‘The Traveling Zoo’: Life on the Road, With Pets at Their Side

Many truckers depend on the companionship of dogs, cats, birds, pigs — or even a hedgehog.

Rebecca Washington and Polly at a truck stop in Spartanburg, S.C. “We’re away from our families a lot of the time,” she said, and “animals are good companions.”Credit…Anna Ottum for The New York Times

Supported by

By Jim Motavalli

Stock Alert: Qualcomm Shares Up 5%

Shares of Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) are rising over 5% Thursday morning, after the company issued upbeat Q3 guidance, while reporting stellar Q2 results. The stock, which has been trading between $74.09 and $167.94 in the past one year, is currently trading at $144.03, up $7.46 or 5.46%, with trading volume of over 4.36 million versus an average volume of 11.3 million shares.

Q3 Outlook

The company projects third-quarter GAAP earnings in the range of $1.24 – $1.44 per share, non-GAAP earnings of $1.55 – $1.75 per share, with revenue between $7.1 billion and $7.9 billion. Wall Street analysts estimate earnings of $1.52 per share and revenue of $7.11 billion for the quarter.

Q2 Results

The company’s Q2 GAAP net income was $1.76 billion or $1.53 per share compared to $468 million or $0.41 per share last year.

On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $2.19 billion or $1.90 per share, higher than the previous year’s $1.02 billion or $0.88 per share. On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.67 per share. Analysts’ estimate typically exclude certain special items.

Revenues for the quarter surged 52% to $7.94 billion from $5.22 billion generated a year ago. Twenty-two Wall Street analysts have a consensus revenue estimate of $7.62 billion for the quarter.

Gold Futures Settle Lower For 3rd Straight Day

Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, sliding for a third straight day, after bond yields rose and on data that showed the U.S. economy saw strong growth in the first quarter.

The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note rose to about 1.65%. A slightly stronger dollar also weighed on gold prices.

The dollar index rose to 90.79 before paring some gains and retreating to 90.70.

Gold futures for June ended down by $5.60 or about 0.3% at $1,768.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for July closed lower by $0.033 or 0.1% at $26.085 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $4.4865 per pound, down $0.0110 or 0.2% from the previous close.

Preliminary data released by the Commerce Department showed an acceleration in the pace of U.S. economic growth in the first three months of 2021.

The report said real gross domestic product surged up by 6.4% in the first quarter after jumping by 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020. Economists had expected GDP to increase by 6.5%.

According to the data released by the Labor Department, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped to a new pandemic-era low in the week ended April 24th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 553,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 566,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 549,000 from the 547,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Jobless claims fell for the third straight week, once again sliding to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020.

Matt Adams promoted to Rockies roster as Sam Hilliard is optioned to alternative site – The Denver Post

Veteran first baseman Matt Adams was added to the Rockies major league roster Thursday, getting promoted from the alternative training site. Adams will wear No 18.

To make room for Adams, the Rockies optioned struggling outfield Sam Hilliard to the alternative site. Hilliard, who’s been striking out at an alarming rate, will likely begin the season with Triple-A Albuquerque when its season starts next week.

Additionally, the Rockies have designated right-handed pitcher Ashton Goudeau for assignment.

This story will be updated

European Economics Preview: Germany Inflation, Unemployment Data Due

Consumer prices and unemployment data from Germany and economic confidence survey results from the euro area are due on Thursday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is set to issue import prices and unemployment figures for March. Import price inflation is seen at 6 percent compared to 1.4 percent in February.

At 3.00 am ET, Spain’s flash consumer prices and unemployment figures are due. Consumer prices are forecast to grow 1.9 percent annually in April, faster than the 1.3 percent rise seen in March.

At 3.30 am ET, Sweden’s flash GDP data for the first quarter is due. The economy is forecast to grow 0.5 percent sequentially, reversing a 0.2 percent fall in the fourth quarter of 2020.

At 3.55 am ET, Germany’s Federal Labor Agency is slated to release unemployment data. The number of unemployed people is forecast to fall by 10,000 in April after decreasing 8,000 in March.

At 4.00 am ET, Eurozone monetary aggregates data is due. Economists expect M3 to climb 10.2 percent on year in March, following a 13.3 percent rise in February.

At 5.00 am ET, European Commission publishes economic confidence survey results. Economists forecast the economic confidence index to rise to 102.2 in April from 101.0 in March.

At 8.00 am ET, Destatis is slated to issue Germany’s provisional consumer price data. Inflation is forecast to rise to 1.9 percent in April from 1.7 percent in March.

Ashli Babbitt's family plans to sue Capitol police and the officer who fatally shot her: Newsweek

The family of Ashli Babbitt — the woman who was fatally shot while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 — is planning to sue the US Capitol Police Department and the officer who killed her, the family’s lawyer told Newsweek.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.