|
Exxon, Tanger, and General Mills are working through tough spots, but investors willing to think long term can pick up their fat yields now.
|
|
 The Nasdaq Composite, an index often employed as a proxy for the health of technology and internet-related stocks, was on the verge Wednesday of ending its longest bear market since 1991.
|
|
Jim Cramer takes a look at the week ahead and says good news on a U.S.-China trade deal can give international companies a guidance boost and cause stocks to rally.
|
|
Euro also in focus after ECB official acknowledges bloc's slowdown is deeper than expected
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
Stocks close higher Friday, with the Dow and the Nasdaq gaining for an eighth straight week, on news of continued progress in trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.
|
|
Optimism about a trade deal with China pushed stocks higher.
|
|
European stocks finish sharply higher Friday, helping the pan-European benchmark produce its best weekly gain since early November, as investors cheer signs of progress on a U.S.-China trade deal.
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
 Mattel Inc. shares dove more than 16% late in Friday's trading session after the toy maker revealed that sales would remain flat this year. In a presentation, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Euteneuer said that sales would remain flat in constant currency this year, which was called a "significant improvement" for the company, which has struggled of late. The forecast said that the American Girl line would continue to decline as the company entered a multiyear turnaround plan for the dolls, while a decline in Thomas the Train Engine toys should at least decelerate. Barbie and Hot Wheels toys are expected to grow, while Fisher-Price is expected to stabilize by the end of the year, the presentation claimed. Mattel also said it was looking to transition to a "capital-light" manufacturing plan in 2019, which should begin to pay off in 2020. Mattel's stock was headed toward its biggest one-day percentage loss since Jan. 26, 2017, when it declined more than 17%. Mattel shares had been enjoying a rebound so far this year, rising 43.7% as the S&P 500 index gained 9.5%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
|
|
President Donald Trump on Friday signed a spending bill for government agencies that will avert a partial shutdown just after midnight. The bill also contains money for border security, though less than the president wanted. Earlier Friday Trump declared a national emergency to build more of his long-proposed border wall.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
|
|
Under a new proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Medicare program would cover FDA-approved CAR-T therapies.
CAR-T, or chimeric anitgen receptor T-cell, therapies use genetically-engineered immune cells called T cells to more specifically target cancer cells.
CMS said the proposal, announced Friday, would require Medicare to cover the cancer treatment when it is offered in a CMS-approved registry or clinical study, as long as data is collected from the patients for at least two years after treatment. CMS said it plans to use the information to decide what treatments are most beneficial to patients and which CAR-T therapies to fund in the future.
"Today's proposed coverage decision would improve access to this therapy while deepening CMS's understanding of how patients in Medicare respond to it, so the agency can ensure that it is paying for CAR T-cell therapy for cases in which the benefits outweigh the risks," said CMS Administrator Seema Varma in a statement.
There are currently only two approved CAR-T therapies in the U.S., and both are very expensive. Novartis's Kymriah has a list price of $475,000, while and Gilead Sciences Inc.'s Yescarta is priced at $373,000.
There is no national Medicare policy for covering the expensive new cancer treatment, so it is currently up to local Medicare administrative contractors to decide whether to pay for it.
Shares of Novartis have gained 4.3% in the year to date, while shares of Gilead have gained 6.3%. The SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has gained 13.5% and the S&P 500 has gained 10.4%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
|
|
 The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed higher on Wall Street after Chinese and U.S. officials agreed to continue trade talks in Washington next week.
|
|
Payless ShoeSource will close all of its approximately 2,100 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico as part of the largest retail liquidation ever, the Wall Street Journal reported citing a source close to the situation. Payless filed for bankruptcy protection previously and emerged in 2017. Liquidation sales are expected to start as early as next week, with those locations in Canada and Latin America unaffected. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost nearly 2% over the past year while the S&P 500 index has gained 1.4% for the period.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
Private Label