Trading Ideas

Airlines including United have parked jets and slashed flight schedules as demand has virtually vanished due to the pandemic, forcing them to suspend growth plans and shift their focus to saving cash. Chicago-based United said it had $9.6 billion in liquidity as of April 29, up from $7.2 billion at the end of March, and that its cash burn would range between $40 million and $45 million per day in the second quarter. United is set to receive $5 billion in payroll aid under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and will likely decide in …read more […]

Oil prices jumped on Friday, extending the previous session’s gains, buoyed by a lower-than-expected gain in U.S. crude inventories and the start of output cuts in a bid to offset a slump in fuel demand triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude for July delivery, which started trading on Friday as the new front-month contract, was up $1.10, or 4.2%, at $27.58 a barrel by 0013 GMT. Brent gained 12% on Thursday. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Gold headed for its largest weekly decline in seven weeks as European nations, including the U.K., offered cautious signals they’ve passed through the peak of the coronavirus outbreak and U.S. cases rose at the slowest pace this month.U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country was through the worst of the virus and pledged to deliver plans to lift the lockdown, while Italy, France and Germany all also outlined proposals to gradually ease restrictions. The European Central Bank stepped up its response to the coronavirus crisis by cutting funding costs for banks, but refrained from boosting its bond-buying …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Japanese shares and U.S. futures dropped after sobering comments from Amazon and Apple about the impact of the coronavirus. The dollar pared overnight losses and Treasury yields ticked lower.Asian trading was limited Friday, with much of the region out on holidays. After U.S. markets closed, Amazon.com warned of a possible second-quarter loss, while Apple omitted an earnings forecast for the first time in more than a decade. Earlier, the S&P 500 Index fell from a seven-week high in wake of a larger-than-expected jump in U.S. jobless claims. Strong results from Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc. and Tesla Inc. had …read more […]

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Key manufacturing data and ExxonMobil and Chevron earnings take centerstage Friday to close out a busy week. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Visa Inc. Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly warned the firm will be challenged “for a number of quarters” even as declines in spending on its network began to moderate in April.As the U.S. government began sending out stimulus payments to millions of consumers this month, Visa saw an increase in spending on home improvement, automotive and some areas of health care. Still, spending on the firm’s cards in the U.S. has dropped 19% in April compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Chief Financial Officer Vasant Prabhu.To offset the slowdown in spending on its cards, …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — One of the biggest U.S. steelmakers is singaling how the coronavirus pandemic is set to inflict pain on blue-collar America.U.S. Steel Corp. expects to lay off about 2,700 employees as the virus forces the company to idle most of its blast furnaces. Even before lockdowns hit the economy, producers were facing slowing demand in the manufacturing sector.Now, U.S. Steel’s moves further illustrate how the virus is turning President Donald Trump’s much-touted “blue-collar boom” into a bust as he heads into November’s election. Economists see an historic economic contraction in the offing and millions of jobs at risk in …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Oil headed for its first weekly gain in a month following early signs that demand might be bottoming out as global production cuts deepen.Futures in New York slipped 0.7% in Asia, after jumping as much as 29% in volatile trading Thursday. The OPEC+ bloc’s output cut of 10 million barrels per day officially starts on Friday, while other producers are also reining back. Royal Dutch Shell Plc said that upstream oil and gas production could fall by as much as a third, while ConocoPhillips said it will cut more than 400,000 barrels a day in June. Norway said …read more […]

My father was an accountant.
Not the kind of accountant who wore a fancy suit and was a partner at a “Big Four” accounting firm pulling in six figures…
He was more of a “grind it out every day for decades” bookkeeper at a small private business.
My father was a reliable, honest employee – exactly the kind of accountant a business like that needs.
Despite my father spending four decades at the same job, his annual vacation entitlement was always just two weeks. (No wonder he was thrilled when it came time to retire.)
My mom was a teacher.
Not just any teacher, but a …read more […]

Stock futures kicked off the overnight session Thursday evening, pointing to a lower start to May. …read more […]

A week ago, my wife was craving chicken tenders from Outback Steakhouse. Let me tell you, I am not a fan!
And, to add heartburn insult to injury, she also wanted the patented Bloomin’ Onion! Maybe 30 years ago my system would have been able to handle that fried-food disaster, but not today.
So we went online, and, lo and behold, she already had an account set up. It was a breeze placing the order, leaving the tip and getting a text confirmation informing us when the meal would be ready to be picked up. All we had to do was leave …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — The Justice Department has begun a preliminary inquiry into how taxpayer money was lent out under the Paycheck Protection Program and has already found possible fraud among businesses seeking relief, a top official said.Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, who runs the department’s criminal division, said prosecutors have contacted 15 to 20 of the largest loan processors and the Small Business Administration, which oversees one relief program, as part of an effort to police the trillions of dollars in federal aid being pushed out hastily to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.The review has already turned up …read more […]

Despite beating analyst earnings and revenue estimates, Gilead shares fell after the bell. Yahoo Finance Live takes a closer look at the numbers. …read more […]