Stock Alert: Ellington Financial Rises 60%

Shares of mortgage finance company Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) are climbing more than 60% Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday the company has reported that as of March 31, estimated book value per common share of $15.08, only 17.5% decline from $18.27 as of February 29, 2020.

On April 7, the company announced a monthly dividend of $0.08 per share. In March it had paid dividend of $0.15 per share.

“Through the volatility, we have met all margin calls, strategically lowered our leverage, and maintained what we believe is a strong liquidity position,” said Laurence Penn, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company.

“Looking forward, we believe that the opportunities for future returns are strong given the significant repricing across most of our targeted asset classes, where we see substantial yield spread widening even after taking into account the anticipated fundamental credit effects of recent macro-economic developments,” Penn added.

EFC stock is currently trading at $8.41. It has traded in the range of $3.24-$19.12 in the past one year.

Stock Alert: Pinterest Climbs 9%

Shares of Pinterest, Inc. (PINS) are rising in morning trade on Wednesday, despite its announcement to scrap the full-year guidance.

The shares gapped open at $16.57 and reached as high as $16.98. Currently, shares are at $16.42, up 9.00 percent from its previous close of $15.06. On Tuesday, Pinterest has withdrawn its financial guidance for full-year 2020 due to the growing uncertainty on coronavirus pandemic.

The company has also announced the stepping down of Francoise Brougher as COO.

Gmail DOWN and 'not working' as Google's email app suffers mystery outage

GMAIL has stopped working for users around the world in a mysterious outage.

Thousands of users have complained that Google's hugely popular email app is down for them.

We've asked Google for comment and will update this story with any response.

Developing…

Have you experienced any issues with Gmail today? Let us know in the comments!

Stock Alert: Ellington Financial Rises 60%

Shares of mortgage finance company Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) are climbing more than 60% Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday the company has reported that as of March 31, estimated book value per common share of $15.08, only 17.5% decline from $18.27 as of February 29, 2020.

On April 7, the company announced a monthly dividend of $0.08 per share. In March it had paid dividend of $0.15 per share.

“Through the volatility, we have met all margin calls, strategically lowered our leverage, and maintained what we believe is a strong liquidity position,” said Laurence Penn, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company.

“Looking forward, we believe that the opportunities for future returns are strong given the significant repricing across most of our targeted asset classes, where we see substantial yield spread widening even after taking into account the anticipated fundamental credit effects of recent macro-economic developments,” Penn added.

EFC stock is currently trading at $8.41. It has traded in the range of $3.24-$19.12 in the past one year.

Panera Bread pivots to selling groceries as coronavirus slams industry

Panera Bread is selling groceries out of its cafes as the coronavirus crisis slams restaurants across the country.

The St. Louis-based chain has begun offering milk, bread, produce and other staples alongside its sandwiches and salads through a new “Panera Grocery” service. Shoppers can order the items online for delivery or pickup at participating restaurants, the company said Wednesday.

“From limited choices on grocery shelves to the growing need to limit the number of trips outside of the home, it is an incredibly stressful time when it comes to putting wholesome food on the table, and we knew Panera could help,” Panera CEO Niren Chaudhary said in a statement.

Panera is the latest restaurant chain to pivot to groceries as the industry grapples with lockdown measures aimed at controlling the coronavirus, which have forced many eateries to close or only offer take-out and delivery service. The pandemic has also sparked panic shopping at supermarkets that has led some grocery chains to place purchase limits on certain products.

Customer transactions at restaurants plunged 42 percent in the week ending March 29 compared to the same week last year as roughly 97 percent of US eateries were under restrictions of some kind, according to NPD Group, a market research firm.

The Juice Press smoothie bar chain has started delivering groceries including fruits, vegetables and packaged soups in the New York City and Boston areas. And Midwestern chain Frisch’s Big Boy is selling toilet paper as well as food staples out of its restaurants.

Diarrhea May Be The Only Symptom For Some COVID-19 Patients, No Cough, Fever

The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading at an alarming rate, and as of this writing, the number of confirmed cases globally is 936,170 while the death toll is 47,249.

The usual symptoms displayed by people affected by SARS-CoV-2, nearly 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus, include fever, sore throat, cough and shortness of breath.

But a new study performed at Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College (Wuhan, China) has found that some COVID-19 patients with mild disease severity initially experience only digestive symptoms mainly diarrhea. The usual respiratory symptoms like cough, shortness of breath and fever may crop up later or may never manifest in these patients.

According to the authors of the study, “Failure to recognize these patients early and often may lead to unwitting spread of the disease among outpatients with mild illness who remain undiagnosed and unaware of their potential to infect others”.

The study was published in pre-print on March 30, 2020, by The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Currently, there are no drugs to treat COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. A number of companies are working to find a treatment or vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

Subscribe to RTT Intelligent Investor for complete access to COVID-19 Drugs in Development Calendar.