Theresa May has called a snap general election in the U.K. What does it imply for the gold market? Yesterday, Theresa May, the British prime minister, announced that she wanted to hold a snap general election on June 8. It was a surprising twist in the Brexit saga, given she had repeatedly ruled out having an election until 2020. May argued she wanted “unity” at Westminster during talks on Brexit, but is seems to be nonsense, as the very job of opposition is to oppose the government. Why did she call a snap election, then? Well, there are many reasons. First of all, the British prime minister could want to take advantage of the Labour Par...
Two credit card giants, American Express and Visa, are scheduled to report their earnings within a day of each other. American Express reports after markets close tonight, and Visa reports tomorrow afternoon. While American Express is struggling to appeal to affluent users, Visa is advancing in technology by making Visa Checkout one of the major online payment tools. Overall, analysts are optimistic for both companies but for different reasons. American Express (AXP) Reports April 19th: The Estimize community is calling for earnings per share of $1.28, one cent above the Wall Street estimate, and revenue of $7.731 billion, which is $14 millio...
On April 19, 2017, BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BCLI) announced the publication of preclinical data on NurOwn® demonstrating potential utility in the treatment of autism. The research is published in Behavioural Brain Research and highlights the long-term beneficial effect of BrainStorm’s NurOwn (neurotrophic factors-secreting mesenchymal stem cells) transplantation in the BTBR mouse model of autism (1). The company plans to pursue clinical development with NurOwn as a potential treatment for autism later this year. A Phase 3 clinical study with NurOwn as a potential treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is als...
While the market has been generally euphoric over Trump’s proposed fiscal agenda (even if in recent weeks it increasingly looks its implementation will be indefinitely delayed), one adverse side effect which has largely been ignored by the market is the impact of rising interest rates not only on sovereign debt, but on record corporate debt loads. Conveniently, this was one of the more notable topics covered in the latest Global Financial Stability report released by the IMF on Wednesday. According to the IMF writes, as corporate leverage has risen, and is now at the highest level since the start either the financial crisis or the dot...
Retail is experiencing problems. Those problems relative to auto sales and restaurant activity which have been covered by the mainstream media. Make no mistake, these sections of retail are leading indicators of problems ahead. They need to be watched carefully and they could cause fear and risk off in stocks. There are mixed signals regarding the state of retail, especially regarding job openings. According to economist Tim Duy, job openings seem to be strong: By Permission But there is a definite slowdown in hiring and this is showing a bad trend in retail: By Permission So, layoffs have not started. But that doesn’t mean that r...
Finding driverless-friendly cities that allow car makers to test their technology has been one of the challenges facing the driverless industry. Today, Portland stepped up to the plate. “The technology is coming,” says Mayor Ted Wheeler. “Either the technology will happen to us, or we are going to shape the playing field.” Bloomberg reports Portland Opens Its Streets to Self-Driving Cars. Autonomous vehicles need to drive and drive and drive, vacuuming up hours of real-life encounters on the road to make their algorithms smarter and safer. But there’s one thing in relatively short supply: cities willing to have test cars on their s...
On 18 March, the Constitutional Council of France announced that 11 candidates had fulfilled the conditions to participate in the first round of presidential elections, due to be held on 23 April. The Constitutional Council noted that the first round candidates will be François Fillon (The Republicans); Benoît Hamon (Socialist Party); Emmanuel Macron (En Marche!); Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (France Arise); Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Left Party); Nathalie; Arthaud (Workers’ Struggle); Marine Le Pen (National Front); François Asselineau (Popular Republican Union); Philippe Poutou (New Anticapitalist Party); Jean Lassalle (Résistons!) and Jacque...
Following PetSmart’s “pricey acquisition” of online pet supplies retailer Chewy.com yesterday for an estimated $3.35B, Wedbush analyst Seth Basham argued that Wayfair (W) could be the next takeover target in online commerce. Among the possible suitors, the analyst sees Wal-Mart (WMT) and Amazon.com (AMZN) among several others. PURE PLAY M&A POSITIVE FOR WAYFAIR: In a research note to investors this morning, Wedbush’s Basham noted that PetSmart’s acquisition of online pet supplies retailer Chewy.com could mark a turning point in hardlines specialty brick-and-mortar retailers’ attitudes toward online pure...
Abbott Laboratories (ABT – Free Report) reported first-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 48 cents per share, 11.6% higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate and up 17.1% year over year. Reported earnings for the quarter came in at 22 cents per share, way ahead of the year-ago number of 4 cents. First-quarter worldwide sales came in at $6.33 billion, up 29.7% year over year on a reported basis. The quarterly figure also remains ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.11 billion. On a comparable operational basis (adjusting the impact of foreign exchange, certain acquisitions and divestments) sales increas...
NZD/USD Daily Technical Outlook: Kiwi tested the March reversal day close at 7042 before turning lower with today’s candle attempting to post an outside-day reversal if we were to close at these levels (near-term bearish). Key near-term support rests at 6951/72 with a break of the monthly opening-range lows targeting critical support at 6861/85. Resistance / bearish invalidation stands at 7076/90 where the 100-day moving average converges on the 75% line of the descending pitchfork formation. NZD/USD 240min Notes: It’s too early to rely to heavily on this formation but this newly identified slope off the lows highlights near-ter...