Author: therawinformant

(Bloomberg) — Snap Inc. shares jumped on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump said his administration was considering a ban of TikTok, the latest indication the U.S. government might take steps against the short-video app.The app has become enormously popular, especially with younger users, and analysts said banning it could reduce the competitive risk it poses to other social-media platforms. Rosenblatt Securities wrote that peer companies may breathe “a big sigh of relief” in the event it gets banned.Analyst Mark Zgutowicz wrote that while TikTok’s ad platform “hasn’t been too competitive given scale limitations, escalating time spent on the app has infringed on other Gen Z social platforms,” notably Snapchat, Facebook’s Instagram and YouTube, owned by Google-parent Alphabet Inc.Snap climbed as much as 6.5% on Wednesday in its third straight daily advance. The stock is trading at its highest level in more than three years, having more than tripled off a March low. The rally has been fueled by a recent developer conference, where it announced a number of new products and features. Facebook rose 1.1% and Alphabet was 0.5% higher. Pinterest Inc. was up 3.3%.BofA also sees a tailwind for the Snapchat parent company if TikTok is banned, calling the rival app’s popularity “one of the biggest investor concerns” about Snap. “A ban could reduce [the] TikTok overhang” on the shares, analyst Justin Post wrote, noting that when TikTok was banned in India, data subsequently showed a surge of Snapchat downloads in the country.Last month, Lightshed Partners wrote that “anyone who competes for mobile time spent should be focused on the growing competitive threat posed by TikTok,” adding that it posed “a rising threat to everyone in the space.” In a silver lining, however, analyst Richard Greenfield noted that TikTok content could easily be shared outside the app, “fueling engaging content into platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter.”In January, Snap Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel called himself “a big fan” of TikTok, and said it could become bigger than Instagram.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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(Bloomberg) — Energy Transfer LP said it’s not making any moves to empty its Dakota Access oil pipeline after a judge on Monday ordered the conduit shut while a more robust environmental review is conducted.The Dallas-based company run by billionaire Kelcy Warren said it’s also accepting nominations for capacity on the pipeline in August. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had ordered the pipeline to be drained by Aug. 5.“We are not shutting in the line,” Energy Transfer spokeswoman Vicki Granado said in an email. Judge James E. Boasberg “exceeded his authority and does not have the jurisdiction to shut down the pipeline or stop the flow of crude oil.”It’s the latest sign that Energy Transfer is preparing for yet another battle over the Dakota Access crude pipeline, which four years ago drew months of on-the-ground protests from environmental groups and tribes opposed to the project’s route across Lake Oahe, a dammed section of the Missouri River just a half-mile from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the Dakotas.“Energy Transfer is playing a very dangerous game,” said Earthjustice lawyer Jan Hasselman, who represents the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against Dakota Access. “They don’t get to ignore a federal court order just because they disagree with it.”When asked whether Energy Transfer plans to defy Boasberg’s decision if it remains in effect Aug. 5, Granado reiterated that the company doesn’t think he has the authority to shut the line.Prices for Bakken crude, produced in North Dakota, rose after the news that Energy Transfer planned to keep the line in service. The discount for Bakken at Clearbrook, Minn., narrowed 60 cents to $2.15 a barrel against Nymex oil futures, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Energy Transfer has multiple routine options for fighting the shutdown order in court. It’s asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to suspend the decision, and it’s pursuing an appeal. If those efforts fail, it can ask the U.S. Supreme Court to step in.If Energy Transfer opts to bypass those traditional routes and instead simply refuses to shut down the pipeline, the district court could hold the company in contempt — an action that often includes fines or jail time.(Updates with Earthjustice quote in fifth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Tesla Inc.’s (TSLA) sales of its Shanghai-made Model 3 vehicles rose 35% in China in June, month-on-month, Reuters reported citing data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).The U.S. electric carmaker last month sold 14,954 Model 3 vehicles up from 11,095 vehicles in May, and an increase from around 3,635 units in April, CPCA data showed. CPCA uses a different counting method than Tesla’s deliveries.Overall, China’s passenger car sales in June fell 6.5% year-on-year to 1.68 million units. Pure battery electric vehicle sector sold 67,000 units in June with Tesla accounting for 23% of the market, the CPCA said.Tesla shares have gained another 24% since the carmaker last week reported second-quarter car deliveries, which exceeded analysts’ expectations. It delivered about 90,650 vehicles during the quarter. This compares with analysts’ estimates for about 74,130 vehicles. It delivered 80,050 units of its new Model Y sport vehicle and Model 3 for the quarter and 10,600 of its Model S/X vehicles.Despite the recent production disruptions tied to the coronavirus pandemic, shares have this year shot up 232%. So it is not surprising that the $843.53 average analyst price target now implies 39% downside potential for the shares in the coming 12 months. (See Tesla’s stock analysis on TipRanks). The stock dropped 2.2% to $1,358.41 in afternoon trading on Wednesday.However, for five-star analyst Daniel Ives at Wedbush, the rally has not yet run out of steam. The analyst, who maintained a price target of $1,250 but raised his bull case PT to $2,000 (from $1,500) says he believes that with “demand for Model 3's ramping stronger than expectations in China heading into the summer timeframe…Tesla's stock likely has room to run further.”“The clear standout this quarter is the massive underlying demand coming out of China as we have seen demand surge in China for Model 3's in this key region,” Ives wrote in a note to investors. “While the stock has been roaring higher, we believe the main fundamental catalyst continues to be the massive China market which is showing clear signs of a spike in demand for Musk & Co. heading into the rest of this year.”Overall though, the stock has a Hold analyst consensus, which breaks down into 10 Hold ratings and 8 Sell ratings versus 7 Buy ratings.Related News: Tesla Up 8% As Quarterly Deliveries Surprise; Wedbush Says Stock Rally Isn’t Over Nio Jumps 12% In Pre-Market On Record Quarterly Car Deliveries Tesla (TSLA): The Battle of the EV Trucks Begins More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Walgreens Plans To Expand 700 Stores Into Primary Care Clinics * Walmart To Launch Online Subscription Service For $98 Per Year- Report * Becton Dickinson Forms $70M Covid-19 Partnership With U.S. For Syringes * Needham: These 3 Penny Stocks Are Poised to Double (Or More)

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If you are looking for the best ideas for your portfolio you may want to consider some of Greenlight Capital's top stock picks. Greenlight Capital, an investment management firm, is bearish on Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) stock. In its Q4 2019 investor letter – you can download a copy here – the firm discussed its investment […]

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Shares of Nikola are “starting to look attractive for long-term investors” says JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster, upgrading the stock to Overweight from Neutral.

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How do you pick the next stock to invest in? One way would be to spend days of research browsing through thousands of publicly traded companies. However, an easier way is to look at the stocks that smart money investors are collectively bullish on. Hedge funds and other institutional investors usually invest large amounts of […]

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Time to take profits in Tesla?

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Taking the occasional loss comes part and parcel with investing on the stock market. And there's no doubt that ONEOK…

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