Tag: Consumer Goods

CDC identifies new COVID variants that accounted for 11.4% of new cases in week ending Oct. 15

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a new COVID variant dubbed BQ.1 and a descendant called BQ.1.1 have gained traction in the U.S., accounting for 11.4% of new cases across the nation in the week ending Oct. 15.

The two variants are lineages of BA.5, the omicron subvariant that remains dominant but has shrunk to account for just 67.9% of circulating variants, the agency said in a Friday update. The CDC had previously combined BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 with BA.5 cases because the numbers of the new variants were so small. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places.

New York and New Jersey currently have the highest proportion of BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 infections, at about 20% of overall cases, according to CDC estimates.

“When you get variants like that, you look at what their rate of increase is as a relative proportion of the variants, and this has a pretty troublesome doubling time,” Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said in an interview with CBS News.

Adding to concerns, the variant seems “to elude important monoclonal antibodies,” he added.

Fauci is confident that Moderna
MRNA,
+3.92%,
as well as Pfizer
PFE,
+1.84%
and German partner BioNTech
BNTX,
+2.45%,
will be able to update boosters to target the new subvariant. “The somewhat encouraging news is that it’s a BA.5 sublineage, so there are almost certainly going to be some cross-protections that you can boost up,” he said.

So far, only 14.8 million people living in the U.S. have taken advantage of the new bivalent boosters that were authorized by the Food and Drug Administration in late August. That’s equal to about 7% of the 209 million who were initially eligible.

The FDA authorized the Pfizer booster for use in people aged 12 and older and the Moderna booster for adults aged 18 and older. Last week, the FDA added children aged 5 to 11 to the Pfizer program and children aged 6 through 17 to the Moderna one.

Experts are concerned that the low number of vaccinations is due to a sense that the pandemic is over and no longer poses a major risk for most people. U.S. cases are steadily declining and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April; however, the true tally is likely higher than the official count, because many people are testing at home, where data are not being collected.

The daily average for new cases stood at 37,649 on Sunday, down 19% from two weeks ago, according to a New York Times tracker.

The daily average for hospitalizations was down 5% to 26,475, while the daily average for deaths was down 8% to 374.

But cold weather is expected to bring a new wave of cases, and hospitalizations are rising again in much of the Northeast, the Times tracker is showing.

“That’s the thing that’s so frustrating for me and for my colleagues who are involved in this, is that we have the capability of mitigating against this. And the uptake of the new bivalent vaccine is not nearly as high as we would like it to be,” said Fauci.

Coronavirus Update: Ma rketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

• Moderna and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is supplying vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, have agreed to cancel remaining orders under their 2022 COVID-19 vaccine agreement given “sufficient supply.” The biotechnology company has supplied Gavi with nearly 70 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to facilitating the donation of more than 100 million doses. Moderna and Gavi said they will create a new framework that enables Gavi to buy up to 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2023.

• The World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Program and the World Organization for Animal Health on Monday launched a new initiative that aims to address health threats to humans, animals, plants and the environment. The One Health Joint Plan of Action “aims to create a framework to integrate systems and capacity so that we can collectively better prevent, predict, detect, and respond to health threats,” the four agencies said in a statement.

• China is doubling down on its zero-COVID strategy as a historic Communist Party congress opens in Beijing, BBC News reported. Zero COVID was a “people’s war to stop the spread of the virus,” said President Xi Jinping as he kicked off the meeting. There is increasing public fatigue over lockdowns and travel restrictions, and Beijing has come under strict security measures ahead of the congress, sparking frustration in the city, including a rare and dramatic public protest on Thursday criticizing Xi and his strategy.

In a rare display of defiance, two banners were unfurled from a highway overpass in Beijing condemning Chinese President Xi Jinping and his strict COVID-19 policies. The protest took place days before the expected extension of Xi’s tenure.

• Airline stocks rallied Monday after data showed that on Sunday, more people flew than on any other day since before the pandemic. Data from the Transportation Security Administration showed that 2.495 million travelers went through TSA checkpoints on Sunday, which is just above the previous 2022 high of 2.490 million on July 1 and the most since Feb. 11, 2020, which was exactly one month before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. In comparison, the day with the fewest travelers since the start of the pandemic was April 12, 2022, with 87,534 people traveling. And in 2019, there were 116 days of more travelers than Sunday, while the average for that year was 2.306 million. The U.S. Global Jets ETF
JETS,
+2.02%
was up 2.2%.

Here’s what the numbers say:

The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 624.7 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.56 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. leads the world with 96.9 million cases and 1,065,118 fatalities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.2 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.1% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots. Just 110.8 million have had a booster, equal to 49% of the vaccinated population, and 25.6 million of those who are eligible for a second booster have had one, equal to 39% of those who received a first booster.

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October 17, 2022
U.S. stocks edge up despite higher-than-expected inflation data
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U.S. stock indexes edged higher on Wednesday, while hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data deepened concerns that the Federal Reserve may continue its aggressive interest rate hikes.

How are stock-index futures trading
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average
  DJIA,
  +0.50%
  was up 120 points, or 0.4% to around 29,355
- The S&P 500
  SPX,
  +0.35%
  gained 5.3 points, or 0.2% to about 3,594
- The Nasdaq Composite
  COMP,
  -6.31%
  traded 5.1 points, or 0.1% higher to 10,430
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36 points, or 0.12%, to 29239, the S&P 500 declined 24 points, or 0.65%, to 3589, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 116 points, or 1.1%, to 10426. The S&P 500 closed down 1,177 points, or 24.7% for the year to date.
What’s driving markets

The 12-month rate of producer price inflation slowed to to 8.5% from 8.7% while the annual core rate, excluding food and energy, was unchanged at 5.6%, but the monthly rate rose 0.4% in September, above forecast, and the monthly core PPI was also up 0.4% in September.

Such data has worsened fears that to curb inflation, the Fed will continue its aggressive rate hikes, which may steer the U.S. economy into a recession.

“We believe the odds of a recession in 2023 are now better than 50%,” Greg Bassuk, chief executive at AXS Investments, wrote in a Wednesday note. “Last week’s market turbulence saw volatility at levels we have not seen since July, and we believe investors should brace for ongoing market volatility and uncertainty throughout Q4, in concert with another likely Fed interest rate hike to the tune of 0.75% in November,” according to Bassuk.

The 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y, which started the year around 1.65% was trading at 3.931% on Wednesday, off 1.3 basis points, after the producer price inflation data.

Traders are also awaiting U.S. September consumer prices data on Thursday due at 8:30 am Eastern Time.

“Inflation has proven to be difficult to forecast and given the negative ‘shock’ from the August CPI, it would be difficult for any investor to have conviction going into this report,” according to Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat.

“For us, analyzing the month over month numbers is much more important than looking at the headline,” Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments, said in an interview.

“The way we’ve been thinking about it, the last three months annualized [inflation] gives you a kind of a decent idea of where the shorter term trends are around inflation,” Hill said. “We think that’s what the Fed is going to be looking at to see progress towards their 2% goal. And unfortunately, based on various measures, we’re nowhere near that today.”

Adding to the market anxiety, and keeping any Wednesday rally in check, is the continuing volatility in U.K. government bonds after the Bank of England reiterated it would stop supporting the market after Friday.

Investors have become increasingly concerned of late that severe stresses in the financial system may emerge as central banks switch from the era of zero or negative interest rates to sharply higher borrowing costs as they try to tackle inflation at multi-decade highs.

“[G]lobal financial conditions have tightened as central banks continue to raise interest rates. Our latest Global Financial Stability Report shows that financial stability risks have increased since our last report, with the balance of risks tilted to the downside,” said the International Monetary Fund in a report released on Tuesday.

“The mood of global investors was gloomy enough and hardly needed yesterday’s reminder from the IMF that the risks to financial stability have increased,” Ian Williams, strategist at Peel Hunt, noted. “Its report highlighted specifically (if obviously) the threats from persistent inflation, China’s slowdown and the war in Ukraine. The highlighted ‘disorderly repricing of risk’ is arguably already underway.”

The Fed may offer its view on the topic as a number of officials are due to give comments on Wednesday. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said the Fed is “dead serious” about getting inflation down. Fed vice chair Michael Barr will speak at 1:45 p.m. The minutes of the Fed’s previous monetary policy setting meeting will be released at 2 p.m. ET and Fed governor Michelle Bowman will deliver comments at 6.30 pm.

Companies in focus

Shares of Philips
PHIA,
-12.27%

PHG,
-11.33%
plunged 12% after the Dutch tech company issued its second profit warning this year, forewarning that supply chain problems will impact sales and third-quarter profits.

Intel Corp.
INTC,
+1.50%
may fire thousands of workers by the end of the month, around the same time the chip manufacturer reports quarterly results amid a tough year for semiconductor makers, Bloomberg reported late Tuesday. The company’s shares rose 1% Wednesday.

Shares of PepsiCo Inc. climbed 4.6% Wednesday, after the beverage and snack giant reported third-quarter profit and revenue that rose above expectations and raised its full-year outlook, as higher prices helped offset some volume weakness.
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October 12, 2022
WSJ News Exclusive | Peloton Co-Founder John Foley Faced Repeated Margin Calls From Goldman Sachs as Stock Slumped

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John Foley, the co-founder and former chief executive of Peloton Interactive faced repeated margin calls on money he borrowed against his Peloton holdings before he left the fitness company’s board last month, according to people familiar with the situation.

As Peloton’s shares slumped over the past year, Goldman Sachs Group asked Mr. Foley several times to provide fresh funds or additional collateral for personal loans the bank had extended to him, the people said. The company’s share price has fallen nearly 95% from its $160 peak in December 2020.

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October 11, 2022
Texas Pete maker sued for crafting its hot sauce in — gasp — North Carolina

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Some Texas Pete customers are hot under the collar about where this sauce is actually cooked up.

A California man has filed a class action suit against the hot sauce maker, claiming it “capitalizes on consumers’ desire to partake in the culture and authentic cuisine of one of the most prideful states in America” with a name and label that plays up Texas — yet, the product is actually whipped up in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Hey, at least it wasn’t made in New York City!

The complaint filed by the Clarkson Law Firm on behalf of customer Philip White says that the dissatisfied customer bought a bottle of Texas Pete for about $3 at a Ralph’s Supermarket in September 2021, because he believed it was made in Texas. The suit claims that White would have passed over the bottle of Texas Pete if he knew it really came from North Carolina.

But with a name like Texas Pete, as well as a label featuring “distinct Texan imagery” like the “lone star” from the Texas flag and a cowboy, the suit says that consumers like White looking for an authentic Texas hot sauce are being misled.

“Because there is nothing ’Texas’ about Texas Pete, [the company’s] deceptive marketing and labeling scheme violates well-established federal and state consumer protection laws aimed at preventing this exact type of fraudulent scheme,” the suit states.

Garner Foods told MarketWatch in a statement over email that, “We are aware of the current lawsuit that has been filed against our company regarding the Texas Pete brand name. We are currently investigating these assertions with our legal counsel to find the clearest and most effective way to respond.”

It should be noted that both the Texas Pete and T.W. Garner Food Co. websites point out that the hot sauce is made in North Carolina. What’s more, the back label on the hot sauce bottle also reveals that it is made in the Tar Heel State.

But the suit argues that “consumers do not view the back label of the products when purchasing everyday food items such as hot sauce.” The plaintiffs are asking for unspecified damages, as well as for Texas Pete to change its label and advertising practices.

This brings to mind an Illinois woman’s $5 million suit against Kellogg last year, claiming the company is misleading consumers by selling “Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts” that barely contain any strawberries.

Or when Starbucks faced backlash several years ago as more consumers started realizing their beloved pumpkin spice lattes didn’t actually contain any pumpkin. The coffee chain has since tweaked the recipe to squeeze in autumn’s signature gourd.

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October 10, 2022
Dow books 630-point drop after strong jobs data rattles investors, but stocks cement weekly gains
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U.S. stocks finished sharply lower Friday, but still booked their best weekly gains in a month, after September jobs data showed an unexpected fall in the unemployment rate that’s anticipated to reinforce the Federal Reserve’s resolve to keep tightening monetary policy.

Investors also weighed a profit warning at a leading microchip maker ahead of next week’s increase in quarterly earnings results.
What happened

The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-2.11%
fell 630.15 points, or 2.1%, ending at 29,296.79, but off the session low of 29,142.66.

The S&P 500
SPX,
-2.80%
dropped 104.86 points, or 2.8%, closing at 3,639.66.

The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-3.80%
shed 420.91 points, or 3.8%, to finish at 10,652.40.

Stocks posted back-to-back losses, trimming weekly gains, but recorded their best weekly gains since Sept. 9, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Read: Will the stock market be open on Columbus Day?

What drove markets

Stocks recorded sharp losses Friday after the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate declined to 3.5% from an August reading of 3.7%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3%.

Still, a powerful rally earlier in the week boosted all three major stock indexes to weekly gains, a departure from three straight weekly losses, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

“It’s manic. We are all on edge,” said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities Management, of the sharp market swings.

“Any piece of good news is a cause for an explosive rally,” Engelke said by phone. On the flip side, he pegged technology-based trading “in an illiquid and emotional market” as exacerbating Friday’s selloff.

“It’s a reflection that people have re-entered the mind-set that the Fed is going to be raising rates at a rapid clip, probably for longer than what they might have suspected at the start of the week,” said Robert Pavlik, a senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Management, by phone.

Pavlik expects the Fed to keep tightening financial conditions to try to head off inflation. “But once we turn the corner, and the economy slows down, the Fed probably will be more aggressive in cutting rates on the way down.”

In addition, the Fed has been “draining liquidity from the system at a remarkable pace,” wrote Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, in a Friday client note, while pointing to an astounding $1.3 trillion decline in the central bank’s balance sheet since the December 2021 peak.

Pavlik at Dakota Wealth said he anticipates the Fed will start slowing interest rate hikes by mid-next year, which likely means continued pressure for the stock market, particularly with a backdrop of big oil-price
CL00,
+5.37%
gains this week after global crude producers voted to cut monthly production and with the U.S. dollar’s
DXY,
+0.44%
surge this year against a basket of rival currencies.

U.S. crude oil prices climbed for a fifth day in a row on Friday to settle at $92.64 a barrel, while booking at 16.5% weekly gain.

New York Fed President John Williams said Friday that benchmark interest rates likely need to hit 4.5% over time. The Fed’s policy rate now sits in a 3%-3.25% range, up from a zero-0.25% range a year ago.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury rate
TMUBMUSD10Y,
3.889%
climbed to 3.883% Friday, as the key metric used to gauge the affordability of credit for businesses, household and the economy posted 10 straight weeks of gains, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Read: Bond markets facing historic losses grow anxious of Fed that ‘isn’t blinking yet’

Investors continued to hope for relief on the inflation front and will be monitoring next week’s release of the September consumer-price index, as well as corporate earnings season as it picks up.

Companies in focus

Twitter Inc.
TWTR,
-0.43%
shares fell 0.4% Friday after a judge delayed a looming trial between the company and Elon Musk to allow the Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
-6.32%
CEO more time to close his $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform.

Besides the jobs report, investors weighed a profit warning from microchip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, which said the PC market weakened significantly during the quarter. AMD shares fell 13.9%, and rivals including Nvidia Corp. NVDA and Intel Corp. INTC also closed lower.

U.S. cannabis stocks were choppy Friday, with the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF
MSOS,
-2.80%
ending lower, following steep gains earlier in the week after President Joe Biden said the U.S. would consider de-scheduling cannabis from its current position as a Schedule 1 narcotic under federal law.

—Steven Goldstein contributed reporting to this article
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October 7, 2022
Midterm elections: Republicans regain edge over Democrats in generic ballot, scoring biggest advantage in 2 months in key indicator

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The Republican Party has an edge again in the generic ballot, and that advantage has reached a level last seen in late July, according to a RealClearPolitics average for that closely watched indicator.

That could be another sign that the GOP may be getting back some momentum as November’s midterm elections approach, after Democratic prospects improved during the summer.

Republicans are now scoring 46.0% support in the RCP average of generic ballots, a percentage point ahead of Democrats at 45.0%.

The GOP hit a 1-point edge last Wednesday, then saw a dip, but as of Tuesday was back at that level, as shown in the chart below.

It’s not a big advantage, but it’s the best showing for Republicans in RCP’s data for generic ballots since July 28, as Democrats had the advantage for much of August and September.

Related: If this seat flips red, Republicans will have ‘probably won a relatively comfortable House majority’

Also read: ‘Republican control of the House is not a foregone conclusion,’ says political analyst

RealClearPolitics

The generic ballot refers to a poll question that asks voters which party they would support in a congressional election without naming individual candidates. Analysts tend to see it as a useful indicator.

Other websites focused on political analysis and forecasting, such as FiveThirtyEight, still show Democrats with an edge in their data for generic ballots.

Election Day for the midterm contests is now five weeks away. Democrats have focused their campaigns on abortion rights after the Supreme Court’s June decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, while Republicans have seized on Americans’ frustration with high inflation.

The additional chart below is interactive and shows RCP’s data for the generic ballot over a longer time frame.

Related: Biden to talk up Democrats’ support for abortion rights, with midterm elections now just 5 weeks away

And see: New poll finds just 30% of Americans approve of how Biden is handling inflation

Plus: Republicans’ chances for taking control of Senate rebound to 46%, a level last seen about 8 weeks ago

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October 5, 2022
U.S. stocks finish choppy session with losses, snap 2-day winning streak as investors assess positive economic data
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U.S. stock indexes ended modestly lower on Wednesday, despite briefly turning positive in the final hour of trading, while data showed steady growth in private-sector jobs and in the service sector, indicating more scope for the Federal Reserve to continue to raise interest rates.

How stocks traded?
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average
  DJIA,
  +0.03%
  lost 42.45 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 30,273.87
- The S&P 500
  SPX,
  +0.21%
  was off 7.65 points, or 0.2%, ending at 3,783.28
- The Nasdaq Composite
  COMP,
  +18.82%
  shed 27.77 points, or 0.2%, to end at 11,148.64
On Tuesday, the Dow jumped 825 points, or 2.8%, while the S&P 500 increased 3.1% and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 3.3%.
What drove markets?

Wall Street stocks finished in the red after three main indexes bounced back from earlier losses in the final hour of trade, following a strong September private employment report in the morning.

Data released Wednesday showed that private-sector payrolls rose by 208,000 in September, indicating steady growth and supporting the view that the Fed has enough scope to keep raising interest rates. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a rise of 200,000.

The report came two days before the closely watched nonfarm payrolls data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Investors are eying on it for important guidance on the Fed’s policy stance in the November meeting.

Friday’s employment report is expected to show the economy added 275,000 jobs in September, compared with 315,000 new positions added in August, according to a survey polled by Dow Jones.

See: Hiring and job creation seen falling to a 1 1/2-year low in U.S. September jobs report

“That certainly could move the needle,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco. “Again, it doesn’t mean that it actually is going to change the market, but it could be the catalyst for short term rally if we get a disappointing jobs report.”

“But keep in mind, that’s just the anticipation of a Fed pivot based on data. But that does not ensure a Fed pivot. And so it could be one of those short-term rallies like the one we saw earlier this week,” Hooper said.

In other data Wednesday, an ISM barometer of U.S. business conditions in the service sector dipped to 56.7% in September but still showed steady growth and rising employment in a sign the economy is still expanding.

The U.S. trade deficit in August fell to $67.4 billion, the lowest level since mid 2021, paving the way for a resumption of growth in gross domestic product in the third quarter.

See: Why investors shouldn’t expect a break from the stock-market whiplash, says this strategist

The S&P 500 had just enjoyed its largest two day percentage gain since April 2020 on Monday and Tuesday, and the best start to a quarter since 1938, according to Dow Jones Market data.

The bounce followed three quarters of declines, the worst such run since 2008, during which time the S&P 500 fell 24.8% to a near two-year trough as investors worried that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes to crush inflation would harm the economy.

Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, believes the volatility in the stocks will continue because markets are getting a very “consistent message” from the Fed.

“Given what has happened over the last five trading sessions alone, we would be basically telling our clients to tighten your seatbelt a little bit because it’s definitely going to continue to be a bumpy ride,” Mulberry told MarketWatch in a phone interview on Wednesday. “If we get a ‘Goldilocks’ (jobs) report, that would mean decent economic activity is going on. That’s good for earnings overall in the market, but it’s not growing to a point where interest rates would have to be ratcheted up another 125 basis points by the end of the year.”

See: The stock market is surging as the U.S. dollar retreats. It’s all about bonds.

One major reason behind the rise early this week was the view that the Fed would pivot away from its aggressive monetary tightening.

Johanna Chua, chief Asia economist at Citi, said that though U.S economic growth remained in better shape than other countries and Fed officials continued to sound hawkish, the market risked being wrongfooted by any signs that interest rates could soon peak.

“Even as the overall fundamental setup has not changed… trimming of bearish risk/bearish rates/bullish USD positions has driven a sharp reversal,” Chua said.

Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve needs to keep raising its benchmark interest rate in order to cool inflation that hit a 40-year high earlier this year and has shown little signs of cooling. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will speak at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Meanwhile, the OPEC+ group said Wednesday that it will reduce its collective crude production levels by 2 million barrels a day starting next month, the biggest cut since the start of the pandemic. Oil futures headed higher with West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery
CL00,

CLX22,

rose $1.24, or 1.4%, to settle at $87.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The S&P 500’s energy sector
SP500.10,
-0.07%
rose 2.1% following the news, up 12.6% over the last three trading days. According to Dow Jones Market Data, it was the best three-day percentage gain since November 2020 when it gained 16.1%. Shares of Schlumberger
SLB,
+0.77%
gained 6.3% at the close, while Exxon Mobil
XOM,
+1.32%
shares advanced 4%.

Companies in focus

Shares of Helen of Troy Ltd.
HELE,
-2.75%
finished 3.4% higher Wednesday, after the consumer products company, with brands including OXO, Hydro Flask and Braun, reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat expectations but cut its full-year outlook, as rising inflation has prompted consumers to change their spending patterns.

Shares of Monopar Therapeutics Inc.
MNPR,
+6.36%
gained 1.8% after the company said it completed enrollment in a Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating its experimental therapy aimed at preventing severe oral mucositis in patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy for oropharyngeal cancer.

Shares of Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc.
EIGR,
+0.85%
tumbled 5% after the company said it will not pursue emergency authorization of its experimental treatment for mild and moderate COVID-19 infections.

Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings Inc.
LW,
+2.45%
ended 4.2% higher Wednesday, after the potato supplier reported fiscal first-quarter profit that beat expectations, higher prices helped offset a volume decline.

—Jamie Chisholm contributed reporting
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October 5, 2022
Poshmark to be bought by South Korean internet company Naver in $1.2 billion deal

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Online secondhand-fashion marketplace Poshmark Inc. has agreed to be bought by South Korean internet company Naver in a $1.2 billion deal, the companies announced Monday, a move that executives said would help both brands expand internationally.

Shares of Poshmark
POSH,
-0.64%
jumped 11.8% in after-hours trading on the news.

Under the terms of the deal, Naver
035420,
-8.79%
will acquire Poshmark’s outstanding shares for $17.90 in cash, representing a 15% upside to Poshmark’s Monday closing price of $15.57. The transaction is set to close by the first quarter of next year, pending Poshmark shareholders’ approval.

Poshmark went public in late 2020, pricing shares at $42 a share, and ended its first day of trading at more than $100 a share, but has never approached those heights again. It last traded for more than the acquisition price Naver has agreed to pay late last year.

For more: Five things to know about Poshmark

In a statement, executives from both companies talked up the potential to combine Naver’s array of search, e-commerce, AI and social-media technology with Poshmark’s social and shopping platforms. Poshmark, the companies said, would also embark on a bigger international expansion strategy, including into other markets in Asia, in the “medium-term.”

They also talked about the potential for the combined company to save around $30 million annually within two years after the deal’s closing through “rationalization of public company costs” and higher operating leverage, along with the potential for more than 20% yearly sales growth by harnessing Naver’s advertising resources.

Naver, which runs large search and e-commerce platforms, said the move would broaden its e-commerce platform, bring younger users into the company’s fold and allow it to “capitalize on the global online fashion re-commerce and sustainable economy opportunity.”

“Naver’s leading technology in search, AI recommendation and e-commerce tools will help power the next phase of Poshmark’s global growth,” Choi Soo-Yeon, Naver’s chief executive, said in a statement, which also said that Naver hosted a large number of digital content creators in Korea.

Naver owns companies like Wattpad, a social-media platform, and runs Webtoon, a site for digital comics, along with a metaverse platform called Zepeto, and also has joint ownership of an internet service group in Japan. Naver said its online community in Korea consists of more than 36 million monthly users, who use its search engine and other services.

Poshmark Chief Executive Manish Chandra said the deal would also give Poshmark opportunities to grow.

“Longer term, as part of Naver, we will benefit from their financial resources, significant technology capabilities, and leading presence across Asia to expand our platform, elevate our product and user experiences, and enter new and large markets,” he said in the statement.

Naver said the acquisition would also help give it a bigger foothold in the U.S. And it said the deal would allow it to broaden the appeal of so-called live-stream shopping.

“Live-stream shopping is a key driver of e-commerce in China and Korea (and increasingly in the U.S.) today, allowing shoppers to buy products in real-time through live video broadcasts, enabling greater insights and more clarity around purchasing decisions,” the statement said.

Once the deal closes, Poshmark will be a standalone subsidiary of Naver, with the same management team, brand and headquarters in Redwood City, Calif., the companies revealed.

At the close of Monday’s trading, shares of Poshmark were down around 9% year-to-date. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
+2.59%,
by comparison, has slid 23% over that time.

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October 3, 2022
Intel files for Mobileye IPO, creating a share structure that will keep the chipmaker in control

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After nearly a year’s wait, Mobileye is on the highway to Wall Street.

Intel Corp.
INTC,
-2.31%
-owned Mobileye Global Inc. launched its drive to an initial public offering in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Friday, leaving the size of the offering blank for now on what is expected to be one of the largest IPOs of the year.

Intel executives were targeting mid-2022 as of late last year, and filed confidentially with the SEC in March for the IPO of its self-driving-car unit, but the IPO market has been dry amid a decline for stocks, especially those that went public in a 2021 rush.

Mobileye plans to trade Class A shares of common stock on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol “MBLY,” the same symbol the company had before Intel acquired Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3 billion in cash. While selling shares in Mobileye, Intel will retain official control of the company, keeping class B shares that carry 10 votes apiece while selling class A shares that have only one vote.

Mobileye also plans to have four Intel-affiliated members on its board, including Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger serving as chairman of Mobileye’s board.

Intel will also get paid from the offering: Mobileye issued Intel a dividend note for $3.5 billion, and expects to pay that off with proceeds from the sale, according to the filing; there was an initial payment of $336 million, leaving more than $3 billion still owed to Intel. Earlier reporting suggested Intel would seek a $30 billion valuation for Mobileye in the IPO, though the initial filing Friday did not include targeted prices for the shares.

The filing did include financial information, though: Mobileye reported revenue of $1.39 billion in 2021, well ahead of Nvidia Corp.
NVDA,
-0.66%,
which reported fiscal-year revenue of $566 million in auto chip sales in January. Mobileye reported a loss of $70 million last year, compared with a $196 million loss in 2020 and $328 million in 2019. Revenue in the first half of this year hit $854 million, growing 41% in the second quarter from the year before.

The filing lists a whopping 24 underwriters for the deal including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Evercore ISI, Barclays, Citigroup, and B of A Securities.

Shares of Intel were up 0.5% after hours Friday, following a 2.3% decline in the regular session to close at $25.77.

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September 30, 2022
For Long-Term Investors, It’s Time to Buy Tech Again. Here Are 20 Stocks to Look at First.

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One cruel truth the stock market confirmed this past week is that trying to pick the bottom for technology stocks is a fool’s errand. The Nasdaq Composite’s terrible September—it was down 10.5% on the month—has made the bottom-fishing that took place over the summer look ill-advised. As I’ve noted before, the first downturn in tech earlier this year was all about valuations. This new phase of the decline is all about softening earnings. When it comes to price-to-earnings ratios, the market is running into a denominator problem.

The market downturn, the weaker economy, and the reversal of some pandemic-era trends have exposed weaknesses in the business models of companies such as

Peloton Interactive

(ticker: PTON),

Zoom Video Communications

(ZM),

Shopify

(SHOP),

Affirm Holdings

(AFRM), and

Snap

(SNAP), and investors have adjusted valuations accordingly. But there are still some powerful underlying secular trends that should eventually drive tech stocks higher. Investors with long time horizons and strong stomachs might consider inching into the market. I have a few ideas on where to look.

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September 30, 2022
1 in 5 of Americans don’t know about new omicron-targeting COVID boosters, survey finds

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About half of the American public has heard little or nothing about the new COVID-19 bivalent booster, a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found. The new booster targets the omicron variants that have become dominant around the world.

One in five of those surveyed said they had heard “nothing at all” about the new boosters. Some 17% said they had heard “a lot” about the boosters, while 33% said they had heard “some” about the new shots. About a third said they’d already gotten the new booster or intended to do so as soon as possible.

“Intention is somewhat higher among older adults, one of the groups most at risk for serious complications of a coronavirus infection,” the authors wrote. “Almost half (45%) of adults ages 65 and older say they have gotten the bivalent booster or intend to get it ‘as soon as possible.’”

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

The news will likely disappoint health experts who cheered the regulatory authorization of the new boosters in August. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency-use authorization to boosters developed by Moderna
MRNA,
+1.36%
and by Pfizer
PFE,
-0.07%
and German partner BioNTech
BNTX,
+1.53%
for use in people aged 12 and older who have had an initial series of a COVID vaccine, including those who have already had one or more booster doses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that all adults get one of the bivalent boosters at least two months after completing a primary series of shots. So far, some 7.6 million people in the U.S. have received it, according to the CDC.

From the CDC: Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines Including Boosters

Once again, the country’s partisan divide is evident, with 6 in 10 Democrats saying they’ve already had the shot or will get it soon, compared with 1 in 8 Republicans.

“Notably, 20% of Republicans say they will ‘definitely not’ get the new COVID-19 booster dose, while a further 38% of Republicans are unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated and therefore not eligible for the new updated COVID-19 booster dose,” the survey authors said.

Also read: A common virus is putting more children in the hospital than in recent years

In the U.S., known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since late April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people are testing at home, where data are not being collected.

The daily average for new cases stood at 47,569 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 26% from two weeks ago and now at the lowest level since late April. Cases are rising in 14 states and are sharply higher in several. Montana leads the count with a 75% rise in the last two weeks, followed by Washington with a 48% rise. Cases are up by double digits in Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and New Jersey.

The daily average for hospitalizations was down 13% to 28,639, while the daily average for deaths was down 11% to 407.

The new bivalent vaccine might be the first step in developing annual COVID shots, which could follow a similar process to the one used to update flu vaccines every year. Here’s what that process looks like, and why applying it to COVID could be challenging. Illustration: Ryan Trefes

Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

• The U.K. is the only G-7 country whose economy is smaller now than before the pandemic, the Guardian reported, citing data released Friday by the Office for National Statistics. The ONS released figures showing that rather than the economy being 0.6% larger than it was in February 2020, a combination of a deeper recession during the pandemic and a weak recovery had left it 0.2% smaller. All the other major economies in the G-7, including France and Italy, recovered strongly enough to be larger than they were in February 2020.

• Taiwan is the latest country to end mandatory COVID quarantines for people arriving from overseas, the Associated Press reported. Officials said that beginning Oct. 13, the previous weeklong quarantine requirement would be replaced with a seven-day self-monitoring period. A rapid antigen test will still be required upon arrival, but people showing no symptoms will be allowed to take public transportation.

• Germany’s health ministry is warning of a rise of COVID cases heading into the fall and is urging older people in particular to get a second booster shot, the AP reported separately. Other European countries such as France, Denmark and the Netherlands are also recording an increase in cases, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told reporters in Berlin. “We are clearly at the start of a winter wave,” he said.

COVID-19 lockdowns, corruption crackdowns and more have put China’s economy on a potential crash course with the U.S. and the rest of the world, the Wall Street Journal’s Dion Rabouin explains. Illustration: David Fang

• The first Chinese mRNA-based COVID vaccine has received government approval — in Indonesia, the New York Times reported. The shot, developed by Walvax Biotechnology
300142,
+0.49%,
Suzhou Abogen Biosciences and the Chinese military, was cleared this week by Indonesia for emergency use. Countries all over the world, including Indonesia, have embraced mRNA vaccines, and they are considered among the most effective vaccines that the world has to offer. But more than two years into the pandemic, they are not yet available in China, which has relied on an increasingly draconian “zero-COVID” approach to keep cases and deaths from the virus low.

• Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a supporter of Russia’s war on Ukraine, has tested positive for COVID-19, the church’s press service said on Friday, Reuters reported. The church said Kirill, 75, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had canceled all his planned trips and events and had “severe symptoms” requiring bed rest and isolation. It said his condition was “satisfactory.”

Here’s what the numbers say:

The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 617.3 million on Friday, while the death toll rose above 6.54 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. leads the world with 96.3 million cases and 1,059,291 fatalities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 225.3 million people living in the U.S., equal to 67.9% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots. Just 109.9 million have had a booster, equal to 48.8% of the vaccinated population, and 23.9 million of those who are eligible for a second booster have had one, equal to 36.6% of those who received a first booster.

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September 30, 2022
YourEncore® Joins AARP® Employer Pledge Program

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National effort helps employers solve staffing challenges, directs job seekers to employers that value and hire experience

Press Release
–

updated: Jun 12, 2017

Indianapolis, IN, June 12, 2017 (Newswire.com)
–
YourEncore, a leading provider of world-class expertise for flexible resourcing and consulting engagements to life sciences and consumer goods companies, has joined more than 450 organizations in signing the AARP Employer Pledge, confirming their commitment to hiring across the age spectrum and leveraging the value that experienced workers bring to companies of all sizes.

“YourEncore was founded on the core principle that experience matters,” said Mike Lewis, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at YourEncore. “Our mission is to put experience to work. We offer clients the opportunity to tap into the most accomplished and experienced community of experts in the world, and we offer our talent community, or YourEncore Experts as we call them, the opportunity to use their experience to make a lasting difference. We are excited to join with AARP in its mission to drive awareness of the wisdom, experience, and technical skill of accomplished business professionals.”

“YourEncore was founded on the core principle that experience matters. We are excited to join with AARP in its mission to drive awareness of the wisdom, experience, and technical skill of accomplished business professionals. We’re passionate about creating the workforce of the future…one that is ageless, inspires and engages talent, and accelerates business performance. We look forward to working with AARP on this all-important journey.”

Mike Lewis, YourEncore Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

Employers are facing a chasm of wisdom, experience, and absolute talent supply that places achievement of their business objectives at risk. Over 10,000 Baby Boomers retire every day. While Millennials currently provide the workforce with a large infusion of talent, their numbers alone are still not enough to stem the tide of departing Boomers¹. This talent gap cannot be closed with traditional employment models. Given the seismic shifts taking place in today’s workforce, companies need to think differently about how they utilize talent, and individuals need to think differently about how they approach work. YourEncore is uniquely positioned to provide both groups with the solutions they need to successfully navigate and take advantage of this perfect storm that is today’s economy.

YourEncore combines cutting-edge technology and high-touch personal engagement to build robust, vibrant talent communities, match talent to business requirements, and create tailored talent solutions that allow clients to transform and grow and Experts to realize their personal and professional goals.

Although some Boomers are stepping away from traditional full-time, career-focused employment, many want to continue working, for a host of reasons from social to professional to financial². YourEncore is a leader in mobilizing this “encore workforce” and has helped thousands of Experts build successful consulting careers through rewarding project work and professional development.

For clients, YourEncore deploys world class expertise from their Expert Network to solve complex problems, support critical initiatives, and fill capability and capacity gaps. Experts are hand-picked and matched for subject matter expertise and business acumen. They are alumni from some of the best companies in the world, average over 25 years of experience, and the majority hold advanced degrees. The power of that experience – which the AARP Employer Pledge Program is designed to elevate – is the impetus behind the founding and on-going growth of YourEncore.

“We’re passionate about creating the workforce of the future…one that is ageless, inspires and engages talent, and accelerates business performance,” said Lewis. “We look forward to working with AARP on this all-important journey.”

About YourEncore®: YourEncore is a leading provider of proven expertise, delivering flexible resourcing and consulting services to the biopharma, medical devices and diagnostics, and consumer goods industries. YourEncore mobilizes the wisdom and knowledge of highly experienced, immediately effective Experts to help companies outthink, outpace, and outperform. Based in Indianapolis, IN, with offices in Cincinnati, OH and Princeton, NJ, YourEncore was named a “100 Most Brilliant Company” by Entrepreneur Magazine. For more information, visit yourencore.com and follow us on Facebook @YourEncore, Twitter @YourEncoreInc, and LinkedIn.

¹https://www.conference-board.org/laborshortages/

²https://www.transamericacenter.org/docs/default-source/retirement-survey-of-workers/tcrs2016_sr_perspectives_on_retirement_baby_boomers_genx_millennials.pdf

Media Contacts:

Mike Lewis 609.216.7903 mike.lewis@yourencore.com

Nancy Reilly 513.609.4516 nancy.reilly@yourencore.com

Source: YourEncore, Inc.

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June 12, 2017