Worldwide Bariatric Surgery Industry to 2025 - Key Growth Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities

Investor's Business Daily
Look Who Made Money Hand Over Fist During Biden's First 100 Days
It's been just 100 days since President Biden's inauguration — and a powerful S&P 500 rally is ongoing. But not all winners are equal. Far from it.
9h ago
FX Empire
NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Continues to Find Resistance Inside Retracement Zone at .7204 to .7266
The direction of the NZD/USD on Friday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to .7242.
14h ago
Bloomberg
Trump Scores $617 Million of Cash With Vornado From Tower Bonds
(Bloomberg) -- Investors snapped up $1.2 billion of bonds linked to a San Francisco office tower that makes up much of Donald Trump’s fortune.The AAA slice of the commercial mortgage-backed security sold Friday with a discount margin, or risk premium, of 125 basis points over one-month Libor -- roughly in line with other recent office-tower deals.The bonds are being used to refinance a loan on the 555 California Street property in a deal that gives joint owners Vornado Realty Trust and Trump a $617 million payout.The complex, among the tallest buildings in San Francisco, is one of two Trump-linked office towers that Vornado is refinancing. The other is in New York. While Vornado majority owns them, Trump’s 30% stake is the most valuable part of his portfolio, making up about one-third of his $2.3 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.The refinancing -- and cash windfall for Vornado and Trump -- comes months after several banks tied to the former president said they would no longer work with him after the deadly U.S. Capitol riot in January.‘Trump’s Poor Record’While the bond found strong demand, at least one investor was put off by the Trump connection.“We looked at the deal and it did not pass our Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) process because of Trump’s poor record (going back to the 1990s) of not only paying back investors, but being difficult when he runs into difficulties,” John Kerschner, head of securitized products at Janus Henderson, said in an interview.Kerschner said the offering priced tighter than some other “esoteric” office-tower CMBS deals with somewhat lower-quality properties, such as a recent deal underpinned by a loan on office towers in downtown Houston. On the other hand, the deal priced the same or slightly wider than some deals tied to higher-quality trophy towers, he added.Proceeds of the 555 California Street CMBS will fund improvements to the buildings and return about $617 million to the owners, according to a marketing document obtained by Bloomberg.“For a complex that couldn’t be sold last year, a large equity return is arguably the next best thing for the sponsor,” said Christopher Sullivan, chief investment officer at the United Nations Federal Credit Union. “It is a trophy property in a prime location with stable, high-quality diverse tenants and high occupancy for the area given the pandemic.”Sullivan sees risks, though. The loan is structured as interest-only throughout, which may increase refinancing risk, on top of moderate leverage. Moreover, one-third of tenants also have the option to terminate their leases, “which is not surprising given the level of leasing or space-requirement uncertainties. However, it may present net cash flow risk,” he noted.New York NextMeanwhile, the refinancing of the New York tower at 1290 Avenue of the Americas is “on deck,“ Steve Roth, Vornado’s chief executive officer, said in a letter to shareholders earlier this month.The refinancing comes after Vornado tried selling the two assets last year. It shelved the effort after not reaching its pricing goals.“We found investors to be uncertain, distracted and handicapped by inability to travel,” Roth said in the letter to shareholders. “As markets improve, we may well revisit other alternatives for these two buildings,” he added.Earlier this week, Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and Donald Trump’s son, described the properties as “arguably two of the best commercial assets anywhere in the country.”Trump has at least $590 million in debt coming due in the next four years on other properties owned by the Trump Organization, more than half of which is personally guaranteed. Some of those properties, such as the company’s Washington, D.C., hotel and its golf resort near Miami, have suffered from plunging revenue during the pandemic.“We are one of the most under-leveraged real estate companies in the country relative to our assets,” Eric Trump said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
3h ago
FX Empire
S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Markets Continue to Pressure Major Resistance
The S&P 500 rallied a bit during the course of the trading session on Thursday to attempt to break out above the 4200 level.
1d ago
FX Empire
EUR/USD Price Forecast – Euro Gives Up Early Gains
The Euro initially tried to rally on Thursday but gave back the gains to form a less than exciting candlestick.
1d ago
Yahoo Finance
Warren Buffett will provide a visible clue on his succession strategy at annual meeting
The presence of Vice Chairmen Greg Abel and Ajit Jain offers a symbolic look toward the company's future and a chance for shareholders to interact with the company's next generation of leaders, Buffettologists told Yahoo Finance.
1d ago
MoneyWise
Biden's families plan would make Obamacare permanently cheaper for millions
The American Families Plan would extend recently enacted ACA subsidies beyond 2022.
1d ago
Reuters
StanChart to cut branch network in half, quarterly profit beats expectations
LONDON (Reuters) -Standard Chartered PLC is to reduce its global branch network by half to around 400 to cut long-term costs after the British bank reported a stronger than expected first-quarter profit. "Those markets that are higher on branch numbers we'll be looking at more closely," StanChart's CFO Andy Halford told reporters, without giving more details, beyond noting branch numbers in the lender’s most profitable market Hong Kong were modest. The cost-cutting drive came as StanChart posted an 18% increase in first-quarter pre-tax profit, beginning a recovery from the economic hit caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
2d ago
Reuters
Vietnam's answer to Tesla has U.S. in its electric sights
That's the proposition being offered by the automobile arm of Vietnam's largest conglomerate, Vingroup. It's betting big on the U.S. market with its VinFast line of cars and hoping that electric SUVs and a battery leasing model will be enough to woo consumers away from homegrown market leaders like Tesla and General Motors Co. A recent arrival on the automotive scene and the No. 5 car brand in Vietnam, VinFast is not short on ambition, with its sights set on a U.S. listing and a valuation of as much as $60 billion, according to two sources familiar with its plans.
17h ago
Bloomberg
Novavax Vaccine Results Will Put 1,190% Stock Surge to Test
(Bloomberg) -- The upcoming release of Novavax Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine trial results may not only help provide additional pandemic relief across the globe, it could also validate investor support that buoyed the stock by 1,190% over the past year.The biotech firm said in March its shot could get cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use as early as May. To hit its May target, Novavax may need to submit data to the FDA within the next week or so. It may take regulators then several weeks to review the results and decide on whether to grant an authorization, based on timelines of previous U.S. Covid-19 vaccine clearances.If that materializes, the company will have the fourth Covid-19 vaccine in the U.S. in addition to shots from Pfizer Inc. with its German partner BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson.Novavax representatives declined to comment on the upcoming results and timeline for the release of trial data.Novavax may have lost the race on vaccinating millions of Americans with more than 230 million doses administered stateside but a successful trial can still help developing nations like India and Brazil where shots are in high demand as infections hit record levels. U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that upcoming vaccines, including one from Novavax, could be shared with other countries.Novavax’s shares skyrocketed last summer when it became one of the front-runners in the race to develop an inoculation against the coronavirus. But it has since trailed behind U.S. market leaders both on production and on a valuation standpoint.Moderna, which secured an emergency authorization in December, now trades at roughly four times Novavax’s market value of about $17.6 billion, while Germany’s BioNTech is worth $43 billion. CureVac N.V., another vaccine hopeful that’s also been buoyed by its ties to Tesla Inc., has a valuation of about $21 billion.Encouraging OutlookVaccine results outside of the U.S. have shown promise. In a 15,000 person U.K. trial, Novavax’s shot demonstrated 89.7% effectiveness in preventing symptoms of the disease. And with the rise of resistant variants, the bar for the upcoming North American trial has been set lower, where 80% effectiveness would be a “home run,” according to Sam Fazeli, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst.“What’s very encouraging is the efficacy of 96.4% versus the previous versions of the virus and 86.3% against the U.K.-prevalent B.1.1.7 variant -- 57% of infections in the trial. There were five cases of severe Covid-19 in the final analysis, suggesting the vaccine has 100% efficacy similar to other vaccines being rolled out, which is not surprising given its success against milder disease,” Fazeli said.Novavax fell 2.8% to $237.53 on Thursday, after closing at a high of $319.93 in early February. The shares had six buy ratings, one hold and zero sell recommendations among analysts tracked by Bloomberg.Expectations for further gains in the stock has added pressure on short sellers who have more than $1.1 billion worth of outstanding bets against the company as of April 29, according to S3 Partners data. So far this year Novavax short sellers have lost more than $800 million, according to Ihor Dusaniwsky, S3’s managing director of predictive analytics.“Price strength will probably force even more shorts out of their positions,” Dusaniwsky said in an interview.(Updates with closing share price moves throughout.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Reuters
Analysis: New meme stocks swing as shorts and retail investors face off again
Recent volatility in a handful of so-called meme stocks is putting the spotlight back on the tussle between individual investors and short sellers, months after a wild ride in GameStop captivated Wall Street’s attention. Stocks that have notched big swings this month include laser-manufacturer MicroVision Inc, a favorite on Reddit’s popular WallStreetBets forum, whose shares have risen as much as 170% since April 20 before tumbling in recent days. Those moves do not approach the stunning, nearly 1,700% gain in video game retailer GameStop Corp in January, which was fueled in part by a flurry of buying that forced hedge funds like Melvin Capital to unwind their bets against the stock, sending it higher.
4h ago
Bloomberg
Coinbase Backer Parlays ‘Fantasy’ Bet Into $4.6 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- Before his bet on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. became a multi-billion-dollar exit, Union Square Ventures co-founder Fred Wilson compared Bitcoin to science fiction.“We may be completely wrong, it may be a fantasy,” he said at a marketing conference in May 2013. That was shortly after he had invested $2.5 million in Coinbase, the U.S.’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, where people can buy and sell Bitcoin and other digital tokens such as Ethereum and Litecoin. “It’s straight out of a sci-fi novel, but sci-fi novels are the best things you can read if you want to invest,” Wilson said. “It’s a gut bet.”Eight years later, Wilson’s wager became Union Square’s most profitable exit. Earlier this month, Coinbase listed on Nasdaq and soared to $328.28 a share, catapulting the company’s valuation on a fully diluted basis to about $86 billion. That’s a ten-fold increase from its last public funding round in 2018 and valued Union Square’s stake at $4.6 billion by the end of the first trading day.Wilson will have to listen carefully to his gut to navigate the volatile cryptocurrency market and Coinbase’s rocky debut. But the large volume of cryptocurrency trading is good for boosting Coinbase’s revenue, and Bitcoin has been rallying again after hitting its lowest level since early March. Wilson has said that “one of the hardest things in managing a venture capital portfolio is managing your big winners.” On the day of the Coinbase listing, Union Square Ventures sold 4.7 million shares for $1.8 billion, according to securities filings.Coinbase isn’t Wilson’s first foray into a nascent technology trend but it’s certainly the largest payout. His New York-based venture capital firm has invested in more than 100 businesses and has had 10 public exits since the firm’s inception in 2003. Nine of those have reaped billion-dollar valuations on the day of their stock market debut, according to data from PitchBook and Securities and Exchange Commission filings compiled by Bloomberg.Wilson was an early believer in the social networks that defined the 2010s and oversaw Union Square’s biggest successes, including Twitter Inc.’s $24 billion valuation after the company went public in 2013, boosting the value of the firm’s stake to $1.2 billion, online gaming company Zynga Inc.’s $7 billion IPO in 2011 and Tumblr’s $1.1 billion purchase by Yahoo!.“Fred is driven by intellectual curiosity,” said Zynga founder and chairman Mark Pincus. “He didn’t get involved for the money.”Wilson declined to be interviewed for this article saying he doesn’t “think investors should be the focus of attention when the entrepreneurs and management create all of the value.”Union Square’s latest iteration of its investment philosophy homes in on companies with strong communities that “broaden access to knowledge, capital and well-being,” according to the firm’s website. “Coinbase is at the center of this” said Angela Lee, chief innovation officer at Columbia Business School where she teaches venture capital and leadership courses. “Most venture capital firms deviate from their investment thesis. Union Square is very disciplined. They’re very smart about taking a trend and breaking it into components.”Wilson began investing in 1987 at Euclid Partners, a small venture capital firm in New York, recalling it “wasn’t a stellar start” to his career, he wrote in his blog in 2008. Then the internet came along. Wilson co-founded Flatiron Partners with Jerry Colonna in 1996 and together they invested $150 million into early stage internet deals that turned into $750 million in the span of three years, according to Wilson’s blog post. “We were undisciplined and not diversified,” Colonna said in an interview. “We were a little too enthusiastic.” Colonna is now the CEO of executive coaching firm Reboot.io, where his work was described in a Wired article as: “This man makes founders cry.”Flatiron folded in 2001 during the dot-com bust, but Wilson carried those lessons to Union Square, Colonna said. “Fred’s not a Vegas gambler. He doesn’t throw darts at the wall and doesn’t just tag along to other people’s investments.”Wilson’s belief in connecting ideas, people and experiences on the internet through networks was in motion even before social media startups made it into his portfolio. The native New Yorker’s networking ethos was born out of the post-dot-com bubble era that ushered in early social networking startups or “Web 2.0” companies like Friendster, Orkut and Tribe.net. His views were first put into practice when he started his popular blog, AVC, in September 2003, shortly before he co-founded Union Square with Brad Burnham.Though his early posts revolved around family, hobbies and music, the blog expanded into tech, business and management and became a vehicle for sourcing investment ideas and connecting with entrepreneurs, he said in a March 2006 episode with Businessweek’s Cutting Edge podcast. “The process of writing helps me crystallize my thoughts about what’s interesting and what’s not interesting, what’s potentially strategic and what’s potentially risky about a particular sector.”One of Wilson’s earliest musings on cryptocurrency was in 2011, when he wrote that “an alternative currency with roots in peer to peer networks and based on an algorithm that is transparent to everyone is an idea whose time has come.” Union Square’s founding theory of seeking out emerging, fast-growing online communities has since evolved beyond original social media to include other blockchain and cryptocurrency startups like Stacks 2.0, an open network for decentralized apps and contracts on the blockchain, and even CryptoKitties, an Ethereum-based virtual game that allows players to adopt, raise, and trade virtual cats that kickstarted the craze for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.Coinbase’s breakthrough listing was the buzziest investment in recent years for Wilson, whose enthusiasm has been more measured compared with crypto evangelists like investor Mike Novogratz or the Winklevoss brothers who started the Gemini digital asset exchange.In January 2018, Wilson wrote about locking in profits at a time when Bitcoin was taking off. “I know that many crypto holders think that selling anything is a mistake. And it might be. Or it might not be. You just don’t know,” he said. By the end of that year, Bitcoin had plunged over 70%.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
11h ago
CoinDesk
Market Wrap: Bitcoin Near $53K After Major Drop as Ether Tops $2,800 for First Time
Bitcoin’s dominance is less than half of the crypto market as assets like ether and binance coin captivate traders.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Oil Climbs Above $65 as Car-Fuelled Demand Sparks Recovery
(Bloomberg) -- Oil surpassed $65 a barrel, the highest since mid-March, as signs of strengthening demand from the U.S. to China stoked optimism that key markets are turning a corner in their recovery from the pandemic.U.S. benchmark crude futures rose 1.8% on Thursday for a third straight daily gain. Major cities in the U.S. are coming out of lockdown, with New York City aiming to fully reopen July 1 and Chicago broadly easing restrictions across industries. In Europe, the U.K.’s road-fuel sales are nearing last year’s summer levels. Consumption may also get a boost when China breaks for an extended holiday on Saturday, with mobility expected to climb to a record.“Eyes are on global demand,” said Gary Cunningham, director at Stamford, Connecticut-based Tradition Energy. “The U.S. is seeing many states ease restrictions and the opportunity for summer travel, and therefore petroleum demand, to have a significant rebound. If the U.S. sets pace and reopens,” the hope is other countries will follow.Oil’s rally took a pause in recent weeks with the resurgent pandemic in countries such as India, Brazil and Japan imperiling a worldwide return to normal demand. India has been hit particularly hard by a second wave that’s pummeled fuel consumption, prompting some refiners there to consider boosting exports in a bid to avoid deep cuts to crude processing.But commodities across the board have gained in recent sessions with broader optimism on the recovery in key economies and tightening supplies in raw materials lifting spot prices to near-decade highs. The premium on near-term deliveries over future deliveries for commodities tracked by the Bloomberg Commodity Index has jumped to the highest in over 15 years, signaling immediate physical shortages across different markets, a managing director at Pacific Investment Management Co. said.The market recovery is flowing through to big oil companies. Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s profit rose more than expected in the first quarter, while Total SE also had a strong start to the year. U.S. refiners have been inching up production ahead of the summer driving season. PBF Energy said it expects to run at higher rates in the second quarter, pointing to U.S. gasoline consumption already at 95% of normal levels and higher overall fuel demand.See also: Big Oil Revives Pre-Pandemic Levels of Cash Flow and ProfitHigher daily U.S. airport foot traffic and airlines adding more flights point to a summer travel season that may be “significantly more robust” than is being priced in, Bank of America Global Research said in a report.“Taken together, we believe these signals affirm that an eventual recovery in demand is a question of ‘when’ not ‘if,’ with risks that the pace may be quickening even versus very bullish GDP growth estimates,” analysts including Doug Leggate and Kalei Akamine wrote.Still, Covid-19 hotspots do pose some short-term risks to a sustained price rally and are starting to show in gauges of market health. The structure of the Middle Eastern Dubai benchmark flipped into a slight contango on Thursday, an indication that market tightness may be easing. Differentials for U.S. sour crudes fell to their weakest in at least two weeks on weaker demand from Indian refiners.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Reuters
Analysis: Why Apple has chips for iPhones while Ford got caught short
On the same day that Ford Motor Co said it would be able to produce only half as many cars as planned due to a global chip shortage, Apple Inc announced blowout quarterly earnings as smartphone and computer sales soared, with the chip shortage having only a small impact on its business. The contrasting results show how major players in the electronics industry, accustomed to the long time horizons of chip production, have mostly avoided major disruptions from the chip shortage. Apple said Wednesday that it would lose $3 billion to $4 billion in sales in the current quarter due to limited supplies of certain older chips.
1d ago
Reuters
3M hit with $6 million punitive damages by U.S. jury in first combat earplug trial
The jury awarded each of the plaintiffs $2.1 million in punitive damages and a total of $830,500 in compensatory damages for their medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering. The company was accused of hiding design flaws, fudging test results and failing to instruct the military in proper use of the earplugs, which were used by the Army between 2007 and 2013. "The evidence is clear: 3M knew their earplugs were defective, yet they allowed our servicemembers to suffer these life-altering injuries," said a statement from attorneys Bryan Aylstock and Christopher Seeger.
2h ago
Reuters
Exxon tops earnings estimates as oil prices, chemicals drive rebound
(Reuters) -Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday topped Wall Street quarterly earnings estimates with its first profit in five quarters, boosted by higher oil prices and strong chemicals margins. Earnings from Exxon and rivals this year have been rising with crude oil prices, up by a third this year, as a global oil surplus from the pandemic drains and fuel demand recovers. Quarterly results show Exxon's deep cost cuts have allowed it to turn the corner on last year's historic annual loss and deliver strong cash flow need to reduce debt.
10h ago
CoinDesk
US Will Not Race China to Develop CBDC Says Fed Chairman Powell
The U.S. is biding its time to see whether a CBDC was something that would be a "good thing for the people," Powell said Wednesday.
2d ago
Bloomberg
Copper Boom Is Just Beginning for the CEO of Biggest Gold Miner
(Bloomberg) -- Copper may be flirting with record highs but the metal is far from peaking as the energy transition revs up, according to Newmont Corp. Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer.Futures hit $10,000 a metric ton on Thursday for the first time since 2011 as mines struggle to keep up with surging demand. Newmont, the world’s largest gold producer, is increasing exposure to copper through several “mega projects,” Palmer said on an earnings call. Even if just one materializes, copper will account for 15-20% of the company’s total output by the end of the decade, he said.“I’m pretty excited about having good exposure to copper at that time when the world is going through the energy transition,” Palmer said on an interview with Bloomberg TV following the earnings call. “Copper’s got a pretty good story in front of it. I think its day in the sun is more towards the end of this decade.”The copper push doesn’t mean Palmer has a downbeat view on gold. He sees bullion prices holding their current “very healthy levels” or even moving higher given fiscal and monetary stimulus. India should remain one of the key sources of demand after the country recovers from the Covid-19 tragedy, Palmer said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Reuters
Exclusive - Major Chinese investors in talks to take Aramco stake: sources
Major Chinese investors are in talks to buy a stake in Saudi Aramco, several sources told Reuters on Wednesday, as Saudi Arabia's state oil firm prepares to sell another slice of its business to international investors. Saudi Arabia was in discussions to sell 1% of Aramco to a leading global energy company and could sell further shares including to international investors within the next year or two, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in televised remarks on Tuesday. A stake of 1% would equate to around $19 billion based on Aramco's current market capitalisation.
2d ago

S&P 500

Dow 30

Nasdaq

Russell 2000

Crude Oil

Gold

Silver

EUR/USD

10-Yr Bond

GBP/USD

USD/JPY

BTC-USD

CMC Crypto 200

FTSE 100

Nikkei 225

Worldwide Bariatric Surgery Industry to 2025 - Key Growth Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities

Recommended Stories

Look Who Made Money Hand Over Fist During Biden's First 100 Days

NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Continues to Find Resistance Inside Retracement Zone at .7204 to .7266

Trump Scores $617 Million of Cash With Vornado From Tower Bonds

S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Markets Continue to Pressure Major Resistance

EUR/USD Price Forecast – Euro Gives Up Early Gains

Warren Buffett will provide a visible clue on his succession strategy at annual meeting

Biden's families plan would make Obamacare permanently cheaper for millions

StanChart to cut branch network in half, quarterly profit beats expectations

Vietnam's answer to Tesla has U.S. in its electric sights

Novavax Vaccine Results Will Put 1,190% Stock Surge to Test

Analysis: New meme stocks swing as shorts and retail investors face off again

Coinbase Backer Parlays ‘Fantasy’ Bet Into $4.6 Billion

Market Wrap: Bitcoin Near $53K After Major Drop as Ether Tops $2,800 for First Time

Oil Climbs Above $65 as Car-Fuelled Demand Sparks Recovery

Analysis: Why Apple has chips for iPhones while Ford got caught short

3M hit with $6 million punitive damages by U.S. jury in first combat earplug trial

Exxon tops earnings estimates as oil prices, chemicals drive rebound

US Will Not Race China to Develop CBDC Says Fed Chairman Powell

Copper Boom Is Just Beginning for the CEO of Biggest Gold Miner

Exclusive - Major Chinese investors in talks to take Aramco stake: sources