Investing

Wall Street analysts say buy Marvell & Campbell Soup stocks

By Carl 9 months ago

Signage is displayed outside the Campbell Soup Co. factory in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cole Burston | Bloomberg | Getty Images

This week, Wall Street looked to Washington as lawmakers tried to reach an agreement on a coronavirus relief package before the end of the year.  

Both sides of the aisle appeared far from striking an agreement, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rejecting Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s $916 billion proposal, as it featured less funding for unemployment benefits. The stimulus package was expected to come as part of the broader spending bill for the fiscal year, which also has not passed.

Against this backdrop, new jobless claims reached 853,000 last week, versus the 725,000 originally expected.

“The market is gasping and grasping for some new leadership signal. Vaccines, virus, stimulus, spending are all rather well priced into the market. People have different expectations, but they’re pretty much there as knowns in the marketplace… I think the next move, especially if you’re a trader, is probably greed. And there’s a greed catalyst out there that I think is very influential,” Sanders Morris Harris’ CEO George Ball commented.

So, how are investors supposed to find compelling investment opportunities? By turning to the pros that tend to get it right. TipRanks analyst forecasting service attempts to determine

… Read More

Here’s everything the Federal Reserve could do at its policy meeting next week

By Carl 9 months ago

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on “The Quarterly CARES Act Report to Congress” on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 1, 2020.

Susan Walsh | Pool | Reuters

The Federal Reserve heads into its meeting next week in a familiar place, with a teetering economy that could be in further danger unless Congress approves more dollars to support those still getting slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Also familiar ground: The Fed has limited policy options to help boost activity and is left now with some language tinkering on what it would take to raise interest rates in the future, and what it can do to help things along through its asset purchase program.

Markets, then, will be left to watch for policy nuance and nudges rather than the kind of bold steps it has seen the central bank take previously.

On the menu will be expanding the $120 billion in bonds a month through quantitative easing, adjusting the maturity of those purchases, or providing “outcomes-based” guidelines it will need to see before tightening policy from its current historically loose level.

Interest rate cuts are not part of that policy buffet, as the Fed’s benchmark rate is already anchored near zero.

“They have to get incrementally more dovish next week,” said Brian Nick, chief investment

… Read More

Volatile Tesla’s entry into the S&P 500 may not be a quiet ride for the stock market

By Carl 9 months ago

People wearing face masks are seen inside a Tesla showroom at a shopping mall in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of China’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, March 30, 2020.

Aly Song | Reuters

Tesla’s entry into the S&P 500 could be anything but a quiet ride, and it is likely to put downward pressure on other stocks in the index temporarily.

Already, investors are gaming how its entry could impact the S&P 500, adding volatility and forcing the sale of other names in the index, as investors and funds that have to own the full index make room for Tesla.

The volatile stock has an unusually large market cap for a new member of the index – about $465 billion as of Wednesday, when not including founder Elon Musk’s 20% stake. With 17% of the value of the S&P in the hands of index investors, that means $80 billion worth of Tesla will have to be bought, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt.

“Because the market cap is so enormous and the amount of dollars that are going to be needed to buy for the index people is so large, there’s a lot of stock for sale in the other 499 names of the S&P,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment strategist at Bleakley Advisory Group.

… Read More

Jim Cramer sees ‘rabid money’ for tech IPOs, says don’t chase DoorDash

By Carl 10 months ago

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday he believes there is “rabid money” interested in upcoming technology IPOs, but he urged younger investors not to chase after DoorDash once the third-party delivery company goes public.

“When people know the brand, the younger investors just say, ‘You know what, get me some,'” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street,” “DoorDash is used by a lot of younger people, both in the suburbs and in the cities, so I think you’re going to see incredible enthusiasm.”

DoorDash, which began trading Wednesday, sold shares in its initial public offering at $102 apiece, above its targeted range of $90 to $95. The stock later opened at $182 per share Wednesday, putting DoorDash’s market cap at $57.8 billion.

Before it opened, Cramer urged young investors to be careful about chasing the stock. The “Mad Money” host previously advised investors to buy it at only below $100 per share.

“I don’t want them to lose what discipline they have because then we’re starting to get into a 1998, 1999 period,” Cramer said, referencing speculation in tech stocks fueled the dot-com bubble.

DoorDash is the first IPO in a late-year consumer technology wave, which includes the expected debut of online home rental marketplace Airbnb on Thursday. Online stock trading app Robinhood, also favored by younger investors, reportedly

… Read More

Wealthfront names Sheila Bair and Thomas Curry to banking advisory group

By Carl 10 months ago

Wealthfront has named former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation head Sheila Bair and ex-Comptroller of Currency Thomas Curry to an advisory group created to help the fintech firm push further into financial services, CNBC has learned.

Bair is best known for steering the FDIC through the 2008 financial crisis, pushing back against taxpayer bailouts of big banks and warning of the risks of subprime mortgages. Curry is a former FDIC board member who served as OCC head from 2012 to 2017.

“Sheila’s and Tom’s combined experience in the banking industry will be invaluable to Wealthfront as we continue our efforts to rebuild a new, better way to bank that makes money with the client, not from them,” Wealthfront CEO Andy Rachleff said in a statement.

Wealthfront was co-founded in 2008 by Rachleff as one of the earliest robo-advisors, or automated wealth managers, a move that contributed to fee pressure across the industry. Soon, investment giants including Vanguard and Fidelity and brokerages including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase offered their own versions of the technology.

Last year, Wealthfront added high-interest cash accounts and later bolstered the service with debit cards and direct deposit for paychecks, part of a vision for consumer finance the company calls “Self-Driving Money.” The firm manages about $22 billion overall, according to a spokeswoman.

“I love the way

… Read More

Fed’s Main Street lending program is a dead end for many borrowers

By Carl 10 months ago

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin listens to a question during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on “Oversight of the Treasury Department’s and Federal Reserve’s Pandemic Response” in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, December 2, 2020.

Greg Nash | Pool | Reuters

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s decision not to extend funding for the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Facility after Dec. 31 already looks to be cutting into lending, according to bankers involved with the program.

CNBC has learned that some would-be borrowers have been told that there isn’t enough time to close their loans, leaving them short of vital funds amid a resurgent pandemic.

One borrower, who asked not to be named because he did not want his customers or competitors to know his company needed a government loan, said his banker told him his application could not be processed because time had run out.

“It’s a huge impact on our ability to remain liquid and finance our business,” the borrower said. “It was a needed lifeline for a professional service firm like ours.”

The only option now are loans with double-digit interest rates, if the borrower can find a lender.

Mnuchin announced on Nov. 19 that he will not extend the deadline for a series of emergency Fed programs that were funded by the CARES Act, including

… Read More