The PBR1000 for October: Race for the White House

The October 2020 breaking news items of interest for The PBR1000 follow with the most current date first.

***Friday, October 30

The PBRMarketTools US Stock Exchanges Recap for October and Week 44 of 2020 ending 10/30/20:

DJIA ends October and Week 44 at 26,501.60, -6.47% from last Friday, -4.61% MTD/QTD, -7.14% YTD, -10.32% from record 29,551.42 set 02/12/20.

NASDAQ ends October and Week 44 at 10,911.59, -5.51% from last Friday, -2.29% MTD/QTD, +21.61% YTD, -9.50% from record 12,056.44 set 09/02/20.

SPX ends October and Week 44 at 3,269.96, -5.64% from last Friday, -2.77% MTD/QTD, +1.21% YTD, -8.68% from record 3,580.84 set 09/02/20.

The October and Week 44 of 2020 News Summary: The Coronavirus Pandemic was the top news item this week as cases in Europe and the US experienced an increased rate of infection. Here are the latest tallies: As of today at 2:24PM Eastern US the John Hopkins University CSSE unit says there are now 45,426,839 confirmed cases globally with 1,186,425 deaths, an increase of 45,472, which is +5,931 from last Friday. For the US it’s 9,018,524 confirmed cases and 229,356 deaths, an increase of 5,628, which is +306 from last Friday. The increases in Europe have led Germany and France to impose some lockdowns, this appears to be a second wave of the virus, and there is some evidence now that once a person has had the virus it does not necessarukt give them immunity in the future. Several vaccines are still in Phase 3 trials and results should be available in the next week or so. In the US testing is becoming more available, results quicker and more affordable as some of the major pharmaceutical chains gear up to provide that service. For international trade news everything seems to be on pause because of the pandemic and the anticipation of the US general elections. US economic news continues to show improvement, with a big rebound in the Gross Domestic Product. Initial jobless claims continue to lessen, manufacturing continues to rise, retail is up, but cruise lines continue to have to cancel cruises. The hospitality industries continue to struggle as they attempt to re-open. The holiday season is looking good as people have adjusted their buying habits to doing more shopping online in great numbers. It was a big week for corporate earnings. Results were mixed to moderate, but generally companies seem to have adjusted to the current environment. Many experts have said a new stimulus program is needed, but Congress and the White House have not been able to reach an agreement on a bill to do that. There might be some action after election results are in. The southern part of the US was again pounded by another storm, Hurricane Zeta, which could have some economic impact as well. The US general elections are now front and center. Mail in ballots are at record numbers, at last count representing well over half the total votes cast in the 2016 elections. Former VP Biden continues to pound away at President Trump’s management style and handling of the pandemic while President Trump points to VP Biden’s 47 years in politics without really accomplishing much. The Senate did confirm Amy Coney Barrett as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court and she has officially been installed. Democrats continue to argue that it was a rushed process that should have waited until after the election. Citizens continue to be pounded with political ads in hopes of swaying those few who are still undecided. The polls continue to show Biden a few points ahead of Trump. Election day is next Tuesday, November 3rd, but the final results could take several days, perhaps even weeks, to determine the victor. The Stock Market Bear, however, was the clear winner in a gruesome bloodbath in Week 44, appropriate for Halloween week. The victory was so complete that it wiped out the gains of The Stock Market Bull during the month, so The Stock Market Bear gets October as well. The Year-to-Date results are now mixed. In sports news, The LA Dodgers take the World Series over The Tampa Bay Rays in 6 games. If you haven’t already, remember to vote, then sit back, munch on the leftover Halloween treats, and see how long the fireworks show will last!

The Week 44 of 2020 tally YTD is:
The Stock Market Bull: 21 weeks
The Stock Market Bear: 18 weeks
Mixed Results: 5 weeks

The October 2020 tally YTD is:
The Stock Market Bull: 5 months
The Stock Market Bear: 4 months
Mixed Results: 1 months

Apple(PBR4 $AAPL) makes available its new Apple One bundled subscription services, starts at $14.95/mo. PR link.

Chevron(PBR16 $CVX) to layoff around 570 from its recent Noble Energy acquisition, to cut around 10-15% of its workforce, around 4,500 to 6,750 jobs, most cuts to take place on 2020. Reuters PR link.

Lowe’s(PBR44 $LOW) to hire 20,000 associates across its US stores and regional distribution centers to support customer demand this holiday season and beyond, in addition is filling permanent full-time and part-time roles at stores and adding 2,500 team members at regional distribution centers nationwide, also commits another $100 million in discretionary bonuses to thank front-line hourly associates, full-time hourly associates will receive $300, and part-time and seasonal associates will receive $150. PR link.

Pfizer(PBR62 $PFE) gets US Federal Trade Commission clearance for its Upjohn division to merge with Mylan(PBR271 $MYL), combined company to become Viatris, to close on 11/16/20. PR link.

Marriott Intl(PBR151 $MAR) investigation of the Starwood reservations database incident reported by Marriott in November 2018 by the UK Information Commmissioners Office is completed, MAR to pay around a $25 million fine, admits no liability, Starwood reservations system has been shut down. PR link.

Waste Management(PBR203 $WM) completes $30.30/share, total enterprise value of $4.6 billion acquisition of Advanced Disposal. PR link.

Regeneron(PBR384 $REGN) receives a recommendation from the independent data monitoring committee (IDMC) for the REGN-COV2 antibody cocktail treatment trials for COVID-19 that the current hospitalized patients requiring high-flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation be placed on hold pending collection and analysis of further data on patients already enrolled, also recommends continuing enrollment of hospitalized patients requiring either no or low-flow oxygen as the risk/benefit remains acceptable in these cohorts, recommends continuation of the outpatient trial without modification. PR link.

Spirit AeroSystems(PBR385 $SPR) completes $865 million acquisition of select assets of Bombardier aerostructures and aftermarket services businesses in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Casablanca, Morocco; and Dallas, US. PR link.

Under Armour(PBR520 $UA) to sell its 200+ million users MyFitnessPal platform to Francisco Partners for $345 million, to close in 4Q20. PR link.

Twitter(PBR675 $TWTR) average monetizable daily active usage reached 187 million users in 3Q20, up 29% year over year, 2Q20 was at 186 million. PR link.

Hologic(PBR683 $HOLX) awarded a $119 million contract from the US government to expand its production capacity for COVID-19 molecular tests, will support capital and labor investments enabling Hologic to provide 13 million COVID-19 tests per month for the US market by January 2022. PR link.

SM Energy(PBR951 $SM) President/CEO Jay Ottoson to retire on 11/02/20, President/COO Herbert Vogel is successor as planned. PR link.

The US Dept of the Treasury says the 10/26/20 National Debt-Public is at $21.1 trillion, Intragovernmental $6.1 trillion, Total National Debt $27.2 trillion, 09/30/20 was at $27.0 trillion, 08/31/20 $26.7 trillion, 10/31/19 $23.0 trillion. PR link.

The US Dept of the Treasury says the 10/30/20 US 10 Year Treasury Note Yield is at 0.88%, 09/30/20 was at 0.69%, 08/31/20 0.72%, 10/31/19 1.69%. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/BEA says the Preliminary September 2020 US Personal Income Annual Rate is at $19.8 trillion, August 2020 was at $19.6 trillion, July 2020 $20.1 trillion, September 2019 $18.7 trillion. More data at the PR link.

The U of Michigan Final October 2020 Consumer Sentiment Index is at 81.8, September 2020 was at 80.4, August 2020 74.1, October 2019 95.5. “… renewed optimism now requires progress against the coronavirus and mitigating its uneven impact on families, firms, and local governments.” PR link.

The American Automobile Assn says the 10/30/20 US Average Price of Regular Gas/Gallon is at $2.142, 09/30/20 was at $2.188, 08/31/20 $2.233, 10/31/19 $2.614. PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says the Preliminary September 2020 US 7th District Midwest Economy Index is at +4.30, August 2020 was at +1.55, July 2020 -3.58, September 2019 -0.48. “Contributions to the September MEI from all four broad sectors of nonfarm business activity and all five Seventh Federal Reserve District states increased from August.” PR link.

The MNI October 2020 Chicago Business Barometer(>50 gaining) is at 61.1, September 2020 was at 62.4, August 2020 51.2, September 2019 47.1. “… marks the fourth consecutive reading above the 50-mark after sitting below it for a year.” PR link.

***Thursday, October 29

ExxonMobil(PBR3 $XOM) to reduce staffing levels in the US, primarily at its management offices in Houston, TX, anticipates approximately 1,900 employees will be affected through voluntary and involuntary programs, result of COVID-19 impact. PR link.

Comcast(PBR28 $CMCSA) in 3Q20 had 556,000 net additions, now has 32.7 million total customers. PR link.

Target(PBR36 $TGT) launches its “Black Friday Now” campaign, series of weekly deals through November. PR link.

AFLAC(PBR141 $AFL) and medical insurance for cats and dogs provider Trupanion(Nasdaq: TRUP) enter into an exclusive alliance agreement to sell pet insurance in worksites across the US. PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR153 $CCL)’s AIDA Cruises pauses its cruises for November because of Germany implementing new measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic, which AIDA Cruises fully supports. PR link.

Netflix(PBR158 $NFLX) keeps basic plan at $9/month, raising prices today on its standard plan from $13 to $14/month, and the premium plan from $16 to $18/month. The Verge PR link.

Ralph Lauren(PBR462 $RL) to transition its Chaps brand to a fully licensed business model, has entered into a multi-year licensing partnership, taking effect on 08/01/21 after a transition period, with an affiliate of 5 Star Apparel LLC, a division of the OVED Group, to manufacture, market and distribute Chaps menswear and womenswear. PR link.

Alliance Data(PBR493 $ADS) to acquire Bread, a tech-driven digital payments company with an omnichannel solution for retailers and platform capabilities to banks, for around $450 million, approximately $100 million is ADS common stock, to close in 4Q20. PR link.

Tempur Sealy(PBR726 $TPX) in 3Q20 report increases share repurchase program by around $170 million to $300 million, to initiate a quarterly dividend in early 2021, and authorizes a 4:1 stock split to occur in 4Q20. PR link.

Marvell Technology(PBR795 $MRVL) to acquire Santa Clara, CA-based $366 million in revenues in 2019 high-speed data interconnect platform developer Inphi Corporation (NASDAQ: IPHI) for $66/share cash plus 2.323 shares of the combined company for each Inphi share, around $10 billion, will create a $40 billion enterprise company, to close by 2H21. PR link.

WW(PBR973 $WW) in 3Q20 report says it increased its subscriber base to 4.7 million, up from 4.4 million at end of 3Q19, includes 3.8 million digital subscribers and 0.9 million Studio + Digital subscribers. PR link.

Starbucks(PBR108 $SBUX) Chairman Emeritus Howard Schultz interviewed in an episode of Talks at GS. PR link.

FirstEnergy(PBR282 $FE) CEO Charles Jones and 2 Sr VPs terminated for violating certain FirstEnergy policies and its code of conduct, President Steven E. Strah appointed Acting CEO, effective immediately. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/BEA says the Advance 3Q20 Real Gross Domestic Product Annual Rate is at +33.1%, 2Q20 was at -31.4%, 1Q20 -5.0%, 3Q19 +2.1%; 3Q20 Annual GDP Annual Rate is at $21.2 trillion, 2Q20 was at $19.5 trillion, 1Q20 $21.6 trillion, 3Q19 $21.5 trillion. PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the 10/24/20 4 Week Average Initial Unemployment Claims is at 787,750, 09/19/20 was at 878,250, 08/22/20 1,068,000, 10/26/19 214,750; the 10/17/20 Total Insured 4 Week Moving Average is at 9,053,250, 09/12/20 was at 13,040,750, 08/15/20 15,215,750, 10/19/19 1,686,250. PR link.

FreddieMac says that for Week Ending 10/29/20 the US Average 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rate is at 2.81% with 0.7 points/fees, 09/24/20 was at 2.90%, 08/27/20 2.91%, 10/31/19 3.78%. “Strong purchase demand is helping to lift the construction, manufacturing and transportation industries that build new homes and it is also leading to more consumer spending for owners, who are selling or improving their homes.” PR link.

***Wednesday, October 28

CVS Health(PBR5 $CVS) expands COVID-19 testing services with plans to add nearly 1,000 rapid-result test sites at select CVS Pharmacy locations, available at no cost to patients who meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, may also be available as a testing option for eligible employees or students affiliated with an organization that has adopted CVS Health’s Return Ready™ return-to-work COVID-19 testing solution. PR link.

Kroger(PBR22 $KR) launching rapid antibody testing at its pharmacies, currently available at Ralph’s stores in California, and in Michigan, to be in all pharmacies by end of November, uses blood from a finger prick, takes around 15 minutes, $25 fee, eligible for people who believe they may have previously been infected with COVID-19 and are not currently experiencing symptoms. PR link.

Boeing(PBR40 $BA) CEO letter to employees says still having to respond to issues from coronovirus pandemic, will include employee layoffs, expects to have around 130,000 employees by end of 2021, had 161,000 at end of 2019. PR link.

Eli Lilly(PBR140 $LLY) announces $375 million agreement with US government to supply 300,000 vials of investigational neutralizing antibody bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) in an effort to fight COVID-19, initial agreement is for delivery over the 2 months following a US FDA Emergency Use Authorization and also provides the option for the US government to purchase up to an additional 650,000 vials through 06/30/21, under the same terms as the base agreement and subject to agreement from Lilly, product availability and the medical need in the US. PR link.

Bed Bath & Beyond(PBR276 $BBBY) authorizes up to $675 million share repurchase program over the next 3 years, starts with an accelerated share repurchase of $225 million. PR link.

JCPenney(PBR291 $JCPNQ) has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Brookfield Asset Management, Simon Property(PBR481 $SPG) and a majority of the Company’s DIP and First Lien Lenders, looking to operate under new ownership outside Chapter 11 in advance of the 2020 holiday season. PR link.

Assurant(PBR307 $AIZ) to acquire HYLA Mobile, a leading provider of smartphone software, trade-in and upgrade services, to close by end of 2020, terms not disclosed. PR link.

Regeneron(PBR384 $REGN) announced positive, prospective results from an ongoing Phase 2/3 seamless trial in the COVID-19 outpatient setting showing its investigational antibody cocktail, REGN-COV2, met the primary and key secondary endpoints, significantly reduced viral load and patient medical visits. PR link.

Huntsman(PBR430 $HUN) to sell its India based Do-It-Yourself (DIY) consumer adhesives business, part of the Advanced Materials division, to Pidilite Industries Ltd. in an all-cash transaction valued at up to $285 million. PR link.

Chewy(PBR547 $CHWY) announces a new telehealth service, “Connect With a Vet,” allows pet parents to connect directly with a licensed veterinarian to get answers to most commonly asked questions, receive advice, discuss concerns they might have regarding the health and wellness of their pet, and even get referrals to their local vets or emergency clinics. The vets are not diagnosing medical conditions, providing treatment, or prescribing medications. PR link.

Prologis(PBR690 $PLD) has completed the sale of a portfolio of buildings and land in the UK to real estate funds managed by Blackstone(PBR404 $BX) for $618 million. PR link.

Elanco Animal Health(PBR732 $ELAN) gets US FDA approval for Elura™ (capromorelin oral solution), a new prescription medication to manage weight loss in cats with chronic kidney disease. PR link.

The US Energy Information Administration says the 10/23/20 US Crude Oil Stocks are at 492.4 million barrels, 09/25/20 was at 492.4, 08/21/20 507.8, 10/25/20 438.9. PR link.

The ADP Vitality Report says the 3Q20 US Average Workforce Wage Level is at $30.22/Hour, 2Q20 was at $30.25, 1Q20 $29.18, 3Q19 $28.69. “Though worst of the Covid-19 impact on labor market is in the rearview mirror, the road to recovery looks turbulent and downside risks are mounting.” PR link.

The Mastercard(PBR186) SpendingPulse says US holiday retail sales expected to grow 2.4%(excluding auto and gas sales) this expanded season compared to last year, runs from 10/11/20 to 12/24/20. PR link.

***Tuesday, October 27

Amazon(PBR2 $AMZN) promotes over 35,000 employees across N America operations network in 2020, opens 100,000 new seasonal jobs for the holiday season. PR link.

UPS(PBR43 $UPS) to hire 50,000+ employees at its “UPS Brown Friday” hiring blitz on 10/30/20, part of plan to hire 100,000 for the season. PR link.

T-Mobile US(PBR70 $TMUS) unveils its next-gen TV streaming services — TVision LIVE, VIBE and CHANNELS — and TVision HUB, a new streaming device, available nationwide starting next week, $10/month for entertainment channels or get live sports and news starting at $40/month. PR link.

Alphabet(PBR11 $GOOG)’s Google unit’s Waymo and Daimler Trucks partner on the development of fully autonomous trucks. PR link.

Marriott Intl(PBR151 $MAR) announces new offering to “Work Anywhere with Marriott Bonvoy” as an alternative to working from home for the day, overnight or getaway. PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR153 $CCL) Princess Cruises unit extends pause of operations in Australia and New Zealand through 05/31/21. PR link.

AMD(PBR433 $AMD) to acquire FPGA and Adaptive SoCs innovator and developer Xilinx(PBR717 $XLNX) in all-stock deal for $143/share, around $35 billion, to close by end of 2021. PR link.

AMC Entertainment(PBR503 $AMC) to re-open its San Francisco County, Alameda County and Santa Clara County theatres beginning 10/30/20, will then have around 540 of its 600 theatres open. PR link.

Harley-Davidson(PBR511 $HOG) in 3Q20 report says it has sold 147,000 motorcycles worldwide over 9 months, sold 179,500 in same period last year, remains profitable despite coronavirus concerns. PR link.

Callaway Golf(PBR942 $ELY) to acquire Topgolf Entertainment Group, had revenues of $1.2 billion in 2019, growth of 30% per year since 2017, Callaway already has 14% stake, total TopGolf equity value is $2 billion, to close in early 2021. PR link.

Tapestry(PBR538 $TPR) appoints Interim CEO Joanne Crevoiserat to CEO, effective immediately, had previously served as CFO. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/Census says the Preliminary 3Q20 US Total Housing Units is at 140.9 million, Occupied is at 126.7 million, Owner Occupied is at 85.4 million, Renter Occupied 41.3 million, 3Q20 Homeownership Rate is at 67.4%, 2Q20 was at 67.9%, 3Q19 64.8%. USDOC PR link.

The Conference Board says the Preliminary October 2020 US Consumer Confidence Index(1985=100) is at 100.9, September 2020 was at 101.3, August 2020 86.3, October 2019 126.1. “There is little to suggest that consumers foresee the economy gaining momentum in the final months of 2020, especially with COVID-19 cases on the rise and unemployment still high.” TCB PR link.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller August 2020 US National Home Price Index(01/2000=100) is at 223.97, July 2020 was at 221.63, June 2020 219.87, August 2019 211.88. Case-Shiller PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond says the October 2020 US 5th District Manufacturing Index(Annualized) is at +29%, September 2020 was at +21%, August 2020 +18%, October 2019 +8%. “Manufacturers were optimistic that conditions would continue to improve in the coming months.” RichmondFed PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond says the October 2020 US 5th District Service Sector Revenue Index(Annualized) is at +19%, September 2020 was at +6%, August 2020 was at +2%, October 2019 +24%. “Contacts were optimistic that growth would continue in the next six months.” RichmondFed PR link.

***Monday, October 26

PBRMarketTools profiles Netflix, Inc(NASDAQ: $NFLX), the world’s leading streaming entertainment service with over 195 million paid memberships, ranked 158 by revenues on The PBR1000. More on the NFLX Summary page.

AIG(PBR64 $AIG) to separate its Life & Retirement business into a new company, will remain focused on General Insurance. PR link.

Eli Lilly(PBR140 $LLY) antibody drug fails in a COVID-19 study, US regulators say low chance that the drug would prove helpful for hospitalized patients, government is continuing a separate study testing the antibody drug in mild to moderately ill patients, to try to prevent hospitalization and severe illness. Associated Press PR link.

Charles Schwab(PBR290 $SCHW) is eliminating about 3% of the combined workforces of the Schwab and TD Ameritrade businesses, which accounts for about 1,000 employees. InvestmentNews PR link.

Spirit AeroSystems(PBR385 $SPR) acquisition of select assets of Bombardier aerostructures and aftermarket services businesses in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Casablanca, Morocco; and Dallas, US, has been amended from $1.090 billion to $865 million, to close on 10/30/20. PR link.

JM Smucker(PBR387 $SJM) to sell its 160 employees $270 million in revenues for year ending 04/30/20 Crisco® oils and shortening business to B&G Foods for approximately $550 million cash, SJM to focus on its core growth platforms of pet food, coffee, and snacking. PR link.

Blackstone(PBR404 $BX) REIT to acquire Simply Self Storage, one of the top five private owners of self-storage and operator of a high-quality portfolio totaling 8 million sf across the US, from a Brookfield Asset Management real estate fund for approximately $1.2 billion, to close by end of 2020. PR link.

AIG(PBR64 $AIG) President/Global COO Peter Zaffino to become President/CEO on 03/01/21, current CEO Brian Duperreault will become Executive Chairman, current Independent Chairman Douglas M. Steenland to become Lead Independent Director. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/HUD says the Preliminary September 2020 US New Family Homes Sold/For Sale Annual Rate is at 959,000, August 2020 was at 994,000, July 2020 965,000, September 2019 726,000; September 2020 Median Home Sales Price is at $326,800, August 2020 was at $322,400, July 2020 $329,900, September 2019 $315,700. More at the USDOC PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says the Preliminary September 2020 US National Activity Index is at +0.27, August 2020 was at +1.11, July 2020 +2.61, September 2019 -0.33. “Index suggests slower, but still slightly above-average growth in September.” ChiFed PR link.

***Friday, October 23

The PBRMarketTools US Stock Exchanges Recap for Week 43 of 2020 ending 10/23/20:

DJIA ends Week 43 at 28,335.57, -0.95% from last Friday, +1.99% MTD/QTD, -0.71% YTD, -4.11% from record 29,551.42 set 02/12/20.

NASDAQ ends Week 43 at 11,548.28, -1.06% from last Friday, +3.41% MTD/QTD, +28.71% YTD, -4.21% from record 12,056.44 set 09/02/20.

SPX ends Week 43 at 3,465.39, -0.53% from last Friday, +3.04% MTD/QTD, +7.26% YTD, -3.22% from record 3,580.84 set 09/02/20.

The Week 43 of 2020 News Summary: Predictably, there was a lot of news with most of it being infected by the Coronavirus Pandemic. Here are the latest tallies: As of today at 1:24PM Eastern US the John Hopkins University CSSE unit says there are now 42,020,333 confirmed cases globally with 1,140,953 deaths, an increase of 39,541, which is +2,549 from last Friday. For the US it’s 8,468,802 confirmed cases and 223,730 deaths, an increase of 5,320, which is +270 from last Friday. Testing of several vaccines continues, with some pharmas indicating possible valid studies to be finished from late October to mid-late November. Gilead Sciences received US FDA approval for antiviral drug Veklury® (remdesivir) for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, one of the treatments US President Trump received during his recent bout with the virus. However, the World Health Organization says it does not feel that the drug met its guidelines, and some physicians are voicing concern about the rush to market and speed of the evaluation. There continues to be no real update of US international trade, especially with China, and the UK/European Union Brexit discussions are continuing with no definite results announced. US economic news was generally good, more seasonal hirings have been announced, the weekly initial unemployment claims dropped nicely, those on unemployment dropped by over 1 million. New home construction, existing home sales, and surveys were all on a positive trendline. The US Fed’s Beige Book survey of its 12 districts found moderate growth overall, and The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index was up a little. A new US economic stimulus package continues to be discussed, but there appears to be some political jockeying taking place that has prevented it from becoming a reality. In corporate news the week was active in the energy sector with some key mergers of oil and gas companies announced, and the expectation that there might be more as oil prices remain low and its recovery projected to be at least a few months out. A flood of 3rd quarter earnings reports came out, with mixed results. In US political news the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to recommend Amy Coney Barrett to become the replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Supreme Court, with all Republicans voting “yes” and the Democrats not showing up to vote. The Senate will vote to approve the nomination next week. The most anticipated event of the week was the 2nd and final US Presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden. Bets were placed on how volatile and chaotic this last debate might be compared to the first event, but it actually was a fairly respectable showing, resulting in most political pundits observing that it probably didn’t sway any votes one way or the other. Polls continue to show Joe Biden leading, but with a narrowing gap with less than 2 weeks to go before the November 3rd election date. The US stock markets were less volatile for the week, and was a reversal of Week 42. The Stock Market Bear came out slashing aggressively on Monday, The Stock Market Bull rallied throughout the rest of the week, but, like The Bear last week, came up short, taking a 3-0 loss, ending The Bull’s most recent win streak at 3 weeks. Next week, the last full week before the US general elections, is a big question mark, and in the theme of Halloween, is a little spooky. Predicting the winner of US baseball’s World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, tied 1-1 before tonight’s game, is probably an easier task. Prepare to vote, if you haven’t already!

The Week 43 of 2020 tally YTD is:
The Stock Market Bull: 21 weeks
The Stock Market Bear: 17 weeks
Mixed Results: 5 weeks

Wells Fargo(PBR26 $WFC) abandons plans to cut 401(k) match for high earners, would have eliminated the retirement plan match of up to 6% of salary for employees who make more than $250,000 annually, has 12,000+ financial advisers, follows reports that Wells Fargo is looking for a buyer for its $607 billion asset management unit, which could fetch more than $3 billion and help shore up its balance sheet. InvestmentNews PR link.

Johnson & Johnson(PBR35 $JNJ)’s Janssen unit, along with AstraZeneca, get US FDA okay to resume clinical trials of their COVID-10 vaccine candidates, JNJ preparing to resume recruitment for testing. AP PR link.

UPS(PBR43 $UPS) describes logistics of delivering new Apple(PBR4) products like the iPhone 12 to people and businesses in over 20 countries on 10/23/20. PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR135 $GILD) completes $88.00/share, around $21 billion cash acquisition of next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology for hard to treat cancers developer Immunomedics(NASDAQ: IMMU), is now a non-public wholly owned subsidiary of GILD. PR link.

***Thursday, October 22

Walmart(PBR1 $WMT) has sued the US Dept of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration, asking a federal court to clarify the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists and pharmacies under the Controlled Substances Act. PR link.

Goldman Sachs(PBR87 $GS) has agreed to pay more than $2.9 billion, which includes more than $1 billion to settle charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) bribe scheme. USSEC PR link.

Goldman Sachs(PBR87 $GS) gets fined $154 million by the Federal Reserve Board for failure to maintain appropriate oversight, internal controls, and risk management with respect to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). USFed PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR135 $GILD) gets US FDA approval for antiviral drug Veklury® (remdesivir) for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. PR link.

Uber(PBR224 $UBER) and Lyft(PBR660 $LYFT) told to classify drivers as employees less than two weeks before California votes on the issue. MarketWatch PR link.

Sirius XM Radio(PBR388 $SIRI) 3Q20 report shows net 169,000 net new self-pay subscribers, now has 34.4 million total SiriusXM subscribers at the end of the period. PR link.

Moody’s(PBR550 $MCO) President/CEO Raymond McDaniel, Jr to become Non-Executive Chairman on 01/01/21, COO Robert Fauber will become President/CEO at that time. PR link.

The Natl Assn of Realtors says the Preliminary September 2020 US Existing Home Sales Annual Rate is at 6,540,000 units, August 2020 was at 5,980,000, July 2020 5,860,000, September 2019 5,410,000; September 2020 Median Home Price is at $311,800, August 2020 was at $310,600, July 2020 $304,100, September 2019 $271,500. “There is no shortage of hopeful, potential buyers, but inventory is historically low… To their credit, we have seen some homebuilders move to ramp up supply, but a need for even more production still exists.” More info at the NAR PR link.

The Conference Board says the Preliminary September 2020 US Leading Economic Index(2016=100) is at 107.2, August 2020 was at 106.5, July 2020 105.1, September 2019 111.6. “… the decelerating pace of improvement suggests the US economy could be losing momentum heading into the final quarter of 2020… downside risks to the recovery may be increasing amid rising new cases of COVID-19 and continued labor market weakness.” TCB PR link.

***Wednesday, October 21

ExxonMobil(PBR3 $XOM)‘s Chairman/CEO Darren Woods discusses future of industry and company with employees. PR link.

General Motors(PBR18 $GM) to begin initial production of its all electric 2022 GMC HUMMER EV in late 2021. PR link.

JPMorgan Chase(PBR24 $JPM) to introduce QuickAccept, a service that will allow businesses to take card payments with no fee, and sales will hit their Chase accounts on the same day, major competitors charge 1.5%. CFO PR link.

United Airlines(PBR74 $UAL) trials digital COVID-19 ‘health pass’ to kick-start global travel again. MarketWatch PR link.

Tesla(PBR119 $TSLA) in 3Q20 report now has 5 consecutive profitable quarters, delivered 139,593 vehicles, on track to deliver 500,000 vehicles in 2020. PR link.

AutoNation(PBR148 $AN) has record 3Q20 results, plans to build over 100 AutoNation USA pre-owned vehicle stores, with over 50 completed by the end of 2025, increases share repurchase authorization to $500 million. PR link.

PayPal(PBR175 $PYPL) launches a new service enabling its customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly from their PayPal account, and signaled its plans to significantly increase cryptocurrency’s utility by making it available as a funding source for purchases at its 26 million merchants worldwide, has also been granted a first-of-its-kind conditional Bitlicense by the NY State Dept of Financial Services (NYDFS). PR link.

Avery Dennison(PBR419 $AVY) in 3Q20 report says it has resumed its share repurchase program late in the quarter. PR link.

Avangrid(PBR455 $AGR) to acquire energy holding company PNM Resources(PBR967 $PNM) for $50.30/share, $8.3 billion enterprise value, Avangrid majority shareholder, Iberdrola, has provided the company with a funding commitment letter, to close within 12 months. PR link.

Laureate Education(PBR702 $LAUR) receives superior offer from Ânima Holding for its Brazilian based assets, 11 higher education institutions with 267,000+ students, Ser Educacional offer was $724 million plus 44% stake in Ser. PR link.

Snap(PBR938 $SNAP) in 3Q20 report says revenues increased 52% year-over-year to $679 million, Daily Active Users increased 18% year-over-year to 249 million. PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee releases its Beige Book, for data through October 9, says, “Economic activity continued to increase across all Districts, with the pace of growth characterized as slight to modest in most Districts.” FOMC PR link.

***Tuesday, October 20

The PBR25 Top Buy Stocks has been emailed to Subscribers, with a generous average of a 28% targeted 12 month return from an average of 23 analyst recommendations per stock. More details at ThePBR25 link.

Alphabet(PBR11 $GOOG)’s Google unit gets civil antitrust lawsuit filed against it by the US Dept of Justice and 11 states for unlawfully maintaining a monopoly in general search services and search advertising in violation of the US antitrust laws. USDOJ PR link.

General Motors(PBR18 $GM) to invest $2 billion to transition Spring Hill, TN plant to build electric vehicles, including Cadillac LYRIQ, additional investments at five Michigan plants planned for future crossover, pickup and Cruise AV production. PR link.

Intel(PBR45 $INTC) selling its NAND memory and storage business, which includes the NAND SSD business, the NAND component and wafer business, and the Dalian NAND memory manufacturing facility in China, to S Korea based SK hynix for $9 billion, 2 stage closing, 1st stage to close in late 2021, 2nd stage in March 2025. PR link.

Goldman Sachs(PBR87 $GS) in agreement with the US Dept of Justice to pay over $2 billion for the bank’s role in Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal, agreement will avoid US criminal conviction, total fines to be around $5 billion. Bloomberg PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR135 $GILD) says not enough data is available from study of its Veklury® (remdesivir) COVID-19 trials to make a conclusive statement, is concerned about preliminary World Health Organization report indicating Veklury is not proving to be effective. PR link.

Netflix(PBR158 $NFLX) issues 3Q20 report, says had 2.2 million net new subscriber adds vs 6.8 million in 3Q19, primarily due to 1H20 results and pull-forward effect, has 195.15 million subscribers, forecasting 201.15 million by end of 2020. PR link.

Kohl’s(PBR159 $KSS) announces a new private label, specialty athleisure brand, FLX, available in select stores and online at Kohls.com beginning March 2021. PR link.

MGM Resorts(PBR241 $MGM) after 8 months of Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns will return seven shows to stages at MGM Grand, Luxor and Excalibur beginning November 6, seating initially limited to 250 people. PR link.

JCPenney(PBR291 $JCPNQ) files a draft asset purchase agreement to sell JCPenney, retail and operating assets to be sold to Brookfield Asset Management and Simon Property(PBR481 $SPG), plan is to close prior to holiday shopping season. PR link.

Pioneer Natural Resources(PBR479 $PXD) to acquire Parsley Energy(PBR904 $PE) for $4.5 billion in all-stock deal, a 7.9% premium from the Parsley 10/19/20 closing stock price, total value with Parsley debt is $7.6 billion, to close in 1Q21. PR link.

AMC Entertainment(PBR503 $AMC) to sell up to 15,000,000 shares of Class A common stock to raise cash for general corporate purposes. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/HUD says the Preliminary September 2020 US Private Housing Building Permits Issued Annual Rate is at 1,553,000, August 2020 was at 1,476,000, July 2020 1,483,000, September 2019 1,473,000. USDOC PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia says the October 2020 US 3rd District Nonmanufacturing Current General Activity Index is at +16.0, September 2020 was at +8.0, August 2020 +1.6, October 2019 +12.2. “Respondents expect overall improvement in conditions over the next six months.” PhillyFed PR link.

***Monday, October 19

CVS Health(PBR5 $CVS) to hire 15,000 across the US in 4Q20, 10,000+ are for full- and part-time licensed pharmacy technicians at CVS Pharmacy locations, is incremental to the accelerated recruiting effort announced in March to hire 50,000 in support of the response to the pandemic. PR link.

Target(PBR36 $TGT) is awarding 350,000+ frontline team members another $200 bonus by early November, will go to all eligible hourly team members in stores and distribution centers—including seasonal hires—plus hourly team members who support Target’s guest and team member contact centers, is 4th bonus program in 2020, now also providing permanent minimum starting wage of $15/hour. PR link.

Albertsons(PBR55 $ACI) piloting PickUp temperature-controlled lockers in select Chicago Jewel-Osco and Bay Area Safeway stores as the newest easy fulfillment option for e-Commerce orders made through the company’s websites and apps. PR link.

ConocoPhillips(PBR86 $COP) to acquire Concho Resources(PBR572 $CXO) in an all-stock transaction valued at $9.7 billion, will be the largest independent oil and gas company, with pro forma production of over 1.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and a combined resource base of approximately 23 billion barrels of oil equivalent with a less than $40 per barrel WTI cost of supply and an average cost of supply below $30 per barrel WTI, to close in 1Q21. PR link.

Sirius XM Radio(PBR388 $SIRI) completes $265 million cash plus up to $60 million based on milestones achieved acquisition of pioneer in podcast production, distribution, and ad sales company Stitcher from E W Scripps (NASDAQ: SSP). PR link.

AMC Entertainment(PBR503 $AMC) to resume operations in several theatres in New York state on 10/23/20, expects to have 530+ of its 600 total locations open in 44 of 45 states by end of month. PR link.

Juniper Networks(PBR589 $JNPR) to acquire WAN connectivity solutions provider 128 Technology for $450 million, to close in 4Q20. PR link.

The Natl Assn of Home Builders/Wells Fargo says the Preliminary October 2020 US Housing Market Sales Conditions Index is at 85, September 2020 was at 83, August 2020 84, October 2019 71. “… builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes increased two points to 85 in October, further surpassing the previous all-time high of 83 recorded in September… Buyer traffic remains high and record-low interest rates are keeping demand strong as the concept of ‘home’ has taken on renewed importance for work, study and other purposes during and after the virus-induced downturn. However, it is becoming increasingly challenging to build affordable homes as shortages of lots, labor, lumber and other key building materials are lengthening construction times.” PR link.

***Friday, October 16

The PBRMarketTools US Stock Exchanges Recap for Week 42 of 2020 ending 10/16/20:

DJIA ends Week 42 at 28,606.31, +0.07% from last Friday, +2.97% MTD/QTD, +0.24% YTD, -3.20% from record 29,551.42 set 02/12/20.

NASDAQ ends Week 42 at 11,671.56, +0.79% from last Friday, +4.51% MTD/QTD, +30.08% YTD, -3.19% from record 12,056.44 set 09/02/20.

SPX ends Week 42 at 3,483.81, +0.19% from last Friday, +3.59% MTD/QTD, +7.83% YTD, -2.71% from record 3,580.84 set 09/02/20.

The Week 42 of 2020 News Summary: As usual, let’s start with the Coronavirus Pandemic tallies update. As of today at 2:23PM Eastern US the John Hopkins University CSSE unit says there is now 39,160,871 confirmed cases globally with 1,101,412 deaths, an increase of 36,992, -2,074 from last Friday. For the US it’s 8,032,805 confirmed cases and 218,410 deaths, an increase of 5,050, +210 from last Friday. Eli Lilly has suspended its COVID-19 Phase 3 study because of a patient situation, but could resume after some analysis is done. The US FDA has authorized a new Abbott Labs COVID-19 antibody test. Finally, Pfizer says it should know if its vaccine is effective by the end of October and could possibly get US FDA Emergency Use Authorization in November. The 2020 US Presidential Election Campaign continues to gain attention. President Trump says he has recovered from his bout with COVID-19, is testing negative, and has returned to the campaign trail and was featured at a Town Hall meeting in Florida on Thursday night while rival former VP Joe Biden was in Philadelphia for a Town Hall meeting there at the same time. They were originally scheduled for a debate but President Trump would not agree to a “Virtual” gathering and former VP Biden would not agree to the original in person event. A final debate is scheduled for Thursday, October 22, and both are expected to attend. Polls continue to show a close race with a widening edge for former VP Biden. Expect intense firefights in the coming weeks with potential “nuclear” arsenals dropped in the last few days before the November 3 voting day. On Monday through Thursday a lot of attention was focused on the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Hearings on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett as Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court to take a seat vacated by the recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Receiving the highest evaluation possible from the American Bar Association, and highly acclaimed as an attorney, law professor, and 7th District Court Judge, by peers and students, she nevertheless was surrounded by controversies because of the timing of the nomination during a US Presidential election, and concerns that her “Originalist” and “Textualist” judicial philosophies might result in the overturn of the Affordable Care Act(aka ObamaCare), Roe vs. Wade abortion rights decisions, and be a conflict if the election has to be decided by the Court. The Committee votes on her nomination on October 22, since there is a Republican majority she is expected to be approved in a party line vote, and then will have to be approved by the full Senate, probably the week after. It has been an interesting civics lesson with sharp and impassioned arguments presented by both sides. There is not much to report on international news. There has been little mention of US/China trade negotiations. The UK and European Union continue to struggle with coming up with an acceptable trade agreement. Back in the US there are no new hurricanes threatening, but wildfires continue to create problems in the West. US economic news was more positive than negative for the week. Initial jobless claims went up more than expected, the Federal Reserve said the 2020 fiscal year budget deficit exceeded $3.1 trillion, compared to just under $1 trillion in fiscal year 2019, thanks to the stimulus packages enacted because of COVID-19 impacts. Manufacturing was up, retail was up, a key consumer survey continues to increase as well, but still not at levels a year ago. Discussions on a new stimulus bill continues, but is hard to assess what the real progress is at this point, and most experts now say nothing will happen until after the election. The Stock Market Bull charged into the pasture on Monday, but pretty much decided to lay down the rest of the week. The Stock Market Bear tried to take advantage, but fell just short at the final bell on Friday. The Stock Market Bull gets a narrow 3-0 sweep in Week 42, the third week in a row. Halloween is almost here, it’s getting a little scary at times, enjoy the ride!

The Week 42 of 2020 tally YTD is:
The Stock Market Bull: 21 weeks
The Stock Market Bear: 16 weeks
Mixed Results: 5 weeks

Amazon(PBR2 $AMZN) to open a new fulfillment centers in Kansas City, KS, and Park City, KS, both 1,000,000 sf facilities, to launch in 2021, will create 1,000 new full-time jobs. PR link.

CVS Health(PBR5 $CVS) will be providing COVID-19 vaccinations to long-term care facilities throughout the US when the vaccine becomes available. PR link.

Pfizer(PBR62 $PFE) says effectiveness of its COVID-19 effectiveness could be known by the end of October, earliest it could apply for US FDA Emergency Use Authorization is the 3rd week in November. PR link.

AbbVie(PBR94 $ABBV) gets US FDA Full Approval for VENCLEXTA® (venetoclax) for treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). PR link.

Navistar(PBR274 $NAV) sends letter to TRATON SE to confirm its willingness to acquire Navistar for $44.50/share. PR link.

Hertz(PBR315 $HTZ) has secured commitments for debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing totaling $1.65 billion, has filed for approval of the financing by the US Bankruptcy Court, hearing is set for 10/29/20. PR link.

Frontier Communications(PBR375 $FTRCQ) gets NY Public Service Commission approval for Chapter 11 reorganization, still waiting for some more states, plans to emerge from Chapter 11 in early 2021. PR link.

CIT Group(PBR850 $CIT) and First Citizens BancShares(NASDAQ: FCNCA) will combine in an all-stock merger of equals to create the 19th largest bank in the US based on over $100 billion in assets, First Citizens stockholders to own 61%, CIT Group 39%, will operate under the First Citizens name, NASDAQ: FCNCA, be headquartered in Raleigh, NC, to close in 1H21. PR link.

The US Dept of the Treasury says the September 2020 US Federal Government Receipts are at $373.2 billion, Outlays $497.8 billion, Deficit $124.6 billion; Receipts for Fiscal Year 2020 are $3,420.0 billion, Outlays $6.551.9 billion, FY 2020 Deficit is at $3,131.9 billion, FY 2019 Deficit was at $984.4 billion. PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Board says the Preliminary September 2020 US Industrial Production % of Capacity is at 71.5%, August 2020 was at 72.0%, July 2020 71.6%, September 2019 77.4%. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/Census says the Preliminary August 2020 US Sales-Manufacturers is at $481.3 billion, Retail $484.5 billion, Wholesalers $486.6, Total Sales $1,452.4 billion, July 2020 was at $1,443.5 billion, June 2020 $1,396.2 billion, August 2019 $1,458.5 billion. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/Census says the Advance September 2020 US Retail Sales-Retailers is at $493.7 billion, Food Services & Drinking Places $55.6 billion, Total Retail Sales $549.3 billion, August 2020 was at $539.0 billion, July 2020 $535.9 billion, September 2019 $521.3 billion. PR link.

The U of Michigan Preliminary October 2020 US Consumer Sentiment Index is at 81.2, September 2020 was at 80.4, August 2020 74.1, October 2019 95.5. “Slowing employment growth, the resurgence in covid-19 infections, and the absence of additional federal relief payments prompted consumers to become more concerned about the current economic conditions. Those concerns were largely offset by continued small gains in economic prospects for the year ahead.” PR link.

***Thursday, October 15

Amazon(PBR2 $AMZN) says that Prime Day was a record-breaking event for small and medium businesses worldwide, with sales surpassing $3.5 billion—an increase of nearly 60% from last year. PR link.

General Motors(PBR18)’s Cruise unit gets a permit from the California DMV to remove the human backup drivers from its self-driving cars, is not the first to receive a permint, but says it’s going to be the first to put it to use on the streets of a major US city, to start by end of 2020. PR link.

Eli Lilly(PBR140 $LLY) to acquire privately held Disarm Therapeutics, creator of a new class of disease-modifying therapeutics for patients with axonal degeneration, for an upfront payment of $135 million, plus up to $1.225 billion in additional future payments for potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones. PR link.

Regeneron(PBR384 $REGN) gets US FDA approval for Inmazeb® (atoltivimab, maftivimab and odesivimab-ebgn) for the treatment of infection caused by Zaire ebolavirus in adult and pediatric patients, including newborns of mothers who have tested positive for the infection. PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the Preliminary September 2020 Import Prices Index Change is at +0.3%, August 2020 was at +1.0%, July 2020 +1.2%, September 2019 +0.1%, Last 12 Months -1.1%; September 2020 Export Prices Index Change is at +0.6%, August 2020 was at +0.5%, July 2020 +1.0%, September 2019 -0.3%, Last 12 Months -1.8%. USDOL PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank of New York says the October 2020 Empire State Manufacturing General Business Conditions Index is at +10.5, September 2020 was at +17.0, August 2020 +3.7, October 2019 +3.3. “… firms remained optimistic that conditions would improve over the next six months, though optimism was somewhat lower than last month.” NYFed PR link.

The US Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia says the October 2020 3rd District Manufacturing General Activity Indicator is at +32.3, September 2020 was at +15.0, August 2020 +17.2, October 2019 +6.8. “Most future indexes increased and continue to reflect optimism among firms about growth over the next six months.” PhillyFed PR link.

***Wednesday, October 14

Pilgrim’s Pride(PBR268) agrees to pay $110.5 million fine per agreement with the US Dept of Justice Antitrust Division in respect to its investigation into the sales of broiler chicken products in the US. PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says Preliminary September 2020 US Producer Price Index Total Monthly Final Demand Change is at +0.4%, August 2020 was at +0.3%, July 2020 +0.6%, September 2019 -0.3%. PR link.

***Tuesday, October 13

Apple(PBR4 $AAPL) introduces iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max with 5G, features the powerful A14 Bionic, all-new design with Ceramic Shield, pro camera system, LiDAR Scanner, and the biggest Super Retina XDR display ever on an iPhone, starts at $999 and $1,099 respectively, trade in and lease options available, pre-orders available in the US and other countries starting 10/16/20. PR link.

Abbott Labs(PBR99 $ABT) gets US FDA Emergency Use Authorization for its AdviseDx SARS-CoV-2 IgM (Immunoglobulin M) lab-based serology test for use on the ARCHITECT® and Alinity™ platforms, demonstrated 99.56% specificity and 95.00% sensitivity for patients tested 15 days after symptom onset. PR link.

Eli Lilly(PBR140 $LLY) government-sponsored clinical trial that is testing a LLY antibody treatment for Covid-19 has been halted, being reviewed, details not provided. NY Times PR link.

Netflix(PBR158 $NFLX) has removed the option for potential subscribers in the US to test the service with a free trial, introducing new ways to try and attract potential subscribers, including posting some educational content on YouTube for free and other forms of content sampling. The Verge PR link.

Stryker Corp(PBR210 $SYK) has extended its $30.75/share cash tender offer, with an equity value of around $4.0 billion, for all outstanding ordinary shares of Wright Medical Group N.V. (NASDAQ: WMGI) from 09/30/20 to 10/28/20. PR link.

Bed Bath & Beyond(PBR276 $BBBY) to sell its non-core assets Christmas Tree Shops retail banner, its institutional Linen Holdings business, and a distribution center located in Florence, NJ, for around $250 million. PR link.

Ascena Retail(PBR501 $ASNAQ) to sell the intellectual property, e-commerce business and other assets of its Justice brand to IHL Group in “Stalking Horse” auction bid. PR link.

Laureate Education(PBR703 $LAUR) to transfer control of Fundaempresa, which manages Laureate’s operations in Honduras – Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC), including the operation of Centro Universitario Tecnológico (CEUTEC), with total student enrollment of around 23,000, to not-for-profit Fundación Nasser, to close in 1H21. PR link.

Allscripts(PBR936 $MDRX) to sell CarePort Health business, which coordinates and transitions patients through different settings of care, to WellSky for $1.35 billion. PR link.

Vista Outdoor(PBR938 $VSTO) completes the Chapter 11 auction bid for certain assets of Remington Outdoor, including ROC’s ammunition manufacturing facility in Lonoke, Arkansas and related intellectual property, including the Remington brand and trademarks, for $81.4 million. PR link.

Six Flags(PBR964 $SIX) to reduce its full-time workforce by approximately 240 employees, or 10%, as part of its transformation productivity initiatives. PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the Preliminary September 2020 Current Average Earnings Per Hour is at $29.47, Average Hours Worked Per Week is at 34.7, Total Average Weekly Earnings are at $1,022.61, August 2020 was at $1,018.97, July 2020 $1,015.51, September 2019 $968.70. PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the September 2020 US Monthly Consumer Price Index is +0.2%, August 2020 was at +0.4%, July 2020 +0.6%, September 2019 +0.1%, the Last 12 Months is at +1.4%. PR link.

CoreLogic says the July 2020 US Housing Mortgages 30 Days or More Delinquent is at +6.6%, June 2020 was at +7.1%, May 2020 +7.3%, July 2019 +3.8%. “Many Americans, particularly millennials, are taking advantage of low rates to either purchase their first home or upgrade their living situations… However, given the unsteadiness of the job market, many homeowners are beginning to feel the compounding pressures of unstable income and debt on personal savings buffers, creating heightened risk of falling behind on their mortgages.” PR link.

***Monday, October 12

Microsoft(PBR17 $MSFT) gets US federal court approval to take control of the large global network Trickbot botnet, run by Russian-speaking criminals, to thwart criminal hackers who might seek to snarl up state and local computer systems used to maintain voter rolls or report on election results.
The Washington Post PR link.

Kroger(PBR22 $KR) launches AI based ChefBot, take photo of 3 items in your refrigerator or pantry, via Twitter tweet the photo, receive back suggested recipes. PR link.

Johnson & Johnson(PBR35 $JNJ)’s Janssen unit termporarilty pauses all dosing for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate clinical trials due to an unexplained illness in a study participant, being reviewed. PR link.

Walt Disney(PBR49 $DIS) announces strategic reorganization, will focus on developing and producing original content for the Company’s streaming services, as well as for legacy platforms, while distribution and commercialization activities will be centralized into a single, global Media and Entertainment Distribution organization, is response to success of Disney+ streaming service. PR link.

Thermo Fisher Scientific(PBR113 $TMO) introduces two new SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests: the Thermo Scientific OmniPATH COVID-19 Total Antibody ELISA test, which has received the US FDA Emergency Use Authorization, and the Thermo Scientific EliA SARS-CoV-2-Sp1 IgG test, available in Europe and awaiting US FDA Emergency Use Authorizaton. PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR153 $CCL) is cancelling the remaining cruises for the six total ships operating from PortMiami and Port Canaveral for November 2020, is also cancelling five cruises scheduled to operate from Sydney, Australia from Jan. 16 – Feb. 8, 2021. PR link.

JCPenney(PBR291 $JCPNQ) starts its holiday shopping season with Cyber Days October 12-14, includes several new national brands. PR link.

Twilio(PBR992 $TWLO) to acquire customer engagement platform provider with 20,000 clients Segment for approximately $3.2 billion in Twilio Class A common stock, to close in 4Q20. PR link.

On Sunday, 10/11/20, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers win their 17th league championship, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, winning over the Miami Heat in their 6th game. LA Lakers PR link.

***Friday, October 9

The PBRMarketTools US Stock Exchanges Recap for Week 41 of 2020 ending 10/09/20:

DJIA ends Week 41 at 28,586.90, +3.27% from last Friday, +2.90% MTD/QTD, +0.17% YTD, -3.26% from record 29,551.42 set 02/12/20.

NASDAQ ends Week 41 at 11,579.94, +4.56% from last Friday, +3.69% MTD/QTD, +29.06% YTD, -3.95% from record 12,056.44 set 09/02/20.

SPX ends Week 41 at 3,477.13, +3.84% from last Friday, +3.39% MTD/QTD, +7.63% YTD, -2.90% from record 3,580.84 set 09/02/20.

The Week 41 of 2020 News Summary: The US General Election is 25 days away, and along with the Coronavirus Pandemic, both are now center stage and affect each other. The Coronavirus Pandemic tallies as of today at 12:23PM Eastern US by the John Hopkins University CSSE unit is now 36,706,213 confirmed cases globally with 1,064,420 deaths, an increase of 39,066 from last Friday, a slight downtick rate from the week before. For the US it’s 7,645,302 confirmed cases and 213,360 deaths, an increase of 4,840, another slight downward trend from last Friday and for several weeks now. The big news was that President Trump, the First Lady, and several White House staff have been diagnosed with the virus, President Trump spent 3 days at Walter Reed Hospital, underwent what are considered to be experimental treatments, and returned to the White House with smile on his face, with praise for the medical staff and treatments, and seemed to have no affect on his observing suggested protocols. It should not be unexpected therefore that the management of the Coronavirus Pandemic has become the primary tool of the Democrats to attack the Republicans for the US General Election to be held 11/03/20. The first US Presidential Debate held on 09/29/20 was contentious and chaotic, very few people felt that it produced any clarity on the issues or changed minds. The US Vice Presidential Debate was certainly more civil, but rather than answer questions directly the candidates focused on their talking points and danced around issues like good well-trained politicians do. Again there was no real constructive solutions or policies mentioned or proposed that would change the minds of very many voters. The complication of President Trump having the virus has put the two remaining US Presidential Debate sessions in jeopardy. We will see how that plays out. Another flashpoint affecting the election is the nomination of highly regarded conservative jurist Amy Coney Barrett to replace the recently deceased beloved articulate liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg as an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. Hearings start next Monday, they are expected to create a lot of dramatics because of the long term effect of decisions from the Court, the controversial speedy process, and there could be some effect on the election. Climate change was one of the unanswered issues as wildfires continue to blaze in the West and another hurricane is set to batter the Gulf Coast. Recent civil unrest as a result of questionable deadly actions by a few law enforcement officials are also one of the playing cards being used by both sides. Currently most polls suggest former Vice President Biden has a lead at this point, but it should be remembered that in 2016 then presidential candidate Trump trailed at this point in time as well. The 25 days will be an interesting ride, don’t forget to carefully read all your social media posts, answer all calls from unknown numbers, and look at the beautiful and ugly pictures of candidates that will fill your mailbox. In international news not much appears to have happened, especially with US/China relations, other than the monthly US trade report showing a dramatic increase in the trade deficit. This takes us to the US economy which continues to show a V shaped recovery, except that the slope of the right side of the V is stretching out more than we all would like. Jobless claims were down a bit again, job openings took a slight dip, manufacturing data was up somewhat, housing numbers look good but there are concerns about sustainability, and wholesale trade is closing in on numbers from a year ago. The Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes from their September meeting and some of presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks gave talks strongly suggesting that there needs to be a new stimulus program from Congress. Talks are on and off, with the Democrats wanting a full stimulus response bill, the Republicans looking for more of a series of piecemeal solutions. There is a lot of posturing and power playing going on to increase the entertainment value of US politics. Of course the US stock markets have their own life, occasionally paying attention to political and economic news. The Stock Market Bull charged out onto the pasture on Monday, but was greatly distracted on Tuesday when President Trump announced that stimulus talks would cease until after the election. The Stock Market Bear took advantage and stocks, especially those in high tech, stumbled broadly. No big damage was done as a result of the Vice Presidential Debate and President Trump relented on his stimulus statement, so The Stock Market Bull returned on Wednesday and viciously stomped on The Stock Market Bear over the remaining three days. Week 41 became one of the best of the year for him. A pandemic, contentious elections, game playing politicians, nervousness about potentially more polarizing civil unrest, an apparent rudderless economy, crazy weather and wildfires, volatile stock markets, it’s all part of living The Great American Dream. Pardon me while I go bury my head in the sand for a few hours!

The Week 41 of 2020 tally YTD is:
The Stock Market Bull: 20 weeks
The Stock Market Bear: 16 weeks
Mixed Results: 5 weeks

Alcoa(PBR297 $AA) will curtail its San Ciprián aluminum smelter in Spain and initiate a collective dismissal that will affect approximately 530 employees, smelter has 228,000 metric tons of annual capacity. PR link.

Fortive(PBR405 $FTV) completes spin-off Industrial Technologies segment, now called Vontier, as a separate public company, trading ast NYSE: VNT. PR link.

Celanese(PBR455 $CE) completes $1.575 billion sale of its 45% equity investment in the Polyplastics joint venture to Daicel Corp. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/Census says the Preliminary August 2020 US Wholesale Sales-Durables is at $238.2 billion, Non-Durables $248.4 billion, Total $486.6 billion, July 2020 was at $479.9 billion, June 2020 $458.1 billion, August 2019 $497.9 billion. USDOC PR link.

***Thursday, October 8

Alphabet(PBR11 $GOOG)’s Waymo unit announces opening of its fully driverless service to the general public in Phoenix. PR link.

Kroger(PBR22 $KR) launches two on-premise kitchens, respectively at stores in Metro Indianapolis, IN and Metro Columbus, OH, developed in partnership with ClusterTruck, a technology start-up that operates delivery-only restaurants, the kitchens will provide a variety of freshly prepared meals on-demand with no service or delivery fees. PR link.

Johnson & Johnson(PBR35 $JNJ)’s Janssen unit gets European Commission approval to provide 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate to EU Member States following approval or authorization from regulators, EU Member States also have the option to secure up to 200 million additional doses. PR link.

Target(PBR36 $TGT) announces an exclusive 70-piece toy collection with FAO Schwarz and largest list of its Bullseye’s Top Toys. PR link.

IBM(PBR38 $IBM) will focus on its open hybrid cloud platform, which represents a $1 trillion market opportunity, will separate its Managed Infrastructure Services unit of its Global Technology Services division into a new public company, spin-off to close by end of 2021. PR link.

Morgan Stanley(PBR59 $MS) will acquire Eaton Vance(PBR947 $EV), a leading provider of advanced investment strategies and wealth management solutions with over $500 billion in assets under management (AUM), for $56.50/share, 50% in cash 50% in stock, for an equity value of approximately $7 billion, to close in 2Q21. PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR134 $GILD) gets procurement deal with the European Commission for its Veklury® (remdesivir), the first antiviral drug proven to be effective for the treatment of COVID-19 in the European Union (EU), Gilead is on track to produce more than 2 million treatment courses of Veklury this year. PR link.

Eli Lilly(PBR139 $LLY) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, agree to facilitate access to future Lilly therapeutic antibodies under development for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, to benefit low- and middle-income countries. PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR153 $CCL) announces reservations are now open for Carnival Celebration, Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship set to debut in November 2022 as part of the company’s 50th birthday. PR link.

Dick’s Sporting Goods(PBR350 $DKS) will hire up to 9,000 associates for the 2020 holiday season, third-annual “National Signing Day” set for 10/14/20. PR link.

AMD(PBR433 $AMD) launches AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Desktop Processors: The Fastest Gaming CPUs in the World. PR link.

GameStop(PBR450 $GME) in multi-year agreement with Microsoft(PBR17 $MSFT) will standardize its back-end and in-store solutions on Dynamics 365, Microsoft’s portfolio of cloud-based business applications and customer data platform, will enable store associates the ability to access omni-channel insights about customer preferences and purchasing history, real time information on product availability, subscriptions, pricing, and promotions. PR link.

AMC Entertainment(PBR503 $AMC) to have 520+ of its 600 locations open by mid-October. PR link.

Tempur Sealy(PBR728 $TPX) is reacquiring the rights and acquiring the assets to manufacture, market, and distribute Sealy and Stearns & Foster branded products in the UK from its current licensee in 50/50 joint venture with its Asian partners. PR link.

***Wednesday, October 7

Citigroup(PBR32 $C) fined $400 million by regulators, agrees to fix ‘longstanding deficiencies,’ including its risk management, data governance and internal controls across the company. Reuters PR link.

Lowe’s(PBR44 $LOW) to distribute another $100 million in discretionary bonuses to US hourly employees in mid-October; full-time associates will receive $300 and part-time and seasonal associates will receive $150, brings the company’s total commitment to associates and communities during the pandemic to more than $775 million. PR link.

Broadcom(PBR132 $AVGO) in agreement with the European Union agrees to suspend all existing agreements containing exclusivity or quasi-exclusivity arrangements and/or leveraging provisions concerning Systems-on-a-Chip (“SoCs”) for TV set-top boxes and Internet modems, and has committed not to enter into new agreements comprising such terms. PR link.

Clorox(PBR435 $CLX) has developed an experimental device to help detect an uptick in illness indicators, including fevers, coughs and sneezes, initial effort is towards classrooms in education settings. PR link.

Coty(PBR562 $COTY) expands Kylie Skin brand in the UK, France, Germany and Australia. PR link.

The US Federal Reserve releases the Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee Meeting of 09/15-16/20. “The staff continued to observe that the uncertainty related to the course of the COVID‑19 pandemic and its associated economic effects was extremely elevated and that the risks to the outlook were still tilted to the downside. Given the apparent resilience of the U.S. economy to the acceleration in the spread of the pandemic during the summer, the staff judged that a significantly more pessimistic economic outcome, which the staff had previously viewed as no less plausible than the baseline forecast and had featured a renewed downturn in economic activity, was now less likely than the baseline forecast.” FOMC PR link.

The US Federal Reserve says the Preliminary August 2020 Consumer Credit Outstanding-Revolving is at $985.3 billion, Non-Revolving $3,159.4 billion, Total $4,144.6 billion, July 2020 was at $4,151.9 billion, June 2020 $4,137.3 billion, August 2019 $4,136.8 billion. USFed PR link.

The FannieMae September 2020 US Home Purchase Sentiment Index is at 81.0, August 2020 was at 77.5, July 2020 74.2, September 2019 91.5. “Going forward, we believe the wild card to be whether enough sellers enter the market to continue to meet the strong homebuying demand. The home purchase market requires the proper mix of home price growth and continued economic recovery to achieve sustainable levels of housing activity.” FannieMae PR link.

***Tuesday, October 6

GE(PBR33 $GE) receives a “Wells notice” from the US SEC regarding issues that relate to the historical premium deficiency testing for GE Capital’s run-off insurance operations, as well as GE’s disclosures relating to such run-off insurance operations; GE disagrees, will respond. PR link.

Boeing(PBR40 $BA) releases annual forecast for the commercial and defense aerospace market, says total market is $8.5 trillion over next 10 years, down from last years’ $8.7 trillion, short term effects from COVID-19 pandemic, but sees long term recovery. PR link.

Cisco(PBR62 CSCO) is ordered to pay up to $3.3 billion in damages in a patent infringement case filed by security softward company Centripetal Networks, involves 4 patents, fine is $1.9 billion plus royalty payments, Cisco plans to appeal. Barron’s PR link.

Carnival Corp(PBR153 $CCL)’s Seabourn ultra-luxury resort at sea sailings cancelled for 3 cruise ships into Spring 2021, offers guests 125% Future Cruise Credit or full refund. PR link.

Lithia Motors(PBR245 $LAD) acquires Latham Ford in Albany, NY, will add $55 million in annual revenues. PR link.

Group 1 Automotive(PBR254 $GPI) authorizes new $200 million share repurchase program, will resume providing quarterly dividends. PR link.

Charles Schwab(PBR290 $SCHW) completes around $26 billion all stock acquisition of TD Ameritrade(PBR471 $AMTD), combined company has about $6 trillion in client assets across 28 million brokerage accounts. PR link.

Williams-Sonoma(PBR473 $WSM) to close US stores on Thanksgiving Day. PR link.

Skechers(PBR523 $SKX) says footwear donations have exceeded 16 million over nearly a decade, recent donations have gone to victims of California & Oregon wildfires, Hurricane Laura in Louisiana, and the Beirut, Lebanon, port explosion. PR link.

Alexion Pharmaceutical(PBR536 $ALXN) says it expects to return around $3 billion to shareholders through 2023 with share repurchase program. PR link.

Hologic(PBR683 $HOLX) gets amended Emergency Use Authorization from the US FDA to use its Aptima® SARS-CoV-2 assay for testing of individuals without symptoms or other reasons to suspect COVID-19 infection. PR link.

Steris(PBR742 $STE) to acquire global consumable products serving hospitals and surgical facilities provider Key Surgical, a portfolio company of Water Street Healthcare Partners, LLC, for $850 million, Key Surgical doing around $170 million in revenues with adjusted EBIT of $50 million in 2020. PR link.

GoPro(PBR990 $GPRO) strong HERO9 Black sales accelerate GoPro subscriber count past 500,000, target is 600,000 to 700,000 paid subscribers by year-end. PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the Preliminary August 2020 Job Openings-Private are at 5,637,000, Government 857,000, Total 6,494,000, July 2020 was at 6,697,000, June 2020 6,001,000, August 2019 7,167,000. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/Census says the Preliminary August 2020 US Exports-Goods are at $119.1 billion, Services $52.8 billion, Total Exports $171.9 billion; August 2020 US Imports-Goods are at $203.0 billion, Services $36.1 billion, Total Imports $239.1; August 2020 Deficit is at $67.2 billion; Total Imports YTD(8 months) is at $1,390.4 billion, Total Exports YTD $1,812.3 billion, Total Deficit YTD $421.9 billion, Total Deficit YTD 2019 was at $399.0. USDOC PR link.

The PurdueU/CME Group September 2020 US Ag Economy Barometer Composite Index is at 156, August 2020 was at 144, July 2020 118, September 2019 121. “The improvement in the barometer and its two primary sub-indices occurred against the backdrop of USDA’s September 18th nnouncement of the second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) payments for U.S. agricultural producers.” PurdueU/CME Group PR link.

***Monday, October 5

ExxonMobil(PBR3 $XOM) per extensive global review anticipates that up to 1,600 positions would be impacted by the end of 2021 across the company’s affiliates in Europe to improve cost competitiveness. PR link.

Chevron(PBR16 $CVX) completes its $10.38/share, around $5 billion acquisition of Noble Energy(PBR590 $NBL). PR link.

Facebook(PBR47 $FB) responds to a Netflix(PBR158 $NFLX) documentary with a 7 point response called “What ‘The Social Dilemma’ Gets Wrong.” PR link.

Caterpillar(PBR60 $CAT) to acquire the Oil & Gas Division (“Weir Oil & Gas”) of the Weir Group PLC, a Scotland-based global engineering business, for $405 million cash, includes more than 40 Weir Oil & Gas manufacturing and services locations and approximately 2,000 employees. PR link.

3M(PBR98 $MMM) expands actions globally to fight COVID fraud, counterfeiting and price-gouging, says it has not, and will not, increase the prices of its respirators as a result of the pandemic. PR link.

Bristol-Myers Squibb(PBR108 $BMY) to acquire MyoKardia(Nasdaq: $MYOK), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing targeted therapies for the treatment of serious cardiovascular diseases, for $13.1 billion, or $225.00 per share in cash, to close in 4Q20. PR link.

NVIDIA(PBR285 $NVDA) and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical‘s AI lab in London to partner for discovery of medicines and vaccines. PR link.

Targa Resources(PBR352 $TRGP) authorizes up to $500 share repurchase program. PR link.

Norwegian Cruise Lines(PBR451 $NCLH) extends suspension of all cruises with embarkation dates from 11/01/02 through 11/30/20. PR link.

KBR(PBR485 $KBR) completes the around $800 million cash acquisition of 1,750+ employees 22 offices across the US Chantilly, VA-based Centauri, a leading independent provider of high-end space, directed energy and other advanced technology solutions, from private equity firm Arlington Capital. PR link.

The Institute for Supply Management says the September 2020 US Services PMI Index(>50% is expanding) is at 57.8%, August 2020 56.9%, July 2020 58.1%, September 2019 52.6%. “Respondents’ comments remain mostly optimistic about business conditions and the economy, which correlates directly to those businesses that are operating. There continues to be capacity and logistics issues, as business volumes have increased… ” ISM PR link.

IHS Markit says the September 2020 US Composite PMI Output Index is at 54.3, August 2020 was at 54.6, July 2020 50.3, September 2019 51.0. “Sentiment on prospects for the coming year darkened significantly, however, linked to growing worries about virus numbers, uncertainty regarding the presidential election and fears that the economy is susceptible to weakening unless more support measures are put in place soon.” ISM PR link.

***Friday, October 2

The PBRMarketTools US Stock Exchanges Recap for Week 40 of 2020 ending 10/02/20:

DJIA ends Week 40 at 27,682.81, +1.87% from last Friday, -0.36% MTD/QTD, -3.00% YTD, -6.32% from record 29,551.42 set 02/12/20.

NASDAQ ends Week 40 at 11,075.02, +1.48% from last Friday, -0.83% MTD/QTD, +23.43% YTD, -8.14% from record 12,056.44 set 09/02/20.

SPX ends Week 40 at 3,348.42, +1.51% from last Friday, -0.43% MTD/QTD, +3.64% YTD, -6.49% from record 3,580.84 set 09/02/20.

The Week 40 of 2020 News Summary: There was a lot of news in Week 40 with most items continuing to have undertones of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Coronavirus Pandemic tallies as of today at 02:23PM Eastern US by the John Hopkins University CSSE unit is now 34,450,697 confirmed cases globally with 1,025,354 deaths, an increase of 39,563 from last Friday, a slight uptick rate from the week before. For the US it’s 7,320,006 confirmed cases and 208,520 deaths, an increase of 4,949, and another slight downward trend from last Friday. There continues to be general optimism that approved vaccines and more accurate, faster and inexpensive tests will become available by the end of the year or early 2021. The handling of the Coronavirus Pandemic was a major issue at the first 2020 US Presidential Debate on Tuesday, with the big news being that both President Trump and 1st Lady Melania both tested positive for the virus Thursday evening, apparently caught from a high level campaign adviser, and they are both showing mild symptoms at this time. In international news the US and China are nowhere closer to a trade deal. The Oracle/Microsoft having a major interest in owning and operating the US version of the popular China based TikTok online app still has to be resolved, the handling, access to data and its security are the major concerns. The US economy still shows signs of recovery but apparently at a slowing rate, is considered out of recession, the 2Q20 Gross Domestic Product estimate was revised down a touch, initial jobless claims and change in employment numbers were good but not great as the unemployment rate dropped to 7.9%, spending was up a tick, as was construction spending. Major airlines are laying off or furloughing tens of thousands, balanced by retail chains announcing tens of thousands of hiring of seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season. Wildfires continue to rage in the West, with no clear end in sight, and will have some economic impact. Sports at the pro level is being played in very different conditions, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the coveted Stanley Cup, some football games are being rescheduled as a result of positive COVID-19 tests on some teams. College sports, especially football and basketball, are still gearing up to start playing across the US. Conservative constitutional originalist leaning Amy Coney Barrett started being introduced to US Senate leaders as she starts the accelerated confirmation process to become a Supreme Court justice, to replace the liberal leaning Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away last week. Some civil unrest continued due to recent deaths of black people at the hands of police, with the most recent development being the rare release of grand jury testimony in the Breonna Taylor accidental shooting death by law enforcement officials. The biggest news item of the week was the first 2020 US Presidential Election Debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. It was a very contentious and chaotic event, resulting in not much clarification of views and actions the candidates plan to take. Next week Vice President Mike Pence and Vice President candidate Kamala Harris will have their opportunity, hopefully with a lot less stress for viewers and listeners and with more clarity provided. For the major US stock exchanges The Stock Market Bull had a clear advantage for the week, especially after losing September big time, but on Friday The Stock Market Bear had his opportunity with the news of President Trump testing positive for COVID-19. It was not nearly enough to make up for the previous days, but sets an uncertain stage for next week. The Stock Market Bull prevails in Week 40 with a 3-0 win, and continues to lead the weekly tally year-to-date. Stay well, calm, cool and collected as next week unfolds with more potentially nerve-wracking news.

The Week 40 of 2020 tally YTD is:
The Stock Market Bull: 19 weeks
The Stock Market Bear: 16 weeks
Mixed Results: 5 weeks

Walmart(PBR1 $WMT) is selling a majority interest in its UK Asda business to Issa brothers, founders and co-CEOs of UK based EG Group, global convenience and forecourts retailers with over 6,000 locations, and UK based private equity firm TDR Capital, for around $8.7 billion, to close in 1H21. PR link.

Bristol-Myers Squibb(PBR108 $BMY) gets US FDA approval for Opdivo® (nivolumab) + Yervoy® (ipilimumab) as the first and only immunotherapy treatment for previously untreated unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. PR link.

Tesla(PBR118 $TSLA) says in 3Q20 it produced 16,992 Model S/X, 128,044 Model 3/Y vehicles, for total production of 145,036 Teslas, 3Q20 financials to be released later. PR link.

Uber(PBR224 $UBER) gets $500 million investment in Uber Freight, the logistics arm of Uber, from an investor group led by Greenbriar, valuing the unit at $3.3 billion with Uber maintaining majority ownership in Uber Freight. PR link.

LabCorp(PBR262 $LH) is the first commercial laboratory to receive an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US FDA for a new, high-throughput method that uses heat and technology to extract RNA from samples collected for COVID-19 molecular testing. PR link.

Noble Energy(PBR590 $NBL) shareholders approve $10.38/share, around $5 billion acquisition by Chevron(PBR15), to close in early 4Q20. PR link.

E*Trade(PBR770) around $13 billion all stock acquisition by Morgan Stanley(PBR60) is completed, will operate as a separate unit in Morgan Stanley, retain the E*Trade name. PR link.

Express(PBR895 $EXPR) gets notice of non-compliance by the NYSE, stock price must be at least $1.00 over last month, has 6 months to correct, Express says it plans to be in compliance, is considering possible reverse stock split and other strategies. PR link.

The US Dept of Labor says the September 2020 US Employed Workforce is at 147,563,000, August 2020 was at 147,288,000, July 2020 143,532,000, September 2019 158,298,000; September 2020 Unemployment Rate is at 7.9%, August 2020 was at 8.4%, July 2020 10.2%, September 2019 3.5%. More details on Table A-1. USDOL PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/Census says the Preliminary August 2020 US Manufacturing New Orders-Durables is at $233.2 billion, Non-Durables $236.9 billion, Total $470.1 billion, July 2020 was at $466.9 billion, June 2020 $438.3 billion, August 2019 $499.6 billion. USDOC PR link.

The U of Michigan Final September 2020 US Consumer Sentiment Index is at 80.4, August 2020 was at 74.1, July 2020 72.5, September 2019 93.2. “… the data indicate that lower income households face continued income and job losses compared with the modest gains expected by upper income households. Without a renewed federal stimulus and enhanced unemployment payments, the income gap will widen. The economy will benefit from the increasing pace of spending among households with incomes in the top third.” UMichigan PR link.

***Thursday, October 1

Amazon(PBR2 $AMZN) provides COVID-19 update, has done 1,372,000 tests of frontline employees from 03/01/20 to 09/19/20, 19,816 had positive results or been presumed positive, 42% lower than expected number. PR link.

Alphabet(PBR11 $GOOG)’s Google unit making an initial $1 billion investment in partnerships with news publishers, has signed nearly 200 leading publications across Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the U.K. and Australia. PR link.

Johnson & Johnson(PBR35 $JNJ)’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit completes $6.5 billion cash acquisition of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, discovers and develops novel therapies for immune-mediated diseases. PR link.

Boeing(PBR40 $BA) to consolidate production of 787 jets at its facility in North Charleston, SC, starting in mid-2021, per impact of COVID-19. PR link.

Gilead Sciences(PBR134 $GILD) is making significant investments to increase internal manufacturing capacity, expand contract manufacturing network and implement process improvements of investigational antiviral drug Veklury® (remdesivir), is taking over US distribution from the US government on 10/01/20. PR link.

Occidental Petroleum(PBR149 $OXY) to sell its onshore assets in Columbia to The Carlyle Group(PBR681) for $825 million, to close in 4Q20. PR link.

JetBlue(PBR376 $JBLU) to get $1.14 billion in loans until 03/26/21 from the US Treasury as part of the CARES Act, has made a draw of $115 million, issued warrants at $9.50 for the US Treasury. PR link.

Devon Energy(PBR458 $DVN) completes its up to $850 million sale of its Barnett Shale unit to Banpu Kalnin Ventures. PR link.

ServiceMaster(PBR886 $SERV) completes sale of franchise business segment for $1.553 billion, ServiceMaster Global Holdings changes name to Terminix Global Holdings, to begin trading under NYSE ticker ‘TMX’ effective 10/05/20, authorizes 3 year $400 million share repurchase program. PR link.

Ford(PBR12 $F) new President/CEO is Jim Farley, succeeds Jim Hackett, is 11th CEO in 117 year history. PR link.

Verso Corp(PBR830 $VRS) President/CEO Adam St John has resigned from his roles and the Board effective 09/30/20, Board member Randy Nebel named to also be Interim President/CEO during search. PR link.

The US Dept of Commerce/BEA says the Preliminary August 2020 US Personal Income Annual Rate is at $19.493 trillion, July 2020 was at $20.036 trillion, June 2020 $19.944 trillion, August 2019 $18.688 trillion; August 2020 Personal Savings is at $2.435 trillion, July 2020 was at $3.158 trillion, June 2020 $3.322 trillion, August 2019 $1.272 trillion. USDOC PR link. 

The US Dept of Commerce/Census says the Preliminary August 2020 US All Construction Spending Annual Rate-Residential is at $598.6 billion, Non-Residential $814.3 billion, Total $1,412.8 billion, July 2020 was at $1,392.7 billion, June 2020 $1,383.6 billion, August 2019 $1,379.0 billion. USDOC PR link. 

The Institute for Supply Management says the September 2020 US Manufacturing PMI Index(>50% is expanding) is at 55.4%, August 2020 was at 56.0%, July 2020 54.2%, September 2019 47.8%. “Manufacturing performed well in the month with demand, consumption and inputs registering growth indicative of a normal expansion cycle. While certain industry sectors are experiencing difficulties that will continue in the near term, the manufacturing community as a whole has learned to conduct business effectively and deal with the variables imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.” ISM PR link. 

IHS Markit says the September 2020 US Manufacturing PMI Index is at 53.2, August 2020 was at 53.1, July 2020 50.9, September 2019 51.1. “Although firms remained optimistic regarding the outlook for output over the coming year on balance, positive sentiment was weighed down by uncertainty towards the ongoing pandemic and the upcoming election.” ISM PR link. 

***Wednesday, September 30

The PBRMarketTools US Stock Exchanges Recap for September 2020 ending 09/30/20:

DJIA ends September at 27,781.70, +2.24% from last Friday, -2.28% MTD, +7.63% QTD, -2.65% YTD, -5.99% from record 29,551.42 set 02/12/20.

NASDAQ ends September at 11,167.51, +2.33% from last Friday, -5.16% MTD, +11.02% QTD, +24.46% YTD, -7.37% from record 12,056.44 set 09/02/20.

SPX ends September at 3,363.00, +1.96% from last Friday, -3.92% MTD, +8.47% QTD, +4.09% YTD, -6.08% from record 3,580.84 set 09/02/20.

The September 2020 tally YTD is:
The Stock Market Bull: 5 months
The Stock Market Bear: 3 months
Mixed Results: 1 month

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