* This weekend's Barron's cover offers a low-risk strategy for investors optimistic about an ecomomic recovery. * Other featured articles discuss what a COVID-19 vaccine would mean for the stock market and how it could shake up the pharmaceutical industry. * Also, the prospects for semiconductor stocks, a leading retailer, a financial services giant and more."A Low-Risk Strategy for Those Optimistic About a Recovery" by Daren Fonda suggests that small companies typically outperform over the long term, even more so at the beginning of an economic rebound. With a coronavirus vaccine on the horizon, Barron's believes Acme United Corporation (NYSE: ACU) is among the small cap stocks worth a look.Max A. Cherney's "Intel Can Shine Again" looks at how repeated manufacturing delays have dented the reputation of chip giant Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC). In addition, Apple now has ditched Intel's products. Discover why Barron's thinks the stock is down but … Read the rest
International Business Management
Tesco has apologised to its online customers unable to get on its website as the supermarket seeks to cope with high demand for Christmas bookings.
The UK’s largest retailer has had to install a queuing system online to help it to manage the demand.
Some customers complained to Tesco that they had been waiting hours to get onto the supermarket’s website.
“We’re sorry if things take a bit longer than usual,” Tesco said on its Twitter account.
“A lot of customers are using our website and app at the moment.”
Tesco said it was “using a virtual waiting room to help us manage the flow”.
Supermarkets have been overwhelmed with demand as people start to plan for Christmas, and rival Ocado has already sold out of slots after “huge” demand.
One Tesco customer said on Twitter: “We use delivery saver because we have 3 young children and both parents work … Read the rest
Americans elected Joe Biden as the next President of the United States. We welcome the Biden-Harris presidency and stand ready to support the incoming administration’s mandate to heal the deep divides in our nation and face the intersectional problems harming Americans: from COVID-19 and the economic downturn to the deep wounds of racial injustice and the worsening climate crisis.
Our democratic process worked. Every vote counts, and we took the time to count them methodically, accurately, and by the book. While our democracy remains intact, America is suffering. The work of healing our nation must be guided by facts and science, as well as by compassion. It must also be guided by a renewed spirit of partnership between the White House and U.S. cities and states. Mayors and governors have rolled up our sleeves and led our constituents through the pandemic and the economic and social ills that have threatened … Read the rest
With the news headlines saturated by so many heavy impact events, it has almost been forgotten that the earnings season is not over yet.Next week will see one of 2020’s star performers step up to the plate. Nvidia (NVDA) will report quarterly results on Wednesday, November 18, and avid Street watchers will be keen to find out if the semiconductor giant hit another home run.So far, Nvidia has had an excellent 2020. The company has been a prime beneficiary of Covid-19 driven secular trends such as gaming and data center, Nvidia’s main bread winners.Overall, Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Seymore anticipates Nvidia will “deliver a solid beat” and expects both segments to post strong results. The 5-star analyst anticipates 153% year-over-year growth for Datacenter and a 27% year-over-year increase for Gaming, with the two segments making up 41% and 47% of sales, respectively.In total, Seymore expects Nvidia to report revenue of … Read the rest
Caffè Nero has been forced to launch a restructuring of its business following the second lockdown.
The coffee chain is launching a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) which will allow it to renegotiate terms with its landlords and other creditors.
Caffè Nero, which employs 6,000 workers, said “the pandemic has decimated trading”.
It said it was able to navigate the first shutdown but the subsequent fire break necessitated “further action”.
The company trades across 800 shops in the UK and a further 200 sites overseas. A company facing insolvency can use a CVA to continue to trade while paying creditors such as landlords over a fixed period – if those creditors agree.
Caffè Nero said it had converted many of its shops to takeaway-only services during the first lockdown in March.
But following the second shutdown, it said that, “with many people continuing to work from home, ongoing limits to social … Read the rest
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Goldman’s partners are more female than ever, Ronna McDaniel could stay atop the RNC, and should female statues cover up? Have a relaxing weekend!
– Statuesque. Have you been following the debate over the new public sculpture dedicated to feminist icon Mary Wollstonecraft?
Located in London’s Stoke Newington neighborhood, the statue, created by British artist Maggi Hambling, was just installed on Tuesday and is already ruffling feathers. It’s intended to honor Wollstonecraft, a 17th century writer whom this New York Times story calls a “mother of modern feminism.” (She was also the literal mother of author Mary Shelley.) The problem—at least according to some: the statue features a naked woman (who may or may not be intended to be Wollstonecraft), complete with “idealized physique.”
To … Read the rest
(Bloomberg) — The stock rally sparked by Pfizer Inc.’s promising Covid-19 vaccine trial results boosted many investors’ fortunes, but none so dramatically as a pair of German brothers.Andreas and Thomas Struengmann have collectively added about $8 billion to their wealth this year thanks to their stake in BioNTech SE, the German firm that’s developing the vaccine with Pfizer. BioNTech’s American depositary receipts surged this week after the U.S. drug giant reported the shot they’re working on prevented 90% of symptomatic infections in tens of thousands of volunteers.At $22 billion, the twins have one of the world’s biggest health-care fortunes, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The brothers, 70, formed their empire by reinvesting the proceeds of their family’s generic drugs businesses.They “have reshaped their fortune by simply believing in science,” said Paul Westall, co-founder of family office recruitment firm Agreus Group.The Struengmanns didn’t respond to requests for comment.Athos ServiceThe brothers … Read the rest
The latest GDP figures showing the country’s record recovery after the first lockdown highlight what a catastrophic decision it was to impose an unnecessary second shutdown.
Britain briefly lifted out of recession in the summer, posting a massive 15.5% growth in the three months to September.
The economy shrank in the first three months of the year and contracted by a record 19.8% in the April-to-June period of the first lockdown. Two consecutive quarterly contractions usually mean the economy is in a recession.
Normally they are as a result of a banking crash or some other financial-driven catastrophe, rather than a microscopic bug that has impacted severely on the health of the population and as well as our economy.
But the following quarter’s sharp rise lit the way to V-shaped recovery and lifted us out of that recession. This was predicted by me and other business owners who urged the … Read the rest
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Kamala Harris’s move to VP leaves the Senate with zero Black women, Australia debates the ‘manterruption,’ and Anne Boden is not your average fintech entrepreneur. Have a thoughtful Thursday.
– ‘I was prepared to fail.’ Anne Boden knows she is not who you imagine when you think of a fintech entrepreneur.
“I’m a woman. I’m 5ft tall. I’m Welsh. I’m middle-aged. I’m from a very ordinary background and I’m the sort of person who’ll chat to somebody in the ladies [room]!” she says.
But that didn’t stop her. “I’d reached the stage where I was prepared to fail,” she says. “I was 54 and confident enough not to care if somebody said I was stupid.”
Boden founded Starling, the branchless U.K. bank that now has 1.8 million customer accounts and a staff of more than 1,000. She recently talked to the Guardian about her … Read the rest
(Bloomberg) — Now it’s Moderna Inc.’s time to be in the spotlight.The same U.S. explosion of Covid-19 cases that helped Pfizer Inc. get results for its vaccine trial earlier this week is helping speed along Moderna’s trial. Moderna said Wednesday its study has accumulated more than 53 infections, allowing a preliminary analysis of the shot’s effectiveness to begin. The shares jumped.Moderna didn’t predict how long it could take an independent monitoring committee to analyze the data, but said the company could get the data to the committee within days. The company said it is still blinded to the data.“Moderna has seen a significant increase in the rate of case identification across sites in the last week,” the company said in a statement. “As a result, the company expects the first interim analysis will include substantially more than 53 cases, the targeted trigger point for the analysis.”The preliminary data on Moderna’s … Read the rest