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☆ Markets close out the year down, following light week of trading
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Markets closed out the week — and the year — in the red, as the so-called Santa Claus rally failed to materialize. Under the hood, financials closed out the week in the green followed by energy, while materials led to the downside followed by consumer staples and utilities. On Thursday, initial jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 24 came in at 225,000, the U.S. Labor Department said. ET: ISM manufacturing PMI 10:00 a.m. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Hostess, Home Depot, Rivian, Netflix & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Atlantic Equities names Coca-Cola as a top 2023 pick Atlantic Equities said it sees "category momentum" for shares of the beverage giant. JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight JPMorgan cut its price target on Apple to $190 per share from $200 due to supply chain challenges concerns. JPMorgan names Amazon as a top 2023 pick JPMorgan said Amazon is the "most diversified mega-cap across revs/profit & has numerous large growth opportunities." JPMorgan resumes DuPont as overweight JPMorgan resumed coverage of the stock and said it sees several positive catalysts ahead. JPMorgan names Bank of America a top 2023 pick JPMorgan said it likes the stock due to a "lower share of nonprime consumer loans."

☆ With Debt Coming Due, Investment-Grade Companies Are Paying Up, Too
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

What’s more, volatile markets have resulted in fewer opportunities for companies to sell their debt. Investment-grade U.S. companies have between $550 billion and $750 billion coming due per year from 2023 through 2027, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., with about $59 billion left to pay off or refinance in 2022. Of the $615.54 billion, $504.31 billion were new issuances, compared to $111.23 billion in refinancings, Dealogic said. But investor demand for bonds has been stronger in recent days, leading Amazon.com Inc. and others with near-term debt coming due to the market. Among the businesses that recently took out bond debt at a higher cost is retail giant Walmart Inc.

☆ I'm a turkey expert for the Butterball hotline. You'd be surprised how many odd and panicked calls I get on Thanksgiving Day.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Jenny Powers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Phyllis Kramer is a Butterball Turkey Talk-Line expert based in Aurora, Illinois. All the talk-line experts took calls remotely from homeTraditionally, we take calls side by side in one big room housed inside a building located in Naperville, Illinois. Our average call lasts 3 minutes, and the most common question is how to thaw a frozen turkeyA herb- and citrus butter-roasted Butterball turkey. I've also heard from people mixing it up and making Greek turkey, Cajun turkey, and even a Southwestern one. I always thaw turkey in the refrigerator, so that's where it is right now.

☆ Buy Conagra as it catches up with the competition, UBS says in upgrade
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It's time to buy Conagra as it catches up to its rivals, according to UBS. Analyst Cody Ross upgraded shares of Conagra to buy from neutral. He said the stock is lagging its peers even as the packaged food company signals a better earnings growth trajectory ahead. "Despite these tailwinds, CAG's stock is lagging lg cap packaged food peers this year (+2.6% vs lg cap peers +14.3%) and is trading at a 20% discount to lg cap packaged food peers compared to its 5-yr avg of 11% (EV/EBITDA)," he added. Shares of Conagra are up 2.3% in 2022, while shares of peers such as General Mills and Kellogg have jumped more than 18% and 8% this year, respectively.

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Coinbase, Apple, Amazon, GM, Conagra, Pfizer & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Credit Suisse downgrades Hewlett Packard to neutral from outperform Credit Suisse said it sees too many macro headwinds for the stock. Credit Suisse names Ross a top pick Credit Suisse says the offprice retailer has the most "torque" to accelerate market share gains. "Strong 3Q updates from ROST /TJX reinforces our bullish thesis that Offpricers are quickly repositioning for accelerating market share and powerful EPS tailwinds as margins revert to pre-COVID levels starting in '23." Credit Suisse initiates Pfizer as outperform Credit Suisse said in its initiation of Pfizer that it likes the company's pipeline advances. " Credit Suisse initiates Eli Lilly as outperform Credit Suisse said in its initiation of Eli Lilly that it sees "upward revisions" from obesity sales.

☆ What Cramer is watching Friday — Fed plays good cop, bad cop and off-price retailers shine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Rival Ross Stores (ROST) gets multiple price target increases. Citi raises BJ's Wholesale (BJ) price target to $83 per share from $81 after earnings beat. Multiple price target raises on Club Bullpen name Palo Alto Networks (PANW). Barclays raises Applied Materials (AMAT) price target to $90 per share $80 but keeps neutral rating. Piper Sandler starts DraftKings (DKNG) with an overweight (buy) rating and a $21-per-share price target, which implies about 40% upside from Thursday's close.

☆ Coupa Software Weighs Right Time to Refinance Low-Rate Debt Amid High Rates
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Coupa Software Inc. is searching for the right time to refinance over $2 billion in convertible debt that it holds at nearly evanescent rates—despite rising financing costs and the fact that its maturities are more than two years away. Tony Tiscornia, chief financial officer at Coupa Software. “For a young software company, we would really like to see a lot of the focus on just growth at this time, over profitability,” she said, speaking generally. The company will likely refinance with convertible debt because the interest rate tends to be lower than that of straight debt, he said, adding that more equity would dilute shareholdings. Conagra said it had $8.98 billion in net debt as of Aug. 28, down from $9.19 billion a year earlier.

☆ Rising Rates Boost Companies’ Focus on Working Capital Management
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Nina Trentmann | Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Higher interest rates are putting more pressure on companies to free up cash from their operations, a cheaper option than relying on credit. PREVIEWRising financing costs are one of several factors pushing companies to improve how they manage working capital, alongside high inventory levels and persistent inflation. “The only difference now is that with your cost of capital being higher, sometimes the economics change, but we’re always looking at working capital,” he said. “Working capital management comes more in focus,” Mr. Fracassa said, as it costs more for companies to draw on their revolving lines of credit with today’s higher rates. “It was kind of the unique rebuild period for working capital,” Mr. Wells said.

☆ Rising Rates Boosts Companies’ Focus on Working Capital Management
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Nina Trentmann | Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

A 20-ounce packet of Sara Lee Classic White Sandwich bread goes for $2.50 at Kroger, compared to $2.24 at Walmart. Nearly two-thirds of Kroger's 2,700 stores are unionized, like a "majority" of Albertsons stores, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union says on its website. Grocery stores such as Kroger, Albertsons, in contrast, are often forced to rely on coupons or buy-one-get-one-free promotions funded by companies like P&G and Conagra in order to compete. Euromonitor data shows that 25.2% of all dollars spent on groceries in the United States last year went to Walmart, while Kroger got 8.1% and Albertson's 4.8%. Walmart shoppers have a median income of $73,000.

A 20-ounce packet of Sara Lee Classic White Sandwich bread goes for $2.50 at Kroger, compared to $2.24 at Walmart. Nearly two-thirds of Kroger's 2,700 stores are unionized, like a "majority" of Albertsons stores, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union says on its website. Grocery stores such as Kroger, Albertsons, in contrast, are often forced to rely on coupons or buy-one-get-one-free promotions funded by companies like P&G and Conagra in order to compete. Euromonitor data shows that 25.2% of all dollars spent on groceries in the United States last year went to Walmart, while Kroger got 8.1% and Albertsons 4.8%. Walmart shoppers have a median income of $73,000.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Ford, Las Vegas Sands, Nvidia, Kraft Heinz and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ford Motor , General Motors — Shares of Ford and GM fell 7% and 5% respectively, after UBS downgraded both stocks. The firm lowered Ford to a sell rating from neutral and cut GM to a neutral from a buy. Casino stocks — Shares of hotel and casino companies were the top decliners in the S&P 500, with Wynn Resorts down 11.6% and Las Vegas Sands losing 8.5%. Kraft Heinz — The food maker's shares rose 2% after Goldman Sachs upgraded them to buy from neutral, noting that higher profit margins haven't been fully priced into the stock. Merck — Shares of the pharmaceutical giant rose 2.8% after Guggenheim upgraded Merck to buy from neutral.

☆ Premarket stocks: Markets are starting to act super strange
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A weakening labor market puts downward pressure on wages and inflation. The labor market is still tight with about 1.7 job openings for every unemployed worker in the US. New private employment data on Wednesday by payroll services firm ADP suggested that the labor market isn’t losing any steam. The rise in oil gave a lift to energy stocks, helping to boost the overall market, reports Paul R. La Monica. Plus: US Department of Labor reports weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m.

☆ Is Beyond Meat beyond saving?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Companies like Beyond Meat, rival Impossible and plant-based milk producer Oatly are still doing big deals with supermarket chains and restaurants to get their products on store shelves and menus. But in the company’s most recent earnings call, Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown conceded that the company (and the industry) faces challenges. Inflation is a problem for plant-based food biz too“We went from a pandemic into record inflation,” Brown said. “After years of growth, plant-based meat sales in the United States are stagnating,” said consulting firm Deloitte in a recent report. So there is nothing fake about Wall Street’s concerns regarding the big drop in demand for “fake” meat and milk.

☆ The top stock performers this week make recession-proof stuff like cereal and soup
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investors this week turned to companies that make recession-proof stuff like cereal and soup, as fears of a potential economic recession mounted. General Mills was the top performing stock this week. Hershey advanced 1.7% this week and is forecasted to have roughly 5% upside to its price target, according to FactSet. Campbell Soup was the third best-performing stock this week, up 2.8%. Still, the food company is recommended by just 5.3% of analysts on FactSet, and is expected to have 2.2% downside to its price target.

☆ Activist investor Jana Partners discloses nearly 10% stake in Freshpet
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The New York-based investor said in a regulatory filing that Freshpet's shares, down nearly 60% so far this year, are undervalued. Jana Partners has a history of pushing for change in the food and beverage industry. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterJana Partners has also been pushing for changes at packaged food maker TreeHouse Foods Inc (THS.N) since last year. Freshpet has not yet spoken to Jana, but will "look forward to hearing their perspectives", the company said in an emailed statement. The news of Jana's stake was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

☆ Loans Are Cheaper Than Bonds for Some Highly Rated Companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Some highly rated companies are turning to term loans instead of bonds for their financing needs, taking advantage of cheaper pricing as banks have been slower to adjust to rising interest rates than the credit markets. Highly rated companies raised $998.8 billion in bonds in the U.S. this year through Monday, compared with $177.9 billion in term loans, according to Refinitiv, a data provider. For all of last year, fundraising through bonds amounted to $1.46 trillion versus $236.7 billion for term loans for investment-grade-rated companies. Term loans often have a shorter duration than bonds, with many of them ranging from three to five years. Term loans tend to be secured,” Mr. Holtz said, pointing to the mixture of bonds and term loans that make up the company’s capital structure.

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