Early Look

Monday, May 24, 2021

Stock futures are looking higher to start the week following a quiet weekend and morning of news. Stocks finished mixed last week as the Nasdaq snapped its four-week losing streak (rising 0.3%), though the S&P fell 0.4% on the week, with the Dow off 0.5%. Major averages closed mixed for the session on Friday in choppy trading in a week that saw the stock market bounce around by a crypto currency selloff and potential Fed taper talk. The 10-year Treasury yield finished the week around 1.63%, about a basis point below where it started, but down after topping 1.69% mid-week as the FOMC minutes showed a few members will looking to discussing reducing asset purchases at upcoming meetings. REITs, Healthcare and Utilities were the leading sector gainers on the week (defensive), while energy biggest laggard down over 2.8%, Industrials, materials and Consumer Disc all down over 1% for the week. Overnight in Asian markets, The Nikkei Index gained 46 points to 28,364, the Shanghai Index rose 10 points to 3,497, and the Hang Seng Index slipped -46 points to 28,412. In Europe, the German DAX is up over 65 points to 15,435, while the FTSE 100 is higher by about 20 points to 7,040. No major economic data today in the U.S. and no real major earnings results set for today. More activity in the crypto space as Bitcoin rebounds to around $36,000 after dropping below $32K on Sunday, One big M&A deal in the energy E&P sector as Cabot (COG) and Cimarex (XEC) announce a $17B deal.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index slipped -3.26 points, or 0.08%, to 4,155.86

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.74 points, or 0.36%, to 34,207.84

·     The Nasdaq Composite dropped -64.71 points, or 0.48%, to 13,470.99

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 7.51 points, or 0.34% to 2,215.27

Events Calendar for Today

·     8:30 AM EST      National Activity Index, for April

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: ADOM, MICT, TH

·     Earnings After the Close: CRMT, NDSN, RIDE, ZY

Other Key Events:

·     Goldman Sachs TechNet Conference Asia Pacific 2021 (virtual), 5/24-5/28

·     JPMorgan Global technology, Media & Communications Conference (virtual), 5/24-5/26

·     UBS Global Healthcare Conference (virtual), 5/24-5/26

World News

·     Crypto currency assets extend their volatility/sell off from last week as Bitcoin tumbled below $32,000 on Sunday, while Ethereum dropped over 18% to below $1,900, Litecoin shed about 25% of its value to $125 and Bitcoin cash (BCH) dropped over 20% to around $500 (prices rebounded late on Sunday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk again tweeted suggesting he supports crypto with Bitcoin this morning trading above $36,000).

·     Late Friday, the Biden administration reduced the size of its infrastructure proposal to $1.7T from $2.25T, a counter proposal for Senate Republicans which are still offering about a third of that number (plan to spend $568B over five years). Funding for the package would remain the same – raising the tax rate on wealthy Americans and large companies that can afford a modest increase to pay for middle-class jobs.

·     Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship this weekend, winning the major at age 50, the oldest in the 161 years of major championship golf.

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Kohl’s (KSS) shares fell this week after earnings, but Barron’s said the stock looks like a bargain after incredible earnings. Said while there wasn’t anything wrong with the earnings, investors are concerned about what happens as stimulus-fueled demand runs off, pointing out that Kohl’s stood out for both the size of its earnings beat and its post-release tumble

·     Beyond Meat (BYND) upgraded to outperform from underperform with $130 tgt

·     Campbell Soup (CPB) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

·     NIO Inc (NIO) renews manufacturing agreements with Jianghuai Automobile Group Co (JAC) and Jianglai Advanced Manufacturing Technology (Jianglai) for May 2021; says JAC will expand annual production capacity to 240,000 units; Jianglai to assemble parts and manage operations

Energy

·     Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (COG) and Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC) entered into a definitive agreement whereby the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals. Cimarex shareholders will receive 4.0146 shares of COG stock for each share held which reflects an enterprise value for the combined companies of approximately $17 billion

Financials

·     A U.S. House Financial Services subcommittee plans to hold a hearing Monday on SPACs and direct listings as Congress weighs a proposal to explicitly exempt special purpose acquisition companies from a 1995 law designed to reduce securities lawsuits

Healthcare

·     Eli Lilly (LLY) reports data from Phase 2 SERENITY study evaluating mirikizumab compared to placebo in patients with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease (CD) at 12 weeks.

·     Moderna (MRNA) announced two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the government of South Korea: one MoU with the Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH) for a new collaboration on mRNA vaccine research

·     Novavax (NVAX) signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea and SK bioscience, to explore further cooperation in the development and manufacturing of vaccine

·     LHC Group (LHCG) files automatic mixed securities shelf

Industrials & Materials

·     Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE) completed its third spaceflight and the first ever spaceflight from Spaceport America, New Mexico this weekend. Today’s flight sees New Mexico become the third U.S. state to launch humans into space

·     BASF (BASFY) and German utility RWE Friday announced a potential 4 billion euro ($4.9 billion) offshore wind power project to cut emissions at Germany’s most energy-intensive industrial site

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     AT&T (T) mentioned positively in Barron’s saying its time to buy the stock saying the spinoff of WarnerMedia, and its subsequent combination with Discovery (DISCA), is a vital course correction for AT&T (T) as it seeks to regain its telecom leadership

·     Cisco Systems (CSCO) mentioned positively in Barron’s noting tech companies have been warning for weeks that the global chip shortage is crimping their ability to grow, inflating costs, and depressing sales. Barron’s noted CSCO forecasted a weaker outlook this week because of the tight parts supply, but notes parts shortage or not, Cisco is going to benefit as businesses reopen and start spending on IT infrastructure again

·     HP Inc. (HPQ) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi