Loews Swings To Profit In Q4 – Quick Facts

Loews Corp. (L) on Monday reported fourth-quarter net income of $217 million or $0.73 per share, compared to a net loss of $165 million or $0.53 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Net income improved mainly due to increased net investment income at CNA and the parent company, partially offset by lower results at Boardwalk Pipelines and Loews Hotels & Co.

Revenues for the quarter increased to $3.88 billion from $3.29 billion in the same quarter last year.

Stock To Watch: America’s Car-Mart Inc. (CRMT)

Shares of America’s Car-Mart Inc. (CRMT) fell 4.61% on Friday when it closed at $106.78. Trading volume decreased to 39K versus an average volume of 78K shares. The stock has been trading in a wide range of $71.94 – $114.20 in the past one year, making the new high as recently as on Jan 31.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based automotive retailer primarily sells older model used vehicles and provides financing for its customers.

As recently as on Feb. 7, America’s Car-Mart has been selected to replace Care.com Inc. (CRCM) in the S&P SmallCap 600.

On Dec. 17, 2019, the company agreed to acquire the ongoing dealership assets of Taylor Motor Company and Auto Credit of Southern Illinois based in Benton, Illinois.

On the earnings front, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates in the last four quarters. The company had a significant top-line growth at a CAGR of 10.8% between 2002 and 2019.

America’s Car-Mart is due to release its Q3 results on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, after the market closes.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $1.77 per share on revenue of $171.47 million for the quarter. Analysts’ estimate typically exclude certain special items. For the third quarter of 2019, the company reported net income of $10.9 million or $1.55 per share on revenue of $161 million.

Invacare Reaffirms FY20 Sales Growth Outlook – Quick Facts

While reporting financial results for the fourth quarter on Monday, medical equipment maker Invacare Corp. (IVC) said it expects operating results in line with its previous guidance for the full year 2020.

For fiscal 2020, the company now projects constant currency net sales growth of 2 to 4 percent. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report net sales growth of 3.1 percent to $965.67 million for the year.

The company expects constant currency net sales growth in 2020 in combination with what is expected to be a typical year of seasonal sales variance by quarter.

As a result, sales are expected to be flat in the first quarter for fiscal 2020 over prior year with growth coming in later quarters, amplified by new product introductions expected to be impactful in the second half of the year. The Street is looking for net sales growth of 1.8 percent to $227.36 million for the quarter.

Russia Cuts Key Rate; Signals Additional Easing

Russia’s central bank lowered its key interest rate for the sixth consecutive meeting and signaled more easing to counter the slowdown in inflation.

The Board of Directors, led by Governor Elvira Nabiullina, decided to cut the key rate by 25 basis points to 6.00 percent, the Bank of Russia said in a statement on Friday. The bank had reduced its rate by a quarter-point in December.

Policymakers said inflation slowdown is overshooting the forecast. Disinflationary risks still exceed pro-inflationary risks over the short-term horizon, the bank said.

Annual inflation is expected to come in at 3.5-4.0 percent in 2020 and to remain close to 4 percent further on.

“If the situation develops in line with the baseline forecast, the Bank of Russia holds open the prospect of further key rate reduction at its upcoming meetings,” the bank said.

The bank said it will assess the effect of the adopted key rate decisions on monetary conditions and inflation movements.

With inflation likely to remain well below the central bank’s 4 percent target, interest rates will be lowered by an additional 50 basis point in the first half of this year, Jason Tuvey, an economist at Capital Economics, said.

Economic activity continued to be constrained by weakening external demand for Russian exports on the back of a global economic slowdown.

Nonetheless, the bank has left its growth outlook unchanged. The GDP growth rate is forecast to gradually increase from 1.5-2.0 percent in 2020 to 2-3 percent in 2022.

China's Xi says to prevent large-scale layoffs amid coronavirus outbreak

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday the government will prevent large-scale layoffs amid the coronavirus outbreak that has severely disrupted the world’s No. 2 economy, Chinese state television reported.

Xi also said China will strive to meet its economic and social targets for the year and reiterated that China would win the battle against the outbreak, which has killed more than 900 and infected tens of thousands since emerging in the central city of Wuhan in December.

Data show unusual trading activity in the pound before Bank of England announcements in January, December

A sharp move in the British pound last month in the minutes ahead of a crucial central-bank decision wasn’t a unique occurrence, according to data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has said it is looking into unusual trading that occurred before a Bank of England policy meeting on Jan. 30. Yet trading-volume data show there was also unusually high activity in the pound the previous month, compared with other announcements dating back to early 2017.

The spike in activity before the official announcement of interest-rate policy comes at a time when the Bank of England has been scrutinizing whether investors are gaining unfair access to its decisions.

On Dec. 19, in the 10 seconds before the bank released its decision to keep interest rates steady, trading volumes for three-month futures tied to the pound against the dollar spiked to more than 300 contracts changing hands in one second, from single digits. At the same time, pound futures ticked as high as $1.3113 from $1.3090 10 seconds before the announcement, according to data and academic analysis.

An expanded version of this story is available at WSJ.com

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