- Bloomberg•13 hours ago
‘50 Cent’ VIX Trade Just Paid Off to the Tune of $200 Million
Hate it or love it, the underdog’s on top: patiently waiting for the VIX to explode has finally been rewarded in a big way. Among the biggest winners from last week’s turmoil is the mysterious buyer of out-of-the-money options tied to the Cboe Volatility Index priced at about 50 cents apiece. Pravit Chintawongvanich, head of derivatives strategy at Macro Risk Advisors, estimates that the trader dubbed “50 Cent” (a play on the rapper known as “50 Cent,” Curtis Jackson), has made nearly $200 million total on this trade since the start of 2017 -- thanks to a swing of $400 million in a single month. "At one point, ‘50 Cent’ became ‘30 Cent,’ scrimping on his usual VIX option purchases, unwilling to pay up for the 50 cent VIX options that were his namesake," Chintawongvanich wrote.
Fox Business•12 hours agoAmazon is laying off hundreds of corporate employees
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is laying off hundreds of corporate employees at its headquarters and elsewhere, according to a news report. The Seattle Times, citing a person familiar with the cuts, said Monday that the e-commerce giant will cut several hundred jobs at its headquarters in Seattle as well as hundreds of more elsewhere in Amazon’s global operations. The online retailer continues to hire aggressively in other parts of the country and is looking for a new city for its second headquarters, where the company plans to create 50,000 jobs and spend more than $5 billion.
- American City Business Journals•11 hours ago
'Time is running out' for Boeing decisions on mid-sized 797 aircraft
Boeing is studying three different engine designs for a new mid-sized passenger airplane dubbed the 797, delegates at the Singapore Airshow heard this week. The leading contender is GE Aviation (through its CFM International joint venture), which said Boeing will have to make a decision in 2018 for the potential aircraft to be ready to enter service in 2025. “Time is running out,” Chaker Chahrour, GE Aviation’s vice president and general manager of global sales and marketing, said at the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit, according to aviation industry news publication FlightGlobal .
The Street•3 hours agoJim Cramer: These 4 Stocks Seem Attractive Right Here
Sometimes they are right in front of you. I am talking about the bargains, the ones created by the hedge funds gone wild and the run up in interest rates -- although the latter doesn't worry me nearly as much as others. It's the former, the trading off the (TVIX) s of the world, that's got me gripped. Nothing is more front and center in the carnage than the stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial average, all household names that most viewers and readers know and maybe are even itching to get into to take "advantage" of the declines. So, let's do this. Let's go over the biggest decliners from peak to trough to see if there is anything we want to get started on buying before they come flying back,
- CNBC Videos•12 hours ago
JP Morgan cuts General Electric price target to $14
J.P. Morgan’s Stephen Tusa talks to CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report” about cutting his price target on General Electric shares.
Yahoo Finance•11 hours agoTONY JAMES: Millennials face a retirement crisis that will tear the social fabric of America apart
The U.S. is facing a massive retirement crisis that’s so dire that even people with well-paying, full-time jobs aren’t guaranteed a comfortable and secure retirement anymore. That’s why labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci, the head of the economics department
- MarketWatch•17 hours ago
This is the $21 billion reason Amazon wants to build its own UPS
A report that Amazon.com Inc. is planning to launch its own shipping service should be no surprise to anyone who took a close look at the e-commerce giant’s latest regulatory filing. In its 10-K for 2017 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month, Amazon outlined the multibillion-dollar cost of making good on its free shipping offers. “Shipping costs, which include sortation and delivery center and transportation costs, were $11.5 billion, $16.2 billion, and $21.7 billion in 2015, 2016, and 2017,” the filing said. “We expect our cost of shipping to continue to increase to the extent our customers accept and use our shipping offers at an increasing rate, we reduce shipping
- Zacks•8 hours ago
Cisco (CSCO) to Report Q218 Earnings: What's in the Cards?
Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO is set to release second-quarter fiscal 2018 earnings on Feb 14. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters with an average positive surprise of 1.73%. In the last quarter, the company reported non-GAAP earnings of 61 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.
- Zacks•5 hours ago
Beware of Under Armour (UAA) Ahead of Q4 Earnings
Shares of Under Armour UAA climbed after-hours following a 3.50% jump on Monday, one day before the struggling athletic apparel company is set to release its fourth-quarter earnings. Under Armour reported its first-ever sales decline since going public last quarter, after North America sales plummeted 12% and wholesale revenues sunk 13%. Unlike global rivals Nike NKE and Adidas ADDYY, North American sales account for around 75% of its business, while wholesale makes up over 60%—meaning that this performance was devastating for Under Armour.
- TheStreet.com•8 hours ago
Qualcomm, NXP and VMware's Deal Dramas Present Good Arbitrage Opportunities
For this potential deal, the opportunity isn't hard to see: Qualcomm trades at about a 20% discount to Broadcom's revised $82 per share ($60 per share in cash, and $22 per share in stock) offer price. A deal certainly isn't guaranteed to happen: For the time being, Qualcomm continues to reject Broadcom's overtures, and if a deal is inked, it would likely see both close regulatory scrutiny and pushback from Qualcomm clients worried that Broadcom will significantly cut Qualcomm's R&D spend.
- Bloomberg•18 hours ago
Bitcoin Closes in on $9,000 as Regulatory Fears Peter Out
Bitcoin extended a rebound on Monday as the regulatory concerns that have plagued digital currencies this year showed signs of subsiding.Bitcoin climbed 2.6 percent to $8,774 at 10:26 a.m. in London, bouncing back by almost 50 percent since dipping below
- Bloomberg•yesterday
Airbus’s Most Important Aircraft Can’t Shake Its Teething Problems
Airbus SE’s most important aircraft just can’t shake its teething problems. The European manufacturer has been forced to suspend some deliveries of its A320neo jet following another issue with the engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney. IndiGo, the Indian low-cost airline that’s the plane’s biggest customer, on Sunday disclosed three in-flight shutdowns, and said pilots have had to turn back before taking off in three other instances -- an alarming new problem for a Pratt power plant that’s been hobbled by glitches from the start. As many as 11 of the 113 Pratt-powered A320neos delivered by Airbus have been grounded, according to people familiar with the matter, with 43 in-service engines affected in total.
- CNBC Videos•9 hours ago
Mortgage rates reach highest levels in four years
CNBC’s Diana Olick reports on mortgage rates rising into the tough spring housing market.
- Zacks•10 hours ago
3 "Internet of Things" Stocks to Buy for 2018
Semiconductor stocks were hit hard by the recent market sell-off, but the underlying business of this industry is growing—and should continue that trend in 2018 and beyond. Throughout the chip-making space, companies have successfully adapted to the changing needs of the consumer, including an increased demand for small, high-powered chips that enable “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices. For those that don’t know, the Internet of Things is the growing world of interconnected household and industrial devices.
- Business Insider•yesterday
Demand for Lincoln's new Navigator SUV is so high that Ford is spending $25 million to upgrade the factory that builds it (F)
The faster assembly lines will be better able to keep up with demand for the Navigator and Expedition SUVs. To address that situation, Ford announced Monday that it will add another $25 million to its investment in its Kentucky Truck Plant, where the Navigator is built alongside the Expedition SUV. The total investment in the facility's revamping, which began last year, is now $925 million and includes 400 new robots, Ford said in a statement, as well as other advanced manufacturing systems, such as 3D-printing technology.
- Zacks•15 hours ago
Options Traders Expect Huge Moves in Frontier Communications (FTR) Stock
Investors in Frontier Communications Corporation FTR need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. What is Implied Volatility? Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other.
- MarketWatch•yesterday
These people are retiring early — but they’re not worried by the volatile markets
Gwen Merz is retiring from her full-time job at the end of March, at the age of just 27. To reach those goals, she has been maxing out her retirement accounts — a 401(k), a health savings account (HSA) and a Roth IRA — and she purchased a rental property in Iowa that earns her more than $1,000 a month.
The Street•4 hours agoIf These 2 Indicators Are to Be Believed, the Stock Market Correction Isn't Over
Not so fast, bulls. While the bulls have regained market sentiment, they may not want to get too enthusiastic. "The market usually cheapens up a lot in these corrections -- the problem is that it hasn't cheapened up enough," said long-time market strategist David Rosenberg at Gluskin Sheff. Rosenberg highlights two factors for the bulls to keep in mind. Price-to-Earnings Multiples "While the forward price-to-earnings multiple has compressed from 18.4 times to 17 times, the typical contraction in corrections like these is three and a half points," says Rosenberg. "So we are about halfway there -- another two points or so of multiple compression has to come." The Bulls Need a True Pounding Rosenberg
Reuters•15 hours agoOPEC sees higher 2018 oil demand, but more rival supply
OPEC said on Monday world oil demand would grow faster than expected in 2018 because of a healthy world economy, adding a tailwind to the producer group's effort to remove a supply glut by cutting output. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said world oil demand would rise by 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, an increase of 60,000 bpd from the previous forecast. "Recently, healthy and steady economic development in major global oil demand centres was the key driver behind strong oil demand growth," Vienna-based OPEC said in the report.
- MarketWatch•yesterday
How low will the Dow go? Brace yourself for the worst-case scenario
Some said the stock market was long overdue a reality check, or two. Others believed the bull market could go on and on, an d then some. After a week of nerve-wracking volatility, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell more than 1,000 points Thursday, or 4.15%, extending its recent selloff to more than 10%.
- Zacks•7 hours ago
3 Strong Buy Semiconductor Stocks to Consider Now
Semiconductor stocks were battered by the recent market sell-off, but with several interesting trends like the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence on the rise, it is still an exciting time to be investing in this corner of the technology sector. While tech behemoths like Microsoft MSFT and Apple AAPL may hog all the headlines, it has really been the companies powering their technologies—the semiconductor manufacturers—that have been garnering the attention of Wall Street. Indeed, as our “Computer and Technology” sector has gained nearly 19.3% over the past year, semiconductor companies have been a driving factor behind its growth.
Reuters•17 hours agoA culprit for financial site glitches: you and your apps
Jittery investors and their smartphones stressed out leading U.S. online financial sites last week as heavy volatility shook markets, technology analysts said. Major firms including Vanguard Group, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp and Fidelity Investments reported service slowdowns on their websites amid heightened demand from clients. For many firms an issue was the growing adoption of financial apps on mobile devices, which make it much easier for clients to check their balances or watch market indexes.
- MarketWatch•7 hours ago
Treasury yields rise as 30-year bond hits highest level since March
Treasury prices extended their decline Monday, pushing yields higher, as investors looked ahead to the coming inflation report that could confirm the bearish sentiment on government paper. The 10-year Treasury note yield(XTUP:TMUBMUSD10Y) rose 2.7 basis points to 2.857%, but pulled back from a four-year high of 2.891% notched earlier in the day. The 30-year bond rate(XTUP:TMUBMUSD30Y) was mostly flat at 3.138%, but was the highest since March 2017, according to WSJ Market Data Group.
Reuters•14 hours agoNew York sues Weinstein Co., Harvey Weinstein over sexual misconduct
New York's attorney general sued the Weinstein Company and Harvey Weinstein on Sunday alleging years of sexual harassment and misconduct by the movie producer, in a move that could jeopardize talks on a potential sale of the studio. Weinstein, co-founder of the Miramax studio, was one of Hollywood's most influential men before more than 70 women accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape.
Associated Press•12 hours agoBeleaguered gun maker Remington points to bankruptcy court
Remington, the gun maker beset by falling sales and lawsuits tied to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, has reached a financing deal that would allow it to continue operating as it seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company was cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting, but investors repulsed by the massacres distanced themselves from the company's owner, investment firm Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus acquired the gun maker in 2007, just when gun sales began to skyrocket.
