TORONTO, Nov. 28, 2020 /CNW/ -
Saturday 28/11/2020
PICK-2: 0 2
PICK-3: 9 5 3
PICK-4: 4 2 8 8
ENCORE: 5525592
DAILY KENO
2, 6, 11, 17, 25, 28, 36, 41, 47, 49,
50, 53, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 66, 67, 69.
SOURCE OLG Winners
View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2020/28/c9743.html
(Bloomberg) -- When the world’s most-famous electric car maker finally joins the S&P 500, it will be bitter-sweet for investors with about $11 trillion in funds tied to the gauge. Their benchmark-hugging bets get some Elon Musk magic at last, but they pay seven-times last year’s price for the privilege.Given the chance, how many would have added Tesla Inc. to their index exposure in January? Or even June, when the shares had merely doubled?Customization is at the heart of a red-hot investing strategy driving two of the biggest deals in asset management this year. Known as direct indexing, it blurs the line between stock-picking and benchmark-following and now commands about $300 billion after its popularity surged in recent years.The idea is simple: Instead of buying shares in a fund that slavishly holds all the companies in an index, investors buy those stocks directly. The index exposure is broadly the same, but the investors are no longer wedded to it. They can make tweaks -- like adding a skyrocketing automaker well ahead of the S&P 500, for example.“The Tesla issue of the last few months is probably highlighting for the first time to a lot of people that the S&P is not the largest 500 companies,” said Elya Schwartzman, founder of ES Investment Consulting LLC. With direct indexing, “you can just create your own index and say, look I want the largest 600 companies by U.S. market capitalization,” he added.Direct indexing is a modern twist on separately managed accounts, which have been around for years and are used to build bespoke portfolios for wealthy individuals. The age of zero-commission trading and growing use of fractional shares means similar strategies can now be deployed for smaller investors.It remains a nascent part of the asset-management industry, but the buzz is building. Morgan Stanley’s $7 billion purchase of Eaton Vance Corp. is all about direct indexing -- the latter’s Parametric Portfolio Associates is the largest provider in the field. BlackRock Inc. this week announced a $1 billion takeover of Aperio, a creator of tailored index strategies.The ESG EffectAs dramatic as the Tesla example is, the real selling point for direct indexing may turn out to be the ability to remove companies from a portfolio’s exposure rather than add them.In the drive toward investments that meet environmental, social and governance criteria -- which also happens to be one of the tailwinds for Tesla -- huge disagreements exist over exactly what qualifies. Direct indexing allows an investor to make adjustments according to his or her own views, and remove companies not up to scratch.Read more: Record Flows Pour Into ESG Funds as Their ‘Wokeness’ Is Debated“Having this additional need for customization is really where we get involved,” said Jeff Brown, director of institutional portfolio management for Parametric. “If I want market exposure, there are quick easy ways to get it through an ETF, but if I want to customize in any way, shape or form that doesn’t exist in the ETF space, that’s where we can step in to fill that gap.”That kind of flexibility comes with a price, however. While fierce competition among brokers and asset managers has driven down trading costs across the industry -- boosting direct-indexing products in the process -- they still typically charge about 0.15%-0.35%.That’s less than an active mutual fund, but three to five times the price of some equity exchange-traded funds. The fee for the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) is just 0.03%, for example.“If direct indexing is going to experience another leg of growth, it’s going have to fan out further to the mass affluent market,” said Ben Johnson, Morningstar’s global director of ETF research. “It’s going to have to be achievable at a lower entry point.”Until recently, direct indexing tended to be the preserve of high net-worth individuals, according to Tom O’Shea, director of managed accounts at Cerulli Associates.The investing approach offers a huge tax benefit because investors have more losses which they can use to offset gains. ETFs famously do this as well, but direct indexing lets an investor utilize it at an individual stock level, which is estimated to add between 1 and 2 percentage points a year to returns.Making the most of that traditionally required a large number of securities owned outright, putting it out of reach of the average investor. But improving technology and fractional shares offered by brokerages like Charles Schwab Corp. and Robinhood are changing things.“You’re able to do the same thing with a smaller portfolio,” said O’Shea. “You can have 200 securities, but you don’t have to have as much money.”Deal MakerA recent study from Cerulli found that 67% of asset-management firms believe direct indexing presents the most-immediate opportunity to manage for both tax and ESG factors, so it’s no surprise to see big names making moves in the industry.The world’s largest asset-manager, BlackRock, said in its third-quarter earnings call that it plans to invest heavily in its separately managed account business. The Aperio purchase will bring its assets in that area to more than $160 billion, the company said.Alongside that and Morgan Stanley’s deal for Eaton Vance, Charles Schwab acquired a firm called Motif this year that offers direct indexing. Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger II has said the strategy will play an important role in the future of the company.Yet there remains plenty of skepticism that growth can meaningfully accelerate.Even customizing to include the surging Tesla ahead of the S&P 500 can’t beat the pure cost-efficiency of an ETF, according to Morgan Barna, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.VTI, which includes Tesla, has only delivered fractionally better performance this year than State Street’s SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. Meanwhile, for all the hype, the ESG investing phenomenon remains in its infancy.That could be one reason why industry leader Parametric’s direct-indexing inflows total only $15 billion for the past year, while inflows to the ETF business at BlackRock -- the largest issuer in the space -- total $126 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.“The incremental return would have to be much higher from the sum total of your custom choices to make it worth it,” said Barna. “People who felt really strongly either bought Tesla directly outside their index exposure” or bought a broader ETF, where the carmaker was included, she said.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.
“Investors have become uninterested in worrying about downside risks,” writes one Wall Street strategist.
The investment board of Wisconsin’s state pension sold Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Exxon stock in the third quarter. It bought JPMorgan stock.
Expectations of good news on the near horizon are buoying markets right now. Over the past month, both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are up 11% to new record highs.Investors are excited at the prospect of a COVID vaccine coming before the winter is out. And the electoral results, that Democrat Joe Biden will ascend to the Presidency while the Republicans will emerge strengthened in Congress, promise the avoidance of extremes typical of divided government. In short, investors are looking forward to ‘return to normal’ environment over the next several months. And that has them seeking stocks that are primed for gains. Against this backdrop, Goldman Sachs analysts are pounding the table on three stocks in particular, noting that each could surge over 40% in the year ahead. After running both tickers through TipRanks’ database, we found out that the rest of the Street is also standing squarely in the bull camp.Codiack BioSciences (CDAK)As we have all learned from coronavirus pandemic, some new thing in medical science can make huge impact on our world. Codiack aims to turn that principle to good. This research-oriented pharmaceutical aims to turn exosome therapeutics into a whole new class of medicines. Exosomes are the degradation mechanism RNA, and can transfer genetic material around a body.And therein lies the potential. Codiack has developed a design platform for the engineering of exosome proteins capable of carrying and protecting drug molecules through cell walls. In effect, the proteins will mimic the pathways used by viruses – but are non-viral, and are designed to carry a ‘payload’ of therapeutic agents. If successful, exosome therapy offers doctors the ability to design a drug that will deliver specific agents to specific cells to fight specific disease.Codiack is involved in all aspects of exosome therapeutics, from design to manufacturing, and currently has an active pipeline of agents – seven, in all – in various stages of discovery, preclinical testing, and the beginnings of Phase 1 trials.In the biosciences, success or failure is all about that pipeline, and in its diverse, active pipeline of agents in a new sector of biotechnological pharmaceuticals, Codiack has a fine resource to attract investors. To get those investors, the company went public this past October, selling 5.5 million shares at an opening price of $14.10 per share.Among the healthcare name's fans is Goldman Sachs analyst Graig Suvannavejh. The analyst wrote, “Biopharma industry interest in exosomes has long been high, but engineering them for a specific function and manufacturing at scale have both proven challenging. Among a field of multiple competitors, CDAK has made the most significant progress on both fronts, and as such we view their technology platform as best-in-class.”"Given share underperformance (-37%) since the IPO, we find risk/reward highly compelling at current levels, and with key 2021 data sets to provide potential de-risking and positive share inflection," the analyst concluded.Suvannavejh rates CDAK a Buy, and his $29 price target shows the extent of his confidence – it implies a 222% upside for the coming year. (To watch Suvannavejh’s track record, click here)Overall, Codiack has a Strong Buy from the analyst consensus – 3 reviewers have put up Buy ratings in recent weeks. The stock is selling for $8.90, and its $24 average price target implies a 166% one-year upside potential. (See CDAK stock analysis on TipRanks)Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT)Acrutis is a pioneering researcher in the treatment of dermatological disease. Arcutis is involved in discovering the next generation of dermatological treatments – an important niche, especially when one realizes that one common ailment, psoriasis, has not seen an FDA approval for a novel treatment in over two decades.The company is leveraging recent advances in immunology and inflammation to find new approaches to skin treatment. The goal is to make it easier for patients and doctors together to manage conditions like psoriasis, alopecia, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, and vitiligo, to name just a few.The company's lead candidate, ARQ-151 (roflumilast cream), is about to enter a phase 3 trial for atopic dermatitis, and is in an advanced phase 3 stage in Plaque Psoriasis. Arcutis has recently issued an update on positive data from the Phase 2 trials of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis. The drug is a once-daily treatment, and has demonstrated significant patient relief from symptoms, especially itching and itching-related sleep problems. This is another stock in Suvannavejh’s coverage universe. The Goldman analyst is impressed by developments in the company’s pipeline work, noting: “ARQT provided an update on the outcome of its end-of-Phase 2 meetings with the FDA, following their Phase 2a trial of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis (AtD). Feedback from regulators was broadly encouraging, in particular, acknowledging the robust long-term safety data being generated by ARQT for ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis…”Accordingly, Suvannavejh rates ARQT a Buy, and sets a $36 price target that indicates room for 40% upside growth in 2021. (To watch Suvannavejh’s track record, click here)Arcutis has 2 recent Buy reviews, making the consensus rating a Moderate Buy. The stock’s average price target is $37, suggesting a 44% upside from current levels. (See ARQT stock analysis on TipRanks)Oak Street Health (OSH)With the last stock, we move from medical research to medical care. Specifically, Oak Street Health is a primary care clinic operator, and part of the Medicare Network. The company has operations and clinics in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, along with New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas. It has been in operation for eight years, and went public this past summer, holding the IPO in August.In the third quarter, the company’s first as a publicly traded entity, OSH brought in $217.9 million in revenue. The revenue number was up 56% from the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share matched expectations, at 15 cents.The company’s expansion proceeds apace, and in October, Oak Street entered New York by opening, in Brooklyn, its 70th location. A planned expansion in Texas, involving a partnership with Walmart, is also proceeding as planned, and Oak Street has opened its first Walmart Community Clinic the Dallas-Fort Worth area city of Carrollton.Robert Jones, covering this stock for Goldman, set a $74 price target to back his Buy rating. At currently levels, this target implies an upside of ~58% in the next 12 months. (To watch Jones’ track record, click here)“Results suggest operations are still on track, with few incremental updates since the 2Q call, where management noted a resumption of center openings, (pivoted) marketing efforts, and in-person visits despite COVID. In 3Q, OSH opened 13 new centers and is on track for 73-75 by end of year… The company maintained that it is continuing to operate at a high level in places with elevated COVID case counts like Chicago and Detroit,” Jones noted.All in all, the Strong Buy analyst consensus rating OSH is based on 8 reviews, breaking down to 7 Buys and just a single Hold. The stock is selling for $46.94, and its $61.29 average price target suggests it has a ~31% upside for the coming year. (See OSH 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.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
The stock market is looking robust, but also showing some signs of excessive bullishness. Apple leads four key names to watch.
John Buckingham of The Prudent Speculator investment newsletter provides a special screen of stocks for MarketWatch premium subscribers.
Apple has been an American success story several times over with the Mac, iPod, iPhone and other inventions. But is Apple stock a buy now? Here's what its stock chart and earnings show.
Does buying gold stocks, or betting on the gold price, make sense, despite vaccine progress and 2020 election results? Here are some things to consider.
If I figure in the private mortgage I wrote for my daughter—which I consider comparable to a bond investment—the mix is more like 67% stocks and 33% conservative investments. At age 57, this is an income stream I hope to outlive—but I could be wrong. At the top of my list is Social Security, which I plan to claim at age 70.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The chief executive officer of Volkswagen AG, Herbert Diess, has predicted that within five to 10 years the world’s most valuable company will be a carmaker. Given how much investors have been bidding up the shares of Tesla Inc. and other electric vehicle stocks, it might happen sooner.Tesla’s market value soared past $540 billion this week — equivalent to 250 times its expected earnings this year — meaning it’s now the world’s 10th-most valuable listed business, according to Bloomberg data. A trio of New York-listed Chinese electric-vehicle groups — Nio Inc., XPeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc. — are worth a combined $154 billion. None of the three is profitable and together they delivered fewer than 30,000 vehicles during the most recent quarter, just over 1% of Volkswagen’s car sales volumes.Arrival Ltd., a U.K.-based electric-bus and van startup that’s poised to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, is valued at almost $16 billion after the SPAC’s shares more than doubled in a week. It won’t start producing vehicles until late next year.(1)The electric revolution is real and the shift away from combustion engines is accelerating. From a climate perspective, it’s great that investors are allocating capital like this. Still, valuations look mighty bubbly. The potential for disappointment is massive, particularly for the newest crop of EV makers that are yet to generate meaningful revenue.Like all financial bubbles, this one is driven by dreams of enormous wealth. Elon Musk has overtaken Bill Gates as the world’s second-richest person. Scottish investment manager Baillie Gifford & Co., an early Musk backer, recently cashed out billions of dollars in Tesla stock but retains a 3.7% holding worth about $20 billion. Baillie Gifford has more than one horse in the EV race: Its Nio stake is worth almost $6 billion. The Chinese company’s U.S-listed shares have surged 1,235% this year. Nio’s recent history shows the perils of electric-vehicle stocks. It warned in March of substantial doubt in its ability to continue as a going concern, having burned through $4 billion of cash in three years. It survived thanks to a local government bailout. Tesla has been on the cusp of bankruptcy at least twice since 2003. Those now joining the electric race claim to have learned lessons from these near-death struggles but there’s little to suggest their fates will be any less volatile.Competition is intense and while electric motors are simpler to build than combustion engines, developing a vehicle that’s safe, reliable and exciting is incredibly difficult. Incumbent giants such as Volkswagen and General Motors Co. are much better capitalized and they’ve far more experience managing supply chains and building brands. After a slow start, they’ve gone “all-in” on EVs. They won’t be shoved aside easily. Several factors have driven electric-vehicle stocks to these giddy heights. The U.S. Federal Reserve has stoked a speculative frenzy by cutting interest rates to zero, and bored millennials trading stocks at home on Robinhood have caught the EV bug. Electric-vehicle companies know how to market themselves to this crowd: Workhorse Group Inc. says its delivery vans can be paired with a drone, while XPeng emphasizes its autonomous-driving capabilities. ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp.’s “Solo” model has just three wheels. Then there’s 2020’s hottest financial fad: SPACs. Many have merged with electric-vehicle groups, and one peculiarity of these deals is that the companies are allowed to publish detailed multi-year financial forecasts, unlike in a regular initial public offering. These projections are often extremely bullish. Like Arrival, Fisker Inc. — an asset-light electric-auto business whose shares have soared — is yet to commence commercial sales. Even Musk is worried about SPACs, though he hasn’t said which ones.These new companies claim to have a solution for the manufacturing difficulties and massive capital outlays that almost sank Tesla. Drawing a comparison with the way Apple Inc. outsources phone production to Foxconn Technology Group, Fisker plans to subcontract manufacturing of its Ocean SUV to Canadian auto-parts supplier Magna International Inc. Electric- and hydrogen-truck maker Nikola Corp. is pursuing a similar strategy with partners GM and CNH Industrial NV. Others are taking a different approach. Electric-pickup startup Lordstown Motors Corp. acquired a factory from GM and has licensed technology from Workhorse to speed its market entry. Not to be outdone, Arrival claims to have reinvented the car assembly line. It plans to construct smaller, cheaper “microfactories” situated closer to where products are sold. Greater automation will reduce the need for human labor, it says.However you produce vehicles, though, there’s plenty to trip you up. More than a third of Workhorse’s factory staff have had to down tools because of suspected coronavirus infections. Li Auto recalled all 10,000 electric SUVs produced before June, after it found a potential suspension problem. Workhorse and XPeng both warned recently of battery supply bottlenecks. A big test for wannabe Teslas will come when they’ve burned though their cash and need to ask equity and debt investors for more, as Tesla and Nio have done repeatedly. ElectraMeccanica warned in its latest accounts that its “ability to continue as a going concern will depend on our continued ability to raise capital on acceptable terms.”All of this may have short sellers licking their lips, but Tesla’s rise shows the danger of betting against the bubble. Nikola was the subject of a scathing report from Hindenburg Research that questioned its technology, and which forced the departure of its chairman. Yet its market capitalization now exceeds $11.5 billion.Diess may be right about carmakers becoming the most valuable companies. It’s inevitable, however, that some won't make it.(1) Basis of calculation: the transaction at $10 a share valued Arrival's equity at $6 billion. Shares of the CIIG Spac are now trading at $26.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.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.
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals gained Food and Drug Administration approval for an obesity drug for patients with rare genetic deficiencies, and RYTM stock rocketed to a two-month high.
The feasibility of President-elect Joe Biden’s bold plan for sweeping tax increases on the wealthy has been vastly diminished in the absence of big Democratic wins in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Biden’s focus on raising income taxes on the top 1% of earners, for instance, could appeal to some Republicans nodding toward a more populist agenda and get pushed through. “Since it wasn’t a blue wave, it’s much less likely we’ll see sweeping reform,” says Ali Hutchinson, managing director at Brown Brothers Harriman.
President-elect Joe Biden wants to help Americans save for their golden years by expanding access to retirement savings plans, strengthening Social Security, and making health care more affordable.
Ford has been among the worst-performing auto stocks during the past five years. Its new CEO could help fix the company and send its share higher.
Given strong dividend growth and big money signals, these stocks could be worth a spot in a yield-oriented portfolio.
Jeremy Siegel, the Wharton professor credited for calling Dow 20,000 in 2015, predicted that the market could be in for a solid gain in the coming year based on three factors.
(Bloomberg) -- OPEC’s oil ministers have a few challenges to consider at a crucial summit next week, but for the first time in years the shale boom won’t be at the top of the list.A devastating global pandemic and a reckoning with Wall Street appear to have broken the resolve of the shale wildcatters who turned the U.S. into the world’s biggest oil producer. Years of breakneck growth, at the expense of crude kingpins in the Middle East and Russia, have come to an end. If there was ever any doubt, it’s now abundantly clear who has the upper hand in the global oil market.“In the future, certainly we believe OPEC will be the swing producer — really, totally in control of oil prices,” Bill Thomas, chief executive officer of EOG Resources Inc., the biggest independent shale producer by market value, said earlier this month. “We don’t want to put OPEC in a situation where they feel threatened, like we’re taking market share while they’re propping up oil prices.”The shale industry’s prudence, also echoed by the CEOs of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Occidental Petroleum Corp., means that production will probably flatten after a steep plunge this year. U.S. oil output will end 2021 close to 11 million barrels a day, about the same as it is now, according to forecasters IHS Markit, Rystad Energy, Enverus and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.“I see no more growth until 2022, 2023, and it will be very, very light in regard to the U.S. shale industry ever growing again,” Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield, who’ll run the fourth-largest shale operation in the country after his company completes the takeover of Parsley Energy Inc., said in an interview.That will surely come as a relief to OPEC and its allies.At the start of 2020, the group’s efforts to control prices were facing increasing difficulties. The breakthroughs in horizontal drilling and fracking that ushered in the shale revolution made it look as though U.S. production growth might never end. Output surpassed 13 million barrels a day for the first time in February.Then Covid-19 hit, people around the world stopped driving and flying, and the oil market crashed. President Donald Trump brokered a historic deal with OPEC in April to remove almost a 10th of global production from the market. He said the U.S. contribution would come in the form of market-driven cuts.That pledge was delivered faster than most predicted, and it made a huge difference. Investors who were already tiring of the shale industry’s cash-burning spree retreated from the sector, and several producers went bankrupt. Before the summer was over, U.S. output had collapsed by 3.4 million barrels a day, almost the same as removing the United Arab Emirates at peak production.Output from shale wells typically declines in a matter of months, so new ones need to be drilled and fracked just to maintain production at current levels. A recent uptick in drilling and fracking doesn’t seem to be enough to ensure production growth.Since hitting bottom in the summer, the number of rigs searching for crude in shale fields has increased by 69 to 241 this week, according to data from Baker Hughes Co. That’s still down from 683 in March. Similarly, the number of fracking crews in the once vibrant Permian Basin straddling Texas and New Mexico has increased to 63, an improvement from a meager 20 in June, data from Primary Vision Inc. show. But that’s less than half the 146 teams that were pumping mixtures of water, chemicals and sand into wells in January to release oil from shale rock in the area. It’s as though the U.S. suddenly went from being a thorn in OPEC’s side to being an unofficial member of the cartel’s alliance with Russia and other producing nations. Since June, benchmark U.S. oil prices have been remarkably stable, hovering around $40 a barrel, and that’s how OPEC likes it. Now, when the cartel meets in a virtual gathering Nov. 30, and the broader OPEC+ alliance on Dec. 1, they’ll probably be more focused on the pandemic’s impact on fuel consumption. Most of the crude the group removed from the market has already been successfully brought back without any turmoil.While shale’s retreat has made OPEC’s life easier, for the U.S. oil industry it’s been brutal. There have been 43 bankruptcies of exploration and production companies this year through October, according to a report from law firm Haynes & Boone.Shale may be down but it’s certainly not out, though. The U.S. is still an oil superpower, and will remain so for years to come. And there’s always the possibility that higher prices will get explorers drilling and fracking relentlessly like before.A sustained price rise to $50 a barrel will “trigger growth again,” according to Bernadette Johnson, vice president for strategy and analytics at Enverus. At $60 a barrel, U.S. shale will come back strongly, she said.The oil market received a boost this week as AstraZeneca Plc became the third drug company to show promising results from a trial of its coronavirus vaccine. That helped push prices in New York above $45 a barrel for the first time since March. If other pieces of bullish news take prices to levels that would encourage growth in shale, even if temporarily, producers could seize the opportunity to lock in prices with hedging contracts. That’s a risk OPEC+ will have to consider. Whether investors will be willing to bankroll shale anew is another question. Before Covid-19, the industry was already buckling under high debts and shareholder discontent. Shale producers burned through about $342 billion of cash since 2010, Deloitte LLP said in June.Another unknown is what titans Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. will choose to do next year. Both slashed capital budgets by around a third this year, with the biggest cuts coming from U.S. shale."Crucially, OPEC+ does not have to battle for market share just yet,’’ Natasha Kaneva, a commodities analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said. “After six months of minimal capital spending, U.S. shale production will remain constrained.”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.
AMD stock cleared an early entry Friday, while Apple chipmakers Qualcomm and Qorvo are among semiconductor stocks near buy points.
As we wave goodbye to a difficult year, it is likely that the economic and financial roller-coaster ride is only just getting started.
AstraZeneca HQ and research center in Cambridge, United Kingdom * Benzinga has examined the prospects or many investor favorite stocks over the past week. * The bullish calls in the holiday-shortened week included old-school and newer consumer favorites. * A COVID-19 vaccine contender and a casino stock were featured among the bearish calls.As investors begin looking to the future, hopes for COVID-19 vaccines and the incoming U.S. presidential administration helped buoy the markets last week, lifting Dow Jones industrials to a new all-time high. The main U.S. indexes ended the holiday-shortened week higher, led by the Nasdaq's 3% gain.There was plenty of focus on retail last week, with changes to Black Friday, mixed earnings from retailers still coming in and some early signs of what the holiday shopping season has in store.The week also saw a new world's second richest man, additional layoffs at an entertainment giant, consolidation in the book publishing industry and fresh geopolitical tensions.Through it all, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.Bulls Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) unveiled a plan earlier this year to focus heavily on its direct-to-consumer streaming business, according to Chris Katje's "2 Catalysts That Could Boost Disney+ Subscribers." Upcoming catalysts could bolster already strong subscriber growth. What is expected from an upcoming investor presentation?In "Oppenheimer Upgrades General Electric: 'Turnaround Gaining Traction'," Wayne Duggan discusses how General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is making steady progress on its turnaround efforts, its balance sheet has improved and coronavirus vaccine data is bullish for the company."Analyst Sees Square Hitting 0 On The Back Of Bitcoin-Heavy Cash App" by Shivdeep Dhaliwal examines the prospects for Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) and its Cash App. See how the featured analyst believes the mobile payment company will fare against competition from the likes of PayPal and Venmo.Jayson Derrick's "Roku's Fundamentals 'Remain Strong,' Analyst Says" focuses on why recent momentum at Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) could be sustained even after a COVID-19 vaccine is available to the public. In addition, see what the company's international prospects in the new year may be.For additional bullish calls in the past week, also have a look at the following: * Wall Street Analysts Say These 5 Stocks Are A Buy As The World Prepares For The Post-COVID-19 Era * China Tech Companies To Remain 'Very Much A Growth Play' Even Post-COVID-19, Says Credit Suisse * Cramer's Year-End Game Plan: Load Up On Digital RetailersBears Shanthi Rexaline's "AstraZeneca Analyst Flags Lack Of Details In Interim COVID-19 Vaccine Data" shows why one analyst called interim Phase 3 data for the AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ: AZN) coronavirus vaccine candidate "premature and insufficient" and "likely to attract a raft of criticism.""Morgan Stanley Downgrades Ford, Says EV Strategy Is 'Not Fully Clear'" by Jayson Derrick makes the case that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) deserves credit for expressing a "sense of urgency" in building out its electric vehicle lineup, but management's strategy is "not fully clear" at this point.In Wayne Duggan's "Citron Shorts Palantir, Calls Stock A 'Full Casino'," see what made the famous short seller add Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) to the holiday short list last week. Check out how much downside from current levels Citron predicts by the end of the year.With Caesars Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ: CZR) stock up more than 100% in six months, it is time for a downgrade on valuation and some risks ahead. So says "Caesars Entertainment Gets Downgrade On Valuation, Short-Term Risks" by Chris Katje.Be sure to check out these additional bearish calls: * Bitcoin Takes A Thanksgiving Swoon * Why Scott Nations Is Bearish On Crude Oil * Mexico's Cannabis Legalization Bill Will Boost Business, But There Are ConcernsAt the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter.Photo courtesy: AstraZenecaSee more from Benzinga * Click here for options trades from Benzinga * Barron's Picks And Pans: Emerging Markets, Kandi, Simon Property, Plug Power And More * Last Week's Notable Insider Buys: Avis, Biglari And More(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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