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☆ Disney closes at lowest in nearly nine years as investors turn bearish
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Shares of Walt Disney (DIS.N) fell 3.9% on Thursday, closing at their lowest level in nearly nine years, with some investors betting that a further price drop is on the cards in the next few months. On Thursday, Disney options were busier than usual with some 321,000 contracts traded, or 1.4 times the average daily volume, according to data from options analytics firm Trade Alert. Traders work at the post where Walt Disney Co. stock is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 14, 2017. Put options convey the right to sell shares at a fixed price in the future. Disney's stock closed at $82.47, its lowest since October 16, 2014.

Persons: Walt Disney, Bob Iger, Brendan McDermid, Jerome Powell's, Iger, Yuvraj Malik, Saqib Ahmed, Leroy Leo, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Walt, Alert, Walt Disney Co, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, U.S . Federal, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Disney drops to lowest in over three years as investors turn bearish
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Traders work at the post where Walt Disney Co. stock is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 24 (Reuters) - Shares of Walt Disney (DIS.N) were down 3.7% on Thursday, hitting their lowest level in nearly three-and-a-half years, with some investors betting that a further price drop is on the cards in the next few months. On Thursday, Disney options were busier than usual with some 195,000 contracts traded by around 1 pm ET (1700 GMT). Put options convey the right to sell shares at a fixed price in the future. Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru and Saqib Ahmed in New York; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Walt Disney, Bob Iger, Jerome Powell's, Iger, Yuvraj Malik, Saqib Ahmed, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Walt Disney Co, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Walt, U.S . Federal, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Solid first-quarter stock performance fueled 8.7% short interest jump -S3
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - The solid first-quarter stock market performance helped prompt an 8.7% rise in short interest in U.S. and Canadian equities markets, according to a note from S3 Partners Research released on Friday. Short interest in U.S. and Canada markets increased by $77.9 billion, or 8.7%, to $977 billion in the first quarter of 2023, S3 Partners data showed. Technology (.SPLRCT), consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and industrials (.SPLRCI) reported the largest quarterly increases in short exposure, while short positions in energy (.SPNY) and utilities (.SPLRCU) fell the most, wrote Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of Predictive Analytics at S3. Year-to-date, tech shares have surged 19.9%, consumer discretionary has advanced 13.6% and industrials have gained 2.0%. Short interest exposure is concentrated in technology (.SPLRCT), consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and financials, which together account for about 47% of the total $976.84 billion in short interest at the end of the quarter, according Reuters analysis of the data.

Possible outcomes for under-pressure regional banks could see a stronger rival take over a weaker, or cash infusions from investors such as private equity, the industry sources said. Reuters GraphicsUNDER PRESSUREInvestors voted with their feet on Monday, putting bank stocks under pressure around the world. So investors think it’s a relative gamble staying around owning regional banks before knowing what will change in regulation," said Brian Levitt, global market strategist for Invesco. Regional bank stocks are "an incredible bargain now," billionaire investor Bill Ackman said on Twitter on Monday. "There’s value in these banks, they are not all alike," said Michael Farr, chief executive of investment advisory firm Farr, Miller & Washington who owns banks stocks including PNC and Truist.

☆ VIEW US intervenes to shore up SVB deposits, stem financial fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced actions to shore up deposits and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of tech startup-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) (SVB), sending U.S. stock futures higher. "The market turbulence sparked by SVB has upended rising market expectations on the Fed rate path. The fact that SVB and Signature Bank depositors will be made whole is critical in maintaining trust in the financial system and should help stem contagion fears this week. But it also means that 50 basis points (a possible Fed interest rate hike) is off the table." Given what's happened in the U.S. financial system, a 25 basis point hike is more likely than a 50 basis point hike."

☆ Instant view: US intervenes to shore up SVB deposits, limit financial fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced actions to shore up deposits and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of tech startup-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) (SVB), sending U.S. stock futures higher. ALVIN TAN, HEAD OF ASIA FX STRATEGY, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, SINGAPORE:"Markets remain unsettled from the SVB failure. "The market turbulence sparked by SVB has upended rising market expectations on the Fed rate path. ANTHONY SAGLIMBENE, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL, TROY, MICHIGAN:"It was imperative that regulators stepped in and decisively acted before markets around the world opened for the week. GREG MCBRIDE, CHIEF FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE:"While the Fed has talked about a lot in the past year, until today it has been in the context of monetary policy.

"If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes," Powell said. Republicans focused on whether energy policy was restricting supply and keeping prices higher than needed, and whether restrained federal spending could help the Fed's cause. As of December, officials saw that rate rising to a peak of around 5.1%, a level investors expect may move at least half a percentage point higher now. With a 50-basis-point rate hike now in play, Brown said a strong monthly jobs report on Friday would likely lead to "calls for a 6% terminal rate," nearly a percentage point higher than Fed officials had projected as of December. How much remains unclear, but Powell said the focus will remain more squarely on how inflation behaves.

"If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes," Powell said. The Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate is currently in the 4.50%-4.75% range. Senator Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chair of the committee, said the Fed's rate hikes ignored what he viewed as a chief cause of inflation - high corporate profits. "To restore price stability, we will need to see lower inflation in this sector, and there will very likely be some softening in labor market conditions," Powell said. Powell's last monetary policy report to Congress was in June, which was early in what became the most aggressive cycle of Fed rate increases since the 1980s.

☆ Citigroup technicals indicate rally may extend even as Wall Street remains wary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Mehnaz Yasmin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc's shares (C.N) are approaching a potential bullish technical signal which indicates that this year's 14% rally could continue, even as some analysts remain critical of the bank's fundamentals. The technical signal, called a "golden cross", forms if the stock's 50-day moving average goes above its 200-day moving average. On Jan. 23, Citi shares touched their highest since August. The one-month moving average of puts-to-calls traded has dropped to 1.07-to-1, down from 2.6 puts traded for every call late last year, according to Trade Alert data, signaling less bearishness. "The bank is still very much in the build-up of expenses and early stages of reinvesting in their franchises."

He described the slow rate of economic growth penciled in by Fed officials next year as still "modest." Only two of 19 Fed officials see the benchmark overnight interest rate staying below 5% next year, a sign of a still broad consensus to lean against inflation. In the U.S. Treasury market, which plays a key role in the transmission of Fed policy decisions into the real economy, yields were little changed to slightly lower. Powell said the speed of coming rate rises is less critical now than earlier in the year when the central bank was "front-loading" rate hikes to catch up with accelerating prices. "Our focus right now is really on moving our policy stance to one that is restrictive enough to ensure a return of inflation to our 2% goal over time, it's not on rate cuts," Powell said.

[1/3] Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following the announcement that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by half a percentage point, at the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, U.S., December 14, 2022. The Fed's policy rate, which began the year at the near-zero level, is now in a target range of 4.25% to 4.50%, the highest since late 2007. In the U.S. Treasury market, which plays a key role in the transmission of Fed policy decisions into the real economy, yields were little changed. "It's not as important how fast we go," Powell said, noting the bigger question facing policymakers is where the endpoint of the Fed rate hikes is and how long it stays at that level. Any debate over easing rates would only happen when officials are confident inflation is moving down, he said.

☆ Dollar slides, CPI data suggests Fed could slow pace of rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Herbert Lash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Inflation is clearly moving in the right direction, and that keeps a more hawkish Fed at bay," he said. The spike higher in the yen versus the dollar stirred speculation the Bank of Japan intervened, which analysts doubted. Fed funds futures priced in a drop in expectations for the U.S. central bank's peak target rate, which fell below 5%. The likelihood of a 50-basis-point rate hike by the Fed instead of a 75-basis-point increase in December rose to 71.5%. CPI rose 7.7% in October on a year-over-year basis, down from 8.2% in the prior month, as headline inflation fell below 8% for the first time since February.

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