GlaxoSmithKline cut to underweight at Barclays

GlaxoSmithKline GSK, +1.21%GSK, -1.63% was downgraded to underweight from equal weight by Barclays, which said 2020 looks to be a much tougher investment year for the pharma giant without much growth. It’s now expecting zero like-for-like sales growth a slight EPS downgrade, Barclays said. "Whilst dividend/FCF yields look attractive, the former is likely to remain a source of uncertainty and the latter elevated in the absence of a pipeline/growth story," the broker said.

BNY Mellon profit surges 67% on one-time gain

Jan 16 (Reuters) – Bank of New York Mellon Corp posted a 67% jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by a one-time gain from the sale of an equity investment.

The bank said net income applicable to common shareholders rose to $1.39 billion, or $1.52 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $832 million, or 84 cents per share, a year earlier. (reut.rs/36YH8Jb) (Reporting by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Russia's PM designate says Putin's social pledges will cost $65 bln

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin’s nominee for prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, told parliament on Thursday that social pledges made by Putin during his state of the nation speech will cost 4 trillion roubles ($65 billion) over four years.

Finally! EU chief Guy Verhofstadt leaves Brexit role after three years of interfering

Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium ME, who was Chair of the EU’s Brexit Steering Group, is set to be replaced in his role.

German MEP David McAllister, who is chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, will replace the former Belgium Prime Minister.

This is a breaking story…more to follow

Morgan Stanley Q4 Results Top Estimates – Quick Facts

Morgan Stanley (MS) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income applicable to the company’s shareholders of $2.09 billion or $1.30 per share, up sharply from $1.36 billion or $0.80 per share in the year-ago quarter.

The latest quarter’s results include an intermittent net discrete tax benefit of $158 million or $0.10 per share, while the year-ago quarter’s results included an intermittent net discrete tax benefit of $111 million or $0.07 per share and severance costs of $172 million associated with a December employee action.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.20 per share, compared to $0.73 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.99 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenues for the quarter grew 27 percent to $10.86 billion from $8.55 billion in the same quarter last year. The Street was looking for revenues of $9.72 billion for the quarter.

Institutional Securities net revenues increased 11 percent to $5.05 billion, Wealth Management net revenues also grew 11 percent to $4.58 billion, and Investment Management net revenues nearly doubled to $1.36 billion from $684 million a year ago.

The company’s board of directors declared a $0.35 quarterly dividend per share, payable on February 14, 2020 to common shareholders of record on January 31, 2020.

U.S. Jobless Claims Drop More Than Expected To 214,000

With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended January 4th.

The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 214,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 223,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the four-week moving average also slid to 224,000, a decrease of 9,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 233,500.

The less volatile four-week moving average pulled back after hitting its highest level since January of 2018 in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 75,000 to 1.803 million in the week ended December 28th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also climbed to 1,744,750, an increase of 33,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 1,711,750.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release a separate report on the employment situation in the month of December.

Economists expect employment to increase by 164,000 jobs in December after spiking by 266,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.5 percent.

U.S. import prices climb 0.3% in December on fuel costs

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The cost of imports rose 0.3% in December to mark the biggest advance in nine months, but most of the increase was tied to higher oil prices. If fuel is excluded import prices were unchanged in the final month of 2019, the government said Thursday. Import prices rose a scant 0.5% last year after a nearly 1% decline in 2018. Other U.S. inflation barometers such as wholesale and consumer prices also show that price pressures were weak at the end of 2019. The cost of imports from China, meanwhile, were flat in December. They fell 1.8% for the full year amid a tense trade fight with the Trump administration.

Payless emerges from bankruptcy with US growth plan, store reopenings

Payless ShoeSource — once America’s most ubiquitous discount shoe retailer — is planning a comeback.

The budget chain is emerging from bankruptcy protection on Thursday with plans to reopen some of the 2,100 stores that it had shuttered last year in the US.

Known for its affordable shoes, boots, sandals and accessories, Payless execs declined to say how many stores it might open in the US, where it once operated as many as 2,500 stores.

But this will be the second time the 64-year-old brand from Topeka, Kan., seeks to reinvent itself after a financial disaster.

Payless first filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017 with $435 million in debt. Eighteen months later it was back in bankruptcy court after being squeezed by discounters such as T.J. Max and DSW and $473 million in debt.

At the time it was controlled by hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which was its largest lender and controlled 66 percent of the company.

The new management team hails from licensing firm CAA-GBG and is led by that company’s former president, Jared Margolis.

“I am pleased to have the opportunity to lead this iconic retail brand into a new strategic phase with a strengthened balance sheet and clean financial outlook,” Margolis said in a statement.

The latest bankruptcy did not affect Payless’s overseas operations where franchisees control more than 700 stores in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.