Capital One first quarter earnings surpassed expectations. The bank holding company raked in adjusted earnings of $2.90 per share during the quarter, thereby substantially beating analysts' expectations of $2.68.Adjusted revenue of $7.08 billion also came in higher compared to the Street's $7.01 billion expectations.   Revenue, pre-provision earnings, and earnings per share all climbed from the year-ago quarter, as indicated by Capital One founder, chairman and CEO Richard D. Fairbank.

Over the last few months, a trend channel has formed on the chart of the iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (NYSE: EWH) with a more defined cyclical pattern to it.The indicators made a bullish crossover on April 25 which is a possible bullish sign for the EWH. In addition to the chart, the Tickeron AI Trend Prediction tool generated a bullish signal on the EWH on April 24.

Atlassian (Nasdaq: TEAM) released earnings last week and the enterprise software company beat on its EPS estimate and revenue estimate, but the June profit forecast was disappointing to investors. The disappointment caused the stock to gap lower on April 18 and the stock stabilized just above the $100 mark.The parallel lower rail would connect the low from November with the low from last week, if indeed this is a trend channel. The pullback in the stock caused the daily oscillators to fall to their lowest levels since last October.

Satellite communications operator Intelsat Global (NYSE: I) has been trending lower for the last six months.If that isn’t enough to cause concern, the stock is overbought based on the daily stochastic readings and those indicators just made a bearish crossover. The Tickeron AI Trend Prediction tool generated a bearish signal on April 22 and that signal calls for a decline of 2.5% over the next week.

Ford’s $500 million investment in the electric truck maker Rivian looks all the more promising after the latter’s deal with General Motors (GM) came to a final stall.It is rumored that GM wanted all the technology rights of the start-up that eventually led to the dropping of the deal. On the other hand, the deal with Ford is progressing fast as the deal allegedly allows Rivian to move ahead with its own plans and also to sign up with other potential partners.

Shares of Walt Disney have risen by ~15% since the company’s announcement of its new $6.99 per-month Disney+ streaming service starting later this year.The company plans to stream family-friendly content and will be undercutting the price of the standard Netflix charges by nearly 50%. This strategy, according to many analysts, could hit Netflix with stiff competition as it has thus far enjoyed a near monopoly in the online streaming space. A random survey of 602 current Netflix subscribers reveals that 14.5% of the current users are willing to switch to Disney+.

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s first fiscal quarter report reveals estimate-beating results with net income coming at $88.1 million, or $3.13 per share, up from $59.4 million, or $2.13 per share a year earlier. Other key highlights of the quarter include: $3.40 adjusted earnings per share versus expected $3.01, revenue at $1.31 billion versus expected $1.27 billion, same-store sales growth of 9.9% versus expected 7.29%, 13.9% rise of net sales to $1.31 billion versus expected $1.27 billion, and 100.7% rise of digital sales growth during the quarter accounting for 15.7% of total sales. Another key highlight of the quarter includes the success of Chipotle’s points-based loyalty program that crossed 1 million subscriptions a week after its launch in March.However, the loyalty program is only one part of the company’s digital strategy as it partnered with a third-party delivery service called DoorDarsh that saw customer retention even after the promotion ended. For the fifth consecutive

Uber is planning to price its initial public offering at a maximum of $50 per share, partly due to a disappointing debut by competitor Lyft. In an amended regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Uber set the range of its offering of between $44 and $50 per share, below its previous range of between $48 and $55 per share.The new range would value Uber under $90 billion. The company also disclosed a $500 million investment from PayPal, which will purchase Uber stock in a private placement at a price equal to the IPO pricing. “Based on an assumed initial public offering price of $47.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, PayPal would purchase 10,638,298 shares,” Uber said in the filing.

Morgan Stanley is set to pay $150 million to settle charges it misled two large California public pension funds about the risks of mortgage-backed securities they bought prior to the 2008 global financial crisis.  California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) will receive $122 million from the settlement, while the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) will receive $8 million.The other $20 million will cover costs and help fund other investigations.

The U.S. economy likely maintained a moderate pace of growth in the first quarter, which could further dispel earlier fears of a recession even though activity was driven by temporary factors. Read more...

Oil prices dipped on Friday on hopes that producer club OPEC will soon raise output to make up for a decline in exports from Iran following a tightening of sanctions on Tehran by the United States. Read More...

Telecommunications giant AT&T (NYSE: T) took on $40 billion in debt to acquire Time Warner in June 2018.That's too high for AT&T's liking, so it embarked on a path to pay off what it borrowed to buy Time Warner and, in turn, bring its that ratio down to saner levels. Read More...

The Royal Bank of Scotland reported a net profit of £707 million ($912.2 million) for its first quarter on Friday, down 11% from £792 million over the same period last year. Read More...

Smokers will receive discounts if they reduce, quit or switch to less carcinogenic products. According to the terms of the insurance, smokers who switch to e-cigarettes will receive 2.5% discount on premiums, people who switch to Philip Morris’ heated tobacco product iQOS for three months will receive a 25% discount, and people who quit smoking for at least a year will receive a 50% discount.The same premium would buy a £60,000 ($77,650) policy for a 40-year-old non-smoker. It is up to PM to decide how much discount to offer to people using alternative products that are less life threatening.

The company reported Q1 earnings of 21 cents per share, widely beating estimates of 11 cents per share loss. The company took a hit when Toys 'R Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and eventual closure leaving Hasbro with excess inventory.For example, in the second half of 2018, the toymaker launched a digital multiplayer collectible card game called ‘Magic: The Gathering Arena’ that has been played about 700 million times. Following this success in the European markets, the toymaker is now focusing on international markets and is optimistic that it will soon be able to roll out the digital initiative of Magic Arena outside Europe.

Now the company is ready to release Coca-Cola Coffee in more than 25 markets around the world by the end of 2019. The drink, with slightly less caffeine content than in a normal cup of coffee but more caffeine than in a can of soda, claims it can boost the mid-afternoon energy slump among busy office workers. The move comes as customer beverage preferences have shifted from more sugary options to less sugary options like bottled water or Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.Chilled coffee is another ever expanding segment growing at least 10% annually in the U.S. from 2013 to 2107. For several years, Coca-Cola has been trying to succeed in the coffee business.

Bristol-Myers Squibb reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2019 on the performance of its blood thinner drug, Eliquis. First-quarter 2019 earnings of $1.10 per share beat analyst estimates by one cent and surpassed the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $0.94. Total revenue of $5.92 billion beat expectations of $5.80 billion and increased 14% from $5.2 billion in the year-ago period.Continued strong sales of Opdivo and Eliquis contributed to the top line in the reported quarter.

Two drugmakers will pay nearly $125 million to resolve claims they used charities that help cover Medicare patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs as a way to pay kickbacks aimed at encouraging the use of their high-priced medications, the U.S. Justice Department. The department said Japan-based Astellas Pharma and Amgen Inc, the world’s largest biotech company, were the latest to settle claims stemming from an industry-wide probe of drugmakers’ financial support of patient assistance charities. Astellas will pay $100 million while Amgen will pay $24.75 million, the department said.Neither company admitted wrongdoing.

New orders for U.S.-made capital goods increased by the most in eight months in March, hitting their highest level on record and brightening the outlook for manufacturing and the economy. Read more...

Contrary to many forecasts, earnings growth looks like it could be positive for the first quarter, now that more than a third of the S&P 500 companies have reported.READ MORE...