Beleaguered cruise operator Carnival Corp (CCL) is considering temporarily limiting the number of passengers on each cruise, according to Business Insider.One option currently under consideration for when its cruises restart is to stop passengers from booking specific cabins, sources told Business Insider. For instance, the only cabins available for booking would be alternate cabins or those with fresh air access.In fact, according to the travel agents and industry experts, Carnival is already reporting solid demand trends for 2021, says the LA Times.An online poll by CruiseCritic.com suggests that 75% of cruise passengers plan to rebook at the same rate or even more often than before the coronavirus outbreak.Similarly UBS wrote on March 31 that cruise booking volume for 2021 was up 9% in the last 30 days compared with the same time last year. Even though this includes credit for canceled sailings, the volume still “shows a surprising resilience in desire...
(Bloomberg) -- Gold could top $2,000 an ounce and will remain elevated over the next five years as the global economy contends with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the head of Newmont Corp., the world’s top miner of the precious metal.“The level of stimulus globally that’s going into the economy certainly underpins higher gold prices for the longer term, and I don’t think that stimulus has stopped yet,” Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer said Thursday in a phone interview from Perth. “You could certainly see scenarios that have it pushing north of $2,000.”Spot bullion is trading around $1,720 -- close to a more than seven-year high -- and is forecast by numerous banks to extend gains as the impact of the virus pushes economies toward recession and prompts action from central banks. Those factors are adding to what was already a strong outlook, with rising demand among middle-class...
Warehouse supermarket chain Costco (COST) has announced that it is ramping up its dividend by 7.7%- at a time when many companies are suspending their dividend payments.On April 15, its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend on Costco common stock and approved a quarterly increase from 65 to 70 cents per share, or $2.80 on an annualized basis. The latest hike marks COST’s 16th consecutive year of dividend growth.The dividend is payable May 15, 2020, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 1, 2020.Costco stock has marginally increased on a year-to-date basis, and looking forward analysts are cautiously optimistic about the stock’s prospects.According to TipRanks, COST shows a Moderate Buy analyst consensus with a $329 average analyst price target. In the last three months the company has received 13 buy ratings and 7 hold ratings. (See COST stock analysis on TipRanks).“With what we view as a huge competitive...
(Bloomberg) -- Lim Hock Chee and his wife used to sell chilled pork at a rented stall in a grocery store.Now, after more than 35 years, his family operates 61 supermarkets across Singapore and has joined the ranks of billionaires.Shares of their Sheng Siong Group Ltd., which competes with Amazon.com Inc. in the city-state, rose to a record Wednesday as supermarkets have become the preferred place to shop after the government imposed a partial lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The stock has rallied more than 30% since a March 19 closing low.The family’s combined fortune, based on their 57% stake in the retailer held mainly by Lim and his two brothers, has surged to $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That would have been inconceivable when Lim started the pork stall to help alleviate a supply glut at his father’s pig farm. The brothers took over the supermarket...
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd's (TSMC) net profit almost doubled in the first quarter but it warned of flat revenue growth in the second half as weakening demand caused by the coronavirus offset strong sales for faster chips. The world's largest contract chipmaker, whose clients include tech companies such as iPhone maker Apple Inc, said profit in the January-to-March period was T$116.987 billion ($3.89 billion), up 90.6% from a year earlier. "Our second-half revenue is about flattish or may decline slightly," Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang told a briefing on Thursday, citing what the company saw as a "temporary" impact on demand from the coronavirus, which TSMC expects to be stabilised by June....
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock index futures rose, erasing earlier losses, as investors weighed whether the coronavirus outbreak is slowing enough for the government to move toward relaxing stay-at-home rules.Contracts on the S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 7:48 a.m. in London, erasing an earlier loss of 1.1%. President Donald Trump said he will unveil guidelines to relax stay-at-home rules on Thursday, citing signs that the outbreak is plateauing in parts of the country.“Investors are expecting economic activity to resume soon, as the virus appears to be peaking out,” said Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management Co. “But we’re not in a situation where we can confidently rely on that hope. Markets have priced in bad economic data, and it remains susceptible to news flow.”Futures slumped earlier, and the underlying S&P 500 sank 2.2% Wednesday after data showed factory output slid in March by the most since 1946 and...
Goldman Sachs Group’s (GS) quarterly profit almost halved as the U.S. investment banks set aside almost a $1 billion to cover potential loan losses tied to the coronavirus pandemic.Net earnings in the first quarter ended March 21, slumped 49% from the year-ago period to $1.21 billion. Diluted earnings per common share (EPS) fell to $3.11 in the first three months of the year from $5.71 in the same period last year 2019. Goldman missed analysts’ estimates expecting a profit of $3.35 per share on average. The investment bank's stock rose a mere 0.2% to $178.52.Provision for credit losses increased to $937 million in the quarter, primarily due to significantly higher provisions related to corporate loans as a result of the continued pressure in the energy sector and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the broader economic environment.“Our quarterly profitability was inevitably affected by the economic dislocation,” said Goldman Chief Executive...
