The novel coronavirus crisis is creating a tremendous need for ventilators. And Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is one company that makes those coveted devices. Further, the company's sales for its cardiac and vascular unit, which houses its ventilator business, should climb meaningfully during the crisis. This sales spike should boost Medtronic stock.Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com The company's ventilators cost between $5,000 and $50,000 each. Given the high price of Medtronic's ventilators, there's an excellent chance that the company's profit margin on them is high. And I wasn't able to find any evidence that Medtronic had agreed to lower or cap the price of its ventilators. However, Medtronic did share the design plan for its ventilators.Consequently, during the crisis, the higher demand for ventilators should help the company's bottom line.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsFurther, Medtronic's customer base consists of hospitals and doctors. And hospitals are open for business during...
(Bloomberg) -- The OPEC+ coalition is pushing for other major oil producers to join it in a deep reduction of global crude output to stem the historic rout in prices.A global cut of 10 million barrels a day is a realistic goal, according to a delegate, who spoke on condition of anonymity. OPEC+, an alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, has already scheduled a virtual meeting on Monday and wants other nations to join talks as soon as possible.The 10 million figure was first touted by President Donald Trump on Thursday, who called for a coordinated production cut. He made no indication whether the U.S. would take part. For Saudi Arabia, it’s essential that producers including the Americans join in.Trump is meeting oil executives later on Friday.There are enormous obstacles to any deal. Russia was quick to deny on Thursday that any agreement had been reached. Even if an accord...
U.S. immigration officials say they have a plan if detention centers get hit with coronavirus outbreaks: They will transfer detainees with serious symptoms to hospitals with "expertise in high risk care." Detention center outbreaks in such areas could quickly swamp local hospitals, threatening their ability to treat local residents along with detainees. About a third of the 43,000 immigrants in detention as of March 2 were housed at facilities that have only one hospital - or none - with intensive-care beds within 25 miles, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the American Hospital Directory and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)....
(Bloomberg) -- Liquefied natural gas traders are following the latest trend in the oil market by storing huge amounts of the commodity on tankers, hoping prices will rise before the ship docks.But while crude can sit for months or even years in a tank, super-chilled LNG tends to evaporate even in the specialized vessels that handle it. That limits the amount of time “floating storage” is feasible.“Keeping gas frozen is extremely expensive because of the energy cost to maintain the ultra low minus-265-degree Fahrenheit temperature,” said Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities and derivative research for Bank of America Corp. in New York.The number of vessels used for floating storage was at 17 late last month, but has now eased to 13 after some unloaded their cargoes in India, according to data intelligence company Kpler. Three vessels have been idle for more than 10 days, Kyriakos Mezopoulos, director for LNG at...
(Bloomberg) -- The fallout from Luckin Coffee Inc.’s accounting scandal is spreading far beyond the high-flying Starbucks challenger, with renewed concerns about Chinese corporate governance dragging down stocks across industries and threatening to bring a halt to the country’s overseas initial public offerings.The Xiamen-based company’s announcement that its chief operating officer and some underlings may have fabricated billions of yuan in sales cast doubt on what was supposed to be one of China’s fastest-growing companies. Luckin Coffee shares plunged as much as 81% in U.S. trading and CAR Inc., a rental company founded by Luckin Coffee’s chairman, sank 54% in Hong Kong. Popular short-selling targets including Anta Sports Products Ltd. also slumped.Doubts over financial reporting have for years dogged Chinese stocks listed in the U.S. and Hong Kong, two exchanges frequently picked by company founders to raise new funds. And while China just recently changed regulation to punish instances of financial...
