Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is urging Intel Corp. to explore strategic alternatives, according to a letter it sent to the company’s chairman on Tuesday.

The alternatives include decisions such as whether Intel should keep chip design and production arms under one entity.It could also lead to the unwinding of some of its acquisitions, such as the $16.7 billion purchase of Altera in 2015 (as reported by Reuters).

Third Point has nearly $1 billion stake in Intel, according to people familiar with the matter(as reported by Reuters).

Reuters reported that Third Point Chief Executive Daniel Loeb wrote to Intel Chairman Omar Ishrak pushing for immediate action to bolster the company’s position as a major provider of processor chips for PCs and data centers.

Since an approximate 41% drop on March 14, (around the time the lockdown was beginning), BTC.X saw a steady rise throughout 2020, with a 43% surge from December 12 through yesterday, December 28.Tickeron’s outlook, as of today, is fairly positive, with four technical indicators, one fundamental analysis rating, and our A.I.

Consumers don't like waiting 10 weeks for anything. 

The long wait times are a signal of the strong demand for Peloton's product, but also underscore the rapid shift towards digital everything, including exercise.A perfect solution in a pandemic, which is why its connected-fitness subscriptions grew 137% year-over-year and its digital subscriptions grew 382%. 

Peloton has a manufacturing problem, however, with all of its bikes built by third-party manufacturers in Taiwan.

It's been awhile since Apple, Inc. wowed the world with a new, cutting edge consumer product.Is something huge in the works? 

Below, A.I.dvisor gives a full breakdown of Apple.

Then Chinese regulators stepped in.

In a crushing blow to both companies, China's top commerce regulator announced an investigation into Alibaba's business practices, alleging the company may be abusing its dominant market position for monopolistic purposes.A few days later, the Chinese central bank (the PBOC) issued a statement criticizing Ant Financial's business practices, ordering the company to focus on its less-lucrative digital-payments business.

Coinbase announced that it will halt trading of the XRP cryptocurrency, after the Securities and Exchange Commission last week deemed it a security (versus a digital currency).

The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange said it will suspend trading of XRP in its market by mid-January.That means, customers would still be able to avail deposit and withdraw functionality.

 

 

On Tuesday, Alkermes Plc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the company's resubmission of its new drug application for its treatment of schizophrenia or bipolar 1 disorder. 

The FDA classified the resubmission as a complete, Class 2 response to the Complete Response Letter (CRL) issued in November 2020.Last month, the FDA had  turned away Alkermes’ ALKS 3831 candidate, since it had concerns  with conditions related to the tablet-coating process.

Alkermes said it will continue to work closely with the FDA as it completes its review of ALKS 3831.

The pharma company said that it wants to make the treatment available to patients as soon as possible. 

Snap Inc.  got a Wall Street-high price target from Goldman Sachs analysts.

Goldman analyst Heath Terry raised his price target on the social media company’s shares to $70 per share (from $47) – the highest target on Wall Street.Terry maintained his buy rating on the stock.

 The analyst mentioned tech innovations and product partnerships that he believes could push Snap's revenue growth beyond the Street expectations.

Terry also said that Snap's Spotlight product, new ad campaign objectives and bid types, and the Unity partnership, particularly Unity Ads' inclusion into the Snap Audience Network (SAN) could potentially propel further momentum in engagement growth as well as provide valuable scale to advertisers.

After bottoming at $21.11 in March, the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) has rallied over 400%.The five stocks were:

            First Solar (FSLR)

            JinkoSolar (JKS)

            Sunnova Energy International (NOVA)

            Plug Power (PLUG)

            Sunpower (SPWR)

When I pulled up these five stocks on the Tickeron Technical Analysis Screener, I couldn’t help but notice all five stocks had received bearish signals from the Bollinger Bands indicator within the last three days.

On Monday, electric vehicle-technology company Ideanomics announced that its Mobile Energy Global unit and contractor Qingdao Chengyang Medici have signed a deal with Meihao Chuxing (a joint venture between China's BYD and Didi) to buy an initial 2,000 ride-hailing units of model BYD D1 electric vehicle. 

According to Ideanomics, the vehicles are intended to be deployed in multiple cities within China.It expects deliveries to start in the first half of 2021.

The BYD D1 was launched in November, and has a range of 418 km, or 260 miles, and can reach top speeds of 130 km an hour, or 81 miles an hour.

The agreement is backed by a "viable government subsidy program, Ideanomics stated in a press release.

Nikola  shares got a price target cut from analysts at J.P. Morgan.

J.P.Morgan analysts slashed their price target on the electric carmaker’s shares to $35 from $40 per share. 

The investment bank mentioned that it identified execution risks for Nikola following General Motors’ decision   in November to sign a memorandum of understanding with the company that was smaller in scale than investors had previously anticipated.  General Motors will provide its hydrotec fuel cell system for Nikola's Class 7 and 8 semi-trucks, but not under the exact same terms as announced earlier.

Nevertheless analyst Paul Coster still expects Nikola's news cycle "to be less drama-filled and to turn generally positive," according to TheFly. 

It also suggested a good tolerance generally.

Novavax is also currently conducting a large Phase 3 clinical study in the United Kingdom (U.K.), a Phase 2b safety and efficacy study in South Africa, and an ongoing Phase1/2 trial in the U.S. and Australia.Results from these trials are expected to come in as soon as early first quarter 2021, although timing could depend on transmission rates in the regions.

The packaged software industry has performed extremely well in recent weeks and that has caused a number of the stocks to hit overbought territory on their daily charts.A number of the stocks have gained 15% or more in the past month while the S&P 500 is only up 3.7%.

One software company that has lagged the others and lagged the market is HUYA Inc. (HUYA).

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. came in less than expected last week, based on data from Labor Department.

The number of first-time unemployment benefits claims was 803,000 in the week ended Dec. 19, compared to the  888,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.The upwardly revised initial claims of the preceding week was 892,000 (the highest figure since early September).

Continuing jobless claims (seasonally adjusted)fell to a 5.3 million in the week ended Dec. 12, from 5.5 million a week earlier.

Earlier this week, Congress approved a $900 billion coronavirus economic stimulus package, which includes $300 weekly federal supplemental unemployment benefits, $600 direct payments to most individuals, and around $325 billion for small business aid, among other items.

Shares of the major home building stocks such as  Lennar, DR Horton and Toll Brothers, dropped more than -2% following the news.

New home sales dropped -11% month-over-month in November, according to the U.S. Census.

While mortgage rates fell rapidly in November, higher home prices could have weighed on affordability, thereby affecting contract signings.Strong home demand against limited inventory has been a prominent theme in U.S. housing market this year – something that has fueled price gains while apparently starting to challenge affordability.

The median price of a newly built home increased +2.2% year-over-year in November to $335,300.

Videoconferencing platform Zoom Video Communications  is reportedly considering developing its own corporate e-mail and calendar services.

According to a report in The Information, Zoom Video has already started working on the e-mail service and may begin testing it out early next year.But work might not have begun on the calendar service.

Bigger tech companies Microsoft   and Alphabet already incorporate  e-mail and calendar services into their respective videoconferencing platforms.

Human resource and payroll benefits manager Paychex  posted fiscal-second-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations, thanks to  client retention and strengthening client base.

For the quarter ended Nov. 30, the company’s earnings came in at 75 cents a share, compared to  66 cents expected by analysts polled by FactSet.The figure is also higher than the year-ago quarter’s 72 cents a share.

Revenue fell 0.7% year-over-year to $983.7 million, exceeding analysts’ forecast of $954 million.

While the covid-19 pandemic affected the results, strong client retention and our sales performance has resulted in year-over-year growth in the number of clients sold and serviced, as suggested in a statement from President and Chief Executive Martin Mucci.

 

General Motors  is recalling almost 840,000 vehicles in the U.S., due to suspension issues or problems with front seat belts.

According to the automaker, the seat-belt brackets may not have been secured to the frame, so the belts might fail to hold people in a crash.Owners will be notified starting February 1.

The suspension recall covers the 2012 and 2013 Buick Regal, the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, and the 2010 through 2013 Buick Lacrosse midsize cars that were sold or registered in salt-belt states.

The latest recall report follows last month’s announcement from GM that it would recall 6 million pickup trucks and SUVs after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said they had potentially faulty airbags. 

Digital payments company Square Inc., has reportedly held talks to acquire the music-streaming platform Tidal, as it tries to diversify its business.

Citing an source familiar with the matter (and not willing to be named) , Bloomberg reported that Jack Dorsey, who runs Square, has discussed a potential deal with rapper Jay-Z who bought Tidal for $56 million in early 2015. Talks are still private and do not necessarily imply a deal, according to the report.

Tidal has had a challenge keeping up with peers  including Spotify Technology SA and Apple Music.

Shooting sports and outdoor products maker Vista Outdoor  shares got rating boost to outperform from market perform by Cowen analyst Gautam Khanna.The analyst also hiked his share-price target on Vista shares to $33 from $29. 

According to Khanna, President-elect Joe Biden's gun-control plans will likely increase demand for guns and ammunition.