Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) traded higher Friday after a pair of Wall Street analysts raised their price targets for the memory leader ahead of the company's earnings report later this month.Micron shares are up just 3.8% overall in the three weeks since the company significantly boosted its fiscal third-quarter revenue guidance from an old range of between $4.6 billion and $5.2 billion to a new range of between $5.2 billion and $5.4 billion. Several options traders made large bets on Friday that the upcoming earnings report could push Micron to new highs.The Micron TradesOn Friday morning, Benzinga Pro subscribers received 24 option alerts related to unusually large Micron option trades. Here are a handful of the largest: * At 9:41 a.m. ET, a trader sold 2,925 Micron put options with a $46 strike price expiring on July 17. The contracts were sold at the bid price of $1.15...
Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), Carnival Cruise (NYSE: CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NASDAQ: NCLH) traded sharply lower on Friday afternoon.What Happened: The Cruise Lines International Association (CLA) issued a statement announcing its ocean-going cruise line members will voluntarily extend the suspension of cruise operations from U.S. ports until Sept. 15, 2020.Cruise liners have been hit due to the coronavirus pandemic that's continuing to harm the travel industry. The current "No Sail Order" issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was expected to expire on July 24.Voluntarily Extension: "Due to the ongoing situation within the U.S. related to COVID-19, CLIA member cruise lines have decided to voluntarily extend the period of suspended passenger operations," CLA said in a statement.The extension will allow the cruise lining association to consult with the CDC on measures that will be appropriate for the eventual resumption of cruise operations.See Also: Here's How Long...
It goes without saying that in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, consumers aren't buying cars, and that has created some huge headwinds for U.S. auto giant Ford (NYSE:F), with F stock down more than 30% year-to-date.Source: JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com To be sure, as the global economy has gradually reopened over the past few weeks, Ford stock has rallied in a big way. At one point in early June, shares were up 90% from their March lows.But Ford stock has given up a big chunk of those gains, falling more than 15% recently as Wall Street has become increasingly concerned about a potential "second wave" of Covid-19.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsWhat now? Sell Ford stock because the second wave of coronavirus is going to kill the rally? Or buy the dip because this second wave won't do much damage?I think the latter. Buy F stock...
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks slumped to the lowest levels of the day after Arizona and Florida reported their biggest increases in new Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began and Apple said it would close some stores in those states. Oil turned positive after briefly dropping into the red.The S&P 500 dropped as much as 1%, led by declines in industrial, real estate and financial shares. Stocks had rallied at the start of U.S. trading amid reports that China plans to accelerate purchases of American farm goods to comply with the phase one trade deal boosted risk appetite. Still, with uncertainty over how quickly economies can emerge from lockdowns, and a welter of options set to expire in a quarterly event know as quadruple witching, investors are being whipsawed by bouts of volatility.“That’s a worrisome sign for markets,”said Matt Forester, chief investment officer of BNY Mellon’s Lockwood Advisors. “This is a continuation...
(Bloomberg) -- German payments firm Wirecard AG was tipped into a full-blown crisis after disclosing it was unable to locate 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) missing from its balance sheet.The company now faces a potential cash crunch and warned lenders could call in loans of as much as 2 billion euros after multiple delays to publication of an audited financial report.Read more: Wirecard Creditors Seek More Transparency Amid Talks About DebtThe company’s creditors are likely to organize and appoint advisers to try and negotiate a solution that gets as much as their money back as possible. Here’s how that may unfold.Read More: Wirecard’s Missing Billions Forces Out CEO, Panics LendersWhat could be next?Lenders may agree to a standstill agreement on debt servicing or submitting financial reports to avoid a technical breach of debt terms. Both they and the company are likely to appoint financial and legal advisers to discuss a potential...
