U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Friday that the coronavirus economic stimulus bill before Congress is not an airline bailout and that taxpayers will be compensated for relief given to companies hobbled by the global pandemic. At the same time, Mnuchin said in an interview with Fox Business Network that plane-maker Boeing Co has not requested government help. "I've been very clear this is not an airline bailout," Mnuchin said....
Exxon (NYSE:XOM) pays $3.48 per share in dividends to its shareholders. Will the dividend be cut? So far, not. So the dividend yield for XOM stock is 9.8%. This is a rare bargain.Source: Harry Green / Shutterstock.com Exxon has made no statement that it is cutting the dividend since the coronavirus pandemic ramped up. In fact, since the price of oil fell out of bed in the past two months, it has not indicated any such cut.It has been almost two months since Jan. 29 when Exxon last declared a $0.87 per share dividend. Moreover, this is the fourth quarterly dividend for XOM stock at this rate.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsExxon usually increases its quarterly dividend by the fifth quarter. The next quarterly dividend is not likely to be declared until late April or early May. * 10 Stocks to Buy That Will Benefit From Coronavirus...
Shares of Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) are up over 23% since closing at a price of $31.45 on March 23. For XOM stock, that was the lowest price per share the company has logged since the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999.Source: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com Some of the gain in XOM stock is due to the $2 trillion stimulus package that includes targeted funds (in the billions) for specific industries. The Trump administration is also eager for the United States to maintain its energy independence. And that means it needs to protect the shale industry.Reports are circulating that our government is entering into direct negotiations with Saudi Arabia for an end to the current price war. If that's true, then it's likely that oil may be close to a bottom.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsBut that doesn't mean it will be climbing to $50 per barrel...
Given the near-term economic uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, investors have been shifting their focus from growth stocks to stocks that have the balance sheets and liquidity to weather the current downturn.Assuming the economy gets back to normal at some point in the relatively near future, the name of the game between now and then may simply be survival.Benzinga is covering every angle of how the coronavirus affects the financial world. For daily updates, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.Balance Sheet Analysis For investors, the safest place to be is in stocks with plenty of liquidity and relatively low debt on their balance sheets. Two popular ways for traders to measure liquidity are the quick ratio and the current ratio.Current ratio is a measure of a company's ability to pay its current liabilities and obligations due within one year. Mathematically, current ratio is a company's current assets divided by its current...
(Bloomberg) -- With the U.S. now surpassing all other countries in the number of coronavirus cases and health experts estimating the peak may still be weeks away, President Donald Trump’s administration is having a harder time defending tariffs on health-related goods imported from China.That’s especially true for products used in the U.S. response to the pandemic that are in high demand but running short on supply, such as ventilators, surgical masks and hand sanitizers.Gojo Industries, the inventor and manufacturer of Purell-branded products, builds its hand-sanitizer and soap dispensers in the U.S., but a key input that ensures the dispensers work is made in China and subject to a 25% duty.In a tariff-exemption request last year, Akron, Ohio-based Gojo said it’s exploring third-country sourcing but added that unilaterally moving production would require reverse engineering of a key chip that’s manufactured by a Canadian company in China. “Such action would violate their intellectual property” and Gojo “does not...
Unsurprisingly, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has not been immune to the oil bust. Even with recent robust sessions, Chevron stock has lost 36% of its value so far in 2020.Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com To some investors, the plunge no doubt looks like an opportunity. Chevron remains one of the world's great energy companies. It's a dividend aristocrat: an 8.4% increase in its dividend in January marked 33 consecutive years in which the company had raised its payout. That dividend now yields an attractive 6.8%.But investors buying Chevron stock on the dip need to keep one thing in mind: the world has changed. Indeed, Chevron itself shows just how much the energy industry has changed.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsWith an understanding of those changes, the opportunity in CVX stock isn't quite what it appears. The stock should be attractive for energy bulls betting on a rebound. But investors...
(Bloomberg) -- Boaz Weinstein’s main hedge fund gained 82% in the first quarter, as many of his peers struggled to navigate their way through the worst turbulence since the global financial crisis.Weinstein’s Saba Capital Management, which earlier this month had $2.2 billion of assets, extended its climb from earlier in the year. Bets on credit default swaps and derivative trades on companies in the retail and energy sectors had already seen the fund rise rapidly in February.The 82% gain was achieved by March 20, according to an investor with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private. A representative for Saba declined to comment on performance.It comes as the coronavirus lays siege to many of the world’s largest economies, with a global recession looking likely as factories close and consumers stay home. That’s roiled markets in recent weeks, with stocks plummeting and even some...
