Earnings season kicked off last week, and market watchers are preparing for the worst. The upcoming release of first quarter financial results is marred by historic levels of uncertainty, with worry looming over Wall Street as investors await a more detailed look at the extent of COVID-19’s impact on profits.JPMorgan quant guru Marko Kolanovic does offer a ray of hope: "Taking into account the unprecedented monetary and fiscal measures being implemented, as well as unprecedented asset declines over the past month, we maintain that asset price recovery is likely and our pre-pandemic equity price target for 2020 is achievable sometime in the first half of 2021.”Investors now have a deceptively simple question in front of them: what should I do? There is no simple answer, but the stock analysts from JPMorgan may be able to set you on the right track. There are stocks with compelling cases to buy – as...
United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL) late Tuesday announced the sale of 39 million shares of new stock to raise $1 billion and bolster its liquidity as it tries to ride out the meltdown of the travel market caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The price of the public offering, which is expected to close April 24, was set at $26.50 per share.The airline said Monday it was $2 billion in the red during the first quarter and painted a bleak financial picture for the rest of the year on the expectation customers will be slow to return to the skies even when the outbreak dissipates. Planes are flying nearly empty and United plans to cut domestic capacity to 10% in May and June.The Chicago-based carrier has been scrambling for money to bolster ongoing operations at a time when revenue has slowed to a trickle. It is receiving $5 billion in workforce assistance...
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- An oil major’s dividend is its solemn pledge that it will deliver no matter the vagaries of the market. But no one planned on those vagaries including negative oil prices. So can Big Oil maintain its dividends? Should it?As so often in this business, oilfield services provide early warning. Announcing quarterly earnings, Schlumberger Ltd. slashed its dividend by 75%, its first cut in at least four decades or so. The stock actually jumped 9% that day. Meanwhile, Halliburton Co. held off cutting but also made it clear it would have no qualms doing so if necessary. Its stock didn’t jump, but did close in the green despite oil closing with a minus sign in front of it that day.Those positive reactions may have had something to do with this:Aggregate indebtedness at the big five Western oil majors — BP Plc, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA — has...
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- An oil major’s dividend is its solemn pledge that it will deliver no matter the vagaries of the market. But no one planned on those vagaries including negative oil prices. So can Big Oil maintain its dividends? Should it?As so often in this business, oilfield services provide early warning. Announcing quarterly earnings, Schlumberger Ltd. slashed its dividend by 75%, its first cut in at least four decades or so. The stock actually jumped 9% that day. Meanwhile, Halliburton Co. held off cutting but also made it clear it would have no qualms doing so if necessary. Its stock didn’t jump, but did close in the green despite oil closing with a minus sign in front of it that day.Those positive reactions may have had something to do with this:Aggregate indebtedness at the big five Western oil majors — BP Plc, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA — has...
Oil prices rallied on Wednesday morning after U.S. President Trump hinted at war with Iran, tweeting that the U.S. Navy is authorized to shoot and destroy Iranian gunboats harassing U.S. ships at sea...
The Euro rallied slightly during the trading session on Wednesday, but as you can see is not really going anywhere at this point. More than likely, this is a market that will continue to see a lot of negativity going forward but in a slow manner....
