STOCK NEWS
Merk (MRK) / Pfizer (PFE): announced positive results from a Phase clinical trial for VERTIX SITA2. The trial evaluated ertugliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes on a background of sitagliptin and stable metformin. The two companies will file New Drug Applications for ertugliflozen and two fixed doses by the end of the year and will file regulatory applications outside the US in 2017.
Pandora (P): launched Pandora Plus which is $5 per month version of Pandora One. It allows for unlimited skips and replays and an offline mode that keeps music playing when the connection drops. Pandora plans to release its on-demand service within the next few months. Today Spotify announced it reached 40 million users, so the competition is fierce.
Apple (AAPL): Based on Credit Suisse’s proprietary survey and other data points released, Credit Suisse sees iPhone volumes of 215 million this year and 221 million in 2017. This is an increase from 208 million and 217 million previously. 2016 EPS estimates were raised from $7.95 to $8.22. Apple has confirmed that initial quantities of iPhone 7 Plus devices have sold out in all colors. This comes on the heels of the Note 7 charging debacle. This has led Apple stock to rally of late.
Tesla (TSLA): Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua said the firm has ended ties with Tesla because Tesla is “pushing the envelope in terms of safety.” He went on to say the following: “It is not designed to cover all possible crash situations in a safe manner. No matter how you spin it… It is a driver assistance system and not a driverless system.” Mobileye has 27 automakers as customers for its collision detection systems which is 70% of the market.
ECONOMIC NEWS
After going through a period with little data, we received a boatload of data today as you can see below. The two data points I would like to point out are the retail sales and retail sales ex-autos which both missed expectations. The economy is in a recession excluding the consumer which represents about 70% of GDP. With the consumer showing signs of weakness, Q3 GDP may be negative. The market is rallying today, possibly because this means more stimulus. The chances of rate hike in September is now 12% which means it won’t happen. This what I’ve been predicting in these posts all year.
