Easing trade tensions and a big gain in Apple shares helped drive stocks back toward records on Monday, the start of a heavy week of corporate earnings.
Indexes opened with gains, with some investors saying sentiment was buoyed by President Trump saying he will soon meet with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Friday comments that he will meet with his Chinese counterpart in person this week.
It sounds too good to be true. The ability to smoke meats, seafood and more inside your kitchen without risking your security deposit doesn’t seem like something that should be possible. GE Appliances begs to differ. The company debuted the final version of its GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker just before CES, quickly nabbing the attention of this wood-fired-grill reviewer. Thanks to a unique filtration system, the unit captures smoke while cooking and only expels warm air (out of the front). After getting a small taste (literally one bite) in Vegas of what the smoker could do, I’ve spent the last few weeks cooking a variety of proteins to see if the $999 device is as compelling as it seems.
Design
The GE indoor smoker has the stature of a small mini fridge. It’s not far off from the quick-cooking ovens behind the counter at Starbucks either. Its glossy front is two-thirds door, complete with viewing window, while the remaining space is dedicated to the control panel and pellet waste bin. Up top is a small sliding door at the front left for adding food-grade wood pellets. The sides and back look plain and boring, like a countertop oven or microwave, but that’s just fine. The contraption is short enough to fit under cabinets, but you’ll want to leave space on the sides and back for radiant heat.
GE
The smoker imparts noticeable wood-fired flavor into meats, seafood and sides, plus it offers some handy features. It requires a few extra steps grills don’t, but you also don’t have to venture outdoors to use it.
At the bottom of the front, there’s a vent where the GE indoor smoker expels warm air while it’s cooking. The company also provides a small drip tray that slides under the front edge to help keep your counter clean. Over to the right, a display sits up top to show you status, probe temperature, smoker temperature, cook time and smoke level. You turn a knob to navigate settings and menus and then press to confirm your choices. Back and Start buttons flank that dial on the left and right sides respectively. There’s progress and status lights that encircle the knob too, adding a visual cue during preheating, cooking and more.
Under the knob is a smattering of buttons to get to certain functions quickly. These include settings, cancel, the interior light, activating the Clear Smoke feature and toggling between probe temperature and cooking time on the display. There’s also a power switch in this group and they’re all touch-based rather than clicky physical buttons.
Inside, supports snap onto the sides to hold the three moveable racks in place. A drip pan slides into the bottom to catch grease and other debris. To keep tabs on food temps, a probe snaps into a jack at the top right of the cooking chamber and can be stored on the outside of the smoker via a magnetic holder when not in use. Lastly, the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker’s prime piece of tech, the Active Smoke Filtration system, is on the back interior wall.
Setup and use
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
Another benefit of the GE indoor smoker is that it’s ready to go out of the box. There’s no seasoning or burn-off required to get rid of oils or other manufacturing leftovers. Simply snap the rack supports in place, slide in the racks, put the drip pan in the bottom and that’s it for the cooking chamber. Once you add pellets in the slot up top and fill the water tank to the indicated level, the smoker is almost ready to start cooking.
One more step you’ll need to do the first time you cook, or anytime you empty the pellet chute, is to prime the auger. This ensures that the device will start producing smoke quickly and efficiently, giving your food as much time as possible to bathe in it. Afterwards, you can choose a preset or opt to go full manual mode (called Customize) and you’re off and running.
GE has dialed-in selections for brisket, pork ribs, pork butt, wings, chicken and salmon. These offer the necessary time and temperature settings for proper cooking, including a recommended smoke level. Additionally, you can determine the duration of the cook based on time or internal food temperature. Once either of those are achieved, the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker can automatically go into Keep Warm mode until you’re ready to eat.
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
A word on larger cuts: you’ll need to portion them out in order to make them fit. For things like ribs and brisket, you can easily slice them in half and make use of the rack system. I did chuckle when reading the recipe book as GE says you can fit a 18-pound brisket in this smoker. That single cut of beef would take up most of the cooking area on some pellet grills, so you definitely have to cut it to fit here. And even then, the pieces will be quite large.
Pork butts fit with ease, as do whole chickens. If you prefer to spatchcock your birds to cook them, that won’t work here. However, you could easily do two chicken halves. I was also able to accommodate nearly four pounds of wings (flats and drums) across the three racks. Basically, any meat you’d smoke on an outdoor grill can be done on this unit, but some of them will take a bit of extra planning, and maybe a few cuts, to get them to fit.
How does the GE Indoor Smoker work?
After you’ve selected your preset or manually entered your cooking parameters and pressed start, the GE indoor smoker will ask you to confirm that you’ve added both pellets to the chute and water to the waste bin. From there, the device will preheat to the appropriate temperature before it begins producing any smoke. This will allow you to put your food inside without having to clear the smoke immediately. The last step is to push the start dial once more to begin the smoking process.
Before you open the door while things are cooking, you’ll need to activate the Clear Smoke function to avoid setting off any alarms in your kitchen. This takes 10 minutes, so you’ll have to plan ahead a bit – unless you don’t mind smoking up the room. I mention this because you will have to flip and rotate nearly everything you prepare in this thing to make sure it cooks evenly. I learned this lesson the hard way with a pork butt that burned on top but was undercooked near the bone. A simple flip and front-to-back rotation for everything about half-way through the process remedied the issue for everything I cooked after that, but it is an extra step that outdoor grills don’t require. You can leave a pork butt on a pellet grill unbothered until it’s done, but those have fans pushing heat around the cooking chamber. GE says it didn’t opt for a convection fan in this unit because of how it would’ve affected the flow of smoke.
Can you taste the smoke?
One of the biggest questions I had about the GE indoor smoker is if you’d actually be able to taste the smoke. The unit burns just enough wood pellets to fill the cooking chamber with smoke, which is enough to give proteins a kiss of flavor. It’s certainly not as intense as what you get on an outdoor grill, but it’s definitely there.
1 / 6
GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker food samples
A single baby back rib bone, sliced to show the interior texture.
Since the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker does an excellent job of regulating temperature, the texture of all of those meats, and even seafood, is consistently moist and tender. Smoke flavor was most prominent in wings, chicken and salmon, but I could taste it in larger cuts of meat, too. GE allows you to adjust the smoke level from 0 to 5, so you can crank it all the way up to maximize the flavor if that’s your culinary preference. I almost always set it to level 5.
Let’s talk about smoke rings
One thing you won’t see on meat cooked low-and-slow in the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker is a smoke ring. This is the pink area along the outside of sliced meats that most people think indicates how well smoke has penetrated the food. That’s actually a misconception. A smoke ring is caused by a chemical reaction with nitric oxide gas produced by burning wood or charcoal. It isn’t by any means an indication of the level of smoke flavor, or even good barbecue.
Outdoor pellet grills, offset smokers and even a Weber kettle with charcoal will create a noticeable smoke ring on things like ribs, pork butts and briskets. The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker will not. That’s because the appliance isn’t burning wood pellets as the heat source – it’s only using them to flavor the food. That takes very little fuel, and it also requires barely any heat to smolder them.
You can actually fake a smoke ring if you really want one for the ‘gram, but overdoing it can ruin your food, so tread carefully. For that, you’ll need a small amount of something that contains sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, like Morton’s Tender Quick. It’s the stuff that’s used to cure pastrami, where the pink color is essential.
Cleanup and maintenance
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
Unlike most outdoor grills, all of the racks and rack supports inside the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker are dishwasher safe – simply by virtue of being small enough to fit. Since you’ll have to wipe down the interior of the cooking chamber with a solution of either mild soap and water or vinegar and water, not having to hand-wash what’s sure to be the dirtiest part of the machine is a plus. The drip pan is made out of a similar material to roasting pans you’d use in an oven, so you can probably stick it in the dishwasher too. I have been doing this with no issues so far, but you can always wrap it in foil before you start smoking for easy cleaning.
You’ll also need to empty the water tank that collects and extinguishes the spent pellets after each use, though the smoker may ask you to do so midway through longer sessions. You’ll need to strain out the remaining wood particles from the water before discarding the cooled solids in the trash. Since the water container doesn’t touch any food, a quick wipe and rinse is all that’s needed here.
GE says you’ll occasionally need to clean the pellet ramp to ensure proper smoke production. The company includes a small brush that’s used to keep unwanted debris out of the cooking chamber. Simply lift the smoke inlet cover on the right side of the cooking area and use the brush to remove anything that’s accumulated there. The company also recommends that you wipe the interior light after each use. I assume that’s so you’ll be able to see well during the cooking process, but GE doesn’t elaborate on why you need to do it.
GE Profile SmartHQ app
The Smart Indoor Smoker works with GE’s SmartHQ app to allow you to monitor the small appliance over Wi-Fi. With this software, you can monitor smoker and food temperatures from anywhere, as well as activate the 10-minute Clear Smoke process from the sofa. The app also lets you turn the internal light on and off, but that’s really about it. You can’t actually adjust the smoker temperature without walking over to it.
The smoker comes with a recipe book, but it would’ve been great if those (and many more) were available inside the app. Those instructions, paired with the ability to send the appropriate cooking info to the device, would give new users a lot of ways to get started beyond the simple protein-specific presets. I would also love it if there was a way to trigger the Keep Warm function or shut down the smoker remotely. You know, for the times when I get too excited about putting pulled pork in my mouth and forget to turn the machine off before sitting down at the table.
Is it better than an outdoor grill?
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
While it’s tempting to compare the results from the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker to those of a pellet, charcoal or wood-burning grill, it would be like discussing apples and oranges. Since all of the other options have an open flame and use significantly more fuel as the primary heat source, the smoke flavor is much more intense. They also require a lot more planning. First, you’d need dedicated outdoor space where those grills and smokers will be safe to use. You’ll also need to consider the added cleaning and maintenance needed to keep them running well.
All of these outdoor grills have a wider temperature range, so they can be used for more than just smoking. You could use a pellet grill, for example, to do everything from brisket to searing steaks. Ditto for charcoal or wood-burning units. And if you factor in Wi-Fi-enabled features, outdoor grills typically allow you to adjust temperature in addition to just monitoring it. Some of them even offer advanced tools like the Super Smoke mode from Traeger or the ability to send recipes to the grill as part of step-by-step guidance.
All this considered, the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker is still a good option for people who can’t have an outdoor smoker due to rental agreements or a lack of space. You’ll certainly need to plan ahead on how to store the appliance when you’re not using it. But, the fact that you can put it in your kitchen opens up the ability to cook barbecue, smoked wings, tasty seafood and more that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to. It’s not entirely a “set it and forget it” type of device, and there are some hoops to jump through in terms of rotating things during the cook. However, you won’t have to spend hours babying the meats the cooking starts.
Wrap-up
The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker works just like the company describes. The only real nuisance is having to flip and rotate foods to make sure they’re cooked properly. I really wish the company was more up-front about this somewhere other than the troubleshooting table and recipe book. It’s a key action that shouldn’t be left to trial and error. Even with that caveat, the device produces noticeably smoky flavor in a range of foods, albeit in a more-subdued way than what an outdoor grill.
Presets make it easy to get started and the manual mode will provide an open playground once you gain some experience. This won’t replace your pellet or charcoal grill, but that’s not really the point. It lets people who can’t own one of those make some tasty barbecue inside their kitchens. You just have to find a place to store it, or give up previously allocated countertop space, between smoke sessions.
1 / 9
GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker review
GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker has just started smoked chicken wings. Photo is from the left corner, interior light is on.
General Electric Co. has saved its best year for its last.
At the beginning of the second quarter, GE’s power and renewable-energy business will be spun off as GE Vernova, while its remaining business will be relaunched as GE Aerospace. That follows the conglomerate’s separation of GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. GEHC, -0.28%
in December 2022.
But rather than mourn the final breakup of the 150-year old company, which was co-founded by Thomas Edison, Wall Street cheered like it never had before.
GE’s stock GE, -0.54%
has rocketed 95.1% in 2023 as of afternoon trading Friday. That would be by far the stock’s best year on record, based on available data going back to 1972, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The next best year was 1982, when it gained 65.4%. In comparison, the S&P 500 index SPX
has rallied 24.2% this year.
As good as the stock’s performance has been leading up to the breakup, most analysts feel like investors still have more to gain. Keep in mind that in many cases, a company’s parts are worth more individually than they are valued as part of a whole.
Wells Fargo’s Matthew Akers has a pre-breakup target of $144 on GE’s stock, which implies about 13% upside from current levels.
“GE combines an attractive business with high aftermarket mix, solid management team with a clean balance sheet, L-T margin upside and built-in catalyst with the Vernova spin in early Q2,” Akers wrote.
J.P. Morgan’s Seth Seifman said he believes the combined equity values of GE Vernova and GE Aerospace, when including the company’s equity stake in GE HealthCare, is about $149 billion. That compares with GE’s current market capitalization of about $139 billion.
Of the 18 analysts surveyed by FactSet who cover GE, 12 are bullish and six are neutral, while there are no bears. And the average price target is $139.23, or about 9% above current levels.
GE’s 2023 marks the culmination of a five-year turnaround for the stock engineered by current Chief Executive Larry Culp, who will remain as CEO of GE Aerospace.
GE’s stock has nearly tripled in the five years that Larry Culp has been CEO, outperforming the S&P 500 by a wide margin.
General Electric Co.
The stock had suffered its worst year ever in 2018, plunging 56.6%, just after it had its fourth-worst year in 2017, when it suffered a 44.8% decline.
Things got so bad for GE that it got booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA
in June 2018, ending a record 111-year run in the blue-chip barometer.
Culp was named CEO in October 2018. During his tenure, GE’s stock has had only two down years. It fell 3.2% in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the aerospace business, and slumped 11.3% in 2022 as spiking inflation and interest rates fueled fears that a recession was on the horizon.
But since the end of 2018, GE’s stock has climbed 181%, while the S&P 500 has rallied 90% and the Dow has gained 61%.
is likely to generate strong interest from the healthcare company’s shareholders, resulting in participants being able to swap only a portion of their J&J stock.
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.
Boeing Stock Usually Wins From the Paris Air Show. This Is the Catch.
Investors who are buying into the post-Covid recovery of commercial aerospace will get an important update about the industry, including the hot issues of sustainability and supply-chain snags, when the Paris Air Show kicks off on Monday.
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U.S. stocks closed lower Friday as investors digested strong big bank earnings, weak retail sales, and hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official, but all three major benchmarks booked weekly gains.
How did stocks trade?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.42%
shed 143.22 points, or 0.4%, to close at 33,886.47.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.21%
fell 8.58 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 4,137.64.
Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.35%
declined 42.81 points, or 0.4%, to end at 12,123.47.
For the week, Dow rose 1.2%, the S&P 500 gained 0.8% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.3%. The Dow booked a fourth straight week of gains in its longest win streak since October, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
“Because financial conditions have not significantly tightened, the labor market continues to be strong and quite tight, and inflation is far above target, so monetary policy needs to be tightened further,” Waller said Friday during a speech in San Antonio, Texas.
Waller’s comments were “pretty hawkish,” said Jackie Rogowicz, an investment analyst at Penn Mutual Asset Management, in a phone interview. She said she’s expecting the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point in May, and at least at this stage, sees some potential for another rate hike in June.
Inflation data released earlier in the week showed a larger-than-expected slowdown in wholesale prices, while so-called core consumer-price inflation remained stubbornly high as it ticked higher to a rate of 5.6% year-over-year.
Marvin Loh, senior global strategist at State Street, said Waller’s comments were a departure from the more dovish tone evinced by other senior Fed officials since the Fed’s March policy meeting.
“This is one of the more hawkish comments over the past week. A lot of the Fed speak has leaned toward ‘one and done’ in terms of rate hikes,” Loh said during a phone call with MarketWatch.
Meanwhile, fresh economic data on Friday showed sales at retailers, a critical component of consumer spending, dropped 1% in March, declining for the fourth time in the past five months. The decline was sharper than the contraction that economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had anticipated.
A popular consumer-sentiment survey released Friday showed respondents’ outlook has risen slightly to 63.5 in April, rebounding from a four-month low, but also reflected slightly higher anxiety about inflation.
While consumer spending hasn’t fallen off a cliff, it has continued to weaken from the elevated levels seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, economists said.
“The cumulative effect of historically high inflation, rising interest rates, and reduced access to credit is already taking a toll on consumers’ ability and willingness to spend,” said Lydia Boussour, senior economist at EY Parthenon, in emailed commentary. “And the full effect of recent banking-sector turmoil and the associated tightening in credit conditions has yet to be felt.”
The first bank earnings reports since regional banks including Silicon Valley Bank failed last month offered some optimism though. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +7.55%,
the U.S.’s biggest bank, jumped after it reported earnings and revenue well above forecasts.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the U.S. economy looked “generally healthy,” but warned the coast was not completely clear. “The storm clouds that we have been monitoring for the past year remain on the horizon, and the banking industry turmoil adds to these risks,” he said.
The “big banks are well-capitalized,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in a phone interview. “They benefited from some deposit inflows in March.”
Investors have been anxious to see how the banks would perform as analysts have been cutting earnings estimates for both large and regional banks in the wake of the crisis.
“So far it seems the numbers are coming in pretty good,” said State Street’s Loh. However, “we have to wait for more smaller lenders to start reporting” to get a better picture of how banks are doing in the wake of last month’s turmoil.
Companies in focus
Shares of Boeing Co. BA, -5.56%
dropped 5.6% after the jet maker warned late Thursday that a manufacturing hang-up could cause problems for production and delivery of “a significant number” of 737 Max planes.
U.S.-listed shares of Curaleaf Holdings Inc. CURLF, -6.69%
Shares of General Electric Co. GE, +1.21%
rose 1.2% after bullish UBS analyst Chris Snyder raised his price target by 15%. The company’s shares have surged this year thanks to a planned spin off.
General Electric Co. engages in the provision of commercial and military aircraft engines and systems, wind, and other renewable energy generation equipment and grid solutions, and gas, steam, nuclear, and other power generation equipment. It operates through the following segments: Aviation, Healthcare, Renewable Energy, and Power. The Aviation segment designs and produces commercial and military aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power and mechanical aircraft systems. The Healthcare segment provides essential healthcare technologies to developed and emerging markets and has expertise in medical imaging, digital solutions, patient monitoring and diagnostics, drug discovery and performance improvement solutions. The Renewable Energy segment’s portfolio of business units includes onshore and offshore wind, blade manufacturing, grid solutions, hydro, storage, hybrid renewables and digital services offerings. The Power segment serves power generation, industrial, government and other customers worldwide with products and services related to energy production. The company was founded by Thomas Alva Edison in 1878 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.
stock was on track for its best day in months after the Chinese technology giant announced that it would split itself into six units, opening the door for its subsidiary businesses to go public.
Akin to Alibaba (ticker: BABA) shifting from conglomerate to holding company, the move is designed to unlock shareholder value and foster market competitiveness, said the group, which is one of China’s largest and most important companies. It’s a nod both to investors who have weathered years of losses for the stock—caused largely by regulatory pressures—as well as regulators who have hammered Alibaba and the rest of the Chinese tech sector over competition concerns since late 2020.
Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE – Get Rating) by 591.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,091 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,315 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in General Electric were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in General Electric by 808.1% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners acquired a new stake in General Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Standard Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 37.5% during the third quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 70.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of General Electric from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.93.
General Electric Trading Up 0.9 %
GE stock opened at $87.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.91. General Electric has a 12-month low of $46.55 and a 12-month high of $87.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.
General Electric (NYSE:GE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.13. General Electric had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The company had revenue of $21.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.
General Electric Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,066.67%.
General Electric Co engages in the provision of commercial and military aircraft engines and systems, wind, and other renewable energy generation equipment and grid solutions, and gas, steam, nuclear, and other power generation equipment. It operates through the following segments: Aviation, Healthcare, Renewable Energy, and Power.
Further Reading
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India’s Adani reopens two cement plants after freight dispute
Truckers believe Hindenburg report was answer to their prayers
Adani says amicable resolution reached after negotiations
DARLAGHAT, India Feb 23 (Reuters) – For truckers transporting cement from Adani’s factories in a hilly north Indian state, a U.S. short-seller’s critical research report on the giant conglomerate was a godsend they say helped them save their livelihoods.
For weeks, around 7,000 truck owners and drivers in India’s Himachal Pradesh resorted to protest rallies against Adani’s Dec. 15 decision to shut two cement plants over a dispute on freight rates. Adani argued the plants were “unviable” at the trucking rates it wanted to slash by around half.
On Monday, the Gautam Adani-led group said it had “amicably resolved” the issue with a 10-12% reduction in rates. Truckers rejoiced, with a union leader in a street address labelling it as a victory after late-night talks with Adani.
The settlement comes four weeks after U.S.-based Hindenburg Research accused Adani of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens, allegations the group called baseless.
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The Jan. 24 report triggered a $140 billion rout in group’s stocks, sparked regulatory investigations and saw the billionaire Adani slip to 26 on the Forbes global rich list, from third.
While the truckers’ settlement will have only a small impact on the overall Adani empire, it was a big win for the drivers and owners in a state were most people live on around $7 a day.
The report “played a crucial role in our battle against India’s biggest business group, helped mobilize truckers and gain political support,” said Ram Krishan Sharma, one of the lead negotiators for protesting truckers.
Adani negotiators had refused to budge for weeks. So Hindenburg’s report, some truckers believe, was godsent.
Just a day before it was published, many truckers visited a small, revered Hindu temple in Darlaghat which overlooks one of Adani’s cement plants, and offered a traditional semolina sweet offering to a deity as they sought to resolve the dispute.
Bantu Shukla, a protest leader, showed Reuters a photo and video of truckers that day offering prayers inside the temple. Some stood with folded hands, while a person rang a temple bell in a typical Hindu worship ritual.
‘AMICABLE RESOLUTION’
Adani Group did not answer Reuters questions on whether the Hindenburg report’s fallout contributed to its decision in Himachal.
Adani Cements in a statement said it was “grateful” to all stakeholders including the unions, the local state chief minister and other departments, adding the “amicable resolution” was in interest of everyone including the state.
A source familiar with Adani’s negotiation said the group had been under pressure following what it thinks was a “negative campaign” by Adani’s opponents after the Hindenburg report, and the settlement to reopen plants is a relief.
Himachal is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s staunch rival, the Congress party. After the Hindenburg report, Congress has renewed its claims that Modi for years has unduly favoured Adani. Both Adani and India’s government deny that.
The source added the move will also help Adani signal it can resolve commercial matters in states ruled by Modi’s rivals.
Without citing Hindenburg, the Himachal chief minister’s office on Monday said “we have been successful in resolving the issues” to end the 67-day dispute.
WHATSAPP CHATS, PRAYERS AT TEMPLE
Adani became India’s second largest cement manufacturer when it acquired ACC (ACC.NS) and Ambuja Cements (ABUJ.NS) in a $10.5 billion deal with Swiss giant Holcim (HOLN.S) last year.
In December, it shut plants in the villages of Gagal and Darlaghat in Himachal, saying truckers were charging too much.
The Adani group wanted freight rates to be lowered to around 6 rupees ($0.0725) per tonne per km, from around 11 rupees. Many truckers told Reuters they struggled to make their loan repayments as their incomes shrank after the shutdowns.
As a stalemate worsened, truckers formed WhatsApp groups to coordinate efforts, vent frustration and later share Hindenburg’s impact on Adani companies and stock prices to further drum up support.
One such WhatsApp group chat of around 1,000 truckers, reviewed by Reuters, showed sharing of a local reporter’s video discussing the sharp fall in Adani’s shares and his alleged close ties to Modi.
Although they accepted a small cut in freight rates when Adani agreed to pay 9.3-10.58 rupees per km per tonne, truckers felt they saved their jobs, and prayers at the Hindu temple were organised again this week.
“We felt our deity had accepted our prayers when we saw the fall in the share prices of Adani companies,” protest leader Shukla said. “The Hindenburg report was a gift that saved our businesses.”
(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous word in paragraph 20)
Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Aditya Kalra and Anushree Fadnavis; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
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U.S. stock indexes finished sharply higher on Thursday, the second-to-last trading session of the year, with the Nasdaq Composite jumping 2.6%, erasing losses from earlier in the week.
The three main indexes built on premarket gains after U.S. weekly jobless claims data showed the number of workers receiving benefits has climbed to the highest level since February, a tentative sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes might be slowing economic growth and inflation.
How stocks traded
The S&P 500 SPX, +1.75%
rose 66.06 points, or 1.8%, to end at 3,849.28.
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.05%
added 345.09 points, or 1.1%, finishing at 33,220.80.
Nasdaq Composite COMP, +2.59%
climbed 264.80 points, or 2.6%, to finish at 10,478.09.
On Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4% to 10,213, its lowest closing level of the year. The S&P 500 is up more than 6% from its 2022 low from mid-October, but the large-cap index remains down 19.2% year-to-date, FactSet data show.
What drove markets
The penultimate session of 2022 showed tentative signs of delivering some much needed festive cheer for the stock market as a hope for “Santa Claus rally” had earlier failed to materialize.
The jobless-claims data “points to a loosening in the labor market, which is welcome news for the Fed,” said Larry Adam, chief investment officer at Raymond James, in a tweet.
However, analysts at Citi still think the claims data indicates a still-very-tight labor markets compared to historical levels.
“While both initial and continuing claims increased this week, they remain within the levels of late 2019,” wrote Gisela Hoxha, U.S. economics research analyst at Citi. “Anecdotes of company layoffs have increased in recent months, particularly in the tech sector. While it could be hard to disentangle the seasonal effects from the announced layoffs, in our view there is no significant evidence of them showing up in the claims data yet.”
Some of those layoffs could be taking effect a couple months later as employees might be kept on payroll for some time after the announcement, which will become significant signs of weakness in the labor market in 2023, Hoxha added.
Stocks were on track to finish what’s set to be the worst year since 2008 not far from 2022 lows. The S&P 500’s 52-week closing low at 3,577.03 was hit on Oct. 12.
Still, the three indexes managed to erase losses from earlier in the week on Thursday. Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2% this week, while the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the Dow was nearly flat as of Thursday’s close. If the S&P 500 can hold on to weekly gains through Friday, it would mark the end of a three-week losing streak that has been the index’s longest since September, FactSet data show.
Companies in focus
Tesla Inc. TSLA, +8.08%
shares finished 8.1% higher on Thursday after posting its first rise in eight sessions Wednesday. The electric-vehicle maker’s shares had declined in seven consecutive sessions, their worst losing streak since a seven-session run that ended on Sept. 15, 2018.
Southwest Airlines LUV, +3.70%
remains in focus as the airline tries to recover from logistical issues that caused thousands of flight cancellations over the past week. The stock fell 11% over the past two days, but rose 3.7% in Thursday session.
General Electric’s GE, +2.17%
spinoff of GE HealthCare Technologies will join the S&P 500 index when it begins trading as a separate public company on Jan. 4. GE HealthCare will replace Vornado Realty Trust VNO, +1.63%,
which will move to the S&P MidCap 400. Vornado will replace logistics company RXO RXO, +8.39%,
which will move to the S&P SmallCap 600. GE HealthCare — trading on a when-issued basis — rose 0.9%, while Vornado gained 1.6% and RXO jumped 8.4%.
Cal-Maine CALM, -14.50%
shares ended 14.5% lower after its quarterly earnings came in below Wall Street forecasts. Cal-Maine reported record sales for the quarter as an avian flu outbreak continued to limit the supply of eggs, driving prices sharply higher. The company also said there were no positive tests for avian flu at any of its production facilities, as of Wednesday.
U.S. stock indexes finished sharply higher on Thursday, the second-to-last trading session of the year, with the Nasdaq Composite jumping 2.6%, erasing losses from earlier in the week.
The three main indexes built on premarket gains after U.S. weekly jobless claims data showed the number of workers receiving benefits has climbed to the highest level since February, a tentative sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes might be slowing economic growth and inflation.
How stocks traded
The S&P 500 SPX, +1.75%
rose 66.06 points, or 1.8%, to end at 3,849.28.
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.05%
added 345.09 points, or 1.1%, finishing at 33,220.80.
Nasdaq Composite COMP, +2.59%
climbed 264.80 points, or 2.6%, to finish at 10,478.09.
On Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4% to 10,213, its lowest closing level of the year. The S&P 500 is up more than 6% from its 2022 low from mid-October, but the large-cap index remains down 19.2% year-to-date, FactSet data show.
What drove markets
The penultimate session of 2022 showed tentative signs of delivering some much needed festive cheer for the stock market as a hope for “Santa Claus rally” had earlier failed to materialize.
The jobless-claims data “points to a loosening in the labor market, which is welcome news for the Fed,” said Larry Adam, chief investment officer at Raymond James, in a tweet.
However, analysts at Citi still think the claims data indicates a still-very-tight labor markets compared to historical levels.
“While both initial and continuing claims increased this week, they remain within the levels of late 2019,” wrote Gisela Hoxha, U.S. economics research analyst at Citi. “Anecdotes of company layoffs have increased in recent months, particularly in the tech sector. While it could be hard to disentangle the seasonal effects from the announced layoffs, in our view there is no significant evidence of them showing up in the claims data yet.”
Some of those layoffs could be taking effect a couple months later as employees might be kept on payroll for some time after the announcement, which will become significant signs of weakness in the labor market in 2023, Hoxha added.
Stocks were on track to finish what’s set to be the worst year since 2008 not far from 2022 lows. The S&P 500’s 52-week closing low at 3,577.03 was hit on Oct. 12.
Still, the three indexes managed to erase losses from earlier in the week on Thursday. Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2% this week, while the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the Dow was nearly flat as of Thursday’s close. If the S&P 500 can hold on to weekly gains through Friday, it would mark the end of a three-week losing streak that has been the index’s longest since September, FactSet data show.
Companies in focus
Tesla Inc. TSLA, +8.08%
shares finished 8.1% higher on Thursday after posting its first rise in eight sessions Wednesday. The electric-vehicle maker’s shares had declined in seven consecutive sessions, their worst losing streak since a seven-session run that ended on Sept. 15, 2018.
Southwest Airlines LUV, +3.70%
remains in focus as the airline tries to recover from logistical issues that caused thousands of flight cancellations over the past week. The stock fell 11% over the past two days, but rose 3.7% in Thursday session.
General Electric’s GE, +2.17%
spinoff of GE HealthCare Technologies will join the S&P 500 index when it begins trading as a separate public company on Jan. 4. GE HealthCare will replace Vornado Realty Trust VNO, +1.63%,
which will move to the S&P MidCap 400. Vornado will replace logistics company RXO RXO, +8.39%,
which will move to the S&P SmallCap 600. GE HealthCare — trading on a when-issued basis — rose 0.9%, while Vornado gained 1.6% and RXO jumped 8.4%.
Cal-Maine CALM, -14.50%
shares ended 14.5% lower after its quarterly earnings came in below Wall Street forecasts. Cal-Maine reported record sales for the quarter as an avian flu outbreak continued to limit the supply of eggs, driving prices sharply higher. The company also said there were no positive tests for avian flu at any of its production facilities, as of Wednesday.
To start 2023, investors will have a choice to invest in a brand new $18 billion company with some 50,000 energized employees and a plan to create shareholder value.
To close out 2022, that company—GE HealthCare—is on the road, introducing itself to investors. With each new detail that emerges investors get a better sense of where the new stock should trade.
ANKARA, Turkey — Annual inflation in Turkey slightly eased in November for the first time in more than a year, according to official figures released on Monday, although it remains close to 24-year highs.
Consumer prices for the year rose by 84.39% in November, down from 85.51% recorded in October, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced. The monthly inflation rate was 2.88% in November, compared with 3.51% in the previous month.
It is the first time that annual inflation has eased since May 2021.
“As we have previously stated through various media, we have left the peak in inflation behind us and entered a downward trend — unless there is an unexpected global development,” Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati tweeted on Monday.
While the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have stoked inflation around the world, economists believe that inflation in Turkey was additionally fueled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s belief that high borrowing costs lead to higher prices. Traditional economic thinking says that raising rates helps rein in inflation.
Turkey’s central bank has slashed interest rates by 5 percentage points since August, down to 9% despite high inflation that has deepened a cost-of-living crisis in the country. In contrast, central banks around the world have been raising rates to fight soaring inflation.
Erdogan has said his model — which prioritizes growth, investments, employment and exports — is expected to yield results in the new year.
The sharpest increases in annual prices were in the transportation sector, at 107%, followed by food and non-alcoholic drinks prices at 102.55%, according to official data.
Some experts have questioned the state institutes’ figures and the Inflation Research Group, which is made up of independent economists, said on Monday that Turkey’s true inflation rate for November is 170.7%.
ANKARA, Turkey — Annual inflation in Turkey slightly eased in November for the first time in more than a year, according to official figures released on Monday, although it remains close to 24-year highs.
Consumer prices for the year rose by 84.39% in November, down from 85.51% recorded in October, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced. The monthly inflation rate was 2.88% in November, compared with 3.51% in the previous month.
It is the first time that annual inflation has eased since May 2021.
“As we have previously stated through various media, we have left the peak in inflation behind us and entered a downward trend — unless there is an unexpected global development,” Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati tweeted on Monday.
While the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have stoked inflation around the world, economists believe that inflation in Turkey was additionally fueled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s belief that high borrowing costs lead to higher prices. Traditional economic thinking says that raising rates helps rein in inflation.
Turkey’s central bank has slashed interest rates by 5 percentage points since August, down to 9% despite high inflation that has deepened a cost-of-living crisis in the country. In contrast, central banks around the world have been raising rates to fight soaring inflation.
Erdogan has said his model — which prioritizes growth, investments, employment and exports — is expected to yield results in the new year.
The sharpest increases in annual prices were in the transportation sector, at 107%, followed by food and non-alcoholic drinks prices at 102.55%, according to official data.
Some experts have questioned the state institutes’ figures and the Inflation Research Group, which is made up of independent economists, said on Monday that Turkey’s true inflation rate for November is 170.7%.
OMAHA, Neb. — President Joe Biden on Monday asked Congress to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers would take up legislation this week to impose the deal that unions agreed to in September.
“Let me be clear: a rail shutdown would devastate our economy,” Biden said in a statement. “Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down.”
In a statement, Pelosi said: “We are reluctant to bypass the standard ratification process for the Tentative Agreement — but we must act to prevent a catastrophic nationwide rail strike, which would grind our economy to a halt.”
Pelosi said the House would not change the terms of the September agreement, which would challenge the Senate to approve the House bill without changes.
The September agreement that Biden and Pelosi are calling for is a slight improvement over what the board of arbitrators recommended in the summer. The September agreement added three unpaid days off a year for engineers and conductors to tend to medical appointments as long as they scheduled them at least 30 days in advance. The railroads also promised in September not to penalize workers who are hospitalized and to negotiate further with the unions after the contract is approved about improving the regular scheduling of days off.
Hundreds of business groups had been urging Congress and the president to step into the deadlocked contract talk and prevent a strike.
Both the unions and railroads have been lobbying Congress while contract talks continue. If Congress acts, it will end talks between the railroads and four rail unions that rejected their deals Biden helped broker before the original strike deadline in September. Eight other unions have approved their five-year deals with the railroads and are in the process of getting back pay for their workers for the 24% raises that are retroactive to 2020.
If Congress does what Biden suggests and imposes terms similar to what was agreed on in September, that will end the union’s push to add paid sick time. The four unions that have rejected their deals have been pressing for the railroads to add that benefit to help address workers’ quality of life concerns, but the railroads had refused to consider that.
Biden said that as a “a proud pro-labor president” he was reluctant to override the views of people who voted against the agreement. “But in this case — where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families — I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.”
Biden’s remarks and Pelosi’s statement came after a coalition of more than 400 business groups sent a letter to congressional leaders Monday urging them to step into the stalled talks because of fears about the devastating potential impact of a strike that could force many businesses to shut down if they can’t get the rail deliveries they need. Commuter railroads and Amtrak would also be affected in a strike because many of them use tracks owned by the freight railroads.
The business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and National Retail Federation said even a short-term strike would have a tremendous impact and the economic pain would start to be felt even before the Dec. 9 strike deadline. They said the railroads would stop hauling hazardous chemicals, fertilizers and perishable goods up to a week beforehand to keep those products from being stranded somewhere along the tracks.
“A potential rail strike only adds to the headwinds facing the U.S. economy,” the businesses wrote. “A rail stoppage would immediately lead to supply shortages and higher prices. The cessation of Amtrak and commuter rail services would disrupt up to 7 million travelers a day. Many businesses would see their sales disrupted right in the middle of the critical holiday shopping season.”
A similar group of businesses sent another letter to Biden last month urging him to play a more active role in resolving the contract dispute.
On Monday, the Association of American Railroads trade group praised Biden’s action.
“No one benefits from a rail work stoppage — not our customers, not rail employees and not the American economy,” said AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies. “Now is the appropriate time for Congress to pass legislation to implement the agreements already ratified by eight of the twelve unions.”
Business groups that have been pushing for Congress to settle this contract dispute praised Biden’s move.
“The Biden administration’s endorsement of congressional intervention affirms what America’s food, beverage, household and personal care manufacturers have been saying: Freight rail operations cannot shut down and imperil the availability and affordability of consumers’ everyday essentials,” said Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain for the Consumer Brands Association. “The consequences to consumers if a strike were to occur are too serious, especially amid continued supply chain challenges and disruptions.”
Clark Ballew, a spokesman for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, which represents track maintenance workers, said before Biden’s announcement that the union was “headed to D.C. this week to meet with lawmakers on the Hill from both parties. We have instructed our members to contact their federal lawmakers in the House and Senate for several weeks now.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Neil Bradley said Biden was correct in advocating for the deal already reached. “Congress must do what it has done 18 times before: intervene against a national rail strike,” Bradley said in a statement, and he called Congress enforcing the deal agreed to by railroads and union leaders the “only path to avoid crippling strike.”
The railroads, which include Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX and Kansas City Southern, wanted any deal to closely follow the recommendations a special board of arbitrators that Biden appointed made this summer that called for the 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses but didn’t resolve workers’ concerns about demanding schedules that make it hard to take a day off and other working conditions. That’s what Biden is calling on Congress to impose.
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Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
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