends of at least 10%.

  MarketWatch then lists 20 stocks from the remaining list for which the dividend yield would be highest based on a buy price from 10 years ago.

• The Fed May Cut in June
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 22nd, 2021 at 1:49 pm

  The futures market has recently changed its mind about the Federal Reserve. Traders think the first rate hike could come as early as June, which is still eight months away.

  Check out this chart:

  

  The blue line is the odds of no rate cut by June. The orange line is the odds of one rate hike by June. Notice how in the last month the conventional wisdom has gone from no chance of a June hike to about 50-50. The green line is the odds of two rate hikes by June.

• Morning News: October 22, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 22nd, 2021 at 7:01 am

  Binance CEO Issues Serious Crypto Price Warning As Sudden Bitcoin ‘Flash Crash’ Knocks Ethereum And Wider Market

  Some Strategists See Bitcoin at $100,000 by Year’s End

  U.S. Warns Climate Poses ‘Emerging Threat’ to Financial System

  The Countries That Could Spoil Global Climate Negotiations

  What the Economics of Sawdust Can Tell Us About Supply Shortages

  Think Everything’s Expensive Now? Wait Until You See What’s Next

  Union Pacific Says 24/7 California Port Operations No Quick Fix

  Fed Unveils Stricter Trading Rules Amid Fallout From Ethics Scandal

  CFPB Orders Apple, Amazon, Other Tech Giants to Turn Over Information About Payment Products

  In Corporate Crackdown, U.S. SEC Takes Aim at Executive Pay

  With Coercion and Black Boxes, Russia Installs a Digital Iron Curtain

  Snap Warning Feeds Concerns Over Social Media Ad Splurge

  Instagram: A Watch Brand’s Best Friend

  Schlumberger Quarterly Profit Rises as Oilfield Services Demand Recovers

  Wealthy Chinese Shift Focus From Making Money to Protecting It

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• Danaher Earned $2.39 per Share for Q3
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 21st, 2021 at 8:32 am

  This morning, Danaher (DHR) reported Q3 earnings of $2.39 per share. That’s up 39% from a year ago. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $2.15 per share.

  Quarterly revenues grew by 20.5%. Danaher had been expecting revenue growth in “the mid- to high-teens percent range.”

  Rainer M. Blair, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our team delivered another outstanding result in the third quarter, with over 20% core revenue growth and terrific earnings and cash flow performance. We continued to invest for growth across our businesses, expanding production capacity and accelerating innovation initiatives. Additionally, the recently closed acquisition of Aldevron enhances our portfolio and expands our capabilities into the important field of genomic medicine.”

  Blair continued, “Our performance is a testament to the power of our portfolio and our team’s commitment to the Danaher Business System, and we see significant opportunities ahead to continue building sustainable, long-term value for shareholders.”

  Now for guidance. For Q4, Danaher expects revenue growth “in the low-to-mid teens percent range.” For all of 2021, Danaher sees revenue growth in excess of 20%. That’s an increase over the previous guidance of “approximately 20%.”

  

  We also learned that jobless claims came in at 290,000. That’s down 6,000 and it’s another post-pandemic low. Continuing claims fell 122,000 to 2,481,000.

• Morning News: October 21, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 21st, 2021 at 7:04 am

  U.S. Slows Down Oil and Gas Mergers

  How Chemical Companies Avoid Paying for Pollution

  Fed Ethics Office Warned Officials to Curb Unnecessary Trading During Rescue

  The Next Recession Could Come Courtesy of the Fed

  U.S. Regulatory Panel to Unveil Blueprint for Tackling Financial Climate Risks

  Thiel Says He ‘Underinvested’ in Bitcoin, Slams Central Banks at Event

  Untethered: A Potential Grenade at the Center of Crypto?

  Evergrande Shares Plunge as Deal Talks End, Sales Sink 97%

  Cash-Rich Tech Companies Are Remaking Post-Pandemic Manhattan

  Tesla’s Quarterly Profit Nearly Quintuples to $1.6 Billion As Car Sales Surge

  AT&T Adds Wireless Subscribers in 5G Push, New Movies Boost HBO Max

  Apple’s Device Shortages Threaten Record-Setting Holiday Season

  The True Cost of Upgrading Your Phone

  Vinyl Is Selling So Well That It’s Getting Hard to Sell Vinyl

  Blackstone Acquires Majority Stake in Spanx

  WeWork’s Adam Neumann Is Walking Away With a $2.3 Billion Fortune

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• Earnings from Abbott Labs and Stepan
  Eddy Elfenbein, October 20th, 2021 at 11:19 am

  We got our first two Buy List earnings reports this morning and they were both pretty good. Abbott Labs (ABT) said it made $1.40 per share on sales of $10.9 billion. Wall Street had been expecting 94 cents per share. The company now sees full-year earnings of $5.00 to $5.10 per share. The previous guidance was $4.30 to $4.50 per share. The new range translates to Q4 earnings guidance of $1.11 to $1.21 per share. Wall Street had been expecting $1.02 per share. The stock has been up as much as 4.5% today.

  Stepan (SCL) said it made $1.57 per share. That beat the Street by 15 cents per share. Stepan boosted its dividend by three cents per share, from 30.5 cents to 33.5 cents per share. That’s Stepan’s 54th consecutive annual dividend hike. The board also approved $150 million for a share buyback program. The shares are currently up 4.5%.