AT&T said Tuesday it will immediately ditch Venezuela’s pay TV market as U.S. sanctions prohibit its DirecTV platform from broadcasting channels that it is required to carry by the socialist administration of Nicolás Maduro. It joins a number of other U.S. companies — General Motors, Kellogg Co. and Kimberly-Clark — that have abandoned Venezuela due to shrinking sales, government threats and the risk of U.S. sanctions. “Because it is impossible for AT&T’s DIRECTV unit to comply with the legal requirements of both countries, AT&T was forced to close its pay TV operations in Venezuela, a decision that was made by the company’s U.S. leadership team without any involvement or prior knowledge of the DIRECTV Venezuela team,” the company said in a statement.

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(Bloomberg Opinion) — At first glance, the latest memo from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon reads like nothing short of a kumbaya moment from the billionaire who leads the biggest U.S. bank.Ahead of JPMorgan’s annual shareholder meeting, Dimon highlighted a $250 million global business and philanthropic commitment that will help “vulnerable and underrepresented communities”; a collaboration with Marriott International Inc. and others that will provide up to $10 million of hotel stays for health-care workers addressing Covid-19 in the U.S.; a lifeline to “hundreds of thousands of homeowners” to delay mortgage payments for three months; and almost $1 billion in new loans for small-business clients. The list goes on.The numbers that stuck out to me, however: JPMorgan has helped investment-grade companies raise $664 billion and an additional $104 billion in high yield so far this year. It’s not entirely clear what “helped” means, but the bank’s earnings presentation last month said it had “helped clients raise $380B+ through the investment-grade debt market in 1Q20,” implying that whatever the criteria, it has done an additional $284 billion of it in the second quarter with six weeks to go.April was a record month for the broad high-grade bond market, with some $300 billion of deals pricing, and May has shown little signs of slowing down with about $168 billion in the books. High-yield volume rebounded in April to $37.3 billion, the most in a month this year, and so far an additional $23.8 billion has priced in May. As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in his “60 Minutes” interview about the central bank’s corporate credit facilities, “we haven't actually had to lend anyone any money because now the markets are working because the markets know that we’re there.”Functioning bond markets might be enough for Powell, but for Dimon and his counterparts like Bank of America Corp.’s Brian Moynihan, it’s still market share that matters. In a subtle way, Dimon might have been letting his competitive side show by lauding the bank’s underwriting figures so far in 2020.According to Bloomberg’s league tables, JPMorgan finished No. 1 in both investment-grade and high-yield underwriting in 2019. As it stands now, JPMorgan is on track to reclaim its titles in 2020. A back-to-back finish atop the rankings hasn’t happened for the bank since 2013, which capped off a four-year string of first-place finishes after the last recession.The league tables, which use a stricter criteria on which deals qualify for a given bank, show just how slim the margins can be at the top. For instance, Bank of America snatched first place in investment-grade underwriting in 2018, the only time in the past decade that JPMorgan didn’t hold the top spot. The two banks underwrote $141 billion and $139.9 billion, respectively. That same year, JPMorgan edged out Credit Suisse in high yield, $17 billion to $16.1 billion. So far in 2020, JPMorgan has increased its investment-grade market share year-over-year by 3.28 percentage points, more than any other bank. Its closest competitor, Bank of America, has increased its share by 2.21 percentage points. In high yield, Bank of America has picked up the most market share and has done the most deals, though it still trails JPMorgan in overall volume, according to the Bloomberg league tables.All this is to say, fees from debt underwriting will play an important role in the second-quarter earnings results of the biggest U.S. banks. With Treasury yields near record lows, net interest income will inevitably come under pressure. Market volatility is nowhere near the levels seen in March, as measured by the VIX Index, which means trading revenue won’t be the lifesaver it was in the previous quarter. And provisions for credit losses will still eat into profitability. One of the few constants so far in the second quarter has been the flood of new bond deals hitting the market.JPMorgan and other big banks are clearly trying to tone down their competitive side during this pandemic to avoid appearing greedy during a time of fear. As I’ve said before, bankers are positioning themselves to be the good guys in this crisis, given that they’re well capitalized and have the capacity to be there for clients, unlike in 2008.Dimon’s memo, in that sense, effectively summarizes the mood. “Let’s leverage this moment to think creatively about how we can mobilize to address so many issues that inhibit the creation of an inclusive economy and fray our social fabric,” he wrote. “By doing the right thing during times of crisis, we can emerge stronger and more cohesive in its wake.” At the same time, he has an obligation to have JPMorgan emerge stronger from this economic downturn as well. Part of that is keeping a tight grip on its debt-underwriting throne.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Brian Chappatta is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering debt markets. He previously covered bonds for Bloomberg News. He is also a CFA charterholder.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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A Hyundai dealer in Culver City blamed the pandemic for the towing away of nearly a dozen customers' cars prior to closing. Hyundai says otherwise.

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testify before the Senate Banking Committee on CARES Act progress.

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Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous, Brian Sozzi, and Rick Newman discuss Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s recent tweet revealing the increase in pricing for the ‘full self-driving’ package, and what the package entails.

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Kohl’s (KSS) said it has seen a surge in online sales in the first quarter, while the department store chain posted larger losses than the market expected due to store closures during the coronavirus pandemic.Online sales in the first quarter ended May 2 increased 24% and accelerated to more than 60% in April. Net sales in the reported quarter plunged 44% to $2.16 billion. The department store chain reported adjusted loss per share of $3.20, missing market expectations of a $1.80 loss.“We entered the year in a strong financial position and our business was tracking to our expectations prior to the onset of the crisis,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s CEO. “Our actions to manage cash outflow and increase liquidity have been instrumental in enhancing our position to navigate this crisis, and we believe our history of prudent capital management will continue to serve us well.”Shares in Kohl’s have nosedived some 62% so far this year as the department store chain was forced to shut its stores down on March 20 to help contain the fast spread of the coronavirus pandemic.“We have begun the rebuilding process, recently reopening about 50% of our stores across the country. In doing so, we have taken special care to equip our stores with the latest health and safety measures,” said Gass. “As we look ahead, we know this experience will have a lasting impact to customer behavior and the retail landscape, and we are evolving our strategies to ensure our relevance and to capture market share.”Investors initially welcomed Kohl’s online sales growth figures and the management’s update on store reopenings as the stock rose as much as 4.5% in pre-market U.S. trading. Following the opening of U.S. financial markets, the shares swung into declines dropping 8.8% to $17.16 in morning trading.Overall, Wall Street analysts are sidelined on Kohl’s stock. Out of the 11 analysts, 7 have Holds, 2 have Sells, and 2 have Buys adding up to a Hold consensus. The $25.30 average price target indicates 45% upside potential in the shares in the coming 12 months. (See Kohl’s stock analysis on TipRanks).Kohl’s reported that it ended the quarter with $2 billion in cash. In addition, the chain operator “significantly” reduced expenses across the business inclusive of marketing, technology, operations and payroll, and cut capital expenditures by about $500 million. In an effort to preserve its cash coffers, it suspended its share repurchase program and withdrew its regular quarterly cash dividend beginning in the second quarter of 2020.Related News: GM Director Displays Confidence in Company Despite Recent Troubles Baidu Pops 8% After-Hours After Strong Earnings Beat President Trump Takes Aim at Digital Tech Giants From Google to Twitter More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * GM Director Displays Confidence in Company Despite Recent Troubles * iQIYI Sinks 4% As Online Ad-Revenue Falls Sharply * Pfizer Seeks To Raise $4 Billion From Debt Sale * Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million

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Retail giant Walmart reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, driven by a surge in e-commerce and higher traffic in stores amid the coronavirus pandemic. Yahoo Finance’s Julia La Roche breaks down the report on The First Trade.

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And they’re off to the races. All three of the major U.S. stock indexes popped on Monday after biotech company Moderna reported its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced encouraging results in its Phase 1 trial, with it appearing to be safe and able to generate an immune response against the virus.While the news has inspired optimism among market watchers, one investing guru is saying slow your roll. Billionaire Steve Cohen told the employees of his investment firm, Point72 Asset Management, to use caution amid the market’s slight rebounds from low points.In a note to his staff, Cohen wrote, “Markets don’t come back in a straight line; after an earthquake there are tremors. We need to continue to be disciplined. We are seeing plenty of opportunities to generate returns, but I don’t want us taking undue risks.”Using what’s known as a multi-strategy approach which involves stock market investments as well as global investments in several asset classes all at once based on macroeconomic trends, Cohen is considered one of the best in the business. The legendary stock picker has the track record to back up his reputation.Taking a page from Cohen’s playbook, we scanned a recent 13F filing disclosing Point72’s recent buys and found three healthcare stocks that looked promising. After running each through TipRanks’ database, we learned that some Wall Street analysts are also avid fans of the Buy-rated tickers.Verastem (VSTM)Targeting the critical signaling pathways in cancer, Verastem is developing a diverse portfolio of small molecule drugs that could potentially stop the disease in its tracks. Based on this pipeline that includes phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitors, some see significant gains in VSTM’s future. Cohen is among those that have high hopes for this healthcare name. Pulling the trigger on VSTM for the first time, Point72 purchased more than 6.1 million shares. The value of the firm’s new holding comes in at over $16 million.Meanwhile, five-star analyst Alethia Young, of Cantor Fitzgerald, cites recently released data on VS-6766 and Defactinib in ovarian and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) as the major component of her bullish thesis. For ovarian cancer, a 67% response rate was seen in six patients in the KRAS subgroup.The candidate also demonstrated activity in a subgroup of NSCLC KRAS G12V patients, with it producing a 10% response rate in the overall KRAS group of ten patients treated in the combo study. This suggests that G12V was the main driver of the effect. Young added, “In addition to the investigator run NSCLC cohort, VSTM studied G12V in another seven patients achieving a 57% ORR.” Additionally, while toxicities related to MEK/RAF and FAK were expected, the go forward dose appeared to be tolerable.Expounding on the implications of the data, Young said, “We find these data encouraging based on current market cap size since they have found likely two indications in subgroups where the monotherapy or combinations are active. We wonder if there will be questions around not seeing activity in the broader KRAS NSCLC subgroup, but overall we think this early signal in a hard to treat KRAS subgroup population is positive.”It should also be noted that challenging experiences with PI3K delta have created some headwinds, but Young still thinks the commercial potential for these therapies is underappreciated by investors. “Verastem’s Copiktra is approved for CLL and FL/SLL, which are two large markets. Our doctor checks suggest that PI3K is a viable class certainly in relapsed or refractory patients,” she stated.Bearing this in mind, Young left an Overweight rating and $6 price target on the stock. Should this target be met, a twelve-month gain of 233% could be in store. (To watch Young’s track record, click here)Looking at the consensus breakdown, 2 Buys and 1 Hold add up to a Moderate Buy analyst consensus. At $4.50, the average price target implies nearly 149% upside potential. (See Verastem stock analysis on TipRanks)Amicus Therapeutics (FOLD)Focused on delivering high-quality therapies for people living with rare metabolic diseases, Amicus Therapeutics takes its place at the forefront of the space. With a jam-packed development pipeline, it’s no wonder FOLD has scored fans. Cohen’s firm just gave the healthcare stock a nod of approval. Acquiring a new FOLD holding, Point72 picked up 2,242,900 shares valued at $20,724,000.Turning now to the analyst community, FOLD has received significant support. One of the analysts in its corner is Leerink's Joseph Schwartz, who points out that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, FOLD exceeded expectations for Q1 2020 revenue thanks to high pt. demand. The five-star analyst also noted, “Favorable reimbursement dynamics also continued to tailwinds for Galafold sales in Q1 2020. As strong adoption of Galafold continues, FOLD management reiterated that revenue continues to track towards full-year 2020 guidance of $250 to $260 million.”Additionally, Schwartz argues that in the last year, FOLD has increased its focus on cost management while still remaining committed to developing its product candidates, helping the company “turn a corner.” As part of this strategy, more cost saving initiatives have been put in place to mitigate any impacts from COVID-19, allowing its cash runway to extend through the second half of 2022.Most exciting for Schwartz, though, is that Phase 3 PROPEL for AT-GAA, its “crown jewel”, remains on track and manufacturing and supply is intact globally. Adding to the good news, AT-GAA was granted a rolling BLA submission, which is set to start in the second half of this year. This means that top-line data could be released in the first half of 2021.As the development of FOLD’s gene therapy portfolio is also progressing, with it planning to have clinical development, manufacturing and regulatory discussions for both the CLN6 and CLN3 Battens gene therapy programs, the deal is sealed for Schwartz.To this end, Schwartz maintained an Outperform call and $19 price target. This target conveys his confidence in FOLD’s ability to climb 51% higher in the next year. (To watch Schwartz’s track record, click here)What does the rest of the Street think about FOLD? It turns out that other analysts also have high hopes. With 5 Buys and a single Hold, the word on the Street is that this stock is a Strong Buy. In addition, the $20.58 average price target puts the upside potential at 65%. (See Amicus stock analysis on TipRanks)Insmed (INSM)Last but not least we have Insmed, which works on developing effective therapies for patients suffering from serious and rare diseases. While COVID-19 has weighed on the company, there are major catalysts on the horizon that could potentially fuel upside for shares.Point72 takes its place on the bulls’ side. Boosting its holding by a whopping 1,283%, the firm snapped up 3.3 million shares. As for the value of this new addition, it lands at $53.4 million.Like Cohen, H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein is optimistic. “In spite of investor uncertainty associated the with COVID-19 pandemic, we view the apparent progression of all pipeline programs in lieu of such headwinds as positive for the stock,” Fein commented.Looking specifically at ARIKAYCE, growth has slowed as a result of the public health crisis, but the five-star analyst argues that several factors suggest the momentum for sales growth will persist. These include the submission of an NDA in March in Japan, which boasts the largest diagnosed MAC lung disease population, and the pending EU marketing authorization. This would set INSM up for a Germany launch by year-end, followed up by a UK launch shortly after.The most noteworthy potential catalyst in terms of prescriptions and determining treatment duration, though, will be updated guidelines from both the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a peer-reviewed paper offering solutions to address the adverse events that are sometimes witnessed with ARIKAYCE use and a patient reported outcome (PRO) tool for ARIKAYCE in non-tuberculosis (NTM) disease is being developed, with the trial kicking off in the beginning of the second half of 2020.Fein added, “Insmed announced that it has not yet observed any disruptions in the supply chain for ARIKAYCE production and should be able to meet global demand through 2022…Insmed believes that the current climate is causing a bolus of patients, which could lead to a major upswing in patients being treated with ARIKAYCE in 2H20.”If that wasn’t enough, Brensocatib, formerly INS1007, is on a clear path to Phase 3 trial initiation in bronchiectasis and is being studied in severe COVID-19 patients. “We feel the development of Brensocatib remains promising as we recall the announcement that AstraZeneca decided to exercise the first option to advance Brensocatib development in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma patients,” Fein noted. Treprostinil Palmitil, previously INS1009, could also see Phase 1 initiation in pulmonary arterial hypertension in the second half of 2020.Based on all of the above, Fein reiterated his Buy rating and $52 price target. Given this target, shares could skyrocket 103% in the next twelve months. (To watch Fein’s track record, click here)With only Buy ratings assigned in the last three months, 6 to be exact, the message is clear: INSM is a Strong Buy. The $47.83 average price target is less aggressive than Fein’s, but it still leaves room for 87% upside potential. (See Insmed stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for healthcare stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

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U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. (PFE) disclosed the pricing of its four-tranche debt offering through which it intends to raise about $4 billion in proceeds.The offering includes $750 million of 0.800% notes due 2025, $1 billion of 1.700% notes due 2030, $1 billion of 2.550% notes due 2040 and $1.25 billion of 2.700% notes maturing in 2050.Pfizer, which is also engaged in the development of a coronavirus vaccine candidate, said it will use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including for repayment of a portion of its outstanding commercial paper and to refinance, redeem or repurchase existing debt.The closing of the offering is scheduled for May 28, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.Last week, Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla told CNBC that he wants to expand human trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to thousands of test patients by September.On May 5, Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE (BNTX) announced that the first participants have been dosed in the U.S. in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the BNT162 vaccine program to prevent Covid-19.The first stage of the Phase 1/2 trial in the U.S. will enroll up to 360 healthy subjects in two age groups (18-55 and 65-85), with the younger group to receive the vaccine candidate first. The trial is part of a global development program, and the dosing of the first cohort in Germany was completed the previous week.Shares in Pfizer, which dropped to a low on March 23, have since recovered advancing 34% to trade at $38.07 as of Monday. The stock was down 0.5% in Tuesday’s pre-market trading.Overall, Wall Street analysts are divided over Pfizer’s stock with 4 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings which add up to a Moderate Buy consensus. The $42.22 average price target for Pfizer implies 11% upside potential for the drugmaker’s shares in the coming 12 months. (See Pfizer stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million Moderna Spikes 21% Amid “Positive” Early-Stage Covid-19 Vaccine Data AstraZeneca Aiming For 30M UK Covid-19 Vaccine Doses By September More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * GM Director Displays Confidence in Company Despite Recent Troubles * iQIYI Sinks 4% As Online Ad-Revenue Falls Sharply * Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million * Dynavax Explodes 40% In Pre-Market On Phase 1 Covid-19 Vaccine News

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The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 13% in the last quarter…

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