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(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined after the S&P 500 briefly touched the highest level since the coronavirus pandemic sent markets tumbling worldwide in March. Crude oil also turned lower.The main U.S. equity index stumbled in afternoon trading on signs the virus was throttling reopening plans in states like California. An increase in tensions with China also damaged sentiment. The measures had almost reclaimed a gain for the year before stumbling. It’s still down almost 7% from a Feb. 19 high.The volatility in the S&P also corresponded with prices swings in Tesla Inc., which is in the Nasdaq Composite. The Nasdaq hit another record high before closing in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day slightly higher.“It’s remarkable how optimistic investors seem to be,” said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management. “But there are a lot of uncertainties remaining and it’s a little bit early to assume it’s going to be back to business as usual anytime soon.”Traders are awaiting reports this week from a slew of companies that have yet to provide concrete guidance on the impact of the virus. Shares of PepsiCo Inc. rose after the snack-maker reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter sales.European stocks rose with government bond yields. Oil declined ahead of an OPEC+ meeting at which the group may announce plans to start tapering historic production cuts.With global stocks trading near their highest since February, the focus has turned to whether the profit outlook will back up bullishness fueled by central bank and fiscal policy support. Traders have largely shrugged off new coronavirus outbreaks in some parts of the world. California’s two biggest school districts said they would offer remote learning only in the fall despite calls by the Trump administration for classrooms to fully reopen. The state reported a record number of people hospitalized with coronavirus.There’s reason for optimism even though earnings are estimated to have contracted by more than 40% in the worst quarter since the financial crisis, as analysts upgrade their forecasts for the rest of the year.“The backdrop is positive for all sectors of the market,” said Gerry Sparrow, president of Sparrow Capital Management Inc. “The reason for that backdrop is that the recovery has taken hold, so jobs data, consumer credit, home building strength signaled that the economy has shifted in a positive direction.”Here are some key events coming up:JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon and Citigroup start the U.S. earnings season for banks.Wednesday brings the Bank of Japan’s policy decision and a Governor Haruhiko Kuroda briefing.The EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.China releases second-quarter GDP on Thursday as well as key economic indicators for June.The European Central Bank meets to set monetary policy on Thursday, with President Christine Lagarde holding a virtual press conference afterward.These are the main moves in markets: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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The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey have plowed through 821 13F filings that hedge funds and well-known value investors are required to file by the SEC. The 13F filings show the funds' and investors' portfolio positions as of March 31st, a week after the market trough. Now, we are […]

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Baron Asset Fund recently published its second-quarter commentary – a copy of which can be downloaded here. During the second quarter of 2020, the Baron Asset Fund returned 28.02% (institutional shares). In comparison, the benchmark S&P 500 Index was up 20.54%, while the Russell Midcap Growth Index was up 30.26%. You should check out Baron […]

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(Bloomberg) — Amateur investors who loaded up on J.C. Penney Co. shares as the retailer went bankrupt are now pleading with a judge to spare them from a complete wipeout.“I hope and pray for you to consider the shareholders,” wrote 50-year-old individual investor John Hardt in a letter dated May 25, one of dozens sent to the Corpus Christi, Texas-based court overseeing the case in recent months.Hardt is part of a growing number of retail traders — many driven by lockdown boredom and free online trading — who have piled into the stock market. Speculation by amateurs is nothing new, but for the first time experts can recall, investors are buying shares of even bankrupt companies. Hertz Global Holdings Inc., oil driller Whiting Petroleum Corp. and J.C. Penney have all seen their stock price surge in recent sessions, despite being in Chapter 11.Those gains almost always prove fleeting, leaving retail traders with little to show for their stakes other than an expensive lesson in the U.S. corporate bankruptcy process — where shareholder value disappears almost as a rule. That’s because all creditors have to be made whole before equity owners get anything. For J.C. Penney investors, there’s little to suggest this time will prove any different.A representative for the company declined to comment on the shareholder letters. An unrelated hearing scheduled for Monday may yield an update about extending the deadline for lenders to approve its turnaround plan.“If there is any possible way — any way — to give a meaningful recovery to shareholders, we will fight for it,” Joshua Sussberg of Kirkland & Ellis, J.C. Penney’s bankruptcy lawyer, said at a June 9 hearing.Read more: Robinhood’s new traders ignore danger signs to bet on stocks Mom-and-pop investors who insist on betting on struggling companies would be well advised to stay away from those in or near bankruptcy, said Fred Ringel, a partner and co-chair of the bankruptcy department at law firm Robinson Brog Leinwand Greene Genovese & Gluck.“People who buy equity hoping that they’re not going to get wiped out in a bankruptcy just don’t understand the process,” Ringel said.He added he’s been baffled to see retail investors putting cash into bankrupt stocks given the complexity of the restructuring process. “I don’t understand this phenomenon at all,” he said.J.C. Penney filed for Chapter 11 in mid-May. After climbing as high as 67.9 cents last month, the company’s stock is trading at around 30 cents. Some of the retailer’s most junior debt — which still ranks ahead of shares in the repayment line — is quoted at less than 2 cents on the dollar. This implies extremely thin odds that bondholders will get repaid, and in turn that nothing will be left over for stockholders.Hardt, when contacted by Bloomberg last week, said he had “zero knowledge of the bankruptcy process” before buying about 10,000 J.C. Penney shares. The Plano, Texas native said he’s already sold the position.Chasing AmazonSeveral of the letters from J.C. Penney shareholders criticize the company’s failure so far to announce a buyer, after media reports cited several potential bidders, including Amazon.com Inc. Bloomberg reported in May on talks between Authentic Brands Group LLC and mall landlords Simon Property Group Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners LP to acquire the chain.Retail investors hoping for a sale may have thought a buyer would pay cash for outstanding shares. Yet that’s practically unheard of in bankruptcy, where any asset value that remains after court costs belongs to lenders with senior collateral claims. Once they’re made whole, other creditors, including unsecured lenders and vendors are next in line. J.C. Penney entered bankruptcy with more than $2 billion in secured debt and $8 billion in total debt.Some recent J.C. Penney investors said in interviews that that they bought shares on the expectation that the company would be able to rebound once stores shuttered by the Covid-19 outbreak were able to reopen, and therefore the retailer would be able to secure better terms in its restructuring negotiations than the typical Chapter 11 debtor.The company has struggled for years, but analysts generally expected before the pandemic that it could hold out until at least 2021.Some of the letters also criticize the decisions of corporate management and claim that Chief Executive Officer Jill Soltau offered false hope to investors. The company maintained in public statements through the end of March that it remained “optimistic about J.C. Penney’s ability to weather this pandemic.”“I saw no bankruptcy coming only the promise of turnaround and great news,” wrote shareholder David Dean of Baltimore, who submitted a letter to the court on June 3. “Now this bankruptcy filing. Who could have known.”The case is J.C. Penney Company Inc., 20-20182, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Corpus Christi)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) — It was sold as an all-or-nothing moonshot into space, the boldest pay package in corporate history.Now, with Tesla Inc.’s stock on a seemingly unstoppable rise, Elon Musk is poised to collect the second tranche of his pay award, worth $2.4 billion.Barring a sudden drop in the electric-car maker’s shares, the final performance threshold tied to market value should be met in a matter of days. That would unlock 1.69 million stock options, yielding Musk the 10-figure sum if he were to exercise and immediately sell the shares.The remarkable payout follows an equally remarkable ride for Tesla, whose shares have more than quadrupled this year and ballooned Musk’s net worth to $70.5 billion, making him the seventh-richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The automaker is currently worth more than Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and Hyundai Motor Co. combined.Read more: Elon Musk Soars Past Warren Buffett on Billionaires RankingThe rally has left Wall Street analysts struggling to make sense of the firm’s valuation, which topped $300 billion on Monday. Some have focused on the company’s work to improve batteries or the prospect that it may soon start selling cars in India.Tesla is scheduled to release second-quarter results July 22. If it reports a profit, it would be the fourth consecutive such quarter — a milestone needed to be considered for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index.Ambitious TargetsMusk, 49, has never accepted a salary, with his pay instead consisting of option awards that he can collect only if the California-based company meets ambitious targets.The most recent iteration, unveiled in early 2018, was the largest-ever corporate pay deal struck between a company’s board and its chief executive officer. It includes 20.3 million options, split into 12 tranches, that could yield Musk more than $50 billion if all goals are met, according to Tesla’s estimates.Getting all of it, however, is far from certain. Each tranche is tied to specific targets for revenue, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, as well as Tesla’s average trailing market capitalization over 30 days and six months. The first market-value threshold was set at $100 billion, with the others following in $50 billion increments.Tesla reached its first milestones for sales and Ebitda — $20 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively — last year. And its 30-day market value average has been well above the $150 billion threshold for some time. Once the six-month average exceeds that level, Musk will claim the 1.69 million options and can exercise them at will.Musk said on Twitter last week that he could cash in on some of his stock eventually to further the mission of his other most high-profile company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp.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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"There are renewed expectations that the Pfizer vaccine will be ready for approval by the end of October, which is sooner than expected – so that's very good news," said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital LLC in New York. Merger news also perked up investors as Analog Devices Inc announced a $21 billion deal to buy rival Maxim Integrated Products Inc , sending its shares up 13.0%. Pepsi Co gained 1.5% as it benefited from a surge in at-home consumption of salty snacks such as Fritos and Cheetos during lockdowns.

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With its stock down 9.6% over the past month, it is easy to disregard Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM). To decide if this trend…

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