symbol
stringlengths 1
9
| title
stringlengths 1
701
| text
stringlengths 1
140k
|
|---|---|---|
T | Bowditch charges two ahead at Byron Nelson | Reuters Steven Bowditch took advantage of a rain softened layout to move two shots clear at the AT T NYSE T Byron Nelson where Masters champion Jordan Spieth struggled on the greens after teeing off later in Thursday s opening round Early starter Bowditch of Australia putting superbly birdied five of his first nine holes on the way to a sizzling eight under par 62 at the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas in Irving Texas That left Bowditch two ahead of American Jimmy Walker a fellow Texas resident who mixed seven birdies with a lone bogey to surge up the leaderboard Two more Americans James Hahn and Ryan Palmer were a further stroke back after opening with 65s while world number two and local favorite Spieth had to settle for a 69 after making just two birdies and one bogey in the afternoon wave Bowditch whose sole PGA Tour victory came at last year s Texas Open totaled only 25 putts as he capitalized on a morning tee off and a fast start It was really nice the Australian told PGA Tour Radio after piling up eight birdies in a bogey free display on a course saturated by heavy rain over the past month I got off to a pretty good start made a couple of putts early and had some momentum Bowditch a top junior player whose professional career was temporarily stalled as he battled depression set the tone for his day as he recorded birdies at the first fourth sixth seventh and ninth to reach the turn in five under 30 I kept it in the fairway and that s a big thing out here being so wet he said I stayed aggressive kept hitting drivers and getting them on the golf course The greens are great They are soft but you can still make some putts out there Spieth made a promising start by sinking a nine footer for birdie at the par four first but picked up just one more shot at the 10th before bogeying the par four 14th after his tee shot ended up in the right rough It was tough to putt on today said Dallas resident Spieth a double winner on the 2014 15 PGA Tour I feel good with the putter in my hands just maybe not quite matching line and speed The greens were soft and there was so much afternoon traffic that putts weren t breaking as much I think they will be a little quicker tomorrow and more pure
Just get out there and try and make a couple of birdies at the beginning see if we can t get some more putts to go in I only made one mistake today other than that it was a flawless round |
T | Heavy rain turns par four into par three at Byron Nelson | Reuters Torrential overnight rain in Irving Texas forced tournament officials to take the unusual step of transforming a par four hole into a par three for the second round of the AT T NYSE T Byron Nelson on Friday Due to unplayable conditions on the water logged 14th fairway at the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas after 4 1 2 inches of rainfall overnight the 406 yard hole was shortened to a par three measuring 104 yards The 14th fairway is unplayable where we drive the ball Slugger White the PGA Tour s vice president of rules and competitions told reporters We had no place to go We d be losing balls and the conditions rendered the hole unplayable Officials will evaluate the situation as the week progresses and determine whether to play the 14th hole as a par three for the final two rounds
The start to the second round was delayed by three hours on Friday as ground crews worked hard to prepare the saturated course for play |
T | Rookie Curran in tie for lead at weather hit Byron Nelson | Reuters PGA Tour rookie Jon Curran capitalized on a fast start and some pinpoint iron shots to surge into a three way tie for the lead in the weather disrupted second round of the AT T NYSE T Byron Nelson in Irving Texas on Friday While Masters champion Jordan Spieth also charged into contention after struggling on the greens in his opening round Curran set the early pace by firing a six under par 63 at the rain saturated TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas I got off to a pretty good start hit some really close iron shots and I made some good 10 or 15 foot putts for birdie Curran told reporters That left the 28 year old at nine under 130 where he was joined later in the day by fellow American Jimmy Walker 66 and overnight leader Steven Bowditch of Australia 68 Walker and Bowditch did well to finish in fading light after the start to the second round had been delayed by three hours because of water logged conditions caused by 4 5 inches of rainfall overnight Didn t want to have to get up early on Saturday it will be nice to sleep in little bit said Walker Thirty three players will have to complete the second round on Saturday morning though further thunderstorms are expected overnight on Friday American Ryan Palmer 66 and Australian Cameron Percy 64 were at eight under with local favorite and world number two Spieth a further two shots back after carding a 64 I had a lot of short birdie putts today said Spieth after piling up seven birdies three of them on his last three holes and two bogeys I zeroed in on the targets nicely The finish was certainly nice For the middle of that round I was only hanging around one or two under and to be able to close at five under on the day puts me in contention Grounds crews worked hard in the morning to prepare the course for play though the par four 14th had to be shortened to a par three measuring just 104 yards because of an unplayable fairway Officials said they would continue to evaluate the situation and determine whether to play the 14th hole as a par three for the final two rounds They made a great decision in going out and playing that as a par three said Curran who earned his 2014 15 PGA Tour card by finishing 12th on the Web com Tour s money list last season
We have had such bizarre weather out here it was either that or not play the round |
T | Bond selloff cools euro stocks fall | By Richard Leong NEW YORK Reuters The global bond market rout slowed on Thursday as long term borrowing costs retreated from their highest level in more than five months but the recent surge in yields kept pressure on stocks worldwide The absence of a deal between Greece and its creditors also remained a drag on stocks and the euro Investors stampede from stocks and bonds this week sent major European indexes to their lowest in two months and major U S and Japanese gauges to the weakest in a month U S Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen s warning about high equity valuations on Wednesday added pressure to U S stocks ahead of Friday s U S jobs report which may support expectations of a possible Fed rate increase later this year After years of over wading in fixed income a lot of bond investors are starting to take stock and pulling back in advance of these shifting policy moves said Andrew Barber chief market strategist at EagleView Capital in Wilmington Delaware A retreat in European bond yields from their session peaks cause the euro to decline from a 10 week high against the dollar Oil prices strengthened to their highest level so far in 2015 on data that showed the first weekly drop in U S crude inventories since January A stronger dollar and elevated bond yields touched off a second day of selling in gold Bond markets were at the center of this week s rout prompted by heavy supply and less pessimism about Europe with German Bunds on track for their biggest weekly spike in yields in over a decade Italian and Spanish yields hit 2 percent for the first time this year French yields topped 1 percent and U S Treasuries the benchmark for borrowing costs globally briefly broke 2 3 percent EUR GVD Global yields receded from their initial Thursday peaks on bargain hunting led by Japanese investors who had been out of the market due to the three day Golden Week holiday analysts and traders said Shortly after they opened the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2 76 points or 0 02 percent to 17 839 22 the S P 500 was up 1 2 points or 0 06 percent at 2 081 35 and the Nasdaq Composite was UP 20 04 points or 0 41 percent at 4 939 69 FTSEurofirst index of top European shares dipped 0 1 percent to 1 545 97 while Tokyo s Nikkei ended down 1 2 percent EU T The MSCI world equity index which tracks shares in 45 nations fell 0 48 percent to 432 66 In the currency market the euro hit a 10 year high against the dollar at 1 13920 earlier before easing down to 1 12780 down 0 6 percent from Wednesday s close The dollar index firmed at 94 496 up 0 4 percent Sterling dipped 0 2 percent versus the greenback amid an expected tight parliamentary election Brent crude was last down 52 cents or 0 77 percent at 67 25 a barrel U S crude was last down 69 cents or down 1 13 percent at 60 24 per barrel
Spot gold prices fell 4 99 or 0 42 percent to 1 186 31 an ounce Additional reporting Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore Marc Jones in London Editing by Mark Heinrich and Nick Zieminski |
T | AT T Mexico chief will take couple of years to shape up Mexico business | By Christine Murray RIVIERA MAYA Mexico Reuters AT T NYSE T will take a couple of years to shape up its new business in Mexico where it competes with billionaire Carlos Slim s dominant carrier America Movil AT T Mexico Chief Executive Thaddeus Arroyo said in an interview on Thursday AT T which bought Mexico s No 3 and No 4 wireless carriers in the last few months faces the task of integrating the two companies networks to face off with Slim s telecoms giant which controls 70 percent of the mobile market The purchases gave AT T which was looking for growth outside the saturated U S wireless market a cheap foothold in Latin America but analysts don t see the Mexico unit moving the dial for some time What we really want to do over the long term is deploy advanced fourth generation services to over 100 million Mexicans That will take a number of years Arroyo said in an interview on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum summit on Latin America in the Riviera Maya |
T | AT T trade groups ask court to block FCC Internet rule | WASHINGTON Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T and telecommunications trade groups on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to block U S Federal Communications Commission Internet traffic regulations while litigation continues
In a joint filing in the U S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit AT T the United States Telecom Association and others said a stay was warranted because they are likely to win the challenge to the so called net neutrality rules |
T | Stocks gain as investors eye bright side of mixed earnings | By Tanya Agrawal Reuters U S stocks rose in afternoon trading on Wednesday as Visa s potential expansion into China and talk of a turnaround at McDonald s helped investors see the bright side of mixed quarterly earnings Visa gained as much as 7 1 percent to hit a record of 69 98 while MasterCard came shy of its all time high after China said it would open up its market to foreign firms for clearing domestic bank card transactions MasterCard was up 4 04 percent at 91 31 A majority of the 10 major S P 500 sectors rose with the tech index gaining 0 96 percent on the back of Visa McDonald s surged 3 12 percent to 97 86 after it said it was working on a plan to reverse its shrinking sales At 2 27 p m the Dow Jones industrial average rose 80 57 points or 0 45 percent to 18 030 16 the S P 500 gained 10 76 points or 0 51 percent to 2 108 05 and the Nasdaq Composite added 21 52 points or 0 43 percent to 5 035 62 A week ago more than 80 percent of the S P 500 companies to have posted their March quarter earnings had beaten estimates But with 121 reports now in that number has slipped to 71 9 percent just above the 70 percent earnings beat rate seen over the past four quarters Many have blamed misses on revenue on a strong dollar for making their products more expensive overseas People are seeing the negative effects of foreign exchange and that s not been drastically worse than expected said James Lowell chief investment officer at Adviser Investments in Newton Mass They re going back and looking at company fundamentals Today you re getting a bit of glass is half full Yum Brands jumped 4 33 percent after the restaurant operator said late on Tuesday it was recovering from a meat scare in China and expected a strong year end finish Companies reporting results after the bell on Wednesday include AT T NYSE T Facebook NASDAQ FB and EBay Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1 734 to 1 204 for a 1 44 to 1 ratio on the Nasdaq 1 538 issues rose and 1 170 fell for a 1 31 to 1 ratio favoring advancers
The benchmark S P 500 was posting 20 new 52 week highs and no new lows the Nasdaq Composite was recording 80 new highs and 27 new lows |
T | AT T profit beats Street estimates fewer subscribers defect | By Malathi Nayak Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T on Wednesday reported better than expected earnings and said fewer wireless customers switched to other networks at a rate not seen in any first quarter The company awaiting regulatory approval for its 48 5 billion proposal to buy DirecTV sees additional cost savings of more than double than it previously forecast from the deal It still expects it to close in the current second quarter AT T also said it added 441 000 postpaid or contract subscribers and 1 2 million new wireless customers in the quarter However the average revenue per contract phone user fell 9 6 percent from a year earlier Shares of AT T rose about 1 3 percent in after hours trading They ended at 32 86 on the New York Stock Exchange The second largest U S wireless carrier posted net income of 3 2 billion or 61 cents per share in the first quarter ended March 31 compared with 3 65 billion or 70 cents per share in the year ago quarter Excluding items AT T earned 63 cents per share ahead of analysts average estimate of 62 cents according to Thomson Reuters I B E S Revenue was 32 58 billion compared to 32 48 billion a year earlier This was below analysts revenue forecast of 32 84 billion The company said postpaid churn or the rate of customer defections fell slightly to 1 02 percent from 1 07 percent a year ago AT T which had seen this metric increase over the last two years said its first quarter had its best ever churn AT T said it expects cost savings from the DirecTV deal to total at least 2 5 billion on an annual basis by the third year after the deal closes Previously it had said it expected to see 1 6 billion in cost savings Faced with intense competition and deals from rivals wireless carriers have moved from two year contract plans to equipment financing plans which reduce service fees and eliminate subsidies for devices Wireless equipment revenue rose more than 36 percent to 3 4 billion but service revenues fell 3 7 percent to 14 8 billion As the U S wireless market reaches saturation the company has been expanding its footprint in Mexico In January it said it would buy bankrupt NII Holdings Inc s wireless business in Mexico for 1 875 billion
AT T plans to combine Nextel Mexico with Iusacell which the company acquired in November for 1 7 billion |
T | Exclusive Data center company Telx explores 2 billion sale sources | By Liana B Baker and Greg Roumeliotis Reuters Telx Group Inc a private equity owned provider of data centers and network solutions to companies is exploring a sale that could value it at around 2 billion including debt according to people familiar with the matter Telx s owners ABRY Partners LLC and Berkshire Partners LLC have interviewed investment banks in recent weeks to appoint financial advisers that will help run an auction for the company the people said on Monday The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential Telx and ABRY Partners representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment Berkshire Partners declined to comment U S businesses burgeoning demand for data and video is fueling a revival in fiber optic services and data centers New York based Telx manages 1 3 million square feet of data center space and more than 50 000 network connections The company owns 20 data centers including three major ones in New York City Its customers range from small businesses that only need half of a cabinet in data centers to global companies requiring a full floor lease Telx is just the latest data center company to hit the auction block Zayo Group Holdings O ZAYO bought data center company Latysis in February for 675 million while AT T NYSE T has been pursuing a sale of its data centers worth 2 billion Earlier on Monday Lightower Fiber Networks a fiber company that is also owned by Berkshire Partners and ABRY partners bought Fibertech Networks from Court Square Networks for 1 9 billion |
T | U S Senator Rand Paul moves to block new net neutrality rules | WASHINGTON Reuters U S Senator Rand Paul a Republican presidential hopeful on Wednesday introduced a resolution to block new regulations on Internet service providers saying they would wrap the Internet in red tape The net neutrality rules which are slated to take effect in June are backed by the Obama administration and were passed by the Democratic majority of the Federal Communications Commission in February AT T Inc NYSE T and wireless and cable trade associations are challenging them in court Paul s resolution if adopted would allow the Senate to fast track a vote to establish that Congress disapproves of the FCC s new rules and moves to nullify them The move marks the most proactive position yet by Paul a libertarian from Kentucky on net neutrality the principle that Internet providers should treat all Web traffic equally The issue has grabbed national attention and prompted a record 4 million comments to the FCC many of them from regular Americans calling to restrict Internet providers Paul s position shared by anti regulation conservatives pits him against net neutrality advocates in the technology and startup communities The Internet has successfully flourished without the heavy hand of government interference Paul said in a statement Stated simply I do not want to see the government regulating the Internet The rules ban Internet providers from blocking or slowing down any websites and from striking deals with content companies for smoother downloads Internet providers say they oppose not those principles themselves but the FCC s decision to set those rules by dramatically changing the regulatory regime which gives the agency much wider authority over the Internet The rules have also faced opposition from Paul s rival Republican presidential candidates including Texas Senator Ted Cruz who has called them Obamacare for the Internet and Florida Senator Marco Rubio
Paul s resolution is almost certain to face a veto from President Barack Obama Republican leaders of key technology committees have been trying to negotiate with Democrats to write a new law to counter the FCC s rules |
T | Internet provider wants net neutrality challenge heard in New Orleans | By David Ingram Reuters A Texas based Internet provider is requesting that a federal appeals court in New Orleans not one in Washington be the court that hears a challenge to new Web traffic regulations known as net neutrality rules Alamo Broadband Inc filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in the 5th U S Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans asking it to review the regulations from the Federal Communications Commission Last month Alamo lost an earlier bid to have the challenge heard in the 5th Circuit when a judicial panel selected a different court the U S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a random lottery The 5th Circuit is generally viewed as a conservative court and a majority of its active judges were appointed by Republican presidents It is currently hearing a challenge to President Barack Obama s immigration overhaul Lawyers for Alamo said in court papers that their lawsuit which is nearly identical to one they filed on March 23 should trigger a second lottery that will determine the venue The March 23 lawsuit was declared premature by the FCC making the first lottery moot the lawyers said
On Tuesday AT T Inc NYSE T and three cable and wireless trade groups filed separate lawsuits challenging the Web regulations They filed their lawsuits in the D C Circuit Parties in U S lawsuits often fight over which venue will hear a case because of factors such as the ideology of particular judges the legal precedents recognized in different jurisdictions or convenience Privately held Alamo did not immediately respond to a request for comment left after business hours The FCC also did not immediately respond |
T | Luke Bryan Miranda Lambert big winners at Country Music awards | By Lisa Maria Garza ARLINGTON Texas Reuters Luke Bryan won the fan voted top prize of entertainer of the year at the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday which drew more than 70 000 fans to the AT T NYSE T Stadium in Arlington Texas The home of the Dallas Cowboys was at near capacity and broke the Guinness Book of World Records for most attendance at a live awards show logging 70 252 guests Bryan and fellow country music star Blake Shelton hosted the awards broadcast on CBS for the third year running They say everything is bigger in Texas Bryan told the crowd Tonight we are the most attended live award show of all time Miranda Lambert who led all nominees for the second consecutive year with eight nods walked away with three awards including Album of the Year for her work Platinum It s good to be home said Lambert a native Texan Jason Aldean took home the award for male vocalist of the year for the third straight year Cole Swindell won the fan voted new artist of the year George Strait who retired from touring with a final show at Cowboys Stadium last year debuted his new single Let it Go after performing a medley of his greatest hits Little Big Town whose latest single Girl Crush has drummed up controversy over how it depicts post breakup jealousy won for vocal group of the year We really wanted to bring big hair back to country music said singer Karen Fairchild Garth Brooks Kenny Chesney Miranda Lambert Reba George Strait Taylor Swift and Brooks Dunn each received a 50th Anniversary Milestone Award Swift who crossed over from country to pop music thanked the academy and fans for sticking by her When I told you I wanted to make a pop album you showed me who you are with the grace you accepted it with she said Alan Jackson performed his Grammy winning hit Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning a song he wrote in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing Garth Brooks dedicated his patriotic performance of All American Kid to U S troops while audience members held up plastic cards forming the American flag
The Academy of Country Music honors big stars as well as small market radio disc jockeys and concert promoters and the awards are voted on by members of the Encino California based professional organization |
T | Company News For April 11 2017 | Shares of Swift Transportation Co NYSE SWFT advanced 23 7 after the company planned to merge with Knight Transportation Inc NYSE KNX Whole Foods Market Inc s NASDAQ WFM shares gained 10 after activist investor Jana Partners took 8 8 stake in the company Shares of Straight Path Communications Inc NYSE T soared 151 2 after AT T Inc NYSE T agreed to acquire the company Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ CYCC shares gained 8 3 after reporting positive results for its new product for the treatment of lung cancer patients |
T | Does AT T T Make For A Suitable Value Pick Right Now | Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment After all who wouldn t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process Let s put AT T Inc NYSE T stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value oriented investors right now or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks PE RatioA key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio or PE for short This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock s current PE ratio with a where this ratio has been in the past b how it compares to the average for the industry sector and c how it compares to the market as a whole On this front AT T has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 14 19 This level compares pretty favorably with the market at large as the PE ratio for the S P 500 comes in at about 20 30 If we focus on the long term trend of the stock the current level puts AT T s current PE slightly below its median over the past five years which stands at 14 21 This suggests that the stock is undervalued compared to its own historical levels and thus it could be suitable entry point Further the stock s PE also compares favorably with the Zacks classified Wireless National industry s trailing twelve months PE ratio which stands at 16 24 At the very least this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now compared to its peers In fact the stock has historically always been undervalued than its peers since the beginning of 2014 We should also point out that AT T has a forward PE ratio price relative to this year s earnings of 13 69 which is lower than the current figure So it is fair to say that a slightly more value oriented path may be ahead for AT T stock in the near term too PS RatioAnother key metric to note is the Price Sales ratio This approach compares a given stock s price to its total sales where a lower reading is generally considered better Some people like this metric more than other value focused ones because it looks at sales something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings Right now AT T has a P S ratio of about 1 52 This is higher than the Zacks categorized Wireless National industry average which comes in at 1 45 right now However AT T has historically always been relatively undervalued compared to the broader market in terms of the PS metric over the observed term Currently its PS compares much favorably with the S P 500 s level of 3 08 Notably T is actually in the higher zone of its trading range in the time period per the P S metric which suggests that the company s stock price has already appreciated to some degree relative to its sales Broad Value OutlookIn aggregate AT T currently has a Zacks Value Style Score of A putting it into the top 20 of all stocks we cover from this look This makes AT T a solid choice for value investors and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too For example its P B ratio used to compare a stock s market value to its book value stands at 2 01 lower than the industry average of 2 23 Clearly T is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles What About the Stock Overall Though AT T might be a good choice for value investors there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name In particular it is worth noting that the company has a Growth grade of C and a Momentum score of D This gives T a Zacks VGM score or its overarching fundamental grade of B You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores Meanwhile the company s recent earnings estimates have been mixed at best The current quarter has seen one estimate go higher in the past sixty days compared to two lower while the full year estimate has seen three upward revisions and seven downward revisions in the same time period This has had just a small impact on the consensus estimate though as the current quarter consensus estimate has remained constant over the past two months while the full year estimate has inched lower by 0 3 You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below AT T Inc Price and Consensus This somewhat bearish trend is why the stock has just a Zacks Rank 3 Hold despite strong value metrics and why we are looking for in line performance from the company in the near term Bottom LineAT T is an inspired choice for value investors as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front However with a sluggish industry rank Bottom 27 out of more than 250 industries and a Zacks Rank 3 it is hard to get too excited about this company overall In fact over the past three years the Zacks Wireless National industry has clearly underperformed the broader market as you can see below So value investors might want to wait for analyst sentiment to turn around in this name first but once that happens this stock could be a compelling pick Zacks Best Private Investment IdeasWhile we are happy to share many articles like this on the website our best recommendations and most in depth research are not available to the public Starting today for the next month you can follow all Zacks private buys and sells in real time Our experts cover all kinds of trades from value to momentum from stocks under 10 to ETF and option moves from stocks that corporate insiders are buying up to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises You can even look inside exclusive portfolios that are normally closed to new investors |
T | America Movil signs Elektra unit as virtual operator to its network | MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexico s America Movil said on Wednesday it had signed a subsidiary of Grupo Elektra as a mobile virtual network operator MVNO its second such deal in two weeks The deal with Elektra which runs appliance stores that have bank and money transfer branches is under conditions in line with a reference offer approved by the regulator in November the company said in a statement Earlier this month America Movil which is controlled by the family of billionaire Carlos Slim said it had signed telecoms company Axtel as its first MVNO part of a resolution to a long running dispute over interconnection Slim s companies had also been in a dispute with Elektra s owner fellow billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego In 2011 Salinas Pliego s broadcaster TV Azteca stopped all of Slim s advertising on his channels due to a dispute over connection costs for his mobile company Iusacell Mexico s No 3 wireless operator In February this year Telcel began advertising with Azteca again
At the end of 2014 Salinas Pliego sold Iusacell to AT T NYSE T a former long time America Movil shareholder for 1 7 billion plus debt |
T | America Movil may not face tougher regulation without asset sale regulator | By Christine Murray and Tom s Sarmiento MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexico s telecom regulator will not necessarily impose tougher rules against billionaire Carlos Slim s America Movil if it does not go ahead with a plan to sell off assets the head of the regulatory agency said in an interview on Friday Mexico s Congress last year passed sweeping telecoms reform aimed at curbing America Movil s industry dominance prompting the company to say it would sell a chunk of assets to reduce its market share to below 50 percent Gabriel Contreras head of the Federal Telecommunications Institute IFT said on Friday it would not necessarily take new action against America Movil in a revision of the industry next year if the company has not made those sales The problem of the market is not the size of the operator This is a market with economies of scale it s capital intensive The problem is if market power is abused he told Reuters Slim whose family controls America Movil said in July that taking six months to offload assets of Mexico s largest wireless operator would be slow But eight months on there is still no sale and some analysts have cast doubt on whether the plan will go ahead Analysts at UBS recently cited Chief Financial Officer Carlos Garcia Moreno as saying that with active subscriber management virtual operator deals and stronger competition the company could go below the 50 percent threshold Analysts at Itau BBA said they understood that the asset sale had been suspended at least for the time being America Movil spokeswoman Paula Maria Garcia said the company was looking at all options in terms of the sale In the last two weeks the company has signed its two first mobile virtual network operators MVNOs to its network Axtel and a Grupo Elektra something it was forced to do as part of the IFT rules Contreras said that subscribers in these MVNOs would not count towards America Movil s total market share Since the law was passed and the IFT imposed tougher regulation on America Movil and broadcaster Grupo Televisa average cell phone prices have dropped and AT T NYSE T has said it will buy up Mexico s No 3 and No 4 wireless carriers Contreras said the industry was moving in the right direction and that in theory there could be a competitive market with the status quo of three players He added that so far America Movil was complying with many of the rules imposed on it but that if in March 2016 the IFT had not seen the results it wanted in terms of competition it could impose further measures America Movil expects to complete a spin off of around 11 000 towers in Mexico into a new company by June Contreras said that as long as it is controlled by the same shareholders it will be subject to dominance regulation
Another part of the reform meant the auction of two new free to air television channels Despite local media reports that one of the winners Radio Centro may not be able to pay for the channel it won Contreras said he had seen no evidence of that |
T | U S CEOs modestly more upbeat on economy spending survey | By Lewis Krauskopf Reuters U S chief executive officers are modestly more upbeat about the economy and almost half plan to increase capital spending over the next six months a quarterly business group survey said on Tuesday CEOs expect U S gross domestic product to rise by 2 8 percent this year compared to a projection of a 2 4 percent increase a quarter earlier according to the first quarter survey by the Business Roundtable Of the 120 CEOs who responded to the survey 45 percent expect to boost U S capital spending in the next six months up from 36 percent in the fourth quarter survey Forty percent expect to increase U S employment about the same level as in the prior survey The U S economy and the job outlook are starting the year in a stronger position than 2014 said Randall Stephenson chairman of Business Roundtable and CEO of AT T Inc N T Passage of tax extender legislation late last year gave companies greater confidence to invest Stephenson said There s just one little microcosm of how tax policy is influencing how CEOs think about investing in the U S economy Stephenson told reporters on a conference call There is probably nothing that will move this economy forward and drive capital investment faster than tax reform In response to a question about foreign trade 81 percent said the ability to sell more goods and services to foreign markets would help their company grow and be more competitive globally Fifty four percent said such an ability would allow them to hire more U S workers Trade issues are ripe for bipartisan cooperation among legislators Stephenson told reporters The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index a composite index of expectations for the next six months for sales capital spending and employment rose to 90 8 from 85 1 in the fourth quarter The long term average of the index is 80 5 and the index has generally ranged from about 85 to 95 since the fourth quarter of 2013
Eighty percent said they expected their companies U S sales will increase in the next six months up from 74 percent a quarter ago Eight percent expect U S sales to decline |
T | AT T urges FCC to revisit spectrum bidding rules | Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T has urged the U S Federal Communications Commission to relook into bidding rules for spectrum saying licenses should not go to speculators or stockpilers Dish Network Corp the third largest pay TV provider in the U S and the owner of undeveloped wireless spectrum was a surprise winner in the record setting sale of airwaves for mobile data in January Dish itself did not win any licenses but had invested in bidding partners SNR Wireless LicenseCo LLC and Northstar Wireless LLC which bid a total of 13 3 billion Auctions should be designed to ensure that licenses go to those willing to deploy networks not speculators or stockpilers AT T s Vice President of Federal Regulatory Joan Marsh wrote in a blog post AT T was the top buyer at the auctions bidding a total of 18 2 billion to win licenses of so called AWS 3 spectrum Dish could not be immediately reached for comment |
T | Gemalto sees no significant impact from hacking issue | PARIS Reuters Gemalto AMS GTO said on Monday its initial investigations into a report that U S and British spies had hacked it systems showed its products were secure and it thus did not expect a significant financial prejudice Gemalto s shares fell sharply on Friday after news website Intercept reported a hack by the U S National Security Agency NSA and Britain s Government Communications Headquarters GCHQ The hack into the world s biggest maker of phone SIM cards allowed the spies to potentially monitor the calls texts and emails of billions of mobile users around the world the investigative news website reported Gemalto said it would communicate on the results of its investigations on Wednesday Feb 25 through a press release and a press conference that will be held in Paris at 0930 GMT Gemalto makes smart chips for mobile phones bank cards and biometric passports and counts Verizon AT T Inc NYSE T and Vodafone among its 450 wireless network provider customers around the world By 0800 GMT Gemalto shares were up 0 39 percent at 70 20 euros |
T | Japan carrier NTT DoCoMo says probing reported SIM hack | By Teppei Kasai TOKYO Reuters Japan s biggest mobile phone service provider NTT DoCoMo Inc said it is investigating whether its customers were affected by a reported hack of a key mobile phone component supplied by Gemalto AMS GTO NV News website The Intercept reported on Friday that the U S National Security Agency and Britain s Government Communications Headquarters hacked into Gemalto s systems to steal encryption keys that could unlock security settings on billions of mobile phones The website cited documents provided by American whistleblower Edward Snowden as the basis for its report The Japanese company began using SIM cards produced by Gemalto in 2001 DoCoMo spokesman Takashi Itou said in an email in response to questions from Reuters He declined to say what share of DoCoMo mobile phones use SIM cards supplied by the Franco Dutch supplier We will consider any necessary steps based on the results of our investigation Itou said Gemalto said it was conducting its own investigation of the reported hack by American and British spies that it would announce on Wednesday The SIM short for subscriber identity module is a chip that acts as an electronic ID for the mobile phone and makes it identifiable to the mobile network operator
Gemalto competes with several European and Chinese SIM card suppliers It produces around 2 billion SIM cards a year and counts Verizon AT T Inc NYSE T and Vodafone among its customers |
T | World beater Biles trying not to think about Olympics | By Larry Fine Reuters Gymnast Simone Biles an early favorite to emerge as the darling of the Rio Olympics is gearing up for next month s American Cup in her home state of Texas and keeping her mind off the scary 2016 Games The 17 year old Biles winner of four golds at last year s world championships in China including her second successive all around title said she has made a couple of upgrades to her routines for the March 7 event at the Cowboys AT T NYSE T Stadium I just want a really strong start to the season and have fun Biles told reporters on a conference call on Thursday adding that lots of friends and family planned to attend Biles is trying to keep things normal and not obsess about Rio I try not to think about 2016 yet the gymnast said We still have this whole year to look ahead of us We have to live in the moment and thinking about next year just scares me a little bit so I try not to think about it So if anyone brings up the Olympics it s definitely not me I m just trying to get my confidence and make more upgrades do what I ve always done So I haven t really thought about it Or I try not to think about it For now Biles is excited about performing in the huge expanse of AT T Stadium which she checked out last year as part of a promotion I haven t competed in anything close to as big as this stadium is Biles said about the venue that can seat 80 000 for football I just thought that we were going to look like ants down there because the stadium is so big But I guess you need a big stadium for big gymnastics Biles at 4 foot 9 1 35 m is small enough as it is though the enormous screens hanging above the stadium s surface will provide crystal clear close ups of the competitors It could be really distracting she said about the screen complex
I found myself watching the board more than the players on the field It s huge I don t know how it s going to turn out to be and how it s going to look I m really excited to see it |
T | AT T to sell data centers worth 2 billion sources | By Liana B Baker and Malathi Nayak
NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO Reuters AT T Inc is selling some data centers worth about 2 billion as it continues its streak of asset sales people familiar with the matter said on Monday
AT T the No 2 U S wireless provider has been exploring options to pay down its debt and raise funds for investments in recent months The company declined to comment
The three sources requested anonymity because the matter is not public
AT T and its rival Verizon have been selling non core assets in recent months Verizon is close to announcing divestitures of wireless towers and wireline markets worth 10 billion the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday
AT T hired a financial adviser to assist in the sale
Following spectrum investments and pending acquisitions AT T s debt ratio may rise in the near term the company said last week after spending close to half of the total bids in the record setting 44 9 billion spectrum sale that concluded last week
AT T emerged the top bidder in the AWS 3 spectrum auction by bagging 251 licenses worth 18 2 billion
The company has also been investing to expand its footprint in Mexico to grow its business as the U S wireless market reaches saturation It said last month it would buy bankrupt NII Holdings Inc s wireless business in Mexico for 1 875 billion
AT T also sold its wireline operations in Connecticut to regional telephone operator Frontier Communications for 2 billion in late 2013 to raise cash for network upgrades
In 2013 AT T completed a 4 85 billion sale of some of its towers to tower operator Crown Castle CRCST UL and preserved its right to lease and operate them for about 28 years
The Wall Street Journal first reported AT T s plans to sell its data centers on Monday |
T | Sprint s revenue beats estimates as price cuts draw subscribers | By Malathi Nayak and Abhirup Roy Reuters Sprint Corp s N S quarterly revenue fell less than expected as the U S mobile provider attracted more subscribers by cutting prices and offering promotions Shares of the company which is 80 percent owned by Japan s SoftBank Corp T 9984 rose about 4 percent to 4 76 in early trading on Thursday Since taking on the top post at Sprint six months ago Chief Executive Marcelo Claure has been focusing on improving subscriber metrics through offers such as cutting bills in half to switch from other carriers and improving network quality The company has also been reducing costs trimming staff and revamping its management Wireless carriers have been going after each others subscribers with discounts and attractive plans as they try to increase revenue in a nearly saturated market In an intensely competitive market retaining and adding users has been a challenge for Sprint and its larger rivals AT T and Verizon Sprint said it added 892 000 total wireless subscribers in the three months ended Dec 31 well above Wall Street analysts estimate of 790 000 Postpaid churn or the rate of customer defections rose to 2 3 percent from a year ago Retail postpaid average revenue per user was down 7 6 percent from a year ago The company s net operating revenue fell 1 8 percent to 8 97 billion but beat analysts average estimate of 8 68 billion according to Thomson Reuters I B E S Sprint s net loss more than doubled to 2 38 billion or 60 cents per share from 1 04 billion or 26 cents per share a year earlier The latest quarter included a 2 1 billion non cash impairment charge
Through Wednesday s close of 4 58 per share Sprint s stock had dropped more than 40 percent in the past 12 months |
T | Judge rules for NSA in warrantless search case | By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO Reuters A U S judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of the National Security Agency in a lawsuit challenging the interception of Internet communications without a warrant according to a court filing U S District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland California wrote the plaintiffs failed to establish legal standing to pursue a claim that the government violated the Fourth Amendment The ruling is the latest in litigation over the government s ability to monitor Internet traffic and how it balances national security priorities against privacy An attorney for the plaintiffs who are AT T Inc customers said that the judge s ruling did not end part of the case concerning telephone record collection and other mass surveillance It would be a travesty of justice if our clients are denied their day in court over the secrecy of a program that has been front page news for nearly a decade said the attorney Kurt Opsahl who is deputy general counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation The Department of Justice declined to comment The lawsuit alleges the government collects Internet communications filters out purely domestic messages and then searches the rest for potentially terrorist related information Plaintiffs claim the lack of a warrant combined with an absence of individualized suspicion violates the Fourth Amendment However White ruled that the plaintiffs did not present enough specific evidence about the program to establish their right to sue The possible disclosure of state secrets further precludes plaintiffs from moving forward on the claim even if they had legal standing
The case in U S District Court Northern District of California is Jewel et al vs National Security Agency et al 08 4373 |
T | NSA British spies hack Gemalto to tap mobile calls Intercept | Reuters Digital security company Gemalto AMS GTO NV was hacked by American and British spies to steal encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications news website Intercept reported citing documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden The hack by the National Security Agency NSA and UK s Government Communications Headquarters GCHQ allowed the agencies to monitor a large portion of voice and data mobile communications around the world without permission from governments and telecom companies according to the report A GCHQ spokesperson said the agency did not comment on intelligence matters NSA could not be immediately reached for comment Gemalto makes smart chips for mobile phones bank cards and biometric passports and counts Verizon and AT T Inc NYSE T among its 450 wireless network provider customers around the world The Franco Dutch company did not say if it was hacked From what we gathered at this moment the target was not Gemalto per se it was an attempt to try and cast the widest net possible to reach as many mobile phones as possible a Gemalto spokeswoman said in an email We take this publication very seriously and will devote all resources necessary to fully investigate and understand the scope of such highly sophisticated technique to try to obtain SIM card data she said The breach was detailed in a secret 2010 GCHQ document Intercept said GCHQ s work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised necessary and proportionate a spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Reuters Published by First Look Media Intercept was founded by U S documentary maker Laura Poitras investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald who made headlines with his reporting on U S electronic surveillance programs |
T | AT T results beat Wall Street shares rise after hours | By Malathi Nayak SAN FRANCISCO Reuters AT T Inc N T on Tuesday posted a quarterly net loss that was slightly slimmer than Wall Street expected as its mobile device deals attracted more customers but its users switched to other networks at a higher rate AT T shares rose about 2 percent in after hours trading after closing at 32 81 on the New York Stock Exchange The second largest U S wireless carrier posted a net loss of 4 billion or 77 cents per share in the fourth quarter compared with net income 6 9 billion or 1 31 per share a year ago The loss was partly the result of 10 billion in charges related to pension and retiree benefit plans that it had announced this month Excluding items AT T earned 55 cents per share beating analysts forecasts by a penny The company said postpaid churn or the rate of customer defections rose to 1 22 percent and average revenue per phone user declined 10 7 percent from a year earlier While postpaid churn had risen since last year it was comparable to 2012 AT T executives told analysts on an earnings call Both 2012 and 2014 saw the launch of numbered Apple phones the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 they added Faced with intense competition and promotional activity wireless carriers have moved from two year contract plans to equipment financing plans which reduce service fees and eliminate subsidies for devices Equipment sales were 13 percent better than consensus but service revenues which is really their real business were 2 7 percent light in wireless Craig Moffett an analyst at MoffettNathanson said Such no subsidy plans along with aggressive price cuts to tackle competition from rivals including T Mobile N TMUS and Sprint N S have squeezed margins AT T s wireless profit margins excluding certain items narrowed to 36 7 percent from 42 percent a year earlier As the U S wireless market reaches saturation the company has been expanding its footprint in Mexico It said on Monday it would buy bankrupt NII Holdings Inc s NIHDQ PK wireless business in Mexico for 1 875 billion AT T is awaiting regulatory approval for its proposal to buy satellite TV company DirecTV for 48 5 million It expects the deal to close later this year In 2015 AT T expects margin expansion along with adjusted earnings growth in the low single digit range It said it had added more than 2 million new wireless customers and 854 000 contract subscribers in the quarter
Revenue rose to 34 4 billion from 33 16 billion a year earlier Wall Street analysts on average had expected 34 27 billion according to Thomson Reuters I B E S |
T | TracFone to pay 40 million to settle deceptive ad allegations | WASHINGTON Reuters TracFone owned by America Movil SAB has agreed to pay 40 million to reimburse customers who purchased prepaid unlimited data plans that turned out to have maximum limits the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday The FTC alleged that TracFone advertised unlimited data plans for 45 a month but either cut off or slowed also known as throttled the data once they hit a fixed limit The agency said millions of customers had been throttled While policies varied TracFone users who hit one to three gigabytes of data use generally experienced a slowdown while those who reached four to five gigabytes could be cut off the FTC said Netflix estimates that its customers uses about 1 gigabyte per hour of standard video streaming according to its website The issue here is simple when you promise consumers unlimited that means unlimited Jessica Rich director of the FTC s Bureau of Consumer Protection said in a statement The FTC sued AT T Inc the No 2 U S wireless carrier in October alleging that it sold some longtime customers unlimited data plans but then slowed their service once they hit a certain level AT T has denied any wrongdoing The FTC said that TracFone began advertising the unlimited plans in 2009 but did not disclose any limits until September 2013 In many cases the disclosures were in very small print or on the back of packages or cards where consumers were likely to miss them the FTC said The terms of the settlement require TracFone to refund customers some 40 million and to clearly disclose limits on its data plans |
T | Sirius XM AT T Collaborate To Deliver 4G LTE Connectivity | Sirius XM NASDAQ SIRI recently announced that its subsidiary Sirius XM Connected Vehicle Services has joined forces with AT T Inc NYSE T to provide 4G LTE connectivity The service will support SiriusXM Guardian an in vehicle package of SiriusXM This package offers safety security and convenience to certain 2017 model year FCA US LLC vehicles It is worth mentioning that AT T is well known in the connected car industry SiriusXM has been steadily expanding its portfolio with a wide range of products and services We believe that the company is poised for growth despite competition from peers like Central European Media Enterprises Ltd NYSE T and NTN Buzztime Inc Details of the ProductSiriusXM Guardian includes services such as Roadside Assist Call Remote Vehicle Start and Door Lock Unlock along with Remote Horn and Lights The product also offers an SOS service that allows users to contact a SiriusXM response specialist simply by pressing on a button to send details about the location Other features include Theft Alarm Notification Stolen Vehicle Assistance and a Vehicle Finder feature through mobile phones The company s package also has a Send and Go feature which enables mobile phones to send location details directly to the vehicle s navigation system All these features are expected to significantly improve the in car experience of vehicle users The latest product service is available on vehicles such as the 2017 model year Chrysler 300 Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger These vehicles require the 8 4 inch the Unconnect system to use this product Notably vehicle users will also get a one year subscription to Sirius XM This will be included in the purchase or lease price Company UpdateWe note that shares of SIRIUS XM have performed well lately having outperformed the Zacks categorized Broadcasting Radio TV industry over the last three months The stock increased 5 13 compared with the industry which has increased only 3 98 over the same period The deal with a major player like AT T is a further positive for the company Per some media reports SIRIUS XM is planning to acquire Pandora Inc NYSE P However there is no confirmation yet from the company Zacks RankSiriusXM carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | Feds Slap Sprint With Cramming Suit | By
For a decade Sprint NYSE S opened the gates to customers mobile phone accounts allowed third parties to ring up millions of dollars per year in unauthorized charges and took a hefty cut of the revenue charges a lawsuit filed in federal court by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The financial regulator s announcement Wednesday came on the heels of media reports that the Federal Communications Commission will fine Sprint for unauthorized billing practices commonly known as cramming In October the FCC reached a 105 million settlement with AT T NYSE T over cramming allegations the largest enforcement action in the agency s history The Federal Trade Commission filed suit concerning similar allegations against T Mobile in July
But Wednesday s action is the first lawsuit against a telecommunications company from the CFPB which has signaled growing interest in how mobile banking affects consumers The lawsuit targets Sprint as a payments processor and seeks an unspecified amount of consumer restitution and civil fines under the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 the law that created the bureau in the wake of the financial crisis
During a conference call with reporters CFPB officials declined to comment on how far their enforcement authority over payment processors would extend to other products such as Apple Pay Yet while Deputy Enforcement Director Jeffrey Ehrlich said he couldn t speak to other products that we haven t investigated he repeatedly emphasized the bureau s interest in mobile
If a company is processing payments over a mobile network it s something the bureau clearly has jurisdiction over Ehrlich said
When we use our wireless accounts to make purchases our carriers such as Sprint act as payment processors CFPB Director Richard Cordray stated in prepared remarks They place the charges for those purchases on our wireless bills instead of on a credit card or other form of payment
The filing accuses Sprint of letting third parties bill customers for products they didn t know about or consent to from 2004 through 2013 These products or premium short messaging services the suit says included goods like ringtones digital wallpaper and text messages that delivered flirting tips horoscopes and other digital content Each product generated charges that ranged from one time fees of 99 cents to recurring subscriptions of about 9 99 a month and channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to Sprint according to the lawsuit
The practice thrived because Sprint automatically enrolled customers in its third party billing system and because the company didn t keep an eye on the merchants that were allowed to access that system the CFPB alleges
In response to the lawsuit a spokeswoman for Sprint Stephanie Vinge Walsh issued the following statement We are disappointed that the CFPB has decided to target Sprint on this issue and we strongly disagree with its characterization of our business practices Sprint took considerable steps to protect wireless customers from unauthorized third party billing and is an industry leader in proactively preventing unauthorized charges
Walsh added that the company has consistently encouraged any customers who think they may have incurred an unauthorized third party charge on their phone bill to contact Sprint to resolve the issue
During the CFPB briefing Ehrlich said the bureau coordinated with the FCC on the enforcement action and will continue to work with the telecom regulator |
T | Mexico competition watchdog signs off on AT T s Iusacell buy | MEXICO CITY Reuters Mexico s competition regulator on Sunday approved AT T Inc s 1 7 billion purchase of local cellphone company Iusacell with unspecified conditions a statement said The Federal Competition Commission said it set conditions on the deal to avoid risks to the process of competition in markets where Iusacell would compete with Carlos Slim s America Movil which previously counted AT T as a minority investor America Movil is Mexico s biggest mobile operator while Iusacell is a distant third AT T sold its America Movil shares in the summer before announcing its deal with Iusacell in November Iusacell was previously being operated as a joint venture between Mexico s biggest broadcaster Televisa and Grupo Salinas a holding company belonging to tycoon Ricardo Salinas The competition watchdog also said in the statement it approved Televisa s sale of its 50 percent stake in Iusacell back to Grupo Salinas from which AT T will then buy the operator in its entirety
Mexico s government earlier this year implemented reforms to shake up its telecom and broadcast market by weakening the dominance of broadcaster Televisa and billionaire Slim s cellphone and fixed line company America Movil Reporting by Elinor Comlay Editing by Christian Plumb |
T | AT T estimates charges of 10 billion in fourth quarter | Reuters AT T Inc said it expected to record charges of about 10 billion for the fourth quarter but the non cash losses would not affect operating results The biggest U S telephone company said it would take a charge of 7 9 billion related to actuarial gains and losses on pension and post employment benefit plans
Operating results will also include a 2 1 billion charge as the company determined that copper assets would not be necessary to support future network activity |
T | In 2003 U S experts doubted key Iraq war claim cable | WASHINGTON Reuters A CIA cable disclosed on Thursday showed that U S counter terrorism officials in 2003 discounted reports that a leader of the Sept 11 attacks met an Iraqi intelligence official in Prague just before the attacks further undermining a Bush administration argument for the invasion of Iraq Senator Carl Levin released a newly declassified section of a March 11 2003 cable that undercut administration statements that Mohammed Atta and Iraqi agent Ahmad al Anian had met in the Czech capital in April 2001 T here is not one U S counter terrorism or FBI expert that has said they have evidence or know that Atta was indeed in Prague In fact the analysis has been quite the opposite said the cable made available by Levin retiring chairman of the Armed Services Committee President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had earlier linked Iraq with al Qaeda and international terrorism and incorrectly said it was in possession of weapons of mass destruction justifying the March 20 2003 U S invasion of Iraq Levin said a recent memoir published by Jiri Ruzek head of Czech counterintelligence in 2001 described the story about Atta s Prague meeting as a single source rumor and said the Bush administration pressured officials in Prague to confirm it Levin urged CIA Director John Brennan to release the entire March 2003 cable Some FBI officials have said evidence the U S authorities had indicated Atta was in Florida in early April and the FBI found no evidence that he traveled to Europe around that time an official familiar with the matter said Reporting by Mark Hosenball Editing by David Storey |
T | Stock Market News For December 01 2016 | Benchmarks finished mixed on Thursday as decline in utilities and telecommunications offset energy s gain Investors expect the Fed to raise benchmark U S interest rates at its December meeting Dividend payers like utilities and telecom fell as rise in rates dragged bond prices lower while U S bond yields jumped Energy shares on the other hand climbed due to surge in oil prices OPEC s production cut decision helped oil prices gain traction Meantime all the three major indexes ended with big gains for November thanks to a sharp post election rally
For a look at the issues currently facing the markets make sure to read today s article
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI increased a meagre 0 01 to close at 19 123 58 The S P 500 declined 0 3 to close at 2 198 81 The tech laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 5 323 68 decreasing 1 1 The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index VIX advanced 2 6 to settle at 13 24 A total of around 9 5 billion shares were traded on Thursday higher than the last 20 session average of 7 9 billion shares Dividend Payers Decline Energy Rises
Possibility of a rate hike this month had a negative impact on dividend payers like utilities and telecommunications companies The Utilities Select Sector SPDR XLU declined 3 2 while shares of AT T Inc NYSE T fell 2 2 You can see
Rise in oil prices meantime had a positive impact on energy shares Oil prices leaped as OPEC confronted its skeptics by agreeing to its first production cut in eight years on Nov 30 OPEC overcame disagreements between the group s largest producers Saudi Arabia Iran and Iraq by agreeing to trim output by about 1 2 million barrels a day by Jan 2017
According to the Wall Street Journal a production cut of this size could push oil supplies below demand levels sooner than expected The WTI and Brent crude surged 8 52 and 8 10 to 49 44 per barrel and 46 38 a barrel respectively while the Energy Select Sector SPDR XLE NYSE XLE jumped 4 8 read more Monthly Gains
For November the Dow rose 5 4 its best monthly gain since March while the S P 500 was up 3 4 and the Nasdaq was up 2 6 President elect Donald Trump has proposed a raft of fiscal stimulus measures which has pushed the S P 500 to almost an all time high in November OPEC s decision to cut oil production for the first time since 2008 also added to the euphoria while holiday season sales gained ground
Amid all these solid economic data from consumer confidence level housing starts to GDP bolstered investors sentiment Third quarter earnings results too came in good with total earnings of 476 S P 500 members reported in the third quarter were up 4 from the same period last year on 2 6 higher revenues with 73 1 beating EPS estimates and 55 5 surpassing revenue expectations Stocks That Made Headlines
Keeping its positive earnings surprise trend alive for the tenth straight time PVH Corporation posted yet another quarter of superb results in third quarter fiscal 2016
General Electric Company has outperformed the Zacks categorized Diversified Operations industry with an average return of 8 compared with 7 1 for the latter over a period of 30 days Zacks Best Investment Ideas for Long Term Profit
Today you can gain access to long term trades with double and triple digit profit potential rarely available to the public Starting now you can look inside our stocks under 10 home run and value stock portfolios plus more Want a peek at this private information |
T | Windstream s TV Services Tie Ups Bode Well Risks Stay | On Nov 17 we issued an updated research report on Windstream Holdings Inc NASDAQ WIN a telecommunications and data services firm in the U S with third quarter 2016 earnings report The company is actively pursuing new deals and alliances and is coming up with innovative business schemes such as the 250 million Project Excel and the recent Kinetic IPTV Internet Protocol television services to expand its business and gain customers The company is striving to reverse the broadband subscriber decline trend experienced in the third quarter of 2016 Growth ProspectsWindstream is well positioned for long term growth based on its investments in fiber to the tower broadband networks and cost management The company s new cloud to cloud disaster recovery management solutions replicate mission critical virtual servers and data to provide an alternative system for cloud based disaster recovery system to customers Windstream also strengthened its existing tie up with Cologix through the construction of two new PoPs in Dallas TX and Columbus OH Also expansion of its metro fibre network business in Atlanta Minneapolis and Chicago bodes well The company aims to deliver broadband speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second Gbps with the help of the merged Calix Inc s NYSE CALX E3 16F G fast sealed DPU nodes and GigaFamily products Windstream s strategic moves to boost sales cut costs and pricing plans should drive revenues and margins In Sep 2016 Windstream announced that its 250 million Project Excel program launched in 2015 is in progress and is expected to close by the end of 2016 This project was started to enhance the network provision of the company by installing VDSL2 Very high bit rate digital subscriber line 2 network equipment and gain more customers by 2017 through the delivery of higher broadband speeds of upto 100 Mbps Recent EventsRecently Windstream launched next generation television service Kinetic in 13 North Carolina communities The communities are Albemarle Badin China Grove Concord Harrisburg Hemby Bridge Indian Trail Kannapolis Matthews Mooresville Mt Pleasant New London and Oakboro where the company offers 100 fiber backed network to more than 50 000 residents In the beginning of Nov 2016 Windstream announced a merger with rival EarthLink Holdings Corp NASDAQ ELNK for a total value of 1 1 billion The companies reached an all stock deal where each shareholder of EarthLink will receive 0 818 shares of Windstream Notably Windstream will issue about 93 million shares for the deal which are valued at 673 million while the total value including debt will be 1 1 billion The transaction is anticipated to close in the first half of 2017 Shareholders of Windstream will control 51 of the combined company while the remaining portion will be owned by EarthLink shareholders However amidst the present competitive scenario we believe that the combined entity will enjoy benefits of increased scale which will help it brave competition from the likes of CenturyLink Inc NYSE T and AT T Inc NYSE T Moreover the merged entity is expected to save around 125 million in operating and capital expenses annually RisksOn the flip side Windstream has been losing access lines due to pricing pressure and fierce competition The company also remains under pressure with losses in the wholesale business The implementation of stringent regulatory measures by the FCC compels companies like Windstream to cut rates for customers Further continuous investments in technology and network upgrades may dent earnings Windstream s highly leveraged balance sheet is another major concern WINDSTREAM HLDG Price
Windstream currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | U S FCC seek details of AT T s plan to pause fiber spending | By Marina Lopes WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Federal Communications Commission on Friday asked AT T Inc to provide specifics of its plan to stop investing in high speed Internet connections in 100 cities until the agency sorts out new net neutrality rules
Earlier this week President Barack Obama called for stricter rules governing the way Internet service providers manage their traffic AT T responded by saying it would stop investing in high speed Internet connections in 100 cities until the Web rules were settled
In the letter Jamilla Ferris head of the FCC s review team asked the No 2 wireless carrier to detail its plans to limit fiber deployment and to turn over all documents on the decision by Nov 21
The FCC is reviewing AT T s proposed 48 5 billion bid to buy satellite operator DirecTV As part of the merger proposal AT T agreed to provide high speed fiber Internet to 2 million homes if the deal is approved
We are happy to respond to the questions posed by the FCC in its review of our merger with DirecTV said AT T spokesman Michael Balmoris As we made clear earlier this week we remain committed to our DirecTV merger related build out plans
Reporting by Alina Selyukh and Marina Lopes Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Lisa Von Ahn |
T | Japan slips into surprise recession paves way for tax delay snap poll | By Leika Kihara and Linda Sieg TOKYO Reuters Japan s economy unexpectedly slipped into recession in the third quarter setting the stage for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to delay an unpopular sales tax hike and call a snap election two years before he had to go to the polls
The recession comes nearly two years after Abe returned to power promising to revive the economy with his Abenomics mix of massive monetary stimulus spending and reforms and is unwelcome news for an already shaky global economy
Gross domestic product GDP shrank by an annualized 1 6 percent in July September after plunging 7 3 percent in the second quarter following a rise in the national sales tax which clobbered consumer spending
The world s third largest economy had been forecast to rebound by 2 1 percent but consumption and exports remained weak saddling companies with huge inventories to work off
Abe had said he would look at the data when deciding whether to press ahead with a second increase in the sales tax to 10 percent in October next year as part of a plan to curb Japan s huge public debt the worst among advanced nations
Media have said Abe could announce his decision to delay the hike for 18 months as early as Tuesday and state his intention to call an election for parliament s lower house Ruling party lawmakers expect the poll to be held on Dec 14
An adviser to Abe termed the economic slide shocking and urged the government to take steps to support the economy
This is absolutely not a situation in which we should be debating an increase in the consumption tax Etsuro Honda a University of Shizuoka professor and a prominent outside architect of Abe s reflationary policies told Reuters
Economy Minister Akira Amari said some economic stimulus was likely but added it would be hard to craft an exceptionally big package because of the need for fiscal discipline
No election for the lower house need be held until late 2016 but political insiders say Abe wants to lock in his mandate while his ratings are relatively robust Next year he is expected to push ahead with unpopular policies such as restarting reactors that went off line after the Fukushima nuclear crisis and a shift away from Japan s post war pacifism
Facing a divided and weak opposition Abe s Liberal Democratic Party LDP is expected to keep its majority in the lower house but it could lose some seats
CONSUMPTION STAGNANT
A senior LDP lawmaker said he expected the premier to call a snap poll arguing that his Abenomics strategy to reenergize the economy was working but needed more time
The prime minister feels strongly that he wants to make certain of the economic trend so I think he will put off the sales tax rise from next October the lawmaker told Reuters
But he added it was vital to recommit to a firm date for the rise in the levy or risk upsetting investors worried about Japan s debt already more than twice the size of its economy
Even before the GDP announcement Abe appeared to suggest he was leaning towards a tax hike delay telling reporters that raising the tax rate would be meaningless if deflation returned
The yen USD JPY slipped on the poor GDP reading with the dollar briefly pushing to a seven year high above 117 yen The Nikkei stock average N225 fell 3 percent T
Sluggish growth and easing price pressures due to sliding global oil prices prompted the Bank of Japan to unexpectedly expand its massive monetary stimulus last month
Abe inherited the sales tax plan when he took power in December 2012 The LDP its smaller ally and the then ruling Democratic Party enacted the legislation requiring the tax to be raised unless economic conditions were judged too weak
The GDP data showed the April hike to 8 percent from 5 percent had made it harder than anticipated for the public to shake off their deflationary mindset Amari said although he noted one bright spot in strong corporate profits
On a quarterly basis the economy shrank 0 4 percent in the third quarter after a revised 1 9 percent decrease in April June Economists had expected growth of 0 5 percent
Private consumption accounting for about 60 percent of the economy rose 0 4 percent from the previous quarter half as much as expected Wage growth has not kept pace with price rises so a key mechanism of Abenomics is not working yet
Some economists however said growth could improve in the October December quarter
Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White Editing by William Mallard Kim Coghill |
T | Any new U S Internet rules must withstand lawsuits FCC chief | By Marina Lopes WASHINGTON Reuters U S regulators expect Internet service providers to sue the government over any changes in the way they are regulated and must reevaluate any proposals to make sure they stand up in court Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said at a meeting on Friday Last week U S President Barack Obama said Internet service providers should be regulated more like public utilities to make sure they grant equal access to all content providers This touched off intense protests from cable television and telecommunications companies and Republican lawmakers Let s make sure that we understand what is going on here The big dogs are going to sue regardless of what comes out Wheeler said We need to make sure that we have sustainable rules and that starts with making sure that we have addressed the multiplicity of issues that come along and are likely to be raised he added Wheeler did not explicitly address the reclassification of Internet service providers and a spokesman said he is still evaluating multiple options Experts have said reclassification could be challenging to argue in court A decision is not expected before 2015 On Nov 12 AT T Inc said it would stop investing in high speed Internet connections in 100 cities until the Web rules were settled Public advocacy groups shrugged off Wheeler s statements Granted everyone would like to see signs one way or the other but I think that this is mostly the chairman putting up a Washington poker face said Harold Feld senior vice president at Public Knowledge a public interest group
Chairman Wheeler has learned that on net neutrality he has to tow a very careful line and all of his statements are very carefully neutral he said Additional reporting by Susan Heavey Editing by David Gregorio |
T | AT T says fiber spending pause affects only new commitments | WASHINGTON Reuters AT T Inc sought to clarify to U S regulators its plans to pause investments in high speed Internet connections until net neutrality rules are settled saying in a letter on Wednesday that the plans related to new and not existing commitments
The Federal Communications Commission earlier this month pressed the company to explain its plans to stop investing in high speed Internet connections in 100 cities until the agency sorts out new net neutrality rules for how Internet service providers manage web traffic on their networks
AT T s announcement of a planned pause in fiber investments came in response to President Barack Obama s call for stricter rules through regulations that would treat Internet providers more like public utilities
The FCC pressed AT T to specify how its response would play into the company s planned 48 5 billion merger with satellite operator DirecTV which regulators are reviewing As part of the merger proposal AT T agreed to provide high speed fiber Internet to 2 million homes
In the letter dated Nov 25 and released on Wednesday AT T said it did not plan to limit those investments or other existing commitments but would pause on further expansions because of the uncertainty about new rules
To be clear AT T has not stated that the president s proposal would render all of these locations unprofitable Rather AT T simply cannot evaluate additional investment beyond its existing commitments until the regulatory treatment of broadband service is clarified Robert Quinn AT T s senior federal regulatory vice president wrote in the letter
An AT T spokesman said the company would pause all investments outside of the commitments made in connection with the DirecTV merger including potential new customer locations beyond the company s initial expansion plan for 25 metropolitan areas as well as other markets He said the pause affected millions of potential customer locations
To read AT T s letter see
Reporting by Alina Selyukh Editing by Paul Simao |
T | Scripps Networks SNI Q3 Earnings Stock To Disappoint | Scripps Networks Interactive Inc NASDAQ SNI is scheduled to release third quarter 2016 financial numbers before the opening bell on Nov 7
In the second quarter of 2016 Scripps Networks posted a positive earnings surprise of 6 76 In fact the company boasts an impressive history with respect to earnings Scripps Networks outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters with an average earnings beat of 21 34
However things do not look rosy for this Cincinnati OH based company in the third quarter The negative sentiment surrounding the stock ahead of its third quarter earnings release can be gauged by the 9 7 decrease in the Zacks Consensus Estimate over the last three months
Our quantitative model too does not hint at an earnings beat in the third quarter as it lacks the perfect combination of two key ingredients
Zacks ESP The for Scripps Networks is 1 08 This is because the Most Accurate estimate is pegged at 94 cents while the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at 93 cents per share
Zacks Rank Scripps Networks carries a Zacks Rank 4 Sell Please note that we advise investors against considering Sell rated stocks going into an earnings announcement
Conversely stocks with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold have a significantly higher chance of beating earnings estimates SCRIPPS NETWRKS Price and EPS Surprise
Please check our that enables you to find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises
Factors Likely at Play
We expect the company s third quarter results to be hurt by headwinds like foreign exchange woes and escalating costs We note that Scripps Networks reported lower than expected revenues in the second quarter The unfavorable trend is expected to continue in the third quarter as well with the company s top line declining in spite of strong advertising revenues
Also the company s high debt levels raise concerns The debt to capitalization ratio at the end of the second quarter stood at a high 0 57
However the company s expansion efforts are impressive In keeping with this Scripps Networks inked a deal with AT T NYSE T in the third quarter The recent deal with Tribune Media Company NYSE T is also encouraging Even though positive with Scripps Networks growth by acquisition strategy we note that that the strategy has integration risks attached to it
A Stock to Consider
While an earnings beat looks uncertain for Scripps Networks here is a stock in the broader Consumer Discretionary sector you may want to consider on the basis of our model which shows that it has the right combination of elements to post earnings beat this quarter
Nexstar Broadcasting Group NYSE T is scheduled to report third quarter earnings on Nov 8 It has an earnings ESP of 3 49 and a Zacks Rank 1 You can see
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | Dealmakers Trump Hillary And Mergers | Intralinks a firm created 20 years ago to enable high stakes transactions and business collaborations has surveyed global dealmakers on the upcoming U S presidential election and on how it may affect the economic and regulatory environment for mergers and acquisitions
The gist of it is in a database of 1 600 M A professionals worldwide 56 believe that a hypothetical Donald Trump presidency would have a negative impact on the M A space
On the other hand the majority view is that a Hillary Clinton presidency would have no impact on M A activity at all A healthy 57 say so Another 26 say that a Clinton presidency will have a positive impact
A blog entry by Philip Whitchelo Intralinks Vice President of Strategy and Product Marketing says that the 26 number is perhaps unsurprising
Merger policy only belatedly became an explicit issue in the campaign Both campaigns have reacted negatively in each case to the planned merger of AT T NYSE T with Time Warner NYSE TWX which amounts to the integration of data pipes with data content providers Still there is plenty of room for speculation about which hypothetical administration will do what in this area
Straws In The Wind
There are a lot of straws in the wind that may be useful in such speculation and the straws seem to be blowing in different directions so no specific conclusion about the impact of a Clinton victory in particular should be altogether surprising One common way to look at it involves a presumption that the next Clinton presidency might be more or less like the last Clinton presidency in these matters There was certainly no bias against mergers during the William Jefferson Clinton years and in some markets there may have been a bias in favor of concentration which was seen as rationalizing behavior
In the year 2000 the last year of Bill Clinton s presidency a time when everyone on the Federal Trade Commission was a Clinton appointee the FTC challenged only 1 7 of the prospective mergers of which it was informed For purposes of comparison in 1988 the last year of Ronald Reagan s presidency the FTC had challenged 1 4 This was not a significant swing in the direction of merger blockage
Indeed the highest percentage of FTC challenges in recent history occurred in 1990 when the FTC brought actions against 2 7 This of course was the middle of the administration of George H W Bush
Look at absolute numbers rather than percentages there were 9 566 mergers in the U S in 2000 There had been only 2 258 in 1988 That discrepancy represents changes that have nothing to do with the party or the individual in the White House but that is after all the point All this tends to support the 83 of the Intralinks sample who said either that a new Clinton presidency would not be a negative or that it would be a positive for the M A space Either view is indeed unsurprising
The Intralinks survey also disclosed some rather predictable regional differences as to the most important causes of declines and falls in merger activity In North America respondents thought that the election would be the single highest impact event in the next six months But in Latin America deal makers are focused on monetary policy In the Asia Pacific region they are all looking toward China And in EMEA they focus on the issue of the implementation of Great Britain s exit from the European Union
Speaking Of Brexit And EMEA
Forecasters cited by Intralinks itself in earlier publications have been predicting a substantial slowdown in economic growth in the United Kingdom lasting through 2017 including declines in business investment home prices and consumer spending This might not be the best of times for merger activity there although the extent of the consequences for the rest of EMEA is unclear
In the second quarter of 2016 early stage deal activity in EMEA as a whole grew by 15 7 Intralinks has said that it is pleasantly surprised by this given all the challenges in the vast region
Germany is the engine here It showed positive growth in early stage M A activity of 9 in the second quarter and Intralinks has credited the steady hand of Chancellor Merkel |
T | Overview Of Fidelity Select Telecommunications Portfolio Fund FSTCX | Fidelity Select Telecommunications Portfolio a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy invests a large portion of its assets in common stocks of companies principally engaged in the development manufacture or sale of communications services or communications equipment The fund offers dividends and capital gains in April and December
This Sector Tech fund as of the last filing allocates their fund in three major groups Intermediate Bond Large Value and Large Growth Further as of the last filing AT T NYSE T INC VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC and AMERICAN TOWER CORP were the top holdings for FSTCX
The Fidelity Select Telecommunications Portfolio fund managed by carries an expense ratio of 0 81 Moreover FSTCX requires a minimal initial investment of 2 500
FSTCX has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years Specifically the fund s returns over the 1 3 5 year benchmarks 1 year 25 19 3 year 9 43 and 5 year 13 51 To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds
FSTCX s performance as of the last filing when compared to funds in its category was in the top 27 in 1 year top 68 over the past 3 years and in the 72 over the past 5 years
Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox
Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis as well as top performing mutual funds each week |
T | Scripps Networks SNI Beats On Q3 Earnings Revenues | Scripps Networks Interactive Inc NASDAQ SNI posted better than expected earnings and revenues in the third quarter of 2016 The company s earnings excluding special items of 1 26 per share handily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 93 cents The bottom line also expanded 18 87 on a year over year basis due to lower interest expenses
Moreover the company s third quarter operating revenues of 803 1 million comfortably surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 793 5 million The top line also grew 3 47 year over year Strong TV advertising revenues in the U S as well as gains from foreign currency transactions contributed to the impressive quarterly results
Third quarter consolidated segment profits on an adjusted basis totaled 317 6 million down 2 year over year Quarterly operating income on a reported basis declined 4 8 year over year to approximately 258million
At the end of the quarter Scripps Networks had 329 6 million in cash cash equivalents and 2 833 million of outstanding debt less current portion on its balance sheet compared with 223 4 million and 3 511 1 million respectively at the end of 2015 The debt to capitalization ratio was approximately 0 55 as against 0 66 at the end of 2015 The company reiterated its previously issued outlook for all the metrics
Although concerned about the company s high debt levels we remain positive about its expansion efforts Scripps Networks accord with AT T NYSE T in the third quarter deserves mention The recent deal with Tribune Media Company NYSE T is also encouraging Free cash flow at the end of the first nine months of 2016 was almost 531 2 million compared with 470 9 million at the end of the first nine months of 2015
Segmental Performance
U S Networks
Quarterly revenues came in at 686 3 million up 3 8 year over year Advertisement revenues climbed 6 6 year over year to 477 5 million The impressive growth in segmental advertising revenues reflected the growing demand for the company s lifestyle offerings in the advertising market Distribution revenues dipped 2 5 year over year to 194 3 million primarily due to erosion in subscriber base
Other revenues increased 4 6 year over year to 14 5 million Segmental adjusted profits came in at 327 3 million down 1 4 year over year due to higher programing costs
Brand wise HGTV Food Network Travel Channel Cooking Channel Digital Business and Other revenues improved 7 1 5 3 2 2 8 0 5 and 20 4 year over year respectively However DIY Network and Great American Country revenues dropped 2 5 and 5 4 respectively year over year
International Networks
Quarterly total revenue of 123 2 million was up 3 8 The upside was driven by the inclusion of TVN results Segmental adjusted profits totaled 15 million up 32 The improvement came on the back of higher revenues
Loss from the Corporate and Other segment widened to 24 7 million from 19 1 million a year ago SCRIPPS NETWRKS Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Zacks Rank A Stock to Consider
Currently Scripps Networks has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell A better ranked stock in the broader Consumer Discretionary sector is Nexstar Broadcasting Group NYSE T which sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy The stock has a healthy expected earnings per share growth rate 3 5 years of 6 5 You can see
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | Windstream And EarthLink Agree To Merge For 1 1 Billion | On Nov 7 Windstream Holdings Inc NASDAQ WIN a telecommunications and data services firm announced a merger with its rival EarthLink Holdings Corp NASDAQ ELNK for a total value of 1 1 billion The companies reached an all stock deal where each shareholder of EarthLink will receive 0 818 shares of Windstream per share Windstream will issue about 93 million shares for the deal which is valued at 673 million while the total value including debt will tally to 1 1 billion The transaction is anticipated to close in the first half of 2017 Shareholders of Windstream will control 51 of the combined company while remaining portion will be owned by the EarthLink shareholders Expected SynergiesPresently both the telecom companies are facing high competition falling revenues and rising costs However we believe that the combined entity will enjoy benefits of increased scale which will aid it to effectively compete against the likes of other telecom players like CenturyLink Inc NYSE T and AT T Inc NYSE T Moreover the merged entity is expected to save around 125 million in operating and capital expenses annually Focus on Business ServicesSmall and Medium Business services is a highly growing revenue segment in the data communications industry However since both Windstream and EarthLink are witnessing falling revenues indicating that they have not been able to effectively capitalize on the growth opportunities present in the industry Thus a combined entity with higher scale of operations is likely to change that scenario The Bottom LineThe telecom industry has been witnessing a surge in consolidation amongst major players due to an intensely competitive environment Notably CenturyLink recently agreed to purchase Level 3 Communications Inc for 34 billion But it has to be seen whether smaller firms like Windstream can compete against its larger counterparts even after the merger Both Windstream and EarthLink currently carry a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see WINDSTREAM HLDG Price Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | Don t Wait For A Recession To Sell Stocks | Only Sell Stocks in Recessions
We were recently made aware of an interview at Bloomberg in which Tony Dwyer of Cannacord and Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research were quizzed on the recently announced utterly bizarre AT T NYSE T Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX merger We were actually quite surprised that AT T wanted to buy the giant media turkey Prior to the offer TWX still traded 50 below the high it had reached 17 years ago
The merger of AT T and TWX simply doesn t appear to make much sense It certainly is a symptom of loose monetary policy though
The merger as such is actually not what we want to discuss though Rather it is a remark of Mr Dwyer s regarding the stock market in general and what the recent merger mania is signaling He makes two major points in the course of the conversation For one thing he notes that the merger along with many other mergers that have recently been announced is the result of the extremely easy availability of credit
This is undoubtedly true and he rightly avers that all of this will end badly At the same time he believes though that it represents a great opportunity for investors currently a point he thinks is not receiving the attention it deserves This in turn is based on his assertion that one should never sell stocks even if the market misbehaves by going down a bit as long as there is no recession
You can watch a video of the interview
Tony Dwyer and Brian Wieser opine on the T TWX merger Dwyer s remark on when to sell or not sell stocks is of particular interest to us
The Problem with Predictions
The problem with this is of course that by the time everybody realizes that a recession is actually unfolding the stock market is usually already half way to making its bear market lows Mainstream economists and central planning bureaucrats are usually particularly clueless when it comes to forecasting recessions They don t even recognize them when they are staring them into the face
As an example shortly before the market crashed in 2008 nearly everybody denied that a recession might already be in train or might be imminent The ECB actually hiked its main refinancing rate in the summer of 2008 It is fair to say that no one at the ECB had even the foggiest idea that an economic contraction was already underway
The ECB hiked its main refinancing rate in the summer of 2008 By this time the recession was approximately 8 months old
Later NBER backdated the beginning of the recession to November of 2007 So the argument that one should not sell in the absence of a recession is really not sensible since it is predicated on the notion that 1 people will actually be able to recognize that there is a recession and 2 will then act on this recognition in a timely manner in the stock market
Obviously that is not how things usually work out One must not only be able to successfully predict the advent of a downturn but also act on this forecast before too many other market participants decide to do so This is obviously not easy but waiting for NBER or some other authority to confirm a recession will definitely be useless from a timing perspective
It is of course true that stock market declines very often go hand in hand with recessions Historically the stock market often tends to lead the economy in economic downturns but not always The lead times are quite variable and sometimes very painful market declines can occur without a recession such as in 1987
In order to successfully estimate likely long term market returns one doesn t really need to forecast the timing of recessions anyway one mainly needs to consider valuations price earnings price sales Q ratio etc
In the last recession the stock market s lead time was very short but the recession was only officially recognized after it had been underway for almost a year already
In the short to medium term the market can obviously deviate considerably from what valuations suggest about its long term outlook and traders focused on shorter time frames are usually better served by employing technical analysis or even better a mixture of fundamental and technical analysis
Lastly investors cannot possibly escape the losses generated by a market decline collectively Consider someone who is timing the market perfectly and is selling right at the top Someone else has to buy the shares he is selling so the buyer will then make the losses the seller manages to avoid This continues down the line with every transaction made while the bear market lasts
Conclusion
Investors as a group cannot be saved from suffering the losses a bear market inflicts only the distribution of these losses is open to question Per experience only very few investors will actually be able to sidestep a bear market or even manage to profit from it
This small group of investors will mainly do so by successfully predicting or recognizing a downturn that the vast majority of market observers will swear is nowhere near In short one has to adopt what will appear as a contrarian position and do so in a timely fashion while this is a tall order those who wait for official confirmation of a recession will have waited too long
An alternative to making correct forecasts is to use a trailing stop or some other type of systematic approach to time exit and entry into the market To simply hold on in the face of excessive valuations and excessive credit growth because there is no recession seems a very risky strategy by comparison |
T | HARMAN International HAR Q1 Earnings What s In Store | HARMAN International Industries Inc NYSE HAR is expected to report first quarter fiscal 2017 results on Nov 3 Last quarter it posted a negative earnings surprise of 2 61 HARMAN has posted positive earnings surprises in three out of the trailing four quarters resulting in an average positive earnings surprise of 2 40 Let s see how things are shaping up for this announcement Factors at PlayHARMAN is one of the leading providers in the car infotainment space The growing demand for connected cars bodes well for the company s cloud business Apart from this its strong manufacturing capacities growing product pipeline solid patent portfolio and accretive acquisitions are the other positives In the to be reported quarter the company collaborated with the likes of Baidu AT T NYSE T Brightstar Corp and others which are likely to drive its top line growth However a major concern for the company is the sluggishness in the U S auto market This is because Harman is exposed to some serious customer concentration risks with its top four customers accounting for approximately half of its revenues In addition rising competition and the resulting pricing pressure and sluggish growth in its Professional Solutions segment remain headwinds Earnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively show that Harman will beat earnings this quarter This is because a stock needs to have both a positive and a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold for this to happen That is not the case here as you will see below Zacks ESP Harman currently has an Earnings ESP of 0 65 This is because the Most Accurate estimate stands at 1 55 whereas the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at 1 54 Please check our that enables you to find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises Zacks Rank Harman has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank 4 and 5 Strong Sell going into the earnings announcement especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum HARMAN INTL IND Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Stocks to ConsiderHere are a couple of stocks that as per our model also have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter Stratasys Ltd NASDAQ SSYS with an Earnings ESP of 41 67 and a Zacks Rank 1 You can see Asure Software Inc NASDAQ ASUR with an Earnings ESP of 14 29 and a Zacks Rank 2 Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | Time Warner TWX Beats On Q3 Earnings Ups Outlook | Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX which recently accepted the buyout offer of AT T Inc NYSE T posted third quarter 2016 adjusted earnings of 1 83 per share that surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 36 and surged significantly from 1 25 reported in the prior year period The company s investments in video content and technology continued to show results Share repurchase activity and lower effective tax rate also provided cushion to the bottom line Better than expected results prompted management to raise its earnings projection Management now envisions adjusted earnings per share for 2016 between 5 73 and 5 83 including the net tax benefit of 28 cents However excluding the same adjusted earnings would be in the band of 5 45 5 55 per share The company had earlier projected adjusted earnings per share in the range of 5 35 5 45 The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2016 is 5 42 which is likely to witness an upward revision in the coming days Including one time items earnings per share from continuing operations came in at 1 87 per share up from 1 26 reported in the prior year quarter Time Warner s total revenue of 7 167 million increased 9 year over year on account of growth witnessed across Home Box Office HBO Warner Bros and Turner Foreign currency headwinds hurt total revenue by 55 million Total revenue also came in ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 7 001 million Adjusted operating income came in at 2 070 million up 12 from the year ago quarter whereas adjusted operating margin expanded 80 basis points to 28 9 Time Warner has taken restructuring aggressively The company is now focusing on original programming containing costs and increasing investments in key areas to enhance profitability Segment Details Turner division s revenue rose 9 to 2 610 million due to 2 growth in advertising revenue 12 increase in subscription revenue and 33 surge in Content and other revenue Higher advertising revenue reflected growth at Turner s domestic news business which was partly offset by reduced delivery at certain domestic entertainment networks International advertising remained flat with local currency growth offset by the impact of foreign exchange rates Subscription revenue grew on account of a rise in domestic rates and growth at Turner s international networks partly offset by foreign currency headwinds and fall in domestic subscribers The increase in Content and other revenue was attributable to higher international licensing revenues Adjusted operating income for the segment increased 12 to 1 203 million compared with the year ago quarter Time Warner s HBO segment revenue climbed 4 to 1 426 million driven by growth of 5 in subscription revenue partly offset by 2 decline in content and other revenue Higher subscription revenue was primarily attributed to a rise in domestic rates and international growth On the other hand content and other revenue decreased due to a fall in domestic licensing revenue partly offset by increase in international licensing revenue Adjusted operating income for the division rose 2 to 530 million as higher expenses were offset by revenue growth Programming costs increased 15 during the quarter Warner Bros revenue grew 7 to 3 402 million due to increase in theatrical revenue partly offset by fall in videogames revenue Theatrical revenue gained from the box office releases of Suicide Squad The Legend of Tarzan Sully and Lights Out Videogames revenue fell due to the comparison to the launch of LEGO Dimensions and carryover revenue from Mortal Kombat X in the year ago period Adjusted operating income for the division jumped 12 to 433 million TIME WARNER INC Price and EPS Surprise Other Financial Aspects Time Warner ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of 2 308 million long term debt of 24 419 million and shareholders equity of 24 278 million excluding non controlling interest of 1 million During the quarter Time Warner incurred capital expenditures of 108 million and generated free cash flow of 1 481 million From Jan 1 2016 through Oct 21 2016 the company bought back about 31 million shares aggregating approximately 2 3 billion Zacks Rank Time Warner carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Better ranked stocks in the space include Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc NYSE T sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy and Sirius XM Holdings Inc NASDAQ SIRI carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Nexstar Broadcasting Group has a long term earnings growth rate of 6 5 Sirius XM Holdings has a long term earnings growth rate of 24 5 Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | AT T sues Cox Communications for patent infringement | By Andrew Chung Reuters AT T N T is suing Cox Communications for infringing eight patents dealing with network quality after the regional cable provider ignored its complaints about the issue and made billions off of the technology according to a new lawsuit
In the suit filed Friday in Delaware federal court against Cox and more than 30 of its regional units AT T said that Cox had been warned about the claims of patent infringement as far back as 2009 It said Cox delayed negotiations and refused to take a license for the technologies
AT T claims the patents were infringed in Cox s use and sale of digital video recorders set top boxes Internet and telephone systems according to the lawsuit
The patents relate to methods for improving the quality and reducing the costs of telecommunications services the suit said
AT T said in the suit that Cox was also inducing its employees and subscribers to infringe
Cox generates billions of dollars in revenue every year through its use of AT T s technologies the telecommunications giant said adding that the lawsuit is necessary to prove AT T is owed royalty payments for the alleged unauthorized use of its inventions
A representative from Cox said the company just learned of the case and had no comment Attorneys for AT T also could not immediately be reached
AT T is asking the court to declare Cox s infringement wilful and deliberate and seeks unspecified damages It also wants the court to order Cox to pay a compulsory ongoing royalty to AT T
The case is AT T Intellectual Property I LP and AT T Intellectual Property II LP v Cox Communications et al No 14 cv 01106
Reporting By Andrew Chung Editing by Ted Botha and Alden Bentley |
T | Telefonica trials to take AT T home security technology overseas | By Alina Selyukh Reuters AT T Inc N T on Monday said Spain s Telefonica SA MC TEF will license its home security technology for limited trials in Europe as the U S carrier hopes it has found a new way to profit from its nascent connected home business
Telefonica will offer European customers a version of Digital Life AT T s home monitoring and automation system for three to six months before evaluating results of the trial said Steven Bartholomew a Telefonica spokesman
AT T which released the Digital Life platform in the United States in spring 2013 is in talks with numerous other potential global partners about similar licensing agreements said AT T Mobility CEO Glenn Lurie
We spent a lot of money building the platform This is just another way to take those same assets and monetize them and not just in the U S but globally Lurie said in an interview
International licensing we think is one of the largest revenue opportunities on top of the core business in the U S he said adding that the company is also looking to expand its connectivity system to small businesses and healthcare
AT T s Digital Life service allows consumers to connect to the Internet various home appliances and processes such as lights thermostats smoke detectors security cameras or locks so they can be monitored or controlled remotely
AT T has said it expected to eventually grow Digital Life into a 1 billion annual revenue stream but the company has not disclosed the profitability of the platform so far
Lurie said AT T could license Digital Life to foreign partners either in parts such as software only or in its entirety
Neither company s representative elaborated on the specific content of their particular licensing agreement or the terms of the licensing which are individually negotiated and rarely disclosed Typically such deals involve up front and per customer payments among other fees
We are not able to fully disclose how much of the platform we are going to use Telefonica s Bartholomew said in an email But he highlighted some of the core elements such as the digital user experience and the remote management system as expected to provide consumers with a unique and strong user experience
Bartholomew said the Telefonica branded service will be a version of AT T s product adapted to the European market He also said it was too soon to comment on where exactly the trials will take place
Telefonica had approached AT T about licensing its Digital Life platform after the U S wireless carrier showcased it at Mobile World Congress the international consumer electronics show Lurie said
We ve looked at platforms from a large number of vendors we believe the AT T Digital Life platform to be best in class said Bartholomew It has been successfully proven in the U S and will accelerate our time to market in this new product category
Reporting by Alina Selyukh editing by G Crosse |
T | U S CEOs gloomier about hiring spending plans survey | By Lewis Krauskopf Reuters U S chief executive officers are gloomier about their plans for hiring and capital expenditures over the next six months and are more wary about their sales prospects according to a quarterly survey from the Business Roundtable released on Tuesday The CEOs hiring plans were particularly weaker with 34 percent expecting U S employment to increase in the next six months down from 43 percent in the Business Roundtable s second quarter survey Twenty percent expect their employment to decrease in the next six months compared with 14 percent in the prior survey The chief executives expect U S gross domestic product growth of 2 4 percent this year compared to their estimate of 2 3 percent growth in the second quarter survey While some U S economic indicators are improving moderately the results from our survey of CEOs seem to reflect an underperforming U S economy held back by policy uncertainty and growing conflicts around the world Randall Stephenson chairman of Business Roundtable and CEO of AT T Inc N T said in a release Stephenson said a key reason for increasing pessimism about capital spending and hiring was concerns among the CEOs that Congress may not extend a series of temporary tax breaks including credits related to research and development Most of us are not terribly optimistic that the tax extender packages are going to happen and as a result people are adjusting their outlook on capital spending Stephenson said on a conference call with reporters Tax reform is a priority for the Business Roundtable Nearly 90 percent of CEOs said tax reform would encourage more investment or cause them to expand their U S operations according to the survey In the CEO survey 39 percent of respondents said they expect to increase capital spending compared with 44 percent previously While 73 percent still expect sales to increase over the next six months 7 percent now expect sales to fall up from 2 percent The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index a composite index of expectations for sales capital spending and employment over the next six months fell in the third quarter to 86 4 from 95 4 in the second quarter An index above 50 indicates an economic expansion
The survey included responses from 135 CEOs and was conducted between Aug 11 29 Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf Editing by Meredith Mazzilli |
T | AT T And Time Warner Merger What It Means And What To Expect | On October 22 2016 communications corporation AT T NYSE T announced an agreement to acquire Time Warner NYSE TWX in a deal worth more than 80 billion If regulators approve the merger it will bring one of the largest media content owners under the umbrella of one of the largest Internet and television providers Among other properties AT T will own HBO TBS and Warner Bros
Media Reactions
Paul Maxwell a cable industry expert told that the merger would give Comcast a real competitor Investors however regarded the deal with skepticism AT T and Time Warner both experienced slight declines in their stock values on Monday October 24 Experts agree that the stock values of both companies dropped because investors the detail will gain regulatory approval Republicans and Democrats have both spoken of the deal in a less than positive manner
What the AT T and Time Warner Merger Means for Consumers
At present AT T and Time Warner don t compete with each other AT T isn t increasing its existing market share by acquiring Time Warner it is entering an entirely new market The merger could be an advertising boon for AT T After the merger AT T could utilize its new larger troves of consumer data to advertise more effectively In addition AT T would own both the media channels on which consumers view the advertising and the infrastructure for broadcasting those channels
The merger could also open up new possibilities for delivering media on demand through AT T s broadband mobile phone and satellite services If the merger gains approval AT T will own popular properties such as Game of Thrones and Adult Swim in addition to Major League Baseball broadcasts on TBS AT T could offer free content bundles in an effort to attract new subscribers
Will the AT T and Time Warner Merger Happen
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has spoken vehemently against the merger saying we the deal in my administration A spokesperson for opposing candidate Hillary Clinton said that Clinton believes regulators should scrutinize the deal closely
To gain approval for the merger AT T may need to agree to sell several of Time Warner s current properties after finalizing the acquisition |
T | Orange s ORAN Revenues And EBITDA Increase Y Y In Q3 | Orange S A NYSE ORAN recorded revenues of approximately 11 183 million in the third quarter of 2016 up 0 8 year over year The impressive result came primarily on the back of strong performance in high speed broadband business and convergence of customer base
Segment wise Mobile Services revenues totaled approximately 4 890 million up 0 4 year over year Enterprise International carrier and Shared services revenues came in at 1 931 5 million down 0 6 Fixed services revenues were 3 647 5 million up 0 5 Mobile Equipment sales reached 491 8 million up 12 6 and Other revenues totaled 222 1 million up 4 6
Adjusted EBITDA earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization grew 1 6 year over year to approximately 3 896 6 million Quarterly EBITDA margin was 34 8 compared with 34 6 in the prior year quarter In the reported quarter capital expenditure was around 1 696 4 million up 0 5 year over year
Orange competes with large telecom operators like Telefonica SA NYSE T and Vodafone Group LON VOD plc NASDAQ VOD in Europe Latin America and Africa Orange currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see
Revenues by Key Markets
In the reported quarter revenues in France the operator s largest market fell 0 6 year over year to approximately 5 165 2 million Revenues in Spain surged 7 8 year over year to around 1 395 3 million Revenues in Poland totaled around 711 7 million dipping 3 9 Revenues from Belgium Luxembourg were 336 9 million inching up 1 7 year over year while the same from Central Europe increased 0 8 to approximately 451 8 million
In Africa and the Middle East revenues grew 2 5 to 1 485 2 million Revenues from International Carriers and Shared Services decreased 4 7 year over year to approximately 494 million In the Enterprise segment revenues increased 0 7 year over year to around 1 697 5 million
Subscriber Trends
As of Sep 30 2016 Orange had 255 515 million subscribers excluding MVNOs across its operating territories down 3 from the year ago quarter The mobile customer base excluding MVNOs dropped 3 6 to 194 458 million MVNO subscriber base in Europe was 4 657 million up 18 1 year over year
Subscribers of broadband services increased 0 7 to 18 059 million IPTV and satellite TV customers rose 7 1 to 8 2 million VoIP customers totaled 14 13 million up 6 2 IP VPN access lines for enterprise customers were 0 351 million up 0 6 year over year
Recent Development
In Sep 2016 Orange has teamed up with the U S telecom behemoth AT T Inc NYSE T on open source initiatives in order to accelerate the standardization of software defined networking SDN and network function virtualization NFV In relation to this AT T declared Orange as its first telecom partner to test its open source Enhanced Control Orchestration Management and Policy ECOMP platform ORANGE ADR Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | AT T Chernin Group close to deal to buy YouTube network Fullscreen tech blog | SAN FRANCISCO Reuters AT T Inc NYSE T and the Chernin Group are close to buying a majority slice of Fullscreen in a deal that will value the popular YouTube video network at 200 million to 300 million tech blog Re code cited sources familiar with the target company as saying
Otter Media a joint venture between the telecom carrier and the media investment group is finalizing a deal with Fullscreen which has been courted by prospective buyers in past months the blog reported on Wednesday
Under the deal now being hammered out Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos the ex YouTube executive who started the company will continue to run the video network and will retain a stake in the company it said
AT T could not immediately be reached for comment
Reporting by San Francisco newsroom editing by Matthew Lewis |
T | AT T Chernin Group Close To Buying Majority Slice Of YouTube Network Fullscreen Report | By AT T Inc NYSE T and the Chernin Group are close to buying a majority slice of Fullscreen in a deal that will value the popular YouTube video network at 200 million to 300 million said tech blog Re code citing sources familiar with the target company
Otter Media a joint venture between the telecom carrier and the investment group headed by media entrepreneur Peter Chernin beat out several unidentified prospective buyers in past months the blog reported on Wednesday
AT T Fullscreen and the Chernin Group were not immediately available for comment
The acquisition would follow on the heels of Walt Disney Co s 500 million acquisition of Maker Studios earlier this year which cast a spotlight on the potential value of fast growing original content channels on Google Inc s YouTube
Time Warner Inc Yahoo Inc and Relativity Media LLC are among the companies that have reportedly eyed or held talks with Fullscreen which caters to a younger skewing audience and claims some 3 billion monthly video views from more than 400 million subscribers
Otter Media was set up this year with 500 million in capital investment from AT T and the Chernin Group Its stated goal is to acquire and launch over the top video services so called because they bypass traditional cable TV operators
Under the deal now being hammered out Fullscreen Chief Executive Officer George Strompolos the ex YouTube executive who started the company will continue to run the video network and will retain a stake in the company it said |
T | Stuff You Can Touch Weakens | The allure of merger Monday is upon the world as the logic seems to be that if a Time Warner TWX AT T deal can happen then why not have everyone merge at big premiums We ve definitely seen this movie before
At the moment gold remains in a no man s land in which it s trying to decide whether to complete its tiny saucer pattern and try a surely doomed assault at 1300 or whether it ll simply succumb to gravity and continue its fall My only precious metals position is a medium sized GDXJ short
Weaker than this is crude oil whose only holy land is the OPEC meeting in a month which will probably be another dud but the market is buoyed by it Oil certainly seems to have found a pleasant resting place at around 51 or so since it s been oscillating around that for weeks now This is more germane to me since I have a lot of energy shorts
Just 15 days until the election everyone At that point we can all take a hot shower |
T | Here s Why AT T T Stock Fell Today | Shares of AT T NYSE T slid more than 3 2 in morning trading Friday after a new report from indicated that the telecommunications giant is in talks with Time Warner NYSE TWX to take over the media company
According to people familiar with the matter AT T and Time Warner executives have met in recent weeks to discuss a variety of potential new business strategies including a merger Industry speculation over the last few months has revolved around AT T s interest in boosting its media portfolio with an acquisition also read
The original Bloomberg story which broke late Thursday said that merger talks were only in the most preliminary stage with neither company even brining a financial advisor to the meetings yet However things look to be progressing quickly a new report from published early Friday claims that the talks are now advanced
A deal which could happen as early as this weekend would unite AT T s portfolio of wireless broadband and satellite TV services with Time Warner s entertainment empire which includes cable networks such as TNT TBS CNN the coveted premium channel HBO and the Warner Bros film and TV studio WSJ said
A deal between AT T and Time Warner would also further highlight the changing state of the communications and media industry As consumer behavior related to media consumption continues to evolve traditional industry giants are desperately trying to keep up
Stocks that Aren t in the News Yet
You are invited to download the full up to the minute list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buys free of charge Many of these companies are almost unheard of by the general public and just starting to get noticed by Wall Street They have been pinpointed by the Zacks system that nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015 with a stellar average gain of 26 per year |
T | Here s Why Time Warner TWX Stock Is Soaring Today | Shares of Time Warner NYSE TWX gained over 10 1 in morning trading Friday after a new report from indicated that telecommunications giant AT T NYSE T was in talks to take over the media company
According to people familiar with the matter AT T and Time Warner executives have met in recent weeks to discuss a variety of potential new business strategies including a merger Industry speculation over the last few months has revolved around AT T s interest in boosting its media portfolio with an acquisition also read
The original Bloomberg story which broke late Thursday said that merger talks were only in the most preliminary stage with neither company even brining a financial advisor to the meetings yet However things look to be progressing quickly a new report from published early Friday claims that the talks are now advanced
A deal which could happen as early as this weekend would unite AT T s portfolio of wireless broadband and satellite TV services with Time Warner s entertainment empire which includes cable networks such as TNT TBS CNN the coveted premium channel HBO and the Warner Bros film and TV studio WSJ said
AT T s interest in Time Warner further highlights the changing tide of the telecommunications business which is desperately trying to keep up with evolving consumer behavior For Time Warner the decision to sell will likely come down to whether the price is right while the media business is often volatile Time Warner has put together a decent year with shares up over 22 heading into today
Stocks that Aren t in the News Yet
You are invited to download the full up to the minute list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buys free of charge Many of these companies are almost unheard of by the general public and just starting to get noticed by Wall Street They have been pinpointed by the Zacks system that nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015 with a stellar average gain of 26 per year |
T | AT T Agrees To Buy DirecTV For 48 5 Billion | By AT T Inc NYSE T agreed to buy DirecTV NASDAQ DTV for 48 5 billion on Sunday finalizing merger rumors that have been circling since last month AT T would pay DirecTV shareholders 95 per share in the deal
The acquisition would make DirecTV a subsidiary of AT T and would bring DirecTV s 20 million subscribers under AT T s umbrella Experts say AT T wants
DirecTV s pay TV services so it can bundle them better for its existing customers and expand its TV services into states where it does not yet offer its fiber optic U Verse broadband phone TV service
The deal would make AT T worth more than 200 billion and the buy is worth 67 billion including debt according to the New York Times
AT T closed at 36 74 and DirecTV closed at 86 18 on Friday DirecTV shares have increased by 12 percent since rumors about the AT T deal first emerged in April
If federal regulators allow the deal to go through it would be 3 5 billion larger than Comcast s proposed 45 billion deal to buy Time Warner Cable DirecTV is the second largest pay TV service behind Comcast
The deal will go to FCC regulators to decide whether to allow the merger to occur The FCC is currently debating the Comcast Time Warner deal which critics argue breaks anti trust laws |
T | After 24 Years Of Partnership AT T And Am rica M vil Part Ways | By MEXICO CITY The proposed megadeal by AT T Inc NYSE T to buy DirecTV NASDAQ DTV will shake up the telecommunications market beyond the U S border turning Latin America s largest telecom company from a partner into a competitor and roiling a decades long relationship between two of the most powerful moguls in the sector
The 48 5 billion deal announced Monday morning after weeks of rumors includes the sale of AT T s 6 billion stake in Am rica M vil 8 4 percent of the company s shares to avoid regulatory conflicts By merging with DirecTV AT T will not only cut a 24 year partnership with Am rica M vil but end up competing against it in the region The deal also threatens to disrupt the professional and personal relationship between AT T CEO Randall Stephenson and Am rica M vil s owner billionaire Carlos Slim
Though DirecTV s main business is in the U S the company has significant operations in Latin America According to Synergy Research Group at the end of 2013 Am rica M vil had the largest chunk of Latin America s pay television market with 22 percent of subscribers DirecTV with 19 percent was second
The two moguls have known each other since the 1990s when Stephenson worked as a Southwestern Bell Corp executive in Mexico City overseeing the company s investment and working directly with Slim SBC which bought AT T in 2005 backed Slim s privatization of the formerly state owned Tel fonos de M xico Telmex in 1990 now the largest landline and internet provider in Mexico with 80 percent of the market
During a conference call announcing the deal on Monday morning Stephenson assured listeners that his relationship with Slim will remain untouched We created a lot of value for our shareholders he said We have changed the welfare of the countries in Latin America Am rica M vil has invested at a level that s in excess of anyone in that region
Stephenson also said that he recently visited Slim to discuss with him his plan to buy DirecTV and reaffirmed his admiration for the Mexican businessman whom he called the most inherently brilliant individual that I ve ever worked with
For all those kind words AT T had been moving away from Am rica M vil in recent years In June 2013 the company sold 7 5 percent of the 16 percent of stocks it controlled in Am rica M vil Slim currently the world s second richest man with a net worth at 73 billion has yet to comment on the deal An Am rica M vil representative declined comment to International Business Times
DirecTV s Latin American operations have grown 95 percent in subscriptions over the last two years but they only yield 20 percent of its profit according to Colombian consultancy firm Portafolio DirecTV owns 93 percent of Sky Brazil the country s largest pay television provider as well as 41 percent of Sky Mexico which provides service in Mexico Central America and Dominican Republic
Slim s current goal is to conquer cable television as Am rica M vil provides pay TV in 17 countries in Latin America but not in Mexico The telecommunications reforms pushed by Mexican President Enrique Pe a Nieto will put this dream even more out of reach for Slim since they include anti monopoly provisions and dictate diversification in TV and phone providers Since Slim controls 80 percent of the phone market the reforms make it effectively impossible for him to obtain a TV license
AT T also announced that its designees in Am rica M vil will hand in their resignations immediately Am rica M vil s website lists two AT T employees in its board |
T | Telecom Stock Q3 Earnings Slated For Next Week TMUS T S | The Q3 earning season so far has seen companies record better earnings and revenue growth than in the past few quarters Notably a larger number of companies are beating street estimates with the banking sector leading the way Given the rosy earnings picture earnings growth in Q3 may move into the positive territory for the first time after the 5 back to back quarters of declines for the S P 500 Index However our still projects a 1 year over year decline in Q3 earnings with revenues likely to clock 1 5 growth Telecom Stocks in FocusThe U S telecommunications industry is expected to see reasonable growth through 2016 This industry has lately emerged as an intensely contested space where the key catalysts to success are technical superiority the quality of services and scalability Despite fierce competition uninterrupted advancement in telecom technologies has aided the telecom operators and equipment manufacturers to adopt newer business models in order to improve revenues Let us look at some of the stocks related to the telecom services sector that are due to report their earnings next week T Mobile US Inc NYSE T a Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock is scheduled to report its quarterly numbers on Oct 24 You can see The stock has an of 0 00 as both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 23 cents We remind our investors that a combination of a Zacks Rank 3 or better with a positive Earnings ESP makes us confident of an earnings beat However T Mobile s ESP of 0 00 makes surprise prediction difficult Initially our model had predicted an earnings beat for the company in this quarter Read More T MOBILE US INC Price and Consensus
AT T Inc NYSE T is scheduled to report its quarterly figures on Oct 25 The company has a combination of Zacks Rank 3 and an Earnings ESP of 1 35 This is because the Most Accurate estimate is 73 cents while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 74 cents This doesn t make us confident of an earnings beat this quarter Read More AT T INC Price and Consensus
Sprint Corp S is also expected to release its quarterly results on Oct 25 This Zacks Rank 3 stock has an Earnings ESP of 12 50 This is because the Most Accurate estimate stands at a loss of 9 cents while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at a loss of 8 cents This as per our model doesn t conclusively show that Sprint will beat estimates this quarter Read more SPRINT CORP Price and Consensus
Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | 50B AT T DirecTV Deal Reported Near | By NEW YORK LOS ANGELES AT T Inc NYSE T is in active talks to buy satellite TV provider DIRECTV NASDAQ DTV and may complete a deal in the next few weeks that could be worth close to 50 billion two people familiar with the matter said Monday
The second largest wireless operator is discussing an offer in the low to mid 90s per share for DirecTV one of the people said compared with the company s closing price of 87 16 on Monday
A bid near 95 per share would value DirecTV at more than 48 billion based on its shares outstanding and would represent a premium of more than 20 percent to its stock price before news of AT T s interest first emerged on May 1
The deal price has yet to be finalized and terms could still change the people said adding that discussions are continuing They asked not to be named because the matter is not public
Other details also have yet to be worked out such as a break up fee as well as a potential role for DirecTV Chief Executive Officer Mike White the second person said
The talks are the latest sign of a rising tide of potential megadeals in the telecoms cable and satellite TV space which is being roiled by Comcast Corp s proposed 45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc as well as market forces such as the rise of Web based TV and surging mobile Internet usage
AT T and DirecTV declined to comment Bloomberg News earlier reported that AT T was offering to pay around 100 per share for DirecTV whose management team will continue to run the company as a unit of AT T The Wall Street Journal said a deal could happen in two weeks
DirecTV shares rose 6 percent to 92 50 in extended trading on Monday
DirecTV is working with advisers including Goldman Sachs Group to evaluate a possible combination following a recent takeover approach from AT T Reuters reported last week
A combination of AT T and DirecTV would create a pay television giant close in size to where Comcast will be if it completes its pending acquisition of Time Warner Cable For that reason the proposed merger is likely to face a prolonged battle to convince regulators to allow further consolidation in pay TV
This is not the first time that AT T and DirecTV have danced around the fire and thought if they could give it a go said ReconAnalytics analyst Roger Entner
They both looked at each other for at least 10 years Both kind of came to the conclusion that it was in the right environment It makes a lot of sense to get together but there was never the right regulatory environment for it
A Comcast Time Warner Cable merger would call for a counterweight like a combined AT T DirecTV Entner said He added that the merger would make sense for DirecTV given the decline of satellite TV
They both see the Grim Reaper at the horizon DirecTV hasn t gone out and bought spectrum Dish has so DirecTV needs to find a partner and AT T is that partner he said
Some investors have also speculated about a potential tie up of DirectTV and smaller rival Dish Network Corp
But Dish Chairman Charlie Egan last week said his company which attempted to buy DirecTV more than a decade ago would not make a fresh approach at current prices even though he said such a tie up would create many benefits |
T | US STOCKS Wall St set to fall at open after ADP report | ADP labor report far short of expectations
Macy s May sales top estimates
Futures off Dow 48 pts S P 4 8 pts Nasdaq 8 5 pts
For up to the minute market news see STXNEWS US
Adds context updates prices
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK June 1 Reuters U S stocks were poised for a
lower open on Wednesday as weak data on the labor market became
the latest in string of soft economic reports
U S private employers added a scant 38 000 jobs in May
far below expectations and the lowest level since September
2010 a report by a payrolls processor ADP Employer Services
showed on Wednesday For details see ID nN01229306
The S P has risen for four consecutive sessions even as
data Tuesday showed a drop in business activity in the U S
Midwest adding to other regional reports pointing to slower
growth in manufacturing this month amid supply chain
disruptions from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan
That bode poorly for Institute for Supply Management
manufacturing which is expected to slow and cast a cloud
ahead of a report on national employment on Friday
The ISM monthly factory indicator due at 10 a m EDT 1400
GMT is seen easing to 57 7 from the prior month s 60 4
Construction spending for April is expected to show a rise
of 0 3 percent after March s increase of 1 4 percent The data
is also due at 10 a m
It fits very neatly in with the puzzle we are putting
together that speaks to another soft patch and really a
genuinely failed stimulus approach to growing the economy
said Peter Kenny managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey
City New Jersey
And it s not just about jobs It s about manufacturing
it s about real estate it s about consumer confidence This is
one data point in a very broad picture and it s not
encouraging
S P 500 futures lost 4 8 points and were below fair
value a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates dividends and time to expiration on the
contract Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 48
points and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 8 5 points
Macy s Inc advanced 1 2 percent to 29 23 in
premarket trade after the department store operator posted a
7 4 percent increase in May at same store stores beating
expectations ID nN01149481
Yahoo Inc dipped 1 3 percent to 16 34 premarket
after two sources said it resolved a dispute with partner
Alibaba Group over the Chinese company s transfer of its prized
online payments unit to Chief Executive Jack Ma For details
see ID nN31297945
Sprint Nextel Corp asked U S regulators to block
AT T Inc s proposed 39 billion purchase of T Mobile USA
saying the deal has no public interest benefit and would harm
competition Sprint lost 1 4 percent to 5 77 and AT T edged
0 03 percent lower to 31 55 premarket ID nN31154214
Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak editing by Jeffrey Benkoe |
T | GLOBAL MARKETS Stocks rise trimming Aug loss commods up | Fed stimulus hopes underpin stocks
Weak US data stirs more speculation of monetary easing
World indexes set for biggest monthly loss in a year
Commodities recover early Aug loss as oil copper up
Updates market moves
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK Aug 31 Reuters Stock markets around the world
rose for a fourth straight day on Wednesday trimming August s
sharp losses as hopes for more help from the U S Federal
Reserve drove buying in equities oil and metals
Markets have turned sharply in recent days rebounding from
several weeks of losses that put the MSCI All World index
on track for its worst month in more than a
year
Mounting speculation the Fed was preparing a new round of
monetary expansion has helped the market regain its footing
The Fed s minutes from its latest policy session bolstered a
growing belief the central bank will hint at new stimulus after
its 600 billion bond buying program expired in June For
details see ID nFEDAHEAD
If its efforts along with fiscal stimulus plans are
enough to forestall a recession the market could continue to
recover
The depth of the slowdown is going to depend on what
monetary and fiscal stimulus we see in the United States said
Gonzalo Fernandez analyst at Santander in Mexico City
U S economic data released on Wednesday showed the economy
continues to struggle with the pace of private sector job
growth slowing in August for the second straight month Factory
activity in the Chicago region expanded at its slowest pace
since November 2009 ID nN1E77U04P ID nCAT005506
In midday trading the Dow Jones industrial average
was up 88 62 points or 0 77 percent at 11 648 57 The
Standard Poor s 500 Index was up 10 82 points or 0 89
percent at 1 223 74 The Nasdaq Composite Index was up
14 86 points or 0 58 percent at 2 590 97 N
Among the most actively traded U S stocks were AT T
which fell 4 4 percent after the U S Justice Department said
it would block the telephone company s merger with T Mobile USA
on anti competition concerns ID nN1E77U0QO
European shares were up almost 3 percent while
the MSCI All World Index gained 1 5 percent
For the month U S stocks were down about 5
percent on track to post the steepest monthly loss since June
2010 Global shares tracked by the MSCI All World showed a 7
percent drop their worst month since May last year
Minutes of the Fed s August meeting released on Tuesday
showed the central bank considered a range of actions to help
the struggling economy including the unprecedented step of
tying interest rate policy to a specific unemployment level
ID nN1E77T1HY ID nN1E77T08F ID nN9E7H701R
In a note released on Wednesday economists at Goldman
Sachs commented that the Fed was more dovish than expected
indicating the possibility of stimulus at the September 20 21
meeting was an even closer call than we thought previously
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on
Tuesday made clear he supported further action to support
growth while Minneapolis Fed chief Narayana Kocherlakota
suggested further stimulus would have a hard time winning his
support
Commodities tracked by the Reuters Jefferies CRB index
were poised to end the month in the positive after a
sharp fall in early August
Crude oil futures in London were up 1 percent
trading above 115 a barrel Copper futures in New York
jumped almost 2 percent to a one month high of nearly 4 25 a
lb
Spot gold was down 0 7 percent at 1 824 50 an ounce
as rising equity markets weakened safe haven bids But it was
sharply off early session lows as soft the U S economic data
raised hopes the Federal Reserve would use additional stimulus
to boost the economy
Monthly returns in MSCI AC world
Monthly global stocks graphic since 1971
In currency trading the dollar slid to a session low
against the yen touching 76 84 yen and marking a new
bottom since Aug 19 For the month the dollar was flat against
a basket of currencies
U S Treasuries fell with the benchmark 10 year note
down 8 32 its yield at 2 2022 percent
On Thursday the Institute for Supply Management is to
release its index of U S national manufacturing activity and
the Labor Department on Friday issues the U S nonfarm payrolls
report for August
Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New York
Michael O Boyle in Mexico City Editing by Dan Grebler |
T | GLOBAL MARKETS Stocks climb trimming Aug loss commods up | Fed stimulus hopes underpin stocks
Weak US data stirs more speculation of monetary easing
World indexes set for biggest monthly loss in a year
Commodities recover early Aug loss as oil copper up
Updates market moves as of 1845 GMT
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK Aug 31 Reuters Stock markets around the world
rose for a fourth straight day on Wednesday trimming August s
sharp losses as hopes for more help from the U S Federal
Reserve drove buying in equities oil and metals
Markets have turned sharply in recent days rebounding from
several weeks of losses that put the MSCI All World index
on track for its worst month in more than a
year
Mounting speculation the Fed was preparing a new round of
monetary expansion has helped the market regain its footing
The Fed s minutes from its latest policy session bolstered a
growing belief the central bank will hint at new stimulus after
its 600 billion bond buying program expired in June For
details see ID nFEDAHEAD
If its efforts along with fiscal stimulus plans are
enough to forestall a recession the market could continue to
recover
The depth of the slowdown is going to depend on what
monetary and fiscal stimulus we see in the United States said
Gonzalo Fernandez analyst at Santander in Mexico City
U S economic data released on Wednesday showed the economy
continues to struggle with the pace of private sector job
growth slowing in August for the second straight month Factory
activity in the Chicago region expanded at its slowest pace
since November 2009 ID nN1E77U04P ID nCAT005506
At 2 45 p m EDT 1845 GMT the Dow Jones industrial
average was up 9 91 points or 0 09 percent at
11 569 86 The Standard Poor s 500 Index was up 1 41
points or 0 12 percent at 1 214 33 The Nasdaq Composite
Index was down 11 09 points or 0 43 percent at
2 565 02
Among the most actively traded U S stocks were AT T
which fell more than 4 percent after the U S Justice
Department said it would block the cellphone company s merger
with T Mobile USA on anti competition concerns
ID nN1E77U0QO
European shares were up almost 3 percent and world
equities gained over 1 percent
For the month U S stocks were down about 5
percent on track to post the steepest monthly loss since June
2010 Global shares tracked by the MSCI All World showed a 7
percent drop their worst month since May last year
Minutes of the Fed s August meeting released on Tuesday
showed the central bank considered a range of actions to help
the struggling economy including the unprecedented step of
tying interest rate policy to a specific unemployment level
ID nN1E77T1HY ID nN1E77T08F ID nN9E7H701R
In a note released Wednesday economists at Goldman Sachs
commented that the Fed was more dovish than expected
indicating the possibility of stimulus at the September 20 21
meeting was an even closer call than we thought previously
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on
Tuesday made clear he supported further action to support
growth while Minneapolis Fed chief Narayana Kocherlakota
suggested further stimulus would have a hard time winning his
support
Commodities tracked by the Reuters Jefferies CRB index
were poised to end the month in the positive after a
sharp fall in early August Copper futures in New York
jumped almost 2 percent to a one month high of nearly 4 25 a
lb MET L
Crude oil futures in London were up 1 percent
trading above 115 a barrel Oil was further boosted by a
government report showing a steep drawdown last week in U S
gasoline stockpiles O R
Spot gold was down almost 1 percent but off session
lows trading at around 1 824 an ounce as rising equity
markets weakened safe haven bids GOL
Monthly returns in MSCI AC world
Monthly global stocks graphic since 1971
In currency trading the dollar slid to a session low
against the yen touching 76 84 yen and marking a new
bottom since Aug 19 For the month the dollar was flat against
a basket of currencies
U S Treasuries fell with the benchmark 10 year note
down 8 32 its yield at 2 2022 percent
On Thursday the Institute for Supply Management is to
release its index of U S national manufacturing activity and
the Labor Department on Friday issues the U S nonfarm payrolls
report for August
Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New York
Michael O Boyle in Mexico City Editing by Dan Grebler |
T | GLOBAL MARKETS Stocks end up paring Aug loss commods also rise | Fed stimulus hopes underpin stocks
Weak US data stirs more speculation of monetary easing
World stocks Wall St still down the most since May 2010
Commodities recover early Aug loss as oil copper up
Coming up US ISM data Thursday Aug US jobs Friday
Updates with Wall Street close
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK Aug 31 Reuters Stock markets around the world
rose for a fourth straight day on Wednesday trimming August s
sharp losses as hopes for more help from the U S Federal
Reserve drove buying in equities oil and metals
Markets have turned sharply in recent days rebounding from
several weeks of losses that saw both Wall Street and global
stocks posting their worst performance in 15 months
Mounting speculation the Fed is preparing a new round of
monetary expansion has helped the market regain its footing
The Fed s minutes from its latest policy session bolstered a
growing belief the central bank will hint at new stimulus after
its 600 billion bond buying program expired in June For
details see ID nFEDAHEAD
If its efforts along with fiscal stimulus plans are
enough to forestall a recession the market could continue to
recover
The depth of the slowdown is going to depend on what
monetary and fiscal stimulus we see in the United States said
Gonzalo Fernandez analyst at Santander in Mexico City
U S economic data released on Wednesday showed the economy
continues to struggle with the pace of private sector job
growth slowing in August for the second straight month Factory
activity in the Chicago region expanded at its slowest pace
since November 2009 ID nN1E77U04P ID nCAT005506
At the close the Dow Jones industrial average was
up 53 58 points or 0 46 percent at 11 613 53 The Standard
Poor s 500 Index added 5 97 points or 0 49 percent at
1 218 89 The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3 35
points or 0 13 percent at 2 579 46
Among the most actively traded U S stocks were AT T
which fell 3 8 percent to 28 48 after the U S Justice
Department said it would block the cellphone company s merger
with T Mobile USA on anti competition concerns
ID nN1E77U0QO
European shares tracked by the FTSEurofirst 300 index
rose 2 9 percent and world equities gained over 1 2
percent
For the month the S P 500 was down 5 7 percent
Global shares tracked by the MSCI All World index
showed a 7 6 percent drop It was the sharpest
decline on both indexes since May 2010
Minutes of the Fed s August meeting released on Tuesday
showed the central bank considered a range of actions to help
the struggling economy including the unprecedented step of
tying interest rate policy to a specific unemployment level
ID nN1E77T1HY ID nN1E77T08F ID nN9E7H701R
In a note released on Wednesday economists at Goldman
Sachs commented that the Fed was more dovish than expected
indicating the possibility of stimulus at the September 20 21
meeting was an even closer call than we thought previously
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on
Tuesday made clear he supported further action to support
growth while Minneapolis Fed chief Narayana Kocherlakota
suggested further stimulus would have a hard time winning his
support
Commodities tracked by the Reuters Jefferies CRB index
ended the month flat recovering from early fall in
August Copper in New York finished up 1 5 percent at
above 4 20 a lb its highest close in a month MET L
Crude oil futures in London rose almost 1 percent
above 114 a barrel Oil was further boosted by a government
report showing a steep drawdown last week in U S gasoline
stockpiles O R
Spot gold which tracks trade in bullion was down
half a percent at around 1 824 an ounce as rising equity
markets weakened safe haven bids An earlier rally through the
better part of August however pushed bullion up 12 percent on
the month GOL
Monthly returns in MSCI AC world
Monthly global stocks graphic since 1971
In currency trading the dollar slid to a session low
against the yen touching 76 84 yen and marking a new
bottom since Aug 19 For the month the dollar was up 0 2
percent against a basket of currencies
U S Treasuries fell with the benchmark 10 year note
down 16 32 yielding 2 2305 percent
On Thursday the Institute for Supply Management is to
release its index of U S national manufacturing activity and
the Labor Department on Friday issues the U S nonfarm payrolls
report for August
Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New York
Michael O Boyle in Mexico City Editing by Dan Grebler |
T | FTSE shrugs off shock GDP fall miners banks gain | FTSE 100 up 1 3 percent
Commodity stocks gain on firmer metal crude prices
Shock UK Q3 GDP decline shrugged off
By Simon Falush
LONDON Oct 23 Reuters Banks and commodity stocks pushed
Britain s top share index up 1 3 percent by midday on Friday as
investors shrugged off a shock fall in UK GDP and looked to Wall
Street s open after it made strong gains the previous day
By 1112 GMT the FTSE 100 was 67 41 points higher at
5 274 77 after closing 50 49 points or 1 percent lower on
Thursday
British third quarter gross domestic product GDP shrunk
unexpectedly data showed on Friday quashing hopes the downturn
is ending and marking the longest recession on record
But the UK s blue chip index showed limited reaction paring
gains slightly before recovering quickly to levels seen before
the data though the pound fell sharply and European stocks lost
ground
The gains were largely driven by commodity stocks whose
exposure is mostly global rather than to the domestic economy
Metal prices were firmer finding support as the dollar
weakened to a 14 month low against the euro
Kazakhmys was up 4 8 percent while Anglo American Rio
Tinto Xstrata Lonmin and Fresnillo gained 1 9 to 3 5 percent
However the GDP data made investors nervous about whether
the gains could be sustained
I think there is definitely a risk that the rally on the
FTSE may have been overdone said David Jones chief strategist
at IG Index
If there is anything that can put a ceiling on the strength
in equities that we have seen over the last couple of months
it is a surprise number like this Jones said
But energy stocks were higher as oil traded above 81 per
barrel
BG Group was 1 5 percent firmer while Royal Dutch Shell
added 1 4 percent shrugging aside a UBS downgrade to neutral
ahead of upcoming results from the oil major
BP was 1 5 higher percent after The Times newspaper reported
the firm had held talks with Ghana National Petroleum over a
possible joint bid for a stake in the Jubilee deepwater field in
Ghana which contains up to 1 8 billion barrels of oil
Tullow Oil which is a partner in the Jubillee field gained
0 6 percent
SKY RISES
Pay TV firm BSkyB gained 0 5 percent after it added 94 000
net new customers in the first quarter at the top end of
analyst expectations
Overnight on Wall Street the Dow closed back above 10 000
after quarterly results from insurer Travelers and regional bank
PNC Financial boosted financial stocks
After the bell online retailer Amazon com beat expectations
on earnings reinforcing the idea that corporate profitability
had stabilised
UK banks benefited from the improved sentiment Standard
Chartered Lloyds Banking Group Barclays HSBC and Royal Bank
of Scotland rose 1 9 to 2 8 percent
Overshadowed by the shock GDP data the number of home loans
approved by British banks in September jumped 76 8 percent on
the same month a year ago while car output fell at its slowest
pace in 12 months
Data due across the Atlantic on Friday includes U S
existing home sales for September due out at 1400 GMT
Defensive pharmaceuticals and fixed line telecoms were the
only FTSE sectors in negative territory
GlaxoSmithKline lost 0 7 percent after Jefferies cut its
stance to hold from buy ahead of the firm s Q3 results due
next week saying underlying earnings growth will slow into
2010
BT was down 1 9 percent paring gains after it was boosted
by AT T s positive earnings on Thursday
Additional reporting by Harpreet Bhal editing by Karen
Foster |
T | REFILE Firm miners banks push FTSE to close higher | Refiles to add missing word to in first paragraph
FTSE 100 closes 0 7 percent higher
Shock UK Q3 GDP decline shrugged off
Miners gain on hopes for increased demand
By Tricia Wright
LONDON Oct 23 Reuters Britain s top share index
shrugged off a shock fall in UK GDP to close higher on Friday
buoyed by miners and banking stocks and supported by robust
earnings and economic news from the U S
The FTSE 100 closed up 35 21 points or 0 7 percent at
5 242 57 having touched a 13 month high of 5 299 57 earlier in
the session It ended 1 percent lower on Thursday
We had the rather disappointing GDP figures come in but I
think traders are taking it that the figures give a better
opportunity for the Bank of England to extend its QE programme
said Keith Bowman analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown
Britain s economy contracted in the third quarter of this
year quashing hopes the downturn was ending and instead marking
the longest recession on record
But the UK s blue chip index showed limited reaction paring
gains slightly before recovering quickly to levels seen before
the data though the pound fell sharply and European
stocks lost ground
Banks gained with investor sentiment also helped as
Microsoft Corp s results smashed Wall Street expectations and
as sales of previously owned U S homes surged to their highest
level in over two years in September
Heavyweight HSBC rose 1 2 percent while Standard Chartered
Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland added 0 7 to 3 5 percent
LLOYDS CRUNCH
Lloyds Banking Group put on 1 5 percent The real estate arm
of insurer Legal General is in talks to cherry pick troubled
assets from Lloyds Banking Group in deals that could generate
millions of pounds for the lender sources close to discussions
told Reuters
Lloyds faces a crunch week over its plans to plug a 20
billion pound hole in its capital before Christmas with a key
decision resting with UK regulators
Miners found support with hopes for increased demand as
corporate earnings recover Anglo American Kazakhmys Xstrata
and Vedanta Resources were up 3 2 to 4 2 percent
Energy stocks were also in favour holding on to recent
gains despite crude prices retreating
BG Group was 0 5 percent firmer while Royal Dutch Shell
added 1 2 percent shrugging aside a UBS downgrade to neutral
ahead of upcoming results from the oil major
Pharmaceuticals mobile telecoms and fixed line telecoms
were in negative territory
GlaxoSmithKline lost 1 1 percent after Jefferies cut its
stance to hold from buy ahead of the firm s quarterly
results due next week saying underlying earnings growth will
slow into 2010
Vodafone and BT dropped 1 4 percent and 3 2 percent
respectively paring gains after they were boosted by AT T s
positive earnings on Thursday
Overshadowed by the shock GDP data the number of home loans
approved by British banks in September jumped 76 8 percent on
the same month a year ago while car output fell at its slowest
pace in 12 months
Editing by Karen Foster |
T | UPDATE 3 France Tel Deutsche Tel form JV to cut costs | Joint venture to buy network gear mobiles IT systems
Savings estimated at 1 3 bln euros a year after 3 years
Builds on earlier co operation between the two groups
Could put more pressure on telecom gear vendors
Adds details from press conference vendors
By Leila Abboud
PARIS April 18 Reuters France Telecom and Deutsche
Telekom plan to jointly buy network gear mobiles and other
information technology to save money the two groups said on
Monday
The project could save about 1 3 billion euros 1 9
billion annually after three years a little under 900
million euros for France Telecom and around 400 million for
Deutsche Telekom they said
The venture is an extension of a co operation initiative the
two groups unveiled in February covering areas such as mobile
network sharing in Europe and giving customers wireless Internet
on each other s networks
European telecom operators face sluggish growth and tough
price competition and are searching for ways to cut costs to
improve profitability
With the advent of smartphones and tablet computers data
traffic is exploding on networks requiring steep investments
We see significant growth in data and pressure on tariffs
so our procurement needs to be as efficient as possible said
Edward Kozel Deutsche Telekom s director of technology
The new venture will begin to renegotiate some 13 billion
euros worth of contracts in the fourth quarter said France
Telecom executive vice president Olaf Swantee
NETWORK SAVINGS
The companies expect the biggest savings to come from
network gear They also hope to save on the 45 million handsets
they buy a year
Supply firms in the firing line include equipment makers
like Alcatel Lucent Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks
It means another headache for the supply industry said
Paolo Pescatore analyst at CCS Insight
The two companies are already trimming their portfolios to
focus on countries where they have scale Deutsche Telekom is
selling its T Mobile USA unit to AT T while France Telecom is
reviewing European operations outside France
Several analysts on Monday said the JV could rekindle
speculation on an eventual tie up but banking sources told
Reuters recently that such a deal was unlikely
France Telecom shares were down 0 8 percent at 15 52 euros
while Deutsche Telekom s were flat at 11 25 euros by 0906 GMT
Additional reporting by Marie Mawad and Tarmo Virki Editing
by David Cowell
1 6918 Euro |
T | AT T Inc Lowered To Hold At Vetr Inc | AT T Inc NYSE T was downgraded by investment analysts at from a buy rating to a hold rating in a note issued to investors on Monday reports They presently have a 42 92 price objective on the stock s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3 97 from the stock s previous close
Several other equities analysts also recently commented on T Barclays PLC restated a buy rating on shares of AT T in a research note on Sunday July 17th S P Equity Research set a 46 00 target price on shares of AT T and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Sunday July 24th FBR Co boosted their target price on shares of AT T from 38 00 to 42 00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday July 22nd Robert W Baird reiterated a neutral rating and set a 41 00 target price on shares of AT T in a research note on Tuesday June 28th Finally Argus reiterated a buy rating and set a 51 00 target price up previously from 45 00 on shares of AT T in a research note on Tuesday July 26th Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of 41 55
AT T NYSE T opened at 41 28 on Monday MarketBeat com reports AT T has a 52 week low of 31 85 and a 52 week high of 43 89 The stock has a market cap of 253 95 billion a price to earnings ratio of 17 80 and a beta of 0 28 The company has a 50 day moving average price of 41 28 and a 200 day moving average price of 40 38
AT T NYSE T last announced its earnings results on Thursday July 21st The company reported 0 72 earnings per share EPS for the quarter meeting analysts consensus estimates of 0 72 The company had revenue of 40 50 billion for the quarter compared to analyst estimates of 40 75 billion AT T had a return on equity of 13 93 and a net margin of 8 76 Equities research analysts anticipate that AT T will post 2 86 EPS for the current year
In related news CEO John T Stankey sold 2 131 shares of the firm s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday July 22nd The shares were sold at an average price of 43 38 for a total transaction of 92 442 78 Following the sale the chief executive officer now owns 13 583 shares in the company valued at 589 230 54 The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC which can be accessed through 0 07 of the stock is currently owned by insiders
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in T Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AT T by 2 7 in the second quarter Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 181 675 shares of the company s stock worth 7 850 000 after buying an additional 4 827 shares during the period Macquarie Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of AT T by 0 4 in the second quarter Macquarie Group Ltd now owns 18 473 578 shares of the company s stock worth 798 243 000 after buying an additional 78 603 shares during the period Carnick Kubik Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT T during the second quarter worth about 1 654 000 Williams Jones Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of AT T by 26 9 in the second quarter Williams Jones Associates LLC now owns 75 131 shares of the company s stock worth 3 246 000 after buying an additional 15 910 shares during the period Finally Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of AT T during the second quarter worth about 10 740 000 Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53 64 of the company s stock
About AT T
AT T Inc is a holding company The Company offers communications and digital entertainment services in the United States and the world It operates through four segments Business Solutions Entertainment Group Consumer Mobility and International The Business Solutions segment includes various categories including wireless service fixed strategic services legacy voice and data services other services and wireless equipment |
T | Toronto Dominion Aims To Expand Corporate Lending In U S | Canada based The Toronto Dominion Bank NYSE T said on Thursday that it plans to expand corporate lending business in the U S This expansion is anticipated to be carried out through the acquisition of loans from other foreign banks which are planning to exit the country per a Reuters report This was confirmed in an interview last week when Glenn Gibson the U S head of Toronto Dominion Securities said Ultimately we re looking to buy assets What we re looking for in the corporate space is if there are opportunities as foreign banks continue to rejig their strategy At a time when the European lenders are retreating from their U S investment banking operations due to tougher regulations and weak balance sheets Toronto Dominion had been fueling its operations in this space Hence driven by the initiatives Toronto Dominion has grown to be one of the ten biggest banks in the U S and enjoys a major retail presence through its 1 300 branches in the country Further the bank also exhibits the financial strength to accelerate the expansion of its U S capital markets business Why the Persistent Expansion Initiatives in U S Earlier in September Toronto Dominion announced a deal to acquire Albert Fried Co a New York based broker dealer with a view to expand its presence in the U S prime brokerage sector Also Toronto Dominion Securities whose investment banking clients include AT T Inc NYSE T beer maker Anheuser Busch InBev SA NV NYSE BUD and private equity firm KKR Co L P NYSE KKR has been constantly expanding its commercial lending business in the U S The current plan to expand further in the U S is in line with the Toronto Dominion s statement last year that it might double the size of its capital markets business over the next three to four years Further this is being done with a view to counter the sluggish growth in Canada s domestic markets where the concerns over possible housing bubbles in Vancouver and Toronto are hovering over the banks What s Next Toronto Dominion plans to attract new multinational clients along with enhancing its existing client relationships Also as a result of the initiatives the bank expects the global companies which are already its clients in Canada to boost their borrowing activities with them in the U S Gibson said We re trying to build out the depth of the relationships we have with some of the multi nationals that we deal with that have business in Canada and we re also trying to expand the number of relationships Currently Toronto Dominion holds a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Confidential from ZacksBeyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | European shares close lower banks oils weigh | FTSEurofirst 300 index closes down 1 1 percent
Banks oil shares weigh
Ericsson results disappoint
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON Oct 22 Reuters European shares closed lower on
Thursday with banks and oil stocks the major losers and
Ericsson falling after disappointing results
The pan European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed
down 1 1 percent at 1 014 72 points The benchmark index is
still up 57 percent from its lifetime low on March 9 but down
38 percent since reaching its mid 2007 peak
These markets are due for a bout of consolidation if
anyone is looking to book some profits this is as good as time
as any said Mike Lenhoff strategist at Brewin Dolphin
We might get some rough numbers but if you look at the
whole sweep of newsflow which is being reported then I do not
think anyone can say that what we have seen so far has been
bad he said
Banks featured among the biggest losers Credit Suisse was
down 3 5 percent after third quarter earnings with analysts
pointing to a 16 percent fall in investment banking revenues
from the previous quarter and lower pretax profits and margins
at the private banking unit
HSBC Banco Santander and BNP Paribas were down 1 1 to 2
percent
Oil stocks fell as crude slipped back 1 1 percent BG Group
BP Royal Dutch Shell and Total were 0 8 to 1 5 percent lower
Mobile network gear maker Ericsson lost 6 2 percent after it
reported weaker than expected quarterly core earnings and a drop
in sales hit by the global economic downturn
CHEMICAL STOCKS FALL
Chemical stocks were under pressure Air Liquide was 2 7
percent lower after sales at the French industrial gases group
fell in the third quarter Those people who believe that
we re on our way to the moon delude themselves This is a long
hard struggle We ve been waiting for weeks for some kind of a
pullback after the rally said David Buik senior partner at
BGC Partners
Defensive stocks were in favour with food producer Nestle
up 1 4 percent
Vodafone gained 3 4 percent with traders pointing to a
positive read across from results by U S telecoms peer AT T
AT T reported stronger than expected third quarter profit as
the popular Apple iPhone helped it land a record number of new
wireless customers for the period
Looking at economic news the number of U S workers filing
new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected
last week data showed indicating the labour market remains
fragile despite signs of economic revival
Meanwhile U S home prices fell by a seasonally adjusted
0 3 percent in August bringing the 12 month decline to 3 6
percent the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Across
Europe the FTSE 100 index was down 1 percent Germany s DAX
fell 1 2 percent and France s CAC 40 was 1 4 percent lower
Additional reporting by Brian Gorman Editing by Rupert
Winchester |
T | Telecom operators hurt selling iPhones research | No operator has seen shareholder value from iPhone Strand
Rivals without iPhone doing usually better Strand
By Tarmo Virki European technology correspondent
HELSINKI Aug 17 Reuters Heavy subsidies shelled out by
telecom operators around the world to lure consumers to buy an
Apple iPhone have done nothing to increase profits and have
even dented them in some cases a research report showed on
Monday
According to the research we have conducted on the
operators not one of these have increased their market share
revenue or their earnings as a result of introducing the
iPhone Strand Consult says in the report
On the contrary some operators have sent out profit
warnings because of the iPhone the Copenhagen based wireless
consultancy said in report scheduled to be published this week
Cupertino California based Apple released its first iPhone
in mid 2007 and it quickly became a consumer phenomenon thanks
to its unique design and ease of use
In its June quarter Apple sold 5 2 million iPhones This
compares to 268 million phones sold globally by all handset
manufacturers
But not everyone has profited
We have not found one operator which has created
shareholder value with iPhone Strand said When looking at
the numbers we can t see the iPhone effect a lot of
competitors are actually doing better
AT T Inc iPhone s exclusive carrier in the United States
said in June its costs to sell the new version of the iPhone
would be similar to those for the original 3G iPhone which
pressured its profits last year
SingTel Southeast Asia s largest phone firm has reported
falling profits due to iPhone launches saying the iPhone alone
hurt operating profit margin by 3 4 percentage points
TeliaSonera the top operator in the Nordics has launched
the iPhone with large marketing campaigns in all Nordic
countries but it has not helped it to boost market share or
lift revenues per subscriber ARPU according to Strand s
report
TeliaSonera s ARPU in Denmark has declined from 212 Danish
crowns to 168 crowns over last two years twice the pace of ARPU
fall of Sonofon whose ARPU in first quarter was 205 crowns Its
market share is unchanged from two years ago
In Sweden TeliaSonera has lost one percentage point of
market share in two years and its the lowest ARPU carrier among
top firms with ARPU falling to 179 Swedish crowns in the first
quarter
Operators have heavily subsidised iPhones hoping to reap
benefits later but as Apple moves away from exclusive deals
operators are seeing their window of opportunity close Strand
says
Operators are definitely looking for alternatives to the
iPhone that return more value back to the operator said Frank
Meehan chief executive of INQ Mobile a phone making arm of
Hutchison
Strand s report says other handset makers are starting to
catch Apple whose latest model is very similar to original 2007
iPhone and noted several small operators have started to
successfully court iPhone customers of other operators
Reporting by Tarmo Virki Editing by Rupert Winchester |
T | D Telekom stock down on Sprint buy speculation | FRANKFURT Sept 14 Reuters Shares in Germany s Deutsche
Telekom fell 1 3 percent on Monday after a report that the
telecoms group was mulling a bid for U S rival Sprint Nextel
Such a deal would vault Deutsche Telekom s T Mobile USA unit
past market leaders AT T and Verizon to the number one spot but
would cost billions of euros to pull off
The Market won t like Deutsche Telekom spending billions
for a takeover now a Frankfurt listed trader said
Shares in Deutsche Telekom fell 1 3 percent to 9 41 euros by
0756 GMT and were one of the sharpest decliners among German
largecaps
Heino Ruland from Ruland Research said considering the
financial situation of Deutsche Telekom i e net debt of some
51 0 billion euros 74 1 billion a capital raising effort
would be required in case of a bid taking place
Even though strategically it would be the best move forward
since quite some time for Deutsche Telekom it will weigh on
the share price firstly because of that potential capital
raising effort but secondly because of the time span needed to
return the U S peer to profitability Ruland added
Britain s Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that Deutsche
Telekom had appointed Deutsche Bank to advise on a possible run
at Sprint valued at 11 billion
A spokesperson at Deutsche Telekom had declined to comment
Speculation about a possible purchase of Sprint Nextel has
circulated ever since the U S company announced a large
goodwill writeoff in February 2008 which sent its shares to a
five year low at the time
Deutsche Telekom slashed its full year profit forecast in
April partly due to a weak performance in the United States
The German incumbent last week agreed a deal with France
Telecom to combine the two companies British mobile phone
businesses T Mobile UK and Orange
1 6879 Euro
Reporting by Nicola Leske and Christoph Steitz Editing by Jon
Loades Carter |
T | UPDATE 1 D Telekom stock down Sprint s soars on tie up talk | D Telekom shares fall 1 4 percent Sprint stock up 11
percent
T Mobile USA would leapfrog rivals to top U S spot
Analysts see technological obstacles
Adds analyst s comment on Sprint updates shares
FRANKFURT Sept 14 Reuters Talk of a takeover of Sprint
Nextel by Deutsche Telekom sent the German company s shares down
1 4 percent and boosted the U S mobile operator s stock by 11
percent in pre market trade on Monday
Such a deal would vault Deutsche Telekom s T Mobile USA unit
past market leaders AT T and Verizon to the number one spot but
would cost billions of euros to pull off
The market won t like Deutsche Telekom spending billions
for a takeover now a Frankfurt listed trader said
Shares in Deutsche Telekom were down 1 5 percent at 9 39
euros by 1155 GMT on Monday but shares in Sprint rose 11 percent
to 4 18 in pre U S market trading
On the surface we believe a Sprint T Mobile combination
makes strategic sense as both companies have been losing market
share and a merger would remove a competitor said Michael
Nelson at Soleil Nelson Alpha research
But he said a merger between Sprint and T Mobile would also
carry significant integration risk because of different network
technologies and could face regulatory hurdles
A combined Sprint T Mobile would surpass AT T with over 82
million subscribers representing roughly a 30 percent market
share of the US wireless industry Nelson said
Sprint shares currently trade at 4 2 times estimated 2010
EBITDA Nelson said We believe if Sprint were to be acquired
the board would require a premium valuation in the neighborhood
of five times estimated 2010 EBITDA which would equate to
roughly 5 50 per share
Heino Ruland from Ruland Research said considering the
financial situation of Deutsche Telekom i e net debt of some
51 billion euros 74 billion a capital raising effort would
be required in the case of a bid taking place
Even though strategically it would be the best move forward
since quite some time for Deutsche Telekom it will weigh on
the share price firstly because of that potential capital
raising effort but secondly because of the timespan needed to
return the U S peer to profitability Ruland added
Britain s Sunday Telegraph newspaper said that Deutsche
Telekom had appointed Deutsche Bank to advise on a possible run
at Sprint valued at 11 billion
A spokesperson at Deutsche Telekom had declined to comment
Speculation about a possible purchase of Sprint Nextel has
circulated ever since the U S company announced a large
goodwill writeoff in February 2008 which sent its shares to a
five year low at the time
Deutsche Telekom slashed its full year profit forecast in
April partly due to a weak performance in the United States
The German incumbent last week agreed a deal with France
Telecom to combine the two companies British mobile phone
businesses T Mobile UK and Orange
1 6879 euros
Reporting by Nicola Leske and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt
Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York Editing by
Greg Mahlich |
T | SNAP ANALYSIS D Telekom must make U S move or take back seat | Corrects typographical error in second bullet point
Sprint buy would come at cost of shareholder payout
Differing technologies pose significant obstacle
Deutsche Telekom may be using dealmaking momentum
By Nicola Leske European Telecoms Correspondent
FRANKFURT Sep 14 Reuters Deutsche Telekom will have to
make an expensive acquisition if it wants to sustain its role in
the cut throat U S market even if that means cutting its
dividend
Deutsche Telekom will have to decide to stay in the U S
and grow at the cost of its dividend or to continue to give
value but quit the U S said Michael Kovacocy a senior
analyst at research group Metacommunicare
Speculation has swirled about a takeover of U S rival
Sprint Nextel valued at 11 billion by the German
incumbent ever since the U S company announced a huge goodwill
writeoff in February last year
Deutsche Telekom which will not comment on Sprint rumours
has vowed to keep an attractive dividend policy for shareholders
including the German government which owns around 30 percent of
the company and private equity firm Blackstone with just under
5 percent
For the past two years its has paid out 0 78 euros per
share Its dividend yield is at 8 2 percent compared with France
Telecom at 7 7 percent Telefonica at 6 3 percent and Vodafone
at 5 6 percent according to Reuters Estimates
There is a strong commitment to key shareholders looking to
extract value but not enough growth at group level to continue
high remuneration Kovacocy said There is no real growth
strategy the emphasis currently is on extraction of value
That may be changing
DEALMAKING MOMENTUM
Last week Deutsche Telekom announced it planned to merge
its struggling UK wireless business with France Telecom s Orange
unit Now all eyes are on the United States where T Mobile USA
is battling similar problems
Sprint is a story that needs to be closely monitored as
Deutsche Telekom s management in our view has gained
dealmaking momentum from its transaction in the UK
and it might be tempted to address the other major issue it
has UniCredit s Thomas Friedrich said
As in the British market T Mobile USA is the fourth player
in a maturing industry of five large operators It is
underrepresented in the high end corporate business
It would have to beef up spending considerably to catch up
with U S market leaders Verizon and AT T
Currency effects hit company earnings forcing Deutsche
Telekom to issue a profit warning in April
Chief Executive Rene Obermann who took over in November
2006 has promised to fix focus and grow the company He has
reduced costs and staff improved customer service and sold
non core assets
But unlike charismatic former chief executive Ron Sommer
Obermann may not be bold enough for a major acquisition such as
Sprint
He has preferred instead to acquire stakes in familiar
markets such as the Netherlands or Greece or opting for a small
buy such as U S based wireless outfit SunCom
It was under Sommer that Deutsche Telekom bought
Voicestream an acquisition much critised at the time for being
too expensive but that later turned out to be a clever move
BE BOLD
Now Deutsche Telekom may need to take another bold decision
Sprint stock was at its lowest in November when it hit
1 38 On Monday morning it rose 11 percent to 4 18
A move to buy out Sprint Nextel would remove a major threat
to T Mobile US s customer base Sprint s Boost Mobile
Kovacocy said but added Such a large transaction would carry
significant risks both financial and executional
Sprint had 19 6 billion in long term debt at the end of the
second quarter and its network technology is not compatible with
the technology of T Mobile USA
Sprint currently trades at 4 2 times estimated 2010 EBITDA
We believe if Sprint were to be acquired the board would
require a premium valuation in the neighborhood of 5x 2010E
EBITDA which would equate to roughly 5 50 share Michael
Nelson at Soleil Nelson Alpha Research said
On the surface we believe a Sprint T Mobile combination
makes strategic sense as both companies have been losing market
share and a merger would remove a competitor he said but
warned the two networks posed significant integration risk
There also may stumbling blocks connected to national pride
An acquisition of Sprint would need support from the German
government which may be reluctant to see Deutsche Telekom shift
its attention to the United States from its home market
When Deutsche Telekom acquired Voicestream now T Mobile
USA in the 1990s the German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had
to support the deal and soften U S concerns about M A from a
company with a large government stake UniCredit s Friedrich
said
Deutsche Telekom could also opt for organic growth but that
would put some pressure on its dividend as well
They are between a rock and a hard place an organic
growth path would mean they have to increase capex and that
would also put pressure on the dividend said Kovacocy
Editing by Sitaraman Shankar |
T | UPDATE 1 EU seeks to close digital divide with broadband aid | EU seeks to close digital divide between EU countries
State aid rules facilitate projects in rural areas
Telecoms organisations are positive on guidelines
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS Sept 17 Reuters The European Commission
unveiled guidelines on Thursday specifying how public funds can
be used to help companies roll out high speed broadband
networks and help EU countries benefit from new technologies
Under the rules state aid would be easier to obtain for
projects in so called grey areas where broadband infrastructure
does not exist such as rural regions and more difficult for
black areas or cities with more than one network operator
The EU executive has pledged to make high speed Internet an
important element of its economic recovery plan to drive growth
in the 27 nation bloc and hopes to achieve 100 percent broadband
coverage in the European Union by 2010
While this investment should be made mostly by private
companies there is an important role for public investment in
achieving the widest possible access to broadband in underserved
and non profitable areas Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes
told reporters
Public investments in line with the present guidelines will
significantly contribute to shrinking the digital divide both
within and between European Union member states she said
Industry operators were generally positive on the state aid
guidelines
We see a potentially crucial role for the state wherever
private investors are not rolling out fibre networks which can
be continually upgraded and are open to competition said
director Ilsa Godlovitch from the European Competitive
Telecommunication Association ECTA
She said it was equally important not to crowd out private
investments where open networks are being built
ECTA members include BT Bouygues Telecom SFR which is
jointly owned by Vivendi and Vodafone and AT T
The bigger operators could stand to gain from the new rules
as they expand their networks said Michael Bartholomew
director at European Telecommunications Network Operators
Association ETNO which represents 41 telecoms operators in 34
European countries
Realistically I would imagine the larger operators could
be the largest beneficiaries simply because they have the
resources available to make these kind of investments in rural
outlying areas where there is no competition he said
The Commission said 200 300 billion euros 295 billion to
443 billion would be needed in coming years for building NGA
networks
It said recipients of state aid would have to allow
competitors access to its networks and not favour any particular
technology
Additional reporting by Niclas Mika Editing by Dale Hudson
and Rupert Winchester |
T | UPDATE 2 TeliaSonera Q2 profits cost controls impress | Q2 operating earnings up 13 percent beating forecasts
Lower cost base to offset downturn no new measures eyed
Outlook boosted higher margin now seen from cost cuts
Shares rise 6 35 percent outperforming sector
Adds analyst comments share price background
By Veronica Ek and Love Liman
STOCKHOLM July 24 Reuters The Nordic region s top
telecom operator TeliaSonera posted profits ahead of forecasts
and said its tight grip on costs would pay off through
higher margins this year despite the economic downturn
Shares in the company were up 6 35 percent by 0922 GMT
outperforming a 1 percent gain in the DJ Stoxx Telecom Index
It was a very strong report strong across the whole board
As usual fixed line shows a tremendously strong and promising
margin performance said Espen Torgersen analyst at Carnegie
Second quarter earnings before interest tax depreciation
and amortisation EBITDA excluding one off items rose 13
percent to 9 04 billion Swedish crowns 1 2 billion to beat a
mean forecast of 8 63 billion in a Reuters poll of analysts
Sales growth of 9 percent was driven by strength in
TeliaSonera s mobile operations in developing markets including
Kazakhstan Azerbaijan Georgia Nepal and Cambodia
That pattern mirrored wider economic developments and chimed
in with factors underpinning a reassuring sales update from
world no 1 mobile operator Vodafone that showed strength in
India and South Africa mostly compensating for weakness in
Europe
TeliaSonera which has operations across the Nordics and
Eurasia and like many of its peers has fared relatively well
in the economic slump suggested consumers were still watching
their wallets closely
But analysts praised the firm s cost cutting focus
Things are going better because the cost cutting is
working They re not exactly getting any help from the economic
environment said one analyst who asked not to be named
Cost controls were also a key factor for Vodafone which
said in May it would accelerate cost cutting plans Its shares
rose 2 5 percent
LOWER COSTS TO LIFT KEY MARGIN
The Swedish company which has already announced plans to
slash 2 900 jobs in Sweden and Finland said lower costs and
capital expenditure would compensate for the worsening economic
situation resulting in a higher core operating margin
Looking ahead we expect that our efforts to lower
addressable costs and capital expenditure will offset the
negative impact from declining GDP and rising unemployment in
our markets it said in a statement
Therefore we are raising our outlook on the EBITDA margin
and now expect a higher margin in 2009 than in 2008
The previous forecast was for an unchanged 2009 margin from
last year s 31 8 percent
Norwegian operator Telenor posted forecast beating results
on Thursday while U S carrier AT T managed a drop in quarterly
profit that was less steep than expected amid flat sales
TeliaSonera said it expected sales this year to be in line
with or slightly below last year s level stripped for
acquisitions and in local currencies
Net sales for the quarter increased 9 percent to 27 5
billion crowns versus an expected 27 3 billion
Editing by Simon Jessop John Stonestreet |
T | COLUMN Blackberry s biggest rival may be itself Eric Auchard | Eric Auchard is a Reuters columnist The opinions expressed
are his own
By Eric Auchard
LONDON June 19 Reuters Research in Motion officials do
their best not to laugh when asked if they fear the rise of a
Blackberry killer some theoretical device that does everything
its coveted e mail phone does only better
But Blackberry s biggest threat may come from itself As the
company s latest quarterly results suggest there is a gulf
between its pricey corporate phones and price sensitive consumer
models that are cutting into margins
When a loyal Research in Motion RIM customer such as a
corporate IT manager discovers he s paying more than twice the
price at work that his the 16 year old daughter is paying at
retail he feels ripped off That in a nutshell is the crisis
RIM faces
Of course RIM s crown jewel remain its corporate business
Its franchise there stems from the thousands of company network
managers who rely exclusively on RIM s e mail management
software to ensure corporate communications are securely
delivered to their intended recipients Companies pay a premium
for this reliability Those investments lock customers into
Blackberry services and prevent other competitors from breaking
in However this is changing
After years of failures Microsoft and Nokia now have secure
e mail systems that offer credible alternatives They give these
away to corporate clients putting longer term pressure on
Blackberry s corporate franchise
The success RIM has achieved in consumer markets has defied
all analyst predictions But consumer success has come dearly in
terms of profit margins and falling average selling prices
Eighty percent of its new users in the quarter ended in May were
non enterprise retail customers rather than mainstay corporate
clients The key difference between corporate and consumer
markets is that RIM lacks the customer control over consumers it
has had in offices
Ben Wood an expert on the worldwide handset market at
U K based market research firm CCS Insight says Blackberry has
made huge inroads with teens and young adults by working with
operators to market affordable prepaid phones
One secret of the success of the Blackberry in consumer
markets is the familiarity of its standard layout keyboard
compared to typical mobile phone alphanumeric keypads making
them great for texting e mailing or instant messaging But
then again copycats are rampant U S carrier AT T offers 20
different phones with standard QWERTY keyboards not just from
RIM but from Samsung and other makers
The introduction of touchscreens and other consumer friendly
features have helped propel RIM stock up 89 percent to 76 55
since the start of 2009 But that is only half the story Its
Nasdaq listed stock remains 42 percent below year ago levels as
the economy has taken its toll and debate over its consumer
ambitions has played out
Results for its first quarter ended in May showed a 53
percent jump in sales from the year earlier quarter as net
profit rose 24 percent Rosy looking year over year comparisons
disguise a quarterly sales decline as revenue fell 1 percent
from its quarter ended in February
Gross margins recovered somewhat during the quarter to 44
percent but are well off lofty levels of 55 percent three years
ago and are stuck there The bigger disappointment was the
company s outlook which fell short of Wall Street hopes
The company faces a flood of competitors this year At the
high end of the market Apple Inc starts releasing its new model
iPhone on Friday Palm is introducing its comeback phone the
Pre while a variety of Asian and U S phone makers are gearing
up to release low priced Google Android phones
While making inroads may be hard in corporate markets where
Blackberry is king for individual consumers these rival phones
boast better Web browsing
RIM now has to decide what business it is in Wood says
Will the consumer business hurt the corporate one
The Blackberry market for kids is calling into question the
lucrative corporate franchise RIM has built over the past
decade It s only a matter of time before the business world
questions why it is paying so much and looks to renegotiate
That s creating an opening for Blackberry killers to emerge
At the time of publication Eric Auchard did not own any
direct investments in securities mentioned in this article He
may be an owner indirectly as an investor in a fund For
previous columns Reuters customers can click on
Editing by David Evans |
T | CBS Strategic Deals To Drive Retransmission Revenues Higher | CBS Corporation NYSE CBS sustained focus on increasing subscription based revenues bode well for its long term growth The company also has an extensive library of premium content that it monetizes over multiple platforms
CBS highlighted that retransmission consent and reverse compensation are projected to exceed the 2 billion mark in 2020 and is on track to hit 1 billion at the end of 2016 a year before than previously expected In the second quarter of 2016 retransmission revenues surged 44 Several strategic deals with Sinclair AT T NYSE T Nexstar and others have positioned CBS favorably enabling it to meet the retransmission targets much ahead of its schedule
The company anticipates increased political advertising in the latter half of the year to favorably impact its performance CBS has great news for Star Trek fans The company had earlier announced that it will be launching a brand new Star Trek television series in Jan 2017 Per the company the Star Trek series will be launched on CBS Television Network after a special broadcast preview The fans will be able to enjoy the Vulcan salute once again more famously known as the Spock Salute
Further the debut and following first run episodes will run exclusively on the network s subscription video on demand service CBS All Access for the U S audience The company will charge a total of 5 99 per month for both the CBS Television station and access to its video on demand services Recently CBS Corporation has come up with a new commercial free subscription for its over the top OTT service CBS All Access
This ad free model to watch CBS All Access s on demand shows can be availed at 9 99 per month 4 higher than the present subscription service inclusive of commercials The company informed that subscribers will be able to view CBS All Access s on demand library of over 7 500 episodes
We also observed that the company s shares have gained more than 18 in the past one year on the back of better than expected earnings for the six straight quarters Its earnings of 93 cents a share in the second quarter of 2016 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 86 cents and surged 26 from the year ago quarter Moreover total revenue of this diversified media conglomerate rose 2 to 3 287 million and also came in ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 3 222 million thus marking the third successive quarter of revenue beat CBS CORP Price
On the flip side the media industry is a highly competitive space and CBS Corp faces intense competition from other broadcast radio and television stations cable television networks and motion picture studios in the market in which it operates This may weigh on the company s top line results
Zacks Rank Other Stocks to Consider
CBS currently has a Zacks rank 3 Hold Better ranked stocks worth considering include Cable ONE Inc NYSE CABO Liberty Broadband Corp NASDAQ LBRDA and Cumulus Media Inc NASDAQ CMLS Cable ONE and Liberty Broadband sport a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy while Cumulus Media carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog would you like to see Zacks best recommendations that are not available to the public Our Executive VP Steve Reitmeister knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand |
T | The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights America Movil Telefonica AT T And Grupo Televisa | For Immediate Release
Chicago IL August 30 2016 Zacks com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets Stocks recently featured in the blog include America Movil SAB Telefonica MC TEF SA AT T Inc NYSE T and Grupo Televisa SA
Today Zacks is promoting its Buy stock recommendations Here are highlights from Monday s Analyst Blog
Mexico s Telecommunications Industry Flourishing
In 2014 the government of Mexico initiated major reforms within its telecommunications sector Mexico s telecom regulatory authority the Federal Telecommunications Institute IFT had taken several steps to instil competition in this highly monopolistic industry Those reform measures have started bearing the desired results Recently the IFT announced that the country s telecom sector has witnessed 8 4 year over year growth in revenues in the second quarter of 2016 This rate of growth is highest among all the other sectors of the economy Remarkably the telecom sector s growth rate is more than three times higher than the 2 5 overall growth rate of Mexico s GDP in the same time frame In second quarter 2016 the broader telecom sector of Mexico generated total revenue of approximately MXN 485 billion over 26 81 billion Recently Mexico has been observing massive investment in its telecom sector In Jun 2016 the country s Secretariat of Communications and Transport SCT declared that a total of more than 6 5 billion has been invested over the last three years In addition around 13 5 billion has been invested recently in the telecom sector Moreover the upcoming nationwide shared broadband network will further attract around 7 billion worth of investment At present there are three nationwide telecom operators in Mexico Mexican telecom behemoth America Movil SAB and Spanish telecom giant Telefonica SA were the two incumbents Last year the U S telecom behemoth AT T Inc entered the fray with the acquisition of Grupo Iusacell and Nextel de Mexico Furthermore AT T acquired U S satellite TV giant DIRECTV which had a strong Latin American presence including Mexico Moreover the IFT has permitted the Mexican TV broadcasting giant Grupo Televisa SA to enter the country s telecom market However the company is yet to take any decision in this regard
In Mar 2016 Mexico established the Telecommunications Investment Promotion Agency through a presidential decree The agency is responsible for the installation of the government s proposed 4G LTE shared network and provision of telecommunications services The federal government will provide the resources to the agency that will be managed by a board of directors headed by the Minister of Communications and Transport The IFT will regulate the agency
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Today Zacks is promoting its Buy stock recommendations
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long term
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1 150 publicly traded stocks Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance Recommendations and target prices are six month time horizons
Zacks Profit from the Pros e mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research
About Zacks
Zacks com is a property of Zacks Investment Research Inc which was formed in 1978 The later formation of the Zacks Rank a proprietary stock picking system continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter Profit from the Pros In short it s your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities including a broker dealer and an investment adviser which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800 767 3771 ext 9339
Past performance is no guarantee of future results Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment legal accounting or tax advice or a recommendation to buy sell or hold a security No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor It should not be assumed that any investments in securities companies sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking market making or asset management activities of any securities These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks The S P 500 is an unmanaged index Visit for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release |
T | Is The Dream Run Over Too Soon For Twilio TWLO Stock | Twilio Inc NYSE T a cloud communications company that launched its initial public offering IPO in June has gained a lot of attention since then Its share price has more than tripled from 15 a share at the time of its IPO to over 51 in just two months The company recently reported its first quarterly results It fared better than expected on both counts The company offers a cloud based API that enables software developers to include communications features voice and video calls text messages etc in their apps at much lower costs The company also saw a robust improvement in the number of active customer accounts compared with the year ago quarter Twilio also provided another metric for investors called base revenues that is revenues from the long term contracts The company reported growth of 84 year over year to 56 million a positive indicator indeed However a few issues cast a shadow over its dream run What Makes Us Concerned So far Twilio investors have reaped astronomical gains but as they say real growth is seen once beginners luck starts to wane When we look closely at last quarter s numbers the company s sales and R D costs were much higher when compared with the increase in its customers This is a concern given the fact that the company is not yet profitable Moreover according to the Zacks model Twilio is projected to grow at a rate of 20 over the long run which is below the industry standard of 23 Furthermore the stock s recent surge raises some serious questions regarding its valuation as well The company has a Value Grade of F as per our latest indicating the possibility of a downside To ConcludeTwilio s offerings have undeniably bridged the gap between businesses and the cloud Given the increasing adoption of cloud the company does have decent scope for growth but the path may not be as smooth as it appears Increasing costs and mounting competition from peers like Bandwidth Level 3 NYSE T AT T NYSE T and Vonage NYSE VG remains a headwind Estimate revisions for this Zacks Rank 3 Hold company has been mixed Over the last 30 days estimates for 2016 have reduced considerably while that for 2017 has increased This indicates that over the long term the company will get back on the growth track |
T | GameStop GME Tops Q2 Earnings Sales Lag Stock Down | GameStop Corp NYSE GME continued to impress investors as it reported better than expected earnings for the third consecutive quarter in second quarter fiscal 2016 The company recorded adjusted earnings per share of 27 cents in the quarter that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny but declined 12 9 year over year On the other hand GameStop s revenues fell 7 4 year over year to 1 631 8 million and also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 722 million Following the earnings release the company s shares declined 7 8 during the after hours trading session yesterday The second quarter results were hurt by a sharp decline in comparable store sales comps which were primarily affected by a fall in video games and hardware sales Consolidated comps decreased 10 6 reflecting a decline of 12 5 at domestic locations and 5 9 at international locations By sales mix new video game hardware sales plunged 33 4 to 216 4 million whereas new video game software sales fell 18 2 to 382 2 million The Mobile and Consumer Electronics category showed strength with sales surging 43 to 203 3 million However Video Game Accessories sales recorded a 5 decline to 119 5 million The Pre owned and Value Video Game Products category s sales dropped 3 2 year over year to 542 6 million Nonetheless an increase in DLC for The Division and console digital currency drove 3 3 growth in adjusted digital receipts to 205 6 million The Technology Brands segment reported revenue growth of 54 6 to 175 9 million In an effort to augment its Technology Brands segment s revenues GameStop completed the acquisition of AT T Inc s NYSE T authorized retailers Cellular World Corp Midwest Cellular as well as Red Skye Wireless Following the acquisition of these AT T s authorized retailers the company has added 507 more stores to its Technology Brand portfolio In the reported quarter it also opened 5 Technology Brand stores The company now has 1 566 Technology Brand stores During the reported quarter gross profit climbed 6 4 to 617 7 million while gross margin expanded 500 basis points to 37 9 Rapid growth across the digital mobile and collectibles categories backed the improvement GAMESTOP CORP Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Other Financial AspectsGameStop ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of 289 5 million net receivables of 126 6 million and shareholders equity of 2 151 million The company did not repurchase any shares in the reported quarter However it intends to buy back between 75 million and 125 million of shares in fiscal 2016 The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 37 cents per share which is payable on Sep 22 to shareholders as of the close of business on Sep 9 2016 GuidanceManagement reiterated its fiscal 2016 earnings guidance It envisions earnings in the range of 3 90 4 05 per share for fiscal 2016 and between 53 cents and 58 cents for the third quarter For the fiscal third quarter management projects sales growth of 2 to 5 whereas comps are expected to range between a 2 decline and a 1 increase For fiscal 2016 comps are expected to decline in the range of 4 5 to 1 5 in comparison to the previous estimate of negative 3 and 0 The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third quarter and fiscal 2016 stands at 55 cents per share and 4 00 per share respectively Zacks RankAt present GameStop carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold Better ranked stocks in the retail sector are American Eagle Outfitters Inc NYSE AEO and hhgregg Inc NYSE HGG both holding a Zacks Rank 2 Buy |
T | How Is Invesco Diversified Dividend Investor Fund LCEIX Performing | Invesco Diversified Dividend Investor a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy invests primarily in dividend paying equity securities LCEIX invests in securities that the portfolio managers believe are undervalued based on various valuation measures LCEIX may invest up to 25 of its net assets in securities of foreign issuers
This Large Blend fund as of the last filing allocates their fund in three major groups Large Value Intermediate Bond and Large Growth Further as of the last filing GENERAL MILLS INC AT T NYSE T INC and COCA COLA CO were the top holdings for LCEIX
The Invesco Diversified Dividend Investor fund managed by carries an expense ratio of 0 74 Moreover LCEIX requires a minimal initial investment of 1 000
LCEIX has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years Specifically the fund s returns over the 1 3 5 year benchmarks 1 year 7 08 3 year 10 61 and 5 year 13 25 To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds
LCEIX s performance as of the last filing when compared to funds in its category was in the top 9 in 1 year top 9 over the past 3 years and in the 6 over the past 5 years
Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox
Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis as well as top performing mutual funds each week |
T | Is Federated Strategic Value Dividend A Fund SVAAX Worth Another Look | Federated Strategic Value Dividend A Fund a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy was incepted in April 1997 and is managed by SAFECO Asset Management Company SVAAX seeks long term growth of capital and income by investing in stocks selected for their attractive relative values SVAAX invests primarily in common stocks issued by U S companies Under normal circumstances the fund invests at least 80 of its assets in such stocks
This Mid Value product as of the last filing allocates their fund in three major groups Intermediate Bond Large Growth and Foreign Stock Further as of the last filing GlaxoSmithKline Plc Adr Vodafone Group LON VOD Plc and AT T Inc NYSE T were the top holdings for SVAAX
The Federated Strategic Value Dividend A fund managed by carries an expense ratio of 1 05 Moreover SVAAX requires a minimal initial investment of 1 500
SVAAX has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years Specifically the fund s returns over the 3 5 year benchmarks 3 year 11 98 and 5 year 12 99 To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds
SVAAX s performance as of the last filing when compared to funds in its category was in the top 1 in 1 year top 8 over the past 3 years and in the 11 over the past 5 years
Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox
Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis as well as top performing mutual funds each week |
T | 4 Top Rated Dimensional Mutual Funds To Invest In | Dimensional Fund Advisor has nearly 415 billion of assets under management as of June 30 2016 For the past three decades the company has been providing investment management strategies to its clients Dimensional offers investment solutions from different asset classes to institutional and individual investors investment consultants and financial advisors Dimensional has clients all over the world and 12 offices in North America Asia and Europe It invests in both domestic and foreign equities fixed income securities retirement income funds real estates and commodity markets It was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Austin Texas Below we share with you four top rated Dimensional mutual funds Each has earned a Strong Buy and is expected to outperform its peers in the future Investors can DFA Tax Managed US Marketwide Value seeks growth of capital for the long run DTMMX generally invests in securities of domestic companies which are expected to be value stocks The fund uses a market capitalization weighted approach while investing in a diverse and wide range of securities DFA Tax Managed US Marketwide Value has year to date three year and five year annualized returns of 7 5 9 4 and 15 3 respectively DTMMX has an expense ratio of 0 37 as compared with the category average of 1 11 DFA US Large Cap Value III invests a majority of its assets in securities of large cap companies DFUVX seeks appreciation of capital for the long run DFA US Large Cap Value III has year to date three year and five year annualized returns of 9 3 9 7 and 15 5 respectively As of June 2016 DFUVX held 311 issues with 4 32 of its assets invested in AT T Inc NYSE T DFA Tax Managed US Equity seeks capital growth for the long run and reduces federal income taxes on total returns DTMEX primarily invests a bulk of its assets in securities of domestic companies DFA Tax Managed US Equity has year to date three year and five year annualized returns of 8 4 11 1 and 14 8 respectively DTMEXhas an expense ratio of 0 22 as compared with the category average of 1 03 DFA Global Allocation 60 40 R2 normally allocates its assets to those underlying funds which invest in fixed income and equity securities DFPRX seeks growth of income and capital by investing both in domestic and global underlying funds The fund invests its assets in underlying funds by allocating nearly 40 80 of its assets in equity underlying funds and about 20 60 of its assets in fixed income underlying funds DFA Global Allocation 60 40 R2has year to date three year and five year annualized returns of 7 4 8 and 7 3 respectively Jed Fogdall is one of the fund managers of DFPRX since Feb 2012 To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all Prudential LON PRU Investments mutual funds investors can Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis as well as top performing mutual funds each week |
T | Twilio s Under The Radar Competition Bandwidth | If you missed my video on you should be ashamed Watch that immediately and come back I ll wait
The company just issued its first quarterly earnings report since its IPO The company introduced us to a couple of metrics it uses to measure growth You know tech companies love their fantasy metrics like Monthly Active Users Theirs makes sense though They have one number giving total sales and another giving base sales The total sales number is the revenue number everyone gives The base sales number shows customers that have already made minimum 12 month revenue commitments Like every day I m good for like 900 calories at lunch Some days I go for the win and get the large coke with the fries Base revenue is more predictable and the variable component is well variable Either way you slice it Twilio s revenue was up 77 9 year over year
With the company beating EPS estimates by 7 cents per share I expect analysts to come out and increase their estimates for next quarter That should bump the stock off our Zacks Rank 3 Hold it s stuck on now The stock has gone from a 15 IPO in late June to over 45 A very successful offering that happened to be the first tech unicorn of the year
Behind the scenes Twilio competitor Bandwidth helps companies build business grade communications into their applications It s quietly the largest VOIP carrier in the US with 50 million active phone numbers and over 7 600 rate centers They help fill the gap between the quality of large carriers like AT T NYSE T with the speed to market of much smaller providers When you think Bandwidth you should think Level 3 LVLT Twilio AT T and Vonage VG With a compounded annual growth rate of 25 between 2010 and 2015 Bandwidth is evolving into a very large player in this business But don t look for Bandwidth to go public anytime soon
So if you re looking to invest in this space you have to dig around between the four publicly traded companies I just referred to Unfortunately right now they re all Zacks Rank 3 Hold stocks But Vonage has both Value and Growth Style Scores of B in an industry that ranks in the Top 23 of our Zacks Industry Rank They entered the arena as a major Twilio competitor when they acquired Nexmo
Every time you share this video I get another phone number to avoid bill collectors and ex girlfriends Chime in the comments section below subscribe to the YouTube channel Twitter bartosiastics and come back to check out all the Trending Stocks with Zacks com I m Dave Bartosiak |
T | The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Yahoo Verizon EBay Sotheby And ATT | For Immediate Release
Chicago IL July 25 2016 Zacks com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets Stocks recently featured in the blog include Yahoo NASDAQ YHOO Verizon EBay Sotheby and AT T NYSE T
Today Zacks is promoting its Buy stock recommendations
Here are highlights from Friday s Analyst Blog
Is Yahoo Verizon the Worst Merger Ever
Sometimes mergers go great Peanut butter and jelly Brooks and Dunn Italian beef and provolone Other times it s a complete train wreck Looks like Marissa Mayer finally found a big enough sucker I mean suitor to buy Yahoo Verizon looks to be a buyer for about 5 billion The deal would include Yahoo s core internet business and real estate assets The non core sale of intellectual property assets will be sold separately
The deal puts together two of the biggest companies of the 20th century AOL and Yahoo If this were before Y2K the AOL chat rooms would be going crazy right now Then again you d be waiting an hour for your dial up to download this video It s so cheap it can t be a bad deal for Verizon right
Ehhh EBay paid 2 6 billion for Skype in 2005 then sold it four years later for 1 9 billion Still scratching my head Online auctions and video chats There s a reason whySotheby s never bought AT T Going once twice sold But maybe the AOL side of this sweetens up the deal
Then again remember AOL Time Warner Even the guys running the show over there knew they screwed up 160 billion to create the world s largest media company Jerry Levin who sold Time Warner to AOL was quoted as saying I presided over the worst deal of the century apparently Not mad at you Jerry you still got paid Here with Yahoo there are some synergies
There were also synergies when Sprint and Nextel merged agreed to merge as a 36 billion deal in 2005 Shortly thereafter people realized that walkie talkies are for fifth graders and summer camp slasher movies Instead of buying Nextels people made sure their next telephones were smart phones Sprint shut down Nextel s network in 2013
Then there s Daimler Benz and Chrysler Let s take the precision and quality of one of the most sought after car companies in the world and mix it with cheaply made poorly designed hot garbage Talk about culture clash Mercedes got worse and eventually paid 650 million for Cerberus to take Chrysler which eventually made its way over to Fiat Much better match
Where this ranks in deal making history remains to be seen I can tell you that Yahoo is a Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sell right now with Value and Growth Style Scores of F Last quarter the company reported a 5 cent loss 7 cents worse than the 2 cents of earnings analysts were looking for So if you waited Verizon you d probably get it even cheaper
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Today Zacks is promoting its Buy stock recommendations
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long term
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1 150 publicly traded stocks Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance Recommendations and target prices are six month time horizons
Zacks Profit from the Pros e mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research
About Zacks
Zacks com is a property of Zacks Investment Research Inc which was formed in 1978 The later formation of the Zacks Rank a proprietary stock picking system continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter Profit from the Pros In short it s your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities including a broker dealer and an investment adviser which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800 767 3771 ext 9339
Past performance is no guarantee of future results Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment legal accounting or tax advice or a recommendation to buy sell or hold a security No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor It should not be assumed that any investments in securities companies sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking market making or asset management activities of any securities These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks The S P 500 is an unmanaged index Visit for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release |
T | Zacks com Featured Highlights AT T Nu Skin Enterprises Carlisle Companies NVIDIA And MB Financial | For Immediate Release
Chicago IL July 22 2016 Stocks in this week s article include AT T NYSE T Inc Nu Skin Enterprises Inc Carlisle Companies Incorporated NVIDIA Corporation NASDAQ NVDA and MB Financial Inc
Screen of the Week of Zacks Investment Research 5 Dividend Growth Stocks to Sail Through Uncertainty
With uncertainty ruling the markets since the beginning of the year it s not surprising that dividend investing has emerged as one of the most popular investing themes Dividends are major sources of consistent income for investors when returns from price movements of stocks are at risk
Why Choose Dividend Growth
There are multiple styles of dividend investing out of which dividend growth is the most appealing Stocks with dividend growth generally outperform their peers and generate increased profits year after year Thus the dividend growth strategy has an edge over the steady dividend strategy By investing in stocks with dividend growth investors can enjoy rising current income while awaiting capital appreciation
Dividend growth stocks also provide some margin of safety which enables investors to withstand shocks In fact stocks that have a strong history of dividend growth as opposed to those that have high yields form a healthy portfolio
Moreover these stocks often have superior fundamentals compared to other dividend paying stocks This is because dividend growth is often an outcome of a sustainable business model a long track record of profitability rising cash flows good liquidity a strong balance sheet and some value characteristics
Here are the screening parameters that could result in a winning dividend growth portfolio 5 Year Historical Dividend Growth greater than zero This selects stocks with a solid dividend growth history Most Recent Payout Ratio less than M Industry This is the measure of dividend payments as a percentage of earnings A relatively low payout ratio indicates the company s ability to increase dividend even during tough times 5 Year Historical Sales Growth greater than zero This selects stocks with a strong record of revenue growth 5 Year Historical EPS Growth greater than zero This shortlists stocks with a solid earnings growth history
Next 3 5 Year EPS Growth Rate greater than zero This represents the rate at which a company s earnings are expected to grow Improving earnings should help companies sustain dividend payments 52 Week Price Change greater than S P 500 Median This ensures that the stock appreciated more than the S P 500 over the past one year Zacks Rank Less than or Equal to 2 Stocks having a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy or 2 Buy generally perform better than their peers in all types of market environment VGM Style Score of B or better This is simply a weighted combination of Value Growth and Momentum Market Capitalization greater than 2 billion We have eliminated small cap stocks to ensure better flexibility and tradability
Here are five of the 12 stocks that fit the bill AT T Inc is the second largest wireless service provider in North America and one of the world s leading communications service carriers The stock has a Zacks Rank 2 and a VGM Style Score of B It also has an average four quarter EPS surprise of 5 3 Nu Skin Enterprises Inc offers a comprehensive line of premium quality beauty and wellness products in more than 50 markets globally Its earnings are expected to grow at a rate of 6 2 over the next 5 years This Zacks Rank 2 company has a VGM Style Score of B Carlisle Companies Incorporated is a global diversified company that designs manufactures and markets products addressing a broad range of niche markets including commercial roofing energy agriculture and auto refinishing among others Its earnings are expected to grow at a rate of 15 6 this year much above the industry average of 2 The stock has a Zacks Rank 1 and a VGM Style Score of B NVIDIA Corporation is a computer technology company with leadership position in GPU accelerated computing The stock has delivered a positive average earnings surprise of 57 9 over the past four quarters It has a Zacks Rank 1 and a VGM Style Score of B MB Financial Inc is a holding company for MB Financial Bank N A with assets of approximately 15 6 billion Its earnings are expected to growth at a rate of 10 5 over the next 5 years The stock has a Zacks Rank 2 and a VGM Style Score of A
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2 week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading Further you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin It s easy to use Everything is in plain language And it s very intuitive Start your Research Wizard trial today And the next time you read an economic report open up the Research Wizard plug your finds in and see what gems come out
Disclosure Officers directors and or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and or hold long and or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and or hold long and or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material Disclosure Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at Zacks Restaurant Recommendations In addition to dining at these special places you can feast on their stock shares A Zacks Special Report spotlights 5 recent IPOs to watch plus 2 stocks that offer immediate promise in a booming sector
Sign up now for your free trial today and start picking better stocks immediately And with the backtesting feature you can test your ideas to see how you can improve your trading in both up markets and down markets Don t wait for the market to get better before you decide to do better Start learning how to be a better trader today
Disclosure Officers directors and or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and or hold long and or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and or hold long and or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material
About Screen of the Week
Zacks com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the 1 site for screening stocks by Money Magazine But powerful screening tools is just the start That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use Each week Zacks Profit from the Pros free email newsletter shares a new screening strategy Learn more about it here
About Zacks
Zacks com is a property of Zacks Investment Research Inc which was formed in 1978 The later formation of the Zacks Rank a proprietary stock picking system continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter Profit from the Pros In short it s your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities including a broker dealer and an investment adviser which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates
Contact Jim Giaquinto
Company Zacks com
Phone 312 265 9268
Email
Visit
Zacks com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks Terms and Conditions of Service disclaimer
Past performance is no guarantee of future results Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment legal accounting or tax advice or a recommendation to buy sell or hold a security No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor It should not be assumed that any investments in securities companies sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking market making or asset management activities of any securities These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks The S P 500 is an unmanaged index Visit for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release |
T | AT T T Meets Q2 Earnings Estimates Misses On Revenues | U S telecom bellwether AT T Inc NYSE T reported mixed financial results in the second quarter of 2016 While the top line failed to meet the Zacks Consensus Estimate the bottom line barely met the same In the reported quarter the company s total video subscribers dropped by 49 000 AT T added 342 000 DIRECTV subscribers but lost 391 000 U verse TV customers On a GAAP basis AT T reported net income of 3 408 million or 55 cents per share in comparison with 3 082 million or 59 cents per share in the year ago quarter Quarterly adjusted earnings per share came in at 72 cents in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate Quarterly total revenue increased 22 7 year over year to 40 520 million lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 661 million Total operating expenses in the reported quarter were 33 960 million up 24 7 year over year Operating income was 6 560 million compared with 5 773 million in the year ago quarter Cash Flow LiquidityIn the first half of 2016 AT T generated 18 207 million of cash from operations compared with 15 898 million in the year ago period Free cash flow in the reported period was 8 505 million compared with 7 570 million in the prior year period At the end of the first half of 2016 AT T had 7 208 million of cash and cash equivalents and 126 836 million of total debt outstanding compared with 5 121 million and 126 151 million respectively at the end of 2015 The debt to capitalization ratio was 0 48 at the end of the second quarter of 2016 compared with 0 49 at the end of 2015 AT T INC Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Business Solutions SegmentTotal revenue at the segment was 17 579 million down 0 5 year over year Of this Wireless service revenues were 7 963 million up 2 7 year over year Fixed strategic services revenues reached 2 797 million up 8 4 Legacy voice and data services contributed 4 158 million down 11 2 Other service equipment generated 886 million up 3 7 while Wireless Equipment revenues totalled 1 775 million down 1 0 Operating income was 4 201 million down 0 7 Operating margin was 23 9 compared with 24 in the prior year quarter As of Jun 30 2016 the Business Solutions wireless subscriber base was 77 545 000 up 12 1 Within this Postpaid wireless subscribers were 49 432 000 Reseller wireless subscribers were 52 000 and Connected Devices were 28 061 000 In the reported quarter this segment gained a net of 185 000 Postpaid wireless customers and 1 199 000 Connected Devices but lost 13 000 Resellers Business wireless postpaid churn rate was 0 91 flat year over year Entertainment and Internet Services Segment Total revenue at the segment grossed 12 711 million up a whopping 119 8 year over year after the DIRECTV acquisition Within the total Video entertainment revenues were 8 963 million up an enormous 350 2 High Speed Internet revenues were 1 867 million up 15 Legacy voice and data services contributed 1 244 million down 17 9 Equipment and Other service generated 637 million down 2 3 Operating income was 1 653 million versus an operating loss of 196 million in the prior year quarter Operating margin was 13 a reversal from a negative 3 4 in the year earlier quarter As of Jun 30 2016 total video connections at this segment were 25 295 000 up a whopping 325 4 Of the total Satellite connections tallied 20 454 000 and U verse connections were 4 841 000 In the reported quarter AT T lost 391 000 U verse customers but gained 342 000 satellite TV customers Total broadband connections at this segment were 14 181 000 down 1 7 Total wireline voice connections were 11 815 000 down 11 2 Consumer Mobility Segment Total revenue at the segment was 8 186 million down 6 5 year over year Within the total Service revenues were 6 948 million down 5 6 Equipment segment generated 1 238 million up 6 4 Equipment revenues were 1 618 million down 11 3 Operating income was 2 574 million down 1 7 Operating margin was 31 4 compared with 29 9 in the prior year quarter As of Jun 30 2016 the Consumer Mobility wireless subscriber base was 54 260 000 down 0 8 Of this Postpaid wireless subscribers totalled 27 862 000 and Prepaid wireless customers were 12 633 000 Reseller wireless subscribers were 12 869 000 and Connected Devices were 896 000 In the reported quarter this segment gained a net 72 000 postpaid wireless customers and 365 000 prepaid customers but lost a net 446 000 resellers and 1 000 connected devices Consumer Mobility postpaid churn rate was 1 09 compared with 1 16 in the year ago quarter Total churn rate for the segment was 1 96 up from 1 86 in the year ago quarter International Segment Total revenue at the segment was 1 828 million Within the total Video entertainment revenues were 1 222 million Wireless service revenues were 489 million Wireless Equipment revenues were 117 million Operating loss was 193 million and operating margin was a negative 10 6 As of Jun 30 2016 the International wireless subscriber base was 9 955 000 In the reported quarter this segment gained a net of 742 000 wireless customers Total churn rate was 5 83 The International video subscriber base touched 12 523 000 The company gained 87 000 International video customers in the reported quarter Zacks Rank Stocks to ConsiderAT T currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Other favorably ranked stocks in this industry include Windstream Holdings Inc NASDAQ WIN Telefonica MC TEF Brasil SA NYSE VIV and Cincinnati Bell Inc NYSE CBB All three stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank 2 |
T | Is Yahoo Verizon The Worst Merger Ever | Sometimes mergers go great Peanut butter and jelly Brooks and Dunn Italian beef and provolone Other times it s a complete train wreck Looks like Marissa Mayer finally found a big enough sucker I mean suitor to buy Yahoo NASDAQ YHOO Verizon VZ looks to be a buyer for about 5 billion The deal would include Yahoo s core internet business and real estate assets The non core sale of intellectual property assets will be sold separately
The deal puts together two of the biggest companies of the 20th century AOL and Yahoo If this were before Y2K the AOL chat rooms would be going crazy right now Then again you d be waiting an hour for your dial up to download this video It s so cheap it can t be a bad deal for Verizon right
Ehhh EBay EBAY paid 2 6 billion for Skype in 2005 then sold it four years later for 1 9 billion Still scratching my head Online auctions and video chats There s a reason why Sotheby s BID never bought AT T NYSE T Going once twice sold But maybe the AOL side of this sweetens up the deal
Then again remember AOL Time Warner Even the guys running the show over there knew they screwed up 160 billion to create the world s largest media company Jerry Levin who sold Time Warner to AOL was quoted as saying I presided over the worst deal of the century apparently Not mad at you Jerry you still got paid Here with Yahoo there are some synergies
There were also synergies when Sprint S and Nextel merged agreed to merge as a 36 billion deal in 2005 Shortly thereafter people realized that walkie talkies are for fifth graders and summer camp slasher movies Instead of buying Nextels people made sure their next telephones were smart phones Sprint shut down Nextel s network in 2013
Then there s Daimler Benz and Chrysler Let s take the precision and quality of one of the most sought after car companies in the world and mix it with cheaply made poorly designed hot garbage Talk about culture clash Mercedes got worse and eventually paid 650 million for Cerberus to take Chrysler which eventually made its way over to Fiat Much better match
Where this ranks in deal making history remains to be seen I can tell you that Yahoo is a Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sell right now with Value and Growth Style Scores of F Last quarter the company reported a 5 cent loss 7 cents worse than the 2 cents of earnings analysts were looking for So if you waited Verizon you d probably get it even cheaper |
T | 5 Dividend Growth Stocks To Sail Through Uncertainty | With uncertainty ruling the markets since the beginning of the year it s not surprising that dividend investing has emerged as one of the most popular investing themes Dividends are major sources of consistent income for investors when returns from price movements of stocks are at risk Why Choose Dividend GrowthThere are multiple styles of dividend investing out of which dividend growth is the most appealing Stocks with dividend growth generally outperform their peers and generate increased profits year after year Thus the dividend growth strategy has an edge over the steady dividend strategy By investing in stocks with dividend growth investors can enjoy rising current income while awaiting capital appreciation Dividend growth stocks also provide some margin of safety which enables investors to withstand shocks In fact stocks that have a strong history of dividend growth as opposed to those that have high yields form a healthy portfolio Moreover these stocks often have superior fundamentals compared to other dividend paying stocks This is because dividend growth is often an outcome of a sustainable business model a long track record of profitability rising cash flows good liquidity a strong balance sheet and some value characteristics Here are the screening parameters that could result in a winning dividend growth portfolio 5 Year Historical Dividend Growth greater than zero This selects stocks with a solid dividend growth history Most Recent Payout Ratio less than M Industry This is the measure of dividend payments as a percentage of earnings A relatively low payout ratio indicates the company s ability to increase dividend even during tough times 5 Year Historical Sales Growth greater than zero This selects stocks with a strong record of revenue growth 5 Year Historical EPS Growth greater than zero This shortlists stocks with a solid earnings growth history Next 3 5 Year EPS Growth Rate greater than zero This represents the rate at which a company s earnings are expected to grow Improving earnings should help companies sustain dividend payments 52 Week Price Change greater than S P 500 Median This ensures that the stock appreciated more than the S P 500 over the past one year Zacks Rank Less than or Equal to 2 Stocks having a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy or 2 Buy generally perform better than their peers in all types of market environment VGM Style Score of B or better This is simply a weighted combination of Value Growth and Momentum Market Capitalization greater than 2 billion We have eliminated small cap stocks to ensure better flexibility and tradability Here are five of the 12 stocks that fit the bill AT T Inc NYSE T is the second largest wireless service provider in North America and one of the world s leading communications service carriers The stock has a Zacks Rank 2 and a VGM Style Score of B It also has an average four quarter EPS surprise of 5 3 Nu Skin Enterprises Inc NYSE NUS offers a comprehensive line of premium quality beauty and wellness products in more than 50 markets globally Its earnings are expected to grow at a rate of 6 2 over thenext 5 years This Zacks Rank 2 company has a VGM Style Score of B Carlisle Companies Incorporated NYSE CSL is a global diversified company that designs manufactures and markets products addressing a broad range of niche markets including commercial roofing energy agriculture and auto refinishing among others Its earnings are expected to grow at a rate of 15 6 this year much above the industry average of 2 The stock has a Zacks Rank 1 and a VGM Style Score of B NVIDIA Corporation NASDAQ NVDA is a computer technology company with leadership position in GPU accelerated computing The stock has delivered a positive average earnings surprise of 57 9 over the past four quarters It has a Zacks Rank 1 and a VGM Style Score of B MB Financial Inc NASDAQ MBFI is a holding company for MB Financial Bank N A with assets of approximately 15 6 billion Its earnings are expected to growth at a rate of 10 5 over thenext 5 years The stock has a Zacks Rank 2 and a VGM Style Score of A You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2 week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading Further you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge The Research Wizard is a great place to begin It s easy to use Everything is in plain language And it s very intuitive Start your Research Wizard trial today And the next time you read an economic report open up the Research Wizard plug your finds in and see what gems come out
Disclosure Officers directors and or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and or hold long and or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and or hold long and or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material Disclosure Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at Zacks Restaurant Recommendations In addition to dining at these special places you can feast on their stock shares A Zacks Special Report spotlights 5 recent IPOs to watch plus 2 stocks that offer immediate promise in a booming sector |
T | AT T T Slides On Weak Q2 Revenue Reiterates Full Year Guidance | AT T NYSE T just released its second quarter earnings results posting earnings of 0 72 per share and revenue of 40 52 billion
Currently T has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy but it is subject to change following the release of the company s latest earnings report Here are 5 key statistics from this just announced report below
AT T
1 Matched earnings estimates The company posted earnings of 72 cents per share excluding 17 cents from non recurring items which was in line with our Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 72
2 Missed revenue estimates The company saw revenue figures of 40 52 billion just missing our estimate of 40 66 billion
3 One year after our acquisition of DIRECTV the success of the integration has exceeded our expectations said CEO Randall Stephenson Cost synergies are ahead of target we ve added nearly 1 million DIRECTV subscribers since the acquisition and our new video streaming services are scheduled to roll out later this year
4 In the report the company said that full year guidance is on track to meet or exceed expectations
5 T was down 0 52 or 1 22 to 42 00 as of 4 50 p m EST in after hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released
Here s a graph that looks at AT T s latest earnings performance AT T INC Price Consensus and EPS Surprise AT T Inc is a premier communications holding company Its subsidiaries and affiliates AT T operating companies are the providers of AT T services in the United States and around the world Among their offerings are the world s most advanced IP based business communications services the nation s fastest 3G network and the best wireless coverage worldwide and the nation s leading high speed Internet access and voice services |
T | Buy AT T And 4 Other Value Stocks With Attractive Yields | Value investing simply means buying the shares of companies with low stock valuations compared with similar companies or the market as a whole In other words it means investing in those stocks whose market value is less than its fundamental value or intrinsic value based upon an individual s investment horizon
Value investing has always been a very popular strategy and for a good reason After all who doesn t want to find stocks that have low valuation ratios P E P S P B a solid outlook and attractive dividends However identifying an undervalued stock is not an easy task In fact it is even more difficult to zero in on one that offers great value but is trading cheap at the moment An investor needs to use the right tools and metrics to select such stocks which are currently trading below their true value or potential value and to invest in those stocks before they re discovered by the market
Market Recovers from Turmoil
Over the last couple of weeks the markets have been volatile due to the U K s referendum to leave the 28 nation economic bloc and mixed U S economic data However it seems that the general consensus of a prolonged period of market volatility post Brexit seems to have been overdone as the markets have sprung into life
The Brexit vote on Jun 24 sent shock waves through the global financial markets confirming the worst fears of market watchers and industry experts However investors it seems have downplayed Brexit related fears as reflected in the recent stock market rally as the benchmark S P 500 index was up 1 45 in the first five trading days of July On Friday the S P 500 closed at record high 2129 90 sparked by the robust June jobs report
Value Investing
The market turmoil in the last couple of weeks has made several stocks attractive for value investing especially when they are supported by a good Our Zacks Rank system is a timeliness indicator meaning that value investors can use it to identify precisely when a company s prospects are beginning to improve Stocks with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy or 2 Buy are the ones to look out for Moreover stocks rated A or B through our Value Score System are likely to outperform based on their valuation measures
AT T Inc Offers Significant Value
This U S telecom behemoth AT T Inc NYSE T currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 along with a value style score B The current valuation of AT T looks promising The company has a current forward P E multiple of 14 9 and P B multiple of 2 1 a P E ratio below 15 0 and a P B ratio under 3 0 generally indicates value These multiples are below the peer group averages Furthermore AT T currently has a dividend yield of 4 51 compared with the industry average of 3 24
AT T s combo offer of fiber based U verse TV and Internet service newly acquired DIRECTV s satellite TV and GigaPower Internet service can now provide traditional cable video as well as mobile video streaming services
The company is also moving full steam ahead with its objective to roll out ultra high speed Internet service across the country Moreover plans to offer three Internet TV packs for different categories of viewers bode well Also the field test of the next gen 5G wireless technology initiatives in the IoT space and investments in the Mexican telecom market and fiber arena build optimism
Other Top Picks
In addition to AT T we offer 4 more stocks with Zacks Rank 1 and a value style score A
NGL Energy Partners LP NYSE NGL The company is a limited partnership operating a vertically integrated propane business with three operating segments retail propane wholesale supply and marketing and midstream NGL Energy has a current P E of 16 2x P B of 1 1x and P S of 0 2x Its current dividend yield is 8 40
Sotherly Hotels Inc NASDAQ SOHO The company is a real estate investment trust It is focused on the acquisition renovation and upbranding and repositioning of upscale to upper upscale full service hotels in the U S Sotherly Hotels has encouraging valuation metrics such as 4 5x P E 1 6x P B and 0 6x P S The company currently has a dividend yield of 6 33
Just Energy Group Inc TO JE The company is engaged in the sale of natural gas and or electricity to residential and commercial customers under long term fixed price and price protected contracts Just Energy Group has a current P E of 19 6x and P S of 0 4x Its current dividend yield is 6 28
Braskem S A NYSE BAK The company figures as the largest petrochemical operation in Latin America and among the five largest private companies in Brazil Braskem also has highly significant valuation metrics such as 4 8x P E 4 8x P B and 0 3x P S The company currently has a dividend yield of 6 02 |
T | Shaw Communications SJR Q3 Earnings What s In Store | Shaw Communications Inc NYSE SJR is scheduled to release its third quarter fiscal 2016 results before the opening bell on Jul 15
Last quarter Shaw Communications had delivered a negative earnings surprise of 34 62 The company s earnings lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters with an average miss of 11 19 Let s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement SHAW COMMS CL B Price and EPS Surprise
Factors Likely to Influence This Quarter
The launching of new brands and advertising promotions along with the company s anticipation of additional network fees are likely to push expenses going forward Shaw Communications margins are expected to be impacted by these increasing costs in the upcoming quarters
Shaw Communications has recently ventured into the Canadian wireless market with the acquisition of WIND Mobile Corp The Canadian wireless market is chiefly dominated by three big players Rogers Communications Inc TELUS Corp NYSE T and BCE Inc TO BCE Together these three firms control around 90 of the total market Despite the fact that WIND Mobile is the fourth largest wireless operator its current scale of operations is significantly behind these three primary players
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Shaw Communicationsis likely to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate this quarter This is because a stock needs to have both a positive and a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold for this to happen Unfortunately that is not the case here as elaborated below
Zacks ESP Shaw Communicationshas an earnings ESP of 23 08 This is because the Most Accurate estimate is 20 cents while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged higher at 26 cents
Zacks Rank Shaw Communicationshas a Zacks Rank 4 Sell Note that stocks with a Zacks Rank 4 or 5 Sell rated stocks should never be considered going into an earnings announcement especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions
Stocks to Consider
Here is a company you may want to consider as our model shows it has the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter
AT T Inc NYSE T has an earnings ESP of 1 39 and a Zacks Rank 2 |
T | Guide To DFA US Large Cap Value III Fund DFUVX | DFA US Large Cap Value III a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy seeks long term capital appreciation DFUVX invests in securities of US companies whose size market capitalization falls within the largest 90 of the market universe
This Large Value fund as of the last filing allocates their fund in three major groups Large Value Small Growth and Precious Metal Further as of the last filing AT T NYSE T INC EXXON MOBIL CORP and COMCAST CORP were the top holdings for DFUVX
The DFA US Large Cap Value III fund managed by carries an expense ratio of 0 13
DFUVX has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years Specifically the fund s returns over the 3 5 year benchmarks 3 year 9 34 and 5 year 10 86 To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds
DFUVX s performance as of the last filing when compared to funds in its category was in the top 41 in 1 year top 40 over the past 3 years and in the 18 over the past 5 years
About Zacks Mutual Fund Rank
By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward Pick the with the Zacks Rank
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |
T | Forget Brexit Buy These Stocks And ETFs | In a historic referendum Britain voted to leave the European Union a decision that shocked global financial markets Earlier last week the sterling and stocks had rallied strongly on hopes of a Remain vote The pound got hammered to a 31 year low and stocks plunged after the results
For the UK it s going to be a long road to final separation from the EU and it may not exit intact from the union Scotland which strongly voted for Remain may now hold a vote for secession from the UK Read
We should now brace for a prolonged period of heightened volatility as the market digests the debacle One near term impact would be a higher US dollar as nervous investors pull money out of European assets and pour money into safer US assets
The European Union is our largest trading partner accounting for about 20 of our exports and if the zone experiences an economic slowdown from Brexit it could impact the US economy Further business investment is likely to suffer as managements tend to postpone major investment in uncertain environment Read
However the US economy will likely weather this storm Several times in the recent past global headwinds emanating from Europe and China have caused turmoil in the US market but each time the market rebounded strongly as investors realize that our domestic economy continues to recover slowly but steadily And with interest rates now expected to stay lower for longer the outlook for US companies remains positive Also while Britain is the fifth largest economy in the world it accounts for less than 4 of global GDP
If you re a long term investor and can tolerate short term gyrations in the portfolio this is your opportunity to buy from the bargain basement Look for high quality US companies with no or very low exposure to Europe that have been unfairly punished in the aftermath of the referendum Stable companies with consistent revenue and dividend growth are excellent investments in the current uncertain market environment Read AT T NYSE T
AT T is a Zacks Rank 2 Buy stock with very little exposure to the UK Telecom stocks are popular due to their juicy dividend yields and defensive nature AT T is a dividend aristocrat with more than 30 years of consistent dividend growth Their current dividend yield is 4 6 and they distribute about 70 of their free cash free as dividends
The company had reported strong results for Q1 beating on both top and bottom lines B G Foods
BGS is a food products company with a huge portfolio of well known brands They manufacture and market processed and packaged foods across the United States and Canada Economic and political woes in Europe do not impact them
The stock has a juicy dividend yield of 3 55 as of now Earlier this year they increased their quarterly cash dividend by 20 This was 46th consecutive quarterly dividend since their IPO in October 2004
BGS is a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy stock SPDR S P Homebuilders ETF
Homebuilders are domestically focused A strong US dollar and European economic headwinds do not directly impact them Further as the Fed is now expected to stay on hold for quite some time mortgage rates continue to slide Ultra low mortgage rates and a tightening jobs market are good for the housing sector
XHB is a Zacks Rank 2 Buy ETF It holds about 37 homebuilding companies in equal weights Vanguard REIT ETF
REITs are required to distribute at least 90 of their taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends An improving economy and low interest rates make REITs particularly appealing to investors In addition to income and growth REITs also add diversification benefits to a portfolio
VNQ holds a diversified portfolio of 153 REIT companies that invest in office buildings hotels and other real property in the US The product charges 12 basis points in annual expenses and the dividend yield exceeds 5 as of now XHB is a Zacks Rank 2 Buy ETF S P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF
Dividend growth strategies have been very popular this year but mid cap space has been slightly overlooked by investors This ETF presents an excellent way to tap that overlooked area with great potential REGL equal weights its portfolio which largely reduces company specific risks
REGL focuses on companies that have increased dividend payments each year for at least 15 years
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |
T | Market Rebounds Time For Momentum ETFs Stocks | After two days of equity market rout the global market has finally taken a breather Heavy sell offs triggered by Brexit which in fact can be tagged as the global equity loss superseding the market crash in September 2008 on the fall of Lehman Brothers now seem to have eased
All three key U S indices are in the red with the big three funds AX SPY V DIA and adding 1 8 over 1 5 and about 2 2 respectively on June 28 2016 Even the epicenter of the crisis Europe staged a rally with Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF inching higher about 3 3
One of the most thrashed in the immediate aftershock of the Brexit vote iShares MSCI Italy Capped LON EWI also added about 3 5 on June 28 And last but not the least the in focus ETF iShares MSCI United Kingdom jumped about 4 3 on June 28 while the downtrodden currency ETF CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling ETF NYSE FXB added over 1
Bargain hunting looks to be the main reason for the recent spurt While we do not believe these bounces have legs investor sentiments about risky investments were relatively relaxed because of compelling valuation
Forget Brexit Look at Revised U S GDP
The third and final revision to Q1 GDP for the U S underwent an upward revision from 0 8 in the second reading to 1 1 This should pacify investors who started to lose hopes on domestic economy after the shockingly downbeat May job data For Q2 GDP analysts are expecting a recoil of
How About Momentum Plays
While these figures only give you a direction of where the domestic economy is headed investors should note that the global market will remain rocky as the separation of Britain from the European Union EU proceeds Thus momentum investing might be an intriguing idea for those seeking higher returns in a short spell Momentum investing looks to reflect profits from buying stocks which are sizzling on the market
This is especially true for the U S market as the Fed will now be dovish in the coming few months and be busy analyzing how negative the impact of Brexit could be on the domestic economy The confirmation of a few more months of cheap money inflows translates into a beneficial backdrop for the U S equities
Below we highlight three momentum stocks and ETFs which may find a place in investors wish list read
iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF This ETF seeks to track the performance of large and mid cap U S stocks exhibiting relatively higher momentum characteristics The fund has attracted about 1 36 billion is assets so far With an expense ratio of just 15 basis points this is one of the cheapest options in the high momentum ETFs space The ETF has double digit exposure to IT consumer discretionary consumer staples health care utilities and industrials AT T NYSE T is currently the top holding of the fund MTUM was up over 1 2 on June 28 and the product has added about 1 6 so far this year as of June 28 2016
First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF V FV This ETF hovers around technical indicators such as relative strength The fund is designed to indentify the five First Trust sector and industry based ETFs that are arguably expected to have the maximum chance of outperforming the other ETFs in the selection universe Securities with high relative strength scores strong momentum are given higher weights read Currently the fund has the highest exposure to the ETF following the Utilities Internet Consumer Staples The fund has already managed to attract more than 4 57 billion in assets It is a slightly expensive choice thanks to its enhanced indexing approach with an expense ratio of 89 basis points The fund was up over 1 8 on June 28 but has lost about 7 8 in the year to date frame as of June 28 2016
Cambria Global Momentum ETF
Since the entire global market bounced back on June 28 a look at the global momentum ETF seems warranted This active ETF seeks to preserve and enhance capital from investments in the U S and foreign equity fixed income commodity and currency markets independent of market direction read The fund charges 95 bps in fees The fund has added 2 1 so far this year while it added about 1 on June 28 2016
Stock PicksWe have chosen the top picks using the Zacks Screener that fits our criteria of a momentum score of A and a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Here are the three recommended stocks Dave Buster s Entertainment Inc NASDAQ PLAY
This owner and operator of entertainment and dining venues has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 104 8 over the trailing four quarters Along with a Momentum score of A the stock also has a Growth score of A The stock added about 0 8 on June 28 2016 and has returned over 8 8 in the year to date frame as of June 28 2016
Harsco Corporation NYSE HSC
The industrial services and engineered products provider has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 80 9 over the trailing four quarters It is a great value pick too with an A score The stock currently has a solid Zacks Industry Rank in the top 13 It added over 6 1 on June 28 2016 but is down 21 1 so far this year as of June 28 2016 |
T | The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights AT T B G Foods SPDR S P Homebuilders Vanguard REIT And S P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats | For Immediate Release
Chicago IL June 29 2016 Zacks com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets Stocks recently featured in the blog include AT T NYSE T B G Foods SPDR S P Homebuilders ETF Vanguard REIT ETF and S P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF
Today Zacks is promoting its Buy stock recommendations
Here are highlights from Tuesday s Analyst Blog
Forget Brexit Buy These Stocks ETFs Instead
In a historic referendum Britain voted to leave the European Union a decision that shocked global financial markets Earlier last week the sterling and stocks had rallied strongly on hopes of a Remain vote The pound got hammered to a 31 year low and stocks plunged after the results
For the UK it s going to be a long road to final separation from the EU and it may not exit intact from the union Scotland which strongly voted for Remain may now hold a vote for secession from the UK Read
We should now brace for a prolonged period of heightened volatility as the market digests the debacle One near term impact would be a higher US dollar as nervous investors pull money out of European assets and pour money into safer US assets
The European Union is our largest trading partner accounting for about 20 of our exports and if the zone experiences an economic slowdown from Brexit it could impact the US economy Further business investment is likely to suffer as managements tend to postpone major investment in uncertain environment Read
However the US economy will likely weather this storm Several times in the recent past global headwinds emanating from Europe and China have caused turmoil in the US market but each time the market rebounded strongly as investors realize that our domestic economy continues to recover slowly but steadily And with interest rates now expected to stay lower for longer the outlook for US companies remains positive Also while Britain is the fifth largest economy in the world it accounts for less than 4 of global GDP
If you re a long term investor and can tolerate short term gyrations in the portfolio this is your opportunity to buy from the bargain basement Look for high quality US companies with no or very low exposure to Europe that have been unfairly punished in the aftermath of the referendum Stable companies with consistent revenue and dividend growth are excellent investments in the current uncertain market environment Read AT T
AT T is a Zacks Rank 2 Buy stock with very little exposure to the UK Telecom stocks are popular due to their juicy dividend yields and defensive nature AT T is a dividend aristocrat with more than 30 years of consistent dividend growth Their current dividend yield is 4 6 and they distribute about 70 of their free cash free as dividends
The company had reported strong results for Q1 beating on both top and bottom lines B G Foods
BGS is a food products company with a huge portfolio of well known brands They manufacture and market processed and packaged foods across the United States and Canada Economic and political woes in Europe do not impact them
The stock has a juicy dividend yield of 3 55 as of now Earlier this year they increased their quarterly cash dividend by 20 This was 46th consecutive quarterly dividend since their IPO in October 2004
BGS is a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy stock SPDR S P Homebuilders ETF
Homebuilders are domestically focused A strong US dollar and European economic headwinds do not directly impact them Further as the Fed is now expected to stay on hold for quite some time mortgage rates continue to slide Ultra low mortgage rates and a tightening jobs market are good for the housing sector
XHB is a Zacks Rank 2 Buy ETF It holds about 37 homebuilding companies in equal weights Vanguard REIT ETF
REITs are required to distribute at least 90 of their taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends An improving economy and low interest rates make REITs particularly appealing to investors In addition to income and growth REITs also add diversification benefits to a portfolio
VNQ holds a diversified portfolio of 153 REIT companies that invest in office buildings hotels and other real property in the US The product charges 12 basis points in annual expenses and the dividend yield exceeds 5 as of now XHB is a Zacks Rank 2 Buy ETF S P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF
Dividend growth strategies have been very popular this year but mid cap space has been slightly overlooked by investors This ETF presents an excellent way to tap that overlooked area with great potential REGL equal weights its portfolio which largely reduces company specific risks
REGL focuses on companies that have increased dividend payments each year for at least 15 years
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long term
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1 150 publicly traded stocks Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance Recommendations and target prices are six month time horizons
Zacks Profit from the Pros e mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research
About Zacks
Zacks com is a property of Zacks Investment Research Inc which was formed in 1978 The later formation of the Zacks Rank a proprietary stock picking system continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter Profit from the Pros In short it s your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities including a broker dealer and an investment adviser which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800 767 3771 ext 9339
Past performance is no guarantee of future results Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss
This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment legal accounting or tax advice or a recommendation to buy sell or hold a security No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor It should not be assumed that any investments in securities companies sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking market making or asset management activities of any securities These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks The S P 500 is an unmanaged index Visit for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release |
T | Lions Gate Reportedly In Talks To Buy Starz Stocks Gain | Per Bloomberg Lions Gate Entertainment Corp NYSE LGF is in advance negotiations to buy media and entertainment company Starz NYSE T Shares of Lions Gate and Starz gained 7 6 and 9 1 respectively in the after hours trading session on Jun 29 2016 amid speculations about the buyout LIONS GATE ETMT Price According to sources Lions Gate may offer over 30 per share for the deal Yesterday Starz closed its trading session at 28 25 However the deal has not yet been finalized and talks may fall through The companies are yet to reach a consensus over the price and voting shares STARZ LIB CAP A Price One of the major impediments for the aforesaid deal is Starz s impending carriage negotiation with AT T Inc s NYSE T DirecTV A multiyear deal between Starz and DirecTV has not yet been reached which is making matters difficult regarding valuation of the proposed buyout by Lions Gate Last year Lions Gate exchanged 3 4 of its common stock for 4 5 of stock in Starz owned by Malone In 2013 Liberty Media Corp NASDAQ LMCA completed the spin off of its Starz Entertainment segment as a separate entity The company has been in buyout rumors ever since with speculations that CBS Corporation NYSE CBS Lions Gate AMC Networks Inc NASDAQ AMCX and Twenty First Century Fox Inc NASDAQ FOXA were interested in adding this media and entertainment business to their portfolio Lions Gate is well known for undertaking strategic acquisitions and alliances to enhance its competitive position maximize return and build a diversified portfolio for future growth We believe that the addition of Starz to its portfolio will not only help the company become a major player in the TV space but will also help it in recapture some of its lost ground in streaming network Starz TV and Starz Encore channels have 24 million and 32 4 million subscribers respectively Previously Lions Gate acquired Summit Entertainment to further expand its filmed entertainment library In addition the company extended its domestic distribution deal with Miramax Earlier the company said that it expects to cross 1 billion in revenues in fiscal 2018 on the back of robust organic growth as well as acquisitions Lions Gate currently has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell The motion picture industry is highly competitive Hence companies like Lions Gate have to continually strive to maintain their share of box office receipts This is because if the other players release a significant number of motion pictures Lions Gate runs the risk of witnessing a decline in its share of box office receipts Moreover a limited supply of motion picture screens also makes matters difficult for the company |
T | The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights IShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF Cambria Global Momentum ETF Dave Buster s Entertainment And Harsco | For Immediate Release
Chicago IL June 30 2016 Zacks com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets Stocks recently featured in the blog include iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF Cambria Global Momentum ETF Dave Buster s Entertainment Inc and Harsco Corporation
Today Zacks is promoting its Buy stock recommendations
Here are highlights from Wednesday s Analyst Blog
Market Rebounds Time for Momentum ETFs Stocks
After two days of equity market rout the global market has finally taken a breather Heavy sell offs triggered by Brexit which in fact can be tagged as the global equity loss superseding the market crash in September 2008 on the fall of Lehman Brothers now seem to have eased
Bargain hunting looks to be the main reason for the recent spurt While we do not believe these bounces have legs investor sentiments about risky investments were relatively relaxed because of compelling valuation
Forget Brexit Look at Revised U S GDP
The third and final revision to Q1 GDP for the U S underwent an upward revision from 0 8 in the second reading to 1 1 This should pacify investors who started to lose hopes on domestic economy after the shockingly downbeat May job data For Q2 GDP analysts are expecting a recoil of
How About Momentum Plays
While these figures only give you a direction of where the domestic economy is headed investors should note that the global market will remain rocky as the separation of Britain from the European Union EU proceeds Thus momentum investing might be an intriguing idea for those seeking higher returns in a short spell Momentum investing looks to reflect profits from buying stocks which are sizzling on the market
This is especially true for the U S market as the Fed will now be dovish in the coming few months and be busy analyzing how negative the impact of Brexit could be on the domestic economy The confirmation of a few more months of cheap money inflows translates into a beneficial backdrop for the U S equities
Below we highlight three momentum stocks and ETFs which may find a place in investors wish list read
iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF
This ETF seeks to track the performance of large and mid cap U S stocks exhibiting relatively higher momentum characteristics The fund has attracted about 1 36 billion is assets so far With an expense ratio of just 15 basis points this is one of the cheapest options in the high momentum ETFs space
The ETF has double digit exposure to IT consumer discretionary consumer staples health care utilities and industrials AT T NYSE T is currently the top holding of the fund MTUM was up over 1 2 on June 28 and the product has added about 1 6 so far this year as of June 28 2016
First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF
This ETF hovers around technical indicators such as relative strength The fund is designed to indentify the five First Trust sector and industry based ETFs that are arguably expected to have the maximum chance of outperforming the other ETFs in the selection universe Securities with high relative strength scores strong momentum are given higher weights read
Currently the fund has the highest exposure to the ETF following the Utilities Internet Consumer Staples The fund has already managed to attract more than 4 57 billion in assets It is a slightly expensive choice thanks to its enhanced indexing approach with an expense ratio of 89 basis points The fund was up over 1 8 on June 28 but has lost about 7 8 in the year to date frame as of June 28 2016
Cambria Global Momentum ETF
Since the entire global market bounced back on June 28 a look at the global momentum ETF seems warranted This active ETF seeks to preserve and enhance capital from investments in the U S and foreign equity fixed income commodity and currency markets independent of market direction read
The fund charges 95 bps in fees The fund has added 2 1 so far this year while it added about 1 on June 28 2016
Stock Picks
We have chosen the top picks using the Zacks Screener that fits our criteria of a momentum score of A and a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Here are the three recommended stocks Dave Buster s Entertainment Inc
This owner and operator of entertainment and dining venues has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 104 8 over the trailing four quarters Along with a Momentum score of A the stock also has a Growth score of A The stock added about 0 8 on June 28 2016 and has returned over 8 8 in the year to date frame as of June 28 2016
Harsco Corporation
The industrial services and engineered products provider has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 80 9 over the trailing four quarters It is a great value pick too with an A score The stock currently has a solid Zacks Industry Rank in the top 13 It added over 6 1 on June 28 2016 but is down 21 1 so far this year as of June 28 2016
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Today Zacks is promoting its Buy stock recommendations
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long term
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1 150 publicly traded stocks Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance Recommendations and target prices are six month time horizons
Zacks Profit from the Pros e mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research
About Zacks
Zacks com is a property of Zacks Investment Research Inc which was formed in 1978 The later formation of the Zacks Rank a proprietary stock picking system continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter Profit from the Pros In short it s your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities including a broker dealer and an investment adviser which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800 767 3771 ext 9339
Past performance is no guarantee of future results Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment legal accounting or tax advice or a recommendation to buy sell or hold a security No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor It should not be assumed that any investments in securities companies sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking market making or asset management activities of any securities These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks The S P 500 is an unmanaged index Visit for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release |
T | Guide To DFA Tax Managed US Marketwide Value Fund DTMMX | DFA Tax Managed US Marketwide Value a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy seeks to achieve long term capital appreciation DTMMX invests in securities of US companies whose size market capitalization falls within the largest 95 of the market universe
This Large Value fund as of the last filing allocates their fund in three major groups Large Value Small Growth and Foreign Bond Further as of the last filing COMCAST CORP AT T NYSE T INC and EXXON MOBIL CORP were the top holdings for DTMMX
The DFA Tax Managed US Marketwide Value fund managed by carries an expense ratio of 0 37
DTMMX has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years Specifically the fund s returns over the 3 5 year benchmarks 3 year 9 57 and 5 year 10 91 To see how this fund performed compared in its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds
DTMMX s performance as of the last filing when compared to funds in its category was in the top 45 in 1 year top 37 over the past 3 years and in the 18 over the past 5 years
About Zacks Mutual Fund Rank
By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward Pick the with the Zacks Rank
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research Today you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days |