The FTX Collapse: A Love Story
The FTX collapse and associated mess in the crypto market isn’t the first disaster of its kind. And it won’t be the last. Richard Feynman said “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.” I tell my Inner Circle traders it’s better to be humble than smart. The number-one problem with smart people is they know they’re smart. They’re in love with their own brainpower and can’t question their instincts. Humility makes you question yourself. Take VCs. They are in love with the idea of finding the next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett or Elon Musk or Shopify (SHOP) or Salesforce (CRM) or whatever. And that is their greatest weakness. This mission to find extraordinary opportunities creates blind spots. Which is how they get fooled by fooled by hucksters like Sam Bankman-Fried, Elizabeth Holmes, and Bernie Madoff. When you’re a billionaire that’s financed 10 Silicon Valley unicorns, you never imagine that you could be the victim of a hoax. And there is a lesson for traders here too. Love people, not stocks. Stock traders fall in love with finding the next sexy asset class or the next Apple (AAPL) or Tesla (TSLA). And they never ask themselves “what if I’m wrong?” That turns research and analysis into confirmation bias. Everything you see — even if it’s bad — confirms what you believe. Let me give you an example. Say a semiconductor company reports a massive spike in inventories. The blind bull will say “that’s good because it’s more product to sell.” But if you have an ounce of skepticism, you’ll ask questions like “is demand drying up?” If you never ask tough questions, you will go broke in this bear market. I guarantee it. Confirmation bias wins because humans are determined to be right. That is why FTX will happen again and again for the next 10,000 years. There were TONS of red flags around Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. Like lack of experienced management in a complex, difficult field… including no CFO! There were obvious conflicts of interest with Alameda. And a huge money funnel to Washington. Smart people armed with confirmation bias will make up excuses for anything and everything. “They don’t need a CFO because they’re MIT geniuses.” By the way, you’re about to see the biggest comedy in the world. Some of the biggest crypto players are out there aying “Crypto is still great! It just needs regulation so I’m marching to Washington to get it done!” Up until a week ago, no regulation was the whole point! The scary thing is crypto will get even messier. So remember this kids: be smart, but stay humble!
Continue Reading -->26 Questions With Derrick Oldensmith
Get to know Pro Trader Derrick Oldensmith in this fun interview! *This transcript has been edited for length and clarity Who are you? I’m Derrick Oldensmith and I am a Senior Trader and Registered Principal at T3 Trading Group. How long have you been a trader? I’ve been a trader with T3 for about 12 years. I was a sales trader for a different company before that. And I’ve been involved in markets in one way or another since I was a kid. I bought my first stock when I was about 13 years old. Do you love it? I love what I do. Every day is different, and that’s what gets me excited. I’m looking at the same Excel spreadsheets all day, every day. I’m studying the market. My role is to figure out the next step of this constantly evolving puzzle. What’s the most important personality trait for a trader? The most important personality trait for a trader is to be disciplined. Discipline, first and foremost with your risk management and your money management. A lack of discipline with risk management and money management is the number one reason why traders fail in this business. You also have to be disciplined with the rules that you create for your trading. The only way that you can be a consistently profitable trader is to be consistent in regards to your actions with the market. The only way that you can do that is by having rules in place that you are consistently following. That may sound easy right now, but when you’re in front of the screens, and your P&L is moving, it can be very difficult. What’s the best trade you’ve ever made? One that just comes to mind right away was being long JNUG on the run back up after Covid. It might not be my best trade ever but it’s up tere. It’s a 3X leveraged junior miner gold ETF. I always think it’s funny because for most of my career I’ve disliked the gold miners as trading vehicles and even as investments. Yet here I am involved in a 3X leveraged junior Gold miner ETF in a multi-week swing that turned out to be one of my best trades ever. How do you define success as a trader? That’s a very individual question for each trader based on the goals that they make for themselves. First, you have to have goals. And then success is in achieving those goals and then in the creation of new goals. Those could be goals for profitability, for consistency, or for building an account size. How do you stay up to date with the changing financial markets? I read a lot of news and information. And what I try to avoid as much as possible, which is really hard in this day and age, is other people’s opinions. I want more of the cold, hard facts of the news. And then I take that information into my own brain to try to figure out the next steps. And then of course, you need to have the the technicals confirm that. But this is not a 9 to 5 gig. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in order to be successful in this business. What’s the hardest mistake to avoid while trading? Probably getting in your own head. It goes back to being a disciplined trader and having a disciplined approach. It always sounds very easy on paper that you just have to do the right things consistently over time with your trading. But in practice, it’s so easy for us to get in our own heads. You get shaken out of that one trade right before it works. Or you have a bad P&L day and then it affects your next day of trading. What did you hate most about learning to trade? It’s a tough question, because I love learning, period. The hardest thing about learning, though, is probably the fact that you’re going to take a lot of step backs, right? A lot of this business is, you take two steps forward in your trading, two steps forward in your learning process, just to then have the market environment change, or you take a P&L hit, or a new obstacle gets in your way. And then you’re taking one step back. But sometimes you have to take that one step back in order to learn more and take those next two steps forward. So, I love learning in general, but you’re absolutely going to hit stumbling blocks along the way. Do you beat yourself up after a bad day? Before I can answer, I have to define what a bad day is in trading. I don’t think that a good day or bad day is necessarily P&L based. Obviously, that has something to do with it, right? If you have a big P&L day, up on the upside or on the downside, it’s hard not to feel a degree of emotion about that. But the real thing to be asking yourself when you have that good day or you have a bad day is, “did you do the right things today?” Because if you did all the wrong things and made a lot of money, you should not be happy about that. As a matter of fact, if you are happy about that, you’re setting yourself up for long-term failure. The truth is that we work in a game of probabilities. Sometimes you will do all of the right things and still lose money. You have to be able to take a step back and say, “Hey, I did all the right things. If I did this 100 times, I’m gonna be making money in the long run. It just didn’t work out today.” So, when I beat myself up, it isn’t just because I lost money today. It’s because I made mistakes that caused me to lose money. Or heck,
Continue Reading -->Coffee With Greta: Inflation Party 2.0
DJIA Futures: +348 (+1%) SPX Futures: +73 (+1.8%) NASDAQ Futures: +331 (+2.8%) Good morning friends! Futures are rallying after another inflation report shows price pressures are cooling. Let’s get right to it! Wholesale Inflation Cools More Than Expected Wholesale inflation pressures cooled more than expected in October. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index rose 0.2% monthly vs 0.4% expected. The PPI rose 8% annually vs expectations for an 8.4% increase. The Core PPI – which excludes food, energy, and trade services – rose 0.2% monthly and 5.4% year over year. PPI is considered a leading indicator for CPI as prices are passed down to consumers. This data is another sign the Fed’s rate hikes are working to cool inflation. CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 83% of traders expecting the bank to approve a 50bps rate hike in December. Walmart Beats Fiscal Q3 Estimates, Hikes Outlook Walmart (WMT) shares are up 7.7% ahead of the open after beating fiscal Q3 expectations and raising its outlook. Here’s how the retailer’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: Adjusted EPS: $1.50 vs $1.32 expected Revenue: $152.81 billion vs $147.75 billion expected Walmart’s CFO said consumers have shifted their spending to less-expensive options as “pocketbooks are stretched”. The company also made progress on clearing excess inventory during the quarter. Walmart’s inventory was up 13% year over year last quarter, down from 25% in Q2 and 32% in Q1. Comparable sales rose 8.2% year over year vs 3.6% expected while Sam’s Club comparable sales jumped 10% vs 8.7% expected. The company expects that growth to slow to 3% in Q4 vs analysts’ expectations for 3.5%. Walmart also forecast adjusted EPS will drop by 3% to 5% in Q4 due to the impact of currency fluctuations. Home Depot Slips Despite Earnings Beat Home Depot (HD) shares are slipping 0.8% in premarket trade despite topping Q3 expectations. Here’s how the home improvement retailer’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: EPS: $4.24 vs $4.12 expected Revenue: $38.87 billion vs $37.96 billion expected Revenue was up 6% year over year. Home Depot reiterated its full-year guidance, expecting EPS growth in the mid-single digits next quarter. The company said customer transactions fell about 4% but average ticket prices rose 9% as shoppers paid higher prices. Empire State Manufacturing Index Turns Positive The New York Fed’s factory gauge jumped more than expected this month. The Empire State Manufacturing Index rose 13.6 points to 4.5, the first positive reading since July. That beat economists’ expectations for a reading of -6. That jump came as the shipments index rose 8.3 points to 8. Unfilled orders also slipped 3.1% to -6.8, in a sign that metric is improving. Labor market conditions rose solidly and the price indices were flat. But manufacturers were more pessimistic about the next 6 months with the future business conditions index falling 4 points to -6.1. This index is considered a barometer for the broader U.S. manufacturing sector. Lucid Unveils Lower-Cost Car Lucid (LCID) shares are up 3.7% ahead of the open after the electric automaker unveiled new Air sedan models, including a new lower-cost option. The CEO told CNBC the new Lucid Air Pure will start at $87,400. An all-wheel-drive version with a 410-mile range is expected to ship by the end of this year with the rear-wheel-drive version arriving in 2023. Lucid also unveiled a new Air Touring model with all-wheel-drive, 620 horsepower, and a 425 mile range. That model will start at $107,400 with deliveries beginning shortly.
Continue Reading -->5 Big Tech Names to Watch
SPY had a big gap and go on Thursday, giving some $385 to be long against. It cleared $390.39 to see $399.35 on Friday. We’ll see if it can digest above $393.61 to build a new flag to keep this active sequence going. The 20 day is above with a gap that might get filled up to $408ish. Now let’s dig into 5 big tech names on my radar: AAPL participated as everything ignited post-CPI. Now we’ll see if the $144 area holds to keep some commitment. The 200 day could be hard to get through above with Friday’s high at $150.01. TSLA’s bounce wasn’t great. After making a low of $177, it hit $196.52 on Friday. See if it holds $192-$194 to keep the oversold bounce going. It will be hard to get and stay above $204-$210 in the week ahead. MSFT had a better bounce pre-CPI and then was stronger than most names. It hit $247.99 Friday. Now see if it can digest above $241. AMZN had a decent bounce but these things need so much time to rebuild. Now see if it can hold the $96 area to stay a bit constructive. There’s a big gap above near $104. On Friday it hit a high of $101.19. GOOGL responded pretty well. Some news of Insider buying helped. Now see if it can digest above $93.92 to stay constructive. Scott Redler Positions Disclosure as of 2022-11-14 at 9.35.55 AM:
Continue Reading -->Coffee With Greta: Stocks Slip While Yields Pop
DJIA Futures: -31 (-0.1%) SPX Futures: -10 (-0.2%) NASDAQ Futures: -59 (-0.5%) Good morning friends! Futures are slipping as traders gear up for a busy week of earnings and economic data. Let’s get right to it! Yields Pop Higher Treasury yields are rising again today after the bond market was closed on Friday. The 2-year yield is up 9 basis points to 4.41% while the 10-year yield is up 4 basis points to 3.88%. Traders are looking ahead to the release of the New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations at 11:00 a.m. ET today. That survey includes consumers’ 1-year and 5-year expectations for inflation. Busy Week of Data Traders will get more insight into the inflation picture this week as well as some other key data on the housing market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its October producer price index Tuesday morning while the New York Fed releases its November manufacturing index at the same time. Then the Commerce Department reports October retail sales Wednesday morning. The National Association of Homebuilders November sentiment index comes out later on Wednesday. The Census Bureau then reports October housing starts and building permits Thursday morning. And finally the National Association of Realtors reports October existing home sales on Friday. Key Retail Earnings Ahead The biggest retailers in the U.S. report Q3 earnings this week. Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) report ahead of the open on Tuesday. Then Target (TGT) and Lowe’s (LOW) report Wednesday morning. Macy’s (M) and Kohl’s (KSS) report Thursday morning with Gap (GPS) after the close. And then Foot Locker (FL) on Friday morning. Retail earnings have been key to gauge the impact of inflation on consumer activity. The market will be focused on future guidance from these retailers. Oil Prices Drop Amid China’s Covid Surge Oil prices are falling today on demand concerns as Covid cases surge in China. West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down 1.2% to under $88 bbl while Brent crude futures are down 1% to just under $95 bbl. Beijing and other big cities across China reported record new Covid infections today after easing restrictions last week. Tyson Tops Q4 Sales Expectations Tyson Foods (TSN) shares are up 1.7% ahead of the open after reporting stronger than expected Q4 sales. Here’s how the meat processor’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: Adjusted EPS: $1.63 vs $1.70 expected Revenue: $13.7 billion vs $13.5 billion expected The CEO said, “We delivered record sales and earnings for the full year, which was supported by our diverse portfolio and continued strength in consumer demand for protein.” Average prices rose 5.1% overall with chicken prices jumping 18.2% while beef prices fell 8.2%.
Continue Reading -->Coffee With Greta: Extending The CPI Rally
DJIA Futures: +160 (+0.5%) SPX Futures: +21 (+0.5%) NASDAQ Futures: +69 (+0.6%) Good morning friends! Futures are higher, extending the market’s big post-CPI rally. Let’s get right to it! Biggest One-Day Rally Since 2020 Stocks are rising again today after the major indexes skyrocketed on Thursday following the cooler-than-expected CPI. The Dow Jones jumped more than 1,200 points or 3.7% on Thursday. While the S&P 500 surged 5.5% and the Nasdaq skyrocketed 7.4%. It was the largest one-day gain for all three since 2020. ARKK’s Best Day Ever ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) shares are slipping 0.2% ahead of the open after logging its best day ever on Thursday. The fund surged 14.5% as tech stocks rallied. Its biggest holding Zoom Video (ZM) jumped 14.5%, while Tesla (TSLA) rallied 7.4%, and Roku (ROKU) surged 15.4%. Trading volume also surged with more than 48 million ARKK shares being traded on Thursday vs the 30-day average of about 25 million. The fund is still down 61% YTD. Bond Market Closed The bond market is closed today in observance of Veterans Day. The closure comes after Treasury yields plunged on Thursday. The 2-year yield ended the session down 33 basis points at 4.32% while the 10-year yield dropped 32 basis points to 3.82%. Investors poured back into bonds after the CPI showed inflation pressures may have peaked. That hope also caused traders to lower their expectations for the next Fed meeting. CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 85.4% now anticipating a smaller 50bps hike at the December 14 meeting. Mortgage Rates Tumble Below 7% Mortgage rates fell sharply alongside the 10-year Treasury yield Thursday. Mortgage News Daily shows the average 30-year fixed rate plunged 60 basis points and settled at 6.62%. That was the largest one-day drop since the start of the pandemic. Oil Prices Jump As China Eases Covid Restrictions Oil prices are rising today after Chinese authorities eased some Covid restrictions in the country. West Texas Intermediate crude futures are up 3.2% to over $89 bbl while Brent crude futures are up 2.9% to over $96 bbl. The changes include shorter quarantined times for international travelers and those who’ve been in contact with an infected individual. China also narrowed its contact tracing to just close contacts of Covid infections.
Continue Reading -->Coffee With Greta: Inflation Party on Wall Street
DJIA Futures: +832 (+2.6%) SPX Futures: +119 (+3.2%) NASDAQ Futures: +438 (+4.1%) Good morning friends! Futures are surging after the October CPI came in lighter than expected. Let’s get right to it! Inflation Cools More Than Expected U.S. inflation pressures cooled more than expected in October, in a sign the Fed’s rate hikes are starting to impact prices. The Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index rose 0.4% monthly last month and 7.7% year over year. That was cooler than economists’ expectations for a 0.6% monthly gain and 7.9% annual jump. That cooldown came despite higher food, gas, and rent prices. Grocery prices rose 0.4% monthly, 12.4% annually. Gas prices were up 4% monthly, 17.5% annually. And rent prices rose 0.8% monthly, 6.9% annually. Utility gas prices tumbled 4.6%, used car prices fell 2.4%, and apparel prices were down 0.7%. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was also cooler than expected. That index rose 0.3% monthly and 6.3% annually vs 0.5% monthly, 6.5% annually expected. Binance Backs Out of FTX Deal The second-largest crypto exchange in the world is now on the brink of collapse after Binance ditched its plans to acquire FTX. The company reversed course on Wednesday after announcing a nonbinding deal on Tuesday to buy FTX amid a “significant liquidity crunch” at the exchange. In a tweet, Binance said, “In the beginning, our hope was to be able to support FTX’s customers to provide liquidity. But the issues are beyond our control or ability to help. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly told investor the company is facing a shortfall of up to $8 billion from withdrawal requests. Rivian Tops Q3 Expectations Rivian (RIVN) shares are rallying 14.8% ahead of the open after reporting a smaller Q3 loss than expected. Here’s how the electric truck maker’s results compared to analysts’ estimates: Adjusted loss per share: $1.57 vs $1.82 expected Revenue: $536 million vs $551.6 million expected Rivian reaffirmed its full-year production target for 25,000 vehicles. But the company said it plans to reduce spending, now expecting full-year capital expenditures to total $1.75 billion vs $2 billion guidance after Q2. Rivian said it has over 114,000 preorders for its R1-series trucks and SUVs, up from 98,000 in August. Unity Software Shakes Off Revenue Miss Unity Software (U) shares are up 10.9% in premarket trade despite reporting less revenue than expected in Q3. Here’s how the software company’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: Adjusted loss per share: $0.14 vs $0.15 expected Revenue: $322.9 million vs $326.1 million expected Unity forecast Q4 revenue between $425 million and $445 million. The company also hiked its full-year outlook, now expecting revenue between $1.37 billion and $1.39 billion vs $1.3 billion to $1.35 billion previously. Beyond Meat Jumps Despite Q3 Miss Beyond Meat (BYND) shares are up 6.6% ahead of the open despite missing Q3 expectations on the top and bottom line. Here’s how the meat substitute company’s results compared to analysts’ estimates: Loss per share: $1.60 vs $1.14 expected Revenue: $82.5 million vs $98.1 million expected Revenue tumbled 22.5% compared to Q3 2021. The miss prompted Beyond Meat to cut its guidance for the second straight quarter. The company now expects full-year revenue between $400 million and $425 million vs $470 million to $520 million previously.
Continue Reading -->Coffee With Greta: Election Question Weighs on Stocks
DJIA Futures: -124 (-0.4%) SPX Futures: -13 (-0.3%) NASDAQ Futures: -46 (-0.4%) Good morning friends! Futures are falling as it remains unclear which party will control Congress after Tuesday’s midterm elections. Let’s get right to it! Disney Slumps On Profit Miss Walt Disney (DIS) shares are dropping 8.1% ahead of the open after missing fiscal Q4 profit expectations. Here’s how the company’s results compared to analysts’ estimates: Adjusted EPS: $0.30 vs $0.55 expected Revenue: $20.15 billion vs $21.24 billion expected The company saw revenue growth of 22% in fiscal 2022 and forecast growth of less than 10% in fiscal 2023. Revenue in Disney’s key media and entertainment division fell 3% year over year to $12.7 billion in fiscal Q4, missing expectations for $13.9 billion. Its streaming platform Disney+ grew more than expected, adding 12.1 million subscribers during the quarter. That put total subscribers at 164.2 million vs 160.45 million expected. But Disney warned that growth is expected to slow in fiscal Q1. Disney reported record revenue of $7.4 billion in its parks, experiences, and products segment. That was up 34% year over year but shy of analysts’ expectations for $7.5 billion. AMC Losses Widen AMC Entertainment (AMC) shares are falling 3.7% in premarket trade after reporting losses in Q3. Here’s how the theater chain’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: Adjusted loss per share: $0.20 vs $0.23 expected Revenue: $968.4 million vs $961 million Although those results were better than expected, it was the 12th consecutive quarterly loss for the company. AMC reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $12.9 million vs $5.4 million a year ago. CEO Adam Aron said, “Our third-quarter results were impacted by a particularly soft industry-wide box office in the latter two-thirds of the 2022 third quarter.” The losses come as AMC’s spending on food and beverages jumped 30% compared to Q3 2019. Roblox Sinks On Big Q3 Loss Roblox (RBLX) shares are tumbling 15.5% ahead of the open after reporting a wider Q3 loss than analysts anticipated. Here’s how the company’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: Loss per share: $0.50 vs $0.35 expected Revenue/Bookings: $702 million vs $686 million expected Bookings were up 10% year over year with average daily active users rising 24% to 58.8 million. But average bookings per daily active user fell 11% to $11.94. Lucid Reservations Drop Lucid Group (LCID) shares are falling 7.8% in premarket trade after missing Q3 expectations. Here’s how the electric automaker’s results compared to analysts’ estimates: Loss per share: $0.40 vs $0.31 expected Revenue: $195.5 million vs $209 million expected Revenue was down from $232 million in Q3 2021. Lucid said it has more than 34,000 reservations for its Lucid Air EV, down from the 37,000 it reported after Q2. The company said it is on track to meet its 2022 production target of 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles. Lucid also announced it will open reservations for its second vehicle, an SUV, in early 2023. Meta Announces Mass Layoffs Meta Platforms (META) shares are up 4.5% after the company announced mass layoffs this morning. In a letter to employees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go.” Zuckerberg also said Meta is cutting discretionary spending and extending its hiring freeze through Q1 2023. He said the recruiting department will see the largest impact from those moves. Key Earnings After The Close Here are the companies scheduled to report Q3 earnings after the close today: Rivian (RIVN) Unity Software (U)
Continue Reading -->Coffee With Greta: Election Day
DJIA Futures: +107 (+0.3%) SPX Futures: +14 (+0.4%) NASDAQ Futures: +75 (+0.7%) Good morning friends! Futures are rising as the market gears up for today’s midterm election results and traders digest the latest batch of Q3 earnings. Let’s get right to it! Kohl’s CEO to Step Down Kohl’s (KSS) shares are up 7.6% in premarket trade after announcing its CEO will step down. Michelle Gass will leave the company on December 2 to pursue a new opportunity. Levi Strauss (LEVI) separately announced she will serve as president of that company. Kohl’s director Tom Kingsbury will serve as interim CEO. The company has been under pressure from activist investors to remove Gass after terminating takeover talks over the summer. Lyft Sinks On Slowing Growth Lyft (LYFT) shares are plunging 17.8% ahead of the open despite beating Q3 expectations as the report showed growth is slowing. Here’s how the ride share company’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: Adjusted EPS: $0.10 vs $0.07 expected Revenue: $1.054 billion vs $1.056 billion expected Adjusted EBITDA: $66 million vs $62 million expected Lyft had 20.3 million active riders in the quarter, up 2% from Q2 and 7% year over year. That missed analysts’ expectations for 21.3 million. Revenue per active ride rose to a record $51.88, up 14% annually and 4% quarterly. Lyft forecast Q4 revenue between $1.145 billion and $1.165 billion with adjusted EBITDA between $80 million and $100 million. Analysts were estimating revenue of $1.159 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $85 million. TripAdvisor Plummets After Earnings Miss TripAdvisor (TRIP) shares are plummeting 22.4% in premarket trade after missing Q3 expectations. Here’s how the company’s results compared to analysts’ estimates: Adjusted EPS: $0.28 vs $0.39 expected Revenue: $459 million vs $444.3 million TripAdvisor said foreign currency fluctuations impacted revenue by $34 million in Q3. Despite the miss, in its letter to shareholders the company said, “Our results reflect a sustained demand for travel and dining, and another quarter of steady progress to full recovery.” Take-Two Interactive Tanks After Cutting Outlook Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) shares are plunging 17.3% ahead of the open after cutting its full-year outlook. Here’s how the video game company’s fiscal Q2 results compared to analysts’ expectations: GAAP net loss: $1.54 per share Net bookings: $1.5 billion, in line with expectations Bookings were up 53% year over year but Take-Two cut its forecast for full-year bookings. The company now expects fiscal 2023 net bookings to be between $5.4 billion and $5.5 billion. That’s down from $5.8 billion to $5.9 billion previously. Lordstown Rallies On New Foxconn Investment Lordstown Motors (RIDE) shares are rallying 17.3% in premarket trade after announcing a new investment from Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn. The electric truck maker said it still plans to deliver the first models of its Endurance pickup truck before year-end. The company said Foxconn will invest an additional $170 million in Lordstown over three phases. The first $52.7 million is due later this month. Following that investment, Foxconn will own about 18% of Lordstown and be the company’s largest shareholder. Foxconn bought Lordstown’s Ohio factory for $230 million in May, where the company is building its Endurance pickup. Lordstown said it will use part of that investment from Foxconn to develop a new vehicle. The company said it is actively seeking an automaker partner to help it scale up production of the Endurance. Lordstown now expects to build only 30 of the trucks by year-end, down from its previous target for 50. Key Earnings After The Close Here are the companies scheduled to report Q3 earnings after the close today: Walt Disney (DIS) AMC Entertainment (AMC) Lucid Group (LCID) Lordstown Motors (RIDE)
Continue Reading -->Coffee With Greta: New Week Kicks Off Higher
DJIA Futures: +68 (+0.2%) SPX Futures: +7 (+0.2%) NASDAQ Futures: +26 (+0.2%) Good morning friends! Futures are higher as traders kick off a new week. Let’s get right to it! Apple Drops After iPhone 14 Production Warning Apple (AAPL) shares are down 1.3% ahead of the open after the tech giant said Sunday it has temporarily reduced iPhone 14 production. That production cut comes amid Covid-19 restrictions at its main Foxconn plant in China. Apple said the factory is operating at “significantly reduced capacity”. The company said it will ship fewer iPhone 14 units and customers will experience longer wait times. Meta Reportedly Set for Massive Layoffs Meta (META) shares are up 3% in premarket trade following a Wall Street Journal report the company is set to begin large-scale layoffs. Those layoffs are reportedly set to begin as soon as Wednesday and are expected to impact thousands of employees. CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted toward planned layoffs on Meta’s earnings call last month. He said, “we expect to end 2023 as either roughly the same size, or even a slightly smaller organization than we are today.” BioNTech Profit Slides BioNTech (BNTX) shares are down 2.7% ahead of the open despite beating Q3 expectations as profits and sales tumbled year over year. Here’s how the German pharmaceutical company’s results compared to analysts’ expectations: EPS: €6.98 vs €3.42 expected Revenue: €3.461 billion vs €2.065 billion expected Both profit and revenue dropped more than 40% compared to a year ago as Covid vaccine sales slowed. But BioNTech did raise its full-year Covid vaccine sales forecast to between €16 billion and €17 billion from €13 billion to €17 billion previously. Inflation Week Traders are focused on inflation this week with the October consumer price index set to be released Thursday morning. That report is expected to show both headline and core inflation pressures slowed last month. The headline CPI is expected to show a 7.9% annual gain while the core CPI is expected to rise 6.5% year over year. Although both would be a slight slowdown from September, that’s still near a 40-year high. Following last week’s rate hike the Fed Chair said it is “premature” to start thinking about a pause in rate hikes as inflation remains far above the bank’s 2% target.
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