Early Look

Monday, November 23, 2020

Stock futures are looking higher, gaining ground on yet another vaccine related headline as data showed that the shot being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford university had exceeded the level of efficacy sought. The level of efficacy wasn’t as high as prior results from Pfizer and Moderna the prior two weeks, but was enough to lift sentiment. In geopolitical news, the Trump administration is close to issuing a list of 89 Chinese aerospace and other companies that would be unable to access U.S. technology exports due to their military ties, according to Reuters. Market predictions are also growing that the Fed will unveil more monetary action when it meets in mid-December after the central bank said it will comply with a Treasury request last week to return unused funds meant to backstop five emergency lending programs.

Stocks closed out last week with mixed returns as the Dow was down 0.7%, the S&P 500 down 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%. Oil prices rose about 1% higher on Friday and posted a third consecutive weekly rise (up about 5%), buoyed by successful COVID-19 vaccine trials, while renewed lockdowns in several countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus capped gains. Long-term Treasuries rally, sending the 10-year yield down to early November levels, at 0.83% as the U.S. Treasury told the Fed to give back funds left over in programs credited for backstopping markets during the pandemic, leading investors to avoid risk. The dollar The U.S. dollar ended the week on a loss.

In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index fell -106 points to 25,527, the Shanghai Index rose 36 points to 3,414 and the Hang Seng Index gained 34 points to 26,486. In Europe, the German DAX is up around 70 points above 13,200, while the FTSE 100 is up about 15 points to 6,365. Economic activity across the eurozone plunged in November after members introduced new lockdowns and social restrictions. The flash eurozone PMI composite output index came in at 45.1, marking the lowest reading in six months.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index dropped-24.33 points, or 0.68%, to 3,557.54

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -219.75 points, or 0.75%, to 29,263.48

·     The Nasdaq Composite slumped -49.74 points, or 0.42%, to 11,854.97

·     The Russell 2000 Index edged higher 1.21 points, or 0.07% to 1,785.34

Economic Calendar for Today

·     9:45 AM EST      Markit Composite Flash PMI for November

·     9:45 AM EST      Markit Manufacturing Services, PMI for Nov

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: KFY, WMG

·     Earnings After the Close: A, AMBA, ARWR, CBT, CENT, ENTA, IWSY, MNR, NTNX, TWST, URBN

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Carnival (CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH), Royal Caribbean (RCL) likely active after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has escalated its warning for cruise travel to the highest level and continued to recommend avoiding any trips on cruise ships worldwide

·     Darden (DRI) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird and Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral and raised tgts to $132 and $84 respectively

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Europe’s aviation safety regulator will probably approve the return of Boeing’s (BA) 737 Max in January, while Barron’s was cautious saying that Boeing’s stock could remain grounded despite the recertification of Max

·     Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) has acquired 5-D Systems (DST), a CMMI Level 3 Systems and Software Engineering company

Financials

·     Aon (AON) announces additional $5B share repurchase program

·     Card fraud losses worldwide touched $27.85B in 2018 (vs. $23.97B in 2017) and are projected to rise to $35.67B in five years and $40.63B in 10 years, according to The Nilson Report

·     Citizens Financial (CFG), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), Synovus Financial (SNV) and Truist Financial (TFC) mentioned positively in Barron’s this weekend saying despite their gains in November, these five regional bank stocks are still cheap, with stocks down year-to-date

·     CoStar Group (CSGP) agrees to acquire Homesnap Inc. for $250M in cash, marking its first major step into the residential data business.

·     Leju (LEJU) Q3 Non-GAAP EPADS of $0.11 in-line; GAAP EPADS of $0.08 misses by $0.01; revenue of $209.4M (+12.9% Y/Y) misses by $8.3M

·     Simon Property (SPG) mentioned positively in Barron’s saying with coronavirus cases soaring, retailers suffering, and local officials slowing or halting business re-openings across the U.S., it might seem like an odd time to invest in luxury shopping malls, but says Simon might come through the pandemic in surprisingly good shape and its stocks I deeply discounted and is trading at about half the valuation of other mall real-estate investment trusts

Healthcare

·     AstraZeneca (AZN) and the University of Oxford have released an interim analysis of their clinical trials. One regimen, given to some 2,700 people, showed an effectiveness of 90% when trial participants received a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart. The other dosing regimen, given to nearly 9,000 people, showed 62% efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. The combined analysis from both dosing regimens found average vaccine effectiveness of 70%

·     CytoDyn (CYDY) has reached enrollment of 293 patients in its Phase 3 trial for COVID-19 patients with severe-to-critical symptoms, thereby meeting requested criteria for a second interim efficacy analysis by the Data Safety Monitoring Committee

·     Eiger BioPharma (EIGR) said the FDA approved its experimental drug Zokinvy for treating Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome and processing-deficient Progeroid Laminopathies (PL), genetic disorders that cause children to age rapidly

·     Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) announced that the antibody cocktail Casirivimab and Imdevimab administered together, a therapy currently being investigated for use in COVID-19, has received Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA

·     U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Friday that his administration is issuing two rules to “very dramatically” lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people, especially for seniors.

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     AT&T (T) CFO John Stephens said the recent developments around HBO Max should expand the service’s attractiveness for both exiting customers and new ones.

·     China’s move to draft rules aimed at preventing monopolistic behavior by internet platforms is “timely and necessary”, says Alibaba Group (BABA) CEO Daniel Zhang

·     Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA) chips are powering the Urumqi Cloud Computing Center in China, which tracks people in a place where government suppresses minorities https://nyti.ms/35VFGJr

·     Huami (HMI) reports Q3 revenue growth of 20% to RMB $2.24B, driven primarily by sales through Xiaomi, principally the new Mi Band 5; total units shipped increased 16.1% Y/Y to 15.9M