Twenty-Year Bond Auction Attracts Below Average Demand

The Treasury Department announced the results of this month’s auction of $13 billion worth of twenty-year bonds on Wednesday, revealing the sale attracted below average demand.

The twenty-year bond auction drew a high yield of 4.213 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.55.

Last month, the Treasury sold $16 billion worth of twenty-year bonds, drawing a high yield of 4.780 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.58.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

The ten previous twenty-year bond auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.63.

On Thursday, the Treasury is due to announce the details of this month’s auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes.

Micron Technology Q1 Loss Increases, but beats estimates

Micron Technology (MU) announced Loss for its first quarter that increased from last year and beat the Street estimates.

The company’s bottom line came in at -$1.23 billion, or -$1.12 per share. This compares with -$195 million, or -$0.18 per share, in last year’s first quarter.

Excluding items, Micron Technology reported adjusted earnings of -$1.05 billion or -$0.95 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn -$0.97 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 15.6% to $4.73 billion from $4.09 billion last year.

Micron Technology earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q1): -$1.23 Bln. vs. -$195 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q1): -$1.12 vs. -$0.18 last year.
-Analyst Estimate: -$0.97
-Revenue (Q1): $4.73 Bln vs. $4.09 Bln last year.

-Guidance:
Next quarter revenue guidance: (-$0.35) to (-$0.21)

European Economic News Preview: UK Inflation Data Due

Consumer and producer prices from the UK and consumer sentiment survey results from Germany are the top economic news due on Wednesday.

At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK consumer and producer prices for November. Inflation is forecast to soften to 4.3 percent from 4.6 percent in October. Output prices are forecast to drop 0.5 percent annually, following a 0.6 percent decrease a month ago.

In the meantime, the market research group GfK publishes Germany’s consumer sentiment survey results. The consumer sentiment index is forecast to improve to -27 in January from -27.8 in December.

Also, Destatis releases Germany’s producer price figures for November. Economists forecast producer prices to fall 7.5 percent on a yearly basis after easing 11.0 percent in October.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association is scheduled to issue Europe’s new car registrations data at 2.00 AM ET.

At 4.00 am ET, the European Central Bank is set to issue current account figures for October. The euro area current account surplus is seen at EUR 27 billion, down from EUR 31.2 billion in September.

At 10.00 am ET, Eurozone flash consumer confidence survey results are due. The index is expected to rise to -16.4 in December from -16.9 in November.

ParaZero Shares Rise On Completion Of Its Drone Safety Project

Shares of ParaZero Technologies Ltd. (PRZO) are up 81% on Wednesday following the announcement of the successful completion of a safety solution development for a Fortune 500 leading global automotive manufacturer’s proprietary drone program.

PRZO is trading on the Nasdaq at $1.27, up 81.40% or $0.56 per share. It has traded between $0.56 and $4.15 in the past 52-week period.

The company reported that it received full payment for its innovative SafeAir drone safety system, which was custom-designed for the manufacturer’s proprietary aircraft from the design stage.

The project also involved extensive development and testing of the ParaZero SafeAir system, which was designed to meet the requirements and specifications of the Fortune 500 automotive manufacturer’s proprietary drone program.

The company stated that the automotive manufacturer recently placed a second purchase order with ParaZero.

Gold Futures Settle Weak As Dollar Edges Higher

Gold prices drifted lower on Wednesday as the dollar rebounded a bit from previous session’s losses.

The dollar gained after a report from the Conference Board showed U.S. consumer confidence has improved by much more than anticipated in the month of December.

The dollar index, which climbed to 102.47, dropped to 102.16 subsequently, but edged higher again and was last seen at 102.30, up 0.13% from the previous close.

Gold futures for February ended down $4.40 at $2,047.70 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended higher by $0.310 at $24.516 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $3.9025 per pound, gaining $0.0080.

The Conference Board’s report showed the consumer confidence index jumped to 110.7 in December from a downwardy revised 101.0 in November. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to rise to 103.4 from the 102.0 originally reported for the previous month.

“Today’s data on consumer confidence puts up another point on the scoreboard for the soft landing camp as the Conference Board’s index jumped to the highest level since January of 2022,” said Charlie Ripley, Senior Investment Strategist for Allianz Investment Management.

A separate report released by the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected rebound in U.S. existing home sales in the month of November.

BlackBerry Q3 Earnings Summary

Below are the earnings highlights for BlackBerry (BB):

Earnings: -$21 million in Q3 vs. -$4 million in the same period last year.
EPS: -$0.04 in Q3 vs. -$0.01 in the same period last year.
Excluding items, BlackBerry reported adjusted earnings of $3 million or $0.01 per share for the period.

Analysts projected -$0.03 per share
Revenue: $175 million in Q3 vs. $169 million in the same period last year.

-Guidance:
Next quarter revenue guidance: $150 – $159 million