The Royal Bank of Canada's Q4 earnings reached a net income of C$3.25 billion, beating expectations and growing by 15%.Net profits rose to C$12.4 billion -- a new record.
Commercial banking, strong capital markets and wealth management and insurance helped boost the bottom line for the bank.
Dapper Labs, the decentralized app (or dapp, pronounced ‘dee-app’) developer behind CryptoKitties, recently announced a $15 million funding round.Venrock, who led the round, were joined by GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Samsung NEXT.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international policy-making organization designed to “[combat] money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system,” announced in October an initial set of cryptocurrency-centric rules, with a more comprehensive set to follow by June 2019.
The preliminary regulations require countries worldwide “to license or regulate cryptocurrency exchanges and some firms providing encrypted wallets, to help stamp out the use of digital money for money laundering, terrorism financing or other crimes,” said a Reuters report.Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are also responsible for complying with the provisions.
Information Technology consulting firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been trending steadily higher over the last nine and a half years.The stock hasn’t suffered any major corrections since the end of the financial crisis in 2009 and has only challenged the support of its 52-week moving average on a few occasions during this incredible run.
We see on the weekly chart that the recent downturn in the stock has brought it down to its 52-week moving average.
Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN) is one of the few that has been able maintain its momentum and keep within its trend.
We see on the daily chart that the stock has formed a trend channel over the last six months and the stock just bounced off of the lower rail of that channel.Most tech stocks have fallen below their 13-week and 52-week moving averages.
Ciena operates in the communication equipment group within the tech sector.
Salesforce posted better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, and solid growth in revenues.
At 61 cents per share, excluding certain items, the cloud-based software company beat analysts’ estimate of 50 cents per share (according to Refinitiv).Revenue soared +26% from the year-ago period to touch $3.39 billion – higher than analyst’s expected $3.37 billion (according to Refinitiv).
The company cites expansion in its Sales Cloud and Service Cloud businesses as significant contributors to its growth.
Huawei is a Chinese multinational telecommunications and smartphone company.
According to Spark NZ (the nation's biggest telecom firm), government officials felt that using Huawei's 5G equipment could pose risks to national security."I have informed Spark that a significant network security risk was identified," said Andrew Hampton, the director general of GCSB.
Huawei responded to New Zealand's decision with a statement saying "we will actively address any concerns and work together [with the government] to find a way forward.
Papa John’s stock price took a hit on Tuesday amidst a report that there might not be any buyer for the company, as of now.
A Wall Street Journal article said that the asset manager Trian Management Funds is reportedly no longer interested in bidding for Papa John's.In July, Papa John’s announced that it would use a “poison pill” (a stock dilution strategy) against Schatter should he try to increase his stake in the company.
Papa John’s also faced some headwinds in its recent performance.
In a recent media release, Walt Disney Company (DIS) revealed that it chose Google Ad Manager as its new digital advertising handler for an undisclosed amount, after sidelining its previous handler, Comcast's FreeWheel.
Under this multiyear and multimillion-dollar deal, Disney is set to move all of its digital brands and properties worldwide — including Disney, ABC, ESPN, Freeform, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars — to Google’s advertising platform.
With Google Ad Manager serving as DIS’s principal ad-technology platform, it will bring Disney’s entire global digital video and display business across multiple channels, including live streaming and direct-to-consumer content offerings, under one platform.
This consolidation should allow Disney to standardize its ad-technology under one global platform.It will also allow them to build a cutting-edge video experience and refine the way ads are stitched into live video, so that there’s a more seamless viewing experience
During the U.S. shale oil and gas boom over the past 15 years, one of the major challenges for different U.S. energy sector companies is how to provide for the perennial infusion of cash needed to finance their exploration, production, and investment activities.
With rising oil prices during early 2018, many analysts anticipated the challenge subsiding, as several energy companies revealed in third-quarter earnings reports that they were able to cover their capital spending from operating cash flows. Two of the country’s largest oil companies, ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), reported healthy profits from their US operations after reporting losses in 2017.
But these profits were recorded when the benchmark US WTI crude was trading around $73 a barrel. It follows that the recent plunge in oil prices over the past two months has brought financing concerns/challenges back to the surface again.
Shares of GE recorded their 20th decline in the last 23 trading sessions, after Gordon Haskett analyst John Inch indicated that the bankruptcy of helicopter lessor Waypoint Leasing could summon more trouble for GE’s finance arm, GE Capital.GE’s shares dropped by ~ 4.5% on Monday after Inch’s warning became public.
According to Inch, Waypoint's excessive capacity and muted demand -- owing largely to the energy industry’s limited rotorcraft usage due to distress in the offshore oil and gas sector -- has further enhanced its struggles.
GE had acquired Milestone Aviation Group in 2014 for $1.8 billion, on the assumption that there wouldn’t be any write-down of the goodwill.
Paychex Inc. announced Monday that it plans to acquire privately held firm Oasis Outsourcing Acquisition Corp. for $1.2 billion.
Payroll services company Paychex hopes that the acquisition of Oasis will bolster its own professional employer organization (PEO) strategy and potentially augment its client base.Paychex expects the transaction to potentially create "a number of revenue and cost synergies”.
Paychex might finance the acquisition through a combination of cash and existing credit facilities or new debt.
Depends on what the rate is,” while adding, “I mean, I can make it 10%, and people could stand that very easily.” However, some analysts are already predicting possibilities of a severe blow to Apple if a tariff is implemented.
Investment bank Baird projects at least 10% adverse impact on consumer demand in the U.S., if a 10% tariff is slapped on imported iPhones.Baird estimates that every 5% reduction in U.S. product revenue hurts Apple’s earnings per share by roughly $0.25-0.30 (accounting for demand elasticity effect).
Late Monday, United Technologies announced its plans to segregate itself into three companies: 1) United Technologies, which will focus on aerospace and defense industry supplier businesses, 2) Carrier, which comprises its refrigeration, air conditioning and building systems business and 3) Otis, which makes elevators, escalators and moving walkways.
United Technologies got the final regulatory nod for its $23 billion acquisition of aviation electronics manufacturing company Rockwell Collins on Friday.After the acquisition, Rockwell combined with UTC Aerospace Systems will make up Collins Aerospace Systems – which will be part of the United Technologies company after the split.
"Our decision to separate United Technologies is a pivotal moment in our history and will best position each independent company to drive sustained growth, lead its industry in innovation and customer focus, and maximize value creation," said United Technologies CEO Gregory Hayes.
Cyber Monday was the biggest shopping day in Amazon’s 24-year history, as indicated by the company.
Although the e-commerce giant did not release absolute figures, it said the Monday after Thanksgiving 2018 turned out to be "the single biggest shopping day in the company's history with the most products ordered worldwide".
Amazon also mentioned that sales made during the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday reached a record high for the company.During that period, it sold “millions” more products than it did during the same period in 2017.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to break records on Amazon year over year, “ said Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon's Worldwide Consumer division.
For the holiday season, Amazon offered several ‘gifts’ or incentives to shoppers such as free shipping on almost all items for all customers without any minimum purchase amount required.
Walt Disney Co. and 21st Century Fox are being sued by Malaysia’s casino & hotel company Genting Malaysia Bhd for abandoning a Fox World theme park deal.The park was scheduled to open its gates next year, with Genting having invested around $750 million in the project.
Disney is in the process of acquiring Fox's entertainment assets. In the lawsuit filed on Monday, Genting indicates that it is Disney that apparently wants to distance itself from a gambling company in order to avoid risking its “family-friendly” brand image.
On Tuesday morning, 21st Century Fox is launching its new online video streaming platform called Fox Nation.
With a focus on entertainment and political opinion, the streaming service apparently promises to offer content in addition to what viewers get on its decades-old cable TV channel Fox News.
Fox Nation will have upto 30 hours of new programming per week, and will also stock archives of Fox’s radio programs.The streaming platform has also lined up live shows such as 'UN-PC' with hosts Britt McHenry and Tyrus, 'Liberty Files with Judge Napolitano', and 'Reality Check with David Webb'.
The launch of Fox Nation seems to be 21st Century Fox’s attempt at expanding its footprints in the rapidly growing online streaming industry.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson JNJ, +0.03% fell 3.3% in afternoon trade, enough to pace declines among its health care peers and among the Dow Jones Industrial Average's DJIA, +1.46% components, after reports that an appeals court ruled that J&J can't block sales of generic Zytiga while the company appeals the overturning of a Zytiga patent.
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Kulicke and Soffa remains a relatively cheap, cash-rich name with a great balance sheet, unencumbered by debt.
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Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) stock continues to be a roller coaster.Since then, QCOM stock has dropped 28% and is now threatening to broach its multi-year support near $50.
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