Tag: January

Stock Market Futures Steady After Another Green Day For Stocks

Stock market futures are edging up today following a session where stocks climbed marginally higher. For some, this slight movement in markets could be a welcomed sign. Before the release of December’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures yesterday, there were some bouts of volatility in the stock market. Following the results, things appear to be relatively calm. Given that the CPI reading is within economists’ estimates, this is understandable. Nevertheless, investors still have interest rate hikes to consider this year as inflation remains at highs last seen decades ago. 

Among the economists commenting on this is Christian Scherrmann from the DWS Group U.S. He posits, “Persistent high inflation rates together with the recent strong labor market data reinforce the hawkish narrative provided by the Fed.” Furthermore, Scherrmann adds, “Looking ahead, Omicron looks set to dictate the fate of the economy in January and maybe in February, but current indications on how the new variant plays out suggest that the Fed will remain on track to reduce its accommodative monetary policy, most likely as early as in March this year, by hiking rates for the first time since December 2018.”

As of 7:36 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.12{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, 0.07{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, and 0.10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} respectively.

TSM Reports Solid Fourth Quarter Earnings Figures

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) or TSM for short, is among the notable names reporting earnings today. Earlier today, the firm announced its fourth-quarter results. In detail, TSM raked in an earnings per share (EPS) of about $1.15 for the quarter. This marks a respectable 16.4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} increase year-over-year. Additionally, the company also reported a net income of about $6.01 billion on revenue of $15.84 billion. Year-over-year, this translates to gains of 16.4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} and 21.2{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} respectively.

On top of that, the company also provided a breakdown of its revenue streams as well. Throughout the fourth quarter, TSM’s 5-nanometer chips, and 7-nanometer chips accounted for 23{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} and 27{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of total wafer revenue respectively. Also, “advanced technologies” defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced tech, made up the remaining 50{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}. Overall, the company seems to be going from strength to strength as it sees steady demand for semiconductor chips. Considering the ongoing supply shortages and TSM’s leading position in the industry, this could persist. As a result of all this, investors may want to keep an eye on TSM stock in the stock market today.

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Tesla Co-Founder JB Straubel Sees EV Sales Taking Off Through 2025

Speaking of semiconductors, a booming market that relies on these chips now would be the electric vehicle (EV) industry. In fact, providing his outlook on EV sales is Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) co-founder JB Straudel. Namely, Straudel says that consumer demand for EVs has and continues to pick up. So much so that he is questioning industry estimates of EVs accounting for only 12.7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of all U.S. auto sales by 2025. Straubel argues, “If you look at how fast adoption is growing in parts of Europe and other parts of the world, I think it points to a path of potentially even higher percentages than that by mid-decade.” With all this momentum, the top EV stocks in the market could be more appealing to investors now.

At the same time, it is also important to note that Straubel is currently the CEO of a battery-recycling firm, Redwood Materials. This is relevant to the current update from him as well. Notably, Redwood Materials is allocating $1 billion towards building a new EV battery recycling plant in Nevada. The company cites this very demand as a key reason behind the current facility. Subsequently, Redwood will employ the factory to produce necessary materials used at the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada.

In other news, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), or BofA for short, now offers a forecasting tool for both its corporate and commercial clients. The tool in question is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered forecasting solution. Ideally, the tool serves to help BofA customers better manage their cash flows. To highlight, the current news comes from talks between executives and Bloomberg. More importantly, BofA clients will need to be using the bank’s CashPro app to benefit from this new service. In turn, the app gathers data and predicts future cash positions. This will apply to a client’s bank accounts across the board through AI.

For one thing, such a tool would be relevant given the Fed’s plans to raise interest rates this year. CashPro Global Product Head Tom Durkin also weighs in on this. He says, “We’re going into a raising-rate environment, so you need an effective tool that sets your cash position.” Not to mention, the company is also planning to reduce overdraft fees and eliminate non-sufficient fund fees. BofA plans to implement these changes to its core services in May 2022. All in all, the bank seems to be aggressively optimizing its operations amidst rising competition and challenging times. The question now is whether or not all this is enough to make BAC stock stand out among its peers.

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Lithium Mining Stocks Gain Amidst Supply Shortages And Increasing Government And Analyst Support

Elsewhere, companies in the lithium mining space are gaining in the stock market now. For the most part, this could be thanks to rising lithium prices amidst dwindling supplies. To explain, the current scarcity is likely from the rising use of lithium as a core component in EV batteries. In a time where the shift towards clean energy resources is coming hard and fast, this is understandable. Evidently, the global price for lithium almost quadrupled throughout 2021.

This year, the price for this increasingly precious commodity continues to rise. As of yesterday, the price per ton of lithium carbonate in China is now at a record high of $49,600. Because of all this, lithium stocks such as Sociedad Quimica (NYSE: SQM) and Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC) are in the green this week. Moreover, there is no shortage of exciting news from these two firms as well.

On one hand, SQM recently won a lithium development contract with the Chilean government. On the other hand, Lithium Americas received rosy analyst updates from Cowen (NASDAQ: COWN), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), and Piper Sandler (NYSE: PIPR) this week. In particular, Piper Sandler notes that the company “holds the keys to a multitude of game-changing catalysts”. As such, it would not surprise me to see investors turning their radars to lithium mining stocks now.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Stock Market Futures Edging Up Ahead Of December’s Consumer Price Index Readings

Stock market futures are marginally higher in early morning trading today. This comes after a recovery rally on Tuesday following a whipsaw-like start to the trading week. All in all, this volatility in stocks is not all that surprising. Especially after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell ensuring that the central bank is working on reeling in inflation. He said, “If we see inflation persisting at high levels, longer than expected, if we have to raise interest rates more over time, then we will.”

If that wasn’t enough, there is also more inflation-related data on tap today. At 8:30 a.m. ET, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is going to release the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for December. As it stands, economists are projecting a 7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} year-over-year CPI increase, its highest since 1982. For reference, this is versus a year-over-year jump of 6.8{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in November.

Providing some insight into all this is Brian Belski, BMO Capital Markets chief investment strategist. Belski notes, “I think the biggest comment on most investors’ minds that we talk to around the world would be a ‘policy mistake’ that the Fed might be too aggressive.” He continues, “Mr. Powell basically came out today and said this is going to be a process … with respect to how long this is going to take, and I think that’s what’s calming investors.”

As of 7:13 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.06{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, 0.03{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, and 0.05{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} respectively.

ExxonMobil Selling Ohio Shale Gas Properties Valued At About $200 Million; Invests In Biofuels Firm Biojet

Oil giant ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is making several notable plays this week. As of yesterday, the company is currently trying to sell its shale gas properties in Ohio’s Appalachian Basin. The likes of which could be worth about $200 Million, given the current natural gas prices and production. In detail, the news came from Reuters who cited a marketing document alongside company confirmation. Now, Exxon’s current shale gas properties in the region span a whopping 27,000 acres. To highlight, 61 oil wells make up this asset. All of which produced around 81 million cubic feet per day equivalent of natural gas. Moreover, 274 wells being operated by other companies are also included in the current sale.

Also, while the company is divesting in this conventional energy asset, it is making investments in clean energy. On the same day, Exxon announced that it bought a 49.9{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} stake in Biojet, a Norwegian biofuels company. Through the current deal, Exxon can purchase up to 3 million barrels of Biojet’s biofuel a year. Ideally, this would serve to help the company grow its investments in low-carbon businesses. Additionally, Biojet is currently planning to develop five facilities to produce biofuels from forestry and wood-based construction waste. 

In the larger scheme of things, this would be crucial in Exxon’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. It aims to do so for its working assets in the U.S. Permian basin by 2030. As a result of all this, XOM stock is currently up by over 12{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} year-to-date. It seems that Exxon is looking to adapt to the times and investors are eager to tag along for now.

Source: TD Ameritrade TOS

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Oil Prices Soar As Fed Sees Omicron Having Short-Lived Impact On Economy

At the same time, oil prices are on the rise following the latest comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell yesterday. The price per barrel of Brent crude gained by a solid 3.52{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, settling at $83.72. Furthermore, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 3.82{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, ending the day with a price of $81.22 per barrel. Notably, both are at their highest levels since November. Overall, this is likely due to a positive outlook regarding energy demands. Yesterday, Powell argued that the economic impacts from the Omicron Covid variant will be “short-lived”.

On top of that, Powell also added that the upcoming quarters could be good for the recovering economy as Omicron subsides. Weighing in on the current price movement of oil in general is Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. Flynn says, “Combination of facts – that demand is going to be stronger than anticipated and that OPEC’s supply may not grow as fast as the demand – is why prices are climbing.” All this alongside oil companies making notable plays continues to put the industry on investors’ radars this week.

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Nio Pops On News Of Supply Agreement And HSBC Price Target Bump

In other news, Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio (NYSE: NIO) appears to be making a rebound. For the most part, this comes as Nio continues to power through on the operational front. To begin with, the company is now working with Chinese steel producer Baoshan Iron & Steel. This deal will see the duo collaborate via a product and supply chain partnership. According to Nio CEO William Li, “Nio needs a global partner like Baosteel to work hand-in-hand on products, supply chain, technology innovation, new material applications, and zero-carbon pathways.”

On top of that, analysts over at HSBC (NYSE: HSBC) are also bullish on NIO stocks’ growth prospects. Just this week, analyst Yuqian Ding reiterated a Buy rating on it with a price target of $54 per share. This would suggest a possible upside of 79.8{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} from its closing price of $30.02 at yesterday’s closing bell. Generally, the firm cites Nio introducing more models this year and strong demand for its ET5 EVs as driving factors. The real question now is whether investors should be buying into NIO stock’s current weakness or not.

Source: TD Ameritrade TOS

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Walgreens Conducting “Strategic Review” Of U.K-Based Operations

Walgreens (NASDAQ: WBA) is currently conducting a “strategic review” of its Boots pharmacy chain in the U.K. This announcement comes from CEO Roz Brewer at the virtual JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) Healthcare Conference this week. She said, “While the process is at an exploratory stage, we do expect to move quickly.” As it stands, the company is not giving a definite answer as to whether it would be selling its U.K.-based drugstore chain. If anything, a potential sale of the business would help fund the company’s ongoing push to bolster its health care offerings in the U.S.

To put things into perspective, Boots currently operates a network of 2,200 stores in the U.K. They provide for U.K. consumers’ day-to-day health, optical, and hearing needs. Moreover, Boots also sells a wide array of beauty products alongside its drugstore essentials. Not to mention, there is also the ongoing surge in Omicron cases in the U.S. to consider. Analysts from Mizuho believe that demand for Covid vaccines and test kits could continue to bolster sales for the quarter. Given all this exciting news about Walgreens, I could see investors eyeing WBA stock in the stock market today.

Source: TD Ameritrade TOS

If you enjoyed this article and you’re interested in learning how to trade so you can have the best chance to profit consistently then you need to checkout this YouTube channel. CLICK HERE RIGHT NOW!

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.