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Finance

Why JetBlue Stock Is Soaring and Spirit Stock Is Plummeting

by NewsB 4 October 2024

written by NewsB

Two low-cost airline stocks were moving in opposite directions Friday after a report by the Wall Street Journal that one of them, Spirit Airlines (NYSE:), was exploring bankruptcy.

The report sent Spirit stock plummeting as much as 35% on Friday at the opening bell to $1.45 per share. As of 3:15 p.m. ET, it was at about $1.68 per share, still down 25%.

Not surprisingly, its chief rival, JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:), was taking off, soaring some 16% to over $7.40 per share on Friday.

Spirit facing financial woes

JetBlue and Spirit are two of the leading low-cost carriers in the U.S. and they had been in merger talks for much of the past two years.

JetBlue was looking to acquire Spirit to better compete with the larger carriers — American, United, Delta, and Southwest. However, in January, a federal judge rejected the deal, saying the merger would take a low-cost carrier off the market, thus reducing options for consumers.

However, some nine months later, Spirit is reportedly exploring filing for bankruptcy, as the Journal first reported.

On Friday, Bloomberg reported that efforts by Spirit to restructure its debt with bondholders had hit a snag. Without a deal, reported Bloomberg, a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing would hard to avoid, although nothing was certain or imminent.

In Spirit’s second quarter earnings report, released Aug. 1, the company said, “we remain in active discussions with the advisors to the noteholders to address the upcoming debt maturities and will provide updates on our progress when appropriate.”

Spirit has more than $3 billion in long-term debt and about $1.1 billion in secured bonds coming due in less than a year, according to the Journal report. It also has negative cash flow and had a net loss of $193 million in the second quarter.

Since the merger deal fell apart in January, Spirit has plunged into penny stock territory, dropping from almost $17 per share to its current $1.64 — a 90% decline.

JetBlue takes off

JetBlue stock, as the main competitor to Spirit, took off on Friday, rising around 16% to around $7.40 per share.

Since the acquisition was rejected last January, JetBlue stock has climbed about 48% and is up around 32% year-to-date.

JetBlue has been busy reinventing itself since then, hiring a new CEO, Joanne Geraghty, and launching a new strategic plan called JetForward. The JetForward plan is designed to drive efficiencies, cut costs, and refocus the airline on its most profitable routes and regions, mainly the Northeast and Florida.

In the second quarter, JetBlue topped earnings and revenue estimates, returning to profitability after three quarters of net losses. The airline also got a vote of confidence when activist investor Carl Icahn of Icahn Enterprises took a 10% stake in the company.

Clearly, JetBlue will be the main beneficiary of Spirit Airlines struggles, but investors may want to be cautious, as JetBlue stock has already had a sizable increase this year, and it is in a period of transition.

While JetBlue appears to be on a good path, it would be wise for investors to gain more insight into its progress and wait for the results of its Q3 earnings report around October 22.

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#JetBlue #Stock #Soaring #Spirit #Stock #Plummeting

4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

Dividend stocks with a record of solid Q4 performance, per Bespoke

by NewsB 4 October 2024

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#Dividend #stocks #record #solid #performance #Bespoke

4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

It’s time to sell utility stocks, which are overbought and expensive, according to Carter Worth

by NewsB 4 October 2024

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#time #sell #utility #stocks #overbought #expensive #Carter #Worth

4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

Gender inequality flagged in pop culture

by NewsB 4 October 2024

written by NewsB

Damircudic | E+ | Getty Images

Women have been making significant strides in their education and careers and working as much, if not more, than their male counterparts.

Today, women who are just starting out, between the ages of 20-24, account for about 50% of total employment, which means that young women are just as likely to work as young men, according to a recent analysis of Federal Reserve economic data.

That is at least until they reach an age when they often get married or have children, the Fed researchers found — a dynamic that has proved remarkably stubborn.

“The trend was inevitable,” said Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economics at The New School for Social Research in New York.

Women have achieved parity in the workplace, “but not full equality,” she said.

‘I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art’

From Taylor Swift song lyrics to viral TikTok trends, there’s a point in pop culture that is made clear: The daily grind has taken a toll on women.

A line from the song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” off of Swift’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” hit home with her mostly female listeners: “I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it’s an art.”

More than 180,000 short-form video posts on TikTok featured the lyric.

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‘NEETs’: Why some young adults are disconnected from the job market

“It resonates with both millennials and Gen Zers, which I think indicates that Gen Z is feeling the same ‘girl-boss’ pressures that millennials famously grew up with,” Casey Lewis, a social media trend forecaster and author of newsletter After School, told CNBC in April.

“There’s a lot of pressure on young women,” Lewis said.

Another song also struck a chord this year: “I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6’5″, blue eyes…” Megan Boni first posted the song on a clip from her TikTok account @girl_on_couch on April 30. Her 20-second video has more than 58.4 million views and counting.

While it was originally intended as a fun take on single women with high expectations for who they date, “there are a lot of single women who are looking but not finding what they want,” according to Lewis.

That also helps explain why some women are opting out of the workforce entirely in favor of being a so-called “tradwife,” another one of 2024’s viral social media trends depicting women adhering to very traditional gender roles and embracing domesticity.

Young women, whether they’re married or not, are expressing a desire to “take a step out of the professional rat race,” Lewis previously said. Being a tradwife is “an excuse to step back and do less.”

But women are not doing less by any standard — nor were they back then.

Although women are more likely than men to take time out of the labor force or reduce the number of hours worked because of caretaking responsibilities, whether working or not, they still pick up a heavier load at home, according to a separate Pew Research Center survey.

“The lack of affordable childcare may be playing a role,” according to Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew.

“The childcare crisis, which was simmering prior to the pandemic, has come to a boil,” according to a KPMG analysis. Between 1991 and 2024, the costs for child care rose at nearly twice the pace of overall inflation.

Where are the men?

Meanwhile, men are steadily dropping out of the workforce, especially those between the ages 25 to 54, which are considered their prime working years.

A study by the Pew Research Center found that men who are not college-educated leave the workforce at higher rates than men who are. At the same time, fewer younger men have been enrolling in college over the past decade.

Often referred to as NEETs — neither in employment, education or in training — this cohort has been hardest hit by globalization and the decline of manufacturing in this country, according to Pew’s Fry.

“When you don’t get rewarded for working, you work less,” Fry said. “That is a basic tenet of labor economics.”

Gender inequality flagged in pop culture

Last summer’s blockbuster “Barbie” movie captured that well, other economists say, “describing Ken as a young man in America who just has no place and no role,” according to Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

Still, overall, men continue to outpace women by other measures.

Real median earnings for men who worked full-time, year-round increased by 3%. Meanwhile, real median earnings increased 1.5% for women who worked full-time, year-round, the Census Bureau found.

At the same time, 37% of women said they feel like they have to prioritize their partner’s career over their own — up slightly from 2023, according to Deloitte’s most recent Women at Work report, in part because their partner earns more but also due to societal or cultural expectations.

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#Gender #inequality #flagged #pop #culture

4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

Platinum rush? Costco is selling a new precious metal in the U.S. – National

by NewsB 4 October 2024

written by NewsB

After strong consumer interest in its gold bars, Costco is polishing plans to offer another precious metal: platinum bars.

Platinum rush? Costco is selling a new precious metal in the U.S. – National

The retail giant is now offering one-ounce bars of platinum, but the product is not available to customers in Canada yet. It’s not just Canadians who are missing out, though. The bars are also not available to customers in the states of Nevada and Louisiana, as well as in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

The Costco website lists the item as a one-ounce (roughly 28.3 grams) 999.5 pure platinum bar “with a proof-like finish.” The bars bear the image of Lady Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck and good fortune – an image also on some of Costco’s gold bars.

Customers will need a Costco membership to buy these bars. Unlike most other products available at Costco, however, you can’t buy this one in bulk. There is a limit of one transaction per membership, with a maximum of five units per member. The bars are also non-refundable.

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A view of the platinum bar listing, as it appears on the Costco website.

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The platinum bars are available to order online, with Costco promising delivery in the United States within three to five business days.

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Users have to sign in using their U.S. Costco membership to check the price of the platinum bars. A one-ounce bar sold by TD Bank is valued at C$1,500, while the value in U.S. dollars is listed on exchange markets as roughly $1,000.

Costco is betting on precious metals after the success of its gold products. Last year, the retailer launched the 24-karat PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan bars, available to Costco members in both the United States and Canada.

Click to play video: 'Learn how to find gold with Yukon Dan'

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Learn how to find gold with Yukon Dan

Speaking during the company’s quarterly earnings call last year, Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti said the bars are in high demand and getting your hands on one can be tricky right now.

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“I’ve gotten a couple of calls that people have seen online that we’ve been selling one-ounce gold bars,” he said. “Yes, but when we load them on the site, they’re typically gone within a few hours, and we limit two per member.”

It’s not clear whether Costco plans to expand the offering of platinum bars into Canada.

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

How to trade the jump in oil and energy stocks using options

by NewsB 4 October 2024

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#trade #jump #oil #energy #stocks #options

4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

Airlines lose bid to skirt some of Canada’s air passenger rights rules – National

by NewsB 4 October 2024

written by NewsB

Airlines must compensate travellers for international flight disruptions based on the Canadian Transportation Agency’s rules, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in a landmark decision for air passengers.

Platinum rush? Costco is selling a new precious metal in the U.S. – National

The decision released Friday upholds Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) after a group of airlines appealed to have them declared invalid for international flights.

At the heart of the case was whether Canada’s passenger rights charter, enacted in 2019, could stand alongside rules set out in the Montreal Convention, the international standard signed by Canada in 2001.

While the APPR sets out a standardized compensation scheme for delays and cancellations and lost baggage when the factors are within the airline’s control or for safety reasons, the Montreal Convention takes a more individualized approach.

According to that standard, a passenger can attempt to argue in court that they were wronged and if successful receive compensation accordingly.

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Click to play video: 'Air passenger rights group appeals decision on no airline compensation during strike notice'

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Air passenger rights group appeals decision on no airline compensation during strike notice

That was challenged by a group of airlines that included Air Canada, Porter Airlines and international carriers such as Lufthansa and Air France.

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These airlines argued that the APPR extend beyond the Canadian Transportation Agency’s powers and were inconsistent with the rules set out in the Montreal Convention. The CTA and attorney general argued there is no clash between passenger protections and the Montreal Convention.

The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the airlines’ challenge in late 2023 and the case was heard by the Supreme Court in March of this year.

On Friday, the Supreme Court stated in a decision written by Justice Malcolm Rowe that the regulations “do not conflict with the Montreal Convention.”

How does Canada’s air passenger rights charter work?

Under the federal rules, passengers must be compensated with up to $2,400 if they were denied boarding because a trip was overbooked — so-called flight bumping.

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Delays and other payments for cancelled flights warrant compensation of up to $1,000.

Travellers can receive up to about $2,300 for lost or damaged baggage, though the exact number fluctuates based on exchange rates.

Since the rules came into force five years ago, the government has taken further steps to tighten them, a move prompted by scenes of airport chaos, endless security lines and overflowing baggage halls in 2022.

Click to play video: 'Canada aims to toughen air passenger bill of rights'

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Canada aims to toughen air passenger bill of rights

In 2023, the government amended the law to close loopholes that have allowed airlines to avoid paying customers compensation and worked to establish a more streamlined complaints resolution system.

The new provisions also sought to ratchet up penalties via a $250,000 maximum fine for airline violations — a tenfold increase over the previous regulations — in an effort to encourage compliance.

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Another amendment — both are yet to take effect — would place the regulatory cost of complaints on carriers’ shoulders. The measure, which would cost airlines $790 per complaint under a recent proposal from the regulator, aims to encourage them to brush up their service and thus reduce the number of grievances against them.

Meanwhile, the complaints backlog at the country’s transport regulator continues to mount, standing at about 78,000 as of last month.

— with files from the Canadian Press

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

RBC gives its top stock picks for the fourth quarter

by NewsB 4 October 2024

written by NewsB

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4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

Here are the stocks JPMorgan is betting against in the fourth quarter

by NewsB 4 October 2024

written by NewsB

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#stocks #JPMorgan #betting #fourth #quarter

4 October 2024 0 comment

Finance

Top 3 Low-Beta Stocks That Offer Calm Amid Election Storm

by NewsB 4 October 2024

written by NewsB

As the market gears up for potential volatility in the coming months due to the presidential election, low-beta names become more attractive.
With fundamental tailwinds pushing their business models, a select few stocks stand out as ones to attract more capital.
Wall Street analysts agree with double-digit upside; even bearish traders have been heading for the exits.

Now that the most important event of the year, the Federal Reserve () interest rate cuts, is over, investors wonder where their capital can be safely treated in the face of potential volatility in the coming months. To satisfy this need to keep a stable portfolio, a decent weight in low beta stocks, characterized by smaller average daily moves compared to the , is called for.

Some investors only focus on a stock’s beta without considering some of the fundamentals and sentiment that the market and Wall Street have toward them. Ideally, companies in the sector can combine the low volatility and stability that’s now needed. Still, there is also an additional factor to consider: a subscription-based model to make it easier for analysts to project cash flows and valuations in the middle of a rocky market.

This stock list includes T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:), as phone bills are subscriptions that only a few users are willing to fall behind on. Moving over to a nearly given profit maker, investors can look into Waste Management (NYSE:) as a business model that will continue growing as long as people live in the United States. Finally, another subscription business is found in American Water Works (NYSE:), a utility stock.

T-Mobile Stock Is a Smart Investment for Any Market Cycle

It probably doesn’t matter whether the economy is booming or busting; nearly all citizens will be able to make room in their budgets to pay for their monthly phone bills, making T-Mobile a stock to have during rocky and quiet markets.

The stability of its business model enables the stock to carry a low beta of 0.5 today, which means that T-Mobile stock moves 50% less than the S&P 500 index. More than that, because of the ability to assess the future cash flows for the year, management can pay out a dividend of $3.5 a share for an annual yield of 1.7% today.

Stable stocks don’t have to mean boring stocks; analysts at Benchmark decided to reiterate their “Buy” rating for T-Mobile stock as recently as late September 2024. This time, these analysts landed on a $250-a-share valuation for the company, directly calling for up to 20% upside from where the stock trades today.

Knowing that low beta stocks may become investors’ preference in the coming months, even bearish traders have decided to step back from T-Mobile stock, as seen in the company’s falling short interest of 14.8% in the past month alone.

Over the quarter, short interest has also declined from a high of $4.5 billion to only $3 billion today, showing investors more signs of bearish capitulation, leaving more room for bullish investors to come in and take their place.

Waste Management Stock Could Capitalizing on the New Business Cycle

Now that the Fed has cut interest rates, and other nations like China have followed suit with a similar 50 basis point cut, the rate of business activity might start to spike in the coming months, leading to more waste being generated from both the consumer and business sector.

This is where Waste Management stock comes into play, as it is at the center of global waste trade between nations that buy scraps made from the United States to recycle or utilize for their own purposes. Because the business model is centered on a fact of everyday life, investors can probably assume how it can reflect into a low-beta stock.

With a beta of only 0.75, Waste Management stock has started to attract investors who want to keep their risk under control in today’s market. This trend will cause investors to notice a few outlier analyst price targets coming from Wall Street.

Those at Truist Financial (NYSE:) now see Waste Management stock valued at $235 a share, which calls for a 12.6% upside from its current price. These factors have attracted institutional capital, as seen in the $5 billion that has entered Waste Management stock over the past 12 months.

Why Utility Stocks Like American Water Works Are the Go-To Safe Haven

After the market has digested the potential effects of recent interest rate cuts, another major event is coming up: the presidential election. Now, investors have two choices: either stay completely out of the market until the dust settles or devise a strategy that mitigates the potential risks.

Utility stocks might be the best choice on this list to mitigate volatility, which is why American Water Works stock is a good buy today. With a beta below 0.70, the price action and volatility aspects are now taken care of for sentiment measurement.

Those at the Royal Bank of Canada have landed on an “Outperform” rating for American Water Works stock and now see a price target of up to $164 a share to call for a net upside of as much as 13% from where the stock trades today.

Then there’s the rising institutional buy interest, such as the recent 6.9% boost in holdings coming from the Czech National Bank, bringing their net position to $5.8 million today and showing investors more willingness from big players to start positioning themselves into this stock before the broader adoption comes in.

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#Top #LowBeta #Stocks #Offer #Calm #Election #Storm

4 October 2024 0 comment

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