Overnight, the trade wars between the U.S. and China sharply escalated, when China’s leaders communicated their seriousness to retaliate against tariffs announced by President Trump by targeting 106 U.S. products, including one in particular that will directly harm regular Chinese citizens: soybeans. China will struggle to replace U.S. soybean supplies after implementing an additional 25 percent tariff…
Having skipped the traditional initial public offering process, preferring a direct listing, Spotify’s (SPOT) newly-minted public shares are tumbling… As a reminder, Spotify didn’t sell any shares and there’s no lockup period for company insiders or, with one exception, current shareholders. That means the company’s first public share price, the open price of $165.90, was set…
Cooper Companies Inc. (NYSE: COO) trades at an EBITDA multiple of 19.9x, which is higher than the Healthcare sector median of 16.1x. While this makes COO appear like a stock to avoid or sell if you own it, you might change your mind after gaining a better understanding of the assumptions behind the EV/EBITDA ratio. In…
Private sector employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP on Wednesday. ADP said employment surged up by 241,000 jobs in March after jumping by an upwardly revised 246,000 jobs in February. Economists had expected an increase of about 205,000…
When the 180-day lock-up period for OptiNose, Incorporated (OPTN) ends on April 11, 2018, the company’s pre-IPO shareholders and insiders will have the ability to sell large blocks of currently-restricted shares. The potential for an increase in the volume of shares traded on the secondary market could send OPTN’s stock price sharply lower in the short-term….
The dichotomy between views from interest rate managers and credit managers continues. In our latest fixed income survey1, rates managers have blinked first. This quarter’s survey closed right before the February market sell-off, thus managers did not have the benefit of hindsight with regards to market repricing. Nonetheless, the results continue to provide valuable insight….
In early February, the markets experienced some turmoil. Volatility spiked, stocks sold off roughly 10% and credit spreads widened. These were strange events given that over the prior 15 months the total return for the S&P 500 was positive each and every month. From November 2016 through January 2018, stocks and most other risky assets…
During yesterday morning’s pointless run-up in valuations, I remarked how I wasn’t concerned, because the broader trend was with the bears. Likewise, with this morning’s smack-down, I’m not dancing on the table with glee, because it’s just another knee-jerk response to what now seems like a daly tit-for-tat response between China and the U.S. As…
Overnight Markets and News June S&P 500 E-minis (ESM18 -1.43%) this morning are sharply lower as China overnight very quickly retaliated to the Trump administration’s announcement late Tuesday of the list of $50 billion worth of Chinese products subject to tariffs for IP violations. The Euro Stoxx 50 index this morning is down -1.27%. China’s…
Planes and cars and steel is one thing, but now it’s serious because we are talking soybeans. China decided to hit at the heart of U.S. China trade by taxing the beloved American soybean. The move was viewed by the market as the first real sign that the potential trade war is serious because China…
