Day: November 18, 2024

Walter BBG – Stock Gainers Brief:

• CVS: +3%; added four new board members, including Larry Robbins from Glenview Capital, expanding to 16 members; upgraded by Wells Fargo. • FOUR: +4%; to join S&P MidCap 400 in place of RCM on November 20. • HOOD: +6%; upgraded to Buy by Needham due to expected benefits from Trump’s policy changes at SEC. • LBRT: +2%; stock up with Chris Wright, a fracking advocate, nominated for Energy Secretary. • MBI: +10%; upgraded to Outperform by KBW with a new $9 target after favorable legal and earnings news. • SMCI: +9%; plans to meet Nasdaq compliance requirements for continued listing. • TSLA: +8%; due to Trump team’s interest in autonomous vehicle regulations. • WOLF: +5%; CEO Gregg Lowe ousted, Thomas Werner steps in as Executive Chairman during CEO search. Stock Laggards Brief: • BIIB: -1%; downgraded to Hold by Needham, with no expected upside in the next year. • CMAX: -55%; filed for bankruptcy with $693M in debt, $390M in assets. • LLY: -4%; continues to decline with other obesity/healthcare stocks. • MARA: -6%; issuing $700M in convertible notes. • NGNE: -35%; halted development of high-dose gene therapy due to serious side effect. • PLTR: -9%; despite being a top S&P performer YTD, sees significant drop. • UBER & $LYFT: -6%; both affected by news of potential regulations for autonomous vehicles. submitted by /u/XGramatik [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

What comes next for Trump’s hush money criminal case?

New York prosecutors this week are expected to tell a judge how they think President-elect Donald Trump’s already decided criminal case should proceed in light of his election victory. Below is an explanation of the current status of the case, and the options prosecutors have. WHERE DOES THE CASE STAND NOW? Trump, 78, was convicted in May of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump, who denies it. The Republican former president had been scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, but Justice Juan Merchan last week put all proceedings in the case on pause at the request of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. The prosecutors had asked for more time to consider next steps in the case, citing the need to balance the “competing interests” between having the criminal case go forward as normal and protecting the office of the president. They are due to propose their next steps on Tuesday. WHAT ARE PROSECUTORS’ OPTIONS? Bragg is unlikely to aggressively seek to have Trump sentenced before the Jan. 20 inauguration, said Rebecca Roiphe, a former prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office. “That would throw a grenade in an already highly charged political situation,” said Roiphe, now a professor at New York Law School. Prosecutors may ask Merchan to delay the sentencing indefinitely, or propose delaying the implementation of any sentence until Trump exhausts all options for appeal, which could take years, Roiphe said. Joshua Naftalis, a former federal prosecutor, said if Bragg seeks to go forward with the sentencing, he may not request that Trump be placed in custody or on probation, or receive any punishment that would restrict his liberty. Prosecutors have the option of seeking a sentence of unconditional discharge – essentially, no punishment at all. “They made it very clear they were not treating him any differently from a normal citizen – which was the correct posture,” said Naftalis, now a partner at law firm Pallas. “But the posture has changed now. He’s the president-elect.” WHAT DO TRUMP’S LAWYERS SAY? Trump has long called the case a politically motivated attempt by Bragg, a Democrat, to interfere with his campaign. His defense lawyers have argued the case should be dismissed altogether, arguing that having it loom over him while he was president would cause “unconstitutional impediments” to his ability to govern. It would be up to Merchan to decide what to do about the case, after considering arguments from both prosecutors and the defense. Trump’s lawyers would be expected to object to any decision short of a dismissal of the case, and would likely appeal any unfavorable decision by Merchan. WHAT ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY? Trump’s lawyers had previously argued his conviction should be vacated and the charges dismissed because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in July that presidents cannot be prosecuted over their official acts, and that evidence of their official acts cannot be used in trials over personal behavior. Bragg’s office argued that their case dealt with purely personal conduct. Merchan had been expected to rule on the defense’s bid on Nov. 12, but delayed making a decision after prosecutors asked for more time to weigh next steps. It is not clear when, or if, the judge will rule on whether presidential immunity applies to the case. submitted by /u/Pllover12 [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

Who’s buying BTC in this market? Your liquidations are being bought up by MicroStrategy, which has acquired another 51,700 bitcoins worth $4.6 billion.

Between November 11 and 17, Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy purchased an additional 51,780 bitcoins for approximately $4.6 billion at an average price of $88,627 per bitcoin. This marks the company’s largest purchase to date. Previously, MicroStrategy sold 13.6 million shares to raise capital, which was used to buy these bitcoins- both for this new batch and for the previous one reported by the company on November 11. submitted by /u/XGramatik [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia to France in 2024 will hit record levels, according to Bloomberg data. – Bullshit! Let’s break it down. And stop spouting nonsense! The EU didn’t freeze before, and it won’t freeze now. So these fluctuations are purely seasonal. Time to short.

In 2023, gas accounts for only 13.7% of France’s energy balance, with LNG traditionally making up only a small fraction – less than a third of total gas consumption. France, being a net gas importer, purchases about 46 billion cubic meters of gas, with Russia historically not playing a dominant role in this volume. Even before 2022, the main exporter was Norway, covering 70-75% of the demand, with most LNG sourced from Qatar and Algeria. Therefore, the 10-15 billion cubic meters of gas that came from Russia at best can be easily replaced by other suppliers. And if we look exclusively at LNG, it’s just a couple of billion cubic meters. But France’s energy policy is an interesting topic. The energy transition focusing on renewables, phasing out nuclear power, and reducing fossil fuel usage started during Hollande’s tenure, who completely banned commercial gas extraction in France, even offshore. It’s a rather unique way to slowly dismantle one’s industry, but Macron is sticking to it. Though, of course, he didn’t align with the radicals calling for a full nuclear phase-out. Otherwise, things would have gotten even more interesting. By the way, France even has a Minister of Energy Transition, a highly influential figure. In French society, reducing gas consumption remains a popular topic, which the authorities actively capitalize on. There’s a plan to phase out gas usage altogether after 2040. However, Macron is already hinting that this is unrealistic, stating that “gas will play an important role in the energy mix.” In any case, supplies of Russian gas, especially LNG, are not particularly critical for France. submitted by /u/XGramatik [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

I’m fed up with all the SC*M: Binance has launched futures on the memecoin BAN. Its creator was accused of insider trading. This kind of bullsh*t erodes any remaining faith in humanity. Yet, here you are trading it.

The Binance exchange has introduced perpetual futures with up to 75x leverage on the AKT token from the DePin project Akash Network and on the memecoin Comedian (BAN), which was created by Michael Bouhanna, head of the digital art department at Sotheby’s auction house. In October, analysts at Lookonchain accused him of insider trading on the token. They analyzed the activity of a wallet that Bouhanna previously identified as his own. The experts noted that he had been unsuccessfully trading various memecoins for some time before launching his own. According to their calculations, as BAN’s price surged, Bouhanna started selling his own tokens, earning at least $1 million. Shortly before BAN’s listing on Binance, Bouhanna posted on X (formerly Twitter), denying involvement in those BAN sales. He insists that he created the token “without intending to attract attention” but shared the link with “a group of friends” during its launch. After the Binance listing announcement, the BAN token price suddenly doubled, only to drop back just as quickly. https://preview.redd.it/rri3cfejyn1e1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f78c7053a2a3a68213d9bb00449a69694d5d119 submitted by /u/XGramatik [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

Meta slapped with €797M EU fine for antitrust violations. EU regulators aren’t messing around in their fight against Big Tech’s market practices. Meta claims FB Marketplace users aren’t forced, but the EU says auto-access stifles competition. Big tech income statements need a new line: ‘EU Fines’.

https://preview.redd.it/uvqniov1cm1e1.png?width=1377&format=png&auto=webp&s=5cf7b3d4f6874d18a1dca1d8bdf4e3432cdde3cf submitted by /u/FXgram_ [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

Oil nudges higher after Russia-Ukraine tensions escalate

https://preview.redd.it/in7mbiyefm1e1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f1f585679cb0c96aa188c511eb7aca1d7e0abd3 Oil prices edged up on Monday after fighting between Russia and Ukraine intensified over the weekend, although concerns about fuel demand in China, the world’s second-largest consumer, and forecasts of a global oil surplus weighed on markets. Brent crude futures gained 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $71.22 a barrel by 0713 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $67.08 a barrel, up 6 cents, or 0.1%. Russia unleashed its largest air strike on Ukraine in almost three months on Sunday, causing severe damage to the country’s power system. In a significant reversal of Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, President Joe Biden’s administration has allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday. There was no immediate response from the Kremlin, which has warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons as a major escalation. “Biden allowing Ukraine to strike Russian forces around Kursk with long-range missiles might see a geopolitical bid come back into oil as it is an escalation of tensions there, in response to North Korean troops entering the fray,” IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said. Saul Kavonic, an energy analyst at MST Marquee, said: “So far there has been little impact on Russian oil exports, but if Ukraine were to target more oil infrastructure that could see oil markets elevate further.” In Russia, at least three refineries have had to halt processing or cut runs due to heavy losses amid export curbs, rising crude prices and high borrowing costs, according to five industry sources. Brent and WTI fell more than 3% last week on weak data from China and after the International Energy Agency forecasted that global oil supply will exceed demand by more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 even if cuts remain in place from OPEC+. China’s refinery throughput fell 4.6% in October from last year and the country’s factory output growth slowed last month, government data showed on Friday. Investors also fretted over the pace and extent of interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve that have created uncertainty in global financial markets. In the U.S., the number of operating oil rigs fell by one to 478 last week, the lowest since the week to July 19, Baker Hughes data showed. submitted by /u/Pllover12 [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

📈 Silver shortage on the market The silver market continues to experience significant supply shortages due to rising demand

📈 Silver shortage on the market The silver market continues to experience significant supply shortages due to rising demand. According to updated forecasts published by the Silver Institute and research firm Metals Focus, the market situation could worsen in the near future. Commerzbank commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch emphasizes that these trends continue to put pressure on price targets and could impact the industry as a whole. We follow changes in the precious metals market! 💰 submitted by /u/Yuriy_UK [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post

The Pentagon has failed its seventh consecutive audit, unable to fully account for its $824 billion budget. “Where is our money, Lebowski”, but on completely different level. Also The Pentagon has never passed an audit since becoming legally obligated to do so in 2018.

However, Pentagon as a huge organization that handles a massive amount of money for America’s defense. Every year, they need to show exactly how they spend this money, kind of like balancing a giant checkbook. But for the seventh year in a row, they couldn’t fully explain all their spending, which means they failed their audit. But, it is not that bad as it seems:they’re getting better at tracking their money – nine of their departments passed their individual checks perfectly. The people in charge say they’re making good progress and expect to have everything properly tracked by 2028. So, 4 more years of “we don’t know where’s the money”. submitted by /u/Aftermebuddy [link] [comments]

Published
Categorized as Reddit Post