Author: therawinformant

Chris Hogan, Author of ‘Everyday Millionaires’, joined Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland, Melody Hahm, and Dan Roberts to discuss retirement planning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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U.S. President Donald Trump is accusing Alphabet Inc.’s Google (GOOGL), Facebook Inc. (FB), Twitter Inc. (TWTR) and Instagram of being involved in an “illegal situation”.“The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google,” Trump said in a Twitter post. “The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation.”Trump’s comment was triggered by a video showing part of a speech decrying tech censorship by Michelle Markin, a conservative commentator who has been criticised for backing white nationalist activists and who has previously questioned the number of Holocaust victims.The tweets come amid a report by the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. Justice Department is drafting a lawsuit against Google, claiming that the internet giant is violating antitrust laws. The Justice Department has been investigating Google’s dominant standing for nearly a decade examining whether the company is thwarting competition in the digital advertising market.If the lawsuit against Google is successful, it would represent the most significant action against the company by U.S. enforcers. In the EU, Google has been fined billions of dollars for abusing its dominance and harming competition.Furthermore, state attorney generals are also investigating the company. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Google will likely be sued by the states and the Justice Department.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is heading a group of 51 attorneys general, said Thursday, that states are on a “good path” to completing the investigation soon.Google said in a statement that it’s engaging “with the ongoing investigations led by the Department of Justice and Attorney General Paxton” and it’s focused on “providing services that help consumers, support thousands of businesses, and enable increased choice and competition.”Looking at the digital giants’ ratings, TipRanks data shows that the consensus of Wall Street analysts view both Alphabet’s Google and Facebook as a Strong Buy. Alphabet’s $1,488.09 average price target implies 8.4% upside potential in the coming year, while Facebook’s $236.81 average price target means shares are projected to gain 12% in the next 12 months.Related News: Amazon Urges Congress to Establish a Law Against Price Gouging Twitter Won’t Reopen Offices Before Sept., Allows Permanent Work From Home Uber Announces $750M Notes Offering, As GrubHub Takeover Reports Swirl More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Tesla Gets County Nod to Reopen California Auto Plant – Report * Amazon’s Response To Judiciary Committee ‘Unacceptable’ Tweets Jerry Nadler * Soros Fund Ramps Up Peloton Stake, Exits JP Morgan * Billionaire Ackman Takes New Bet On Blackstone, Trims Chipotle Stake

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The investors in Aurora Cannabis Inc.'s (TSE:ACB) will be rubbing their hands together with glee today, after the…

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Bitcoin was on the move early on, with resistance levels in play. A break out from the first major resistance level would signal a breakout.

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How you spend your stimulus cash is up to you, but some options are better than others.

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Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has dramatically ramped up its holdings of US stocks in the first quarter of the year, a new filing has revealed.The $325 billion fund, which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, made the most of the coronavirus-related stock market selloff by taking its US holdings from a total value of $2.1 billion to $9.78 billion in just three months.Sizable new positions include an $828M stake in BP Plc (BP), and a $714M stake in Boeing (BA).PIF also made significant investments in Citigroup (C), Facebook ($521M) (FB), Marriott (MAR), Disney (DIS), Pfizer (PFE) and Starbucks (SBUX).However the fund said goodbye to a small position in controversial auto stock Tesla (TSLA) – which has seen share prices explode 91% year-to-date.“These opportunities include sectors and companies that are well positioned to drive economies and lead sectors moving forward,” PIF said in a statement.Boeing stock has plunged more than 60% since the beginning of the year. The company recently revealed that it did not receive a single order in April, while it was also grappling with 108 order cancellations for its grounded 737 MAX plane.Last month, the ailing plane maker delivered 6 planes adding up to a total of 56 in first four months of this year, which represents a 67% decline year-on-year, as air travel demand has been halted in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.The April cancellations of its 737 MAX jets were from clients including China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co and General Electric’s (GE) aircraft unit GECAS.TipRanks shows that Wall Street analysts have a cautiously optimistic outlook on Boeing right now. The Moderate Buy consensus is based on 11 Holds, 6 Buys and 1 Sell. The $163 average price target implies 36% upside potential in the stock in the next 12 months. (See Boeing’s stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Delta Air Lines to Stop Flying Boeing’s 777 Aircraft to Cut Costs Colombian Carrier Avianca Files for Bankruptcy Protection Due to Coronavirus Woes Qantas Said to Halt Plane Deliveries From Boeing, Airbus Amid Travel Freeze More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Billionaire Ackman Takes New Bet On Blackstone, Trims Chipotle Stake * Taiwan Semi Has Not Received Any Assurance On US License For Huawei Tech Sale * Buffett’s Berkshire Shaves Off 84% Of Its Goldman Sachs Stake * Apple is Said to Snap Up Startup NextVR For Virtual Reality Content; Top Analyst Sees Buying Opportunity

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At this point, it looks as if the 1.25 level is massive resistance, and of course the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level sits right there as well.

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(Bloomberg Opinion) — American oil producers have cut much more output than you think. Their reaction to market forces has been bigger than official data suggest, and that means the U.S. is actually working alongside Saudi Arabia, Russia and other big oil producers, to help balance oil supply and demand — even if that wasn’t quite what President Donald Trump intended.Two sets of data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that crude production is now about 11.6 million barrels a day, down by between 1.2 million and 1.4 million barrels a day, or roughly 10%, from plateau levels reached over the just-ended winter, depending on whether you use the weekly or the monthly numbers.To put those U.S. figures into perspective, the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies agreed last month that they would each cut their production by 22% from baselines that, for the most part, reflected October 2018 levels. Early evidence from tanker tracking data monitored by Bloomberg shows that some, like Saudi Arabia, have made very quick, big steps toward that target; others, like Iraq, are lagging behind. But all the big OPEC producers — including Iraq — have increased their prices and cut allocations of crude to key customers for June, suggesting that compliance levels will improve. By comparison, the official figures suggest the U.S. has made much smaller production cuts. But those U.S. figures are probably underestimating the size of the reduction forced on American oil companies — and underestimating it by a huge amount.The flow of oil going into the supply chain must balance the volume coming out. That’s just basic math.But if you add production, imports and crude taken out of storage tanks (the supply side of the equation) in the weekly EIA data, this doesn’t equal the amount processed by refiners, used, exported or put into storage tanks (the demand side). The EIA acknowledges this difference by publishing a crude adjustment factor and, in absolute terms, that number is getting very big indeed.In the data for the week to May 8, the adjustment factor was reported as -914,000 barrels a day. That’s the most negative it’s ever been. Put simply, the EIA’s numbers for last week were either over-estimating crude supply by 914,000 barrels a day, under-estimating demand by a similar amount, or some combination of the two.The amount of crude coming into, or being sent out of, the country is pretty well documented. So too is the amount going into and out of storage tanks and into refineries. So the most likely source of the discrepancy is the production numbers.If the adjustment factor does reflect an over-estimation of crude production, American oil companies could be pumping as little as 10.6 million barrels a day. That would be an output cut of almost 2.4 million barrels a day, or 18%, bringing them much closer to the reductions agreed to by OPEC and its allies.There is plenty more circumstantial evidence that the U.S. is producing less. There are now fewer rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. than there were even during the slump of 2016, when a collapse in oil prices brought about the end of the first shale boom. Consultancy Facts Global Energy published a note on May 1 arguing that company earnings reports signaled a potential 3 million barrel a day drop in U.S. production by the end of June. We would seem to be well on the way to that figure.Even though President Trump has sought to protect America’s oil industry and cajole others into cutting output to buoy up prices, the market seems to be making sure that the pain is being shared. But those deeper cuts, though involuntary, are helping to bring global supply and demand back into balance more quickly, and setting a firmer stage for the start of oil’s recovery.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Julian Lee is an oil strategist for Bloomberg. Previously he worked as a senior analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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On April 29, Nio (NYSE:NIO) announced that it had secured $1 billion in funding to carry on building electric vehicles. Nio stock jumped 8% on the news. However, shares have been sideways ever since.Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com Is there something holding back investor enthusiasm for the funding arrangement? You better believe it. Here's the breakdown. 75% of What?Three companies are investing in Nio: Hefei City Construction and Investment Holding, CMG-SDIC Capital, and Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment. They are collectively investing 7 billion yuan, or approximately $1 billion, into the company.InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsThe trickier part of the arrangement is that the investment is going into a newly established company, Nio China.As part of the investment, Nio will transfer its Chinese assets (valued at approximately 17.77 billion yuan or $2.5 billion) into the new company as well as 4.26 billion yuan ($600 million) cash in exchange for 75.9% of the business. The three investors will hold the remaining 24.1% of Nio China. The deal is expected to close by the end of June.The $2.5 billion asset contribution is valued at 85% of Nio's average market value of the 30 trading days preceding April 21. What About Debt?Simple enough. But those numbers don't include debt.Nio had $1.16 billion in short- and long-term debt at the end of December. It also had current and long-term operating lease liabilities of $317 million, bringing total debt to $1.48 billion. Add in the $200 million in short-term convertible notes it raised in February and another $235 million in April and you get to a total debt of $1.92 billion.Based on a market capitalization of $3.62 billion and $574.8 million ($139.8 million on the balance sheet plus $435 million in cash for new debt), Nio has an enterprise value of approximately $5 billion.Nowhere in the company's press release about the $1 billion investment in Nio China does it say anything about the debt.Kudos to The Motley Fool's John Rosevear for pointing this out recently:"That all seems well and good, but NIO has yet to clarify why it's using this structure for the deal, what will happen to its assets outside of China, and what will happen to the roughly $1 billion in debt that it had as of the end of 2019 — all very important questions from an American investor's perspective."Are we to assume that Nio's non-Chinese assets are worth approximately $543 million ($3.62 billion market cap times 15%) because the investment agreement valued Nio's asset transferred to Nio China at 85% of market value? What Does This Mean for NIO Stock?What are Nio shareholders getting for their 75.9% stake in Nio China? That's a good question.Based on 85% of the assets being transferred to Nio China and an enterprise value for the entire company of $5 billion, my back-of-the-napkin calculation would be $3.23 billion for its stake in Nio China (75.9% of $4.25 billion, which is 85% of $5 billion). Add in the estimated enterprise value of $750 million for 100% of the non-Chinese part of its business, and you get $4 billion.Add in the $1 billion investment and you're back to a $5 billion enterprise value.As far as I can tell, the deal was structured this way so that if Nio can make a go of it outside China, its existing investors will benefit from that success, while the new investors are merely hoping to make its business in China a success.Did the company pay too high a price for that billion dollars in funding?On April 29, in addition to announcing its $1 billion investment, it also notified investors that it would have to delay filing its 20-F to incorporate the details from this investment. Nio is expected to file its 20-F soon. We'll know more then.Nio needed the money. Both parties gave up something to get something. Often, those are the best kind of transactions.Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where he's appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At the time of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner * America's Richest ZIP Code Holds Shocking Secret * 1 Under-the-Radar 5G Stock to Buy Now * The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own The post Nio Stock's Newest Backers Are Betting On Chinese Success appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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Boeing (NYSE:BA) has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons over the years, first with the 737 Max jetliner fatalities and subsequent mishandling of the issue, and most recently, the begging for a government bailout. The company added one more, declaring that a major U.S. airliner could go out of business this year. And many investors believe this to be American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), casting a dark cloud on AAL stock.Source: GagliardiPhotography / Shutterstock.com To be clear, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun never mentioned who he was thinking about specifically during an interview with CNBC. But to those reading between the lines, American Airlines looks to have received the dubious honor. As you know, the broader travel industry has been a mess, impacting every corner of the sector. Even as most states have forged a path toward reopening, travelers largely remain rooted at home.Of course, in any fallout, the weakest components are the first to suffer. In this case, several analysts have pointed the spotlight at AAL stock. Let's be real – airliners weren't exactly the most robust investment class prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic. But now, the crisis has exposed every vulnerability.InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsFundamentally, American Airlines is burning cash at an unsustainable rate. In my opinion, you can easily use hyperbolic terms here. In its most recent first-quarter earnings report, AAL suffered a net income loss of $2.24 billion. Its balance sheet is now in the red, suffering a loss of $2.64 billion. * 20 Stocks to Buy If You're Still Betting on America to Thrive Again, rivals such as United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) don't necessarily inspire the most confidence. But neither organization has a negative balance sheet. Thus, it's likely that AAL stock would be the odd man out. The Loss of AAL Stock Would Only Be a Pyrrhic VictoryIn a cynical sense, should American Airlines implode, it would ordinarily represent an opportunity for the other, relatively well-heeled airliners. Back in the early 1990s, for instance, the nostalgic airline brand Pan Am found itself in federal bankruptcy court. After a fierce battle, which included United, American and defunct companies Trans World Airlines and Northwest Airlines, the court granted Delta rights to Pan Am's transatlantic service.Essentially, Pan Am's assets were incredibly valuable to almost every major airliner because they could pick up pieces of the once iconic firm for pennies on the dollar. But what makes this present crisis unique is that few will be eager to adopt such a speculative growth strategy.In other words, it doesn't really matter whether AAL stock fades into the darkness. What we really should be concerned about is how many of the airliners will still be flying.I'm almost tempted to say that the airliner industry represents one of the greatest shorting opportunities ever. That's because a sharp disconnect still exists between the industry's market value and what's really over the horizon.According to Boeing chief exec Calhoun, "Traffic levels will not be back to 100%. They won't even be back to 25% [by September]… Maybe by the end of the year we approach 50%. So there will definitely be adjustments that will be have to be made on the part of the airlines."If that's the case, AAL stock is not the only stock we should be worried about. Before the coronavirus disrupted everything, industry experts forecasted that global air traffic volumes, though positive, would decline relative to the highs of 2017.Part of the reason is sluggish economic growth which has now turned into a disaster. Deflationary Environment to Hurt All PlayersIf that wasn't enough to get you airsick, consider that the consumer is probably not ready to fly. I'm not just talking about the obvious health implications. Rather, the financial situation for millions of Americans simply do not justify travel and vacationing.As you've heard, the latest jobless claims number neared three million initial filings. Since the crisis began, the total number of people filing for unemployment benefits have totaled over 36 million. It's an absolutely stupid figure that even hardened analysts cannot comprehend.Not surprisingly, 40% of Americans who have been fortunate enough to receive their coronavirus stimulus checks have chosen to save their funds. Personally, it's the wisest decision you could make. But on a collective level, this is exactly what the government didn't want.After all, our economy is mostly driven by consumption. What happens when people don't consume?It's a similar line of inquiry against AAL stock. Yes, American Airlines might fail. But how long can everyone else last if nobody wants to fly?A former senior business analyst for Sony Electronics, Josh Enomoto has helped broker major contracts with Fortune Global 500 companies. Over the past several years, he has delivered unique, critical insights for the investment markets, as well as various other industries including legal, construction management, and healthcare. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner * America's Richest ZIP Code Holds Shocking Secret * 1 Under-the-Radar 5G Stock to Buy Now * The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own The post American Airlines Could Crash, But Is It the Only One? appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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